Chap. 52 - Past

Just as Commander Cress had predicted, the first jump of the two Rebel ships was nothing more than a decoy. Tracing a dangerous route that would make contact with the outer zone of the core worlds, and later traversing an asteroid zone at sublight speed, they would considerably reduce the danger that Gwori, their hidden headquarters in the outer worlds, could be tracked.

It was a long and agonizing journey of more than seventy hours, seventy hours where the crew could hear the cries of the Gossam refugees. They had lost everything. Their homes, their belongings and members of their family. There were even seven orphaned children in the crowd. The food rations weren't enough for everyone, but at least they wouldn't starve before they reached the Refuge.

Tova remained in the infirmary, who together with Wag Too, watched the two clones and made sure nothing bad happened to them. Boil had finally woken up, disoriented and confused, but at least he didn't have any serious injuries. However, Bly remained unconscious and sedated, as the crew did not want him to wake up before removing his inhibitor chip.

Tova: - And how do you know him? - asked the lurmen.

Wag Too: - It was a long time ago. My village was peaceful and far from all the conflict that reigned in the galaxies. Until one day, a strange group showed up asking for help. One of his friends had suffered serious injuries and needed help. They were Jedi. -

Tova: - Wow. It must be awesome to be a Jedi. - She said excited.

Wag Too: - And yes they are. - He said after a smile. - There were three of them. A Twi'lek, Aayla Secura. A human, Anakin Skywalker. And his padawan, a togruta named Ahsoka Tano. And next to them several clones that helped us

Hearing that name, Boil sighed deeply. Old memories came to his mind. Many happy memories. He could remember his former general, Obi-Wan Kenobi, "tolerating" his Padawan Anakin, and togruta, his Padawan's Padawan.

Tova: - Did you know them? -

Boil: - I still remember like it was yesterday when we fought side by side on the battlefield. My General Obi-Wan Kenobi not only led us, but had to deal with the crazy ideas of his Padawan, Anakin, and young Ahsoka. - He laughed loudly. -. The three of them formed a unique bond, like three generations of grandfather, father and daughter. As a result, the 212th and 501st legions worked together multiple times, and I met many of my brothers outside of my legion. Rex, Fives, Eco, Jesse, among many others, became my brothers in blue armor. Together with Cody, Waxer, Trapper and my brothers in yellow armor, we form an immense great family. Everything until that damn order 66. - He finished with anger on his face.

Tova: - What is order 66? - He asked innocently.

Wag Too: - Tova, I don't think it's time to... - He tried to persuade her, but Boil beat him to it.

Boil: - It's okay, Wag Too. You must know. - He said with great regret. - Order 66 was a trap. A trap against the Jedi. A trap used on us clones. When we saw the figure of the emperor show up on our holo-projectors, we couldn't help ourselves. All of us, each of the clones, turned on our own Jedi generals, our fathers, and fired without even being able to resist. -

Boil's story became darker and darker and without realizing it, his anger and frustration bloomed on his skin. Every word she said made him angrier, as if some ancient anger caged inside his chest wanted to escape. Tova and Wag Too couldn't help but look scared.

Boil: - Our bodies moved by themselves. For a few seconds, we had hundreds of false memories. We believed that our Jedi generals were nothing more than tyrants, that they treated us like mere tools, and that this order was the only option to save the Galaxy. For a while we fervently believed it, but when we found out that it was all about that damn chip in our heads, everything fell apart. I saw with my own eyes how dozens of my brothers decided to shoot themselves in the head in despair, knowing the truth of our actions marked us forever. The day they removed the chip from my head, he could see everything clearly. I remembered all those moments, and everything I had done. If it hadn't been for Rex... I... I... -

The clone couldn't hold back any longer. It was all too hard for him. Like an old scar that burned in the soul and perhaps could never be healed. He had to carry that burden for the rest of his short life, and even if he did his best to remedy what he and his brothers created, that would be something that could never be forgiven.

The clone clenched its teeth and fists tightly. He did his best to contain his pain, but it was too much for any one individual to bear. And only when she felt small hands on hers, was she able to come back to reality. With her teary eyes, she turned to Tova, who held her hands tightly despite her young age, and with tears welling up from her huge black eyes, she asked.

Tova: - That won't happen again, right? Will you never have to suffer for that again? -

The clone regained some strength to calm his spirit and take a deep breath. He raised his hand and wiped away the tear that ran down the little girl's face, and with a sweet voice he answered her.

Boil: - No, little naughty. Never again. -

The three present calmed down a bit, and a few long seconds of silence allowed them to calm down before Boil spoke.

Boil: - Oh. My apologies Wag Too. I interrupted your story. '

Wag Too: - Oh. Don't worry about that. After tone, it's not a big deal. -

Tova: - Yes it is. Please. I want to know the rest. -

Wag Too: - Very good. The teacher Secura and the young Tano appeared in the village together with a clone. Bly. Asking us for help to save an injured friend. That was Anakin, who was badly injured and couldn't move. Next to him was Rex, his commander under his charge... -

Boil: - In fact he was a captain. Rex never wanted to be promoted to commander. -

Wag Too: - No? Why not? -

Boil: - Because the commander of the 501th was Ahsoka Tano. -

Tova: - I don't understand. I know droids don't call commanders. But I don't know what it means. And what is the difference with a captain? -

Boil: - That's a long explanation. In Gwori calmly we speak. -

Away from all conversation was Icarus, who remained connected to the ship on the captain's chair without saying a word. He was engrossed in his computations, analyzing all the things that went wrong during his stay on Felucia.

Ignoring the fact that they weren't prepared to openly face an Imperial regiment, and that the mission was initially search and rescue. Too many factors slipped out of his grasp. First, the battle combining droid and organic beings was a complete disaster. While the droids were predictable, the organic beings were beyond his comprehension. They weren't that disciplined and most of the time they made little decisions on their own. It may seem silly for a soldier to take cover two meters further to the right than he ordered, but within the war machine that Icarus had on his computer, hundreds of thousands of these small changes greatly affected the operation of their strategies.

There was something he couldn't deny. Organics were very different from droids, and each was a thinking being. They felt and decided on their own, although their decisions, separately, did not greatly affect the battlefield. But the droid's mental rigidity was designed to command droids that, no matter what, they won't move unless he commands them to. This was a hard lesson that he learned the hard way.

In a way, the loss of the Alpha unit and the Punitive Guard was his fault. He didn't count on the refugees retreating to the safety of the trees, leaving the droids completely on their own, and of course, they were outmatched. This was something that he had to take into account in the future, since organics valued their lives above all else.

Second, many of the failures were due to his own attitude. The unnecessary argument with Mirana that caused Tova's accident. Although the woman might not be right, as a cool-minded droid he should have remained calm and paid more attention on the battlefield. And his reckless advance to recapture Tovo cost the lives of many resistance Felucians. Another fatal mistake.

He didn't know why he had done such things, but he did know that he had done them. And that his core was involved. Both times he acted "by instinct," leaving all his logical processing aside. That was a fatal mistake on his part. A mistake that had to be corrected at all costs.

In third place were the teachings of the teacher Shaak Ti, which although they were very beneficial, there were many topics that they could not talk about. But the most important was the midichlorians, that strange word that surrounded the Jedi so much, and that for some reason, its creator had named the nucleus that he carried in his chest.

His search for the truth was just beginning, and his first real battle against the Empire was a disaster with catastrophic losses. But if there was one good thing he could extract with the best of optimism, it was the knowledge and information he obtained. That knowledge was priceless anywhere in the galaxy.

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Announcement.

Quickie. I want to announce that the new fanfic: "Star Wars Fanfic - The Padawan Path" has already been published with its first chapter. But do not worry. If you were one of those who wanted to see the story of the creed in the galaxy far, far away, I promise the story will begin before you know it.

https://www.wattpad.com/story/346372756-star-wars-fanfic-the-padawan-path

-O-

I also want to remind you that if you like my Star Wars fanfic, or any Star Wars content in general, you can check out my other finished stories. I assure you that you will enjoy them.

https://www.wattpad.com/story/335099403-star-wars-fanfic-the-squad-236

https://www.wattpad.com/story/335230949-star-wars-fanfic-the-clone-jedi

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