Chapter Text
“Three, two, one, go!”
Kix, balancing on the hands of Jesse and Fives, ducked to avoid hitting the ceiling of the barracks. Jesse and Fives were standing on Kix’s top bunk, and Tup was on the floor holding the bunk steady.
Since Kix was only connected to the comm frequency of the 501st, the only way to get an announcement out to both them and the 212th was to approximate when the most people would be in the barracks, then obtain the highest ground possible and shout at everyone. No one listens if you shout from the bottom bunk.
Which is how, the next morning, Kix was involved in the balancing act with Fives, Jesse, and Tup.
“Listen up!” Kix shouted. Half the barracks turned to look at him while the rest went about their business. “People! As your temporary/permanent medic depending on who you serve, you better pay attention.”
That got them listening.
“Over the next few days, I’ll be meeting with each of you individually in medbay. This is a mental checkup, so don’t tell me you’re completely healthy. I’ll post a list of times with everyone’s name in a slot after this. It won’t take long, so you better show up. If not I will get General Kenobi and Cody to chase you down. And you’ll be on night duty for a month. And, again, you’ll deal with an angry Cody. Tell everyone who’s not here. That’s all.”
The previously silent barracks hummed to life as Fives and Jesse crouched down and let Kix step onto the top bunk. Tup let go of his support position on the floor and called up, “Pretty good, Kix!”
He chuckled as he jumped down. “Ten credits at least four 501st members don’t show up. Some of them have never faced the wrath of angry Cody and it shows.”
Walking over to the entrance of the barracks, Kix grabbed the sheet of flimsi he had tucked under his arm and pinned it to the wall. There were lots of people to get through, though at least some of the 212th and 501st were on other ships. He could talk to them later.
By the time Kix made it back to his bunk, there was a crowd forming around the list.
“You got that set up all last night?” Jesse asked. “Pretty impressive.”
Kix grinned. “I’d better head to the medbay. First meeting is in… four minutes.”
“Hah! Which unlucky di’kut is first?”
Kix started to leave before calling back to Jesse. “Check the list… di’kut .”
“Ahh kriff. It’s me, isn’t it? It is. I fell right into that one,” Jesse said as he caught up with Kix.
The difference between the clamor of the barracks and the silence of the halls was stark. They walked quietly until the medbay entrance slid open in front of them. Kix grabbed a sheet of flimsi from a nearby counter and scribbled out meetings here before pinning it to the door of the nearest private examination room.
“Move it, Jesse, we have a schedule to keep.”
Jesse, who’d been leaning against the entrance to the medbay, sighed and walked into the room. The rest of the medbay was relatively empty, Kix had learned that most of the critically injured had stayed behind in the Umbaran capital city.
He had been up all night preparing. Waiting for Jesse was a chair, and waiting for Kix was the datapad that has the information about every trooper he’d talk to. He was in his medic’s uniform, not his armour, if only because it was more comfortable.
On the counter next to him, as well, was a direct comm to Cody. No one was getting out of this without a fight.
Kix selected the first name on the datapad: CT-5597, Jesse. Deployed under the command of Captain Rex and General Krell to reclaim Umbaran airbase.
Kix knew the rest.
Jesse leaned back in the chair, as relaxed as could be. “Let’s get this over with, Kix.”
“Fine. How are you doing, Jesse?”
“Fine.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Kix rubbed a hand on his forehead. Of all the clones, Jesse was probably the most stubborn. This would be frustrating.
“Be honest, Jesse.”
“Look, I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but I accepted a long time ago that this was the price of war. That there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“So, what? You don’t feel anything about the fact that Hardcase died and he probably wouldn’t have if Krell hadn’t been a traitor? That he turned as against each other ?” Kix blew out a breath. He wasn’t here to argue with Jesse, he was here to listen.
Jesse leaned forward, putting his elbows on the armrests. “Nope.”
Kix marked down a box he knew he’d need to use under Jesse’s file on the datapad. Repressed feelings . He knew his friend too well to think he’s telling the truth.
“That’s all then, Jesse. I’ll talk to you later, alright?”
“Alright,” Jesse acknowledged.
The next few meetings went relatively smoothly. A mix of 212th and 501st filtered in, one by one, and recounted their experiences on the shadowed world.
That is, until it reached time to talk to Boil. He was the last one before Kix had left time for a break, and the problems started right from the beginning. When, of course, Boil simply… didn’t show up.
Kix waited a few minutes, to see if Boil was simply late, but soon enough he grabbed his comm and contacted Cody. The commander responded immediately. “Who?”
“Boil,” Kix replied.
Cody sighed. “I was afraid of this. Waxer was a big loss. I’ll be there in a second, we can go look for him.”
Three minutes later Cody showed up, his general in tow.
“General Kenobi,” Kix nodded at him.
Kenobi put up a hand in greeting. He didn’t seem to fully comprehend why Cody had dragged him along.
The trio set out, mapping out a route throughout The Negotiator that would lead them to the most likely hiding spots.
“I commed Boil, but he didn’t respond,” Kix explained. “So I figured it was most likely that he was hiding.”
Cody nodded. “How’s it going so far? Troops responding well enough?”
Kix poked his head in the barracks, and, with no sight of Boil, responded. “Well enough. We’re clones. It’s about as much as we can expect.”
“Good point. Gotten to Rex yet?”
Kix glanced over at the commander. Cody’s face was stoic, but Kix could sense the undercurrent of concern. “Not yet. Maybe tomorrow. I think--”
He didn’t get a chance to finish. General Kenobi, who had been a few steps in front of the clones, stopped in front of a door.
“He’s here,” the General said confidently.
“How do you know?” Kix asked, but Cody simply leaned over and whispered, “Jedi senses.”
When the door slid open, they found an almost empty conference room. In the middle sat the large table and holoprojector, as was standard in any briefing/conference room, but in one corner sat Boil. Which was… not standard.
Boil looked up immediately after Kenobi opened the door. He shut off his datapad and stared in surprise as his general, commander, and temporary medic entered the room.
“What’s this about?”
Cody gestured at Kix to speak first.
“Why don’t you have your comm, Boil?”
“I left it in the barracks.”
“Were you not there when I delivered my message?”
“I don’t believe so,” Boil said. There wasn’t a trace of a lie in his voice.
“How long have you been here?”
Boil looked down at the black screen of the datapad. “Last night.”
Kix bit his lip and glanced at Cody. It would probably be easier to talk to Boil without his CO and general in the room. He flicked his eyes to the door, and Cody got the message and turned to leave. When Kenobi made no move to follow, Cody rolled his eyes and grabbed him by the elbow and dragged him out of the room so that only Kix and Boil remained.
Kix pulled one of the chairs from the conference table and sat to face Boil, still on the floor.
“Why?”
Boil shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep.”
“What were you doing?”
Boil shrugged again, but glanced quickly at the turned-off datapad.
Kix didn’t want to pry, but figured he had a good guess at what was on the datapad. “Can I see?”
Boil sighed and tossed him the datapad. Once turned on, picture after picture of him and Waxer slid across the screen. There were messages, too. Handwritten ones that seemed to have been scanned. Signed “Numa”.
Kix looked for a few seconds before turning it off. He didn’t want to pry.
“Will you come to medbay, Boil?”
“There’s nothing wrong with me,” Boil scoffed.
“Of course not. That’s what the announcement you missed was about, though. Everyone has to do a mental checkup. General’s orders.”
“And I missed mine?”
“Yep.”
Boil sighed. “Fine.”
Kix reached out and grabbed his hand to pull him up. He gave the datapad back to Boil, but didn’t know what else to say.
There wasn’t really anything he could say.