Back at headquarters
pov. Poe
I sat in my seat with one leg pulled up on the seat and held the Marauder's controls loosely in my hand. My eyes kept glancing at Omega. She was drumming her fingers on the controls in her hands at irregular intervals and chewing on a toothpick. The tattoo of the number 99 flashed across her temple.
I let my gaze wander a few steps behind me. Jason was sitting on the seat behind me with his arms folded, snoring quietly to himself. His black hair hung messily in his face. A smile crept onto my face. When he slept, he looked five years younger without all the worry lines on his face. Jason always worried about everyone. A quality I loved about him, but sometimes equally cursed when he threw himself into hopeless situations to help others.
My gaze swung back to Omega. She was staring absently into hyperspace.
As if she had sensed my gaze, she turned her head towards me. "What?" her usually calm voice was like a hiss.
I raised my hands "Nothing. It's just..." I ran a hand through my hair. I glanced quickly at the bunks, which were out of my field of vision. Quiet, steady breathing noises told me that our new arrival was still unconscious.
I didn't know what to think of him. Who knew if it wasn't a trap of the first order? After all, they were the only ones in the galaxy who still had knowledge of cloning after the Empire. But I couldn't tell Omega about my suspicions. She believed that one of her brothers had come back to her. And maybe that was the case. Perhaps the years I had spent fighting the First Order had made me paranoid and I saw enemies where there were none.
"Poe," Omega's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, " what's wrong with you, spit it out." She propped her left foot against the button panel, leaned her elbow on the controls and looked at me in challenge.
I sighed "I hate to say this" I started to tap my foot a little "but can we trust him?" I pointed my head in the direction where Kix was lying.
Omega tilted her head "What do you mean?" her hands gripped the controls in front of her tighter.
I thought for a moment before answering, "What if he's a First Order spy?"
The toothpick broke with a cracking sound. Omega had bitten down too hard. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath as if to calm herself "Kix has been through hell." she had gripped the controls so tightly that her knuckles turned white and glared angrily at me from her amber eyes "When he woke up, he called for Rex and for General Skywalker." she rubbed the tattoo on her temple "He's not a spy created by the First Order. He's a medic from the 501st."
I furrowed my brows in irritation. Why would a soldier of the Clone Wars call for General Luke Skywalker, he wasn't even born at the time "Why would he know Luke Skywalker?" I voiced my thoughts.
Omega groaned in frustration and rubbed her temples with her hands " Not Luke" she looked at me reproachfully, as if it was obvious "he was calling for his father, for Anakin Skywalker." Without looking, she pulled back the lever for the hyperdrive. The blue shimmering light of hyperspace disappeared and D'Qar appeared in front of us.
"Jason," I looked over my shoulder to make sure he was waking up. I didn't want him to be awakened by Omega's daring maneuvers.
My boyfriend startled out of his sleep "What's going on?" his hand moved almost automatically to the handle of his gun. A remnant from his time as a bounty hunter. He was an extremely light sleeper and if you woke him, you'd better keep your distance.
"We're on approach." I pointed with my head to the planet next to us.
Jason nodded, rubbed his eyes, yawning, and swapped his seat for the one by the sensors.
I was pressed into my seat a little as Omega flew a spiral and set course for the asteroid ring. I quickly took my foot off the seat and sat upright. During Omega's flight maneuvers, it was better to sit firmly in your seat, otherwise you would be thrown to the ground after five minutes at the latest.
With routine movements, Omega pulled down a few switches and adjusted the stabilizers. "Listen," she dodged the first asteroid, "you can believe what you want, but I believe him." She fished a new toothpick from her belt and started chewing on it.
I clawed at the controls as Omega jerked the controls and dropped the Marauder several meters. Before I could answer the woman next to me, a rumble sounded from the back of the ship.
Instantly Omega tensed up and cast a worried glance over her shoulder "Damn" she muttered as more rumbling and a whimper sounded from behind "take the wheel Poe!" she pulled a lever back and the main controls switched from hers to mine.
I was so perplexed for a moment that I almost crashed into an asteroid. Just in time, I jerked the controls and dodged the boulder "Wait, are you serious!" I never thought the day would come when I would be flying the Marauder.
Omega sprinted into the back of the ship with long strides "Not a scratch Poe!" she shouted at me.
I rolled my eyes, closed my fingers tighter around the controls and concentrated on getting us through the asteroid belt. I could hear Omega's voice in the background as she kept talking soothingly to Kix.
"You know she'll kill you if you damage her ship?" Jason's voice suddenly sounded behind me. He had gotten up from the sensors and dropped into the co-pilot's seat next to me.
I bowed my head in resignation, "A little more faith, please." With a sharp turn, I dodged a rock next to us.
Rock by rock, I flew around until the gray surface of D'Qar lay directly in front of us. I accelerated a little more and shot towards the coordinates of our base. My thoughts wandered to the soldier from a time long past. We would soon find out whether Omega was right and whether we could trust him. A spy could perhaps deceive Jason, me and Omega. But he wouldn't be able to fool Leia.
pov. Omega
I ignored the fact that I had just entrusted my ship to Poe, a pilot who had already scrapped more X-wingers than I could count, and ran to the back of the ship. "Kix!?" I slithered over to the bunk where Poe had put him down. It was empty.
I hurriedly let my gaze wander and discovered Kix huddled up against a wall. I reached him in two long strides and crouched down in front of him "Hey, it's okay."
At the sound of my voice, Kix slowly raised his head "Nothing's okay. They're all dead..." a tear rolled down his cheek "All...they're all dead, because of me." he whispered and hung his head again.
"No," I tilted my head a little so I could look him in the eye, I couldn't let him blame himself. I did that for years for the death of my unit, it almost destroyed me. I put my hands on his cheeks and lifted his head slightly "Kix it wasn't your fault!" his skin was ice cold. Only now did I notice that he was trembling a little.
Kix looked at me with empty eyes "I should have saved them." A weak cough shook his whole body.
I hastily looked around for a blanket. After just a few seconds, I spotted one. It was almost right next to me, must have been one of the things I had swept out of the bunk. I quickly grabbed it and held it out to Kix. As if I were offering a thirsty man a drink of water, he grabbed it and wrapped himself in it. "Thank you," he murmured softly.
I smiled gently, "You're welcome, I'll see if I can find a medical patch for your wrist, alright." I looked at him questioningly.
Kix nodded gently and looked at me gratefully. I got up and went to the drawer where I kept my medication and bandages. After a few seconds, I found what I was looking for, grabbed the pain patch and a splint and went back to Kix.
I squatted down in front of Kix again "Let me have a look." I stretched out my hand and asked.
A little hesitantly, Kix held out his injured hand to me "Where are we?" He let his eyes wander a little and grimaced in pain when I touched his injured hand.
I eyed his wrist critically. It shimmered in all sorts of different colors. Everything from green, blue and violet to black. The pain patch and splint would help, but a real doctor should take a look at this injury. Even though I had learned over the years to patch myself up after missions, I wasn't a doctor. "We're on my ship, on our way to headquarters," I replied. With a soft rustle, I pulled the paper from the adhesive surface of the pain plaster and carefully stuck it to the broken wrist.
Kix exhaled with relief as the pain patch began to take effect and temporarily relieved him of his physical pain. I held the splint out to him questioningly, "This should help temporarily, but a doctor should take a look at it anyway."
To my surprise, Kix grinned slightly "I'm a medic, remember?" He grabbed the splint and put it on his injured arm himself. As if he had never done anything else, he closed the buckles and flaps of the splint "It'll be fine." he mumbled, although I wasn't quite sure if he meant his wrist.
" Right," I ran my hand over my temple, embarrassed, "I'd forgotten about that." I dropped down next to Kix and sat looking at him worriedly. He didn't say a word. He just sat against the wall with his legs drawn up and stared at the bunk opposite him. I was already dreading what would happen when we got to the headquarters. I'm sure they all had endless questions. Questions that neither Kix nor I would have an answer to. They wouldn't like that. I let out a sigh. It would be best if we went to Leia. She was empathetic and wouldn't pester Kix with questions straight away.
"Omega," Poe's voice sounded from the cockpit, "I've contacted the base, they want to know what we've found?"
Worried, I saw Kix flinch at Poe's voice. I wasn't sure if he could bear to walk across the landing deck to the command center. All the new people. All the noises after decades of silence. I was afraid he might go mental. "Tell them our mission was successful" I bit my lower lip, thinking "and tell them to send Leia." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kix looking at me questioningly "Only Leia, got it Poe!" Some of the resistance had the sensitivity of a Hutt. I didn't want to traumatize Kix any more than he already was.
"Understood." Poe's confirmation sounded from the front. Softly, I could hear the static of the com and Poe passing on my answer.
"Who is Leia?" Kix's questioning voice sounded next to me.
I turned my head, my hair dragging a little on the floor "She's the leader of the resistance against the first order. And she's a Jedi. " I briefly toyed with the idea of telling him that Anakin was her father, but immediately dismissed it. Leia hated nothing more than being associated with her father. Unlike her brother, she had never forgiven her father. The evil he had brought upon the galaxy and Leia's life as Darth Vader was too terrible.
The brown-haired man's eyes widened in surprise "I thought there were no more Jedi...." he swallowed hard "...after Order 66."
I shook my head slightly. Even if Palpatine had managed to kill many of the Jedi at the end of the Clone Wars, an idea cannot be killed. The hope for peace and freedom cannot be buried in a nameless grave. "Many perished back then," a shiver crawled down my spine as I thought of how the Jedi had been all but wiped out, "but not all, some survived and with them the legacy of the Jedi."
Kix nodded hesitantly and began to tap his foot nervously "What's going to happen now?"
"I don't know," I answered him honestly. I really had no idea what would happen next. "But don't worry, you're safe here." I reassured him and placed my hand on his forearm reassuringly.
Suddenly, I felt a slight vibration through the floor of the ship. The Marauder had landed. Not a second later, I heard the engines shut down and the loading ramp extended. "I'll be right back," I assured Kix, got up and went to the part of the Marauder where the loading ramp was.
Jason was standing at the loading dock looking for Leia. Poe was still sitting in the pilot's seat, grinning at me with a victorious grin, " Look, you don't see a scratch." He raised both arms to shoulder height and spread them out in a victory pose.
I couldn't help but grin "Better not get used to it." I muttered quietly. Letting Poe fly had been an absolute exception. Kix needed me.
The pilot rolled his eyes and also came to the loading ramp "Oh come on, she flies so well." He looked at me with his best puppy dog eyes.
That look might work on Jason, but it didn't work on me "Not a chance." I crossed my arms in front of my chest and kept looking for Leia.
Next to me, Jason snorted in amusement, "Face it Mesh'la, that was a one-time flight." He wrapped his arms around Poe's waist from behind and rested his head on his shoulder.
Defeated, Poe leaned into his boyfriend's embrace "It was worth a try."
I shrugged my shoulders in agreement and waved to Leia when I spotted her in the busy crowd. The Jedi wore her brown hair pinned up in a crown on her head. One or two gray strands were already running through her hairstyle. The wind tugged a little at her white one-piece suit. A blaster hung ready for action on one side of her hip. Her laser sword on the other. It didn't take her long to reach the Marauders as the crowd parted respectfully in front of her. After all, she was the one leading the fight against the First Order. Without her, we wouldn't all be here. Without her, the First Order would have won long ago.
"So," Leia came up the steps to the loading bay with firm steps, "what did you find? Poe was pretty vague about comm." Waiting for an answer, she looked at the three of us.
The boys' eyes were immediately on me. I sighed "That's a bit more complicated." I mumbled.
Leia smiled gently "I'll try my best to understand." she assured me.
I breathed in and out deeply "At first it was just a Separatist ship" Leia's eyes widened in surprise, but I just kept talking "then we found a cryochamber and there was someone in that cryochamber." I ran my fingertips over the tattoo on my temple "Kix was in that cryochamber, he's a clone, just like me." I dropped the bombshell.
Leia was speechless for a moment "A clone, you say?"
I nodded in confirmation. Suddenly I heard Poe sigh next to me "If he really is a clone from the Clone Wars and not a First Order spy."
"Poe!" I hissed at him accusingly. I couldn't figure out why Poe suspected my brother of being a First Order spy. All the pain in his eyes, all the self-loathing over the loss of his brothers, it was impossible to fake something like that.
Leia looked back and forth between Poe and me, thinking, "We'll get to the bottom of this." She let her eyes wander, searching, "Where is he?"
I rubbed the back of my neck with my hand "In the back. But let me talk to him first, he's still a bit jumpy." I looked pleadingly at the general, who nodded in agreement.
I rubbed my temples with my hands as I walked back again. Kix was still sitting in exactly the same place where I had left him before.
" They don't trust me." His voice was barely louder than a whisper and yet his words echoed in my ears as if he was shouting them. He must have heard Poe's words about him.
In my mind, I cursed Poe and his cheeky mouth as I sat down cross-legged in front of Kix "I trust you." I assured him "Poe has a problem with trusting anyone." I sighed.
My words didn't exactly seem to cheer Kix up. With a soft sigh, he let the back of his head sink against the wall behind him and closed his eyes. " Force wielders can invade the minds of others." he suddenly muttered and opened his eyes again.
I drew in my breath sharply, I didn't like what Kix was suggesting "You don't mean....?" what he was suggesting could backfire big time. Apart from that, I had never heard of any Jedi using this technique.
Kix tilted his head towards me "General Leia should look into my head, then you'll know that I'm not a spy!" he looked at me, sitting up a little straighter.
"Kix," I looked at him, still doubtful, "this is going to be anything but pleasant."
My counterpart laughed bitterly "Believe me, I can deal with the pain." His shoulders slumped slightly as he exhaled, as if to brace himself.
I nodded curtly, "All right." I turned my upper body slightly so that my voice would reach the three waiting in the other part of the Marauders better "General, Poe, Jason you can come." I slid a little to the right and came to sit next to Kix.
Not a second later, I heard the lightly springy, almost silent footsteps of our leader. Only a few seconds after Leia, Poe and Jason entered the back of the Marauder. Poe crossed his legs and leaned against the wall next to him, arms folded. Jason sat down on one of the armchairs that were firmly bolted to the floor.
When Leia saw Kix, pity came into her eyes. "You've had a long journey, haven't you?" She squatted down in front of him, keeping a little distance.
Kix just nodded. He seemed overwhelmed by the situation, that the general was so different from the ones he had known during the Clone Wars.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Poe open his mouth. I gave him a warning glare and the black-haired man shut his mouth again.
Even if Leia had noticed something of our duel, she didn't let it show. "Can you tell me what happened?" she continued to address her words to Kix.
The brown-haired man breathed in and out briefly before answering, "I think it's easier if I show you."
The Jedi's eyes widened in surprise. For a few seconds she was speechless "That..." she was probably searching for the right words "I'm not sure if that's really necessary." She looked doubtfully at the injured man in front of her.
I squinted at Poe and Jason. Poe didn't quite seem to realize what we were talking about and Jason was still sitting in the chair with a mixture of concern and surprise on his face.
Kix let his gaze wander to Poe "I know you don't trust me." he paid little attention to Poe's indignant expression and looked directly at Leia "Many others will think like him. Please" his healthy hand clenched into a fist, as if to dispel a tremor "I can take it."
Leia nodded slowly "Very well."
I had to stifle an agonized groan. Kix had been through hell and back. He deserved to leave his worst memories behind him and not have to relive them.
Leia sat down cross-legged in front of Kix. "I'll be as gentle as I can," she assured him. "If you change your mind, just say the word and we'll stop, got it."
"Yes, mam," Kix murmured, leaning his back against the wall behind him.
It was as if my body was acting on its own as I held out my hand to Kix. I didn't want him to have to go through this alone. Kix took the hand that was offered to him and clung to it. "I'm by your side," I assured him quietly.
Leia looked back and forth between us and finally at Kix. "Ready?" Kix's brown hair bounced up and down as he nodded and closed his eyes.
Without noticing, I stopped breathing for a moment. Leia also closed her eyes and held out her hand. The room became dead silent.
Kix's grip on my hand tightened so much that I heard my finger bones crack. His eyes moved frantically under his eyelids. Sweat appeared on his forehead. A tear rolled out from under his closed eyes.
I looked at Poe reproachfully. "Do you see what you've done?" I hissed quietly at him so as not to interrupt Leia's concentration. I couldn't believe what I saw. Poe actually looked guilty. Poe almost never admitted to being wrong. Before he could answer me, Leia opened her eyes again.
Horrified and disturbed by the horror that she must have seen without a doubt. "How terrible," she whispered.
I wasn't even sure if Kix could hear her. Breathing heavily, the clone sat leaning against the wall and fought not to drown in old memories. He almost crushed my hand, which he was still holding onto.
Leia stood up again, swaying. "We'll give you some space." She nodded to Poe and Jason to go to the exit. The boys didn't seem to want to be told twice. They both raised their hands in farewell and left the Marauder. I only returned the greeting half-heartedly, because next to me, Kix was still struggling to get his breathing under control.
Shortly before Leia had finally disappeared from the ship, she turned around again. "If you'd like to consider joining us," she turned to Kix, who had returned to the present. "The resistance could really use a fighter like you." She smiled at him briefly and then walked almost silently down the stairs of the loading hatch.
Kix ran his fingers over his temples, exhausted, letting go of my half-crushed hand. "What should I do?" he muttered, overwhelmed. A smile crept across my face. "It's up to you, Kix." It was new for him to be able to make his own decisions. Not always having to follow other people's orders. But he would learn. He would find out what a life of freedom felt like.
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