#second installment

The two of them waited patiently; they would be on the last two ships to depart. It had become a bit of a habit since they first started these resource finds, ever since a rather terrible run had lost them a couple of gunships – and those inside. Some called them paranoid, insisting on being the last ones.

When they worked with the 212th on such matters, they never said a word.

“He had bad feelings about certain missions or battles,” one of the troopers Cin had worked with a couple of times, Wooley, said, after Cin started the practice and other troopers had whispered to each other about paranoia. “At first we thought he was a little paranoid too, after all, it was war.”

“And then that became our worst battle,” another trooper, Trapper, had continued, adding on to Wooley’s statement. “Grievous made an appearance and slaughtered dozens before General Kenobi could get to him.”

“You ever hear General Kenobi say he’s got a bad feeling, you bring an extra bomb, extra ammunition, extra ration bar,” Wooley agreed.

“You never discount General Kenobi’s bad feelings.”

“Figure it’s the same thing with you.”

Oh, he was rather liking this battalion of troopers. Such focus, dedication, loyalty, quick-thinking…they would have made excellent jedi. They already made amazing people.

He glanced over at Master Shaak Ti with a bit of a frown as he made his mind keep in the present. She was tired, even through her skin colors and markings, one could see the darkening under her eyes and when most were not looking, the slight slouch in her shoulders, that were normally so straight and perfect. A couple of Council members had survived aside from her and Obi-Wan, including Master Koon and Master Billaba. Although it had been two months since the Temple Siege and their escape, the two had not gotten around to joining the rest of the fleet just yet.

The fleet, Cin thought to himself. He supposed that was kind of what they were now.

Master Windu had survived too, although he was still submerged in the bacta tank from…from something. No one was entirely sure what had happened to him although Obi-Wan seemed to think he had gone to arrest the Chancellor with several other masters. Quinlan Vos had found him. Although he had several broken bones, the after affects of intense lightning and a hand missing, somehow, someway, he was still alive. And it was by no small part due to Master Vos’s quick action with taking over a medical station and immediately getting Master Windu the help.

He would come out any day now, Cin knew.

The damage had been extensive, but Healer Che’s work was often rather legendary.

Obi-Wan was in survival mode. It was not fun to watch but it was admirable, nonetheless. He took such responsibility without anyone ever asking him to, without anyone even expecting him too. There was a lot of factors on why he was this way, both positive and negative, but he had been instrumental on getting as many of them to safety as they had.

They were all doing their best.

A handful of Jedi masters and Clone commanders had been drawn together to create a bit of a leadership council, the new members stretching across different fields. Although the Jedi Order had plenty of Councils, the High Council was their main leadership with overview and more direct contact with the Senate. Since they had no need for such thing, as the Order itself was not in the position it was before, several of the lower councils that the Order had were pushed together; leaders and experts from all sections and types of the Jedi coming to one another to help their people survive. The clones themselves were rather slowly coming to themselves as well, creating their own staggered leadership. More often than not they still looked to the Jedi, as was something they were very used to, but generally kept their ranks similar to that of the military positions they knew. They would get the hang of it.

Master Drallig nodded subtle and equally as tired, catching Master Shaak Ti’s eye momentaril. One of Obi-Wan’s communication officers, Menace, had kept him updated, although he was pretty sure that one of the Captains, Alpha-17 was the one behind the updates, if the word choice and pattern was any indication.

Obi-Wan had been right. Him and Alpha-17 did rather get along.

Most of Cin’s own interaction with clones had been with the Corrie Guard, especially after his own Temple Guards came to him, near ranting on how horrible the Senate Guard was – not that it was any surprise – and how much they simply loved the new clone guard and wanted to be friends.

He had rarely found the Temple Guard to be so passionate about anyone in particular, but after his own, although often brief, interactions with any one of the clones, he rather heartily agreed.

Alpha-17 was certainly quite different than most he had met, brash and strong and opinionated to the point where he would just as easily punch anyone in the throat.

Spars with him had been vastly entertaining and both of them were certainly learning a lot.

“Captain Fordo and Commander Cody have successfully taken over the cruiser,” Cin replied, keeping his voice from cracking. He had been using it a lot lately, talking louder and more than he usually did. Shaak Ti nodded and smiled. It was small, but it was there.

“Excellent,” she hummed but her expression turned a little downtrodden as she looked up. There were many ships in the space above them, but the Vigilance was easy to spot, with the signature open circle symbol painted on the hull. Cin knew there was symbolism there but the thought of it made him sick – he doubted it meant as much as it used to. “I’m worried about him,” Shaak Ti added.

It was no guess to know who she was talking about.

They were both rather worried about him.

Both of them had been working especially close with him since this thing started.

“Skywalker was…his brother,” she started, still staring up at the sky, rapidly darkening. Night would be upon them as of quickly and they needed to move. They would be leaving soon. “They were so close. Skywalker’s attachment to Obi-Wan was always a bit troubling but for this to happen…. the magnitude of that betrayal, I cannot imagine. And I have yet to see him even pause to meditate on it, to work through that,” she glanced at Cin and swallowed, shaking her head.

Anyone falling to the darkside was difficult, especially to those closest to them. Master Yoda hadn’t shown it very much, as Cin knew he would in private but the downfall of Dooku had hurt him painfully. At least Mace and Tholme had gotten theirs back. Got their padawans, their loved ones, back from the dark side, back into the light. At least they didn’t lead an attempted genocide of their own people.

“It took Qui-Gon over ten years to get through his feelings on the fall of his former beloved apprentice,” Shaak Ti continued. “And here…and here Obi-Wan is, just… just taking responsibility, picking things up and helping lead us to survival. We have been letting him take on too much.”

Cin didn’t think they were lettinghim do anything. Obi-Wan was going to do it whether or not they let him do half the things he was. He had learned that very quickly in Obi-Wan’s padawanship. The late knights in the salles, the books accidently left behind. He never knew exactly how much Obi-Wan did for his studies, but he certainly knew he took on a lot. For a lot of different reasons.

Cin had never, in his entire life, heard Shaak Ti talk so much, almost in the calmest ramble he had ever encountered. It was a strange thing to hear, and he wasn’t entirely sure how he could ever explain it. “I will speak with him,” he promised as he set a hand on her shoulder and squeezed ever so lightly. “Although I’m not sure what we will be able to do. Obi-Wan is very driven and he has enough doubt on him.”

“I do not doubt him or his ability,” she replied.

“Of course not,” he assured. “Neither do I. We have both seen him, even as a padawan, with his dedication and work ethic. But others have not, they do not know.”

“The rumors,” she muttered with another frown. “They have been getting worse, haven’t they?”

Ah the rumors.

Cin and Shaak Ti had shut down most of the jedi’s public doubt when they were on Kamino, letting those know it would not be tolerated and if they had such doubts, it would be kept to themselves. They had enough to worry about. Obi-Wan had enough to worry about. He had nothing to prove to them.

But things had not gotten very much better on that front either. He knew they were circling and although he was fairly certain they were keeping the rumors away from Obi-Wan’s ears – the 212th and 501st survivors would never ever tolerate it on the Vigilance – it didn’t mean they weren’t happening.

“Obi-Wan’s near entire lineage,” Cin just sighed, shaking his head. “Fall or quit or die. It’s not exactly a ringing endorsement. He has spent near his entire life proving others wrong about him, but he cannot stop others’ feelings.”

Cin’s own lineage was really just an offshoot of Master Yoda’s. Due to his age and his many padawans, Master Yoda was considered to be the forefront of the beginning of lineages. So although Cin was of Master Yoda’s lineage and so was Count Dooku and so forth, they were often considered different. Just offshoots.

However, Obi-Wan’s lineage wasn’t exactly strong as of currently. A lot of doubt, death and betrayal in there. He understood the suspicions, to an extent, but out of everyone, imagining Obi-Wan in any of those positions was rather ridiculous.

“Master Koon is close and will be with the fleet soon,” Shaak Ti added as the last two ships waited for them. They started to walk towards them, looking around to make sure there was no one else around and on the planet. “He will be able to help; perhaps take a load from Master Kenobi’s shoulders.”

“Somehow, I think he may have better luck with it,” Cin added with a small smile as she stepped into one of the gunships. “But don’t worry, I’m still on the Vigilance. He knows better than to do too much when I’m around.”

“May the Force be with you, Master Drallig,” she replied with a dip of her head. He repeated the sentiment as the gunship door closed and the vehicle took off.

“Are you ready to go, sir?”

Cin turned towards the trooper that had come up to him, standing to his right and just barely behind. “Ah, yes, of course, Ink, my apologies.”

“No worries, sir,” the young former guard member replied with a lopsided smile. His armor was still vaguely red, but he had gold stripes added to the sides of the color. He still wanted to be a part of the Corrie Guard, like the rest of the few survivors from the Temple had been, but he had rather been adopted into the 212th and wanted to be a part of that too. Cin had found quite a few survivors – mostly 501st – doing similarly.

They wanted to be proud, Cin thought.

And the orange gold shimmered so beautifully in the light.

The two of them entered the very last of the ships leaving the surface of the planet and they took off immediately towards their intended ship. By the time they had reached the Vigilance, nearly all of the other ships in the planet’s space had jumped to hyperspace, always on the move. They had already taken longer than they had wanted to when it came to gathering the resources from the planet.

In fact, he was fairly certain that the Vigilance is the last ship in the area when it happens.

He had just barely taken a few steps out of the gunship in one of the bays when a ship comes into view; one he does not recognize. He remembered hearing a shout and turning to see it. It’s reminiscent of their own but bigger, pointer, stranger. He doesn’t even see it fire.

But he feels it.

Oh, does he feel it.

He would be thrown into a group of crates nearby but luckily, it wasn’t too hard. Enough to make him a bit disoriented but not to knock him out. He leapt up and calls into action. “CLOSE THE BLAST DOORS!” he yelled out, waving his hands. The troopers around him that hadn’t been knocked too hard scrambled to obey and the ship outside was closed from view. “ALL OF THEM!” he adds as he yanks up Ink from next to him who was struggling to get u. “Make sure everything is locked down, we need to get out of here NOW!”

The young trooper barely nodded before he ran off.

Cin ran in another direction towards the bridge, shouting at anyone and everyone he came across to contact the bridge and get them to jump to hyperspace immediately. Several troopers were already on their commlinks, scrambling to help however they could.

He wouldn’t be entirely sure what happened next, but he would later figure he was thrown into a wall. However, this time, he was definitely knocked unconscious. For how long, he hadn’t been sure and didn’t really care to find out, long after the danger had passed. When he came around again, the first he thing he saw was yellow and locs. Quinlan Vos, his brain supplied.

“I’m fine, we need to get to the bridge.”

Vos was probably asking him if he was okay, but Cin didn’t really hear him and the look on Cin’s face must have shut him up because he didn’t not protest as they made their way to the bridge.

“Did we make…” he drifted off as the doors opened and he got to the bridge. The tell-tale signs of hyperspace were evident in the viewport, lines and stars screaming past them as the ship rumbled through space. He sighed in relief. “We made it to hyperspace. Are there any casualties?”

“We just got out, sir,” a trooper said with a frown as he turned to give a quick rundown of the situation, or, rather what they knew of it. “We have techs going down to survey the damage but so far things are running, a bit slowly, probably from somedamage but not enough to hurt our movement drastically.”

“Has anyone heard from Obi-Wan?” Vos asked from next to him, his shoulders straightening and his gaze sharpening to such a degree Cin thought he might burst. “I can’t get ahold of him.”

Cin tried. He failed.

His comm crackled to life after his attempts. It wasn’t Obi-Wan, as Cin had learned the number of the past months, and Cin tried not to be disappointed. “Sir, you should really come to cargo hold E,” a trooper’s voice said.

He and Vos glance at one another before quickly making their way down. A few troopers were there to greet them. The doors must have been really messed up because the secondary blast doors were closed and still scorched. A lot of the supplies they had in here was either one, ruined or thrown all over the place. It was a mess. Perhaps an understatement.

“This is what they hit sir,” a trooper started to explain. Bloom, Cin was pretty sure. He had been spending his time on the Vigilance and was getting to know much of the 212th and relating troopers. “We mostly had explosives in here but once they shot out of the shield, a lot of the supplies got sucked out, which is why the explosions relating didn’t do as much damage as they could have.”

“How did they even find us?”

They all knew who he was speaking of.

The Empire.

“That I don’t know,” Bloom replied, the admission certainly grating on his nerves. He could understand how much the trooper hated not knowing such things. It was frustrating, to say the least. “But with the debris left behind and the lightshow those supplies would have given, it wouldn’t be surprising if they thought they killed us.”

“Really?” Quinlan asked, curiously.

“We got out pretty quickly,” Bloom explained, quick and efficient. The near glittery tattoos on his cheeks, reminiscent of flower petals, were a bit distracting, as they sometimes caught light in Cin’s eye, catching it just right. He tried really hard not to literally just move the trooper so it wouldn’t keep happening but he kept his gaze just to the side so he wasn’t completely blinded and annoyed with it. If Bloom noticed, he didn’t say anything. “This left behind the explosives that were sucked out into space, that the offending ship definitely detonated. It would have been an enormous bang.”

Cin nodded, understanding. If he was getting it right, Bloom was saying that the debris and explosions left behind would leave the Empire thinking they destroyed either most or all of the ship. It was a good cover, he thought.

“Have you found any bodies?” Vos asked, rather a bit impatiently.

“A couple,” Bloom admitted. “No one dead from those we found, a few injuries. I imagine there could have possibly been a few actually in the hold, although rather unlikely, that may have died but there would be no bodies. I’ll have Barlex set up a roll call to see who is all accounted for.”

“Have you heard from Obi-Wan?” Cin asked, continuing Vos’ next question.

Bloom shook his head. “No. And we haven’t found a body yet either. He was with Captain Alpha-17 after Captain Fordo and Commander Cody announced they had succeeded in the mission. We haven’t found or heard from either of them.”

The brief silence was nearly palpable.

“Guys! I found someone!” a voice called. He was obviously thinking there were only troopers around; the clones hadn’t quite gotten into the mindset of being more familiar and casual around the jedi, generally those who had been generals or commanders.

It was only moments after that a heavily scarred trooper was supporting an even larger one, nearly equally as scarred; one that Cin definitely recognized. Alpha-17. The Captain was mainly trying to keep himself up right without assistance but the trooper that had found him was having none of it.

“Immortal!” Bloom exclaimed. “Captain, it’s good to see you alive.”

“Where’s…ws…Kennnobi,” Alpha-17 slurred a bit. There was a nasty gash on his head, a crack in his helmet laying on the ground. Blood had smeared over much of his face. He glanced around, his eyebrows furrowing but he found it difficult to move. “He… was… with me.”

“Immortal, Gearshift,” Bloom announced. “Get the Captain to the Healers right away. He was with General Kenobi so he can’t be far.” Immortal and another trooper nearby went to assist. Alpha-17 didn’t paticularly are for it, but he wasn’t exactly in a position to argue.

“I found the General!” another voice announced. As the small group followed the voice, two troopers were kneeling next to Obi-Wan’s body. He was a bit bloody but none more than Alpha-17 had been. Cin hoped he was just unconscious.

The two troopers looked up. Waxer and Boil, Cin remembered. Obi-Wan had a bit of a soft spot for them and over time, Cin could really understand why. There had been a joke going around that while Commander Cody always seemed to find Obi-Wan’s lightsaber, it was these two that had a knack for finding the jedi himself.

It may have intended as a joke, but Cin believed it.

Even more so now.

“He’s still breathing,” Boil grunted with a deepening frown and his brows furrowed. “I don’t think there is any life-threatening injuries, but he was banged around pretty good.”

Something was happening and Cin had a bad feeling about it.

I do not like this particular job so much. My boss called me this morning telling me that I have to take it besides the fact that I was booked as a tour photographer for the Bullet for my Valentine and Bring me the Horizon Europe tour that would start tomorrow. So I should spend the day finishing packing and go over my flight details not taking on another job.

With a last sight I take one last look in my mirror. Would they recognize me? Probably, even though I changed a lot. I took the snakebites out again, not that they were a bad Idea or anything but after a year or so I felt like I kind of outgrew them. I am covered in tattoos now, though. It was like that first one kind of took all of my doubts away and I have gotten another after another. I keep my hair pink these days but that changes frequently. I have grown it again though, it now reaches just under my boobs and I usually keep it in big waves down my back, the front clipped back. Plus I have kind of started experiencing with Makeup, gone are the days where I would only wear mascara and be out the door. Today I usually wear cute little cat eyes with a lot of eyeliner on both my upper lid and under my eye, some Black and Golden eyeshadow and either pink or purple lipstick.

I walk into my room and stop in front of my dresser wondering what would be appropriate to wear to the little “reunion”. I decide to go with some skinny jeans, vans and a Bullet for my Valentine T-shirt, finished off with some band bracelets and a Bring me the Horizon snapback – might as well get in the mood- and be as comfortable as possible in the uncomfortable situation.

By the time Tammy knocks on my door again I am done so I grab my camera and my purse and I am out the door

“I am not going to get out of this am I?” She shakes her head no and pulls on my hand. She is excited to be meeting her favorite band and I can’t blame her for it. When she first found out whom my brother is she stopped talking to me for days because I never told her. In the end she understood why I did it though. I came here to make friends who like me not some who were being my friends because I am someone’s little sister. And honestly finding Tammy in this big city was a blessing. I can’t believe I have been here for two years now. Well nearly. The two months of tour will be my last job working for my company and I have not yet decided what to do next.

“You really don’t want to see them again?” Tammy asks me as we are riding the train to the location of the shooting

“I do. I just….I don’t know it is going to be awkward. I have not seen anyone of them besides Jim in two years and Brian and I barely talked. The boys and I talk occasionally over a couple texts but it usually no more than “how are you” or “happy Birthday” or “good luck on tour”, stuff like that. I don’t know I guess I am just nervous”. She nods her head, hopefully understanding me

“But at least you will see Jimmy again” she smiles up at me and I can’t help but smile back.

“Yeah” I have not seen Jimmy for a couple of month since he has been here for my Birthday. Visiting each other was not as easy as I thought it would be. When they were in New York on their tour I was in Chicago, shooting the wedding of one of our bosses. On thanks giving they were on tour, on New Years I had to work. It was wicked. I have only seen Jimmy 3 times in the last two years because of both of our crazy schedules. His touring, I did a couple tours through the UK and the US and somehow we never ended up in the same city.

I am excited to see him again but I am also nervous what the others are going to say when they see me.

And it looks like I am about to find out. We have arrived at the venue and are making our way to the back of the building where the entrance is. That is when I hear his voice. He sounds exactly the same and I can’t help the excitement growing in my chest at the thought of seeing him again but when we round the corner he doesn’t even notice me. He is too busy with the blonde on his lap. Wait is that Michelle? Really? Wow, okay. That is new for me but good for him I guess, he seems happy with her.

I quietly make my way into the building, trying not to be noticed and thankfully for once that works.

“Yo, Lily” I turn around to see Tammy’s boss Chris walk up to us. I smile at him and hug him to say Hello

“So, where do you need me to set up?” He walks me to the actual set and talks me through how exactly he envisioned the shoot. After some time and some discussing the pro and cons of various scenarios we decide in a general theme and I start to set up the lights and stuff. As I am as good as done with that I hear Tammy introducing herself to someone so the band must be here.

Slowly I turn around and can’t help the massive grin that is spreading across my face at the sight of Jimmy. I jump down from adjusting the light and run up to him, being easily cached by his arms and swung around. We both laugh as he sets me back down and I adjust my glasses that nearly fell of my nose.

“Why don’t you introduce your little friend to us?” I hear Brian say. He must not have seen me as he came in later than the rest. I take a deep breath and slowly turn around, face hidden behind my hair

“Hey Bri-Bri” I finally acknowledge him, the anxiety back to its highest level. I hear him draw in a gasp as I look up and our eyes meet