The first thing he saw were blaring white lights and a square patterned ceiling. Beneath him lay a hard, cold metal table covered in a sheet as a guise of comfort. It was a standard medical bay, one designed for clones, made to be simple, sterile, and efficient.
“How are you doing there, Scratch?”
Hearing his name, Scratch looked up to see a face identical to his, looking down at him. Tan skin, cropped black hair, a prominent nose, and a helmet tucked under his arm. Though his features were remarkably similar, Scratch had come to pick out the subtle differences in each of his clone brother’s faces. While impossible to notice at first, the trooper’s right eye held a slight squint to it. Since birth, it had never been quite as open as the left. The tiniest defect had become his commander’s key feature.
“It’s good to see you, Commander Shadow,” Scratch answered, itching at the thin line drawn from the corner of his mouth to his ear. His scar, no larger than the line of loath cat’s scratch, had been the trait for which he was named by his brothers. “Looks like I’m in the med bay again. What idiotic mistake did I make to earn myself a stay here?”
Commander Shadow laughed. “You saved our operation, that’s what you did. But in the process you got a bit banged up by the Hydroid Medusa we were trying to disarm. Biological weapons like that are real terrors. I’m just thankful all you received was a bump on the head and a brief nap.”
“That’s it, huh? Then I guess I’m cleared for duty.”
“Incorrect,” a medical droid declared in a pre-recorded, monotone voice as it rolled over to his bedside. “CT-6983 has not been cleared for active duty. He sustained an injury to the head and must be kept for a brain scan.”
“I’m afraid we don’t have time for that,” Commander Shadow replied. “We just received another mission. The galaxy is in a state of high tension currently, and new battlegrounds between the Separatists and the Republic are breaking out every day. Some are saying the war is nearing its end, and if that’s true, we need to be doing our part to finish it.”
“If CT-6983 leaves, he will be going against medical recommendation.” Came the droid’s automatic reply.
“Do you feel well enough, Scratch?” Commander Shadow asked, a knowing look in his eye. They had spent their entire lives together and knew each other’s actions by heart. He didn’t have to ask to know how Scratch would respond.
“Yep, let’s go.”
“CT-6983 is scheduled for a brain scan in room 21B in an hour…” the medical droid started, but Scratch was already donning his armor. A small sense of pride glowed in his heart as he studied the gray plates, each designed to be a little different from a regular trooper’s armor. The design was sleeker and lighter, and the coloring helped him blend into the shadows. That was after all, what a stealth trooper was created for. Blending in, acting behind the scenes, and striking quickly to take down entire operations without notice.
Scratch smiled just a hair as he noticed his armor had been cleaned since their last operation. He had reason to suspect that one of his brothers had done it themselves. Perhaps another member of his squad decided to help out in silent appreciation. Reme or Shade would be the most likely candidates. They’d been stealth troopers before Scratch had earned the pale blue markings of lieutenant on his armor. Though he was younger than the two of them, he had garnered their full respect, and they cared for one another like what Scratch assumed a family would.
“I’m glad you’re up for the mission. I don’t know what I would have done without my second in command.” Commander Shadow spoke the closest thing to a compliment Scratch had heard from him in a long time. As he and Scratch left the medbay, winding their way through the uniform corridors of a Republic light cruiser, his commander began detailing their mission to come. “Our next mission is an odd one. We’ll be paired with Jedi master Ja-feri and his Padawan Luline Dumi on a scouting mission to the outer rim territory of Sy Myrth. Apparently, it’s Padawan Dumi’s first mission, so try not to give the kid too hard a time.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Scratch replied sarcastically, planning on messing with the kid anyhow. Suddenly, he felt a tug on the back of his head as his helmet was mysteriously pulled off. The force of it gave him whiplash and left his head spinning as he stumbled around to see the grinning face of a small, green Twi’lek behind him. His helmet drifted into the girl’s hands, suspended in the air by the force.
“If you’re going to mess with me, you better be prepared for me to do the same,” she laughed, only to receive a disapproving frown from her master as he rounded the corner.
“Luline, what have I told you about using the force for tricks?” Master Ja-feri, a tall, graying Lassat asked, his cat-like eyes narrowing in on his apprentice.
Luline suddenly appeared quite interested in the shine of her boots. “I’m sorry, Master,” she mumbled, her eyes slowly rising to meet those of Scratch as she extended his helmet to him. “Here’s your helmet, Lieutenant.”
“You can call me Scratch,” he winked, taking his helmet back, “I like someone who’s got a sense of humor. I think you and I could be good friends.”
“I would like that.” Luline giggled, happily running ahead of the clones. “Come on, I’ll show you to our ship!”
Scratch matched the young Twi’lek’s fast pace, surprised by how effortlessly quick she moved on her feet. As he followed her, a certain heaviness sunk into his heart. This was her first mission, and despite knowing she had likely trained for war her whole life at the Jedi temple, there was something different about experiencing it for the first time. Though this was only supposed to be a simple scouting mission, one could never be certain what types of risks a mission could entail. There was always danger, and if this mission were to be anything like his first one…anything could happen.
Scratch recalled the sounds of blaster fire, and it felt as if the shots were still ringing out in the back of his mind. The memory brought a series of battle scars with it, as he remembered a red flare of pain striking the back of his leg. The pain caused him to stumble and fall as his helmet flew off his head, and a rock cut into the side of his face, drawing a permanent scratch from his lip to his ear. His first mission gave him his nickname, but it also taught him how painfully ill-prepared he was for the realities of war.
He didn’t want that for Luline, or anyone for that matter. But he was a clone, not a senator. He held no say in such matters. His fate, like the fate of Luline, had been decided for them the day he was born a clone, and she a Jedi.
At last, Luline lead them to the fourth docking bay where a VCX-100 light freighter waited for them. It was painted with the red symbol of the republic on the door and lined with red and gray stripes along the wings. Two clones stood outside waiting with sly grins on their faces, Reme and Shade, the last two troopers in his unit.
“Look who’s back!” Reme called out to Scratch, slapping a hand on his back. “Did you have a good nap, or did the medroid wake you up?”
“I slept just fine, thank you.” Scratch laughed. “I’m glad to see you guys missed me.”
“I didn’t miss you,” Shade grumbled, messing with his fluffy black hair that certainly grew out past regulation standards. “I hoped you’d be out longer so I could use your blaster. The safety on yours doesn’t get stuck like mine.” He huffed, but Scratch could see right through him, he only pretended not to care.
He wasn’t the only one who saw through Shade’s cold demeanor. Luline watched the clones with happy wonder. “I hope I have friends as good as you guys someday,” she whispered to Scratch once they boarded the ship. She took a seat next to him in the cockpit and strapped herself into the chair, double checking to make sure the seat-belt was tight before continuing. “Master Ja-feri says that attachments are not good. He says they are burdens we place on ourselves. But I think that living a life without anyone to care about sounds lonely.”
“I agree with you, kid. You need friends to both laugh with and watch your back.” Scratch nodded, but quieted himself when Master Ja-feri boarded the ship, the two of them falling in line like children caught sharing secrets in the dark.
“Everything alright?” Master Ja-feri asked, taking a seat next to his Padawan.
“Yes sir,” Scratch answered a little too quickly. “We’re prepared for takeoff.”
***
It wasn’t long before the troop landed on Sy Myrth. Dust stirred in the air as the ship touched down, fogging up the windshield and coating the whole ship in a thin layer of yellow sand. The outer rim planet, a little known location that fell under the territory of the Hutts, currently held allegiance to the Separatists, protecting their resources with battle droids.
“We made it.” Luline grinned, anxiously crowding the dirtied window for a chance to look out upon the desert planet.
“We have,” Master Ja-feri confirmed, gently taking his Padawan’s hand in one of his fluffy claws and pulling her away from the window to meet with the clones who had gathered in the aircraft’s cockpit. “Listen closely, everyone; these are the mission details. We are to explore and observe the residence of former senator Toonbuck Toora who recently fled to this system after being accused of participating in illegal spice trade.”
“Sounds simple enough,” Commander Shadow replied. “I would advise we split into two groups to avoid detection, with one Jedi and two clones per group. Scratch, you and Luline seem to have taken a liking to one another. I’ll trust you to lead a team with her and Shade. I’ll travel with Master Ja-feri and Reme.”
“We’ll communicate via comm, everyone stay attentive, listen for orders, and report in if you see any sign of trouble. Especially you, Luline,” Master Ja-feri instructed before lowering the hatch to the ship and following the entrance ramp down to the sandy ground below, his Padawan close beside him.
“Master, I don’t want to leave you,” Luline whispered to him in confidence before the groups split.
Overhearing her words, Scratch appeared at her side and gave the girl a small pat on the head. “You don’t have anything to worry about, kiddo. You’ve got me watching your back while your master is gone.”
“And you’ve got me watching Scratch to make sure he doesn’t come back with any more scratches than he already has.” Shade teased, earning a small bout of giggles from the Padawan and an angry glare from his Lieutenant.
The two parties trekked through sand and strom for several miles, resting on the dunes and using them as cover as they made their approach. Just as the pointed spires of Toonbuck Toora’s residence appeared on the horizon, a blue indicator light flashed in the corner of Scratch’s vision.
“Incoming transmission,” Shade said aloud, apparently seeing the indicator light too, before following through and listening to it.
A gravelly voice sounded in Scratch’s helmet as the transition came through. He recognized it instantly as not belonging to any of his party’s members, but to that of Chancellor Palpatine. “Execute order 66…”
“Something’s wrong,” Luline whispered before the transmission in Scratch’s helmet even concluded, her deep connection to the force alerting her before anything even happened. She unsheathed her blade, her emerald green lightsaber’s light cutting through the monochromatic color of the surrounding sands.
For an instant, it felt like time stopped. Scratch’s head spun with the message he’d just received. Order 66 branded all Jedi traitors to the Republic and called for their execution. How could this be possible? Like them, the Jedi were only following orders…
Shade raised his blaster. With what could only be described as mindless mechanics, he pivoted to face Luline.
“No!” Scratch reached for his brother, attempting to pull the blaster from his hands.
Click.
The blaster should have fired. But it seemed the Force was with them more than they knew. The faulty safety had gotten stuck yet again on Shade’s weapon, and Scratch was able to pull the blaster from his hands.
“What do you think you’re doing? Stand down, soldier!” Scratch ordered as Shade dove for his blaster.
“I’m following orders,” Shade answered, his voice distant and removed. But all Scratch could stand to think was that this wasn’t like him. Something had come over his brother, his movements were mechanical, his eyes focused only on the blaster Scratch held, so intent on doing one thing. He was programmed, just like a droid.
“What are you waiting for?” Shade yelled. “You have to follow orders, Lieutenant! I’m on your side! We’re brothers! Give me the blaster and let’s finish this together.”
“If we were brothers, you would have called me by my name,” Scratch whispered, flicking a switch on the blaster and setting it to stun. “Don’t do this, Shade. It’s all in your head. We don’t have to follow that order…Luline is only a padawan. We can’t kill her. This has to be a misunderstanding.”
“If you support the Jedi, you’ll be branded a traitor too,” Shade replied coldly. “Which means I need to do what has to be done!” He called before diving for the blaster in Scratch’s hands one last time, before Luline reached forward with the Force and pushed him into a sand dune.
With tears in his eyes, Scratch raised the blaster and stunned his brother. As Shade’s body sank into the sand, unconscious, Scratch kneeled next to him. Hands shaking, he removed the helmet from Shade’s face. “What happened to you?” he whispered, emotion swelling inside his chest. The Shade he knew would never do this. Sure he was cold, aloof, and a tease…but he would never, ever, attempt to harm a child.
A hand on his shoulder surprised him, and he found Luline at his side. Her lightsaber was sheathed and she appeared surprisingly calm. “You protected me,” she whispered.
“What we were ordered to do was wrong,” Scratch began to say, before he was cut off by another blue light flaring in the corner of his vision. A comm, this time from his commander, Shadow.
“Has the Jedi been neutralized?”
Scratch froze. There was no doubt the voice coming across the comm transmission was the one of his commander, but it felt cold and distant… like Shade’s had.
“Yes,” he lied, trying to keep his composure.
“Any losses?”
“No.”
“Excellent. We succeeded as well. Rendezvous at the ship when clean up is complete.”
The blue light went dim as the comm was cut off, and the realization hit Scratch. He couldn’t go back to his brothers. He couldn’t return to the friends he had trusted his life with, fought beside, and considered akin to family. They weren’t the same anymore. Nothing would be the same anymore.
With a heart heavily weighted with grief, he turned to Luline and found her sitting in the sands. Fresh tears sprang from her eyes as she held a hand out as if to reach for the Force. “My master is dead… isn’t he?” She breathed, her arms coming to wrap around herself. “He’s dead…so many are dead…I can feel them in the Force. It’s like the world is screaming.”
Scratch looked down at his helmet, wondering if the screaming voices she heard were the ones at war in his head. The ones begging him to return to his brothers, to all return to the ship and just follow orders. If only he could leave his conscience behind. If only he could hit his head and cause whatever programming allowed them to go numb to the idea of killing those they swore to support to kick in.
Hit his head…
Suddenly Scratch realized why the medical droid claimed it was ill advised to leave without a brain scan. He wasn’t supposed to be behaving like this. Yet, as painful as it was, perhaps he was all the better for it. Perhaps this was as the force willed it.
Because someone needed him.
With heavy steps, Scratch trudged toward Luline, lifting the girl from the sands and into his arms. Her head fell against his armor, her tears turning the sand sprinkled across her pale green face to mud.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you,” Scratch whispered, knowing he would mean the words to his last breath. Luline was all he had left, and he would do everything in his power to ensure a future for her. A safe place she could grow up, away from war, and away from the fear of being hunted for being a Jedi. He was already in the Outer Rim, a place few would search, and as a stealth trooper he practically spent his whole life learning the art of how to disappear.
“Thanks, Scratch,” Luline whimpered, her fingers grasping at his armor and holding on tight. “You’re a good friend.”
“You too,” Scratch replied, forcing down the emotion that welled in the back of his throat. “I’ve got your back, remember?”
With a long look to Shade, Luline whispered, “No one has your back anymore though.”
“I guess you’re going to have to watch out for me.”
“I can do that,” the young Jedi promised. “But I’m going to miss all of them.”
With one last look at the dunes, Shade, and his brothers Scratch knew lay waiting behind the piles of sand, he whispered, “me too.”
Written By: Naomi Hernandez
Image Credit: Ashton Jenson & Midjourney software
Owl Things Considered 