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

Di'kut (DEE-koot): idiot, useless individual, waste of space (lit. someone who forgets to put their pants on)  

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

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Chapter 19

The other squads had called us the Reject Squad practically from the moment the Kaminoans had released us from our incubation pods. They couldn't understand how we could argue and fight amongst ourselves so consistently. I guess when you're told you're a reject often enough, at some point you begin to believe it. I can't say when exactly it happened, but we realized that if we were going to be considered rejects, then we would be sure to use it to our advantage. It didn't take us long to learn how to bend the rules and show our superiors they were wrong. More importantly, we specialized in proving how our superiors were wrong.

RC-1168 "Dusty" reminiscing about his time in the GAR

Tochin Moon III, 784 Days ABG

Jas brought his eyes to hers, knowing that regardless of everything he told her earlier, she would carry that trooper's life with her forever. Their nameless brother would not be forgotten, and she would see to it that she never failed to remember the man who sacrificed himself for her safety. He wondered if she would remember the rest of them just as strongly when they finally got her home. 

Then, he closed down the thought and decided it wasn't worth it to speculate over someone that he knew would never cross paths with them again.

Arlesse rotated the skewer in the fire carefully, seeming to watch the fruit as it touched the flames. She kept it moving so it would not burn, but her actions gave the impression that she had done this process before. She let a small smile touch her lips, and her shyness about something became obvious.

"I'm sure that you'll see me as nothing but a pretty and silly girl, but I would like to share with you a moment of my past," she quietly offered.

"I love to hear civilian stories," Dusty smiled. "It makes me grateful that I'm not one of them."

Arlesse laughed gently and was glad that these soldiers wouldn't mind hearing about her privileged childhood. She looked quickly amongst them, trying to not be disheartened by Jas' seeming lack of interest. "When I was a child, I had a bad habit of sneaking sweets. Udi was the palace cook at the time of my youth, and she caught me one day when I was about nine years old trying to hide a small cake under my nightgown and sneak it out of the kitchen for a late night snack. I thought for certain that I was in trouble, and when my father would find out I would lose my nightly dessert for a week. Instead of telling my father, though, Udi sat me down before one of the fire ovens and handed me a skewered RubyFruit. She worked with me for an hour, teaching me exactly how to heat it just right."

Arlesse then pulled the fruit from the flame and removed the stick, putting it aside to cool. Picking up another one, she did the same, being very careful about how much heat the fruit received. "Udi and I made up a dozen or so of these treats that night. She told me that the trick was to heat them just enough and then set them aside for about ten minutes to cool."

"Where was Udi when we were kids?" Dusty asked. "Could have used a cook who didn't believe in only serving high protein meals with little flavor."

The princess took the second RubyFruit from the flame and set it aside as well. Working down the line, she took another of the fruited sticks and heated it above the fire.

"By the sounds of it, Udi would have made sire none of us would have been thin enough to fit in our armor," Mouse said as he watched the next RubyFruit cook. He instantly studied how it changed in color from bright orange to a very deep red.

After a few minutes, Arlesse brought the third stick from the fire and set it aside. She lifted the first fruit she had cooked and handed it to Gath. It had cooled enough now that it could be eaten without causing any burns.

Gath took the fruit from her and examined it for a brief moment. He found it curious that the skin remained smooth and didn't wrinkle or peel.

"Cooked fruit usually becomes mushy and fragile," Arlesse explained, "RubyFruit, though, when heated gets preserved like a piece of candy that you can eat weeks later if you want. The skin becomes a protective coating that holds in the jellied center, and the hole from the skewer seals itself as it cools."

Skeptically, Gath took a bite of the candied fruit. The pulp inside had cooked to the consistency of soft taffy, and the skin outside had sealed in the sugary candy. He rolled the sweet, gooey substance around in his mouth, trying to compare it to anything he had eaten before.

 However, Crimson Squad was not given many opportunities to enjoy civilian cuisine, and when they had, it usually didn't include any kind of dessert.

Arlesse set another RubyFruit into the fire. "It's completely healthy candy because all the vitamins and nourishments are preserved, and it's the only fruit I have ever heard of that can be cooked within its own skin without losing its texture."

Gath smiled now as he swallowed down the fruity and sugary substance. It was how he imagined the nectar of hive-combs would taste, only with more of a citrus flavor. "That's very clever, and very good."

Dusty was offered the next one and as he took it, he asked, "So what ever happened after you and Udi made these? Did your father ever find out?"

Arlesse gave the next one to Mouse as she replied, "Udi told me to hide the stash we had made for when I wanted something sweet but knew it was off-limits. She never betrayed to anyone our late night cooking session. In fact, some mornings when I would awaken early, she would allow me to help her with preparing the breakfast cakes, too. Udi probably rehabilitated me from a life of crime before it even had a chance to develop."

With that Dusty laughed. He rubbed the top of Les'ika's head, showing a moment of pride over her amusing comment. See, you can be witty. You just needed practice."

Arlesse felt her cheeks warm up at the compliment, but it was short-lived. She realized that she had not provided one of the candies yet t oJas and as she handed it to him, she tried not to dwell on his detachment. He took the candy quickly but politely from her, seeming to look at anything but the princess.

Bringing her attention to the other soldiers, Arlesse told them, "If you want, we can cook a bunch of these tonight and we won't have to rely solely on the rations. These will keep in your packs as long as you wait until they're fully cooled."

"Do you cook anything else?" Dusty asked, as his question was formed around a mouthful of RubyFruit.

Arlesse shook her head. "Other than a couple variants of breakfast cakes and the RubyFruit, no. After Udi passed away, the new cook never let me near the kitchens, no matter how much I asked. His philosophy was that I should be worrying about laws and history, not how long it takes dough to rise or what ingredients are that makes up a vegetable sauce."

Mouse nodded gratefully in acknowledgment, taking another RubyFruit from the communal pile that Arlesse had started making while she continued to cook the rest of their stash. "You did good, Les'ika. I'll put in an unlimited order for these treats."

"We'll pick some more tomorrow and I'll cook them every evening," she promised as her smile matched the brightness of the fire's flames. She finally felt like good for something and not just a burden with no usefulness. She had decided that if she had to earn her keep by making these men candy, then it was a minor price to pay for their troubles and risks.

Jas was aware now how Les'ika smiled in the glow of the fire, and he saw that she was proud of herself for having done something constructive. She had creativity found a way to thank them for saving her, and he could see that it eased her burdens of feeling insignificant.

As the fire flickered in the darkening evening, Jas couldn't help but notice how it reflected off her untamed curls and shone in her blue eyes. He knew he was viewing her as much more than the political pawn they were ordered to extract from the Separatists minions. His emotions continued to betray the fact that she was merely their mission objective. As her smile competed with the brightness of the fire, Jas could feel the warmth seeping into his chest, and the confusion he fought so hard to control threatened to break free from the mental box.

He watched helplessly as Les'ika's eyes came around to him, and the warmth in his chest dared to smash the bolt on his locked case. Jas caught himself trying to find some way to keep the light in her eyes and the smile on her face, but he knew it was far too dangerous to consider.

"Les'ika..." he paused, as the warmth became that nagging hunger again, and he knew he had to stop it before it overtook him. Shutting everything down, he simply nodded. "Thank you."

Arlesse felt her smile fade suddenly at Jas' quick and casual reply. She saw for the of moments that the softness in his eyes had returned and there was the chance that he would end his detachment. She had the faintest hope that whatever had shut Jas down and pushed her away had passed and that he would again be the man she met on the mercenary's ship who held her hand and made her stronger in ways she didn't think was possible.

Then, he changed again as though a switch had been touched, and the kind and gentle man disappeared, leaving only the duty-driven soldier in his place. Turning from Jas, Arlesse brought her eyes to the encampment's fire instead. The dancing flames, for all their deadly potential, were easier to watch than the aloofness that had become Jas' way of looking at her.

"We're heading out first thing in the morning," Gath explained as he popped another RubyFruit in his mouth, savoring the sweetness of the taffy-like substance. "Mouse is on first watch, Jas on second, and Dusty on third. I'm pulling rank and sleeping in."

"No sleep until you bury the carcass," Mouse teased.

"Wouldn't have to bury it if you didn't kill it," Gath replied. "It's your mess."

"You're an ungrateful di'kut," Mouse grumbled with real anger, as he grabbed the Fang-bird's remains and began to bury it a safe distance away.

Gath simply laughed and laid himself on the ground. He was amazed how different he felt now that he had a genuine meal in him and a decent dessert to follow. Maybe the mission wouldn't turn out so bad after all.

He had seen Jas finally take command of himself again and noticed that his brother was back to thinking about the mission. Apparently, the closeness he shared with the princess earlier in the day had been nothing more than a fleeting moment, and his brother's curiosity had passed.

Gath was relieved to see that the situation had straightened itself out. He knew that a relationship was not only against the protocols of the mission, but it was also against the protocols of being a clone. 

He didn't want to see Jas burned because of the affections that might not get returned, and the last thing he wanted was Jas in some kind of punishment for sharing affections that were illegal between the status of a clone and a princess.

Content now that the mission was back to normal, Gath concentrated on feeling the fullness and warmth in his stomach from the satisfying meal. 

Now longer worried that he would have to intervene between Jas and the princess, Gath let his exhaustion take him into the deep sleep he waited all day to finally enjoy because right now, the blissful rest was the only thing he needed. 

As his consciousness faded, he realized that he didn't even care about the conversation that was taking place while he rested.

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