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CT-7558. Cause of Death: Friendly fire.
Larel had to stop and reread the line of the casualty report. They had just left Umbara after a very long and arduous campaign. Her master had been exhausted when they left, so she had settled down to handle some of the administrative reports for the 212th and 501st while her Master got the rest he needed. She had spent the latter half of the campaign with the medics- laid up at first then helping once she was able to talk Cross into letting her back on her feet- so the least she could do was help Master Obi-wan with flimsywork.
CT-7897. Cause of Death: Friendly fire.
Force… How many had this happened to? How had this happened? And why? She read down the list. Almost a third of a platoon had been killed by friendly fire… Her eyes fell on one last line in the series.
CT-7997. Cause of Death: Friendly fire.
Waxer. A man she had come to think of as a dear friend killed by his own brothers. She looked up from the datapad in front of her, swallowing thickly and trying to keep the moisture gathered at her eyes from escaping. She was in the common area. There were so many others around and it wouldn’t do to let her emotions get the better of her in front of the naval and clone officers. Peace, Larel. Serenity. Not grief, not despair, she reminded herself silently.
Instead she silently searched Cody out with her eyes. He, Rex, and a trooper they called Fives were sitting around a trooper with a stylized V tattooed across his left eye. Cody spotted Larel looking his way and gave the trooper a reassuring pat on the shoulder before walking over to her.
“Did you need something, Commander?” he asked, his searching gaze seeming to try to pierce her wavering calm.
“Cody…” she managed to rasp. “Tell me this didn’t happen. Tell me that this is some kind of error… ”
Confusion flashed in his eyes before he glanced down at the datapad in front of her, focusing on the line of the casualty report that she had stopped on. Understanding replaced confusion in the blink of an eye.
“Tell me that Waxer, Jet, and the others weren’t gunned down by their own brothers…”
Cody hesitated at first, glancing back at Rex, Fives, and Dogma before looking back at the young Jedi. She had grown into an effective commander over her time under their General, but it was times like this when he looked down at her trying to keep her emotions together, her lip trembling and her face growing red from the effort, that he remembered that she was just a kid really. Still he and the rest of the troopers respected her. She treated them with respect and kindness, going out of her way to tend their wounds or cover their retreats.
“I won’t lie to you, Commander,” he said seriously. “The information is correct, but it wasn’t their fault… They were tricked and betrayed.. So was Torrent Company.”
“But how? Waxer’s platoon was sent to reinforce the 501st and… Master… Krell…” The realization sparked in her eyes and the horrifying implication it came with quickly followed. “Did… he..?”
“Yes, Commander, he did,” Cody confirmed with a sad sigh.
She didn’t need to finish her question. His General, her master, had had the exact same reaction to the information. The girl before him shuddered and looked away, her face twisting with guilt and grief for a moment as she seemed to be processing what she had learned. Cody reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, knowing the teen’s frequent line of thinking by now.
“It wasn’t your fault, Commander,” he assured, his usually rigid tone softened trying to be kind. “They were ordered out while you were laid up.”
Larel knew he was trying to make her feel better, but Force, that didn’t help at all. If she hadn’t gotten herself hurt she would have been right at their sides. She could have prevented that from ever happening. And Master Krell… a Jedi had done this. Killed Republic troops, tricked them into killing each other. No… a Jedi wouldn’t do this… A Jedi would never trick loyal soldiers into killing each other.
She took a shaky breath and closed her eyes, composing herself before she lost what cool she had in front of Cody, scrolling further through the report before she saw something on the casualty report that brought an amount of satisfaction to her that she found rather unsettling. She knew it wasn’t very Jedi-like to think that way, but sometimes she couldn’t help it. These troopers deserved justice.
General Pong Krell. Cause of Death: Executed by CT-7477.
The traitor had been killed by the trooper that Rex and Five were comforting. As she slowly quieted her mind, she could sense his guilt and worry as powerful as her own and she stood, walking over slowly.
Dogma looked up at her, fear crossing his face. Did he think she was about to punish him for executing Master Krell? She softened her expression and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“You did the right thing, Dogma,” she said quietly before turning, gathering her datapad and retreating to her quarters, leaving the troopers and officers standing there stunned that even a Jedi seemed to agree that Krell had deserved what he had gotten.