The Victory circled Coruscant for three more weeks before departing for a supply blockade and security around Kamino. Everybody on the ship could sense Krell's bad mood about this transfer. Nobody spoke to him unless he commanded and nobody knew why he was so downcast about circling around the planet he hated. He wasn't even sent there to go on the damn place, just to cover for an unnamed Jedi who had left the planet to take Krell's place on Coruscant. Al was somewhat excited for the change of scenery and position because she knew Krell would be disgusted to land on Kamino so he was bound to send her and seeing more people than just the ones she had been around the past months would be much more fun. They moved out the day before Al was set to turn fourteen and arrived around midnight Coruscant time. Al was woken by the pounding of Krell's large fist on her door.
"Wake up!"
"I'm up," she said, yawning. "I've been up for hours."
"Get ready! I have a job for you."
Al was up in an instant and rushed to the door, opening it hurriedly. She was greeted with the looming shadow of Krell standing over her. "I'm awake!"
Krell made a deep snarl and walked down the hallway, Al followed, waving inconspicuously to the clones as she passed. When they reached the destination Krell had intended, Al was grateful to see Red Hawk and Blue Jay near a transport shuttle. They seemed to be arguing about something, but stopped immediately as Krell approached.
"You!" he barked at Red Hawk. "Escort my padawan to Kamino to collect supplies for the ship."
"Yes sir!" Red Hawk said stiffly, standing up straight. Blue Jay copied him, eyeing Krell suspiciously.
"Good," Krell said firmly. He turned to Al, his yellow eyes full of hatred. "Don't do anything stupid. There will be consequences."
"Got it!" Al said cheerfully, bouncing over to the ship. Krell snarled again and stormed up to the bridge.
"What's his deal?" Blue Jay asked as they boarded the shuttle.
"He doesn't like Kamino," Red Hawk said dully. "Too many clones."
"Ah." Blue Jay sat down. "That makes a lot more sense. What's got her so excited?"
Al was bouncing around the room, beaming. "I've never been to Kamino before! It'll be exciting."
"Don't get your hopes up kid," Red Hawk said, smiling at her. It's not as exciting as it sounds."
"The Kaminoans are dicks," said Blue Jay, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms behind his head. "Plus their necks are way to long."
"My home planet is torn apart by war every day," Al said softly. "so it's beauty is often overlooked. But if you climb up to the top of one of tallest mountains, you can see the sunrise over the plain. It's beautiful. And even though the world around it is burning, it still stands and you can still see the sunrise on it. It's a sign of hope to my people, knowing that they can wake up the next day alive, knowing that even thought things seem dark, the sun is going to come up eventually." She gave Red Hawk a sad smile. "I'm sure your home will be amazing."
Red Hawk smiled at her and put his arm around her shoulders. "Me too kid."
"That was deep," Blue Jay muttered from behind them. "Did you come up with that on the spot?"
Al beamed. "It's a gift."
The ship rocked as it entered the atmosphere and Al looked out the window, her jaw dropping. "There's so much water! I've never seen this much blue in my life!"
"Well you were raised on Coruscant," Blue Jay mumbled.
Red Hawk shot him a glare. "Don't ruin the moment." He slowly left Al to marvel at the scene before them and slunk back to Blue Jay. "Do you have it?"
"Of course I do. Who do you think I am? I've had it with me the whole time!"
"Just make sure to give it to her--"
"--when the scum-bag's not around I know, I know," Blue Jay said rolling his eyes. "You told me. Don't pester yourself, she's gonna love it."
"Of course she is," Red Hawk said confidently. "I picked it out."
"Don't get cocky."
"We're landing," one of the pilots said.
"Yay!" Al bounded out of the cockpit happily. Red Hawk and Blu Jay followed her at a much slower pace. As they exited the ramp, the smell of seawater filled their nostrils and a fresh breeze blew across their dull faces. Staying on the Victory for seven months straight had made their skin pale and drained of color, having never seen actual daylight in a while. Waves crashed against the pillars holding the cloning factory above the water. Blue Jay leaned over the side and looked down. Sounds of laughter floated up as kids who looked about ten jumped into the water below, splashing each other and trying to get the older clone to join in. Blue Jay tapped Red Hawk on the arm and nodded down at them.
"Remember when we would dare each other to dive down there and try to touch an aiwha?"
Red Hawk nodded. "Of course. Cause I won."
"No you didn't," Blue Jay remarked. "Crusher said you were teasing."
"He only said that to not make you feel bad." Red Hawk slapped him on the shoulder playfully. "But I won."
"Whatever," Blue Jay muttered. "Forgive me if I wanted you to remember a nostalgic part of our childhood. But classic Red Hawk always gotta make it about winning--"
"Where's the kid?"
Blue Jay stopped his sarcastic rant. "I thought you were watching her."
"I was, then you mentioned aiwha diving!" Red Hawk snapped. "We gotta find her. Al!"
"Calm down," Blue Jay said, grabbing his arm. "She's over there."
Red Hawk looked in the direction he pointed and his panic immediately subsided. Al was standing in the middle of a group of small cadets who watched in awe as she lifted one of their toys in the air and circled it around their heads. He and Blue Jay walked over and the little clones huddled around Al's legs at the strangers.
"Hi guys!" she said, handing the toy to one of the boys.
"Hi," Blue Jay said pointedly.
"We have things we need to get done sooner rather than later," Red Hawk said. "You know, supplies we need to gather for the crew."
"I knew that," Al replied happily. "But we have all day to just collect a few things. Can't we have a little fun?"
"This place is huge," said Blue Jay. "We'll enjoy ourselves on the way there."
"On the way where?" Al asked.
"You'll see," Red Hawk said mysteriously. "Say goodbye to your little friends and lets go."
Al said goodbye to the baby clones and followed Red Hawk and Blue Jay into the brightly lit facility. The first area they went to (the military garage Red hawk called it) was a nice subtle color and source of light. Clone cadets were being trained in proper usage of certain weapons and different military codes and procedures. Others were being lined up, ready to leave for war. They didn't stay for long and soon she was whisked into the brightest hallway she had ever been in. It was almost blinding and she had to blink various times before getting remotely used to it. "How do you see in this?"
"Eh you get used to it," Blue Jay said with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "We grew up in here, so when we went in dark places it felt weird. Oh, there's a Kaminoan!"
Tilting her eyes up a few feet, Al looked into the large black, judging eyes of the giraffe-necked alien standing in front of her. "Wow."
"Greetings Ct-6543," she said in a slow, calming, mystical and slightly creepy voice. "I am Lina Soh. I will be guiding you to where your supplies are. Follow me please."
Blue Jay gave Red Hawk and Al a glazed, bored expression that made Al cover her mouth to suppress her giggles. They were lead through the factory where millions of small pill-like glowing pods spinning on large machines. Al clung to the side of the glass tunnel they were in. "Whoa," she said, speechless. "Are those...?"
"Those are the premature stages of the clone soldiers," Lina Soh said, stopping and slowly moving her head to look at Al. "They are nourished in there and then taken out and cared for like infants."
Al's head moved around so rapidly asking Red Hawk what each thing was that by the time they had arrived at their destination, she had almost run out of questions. The last one she could manage was "Where are we?"
"The medical division," Blue Jay clarified, slightly irritated. "All the medical supplies are here. Surprisingly, they're what we need the most."
"Half of the battalion got sick two months ago, remember?" Red Hawk said, following Lina Soh to collect the supplies they needed. "Knoxx used most of the medicine on the sick, so we're running low."
"Is that it?" Blue Jay asked, confused.
"According to Data's list, yes." Red Hawk took the medicine and ushered the others out of the room. "Come on, let's get back to the ship and on the Victory before Krell kills us."
"That would not be pleasant," Al said. She was quiet the rest of the way back to the ship and it was around midday when they decided to make their way up the ramp. Red Hawk noticed she seemed downcast.
"What's wrong?"
"Your home is nice," she said, turning to look at the clones doing their drills. "And not by any artificial way. It's the people that make it lovely. I wish we could stay longer."
Red Hawk placed his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "I'm sorry we can't."
"Says who?" Blue Jay asked, walking the opposite direction down the ramp, a package in his arms. "Krell's not gonna care if we stay a little longer. The kid can just say we got held up by the Kaminoans."
"But--"
"No." Blue Jay grabbed Al's wrist and pulled her away. "Come on."
"Where are we going?" Al asked excitedly.
"Aiwha diving!" Blue Jay said.
"Ooh what's that?"
"Something that we used to do as cadets," Red Hawk said, giving up and following them. "But it's extremely dangerous."
"I'm a Jedi," Al said smugly. "I got this."
"Alright fine," Red Hawk muttered. "We can do aiwha diving for a few minutes, but then we have to get back. Unless you two want to face the wrath of the general?"
"I would not." Al's hand flew to her face where Krell had hit her. "But let's not ruin the moment."
"I agree," Red Hawk said with a smile. He reached over and took the package from Blue Jay. "Here."
Al beamed and tore it open. The paper fell to the ground and in her hands was a soft, hand-made quilt. It was stitched with various pictures of various places on a beautiful planet. "It's...Ryloth. It's my home."
"We went around Coruscant and found someone who was selling off-world items," Red Hawk said. "We saw this and thought it would remind you of your homeworld."
Al threw herself into his arms, holding him tightly. "Thank you. Both of you. I love it."
Not knowing what to do exactly, he hugged her back weakly. When she let go of him, she wrapped the warm blanket around her shoulders and smiled happily.
"So," Blue Jay said pointedly. "Diving?"
"Yes!" Al said enthusiastically.
"Come on! I'll show you the best place to dive for the suckers." Blue Jay lead her down to the waves, the two chatting happily.
Red Hawk smiled to himself. "Happy Birthday kid."