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Part 6 of The Unquiet
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Published:
2021-09-17
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2021-09-18
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2/2
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Fraternitas

Summary:

The Empire may be gone, but there are still Purge Troopers. Boba doesn't have a good enough medic for the former Emperor's chip. But Din can talk to someone who Knows how to do it.

Notes:

yeah that's right we've got some actual Yog-Sothoth "sightings" in this one. This is what happens when I try Clone Wars again and accidentally get hooked on the sunshine commander.

This idea found its origins in Headfulloffantasies' Clones and Kings series! Go check it out, it made me smile :D

(See the end of the work for other works inspired by this one.)

Chapter 1: Thaw

Chapter Text

Boba tears the last slaver's head clear from his shoulders. They have a way of getting his claws out.

"This floor's clear," Fennec says over comms.

Boba taps the side of his helmet, drinking in the smell of blood. "Din?"

After a beat, Din says, "Carbonite chamber. There's someone in here."

Boba turns to the decrepit stairs. The whole place is carved sloppily in the rocks. "Frozen?"

"Boba." Oh, that's not a good tone. "You should see this."

The universe just loves its jokes.

Next to the slaver's most precious possession, a small panel displays: Purge Trooper CC-2224. Authentic Clone. Auction Date—Boba doesn't bother to read the rest.

"He looks just like you," Din murmurs.

Boba cocks his head. "Of course he does. Can't you read?"

"I didn't know you'd cloned yourself."

"Did he really just say that," Fennec says flatly.

Boba sighs. "We'll talk about it later. Let's—get 'im out."

The Empire's insignia is still on CC-2224's pauldron. Boba's heard whispers about The Chip, enough to know it's an all-caps thing that tore the Jedi apart. Boba would wonder what general this one had been assigned, but doesn't really care.

Din inputs the thawing process. "Doesn't say how long he's been in here."

"Doesn't matter," Boba replies curtly, "We just gotta get the thing outta his head. Otherwise he'll start hunting Jedi."

"What?"

"Your father must be so disappointed in your lack of knowledge." Boba gestures to CC-2224's head. "Empire implanted a chip in the clones. Instead of being made to serve the Jedi, they killed them."

"Made to serve," Din says slowly. "They're slaves?"

"Essentially. My father was the Prime, not me, and he didn't acknowledge them as kin."

Din stares at CC-2224 silently. They don't speak until the clone falls against his shoulder, vomit spluttering on impact.

"At least you've burped Grogu before," Boba drawls.

"Funny," Din grunts.

CC-2224 has severe carbon sickness. He vomits two more times before Din and Boba haul him from the caves and he can't see. He tries to speak, only to croak and groan.

He is...young. Looks young, anyway. With the clones' aging process, CC-2224 might very well have been frozen a long time.

Boba doesn't stay close. He's got other slaves to assist. Not long after they're all aboard Slave I, Din says over comms that CC-2224 is unconscious. Probably for the best.

Stretchers and a couple medics Boba's managed to get a hold of are waiting at the palace. After some deliberation, Boba twists reality around CC-2224's face. He'd rather not have that conversation yet. The medics blink rapidly as they try to look at the clone head-on, no doubt getting headaches and shivers. But they don't comment, because who would believe them? Din might have made a name for himself in his Form, but Boba hasn't.

The rest of the day is spent distributing supplies and treatment. Boba, Fennec and Din stay up late in the night ensuring the freed slaves can get on their feet and stay there. It's the kind of work that doesn't leave room for much else, for which Boba is grateful.

He hadn't been raised to care about the clones. After Jango's death, he'd carried the task of denying being apart of their ranks. He still doesn't think himself one, but after the sarlacc, it's in a different light. For all the shit his father had left him in, he's still glad he hadn't been in the GAR, but over the years, he's found himself thinking of what it could have been like to spend time with those who share his face.

A ridiculous pipe dream. Now there's CC-2224 barely five minutes away. Someone who, by all intents and purposes, is Boba's brother.

"Sir!" Rylac, one of the medics, skids into the room, chest heaving. "We think one of them is awake!"

"You don't know for certain?" Boba asks.

Rylac shifts on his paws. Ah. He can't tell because he can't see CC-2224's face.

"I'm on my way."

Boba and CC-2224 lock eyes.

"You're out of uniform," says CC-2224.

"And you're out of style," replies Boba. "Chip's still working then? Feeling homicidal?"

CC-2224's eyes are a droid's. Boba hates it. He doesn't know if he's angry on the clone's behalf or his own.

"I have my orders."

"Orders change. Your masters are dead, Trooper."

"Traitor."

"What will you do about it? You're weak as a newborn." Boba gestures to Rylac. "Sedate 'im. We've got work to do."

In the depths of the palace, a monster lurks. Arachnid legs scrape back and forth in the dark. Tentacles writhe in exposed bone. It shows not signs of stopping.

"I heard from Rylac."

The monster's restless eyes lurch to Din. Din, of course, does not flinch.

"None of the medics have the training for removal."

Boba growls.

Din's helmet lowers. "The chip is still active. No telling its lifespan."

Boba's tongue doesn't feel like shrinking. He lets himself speak with a multitude: "Not meant to be long. But that's just the rumor."

"You don't know?"

Boba rears in his face, nearly taking Din's head off. "Says the one who knows nothing!"

Still, Din doesn't flinch. Boba resumes his pacing.

After a minute, Din murmurs, "You don't want him to suffer."

The cave shrieks under Boba's claws.

"Why aren't you letting yourself care?"

Oh, Boba could tear stars apart in that moment, he hates Din so much. It passes with a comet. "I am not one of them."

"I'm not one of the Jedi," Din says, "Grogu is still my clan." He takes a tentative step forward. "Let me help."

Boba snorts, saliva splashing the rocks. "You're no medic, Din Djarin."

"No. But, despite what you may think, I Know things. Or, I can."

Boba considers him. "Knowledge alone won't solve this."

"Not mine, no." Din nods to the door. "We're gonna need a bigger space."

Chapter 2: Cody

Summary:

The Seeing Stone becomes a Gate.

Notes:

The Cthuvian text here didn't originally involve Yog-Sothoth, BUT the meaning fit so I replaced Nyogtha's name. It's a poem from "The Burrowers Beneath."

As for my description of Yog-Sothoth, I can tell you there's never one set description of an Elder One outside of Cthulu. They're meant to be incomprehensible. I go with a lot of gold because I'm a synesthe and Yog-Sothoth's name has gold/dark yellow traces.

A sidenote: I made Boba and Cody batchmates. Jango requested Boba grow up the same rate as a nat-born, so Cody reached adult physicality way before Boba did. Also, I've never watched Bad Batch beyond maybe two episodes. They're only mentioned very very briefly, but I thought I'd say that.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

They go to Tython. CC-2224 wakes on the way, but he's still weak. Easily fought off.

"Are all of you so ineffective?" Boba asks.

CC-2224 bucks against Din's hold, snarling, "Traitor!"

"We can't betray what we never served."

"Traitor!"

Boba punches him. Din whirls around. Boba shrugs. Din sighs.

The Seeing Stone hasn't changed. Din stiffly guides CC-2224's stretcher, the clone now restrained with straps and fiber cord, while Boba carries the paint. While deciding where to go, they'd decided the circle is a convenient stencil for glyphs. Doesn't mean Din has to like it.

"Your son is safe," Boba murmurs as they approach. CC-2224's woken up again, writhing and shouting, but Din doesn't need ears to hear.

"Our son," Din replies.

Boba rumbles to the depths of the soil. For a moment, CC-2224 is silent. Doesn't last long.

Din parks CC-2224 near the Stone and joins Boba. Even if CC-2224 somehow breaks free, he won't get far. Not with them.

"I'll draw them," Boba says, "Stretch out."

Din nods and disappears behind one of the slightly broken pillars. He calls over beskar clinking, "Something was here before the Jedi."

"Mm."

"Think they weren't the ones who built this?"

"It's possible."

CC-2224 is hoarse by the time Boba's finished. He falls silent once again when Din's helmet hisses across the clearing. Boba might be Jango's legacy, but every clone has enough of That in their DNA to at least have a sense of things. It's something Boba had realized when he was still on Kamino, the way he and Jango were regarded with awe and Knowing. If Jango had seen it, he never said. Clearly it hadn't made a difference in his opinion of them.

"Alright," Boba says, grimacing as his knees crack, "You ready?"

Shadowed eyes slither across the expanse, absorbing the Seeing Stone and towering over a mute CC-2224. Boba exits the circle, crossing his arms. He keeps a few eyes on CC-2224, the rest on the sky.

For once, Din's eyes blink as one, mouths in perfect unison.

"Ya na kadishtu nilgh'ri stell'bsna Yog-Sothoh," he begins.

The glyphs grow warm in Boba's Senses.

"K'yarnak phlegethor l'ebumna syha'h n'ghft."

The rest of the ground warms.

"Ya hai kadishtu ep r'luh-eeh Yog-Sothoth eeh." 

Earlier, Din had confessed to never trying to contact his father. Not for a full-fledged conversation, at least. Over the course of his life, he's heard Whispers, but he hadn't dared respond outside of obeisance.

"S'uhn-ngh athg li'hee orr'e syha'h."

Perhaps all this fanfare hadn't been necessary, for Yog-Sothoth responds before Din is finished.

Directly above them, the sky darkens. Clouds that had not been there before gather and twist. Maybe they're not clouds at all, but there's gold and black lightning in them, striking without a delay in sound. A tear in the galaxy that had always been there, that is everywhere and nowhere at once.

Vaguely, Boba hears CC-2224's quickening breathing. Din covers the clone's eyes and ears with a length of fur. An already broken mind shouldn't witness this.

It's...hard to describe in mortal words, what emerges from the not-storm. What could be tentacles, deep rusted gold and other shades that human eyes can't reach, stretch into Tython, dwarfed by what could be eyes that might look like Din's on a much, much larger scale pressing their weight in the world.

What is hardest to capture is the depth of Yog-Sothoth. This is The Being that Knows. That is all Boba can say.

Din bows in a crested wave. "Father," he growls.

There's a sound, maybe, that could be a reply.

CC-2224 can, perhaps, Sense the conversation that follows, though his mortal ears can't hear it. It might be a buzzing in his head, or a vibration in his bones. Boba sheds his own skin and keeps his head down. He feels Yog-Sothoth's stares regardless, heavier than Yavin 4. He wonders if the stares will melt him. He wonders if it's Din's attachment that lets him live. Or, possibly, Yog-Sothoth's stares are simply like that.

After about three minutes, Din hums fresh cracks in the Stone. CC-2224 shudders, and the Lurker returns to his Threshold.

The sky is blue. A breeze giggles through grass. CC-2224 is whimpering. Din is retreating.

When Din rejoins them, he and Boba are back on two legs, and Din's visor is glowing.

"Hold him," commands the Void.

This time, Din gets out of the way when CC-2224 vomits.

"Still feeling homicidal?" Boba asks.

CC-2224 sits up, supporting himself on shaky arms. Din hovers, ready to spot. "What...what was that?"

"Answer the question."

CC-2224 pants heavily, blinking through tears. When he raises his head, Boba is almost struck by the shattered pleading in his face.

"Tell me I didn't do those things," he croaks.

Boba shrugs. "You were a Purge Trooper."

CC-2224 groans into his hands. Boba and Din glance at each other.

At length, CC-2224 gets himself together and looks at Boba again. "No. I don't." He swallows. "Thank you, Boba."

"How'd you know it was him?" Din asks.

CC-2224 barks more than laughs. "He's the only one who has the Prime's brand of strange. All the vode would recognize him."

Din starts. "You know Mando'a?"

CC-2224 shrugs. "We picked up a few words. Wasn't much. I doubt you'd call us Mandalorians."

"Your—Prime, he was a Foundling."

CC-2224 shakes his head. "We all knew he thought of us the same way everyone else did. Expendable." Cautiously, he swings his legs over the edge of the stretcher. "Well. Not everyone."

Raw pain. Boba finds he can't look at it directly. Him, who has Seen so much more than this.

"General Kenobi," CC-2224 whispers, "I had him shot."

Boba snorts. "You missed." CC-2224's head snaps up. "Old man was a thorn in Vader's side to the end."

"...Vader. Ka'ra. Skywalker."

"Also dead now, along with the Emperor." Boba pauses. "You—got a name?"

The pain doesn't let him escape this time. "Cody. My name is Cody."

"Are any of them still alive?"

Boba calculates hyperspace. "Don't know. There's still some Jedi around, they might have a network."

"Luke's too young," Din says, "Maybe Tano."

"Tano?" Cody stumbles to his feet. "She's alive?"

"You know her?"

Cody laughs, slightly hysterical. "Yeah. Yeah, I know her. Should've known she'd make it. Where is she?"

"She might have moved on. But she gave me a way to contact her."

Cody is quiet the rest of the way. Sometimes he opens his mouth, but he always thinks better of it. Boba finds himself doing the same, though he has nothing to say.

Din leaves Tano a message: "We found someone on our last mission. He says his name is Cody, says he knows you. We're on Tatooine, but we can meet you somewhere."

"I'll earn my keep in the meantime," Cody declares.

"I'm not letting a lookalike walk around," Boba snaps.

"Then I'll stick to the back, unless you've got a helmet to spare."

Fennec, pressed against the wall, says, "You were engineered for combat. What the hell can you do?"

Cody raises an eyebrow in Jango's scolding buir face. "I was Marshal Commander. You got any paperwork?"

Boba and Fennec look at each other.

"This way," Boba says.

A week later, Boba's entire administrative system has been rearranged with raucous complaints from Cody about lack of organization. Apparently it's a miracle Boba's reign has survived this long.

"One more word," Boba says, "and I'll kill you."

Cody doesn't look up from the pile on his requisitioned desk. "No you won't."

"Oh really?"

"I'm doing what you hate. Out of my office, kid."

"We're the same age," Boba grumbles on his way out.

Before the doors close, Cody calls, "Fifteen seconds older!"

Tano responds by landing on Tatooine in a small fighter. Cody yanks on a spare helmet from the armory, slightly too big for him, and runs out to meet her.

"Commander!" he shouts.

Tano throws herself at him. "Not Commander. I've told Rex a thousand times."

Cody gasps. "...Rex. Rex is alive?"

Tano squeezes him tightly. "He's too stubborn to die. I wanted to confirm it was you before I made the call."

Cody's laughter barely disguises his tears.

Tano pulls away to face Din and Boba. "I don't know how to thank you."

"Be a bit of a hypocrite if I didn't free all the slaves," Boba says.

"If you ever need help," Cody says, "We'll be there. That's a promise." His lip curls. "Especially if it's against the Empire."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"You just want him to keep doing paperwork," Din murmurs in the liminal space between them.

"And?"

Cody snorts. "I know when you're Talking. It's about the paperwork, isn't it?"

Tano smirks. "Even Boba Fett can't resist your efficiency."

Complete nonchalance. They know what Din and Boba are and it's. It's fine.

"I can keep at it," Cody says, "Least I can do."

Boba wants to say no. But really, even with the security measures he'd put in place during Cody's tenure, Cody had been. So good at his job.

"...contact me when you're settled."

"I will." He glances between all of them. "And—that can go both ways, you know. We might not be exactly like you, but we'll still be there."

Boba swallows a thousand meaningless words, from snappish to quiet. He finally says, "That a two-seater?"

Tano's smile is an annoying, Jedi know-it-all sort. "We can fit. I'll send Rex's commlink to Mando, who can pass it to you, if you'd like."

"Safe travels," Din says.

Tano touches Din's pauldron. "Same to you."

"Wait."

Boba doesn't fully realize he'd been the one to speak until all eyes and helmets are on him. The nonsense from before crowds his mouth again.

"You," he grits out, "come with me. Twenty minutes."

Cody follows him back to the palace. He follows him down, down, down. The whole way, Boba asks himself what the hell he thinks he's doing and why. Why? Cody had said it himself: the clones are not like Boba and Jango.

Maybe it's a whim. Some throwaway thought that Boba figures he might as well try.

He knows that's not it.

The old rancor pit echoes with the opening door. Boba yanks his helmet off. Cody's hiss reminds him he hasn't done so in front of him.

"Sarlacc," he grunts, striding to the approximate center of the cave.

Cody removes his helmet. Of all things, he looks worried. "I'd ask how you survived, but."

Boba's jaw works. He turns to him. "My father had no respect for you. You were no sons of his."

Cody's expression gives nothing away. "No, we were not."

"But you still See things."

"Not See, really. We Hear, and nothing we can understand. The sounds are too faint."

Boba sets his helmet down. "You don't seem bothered by it."

"Is what it is, Boba. We had other things on our minds." Cody grimaces. "And in them."

Boba loses patience.

Cody watches his organs expose themselves with wide-eyed blinking that smooths back to indifference. He seems more surprised Boba is showing him than of the actual change.

Boba's Form rears its head, too-long tongue dripping with saliva.

Cody takes a slow step forward. "May I?"

Boba doesn't know what he plans to do. He nods.

Cody touches his leg. And smiles. "Smooth as it looks." He smirks. "What about your Mando?"

A few of Boba's eyes narrow. "Implying something?"

"I kept the affair between Skywalker and Amidala for years. I don't have to imply."

Boba growls. "Different."

"Hm." Cody gives Boba a pat before backing off. "Thank you for trusting me. I know I haven't done much to earn it."

Boba sinks down to his front paws, head close to eye-level. "You're not afraid."

Cody tilts his head. "You might not like it, but you're my batchmate. I could never be scared of you, big bad bounty hunter or not. Doubt the others would be either, if that's what you're wondering."

Boba stuffs his bones back into flesh. He picks up his father's helmet, carefully tucking it under his arm. "I'm not your brother."

Cody looks...sad, almost. His smile doesn't hide it well. "That's entirely up to you, Boba." He nods over his shoulder. "Time's almost up."

As Tano's ship leaves atmo, Din takes Boba's hand. "You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Boba's reply is too quick. He scowls at himself.

Fennec joins them, hands on her hips. "Gotta say, you were a looker when you were young. The others I met were weird."

"...others?"

"Oops. Did I forget to mention that?"

Boba watches her go. "I'm gonna punch her."

"No you won't," Din and Fennec reply.

Notes:

The sky: opens up, apocalyptic roaring and unearthly screeching
Din: hi dad :)

btw the Cthuvian translation is:
I knew nothing at all, I petitioned [Yog-Sothoth],
We shared our thoughts beside the darkest pit,
I know now the dark wisdom [Yog-Sothoth] imparts,
This dark pledge I seal with my immortal soul.

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