Chapter Text
21-0408 had no idea how, or why, this was happening. All he knew was that it shouldn’t be and he was scared . The Citadel obstacle course was for ten years. It was the final test meant for cadets getting ready to be shipped out. Not for a batch who hadn’t even fully reached their eighth year yet! Yet, here the five of them were; standing in the Citadel’s entrance with their trainer Bric glaring them down.
The siniteen had the same harsh look in his yellow eyes as he always did, but somehow this time, it was much more intense. 21-0408 was even more worried at the bubble of horror the look caused to grow in his chest, as he had no idea what they had done to earn it this time.
When Bric spoke, and he found out why they were there, the bubble burst and his heart felt like it had fallen to his feet. Air felt like water and he couldn’t remember how to do anything but stand there in a tight, terrified, parade rest.
“Listen here, you sorry excuse for sentients. We all know that the lot of you isn’t worth my time to even look at, let alone train. And I don’t have any intention of wasting another two years of it on you.”
“What does that mean?” 27-5555, or Fives as he had repeatedly insisted was his name, (an ironic fact in 21-0408’s mind because it was still a number ) demanded. His chin was stuck up defiantly and 21-0408 did his best not to flush at the way it made him seem untouchable. And far too attractive for his own good. Or, more accurately, for 21-0408’s good and peace of mind.
“It means that as of now, the five of you are on the cusp of your tenth year, not your eighth. I plan on getting your failure out of the way so I can put my time into cadets that myself and the GAR can actually be proud of. You start Citadel training bright and early boys, so get used to this place. You’re going to get your asses handed to you here often in the coming months.”
With a huge, nasty looking grin he pushed through them and out of the training grounds, leaving the five of them to stare after him, dumbstruck. The shocked, nearly horrified, silence was broken by 4040. Who after a long moment, finally let out a huge, gasping exhale before speaking.
“He can’t do that! How the hells did he do that?! We don’t even look like ten years! How can we possibly pass as a group of ten years! We’re practically babies still!”
“He likely hacked the system.” 00-2010 whispered softly. “It says we’re almost ten years, so they think we’re almost ten years. There are so many of us, they’ll believe the systems over even our own words in a heartbeat.”
“But 4040 is right! We look like babies!” Fives exclaimed. “How would anyone think we were nearly ready for combat! Think that we were about ready to be shipped out!?”
“They’ll just assume that we all just have a big case of baby face. That as a batch, we have some sort of gene mutation or something.” 782 said gently before adding in a more firm tone, “And if he wants us out of his nonexistent hair, we’ll get out. But not by failing.”
“What do you mean?” 21-0408 asked softly, unsure what his brother was implying. When it hit him though, he gasped and shook his head. “You, you think we can actually pass this!? As eight years!? This is the hardest test Kamino has! There are ten years who fail!”
“I know we can.” 782 insisted firmly. “We just have to work together and prove Bric wrong.”
“Then what?” 00-2010 asked. “They send a group of eight years off to war?”
“Eight years who have missed two years of training cus their trainer is a psycho!” 4040 added in a sharp whisper.
“They won't know we’re eight years.” Fives replied with a small shrug. “They’ll just see five exceptional cadets with baby face and send us off to the front. Really, we’re getting the better end of this.”
“Unless we fail and are sent to maintenance.” 21-0408 stated bluntly, before adding in a terrified voice, real fear gripping his chest, “Or worse, are decommissioned.”
The other four stared at him with near identical looks of horror and he flushed, ducking his head to look away. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. It just suddenly came to his mind and he couldn’t stop himself from voicing it. He really didn’t want to alarm his batch, but if they were deemed too much of a failure, decommissioning was actually a very real possibility. It happened all the time, or at least, it had before the Jedi stepped in. Some cases still snuck through, though, and if it happened to them as well, 21-0408 was terrified that it would be his fault.
782 was brash and headstrong, but he knew everything about weapons and was a natural leader. 4040 liked to laugh and always had a joke handy, but he knew how to get around failsafes and traps better than nearly all other cadets. 00-2010 was shy and somehow managed to get stunned at least every other simulation, but he was an expert in both droids and people. Fives, well, as far as 21-0408 was concerned, Fives was the perfect soldier. Charismatic, brilliant, brave. (Beautiful, though he would never, ever admit that out loud.)
21-0408 was all that was left and, well, he didn’t add anything to their unit. He was just the weird one. The odd vod who memorized things for fun, who repeated nearly every single thing he heard, especially things he knew were important. (Like orders.) He thought reg manuals were interesting and enjoyed looking up obscure facts for fun. Some days, he was certain there was something wrong with him because even his own body felt wrong and he couldn't figure why. There was nothing he brought to his unit, and he knew it.
He was sure the others knew it too. If they did, though, they had at least never said anything explicitly. They never actually pointed out when he did or said things that were weird or off putting. To his surprise, they didn’t even say anything about the stupid slip up he just had with the decommissioning comment. 782 just cleared his throat before speaking firmly.
“That is why we won't fail. Understood?”
They all nodded in agreement, 21-0408 the most adamant of them. He wasn’t going to let them fail. He would fix literally anything he needed about himself to make sure that he wasn’t a detriment. He wasn’t going to be the reason his vod’e were decommissioned. His childhood dream had always been to be an ARC, but he knew that would never happen for him. They were the ones who were ARC Trooper material. 21-0408 would do everything in his power to see them get there. Everything .