Chapter Text
Fox is standing guard over another interminable Senate meeting when he gets a frantic call from Hound, informing him that a General has made his way into the Coruscant Guard barracks.
A General. In the Guard barracks. Fox feels an icy dread course through him, waking him up more thoroughly than any of the seven cups of caff he had had today.
Quickly, he makes an excuse to the Senators in charge. It's easy, really; all Fox needs to do is imply that their personal safety might be in danger, and they are more than happy to dismiss him.
In only a few minutes, Fox is tearing through the city on a Guard speeder at speeds that he should, frankly, arrest himself for. It doesn't matter. There is so much that the General could find that would mean his men's deaths. The black-market medical supplies they're forced to bargain for to make up for their shortages, the non-regulation appearances that the Guards hide under their armour.
Any of these being found could mean reconditioning or decommissioning for the Guard.
Once in the parking garage, Fox jumps off of his speeder before it's even fully stopped. He sprints across the garage and through the front doors to the barracks, where he can hear raised voices.
Fox finds the General at the front desk, speaking to Hound and Stone. The troopers are not-so-subtly blocking the General's view of the inside of the barracks with their bodies, as the General gestures towards them. From this close, Fox can see that it's General Koon, Wolffe's general. Frantically, he tries to remember everything that his brother had told him about his general, but he comes up blank. He hasn't talked to Wolffe in almost a year, at this point. He doesn't know anything about this General, how he will react. How strict he is, how he will punish.
Because Fox is absolutely sure that he will not be getting out of this situation without some kind of punishment.
"General, sir!" Fox says, snapping a salute. "How may I assist you, General?"
The General turns. Behind his back, he Fox sees Hound and Stone sag in relief. Fox is the most experienced in dealing with natborns. Aside from that, he also has the highest rank in the Guard, which affords him some measure of protection against decommission.
It's not much, but it's more than the rest of the Guards get.
"Ah, Commander! At ease, please. I think this is simply a misunderstanding. I only wish to visit trooper Spring, CT-1101. According to the system, he is still assigned here."
Fox's blood goes cold. He remembered Spring. He was a trooper transferred from the Wolfpack to the Guard a few months ago, due to an injury that had taken him off the battlefield.
Spring had died two weeks ago, ambushed by a group of clone-haters on a routine patrol. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence. The transfers from other battalions usually didn't last long; they didn't know how to make themselves small, to blend into the background, a hundred other skills that were second nature to the Corries at this point.
But Spring was still listed as alive, in the system. Fox had personally switched his number to a shiny, Tooka, who had been filed for decommissioning on his first week from Kamino. Tooka had been so desperately grateful that he had given Fox a giant, tearful hug.
All Corries knew about this. None of them wanted to die, but they were all happy to know that if they did, their deaths would help other brothers survive.
But how to explain this to the General? None of the other transfers from other battalions had ever gotten visitors before. Fox couldn't claim that Spring had been transferred, the General had made sure to check that he was supposed to be here! Shit, shit, what could he do?
"Sir, trooper Spring is currently on shift right now, on a highly important mission. If you wish, I will tell him to comm you once his mission is complete," Fox says. It won't be a permanent solution, but at least this way they can stall for time.
It's hard to read the General's expression behind the breathing mask and the eye-coverings, but Fox thinks he sees his mouth pull downwards. "Ah, that's strange, Commander. I checked Spring's schedule before I left, and I believe he was supposed to be off-shift right now."
Fox feels a pit open up in his stomach. His hands want to clench at his sides, but he is too well-trained to react that way in front of a superior officer. What does he do now? What can he do to save his men? The General will find out about the decommission orders, and then-
"General, sir! CT-1101 reporting, sir!" A voice suddenly sounds behind Stone and Hound, who reluctantly move out of the way to reveal Tooka, helmet on, doing a shaky salute. It's easy to see that he's terrified, and trying not to show it.
Fox is terrified too. Tooka is trying his best to protect him, and Fox's heart breaks for his brave little brother. But this is a General they're trying to fool. A General that can read their minds, their thoughts. There is no chance that he will beleive their ruse.
They was doomed before they even started.
Fox can barely hear the General's next words over the pounding of his own heart, but he has to. He has to focus, to take the blame. "Trooper, I know that you're not Spring. What exactly is going on here?"
Tooka flinches, stutters, and Fox steps forward. His hands are shaking violently now, training be damned. "It's my fault, sir."
The General seems confused now. "What do you mean, Commander?" Behind him, Tooka steps forward, as if he is about to contradict Fox, but Stone quickly elbows him in the gut before he can say anything.
"Sir, I am the one responsible for this." Fox says. He needs to be the only one the General is looking at.
The General seems to consider him for a moment, then slowly nods. "In that case, Commander, could we speak privately? In your office, perhaps?"
Fox tries not to notice the sudden tension in the other troopers, their sharp breaths. There are very few reasons for a superior officer to want to get a clone alone, and none of them are good. Instead, he nods sharply, and manages to get out a "Yes, sir."
This is good, Fox thinks as he follows the General down the hall. This is better than the General punishing Tooka, or Stone and Hound.
This way, only Fox will get hurt, and, well, he's got a lot of practice.
The General closes the door behind them with a click, and it feels so much louder in the silence of the room.
The General sits at the desk, and motions for Fox to do the same. Fox moves his hands under his desk, to hide the shaking. "Where exactly is Spring, Commander?" the General says, calmly.
Fox really doesn't have a choice but to answer a direct question from a superior officer. "He's dead, sir. He died on patrol two weeks ago."
The General takes a moment to process this. He lowers his face, puts his head in his hands. If Fox didn't know better, he would think that he was grieving.
But that can't be true. No natborn would ever grieve for a clone.
After a few moments, the General lifts his head again. "And why, exactly, was he never marked as deceased? Why is there another trooper claiming to be Spring?"
This is the end. There is no way that this doesn't end in a decommission order for him. Fox can already feel the cold of the metal examination table beneath him as the longnecks tear him apart to look for his defects. Will it hurt, when they put the needle in his neck? He hopes not. He doesn't want to think of his brothers, the ones he couldn't save from the longnecks, dying in pain.
Dimly, Fox realizes that he is panicking. The world narrows down to a pinprick, and his breaths are coming short and fast. He can barely hear the General's voice above him somewhere, but he can't make out the words. Will the General be so disgusted with him that he'll just kill Fox here, with no trip to Kamino necessary? Will he-
Suddenly, Fox feels a strange sensation of calm overtake him. His breathing evens out slowly. Why was he worried about in the first place?
Fox looks up to see the General watching his breathing from his spot on the... floor? When had Fox gotten on the floor? He doesn't remember. He feels calm. The kind words that the General is saying make him feel even calmer.
"Yes, that's right Commander, you've got it. Just keep breathing like that. You're doing well."
In some tiny corner of his brain, Fox realizes this must be a Force suggestion. He feels like he should be much more terrified, but all he can feel right now is calm.
"Now, Commander, please answer a few questions. Why was that trooper pretending to be Spring?"
It's the easiest thing in the world to answer. Fox couldn't stop it if he tried. "I switched his number, after Spring died. Would have been decommissioned for no reason. Saved him. We saved him, can't save all of them..." He trails off. He's pretty sure he's slurring his words, now.
The General seems even more confused than before. "Decommissioned? What do you mean, Commander? By whom?"
"The Senators... the Senators always go after the shinies. They don't know how to act right yet. They always try to decommission the shinies, and I switch the numbers to save them."
Something in his statement seems to have made the General angry. The small corner of his brain tries to tell him he should be terrified of the anger of a superior, but he still can't seem to feel anything except calm.
"Senators are requesting that troopers be decommissioned? And no one is stopping this?" Fox watches the General pace across the room from his spot on the floor.
"Can't stop them. We can't stop them, rank's not high enough. I tried but he said no. He always..."
The General stops his pacing to look at Fox. He can't see the General's eyes under his coverings, but his gaze still feels like a weight. "Who said you couldn't stop this, Commander?"
"The Chancellor." Fox says, and he still can't read the General very well but he thinks he sees true rage now. "The Chancellor is the one who makes the most requests anyways."