Book 1 Chapter 1: The Mad, Mandalorian, Musician

 ~Other Stars~

an alternative timeline Star Wars story

~Book 1 Chapter 1: The Mad, Mandalorian, Musician~

22BBY, after The Clone Wars episode "Rookies"

    Sunrise on Deande was always spectacular and Ghost made the effort to wake early enough to watch it every morning. On the tidally locked moon, the morning hours were the only time to see the sun from her location before it set and lit up the face of Se-2, the gas planet Deande orbited. Ghost idly swayed in her hammock. The tea kettle was heating up and her breakfast was just starting to simmer. The planet only took up two thirds of the sky from her vantage point, and the western limb was forming a brilliant ring of light at its rim. Soon the sun would burst from behind it, brightening the sky in an instant, and as if to match the sudden brilliance, the tiny tree dwelling avians would erupt into song. The sun would remain visible for several hours, rapidly heating up the chilly side of the moon before setting. Then its light would shine on the milky blue face of the giant planet, bathing half the moon in a softer, reflected light and fuzzy, nearly nonexistent shadows for the rest of the moon's long day.

Ghost closed her eyes. Sun warmth filtered through the branches of the broomtop trees, birdsong, a floral scent from a nearby yellow blossomed gramany bush and a gentle breeze to dance the flames of her campfire. The kettle whistled and Ghost began to sit up, then paused with a frown. Thunder? No, it sounded more like...

A stiff wind whipped up the flames of her campfire, sending a shower of sparks flickering away like shooting stars. The birds fell silent. Ghost grabbed for her hat before it went sailing off and a blue-scaled kwikwi ran past squawking, its tail fan spread wide in alarm. A deafening roar filled the air, the wind became a gale, the fire blew out and the hammock came loose from its moorings, folding Ghost within, as the wind sent her and her belongings tumbling wildly across the ground.

*****

    The Jedi stood side by side. The older of the two, wearing the traditional robes of his order over less traditional pieces of Republic armor, looked to be a distinguished gentleman approaching middle age. He had auburn hair, was slightly above average height, and in possession of a neatly trimmed mustache and full beard. His blue eyes sparkled with humor and tolerance as he glanced toward his companion.

The other Jedi was tall and lean with mid length hair that couldn't decide if it wanted to be brown or blond. Blue of eye and a stubborn cleft chin, there was a roughness to him, enhanced by the thin scar that marred the right side of his face from eyebrow to cheek.

Shortly a company captain joined the pair as they stood at the top of the massive ramp leading from the immense Venator-class Star Destroyer down into the open woodland below. Neat columns of troopers marched in a seemingly endless river from the bowels of the massive starship. Below, soldiers were already busy cutting down the stubby trees and clearing brush. Transports carrying everything from crates full of supplies to the shipping container-like barracks were zipping up and down the ramp and delivering their loads in the areas already cleared. The captain watched the activity and was satisfied with the swift efficiency of the men. Already this patch of wilderness was transforming into the military base that would be their home for the immediate future.

"No matter how many times I see it, it's always an impressive sight." Jedi Master and High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi turned towards the soldier, "Captain Rex, please pass my compliments on to the men."

"Yes, sir." Rex was pleased. "In a few more hours we'll have everything offloaded and the venator will be able to rejoin the fleet.

Jedi Knight and Jedi General of the 501st Legion Anakin Skywalker looked up at the sky. "Hopefully our other friends up there don't try anything while the Resolute is grounded."

"Our backs are well guarded," Kenobi grinned with mischief, "after all, your padawan is up there keeping watch."

Skywalker grimaced. "Ahsoka gave me a real earful when I told her I was sending her over to your flagship to intern for a bit instead of bringing her down here."

"So I heard."

"Hey, I already know how good she is with her lightsabers. Learning ship to ship combat tactics from the great General Kenobi," The younger Jedi gave his former master a mock bow, "will help...round her out."

"Oh? And here I thought you sent her to me because you were being run ragged by your student's enthusiasm."

Skywalker opened his mouth to retort when a commotion across the space being cleared caught his attention. At the far end of the field a trooper was rapidly backing away from something in the woods. In short order, another figure emerged, and even from their considerable distance away, the generals and the captain could hear the stranger shouting.

"You touch this tree and I'll hang you from it!"

Then the distant figure looked in their direction and pointed, "You!" and proceeded across the clearing at a rapid pace.

Skywalker crossed his arms. "Master, I thought this moon was uninhabited."

"Well, it was supposed to be."

The figure had reached the bottom of the ramp, yelled, "MOVE!", and bulled their way up through the oncoming troops. Startled only briefly, the soldiers hurriedly parted to either side of the stranger and neatly reformed their ranks once past. The soldiers on guard tensed up, but the Jedi indicated there was no physical threat.

Kenobi watched the approaching stranger with growing apprehension when Skywalker leaned in. "Well, this looks like a job for your famous skills in diplomacy." He gave Kenobi a quick pat on the shoulder, and was suddenly off with his captain in tow.

"Anakin! Get back-" But whatever he'd been about to say was cut off by a flood of invective.

"So you Jedi skugs just roll in and immediately start destroying everything?!"

The stranger, a woman in a gray longcoat and matching hat, wasn't shy about getting in Kenobi's face and the Jedi held up his hands in a placating gesture as he backpedaled. "Madam, I assure you we have no intention of doing more damage than absolutely nec-"

"Bantha's ass! You nearly landed on my damn head and crushed who knows what else. That standard procedure? Oh look, a pleasant village with children playing in the streets. Let's go smash them under our giant-ass ship!"

"Yeesh." Skywalker looked over his shoulder as he retreated from the spectacle.

"Sir? Are you sure we should leave General Kenobi alone with, ah, that?" The captain looked back with concern.

"Oh he'll be fine. Hey, they've already started putting the modular command center together. Let's go take a look."

It was some time before Kenobi joined them at the command center.

"Thank you so much for the help." He hailed Skywalker with dripping sarcasm.

"Oh come on, surely she wasn't too much for you to handle?"

"Let's just say if words were blows I'd be quite dead. What's more, apparently my ancestry includes a colorful bestiary of space lice."

Skywalker bit his lip as he attempted to keep a straight face.

"Really, you should have stayed. I think you would have enjoyed yourself." Kenobi continued.

Placing his hand over his heart, "hardly, master. I would have been dutifully outraged at the insult to your-"

"Oh please."

Finally, the young Jedi did laugh before growing serious again. "So, what was that all about anyway?"

"Well, the young woman, she didn't give me her name, isn't so much a local as a...vacationer I suppose. She was camping in the area when we nearly landed on her. The outflow of air from our thrusters blew away her belongings. She recited quite a list of damages."

"Ouch."

"I'm afraid we'll have to take some responsibility for this. It really was careless on our part. We shouldn't have forgone the sweep for lifeforms simply on the assumption that we were landing in an uninhabited area."

"Sooo, I take it she wants some sort of restitution?"

"Mostly she wanted to make it clear that she wasn't moving from her camp site and seemed at least somewhat mollified when I assured her she could stay where she was at. Her camp is just beyond the eastern edge of the cleared field. She seemed satisfied when she left. I've also ordered the troops to keep an eye on her but otherwise leave her be."

"Well great. Now that the local drama is over, let's get down to business. Rex, if you please?"

"Yes, sir." The captain stepped towards the holotable and brought up a basic three-dimensional map of the moon. "Our location is here, in the wooded plateau region of the northern hemisphere. As far as we can tell, the Separatists only occupy the canyon lands here, at the base of the cliff on the eastern side of the plateau, though there does seem to be a secondary site further out in the desert. As soon as we're set up here, I recommend a recon team be deployed to-" Rex paused in his report. A trooper had respectfully approached and was quietly waiting to be acknowledged.

"I beg your pardon, generals." Rex turned to speak with the trooper then turned back to the Jedi. " Ah, the camper seems to be commandeering storage crates to build a wall around her campsite."

The Jedi looked at each other and then moved to the open front of the command center to peer across the field. Sure enough, a barrier of metal crates had sprung up around the woman's camp with a cluster of nonplussed soldiers standing nearby, watching its construction.

"Is there anything in those crates?" Kenobi turned toward the trooper.

"No, sir. She's only taken ones we've emptied." The trooper answered.

The reinforced crates were not exactly small or lightweight, but as they watched, the camper hauled another one to her wall and hefted it into place with apparent ease.

"Well, no reason to get touchy over empty boxes," Kenobi reasoned. "Let the men know she's allowed to take crates so long as there's nothing in them."

"Understood, sir." The trooper saluted and departed.

Skywalker gave Kenobi a look.

"Well, you can hardly blame her for wanting some privacy," Kenobi shrugged. "Captain, please, let us continue."

"Sir." Rex nodded and picked up where he had left off. "Reconnaissance teams should be sent here, here, and out here to try and determine the purpose of these buildings." Rex pointed to a small cluster of structures roughly two kilometers from the nearest edge of the canyons.

"Weird spot to put something." Skywalker mused. "Too small to be a base and completely exposed to aerial assault."

"Let's try to find out what it is before we blow it up." Kenobi said dryly.

"A solid bombing run could get us out of this backwater and back to where the war is actually happening a little faster."

"The fact that the Separatists are here in this backwater and stubbornly refusing to be chased out is cause for investigation. What's more, we know the CIS fleet here is commanded by Admiral Sneed and we suspect Commander Schtubborn is moon-side. Not exactly lightweights. Our primary objective is to figure out why they're here. Blowing everything up is a secondary objective."

Skywalker sighed. "Yes, master."

He then looked up as another trooper approached the command center and raised an eyebrow at Rex. The captain frowned and motioned for the trooper to join them and report.

"Sirs," the man said uncomfortably, "The camper is taking supplies. Your orders are to leave her be but... we would like further instruction on how to address her... incursions."

Annoyed, Skywalker asked, "Which supplies?"

"Sir, she's taking MRE* packs, ripping them open and picking out the liquid nutripackets."

Kenobi groaned and massaged the bridge of his nose. "I'll go have another chat with her."

*MRE–Meals Ready To Eat are self contained military rations

*****

    The barracks were being set up in orderly clusters with open lanes between along the eastern side of the field. They were organized by company, each arranged in an open square with its own mess tent at center. At the end of the center most lane, a little distance off, stood the woman's fortified campsite. Crates with food were in neat stacks near the mess tents and within easy pilfering range of their undesired guest. As Kenobi walked down the lane, helmeted troopers hurrying by on business would glance at him, then turn to glance at the camp as they went. Kenobi didn't need to see their faces to know they were giving him meaningful looks. The world of the military base was supposed to be orderly, and apparently, he'd allowed a gremlin to take up residence on their boarder.

As he drew closer, he could now see the wall didn't surround the camp but formed more of a blunt wedge, dividing the camp from the Republic base while remaining open to the woodlands beyond. At six crates high, it stood a little over twice his height. Kenobi walked to the end of the wall and knocked to announce his presence before rounding the corner.

The camp was well organized with a rather homey quality to it. At center was a small and tidy fire, a pair of folding stools, and cookware stacked to the side. Cloth bags, boxes, and a tightly rolled tarp were tucked up against the back of the wall, and strung between two trees was a hammock where the woman in the longcoat reclined. She stared stonily at him. One arm draped over the side of the hammock, holding what looked like a slender wooden rod with a taught string running down one side. A musical instrument he wasn't familiar with resting on her chest.

"Please forgive this intrusion," the Jedi began, "I'd like to reiterate that we deeply regret disturbing you and are willing to accommodate your needs within reason..."

Ghost gave the Jedi a hard stare. She was still fuming from the desecration of this, her sacred place. She wanted to be left alone, to ignore what was past her makeshift wall, but the Jedi was insistent on invading her space. After a moment of listening to him make his little diplomatic speech she lifted her 5-string xilin and rested her chin in the padded notch on its base. There was a right way to play such an instrument, and a wrong way. Keeping her face expressionless she set the bow on the xilin and dragged it roughly across the strings.

It shrieked in torment, discordant, wailing and shrill. The Jedi's reaction was immediate; he fell silent, eyes closed, and shuddered in reaction. Ghost stilled the bow and held it threateningly above the strings as the Jedi looked at her in alarm. After a long pause he tried again.

"I am certain that together we can reach an accord-" he said almost pleadingly.

Down came the bow to saw at the strings. The Jedi grit his teeth at the aural assault. She stopped and the two stared at each other.

Kenobi took a deep breath and spoke in a rush," IseethatI'mbotheringyou-pleaseacceptmyapologyandI'llleaveyoube," then abruptly turned and left the camp, shaking his head a bit as if to clear his ears.

"She actually ran you off." Skywalker didn't know whether he should be impressed or annoyed.

"She forced me to regroup and rethink my approach." Kenobi corrected.

"Then I'm just going to throw her out. I can't have this nuisance right next to my base."

"During our initial meeting I did say we wouldn't force her to leave. I'd rather try to talk to her one more time before we have to take action. However, a Jedi may not be the right person to do so." Kenobi was suddenly looking speculatively at Captain Rex.

Skywalker followed his gaze. "So, if she can't be civil to you or me, then maybe someone else will have more luck."

Rex's eyebrows shot upward as he became the center of their attention.

"It's certainly worth a try. Captain, if you would please? It would be best if she'd just leave of her own accord, we can offer to escort her safely out of the system. Otherwise make it clear certain boundaries must be respected if she wants to remain," said Kenobi.

"I understand, sir. I'll give it my best shot."

"Good luck." Skywalker smiled and Rex gave him a less than happy look as he turned to make his way out.

Captain Rex strode across the field with his helmet tucked under one arm. Around him, the base had already taken on an identifiable shape. He swept the scene with a practiced eye and estimated the last of their gear would be unloaded within the hour. Temporary barricades to shelter the base from the winds stirred up by the venator's launch were already in place. The flattened area the giant ship vacated would then be converted into a landing field for their own fighters and bombers. Finally, a shuttle would ferry General Kenobi back to his own flagship and this operation would be well and truly underway.

All around the captain, troopers in white and blue armor were busy with their duties. If any one of them had removed his helmet, a face identical to Rex's own would have been revealed. They were all brothers, or to be precise, they were all clones.

Standing 1.83 meters tall, slender and athletic, the clones were wiry of build rather than bulky. Well-proportioned with chiseled features, they were handsome by most human standards, though the slope of their eyebrows tended to give them a naturally stern look. Like all clones, the captain had brown eyes and olive skin, but the peach fuzz crowning his head was blond instead of black, a trait that appeared in only one out of every seventy thousand clones, and millions of them filled out the Grand Army of the Republic.

The sun was slowly sinking towards the horizon, which in this backward place meant it was still morning. When the sun set there would be a brief interlude of twilight, then the long day would again brighten as the planet overhead reflected light back onto the side of the moon that permanently faced it.

Rex had reached the barrier. He was not a diplomat and was used to taking a direct route in most matters. That said, the diplomatic approach had not exactly worked thus far. Rex mulled things over as he walked slowly towards the end of the wall. Before he had a chance to announce his presence, he found himself face to face with the woman in question.

"So now that the Jedi have fled, they're sending one of their carbon copy soldiers to accost me?"

Rex did not respond immediately, instead taking a moment to sweep his gaze over her. She stood there with arms crossed, every bit as tall as he was, belligerence shining in her eyes.

She had a clone's slender build though her metal clad arms added a bit of extra bulk to her. A quick examination and Rex decided, based on the elbow joints, that they were prosthetics rather than armor. Her face was oval and young, but her hair, which hung below her shoulders, was white and gray like an old woman's, save for a single tress of raven black at her temple. Her eyes were a washed out silver, making the pupils prominent and piercing. There was a general paleness to her, right down to the faded leathers of her coat and hat. The only other colors he could see being the dark browns of her pants and steel-toed boots. She had the look of a bounty hunter or mercenary, and she was clearly spoiling for a fight.

Rex was not going to rise to the bait, but he also wasn't going to be chased off, and decided to meet her bluntness with his own.

"Ma'am, you have every right to be angry about us dropping in and disrupting your life, but we can't have you helping yourself to anything you please in the base."

"I never did find all of my belongings and you cut down my forage."

"We are well provisioned and more than willing to share if you ask."

"So I should come begging to the Republic after the Republic deprived me of what I already had? Where have I heard that one?"

Rex sighed. "You clearly have some deeply felt criticism of the Republic, but I'm not the one to have that discussion with."

"I suppose not. You clones were made to fight a war, not reason about why you do or if its right."

Rex allowed the slightest hint of heat to creep into his voice, sharpening his words even as he remained calm.

The Republic has been the center of stability and democracy of the galaxy for millennia. It has assured the disparate peoples of the galaxy are able to come together and work together while respecting each others' rights and needs."

"And who needed the political corruption and exploitation and backroom deals? Or were you clones only taught propaganda: the Republic is good and all who oppose its sacred unity are evil?"

"I am not so naive as to think the Republic is flawless and free of corruption, but that is a battlefield for other people. As a soldier of the Republic, I have to operate under the assumption that the ideals I fight for are real. My job is simply to assure the Republic itself continues to exist. What is broken can't be fixed if it's thrown away. That is my reason, and what I think is right. Or do you believe that if the Republic were allowed to split in two, the conflict would simply end and those who seek to exploit others for their profit would vanish?"

"As for 'us clones', only now did Rex's expression darken, "you are right, we were created to fight a war, but we are not mindless war machines. We may share a genetic template, but we are not a monolith. We may look the same and sound the same but we are still individuals inside. I would appreciate it if you'd see who we are for yourself, rather than work off of whatever biases you currently have." Rex finished and held his peace.

The quiet anger in his voice brought Ghost up short, stopping her retort. The Republic was being war mongering and tyrannical; the Jedi were senate ass kissers, but what did any of that have to do with this man? She knew nothing of him or the clones other than them being soldiers created to serve the Republic.

I'm plenty pissed but, he's not the target. Ghost sighed. Uncle Bastian would say being simply mad isn't useful. Be mad with a mindful purpose. I'm not going anywhere with this and I'm just insulting a stranger.

"I apologize. Your reprimand is well justified," she said contritely.

Rex was taken aback by her change in demeanor, but it seemed genuine and he felt the tension in the air melt away somewhat. "Apology accepted," he said cautiously.

"You never introduced yourself."

"You didn't exactly give me a chance to, but it's Rex. Captain Rex."

"I'm Ghost."

Rex nodded.

"Why are you all here?"

"There is a Separatist base dug into the canyons east of here housing an army of battle droids, and within the solar system a Separatist fleet is challenging our own. We are here because they are here and we can't afford to ignore them." Rex looked past Ghost towards the forest beyond. "This is a beautiful place. It has a natural serenity to it and I hope our stay here will be brief, and the damage we cause minimal."

Ghost gave this clone captain an appraising look and decided to try to start over. "There was a reason you came to visit me?" she prompted.

"Yes ma'am. We need to have a conversation about respecting boundaries, as well as what we can do to make amends for your own losses. We are happy to share our resources, but I cannot have you taking things without our knowledge, things my men might need and cannot afford to be deprived of."

Ghost grimaced, feeling subtly shamed. "May I invite you to my camp to discuss this?"

"Thank you."

She led him around the barrier and gestured toward one of her camp stools while she took the other. The captain settled himself and set the helmet he had carried neatly tucked under one arm on the ground next to him. Something about the markings on it caught her eye. She had left her teapot by the fire and reached for a cup from the stack of cookware.

"Would you like a cup of hetisarad tea?"

"Please." He said diplomatically and accepted the steaming cup.

"I also have honey."

"I'm fine." Rex sipped the dark brown liquid; it had a pleasant peppery flavor.

Ghost poured the thick amber liquid into her cup and mixed it with the tea. Then she held the cup up as if examining it. It was carved from a solid piece of goldenwood and polished to shine almost as brightly as the metal.

"Let me start, captain. I don't want you here. I don't want this place to become a battlefield, but I recognize you have little control over what will happen. All the same, I'd appreciate it if you'd tell your general to try not to destroy more of the plateau forest than he already has."

"I will." Rex said simply and she continued.

"Also, I don't need compensation for my losses. I uh, already took the things I needed for the moment. I promise that if I need anything else I'll ask first. I'm really not a professional thief." She flashed a white toothed grin. "It's more of a hobby."

Rex looked at her for a moment, and then returned the smile with some humor. "That would be appreciated," he said dryly.

His expressiveness is all in his eyes.

Rex rested the cup on his knee and leaned forward. "The war is its own creature and we don't always have a choice in where it leads us. Sometimes, all we can do is respond to the enemy's actions. I can't make any promises, but if it is possible to restrict the conflict to the lowlands, that would be ideal for us as well. The last thing we want is a drawn out engagement here, and I can assure you that we will try to find a way to end things on Deande quickly, and then move on. That said, I am obligated to suggest for your own safety, that you allow us to escort you out of the system."

"Thank you, but I'm not leaving until all of you do."

Rex simply nodded in acceptance.

It felt like a natural place to end the conversation to Ghost but her curiosity had been tugging at her like an irritating child. He didn't seem so bad, this outsider. In fact, he reminded her a little bit of-

He sorta' reminds me of my mother. Something to do with that particular combination of dignity and authority and an effortless knack for making me feel guilty.

Ghost stalled a moment and sipped her tea then decided to give in to that tugging. "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Not at all."

She leaned to the left a bit and gestured with her cup at his helmet sitting on the ground next to him. "Jai'galaar'la sur'haii'se. That's not a casual decoration. Who gave you those?"

Rex sat up straight and gave her a surprised look. "You're Mandalorian."

"I know I don't read as one, it's the hat, it throws people off." She said with another grin.

Rex held up his cup. "I thought what you said sounded like Mando'a. This would be pepper flower tea?

"You got it, you speak Mando'a?"

"Decently." He reached down and picked up his helmet, displaying the blue marks resembling a pair of upside down V's painted above his visor. "Bounty hunters, mercenaries, and warriors of all stripes were hired to train clones on Kamino, where we were created. The most elite of these were Mandalorian. Our donor, the man whose genetic material became the template for all clones, was a Mandalorian by the name of Jango Fett."

Ghost's thin eyebrows shot upward in surprise, "I had no idea."

"My understanding is he handpicked the individuals who became our trainers. I was trained by a Mandalorian name Zenna Dryd, a grizzled old warrior who could probably chew iron and spit rust. I guess I impressed her."

"I'm impressed. Jaig eyes are a symbol for exceptional acts in battle. So that's why you speak Mando'a."

Most early generation clones do. By the time later generations were ready for advanced training there were fewer Mandalorian trainers."

"I suppose that might have to do with the change in culture on Mandalore. Did very many clones earn Jaig eyes?"

"A few. They do make you stand out a bit."

"Hmm, what about the kama? They don't seem to be part of the standard kit." Ghost pointed out the skirt-like armor that covered the clone's thighs.

"It's standard for ARC trooper armor."

"ARC? Does that have to do with being a captain?"

"No, it's more of a specialized field and stands for Advanced Recon Commando. Rank is often denoted by a pauldron." Rex placed his hand over the piece of blue painted armor that flared out over his left shoulder. "ARCs also have pauldrons like this one, but on both shoulders. My style is a hybridization."

Ghost looked like she was about to ask another question when Rex held up his hand. "My turn." He pointed at Ghost's right shoulder and what looked like a pauldron of her own incorporated into the material of her coat. "Is the engraved wing your clan's signet?"

"It's actually part of my House's crest. This is the full crest." Ghost stood and pulled her hair to the side as she turned around so Rex could see the back of her coat. Embossed in a silvery blue on the leather was some sort of stylized bird with a long upturned beak. Its head was in profile, but the body faced front and its wings spread to her shoulders.

"Wosor'sarad'senaar."

Rex raised one eyebrow. "Something flower bird?"

"Fluttering flower bird, also called a fire bird for its springtime plumage. A little nectar eater native to Mandalor. Probably been extinct at least eight thousand years by now. The jungles of the equatorial region were among the first areas devastated by wars."

"Your House must be very old."

Ghost suddenly went quiet; she was speaking awfully freely with this outsider.

Tread carefully. Such were her instincts, but did it really matter? Ghost had never given trust to outsiders before, she had never wanted or needed to, but this clone captain, Rex, had a disarming quality and she already felt comfortable talking to him. Self awareness suddenly made her wary.

Anywhere else in the galaxy, if these people had dropped into my lap, I'd just have left, but it had to happen here.

"We've been around," she said cagily and changed the subject. "So every clone I've seen has blue paint on their armor, but the marks are all different..."

Rex explained about legion colors and how under the Jedi the clones were allowed to customize their armor to a certain degree, and then he fielded half a dozen more questions. She was insatiably curious about the workings of the clone army but when he tried asking her about herself, she seemed to struggle with how to answer, and ultimately volunteered little information. Rex finally ceased and let his own curiosity go unsatisfied. Give her time, he concluded.

Rex had been a guest at her camp for about an hour and two cups of tea. As much as he was enjoying his conversation with Ghost, it was time he returned to his duties. At the very least, the generals should be satisfied with the outcome of this meeting.

"Ghost, it is with reluctance that I am going to have to excuse myself."

"My fault, I didn't mean to trap you here."

He shook his head. "Not at all. It's been a pleasure."

Ghost stood and lead Rex to the part of her camp she'd come to think of as her 'door'. "I appreciate you answering all of my questions. It's been interesting. I'm sorry about how I started off."

"It's quite alright."

"If you have cause to visit me again, you have an open invitation."

*****

    Regardless of the rotational period of planet or moon, the Republic Army adhered to galactic standard time as set by the planet Coruscant, center of the Galactic Republic. By that twenty-four hour reckoning, it was evening. The time after dinner and before lights out was reserved for leisure unless the base was on alert. The long, softly lit hours of the moon's day cooled as they wore on and both fusion lanterns and small bonfires had popped up in the open spaces around the compound where troopers congregated and chatted amiably with each other. Inside the barracks, a group had gathered for a game of Card Commander.

Ghost sat atop her wall. From her perch, she had a decent view of the near part of the base. Speaking with Rex had made her interested in her neighbors and she had settled in to clone watch. A lot of them had formed companionable groups. Others wandered in and out of the tents where they ate together. It looked like a community and put Ghost in mind of her home. She had never been homesick, and wasn't now, but it still might be nice to hop off her wall and wander among these people.

"She's been up there half an hour at least."

"Would be pretty embarrassing if she were just sitting there spying."

"I doubt the Jedi would allow a spy to set themselves up so obviously at the edge of our base. I think she's just bored and we're the only entertainment going."

The two clones were leaning idly against the wall of their barracks, watching the woman from the camp as she sat on top of her stacked crates and observed the activity of the base.

"Hey," The one on the right tapped the arm of his companion, "she's looking this way."

"We should probably move somewhere el- Fives, don't stare back at her!"

The clone addressed as Fives met the woman's gaze and after a moment, waved.

"What are you doing? We're under orders not to bother her!" The other clone urgently hissed.

"How am I bothering her? Look, she's waving back." Fives pushed away from the wall and started walking in her direction. Belatedly, his companion hurried to catch up.

Speaking in hushed tones, "Fives, this is literally our first deployment with the 501st and I would very much like to not start things off with a reprimand for insubordination! We are under orders to-"

"Not bother the woman camping at the edge of the base, I know. Don't repeat yourself, Echo."

Echo responded with a growl.

"I'm just going to go say a neighborly hello. Besides, if you're so worried, why are you following me?"

"To keep you out of trouble. Have you even read the protocol manual for interacting with civilians?"

"And here I thought you were uptight as a cadet."

Ghost swung her feet over the edge of her wall and let her legs dangle as she watched the troopers approach. They certainly looked like Rex, though unlike Rex, they both sported full heads of short black hair, severely cut into a flat top, which she thought was a bit unflattering. The one on the right wore a neatly trimmed goatee beard and had the number 5 tattooed above his right temple. The one on the left had an unusual blue mark in the shape of a hand print on the right side of his chest plate.

The pair arrived and looked up at her. "Good evening, ma'am," said the one with the tattoo.

"We're not bothering you, are we?" the other one quickly added.

Ghost leaned forward and rested her arms in her lap. "Not at all, I'm Ghost."

"I'm Fives, and this is Echo."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am." Echo nodded.

"Ghost is good enough. Ma'am makes me wonder how my mother got here."

"Ghost it is," Fives smiled, and then seemed to search for something to say, "What brings you to this middle of nowhere star system?"

"I used to camp here with my siblings. I've been coming here yearly to keep the tradition alive."

"Ah, that would explain why you were so upset earlier," Echo said.

"Upset earlier?" Ghost asked a bit sheepishly.

"Your chewing out of General Kenobi is already infamous." Fives smiled to take any sting out of his words. "Don't worry about it."

"Oh, that, don't worry, I won't." Ghost abruptly pushed herself off her wall and landed in front of them. She made a sweeping gesture towards the base. "It seems really peaceful right now, but I guess that can change in an instant."

"It certainly can," Echo agreed, "But we have scouts keeping an eye on things and word is not to expect much movement out of the enemy as of yet."

"So we get to cool our heels in the meantime," said Fives. "The life of a soldier does involve a lot of waiting around between instances of getting shot at."

"Not that we just sit idle," Echo said reproachfully to his companion. "There are plenty of things to keep us busy."

Fives smirked and laid his arm across Echo's shoulders, "for example, Echo here enjoys spending his leisure time reading regulation manuals."

"Fives, I am going to find a river just so I can dunk you in it."

Ghost laughed. She'd met three clones so far and they were each so different. Rex comported himself with natural dignity while this animated pair immediately reminded her of her of her brothers and their near constant banter.

Well, not surprising really. Genes are not destiny. Copies of a single set of DNA can express a variety of different phenotypes. There's also mutations and probably epigenetics to factor in as well. I really did start off an ass to Rex, didn't I?

"Soooo," Ghost looked past the pair towards the activity in the base, "what do you do when you're just hanging out?"

"Uh, well, a lot of our friends are still in our company's mess tent. Echo and I were probably going to go join them in a bit. Did... did you want to come along?"

"Yes, please!"

Fives laughed at her sudden eagerness. "Well sure, I'll introduce you to the boys."

With Fives leading the way, the trio headed towards the brightly lit tent taking up most of the courtyard surrounded by the company's barracks. The tent itself was mostly empty, the clones having finished their meal headed out to other parts of the base. One long table, however, was still occupied by a group of clones having a spirited conversation. When the trio entered the talk died away as the gathered clones became aware of their guest.

"Everyone, this is Ghost, our next door neighbor."

Ghost gave them all a wave as a clone with a large cogwheel tattoo on the left side of his head rose from his seat and motioned for Fives to step over.

Speaking quietly, "Fives, you sure this is alright?"

"It was her idea, Jesse, I don't see the harm. I'm not aware of any orders saying we can't interact at all, yeah?"

"I suppose," Jesse shrugged.

Fives turned back to Ghost. "This here is Jesse, a corporal in our company. That being Torrent company. At the far end of the bench there are Kix and Dustoff, a couple of medics. That's Longshot. He's a sniper from Dusk Company but he likes to hang out with us for some reason-"

"They probably kicked him out for being lethally cynical and general grouchiness," piped up the one introduced as Dustoff.

Longshot snorted and rolled his eyes as everyone laughed. "I'm here out of a sense of pure charity for this sad lot."

Grinning, Fives continued. "That's Breakout, Pitch and Sizzle there are flame troopers. Finally, last but not least, we've been graced by the presence of ARC Trooper Aiden." Fives gave him an elaborate bow to more chuckles from the crowd.

The clone with the thin chinstrap beard just shook his head. "What can I say. I felt like slumming with these slackers tonight. I'll remember my dignity tomorrow. Maybe."

Echo stepped forward. "Alright you lot, shove over or are we supposed to stand the rest of the evening?"

Space was made on the bench and Ghost sat down between Echo and Fives. Dustoff leaned over toward Ghost.

"Kitchen's closed but drinks are still on offer if I can get you something. There's iced tea, coffee, shuura fruit juice and the blue stuff nobody's quite identified yet."

"No hot tea? The iced stuff is an abomination. Fruit juice sounds good."

"One fruit juice coming up." Dustoff stood and headed for the dispensers set along the counter at the side of the tent.

"Why am I detecting a theme to a lot of your names?" Ghost addressed the group.

"Well, when we come up with names for ourselves, what we do as soldiers tends to be a big inspiration." Sizzle shrugged. "We prefer not to use our numbers."

"Numbers? What do you mean?"

"Clones are given numbers at creation. My official designation is CT-3235. CT stands for Clone Trooper."

"Some of the republic officers insist on just using our numbers, but screw them anyway. The good ones remember our names," said Longshot.

"Fives there is CT-5555," Sizzle continued, "so you can guess how he came up with his. And then there's Echo there."

Echo sighed.

Fives chuckled. "Echo here had the habit of repeating the orders our squad was given while we were in training."

"I only repeated orders because everyone was so bad at listening to them."

"Aye, our cadet squad was a mess, but we got through in the end."

"Probably due to a lowering of standards." Longshot sniped.

Dustoff had just returned with a cup. "Oh dear, do I need to pour a drink on somebody's head already?"

Fives laughed as Longshot ducked away while shielding his head with his hands and Dustoff offered Ghost her fruit juice.

Ghost laughed along with the rest and smiled at Dustoff in thanks. "I suppose I don't really use my 'official designation' either."

"So Ghost is a nick?" asked Echo.

"My birth name is Mikkeli."

"Mikkeli's a nice name." Kix said. "Where does Ghost come from?"

Ghost took a swallow of her drink and thought for a moment.

"When I was very small I was... very shy. I lived in a large house with a lot of connected rooms and redundant hallways. I'd run around avoiding people, you were lucky to catch a glimpse of me out of the corner of your eye. So, the joke was that the house was haunted by a very small ghost and that just sorta' stuck with me.

"You prefer we continue calling you Ghost then?"

"I don't have an actual preference but I'm pretty used to Ghost.”

Kix nodded.

Aiden suddenly gave a jaw cracking yawn and arched back in a feline stretch. "I don't mean to cut things short, mates, but I'm about done in. Spent the day running across the desert and back again with my squad. Can we get the betting settled for the night?

"Sure, sure," said Pitch. "We're all expecting to march on canyon north tomorrow but what's our move after that? Here's your choices: we take and hold the target and call it a day. We roll on through and go for canyon south. Or, we head on out to the lovely vacation spot Aiden's squad spent the day staring at. Place your bets!"

Ghost watched the group argue over the merits and likelihood of the choices. Canyon north was apparently a fortified outpost. Canyon south was the main droid base, and the 'vacation spot' was a small compound in the desert roughly two klicks away from the nearest edge of the canyon.

"It has to be an airbase. What else do you call a location hosting four squadrons of Vulture droids?" Breakout argued.

Aiden just shook his head. "It's two warehouses surrounded by a chain link fence with barbed wire. No refueling, not even an antennae array. The place is set to swarm like an angry wasp's nest but it's not a base of any description."

"Maybe it's a decoy." Sizzle shrugged. "Come out here and play with the vultures so we can pick your bones."

"Enough debate, place your bets so we can move on," said Pitch. "We have a double feature tonight." Pitch recorded everyone's picks.

Ghost leaned over to Echo. "So what do you win if you guess right?"

"Just bragging rights. Gambling isn't allowed. Regulation 5500.7 under ethical standards."

"Next up is the hot topic of the mission; why are we even here?" Pitch announced. Latest guesswork from the experts in wild speculation are; droids found valuable resources they're here to mine, droids found a secret hyperspace route they want to protect, droids are building a secret super weapon, droids got lost and think this is Corellia, droids don't know why they're here either."

Ghost was suddenly alert. "Hold up... you don't know why the Separatists are here?"

All eyes turned toward her. "No," said Fives, "This isn't exactly a strategic hot spot. Do you have an idea?"

"I think... maybe I do."

*****

    Skywalker frowned as he examined the holomap of the canyons and stretch of desert beyond. "That base is going to be one tough nut to crack."

"I'm almost certain the commander has to be Schtubborn." Kenobi in holographic miniature hovered over the edge of the holotable and contemplated the translucent map. "Burrowing into the canyon's very walls is his style. He won't come out unless he has an advantage. Instead, he'll try to force you to attack and use his defenses to wear down your army. Even a solid bombing run is unlikely to have much effect on his position."

"So, we need a clever way to pry him out." Skywalker mused.

In addition to the two generals, this meeting also included the clone regimental commander and four clone battalion commanders that had come down to Deande's surface with their men, and Captain Rex. Battalion Commander Query leaned forward and gestured at the site out in the desert.

"Despite the sheer number of Vulture droids stationed here, this site doesn't look like an airbase but something the Separatists want protected. Perhaps an attack here would force their army to respond."

"That's certainly a possibility," said Kenobi's hologram.

Skywalker's frown only deepened. "There's something about that compound in the desert that I don't like."

Rex had also been leaning forward examining the map. He was facing the front of the command center and so saw the three figures approaching the building: Ghost escorted by two troopers. "Generals, if you would please excuse me a moment."

Skywalker looked up and sighed in exasperation. "Now what?"

Rex recognized Fives and Echo, recruits who were new additions to his own company and walked out to intercept them. After a brief discussion, he took charge of Ghost and brought her into the gathering of high-ranking officers.

"General Skywalker, General Kenobi, Ghost thinks she may know why the Separatists are in this system."

Skywalker's frown vanished. "You certainly have our attention."

Ghost looked at Rex who nodded encouragement. She crossed her arms and asked, "Are any of you familiar with implorium gas?"

Skywalker glanced at those gathered. "I've never heard of it."

"It's extremely rare, but trace amounts of it can be found on Se-2. The gas is only stable in the lower atmosphere, right above the liquid transition layer so it's hard to extract and needs to be kept pressurized or it'll break down and dissipate. It's when you put it under higher pressure that things get exciting. At higher pressures it collapses catastrophically."

"An implosion," Kenobi said with interest.

"And very weaponizable. When it implodes, it causes a particularly nasty sort of percussion wave with two falloff zones. A small area around the bomb is lethal and destructive to anything caught there, but beyond that is a truly outsized damage zone that does very little if anything to machines but anything with blood vessels will suffer extensive hemorrhaging."

"In other words," Skywalker said after a moment of thought. "It's a bomb an army of droids could set off in the middle of a battlefield to wipe out their enemy without taking any damage themselves?"

"It probably wouldn't outright kill most of the soldiers, but it would cause severe enough injury that the droids would have an easy time mopping up. What's more, you'd only need to have a small tank, maybe yay big," Ghost spread her hands apart a short distance, "to cover a huge area."

"Like a two kilometer radius?" Skywalker asked while looking at the map.

"Yep. And that location is perfect. The flat open space would maximize the effectiveness of the percussion wave."

"If I may ask," Kenobi addressed Ghost, "how you know so much about this exotic substance?"

Ghost shrugged, "I'm a demolitions expert. I craft explosives and I've studied all sorts of combustible materials. I've never experimented with implorium, nor would I want to, but I've read about it as a curiosity."

Skywalker gestured at the desert site. "The recon team that visited this place reported that a person of unknown species completely encased in a hazard suit was sighted walking between the two buildings here. Is implorium toxic?"

"No, but a lot of the gases it'd be mixed with are. If you were trying to extract pure implorium, a hazard suit would be prudent."

Skywalker nodded in satisfaction. "Thank you, Ghost. You've given us something to think about."

That was a clear dismissal and Rex walked Ghost back out of the command center.

"I want to thank you as well. If the Separatists really are building this sort of bomb, then the knowledge you shared will save a lot of lives."

"I'm glad I could help, Rex."

****

    Two battalions accompanied by four of the hexapodal AT-TE Walkers were mustering to set out. Fives and Echo formed up with the rest of Torrent Company and spirits were high. The expected orders had finally come down and it was time for action. They would march to the cliffs, repel down, and enter the north end of the canyons. The canyons themselves were a multilayered labyrinth and once within, they would stick to the upper pathways and attack the outpost that held the region. Taking the outpost would give them a foothold below the plateau and protected access to the desert.

Echo craned his neck to look past the ranks of soldiers ahead of him and caught a glimpse of the general at the front. He'd been told General Skywalker always lead from the front and Echo regretted being a rookie, stuck in the rear.

"I know what you're thinking."

"Hmm?" Echo turned towards Fives and tilted his helmeted head in inquiry.

"You want to see the general in action. Soon enough we'll be up front too and everyone will know our names. Look sharp, we're moving out."

Echo faced forward and as his rank moved, he and Fives marched in step with them.

"Heh, you mean ARC Trooper Echo and Arc Trooper Fives, eh?"

"Damn straight, no fault in a bit of ambition! Now try not to get stepped on by a walker."

The pair were at the back outside corner of their formation, right next to the rear-most of the six-legged tanks. With each loud clank-kachunk, clank-kachunk of its legs as it moved it kicked up dirt and Echo was thankful for the filters in his helmet. Bad enough to be wearing the dust without eating it too.

There's Rex at the front of Torrent Company. That's Jesse with the cogwheel mark of the Republic on his helmet, Kix and Dustoff with the red medical emblems on their armor. There's Breakout with the row of chevrons diagonal across his chest plate. That must be Dusk Company further up, I can see Longshot. The white armor on his arms looks gray from a distance he has so many tally marks drawn on them. Ah, there's Fives and Echo, all the way in the rear.

Ghost had climbed on top of the barracks nearest the parade ground and from her seat on the roof watched the troops form up. When the order came to move out, she was impressed with how the assembled army marched as if it was a singular organism. Granted, this was not the entire army, only two of the four battalions that had come down to the surface was on the march.

She looked out at the vast space that had been carved out for the base. Over two thousand clones occupied it. They came from a single Venator and Echo had told her their legion, the 501st, was spread across four such ships and a number of light cruisers. The Grand Army of the Republic had nearly a thousand Venator-class Star Destroyers and more in production. Ghost had already been well aware of the vast scale of the conflict between the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems but seeing the soldiers, even such a relatively minuscule number, made the reality far more visceral. The army of the CIS was even larger.

Ghost had done her duty to her family. She had observed, listened, and carefully recorded the political turmoil, the escalation of aggression, and the outbreak of war. She had been in both the territories of the Republic and the Separatists and traveled to numerous planets trying to stay neutral. She knew the gossip from one side of the galaxy to the other and reported everything to her House. Obligations done, Ghost had retired to this remote system and this singular moon to observe her other, more personal duty. Believing herself removed from the conflict and safe to return to her preferred isolation when away from home, she had been shocked when the war came here too. In hindsight, that had been a foolish notion. Nowhere was safe from such a conflict. Nowhere in the known galaxy that is, and Ghost was thankful for her hidden homeworld. There, her family would remain untouched. The isolation of planet Oura meant safety, and the Drasha would assure it.

The forest beyond the base was not dense and the army had an easy time moving through it, leaving a broad trail a blind slug could follow. Ghost slid down the roof and dropped to the ground. From there she left the base and ambled through the trampled grass.

****

    The army approached the cliffs, Skywalker sent scouts ahead to spread out across the edge and watch. His soldiers would be exposed to attack as they repelled down, perfect time for an enemy air strike. Skywalker had a sneaking suspicion one would not be forthcoming but if any of the scouts spotted a single Vulture droid he could call on his own fighters, their pilots on standby just in case. The Jedi and a detachment of soldiers were dropped off below by a gunship to guard the bottom of the cliff. First over the edge were a pair of the AT-TEs, which simply stepped over the cliff face. Their accordion-like midsection flexed, allowing them to bend and continue walking straight down, their claw-like feet affording a solid grip on the stone. Following behind the tanks came the first of the companies.

The recon report had said that aside from the fortified outpost, the canyons were dotted with guard stations at bottlenecks and battle droids patrolled the cliffs and channels, but Skywalker saw no sign of any opposition. The rest of the army had landed and he spotted Captain Rex approaching.

"Well Rex, which do you think? Ambush or are they just going to let us walk up to their front door?"

"Ambush, sir."

"Even if your friend is right? The Separatists may actually want us to establish ourselves down here."

"Even if true, letting us walk in would be too suspicious. They may not want to stop us here, but they will want to hurt us."

"Hmm, good point. These canyons are ideal for an ambush. Let's keep an eye on those cliff tops."

The army reorganized itself into a column six clones across and funneled into the canyon. Their chosen path was a relatively shallow channel that afforded them some cover without completely cutting off their view for the most part. The low cliffs on either side did rise up higher in places however, and these were the spots the soldiers paid closest attention to. Thus, the warning cry came as no surprise.

Torrent Company was rear guard and on high alert. Fives and Echo felt the subtle vibration through the soles of their boots and looked up even as someone started yelling, "Rockfall, 'ware above!"

Soldiers darted forward, scrambling out of the way, as the first slabs of sandstone crashed to the canyon floor. Fives and Echo rushed to follow their column but a boulder rolled across their path and Fives screamed, "Back, back!" They reversed course and were engulfed in red dust and the sound of growling thunder. The two clones burst from the cloud at a full sprint and did not stop until they were half out of breath. The ground shuddered for several seconds before all was again still.

"Look at that, clankers brought the whole cliff face down." Echo waved away the dust and looked up at the massive pile of stone blocking the path forward and cutting off retreat for the army. Fives had started to move towards it to examine the rock fall when more stone came loose and tumbled down. "Best stay back, Fives. It's nowhere near stable."

"Yeah. I don't think we're climbing over that. Hope the boys ahead of us made it clear."

The pair's wrist coms came alive and Fives raised his arm to listen.

"All units report status."

"Captain, this is Fives. Echo's next to me. We're uninjured but cut off."

"Understood, rejoin if you can, otherwise find a secure position and wait."

The com went silent and picked up static and after a few moments Fives cocked his head to the side and listened. "Sounds like blaster fire."

"I'd say the general finally met some resistance."

"And us stuck back here out of action. Shiprat's luck!"

"Well," Echo looked around, "what are our options?"

Fives gestured towards a narrow side canyon. "That might run parallel."

Echo walked over to look down the passage. "Seems to descend. But it does look to angle in the right direction. We'll try it a ways and see if it joins back up to the main path."

"Can't hurt."

"Wanna' bet?" Echo gestured towards the tough plant life filling the passage with thorns and spines.

"Well alright, maybe it'll hurt a little," Fives conceded.

The passage sloped gently at first, then more steeply before it transformed into a giant's staircase of short drops interspersed with prickly scrub filled pockets of level ground. Fives levered himself over a ledge and dropped to the ground below as Echo carefully negotiated his way past a shrub bristling with stiletto-like spines.

"Fives, we're going to hit the floor of the lower level before we see any chance of getting back up to where the army is at."

"Probably, but I'd rather move forward and see where this takes us than try climbing back up the way we came. At least we're still heading in the right direction, even if it's at the wrong elevation."

Echo hissed and paused to pull a spine out of the back of his arm. "Damn things have an uncanny way of finding all the soft spots."

"Hey, you hear that?"

Echo flicked the spine away. "Droids on the march."

"Lots of 'em. Up ahead."

The pair cautiously worked their way forward. Finally, the narrow passage opened up onto a broad ledge overlooking the bottom of the canyon. The final drop was a good nine meters. Here, the floor of the canyon was a grand corridor walled on either side by towering multi-tiered cliffs. The hard, gritty ground was densely covered in more of the tough thorny scrub, saw edged grasses, and stunted stiletto trees. Also droids, lots of droids. They were humanoid in body shape and utilitarian in design. Their heads were almost birdlike, with long cylindrical faces and tiny eyes.

"Couple hundred at least, and four tanks," whispered Fives.

"They're marching somewhere with a purpose. Headed in the same direction as our forces."

The pair had crept to the edge of the ledge overlooking the ground below. Laying flat, they watched the column of mostly B1 battle droids and a scattering of bulkier super battle droids march past.

"If they're moving to intercept, they've got a climb ahead of them."

"Not with those AATs."

"Yeah, so what are they up to?"

"I could try scouting ahead to see where they're going," suggested Ghost.

The startled clones scrambled back from the edge and looked up to see Ghost crouching next to them.

"What are you doing here?!" Echo whispered harshly.

"I followed you."

"Why? Ghost, it's dangerous here."

"If it's dangerous for me, it's dangerous for you."

"We're soldiers, we have to be here."

"I'm a Mandalorian and I choose to be here."

"Tsst!" Fives had moved away from the drop-off and was motioning for Echo and Ghost to join him, "can we continue this conversation back here? I don't know how good those droids' hearing is but you two are whispering very loudly."

The three reconvened huddling next to the cliff face.

"Besides," Ghost continued, "My people aren't exactly known for being battle shy."

"I thought your people were pacifists these days." Echo said.

"Yeah, well, not every Mandalorian follows the trends on Mandalore. I keep my own traditions. Let me help. I have mobility options you don't. I can zip up ahead, take a peek, and report back."

"Fine," said Fives, "just don't get yourself spotted or we'll have a few hundred droids using us for target practice. We'll be on the move too, shadowing the clankers as they march south."

"You got it." Ghost said with a bright smile and was off.

The winds had carved the sandstone of the canyons into many fantastic shapes. Great spires rose from the edges of the cliffs or the canyon floor. Arches bridged the curving walls of red and yellow stone and columns tilted together like the ruins of a fanciful cathedral. As she ran along the ledge, Ghost took aim at a finger of stone higher up the cliff and fired a grapple wire. The arrowhead tip punched into the stone and anchored. With a mechanical whine, Ghost drew herself up to a higher route. The ledge here was narrow but gave her a longer view of the canyon floor. Further ahead, past a massive stone arch, the canyon seemed to open up into a wider space. With a thought, she released the anchor, reeled the wire in, and dove off the cliff.

As Ghost dropped, she thrust her right arm out, hand balled into a fist, and fired the grapple wire from where it set in its niche above the wrist. The spindle inside her arm, below the shoulder, played the wire out at high speed. As soon as the tip anchored into the stone, she revved the spindle motor briefly, reeling in enough wire to lurch forward and increase the acceleration of her swing. She released the anchor and repeated the gesture with her left arm at the top of her arc, finding another anchor point, and continuing her undulating flight.

A new perch in the form of a flat topped column rising high above the canyon floor presented itself. Ghost set both anchors into a jutting point on the cliffs above and swung beneath it. Approaching the bottom of her swing she kicked the spindles into high gear. A wave of heat was expelled from the vents on her upper arms, distorting the air as the spindles whirred madly in their metal casings. Tightening her swing and releasing the anchors as she hit maximum velocity on the upward arc, Ghost launched herself towards the sky.

It was a perfected maneuver, one she had performed in these very canyons many times. It was here she had tested her unique wire and spindle apparatus, testing the power of the motors and her ability to control her direction and momentum. The RPM of the spindles was already far beyond what flesh and bone could handle and she'd tweaked the acceleration values to push to the edge of what her metal joints could manage without ripping her arms off. After years of practice, so long as she had an anchor point, she'd learned to fly. Her landings weren't always graceful though.

This time her calculations were exact, and with a flourish, she flipped at the apex of her parabolic flight and landed solidly at the center of the column top. From here, she had a commanding view of the corridor below and the surrounding cliffs. Far below her the long lines of droids marched south. Ahead of them their route passed beneath a stone arch and ended in a large cul-de-sac. The cliffs beyond that were step-like and easy enough for the droids to traverse, but impossible for the hovering Separatist tanks. The canyon cul-de-sac itself must be their destination. Ghost turned her gaze upwards. The Republic army was following a route across the upper regions. She knew the passage they'd taken and spotted the natural bridge they'd have to cross to go deeper into the canyon lands. The Separatist tanks would have a clear shot at it from the cu-de-sac far below.

The two clones watched in wonder as Ghost used a grapple line to zip upward, then proceeded to fling herself through the air and down the canyon.

"Huh, most Mandalorians would just use a jet pack," commented Echo.

"Whatever works, time for us to get moving as well."

They rose from their crouch and, hugging the canyon wall, ran along the ledge. The droids were making enough noise with their mechanical whirring and clicking as they marched along that the pair didn't worry about the sound of their own footfalls. There was an overhang ahead and the troopers went belly down and crawled out onto it. They'd gotten ahead of the droids and watched the army approach.

"Not moving too fast. Where do you think this force is in relation to ours above?" Fives asked.

Echo thought the question over. "That depends on how long that attack delayed them, probably to give this lot time to do whatever they're up to." Echo heard the crunch of boots on gravel behind him and this time was not surprised when Ghost joined the conversation.

"I'm pretty sure they're moving those tanks into position to fire on a bridge your army needs to cross."

Fives looked back at her, "You see any of our troops?"

"No, they wouldn't have reached the bridge yet."

"We've got to warn them." Echo backed away from the edge and knelt as he tried to raise the captain on his com. Only static greeted his efforts. "Signal's jammed," he said in disgust.

"Then we need to figure a way to stop them ourselves." Fives asserted.

"Well that's a tall order."

"Don't be such a pessimist. There's got to be something down here we can use to at least delay them."

Echo looked down the canyon. "How many detonators you got?"

"Just two," said Fives.

"Same, not enough to drop that stone arch."

Wordlessly Ghost unbuttoned her coat and flipped open the right side. The interior of the coat was lined with row after row of explosives in a multitude of flavors.

Echo was dumbfounded. "Why do you carry so many bombs?"

Deadpan, "It's a roomy coat."

Fives stifled a laugh. "I'll take three."

The trio hurried to the massive stone arch and attached five bombs to both ends of it. Ghost assured them that would be enough to detach the broad span and drop it neatly into the canyon below. The droids were using the tanks to push over the taller brush in their path and Fives, on the far side of the arch, saw them just starting to break through the nearest cluster of stiletto trees as he set his last bomb. Staying low, he scurried back up over the arch then dove onto his stomach to slide down the other side. Ghost and Echo caught him and the three ran for cover among a cluster of jutting stones.

They were close to the end of their ledge. It dropped off at the cul-de-sac rather than continue around the broad curve of the wall. From here they couldn't directly see the tanks enter the area beneath the arch, but they would see the tip of the tank's long cannon protrude from the near side. That would be the moment Ghost hit the button on her remote detonator.

"Would be nice if they could go through two by two but I don't think those shovel bottomed tanks will fit. Yeah look, they're rearranging their formation to go single file." Fives watched the droids reorganize. "Here they come."

Two squads of B1s lead by a B2 super battle droid preceded the tank line. Ghost watched, holding her breath, for the tank's cannon to appear. The fading light of late day glinted off the tip of the barrel and Ghost pressed the button.

The canyon reverberated with the sound of the explosion, followed by a dull boom that shook the ground as the stone span struck the dirt, completely flattening the front of the Separatist tank. The trio snickered as the droid operating the turret on top of the tank was neatly catapulted, it's spindly limbs windmilling comically, up and over the obstruction to land on top of its comrades within the cul-de-sac.

"Someone's up there!" a droid sergeant yelled. "Open fire!"

The droids within the corridor turned and started firing their blasters at the ledge. The angle meant nothing was going to hit them, but Ghost and the clones quickly moved to vacate their position.

"They'll be throwing grenades next, we need to get down from here," Fives lead the way.

The clones went over the cliff edge to free climb down into the cul-de-sac. Ghost set her anchor line and started repelling when she spotted something below.

"Super droid!" she warned her companions before releasing her line and dropping straight down on top of it. She body slammed the bulky droid into the ground, popped the metal talons hidden in her fingertips, and ripped it's disproportionately tiny head off.

Fives and Echo dropped down next to where she knelt on top of the sparking body.

"Are you alright?" Echo asked in concern.

"I'm fine." Ghost said as she stood and hopped off of her victim.

"You're fine after a six meter belly flop on top of an armored droid?" Fives asked incredulous.

"I'm sturdy."

Blaster fire suddenly popped around them and Ghost followed the clones deeper into the brush.

"I think I saw something." A droid armed with an E-5 blaster rifle was quickly followed by the rest of its troop. They fanned out and began poking into the dense scrub lining the edge of the canyon.

"We need to move or we'll be surrounded." Fives unhooked his own rifle from where it hung at his hip. "Let's make our way around the perimeter and-"

Ghost had played out a bit of her wire and unscrewed the grapple tips, sliding them into her coat and replaced them with a pair of small steel-gray spheres. Then sliding her hand into the right breast of her coat she bolted. Echo reached out to try and pull her back into cover only to be dragged back by Fives. The pair of clones crouched beneath the sheltering branches of a thorny shrub as blaster fire zipped past.

"Hey you! Stop!" The lead droid called out as it stopped firing.

"That doesn't look like a clone, should we blast them anyway?" asked another droid.

"I don't know, let's catch them first."

The center of the canyon cul-de-sac was a sea of gray-green saw edged grasses surrounding a thicket of stiletto trees. Ghost laughed as a shot pinged off her arm and she ran heedlessly through the waist high grass into the thicket of trees. She'd easily outpaced the droids who doggedly followed in her wake. Behind them came Fives and Echo.

"Dammit!" Fives ripped his foot free from an entangling bramble and Echo caught him as he nearly lost his balance. “Is she crazy?”

"We're not going to catch up!" Echo dragged him forward as he used his rifle to shove more clinging branches out of their way. "What is she thinking?"

They finally fought clear of the scrub and entered the saw grass as the droids disappeared into the thicket of trees. Immediately the thicket was lit from within by blue flashes and a static crackling.

"Electromines." Echo slowed up and walked cautiously among the bristling trees.

Fives followed him. "Looks like she got most of them," he said as he stepped over the bodies of a dozen smoking droids, their circuits fried.

"Not all." Echo pushed through the trees towards the clearing on the other side and there he and Fives were treated to a show.

Ghost stood in the open facing off the remaining droids which stood in a firing line before her. Gripped in each hand she held a length of wire that she twirled with blinding speed. With a twist of her body she threw the spinning wires into a whistling orbit, sending their weighted tips lashing outward and knocking the blasters out of the droids' hands.

"Hey! That was rude," said one of the droids as it backed away.

The droids bunched together as they retreated in uncertainty.

Then Ghost seemed to dance. She pirouetted forward, throwing the spin of her body down the wires and sending the metal orbs, first one, then the other, sailing without resistance through the heads of the two nearest B1s. On the next step she leaped, continuing her spin in the air and smashed the head of a third. On her landing she bounced into a high forward tuck redirecting the spin of her wires into a hard downward slice. The twin weights hit the top of the droid's head and shattered their way down through its lightly armored torso. They impacted the ground and rebounded into a reverse spin as Ghost landed.

The last remaining droid turned and ran, only to be brought up short in front of the clones.

"Oh no..." It said in misery.

"Yours or mine?" Fives asked Echo.

Echo shrugged. "Yours."

Fives casually raised his blaster and shot the B1's head off.

Ghost slowed the twirling of her wires, letting the orbs stall out at the top of their arc and drop neatly into her hands.

"What are those?" Echo indicated the orbs as Ghost unscrewed them from her wire tips.

Ghost held one up. It was a small sphere with five short, blunt spikes, four around its circumference and the fifth at the end opposite the attachment point. She tossed it to Echo who caught it, then nearly dropped it. The weight was shocking as he hefted it in his hand. The sphere was small enough that he could conceal it in his palm but he estimated it must weigh around one and a half kilos or more.

"Tungsten morning stars." Ghost grinned.

"Ah, well then. No wonder you were smashing things with them." Echo tossed the heavy ball back to Ghost who slipped it under the left breast of her coat.

"Okay Mandalorian, if you wanted to impress us you succeeded, but a bit of warning would have been nice." Fives said as he rehung the blaster rifle from his belt and crossed his arms. "Let us in on the plan next time."

"Plan?" Ghost said with a raised eyebrow.

"You ran out in front of a bunch of armed droids without knowing what you were going to do?"

"I had a general idea."

"Seems like a good way to get yourself killed." Echo admonished.

Ghost shrugged. "Not dead yet. I'm more of an improviser and opportunist than a planner."

Echo could only shake his head.

"Speaking of plans, I have an idea." Fives had twisted to look in the direction of the droid army before turning back towards Ghost. "You have any smoke bombs?"

The droids had fired countless rounds and lobbed dozens of grenades at the ledge running along the cliff face before their commander was able to get their attention and stop them from attacking.

"Think we got them?" asked a droid as it craned its skinny neck to try and see the top of the ledge.

"I'm surprised there's even a ledge left." said another.

Two B1s were inspecting the slab of stone now blocking their path.

"This isn't good, sir," said a lieutenant addressing the commander. "There's no way we'll be able to move this within our timetable."

The droid commander considered. "You're right. We need new orders."

"How do we get new orders with the signal jammer activated? It may have stopped the Jedi army from calling for help, but now we can't call for help either."

"We'll march back the way we came and return to the outpost."

"That's the long way around, weren't we supposed to go up the staircase cliff to join the attack after we blew up the bridge?"

"If we go back the way we came, we can take the remaining tanks with us."

"Oh! Good idea."

"That's why I'm in charge. Let's get these tanks turned around." The droid commander turned and shouted to the ranks of battle droids. "Company, about face!"

Smoke bombs and flares suddenly rained down around the tanks filling the area with thick clouds and blinding points of heat and light to confound the droids photoreceptors and infrared vision. Some of the brush caught fire and droids ran to stamp these out even as the commander yelled for them to prepare for an attack. The droids braced themselves, but nothing happened and the smoke thinned out and slowly vanished.

"Well that was weird," said the lieutenant.

The commander looked around and seeing nothing out of place stated, "It must have been a distraction so the enemy could run away. Enough delays, let's get moving!"

The three tanks had rotated to face the amassed droids. As the machine soldiers moved out they drifted after, all save for one, the last one in line. The droid up on the turret seemed to be leaning awkwardly against the back of the cannon mount when the tank suddenly fired, blowing up the tank immediately in front of it. The droids reacted in confusion and turned to stare at the sudden fireball when the rear tank fired again and blew up the lead tank. The B1 in the turret stiffly fell out and tumbled to the ground, in its place a clone popped up and gave them a jaunty wave as the secondary blasters came alive and poured fire into the droid's ranks.

Echo peered through the screen of the targeting computer and sprayed heavy blaster fire at the panicking droids while yelling into his com. "Fives, keep firing that cannon!"

Fives waited half a second for the cool down and muttered to himself, "stop having fun, Fives, get to work," before firing another shell straight down the lane. The corridor was like a shooting gallery and the droids had no cover aside from the highly flammable shrubbery.

"Like blasting fish in a barrel." Echo turned towards Ghost sitting in the pilot's seat. "Figure out how to operate this thing yet?"

"Well, if I hit enough buttons, something will do something, surely." The tank lurched forward, then moved to the side. "Okay, think I got it." Ghost started moving the tank around the flaming wreckage giving the clones a clear view and advanced. Echo swept the corridor with blaster fire and Fives unloaded with his rifle between cannon shots. In only a few short minutes there was nothing left to shoot and much of the brush had erupted into an inferno.

"Time to get out of here!" Echo yelled as Ghost vacated her seat and shoved open the hatch.

Fives, Echo, and Ghost evacuated their commandeered AAT and ran to climb over the fallen arch as the canyon filled with smoke.

"This is going to make for one hell of a story. The boys'll never believe us!" Fives laughed.

"Well, you've got outstanding evidence that something happened," Ghost said as she ran, indicating the raging fire behind them.

The trio sprinted to the end of the canyon and reached the sandstone formation the droids had called "the staircase". Bounding their way up it, they hoped this path would finally lead them back to the Republic forces.

The battle to take the outpost only lasted around two hours. The droids fired from the cliffs, the clones took cover within the canyons, and the two sides shot at each other with little effect. Uncharacteristically, the droids refused to hold their positions and fell back if advanced on, constantly shifting their positions without letting up on their onslaught. The result was a slog towards their goal for the clones, having to chase down and stamp out pockets of droids. This continued until the Republic army moved past the great span of stone that bridged a deep gap between the cliffs. Once on the other side, the droid forces seemed to melt away. Expecting another ambush, Skywalker lead his forces forward cautiously, but no further attacks materialized, and once they reached the outpost, they found it abandoned.

Bomb sweeps revealed nothing and it looked as though the droids had been stripping the outpost as soon as the Republic army invaded the canyons. Skywalker left behind a detachment to man the outpost and establish a secondary post at the top of the plateau cliff to keep watch on the lands below. He then led the rest of his forces back to their base.

****

    The milky blue face of Se-2 was reduced to a bright crescent and Deande was entering the twilight hours while floodlights kept the base lit bright as day. Groups of clones gathered around the returned troops to hear about the events of the canyon battle and Fives and Echo quickly drew a crowd as they told about their adventure. Ghost also found herself the center of attention and showed off the versatility of her wires. The clones set up random objects as targets and she skillfully thwacked them with her morning stars. Then she switched out the weighted tips for leather strips and snapped the lines like a bullwhip. She swapped one leather strip out for a carabiner clip to create a lasso and roped Jesse much to the amusement of his friends. Finally, she topped one wire with a sling and using pebbles for ammo, performed trick shots for her growing audience.

"Nice aim with such an anachronistic weapon," Longshot had joined the audience and was watching Ghost's performance with approval.

"Thanks," Ghost touched the brim of her hat. "I can do more than knock over cans though."

"I'd like to see what you can do with a blaster. We've set up a firing range if you're interested."

"I don't carry a blaster."

The clone marksman looked surprised. "You don't? Why?"

"I'm a terrible shot."

"Oh come on, anyone can learn how to shoot."

Echo looked at her curiously. "I thought you said you followed older Mandalorian traditions. Surely you've been trained how to handle most any kind of blaster."

"I have," Ghost said with a touch of impatience. "I'm just not so hot at hitting my target."

Longshot gestured at all of the targets Ghost had easily struck with wire and sling. "Nonsense, someone must have botched your training. I can get you shooting straight in no time."

Ghost held up her hands, "that's neither necessary nor a good idea," but he was already steering her towards the firing range.

Fives, Echo, and a group of troopers from their company followed along and parked themselves on a nearby bench to watch as Longshot handed Ghost a practice rifle.

"Go ahead and aim at the target, I want to see how you hold it."

Ghost did so and the clone inspected her grip and stance then moved behind her to sight down the barrel before finally nodding in satisfaction as he stepped to the side.

"I see no faults and you're dead on, go ahead and fire."

Ghost pulled the trigger and a small puff of smoke erupted from the ground just behind and to the left of the target.

"Eh?" Longshot shook his head. "You must be moving when you pull the trigger. He repositioned himself behind her to watch her aim more closely. "Fire again."

This time the shot went wide to the right and hit the ground in front of the target.

"That's... no, that doesn't... let me see that rifle."

Longshot took back the blaster and pulled its battery pack before giving it a thorough inspection, even going so far as to dismantle the barrel and examine the pieces. Reassembling it, he took aim at the target and hit it dead center three times before finally handing it back to Ghost.

"You know," Ghost said, "my last fire instructor insisted I was cursed, then went into early retirement."

"Rediculous. Let me aim for you this time." The clone positioned the rifle as Ghost held it, and fired the blaster, again hitting the bullseye. He then carefully let go and sighted down the barrel again to try to catch the slightest quiver. "Okay, don't move, just pull the trigger."

"What's all this?"

The men sitting on the bench stood as Captain Rex joined them.

"Sir," said Fives, "we're just watching Longshot..."

The clone sniper was frantically gesticulating at the Mandalorian as he said in rising tones, "That is physically impossible!"

"...slowly lose his mind." Fives finished with a grimace.

Echo leaned over. "I think it might be time for an intervention."

Longshot was again examining the rifle as they walked over. Dustoff separated from the group and slung his arm across Longshot's shoulders.

"Leave off that and let's head to the mess."

Longshot shook his head, "No, there's a logical explanation for-."

"I'm sure there is. C'mon, brother, I'll get you a coffee." Dustoff gingerly took the rifle and handed it off before guiding the protesting trooper away.

The gathered men watched the two walk off before turning to look at Ghost.

"Hey," raising her hands as she shrugged, "I warned him it was a bad idea."

Fives was shaking his head in wonder. "How can you shoot wide in either direction without moving?"

"My theory is my mother sucked up all the talent before giving birth to me." Ghost then turned to Rex. "Captain Rex, how are you? You've come on down to share vital information with the troops yes?" Ghost widened her eyes in emphasis.

Rex's eyes twinkled in amusement as he turned to address the men. "As a matter of fact, I do have news to pass on. We've got some extended down time ahead of us."

"Really? Right after taking ground from the Sepies? No movement out of the clankers at all?" asked one of the troopers.

"They gave that outpost away then went and bottled themselves up in their base," said another.

"The Separatists want us to make the next move. They have to have something cooking." Fives frowned. "So what's the general's plan?"

"For now, the plan is to wait," Rex stated. "We're headed into the moon's night and we'll be at more of a disadvantage than the droids in the cold and dark. Since they aren't in a hurry, no need for us to be."

A clone sighed, "so we're going to be sitting on our hands for, what, almost fifty hours?"

"I'm afraid so, trooper." Rex said sympathetically.

After that, most of the group broke up with clones drifting off either towards the mess tents or their barracks. Only Rex, Fives, and Echo remained and unhurriedly walked Ghost back to her camp.

"Fives, Echo," the pair gave Rex their attention, "I wanted to let you know your actions down in the canyon bottom have been noted. You did good work down there."

"Thank you, sir," smiled Echo, "we did have a bit of help though."

Rex turned to Ghost. "Thanks are due you as well, though I'm not sure how to feel about your involvement in a combat situation."

"Please don't tell me it's dangerous. I'm familiar with the speech. I can take care of myself."

"No doubt, but no one here wants to be responsible for the injury or death of a civilian who got themselves mixed up in our fight."

"No one here is responsible for me."

"Wrong. When we go into battle, we are responsible for ourselves and the soldiers next to us. It's not possible to control all that goes on in combat, but we take care that our actions do not put our brothers in danger. If you choose to walk out on a battlefield, you become part of that dynamic as well. Please be careful, and please be mindful."

Ghost looked at Rex for a long moment, before solemnly nodding.

They reached Ghost's camp and she swung out her arm in invitation. "Care to join me for a bit? I can stoke up the fire and put the kettle on."

Fives and Echo looked interested but Rex hesitated. "You boys go ahead. I think I'll be heading back."

"Rex, please, stay and chat for a bit if you can."

Rex looked at her and considered, "Alright, but," then turned to his company's newest recruits, "only if you two stop trying to stand at attention. We're all off duty here."

"Yes, sir. Habit, sir." Echo made the effort to relax.

"It's different out here than Kamino, or even at your first posting. You'll settle in quick enough."

"Speaking of settling in, please, have a seat." Ghost added two more folding stools to her set and was breathing life back into her fire.

The clones made themselves at home and Rex leaned back to look up.  A sliver of the planet was still visible, but the rest of it carved a great black hole in the sky, with only a scattering of the brightest stars visible above the moon's horizon.

Fives also looked up at the sky, then asked Ghost, "what's the night like here, aside from incredibly dark and long?"

"How dark it is depends on where you're at. Out on the desert or in the canyons, it's nearly black as a cave. It gets cold too. There will be frost on the ground before we see the sun again, though air mixing in from the sunward side of the moon keeps it relatively temperate here. You want to see real cold, go into the umbral region where the planet takes up the whole sky and the sun is never sighted. It's colder there than the poles and the ice never thaws."

"Now up here in the forest, it's quite a bit brighter because so many plants and animals are bioluminescent. You won't see it near your base. It's bright enough most creatures probably think it's still day, but go further away and almost everything glows."

All bundled up in thermal gear, my breath visible in the air. Charna leading me by the hand to the field of flowers. Their petals glowed the softest purple and their stamen shone as tiny points of white light. As if the absent stars had come to rest here amidst a hazy lavender nebula.

"Nighttime on the plateau is beautiful; I prefer it to the day. The broomtop trees don't glow but the moss that commonly grows on their bark glows a soft green. The plumes of the foxtail flowers that carpet the open spaces shimmer gold and the white flowers of the moondrop tree only open at night, shining like their namesake. Swarms of emberflies fill the forest like clouds of sparks from a bonfire. When I was little I'd run around with a net catching as many as I could to fill a jar. They'd light up as brightly as a lantern, but you can't keep them bottled. They don't live long."

Ghost's description had captivated the clones and the silence held after she finished speaking, the spell finally breaking as she moved her kettle away from the fire.

"Would anyone like a cup of tea?"

"Please." Rex affirmed and Fives and Echo nodded.

Ghost poured the boiling water into her pot and dropped in a teabag to steep.

"How long have you been coming here?" Fives asked.

"Since I was six. My sister and brothers would bring me here. Charna was eldest, followed by the boys, Ren and San, then a nine year gap to me. When I was little I, um, could get overwhelmed pretty easily so, this was like a sanctuary. The known galaxy is a crowded place. There aren't a lot of spots that are both pleasant and empty of people."

Ghost collected her cups, filling them from the teapot and passed them to her guests.

Rex accepted his with a nod of thanks and spoke. "I've already said this, but I am truly sorry we've disturbed this place."

"It's fine. I know I was... a bit upset at first but," Ghost laughed self-consciously, "This is going to sound sad but I've been living like a hermit when I'm away from home and I've actually enjoyed the company. You clones are a lively bunch."

"If I may ask," Echo said tentatively, "Why like a hermit?"

"I don't know. I've interacted as needed with lots of people but I never bothered making friends. I don't know why."

"Sounds lonely."

Ghost tilted her head to the side in thought. "No, I don't think I've been lonely. If I wanted people around I'd just go home. I think I just wasn't looking for company. Are you clones ever alone?"

"Hah! Rarely. Echo and I have been together since we were formed into our final cadet squad." Fives nudged Echo with his elbow.

"Sadly true." Echo carefully kept his cup from spilling as he was jostled. "I've been putting up with Fives for a long time."

"And how long is that?"

"Well, since we were seven."

"Seven? You have been together a long time. You look like you're what, in your twenties now?"

"Ah, yes and no. Clones have been genetically modified to age differently than regular humans. To clarify, physically our bodies are equivalent to that of a twenty year old human, but our literal age is ten years.  So Fives and I have been together.. for... three years..." Echo trailed off as he became aware of the look of shock on Ghost's face.

"Ten?! That would mean you age twice as fast as a regular human. By the time you're my age you'll be in your mid-forties?"

"Ghost, it's alright." Fives said soothingly, concerned with how upset she'd become. "That's just what's normal for us."

"But that's horrible, that's-"

"Ghost," Rex interjected, "we clones were created to do an important job. We know why we're here and the specifications of our creation. There's little point in arguing about something that can't be changed."

She found Rex's statement wholly unsatisfactory but the clones seemed at peace with this reality. She swallowed her objections to the idea that a deliberately shortened lifespan was perfectly fine and acceptable and took a deep breath. "Sorry. That wasn't a revelation I was anticipating."

"No worries, and I'm sorry too." Echo said. "I'm not really used to talking about these sorts of things with non-clones. There's a lot we take for granted that other people might find strange or alarming."

"I suppose so." Ghost was silent a long time as she started really thinking about the implications of what it might mean to be one of these clones. "You're weird."

"Weird in a good way?" Fives gave her a hopeful smile.

"Just weird. Like my family is weird. Myself included. I'd like to know more. I hope you'll trade stories with me."

"Sure. Ask us anything."

They talked until the last sliver of light shining on the planet vanished. Despite her stated curiosity, Ghost kept her questions innocuous, in line with what she'd asked Rex during their first conversation. She wasn't quite ready for another upsetting revelation. Eventually the party broke up and Ghost bid goodnight to Fives and Echo, but as Rex turned to go she touched his shoulder.

"You were right. My House is very old."

Rex's eyebrows rose as he recalled the conversation.

"House Dyne dates from all the way back to the founding of the Mandalorian people, in fact."

"You seemed hesitant to talk about your family before."

"Well, Echo said he wasn't used to talking to non-clones about certain things. I'm not used to talking to anyone not of House or clan about much of anything at all. Plus, historically my family has had cause to keep a low profile."

"What changed your mind?"

"Well," Ghost shrugged and gave Rex a smile, "I'm not sure how much of that history matters anymore and... I've decided you clones are alright."

****

Echo lay back on his bunk. He'd stood for inspection and had breakfast with Fives at the mess but rather than wander off to the shooting range he'd returned to the barracks and packed up his armor. The barracks were empty and quiet for a change and he settled in to relax and read for a bit. Reception was lousy out here but he'd gotten the hand screen to pick up a few news feeds out of the Mid Rim. Head pillowed on one arm, he was scrolling through the available selection. Not surprisingly, a lot of it covered the war.

"Hey."

Echo started and fumbled the screen, finally clapping it against his chest as he turned his head to see Ghost, chin resting on her folded arms, peering at him from the edge of the mattress.

"How did you get in here?"

"I walked through the door. Is there another way in? Are you reading a regulation manual?"

"What? No, no I am not. For the record, whatever Fives says, I have never read manuals for fun."

Ghost slid off the side of Echo's top bunk and hopped off the ladder. "It's dreary in here. Looks like the inside of a cargo container."

"Well, you're not wrong." Echo sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed. "It's designed to be portable and armored for defense against airstrike."

"I do like the graffiti though. Adds some color and enhances the industrial wasteland feel." Ghost inspected some of the doodles various troopers who'd used these barracks had added to the walls over time. "What's this?" Ghost tapped the chest next to the head of the bottom bunk.

"That's my storage unit... that you are now rummaging through." Echo dropped down, his bare feet slapping on the floor. He was dressed in the simple v-neck shirt and cloth pants issued the clones for sleeping. He stood, hands on hips, watching Ghost as she pulled his helmet out of the chest. "Do you usually go through other people's belongings?"

"I promise I won't take anything."

"That's not really what I mean."

"Oh? That's usually what makes people upset." Ghost had lifted the helmet to peer inside of it.

Echo just shook his head and leaned against the end of the bunk. "You're Mandalorian."

"Yes?"

"I don't mean to stereotype but, you don't really wear traditional Mandalorian armor and I thought that was part of the old tenets of being Mandalorian."

"I wear a traditional cuirass under my coat. The beskar is thinner than typical though since the coat is armored too."

"And a hat instead of the helmet?"

Ghost slipped off her hat and handed it to him.

"Heavier than I expected." Echo turned it over and tapped the crown. "Metal plated inside the leather."

"It basically is a helmet."

"Why this style instead of that?" He pointed towards his helmet, its own shape inspired by Mandalorian design .

"Sensory incompatibility."

"Eh?"

"I can't tolerate having my head fully encased in a hard surface. I freak out. Since I'm not neurologically wired for a traditional Mandalorian helmet, I made my own compromise." Ghost held out her hand and Echo passed the hat back to her.

He was still digesting that bit of information when Ghost moved on.

"What's this thing?" She pulled out what looked like a black onesie for a toddler.

"It's a body glove. It goes under the armor."

She gave the material a tug. "Stretchy. How do you even put it on?"

"You'll have to use your imagination."

Next she pulled out his chest armor. "This is really light weight compared to Mandalorian armor."

"It's mostly made of plastoid instead of durasteel or beskar."

"That won't do much to stop a blaster bolt at close range."

"Any little bit helps, besides, a trooper may have to march, climb or fight in his armor for hours on end so lighter armor isn't as fatiguing to wear."

"What's this funny mark that looks like a hand print?"

"It's a hand print that looks like a funny mark."

Ghost impishly wrinkled up her nose. "You and Fives did invite me to ask you anything."

"We did," Echo conceded. "I just wasn't expecting to be grilled in my pajamas."

She chuckled. "Fair enough. This isn't even why I came in here. I just got distracted."

"Well, what can I do for you then?"

"I wanted to ask you and Fives for a favor. My ship's a ways out there and I wanted to make a supply run since I'm staying in my camp longer than I planned for. I also have an appointment to keep. Normally I'd just walk but you have speeder bikes and I promised Rex I wouldn't help myself to one. Mind giving me a ride?"

"Heh, Fives and I'll have to secure permission from the captain to leave base but I don't see a problem. Let me get dressed and we'll go see where Fives is kicking around."

"Okay." Ghost said brightly.

Echo stared at her as she stared at him.

"Ahhh, why don't you wait for me outside."

"Oh! Are clones modest?"

"Well I doubt there's any part of me my brothers haven't seen but... why don't you just head out and I'll be there in a moment."

"Sure thing." She handed him his chest armor back and left the barracks.

"Huh." Echo could only laugh.

When Echo stepped outside, he found Ghost reclining on the ground, propped on her elbows. She didn't immediately move when he approached so he sat down next to her.

"What is that hand print?"

"Still on that, eh?"

"Sorry, everyone has custom markings on their armor but yours is mostly plain white, except for that. It just sticks out to me."

"Well, I think of it as an initiation mark."

"Initiation?"

"It was our first post, Fives, me, and the rest of Domino Squad. That was the name of our graduating cadet squad. Long story short, things did not go well. We were supposed to protect an outpost that in turn kept Kamino, the closest we clones have to a homeworld, safe. Droids overran our post to stop us from alerting the Republic ships that a Separatist fleet was trying to invade. Our commander was killed and we lost half our squad, but Fives and I, and another squad member called Hevy lucked out. Captain Rex and Commander Cody had arrived to do an inspection and found us. This hand print is Rex's. He shot and killed a Rishi eel that popped out of its burrow to snack on us. Rex touched it and stained his hand in its blood, then left his print on my chest plate, telling me I was a 'shiny'. A rookie with clean, new armor. No experience."

"With the captain and commander's help, we took back our post and were able to warn the Republic that we were in trouble. It cost though. Hevy sacrificed himself to make our victory possible. So, that's what I mean by initiation. That was when the war became real, the stakes and costs high. I'm still a rookie, one of the new guys who just joined the 501st, but I stopped being a 'shiny' on that mission, when the captain stamped my chest plate."

"I knew there was a story there." Ghost said softly. "How did you deal with losing so many of your brothers? On your first mission. You must have only just completed training."

"Part of that training includes accepting loss quickly. In war, there often isn't time for anything else."

"So you just moved on?"

"In the moment, yes. It's not like I don't ever think about them, but as a soldier, I have to keep moving."

Ghost pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "I couldn't do that."

"Are, are you alright?"

A breath, then, "I'm fine." Suddenly Ghost stood, bouncing to her feet. "Let's go find Fives."

Fives was sitting on the bench at the firing range watching a couple of troopers compete with each other over who could shoot the fastest and still hit center target. He waved to Echo and Ghost and got to his feet as they joined him.

"I hope you're not here for another shooting lesson, Ghost.  Longshot still hasn't recovered." Fives winked.

"Heck no. That's a lost cause."

"We're here because Ghost has a mission for us."

"Oh?"

"Supply run to my ship, for one." Ghost confirmed.

Fives immediately perked up. "Anything to get me out of the base for a bit."

Echo turned to Ghost. "Alright, now to chase down the captain."

"I need to retrieve something from my camp for the trip. You two go ahead and I'll meet you by the bikes."

*****

    The further they moved from the base the darker it grew. The trees were sparse but the plant life that covered the ground was thick and the clones kept to a moderate speed. The sleek speeder bikes flowed over the gently sloping ground and crested the low hill.

"Whoa." Echo said softly as he and Fives let their bikes drift to a halt.

"Like I described, yes?" Ghost sat behind Echo and leaned to the side to view the meadow below the hill.

Shimmering like a golden foam on calm waters, the foxtail flowers waved in the gentle breeze.

"And look ahead, past the clearing and into the forest on the far side, see the lights?" Ghost pointed the way and the clones nosed their bikes down the hill and among the flowers, the hovering vehicles sailing like ships across a shining sea.

They traveled a short ways into the forest beyond before again stopping to take in the next wondrous sight.

"I see why they're called emberflies." Fives pulled off his helmet to better take in the spectacle.

The woods looked as though they were on fire. Glowing embers rose from the grasses and drifted among the tree leaves. The air was dense with sullen red specks and flashing yellow sparks. Ghost hopped off the bike and walked toward the clouds of luminous insects.

"Watch this!" Suddenly she ran through the swarm, waving her arms. The emberflies responded by flying in a swirling pattern. Ghost leaped into a helicopter spin and landed, enveloped in the center of a tornado vortex of red and yellow lights.

Entranced, Fives and Echo rose from their bikes and made their own experimental forays into the swarm. The emberflies responded to any movement by whirling around it in glowing eddies. Fives made a whole stream of emberflies spin in a long curlicue while Echo got another mass to pinwheel around him. Ghost laughed at the clones' antics.

Ren and San ran through the swarm making starship swooshing sounds and the emberflies provided the flaming contrails. I was squealing with laughter at the twins and waving my arms at the glowing insects to make them dance. Sen raced up to me and held out his arms.

"Mikkeli, want to fly?"

"EEEE!"

He held me up and I flapped my arms like a bird and we chased after Ren, the emberflies swirling madly around us.

Fives and Echo stood back to back in the center of a firestorm of their own creation, mesmerized by the wheeling lights. Ghost watched them even as she saw something more removed in time. She headed back to the bikes and leaned against one. Shortly, the clones joined her and she pointed to the top of a distant rise.

"You can just barely see it, the soft glow of a blooming moondrop rising above the shorter trees. That's our first destination."

They left the swarm behind them and headed up the gradual slope.

Ghost shouted over the whine of the speeder bikes. "We'll be running up against a hedgerow pretty soon. That's as far as the bikes can go."

A short while later, they did indeed come to a wall of greenery hiding what lay beyond. It was especially dark here, with only swaths of moss and the occasional colony of shelf fungus providing patches of blue and greenish light. The clones parked the speeder bikes, setting their helmets on the seats. Ghost slung her instrument case and a satchel over one shoulder then led the clones along the wall until they found a break in the hedge. She pulled a small light out of her coat and clipped it to her hat brim.

"The path through the shrubbery is dark and narrow but smooth. Follow me."

Fives followed behind Ghost, and took note that this wasn't an animal trail but a manicured walkway. The branches of the shrubs had been trimmed into smooth walls, the path itself carefully cleared of stones and sticks. It ran in a straight line for dozens of steps before abruptly opening up into a small clearing.

The enclosed area was circular, surrounded by more of the trimmed shrubs. At the far end grew the moondrop tree, the graceful curve of its trunk extended to the sweep of its branches, its canopy sheltered the space within. Its glowing flowers bathed the clearing in a soft white light. The floor of the clearing was carpeted by a dense mat of ground hugging plants with tiny round leaves. At the center of the clearing were three cairns.

"This will just take a few moments." Ghost turned off her light and tucked it back into her coat.

She walked to the cairns and knelt before them, slipping the case and bag straps off her shoulder. Echo and Fives watched her pull three short candles out of her satchel and set them on flat stones in front of the cairns as it slowly dawned on them what this place was.

The two clones looked at each other in surprise, then came to a silent agreement between them. Spacing themselves apart and a respectful distance behind Ghost, they stood at attention.

Ghost lit the candles and began speaking in Mando'a as she opened her instrument case. "Hello, Charna. Hello, Ren and San. I thought I might be late this year. You wouldn't believe the crazy shit happening on the moon right now. Two thousand plus clones showed up at my camp and are gonna' throw down with at least as many droids that have infested the canyons. I'm going to stick around to see how it all ends up. You probably won't believe me, but I made some friends and I want to keep an eye on them."

"Mother is doing fine, busy as always. She keeps wanting me to take your place, Charna, but I'm absolutely not cut out for inheriting that position. She'll just have to stay disappointed. Your father is also doing well. He and mother still get along like the old friends they are. I don't know why she didn't keep him, but you know mother."

"Ren, San, I'm being reminded of you two a lot lately. I think you'd really like the crowd I'm hanging out with. You two would have fit right in. I danced with the emberflies on the way here. I hadn't done that in forever."

"Not much else to say. I am having a bit of an adventure though, so maybe I'll have a good story for next time."

Ghost pulled her xilin out of its case and stood up. "You know, it's funny. I almost feel like the song I picked for tonight is too melancholy. I still like it though. Maybe next time I'll play something more upbeat for you."

She lifted the instrument, rested her chin on the padding at its round base and held its slender neck in one hand. She raised her bow and drew it skillfully across the strings. The instrument sang under Ghost's masterful direction. A song mournful yet sweet. She played for a few minutes before the song trailed to a gentle end.

Ghost knelt back down to settle the xilin into its padded case and pinched out the candle flames with her fingers. Once the wax had cooled, the candles vanished back into her satchel and Ghost stood, giving the cairns a final farewell bow before turning around.

"Eh? What's this? An honor guard?" She gave Fives and Echo a curious look as the two clones relaxed out of their formal stance.

"Well," Echo rubbed the back of his neck. "It seemed appropriate."

Fives nodded mutely.

"Ah..." Ghost stood quietly for a moment and slipped the bag straps over her shoulder. "I probably should have given you a bit of forewarning what I was out here for."

"It was your own business." Echo said. "We weren't owed an explanation."

"Heh, well, I really do need to visit my ship next."

"Lead the way," said Fives.

Ghost clipped her little light back onto her hat and began the return walk through the hedge path. She glanced back at Fives and Echo who in turn were looking back towards the clearing.

"It's not actually a burial site. There wasn't anything to bury. My sister and brothers have a formal memorial back home but I made my own out here. This was a special place for all of us."

"What-" Fives shook his head and cut himself off.

"What happened?" Ghost filled in.

"I didn't mean to pry."

"It's okay. It honestly is. It happened when I was fourteen so, nine years ago." Ghost fell silent as she thought about how to continue." My siblings traveled and, as soon as I was old enough, I traveled with them. My ship was originally Charna's in fact, with the twins making up the crew. We'd come home and Ren and San's father was visiting. Uh, I should probably mention that Charna, the twins, and myself all have different fathers."

"The twin's father was Nika Lyn, who operated a number of small mining stations on the local asteroid belt. One of them had been damaged by a collision and he'd asked for help from Charna's father, Bastian Rafalga, who's an engineer. Naturally, Charna, Ren and San wanted to lend a hand as well and I tagged along. The station had been evacuated and scanned for hull breaches and core stability and Nika had already done a preliminary visit. Everyone thought it was safe."

"We boarded. Bastian stayed in the loading bay to bring some equipment out of the shuttle. Nika lead Charna and the twins towards the station's center. I had lingered back with Bastion before leaving to follow after the others. I'd just entered the central ring when the energy core exploded. And, that's it. That's what happened. Bastian found me, but there was nothing left of anyone else. I didn't learn what had happened until months later after I'd recovered somewhat from my own injuries."

They had left the hedgerow path and returned to the speeder bikes. Ghost pulled off her instrument case and satchel and secured them safely in the cargo pod at the back of the bike as she finished her story.

"I'm so sorry, Ghost." Fives looked helplessly at Echo, who just shook his head sadly. "We don't know what else to say."

She smiled. "It's fine. You know, I'm usually in a pretty somber mood when I make this visit, but not this time. It's been nice having company. C'mon, I want to show you my ship."

They left the hidden clearing and headed due west. They made no further stops as Ghost pointed the way.

"Slow down," She called out. "We're almost there, you'd already see it if it were daytime."

The clones edged their bikes forward until the headlights reflected off the hull of a sizable ship. Echo pulled out a torch and directed its bright beam of light upward.

"Ah! A Kom'rk-class fighter/transport. I'm guessing a mark 2 by the wing height." Echo had raised his light to shine on the triangular wings. Locked in their landing position, they towered above the trees.

"Something like that. My people build'em a bit more compact." Ghost walked towards the tail of the ship and lowered the boarding ramp.

"Hey, Ghost. Looks like you lost a bit of fuel." Fives pointed his torch down at a large patch of dead grass and the telltale stain of ship fuel on the ground.

"Yeah, pirates, they're pretty rampant out in these edge regions. They like to hang out at transfer points. I'd dropped out of hyperspace to transfer to a different route when a small band jumped me. They got a bit more ship than they'd bargained for. Still, Truth or Dare ended up with a few holes. I was leaking fuel when I landed but I've got a temporary patch on it." Ghost trotted up the ramp, motioning for the clones to follow. They entered the ship and Ghost spread her arms wide. "Ta-daa!"

"It's a cargo hold." Echo said after looking around.

"Yes. It doesn't exactly lend itself to making a grand first impression but there wasn't a better place to put it. The upper deck is more impressive but first take a look at this."  She walked to the back of the cargo area and through a door that lead into a short hallway, the clones trailing behind. "Crew quarters to the right, refresher and shower on the left." Ghost passed these doors and walked through the access at the end of the hall then stood to the side to allow the clones through.

"A medical bay." Fives said in surprise. "Looks fully appointed, you even have a surgical pod."

The clones looked around the room as Ghost nodded like a proud proprietor. "My sister was a highly skilled medic. She turned this ship into a free clinic. That made it possible for us to go lots of places that might otherwise have been less than welcoming."

"Wait, were you offering honest medical assistance or using that as an excuse to travel?" Echo asked.

She shrugged, "both.  My family left Mandalor a long time ago and didn't leave a forwarding address. But isolation does not necessitate ignorance. It was my siblings' job, and now mine, to keep up with the happenings in the greater galaxy. My sister found a way to both help people and listen to the local gossip in a... synergistic fashion."

"Clever spying, in other words."

"Oh, don't sound so disapproving, Echo. We're not up to anything nefarious."

"Do you still operate as a clinic?" asked Fives.

"Well, no, though I am a level-2 field medic myself. I certainly can help others but I mostly learned medicine so I could patch myself up."

"You get into a lot of scrapes?" Fives crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow in inquiry.

Again, Ghost shrugged. "If you travel enough, that's a given. But in my case it was just a prudent reaction to... well, you saw how I used my wires in the canyon?"

"Yeah, to swing yourself around."

"I've come up with a lot of creative ways to use them; weapons, tools, and for locomotion. However, I do occasionally have an issue with inertia. Namely when it comes to stopping."

Fives chuckled. "You mean you crash into things?"

"Like a tiny wrecking ball. Mostly that's not a problem. I'm durable. But I have peeled the skin off my face by landing on it more than once."

"Ooo." Both clones grimaced and shuddered in reaction.

"C'mon, let's head upstairs and I'll grab my things."

They went back to the cargo area and up the stairs to a small room with lockers, then around the corner they entered a common area. It was a cozy space with plush seating for lounging on one wall, a galley on the opposite wall, and a large table at center.

"The near door is to my cabin, on the other side's the command room and beyond that the cockpit." Ghost opened a cabinet and pulled out a couple bags of dried grains and other staples.

The clones looked around the ship a bit then helped Ghost carry things from the kitchen and the refrigerator. Once back down in the cargo hold she retrieved a small box from storage and stuffed everything into a bag that they secured to the back of Echo's speeder bike.

"You have a nice ship, Ghost. It must be a handful operating on your own though."

Ghost closed the ramp and hopped on Fives' bike before answering him. "It's my home away from home. It can feel a little empty sometimes. Traveling about was the time I spent with my sister and brothers, until it wasn't. That was the new normal and I didn't try to change it. A crew might be nice. I don't think the Republic would let me steal a couple little brothers though."

"Little brothers?" Fives looked over his shoulder at her.

"Sorry. You and Echo remind me a lot of Ren and San. They were older than me. You two are a whole lot younger."

"Oh!" Fives felt slightly embarrassed as he pulled his helmet on.

"Now that's a wild thought," said Echo. To just fly off on a Mandalorian ship to parts unknown. What do you even do?"

"Do?"

"I mean, I know travel must be expensive with fuel costs alone."

"Oh, I see. Usually if I need money I just find a busy corner, put my hat out and play my xilin."

Echo paused halfway through putting his helmet on to stare at her. "You're a street performer?"

"I am a highly trained musician and dancer. What did you think I was?"

"I, well, I mean, you look like you might be a bounty hunter."

"Oh sure, I've been hired to crack heads before but I don't put myself out for that kind of work. Honestly it doesn't even pay as well. There are lots of little worlds that used to be frontier that are now just starting to become affluent. So you've got lots of people with money and not much to spend it on. They can be hungry for entertainment. I can really clean up in places like that, make a few thousand credits in two or three hours. It also provides the perfect excuse to synergisticly spy." She winked at Echo.

He just shook his head, "amazing," and slipped his helmet on.

"So how does being an explosives expert play into that?" Fives asked as he started the speeder bike's engine.

"I am Mandalorian. I was obligated to pick at least one specialty along with my general combat training. My focuses are hand to hand and melee as well as range with my wires. My specialty is demolitions and I later added medicine."

"Still, I'd think without a blaster you'd be at a disadvantage in most fights. What do you even do if somebody is shooting at you?"

"Take the hits.  My armor may be mostly nontraditional but I can tank like nobody's business. I'm actually a bit concerned by how flimsy your armor is."

"It may not compare to beskar, but not much does. Clone armor is hardly flimsy."

"Mmmm..." Ghost was unconvinced.

The speeder bikes were aimed back towards the base and sped through the bioluminescent lit night.

*****

    Thirty-two hours of darkness had passed with roughly eighteen to go before the sun again sailed from behind the planet. Thanks to the bright lights of the base, the darkness was hardly noticed. It was the boredom combined with anticipation for what the day would bring that made each hour seem to crawl by for the soldiers. The clones were far too disciplined to get up to serious mischief but any entertainment was a valuable commodity. And so, when Ghost walked into Torrent Company's mess tent and offered to play, she was met with eager enthusiasm.

The men were just finishing up their morning meal as she selected a set from her synth box. She liked to play with accompaniment, usually percussion, and had compositions saved to it to match every piece she played on her xilin. Ghost clipped the device to her coat and figured three songs wouldn't be too much.

By the time Ghost played her third song the tent was stuffed with troopers from other companies attracted by the music. After she finished her sixth the kitchen staff chased everyone out so they could clean up. As she packed up to go, clones from various companies asked if she wouldn't mind playing for them during meals. By the time she left the tent, she was booked solid.

"Look who's in high demand."

Ghost had left the tent when the clone hailed her and waved her over.

"Hey Aiden. I spotted you at one of the middle tables. You looked like you were about ready to jump up and dance."

The ARC Trooper was hanging out with a handful of clones near one of the ubiquitous stacks of boxes that formed a craggy landscape at the edge of the landing field. They'd set up a fusion lantern to ward off the growing chill in the air.

"What, and set aside all sense of personal decorum? Never!" Aiden said with dramatic affront.

"Yesterday you drew a face on a bucket, put it on your head, and did an impression of Commander Hangfire," said one of his companions.

"Wasn't me." Aiden winked at Ghost. "Let me introduce you to my squad; Birdie, Charlie, and fellow ARCie Grid." The trio nodded a friendly hello with Grid rolling his eyes at Aiden.

"Watch out for Aiden here, he's a corrupting influence," said Grid with a comradely swat at the ARC trooper's shoulder.

"I'm already a reprobate, who's in danger of corrupting who?" was Ghost's rejoinder.

"Oh ho! See, brothers? I said she was a lady after my own heart." Aiden playfully returned the swat, then sobered a bit. "With apologies, Ghost, we were actually talking about you. The music is much appreciated. You're quite the talent."

"Talent backed by years of practice." Ghost demured. "So what are you lot doing just hanging about?"

"Gossiping to pass the time," Aiden sighed. "Sooner than sunbreak we'll be marching in earnest. General's going to try something to roust the clankers out of their cozy canyon cabana. Meanwhile we're just cleaning our rifles and twiddling our thumbs."

"We could hit the range?" suggested Birdie.

Aiden just shook his head. "I've run dry on challenge ideas. You can only blast the same stationary target so many times before it loses its allure."

"Hah, we should let Ghost have a go!" said Charlie.

"Errmm..." Ghost grimaced.

"Oh! No no no, I didn't mean with a blaster. I meant with your sling. I was part of the group watching you show off with it."

"Show off? What did I miss?" asked Aiden.

"Other day she was pegging targets and doing trick shots."

"With a sling?"

Ghost nodded. "I can hit anything with a sling, not so much with a blaster."

"Well that sounds like a hoot. So if I pick out a target, you can hit it? What's your range?" asked Aiden.

"Anywhere in the base, no problem."

Aiden looked around at the vast space the base occupied. "Airfield included?"

"Yep."

"Really?"

"Pick a target." Ghost pulled the sling attachment out of her coat and replaced the grapple tip on her right hand wire then pulled a pebble out of one of her pouches.

"Let's see." Aiden searched around. "How about the top of that flagpole?" He pointed out a small company flag perched atop the roof of the nearest barracks.

"Pfffft." Ghost stepped a few paces away from the gathered and gave her sling a few lazy twirls before spinning it up and whipping it forward. The pebble sailed straight and true and bounced off the target. "Too easy."

"Alright then." Aiden cast around again. "There, between those two crates, somebody left a cup from the mess. You can do trick shots? Can you hit that on a ricochet?"

Ghost slipped another pebble into her sling and spun the line, this time she launched the pebble with extra force. It hit between the crates and bounced back and forth three times before hitting the cup.

"Nice!"

The clones were all nodding approval when Charlie suddenly piped up. "Hey, look over there, that trooper with the concentric rings on his chest plate."

Everyone turned to watch a trooper walking along the edge of the airfield some distance away.

"I don't want you to hurt him or anything but, that guy owes me three credits. Could you startle him or something?

"Want me to drop a bean on his bonnet?"

"That'll do!"

Ghost armed herself with another pebble and played out a bit more wire. This time she launched the pebble almost straight up into the air. She backed towards the boxes and watched. A moment later the clone in the distanced ducked his head and reached up to feel the top of his helmet as he stared at the sky. Ghost and Aiden's squad had quickly dodged behind the stack of crates and were struggling to muffle their giggles as their hapless target looked around in confusion.

"Oh no that is too good." Aiden peeked over the crate and scanned the airfield for another victim. "There! All the way back, mid row, standing next to that LAAT."

Ghost peered out to where the ARC Trooper was pointing and spotted a familiar helmet with a cog wheel painted on it in the far distance. "Don't tell me Jesse owes you money."

"Naw, I just think it'd be funny."

Ghost stepped casually out from the crates and glanced around to make sure she was in the clear. She played out more wire, placed a pebble in the sling and spun the line into a whistling whirl. She reached out with her free hand as a counterbalance and grunted with a bit of effort as she sent the pebble shooting into a steep arc. The pebble vanished into the dark sky as Ghost retreated back to the crates and the group watched in anticipation.

Jesse was looking at a datapad as he did basic maintenance on the troop transport when something small and hard pinged the top of his helmet."What the-!?" He felt the top of his helmet and looked up, then around as he tried to figure out what had hit him.

Ghost and the clones again dove for cover behind the crates. The men looked ready to choke as they tried to smother their laughing.

"What are you troopers doing?"

The clones froze, looked up, and immediately shot to their feet to stand at attention in front of Captain Rex. Ghost rose more slowly and leaned nonchalantly against the cargo boxes.

"Nothing, sir." said Aiden.

"Uh huh..." Rex narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he looked the soldiers over then turned towards Ghost with a raised eyebrow. Ghost simply shrugged at his quizzical expression. "I see. Well, why don't you boys go find something constructive to do for a while."

"Yes, sir!" the troopers chorused before collecting their helmets and scattering.

As Aiden passed Ghost he gave her another wink and whispered, "thanks for the fun," before trotting off in his jaunty way.

"Sorry to break up the party," said Rex, "but General Skywalker is requesting your presence at the command center."

"Really? What does the Jedi want with me?"

"I believe he wants to ask for your help."

*****

    When Ghost walked into the Command Center it looked much the same as the last time. The younger Jedi stood brooding over the holomap of the canyons and desert and the clone commanders stood in attendance, only Kenobi was absent.

Skywalker turned towards Ghost as she entered. "Welcome, Ghost. Thank you for coming. I hope calling you here hasn't been an inconvenience?"

Ghost crossed her arms and waited silently for him to continue.

"...Right, to business." The Jedi cleared his throat. "Do you know how to disarm one of these implorium bombs?"

"Yes."

"Is it difficult to do?"

"It requires a specific knowledge."

He nodded. "I hate to recruit a civilian-"

"I volunteer."

"It'll be a dangerous-" Skywalker stopped himself in reaction to the exasperated look she was giving him. "Hey, I had to make a token effort. Here's what I'd like to do. After sunrise I'll be moving the army out and make us a nice juicy target in the middle of the desert. I'm hoping the Separatist Commander will be willing to come out to play if he thinks his new toy will soften us up for an easy victory. That's where you come in. I need you to get into position near the desert compound and watch for activity. I doubt they'll want to set this bomb off close to their own buildings so when they bring it out, you disable it. I'm also assigning a squad to you for protection and to assist you in this mission."

"Simple enough."

"I hope so. We'll be moving out in the morning but I'd like you in position before it gets light. I'll send the squad to your camp to collect you in a few hours."

"Alright."

"Okay, good. Any questions?"

Ghost just gave him a blank stare.

"Rrright. We'll be working out the details and the squad will bring you up to date when they meet up with you." The Jedi gave Rex a nod and turned back towards the holotable. Rex motioned for her to follow him.

"Why are you the only captain in there?" Ghost asked once they were outside. "The other clones are all commanders."

"I also have the special duty of liaison to Jedi High Command. Basically, I work with General Skywalker to make sure communication and coordination are smooth and efficient between the Jedi and the 501st Legion. The general also leans on me as an adviser."

"You're a busy man, Rex."

"It keeps things interesting."

"You know, there's an old Mandalorian curse that goes, "May your life be interesting."

"Heh, I'll keep that in mind. Now I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Why are you so..." Rex searched for the most neutral word he could think of, "ill-disposed towards the Jedi?"

"...I don't feel like answering that question right now. Would you mind if I defer it until later?"

"Very well."

*****

    Ghost kept her promises to the clones and played for them at meal time, but after she finished up her dinner set she immediately retired to her camp to get to sleep early. She was wide awake and ready to go when her escort arrived and not the least surprised to see Aiden, Grid, Birdie and Charlie. They weren't wearing their regular white and blue gear, but armor painted in desert camo. Ghost's gray coat would also blend in well enough with the dry landscape below the plateau.

They wasted no time and took speeder bikes to the edge of the cliff then repelled down it rather than risk drawing any attention with a ship. At the bottom another set of bikes was waiting for them and they sped through the clone controlled section of the canyons until they arrived at the desert. From there it was a journey on foot until they reached their destination.

Ghost noted that Aiden's laid back demeanor was absent. On a mission he was all business and kept his squad focused and on task. Along the way the clones also filled Ghost in on what the General's plan was. Skywalker's primary goal was to lure out the separatist commander and get him to commit to a battle out on the desert. To accomplish this he was mobilizing the full regiment he'd brought down to the moon's surface.

The general would leave behind a detachment to operate the canyon outpost as a hospital and fallback point. The rest of the army would march into the desert and take up a position roughly between the desert compound and the Separatist base. Clone scouts would keep careful watch on the Vulture droids. If they took flight, Skywalker would call in his own fighters, otherwise he'd hold his air force back until his army was in position. With any luck, he'd present an irresistible target for sabotage from behind and the enemy commander would ready his own army to take advantage.

The desert crossing wasn't easy. The desert was level, but it wasn't flat. They scrambled up and down gullies that etched the desert and skirted large rock formations that jutted through the surface of the gritty soil like broken bones. Swathes of gray-green saw grass and patches of thorn scrub formed little islands surrounded by open barren ground.

"Like the land itself is full of teeth." Grid commented quietly.

"Well, let's not get chewed up." Aiden pointed ahead. "Ghost, see that little ridge? There's a gully at its base we can follow right to the compound."

"Is that where your squad hid when you scouted this place before?"

"Pretty much. It'll give us a good view of the gate. We'll wait at the end of it and see what happens."

Ghost and the clones sat in the deep dark of the desert night. She watched the sky. The limb of Se-2 had grown visible in silhouette. Soon, a rim of light would form at its edge, herald to the dawn. She could see her breath. It was colder here than it had gotten on the plateau. Grid listened to the coded signals being sent across the army's coms and kept the group appraised.

"Army's moving over the cliff and through the canyons." He said quietly." Scouts reporting increased activity at the enemy base."

"Nothing stirring here yet," said Birdie, who had yet to take his eyes off the compound.

The clones had night vision visor attachments for their helmets. Ghost couldn't see much in the dark, so she listened. The desert itself would speak in soft hisses when the wind blew, but for now it was silent. She could hear an increase in chittering coming from the Vulture droids and the clicking of a B1's joints as it patrolled the fenced in area. Time passed and up above a brilliant ring was beginning to form at the planet's edge.

"Army's making good time. They've entered the desert and are heading along canyon perimeter. Droids must be watching. Scouts indicate a response at enemy base."

"Heads up," whispered Birdie.

The gates to the compound were opening and shortly, four droids walked out. Two of the B1s had what looked like gas tanks strapped to their backs and the other two appeared to be an armed escort following behind. The gates closed behind the droids who picked their way deeper into the desert.

"Follow." Aiden motioned for Ghost and his squad to move back down the gully which ran parallel to the route the droids were taking.

The droids moved some distance into the desert before stopping within the shelter of a small stiletto tree grove. There they set down the tanks and began connecting them together.

"Small tank is implorium," Ghost explained. "Big tank will be some neutral gas for pressurization. Probably helium."

"Should we take them out now?" Charlie sighted down his rifle.

"Ghost, how long we got for that bomb to blow once they begin pressurization?" Aiden asked.

"Hmmm, over a minute at minimum. Once they start the process I'll have plenty of time to disarm it."

"Then we wait." Aiden said in answer to Charlie. "If we want to draw out the Sepies, it'd be best to let them think their bomb went off. Let the droids arm it. They'll probably report in before they move to leave. Boys, pick your targets, I want all four of our tin friends dropping together."

In an instant the dim predawn light of the desert gave way to full sun. Patches of frost that had formed on the ground steamed from the abrupt increase in heat. The clones pushed their visor attachments up and held their blaster rifles at the ready. The droids crouched near the tanks and seemed to be waiting for a signal. Another moment passed and the droids connected a motor to the tanks. Ghost could hear it start up and purr. The droids stood. One appeared to speak briefly over its com, then the group of four turned and took a step back the way they'd come. They fell together in a heap almost simultaneously.

As soon as Aiden's squad had blasted the B1s, Ghost was up and over the edge of the gully and sprinting towards the tanks, the clones on her heels. "Stay behind me!" She went down on one knee next to the tanks, ripped the motor off, tipped the tanks over on their side and brought her fist down in a hammer blow on the smaller tank's pressure valve, snapping it off.

The tank launched like a rocket, startling the clones, for a brief flight before smacking back into the ground where it proceeded to spin wildly as the compressed gas escaped from the hole.

Aiden stared. "I was under the impression disarming this thing required some specialized knowledge."

"I told your general it required specific knowledge, not specialized. And it did. I specifically knew I needed to let the gas out of the tank before it imploded."

Aiden's shoulders shook in silent mirth. "You just wanted to be in on the action."

"Hey, better than sitting back in camp wondering what's going on." Ghost pulled a small detonator out of her coat.

"And what's that?"

"It's a noise maker. I call it a KaBang. It uh, makes a very loud kabang when it explodes. Not unlike the sound these tanks would make if they popped. You want to fake an implosion to get your enemies moving? Then let's sell it." Ghost dropped the detonator next to the second tank. "Take cover!"

The group retreated back to the gully and waited. Fifteen seconds later the KaBang went off, its sharp report echoed in the distant canyons. It was as if a starter pistol had gone off. The Vulture droids launched themselves into the sky, the Republic fighters and gunships came pouring in from above the plateau, and all hell broke loose on land and sky.

Dogfights erupted above as the two aerial forces clashed and cannon fire could be heard in the distance above the growing roar of combat.

"Time to pull out of here! We need to get you back to the outpost!" Aiden shouted over the din.

Aiden lead the way as they jogged down the gully, keeping one eye to the sky. It was Birdie who shouted "Incoming!" upon spotting the Republic gunship, its cockpit on fire, screaming in their direction. The little group taking shelter in the gully scattered in all directions as the gunship crashed into their position. Black smoke and brown dust filled the area. Choking, Ghost pulled herself back to her feet from where she'd dove away from the fireball and ran out of the suffocating heat and smog. She couldn't see anyone. The sounds of battle had abruptly gotten closer and upon exiting the blinding smoke she leaped up a slab of tilted stone to survey her surroundings.

The Republic army had been pushed back. Ghost was alarmed to see how rapidly the fighting had moved in her direction. However, the broken lands of the desert provided a lot of cover and the clones were digging in. All around she could see clusters of troopers taking up defensive positions and holding back swarms of droid soldiers. Her eyes darted from place to place as she created a mental map of the visible area. She noted how many of the blue patterns on the clone armor looked familiar. It was Torrent Company holding this region of the battlefield.

Stray blaster fire streaked past her and Ghost dropped belly down. She swept the area with her eyes and still couldn't spot Aiden or his squad, but she did see someone she knew. A ways in front of her, past another deep gully, Echo and two troopers she didn't recognize sheltered behind a ridge of jutting rock. They were busily firing on advancing droids. Ghost had a clear view of them, the battlefield beyond, and the sky above. They didn't see the falling Vulture droid. It plummeted at an angle, hit the steep edge of the gully, and cartwheeled into the soldiers.

Ghost somersaulted off the rock and hit the ground running. She jumped into the gully and used her wires to pull herself up the other side. The Vulture had smashed itself into the ridge. There was no sign of his companions, but Echo had been pushed onto his back and lay pinned beneath the droid's wing. Ghost slid in next to him and surveyed the damage.

"Ghost," Echo croaked, "I think I'm getting used to you popping in out of nowhere."

One leg was bent at an odd angle. The droid's wing had sliced through the armor and into the flesh of the thigh.

"Echo, I'm going to pull this thing off of you, can you reach down and put pressure on the wound after I do?"

"I can't walk, you have to get out of here."

"I can carry you."

"There's no time, I can hear the clankers are nearly on top of us!"

Ghost extended her claws to get a solid grip on the wing.

"You need to go! Ghost, there are millions of me, don't risk your life helping one clone!"

"I only know one Echo." Ghost heaved the wing up, tearing it free of the smashed wreckage and tossing it away.

She slid her arms under Echo's back and legs and lifted him up. Echo groaned and shuttered, but was able to place his hand over the bloody wound on the broken leg and press it closed as best he could. Ghost turned and ran even as the droids came up and over the ridge. She hugged Echo close, shielding him as she felt blaster fire pepper her back and shoulders. In another instant she dropped into the gully, landing with a grunt on the balls of her feet before springing from her crouch into a sprint down the sheltered channel.

The sides of the channel began to slope and Ghost was able to run back up and out then stopped to try to figure out where she was. Her view of the sky was blocked by a heavy overcast of smoke and dust.

"I don't know which way to the outpost!"

Echo checked his helmet's heads up display and pointed with a shaky hand. "Northwest."

Ghost ran, imprinting the landscape into her memory to keep herself oriented. It was a mad dash across the desert. The battlefield had been broken up into clusters of intense fighting surrounded by spaces of eerie haze filled emptiness. Ghost skirted the fighting as best she could and never stopped running. It was with a sense of shock that she burst out of the hazy battlefield and into the clear air of a fortified area filled with clone medics and their support staff.

The Republic forces had set up a triage zone at the edge of the canyon. From there the wounded were taken one transport load at a time back to the outpost. Ghost stood, momentarily bewildered by the abrupt transition until a medic waved her over to a stretcher.

"Femur's snapped clean, deep slice across the thigh." Ghost told him as she lay Echo down.

The medic nodded. "We can set his leg and get a patch on him here. He'll be on the next transport to the hospital."

As the medic busied himself with Echo's leg, Ghost stood and turned to look back at the desert. She had passed many downed clones. She took a step then stopped.

I need to be faster.

Ghost dropped down to sit on the ground, yanking off her boots and hitching up her pant legs. Her legs were metal, her feet, rather than the boot-like droid foot typical in cybernetics were crafted with meticulous detail down to each toe joint. Seams across the foot gave it a banded look. Ghost extended the claws on her hands and jammed her thumb into a slot on the outside of her calf, hooking the talon over a hidden lever. She pushed the lever towards her ankle, and with each downward ratchet her ankle straitened and the foot lengthened, extending at the seams. The toes arched and bent at a sharper angle to the foot and small gripping claws snapped out from their tips. One foot converted from plantigrade and locked into its new digitigrade configuration, Ghost did the same to the other.

Echo turned his head. "Ghost, what are you-"

Ghost shot to her feet and with a literal spring in her step was off in a flash, each stride a veritable leap.

Back into the dust and smoke, flash of blaster fire and roar of cannon and engine. The shouting voices of the troopers and whirring of the droids as they moved helped her to navigate. She found a body and checked it, then moved on, darting from corpse to corpse until she found someone alive. Scooping him into her arms, she lifted him and raced to deliver him to the medics, then back again. It was hard to walk on her reconfigured feet but she could run and leap like a deer, and sped her way deeper into the chaotic battle. Sometimes she passed clone medics doing the same as she.

She flew like a moth to flame, towards any flare up of fighting, hunting for the wounded to snatch them up and carry them away. The clones were concentrated anywhere they could secure their position. Fighting from the cover of crevice and ridge, the Republic soldiers set up cross fire traps and choke points. The droids attacked enmasse with simple, straightforward assaults, a blunt instrument of merciless destruction. In a small corner of her mind Ghost estimated the Separatist forces outnumbered the clones two to one at the least.

In the sky above V-19 Torrent assault fighters showed off their maneuverability as they swooped and darted to throw off the swarms of Vulture droids. Each side taking turns to hunt and evade the other. Every now and then a clone ship or aerial droid would become a deadly missile to explode indiscriminately on the forces struggling against each other on the arid plains below.

Be it from heavy artillery or the cannons mounted on Republic Walkers and Separatist tanks, the already rough ground grew ever more pockmarked. Clouds of dry desert dust was flung into the air to create vast drifting curtains that clogged filters and caked on any surface.

The ground erupted beneath Ghost's feet and she and the men nearby were thrown through the air. Groggily Ghost pushed herself back up, shaking her head as the sound of the battlefield faded in and out in time with her vision. Looking around she could see a new crater blasted nearby and pieces of someone she had known. Troopers lay still all around, but somebody was still moving. Spitting blood, she got to her feet and went to him. Picking him up, she was again on the move, running with a trance-like single-mindedness.

There was no counting how many trips she made. Her memory was of instances in time: bursting through a blinding wall of smoke and encountering a B1, slapping its head off with a taloned hand before it could react, not slowing her momentum: leaping over a trench and seeing the surprised face of a clone, his helmet off, blood smeared across one cheek, as he worked to set up an E-Web: kneeling on the ground next to a wounded trooper, sheltering him from blaster fire: catching a glimpse of a green blazing sword in the distance, slashing about in a frenzy: being hit hard on the shoulder and falling into a tumbler's roll to land on all fours, to then tackle the super battle droid that had hit her: seeing something sinuous and immense stalking through the obscuring haze that vanished before she could identify it.

Between those sharply remembered instances was a complex blur of sensation and movement. There was the stinging dust in her eyes, the sharp smell of burning fuel and the taste of copper. There was the constant roar of combat, the whistle of ballistics, shouting of men, and thunder of cannon. There was pain, loss, anger, an all encompassing sense of urgency, but never fear as Ghost drove herself headlong into fire, again and again. And then it ended.

Ghost had found him, not far from where she'd started. He tried to speak to her, but it came out as more of a gurgle. She cradled him in her arms, lifted him gently, and carried him all the way back.

Another batch of wounded were being bundled up on a waiting transport when Rex spotted Ghost just outside of the triage area. She was sitting on her knees, next to a prone figure on the ground. Her gray coat was stained brown with dirt. Burns from blaster fire spotted her back and a large tear had exposed the weave of silvery threads that formed the metal fabric hidden within the leather coat. Rex quietly approached, recognizing the trooper.

"He was alive. I told him to hold on, but he couldn't."

"Are you alright?" Rex asked softly.

Ghost looked at the captain for a moment then turned back to gaze out at the desert. "I don't hear anything anymore."

"The fighting has stopped."

"Did you win?"

"The droid army has been mostly wiped out. We tried to capture the enemy commander but he was killed when his tank was blown up. There's just clean up to do and the battlefield to sweep for wounded. So, yes. As much a victory as any."

Ghost pulled her legs out from under her and sat back. Rex watched in a moment of fascination as she reset the configuration of her feet and pushed herself up to stand.

"You should rest. I can take you to-"

"I'm a level-2 field medic. Would I have some use where the hospital is set up?"

Rex met Ghost's eyes. Her left cheek was purpling with a large bruise and blood had dried on her lower lip. Her face was smeared with dirt. Those piercing eyes were as clear and direct as ever.

"Kix and the rest of the medics will welcome any skilled help. You can ride the transport to the outpost."

She nodded then looked down at the clone on the ground. He could have been sleeping. Only a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth hinted at anything else.

"What about Aiden?" Ghost asked.

"I'll see to him."

Ghost nodded again and turned to walk towards the transport.

*****

    Echo had slept soundly for a solid eight hours. The pain medication had made sure of that. Now he sat up on his gurney, feeling restless. A broken leg was a quick repair and soon enough he'd be among the walking, or at least limping, wounded. In the meantime he was waiting for transport.

Echo was in a large room filled with low priority wounded, a.k.a. the "mangled and missing limbs ward". At the moment, the room was empty save for his fellow injured, most of whom were still asleep. Echo kept on the lookout for anyone who could bring him up to date on the news. After he'd woken up, Kix had told him they'd won and were now in the process of preparing for departure but the harried medic hadn't been able to stay.

Finally, Echo spotted somebody walking in. It was Ghost. He smiled at her as she approached.

"Ghost! Maybe you can catch me up on the news? I know we won the battle but I'm out of the loop on everything that's happened since."

The Mandalorian sat down next to him and put her arms around him. Echo froze, uncertain what to do before tentatively returning the embrace. She hugged him tightly for a long moment before letting him go, resting her hands on his shoulders.

Echo looked at her with nearly round eyes. "I'm okay, the leg's not that bad," he said in a small voice.

"I know," she smiled. "You're okay."

She leaned back, taking her hands off his shoulders, she ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. Echo looked her over. She had a bandage on her face and circles under her eyes, her coat was rather torn up and for some reason she was missing both her hat and her boots. The clone took note that all of Ghost's limbs were mechanical and wondered just how badly injured she'd been in the mining station explosion.

"So, news, let's see. Quite a bit has happened. You won the battle down here and I guess the Separatist fleet up above decided that was a sign to leave. Your fleet split in two. Half of them are in orbit and I don't know what the other half is doing. Your base is being packed up and the landing field cleared so your big-ass ship can land. You and the rest of the wounded are being moved to the base, and as soon as your big-ass ship lands you'll be moved aboard to the Venator's medical facilities. There were a lot of casualties."

Echo nodded. "The enemy may have been hopeful their new bomb would soften us up, but their commander was no fool to rely on it. He split his forces and had them rush out from two points in the canyon. They came running into us hard and we had to pull back in haste to avoid being flanked. We lost our initial defensive positions and had to hurry to reform. Battlefield broke up and became chaotic right from the start. I know a lot of men went down in those first moments when we had to retreat... have you seen Fives lately?"

Ghost smiled. "No, but Dustoff passed me word that he was asking about you."

"Ah, good."

"Aiden, Charlie, and Longshot were killed. Breakout is MIA."

"Oh..."

They sat together quietly for a bit. Then, Echo leaned over to look at the floor.

"What happened to your boots?"

"Lost them somewhere." Ghost offered a wane grin.

There was a bustling in the hall and medics began to file in.

"Ah, looks like they're getting ready to move you gentlemen out. I'd best get out of the way. I'll be riding up with you."

"Alright, Ghost, I'll see you at the base."

She leaned over and gave him another quick hug, which he returned with greater confidence, before she rose and left the room.

*****

    It was all over. Ghost had packed up her camp and the clones had dismantled her wall. Later on, Fives would swing by with a speeder bike, they'd load up her belongings, and he'd take her back to her ship. While she was packing, a clone medic had arrived. He introduced himself simply as Doc from Dusk Company and delivered her boots to her, explaining how he'd picked them up after she'd run off and kept hold of them for her. She thanked him and he ducked his head shyly. After the medic had left, Ghost gave her things a final look over to make sure all of it was ready to go and, satisfied, walked off to wander the Republic base.

The soldiers were engaged in preliminary packing. Empty crates were efficiently converted into neatly filled ones and stacked, ready to be moved into the Venator once it landed. The mess tents had been moved together and now served as temporary hospital tents and she made her way over to them. After briefly consulting with the medics on duty, Ghost played her xilin for the wounded troops who were all too happy to listen. Many of them calling her over and thanking her for her help. She'd become quite famous in the regiment for her marathon run during the Battle of the Broken Desert, as it had come to be known.

She spotted Fives and Echo and joined them to talk about all that had happened and remember their fallen friends. At least one, Breakout, had turned back up. He had just recently wandered back into the base with blaster holes in his armor but not a scratch on him, and no idea how he'd even gotten on the plateau. He had no signs of a head injury but the medics decided it was best to treat him as though he was suffering from a concussion. Curiously, memory loss that spanned at least a few hours seemed to be a somewhat common battlefield injury throughout the war.

The barriers that deflected the outflow of air from a landing Venator were raised along the edge of the landing field and finally, the massive ship dropped from the sky and alighted in the space it had occupied roughly five standard days ago. Ghost watched the ship come down and wondered where the time had gone. She hadn't known them for long, but she was already sad at the prospect of parting from the clones. She had made friends among them, and wasn't ready for goodbyes. She made sure to speak to every clone she'd met, traveling around the quickly vanishing base one last time.

As Ghost walked back to her camp, she was afraid she'd missed him and was relieved to see Captain Rex waiting for her along with Fives and a pair of bikes. The two clones greeted her warmly and helped her secure her things to the back of Fives' speeder bike.

"So the captain himself is giving me a ride?"

"I think it's the least I can do considering all you've done for us."

"Ah, well..." Ghost tugged at the brim of her hat, feeling self-conscious.

The clones seated themselves and Ghost settled behind Rex. As the bikes sped away, Ghost looked back at the base for the last time. This trip to her ship was quite different from before. The forest and meadows were full of colors, bright even in the soft daylight. Animal life was abundant and busy, calling from the trees and foraging among the tufted grasses.

Fives easily spotted Ghost's ship, the towering wings of the Mandalorian Kom'rk obvious above the short trees. They slowed their bikes and stopped a short distance away.

"I suppose this will be farewell." Ghost slid off the bike and held out her hand to Rex, who clasped it in both of his and gave her that subtle smile that shone in his eyes.

"Well, we still have to shift your things aboard so, not quite yet," said Fives with a grin. The clone was then caught off guard as Ghost turned and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Oh!" Fives laughed and hugged her back. "Hey, I'm sure we'll run across each other again."

"Maybe," Ghost stepped back.

They unloaded her belongings from the bikes and walked companionably towards her ship when Rex stopped and wrinkled his nose. "Why do I smell fuel?"

"I had a bit of a leak earlier but... that smells pretty strong and fresh." Ghost frowned and set her burden down to go look under her ship. "Oh! Well. That's not good."

*****

    Anakin Skywalker stood out on the cleared field that had recently been his base and stared up at the sky. The incoming ship was shaped like the blade of a spear as it flew into the airspace above the Venator. Then its triangular wings rotated into a perpendicular position relative to the ship's body and it hovered above the massive Star Destroyer's open dorsal bay doors.

He'd been surprised by the request he'd received over his wrist com. The last thing he'd been expecting was for his captain to ask if the Mandalorian could bum a ride, though Rex had phrased it a bit differently. Apparently Ghost's ship had leaked out most of its fuel, effectively stranding the Mandalorian on the moon. The Jedi agreed that it wouldn't be right to simply leave her here. Besides, her credit was rather high with his troops, who were only too happy to make room in the cavernous hanger since the Kom'rk was too large to fit in a shuttle bay. And so the Jedi, not entirely sanguine about this development, watched the Mandalorian ship drop into the Resolute's hangar. They'd make repairs to her ship, refuel it, and drop her off in the Core since she fancied a visit to Coruscant and they were swinging that direction anyway.

"Hmmph, I should charge her for the taxi service." The Jedi general strode up the ramp and headed for the bridge. Soon the Star Destroyer would lift off, and his fleet could finally leave this tiny, backwater star system.