[Republic Commando] - 02(37)

Fi hadn’t thought he would get on with Niner on first meeting, either. But there had never been anything about Niner that had made Fi want to punch him in the face and get it over with, just to save time.

It was going to happen, sooner or later. Fi knew it.

He’d never had a disagreement, let alone a fight, with a brother before. It made him uneasy. He distracted himself with dreams of a hot shower, hot food, and the luxury of five hours’ unbroken sleep.





5


To: Officer Commanding SO BCE, HQ Coruscant: CO Fleet Protection Group.

From: CO Majestic, off Kelarea: 367 days after Geonosis.

I regret to inform you that we have recovered the wreckage of TIV Z590/1 and the body of pilot CT-1127/549. Perlemian Traffic Control reports that Republic civilian freighter Nova Crystal logged that it fired on a vessel it described as a “pirate” attacking its convoy to dislodge it from the hull. I also regret that due to security restrictions, I am unable to tell PTC that-the freighter killed a special forces pilot on active service, and so PTC regard Nova Crystal’s skipper to be something of a hero.

Fleet Ops HQ, Coruscant, 0600, 368 days after Geonosis: the first anniversary of the battle

Skirata walked out of the Fleet Ops lobby and into a cool, moist morning that he wasn’t expecting to welcome.

It was over, for the time being. Omega had survived, and they were coming home. They needed a break from continuous deployment in the badlands and he was certain they were needed here. CSF couldn’t handle a big terror operation in the capital system, not even with Obrim around.

The question was how to work that past Arligan Zey. The Jedi was reluctant to commit men to what he saw as security work at a time like this.

But it was what Ordo and the Nulls were ideally suited for-if they had a few commandos to deploy as well.

Skirata stood on the steps for a few minutes inhaling fresh air, eyes stinging from fatigue, and raked his fingers through his crew cut. He could sleep now. Omega was safe; Ordo was here with him; and his five brothers were accounted for, safe and well.

Mereel was on Kamino. If Zey was heard to mutter that the Nulls were Skirata’s private army, he wasn’t entirely wrong.

There were still ninety of the men Skirata had trained from small boys on active service, and he worried about them, too. But Omega had become as much his closest family now as the Null ARCs. He would move the galaxy for them if he had to.

The gold-veined marble fountain in the center of the plaza beckoned to him. He stopped as he walked past it and simply leaned over and plunged his head in the icy water, holding it there for a few painfully refreshing moments before jerking upright and shaking the water off like a mott.

A couple of early-morning pedestrians stared at him and he returned the stare until they looked away. It was rare for anyone to even notice him: he made a habit of being inconspicuous. But today he didn’t care. Did they have any idea what was going on around the galaxy on hundreds of battlefields? He resisted the urge to grab them, shake them, and make them listen to what was happening in their name.

It was the first anniversary of Geonosis. Nobody seemed to be marking that.

Ordo walked up behind him. “You should get some rest, Kal ‘buir”

“I’ll sleep when you sleep.”

“I have more good news.”

“I could do with that.”

“Darman’s explosives profile. The reading from the prisoners matches up with the manufacturing characteristics of at least a quarter of the devices detonated so far. We got a break.”

“Good work. And good old Dar.” He smiled at Ordo, reminded again of how well his boys had turned out. “Tell you what, Ord ‘ika, fancy some breakfast while the system gets on with unpacking that data? They do a disgustingly greasy fry-up in the Kragget. It’s not the Skysitter, but it sets you up for the day.”

Ordo shrugged and tilted his head in a conspicuously selfconscious glance down at his spotless white armor. “I don’t think we’re the Skysitter’s type of clientele, anyway.”

Skirata couldn’t see the expression behind the visor, but he knew Ordo was amused. It was good that a man who’d had an unimaginable nightmare of a childhood could find anything funny. “They have napkins. And I’ll try not to splash sauce over you. Deal? Just to celebrate the fact that we’re both still here a year on.”

Ordo started walking. “What were you doing a year ago today?”

“Wondering where all my boys had gone.”

“Sorry, Kal’buir. It was a very rapid deployment. I should have woken you.”

“You did fine. I should have shaped up and realized you had a job to do.”

“We certainly accounted for a number of enemy positions,” Ordo said.