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clonemedickix · 1 year ago

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Primer, my love, as he wonders what the hell his General is doing … now. (Cause she’s always into something)

OC CT-5609 Captain Primer, first in command of Dragon Company

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Rating: M

Word count: 4k

Pairing: Captain Rex, OC General Lara Lin, OC Primer, Volte and Boost, Clone Force 99, Darth Vader

Warnings: violence, fighting and mortal wounding, grief and angst

Excerpt Summary - Vader and his master released Lara’s greatest enemy from his prison in an attempt to get her killed. Confronted with no other way to stop him, she makes the choice of self sacrifice to save her beloved clones.

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Excerpt beneath the line:

Primer and Boost knew this was a trap, knew they were the bait. It had been too late to send a second transmission to wave them off, and they’d come to realize that the great black entity hiding within their cave was here for Lara. No one else would have been of consequence; the thing wanted her. The two clones heard the comms on the stormtroopers squawk, and the troopers inclined their ears to listen to the shoulder borne receivers. Aircraft approaching, everyone stand ready. Primer and Boost looked at each other and then glanced back at the other clones in the group; they all sensed something was up.

Shortly after, they saw the shapes of the Marauder and the drop ships from Nidhogg coming in, flying right past all of the Imperial ships as blatantly as day. There had been no point in trying to hide their landing; the fleet in orbit had allowed them to land, as these ships in atmosphere were doing. So the clones proceeded to land right in front of everyone, hoping it made a statement of just how much they didn’t care what the Empire thought of them. The doors to the ships opened, and the Dragon Company, the Bad Batch and Rex climbed down from their transports and stood on the beach, taking stock of all that was happening before them. Rex saw Primer and Boost stuck in the very low tech pen in the center of the stormtroopers, with Cut and Suu among them. Something caught Rex’s attention off to the right, and he looked over to see a very tall figure in all black standing in front of a Nu class shuttle, watching them as they disembarked from their crafts. The figure was arresting to the attention; wearing a large black mask full of life support machinery, a chest plate with more medical equipment, a thick padded suit and a black cape to match. He was an imposing figure, and Rex couldn’t take his eyes off of him.

“Rex! Y’all need to get out of here! LEAVE!” Primer shouted suddenly from in the pen. Watching the Man in Black, whom they had learned was called Darth Vader, Primer suddenly felt a wave of panic, knowing that if Rex and Echo were here, Lara was about to show up, and that was what Vader and that thing in the cave were waiting for. He saw Rex’s head snap around having heard him, and saw Rex more or less freeze, uncertain of what to do next, distracted by the figure of Vader, who was staring at Rex as if there were no other clones on the beach.

The ground started to shake, as if the first tremors of an earthquake were starting, and Rex saw the Floston clones all start to group up, nervously. Their wives were crying, almost in a panic, as if they knew something was coming that Rex and the Dragon Company couldn’t see. A dark, massive figure was emerging from the cave. It was cloaked in smoke, completely dark and seemingly made of flame and brimstone. It had smoldering red eyes which stared at the clones balefully as it advanced on their holding pen from the cave entrance. The monster carried a huge sword strapped to its back, and a large whip on its hip. Its steps were like peals of thunder as it approached, the ground shaking with each ponderous stride. Rex looked up at the monstrosity in awe and fear, then horror. The sword, this creature - he’d only heard of one such creature in his life, and that had been from stories Lara had told him of her early life, when she’d been created to defeat Morgoth the Deceiver and his evil lieutenant Sauron. She had always maintained that Sauron was completely destroyed in their final battle, and Morgoth imprisoned for eternity, but there was really only one entity this could be. And if he was here, then Lara was in grave danger.

A piercing cry split the air, a familiar roar, from far behind and over the sea. Primer and Rex both closed their eyes in defeat; Lara had come. The monster stopped and stood tall, searching the skies to find his arch enemy. Baiulus flew in, landing in a rush, his wings still flapping to help stop his forward motion. Lara leapt from his back and ran forward to Rex and the others, her eyes on Morgoth the whole time, a horrible resignation written on her face. Rex looked at her expression and asked “What is that thing, Lara?” Lara gave him only the briefest glance, more of a grimace than anything. She was focused entirely on the smoking, hulking black figure, who stared back at her with an eager look in his red flaming eyes. Light was growing around her, swirling like she was the center of her own storm, the star at the center of a planetary system. Rex saw all the stormtroopers start to retreat from their posts, headed back to their shuttles. They scrambled aboard as if trying to escape the smoky monster as fast as possible, and the ships started taking off quickly. Baiulus roared powerfully, standing tall in challenge to the creature before them. Lara watched the retreating troopers quietly, seeing the form of Vader standing on the loading ramp of one of the shuttles, watching her as they lifted off into the air.

Lara sighed, a sound of disgust and defeat, exhaustion and resignation; she knew only Vader and his puppet master Palpatine could have done this, unleashing this being before her. For it was none other than Morgoth the Deceiver, the veritable demon she was created to guard against, destroy if necessary. He was the most powerful force of evil in the universe ever to exist. Lara wondered for a brief moment if she was enough for this; could she defeat him and remain alive, herself? This battle could very well demand her life, and she felt sure Vader had gone along with this plan in an effort to remove the two most powerful, ancient beings that could stand against himself and his master. Their goal was to destroy her, to let Morgoth destroy her for them.

The beast suddenly spoke from within the dark flames, his voice as evil as his appearance. “The Guardian of the Balance and the Guide of Souls, come to offer me battle. I must thank the Sith who released me by means of their Old Magic. An opportunity to defeat my greatest enemy, and the spawn within you, is simply too good to pass up.” Morgoth laughed richly, as he watched Lara stand tall, seeing the curve of her belly where her child rested within her. “With your death, and the death of the Child of Promise, I will rule supreme over the Universe, and there will be nothing Eru Iluvatar can do to stop me, with his pet daughter defeated. I will end you, and end the line of your man. I will crush these menial beings you love so much and make you watch as I extinguish their light before you.” He laughed again, enjoying his taunting, watching the expressions of disgust and hate play across her face.

Lara sighed tiredly, her hand reaching up for her great sword. Her eyes passed over all the clones quickly, and then settled on Primer. “You need to leave, Primer. Get yourselves to the ships, now.” Lara looked over at Rex and simply gazed at him quietly, saying nothing for a long minute. “Rex, you need to leave as well. Get back on the Marauder, and all of you get out of here. You cannot help me in this fight. Having you here would only be a hindrance.” Her eyes were grave, and it made Rex feel abject panic.

“No, Lara, I’m not leaving you! Absolutely not!” Rex was shaking his head, starting to reach for her, when he saw her glance behind him, looking to Primer and Boost. Volte was standing with them as well, helping herd the rescued clones onto the freighters.

“Primer, you three get Rex off this planet now! Get him to safety, and all of you get out of here! That’s an order!” Lara’s command stopped the three men in their tracks and the force of it made Rex gasp. Lara’s loyal clones paused but a moment, then reached over and grabbed Rex bodily. Lara quickly stepped to Rex and kissed him, then focused on his eyes, wanting to capture their look and color one last time, if indeed this was to be her end. “I love you, Rex, but you have to go.” Her expression was one of pain, a grimace at the excruciating feel of severing one’s soul. She looked and nodded to Primer, and the three Dragons wrestled Rex back to the Marauder, where Echo was standing, also starting grasp the direness of the situation. Echo started to protest along with Rex, and moved to force himself past the Dragon Company clones, intending to fight his way down to Lara. A huge hand grabbed him by the arm and another reached past him to grab Rex. Wrecker had heard Lara’s command, and while he didn’t fully understand why she’d made the order, he knew it wouldn’t help the General for the two men she loved most to get in her way. Rex was screaming Lara’s name, fighting Wrecker’s grip as hard as he could, Wrecker pulling him all the while back to the Marauder’s ship ladder.

Having seen Wrecker secure Rex and Echo, she’d made eye contact with the big clone and nodded to him in thanks, feeling a real, deep love for him in that moment. Faithful Wrecker; her eyes were sad and his full of desperate concern for her, but he did as she had commanded. Primer, Volte and Boost stood beside the Marauder with the Batch and her Dragons backed up to take position on their ships, while Lara turned and strode over to Baiulus. She climbed on the dragon’s great back, and when she settled herself between his shoulders, they saw her drop her head for a moment, steadying her mind and taking a breath. When she let that breath out slowly, the clones all gasped in unison as light spilled from Lara, revealing her true form as the goddess she was. It was like seeing a star suddenly appear in their midst. She was so bright, they could barely see her outline within the pure, blue white light, and the stones of the Silmarils within her crown radiated light like beacons. Lara reached down and patted Baiulus on the neck and said “Okay my friend. It’s time. Show him what you’re made of.” Baiulus shook his head and roared powerfully, drawing himself up a bit like a snake preparing to strike. Bright golden flames suddenly shot from between his great scales, streaking down the line of his body and revealing him to be made of the very flames that burned within his mighty breast. Lara’s men all stared in wonder at both their General and the dragon, unaware that this was who they’d been serving alongside all along - while they’d accepted she was a goddess, here was the living proof of it.

Lara reached up and pulled her great sword over her shoulder, placing her helmet so seldom used on her head with her left hand. Baiulus stood to his full height, spreading his great leathery wings and hauling down with them to generate thrust, pulling himself skyward off the ground. He carried Lara forward, taking the battle to Morgoth. The skies above them filled with dark, threatening storm clouds, and wind started to swirl around them, picking up dust and debris. Lightning crashed, striking the ground with great peals of thunder. The monster stood, his flames and smoke swirling about him, pulling his darkness in as if wearing a heavy cloak. He reached down and pulled the coiled whip off his belt and drew his great sword to match Lara’s move. There would be battle. He was ready.

The dragon surged forward, tucked his wings and darted in towards Morgoth’s face. He spat fire at the monster’s eye, and Lara heard Morgoth roar in anger, as he reached up to swat at them like an annoying fly. Baiulus surged past the monster’s head and banked to come back around; Morgoth let fly with his whip, which broke out into flame. The tip of the angry flail made contact with Lara’s back as Baiulus flew past, and with a cry she fell from her mount’s back. The clones watched in horror as she streaked to the planet’s surface like a meteor.

Lara got back up; holding her great sword in her right hand, she drew her short sword. She would fight Morgoth from the ground. Baiulus could continue to harry him from the air. She could do this. The smoking monster swung his great sword and brought it crashing down on Lara with enough power to cut her in half, but she withstood the blow, crossing her swords above her head to block. She called the power of the Force to her and it seemed as if a glowing dome of light covered her - a small shield against his blows. Morgoth followed the sword strike with a lash of his whip, the lashing tip breaking through the Force’s energy. It struck her ankle and yanked her off her feet. She gave an angry grunt and scrambled back to her feet, working to defend herself with one of her swords. Morgoth spun and kicked her, sending her flying backwards to skid almost fifty feet in the dirt. Lara felt for the smallest moment that she’d had the wind knocked out of her, and she rolled to her side quickly and looked back at her troops. The clones all realized as one - Lara was heavily outmatched. With the cold grip of terror in their hearts, they wondered how she could possibly win this battle? The men suddenly knew paralyzing fear - they could very well be watching the death of their beloved leader, right before their eyes, and of the child within her.

Lara got back up, crouched low and watching the monster above her as it was momentarily distracted by Baiulus’ furious attack. The dragon bit and clawed at Morgoth, ripping large tears in the once beautiful god’s body. The blood that poured down his skin burned like molten fire, and he got in one good swipe at Baiulus, flinging the dragon away from him. Lara had taken that moment to rush Morgoth, trying to get in below his gaze, but he turned back and suddenly rammed his great sword into her gut, a gleaming smile of evil on his dark face. Their eyes met for a long moment, and he laughed into hers, speaking in the ancient language of the Aïnur, that she and her Father Iluvatar might hear: “See this, my Father. I have killed your daughter. I will have the Silmarils, the power of their light shall be darkened for eternity.” He laughed aloud now and suddenly turned his blade, widening the insertion site for maximal damage, then yanked it from her body as she collapsed to her knees, blood flowing from her freely.

It seemed time stood still for a moment. Rex saw Lara turn her eyes to meet his, then Lara looked to Echo, and moved finally to meet Primer’s gaze. She held Primer’s stare for a moment, and internally she screamed to him, “Primer GO! Get everyone off Floston. Baiulus will open the portal for you. I have to destroy this planet to destroy him. There will be nothing left. GO!” Rex watched her in dawning horror. The look on her face - she was about to do something awful. Something permanent and terrible.

Primer screamed an order for all the ships to take off; Rex only vaguely heard the words inside his head because he was staring at Lara so intently. The freighters and LAATs took off, and Primer, Volte and Boost ran to the Marauder, climbing aboard and hauling Rex into the ship’s interior. Primer turned towards the cockpit. “Tech, get this ship off the ground, NOW!” Tech did as told, quickly, hauling back on the collective and gunning the Marauder off the ground. Rex scrambled to the rear gunner’s mount to see Lara’s shrinking form as they pulled away; he saw the massive shape of Baiulus streak past them, heading for higher altitude. The dragon quickly passed the ships and opened a massive portal before them; the Empire’s blockade would not be able to stop them leaving. Rex, Echo, Primer, and Volte sandwiched themselves into the gunner’s mount in time to see Lara turn to look at them one last time.

I can’t win this, Lara thought wearily. But maybe, just maybe I can take him with me. Lara felt her life flash before her eyes with the decision made. She saw the beautiful face of her Elenna, laughing in the sunlight as they streaked along, galloping their horses across the green fields of Rohan, the wind lifting their hair. Battles she’d fought and won, screaming in triumph with her warriors. The moment she’d met Rex, the sight of his warm brown eyes gazing back at her. Laughing with Echo at her desk on Coruscant. Making love to Fives, the feel of his hands on her body. The look on Wrecker’s face in the hallway of Admiral Trench’s ship after she destroyed the droid sentry. Waking up on Nidhogg and seeing Primer’s face above hers. The feel of her child within her; her hand went to her belly for a moment when she realized - she was no longer alone in this life. She was giving up so much, to save the men she loved. Her motley family. It was worth it, all of it.

Lara looked back at the retreating form of the Marauder, tears shining in her eyes. She reversed her great sword in her right hand and brought it to her chest over her heart, bowing her head in farewell. In her heart, through her bond of blood, Lara spoke to her men. “I love you all. Take care of each other. I’ll always be with you, a part of you, and I’ll see you again on the shores of Valinor.”

Rex heard her message within his heart, and registered the shocked looks on Echo and Primer’s faces. They both looked horrified, stunned into a silence that felt like someone had grabbed their hearts and squeezed them into stillness. Rex started to yell back “NOOO! Lara NOOO!!” He started to beg, and plead, and claw at the glass of the ship canopy. He wanted off the ship, he wanted to get back to her. He didn’t care if that meant he fell 20,000 feet to get to her.

Lara watched as the ship continued to climb, seeing that the Imperial ships were also climbing back to space, evacuating the planet. With a weary sigh, Lara took her great sword, and called all of her power to her, all the power within the planet itself, all of the Force - even the power of Vader and Palpatine. She drew it within herself, as if settling a heavy cloak about her body, and Vader watched from a far distance out the windscreen of his ship, feeling his power draining away from within him, as the light surrounding Lara grew into the pure light of a white star, the winds surrounding her so strong that the very air grew alive with static electricity and lighting split the sky, striking around her nearly every second. For the briefest second, the small part of Anakin within Vader welcomed the feeling of his power draining away, hoping there was some chance for the goddess he’d once called a friend.

Lara looked up at Morgoth and took a deep breath to steady herself. She felt a sudden surge of rage and frustration, bitter loss rising up to choke her and she felt the need to scream at the beast before her. She had a flash back to her time spent with the Vikings, the memory of their berserkers and Valkyries giving strength to her fury. Still she pulled power to her, even as she started to speak.

“Lo, there do I see my Father.” She turned away from the retreating form of the Marauder to face the black horror of Morgoth. “Lo, there do I see my Mother and my Sisters and my Brothers!” Lara concentrated, drawing more and more power of the Force to herself. “Lo, there do I see the LINE OF MY PEOPLE, BACK TO THE BEGINNING!” She took two long strides toward the cursed form of her ancient enemy, the enemy of her people and of all creation. “Lo, they do call to me! They bid me take my place among them, in the halls of VALINOR, WHERE THE BRAVE MAY LIVE FOREVER!!!“ A briefly quirky idea crossed her mind like an inappropriately timed giggle - they won’t mind that I adapted the prayer a little, she thought. She raised her eyes to the nightmare of darkness standing before her, his cruel smile taunting her.

Lara swung her great sword in an arc over her head and then brought it down with her short sword, stabbing them with both hands into the earth before her and connecting suddenly to the power of the Force she had gathered as she let out a scream of fury, like a Valkyrie in battle. The light of that power expanded out from her like an exploding nebula, a nuclear blast strong enough to destroy all in its radius. Almost in slow motion the men on the Marauder could see the ground around her, the surface of the planet, and the body of Morgoth in front of her fracture into pieces, his flames and her light mingling then roiling forward in a great parabola of light as the pressure wave of power pulsed forward. Tech saw the shockwave of the blast coming behind them and out of the corner of his eye he registered the massive form of Baiulus swoop over them, opening a portal. He gunned the ship through to save them all, leaving the sight of Lara’s destruction behind in a growing asteroid field where once there was a beautiful planet of paradise. He heard Rex screaming behind him in the back of the ship, saw Omega’s face pale and streaked with tears, and Tech himself started to feel tears spill down his cheeks, his breath struggling to come out in something short of a sob.

“GO BACK!!!” Rex was beside himself screaming. “We have to go back, we have to get her!” He was so desperate he was about to tear the ship apart, and he suddenly moved to the door to open the hatch. He could pressurize his helmet; he could skydive back to her. He wasn’t leaving Lara there. Wrecker watched Rex’s frantic movements through blinding tears; he finally grabbed Rex to stop him from hitting the button to open the Marauder’s hatch. He held Rex in a great bear hug to restrain him, while Rex fought him like a mad man. Primer looked over at Volte with a heartbroken expression and nodded once. Volte pulled a syringe from a case in his pocket and quickly stabbed Rex in the deltoid to sedate him. Rex crumpled in a limp heap on the floor, a look of betrayal on his face aimed at the two Dragons. Volte reached down to check on him quickly, then stood and looked around the room at the faces of the clones. The men were all silent with despair, all crying, trying to grapple with the loss of their beloved General. Primer looked up at Echo, seeing the man’s face was wet with tears; Echo suddenly brought his hand to his face and turned to sit on the floor where he’d been standing, sobbing softly into his glove.

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clonemedickix · 1 year ago

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Rating: M

Word count: 7.5K

Pairing: OC Clone Medics

Warnings: Mention of medical trauma, mention of medical procedures, mention of prehospital care and trauma, discussion on pediatric care, alcohol use, implied substance abuse/impairment, implied sexual activity, medical humor, prehospital humor (it's snide y'all, that's the reality)

Excerpt Summary - Day One of the 1st Annual GAR Medic Conference

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First Day: Watch Out For That Drop!

Clones started to file into the appointed lecture room for the first class, finding tables laden with breakfast pastries, cereal and blue milk, large steaming carafes full of caf. There were a lot of bleary-eyed men wandering about, hungover from the previous night of drinking, laughing and story telling at various restaurants and bars. The group was fairly quiet, considering how loud and raucous they'd been the night before, and Volte was secretly feeling quite smug over the rest he'd managed to get before starting classes that morning. It wouldn't last; Kix was not about to agree to another night of simply going to bed. He'd come to party and relive stories, and he wasn't going to let Volte's boring personality drag him down.

Sawbones and Whiskey sauntered into the room, also looking more bright eyed and bushy tailed than most of the others gathered around the table. Sawbones quickly moved to the caf table, giving a few of the younger, hung over clones sharp looks that had them shifting out of his way. He even growled "MOVE!" at one that hadn't gotten the message from his body language. The groggy medic looked up in surprise, blinking as if the light were too hard, saw the grizzled old clone's expression, and quickly moved as ordered.

The first day of classes started with a bang, almost literally. "Advanced Airway Management for Facial Trauma: What To Do When Holes Are Present That Shouldn’t Be" discussed such things as facial trauma from shrapnel wounds, blaster wounds, and stab wounds. The medics were all educated and most, though not all, were seasoned by having been in the field in some capacity. Airway management was always critically important; the C-ABCs were the most crucial steps in first response to save a patient. One of the younger medics, Chance, leaned over to his neighbor, Heron, a medic from the 218th Company, and asked "What do they stand for, again?"

Heron stared at the little shiny brother for a moment wryly, as if wondering why the fresh kid was asking something so obvious, and then muttered back, "Catastrophic Hemorrhage, Airway, Breathing and Circulation."

"Ahhh, thanks, 'Vod," Chance whispered back, flashing him a little smile.

The subject matter and attendant images were pretty harsh for a first-thing-in-the-morning class, but medical people were strange. They could handle looking at evisceration over a plate of spaghetti, or discussing dismemberment and gross bodily functions while eating dinner. An outside observer might wonder what was wrong with these people - how they could be so numb to horrific images - but the men all sat sprawled back and half awake in their chairs, sipping caf and munching on breakfast pastries while listening attentively to the lecturer.

A particularly gruesome image with an attached story was of a nat born civilian injury, in which someone had contrived to shoot them in the face. The front of their jaw and a lot of their lower face was missing, creating an airway nightmare scenario for the medics to ponder. The presenter stopped the class for a moment to take ideas on how the students would secure the patient's airway.

Stretcher, a noticeably taller than average medic with the 327th Star Corps spoke up. "Was the patient breathing on their own? I mean, if they're getting air, maybe just support, scoop and run."

The lecturer nodded, saying, "That's one idea. Any others?"

Volte leaned forward a bit and spoke up. "Intubate the patient. Follow the bubbles - where the patient's breath meets blood there will be bubbles and that should identify the airway. Secure it with a laryngoscope blade and pop a tube in there, because there's no guarantee how long they'll be conscious enough to keep breathing on their own, no matter how fast you run."

"Good, very good. Following the bubbles is a legitimate method. Would you use a facial mask over a patient like this?," the teacher asked.

Heads shook to say no. Bagging a patient like that would cause the remaining airway, teeth and tongue structures to collapse and further occlude the airway. It would be a disaster without proper jaw thrust to keep the tongue from falling back over the trachea; better to use a high flow face mask until real securement was in place.

"Very good, class. Any other suggestions?," the lecturer asked. This was the last discussion portion of his class and always generated some good feedback.

Once again, Volte spoke up. "One could always place a surgical airway, bypassing the entire upper trachea and the wounded area, but there's also a couple of types of airway adjuncts from my General's home planet, called the Combitube and King Airway. They're a blind intubation method - they can end up in the esophagus and yet still provide oxygenation and ventilation because of the position of their side holes. They were designed for things like this, when you have to just stuff the tube in blindly and hope for the best."

"That's very interesting. Have you used these tools, or seen them in real life?" The instructor seemed quite intrigued; this whole convention was about teaching new methods, updating education and showing off new technology. He'd love to get his hands on these tools being discussed.

"I have seen the King Airway, used it in fact. My General has brought us several implements from her home world to use in the field. I've found they help a lot - cut down a lot of the time to treatment element and help us get the wounded off the field quicker." Volte held up his data pad. "I've got some images stored on my data pad I can show you."

Kix coughed loudly and covered his mouth as he gasped out, "Be sure it's not the pinup pictures!" Several men heard him and chuckled as Volte looked over at him with a disgusted grunt and elbowed Kix in the ribs.

Volte snapped back something he'd heard General Lin say in jest when telling a trooper to shut it and leave. "Get thee gone Satan, or I will smite thee with my data pad and tape your mouth shut with conduit tape." Kix chuckled and walked out the door to stretch his legs while Volte and the instructor had their nerd moment over the airway adjuncts.

The class emptied out for a break before the next session started, "Rapid Sedation: How to Restrain Your Patient in Fives Seconds Without the Use of Conduit Tape." As the men trickled back in from the refresher and more caf, Volte and Kix grabbed seats near their little core group, seeing all of the Corries clumping together as well. Sedating patients was always a topic of discussion and sometimes jokes with medics, especially the Coruscant Guard, who as a general rule had to contend with the element of drunk partygoers or recreational substance use on all levels of the Capital ecumenopolus. Even the rich, famous and Senatorial types weren't innocent of the occasional dalliance.

To everyone's surprise, the speaker was an old nat born training medic from Kamino, famous for her assertive, indomitable will, her small stature and fierce eyes, nicknamed 'Pockets'. Few patients or students ever crossed her, afraid of seeing the wrath boiling in her cool blue eyes. Pockets was small, but a hurricane-like force of nature, and those who'd challenged her in the wild always found she was ever ready to sidestep the battle with a quick stab of a needle in a well placed muscle. She was not there to play games, she'd say. Pockets was there to help, even if it meant taking you out of the picture so she could do her job.

The group of clones were fascinated that such a small female could do so much with so little; the men were all no shorter than six foot two, give or take a couple inches either way. It was a rare day when someone out of their head challenged them, but it still happened occasionally, and every clone to a man believed that little Pockets would have a bull reek fully immobilized in less than five minutes, by herself. Sawbones gleefully imagined her strapping him to a bed with tape and having her way with him - he liked bullheaded, assertive girls that didn't back down.

"There are hundreds of medications spanning the range of emergency antipsychotic medications to straight sedation and pain classes, which can also serve the same purpose. In extreme cases, where a patient's psychosis or high goes too far and they require the aid of us assisting breathing, a small cocktail is required." Pockets paused, glancing around the room at her attentive audience. They were all breathtakingly handsome, and their dark eyes blinking back at her wiped her train of thought for a second. She cleared her throat, grasping at the threads of her lecture once more. "It was actually developed for the use of sedating and securing the airway of mothers in obstetrical distress, needing immediate surgical delivery and a patient airway. Given in the appropriate order and dose, the treatment team was able to knock the patient out without causing them to vomit reflexively, putting the airway at risk due to aspiration.” Pockets took a quick breath and then finished by saying, “So thank the next pregnant lady you see for rapid sedation protocols- they did you a favor.”

The lecture continued on in the same vein, as she covered the different medications, a short blurb about their history and pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, dosing and route of administration. She covered a few medications that could be given without intravenous access, which still had to be injected. "Sometimes, it's just satisfying to stab a truly unruly patient with a needle and watch them finally hit the wall of sleep. Definitely more humane than what one former partner of mine did. He used every roll of conduit tape in the ship to mummify the patient to the spine board after the guy decked me. I fell out the back of the ship, which was thankfully still on the platform, and really cracked my head hard. My partner didn't take too kindly to that, and since we had a trainee aboard, he and the newbie wrapped that guy head to toe with the tape to hold him down and keep him from hurting anyone else. They left his eyes, mouth and nose free of course, but it's safe to say the guy got a free waxing he didn't plan for when he started his day."

Pockets retold the story with a pretty neutral tone, though her eyes glimmered a bit with laughter. To some, the story probably seemed a little hard on the patient, but to others, like the Corries, it was all too familiar, recalling the many times some patients were less respectful, kind and cooperative, bordering more on the side of unsafe and dangerous to the medics and their crew. No medical crew should ever have to fear for their lives for simply trying to help a person. The forward operating medics all shot glances at the Corries, knowing this was more in their realm of expertise; it was rare that a wounded man in the field acted with such abandon and violence toward their medical officers. Sure, they could and would use the knowledge gained from this class to better care for their brothers, but they didn't plan on having to sedate them for behavioral issues. Now, doing it as a prank... that conduit tape mummification gag sounded pretty attractive to several of them, eyeing their neighbor a little mischievously or thinking of a certain brother they'd love to see strapped to a board. A few day dreams included visions of toting said brother around the base while still taped on the backboard, leaning him against the wall like he was nothing more than a curious object while continuing on blissfully with their lives...

Jab, a junior medic attached to Phoenix Company, chuckled softly and murmured to his neighbor, Captain Jaro of the 16th Medical Battalion, "Those injectable sedatives would be fun to carry in some of our autoinjectors. Can you imagine? Guy gets rowdy and you're like, 'Calm down or you're gonna get a poke.' Guy keeps fighting, 'One, two... stabby stab.'" He chuckled again; he was notorious for giving meds off count - it always took the men by surprise, as they trusted him enough to believe he would get to three before poking them, but no, not Jab. He believed in getting the negative stuff over with as quickly as possible.

The Corries as usual were all sitting together in a group, and Voodoo leaned over to Patcher, saying, "So, this means we're completely justified in sedating unruly supervisors that don't take care of themselves too, right?"

Patch laughed and answered back, "I'm not sure what YOU did was necessarily within the protocols, but justified? ...Maybe..."

Siren fixed Voodoo with a stern look and said, "Fox completely deserved what you did! If he wasn't going to look after himself, it's the medic's job to do so. When it comes to the health of the troopers, the medic is in charge."

Voodoo grinned back at the support of his brothers. Their Marshall Commander, Fox, had a bad tendency to work himself to death and refuse food and sleep until whatever obsession was on his plate was taken care of. When Voodoo was still somewhat new to the Coruscant Guard, he'd seen the man get particularly haggard and ground down after a long hitch of watching Senators for some big wig meeting in the Capital. When the rest of the men started to complain about how short tempered, hangry and down right bitchy Fox was getting, Voodoo decided to take matters into his own hands. He made a pretense to visit Fox in his office, moved to look at something over Fox's shoulder, and quickly stabbed him in the neck with an autoinjector of sedatives.

Fox had reacted like a snake bit him, shooting out of his desk chair with a strangled, "What in karking HELL did you just give...me..." as he crumpled to the floor and immediately drew in a stuporous snore.

Voodoo stood over him with triumphant grin, then hailed Thorn over his comm device to come help him get the Commander to some place more comfortable than the floor. When Fox woke up two days later, he found a warm, nutritious breakfast spread on the table next to him, as well as a note from Voodoo that simply stated, "And I'd do it again."

When the class broke up, the men all wandered off to find lunch. They had a good while before the next class started, so some of the medics headed back to their rooms to relax, nap, read a book, watch some holo net. Kix and Volte left the convention center to walk down the street, in search of food they hadn't tried as yet; they didn't want to burn out on hotel food when there were small Hosnian Prime native shops within reach to try.

The after lunch program started off with one of the most taboo and terrifying subjects in the medical world: pediatrics. As a general rule, most people were afraid to treat children. They often approached that patient population with the attitude of 'children are just small adults', and 'a silent kid is a dead kid, but a loud kid is annoying.' About the only medic actually excited to attend the class was Minder, who ambled in quickly, found a spot on the front row of the class, and waited eagerly for the speaker to climb the dais. Volte and Kix decided to sit just behind their friend; they didn't want to seem too excited about the topic.

Volte was wary of kids, but wasn't averse to treating them. His General, in fact, kept a job on her home world of treating children hospitalized for various illnesses, and had told him many times of long term patients she'd gotten to know. She seemed to hold a real affection for small patients and always patiently imparted tips to Volte on how to get on their level, gain their trust so that treating them was easier. General Lin always asserted firmly that treating kids was FAR better than dealing with adults, hands down.

There were low chuckles, murmuring, and a few gasps when the presenter climbed up to the podium. The instructor was a small, sprightly young woman, dressed in a costume that looked like a cat, whiskers drawn on her face, with little pointed ears sticking out of her curly hair, and a long tail trailing behind her. She placed a small sheaf of papers on the lectern and looked up at her audience, seeing hundreds of wide, amused to shocked brown eyes staring back.

"Howdy! Welcome to 'How to Approach Younglings: They're Not Armed Bombs.' I’m Madi, and this lecture is going to contain a lot of personal experience, maybe even some tips you might find helpful in the future. The biggest take away I want you to learn is that kids don't have to be terrifying. They're all unique, fiercely brave little souls that will all make a mark on you in some way, most likely permanently. You'll never forget these little patients going forward, especially if you are lucky enough to form a bond with them."

Volte and Kix had both sat up to attention when they saw the speaker’s attire, and Kix looked over at Volte with an amused expression. Her costume was very telling; it left little to the imagination about her form and figure. Kix was staring guilelessly at the woman, amazed that she had the spirit and courage to appear before a room full of single, handsome rakish men dressed as a sexy cat; he was salivating over the thought of getting her comm channel numbers. Volte was simply trying to look attentive and interested for the speaker. Sawbones leaned forward to mutter in Volte's ear, "I'll definitely never forget her wearing that outfit, going forward..."

"Now, I'm sure you're wondering why I chose to dress up like a cat for you. Let me tell you why, because it certainly wasn't to feed your filthy imaginations." Madi squinted at Sawbones knowingly; she'd seen him say something to Volte that had made the medic shift in his seat uncomfortably. "On my home world, medical professionals that specialize in children often dress up for different occasions, because wonder and imagination are both so important to a child. There is a whole day dedicated to dressing up as someone or something else for fun, and going around asking for candy from adults. At the facility I work at, we have a party on a sky bridge, where all the medical workers dress up for the children, to hand out candy and toys." Madi paused to see more of the clones were intrigued at the thought of her interacting with child patients on some distant planet, dressed up for the part in some tantalizing costume or other.

"Another important thing to remember about kids - they're not just small adults. A child's body is not mature; it's still going through a very complicated growth pattern, as is their mind. It's important to know the different developmental stages for a child, so you know how to interact with them appropriately. For instance, a toddler may hate you on sight, regardless of what you do, because it's within their developmental stage to be afraid of strangers. If you luck out enough to land on a character they're familiar with, you might be able to approach them more easily. Otherwise, you might just be in for a small rodeo."

Volte heard Voodoo mumble, "The kriff is a 'rodeo'?" This was something Volte had a lot of experience with; people were generally confused at many of the quips his General said in the course of a conversation. Even her own men were often forced to make her clarify what she was talking about, and would remind her “Basic... General. Basic." So it made Volte smile a bit seeing General Lin wasn’t the only person who needed a translator for their little euphemisms.

Madi looked at Voodoo a little dryly and huffed out, "Rodeo = wrestling match, same thing."

Sawbones laughed darkly and muttered, "I'd wrestle with her any day, and she can call it whatever she likes."

Rolling her eyes slightly at the male commentary, she continued on, outlining the different stages of mental and emotional development for children, then discussed multiple physical changes that occurred with growth. She wasn't to let their locker room humor stop her from enlightening them about pediatric care. "I've ended up watching holo shows and playing games with multiple patients of all ages, in order to gain and keep their trust. It's actually a very rewarding thing, knowing the kids look to you as something of a friend or protector."

She moved on to the next subject. "Gaining intravenous access on small children, especially infants, is incredibly difficult for those who don't use the skill on a daily basis. Those little veins are hard to see, tiny, and frequently like to roll away from the needle. In that case - and I've checked with your typical supplies - you have intraosseous needles that can be drilled either by hand or by purpose made drill, into the bone." Madi stopped and picked up a strange, burgundy colored power drill with a rather wicked looking, long plastic and metal needle on the end. She hit the trigger and the drill made a noticeable high pitched burrrr and Madi smiled a little wickedly, like an evil scientist with a surgical instrument. Kix's breath caught, his mind throwing images of her securing him to a bed and holding that thing over him threateningly. She stepped off the podium and handed it to Minder, telling him to pass it around so everyone could see it.

"What you're passing around now, is called the 'Easy IO' on my home planet. It's a purpose made power drill that holds an IO needle on the front by magnet, which makes it far easier to access the bone marrow. You find your appropriate site, hold it steady, hit the trigger, and drill that puppy home. Pop it off the drill, unscrew the top and voila, there is a connection beneath to attach IV tubing to." She paused as she saw Jab playing with the drill, his eyes a little dreamy about using it in the field. "Now, the two biggest problems with IO access is pain and pressure caused by infusing through the marrow, and securement so the line doesn't infiltrate into the surrounding musculature and tissue. That's a bad, bad deal. Down the road you also have to worry about osteomyelitis since placing these are always emergent and not usually the cleanest insertions; however, they can stay in up to 24 hours."

The drill had made it back to Carpal, who was hitting the trigger and watching the needle spin in a fascinated, morbid way. He'd heard everything she'd said; he had his hearing aids in so he could catch all the important information. When he got tired of listening, he would sometimes turn them off and snooze in his chair, so that he looked present, or at least like a body occupying a seat.

"These drills have made placing IOs FAR easier than in the past. Once the only choice was to manually insert the needle, by grasping the patient's leg, holding it as steady as you could, and drilling that wicked thing into the bone by hand. I've seen grown men shaking like leaves while inserting them, knowing they were causing pain but doing their best to help the child in question. And if your hand slipped, you could stab yourself through the back of the patient's leg - it was a rough procedure on everyone involved." She saw multiple clones wince in horror. "So the point is, drills are good, getting access is golden, medicate with a numbing adjunct first thing before you infuse volume or meds of any kind - it truly helps with the pain. Any questions?"

Madi surveyed the room with bright eyes, waiting to see if any were brave enough to ask anything. A few were. They tossed back questions and answers for a good thirty minutes and then were dismissed for a break before their next class. Minder immediately stood to corner the little speaker, to ask her more about her personal interactions with pediatric patients, generating trust between them, and how to cope with some of the harder cases. Kix grumbled in Volte's ear as he walked by “Gonna get her comm codes, watch me! See if I can't make that kitten purr,” he said with a salacious grin. Volte shook his head and kept walking; he imagined the girl had teeth and claws to go with her feisty personality, but he knew Kix was nothing if not persistent and bold.

The clones shuffled along to their next two classes in an upbeat mood; the day was nearly over and while it had been a long one, they'd learned a lot of valuable lessons and new information. They all felt it had been a productive day, and were looking forward to getting out, hitting the bar for drinks and camaraderie and laughs...maybe a pretty girl to flirt with or two. Kix had almost decided Hosnian Prime had no females, and that they'd come to some kind of torturous dating desert. Volte had laughed at his complaints, listening to him whine and grumble about the dearth of ladies to talk to, especially after the pediatrics instructor had turned Kix down hard; the rakish clone was still simmering with angst over his failure to woo the cute lecturer.

The last two lectures dealt with communicable disease and infection prevention. The first, 'Preventing Infections: As Easy As Wash Your Kriffing Hands!', dealt with exactly that - how hand washing was the most simple and expedient way to get microbes off of your skin. First, the man took roll call of every clone in the room by their CT number, making sure all were present. He called Kix's number, "CT 6...1...1...6...," waiting for a reply. When Kix didn't answer immediately, because he was too busy whispering something to Minder, the man repeated his number again in a sonorously boring voice. "CT 6...1...1...6...? No? He's not here?" Minder finally shushed Kix and gestured for him to answer the teacher back, so the man would move on. The speaker then blandly, monotonously explained how it was crucial to clean under fingernails while washing, as very harmful bacteria and viruses could live there as well, waiting like little ninja infection warriors to spread and attack new hosts.

He told horror stories of how some people, now infamous to history, had inadvertently spread diseases among the general populous. There was Dragon Pox Mary, who had been hired as a cook for a wealthy and influential family, and unknowingly spread Dragon Pox to them in their food, because she didn't believe handwashing to be necessary. And there was Nurse Katarina Belforto, who'd unfortunately not washed her hands either, and spread another deadly illness to babies under her care, killing or permanently maiming them. It was surprising that such a small thing as handwashing could be the single answer to saving lives.

The clones all sat back in their seats, many with their arms crossed over their chests, staring back at the utterly dry and boring teacher. The stories were vaguely gruesome and grim, but they couldn't over the speaker's dry, droning, slow way of talking. The instructor reached up halfway through his long session and pushed his thick glasses back up on the bridge of his nose, never looking up from the pages of his notes as he ambled on in his speech. If he'd looked up and chanced a glance at his students, he'd have seen glassy, tired, stunned eyes staring back at him like the empty windows of a vacant home - the men were just that bored by his monotonous drone. A few snorts and snores became softly audible after a few minutes, and Volte saw Whiskey suddenly jerk himself back upright after nearly falling out of his chair, having dozed off to sleep. Kix chuckled quietly and glanced at Volte out of the side of his eyes, his expression practically screaming, 'Holy kriff, this guy is boring!' Thankfully the class finally ended and the men all virtually sprinted from the room to wake up for the final lecture, hoping to get their blood pumping and find enough energy to make it through the homestretch of the day.

When they all filed back in for the final class, the men saw the presenter was a doctor at least a few of them had met before at the Grand Republic Medical Center. "Welcome to the final class of the day, men, 'Communicable Diseases: How to Avoid Them While Sitting in a Small Enclosed Space With Others.'" The men all chuckled a little at the title of the class, glancing to either side at their brothers, fellow prisoners of the current enclosed space.

The lecturer continued on, "I am Doctor Eric Coli, and we will discuss some of the finer points of how diseases can spread so easily in small areas, to some extent due to a lack of handwashing, as my fine colleague Sten Bein covered in his lecture." He paused, seeing the clones' eyes all start to glaze over at even the slightest mention of the previous discussion, and laughed softly. "I know you were all positively riveted by that class...," he said, completely devoid of irony. There were a few titters of laughter and a few murmured comments among the crowd; they knew the doctor was being sarcastic.

The medics all found Dr Coli to be witty and entertaining, as he described the horrors of some diseases and how they could spread like wildfire in small communities. He opened the floor up to take commentary on ideas about containing such contagion, since the clones to a large extent were not well versed in infectious disease. While violence was a disease, trauma on the battlefield was not, and the clones were all healthy, genetically enhanced, illness free men. They generally had no need of education on such subjects. To a man, they got their eyes opened that day.

Dr Coli discussed more than one awful disease, such as colonovirus, a notorious sickness that seemed particularly attracted to cruise ships. Victims found themselves overtaken within hours of exposure with severe vomiting and diarrhea, ideation of death (actually, wishing they could die because they were so miserable), and the urgent need for a refund on their trip. It was a yearly malaise, and had picked up multiple nicknames along the years such as 'The Cruise Ship Disease' or 'Montezuma's Revenge', or 'The Curse of The Out of Order Refresher.' The doctor even laughingly read them a poem he'd written about the awful malady when he himself had contracted it after a pleasure cruise to Naboo.

"Oh colonovirus, why dost thou assaulteth my bowels?

Each day I make offerings to ye gods of the refresher in stool softeners and fiber.

How hast I offended thee?

I pray, oh greatest of calamities, return to the depths of the hell from whence thou climbest!

I shall suffer the slings and arrows of your cursed hold no more.

For I shall defeatest thou by means of moist wipes and the washing of my unworthy hands.

By the power of the warm and comforting bidet, I shall vanquish thee!

The clones were all crying tears of laughter by the final stanza of his "Ode to Colonovirus," and all of the men present for the lecture agreed he'd won the best lecture of the day title, (clean) hands down.

He also covered a nightmare respiratory virus that was somewhat new to the galaxy, which up until recently none had any immunity to. The medics all vaguely recalled hearing about the disease and how the general public had reacted to it. People were barred from standing within six feet of each other. All had to wear masks that covered nose and mouth to prevent exposure to droplets. The general populace at large became terrified of their neighbors, terrified for their families, separated and isolated from any and all people. The galaxy had weathered the awful contagion as best it could, though in the end they were forced to more or less suffer through it until immune systems became well acquainted enough to fight back. Vaccines were created, medications patented, but millions of lives were lost before the disease began to release its vile hold on the galaxy.

The poor doctor had worn something of a haunted look while retelling the experiences of the awful virus. While the clones had been isolated and protected on Kamino, they realized the rest of the galaxy had suffered and died, losing loved ones, friends and family alike, fighting a different sort of war, though just as real as the one the clones were battling. The discussion got very real, very fast, and when the class finally ended, the men left feeling immensely lucky for having coasted right by that plague without any issues.

The sports bar was positively hopping with the raucous energy of the clones, finally freed from class and still brimming with amazement at the displays of the vendors. The new technology coming out had them buzzing, most especially the planned medical - evacuation dropship, complete with six bunks for patients. They could feasibly load a couple more in the floor of the ship, taking eight critically wounded with them on a first run. It had the men dreaming excitedly about the possibilities of saving more brothers from death or permanent maiming, if they could cut their field to treatment time down.

Volte and Kix were holding court at the bar, having shouldered their way in for a place there, and refused to give it up. Kix had pulled Minder in next to him so he could sit at one of the bar stools and rest his leg, while Sawbones stood next to Volte, a keen, watchful eye on the crowd of milling clones as they all chattered away about their classes for the day and whatever free goods they'd been given by the different exhibitors.

Whiskey ambled up, ordering a drink and then settling in next to the small knot of clones he'd taken to hanging out with. He and Sawbones started chatting, raising their bottles in greeting when Quarter strolled up to them.

Excitedly, Quarter asked Whiskey what he thought of the new medical platform. He knew they most likely would never need it on Coruscant, but it was neat to dream about it anyway. "I saw it had respiratory gas hook ups, built in monitoring cables that go to a central monitoring system, and even a suction system!," he burbled on. "That's got to make the forward operating medics happy, having all of those hardwired in."

"Oh heck yeah!," Sawbones grunted in reply. "It will come in handy that's for sure." Saw took a sip of his drink, his eyebrows quirking up at a thought, and mischievous light coming into his hard eyes. "Though that built in suction thing isn't a new idea. Right, Kix?"

Kix looked up when his name was called and said, "Huh? You summoned me?"

"Yeah! I was telling Quarter here that the built in suction system on that evac platform isn't a new idea. Is it, Vod?" Sawbones waggled his eyebrows a little and grinned at Kix in something almost of a leer. There was a story lurking there, which was backed up by the dull blush that crept up Kix's neck into his high cheekbones.

"Not nice, Sawbones," Kix said in a low voice, trying to warn his brother off of telling all his dirty secrets.

"Oh, I think it's completely necessary, don't you Quarter?" Sawbones grinned over at his other batchmate brother and saw him laugh, realizing where Saw was going with this. Kix gave Quarter a withering look, his face moving into a very resigned expression, knowing what was coming.

A small crowd had grown around their little group; somehow people always *knew* when tea was about to be spilled and gravitated toward it. The group had expanded to Scope, a medic serving under Commander Bly and General Secura, Friendly, an outgoing medic that typically patrolled Hutt Space with his battalion, Chance, a very young, red headed clone still working out of Kamino, Siren, Patcher, Patch, Voodoo, and Sentinel, the CMO of the 117th Recon Battalion. All were standing around, eagerly awaiting the gory details of the story about the infamous Kix of Torrent Company as a cadet.

"So, when Kix, Quarter and I were all baby medics back on Kamino, they had us go up on a training mission in one of the newer LA ATs that had some medical revisions. The two old training medics with us - they were like gods, you know? Full of knowledge and experience, untouchable by us shinies." Saw's eyes took on a slightly faraway look as he remembered back to the day in question. "Anyway, so these two clones, Duran and Morrow, take us up and were explaining the different switches and buttons on that particular ship, while we all sat around staring at them like dreamy kids. And I guess Kix looked particularly ripe for this little prank, because they focused on him."

Sawbones laughed ruefully, the memories making it difficult to get it out without giggling maniacally. "They were all, 'So this button is the suction button. When you push that button, it makes the LAAT go up, because this scoop on the bottom drops down, and changes the ship's altitude. Got it?' And Kix man, he was so wide eyed, like some young quivrey, staring back at them like they wore halos and light shone out of their ass.” The men in the group were starting to smile, a few low chuckles breaking out, envisioning the look on Kix's face as he bought this bantha shit story from the salty old medics. All of the men had been there in some way too; they were no strangers to hazing. Kix looked on with a sour expression on his face, though he was starting to smile against his will.

"Duran then goes on to tell Kix and the rest of us, 'So, if you hit the button again to turn off the suction, the ship will drop, because the scoop closed and it's no longer pushing the ship up, got it?' And Kix nods like the good little shiny he was - Vod was completely sold on this karking story," Sawbones laughed gruffly.

“Morrow like, leaned back in his seat and said, 'Okay kid, hit the button *now*, test it out.' And Kix did what he was told. And damned if that LAAT didn’t climb, just like they'd said it would." Saw paused to take a sip of his drink, while everyone shot some looks at Kix, half suspecting what was coming next.

"They had all of us at that point - we'd bought it hook, line and sinker," Quarter interjected with a low chuckle. "Gullible little babies that we were." The group all grinned and giggled, starting to realized what was about to happen.

Whiskey picked the story back up, "So then Duran tells Kix, ' Okay kid, hit the button to turn it off *now*.' Kix is all do do doooo (as Sawbones mimicked a silly kid ambling along cluelessly), hits the button, and then proceeds to scream like a girl as the ship bottomed out, dropping - I kriff you not - at least 500 feet in a second. We were all basically floating in air, zero gravity for a minute, watching our very short lives pass before our eyes, as Duran and Morrow laughed like two gargoyles at the group of shinies pissing themselves in front of them." Sawbones had forced the last sentence out through a stream of gurgling, wheezing laughs, while the rest of the group chuckled and gave Kix patronizing yet sympathetic looks.

"You know, those two karking a-holes never apologized for scaring a few years off our lives. I legitimately thought we were going to die," Kix snarled out, the embarrassing post, near-death experience still stinging. He looked back on it with humor, though he couldn't admit that to the group at hand. Kix saw Volte take a sip of his drink to hide a gleeful smirk, while Quarter chuckled at the memory. Kix gave his batch mate a hard look and sputtered, “Quarter, you've got no room to laugh - you screamed just as loud as I did and I know you had a short run of V tach. I thought we were gonna have to hit you with the paddles!”

Quarter positively giggled. “I can't deny it, they got us good. Those two jokers were some of the best training officers on Kamino. Force knows how they got away with even half of the stuff they did." Quarter shook his head in memory of the unparalleled shenanigans Duran and Morrow were famous for.

"Volte what about you? Got any good stories to tell from serving with the Dragon General?," Voodoo asked. "I heard Echo's first time up with her on that thing, it dove for a vulture droid and he screamed like a child over the open comm channels.” The group started laughing at the mental image of one of the more famous ARC Troopers embarrassing himself in such a way.

Volte chewed on some ice for a minute out of his glass, pondering the question. There were so many stories from Dragon Company, actually, most of which never saw the light of day. General Lin was rather infamous for tomfoolery herself, let alone the stuff she condoned within the ranks. "I wasn't there when that happened - that story was from the Battle of Teth and we weren't a Company yet. But she took Captain Primer up one day with her on that beast of hers, and when they got back he was holding onto her waist with his eyes screwed shut so tight we had to pry him off of her." The group all tittered with chuckles at that; Primer was known to be a brave, completely competent clone commander. They all struggled to imagine him afraid of anything, thought they all thought to a man they'd probably have taken any excuse to get their arms around General Lin if given the chance.

Quarter muttered softly into his glass, "You sure he was holding onto her purely out of fear?" He took a quick sip and then looked at Volte more squarely. "I've heard through the grapevine that he follows her for more reasons than just orders..." He saw Kix grin and gave his vod a wink, while Volte cleared his throat a little loudly and very obviously took a swig of his drink, shooting a quelling look at Quarter.

A new clone had joined the group about midway through the story, named Cheese. He was from the Mist Squad, under the 767 Recon Division, and the man loved anything related to gossip. Photography was a hobby of his, and he like to take group photos of his brothers when the opportunity struck. His eyes were sharp as he listened to the tea pertaining to the infamous General Lin. He suddenly pulled a data pad off his belt and held it up to snap a picture of the group, quickly blurting out "Say Cheese!," as he hit the photo button. The others stared back at him a little blandly; tolerating Cheese's habit was something most were used to by now. He'd already made the rounds through most of the clones getting proof of life many times over. They would soon realize the benefits of having allowed the somewhat socially awkward medic to record the conference in photos; the men would have many images of their brothers enjoying lighthearted moments, camaraderie and fun to look back on. Some of the men he captured in the holographic images on his data pad would not be there the next time the conference came about, and while all knew this, it was an unspoken, dark truth that moved beneath the surface like a cold current of air.

The party rolled on as more clones stuffed themselves into the bar, and Kix's night was made when Madi the young pediatrics lecturer popped up at the bar next to him, a little mischievous smirk on her cute face, one eyebrow arched as she watched Kix's face for a reaction. Volte did a double take at seeing her there, then laughed when he saw Kix's eyes nearly fall out of his head realizing she was there in person, waiting for him to speak to her. Volte looked over at Sawbones and Whiskey and sighed. "Guess I'll be crashing in your room tonight, boys."

A perky, bright voice answered him back from the other side of Kix. "Oh no! I wanted to get to know both of you."

Volte choked on his drink, his eyes going wide as he looked back at the girl in shock. She smiled back impishly.

Sawbones, Whiskey and Quarter all traded glances around, and Sawbones muttered, "We can leave the door unlocked in case you need the two of us to come rescue you at ANY point, Vod." He elbowed Volte and gave him a salacious wink, grumbling "Lucky bastards," as he sipped his drink, watching the trio head off out of the bar. Volte looked back over his shoulder, eyes wide like a prisoner stumbling off to the gallows, unsure of just what he'd suddenly been roped into, but unable to stop his feet from following the sprightly, cute girl leading him by the hand with a cheshire cat grin on her face, as Kix walked beside like a king ascending to his throne.

Credits:

Kix - CT 6116 Medic of Torrent Company, 501st Legion

Volte - CT 2403 Dragon Company CMO, property of CloneMedicKix

Sawbones - CT 2697 Wolfpack CMO, 104th Battalion, property of Wizardofrozz

Quarter - ARC 2525 Republic Intelligence medic, property of Hetalianskywalker

Whiskey - CC 6891 CMO 104th Battalion, property of Banks's-rat

Voodoo - CT 0127 Coruscant Guard medic, property of Sev-on-Kamino

Cheese - CT 2437, Medic of Mist Squad, 767 Recon Division, property of Homemade-clones

Friendly - Medic of 387th Battalion, 13th Sector Army, property of Multi-fandom-madness

Chance - CT 5243 Medic of Phoenix Squad, property of The-Bad-Batch-Baroness

Patch - Coruscant Guard medic, property of Sunshinedaydream

Patcher - CT 1110 Coruscant Guard CMO, property of Stargazingbunny

Siren - CT 6161 Coruscant Guard medic, property of 523rdrebel

Sentinel - CT 26-0207, CMO of 117th Recon Battalion, property of Liluthenerd

Scope - CT 4466 Medic of 327th Battalion, property of Mythical Illustrator

Stretcher - CT 3880, Medic of 327th Star Corps, property of A-single-tulip

Heron - Medic of 218th Company, property of King-chaos-world

Jab - Junior medic of Phoenix Company, property of Multi-fandom-madness

Captain Jaro - CT 1926, CMO of 16th Medical Battalion, property of Sweetmugofcocoa

Minder - CT 6334-2 Jedi Medical Company, property of Mythical Illustrator

Carpal - CC 6666 Coruscant Guard medic, property of Mythical Illustrator

Taglist!

@mythical-illustrator @multi-fan-dom-madness @wizardofrozz @moonlightwarriorqueen @523rdrebel @king-chaos-world @starrrgazingbunny @the-bad-batch-baroness @swarovski-yoda @homemade-clones @hetalianskywalker @a-single-tulip @banksys-rat @sev-on-kamino @vodika-vibes @sunshinesdaydream @liluthenerd @sweetmugofcocoa @lune-de-miel-au-paradis @villanousace @theogfulcrum22 @starrylothcat @anxiouspineapple99 @mire-draws-things @cloneloverrrrr @mandos-mind-trick @padawancat97 @dukeoftheblackstar @wolffegirlsunite @isthereanechoinhere96 @jediknightjana @wackylurker @starqueensthings @dickarchivist @amorfista @marierg

EMS dividers by MEEEEEEEE!

Final Dividers by @dystopicjumpsuit

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clonemedickix · 1 year ago

Text

Rating: M

Word count: 6K

Characters: CT 6116 Kix, OC Medics: Volte, Patch, Patcher, Voodoo, Siren, Carpal, Sawbones, Minder, Whiskey, Quarter

*more medics will be mentioned in further chapters of this miniseries*

Warnings: Snide Medical Humor

Excerpt Summary - Arrival to the 1st Annual GAR Medic Convention. The medics arrive at the hotel, get their schedule, start having a reunion of friends.

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The 1st Annual GAR Medic Convention

Chapter 1 - Arrivals

Volte sighed tiredly. He had only just returned from a mission with the Dragon Company, and it had been a wringer. Even General Lin had looked bushed as she disembarked from the Talon, headed for the Dragon Cave and much needed rest, flanked by Fives and Echo. Volte’s responsibilities for the trip weren’t complete until he got the wounded men settled in sick bay, however, and he stood at the ramp of the Talon watching the hover stretchers pass by with his brothers. He followed the last one to the Grand Army of the Republic’s medical unit near the center of the base, his helmet under one arm and his data pad in his other hand. Maker, would he be glad when he could take off this armor and unwind.

As he passed into the large hospital’s corridors, he crossed paths with other medics, doing much the same as he was, checking in their wounded, or checking on them. The Dragon Company men technically fell under the wing of the 501st Legion, so any wounded men of their group would end up alongside others of Skywalker’s large battalion. Volte headed down the hall to the appropriate med bay and breezed through the door without pausing.

There were ten Dragons needing to be checked in, and Volte made for the nearest medical technician, a human female with a data pad. She was in conversation with Kix, Captain Rex’s Torrent Company medic. As he walked up, Volte caught the tail end of their chat.

“So, Kix, you going to the convention? It starts tomorrow,” the girl asked lightly.

“Planning on it. The Captain made sure to get me leave to go from General Skywalker. I’m looking forward to it. Supposed to be a lot of good information, and lots of free drinks from the sponsors. I’m not going to pass that chance up - the Senate might turn around and never do another one after they see how much their bar tab runs,” Kix said with a little chuckle at the end.

The girl acknowledged Volte’s presence with a little chin lift. “What’s up, Volte? Got some new people for me to patch up?”

Kix greeted Volte with a raised hand to clasp, and Volte grabbed it with a smile. “I have ten guys, though I doubt they’ll require much from you but some rest and bacta patches. Had them pretty well taken care of before we got back.” He took hold of the medical tech’s data pad and signed off on the patient registration quickly.

“Yeah, your guys usually don’t hang out with me for long.” Her eyes suddenly snapped up and she stood to attention as a call went out to the general room: “Attention! General on the floor!” Kix and Volte also snapped to attention quickly, waiting for the general in question to arrive and release them.

General Lin breezed into the room, still in her armor, covered in scuffs and mud and looking as glorious as she normally did. She smiled at the two medics and nodded, smoothly telling them, “At ease.” Everyone relaxed, as she moved over to check on each of her men. Volte and Kix shared a look between them, silently acknowledging her actions as a good leader. The General always stopped by the hospital before she took her own rest; it was a policy for her to put her men before herself. She made small talk with her guys, exhorting them to rest and get better quick - she’d expect them back at training soon as they could get there. Finished seeing her Dragons, Lara stepped over to the little knot of medical professionals and nodded to Kix. “Made it back in one piece, I see, Kix?”

“Of course, General. The Captain always leads us straight. I think he’s back too - probably in the mess hall or the barracks.” Kix flashed her a little wryly cocked eyebrow, assuming that was going to be the next question from her.

Lara gave Kix a rueful grin and cut her eyes to Volte. “Thanks for getting the men settled, Volte. I’m gonna head out now, if you don’t need anything from me?”

“I think I’ve got it handled, General.” And even if he didn’t, he wasn’t going to admit it to her in front of Kix and the hospital staff.

Lara nodded and turned to leave, but Kix’s voice stopped her.

“Hey General, did you give Volte leave to attend the conference? It starts tomorrow.”

Lara stopped and looked back at Volte, confused and surprised. “Conference? What conference?”

“You didn’t even ask, Volte?,” Kix asked chidingly.

“We were on a mission - I wasn’t sure we’d be back in time.” Volte shrugged his shoulders like it wasn’t a big deal to him, anyway.

“General, the First Annual GAR Medic Conference is tomorrow, on Hosnian Prime. All the GAR medical officers are attending. Supposed to have a lot of good education, new technology coming out and such.” Kix’s voice was both solicitous and slightly pleading. He wanted Volte to attend - even with all the educational blah blah blah, there would be partying after, and the clones hardly ever got a break to unwind.

“A medic conference?” Lara smiled brightly. “Like an EMS conference on Earth! Oh for sure Volte is going.” Volte looked up, ready to protest, and Lara cut him off. “Even if I have to dig my scrubs out of my drawer to come here and take care of these men myself, you’re going. You’re not going to miss something as fun as a conference. Conferences are legit! So much fun! Consider your leave approved, Volte, and you enjoy yourself. Give me a call if you end up in the brig and I’ll come bust you out.” Lara grinned at him and turned to walk away, leaving a beaming Kix and a flustered Volte standing in her wake.

Kix smiled and smacked Volte on the shoulder. “YEAH! We can catch the same shuttle out. This is going to be so much FUN!”

Volte looked somewhat uncertain, but bowed to the inevitable. His work done in the med bay, he made his farewell to his brothers and walked back to his barracks to get cleaned up, and packed. If the General said he was going, he knew better than to refuse.

The next morning, Volte made his way to the shuttle for Hosnian Prime with Kix at his side. The Torrent Company medic was excitedly chirping away about all the sessions being offered at the conference; he was looking forward to seeing the new technology on offer. Looking sideways at Volte, Kix remembered the Dragon Company already carried some unconventional tech that no other squads had. “So where did you get some of those toys you carry, Volte?”

“The General. She brought them from her home world,” Volte answered. “Some of it is pretty simple by our standards, but work really well. Like her CAT tourniquets. And Quick Clot stuff. I’ve liked using it. Those tourniquets though - they’re crazy effective. I’m surprised we don’t have something like them. You’d think with all the smart things the Kaminoans come up with, they wouldn’t over look something so plain and simple.”

“Wonder if they’ll have tech like that at this conference?,” Kix was curious of the possibilities. He’d heard there would be a new hover stretcher to ogle, as well as some of the latest medical interior upgrades for the LA ATs, converting some to straight medical evacuation ships. They were supposed to have fully kitted out displays of the new platforms, and that was always fun to see, climb around in and dream about.

“I have no idea, Kix. I honestly gave this conference no thought because I wasn’t sure I’d make it. I vaguely remember the brochure said something about new monitors, new meds, that ship kit, some new first aid implements… Who knows what all goodies they might have.” Volte was still somewhat tired after returning from their latest mission, only to turn around and ship out for this conference… Even for a pleasure trip it sucked to get up early when he’d wanted to rest. He yawned widely as they climbed aboard the airship and found seats. It was full of other medics, all heading for the same convention.

“Hey bud, quit that! We are going to have a blast at this thing. Can’t have you acting like an old man before we even get there.” Kix nudged Volte roughly and gave him a sharp look. “We’ve got some serious partying to do - we never get to really let loose even at 79s. So you quit that yawning.”

“Okay, okay,” Volte grumbled back. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. “I’m gonna take a nap for a while if you’re so determined to drag me to the bar every night. Be a social butterfly and talk to the others. Poor souls - you have a captive audience back there to listen to you blab about your magical hangover cure.”

Kix looked at Volte with a disgruntled frown, but did exactly that. Turning, he caught sight of several Corrie Guard medics - Patch, Patcher, Voodoo, Siren and Carpal were all loosely grouped in the rear of the shuttle. Kix gave his now snoring companion an eye roll and got up to move closer to the others; he knew a few of them quite well. He was only vaguely surprised that Commander Fox had given all his medics leave to come on this trip, but then the Corries had the benefit of being on Coruscant, with access to the Grand Republic Medical Center. They could just do a quick transport and have any wounded in front of the surgeons without much effort. And even the anal retentive Corries needed a night off occasionally.

“What’s up, people? Ready for this extravaganza of medical trivia, new toys and booze influenced fuckery?,” Kix said with a grin that would have done the Cheshire Cat proud. He looked up and nodded to Sawbones, who was sitting by himself a short distance away. Kix’s buddy Minder was sitting across from Sawbones, and Kix reached out, gave him a quick fist bump. He’d come back to talk to him when he was done with the Corries; Kix was a boy that loved the spotlight and could never keep still.

The group of Corrie medics all looked back at the Torrent Company man a little warily; all of the 501st had a reputation for generally being on the shady side of following rules, if not outright crazy. Kix was known to be one of the sharpest in the bunch; some said the only 501st member with a brain cell, after Captain Rex. But that was a misconception. Aside from Captain Rex, Kix had joint custody of the second single brain cell, and that only during his duty hours. The rest of his time was spent at 79’s, where he and Jesse, Hardcase, Fives and Echo stirred up enough trouble to make themselves as infamous with the Corries as their General was to the Jedi Council.

They’d all noticed Kix came in the company of Volte from Dragon Company - now there was a guy with a reputation. Known to be a steady and sharp medic, one of the best ever trained on Kamino, he’d been hand selected by the Dragon Rider, General Lara Lin, who’d kitted him out like a ARC Trooper, trained him in other worldly witchcraft and fighting skills previously unheard of in their galaxy, and given him special tools for use on their men. She’d even gone so far as to insist all of Dragon Company have first response medical skills, so technically they could all have qualified for field medic training on Kamino, but Volte was the Chief Medical Officer of the Company. The Dragons were nigh untouchable - trouble slid off of them like rain on a windscreen. No one could ever really explain how their General kept them all out of hot water after some of their escapades, but it had garnered them the image of a group of dark, mysterious renegades, strutting around the Coruscant military base like so many black and gold peacocks.

Patcher finally spoke up for his group. “Not everybody is going to the conference just to see how many panties they can drop or drinks they can keep down, Kix.”

“I came for the education too, Patcher, but hey, if panties start dropping around me, who am I to protest?” Kix grinned at the Corries mischievously, patted the back of the seat he was leaning on and turned to move to sit with Minder and Sawbones. He didn’t get far when he heard one of the Corrie group members pipe up.

“We could probably get by without going to a conference if your buddy up there would share his toys the General gives him,” Voodoo said with a little bitterness in his voice. “Heard his success rate on wounded men shot up by fifty percent after she implemented her “Stop the Bleed” policy and handed out those special tourniquets.”

“Now why would you Corries need tactical equipment like that? You don’t go anywhere that demands special toys, except maybe when you visit the dark lower levels.” Kix’s eyes narrowed a little as he moved in for the kill. “Then you’d just need some of those ‘antibiotics’ she’s always talking about using on her homeworld. Said they came about specifically to treat the koochie cooties you’re used to dealing with.” He laughed as all the men shot him dirty looks for insulting both their purpose and extracurricular activities.

“I can see this is going to be one of those trips,” Siren muttered to his neighbor Patch. “Why do all of the guys in the 501st have to be such di’kuts?”

“Because their General has a fat head and lets them think they can get away with just about everything, just like he does,” Patch grumbled back.

“At least the Dragon Company General isn’t quite as obnoxious as Skywalker, and far better to look at,” Carpal murmured.

“Or General Secura. I’d watch her all day long,” Siren said dreamily. “She’s got some nice assets, that one.”

There were grumbles of agreement to that statement, as the men settled back down into their own heads for the rest of the flight.

Kix had snugged himself into the seat beside Minder, propping his feet up on the armrest of the seat catty corner to him across the aisle, the picture of laid back relaxation. Sawbones was reading a holo fic on his data pad, quietly ignoring all other life forms on the shuttle. Kix gave him a brief glance, decided he didn’t want to be bothered, and turned to Minder. “How’s it been going at the Jedi Temple? Haven’t see you around of late.”

“Not too bad. Always lots of little boo boos to fix on the younglings as they start advancing in their physical training. And of course, the padawans with their training remotes - they always have little burns from not blocking fast enough.” The red headed medic smiled and looked over at his old batch mate. “Other than that, just sprains, strains and the odd broken ankle or wrist. Sometimes we get a truly wounded Jedi in from the field, but usually you guys are good about taking care of that before they get back to Coruscant.”

“Sounds kind of boring,” Kix said with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah well, not all of us can run around dodging blaster fire anymore,” Minder said, nodding to his cane. He’d broken his leg and been hit by shrapnel at Khorm when Dooku’s assassin Asaj Ventress bombed the medical tents, and was left requiring the permanent assistance of a cane to get around. “At least they kept me working somewhere I’m of value, rather than just decommissioning me.” Minder shrugged. “I love working with the younglings anyway. Kids are always so much more fun than adults.”

Kix gave him an inquiring look, as if he didn’t believe that sentiment at all. “Kids are terrifying. The only thing I know about kids is it’s bad when they’re quiet, and they’re annoying when they’re not. You can keep allllll the kids, Minder.”

Minder laughed at his friend. “Seriously, Kix. Kids aren’t bad. They are actually pretty fun to work with once they decide to trust you, and they love stories and getting stickers for being cooperative. Give me a kid to treat any day.”

Kix grunted in reply, and pulled his data pad out. Everybody got cozy on the shuttle; they had a few hours of flight time to go, so Kix figured he would get some reading in. There was plenty of time ahead in the three day conference to catch up with people.

The shuttle arced its way down through the atmosphere of Hosnian Prime, over the white beaches towards the hotel district. The 1st Annual GAR Medic Convention was to be held in their fancy convention center, in the heart of their many high rise buildings with its own commanding view of the sea. The center had multiple restaurants and bars attached for the ease of feeding guests present for large gatherings; you never had to actually leave during your stay to get food or beverage and spirits, and could conveniently return to your hotel room whether by foot or by droid-assist. The Convention Center had made sure to bring in droid-assist reinforcements for this particular gathering of weathered clone troopers; they figured there would be plenty of men they’d have to literally scoop off the floor each night. While the convention planners had all protested the idea that the famed boys in white would act out of place, more rational souls had remained silent with raised eyebrows, then reasserted the need for more droids.

The Coruscant shuttle disgorged its passengers on the landing pad of the Hosnian Prime Mariton. It was one of the finer hotels on the planet, and had graciously waived many fees to attract this business from the Republic. There were many compensations to be had behind closed doors, if they were able to impress the many sponsors at this gathering. Just a couple of the big name weapon manufacturers alone could keep the hotel in business for many years. There always existed the give and take behind the scenes, when large companies did things for ‘charity’ or tax breaks, hoping to polish their public image while still making a hot credit in the hand.

Volte woke when the shuttle locked its landing gear and touched down on the hotel pad. Through bleary brown eyes, he took in the scene outside the ship’s doors, seeing flashy neon lights and busy sky traffic. It wasn’t much different from Coruscant, and for a short second he was confused enough to wonder if they’d even left. Kix disabused him of that notion quickly, as he walked by and smacked him on the shoulder roughly.

“Rise and shine pretty boy; we’ve arrived. You missed some truly stimulating conversations about medical advancement,” Kix said with a serious face.

“Did I?,” Volte said a little wearily.

“No. But you sleeping definitely made the flight boring for me,” Kix said firmly. “Now, let’s get our room assignment and hit the bar! Maybe there will be some hot chicks there to talk to, tell them all about being a GAR medic.”

“That’s fine Kix, but you better get your own room if you plan on bringing anybody back with you for the night. I’m not getting trapped again like that time on Canto Bight, when you came home with two Twi’leks and tried to foist one on me.” Volte gave Kix a scathing, scandalized look and shook his head. “Get your jollies off in a dark corner or other. In fact, if you decide you DO need a room, tell them to put it on my General’s tab. She’d cover it, I’m sure.”

Kix laughed a bit. She might just at that - she had offered to get them out of the brig if they ended up in one. She seemed to have no illusions whatsoever about what happened at one of these conferences. Kix wondered if there was a story attached to that, and whether it could be wheedled out of her at 79s some night.

The two medics followed a line of others to the front desk of the hotel and received their room assignment, then turned and strolled over to the lift for their floor. The lobby had been chock full of clone troopers, every one of them a field medic or associated with advanced emergency care. Sawbones and another clone named Whiskey climbed aboard the lift with Kix and Volte, both men in the Wolfpack. Sawbones typically enjoyed Kix’s enthusiasm, and Whiskey was a relaxed, quiet trooper, already having ascended to administration. He nodded to Volte and Kix, leaning back against the wall as the lift climbed into the sky.

“We should have a good view of the beaches from these floors,” Volte said lightly.

“Right, all the better to entice the ladies back to our rooms,” Kix said with a slight leer in his voice. The three other clones rolled their eyes. None were averse to a pretty date, but none of them were quite the famed man whore that Kix was, with his flashy scalp tattoos and bravado. Volte silently stared at the ceiling, wondering if he paid someone to get Kix laid the first night, would he calm down for the rest? Or perhaps he could just sedate him and tie him to the bed while the rest of them went to class, with a sock for a gag….

The men finally reached the fiftieth floor and filed out of the lift to head for their rooms. Funnily enough, they were adjoining. Sawbones and Whiskey looked at each other silently as they realized they’d share a door with their rambunctious 501st counterpart. Their thoughts unintentionally ran in the same vein as Volte’s, as they mentally ran back over the items they had packed for the trip. Sadly, rope, gags and extra tranquilizers hadn’t made it into their bags. Maybe they could get him plastered enough he’d just pass out. Three minds feverishly worked over the question of how to get actual sleep and time for reflection with Kix in the mix. Sawbones had noticed Volte looked particularly haggard already, as they pushed their door open to Kix jovially singing and dancing across the floor to claim his bed, “Shawty had them apple bottoms jeans, boots with the fur, the whole club lookin at her…” The Dragon Company medic sighed, ironically thanking his leader for introducing Kix to Earthen rap music. This party would have been right up her alley.

After getting their packs stowed, the two medics wandered back to the lobby to make plans for their dinner. Volte felt a bit better after his nap on the ride out, and he had to admit it was impressive, seeing all the clone medics milling around on the hotel’s ground floor. There were so many squad, company and battalion patches he just about couldn’t name them all. He saw the insignia for Shadow Squad, 327th Star Corps, the Mist Squad, a guy possibly from Republic intelligence, the wave patch of the Tsunami Squad, the fire bird of Phoenix Squad, Violet Company, the 218th, the 387th, and the Phoenix Company. There were many more, of course, but those were readily recognizable. A few of the faces he also knew, as did Kix evidently, who was loudly hailing the clones he made out in the crowd. It was a pleasing family reunion, so many brothers, all with interests and jobs in common.

Volte had brought along the booklet detailing the many classes on offer each day, as well as the displays from the vendors and sponsors. The pamphlet even promised there would be free giveaways of items at each booth, and Volte dreamily wondered what kind of goodies he was going to come away with. Kix eagerly read over his shoulder and pondered aloud about what classes he wanted to attend.

“Look at that V! ‘Advanced Airway Management for Facial Trauma: What To Do When Holes Are Present That Shouldn’t Be’! I bet that’s a great class! And ‘Rapid Sedation: How to Restrain Your Patient in Five Seconds Without Using Conduit Tape’. I need to try that on Hardcase!” Kix laughed gleefully, reading further down the list and exclaiming aloud which ones sounded the most interesting.

Sawbones and Minder happened by with Whiskey in tow. “Anything good on the schedule?,” Sawbones grumbled out in his deep, gravely voice.

Minder had his own copy of the roster and was perusing it with Whiskey. “I might go to this one - “How to Approach a Youngling: They’re Not Armed Bombs.” Minder chuckled. “If people only knew…Kids are best hidden secret in the medical field.” All four of his brothers looked at him like he was somewhat crazy, then went back to the brochure.

“Preventing Infections, as Easy as Wash Your Kriffing Hands,” Volte laughed softly. “Who got to name these classes? Sounds like something my General would come up with.”

Sawbones suddenly gave a low barking laugh. “Communicable Diseases: How To Avoid Them While Sitting in a Small Enclosed Space With Others.” The old medic shook his head with a smile, “I agree, whoever got to come up with these titles is a jewel. We need to find out and treat them to a round or two.”

“Weird Things Radiology Techs Have Found in a Rectum and Why Bacta Doesn’t Belong There Either,” Whiskey read, his eyebrows raised as high as they could go. “At least they have a sense of humor. Maybe this thing won’t be boring.”

“Well, everything starts tomorrow at 0800, so we might as well find some dinner and find something to do until bedtime,” Sawbones drawled out.

Kix looked like he was about to speak up, but Volte quickly cut him off. “And no that doesn’t mean shopping for a date.”

The group of men moved off in search of food, still walking and talking about the classes on offer. By the time they sat down, each men had a rough idea of which classes they would work to attend, if they couldn’t make it to all of them. There were five per day, starting at 0800 and each lasting an hour and a half. Volte felt they each had good information to learn, and he wanted to make it to them all, if Kix would allow it.

The official class list read thus:

Primeday:

0800 - Advanced Airway Management for Facial Trauma: What To Do When Holes Are Present That Shouldn’t Be

1000 - Rapid Sedation: How to Restrain Your Patient in Fives Seconds Without the Use of Conduit Tape

1300 - How to Approach Younglings: They’re Not Armed Bombs

1500 - Preventing Infections: As Easy As Wash Your Kriffing Hands

1700 - Communicable Diseases: How to Avoid Them While Sitting in a Small Enclosed Space with Others

Centaxday:

0800 - Urine Business: Keep the Flow Alive or Your Patient Won’t Be

1000 - Long Bone Trauma: If That Limb is A-Floppin, The Ship Better Not Be Rockin!

1300 - An Ode to Burns: My Skin is on Fire, It Hurts. How to Rapidly Treat Burn Trauma and Pain

1500 - Hypovolemic Shock: That Red Stuff Was Supposed to Stay on the Inside

1700 - Weird Things Radiology Techs Have Found in a Rectum and Why Bacta Doesn’t Belong There Either

Taungsday -

0800 - Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Pregnant Females ( Otherwise Known As How to Catch a Flying Greased Puffer Pig at the least Opportune Moment)

1000 - When Everything Goes to Mustafar in a Camtono: How to Remain Calm During the Worst Crises

1300 - Splinters: How to Deal with Your Vod When They’re Being a Big Baby

1500 - Medics Outrank Everyone - A Motto To Live By

1700 - Take the Jedi Path - Let it Go: How to Handle Grief and Loss in the Ranks

The small knot of clones ended up wandering into one of the sports bar type restaurants of the large hotel. The place was packed by their brethren, all either at tables, in booths or are the bar. It was a raucous scene, and Kix’s face lit up with joy at the prospect of swapping stories and drinks with al the men present. He angled his way to the bar to make his first order, dragging Volte with him while Sawbones found them somewhere to sit. It wasn’t usually hard for the gritty old medic to get his way with others - his entire persona was intimidating, if his gruff, deadpan words didn’t make them hop and run. He was able to secure them a large booth near the center of the restaurant, where they could commune with everyone easily and hear the chatter.

Volte and Kix made it to the table not long after, bearing everyone’s first round of drinks, followed by an ARC medic named Quarter, and Voodoo. They were both in the Coruscant Guard and knew the group at the table fairly well. The men all traded greetings and fist bumps, settling back into the cushions as they took in the scene.

Quarter raised his chin a bit at Volte after taking a swig of his fizzy drink, launching into a question. “Got any good stories from the front these days, Volte? We hear all kinds of rumors about you Dragons and that General of yours, but nobody knows how much of it is bantha poodoo or real.”

Volte laughed a little ruefully before replying. “You know, people like to make up crap about us, like we are some top secret mystery brigade, but I think you’d be surprised how boring we are in reality.”

“How can it be boring when you work with a karking dragon?,” Voodoo exclaimed. “That alone is worth talking about! Has that thing eaten anyone yet?”

“Nope. He’s not just some mindless animal - he’s as smart as you or me. I did see him step on a few Seppys during a battle though. They were quite a bit flatter in places they shouldn’t have been when he moved off. And if he goes to burn something - straight to ash. Nothing left. Hottest fires you can imagine.” Volte shook his head in wonder, remembering some of the things he’d seen. “But what about you guys? Surely you have plenty of good dirt on all the political types, working here in the veritable beating heart of the galaxy.”

Voodoo laughed. “Oh there’s always dirt. Thank the Force for those implants the Kaminoans fitted us with, because otherwise half of the command staff would have the gift that keeps on giving and about ten children stowed away here and there. Not much to do, guarding Coruscant, and when those pretty girls hit you up it’s hard to refuse.” He gave Volte a little salute with the neck of his fizz bottle. There were general chuckles all around; none of the men were blushing virgins and all knew boredom and stress led to the men finding ‘other’ entertainment. “I’ve heard rumors there’s going to be a clone dating service start up on the super hush and hush. Evidently Commander Fox knows the business owner … incredibly well…,” he said with a bit of a wink.

Minder choked on his drink. “A dating service for clones? Seems like a big risk to take - we never know if we’re coming back from any deployment, and if they got caught they’d probably get shipped back to Kamino for reconditioning.” Volte nodded with his eyebrows up at the news. He was no stranger to clones hiding relationships; Dragon Company and Torrent Company had more than one high up military secret relationship they were protecting.

“Hey why shouldn’t we have relationships if we want them?,” Kix demanded rather angrily. “We are people too. We have just as many needs as some nat born!” He saw Quarter nodding with him, though Whiskey and Sawbones both wore rather resigned, skeptical expressions.

Voodoo shrugged. “Imagine if all the clones got a steady girl and had kids, though. We’d probably over populate the galaxy in less than a year. Of course, that’s if we managed to get around the sterility implants. I’ve heard rumors that a few clones have gotten some girls knocked up, but I’ve never seen it in real life. Could be a fairy tale.”

The table fell silent for a short moment as each man wondered about their rights, or lack thereof, and all took a quick slug of their drinks to wash away the bitter taste of resignation. Their musing was shortly interrupted by the arrival of Carpal, who was working his way toward the exit. He didn’t prefer loud crowds with the ringing in his ears at baseline, a parting gift from Asaj Ventress at Khorm. He nodded to the group as he walked by with a small bucket of drinks for himself; he preferred sitting in quiet places where he could read. Carpal was an older clone, his graying beard lending him a look of wizened knowledge that others deferred to.

Sawbones raised his bottle to acknowledge the medic, grunting out, “Heading back to your room, Carpal?”

The grizzled clone nodded. “You know I don’t do these loud gatherings. I’ve got my stash now and a good book I brought with me. You know where to find me if you need me,” he said, his voice a little louder than others to compensate for the inner ear issues. “I’ll see you boys in class tomorrow. Behave, children,” he said as he ambled on past them to the door.

To Kix's utter dismay, the rest of the evening passed with no pretty women appearing at the bar; only a steady stream of clones came and went. Their little group threw in the towel somewhat early, as Volte wanted to get some rest and Sawbones had used up all of his stored up reserves on dealing with people; the man was never the most outgoing of medics, and his patience for foolishness was nonexistent. The men headed back to their rooms, cleaned up and hit the sheets; all were unconscious as soon as their heads hit the pillows.

Credits:

Kix - CT 6116 Medic of Torrent Company, 501st Legion

Volte - CT 2403 Dragon Company CMO, property of CloneMedicKix

Patch - Coruscant Guard Medic, property of Sunshinedaydream

Patcher - CT 1110 Coruscant Guard CMO, property of Stargazingbunny

Voodoo - CT 0127 Coruscant Guard medic, property of Sev-on-Kamino

Siren - CT 6161 Coruscant Guard Medic, property of 523rd Rebel

Carpal - CC 6666 Coruscant Guard medic, property of Mythical Illustrator

Sawbones - CT 2697 Wolfpack CMO, 104th Battalion, property of Wizardofrozz

Minder - CT 6334-2 Jedi Medical Company, property of Mythical Illustrator

Whiskey - CC 6891 CMO 104th Battalion, property of Banks's-rat

Quarter - ARC 2525 Republic Intelligence medic, property of Hetalianskywalker

@523rdrebel @lune-de-miel-au-paradis @villanousace @mythical-illustrator @theogfulcrum22 @king-chaos-world @sunshinesdaydream @starrylothcat @anxiouspineapple99 @sev-on-kamino @mire-draws-things @the-bad-batch-baroness @cloneloverrrrr @mandos-mind-trick @padawancat97 @dukeoftheblackstar @wolffegirlsunite @isthereanechoinhere96 @jediknightjana @wackylurker @moonlightwarriorqueen @wizardofrozz @multi-fan-dom-madness @starqueensthings @liluthenerd @sweetmugofcocoa @vodika-vibes @banksys-rat @a-single-tulip @hetalianskywalker @homemade-clones @swarovski-yoda @starrrgazingbunny

@marierg

Dividers done by myself and @dystopicjumpsuit

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clonemedickix · 1 year ago

Text

Again, sorry. Coping in the medical field is one of the hardest things to quantify, explain or manage. We often develop weird coping mechanisms and lone wolf tendencies. People struggle to understand our level of weird, while we struggle to maintain our sanity. I hope this is just a small glimpse into the mind of a good medic who can’t save everyone, but still cares deeply about continuing the fight.

Rating: M

Word count: 2.9K

Pairing: OC CMO Volte x OC General Lara Lin x OC Aurelia (by permission of @freesia-writes )

Warnings: Surgically assisted birth, coping with life risk, medical coping with reality of trauma and loss, discussing the feels

Excerpt Summary - Lara and Volte are required to deliver a child surgically; Volte has a flashback to times when he couldn’t save everyone and has a moment, struggling to cope.

@anxiouspineapple99 @blueink-bluesoul @523rdrebel @mandos-mind-trick @jediknightjana @moonlightwarriorqueen @wizardofrozz @lune-de-miel-au-paradis @dystopicjumpsuit @villanousace

Excerpt beneath the line

About six months into the girl’s pregnancy, Lara had noted her fiddling with her socks and boots, complaining how tight they were, and that her ankles were swelling up daily. Sliding over near her, Lara asked her how she’d been feeling, if she was excited about the coming baby. The girl, named Rhaela, chattered on in happiness about her preparations, how they’d made clothes and furniture for the baby, how excited Falco was about becoming a father. Lara listened to her with a smile, but with rising concern, which turned to fear when she heard Rhaela complain about the frequent headaches she was getting. Hearing her complaints, Lara realized they were symptoms of a concerning pregnancy related condition - at the very least it was gestational hypertension, but was most likely preeclampsia. She would need to talk to Volte and Aurelia as soon as possible about treatment plans for Rhaela; there wasn’t much to offer really - no antihypertensives, no hospital to stash her in until delivery. She would be much like the millions of human women that had gone before her, doing their best to survive high risk pregnancies.

In the end, Lara’s fears came true. Rhaela went into labor and struggled to deliver her child. As the birth progressed, she was unable to bring the child out, not matter what techniques she and Volte used. Lara found herself looking at Volte silently, full of dread and knowledge. In a small lull, while Rhaela rested, Falco holding her hand desperately, his face full of concern, Lara and Volte consulted in the corner of the small home, Aurelia listening without a word.

“She’s not going to be able to deliver that baby, Volte,” Lara said softly.

“So what do you propose we do, General?” Volte’s tone was laced with desperation and unhappiness. He knew instinctively where this was going, and his heart hurt at the knowledge, the risks they were faced with taking.

“If we do a section, we can probably save the baby. It’s full term, and should be fine. But I’m not sure if we can save them both. The meds we have will depress the baby’s breathing and heart rate as well - we absolutely can’t go cutting on her without giving her pain meds. So, we won’t have much time to get the baby out.” Lara’s fine brows were drawn together in thought and distraction. “What do you think, Volte?”

Volte looked disturbed that she was deferring the decision to him. He gawped a little in surprise and panic. “I…I don’t know, General! You’ve done this before - I haven’t.”

Lara looked at him a little flatly. “If you’re going to be the doctor for this community, these decisions will come up. Even the best docs on Earth still struggle with this at times.” She glanced over at Rhaela, who was napping fitfully. “We have to ask Rhaela what she wants. While she sleeps, we can get stuff ready.” She looked up at Aurelia a little sharply, focused now on a task that they could accomplish. “Rely, go get the med packs and the IV equipment. The surgical packs are labeled as such. Bring those as well as the airway pack. Can you get it all?”

“I can get Howzer to help me. I’ll be right back!” Aurelia turned and ran from the home quickly, on a mission to get the equipment back as soon as possible.

Lara stepped over to Rhaela and Falco; reaching out she took the young woman’s wrist in her hand and felt her pulse, then glanced at the fetal heart rate monitor to see how the baby was doing. The signs were okay for now - both mother and child were resting for a moment. Falco stared at Lara’s face, fear hiding in the depths of his brown eyes. He could sense the General wasn’t happy with how the delivery was going. Rhaela stirred, waking groggily and looking up at Lara and her husband. Taking a breath, Lara braced herself for the conversation that had to happen now.

“Rhaela, we are having some trouble bringing the baby along. I’m not sure you’re going to be able to deliver without help.” Falco’s eyes hardened.

“What kind of help?,” he asked guardedly.

“Surgical help. We’ve reached the point where we have to make a choice. I can surgically open the womb and get the baby out, or both mother and child will likely die in the attempt to have the baby naturally.” Lara’s expression was as flat as she could make it, looking into both parent’s eyes. They both looked taken aback, slapped by the cold hand of reality and dread. “Before you make your choice, you have to know - there is a large chance that Rhaela could die. This surgery is not without risks. The bleeding associated is usually bad, and I can’t make you any guarantees, other than if we do nothing, you will certainly die. And the child.” Lara’s eyes were full of regret, that she couldn’t do more for them.

Rhaela and Falco looked at each other, seeing that the writing on the walls was dark and unhappy. Tears came to both their eyes, along with a mixture of physical pain; the contractions were starting to return. Lara reached out and took Rhaela’s hand, saying nothing, but offering her presence as support. The girl took a deep breath, leaned over into Falco’s chest and cried softly. Falco held her like he was trying to force the strength from his own body into hers. Looking up at Lara, he whispered, “There’s no other way?”

Lara shook her head sadly.

Tears fell from Falco’s eyes, and he closed them, holding Rhaela tightly. After a moment, Rhaela looked at Lara and took a breath. “Do it, General. I know you’ll do your best. You and Volte can do anything, I know it.”

The words touched Lara’s soul, and she couldn’t stop a rim of tears from filling her eyes. Squeezing Rhaela’s hand, she gave her a bracing smile, nodded and stood. Aurelia and Howzer walked into the home carrying the supply bags at that moment. Aurelia was focused, moving to place them on the table and already opening the compartments, knowing exactly what she was after. Howzer glanced over at Falco briefly, his face full of uncomfortable sadness for the couple, but unsure what his place was, or how to be of use in this situation. Lara looked up at the captain and said quickly, “Howzer, please go find Turk, Dorian and Primer - ask them to come here. I’m going to need their help. Be quick, please.” Her tone was a professional command and brooked no argument. Howzer hurried from the home to do as ordered.

Lara and Volte worked quickly to get the room set up for the procedure, laying out the items and sterile packs they would need. She and Volte would do the surgery, while Aurelia kept Rhaela medicated and sedated, and Lara planned to have Turk and Dorian help with her airway and the baby when delivered. Primer she needed to support Falco. She wouldn’t ask him to leave his wife and child, but she wasn’t going to have him there alone if the worst occurred. The men soon turned up as requested, and Lara explained their roles to them. They nodded solemnly and immediately got themselves in the proper mindset for the challenge ahead.

Aurelia got an IV started on Rhaela and the fluids hooked up without issue. Lara drew up the appropriate doses of meds to sedate the young woman, and to keep her under for the surgery. “Rely, these are good for the first few rounds of the induction, but you’ll probably have to draw up a few more doses from the vials.” Aurelia nodded succinctly. She knew her job. She helped get Rhaela settled in her bed with some protective sheeting beneath her to catch blood and fluids, and then washed up quickly, returning to the girl’s bedside to don gloves. Lara got everyone masked up and to their places, then nodded to Aurelia to push the first doses of sedation and pain medication. Looking into Rhaela’s eyes, Lara did her best to assure the brave girl as her green eyes started to get glassy with sleep and medications.

Once she was deeply under with the versed and fentanyl on board, Lara had Rely push a new medication - rocuronium - to temporarily paralyze the mother’s muscles and have her relaxed enough to allow a medical airway to be placed. Lara picked up her laryngoscope quickly, positioned herself behind Rhaela’s head, opened her mouth with her right hand, and inserted the blade of the laryngoscope to push the girl’s tongue out of the way and expose her vocal cords to Lara’s sight. She inserted the endotracheal tube with practiced ease, and removed the stylet within, attaching an AMBU bag to the end of the tube with one hand and skills long learned. Watching for chest rise, she saw Rely quickly listen with a stethoscope for breath sounds or gastric gurgling, but the girl glanced up at Lara with a confirming nod. The tube was in place correctly. Lara moved to tape it securely to Rhaela’s mouth and cheek, then handed monitoring of the airway and respiration to Turk. She and Volte washed up and opened the sterile surgical trays and equipment, Lara donning a sterile gown and gloves and setting the field up with Volte’s help. When she was done, he did the same, getting dressed for the procedure and stepping up to Rhaela’s side. The two surgeons looked at each other, took a breath and nodded.

“Okay for a quick time out, team. We are going to do this c-section on Rhaela because we’re out of options to deliver naturally. Turk, you have the airway. Dorian, for now you are waiting to catch the baby. Aurelia, you are in charge of monitoring the vitals and administering the meds. Volte - you got any questions?” Volte shook his head. “Okay, I’ll make the first incision.” Lara reached over to the table and removed a scalpel, placing her left hand on Rhaela’s abdomen, pulling the skin back slightly, and at the base of her uterus at the pubic line, made a cut about six inches long. Volte quickly dabbed at the welling blood with gauze.

Lara worked swiftly to get through the layers of tissues, avoiding important structures carefully until she could see the outer surface of the uterus. Looking up quickly at Dorian, she said, “You ready D? Two minutes to having this baby out.”

“I’m ready General,” he said quickly, poised with a couple of clean blankets, ready to accept the child from Volte, who would hand it off to Dorian.

“Okay here we go.” Lara quickly cut into the uterus, working to avoid going too deeply; she didn’t want to accidentally nick the baby. She carefully stretched the incision, trying to avoid making it too big; there was benefit to leaving the incision slightly tight so as to squeeze the infant’s lungs of amniotic fluid and mimic the passage through the birth canal. She felt for the little head and got her fingers around and under it, directing it to the incision she’d made and gently pulling it out. She and Volte paused for a moment to clean the field of all the amniotic fluid and blood present, and then Lara reached back into Rhaela’s womb to grasp the child’s shoulder. Lifting it towards the opening, she worked first one and then the other free, feeling the body slide more quickly now from its former home of nine months. Lara lifted the infant’s body free of Rhaela and placed it on the sterile field, over the gap between her legs, working with Volte to clamp and cut the umbilical cord and clean the surgical field again of blood. Free of his mother’s womb and the placenta now, Volte quickly handed the newborn over to Dorian, who enfolded the boy in the warm, clean blankets and quickly stepped over to another table to work at waking the baby up, vigorously wiping at the vernix covering his skin, stimulating him until the baby let out a breathtaking, loud squawk. Internally, both Lara and Volte sighed with relief at the sound, but were working quickly to get Rhaela’s c-section finished and her sewed back up.

Lara reached once more into her womb to deliver the placenta. She placed it on the sterile field as she had the baby, and Volte quickly assessed it for completeness, nodding to Lara when he checked it. “Complete, General.”

“Good. Good, good, good,” Lara breathed. She worked to clean Rhaela’s uterus out as best she could, irrigating and scraping it clean of any remnants of birth so there would be minimal risk of infection after. When she was satisfied, she started working to sew up the incision site, which required multiple layers of sutures. Satisfied that the uterus was no longer bleeding, Lara started working on closing Rhaela’s abdomen back up, and they finished when Volte put in the final sutures and staples. They wiped her belly clean, watching it for any last oozing, and then took deep breaths out of relief. Aurelia looked up at them with a smile that spoke volumes of her own happiness at their apparent success, and pride in what their small team had accomplished. Falco had gone over to meet and hold his new son, Dorian handing the baby off to the new father with a happy smile for his teammate. Primer had watched the whole affair with a look of silent concern and solemnity, and he only broke into a smile when he saw Lara stand to her full height, stretching her shoulders and letting out the tense breath she’d been holding the entire time.

Lara glanced over at her first in command, their eyes meeting quietly. He gave her a little one sided smile of pride and congratulations, and Lara smiled back beneath her mask. Then she looked at Volte. The medic looked strangely… distracted, even a little shattered for some reason. Like he was looking at a scene of devastation and not success. Lara’s brows knit a little in confusion and she reached over to him, touching his arm softly. “Volte? You okay?” His eyes snapped up to hers suddenly, as if his mind had been far away.

“I’m fine, General. Good work. We did good work.” He tried to make his words sound strong and sure, but Lara could hear a faint note of confusion still there, like he was lost in a memory he couldn’t shake.

“Help me get all this taken down and scrub out. Go get some air.” Lara felt concern for him, but wasn’t sure what was wrong. He did as she’d directed, getting all of the instruments back to their tray, helping her break down the sterile field and clean up from their work. Volte stripped off his gloves, gown and mask and then left the home almost as if chased by ghosts. Even Primer watched him go with a look of concern. Primer met Lara’s eyes, full of questions for Volte’s behavior. Lara shrugged and shook her head - she wasn’t sure what was wrong, but she had two patients to attend to at the moment and couldn’t do anything about Volte.

She quickly checked the baby and the mother over, assuring both herself and Falco that they were doing well. Aurelia and Turk sat with Rhaela for a while longer, monitoring her vitals and maintaining her airway. By the time Lara was finished with her work in the little home, Rhaela was breathing on her own and seemed to be stable. Lara ordered Turk to remove the breathing tube, and remained to watch the girl, making sure she continued breathing independently a bit longer. Aurelia looked up to Lara and said, “Go after Volte. I’ll stay until she wakes up.”

Lara looked at Aurelia gratefully, reached over and squeezed her shoulder, and turned to leave. Primer stepped over to her quickly, following her out the door. “Do you need me to go with you to find him?”

Lara shook her head. “I’ve got it. I don’t think this talk will follow a path you know much about. But thanks. Watch over them for me and if Rely needs something, come get me pronto, okay?”

Primer stopped walking and called to Lara’s retreating form, “Will do, General.” He watched her for a minute longer, the pride he felt in her swelling for a moment, then he turned and walked back to Falco’s home in silence.

Lara found Volte sitting on her little hill, listening to the waves. His eyes were distant and his mind was far away, tears falling softly down his cheeks. She studied him in profile for a moment; he didn’t even acknowledge that he’d noticed her, he was so distracted. Lara pursed her lips a bit and moved to sit next to him without a word. He’d come back eventually, and she would be here when he was ready to talk. It was well over an hour though, before she felt him take a deep breath, hesitate, and then reach for words.

“Sorry, General, I just kind of… lost myself there for a minute.” To be honest, he still sounded rather lost, Lara thought quietly. She looked over at him from the side, her blue eyes studying him silently. Lara waited for Volte to make the next move.

Volte saw her watching him patiently, and sighed. “You ever have those moments, when you wonder if you did everything you could for someone you didn’t manage to save?”

Oh, so many, Lara thought to herself quietly. She looked off, over the waves before them, losing herself in the question and a swell of memories. “We all have those moments, Volte. The frustration of loss, of not being able to best Death - every medical person faces that at some point, if not multiple times. It’s a sign that you’re a good one, someone who cares.” She met his eyes firmly, trying to convey the depth of her meaning.

Volte nodded as if she’d verified something to be right, that he’d been thinking. He looked down at the grass and pulled a blade, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger, focusing on it as if it were the most fascinating thing he’d seen in a long time. After a long pause, he said a little haltingly, “I know we didn’t lose this time, but when we were sewing her up, I suddenly remembered the face of another person, from the war. She was a citizen on Falucia, and had taken a bad shrapnel wound to the gut. She was bleeding to death, right there in front of me, and her husband was there, begging me to save her. She was pregnant, probably close to her due date. And I just remembered his voice as he pleaded with me, to save her life. To save the child.” Volte stopped, his mind working to deal with the flooding memories. “I couldn’t save either of them. I had no idea, no training, on how to deliver a child.” It had never come up in either conversation or education. It wasn’t something the GAR thought a combat medic would ever need, nor should waste money and time on teaching. “I watched her life drain away, knowing her baby was dying too, and could do nothing, but hold her hand, while her husband grieved beside her. I felt so helpless, so useless.” He bowed his head, bringing his hands up to cover his face, breathing deeply to steady himself.

Lara listened patiently; Volte had to tell the story himself, let the grief roll through him so he could address it properly. She watched as he came to grips with the truths of his past self, and where he’d come to now. The truth was, there were no better teachers than time and experience. And he was right - why would the Kaminoans have trained him for obstetrics? They weren’t bred for community health work - the GAR medics existed to put their brothers back together and keep them fighting. But Lara knew after her long years of life, that the bitterness of helpless loss could still rise up to choke a good medic regardless of the reality of their situation. There were times when she’d watched good people die in her arms, because the technology didn’t exist yet for her to help them.

The two sat in silence for a while, letting the sounds of nature wash over them. “Sorry I let it get to me back there, General. Seems kind of silly now, since the whole operation went so well.” Volte looked over at Lara with a slightly sheepish grin.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for. Every medical person I’ve ever met is haunted, Volte. Our ghosts follow us around, reminding us of what might have been if we could only just take that extra step, find that miracle cure, have the right equipment. I’ll be honest - the ghosts only multiply when you start working with children.” She stole a glance at him, seeing if he was following. Volte wore a look of foreboding, hearing her say that. Lara shrugged a little. “Adults have lived their lives, made mistakes, learned, experienced, while kids have their whole future ahead of them. Losing a child is like seeing someone completely robbed of everything they might be, stealing someone from the future that might have cured cancer or solved the greatest problem known to life. Plus, there’s the parents who brought that child into the world out of their love for each other. Children are hard. But man they’re brave. Holy shit, Volte, they’re the bravest patients you will ever know.”

Lara looked hard into his eyes, and he saw for a moment that there were tears in hers. “They will fight and fight and fight, having no idea what life really is, whether it will be rewarding or continued pain for them, but they don’t give up. The struggle I’ve seen them shoulder - children carry the weight of the world and don’t even know it, but yet they do it gladly, with an excitement no adult will ever get back. Those kids on Earth that I take care of on ECMO - they push Death back every day, playing with the medical staff, doing their therapy with a giant hose in their necks, strapped to their head, or coming out of their chest, and yet - THEY STILL FIGHT!” Lara stopped, her face truly awed at the memory of some of her patients. “I’ve seen a lot of death and suffering in my time, but no warrior I’ve ever met can equal the spirit of a child fighting for their life. It’s a strength only they possess and can tap into.”

Lara shook her head, looking down at the grass. A dark look crossed her face momentarily. “But when they run out of that strength, when we lose them no matter how valiantly they fought, it’s the most soul crushing thing to experience. And once they cross that veil, Volte, when you know they’ve turned away and you can’t get them back - you would do anything, ANYTHING, if you could just reach out and grab their hand, keep them with you.” Her eyes misted over a bit, seeing a memory from another time. “I’ll never forget the sound of a mother when her little boy let go. She howled - howled - with grief, a torn sound from the bottom of her soul. She pleaded for him to come back, because she knew - he’d crossed that divide. He’d turned away, and there was no coming back.”

Lara stopped for a long moment, tears silently falling down her cheeks. “The sound of her pain and loss will never leave me. Just like that lady on Falucia will never leave you. You will face loss, Volte; it’s just the reality of being a medical officer. We cannot win every time. And for every success, it seems you pay in the blood of another. But you can’t give up - you’re invaluable to Nidhogg, to your brothers and their families. You can’t let the ghosts stop you from saving others. We take the pain and the risk, challenge Death at every turn, fight back against the darkness, so that others might live. Ut alii vivant. Fighting and sacrifice was what you and I were made for. We were given strength, determination and stamina so that we could face both loss and victory in equal measure and continue on. You are courageous enough to keep going, even in the face of failure - it’s that tenacity and flame I saw in you the first day, that made me choose you for Dragon Company. And why I know without a doubt, that you will be the best physician I’ve ever known.” Lara put her hand on his shoulder and smiled at him proudly. “I won’t always be here to help. But I KNOW this colony - these people - are in the best hands.”

Her smile for him was firm and determined, sure in her words. She believed in Volte completely, and he could feel it. Volte looked down at the ground for a moment, absorbing all she’d told him. It was a daunting thing, looking to the future and knowing he would have to step up and make all the decisions himself sooner than later. Lara was right - she wouldn’t always be here to hold his hand. But knowing that she was behind him in thought and spirit, knowing she believed in him utterly - that meant so much to him. He could do his job, knowing he had her support and faith. Volte met his General’s eyes steadily and nodded, a small shy smirk forming on his face. “Thanks, General. For everything.” She gave him a small smirk back and nodded, then turned away to watch the gulls flying over the water before them. The two sat in companionable silence for a long time, two best friends bonded by mutual experience, mission and their ghosts.

#worksbyclonemedickix #OC General Lara Lin #OC CMO Volte #OC Captain Volte #starwars fandom #the clone wars fanfiction #my fanfiction #the clone wars #star wars #starwars the clone wars #the clone wars fan #the clones

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clonemedickix · 1 year ago

Text

*It’s taken me forever to get this chapter finished, and I have one to go before I tie in two more that have been sitting, patiently awaiting their turn. Hope you enjoy!*

Rating: E

Word count: 14K

Pairing: OC Captain Primer x OC General Lara Lin x Captain Rex

Warnings: clone SMUT - Under 18 DNI, foreplay and banter, P in V sex, P in A sex, oral sex F receiving, threesome sex,

Excerpt Summary - Primer and Lara solidify their new relationship, Rex accepts the changes by taking it to a whole different level. Lara is discovered by an Inquisitor on Batuu.

If you’d like to be tagged for new chapters of this fic, click here.

If you’d like to see the entire work, click here and here.

Chapter below the line

Primed and Ready To Go

It seemed Lara was once again an unstoppable force with her new swords. Rex had eyed them silently when she returned from her walk with Primer, noting she was covered in the scent of Primer’s soap. Internally he sighed, realizing that Lara’s ways would always be something of a mystery to him. He consoled himself with the knowledge that in the end, he would be the only remaining love for her; all others would be long gone by the time they left this life together. It wasn’t a triumphant thought at all; Lara would be forced to make sacrifices along the way that would be devastating for her, and it would be Rex’s job to stand firm as her support, to be her shelter in the storm. He also knew, she would never cease loving him for Primer, and she would never act in such a way as to shame either men. He knew that whatever conspired between Lara and her commander, it would be done privately.

Lara resumed her training with the men, showing renewed gusto. She worked with the swords carefully, mostly on her own; there were no others that could fight with swords as she did, and the closest she could get was Bo sticks with Primer. The two had been at it for days in the training room, working to hone Lara’s skills once again, fine tuning the edge lost in her long period of down time. Primer had insisted on practicing with the Bo sticks until they both agreed she was close to her old prime, then they slowly reintroduced her swords to the sparring session, though she had to rein her strength in significantly to protect Primer from the blades. The day finally came when Lara reached the standard her Dragon Trinity agreed on; Primer, Volte and Boost had set the bar she would have to reach before they’d let her start back on missions. She couldn’t help but feel a little coddled at times, though she knew they did it out of concern for her.

Lara’s sparring match had been beautiful to watch. Most of the colony had gathered to see Lara and Primer fight, knowing she was going to be using her swords once again. The two bowed to each other very respectfully, then took their ready positions. Lara stood with her short sword reversed and angled to the ground, her long sword up and pointed forward over her head, legs braced fore and aft in readiness. Primer had yet to pull his Bo sticks from their double scabbard, instead watching her for a moment, pacing to her right carefully. Rather than following him, Lara watched him with her peripheral vision, listening for his opening move, sensing him with the Force. Primer nearly made a full circuit around her before lunging toward her with his Bo sticks out. Lara turned quickly and blocked him with the long sword, her eyes meeting Primer’s flatly, in the zone for the fight. Primer disengaged to try a different angle, striking back at her from the rear. Lara blocked him with a backwards block of her short sword, then spun away from him to bring her long sword around.

They danced back and forth within the fighting circle, their practiced moves almost like a ballet. There were several moments when it seemed Primer got the better of her, and she had to back out of the attack, spinning or flipping away from him to get some distance. Primer pressed the issue; she needed to be on her best if they were going to send her back into the field; the fact that her best was some version of super Jedi that they would never attain themselves notwithstanding. Eventually Primer lunged for Lara, and she waited half a beat, moved toward him quickly and rolled her body across his back as he tried to swipe at the level of her knees. He wasn’t prepared for her to make such a move in opposition, and when he tried to recover, Lara turned and did a roundhouse kick that connected with the side of his head, knocking him to the ground like a lifeless sack of flour.

Volte quickly ran to Primer’s side to check on him, ruefully grumbling at Lara as he assessed his commander. “You didn’t have to take his head off Lara.”

“I wasn’t trying to, Volte, but he didn’t move fast enough.” She leaned down to check on him herself, taking his chin in her right hand she gently turned his face to make sure he wasn’t cut or too severely bruised. She heard him take a ragged breath and saw his eyes shoot open, as if his brain was still in fight or flight mode. Lara quickly put a reassuring hand on his chest, saying “Easy Primer, easy. Give it a second before you try to get up.”

His eyes darted to hers quickly, and he took a couple of steadying breaths. “I guess this means you beat me,” he said with a rather rueful tone.

Volte chuckled beside him. “Oh, you lost hard. You did say you wanted to make sure she was back to fighting fit; I think she just gave you a resounding answer.” He reached out a hand to help Primer sit up, and placed his other behind his back to assist him if necessary.

Primer groaned a little and reached up to touch his cheek gingerly. “Guess that’s what I get for tugging the nexu’s tail, huh?”

“Sorry, Primer. It was just too juicy an opening not to take it. I’m sure we can figure out some way to make your boo-boo better,” she said with an amused, chiding tone. “Now, quit your whining and find me a mission to go on. I’m ready to get out there and DO something!”

Primer laughed a little and accepted her hand to stand, carefully. “As my General commands.”

His tone was meant to be wry, but it came out more as a resigned purr, and Volte looked at him a little quizzically. He caught a look shared between them that was positively smoldering and internally his mind clicked. Well, that was many years coming, he thought to himself. A small part of him gave a little cheer for his commander, though he said nothing and pretended he’d seen even less.

Primer approached Lara with a mission for the two of them that evening at dinner. They would make a trip to a rather distant couple of systems for both information and some supplies. They’d had a few tips on the locations of some clones, and Primer felt he and Lara could be the forward reconnaissance for any rescue. Once they had better information, they could plan out a true extraction scheme, with a bigger detachment of men.

Rex overheard their conversation and casually inched closer to the back of Lara’s chair, his hand on the top of the wooden back. “Planning your first mission out, finally?,” he asked innocently.

Primer’s eyes shifted off Lara to focus on Rex behind her, a cautious expression in his dark eyes. Lara glanced up, and seeing Rex over her head she stood so she could face him.

“Yes, the triumverate has finally given me their blessing to leave my confinement here. We thought small recon trips would be best, as they’d mostly keep me off the radar and theoretically stir up no curiosity.” She watched Rex’s eyes closely, wondering what was going through his mind. He was no fool, and he knew exactly what would inevitably take place on any trip where Primer and Lara were alone. When he didn’t speak immediately, Lara extended her hand and placed it over his own on the back of the chair. “If you’re okay with it, of course.” She wasn’t trying to hurt Rex in any manner, and she hoped he didn’t feel that way.

Rex’s eyes flickered to hers and he gave her a short, bright smile. “Of course, Lara. We need you back in the field, and it will be good for you to get out, go do something other than train here and follow Danny around like a mother hen.” He reached over and squeezed her arm softly and smiled again. “Go have fun. At least I know you’ll be well looked after.” He nodded to Primer and then turned to speak to Cody, leaving Lara and Primer standing somewhat awkwardly beside each other.

Primer could see Lara’s face was troubled, thinking over Rex’s words and manner of delivery, and he could feel the worry rippling off of her. Lara sighed and quickly mumbled, “I’m gonna go walk a bit.” Turning she practically ran from the hall like she was escaping a pursuing predator.

Primer watched her go silently, then looked over at Rex, feeling his own frustration rise. He was going to have to talk to Rex; they couldn’t have Lara like this between them, each tugging on her to go one way or the other. Primer slid over to Cody and Rex, inserting himself in their conversation for a moment, then made eye contact with Rex. “If you have a minute?,” he said pointedly.

Rex met his eyes a little warily but nodded and followed Primer outside. The two walked along for a while, ending up over at the ship yard where they could have a modicum of privacy and perhaps even an excuse for speaking alone. Rex knew what Primer wanted to discuss, and was mentally bracing himself for this confrontation. He knew he was in the wrong, after what Fives and Echo had both said. But there was a possessive side to him that had developed in the time since Fives’ death that had never been there before, and the man struggled at trying to master it.

When they stopped, Primer turned to Rex quietly and folded his arms across his chest, his face thoughtful for a moment. “Rex we’ve got to come to some understanding here. Otherwise we are just causing her pain.” The Dragon commander stopped and looked away for a moment, his breath misting in the chilly night air. “I’m not trying to take her away from you. That will never be the intention or the result. And even I know this… short interlude… will end sooner than later. I know she’s expecting again, and we would never do anything that would bring shame on you or her. But you and I can’t keep playing tug of war with her.”

Rex’s head had come up sharply when Primer admitted he knew Lara was pregnant again, and a small flare of frustrated anger burned within him for a moment. If he karking knew, then why was he… never mind. As Fives and Echo both had said, she was not human, and sometimes her love and power were just too much to contain in one place. She’d sworn to never bring shame or embarrassment to Rex, and he’d sworn to love her regardless of what might or might not happen with her sworn shields. He’d affirmed that the day he supported Primer in taking that vow and Lara’s blood, and the honorable side of Rex warred with his selfish side, throwing his promises in his face. Rex pursed his lips and also crossed his arms over his chest, taking a step back as if demanding space to think. As thoughts raced through his mind, he shook his head a little, waiting to see which part of his conscience would come out on top.

Primer waited for Rex to reply; he could see the internal struggle taking place before him. A part of him understood; if he’d been lucky enough to be Lara’s destined mate, he’d probably have been jealous of her body as well. Instead, here he was asking the man for patience and even his blessing to become her lover. It was a little crazy if you looked at it objectively, but that aside, it didn’t change the facts of the situation. If Rex truly couldn’t find a way to be at peace with it, Primer and Lara would do their best to refrain. It would be painful, but they’d made it this far; they could manage.

Rex finally sighed and looked at Primer, his face a mix of emotion. “I can’t say I’m not a little conflicted, Primer. We’ve been together nearly five years, with relatively nothing coming between us, except her relationship with Fives. I guess I got used to the idea of being the only one she saw. Plus with Danny, and this new one… it’s … a little difficult. Surely, you see that?” He looked at Primer with pleading eyes, needing to see understanding in those of his rival.

“I understand.” Primer took a deep breath and looked off toward the distant hill where he assumed Lara was sitting, taking in the sounds of the sea and the breeze. “Look, if it’s going to hurt you too much, she would never agree to continuing on. We can just all go back to where we were before, and pretend nothing happened.”

Shaking his head, Rex said softly, “You know she can’t just go back now.” For a moment, he had no clear words to say, though his heart was heavy knowing what needed to come out. “I know she loves you, and has loved you for a long time. And I knew exactly what I was agreeing to when she accepted your vow and gave you hers.” He stopped, pursing his lips again, closing his eyes for a moment. “I’ll figure out how to behave, Primer, and I won’t hurt her with my attitude. Just remember what I told you before you shipped out to Ryloth. That’s what really matters to me.”

Their eyes met, so similar and yet so singular. Primer remembered what Rex had said; he’d pulled Primer aside and told him, “That woman is my life, protect her with yours.” Primer would always keep that directive in mind, a priority in his care of her. “I’ll protect her with my life, Rex. You never have to worry about that. Anything and everything I could do to save her, I would.” He gave Rex the tiniest one-sided smirk and nodded to him, turning to walk back to his hut. He had equipment to gather for his trip.

Rex watched him walk away and then started towards Lara’s hill. He felt he owed her a bit of an apology, something to clear the air. He didn’t get quite that far; Lara appeared from the darkness in front of him and stopped him. At first she didn’t meet his eyes, and she stood in a rather self protective manner, hesitant to speak. But then she raised her gaze to his and sighed softly. “I told you, I’m sorry for what I am, Rex.” Her tone was regretful and slightly bitter, as if in examining her own qualities, she’d found many lacking.

He looked at her a brief moment and then reached out to pull her to him in a tight, loving hug. “Don’t be, Lara.” He rubbed his hand up and down her back, trying to comfort her, hoping it communicated something of his guilt over making her feel this way. “I’m sorry for letting jealousy get the better of me. Fives and Echo both reminded me of my promises to you. Somewhere along the way I guess I just got it in my head that you belonged to me like a possession, rather than being your mate and support, or your partner.” Rex pushed her away gently so he could square up to her and look in her eyes. “I know, that even if you take Primer as your lover, that at the end of the day, at the end of all things, you and I will always be together. I want you to be happy, and fulfilled, and to see you shine like you used to, when you had Echo and Fives as your supports as well as me. So, I trust you Lara. Just, leave some love for me, too, is all I ask.” Rex gave her a little smile and winked at the end, seeing her involuntarily chuff at his words. She rolled her eyes and meant to look away, but Rex reached over and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her thoroughly until she gasped for air. Lara gave him a look that was equal parts exasperated and lustful, and Rex laughed as he took her hand and led her to their hut. Primer might have her to himself on this next mission, but Rex was for damn sure gonna make love to her tonight. Let her leave with her smell and the feel of her body fresh in his mind - that would make it at least more tolerable.

Lara and Primer loaded up and left early the next morning. When she settled in the co-pilot’s seat next to him, Primer glanced over with an arched eyebrow as if to say, “Alright, then?” Lara had nodded with a small smile, focusing back on the task at hand, even as Primer did. She’d seen the grin on his face, happy to have her back on board, happy to be serving alongside her again, but also excited about the possibilities.

They had a long flight ahead of them to get to the distant trading post they were aiming for. A place called Batuu; it was well known to be a shady watering hole for miscellaneous travelers of every background and persuasion. They hoped to get intel on many things, as well as information on any clones in need of help. The ship’s computer was telling them it would take at least 12 hours of hyperspace flight to get there, so they had a lot of downtime in between. The two made small talk for a long time, worked at cleaning their weapons, sharpened Lara’s blades carefully, before finally giving up and staring at each other a little sheepishly. Here they were, two grown kriffing adults, now afraid to address the mudhorn in the room. Lara met Primer’s eyes for a long moment and then grinned, glancing down at the polishing rag and whet stone in her lap, suddenly too embarrassed to keep up the look. She heard Primer shift his weight as he moved to stand, then he reached down and gently took the sword from Lara’s hand and placed it on the floor. Reaching out without looking at her directly, he took her hand and raised her off the decking, pulling her up to him easily.

Primer snugged her to his body and then raised his eyes to look into hers, seeing all of the intensity he remembered of that day in the cave. His need for her was snapping like static electricity, and he could feel it roiling off of her like heat waves as well. Leaning in Primer kissed her lips gently, almost reverently, feeling her press back in response, taking a deep breath as if she’d been holding hers for a long moment before his touch. He felt her lips open beneath his, and slid his tongue to meet hers, his mouth crushing against hers more passionately, feeling her adjust her stance so she could get more traction from the kiss. Primer suddenly reached down and scooped her up in his arms, carrying her back toward the small captain’s quarters on the ship, breaking the kiss only to make sure he wasn’t going to ram into the wall with her. Once he got past the cockpit hallway and to the door of the small cabin, he strode to the small bed and deposited her like a priceless vase on the thin mattress.

The two were in something of a hurry, too excited to take forever to use undressing as foreplay. Clothes started flying as they ripped them off and tossed them on the floor, two sets of boots clonking to the cabin surface emphatically. Lara jumped up to rip the covers down on the little bed and scooted back against the wall to afford Primer room, and he climbed in to snug himself against her tightly. Once there, their kisses became more heated, more desperate as they made out, hands roaming over each other, exploring their bodies.

Primer broke off kissing her mouth to leave a trail of kisses down her neck to her collarbone, then he shifted himself down in the bed to reach her breasts. Cupping one softly in his rough hands, he ran his thumb thoughtfully over the nipple, watching it stiffen and rise. His eyes were dark with desire, but still full of simple fascination at the movement of the bud to his touch. He leaned forward and carefully took it into his mouth, running his tongue over the slightly pebbled surface, then sucking at it gently. His reward was hearing Lara’s soft gasp, feeling her body respond by arching into him, pulling his head towards her in a signal for more. Primer softly caressed and kneaded her flesh, lavishing both soft mounds with attention and love, before raising up on all fours and slowly making his way down her body, kissing her deliciously all the while.

Lara’s shining blue eyes followed his progress over her mostly flat belly. Primer kept his eyes locked on hers as he made his way lower; when he got to the level of her knees, he gently cupped his hand around the back of one and opened her legs for him, staring reverently at the center of her arousal without a word. He leaned forward and kissed her softly, almost teasingly, as he made his way up the inside of her thigh, his breath misting over her heated sex as he took in her scent.

“All those years following you around in the dirt and mud and blood, I never really gave it much thought how beautiful you would look in my bed, open for me like this. You’re so wet for me, you smell so good, and… it’s you, finally you. Not some dream or half imagined fantasy.” Primer looked up at her, his expression a little desperate for some understanding from her, to see she knew what he meant about wanting her. Lara smiled and reached her hand down to him, placing it on the side of his face lightly. Primer closed his eyes at the touch and then dipped his head, reaching out to touch his tongue to her warm, wet center. He heard her moan softly at the feel of him lapping at her folds, at his gentle sucking of her sensitive nub. He buried his face in her gently, fucking her with his tongue, drinking in her taste, his nose pressed to her clit as he worked. Lara sighed and replied to his actions with soft moans, her body responding to him as she pressed herself to him for more pressure, and ran her fingers through his hair. Primer placed his hands under her hips to angle her more upwards, lifting her to his face as he made love to her. He brought one hand around and gently inserted a finger into her, reaching for the spongy node that he knew would bring her to her climax. He slowly added another finger, crooking them inside of her to get just the right contact, as her breathing stuttered with pleasure. “Can you come for me, Lara? Will you come on my fingers, as I kiss you here?”

Lara’s eyes opened like a cat’s, slits of blue shining over her breasts as her chest rose and fell with her increased respiratory rate. She nodded quickly, her voice husky with arousal, “Yes. Make me come, Primer. I want you to feel me.”

Primer bent to his work, rubbing small tight circles around her clit, suckling at it, pulling gently with his mouth and tongue as he pressed at her G spot and thrust his fingers inside of her. In his mind he couldn’t wait to do the same with his cock; he was already dripping with his own arousal and could feel the snug fit of her already. He watched as Lara’s back arched, as she neared her first climax, and he placed one hand over her belly, then slowly glided it over her breasts, squeezing and caressing them. He felt her hand slide over his, and she laced her fingers between his own, gasping softly and then crying out, her orgasm pulsing over his fingers, the contractions of her body palpable and real. Primer buried his face in her, sucking at her center once more as she finished, like a final soft kiss. He removed his fingers from her, his other hand still laced with hers, and he gently, thoughtfully licked her taste from his now somewhat shaky right hand. Mmm, he thought softly. She tasted so good, he didn’t want to forget it.

He quickly wiped his mouth and goatee on his discarded shirt, and moved back up her body to lay next to her, pulling her in close. Lara looked over to him, and he met her gaze with a kiss, their tongues meeting in a passionate dance. She could feel his stiff, thick cock against her thigh, and knew what he wanted; she wanted it as well. She could already feel the sensation of him filling her up with his cock, the delicious stretch and feeling of him within her playing across the memory of her mind. Lara reached over and tugged at him, asking him to mount her silently as they maintained their kiss. Primer moved his weight over her, then let it down carefully, resting between her legs. The tip of his cock brushed against her wet entrance and he sighed softly, anticipating his first thrust. He reached back to guide himself in, and pushed forward gently, seating himself completely within her. He saw her pupils widen with arousal at the feel of him entering her, and he rocked his head back slightly in pleasure at the sensation of her snugly holding him.

Primer reached down and kissed her softly, holding her body to him lovingly. He raised himself up with his hands on either side of her head and made his first thrust, pulling back slowly and then pushing forward strategically, his senses taking in the feel of her tight walls around him as her body moved with his motion. He continued to give her himself slowly, calculatedly, wanting to feel every centimeter of contact, even as he saw her arching beneath him, pressing her body to his. Lara moved her hips to meet Primer’s, guaranteeing just the right amount of contact with his pubic bone to her clit, and he gave her an extra push at the end of each thrust to make sure she felt him.

Lara reached her hands up to either side of his face, then pulled him down for a kiss as he rode her, his speed picking up and the force of his thrusts getting harder. Her hands roamed down his chest to either side of his tight butt and she squeezed both cheeks, pulling his hips to hers, asking for him to fuck her even harder, go as deep as he could. Primer was all too willing. He sped up, arching his back some and changing the angle of his thrusts until he could feel the surge building up within him. “I’m about to come Lara, are you going to come with me?” His voice came out somewhat strangled, more husky than his normal tones. He saw her nod, moving herself against him, working to meld their bodies to each other. Primer pulled her close and kissed her hard, the feeling of his ecstasy suddenly spilling over in a warm jet of hot white ropes within her. He felt her cry out, rather than heard really, as his own cries filled the air, and her body pulsed and squeezed around him with her climax.

He collapsed on her carefully, making sure she could breathe with his weight on her, and rested his head on her chest. He could feel her heart beating beneath his ear, hear the racing pulse within her as she worked to catch her breath. Her arms came around him, holding her to him lovingly, and she started to run one hand through his hair, distantly feeling the aftershocks of their orgasms run through their bodies. He lay there with her, still inside of her until he softened, then he moved to snuggle up to her side against the wall of the cabin, pulling her to him tightly. There was no need to speak. Their lovemaking had said everything they’d neglected to over the years. The two held each other, the only sounds the beat of their hearts as they rested together.

Batuu was an intriguing place. The tight streets and dark alleys teemed with people, most with their faces covered in some kind of hood or hat to hide their features. Over the general murmur of the crowd were the sounds of machinery, the hot furnaces hissing and music pouring from the doorways of some restaurants and shops. People didn’t make eye contact for the most part, heads down and moving from place to place in anonymity. The Empire had only been in power for a short couple of years, but already people were cautious of what they said and to whom- you never knew who was a spy or snitch.

Lara and Primer moved among the crowd smoothly, both working hard to blend in. Neither of them were what you would call bland looking - with Lara’s beauty and extravagant mane of curly hair, and Primer’s dark handsome looks, people would notice them easily. Both wore fairly nondescript outfits - both in dark BDUs with their black combat boots, warm dark colored ponchos over similarly dark long sleeve shirts, their hoods up and pulled well forward to hide their features. It was commonplace now for people to go armed throughout their day to day lives, so both wore drop holsters on their right thighs with DC 17 blasters; the only blade Lara carried was her dagger on her hip, not readily visible under the poncho’s length. She did, however, carry her quarterstaff, which was also something of a common sight among the many peoples before them; they were useful as walking sticks and to keep pick pocketing urchins away.

The two had been on Batuu for three cycles now, and had made some contacts with good intel on the whereabouts of a few escaped clones looking for help. They’d also picked up small tidbits of information about the Empire’s movements here and there, mostly by eavesdropping while leaning on the bar at the local cantinas. More and more clones were disappearing - not being retired, but going missing from the ranks. People were uncertain if they were simply all going AWOL or if there were more sinister forces at work. There was rumor of surviving Jedi being seen here and there in some of the other seedy cities of the galaxy; Lara paid close attention to that. A few also spoke of a new type of Imperial hunter, their sole purpose the pursuit and capture of the remaining Jedi when found. Inquisitors, she heard whispered, as if afraid to say the word aloud. They were said to serve some high placed Sith Lord, the right hand of the Emperor, and they were supposedly able to wield the Force like the Jedi. These Inquisitors carried double bladed lightsabers, always red, the color of hate, and pain, and suffering.

Lara and Primer traded long looks across their table as they listened to the chatter of the bar around them. They finished their drinks and nodded to each other, preparing to leave, when Lara heard a last comment from the person in the booth behind them. The person had turned their head to the side, and spoke in such as way as she was rising, as if to make sure Lara heard their words; they were speaking directly to her. “There’s an Inquisitor here, as a matter of fact. Arrived last night, following the trail of some Jedi. They’ve been sniffing around all the shops and cantinas, asking if anyone has seen a person matching that description.”

His words stopped Lara and she looked back, making eye contact with the stranger. The face was not familiar to her, but she could feel - he was Force sensitive. He spoke to her mind wordlessly, “Watch your back, friend.” Lara nodded to him once, an acknowledgment of his message and warning, then turned to follow Primer out the door.

“What was that about?,” Primer asked her lowly.

“He was warning me. The Inquisitor that landed here last night isn’t out for me, but his presence definitely puts us at risk.”

Primer nodded thoughtfully at Lara’s words, and kept his eyes open for anything obvious. “Well, we have plenty of good information already, we could just head back to Nidhogg now.”

“We have that meeting to make - the guy seemed like he might actually have a location to share on a clone needing extraction. It’s just another hour, then we can leave.” Lara hoped the guy wasn’t full of bantha poodoo; if they were able to get a firm destination out of him, they could send a team to get the clone. One less person in need of rescue.

Primer shot her a dark look but acquiesced. She was right; it was just a little longer. Surely they could keep out of sight that long. He was tense; watching over Lara made him far more paranoid than he used to be. Of course, back then she wasn’t in hiding, and neither was he. Now, his face would be immediately recognized, and while the bulk of the people on Batuu wouldn’t care that he was clone outside of it being an interesting tidbit, there would undoubtedly be someone willing to sell that information to the highest bidder. A sighting of Lara would be tantamount to finding a Jedi in the open with their lightsaber out. When he’d thought about taking her on missions, it had been more of an elementary consideration, but now that he was here with her, he worried for her safety. Unfortunately, his concern was founded in a reality made all too clear.

The two met with their informant, who did indeed give them a location on a fugitive clone. Lara paid the man well - not so well that it would garner attention, but enough so that he might be tempted to fork over more information in the future. She and Primer turned to leave, ready to head to their ship and depart Batuu completely. They didn’t get far down the street before they heard a sinister, electronically modulated voice command them to halt.

Lara looked at Primer with startled blue eyes, then turned to look back at the speaker. The figure before them was dressed in all black, their suit partially armored. They wore a helmet that covered their features, but Lara could sense this person was experienced with using the Force, and that their intention was not one of friendly banter. So this was an Inquisitor, Lara thought to herself dryly. There was no conflict in the person’s soul; they were perfectly happy bringing pain and suffering to anyone that stood in their way. If they found a Jedi and had to fight them, even kill them, so much the better - no need to worry about transporting a prisoner if they died during capture.

The Inquisitor sized up the two hooded people standing before him. He’d been tipped off by a low level informant that this woman might be a Jedi in hiding. There was just something suspicious about her that got everyone’s attention. The Inquisitor hadn’t been sent here for a woman - he’d actually been dispatched to find a male suspected of being Force sensitive, but he would investigate this lead. The woman standing before him was tall for a female, lithe and yet moved with a steady power, an assurance, that only a studied warrior might possess. Her companion was similarly tall and well built, obviously muscled and powerful beneath the bulky clothes he wore to obscure his identity. One of them was actually quite powerful in the Force, the surprising strength of their aura alerting him when they walked into the street. His voice spoke from behind the protective face of his helmet, “Drop your hoods, show me your faces and put your hands up, slowly.”

Lara stared back at the man in black silently, unmoving. She was gripping her staff carefully, already many steps ahead and planning her opening strikes to this fight that she knew was coming. Primer glanced over at her and saw her nod slightly, and he did as ordered, slowly pulling his hood back and bringing his hands up, but not making it above his shoulders; he was waiting for Lara to make her move. A clone. A small murmur went through the crowd at seeing Primer’s face. The Inquisitor repeated his order again, seeing that she hadn’t complied. This time he raised his voice to a loud snarl, and watched with some satisfaction as her left hand moved to pull her hood back. Lara dipped her head a bit as the hood fell back, so that her face wasn’t readily visible at first, then she looked up slowly to face the Inquisitor fully. A loud gasp went through the crowd then - many of them readily recognized her. Lara held her head high, still gripping her staff, as a small breeze lifted a few curls around her face, and she stared the Inquisitor down. He slowly reached back to pull his weapon off a mount on his back, lighting his dual saber in a rather emphatic manner.

The street went silent at that point. Lara waited for the man to make his next move, and when he lunged at her with his saber raised, Primer pulled his blaster and stepped back, to give Lara room. He would watch her back, to make sure no storm troopers showed up as reinforcements. Lara brought up her staff and met the light saber with a ringing clang. The Inquisitor stopped in surprise - the plasma blade of a light saber could cut through anything but beskar. How was this woman blocking him with a simple staff? Lara smiled at him nastily over their locked weapons, and then stepped one foot back, pulled her staff back and whirled, moving under his strike seamlessly. She got two good blows in on the man’s shoulder and back, hearing him grunt in pain and surprise.

Lara circled him like a tigress, her eyes watching him, waiting for an opening. The Inquisitor made his saber spin like a helicopter blade and again lunged for her, seeing her momentary surprise at this new trick. Lara stepped away from him, dancing back and watching the spin rate, calculating when would be the right time to stab the end of her staff into the rotation. She figured it would be like poking a stick in a bike wheel, and this goon wouldn’t be expecting it. The man pursued her, snarling at her to stand and fight, quit running from him, quit acting like a cowardly Jedi. The next time he came after her, Lara spun towards him rather than away and brought the end of her staff in like the strike of a sword, blocking his spinning blades so suddenly it nearly broke the man’s wrists. He cried out and dropped his saber, jumping back and grabbing his right arm, and he missed seeing Lara’s spin kick that brought her boot up to his chest, knocking him back three feet. He weakly tried to defend himself against her as she threw her staff in the air like a baton twirler, their fight becoming a short hand to hand combat until Lara suddenly stopped, stood straight, reached her right hand into the air and caught the staff on its descent, spun at the last and brought the end of the reinforced Vala-forged steel to the side of the Inquisitor’s head. It made a sickening, ringing crack against his helmet, which split over his ear, and the man dropped like a brick to the ground, unconscious.

Lara gave him only the briefest glance before Primer grabbed her hand and shouted “Come on!” The two ran through the crowded streets back to their ship, streaked aboard and got it off the ground in record time. They didn’t relax until they got the ship into hyperspace, knowing they would have to make two or three jumps to cover their tracks thoroughly. Lara also did a methodical, systematic search of the ship to make sure there were no tracking devices aboard. When she came back to the cock pit and sat in her seat, she gave a long, careful sigh and met Primer’s eyes.

“Well, I guess that was a slightly more exciting first trip than you’d planned on,” she said dryly.

“I think you could safely say that, General, yes.” The look he gave her spoke volumes about the inevitable annoyance he would have to fend off from Boost and Volte when they made it back and he told people Lara had not only been outed, but to an Imperial Jedi hunter. Volte, Boost, Rex and Cody were all going to be pissed.

“It’s not your fault, Primer. We hadn’t even heard of those Inquisitors before; it was just bad luck and bad timing. And with any luck that rube won’t even remember anything if I hit him hard enough.” She reached over and put her hand on his knee. “I’m sorry - it was run or fight, and we were going to get pursued if we ran. Better that he was alone and I was able to knock him out. We made a clean escape. And I can’t hide forever, Primer.” She eyed him seriously. “You know that’s not in my nature.”

Primer stared at her mutely and then reached up to rub his eyes with his other hand tiredly, sighing. “I know, General. I guess I was just hoping for better luck.” He stood, stretched and then faced her with a smirk on his face and mischief in his eyes. Crossing his arms over his chest he smiled softly and said, “You know watching you fight like that is a massive turn on? Always has been.”

Lara smiled up at him for a minute, her eyes dancing with mirth. “Has it now?”

He reached down and took her hand, tugging at it to get her to stand. “Always has been. Since the first day we sparred. You have no idea how hard it’s been, having to hide it for so many years.”

“So what you’re sayin is, watching me fight makes things ‘hard’ on you, in more ways than one?” She smiled rather smugly as she stood slowly in front of him.

Primer chuckled softly, pulling her to him, taking her hand and guiding it to the front of his pants. “You tell me, General.” It was his time to grin at her, his eyes sparkling with a naughty gleam.

“Wow,” she said, nodding to herself. “I’ll admit, it must have been difficult, sporting that around under armor during all those battles. However did you walk without looking bowlegged?” He snorted at that point, pulling her in to kiss her mouth softly. But she wasn’t quite done yet; with her mouth pressed to him she suddenly said, “I mean, that must have been like smuggling a foot long burrito in behind that codpiece, and I am just mystified that you were able to walk straight!”

Primer pulled back, unable to keep a straight face any longer, laughing at her as she continued to natter on. “Must have felt like someone stuffed a whole ciabatta loaf in your pants. Like trying to move around with a bacon bazooka between your legs.” Primer rolled his eyes and took a breath, then worked at trying to shut her up with a kiss. Lara pulled away, still trying to get in a good euphemism, her smile and giggling making it difficult to continue. He finally was able to hold her still and get his lips on hers, and felt her laugh once more as he kissed her, hard.

He didn’t pull away for a long time, and when he did, he growled, “Are you finished, or is there more?”

“Oh you know there’s always more…” Lara started with a smirk.

“Well, in that case there’s duct tape,” Primer said with a snort, turning to grab a roll in a handy compartment behind them. Lara laughed outright, grabbing him with both of her hands and pulling herself to him for a real kiss. The two stood, Lara clutching her commander tightly as he kissed her back, still holding onto the roll of gray tape.

When she pulled away from him finally, he carefully put the roll back where it came from, but froze when she said, “You know what they say about duct tape right?”

Primer straightened and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “What do they say?”

“Silence is golden, duct tape is silver, but making your girl scream your name during sex is whatever damn color of the rainbow you’d like it to be.” Lara’s arched brows made her look especially fetching, as Primer studied her with his mouth open, working at an appropriate response.

“Fair enough. Let’s go see how many colors I can squeeze out of you,” he said with a roguish grin. He grabbed her by her shoulders, turned her to face the hallway and playfully frogmarched her to the captain’s quarters, Lara giggling the entire way.

Lara and Primer ended up taking a side trip to Earth, to spend a little time alone and stock up on some supplies. Primer helped with farm chores while Lara taught him how to care for horses, how many systems on her home planet worked like driving vehicles, traffic patterns, the life of a hospital worker, television. He loved their moments of down time, when they would simply snuggle on her cushy couch while watching TV shows or movies.

One day they were working in her barn, picking stalls for manure while the pregnant mares shifted out of their way. Seemingly out of the blue, Lara asked, "Primer, you dated here and there during the war. Why didn't you keep one of those pretty girls as your own? You more or less had the pick of the herd - why did you waste yourself on holding a torch for me?" Lara kept working, sending him only a quick glance, though she saw his head come up in surprise, and Primer stood up, leaning slightly on his manure scoop.

The clone didn't answer for a long time, watching her carefully sifting through the shavings, trying to look bland. Finally he said, "You know what a big problem of yours is, Lara?" He saw her stop and turn to watch him fully. "You spent so much time pushing people away, determined to live your life alone out of some misplaced bitterness and 'honor' for the memory of your daughter, that you no longer feel yourself worthy or deserving of love." He saw her eyes widen and her jaw drop slightly, hearing his psychoanalysis. "You're right - I could have held onto any of those girls I dated. And for a while, I had a thing going with a really pretty, kind Twi'lek." He paused and his gaze sharpened a little, one eyebrow cocking up. "But they all had the same missing element - they weren't you." Primer shook his head a little looking at Lara; he wished she could see the feelings in his heart for her, understand fully what he was saying.

"After following you around for so long, watching you so closely, always having your back, I came to realize that aside from being pretty, you actually CARED. You cared about the people you fought for, fought with. Even though you wouldn't admit it even under torture, you secretly liked Mace Windu and would have fought for him if he needed it." He saw her expression change to one of laughing disbelief, and he laughed softly. "You talk a big game, Lara, but I know, and could see, the real you. Maybe your biggest problem isn't that you feel unworthy. Maybe it's that you care too much, love too hard." Primer stepped into the stall with her, leaning his scoop against the door so his hands were free. He reached out and grasped her arms softly. "I think one of the reasons you pushed people away for so long was really because you were afraid of what you might do if you loved and lost again."

Lara stared into Primer's eyes, unable to form words. "I love you, and I will love you, for the rest of my life, and forever. I CHOSE to love you. When you finally admitted to yourself that you were capable of loving me back physically, it was the happiest day of my life." He shook her the tiniest fraction to emphasize his feelings. "You are completely worthy of that love, both mine and Rex's. ... And Echo." She smirked a little and snickered at his little addition. "You deserve all we have to give you."

"But I can't give you all YOU deserve, Primer. I can't ever give you kids, a legacy. I can't give you singular love." Lara stopped, grasping at speech, even as she saw Primer shaking his head in disagreement.

"Okay for one thing, while kids would have been nice I'll admit, I think we both know that baby you're carrying is as much mine as Rex's." Her jaw shut with a surprised snap. "He'll probably be the spitting image of Rex, but he'll have my personality. And as for the other, it IS singular, Lara. You love me differently than you do Rex, because we aren't the same men. I don't think that was ever a question." Primer leaned down and kissed her, the atmosphere heating up to a simmer, then a smolder. He pulled away after a minute and looked her sharply in the eyes. "So, no more about the women in my past, okay? There is only you for me, and that is MY choice, and my wish." He crooked a finger under her chin to lift her face up slightly so he could focus on her again, then leaned in for more kisses. After a moment, he felt the hard, slim shape of the handle of her scoop pressed into his chest and pulled back, a confused expression on his face.

"Scoop poop first, hot sexy love later," she said with an impish smirk.

"Seriously? I've been professing my love for you and you'd rather scoop horse shit than make love to me?" Primer sounded quite indignant.

"Rutting in pine shavings ain't all you think it is, I promise," she said with a laugh.

"There is a bed upstairs, Lara." Facts stated, he stared back at her, mostly confidant she would agree to his plan.

"I never said barn chores were fun. How about this: finish up here and then I'll race you to the house, and if you win, you can do whatever you want." Her eyes sparkled with mirth and mischief.

Primer was silent for a moment, thinking on her proposition. He quirked one eyebrow up, then grinned at her playfully. "What EVER I want?" She nodded, her smile growing wider. Cocking his head to the side a little and narrowing his eyes as if looking for the hidden agenda, he finally decided she was serious and replied, "I'll take that deal. You better just get prepared mentally, because I'm gonna win." He stuck his hand out to shake on it and said, "Deal?"

Lara took his hand and gave it a firm pump with a laugh. "DEAL."

Danny had quickly become the ruling princess to the people of Nidhogg. She was curious, smart, playful and beautiful, and her big blue eyes endeared her to everyone, even when she was due a little (or a lottle) redirection for whatever naughty thing she got caught doing. Rex did his best to keep up the sense of orderly discipline with her, but frequently couldn't help himself when she gave him a pitiful, contrite look or her bright little smile; it melted his heart into a puddle of useless goo and he ended up laughing and hugging her rather than scolding. The child was destined to be a great warrior, so she tended to hang out with the clones, much to the chagrin of the women of the colony. Suu Lawquane frequently watched the little girl so Lara and Rex could work, and it was always a battle to get her to spend any time with Shaeeah and Jek, rather than Cut in the field. Danny was also to be found in Boost's shadow, following him from task to task, watching his work like a little hawk. While she was a very young girl, she was blessed (or cursed) with advanced aging like the men. Danny was nearly two years old now, putting her more in the range of a preschool child on Earth, precocious and too smart for her own good.

Boost and Volte took the girl under their wing when she appeared in their wake, teaching her small skills here and there, conversing with her in a serious manner as if she were a tiny adult. The child drank up their attention like it was the very breath of life. Danny loved her 'Uncles' as Rex and Lara had taken to calling the clones, though she definitely had her favorites. The sprite of a girl loved Echo and Primer above and beyond any other, because her mother loved them as well, and the two were more likely to pamper the girl than Boost or Volte, who would try to give her small jobs or ask hard questions. She lived a very charmed life on Nidhogg, ruling as a small, far more tyrannical version of Lara.

When Lara and Primer returned from their recon mission trip to Earth for resupply, they were greeted by a small voice over the comm channel. Lara had been resting back in the copilot's seat, singing along to her music while Primer flew the ship, when she heard the little voice of Danny hail them over the radio. The two pilots traded bemused looks, wondering which clone had let her play with the comms. "Nidhogg base to un'dentified ship, say your name... please...now!," they heard, followed by a little giggle and the sound of Boost in the background murmuring further instructions. "Mommy say your ship name!," they heard the second time, attended by more giggles and a tired sigh from her coach in the background. Lara and Primer chuckled, as Lara picked reached over to hit the comm button to respond.

"This is the Dragon Rider and Dragon Prime, returning to Nidhogg base, over. I sure missed you little girl," Lara said with a smile.

"I missed you too, Mommy!," Danny fairly shouted in reply over the comm.

"Give the comm back to Uncle Boost silly girl. I'll be there in about 10 minutes, over." Lara smiled and sat back in her seat, looking over at Primer with a happy grin.

"Okay!," was the happy reply from Nidhogg base.

Primer chuckled softly. “That girl is going to be a handful as she grows. Wonder how she will take to a sibling?”

“Lord knows. One hopes they’ll be best friends, since they’ll have little choice in long term friends,” Lara said, her voice trailing off as she took in the scope of such a statement. Her children would live after her as her replacements, the Guardian of the Balance and Guide of Souls. Lara hoped her next child would be kind, loving and patient; their role in life would be a bittersweet one, having to lead souls to Valinor. Not all wanted to follow, still tied by emotion and love to their former lives. Grace under such circumstances was necessary. She had every faith that Danny would be an excellent Guardian of the Balance, after training and education. She had a loving family and a strong community to grow into.

They landed the small freighter in the ship yard on the outskirts of the town, and Lara eagerly ran through the hold of the ship to the ramp while Primer finished up shutting systems down. As soon as the ramp was down Lara saw Rex standing with a smile, straining to keep a grip on Danny’s little hand as she wiggled and danced, wanting to run to her mother. He let her go one Lara was on firm ground and laughed as he heard Danny’s squeal of “Mommyyyyyyy!” Lara gracefully caught the rambunctious little girl in her arms and hugged her tightly, laughing herself as Danny showered her with kisses and hugs. Primer came down the gang plank of the ship wearing an indulgent smile at the scene before him, then looked to Rex, giving him a nod of hello.

“Mission go okay?,” Rex asked blandly.

“Fairly well. There was one small blip we need to discuss, but other than that we got some good intel and supplies.” Primer grunted a bit, his weight shifting forward as Danny practically tackled his right leg from behind.

“Unca Prima!,” she shouted excitedly, then backed off and reached her hands up in a grabby motion, wanting to be picked up. Primer smiled and leaned down for her, sweeping her up into his arms.

“What can Uncle Primer do for his princess today?,” he asked with a bright grin.

“Piggy back me!,” she demanded. Lara snorted in laughter while Rex watched with an easy smirk on his face.

“Piggy back you? Have you been good enough for a piggy back? Should I ask Uncle Volte and Uncle Boost if you’ve been a good little princess and deserve a piggy back ride?” Her little blonde brows came together in severe frown.

“I’m the pwincess, you have to do what I say!,” she commanded indignantly, her face looking even more thundery when all the adults laughed.

“Hear that Primer- you’re in trouble now!,” Lara said with a giggle.

“I can see that,” he said dryly. “My princess, you’re right, I’m sorry.” Primer shifted Danny around so she could climb onto his back and flashed Rex and Lara a bright, entertained smile as he moved off with the little girl as ordered.

“Hope she doesn’t have to resort to spurs!,” Lara called out with a laugh.

“That’s just her mother!,” he shot back over his shoulder. Lara laughed even louder at that, while Rex smiled a little blandly. She turned to Rex, only the tiniest hint of darkness passing over her face at seeing his rather forced expression.

“So, what happened on the trip? Primer made it sound like there was some trouble,” Rex asked quietly.

“Ran into this new type of Jedi hunter called an ‘Inquisitor’. He wasn’t after me specifically, rather he was after a suspected force sensitive man on Batuu. But he found us regardless. Complications arose, ensued and were overcome, the end.” Lara shrugged as if it was no big deal.

“Were you seen?,” Rex asked, full of concern.

“It was hard to fight without being seen, Rex. Recognized? Probably. And I’m sure they knew Primer was a clone, but probably not which clone.” Lara stopped and squared up to Rex. “Can’t hide forever, you know. It was bound to happen sometime.”

Rex sighed, looking at her with a disappointed, troubled expression. “Yes but it would have been better if you’d stayed hidden a bit longer.” He reached out and pulled her body to his, gliding one hand over her thick mane of curls as he rested his forehead against hers. “You were safe so long as they thought you were dead. Now they’re going to be hunting for you again, and with you pregnant… it’s not information that makes me very happy,” he murmured softly.

Lara sighed, leaning into the comfort of his arms. “I know, my love. It would have been better. But I’m not a queen bee that just sits around and has her minions do for her.” Lara smiled and leaned back slightly. “Besides if all I did was sit on my butt while y’all did all the work, my ass would be so wide you wouldn’t like me anymore.”

“That’s bantha shit, Lara. I’ll never not want you, regardless of how wide it gets.” He gave her his famous little one sided smirk and his eyes sparkled as he said “Besides, it gives me more to hold onto…” He winked at her as she rolled her eyes and pushed him playfully. Rex wasn’t done teasing though, and he pulled her back to him laughing as he said, “That juicy baby booty sure is sexy!” Lara scoffed at him and jerked her hands away, shooting him a dirty, albeit playful, look.

“You are not helping your case, Captain,” she said with a falsely stern voice.

“Oh, you still love me regardless.” He threw his arms around her neck and murmured in her ear, “I bet Primer likes it too. Maybe I should let him vote.”

“Keep taunting me like that and I’ll invite him over tonight so you can ask him personally.” She thought she was throwing down the gauntlet and he would stop, but had to choke back a surprised gasp at his response.

“Maybe I’ll invite him myself. He can give me tips and we can critique each other’s performance.” Rex said it in a low, silky tone, as if the idea truly intrigued him. Lara stood staring at him in surprise, her mouth open slightly as if too shocked to reply. Rex left it at that, giving her plenty of food for thought about whether he meant it or not.

Lara shook her head in disbelief, turning to head into the town. “Can’t even get to my own house before you start propositioning me with naughty ideas.”

“Is that an idea you might… entertain?” Rex was trying to keep his tone light and blandly interested, but Lara could tell he was intrigued and curious.

Lara kept walking, though she was silent, thinking over Rex's suggestive ask. Was that something she would entertain? She'd never had such a... creative bedroom experience, though she had had that one dream about Rex and Fives... Lara coughed a little obviously and gave Rex a look full of side eye. "I, um, am not sure..." She saw Rex's face fall a little and rushed to finish. "...Because I've never been quite so adventurous before. Maybe we could work something out," she said with a shy grin. She saw Rex smile in response. "Though, I think that would need to be somewhere more private than our place here."

"Of course," Rex agreed. They walked on to the great hall, both a little rosier in the cheeks, pondering the idea of a new experience to try.

Later, Lara was sitting in her normal spot, chatting loosely with Cody, when Primer suddenly appeared at her side. He bent to speak into her ear. “If you have a second, can we talk in private?”

Lara looked back at him slightly concerned, and saw that he wore a strange expression on his rugged, handsome face. Nodding, Lara excused herself and followed him out the door of the great hall into the darkness of the shadows beside the building’s tall sides. “What’s wrong?,” she asked immediately.

Primer let them get further into darkness, making sure no one was in ear shot, and turned to face her. “Rex just came to me with an…interesting request.” He saw Lara’s face go white, then flush with blood so darkly he could see it even in the darkness. “Did you know about this?,” he asked somewhat incredulously.

“He…might have mentioned it, but I didn’t think he was actually serious. I thought it was a tease!” Primer was standing in the normal pose he adopted when his general was acting in a trying manner, with his arms crossed over his chest, his weight resting on one foot. He cocked one eyebrow at her as if to say, ‘Clearly not a tease.’

“Is that something you actually…want?,” he asked carefully. He watched her as passively as he could, almost holding his breath for her answer.

“I…,” Lara stumbled. “I don’t know… it’s not something I’ve ever tried before. Have you?,” she suddenly added, wondering if she could defer to Primer by default.

“No, I haven’t,” he said flatly. He watched her a moment longer and then leaned in to speak next to ear. “But I would do anything you wanted, to give you pleasure, even if it came to fucking you in front of him, or with him.” His voice was silky smooth and gave her chills, her breath catching in her chest as she stared into his rich brown eyes. “But you have to ask,” he added carefully.

Lara stood there like a deer in the headlights, realizing this was suddenly being thrust into her hands. Did she want them in the same room with her? Did she want to feel them making love to her at the same time? She pressed back against the wall of the great hall, her fingers digging into the texture of the wooden beams. “I…think…it could be a very interesting experience,” she said haltingly.

Primer shook his head. “Not good enough. For something this big, I need to hear you say it.”

“I want…,” she said, feeling her heart about to explode at its current racing pace, “I want you both.” She couldn’t squeeze anymore words out, but she saw Primer take a slight step back and straighten, then nod to himself.

He pulled his comm link off his hip and keyed it up, murmuring “It’s a go,” quickly into the mic. Then he stepped forward and kissed Lara softly, one hand gripping her shoulder tenderly. “This isn’t necessary, and you can call it off at any time,” he said.

“Primer, do you want to do this? I hope Rex hasn’t…twisted your arm or anything,” Lara said quickly.

“No Ner Kar’ta, he’s not twisting anything. As I said, I’ll do anything to give you pleasure. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued, myself.” Primer gave her a mischievous little smirk and stepped away, gesturing with his head for her to follow him. “Rex has Danny squared away, all we need is for you to portal us there.”

Lara stumbled along behind, a feeling of being separated from reality floating around her. This was well out of her normal imagination and comfort zone, but she recalled the incredibly adventurous dream she’d had one day, featuring Fives and Rex. And she had to admit to herself, a large part of her was curious - she wanted to know what it was like, how it felt, to have the two men she loved so much do so as a team.

Primer escorted her to the large hut that was her home, opening the door and allowing her to enter before him. She saw Rex standing in the center of the room, as if he'd been waiting for them. He stepped over to Lara and said, "Danny is staying with Cut and Suu tonight; I told them we needed to make a short trip to Earth for some specific supplies.” Lara gave Rex a brave little smile, but she could feel it was a rather mixed, nervous look, reflecting the one on his own face. Rex reached out to grasp her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "You can say no at any point of this, Lara. You don't have to feel compelled or pressured."

Lara swallowed and smiled back, glancing over to Primer for a second and then back to Rex. "It's okay. I think it's worth exploring. I know you will both keep me safe." The two men nodded in agreement; they definitely would. Lara had the utmost faith in them. She opened a portal before them and stepped in, followed by Rex and Primer. They stepped into her Earthen home’s kitchen, and all kind of stared at each other sheepishly.

Primer took a breath and gave a little laugh. “This is awkward,” he said with a smile. He reached over and took Lara’s hand, pulling her to himself for a hug. He leaned down and kissed her very tenderly, then looked up at Rex. “Come over here and kiss our girl, Rex. See how amazing she is.” Looking back at Lara he said, “We are going to make you feel so good. Rex and I are going to take good care of you,” as he murmured into her ear. He was gratified to hear Lara moan softly when Rex snugged in behind her, taking her hips in his hands and reaching in to kiss her neck, her shoulders. “That’s it, Ner Kar’ta, let us do all the work.”

The two clone commanders gently held her between them, lavishing her with kisses and caresses, relishing her sighs and moans. Primer eventually reached down and swept her up in his arms, carrying her up the stairs, Rex following quietly. When he got her inside the bedroom, he placed her on her feet near the bed, immediately moving in to kiss her mouth. He felt a little greedy, reveling in her response, how she leaned into his lips as if he were the only one that ever kissed her in such a way. Primer pulled away for a second to tell Rex, “Let her sit on your lap, Rex.”

Rex moved behind to do as told but Lara added, “Take off your clothes; I want to feel the heat of your skin.” Rex gave her a small grin and shucked his clothes quickly, bending to pull the covers down on the bed before he settled. He nodded to Primer he was ready and Primer backed Lara into Rex’s waiting hands, then paused to reach down and unbuckle her belt, the buttons of her pants. Rex lifted her shirt up over her head and tossed it to the foot of the bed, as Primer carefully slid her pants and underwear down, dropping to a knee to unzip and remove her boots. Lara stepped out of them as Rex guided her down to sit on his lap, the hard bulge of his cock warm against her backside.

Rex ran his hands over the curves of her body, loving the feel of her smooth skin, save where there were scars from battles past. He cupped a hand over the small bump of his child growing within her, enormous pride filling him that he’d put that there. His rich low baritone voice rumbled in her ear and vibrated from his chest against her skin as he murmured, “You’re so beautiful, Cya’rika. So heartbreakingly beautiful, carrying my child, giving me a beautiful daughter. I don’t know what to do, you’re so kriffing pretty.”

Lara moaned back softly, a little irony in her voice, “I have an idea of what you could do…” She rolled her pelvis back, rocking against Rex’s hard length trapped between them.

Rex laughed softly and said, “Not yet, greedy thing. You owe Primer a taste first.”

Primer went to his knees before her, giving her a little wink and smile as he gently pushed her legs up and over Rex’s so they were spread before him. He breathed a soft sigh and said, “Kriff, Rex, she is soaking wet for us. Feel how wet she is.”

Rex reached down one hand, gliding it over Lara’s breast, down her belly, brushing his fingers over her swollen, sensitive clit as she gasped softly. He grunted quietly feeling the warm, welcoming heat of her. He curled his other hand around her cheek, turning her face to his as he kissed her lips, inserting two fingers gently into her and reaching for that deep spot he knew sent her into orbit. Lara moaned and rolled her hips against his hand, reaching for the sensation she so desperately wanted. But Rex had no intention of simply using his fingers. He withdrew them slowly, then sucked her juices off of them carefully, savoring her taste. “Maker, Lara, you taste so good. Primer, taste how good she is.”

Primer bent his head to suck at Lara, gently taking her swollen nub into his mouth, then thrusting his tongue into her opening. Lara gasped at the sensation, almost bucking at the overwhelming feeling of Primer’s raspy tongue fucking up into her. He moaned with pleasure at the taste of her, how wet she’d been for him, the sounds she made for them.

As Primer feasted on Lara’s honey pot, Rex continued to caress her belly, her breasts, cupping and squeezing them, delicately pinching the nipples. Rex nuzzled his face into her neck, giving her soft kisses followed by gentle bites, often coming back to her sensual mouth to kiss her passionately as Primer wrung moans from her with his efforts below. He broke off from kissing her, looking into her blue eyes, slitted like a content cat’s, and said, “I’m gonna sit you on my cock now - is that what you want?” Lara moaned and nodded to him.

Primer immediately stood and helped lift her slightly to give Rex room, and watched as he gently guided himself into her, eyes hungry as he saw Lara sink down on Rex’s hard length. As soon as she was settled, Primer leaned in and gently sucked at her clit again, gratified to hear her groan, see her rock forward a little on Rex’s cock. “You like that, don’t you Ner Kar’ta? Being so full of him while I suck your perfect clit?” He glanced up at her, finding her eyes fixed on his with a rather shattered, glassy expression. “Tell me Lara. Tell me how he feels inside of you.”

It always thrilled her, to hear them call her by her name, especially Primer, who’d just about been unable to break his habit of addressing her as ‘General’ even when they’d become physical. She’d never be able to describe how it made her feel - so loved, so special and singular in their eyes, after having spent so very long alone. “So full, Primer. I’m so full of him, and you sucking my clit is perfect. You’re both perfect.” Primer smiled in response and bent to his work again, pulling the most delicious sounds out of Lara that sent both himself and Rex into another dimension. After a few moments of his careful attention, Lara’s hand reached for his slightly shaggy hair, her fingers twining through the strands, then tightening her grip reflexively. “Primer, I’m gonna cum! Oh god, are you ready?”

Rex pulled her more tightly to his chest, running his hands over her body again. “Cum for me mesh’la. Cum on my cock while Primer drives you over the edge. Let us both feel it,” he growled in her ear.

Lara’s head rocked back and she sucked in a breath like a drowning person, raggedly gasping for air as her body convulsed, clenching around Rex’s thick cock inside of her. She cried out, almost sobbing at the feel of her climax as her husband and lover pushed her over an edge she didn’t know she had. Both men could feel the contractions, the waves of her pleasure as it rocketed through her, and Primer suddenly made eye contact with Rex, nodding to him. “Fuck her Rex, fill her up, let her take your cum.” Rex started to thrust up into her, moaning at the tight squeeze, knowing he was so primed and ready to go he wasn’t going to take long. Lara felt Rex’s heated, hard cock moving within her, and felt the moment he started to spill over inside, the warmth of his cum filling her up, the spasms of his length twitching inside of her as she took everything he gave her.

Primer watched her with something of awe on his face, always amazed at how beautiful she was when she came. The man’s love for and loyalty to Lara was actually quite simple: his entire being was focused on serving her, since the day she’d picked him to be her commander. He’d come to realize one day that his heart only cared about guiding, guarding and sacrificing for her, however that translated out in life. Primer enjoyed making love to Lara, but he’d have been just as happy being allowed to hold her, spoon fashioned, his arms wrapped protectively around her as if to watch over even her sleep.

Rex reached over to Lara’s nightstand where he pulled a small towel from a drawer there, and with Primer’s help cleaned Lara up from his spill. Then he lay back on the bed, on his side, and said, “You owe Primer a happy ending now, Cya’rika.”

“That I do,” Lara replied with a smile, as Primer wrapped his arm around her midsection, pulling her against his body. He was still dressed, the front of his BDUs damp from his obvious excitement.

Primer reached in nibble her neck carefully - if not done right it tickled Lara and she would jerk away, squealing at the sensation. “Straddle Rex, facing him. I want him to see your beautiful face when you come on my cock.” He quickly pulled his shirt off, then unbuckled his belt, pulling it free of the loops and dropping it to the floor. Next he unbuttoned the fly, shucking his pants and boxer briefs down and stepping out of them, his beautifully tanned body on display. Both Lara and Rex knew Primer bore a tattoo over his heart written in Vala, which said ‘The light of the two trees is undying, and the Guardian shall always be with you,’ over a dragon clutching a heart. It was always impressive when on display and Lara smiled, tracing her fingers over it lightly while looking into Primer’s warm brown eyes. He smiled back and returned the look with a tender kiss, then turned her body to face Rex, guiding her down to the bed.

Lara did as requested and mounted Rex facing him, as Primer climbed into the bed behind her. He nudged Rex’s legs apart so he could get close to Lara, reaching around her to cup her breasts, his hands gliding down her body so that Rex could see. Primer leaned down and kissed her neck softly, then gave her a soft bite, hearing her suck in a breath of air. Primer placed a hand on her back and pushed her gently down to straddle Rex, as he took himself in one hand and lined himself up to enter Lara from behind. His sigh of contentment at the feel of her warm, wet center enveloping him went right to her core, and he felt her muscles squeeze involuntarily.

Primer started to move, slowly and sensually at first, then with more power and speed. His action pressed Lara against Rex, rubbing her against his cock, which quickly became hard again beneath her, providing her swollen, sensitive clit the friction it so craved. Primer’s thrusts were calculated, deep enough to reach that perfect spot within her, and moved her body enough to bring Rex to a climax as well. As Lara started to orgasm, Rex brought his hands up to her face to watch the way she lost herself completely to the sensation of them fucking her. She was radiant; light shone from her very pores. As she cried out, Rex felt his own hot spurt between them, and felt Primer’s motion stutter erratically as he came with a moan, filling her with his pearly seed, riding out the blissful contractions of her climax.

Primer leaned forward with a soft groan and rested his forehead against her shoulder blade, then kissed it softly as he sat back up, pulling out as he softened. “Did you see Rex, how stunning she is?”

“Beautiful. She’s radiant when she comes,” Rex murmured into her curls.

“I think we owe her a shower, and some rest, don’t you?,” he added, addressed Rex.

Lara sighed, her body exhausted from the post sex high and not sure she could even stand to get to the shower. “I’ll carry you, Net Kar’ta. Don’t worry,” Primer said with a smile, stepping back from her and then scooping her up in his arms. Rex got up and hustled to her bathroom to get the water running, the shower quickly steaming. The two men scrubbed Lara down gently, Rex holding her with soft loving hands while Primer ran the soapy loofah over her body. Once clean and dry, Rex this time scooped Lara up to carry her to their bed, laying her down like she was made of porcelain, then lying in front of her, snuggling in close. Primer took his usual spot behind her, body tucked in tightly to her back, one arm wrapped protectively around her midsection.

Rex smiled tenderly at Lara and reached up to brush some curls back from her face. “I love you so much, Lara.”

She stared back at him with her full, expressive eyes and gave him a little grin. She felt Primer’s arm tighten around her slightly as if to remind her that he, too, loved her. Their bodies intertwined, the three lay there snuggled together, fingers lazily tracing over the planes and curves of each other’s bodies. It wasn’t long before they could all tell they were slowly driving each other to a point of arousal that would demand attention.

Rex pulled Lara’s leg over his hip as he loved to do, feeling her body surrounding him. He leaned in and kissed her lips softly, his hand running lightly along her thigh, over the curve of her butt. He tipped his hips forward slightly and she could feel his hard cock pressing against her, asking a question only she could answer. Behind her, she could feel the press of Primer against her backside, telling her he too was ready for round two.

“What do you want, Cya’rika? For us to take turns again?,” Rex murmured as he kissed down her jaw, to her neck. Lara hummed softly at the feel of them against her skin, at the heat they were generating within her with their touch.

“Tell us, Lara,” Primer murmured from behind.

“I want you both,” Lara whispered a little breathily as Primer kissed her shoulder softly.

“Both?” Primer asked a little surprised. “You mean…both? Together?” He’d never thought Lara would go this far, having Rex and himself pleasure her, let alone suggest they take her at the same time.

“Yes,” Lara whispered again, moaning softly as Rex dipped down to suckle her breasts. “Together. Same time.”

Primer and Rex traded looks over her shoulder. “Which of us do you want to take your…other…entrance?,” Primer asked delicately.

“You, Primer. Is that okay?,” she asked a little nervously.

Rex chuckled softly, hearing Primer laugh a little ironically. “Of course it’s okay, my heart. Whatever you want,” Primer murmured back. He and Rex both leaned in to kiss her, Rex taking her lips in a tender, sensuous kiss, while Primer laid gentle kisses along her shoulder, done the center of her back. Primer ran his hands down her sides, reaching under to get her leg up slightly so Rex could scoot in more closely. Rex reached down and lined himself up to enter her, taking her wet pussy with his hard length in a gentle shove. Lara moaned softly at the feel of him inside, fully seated and warm. Behind her, she felt Primer press against her, shifting slightly to give himself room to hold his own tip against her other hole. He pressed himself against the tight ring of muscle, waiting until she relaxed, then pushed in softly until she’d taken the head, feeling her tense slightly. Primer stopped and waited while Rex worked to distract her with kisses and touch, and when Primer felt her ease a bit more, he entered her fully, sliding the rest of his length inside and feeling the impossibly tight fit of her body around him, Rex’s cock against his own, separated only by a thin wall of muscular tissue.

They all rested for a moment, completely joined, testing the feel before moving. Primer was the first to move, gently thrusting, giving an involuntary groan at the squeeze. Rex gasped at the feel of Primer’s cock sliding by his own inside of her, and started to move as well, their movements alternating in a careful dance to make sure they didn’t hurt Lara in any way.

“How does that feel?,” Primer murmured in Lara’s ear. She whimpered softly, gasping at the sensation of them both inside of her. Primer tucked his face into the crook of her shoulder, waiting for her reply.

“Good!,” Lara managed to blurt out. “It’s so full, y’all fill me up so well. It’s like we are one creature, all joined like this.” She tried to breathe normally, but the feel of them both moving, pulling back and then thrusting forward so gently, was obliterating all thought in her mind.

Rex kissed her again, moaning into her mouth as the sensations started to drive him nearer the edge. Primer reached down and bit her shoulder, increasing the strength of the bite as he got more and more aroused. He broke off, groaning out, “I’m not going to last much longer. You’re so tight, so perfect, Lara. You feel so good, Ner Kar’ta.” He took a ragged breath and then whispered, “I’m going to fill you up with my cum, want you to feel it.” He felt Lara nod, then shiver softly at the overwhelming feeling of taking them both at the same time.

“Are you ready for us to come, Lara?,” Rex asked huskily. “I’m ready. I think Primer is ready. You’re gonna take us at the same time, we are both going to give you everything we’ve got.” He looked into her eyes, seeing her working to focus on him, though she was already so blissed out she wasn’t on the same mental plane as they were. “You’re gonna come too, Cya’rika. I know you can. Come with us, let us feel each other at the same time.” Lara’s head went back slightly, her mouth open in a silent moan as she took a drag of breath.

“I’m ready, Rex, I’m…now! Come now!,” she begged in a broken voice. She was drowning in the feel of her orgasm, completely losing herself to the feel of the powerful contractions. But when she felt the two men start to come themselves, their thick cocks twitching within her, the warmth of their spill, Lara felt like she was shattering apart, her mind fracturing at the overpowering sensation, the knowledge of how much she loved them both, how much they loved her back, the way they’d gloried in pleasuring her. Both men gasped and moaned in their own expression of their powerful orgasms, pushed beyond their normal range of arousal by the feel of each other within the woman they loved, sliding against each other as they reached for their climax. Neither had expected it to be such, and they were taken by surprise at how erotic and amazing it had felt.

The three all pulled each other into a tight hug, holding each other like they’d never leg go. Neither man pulled free of her until they’d softened past the point of control, and then they simply held Lara between them, all exhausted by their love making. Within moments, they were all asleep, Primer’s face buried in Lara’s neck, Rex’s forehead against Lara’s, arms and legs intertwined in a puzzle that would have been difficult to pull apart. Sighing softly as she slipped away into dreams, Lara whispered, “I love you both so much, god help me.”

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Dividers done by @dystopicjumpsuit and Meeee!!

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