[Republic Commando] - 03(178)

He’d take the pressure off her, because it was the responsible thing to do.

“You’re right,” she said. “It’s not the right time.” The Skydome gardens were just as beautiful and fascinating as Etain had promised. He could tell she was trying to be cheerful and enthusiastic about them, but there was something sad and wounded about her that he didn’t know how to make better.

Evacuating Qiilura must have been worse than she’d let on. But she’d tell him in her own good time.





Chapter 20


Order 65: In the event of either (i) a majority in the Senate declaring the Supreme Commander (Chancellor) to be unfit to issue orders, or (ii) the Security Council declaring him to be unfit to issue orders, and an authenticated order being received by the GAR, commanders shall be authorized to detain the Supreme Commander, with lethal force if necessary, and command of the GAR shall fall to the acting Chancellor until a successor is appointed or alternative authority identified as outlined in Section 6 (iv).

Order 66: In the event of Jedi officers acting against the interests of the Republic, and after receiving specific orders verified as coming directly from the Supreme Commander (Chancellor), GAR commanders will remove those officers by lethal force, and command of the GAR will revert to the Supreme Commander (Chancellor) until a new command structure is established.

-From Contingency Orders for the Grand Army of the Republic: Order Initiation, Orders 1 Through 150, GAR document CO(CL) 56-95



The Kragget all-day restaurant, lower levels, Coruscant, 548 days after Geonosis

I always said you were a fine officer, Bard’ika,” Skirata said. “I feel this is my fault.”

He slid onto the bench and faced Jusik across the table; the Twi’lek waitress was there in a heartbeat. The Kragget had real live staff, for its regulars at least, and this place was 90 percent regular trade.

“Usual Arterial Blocker, Sergeant Kal?” asked the Twi’lek, whose dancing days were over but who still brightened his day. “Extra egg?”

“Please. And top up the caf for my skinny young friend here, too.” Skirata waited for her to walk away. “Bard’ika, I’m so sorry it came to this.”

“I’m not,” Jusik said brightly. It hadn’t ruined his appetite, either. If anything, he looked purged. “Okay, it’s scary to walk out, but I did it, and I had to. The only thing I feel bad about is leaving my command, not that the men need me holding their hands, and not being on the inside for you any longer.”

Skirata had long since decided that Jusik was an exemplary man but a potentially lethal officer. He wouldn’t see men as resources to be expended in battle to win wars, a price worth paying; he cared too much and stayed too close, and so he would never be an efficient tactician. Skirata both loved him for it and knew he was a liability, and so had made a silent pledge to keep the kid alive-whatever that took.

Jusik had made a stand on pure principle, a man’s decision that so few of his superiors seemed to have the gett’se to make. That was mandokarla.

“Son, I need you now on the outside more than you can ever know. Anyway, you haven’t left your boys any more than I have. You’ll see plenty of them. You’ve just … well … shifted sideways into a self-employed consultancy capacity. Right?”

“I have to get a job and a place to live for the first time in my life. The Jedi Order doesn’t set you up for life on the outside. No resettlement package, just like the clones-but at least nobody sends a hit squad after us.”

“You’ve go? a job to walk into.” It was such uncanny tim-ing that Skirata decided not to make any more cracks about the Force, or maybe he was just a five-star opportunist. “And a home, if you don’t mind sharing a space with me and Laseema. Oh, and Venku. In fact…”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“He’s going to need someone around with your special skills to help him deal with his own abilities. Etain won’t be there often enough.”

“I’d love to. I really would. But I can still be useful in the war.”

“Oh, I know. Poor old Zey. He thinks that if he confiscates your identichip, you’re locked out. He really doesn’t get it.”

“I think he knows otherwise,” said Jusik, “but he doesn’t want to be reminded of it.” The waitress returned with more hot plates and jugs of caf. “Venku, then.”

“I think we might need to call him Kad.”

“Why?”

“The lads were talking about names, and Darman said he liked Kad. He really ought to choose his son’s name, even if he doesn’t know it yet.”