Author's Note: If you have any tips writing tips, please feel free to comment.

As always, I continue to hope that I am doing justice to the spirit of Star Wars as well the respective authors and characters from which I borrow. Again, I gratefully accept constructive criticism as a means to help me develop my skills further as a writer.

Mandalorian (Mando'a) words

Ner vod (nair-vohd): "my brother/sister"; colloquially also "my friend"

Ika (EE-kah): diminutive suffix written as 'ika - also added to a name as a very familiar or childhood form, e.g, Ord'ika - Little Ordo

Vode (VOH-day): brothers, sisters, comrades

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Chapter 16

I've heard people say that we don't care about them and it's immoral to have them used from the start. They're right, and I often wondered what other choice we could have made when our backs are against the wall. The Clone Army was a grave mistake, but not because of their lives as men, as beings. It was a mistake because of how they have been used and exploited. How many of them will ever have any kind of normalcy... a relationship... a family?

Private journal of General Bardan Jusik, prior to resigning from the Jedi Order

Tochin Moon III, 784 Days ABG

Gath and Dusty had settled themselves upon the rocks while they waited for Mouse to return. According to the timeframe that Jas provided, Mouse had only been gone for about fifteen minutes, and they all knew that once their brother took chase to a prey—whenever it was for a mission or for his own purposes—he didn't relent until his quarry was caught.

Gath took a moment to review additional information about the moon of Tochin that they were stranded upon in his HUD.

 He had wanted to know more of this Fang-bird that Jas had told them Mouse was hunting. Considering the bird's predatory nature, Gath decided that it was probably better that Mouse chased it down than the bird finding them. 

The flightless avian ran at speeds of twenty miles an hour and once it caught its prey with its razor-sharp claws, it dug its fangs mercilessly into a strong artery on the helpless prey and drank the blood for its sustenance.

Taking a tally now, Gath concluded that they had Pallid Vipers and Fang-birds to contend with in the forests. He was beginning to understand now why the princess' father kept her locked so closely in her palace where she was safe.

Dusty pulled free his kit from their spare water bottle that they confiscated earlier in the morning from the escape pod. 

He offered it to the princess, trying to study the confusion in her eyes. "Les'ika, you didn't have to push yourself so hard. Your father would probably kill us if we brought you back on your deathbed."

Arlesse took the offered water and swallowed down a large mouthful, not realizing just how dry her throat had become. She wasn't entirely sure if it was because of her want to keep up with these military-trained soldiers, her frightened screams from the snake, or her moment of nervous confusion with Jas.

Looking to Dusty as he removed his helmet and took his own drink of water, she responded, "I'm trying to not be a helpless waste of your time. I thought if I made an effort with something as simple as walking, I might earn your respect."

"Ma'am," Gath said, as he now pulled free from his helmet and the data that he had been studying. His concern about Mouse's disappearance was evident on his face while he continued speaking to the princess, "You and I had this discussion already..."

"Then, I need to do this myself," she interrupted, allowing herself a moment to let her determination flash in her eyes. Then, she felt herself quickly glancing at Jas but not entirely certain why. "I just need to try to do something to the best that I can on my own."

Jas looked to the princess and felt himself studying her with some strange mixture of curiosity and admiration. He was curious about what would motivate her to push past her comfort and he admired that sudden spark of determination that was in her eyes.

 He was proud of her for trying to do her best in their given situation and not being a conceited monarch who demanded they follow her inexperienced commands.

Dusty looked from Arlesse to Jas and he caught a momentary spark of something between them. It was a connection of some kind, something intangible that was both a mutual respect and something he couldn't quite grasp. 

After a moment, Dusty hid the smirk on his face as he realized that Les'ika was trying to impress Jas and that Jas had taken a liking to the young monarch. 

And, now he knew exactly what he had interrupted earlier and almost wished that he had diverted Gath for just a few minutes longer.

Shifting his eyes quickly to Gath, Dusty thought about the conversation the two of them shared while they had been gathering the water. Gath had admitted that he thought Princess Arlesse was a good person and was a decent being despite her birthing into privilege and status. 

However, he was insistent that because of her royalty, it meant that they were even further burdened with bringing her home without anything else happening to her. He pointed out how on a couple of instances that they had breached the orders they were given and were skirting on the edge of insubordination. 

Gath then emphasized that he had no intention to experience a DC-17 court martial, especially not over a mission as easy as the extraction of a royal pawn in a Separatist power struggle.

Dusty took another swallow of his water and thought about how serious Gath took his mission orders. Dusty was certain that Gath would never allow Jas the opportunity to experience anything mutual with the princess, even if it would turn into something as innocent as a fleeting love of weaponry.

 However, Dusty also knew that he and his brothers were the Reject Squad. If there was any way to pull off the impossible and even break a rule or two while doing so, they were the men for the job. 

They had a talent for skirting insubordination and exhibited a natural gift when it came to rule bending.

Gath caught Dusty's eyes with his own and Dusty quickly offered a relaxed and casual smile. He was already devising ways to distract Gath long enough so that Jas and the princess would be left alone more often than not.

 Dusty had the opportunity once in his life to enjoy an experience that wasn't solely about war and he believed that Jas deserved the same opportunity. If Gath and Mouse ever had their time come forth, Dusty would be certain they received their moments, too.

Gath turned suddenly to the shrubbery around them and saw the familiar shape of Republic Commando armor. 

Mouse casually walked from the thickness of the forest moving toward the rocks where the others were waiting, and for the barest of moments, he looked like some ancient warrior stepping out of the past as he returned from a hunt. 

Mouse's Deece hung by his right side within easy access while a three-foot sized Fang-bird was slung over his left shoulder.

The creature was rather ugly now that they could see it up close. Its beak had two fangs that hung down from the top, and claws that would easily and painfully shred into whatever prey it hunted. 

The brown and gray feathers that covered it were more leathery than soft and patterned to look like the bark of a tree.

Mouse set the bird down on the rocks, the carbon scoring pinpointed to the bird's head. One shot, and its brain had been fried along with the eyes and the head feathers. 

Considering it was going to be their supper, the sacrifice was virtually painless to the creature and it left all the meat unaltered.

"What the hell were you thinking, ner vod?" Gath asked sounding angry, but he was actually relieved that his brother was safe. "You were told to stay with Jas."

Mouse took off his helmet and grabbed a bottle of water. A he opened it, he explained, "One: the Fang-bird would have attacked once it smelled Les'ika's blood. Two: I was hungry, and I wanted it's a decent meal, something we may never get again in the forest."

"That's it?" Dusty asked, looking at the size of the bird and intervening between Gath and Mouse. "The bird's barely enough for me. You should have shot a second one for everyone else."

"Then, go find your own meal you ungrateful..."

"Now what are you doing?" Gath asked, hoping to get moving again since they were all present and accounted for. He wanted to get another couple of miles in before night.

"Preparing a meal," Mouse replied as he put down the bottle of water and took a couple of the leathery feathers in his hand. Abruptly, he plucked them free of the dead beast and without hesitating, he took a couple more in his hand and did the same.

Arlesse suddenly got up from the rock she had been upon and clutched her stomach wearily as she limped gently, favoring her injured leg. The sight of blood on the quills after having been pulled from the bird had just pushed her over her limits. 

She thought the bird's burnt head was sickening, but the sound of the plucking and the sight of the dead creature just became too much for her. She moved away from the dead avion and the soldier who was eager to get it cooked.

Jas watched the princess take her leave of the others, and he followed her as she stepped with delicate care away from the grotesque scene. He was concerned about she moved uncertainly with her leg and worried that maybe it wasn't healed as he thought. 

He had seen that the bite had been deep and she probably needed a couple more hours off the injury to be sure that the muscle beneath had begun healing.

"You look ill," he observed, alarmed that she might be having a relapse of the snake's poison.

She looked to the woods and then glanced quickly back to the sight of the bird being cleaned for a meal. Just as quickly he eyes returned to the green and brown of the forest around her. Her hand lifted at an odd angle from her body as she tried to point at the scene behind them. "I can't watch... that."

Jas turned to his brothers as Gath and Mouse were now helping to pluck feathers and remove the Fang-bird's head while Dusty began gathering firewood. 

He could see how it could be perceived as a disturbing scene, especially after being forced to watch a man go through a dissection, something that might be far too similar in her mind to be comprehensible. 

Besides that, he doubted she actually had the opportunity to witness the butchering of beasts used for meals, and it wasn't the kind of sight most beings could withstand.

"Mouse is an experienced hunter and isn't easily disturbed," Jas explained. "He took for granted what he would normally do and simply didn't realize it would upset you."

Arlesse threw a quick smile over her shoulder as she stepped carefully, trying not to put too much weight on her leg. 

Even though she was certain of Jas' first aid skills, her leg ached with a dull throbbing that she could only comprehend was the bacta wearing off and her body beginning to heal on its own.

Continuing on her way, Arlesse targeted a particular shrub that was blooming with bright yellow leaves and had small fruit covering it. 

The fruit was the size of her thumb and was oval in shape with an orange-red color. The exterior of the fruit was smooth and shiny, more like a skin than a rind.

"I'm seeing a lot more of everything than I expected," she smiled, being sure to cautiously step over a small, downed tree. "I suppose I never imagined what would bother me until I actually saw it happen. I just... I don't like being weak and scared, and I'm sorry that you and your vode had to be the ones to rescue the likes of me."

Jas took a quiet breath, easily keeping her pace. He expected her to trip or collapse from her injury, but she was being careful about her surroundings. "You shouldn't say that, Les'ika. You were caught blindsided in a situation where you had no control. The way you were raised couldn't ever prepare you for this."

"You sound like Gath," she laughed gently, realizing just how similar these clones could be when they wanted. She saw them by their personalities, not their faces. 

They had very obvious differences in their body language, but every now and again, they would imitate each other, and she thought it was amusing because they had no idea they did so. "He told me the same thing earlier."

Hearing the gentle laugh from the princess, Jas instantly appreciated the sound. He couldn't ever remember having heard a woman's laughter before, but hers was almost musical, coming out in a medium pitch of notes in a scale that was comforting to the ears.

 He wondered for a moment what else could get her to laugh, and if he was capable of finding the triggers that would reveal her sense of humor.

However, her laugh was quick in passing, and her voice dropped into sadness. "I can't help thinking that maybe if I was raised stronger, I wouldn't have been kidnapped or I could have helped that cloned man."

Jas didn't like the way this conversation was going now, and he tried to divert her. He wanted her to be happy and laughing, not returning to that haunting moment in her life that would always undermine her virtue. "Les'i..."

"I know you thought it. You all did," she interrupted as the smile faded from her face. "Each of you has to be thinking that if I was just a little braver or cocker, I could have stalled Hazar from killing him."

Jas felt the guilt overwhelming him suddenly as he did have such thoughts. He had wondered what would happen differently if she wanted to be so kind and gentle. He tried to contemplate a different scenario and how that would affect them now.

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