AN: TRIPLE RELEASE TODAY, BOYS!!!
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As the battle had drawn to a close, and night was beginning to descend, Corvus had meandered his way to the citadel, and healed or rescued thousands along the way.
Both clone and Dug people met his actions with a mixture of thanks, respect, and a hint of fear. Afterall, having your crushed/exploded limbs restored to perfect health was quite the experience.
Those who witnessed these miraculous feats met him with cheers, or tears. Besides this, a decent amount of the people met him with silent stares. These were the ones who had lost it all. Their gazes held festering resentment, or blank emptiness.
In general, the vibe radiating off the people of this city was fear tinged with anger and confusion. The people couldn't understand or fathom why the Republic come Empire had turned on one another, and visited destruction upon their city.
The feeling of loss was pervasive, and Corvus couldn't help but feel a little sorrow for the common people, and average citizens. War was always worse for those who were uninvolved. One day living your life in peaceful ignorance, clocking into work same as usual, the next, an orbital bombardment rocks your city, and street to street fighting makes going outside a death sentence.
How terrifying.
Sighing to himself, Corvus seared the image of a dead Dug family into his mind, and made sure he wouldn't forget the consequences of his actions. Casting [Valor] on himself so as not to fall into a malaise or depression, he had eventually made his way to his destination.
Along the way, he saw many of the defeated clones were forming lines as they deposited their weapons/gear, and were being funneled into large holding areas, awaiting a decision from Corvus. It was one of the reasons why he had bee-lined to the citadel, instead of focusing his energy on relief efforts. Whilst he would like to spend his time healing everyone he could, resolving the Imperial clones and discussing terms with the local government unfortunately took priority.
Being a savior was a grand ambition for any decent person, but as a soldier, he had to prioritize some things over others, even if it meant certain people would suffer. It was a heavy burden knowing someone out there could have their crippled limbs cured, or their dying breath saved, but on the path of war, one had to realize that you couldn't save them all. Otherwise, you'd go crazy.
Entering the large, culturally iconic building, Corvus saluted a squadron of Starcrusher clones, and was directed towards an elevator that took him to the top.
Inside the tower, Corvus saw all sorts of ancient carvings depicting different eras of Dug life. The latest depiction showed images of the Dugs being placed in collars, and forced to work the M-Fuel fields by an alien species. Raising an eyebrow at the sight, he was vaguely reminded of their history.
Apparently, the Dugs were a terrestrial species that lived in a type of stone age society for most of their existence. Within the last few hundred years, a group of space faring aliens-the Grans-colonized Malastare for the vast amount of M-Fuel. Enslaving the local population in the guise of uplifting them, the Grans practically became trillionaires overnight, and formed the Gran Protectorate. If he wasn't mistaken, the Grans should be quite large supporters of Palpatine, and represented Malastare as Senators, leaving the Dugs without a voice on the galactic stage.
Passing by the carving, Corvus was glad he had taken a glance, as it had triggered some dormant memories. Star Wars nerd he may be, but he didn't immediately recall every little facet of every planet or people.
'Maybe there's something to Thrawn's obsession with art & culture after all.' Corvus mused to himself with the ghost of a smile.
Exiting the elevator on the top floor, Corvus was invisible, as he wanted to observe everything without any preconceived notions.
Entering a round chamber that was rather simple in nature. It had a crescent-like raised seating area-presumably where the Dug council sat-and a wide open forum for debate.
The halfway leading up to this point was covered in blackened pits, scorch marks, and saber scars. From what he saw, Corvus realized that the fighting here must've been incredibly intense. Placing a hand on the wall, he breathed deeply, and pulled upon the Force as he imagined the scene. He didn't see any images, nor could he truly peer into the past, but their actions were still fresh, and Corvus got a general sense of what had taken place.
Two Padawans, and an elite commando unit had to hold this narrow chokepoint, as well as fend off a pair of side entrances coming from two different staircases. Jax had used [Push] & [Mind Trick] to great avail, whilst Yon was a demon of lightsaber combat. Meanwhile, the men of CF-99 had fought valiantly. Several times Hunter & Wrecker closed for brutal melee combat, and countless close calls were saved due to Crosshair's exceptional aim.
Opening his eyes, he saw his people were resting within the chamber. The clones-recently retrofitted with tritanium armor that Corvus had constructed-had scorch marks covering their forms, indicating just how dangerous this mission had been for them. CF-99 were laughing and drinking, cleaning their weapons, and generally trying to relax as exhaustion covered their faces.
Yon, meanwhile, seemed dissatisfied with something, and was repeatedly practicing saber katas. The short teen was sweating profusely, but kept pushing himself to the limit, unwilling to rest. His aggression held some of Form V-the same style of combat Anakin was known for-and he was practicing a breathing technique that he had learnt from the holocron.
"You'll never hit centre mass like that." Crosshair mocked, and took a loud crunch from an apple.
Yon scowled, and kept doing what he was doing.
"Lay off the kid, Crosshair." Hunter remarked, as he was cleaning his vibroknife.
Yon twirled, repeating the kata, and silently followed Crosshair's 'advice.' His red tinted green saber ended right under the bald clone's chin.
"How's that?" Yon smugly intoned.
"Kid." Hunter growled, only for Crosshair to wave him off.
"Relax, Hunter. Ragebar here knows the score." Crosshair deeply chuckled.
Yon scowled, then turned away with a flourish to keep up his kata.
"I would've had him." Yon replied in a defensive tone.
"Whatever helps ya sleep at night, Ragebar." Crosshair lazily drawled. "Ah, now you're too high."
Yon fumbled in his step, and glared.
"Don't blame me, if you landed that stab, I wouldn't have needed to intervene." Crosshair mocked, and shooed Yon away, all but saying 'keep going.'
And to Yon's credit, he did keep practicing. It was like watching a pro athlete that had majorly fucked up working out after losing a close game. They knew that the team lost due to their actions, and wanted to do everything in their power to make up for the mistake.
Witnessing the byplay, Corvus all but had his jaw drop. The most silent, taciturn member of the Bad Batch hated talking to others, but here he was, helping to guide Yon, and giving him a nickname!!! It looked like this desperate fight had driven the two closer together? Who knew that the most abrasive people on his team would form some sort of bond?!
Withholding a chuckle, Corvus looked for his other student, and spent a couple of extra seconds before he spotted him. Corvus could only find Jax due to his high Awareness. This was somewhat alarming, but also good news. It seemed his student was taking well to the Jedi Shadows' school of thought.
Jax was sitting in a meditative pose, and was regulating his breathing. He was almost invisible to Corvus's senses, and practically blended in with the background. The white haired teen was practicing invisibility, but was also training in something else. The ability to be ignored.
Decloaking himself, Jax was the first to notice him. Bright blue eyes opened, and his apprentice nodded at him with a gentle smile.
"Master. Please guide my blade." Yon said, and then lunged at him.
Corvus ignited his twin sabers, and allowed the kid to blow off some steam, before he caught him in a leg sweep, then held his azure blade at Yon's neck as the teen was knocked flat on his ass.
"Your form has slightly improved, and your eagerness compliments Form V well." Corvus complimented, and ruffled the kids hair as he moved deeper into the chamber.
Jax silently stood up, and moved to flank him.
Corvus nodded at his other apprentice, a brief moment of silent communication passing between them.
Commander Pots was also present, and had reached this place before him. Noticing his arrival, he pressed some buttons on a console. A second later, a grainy, holographic image of Captain Clip appeared.
"We are all here, good. To start things off, congratulations to you, Clone Force 99, and my two apprentices. Your actions disabling the planetary shield, and convincing the Imperials to surrender was a great achievement." Corvus politely clapped, and looked everyone in the eye.
"Was easy enuff." Wrecker shrugged as if it were no big deal.
"That's just what I wanted to hear. I'll be relying on your expertise from now on." Corvus slightly inclined his head.
"Nice one Wrecker, now we'll get all the suicide assignments." Hunter muttered, and palmed his face in exasperation.
"Special thanks are in order to you too, Tech. The upgrades you added to the Falcon were instrumental to our victory. Captain Clip can attest to their effectiveness." Corvus happily nodded along, ignoring Hunter's snide remarks.
"Indeed. You could say the Falcon was a bird of prey amongst a flock of tip-yips with their heads cut off." Clip said in a dry, sarcastic tone.
"The General was brilliant. Our total losses are less than 10%." Pots spoke up.
"Of course, it's Master after all. He could've taken the planet on his own." Yon crowed. His words weren't out of malice, but were more flippant in nature, and without regard for others' feelings.
Pots slightly bristled at the abrasive comment, but withheld his tongue. There was a smidgen of truth in Yon's words, and everyone present somewhat believed in such a possibility.
"Yet what could've taken me days or weeks was accomplished within hours. Never forget, Yon, it is when we fight together that we are strong. You yourself took part in the ritual on Ilum, and should understand the power of teamwork." Corvus lightly admonished, and stared the boy down.
Yon looked like he wanted to speak in rebuttal, but he eventually nodded. "Master is right of course."
"Ragebar isn't half bad, General, the kid's got some growing up to do is all." Crosshair said, his arms crossed, and his face was set into a 'stone sculpted' deadpan. Yet the Force revealed the clone's unending amusement.
"We thank you for your hard work, Commander Pots. The ground assault must not have been easy." Jax quietly, and steadily intoned. The white haired teen briefly glanced at Corvus to gauge his reaction, to which Corvus slightly inclined his head, showing his approval.
Order 66 was only a month behind them, so this amount of banter and kind words must be difficult for the teens. Corvus was proud of them for being able to try and look past the fear, and hatred.
"The men fought hard, Commander. They'd appreciate hearing such words from you. Every trooper knows how difficult taking the citadel would've been if not for your op." Pots figuratively took a step back, and was encouraged by Jax's engagement.
"I would be happy to say a few words to them, they fought hard. You must be very proud of them." Jax inclined his head.
"They're the best in the galaxy." Pots laughed, however, he was quick to fall into a state of melancholy as he thought about something. "That being said, General, what are your plans for the prisoners?"
"For starters, I intend to remove the inhibitor chip. Afterwards, I'm thinking about putting them to work at the M-Fuel fields." Corvus slowly stated.
"Why not recruit them to the army, Master?" Jax asked curiously.
"Because we can't trust them." Yon quickly bit back, and crossed his arms.
Corvus felt every clone looking at them with some intensity at that moment. It was a little uncomfortable, he had to admit.
"The Commander is correct. I wouldn't want to fight for someone who turbolasered my brothers." Clip spoke up.
Pots looked like he wanted to argue, yet Clip's words made some amount of sense. The clone Commander could only sigh, and nod his head, accepting the reality of the matter.
Corvus nodded along. It would be great if after every fight against clones, he could remove their inhibitor chips, snap his fingers, and have them fight for him. However, Clip brought up a good point, how inclined would someone be to change sides in a civil war when their mate was vaporized just a few feet away?
The chips may make the clones absolutely loyal to Palpatine, but each and every one of them were men with their own thoughts, capable of taking independent action. Sure, they were indoctrinated from birth, and trained to follow orders, but brotherhood was also a big component to them. And frankly speaking, Corvus would be somewhat weary of being backstabbed or betrayed if he recruited these guys.
The clones on Kamino were one thing, there, he had effectively won a relatively bloodless coup through subterfuge, and [Mind Tricks]. Here, he had dropped the hammer on a group of unsuspecting clones, and it was not a pretty sight.
"It's settled then, they'll have their chips removed, and then will be put to work. If there's time, I might try to persuade some to come fight for us, but I only want men who are dedicated to the cause." Corvus said in finality.
"Very well, I'll make sure the boys understand, and begin the creation of prison camps." Pots nodded, and input some info on a tablet.
Just as they were about to move onto the next topic, or discuss the finer details of the war, a commotion occured, and a pair of aliens emerged from the elevator.
One was a Dug, and the other a Gran.
"What is the meaning of this unprovoked attack!" The Gran demanded in anger. "The Senate, no, the Emperor will not stand for this!"
The Dug, meanwhile, eyed Corvus with a calculating eye. There was anger present in his gaze, but also he seemed somewhat opportunistic?
Corvus sighed, if he wanted a peaceful reign on Malastare, he was going to have to push Persuade to its limits as he dealt with the most annoying creatures known to the galaxy:
Politicians.