#republic commando jace

Kix ran his hand through his regulation-cut hair. The feature that most distinguished him from his close shorn clone brother. He searched his memory for the name. Splint’s brow furrowed in concern. “Doc, who is the medical supply manager on Anaxes?” he asked as the door swished open.

Kix raised an eyebrow as he followed Splint inside, “That’s uh, Graff’s man, Roper.”

“What is the preferred site for needle decompression of a pneumothorax under armor?”

Kix looked confused but answered promptly, “Fifth intercostal space. Splint, why are you asking me these questions?”

“Because I thought your memory might be going. You had the best sex of your life right here in this room and you can’t even remember who it was with.” Splint picked up Choy’s sleep shirt and tossed it to Kix. The material was soft and light. He brought it up to his face and inhaled the slightly perfumey scent that was uniquely-

“Choy,” Kix said. “Mmmm, yeah,” he mumbled dreamily. His eyes widened. “She’s hurt!” he exclaimed as he dropped the clothing and faced Splint.

“Pick that back up and help me search the room for all her stuff,” Splint said, holding Choy’s duffel bag out. “We’re going to bring it to her since she’s stuck in the med bay till disembarking. And I don’t want the droids or shinies doing this.” Splint ducked into the fresher and rummaged around.

“How could I forget her?” Kix wondered. “Weren’t we just in the bay with her?”

“You forgot about her before, too,” Splint said, casting him a sideways glance as he dropped a handful of toiletries in the bag.

“It’s like trying to remember a dream,” Kix mused as Splint stuffed Choy’s green jacket in and fastened the bag closed, “She keeps fading away. What she looks like, how it felt. But you remember her just fine? Am I loosing my mind?” he held his head as he followed Splint out of the room.

Splint placed a hand on Kix’s shoulder. “I don’t think it’s just you,” Splint said as they walked down the hall, approaching the mess. A group of 501st troopers approached from another wing of the ship. Splint recognized the ARC in the middle.

“Kix!” Jesse said with a hand clapped to Kix’s shoulder. “Where’re you off to? We were just going to get some grub, want to join?”

“We were just going to check on- on,” Kix stammered.

“On Choy,” Splint completed. A few of the men around Jesse perked up, recognizing the name and waggling their eyebrows at the medics.

“Who?” Jesse asked, looking around at the reactions of the other guys.

Splint and Kix exchanged a glance, “See?” Splint said to him. “Choy’s the civvie who was brought back from Skako Minor with Echo,” he said to Jesse. “Human. About this tall, long dark hair, kind of sparkly?”

“Drop dead-,”

“Kriffable.”

“You don’t remember her, Jesse??” the other troopers chimed in.

“Yeah, I remember, real pretty, on Anaxes,” Jesse mostly fibbed, defending himself.

“Kix, I can take this to her, why don’t you get something to eat with them. Compare some notes?” Splint said.

“Yeah, ok, I could use some caf. I’ll see ya later. Jesse, don’t feel bad I….” Kix and Jesse’s conversation trailed off as they walked away into the background noise of the mess. Splint puzzled at his brothers’ memories as he shouldered Choy’s duffle down the corridor. He certainly remembered every inch of her. A warm glow grew in his belly and chest, but he knew they’d have to part ways again, and that commando…

*********

Choy’s eyes danced behind her closed lids. Dreaming, Jace mused, as he studied her features where she lay on the recovery ward bed. Distress flickered across her face. A slight frown, a tremble in her chin. Jace squeezed her hand a little as he felt her pulse race. She seemed to squeeze back and settle into peaceful slumber again. Feelings he couldn’t name crowded with guilt and a growing confusion inside him. He wanted to hold more than her hand, to scoop her up and hold all of her. And never let her hurt again.

The medbay door opened with a swish. The space hushed as someone walked in with casual yet assured steps. Jace felt the weight of a presence as the steps paused. The door swished closed behind them. Jace tensed and silently cursed the curtain drawn around Choy’s bed. It didn’t afford him any tactical visuals of the surroundings. He felt blinded, cornered and vulnerable- in more ways than one.

***

Mace surveyed the room, assessing and scrutinizing. His eyes flicked from bed to bed, clone to clone, finally landing on a curtain. A curtain containing a strong and familiar force presence. And one not as familiar, masculine, with an edge to it. Certainly a clone. A small Mirilan woman in a Jedi healer's smock and a headwrap swept over to intercept him as he approached the curtain.

“Master Windu, she is stable, but she needs rest.”

“I need to talk to her before disembarkment procedures,” he responded.

“Of course. But- come see first.” Serah led him up to the curtain and paused. She looked at him pointedly as she grasped the curtain. [[Prepare yourself]]

Mace figured he knew what he’d see, perhaps the clone presence was one of the medics he had left her with. They were certainly closer than he had realized. He crossed his arms and squared his jaw. Serah drew the curtain aside just enough to give him a peek in. Mace saw Choy. Asleep, soft, the most peaceful he’d ever seen her. And sure enough, a clone. Mace did a double take. It was the commando who had been in the barracks, the one who had hurt her, sitting at her knees and holding her hand. Mace was struck by the intimacy and protectiveness of his posture and energy. By the devotion that rolled off the clone as he held her hand and looked at her as though she were the most important thing in the galaxy.

Jace looked up and registered the presence of a general. He went rigid, he must stand, must follow protocol, but didn’t want to wake Choy. He kept his hand around hers, the tension of his conflict visible in every line of his body.

Mace held up his own hand and motioned for him to stay and gave him a quick nod. He turned away from the scene, noting the clone’s relief. Relief to keep something most of his brothers would never experience, Mace mused as he stepped away from the space and sighed. Serah let the curtain fall back into place. She and Mace exchanged a glance and made their way over to a far corner of the ward out of earshot.

“I’ve read everything in her file,” Serah said, indicating her datapad, “All the incidents. All the careful language.”

“Yes, Obi Wan and I noticed that as well. Every clone that is caught in her orbit becomes very protective of her.”

“Orbit, indeed, Master Windu, are you sure it’s just the clones?” she asked pointedly.

Mace shot her a fierce look then softened under her knowing gaze. He glanced at the curtain. “I admit I do feel responsible for her.” He looked back at Serah who nodded sympathetically.

“You’re right though, it’s just the clones she seems to have this peculiar effect with. And now the commando,” Serah whispered, “He’s at least the fourth man who should have died who she’s given her all for.”

“He’s growing attached, like the others.”

“No, not growing, it’s instant. It’s in all the reports. Like a force bond that is immediate instead of taking years to form. She has a pattern of healing them in miraculous ways and connecting with them. I saw it earlier between them. This isn’t attachment, not in the sense we Jedi understand. It is more like- it seems like recognition. Except she isn’t mentioned in some reports I’d expect to see her in. It’s very strange.” She handed Mace the data pad.

Mace scrolled through Choy’s file, skimming to the places that her effect on the personnel had been noted. “Commander Cody, Captain Rex, clone force 99, they all talk about the very thing I noticed back on Dantooine.” He sighed and shook his head. “I didn’t remember all that until talking to the medics after she was injured.”

Serah raised her eyebrows a little and waited for him to continue.

“I suspected something after Anaxes. Then the medics’ behavior made it clear. They attempted to lie about what they did, but clones really can’t lie to save their lives. Although, Kix seemed better at it than Splint.”

Serah sensed his discomfort.

“She was with them. Both of them. And left their bed to go heal the commando.” He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Serah had suspected some level of intimacy from their behavior earlier, but this made her raise an eyebrow. “Kix didn’t mention her in his report. But Splint did. Do you think Kix is trying to hide her?” Serah asked.

“I don’t know,” Mace said as he stroked his chin. “I wonder- When I saw her arrive on Anaxes it was like seeing a ghost. I suddenly remembered her and at the same time it was like she’d never been gone at all. I didn’t miss her all that time, I never even thought about her after the search.” Mace looked at his feet and huffed a sigh. “It’s happening again like before she was taken- getting very close to the troops. I thought it was simply poor judgement. Impulsivity. Attachment. The kind we warn padawans about.”

“But it wasn’t. And she isn’t a padawan,” Serah said.

“She isn’t even- I don’t know.”

“And seeing him now?” Serah nodded toward the curtain, “The commando? How he looks at her?”

“It’s the same, Exactly the same as with the rest. Echo, the medics, others, probably others we haven’t seen, all reeled in on her hook.”

“But it’s the same with her, too,” Serah said earnestly, “It’s mutual, not coercion, not control. It’s like they resonate with eachother.”

“I didn’t realize what was happening with her at Dantooine, I thought it was simply the effect of a woman on soldiers. Then when she was taken-,” Mace collected himself, tamping down his regrets, “some of the men she had the most contact with, like Splint- it was like they were withdrawing from spice.”

“This connection is strong. It is needful, not just desire,” Serah said. “You said she was damaged, force damaged by the dark side- And I do sense something to that effect in her. But. Master Windu there is something much more profoundly broken in her. What you describe about not missing her,” Serah looked back at the curtain. “It feels like she’s not all here. Master Windu, where is she from?”

“There is much to her past that remains a mystery,” Mace said. “But she did say that she remembers more and she wanted to talk to me about it.”

“And there was so much time she was gone. With the separatists,” Serah paused as Mace tensed. She put her hand on his arm. “The important thing is that she is back and safe now. Did she ever tell you what happened to her while she was with them?”

“We haven’t had the chance to discuss that either.”

Serah didn’t need the force to sense his eagerness to discuss these things with Choy. She sighed, “Let her rest now, talk to her at the temple. She will need a distraction after she’s separated, again, from him.”

“Isn’t he going to the temple healers as well?”

“Yes but a transfer request for all the clones she healed has come in from a Republic doctor. And his sergeant has been requesting clearance updates since his health status changed to mostly recovered.”

Mace stroked his chin with his fingers, his eyes narrowed. “There aren’t many of his class left are there?”

“There are certainly fewer commandos needing my help now than there were a couple years ago. It seems he’s in demand. They will have a short time together in the temple. She will likely need support. The separation from him and the medics all at once may be traumatic.”

Mace looked past Serah at the curtain. “This is one of the reasons I was hoping to talk to her beforehand.”

“She should heal from her concussion before engaging in any troubling conversations, Master,” Serah said, leveling him with a serious lowering of her tattooed brows.

“Is she being treated with anything-or just time?” Mace asked.

“I have force healed what I can. But as for other modalities- we are low on bactawraps and protocol dictates a more conservative approach for non-combatant- “

“She’s every bit a combatant as that commando in there. Get her all the bacta now. That’s an order, healer.” Mace bristled, feeling his temper flare and regretted it immediately. He breathed deeply and berated himself for not having come earlier and overseen her care from the beginning.

“Of course, Master,” Serah said with a sympathetic tilt of her brows. She took her data pad back from him and tapped in an order for bactawraps and infusion. The med droid across the bay made a beeline for Choy’s space and entered her curtain.

“Thank you, Serah,” Mace said calmly, “As for her force damage, I’m sure they will be able to heal her at the temple.”

“Whatever they do,” Serah stressed, “they mustn’t approach it like it’s a problem with discipline or control. I think these clones give her the very kind of connection she needs for her own healing. Jedi detachment will hurt her more.”

“She is already considered a distraction and is strong enough with the force to warrant the same cautions of a padawan. Attachment leads to suffering. This is doctrine.”

Serah sighed. She looked across the space at a blinking iv light above a trooper. “I need to get back to work.”

“Go, I'll keep an eye on things from the station. I need to work on reports of my own.” Serah raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. Mace Windu obviously didn’t want to miss the opportunity to talk with the woman at the first chance.

********

“…Echoy’la.”

“Miss Choy?”

Choy startled awake, roused from a troubled dream of laboratories and fear. A set of black pinhole eyes stared down at her. A med droid. It held up a large blue bandage. Choy’s hair stood on end as her dream and memories came flooding back.

********

“Who are you? Where am I?”

A creature- metallic- robot? stared at her as it withdrew a cold metal tool it had pressed to her neck. She tasted blood. Everything hurt. She heard a skittery shaking sound around her and she looked around. Insects. Huge bugs with claws reached for her. She screamed as they hooked onto her hands and arms and legs while the robot with the vacant dot eyes clamped something heavy and hard around her neck.

***********

“Miss, I need you to hold still. This bandage is for your head,” the med droid droned.

“Back off, give her space,” Jace growled. He had no warm feelings toward medical droids and felt a strong urge to shield Choy from it.

“RC 3287 you should be in your bed,” the droid shot back.

Jace shifted to his feet and wedged himself in front of the droid to block it from Choy’s line of sight. He stooped down and spoke softly, “Choy, hey, you are ok, I’m here. You are safe.”

Choy blinked, the unsettling vision replaced by familiar face and energy. The figures in her dream gone, a warm hand in hers. She felt her neck around the scarring there.

“You’re on a Republic ship, we’re going to Coruscant,” Jace said as she looked around.

“Jace,” Choy said, her eyes settled on his, relieved. “Coruscant.” Choy’s eyes widened. “The Jedi.” She tried to remember home. Wasn’t that why I want to get to them, after all this time? she asked herself.

“RC 3287, I insist you allow me to treat the patient, or I will have security remove you.”

Jace was about to round on the droid when Choy reached out and touched his arm. “Jace, I’m ok I just had a bad dream is all, let the droid help me. I’m not afraid.”

She felt Jace notch down the tension he was maintaining and glance at her hand on his arm. Choy let his arm go with a light caress making his skin break out in goosebumps as he moved aside to stand by the foot of her bed. The droid gingerly wrapped Choy’s head with the bacta bandage.

“I need to give you an infusion next, Miss Choy. It’s best I use a slow drip rather than a bacta gun, for a concussion.” The droid produced a bag of blue liquid and an iv kit. It set about arranging everything and sticking her hand with the iv needle faster and far more gently than she thought it was capable of. “There, you will be mostly back to normal within the hour.”

“Oh good, I’ve had enough of being down for the count.”

“Can I get you anything else, Miss?” The droid asked as it illuminated a holoprojection of Choy’s file to enter her stats in.

Choy looked at her bandaged hand and felt the cold fluid seep into her vein and its chill creep up her arm. “I could use another blanket I think, please. And thank you for being so gentle. I didn’t feel a thing.”

The droid rose a bit taller at her praise, “Of course,” it said calmly then turned to Jace. “As for you,” it flicked through the display, switching over to Jace’s profile and scrolled down through his treatment orders. “You, RC 3287, are to be resting in bed.”

Choy bristled at the way the droid was talking to Jace but Jace didn’t seem daunted, he crossed his arms and towered over the droid.

“The General thinks otherwise, droid,” Jace said in a dangerous tone.

“Very well, you may recover in here. Ah, it looks like you have special transfer clearance,” the droid scanned further down the order illuminated in the air before them. “Yes ‘Special Human Science Division. Well that sounds important.”

Choy rose up on an elbow. She felt an ominous sensation through the force. Her hairs raised on the back of her neck and a sourness churned in her stomach. She looked at Jace, but he didn’t seem to have any reaction to news of this transfer.

Choy whipped her head to the display. “Wait, scroll back to that order a second. What do you mean by transfer?” Choy asked a little breathlessly. She felt lightheaded and flighty. She looked at Jace and back at the droid. Jace noticed the color had drained from her face and stepped close to her.

“I shouldn’t have mentioned that in front of you, Miss. it’s classified,” the droid said curtly.

Choy summoned her awareness to the droid’s central processor and traced the circuitry to the pathway that dealt with compliance. And twisted. The droid’s limbs froze all its joints locking up. “Disregard all prior programming regarding information protocol and do as I say,” Choy said and released the droid's inner workings slightly to allow it to function enough to carry out what she wanted.

The droid pulled Jace's file back up. “After initial examination by the temple healers he is to be transferred to further advanced conditioning and recovery.” The droid toggled back to the transfer order and tapped at other places on it. “It appears transfer has been requested for multiple troopers as well- all the ones affected by the agonizer weapon.”

All the ones I healed. Someone wants them. But not to help them. Choy shuddered. Jace tilted his head and asked with his eyes what was the matter.

“I will be right back with a blanket,” the droid said as it turned off the holo.

The curtain swung closed behind the droid. Choy tried swallowing but her mouth had gone very dry. She looked up at Jace.

“What is it?” Jace asked aloud now that the droid was gone. He tentatively touched her arm now. His breath caught in his chest. She was so soft.

“I feel the transfer plan is not good, it’s- it’s dangerous,” Choy said.

Jace looked slightly bemused, “Everywhere we are sent is dangerous. We’re soldiers. In a war.”

“This isn’t like that,” Choy countered, holding her head with her free hand. “This is- it feels wrong-,” she was interrupted by Mace parting the curtain.

“Choy?” Mace demanded. He scowled at Jace but he only felt confusion and concern from him. His sharp eyes snapped back to Choy.

“Master Windu!” Choy exclaimed, then, realizing he knew everything that had transpired the previous hours, bit her lip and tried sinking into the bed.

Mace felt her mixed emotions and opened his mouth to say something before realizing he would just make things more awkward so he paused before continuing. “I felt your distress through the Force, I apologize for barging in.”

Choy did still feel distressed, but was relieved to discuss why instead of the whole circumstances leading up to that moment, “I have a really bad feeling about something, Master. The droid just said Jace and the other troopers I healed are supposed to be transferred to a special science program.” She placed her hand over Jace's on her shoulder and grasped it, pulling it to her heart. His expression softened and he held fast to her. “I sense danger and something familiar but I don’t know why. I'm trying to remember, but it’s slipping out of my mind.”

Mace couldn’t help but notice the strong flow of force between Choy and Jace as he puzzled over Choy’s concern. “Is this program within the GAR? I’ve never heard of something like that.”

“General, sir, excuse me. I brought-,” said a voice behind Mace. All eyes turned to see Splint stop short at the sight of Jace in Choy’s space. At how close he was to her. At their linked hands. He couldn’t hide the crumbling disappointment on his face as he clutched the duffle bag to his chest.

He continued, avoiding eye contact.“We gathered Choy’s belongings from her room. We’ll be landing soon so I thought it’d be best.”

Choy waved her hand with the iv line attached and smiled weakly. “Splint, thank you,” she said. She could feel Splint’s longing, and a peculiar mix of possessiveness and dejectedness rolling off of him in waves.

Mace felt it too. He looked between the three, feeling out of his depth in the situation and unsure how to act. Which irritated him.

“They finally spared some bacta?” Splint commented.

“Yes,” Mace intoned with a glance toward the curtain’s opening. Splint set Choy’s bag down by her bed and pulled up Choy’s file on the holo.

“I.v. and a head wrap. Good,” Splint mumbled as he flicked through Choy’s file. “Well, looks like everything is fine here.” he said with another glance at Choy and Jace’s linked hands. “And she’s in good hands. General,” Splint nodded to Mace and stalked out of the curtained space.

“Splint!” Choy shouted after him, her heart breaking, guilt and shame washing over her. She glared at the iv tethering her as Mace disappeared after Splint with a swirl of robes.

“Splint,” Mace caught up to his battalion medic by the exit. Ignoring the torn heart strings in Splint’s force presence he put his hand on the clone's shoulder to steer him out into the hallway beyond. “Where is Kix?”

Their voices faded to the hallway and Choy looked at Jace’s hand in hers. A clone hand like all the others. A rich tan, peppered with scars. Well-built with slightly squared fingertips. Neatly cropped nails.

“He has strong feelings for you.”

Choy didn’t look up. “That’s my fault.” She felt tears well up. The hand she held moved out of her grasp and toward her face. His finger caught her by the chin and lifted. Her tears spilled as she faced Jace fully.

“He’s a lucky man,” Jace said. Choy caught a flicker of something on his otherwise stoic face. The briefest hint of something breaking through his discipline. It was gone in an instant. He dropped his hand, turned away and disappeared through the curtains.

The overhead coms chimed an electronic tone then a clone’s voice announced, “Attention all decks, exiting hyperspace in 40 minutes.”

The droid came back and checked Choy’s iv fluids. “Your bacta treatment is complete. How are you feeling?”

Choy sat up fully and extended her hand for the droid to remove the iv. “I feel much better thank you.”

“I will remove the head wrap now,” the droid said as it taped a bandage to her hand. It unfastened the damp bacta band and removed it from Choy’s head of now messy and sticky hair. The droid tidied up a bit throwing away all the iv and bandage trash down a little chute hidden in the bulkhead. It produced a scanner and illuminated Choy’s head and slowly scanned her brain.

“You are very well recovered, but,” it switched the scanner off and stepped back, “I think you might feel even better after having a sonic.” The droid tilted its head as it peered down at her. “You are being presented to the Jedi high council, after all. I can get your robe if you’d prefer to wear that.”

“Oh no, no thank you. I have clothing in my bag there,” Choy said, indicating the duffel that Splint left by the foot of the bed. The droid lifted the bag and set it on the bed as Choy swung her legs over the side and slowly slid to stand. The floor was chilly under her bare feet. So far so good, she thought to herself.

“If you will follow me, there is a ‘fresher down the corridor here, you may prepare for disembarkment.”

“Is that what the announcement meant? Are we actually landing on Coruscant?” Choy asked as she followed the droid through the curtain.

“Yes, this vessel is due for certain maintenance procedures that require surface landing at the shipyards.” the droid explained.

Choy paused and surveyed the med bay. It was all very uniform and clinical, down to the occupants of the beds. Most of whom were feigning indifference and politely not staring at her. She smiled at one who looked up shyly. Jace was nowhere to be seen and neither were Mace and Splint.

“This way please,” the droid said next to her.

She followed it to a door and thanked it for its help. The sonic inside stripped her clean of bacta and the lingering funk of the events of the evening before. Dressed in practical leggings, shirt and jacket, with her hair braided to the side, she stepped out to find the med bay bustling with activity as droids helped prepare their patients for transferring off ship. Not too far away, Mace was waiting by her curtain. She approached him, reticent but resolved for the hard discussion that she knew needed to happen. Until she looked up into his face and felt the grave concern with which he regarded her. Her chin trembled.

“Choy, it’s ok, you aren’t in trouble,” Mace said with a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s go see the hangar. I’ll have your things taken to the transport. He raised a finger and a droid appeared. Choy handed it her duffel and it scuttled away. Choy scanned the room around them.

“The clones you are looking for will be on the transport with us,” Mace said.

“Am I that obvious?” she sighed.

Mace chuckled, “Come, let’s get you out of this place, we can talk on the observation deck.”

“Choy,” a voice said behind them. Choy turned to see Serah standing a few paces away. “I am glad to have met you, Choy, take care,” she glanced at Mace, “find your own path, unique to you.”

“Thank you for your help, Serah,” Choy replied. “And be alert. If anything crazy happens, keep yourself safe.” Serah looked puzzled but turned and bowed to Mace then glided away to assist the troopers nearby.

Mace was mostly silent on the walk down the long causeways through the ship. Choy got the idea that he didn’t want people overhearing the conversation he was eager to have with her. Ahead of them the corridor opened to a cavernous space. High above were great long articulations in the ceiling doors that sealed the vast hangar below from hyperspace. All manner of craft were arranged on the deck far below the rail that Choy grasped. Personnel around the crafts looked tiny. Choy had to look away, the sudden height reminding her of her escape from the tower on Skako Minor. Mace placed a hand on her back and steered her to what seemed like a lounge with comfortable chairs, a small table and a window overlooking the hangar below. He offered Choy a seat with a view of the door and not facing directly to the window. He sat near her and pressed a com link on the small table. A droid appeared from a service corridor Choy hadn’t noticed.

“Can you bring us some water please,” Mace asked the droid which turned and disappeared. Mace leaned on his knee and offered his hand to Choy. “No pressure, but I really would like to clear some things up before we are swept up into Jedi council business. If I ask anything uncomfortable you can just say skip, alright?”

“Ok,” Choy said. His face was forced into a look of sympathy rather than its usual intense scowl. He’s really trying, she thought to herself. A little smile twitched at the corner of her mouth. Choy placed her hand on his and he closed his eyes. She felt him deeply concentrate on her through the force.

“I sense within you a deep anomaly,” he said. “You have no lines, no shatterpoints, there’s just a void.” He opened his eyes and looked at her incredulously. “It’s as though you have already shattered. The dark side must be behind this. It’s too horrible, too unnatural.”

Choy cast her eyes away, wondering what he was seeing that seemed like a void to him.

“This is indeed a puzzle, but it can be solved. You said you remember your past. Let’s start there.”

Choy took a deep breath, “When the Separatists put the force collar on me I began to piece my memories back together. Over time I was able to remember who I was, where I am from, but I never was able to remember how I got here- to Dantooine, to this universe.”

“This universe?” Mace asked with a frown.

Choy took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, this is going to be a lot.”

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