Please! Lord I am begging to any being willing to listen! I have been scouring the internet for any information even the slightest hint that Alpha-17 is alive and doing reasonably well. Even if he is just in stasis like Kix was. I have found nothing. Not even a modicum of hope. He can't have just disappeared like that with no trace. The most badass clone trooper who trained the likes of our favorites: Cody, Rex, Wolffe, Bacara, Neyo, Fives, Echo, the whole nine. He can't have just disappeared and was never to be seen again! The disrespect. I can't fathom this man just being forgotten and thrown to the waist side like that. Ventress doesn't even mention him in the Bad Batch he is just forgotten and I won't stand for it. Alpha-17, Fordo, and Maze were some of the most badass clone troopers to ever exist. Fordo earned the Chancellor's medal of honor even though he gave it to his fallen brother he still earned it. No other clone trooper has ever earned that medal not even Alpha-17. They inspired and created the clones we all know and love that we inevitably and tragically lost.
Alpha-17 is part of the original batch of clone troopers. Trained by Jango Fett himself, the Alpha troopers are more intense than many of the following generations. After a few successful missions with Obi-Wan Kenobi, Alpha-17 was assigned to train ARC troopers on Kamino.
Alpha-17 + “Hey. Look at me.” + Dark - gn!reader
- 5.1k words. You have information about a new Separatist weapon. Alpha is assigned to deliver you to the Republic.
Alpha-17 + Plus-Sized Reader - gn!reader
- 2.2k words. An ill-advised scrolling session leaves you feeling insecure about your appearance. Alpha has some thoughts.
Alpha-17 + Sick Reader - gn!reader
- 4.2k words. You’re on a mission and don’t have time to be sick. Even if everyone in the running bet wants you to be. Fortunately, Alpha isn’t willing to let you be sick, either.
Series: Alpha-17 x fem!reader
Gar Cabur
- 94k words. You are sent to Kamino to compile a report on the clone troopers. You find more than you bargained for with a compound of flirty cadets. Alpha decides to help you out.
Gar Cyare
- 63k words (and ongoing). The early days of your relationship with Alpha are filled with challenges - both external and between the two of you.
As the header says, Rambles are a clone trooper-augmented journal-style writing exercise. The events are true, the clone troopers are only visible to me.
Warnings: bad mood, me not being a very good roommate or friend.
---
Bad Mood
“Okay, consider this your first and only warning,” I announced, drawing the attention of my roommates and all the troopers hanging out in my apartment that day. “I’m in a terrible mood and it’s not getting better. I’m going to keep to myself, but there’s a strong chance I’m going to end up yelling at someone today. I'm sorry and I’ll apologize again afterward, but I wanted to get this conversation out of the way.”
With that said, I turned around and went back into my room. Being in a bad mood already sucked, but I especially hated it when I couldn’t figure out why I was upset.
Feelings don’t have to make sense, I told myself. It didn’t help.
I had always been very aware of my own feelings and actions. There was a reason for most moods I experienced, especially as someone who was logical to a fault. But this mood had come out of nowhere and didn’t have an obvious cause. I hated those - they almost always boiled down to something existential that took a lot of effort to fix.
After a few minutes trying to find something I wanted to do, I resigned myself to it. I was well and truly irritated. I could either stay in my room and sulk or I could pick one thing and force myself to do it.
At last, I decided to go on a walk. If nothing else, it would get me out of the apartment and away from my roommates. They hadn’t done anything wrong, and I wanted to avoid being awful to them if I could help it.
“Going for a walk,” I explained shortly as I pulled on my shoes, grabbed my keys and left before anyone could say anything.
When I had covered a pretty solid distance, I finally paid attention to who was around me. Rex, Boss, Alpha, and Wolffe were trailing a bit behind, but definitely walking with me.
“I was serious,” I warned them. “I’m in a shitty mood.”
“We noticed,” Wolffe replied dryly.
“Then why are you here?”
“Because no one else wanted to be.” Alpha’s blunt answer, delivered in a completely flat tone, was still harsh nonetheless.
Boss cleared his throat softly. “The four of us have seen worse. If you yell, you yell. We know we can handle whatever you end up saying or doing.”
That somehow managed to make me feel worse. I started to jog, trying to clear my mind of everything but the rhythm of my muscles working as I propelled myself along.
But, of course, that was the description of running I had read in a book. In reality, jogging sucked and I was immediately out of breath. Still, I pushed through it because the burning in my lungs almost felt good in my current state of mind.
The troopers easily kept pace with me as I ran. When I finally slowed into a walk, they slowed as well, none of them breathing nearly as hard as I was by that point.
“I thought you said jogging was the most socially acceptable form of self-hatred?” Rex checked.
I chuckled - partially at my own wit, but mostly at the judgmental looks of Boss and Alpha. Wolffe, who had heard me say that before, just ignored all of us.
“I still stand by that,” I told him. “But I just needed to.”
“And now?” Boss asked.
“Well, I’m not ready to go back home,” I mused. “I’m going to walk a little longer, try to figure out what’s wrong.”
They didn't argue, so I kept walking. I didn't bother making conversation and I left my phone in my pocket. I didn’t want any distractions. In the nebulousness of walking and not thinking, a profound dread fell over me. I had taken an extra day off, but my long weekend was ending and I had to go back to work tomorrow.
“I need a new job,” I realized, my surprise prompting me to say it aloud.
“What?” Rex asked when I didn’t follow the statement with anything else.
“I think that’s why I’m irritated,” I explained. “I dread going back to work. I’m bored with it and don’t want to go. That’s not the way I want to live my life.”
“I thought you loved that job,” Boss countered.
“No, I do,” I agreed. “I don’t want to leave it, but I thrive on a challenge. It was fine when I was working and going to school at the same time, but now that I’ve graduated, I need something more. I love what I do, but it’s just… it’s not enough anymore.”
“Maybe you’re angry because you’re angry,” Alpha suggested. “Doesn’t have to be anything more than that.”
I started shaking my head even before he had finished making his point. As soon as I said it out loud, I knew this was the cause of my bad mood. If this was something my subconscious was telling me I should do, I needed to get it done.
Before I could tell them some variation of that, Wolffe spoke up. “No, she’s been this way for a while. She said something about it months ago.” He gave a sidelong glance at me. “If that’s what you need to do, what are you waiting for?”
“Just to get back home,” I answered, feeling suddenly determined.
---
Previous | Next | Masterlist
Author's Note - This marks Alpha's debut in these Rambles! Figures he'd appear when I'm feeling the most grumpy.
Thanks for reading! You can find other works on my masterlist or sign up for my taglist here. (Remember, you can ask to be removed from the taglist at any time, just message me!)
Before you read: This should probably be considered chapter 13.5. Someone mentioned wanting to see the ARCs trying to set up you and Alpha. That's what this chapter is, and it spans the time from when you first met the ARCs to the current time setting. Enjoy!
Word Count: 7,700 (oof)
Warnings: ARCs being stupid, attempted manipulation, some situations that could potentially trigger claustrophobia
Previous | Next | Masterlist
---
Gaanaylir (Trap)
She was known by many names on Kamino.
There was, of course, her own name, but the men didn’t favor that one. They were clone troopers, and most men had some say in what their name ended up being. They had no interest in a name she hadn’t chosen.
Then there was her title. Administrator. A popular choice, but impersonal. It didn’t tell anyone anything about her other than what she did for the Republic. It worked in a pinch, but there were better options.
The most personal name option was neverd’ika, the way Captain Alpha-17 addressed her. Little civilian. Maybe it wasn’t as personal as it felt, but the way the captain said it turned it into something fond and far softer than the words themselves would make the name seem.
But the name the ARCs like best was the one they had come up with themselves. She had never been addressed by it, not directly. If all went well, she never would. No, the men called her ‘Alor’, if only so they could talk about her without drawing attention - or, on the captain’s part, suspicion.
She wasn’t alone, either. Captain Alpha-17 had his own ARC-given code name: Cabur.
Both the administrator and the captain had to have those code names so the ARCs could do what needed to be done…
Push them into giving in to their feelings.
The ARCs weren’t stupid. In fact, they had been chosen for their advanced training because they weren’t stupid. They knew something was up with the captain and his administrator. But they also knew that whatever was going on wasn’t nearly enough to make either one happy. And, most importantly, they knew nothing was going to happen if they didn’t give a little… encouragement.
It was a dangerous mission, fraught with too many hazards to count. From the horrors that would happen if they were caught to the look of betrayal the administrator would wear if they succeeded, the task took bravery and tenacity.
Good thing those were two pillars of being an ARC trooper.
—
Monnk worked on the smallest possible scale.
He hadn’t been the first ARC-in-training to meet her - that had been Neyo, the di’kut - but he had been one of the earlier ones. He had certainly met her earlier than Drift, which wasn’t saying much. If Alpha could have kept Drift from ever meeting her, he would have.
But Monnk did know that she and Captain Alpha had first met sharing a meal in the mess, so his subtle efforts were just to mention that. He encouraged the captain to keep spending his mealtimes with her. He would keep anything from interrupting their meals together.
Too often, Monnk had intercepted cadets intent on interrupting the pair as they ate. He redirected them elsewhere with persuasion or threats. They weren’t as scared of him as they were of Alpha, but Monnk did his best and came up with some creative stuff, if he did say so himself.
Evenings were even more of a challenge. Since ARC training ended in the afternoons, it seemed like the entirety of Kamino came to Alpha with questions they had or small tasks they needed him to do. Monnk ran interference in those situations as well, and found himself becoming one of the most trusted sources for information from the cadets and well-acquainted with most of the officers stationed on Kamino. He also got a better idea why Alpha seemed as harsh as he was - even with Bacara taking on some of the tasks, Monnk always seemed to be busy keeping the heat off of the captain.
When he got the chance to speak with Alpha, Monnk pressed his luck and directly mentioned the meals he shared with the administrator, usually by pretending to have temporarily forgotten that arrangement. “Did you want to meet up during lunch to talk about-? Ah, sorry. I forgot you have a lunch partner. Lucky vod. We’ll figure it out later, then.”
So far, the captain hadn’t gotten angry about these little comments, but he didn’t seem to be particularly swayed by them, either.
Ah, well. Monnk would keep trying. Maybe he would turn up the intensity at some point, but this was enough for now. Anything more would be overkill.
—
“Drift, I swear to the gratii’la Maker that I’ll tear you to pieces if you don’t get us out of here right now!” the captain bellowed.
“Sorry, sir!” Drift apologized, only barely managing to keep the sound of his grin from showing in his voice. “The elevator just stopped! I don’t know what happened.”
Alpha continued shouting threats from behind the doors as Drift pulled his slicing kit out of the control panel. Drift tucked the kit neatly into the pouch on his belt as he chuckled at the occasional Mando’a obscenity the captain tossed into his tirade, half-wishing he could see his commanding officer’s face.
“Alpha!” the administrator chided, her voice only barely audible through the doors between them and Drift. “I’m sure he had nothing to do with it. Why would Drift want to get us stuck in an elevator?”
“What are you laughing about?” Faie asked, approaching with Bacara. “Did you trick another cadet into calling a Kaminoan something inappropriate?”
“Not exactly,” Drift told him, beaming as the sound of quiet conversation reached his ears. They were talking, and that was the precursor to other things.
Bacara’s eyes traveled past Drift, widening as they scanned the panel and found it slightly askew. “Is that-?”
Drift pushed the panel fully back into place. “Alor and Cabur? Yeah.”
“Are you insane?” Faie hissed. “The captain’s gonna kill you.”
“We all knew it was just a matter of time,” Drift said flippantly. “But this might be enough to convince them.”
Bacara shouldered his way past Drift, clearly aiming for the panel while Drift hovered behind him, ready to pull his vod away if he started to undo Drift’s hard work. Instead, Bacara just popped the panel open again, entered a long code into the miniscule keypad, and keyed in his datapad’s frequency.
Then he, Faie, and Drift watched as a grainy cam feed flickered to life on the small screen. The administrator and her captain were standing close - a necessary thing in such a confined space - but they weren’t touching. They were talking, though, and the captain was wearing the softest expression Drift had ever seen on his scarred face.
“Turn on the sound,” he urged. “I wanna hear what they’re saying.”
“I dunno,” Faie told him, eying the way the administrator’s hand settled lightly on the captain’s forearm. “Looks like a private conversation to me.”
“Exactly!” Drift told him, exasperated as he pressed what he guessed to be the correct button on the control panel.
It worked… in a way. A long beep came from the datapad, but it clearly had sounded inside of the elevator as well. Alpha and the administrator pulled apart, their conversation broken off as they glanced around.
“Osik,” Drift breathed, frowning when the expletive was repeated a second later from the screen. He had activated some kind of internal comm system.
Fortunately, Bacara had enough presence of mind to cover him and keep their self-instigated mission from being discovered. “Captain, it’s Bacara. Faie, Drift, and I are working to fix the elevator.”
Alpha snorted, his derision clear even through the tiny speaker of the datapad. “I’d rather not leave our safety to other people. Especially if Drift is one of those other people.”
He raised a large fist, clearly aiming for the control panel inside of the elevator as the administrator’s mouth fell into a stunned gape. Bacara made an aborted move toward the control panel and Drift had time to let out a panicked breath as Faie stared at him, wild-eyed. If Alpha destroyed an elevator that worked perfectly and had just been temporarily stalled, there would be hell to pay from the Kaminoans.
“Captain, wait!” he demanded, pushing the panel open once more, flicking a switch and pressing the four buttons necessary to restart power to the elevator. “We have it figured out now. The elevator will stop on the next floor down, then you can take it wherever you need to go.”
“Kriff that,” Alpha swore. “We’re taking the stairs from now on.”
And when the elevator doors opened on the next floor down, Alpha stomped out, leaving the administrator to trail in his wake.
Faie sighed, shaking his head at Drift. “You’re an idiot, vod. But I’ll give you this: I think I’ve figured out what I’m going to do for my push.”
Bacara disconnected his datapad and walked away with Faie, leaving Drift to put the panel back like he had found it. As he worked, Drift thought about his attempt, analyzing the successes and failures of it. Maybe it wasn’t the most elegant solution, but it hadn’t been a total loss, either.
He wouldn’t give up on it.
—
It didn’t take long for Faie to plan out his attempt. The most time-consuming part of the whole thing was waiting for the right situation to present itself. He needed to be in ARC training, working on defensive and offensive maneuvers, and he needed her to be there.
The administrator being in the ARC training area wasn’t exactly a rare thing, but it wasn’t common, either. That mirshepar'la report took up most of her time. Everyone knew it was busy work, a way of keeping the Senate occupied while the GAR and the troopers did the real work of fighting the Separatists. Well, maybe the administrator didn’t know it… but how could she not? An infant could see that.
In any case, Drift’s stunt with the elevator had given Faie the inspiration he needed to make his plans, and when she came to quietly observe the ARC training, he knew he had found his opportunity. Bacara had pointedly refused to participate in the mission, but he was usually fine with supporting the others in their work. That day, he had triggered a small electric charge that had temporarily frozen the administrator’s datapad. She was paying full attention to the training, guaranteed to see everything that Faie was planning.
“Captain?” he called, attracting Alpha’s attention. “Could you give another demonstration of Maneuver 127? I’d be interested to know how you adjust for the weight of a kama.”
Maneuver 127 was a tricky, showy motion. It required a trooper to fling himself into the air, twist to kick an opponent of equal or greater height, and spiral himself back into position to land on his feet and keep fighting. It was one of the most technically difficult movements in the entirety of Advanced Recon Commando training, and Alpha had perfected it before any of these men had been decanted.
The man in question frowned at Faie. “We went over that move two days ago and you have questions about it now?”
Even for the sake of the mission, Faie bristled at being found lacking. “I understood the rest of it, but I didn’t consider the kama’s effect on balance until today, sir.”
Alpha sighed. “Fine, but watch closely. I’m supposed to be training you sharala men, not putting on a show for you.”
As the captain strode to the middle of the training space, Faie noted with smugness that the administrator was watching him closely. Her attention was fixed on Alpha almost constantly, but it was good to know for certain that she was going to witness his competence and combat abilities. Faie couldn’t think of anything that would impress a female more.
Alpha’s muscles tensed and he leapt into the air, performing every motion perfectly. The kick he delivered was swift, sharp, and brutal - it would disable a droid immediately and any nat-born would beg for mercy just at the threat of it.
When Alpha landed on his feet once more, he glanced around the room. “And that’s how you balance. Any more que-?”
He had cut himself off as his eyes landed on the administrator, who was shaking with silent laughter. She noticed that he was watching her and waved her hands apologetically. “Sorry, I- I’m sorry! That was just… I never knew you were so spinny! It was-” she cut herself off and cleared her throat, striving for a serious tone. “It was very impressive.”
Alpha’s face took on a hint of red under his tan and glared at Faie. “Ten laps, men!”
As Faie ran, trying to figure out what had gone wrong, Neyo passed by and tossed him a sympathetic look. “Alor’s a tough one to crack, huh, vod?”
Faie couldn’t agree more.
—
The second time wasn't his fault, not really.
Drift had been just around a corner when he heard Alpha's exasperated huff emanating from a nearby storage room. "It's not in here, neverd'ika."
The administrator sighed. "Alpha, just- Yes, it is. I just saw it."
Drift peeked around the corner. Alpha was indeed inside a storage closet and his administrator was waiting outside. The lights were off and he was rummaging around on the last shelf, his broad back aimed toward the door.
"You get it, then," the captain huffed. "I don't see it in here at all."
"The whole reason I asked you is because I can't reach it!"
"I can't reach what isn't in here!"
"This is ridiculous," she muttered, stepping into the small storage closet while Drift watched from around his corner.
When Alpha didn't leave the closet or turn around, the opportunity officially became too good to pass up. In seconds, Drift had sprinted up, closed the door, and activated the exterior lock.
The shouts and fists against the inside of the door started instantly, but Drift ignored them all. Instead, he retreated around the corner - safely out of earshot, with the noise in the closet - and activated the group comm frequency the ARCs-in-training had set up.
“Alor and Cabur mission completed,” he reported.
“There’s no way,” Neyo denied instantly.
A sigh that could only have come from Faie emanated from the speakers. “He means he’s trapped them in another elevator.”
“Ooh, bad idea,” Monnk said. “Captain’s gonna kill you.”
“Not if he’s busy enjoying life with his new girlfriend,” Drift countered. “I just need to figure out how to get from this point to that one. Any ideas?”
“Here’s an idea: run,” Monnk advised, and the other ARCs agreed. “You need to be far away from there when Cabur gets out.”
Drift opened his mouth to argue, but a cadet turned the corner, heard Alpha’s demands to be let out, and started for the control panel beside the door. Then he was too busy running to think up a witty reply.
—
Neyo wasn’t afraid of anyone or anything. It was part of what had signaled him out as an ideal ARC candidate. More than once, his quick actions and fearless demeanor had been the difference between life and death - not only his own, but those of his brothers and general.
Those skills translated well to ARC training, but Neyo wouldn't have guessed that they could be applied to a conversation between himself and his ARC trainer.
Still, his mind was working overtime as he decided on a day. After the day’s training had ended - and Bacara had helpfully ushered the other men out of the ARC training area - Neyo approached Captain Alpha-17.
"Captain, can we have an honest conversation?" he asked.
Alpha stared at him for a moment, eyeing him skeptically before he checked his chrono and gave a slight sigh. "Fine, but… hurry. I have places to be."
"Meeting your civvie - I know. That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Neyo told him quickly, seizing the conversational opening as soon as it appeared. He didn't miss the way Alpha's expression shuttered, turning icy as he gave a tight nod.
Realizing that was all the invitation he would get, Neyo got straight to the point. "You like her."
Alpha blinked, startled at first, then incredulous. "Like h- Of course I like her! Why would I spend so much time with someone I can't kriffing stand?"
"That isn't what-" Neyo broke off, adjusting the trajectory of his point. "I meant that you clearly have a romantic interest in her. You should just ask her to go out with you. I'm sure she would say yes."
The look Alpha sent Neyo's way made the ARC-in-training's blood turn to ice. Neyo's spine stiffened as every instinct screamed that he was in danger.
But Alpha didn't make a threatening move. He didn't even speak.
Instead, the captain simply turned to leave, holding his glare for every millisecond possible before breaking his gaze.
The minute that chilling look was aimed away from him, Neyo started after Alpha. "Captain-"
"One more word, Neyo," Alpha rumbled. "One. More."
Neyo wasn't afraid of anyone or anything. Theoretically, that included Captain Alpha-17 and his unfinished threats. In practice, though…
He decided to let things go.
—
The ARCs-in-training had to take a step back from their mission before much more progress could be made. A Separatist attack on Kamino had pushed duty before the pleasure that was - depending on the man - a toss-up between trying to ensure the captain’s happiness or thoroughly unbalancing him by putting him in situations he was unprepared to deal with.
On the smallest possible positive side, the attack gave the ARCs confirmation that their captain truly did care for the administrator. He had been unhinged during the attack while they were trying to find her, taking out tinnies with a speed and violence that none of the other men could hope to match even if all of their efforts were combined. And when they had found her, only to see that she had sustained injuries?
Well, none of the men had ever expected to see the legendary Captain Alpha-17 hobbled by his emotions.
Still, she hadn’t let it slow her down too much, despite the cast that wrapped around the lower half of her broken leg. She still spent plenty of time in the ARC training area… though there were also four new men to explain the mission to.
“So you’re trying to form a romantic connection between the two of them?” Tech asked, fiddling with his goggles as he did when he was deep in thought.
“No, of course not,” Faie denied, sounding offended. “That would be ridiculous. They already have a romantic connection.”
“We’re just trying to get the captain to act on it,” Monnk explained.
“Or the administrator,” Drift pitched in. “We’re not picky.”
“Code names, guys, c’mon,” Bacara muttered.
“Alor and Cabur, right?” Hunter asked. He didn’t hesitate or stumble on the pronunciation - trooper memory was too exact for that - but he frowned. “Were those chosen for a reason?”
“They’re Mando’a words,” Bacara explained. He had kept out of things for the most part, but he was good at running interference for his brothers. “Alor means ruler and-”
“Ruler?” Wrecker asked. “Why ruler? She’s not in charge of us.”
“It means ruler traditionally,” Faie told him. “In context of the GAR, it means something closer to ‘leader’ or ‘officer’. She’s basically an officer, or might as well be. Just one who doesn’t see combat.”
“Or shouldn’t have to,” Monnk said darkly and the group grew quiet thinking about everything that had happened during the attack.
“And Cabur?” Crosshair asked. He was easily the least interested of the cadets, but he had asked the question, which had to mean something.
“‘Protector’ or ‘guardian’,” Bacara said shortly. “He’s on his way here now. I’ll hold him up while you all finish explaining. I probably can’t keep him for long, so make it fast.”
They did, quickly explaining what they had done so far.
Crosshair snorted. “You’re all cowards. What you should do is flirt with her, make him jealous.”
There was a beat of silence as the men considered that.
Drift chuckled lowly. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do since the first time I met her. Doesn’t work. Besides, none of us want to die at the captain’s hands. That’s not cowardly, it’s… it’s a wise allocation of resources. The resources in question being my face and my ability to keep using it.”
“I believe Neyo’s efforts make the most sense,” Tech opined when they had finished. “If this is something the cap- Cabur wants, the best thing to do is explain how to make it happen.”
“Nah, Faie’s got it,” Hunter disagreed. “She was impressed with everything he did during the attack, so we know she likes his competence. He just chose the wrong move. Civvies don’t understand how hard Maneuver 127 is to do.”
Wrecker grimaced. “Females are tricky and I don’t know what would work. But I’d flirt with her. I’m not scared of the captain.”
From the amused grumbles around the room, no one believed him, but they didn’t contradict him aloud so everyone else moved on.
Crosshair looked thoughtful. “Why don’t you make this more interesting? Turn it into a bet. First one to push them together wins it all.”
“We don’t have money, kid,” Neyo told him, chuckling.
“I’m sure you have something worth betting,” Crosshair said with a shrug. “No trooper leaves Kamino and comes back without any prizes at all.”
"Just help Drift, Crosshair," Hunter told him.
"Yeah," Monnk said with a grin. "Drift needs all the help he can get."
Drift scoffed. "I don't need help because my plan is perfect enough to stand on its own."
"When I die, it's not gonna be because I locked the captain in a closet and he threw me from a platform," Crosshair snarked.
Wrecker laughed loudly, throwing an arm around his brother's shoulders. "Yeah, you're gonna die from shame when I take out more droids than you!"
"I beat you during the attack," Crosshair argued. "By a lot."
That sparked an argument between the two cadets, but Bacara’s overly loud conversation warned them that Alpha was coming into the ARC training area, his administrator trailing just behind. The troopers exchanged weighty glances and got ready to train. Their conversation ended there, but the second half of their efforts were only beginning.
—
Unsurprisingly, Wrecker’s plan was the first to fail. He had done his best to flirt with the administrator, but considering that he was a cadet and not one of the smooth-talking ones, his efforts were immediately unsuccessful.
The administrator had laughed, erasing the uncomfortable smile from her face. “You’re adorable, Wrecker. I’ll have to pass, but that was very sweet.”
Wrecker’s smile had faded almost immediately when she walked past him and he was faced with a glaring Alpha looming over him.
“You boys are new here,” the captain ground out while Bacara lingered behind him, ready to interrupt if necessary. “I’ve let you figure things out for yourselves, but maybe that wasn’t a good choice on my part. You and I are gonna go over some basic rules and you can share ‘em with your brothers. Sound good?”
“Yes, sir,” Wrecker agreed instantly, trying to swallow the nervousness away from his voice.
“Good,” Alpha had said, pausing an extra moment. “Are you ready?”
“Yes, sir,” Wrecker said again, mostly because it seemed like the safest choice.
“First rule: keep what you learn to yourself. The other cadets don’t need to know what you know.”
“...okay,” Wrecker agreed slowly, wondering what this had to do with the administrator.
Alpha nodded approvingly. “Second rule: don’t pick fights with the other men. You haven’t spent much time with them and you have different skills from the ones they have, but they’re your brothers. If they start something, end it, but you do not make the first move.”
“No, sir. I won’t.” Wrecker was gaining confidence the longer this conversation went on.
“Third rule: if I ever hear, see, or even think you’re flirting with a civilian administrator who is made uncomfortable by the attention, you and I are going to have a conversation that you will - not - like. Do you understand me, soldier?”
Wrecker had snapped to attention by the time the captain had asked his question, and fought the urge to salute as he replied, “Sir, yes sir!”
Captain Alpha-17 let Wrecker dangle there for a minute, one that felt even more intense under Bacara’s concerned gaze. Alpha brought his large hands together, slowly and methodically cracking every joint in his fingers before reaching up to crack his neck. The popping was loud in the taut silence, and Wrecker fought not to flinch with every sound.
“Great,” Alpha said, turning away from him. “I never want to have this conversation again.”
When he had left, Wrecker almost slumped in relief as Bacara let out the breath he had been holding. The ARC trainee let out a laugh clearly designed to break the tension. “Scratch that plan from the list of ideas.”
Wrecker could only agree.
—
Drift was observant. No one would believe it at first - and that was the way he liked things - but Drift took note of everyone and everything. It had helped him stand out from his brothers, and it had helped him take early notice of the way the captain and the administrator had claimed a particular balcony on the lower levels of Tipoca City as their own.
And so he took to haunting that particular section of the city, ready to continue his plan.
It didn’t take long to find the pair out on their balcony, and the door panel didn’t even need to be sliced to make it lock. Ever since the Separatist attack, all of the doors with exterior access had been programmed to lock from the inside, no matter where they were at on the compound.
It was the work of a single moment to engage the door’s lock – it was even soundless. The couple-to-be were none the wiser.
Drift knew better than to call his brothers to figure out the next step. They had shown a startling lack of understanding for his extremely nuanced plans, and were no help when it came to figuring out how to get Alpha and his administrator from ‘trapped together’ to ‘getting together’.
He was on his own.
Fortunately, Drift was an independent thinker, but he really thought quantity over quality of time together would sort things out. Most nat-borns believed in outside forces like fate or destiny. Maybe the admin would think that all of the times they had been locked into places with Alpha were because they were fated to be together and not because Drift was the only ARC-in-training with a valid plan.
In any case, he just had to keep them there. Alpha was a clever man, and he would probably try to slice the lock when he found out they were trapped on the balcony. Drift would block those attempts just enough times that Alor got to see how talented a slicer Cabur could be, then he would gracefully retreat and leave them to romantic bliss.
Of course, graceful retreat and respect of privacy were for later.
Drift pulled his datapad from the pouch on his belt, booting up the feed from the holocam he had strategically placed on the balcony while he was doing his prep work. It was a minuscule cam, impossible to notice unless one happened to look in exactly the right place on the outer frame of the door. And it had an audio feed.
When the feed displayed on the screen of Drift’s datapad, the pair looked peaceful, lost in the bliss of standing in each other’s arms - well, almost - and staring out at Kamino’s gray sky and gray ocean. Despite their depressing surroundings, both looked deliriously happy, like they were watching a sunset on Scarif instead of watching a midday gap in the rain on Kamino. Maybe love really was blind.
Alpha’s arms were on either side of the administrator as he stood behind her. From what little Drift could see of her, she looked happy with that arrangement. Still, Alpha glanced down at the top of her head after a while.
“I think we should go back inside, neverd’ika,” he said, normally gruff voice gentle and full of reluctance. “We both have work to do.”
She stirred gently, giving a sigh so light that Drift was impressed by the tiny cam's mic quality. “You’re right, Alpha. But thank you; I needed this.”
“Any time, you know that.” Alpha was still smiling slightly as he turned around to prod at the door’s exterior control panel.
That smile disappeared entirely when the door didn’t open, and he was outright frowning by the time he had finally accepted that something was wrong.
“What’s going on?” the administrator asked.
“Something’s wrong with the door,” Alpha bit out.
“Uh oh,” she replied, sounding more than a little concerned. “I’m not terribly afraid of heights, but I really don’t want to spend the night out here.”
“We won’t,” Alpha reassured her. “We’ll call someone to let us in. It might just take some time for them to get here.”
“...Do you have your comlink?” she asked. “Because I don’t.”
Alpha froze. “I… don’t. I left it in my quarters with my armor. Along with my slicing kit.”
Drift beamed. Without a slicing kit or a comlink, the two really were stuck out there. They would have no choice but to talk and, eventually, come to terms with their feelings. An extremely intoxicated Commander Hilltop had once told Drift that relationships took two things: chemistry and a crucible. While Drift had a healthy amount of skepticism for anything one of his brothers said about relationships, that one made sense to him. Alpha and the administrator had chemistry, and this was definitely a crucible…
“What are we going to do?” the administrator asked, her voice tight with growing tension.
“It’s okay, neverd’ika,” Alpha soothed, setting a hand on her shoulder. “I have an idea.”
His free hand rose to her other shoulder and Drift held his breath, certain he was going to see his captain kiss the pretty civvie… but Alpha just positioned her in one corner of the balcony.
“Stay there. I’m going to break the door down and I’ll need as much room as I can get.”
“Break the door down?” the administrator asked, watching Alpha with horror.
“Break the door down?” Drift repeated, watching the datapad with horror.
“It’s solid durasteel,” she continued. “You’ll hurt yourself!”
He turned and aimed a sharp kick at the panel beside the door. It made an ominous cracking sound, then began to beep frantically. The inner panel flashed with all kinds of interesting colors and warning lights.
“One more should do it,” Alpha reported.
Drift agreed, which is why he sprinted away from the door as quickly as he could. The cam feed on the datapad showed that they made it safely through the door in under a minute. Drift was long gone by that point… though he realized on the way that he hadn’t had time to close the door panel before he left.
—
“I hope you know what you’re getting us into,” Neyo muttered. “It didn’t go well the last time.”
“That is because you tried to advise him based on your own understanding,” Tech countered. “Why should Cabur trust your experience with females since it is so lacking? This information was found scattered in various places across the holonet.”
“That doesn’t make it true, kid,” Neyo argued.
Tech frowned at him, eyes narrowing behind his goggles. “Why would it have been recorded to so many different places if it weren’t true?”
“Because natties don’t make sense.”
“Do you have a better plan?”
Neyo sighed. “No. No, I don’t. Fine, let’s try passing on your holonet advice.”
“After considering all of the variables, I believe this will be the best time to speak with him,” Tech explained. “He is about to go see Alor, which puts him in an observably better-than-average mood, but the day’s training has ended, so the captain is less likely to be in a warrior’s mindset.”
“I’m always in a warrior’s mindset,” a voice rumbled from behind them, sending the same tension through the cadet’s shoulders as the ARC trainee’s. “Why are you men so concerned about my mental state?”
Neyo tensed, but Tech turned and breezily asked the captain, “Did you tell her that she looks lovely today?”
Alpha frowned. “No, I- Why would I? Is there something going on?”
“No, but it is always advisable,” Tech pointed out.
Neyo nodded, backing up the young cadet. “Yeah, Captain, he’s right. Females like knowing that they look nice.”
“That’s… not a terrible idea…” Alpha slowly conceded, seemingly searching for a way to think of it as one anyway.
“No, it isn’t,” Tech agreed. “You could also consider bringing her flowers.”
“Flowers?” Neyo tensed, thinking Tech had pushed too far, but Alpha only looked thoughtful. “Why? Did she say she wanted flowers? I don’t know if I could find any, but if she wants them…”
“No, she didn’t say she wants flowers,” Neyo admitted, knowing that in particular could come back to bite them. Tech glared, but Neyo ignored him. Only one of them was being directly trained by Alpha, and Neyo wasn’t going to suffer the consequences if Alpha thought they had tricked him. “It might just be nice for her to get some kind of gift. You know how hard she works.”
“She does work too much,” Alpha agreed with a slow shake of his head. “But if I’m gonna get her a gift, it’ll be something she can use, not some di’kutla flowers. Maybe a vibroblade, or a small blaster.”
Tech shot Neyo a triumphant look, but Neyo shook his head. The captain was smart, and it was too early to start celebrating.
Sure enough, Alpha’s eyes sharpened a moment later. “What brought all this on, men?”
“We simply thought you could use some assistance,” Tech said before Neyo could stop him.
“Assistance,” Alpha repeated, voice slow and dangerous.
“Yes, because you seem to have trouble forming a romantic connection to the administrator,” Tech continued, heedless of the growing danger. Alpha seemed to loom larger in front of the slender cadet as Neyo’s hands tensed, ready to pull him away. However, the feeling of impending violence from Alpha halted as Tech said, “It is quite perplexing, considering the obvious strength of her feelings toward you.”
Alpha halted entirely, and Neyo hadn’t even noticed that he had been moving until that moment. “Get out of here, men. We aren’t talking about this.”
When they were out of earshot, Tech turned to Neyo. He looked thoroughly disgruntled. “What were you doing? I had more information to share.”
Neyo stared at the cadet, utterly heedless of the danger he had so narrowly escaped, and shook his head. “You’re one lucky verd’ika, you know that? We’re dropping this.”
Tech snorted, but didn’t refuse. It was good enough for Neyo.
—
“What about Attack Formation 37?” Hunter asked.
Faie shook his head. “No, that’s a group formation. Still impressive, but more based on teamwork than individual strength.”
“Ooh, what if we asked him to demonstrate the right way to disable a weaponized flying probe droid?” Hunter’s dark eyes gleamed excitedly at the prospect.
Faie bit back a sigh. Hunter was a cadet, just a kid. Well, as much as any of the troopers could be considered children, anyway. These cadets in particular had been kept away from the others because of their mutations, which had led to them being far more mature in some ways and far less in others.
Hunter had been a huge help when the ARCs-in-training were helping to take out the Separatist infiltrators around Kamino. Without Hunter, Crosshair, Tech, and Wrecker, it was likely the future ARCs wouldn’t have been able to fight off Ventress. They hadn’t managed to capture her before she fled the planet, but they had kept her from getting the Fett genetic sample or killing more people, which was a better outcome than anyone had expected.
That being said, Faie was beyond frustrated with the way Hunter was straying from the task at hand. Yes, he was suggesting ways that they could showcase Alpha’s competence and impress the administrator…but all of Hunter’s suggestions were far less focused on finding the most impressive moves and maneuvers and far more focused on having Alpha demonstrate all of the things that the cadet wanted to learn.
With infinite patience - or as close as he could manage, anyway - Faie said, “No, that won’t work the way we want it to, either. Flying droid intercepts almost always involve the use of a net gun, which is tricky, but ultimately looks unimpressive.”
Hunter nodded slowly. “Maybe Maneuver 63?”
“That might work…” Faie agreed, filled with relief about an idea that would be acceptable… if not for certain other factors that the cadet wouldn’t know about. “The only problem is that it needs a Z-6 rotary blaster and we don’t keep one of those around, not for practice purposes. By the time we found one, Alor would have probably lost interest or remembered something else she needs to work on.”
Hunter sighed, but froze before he could finish the exhale. “They’re coming-”
Alpha and the administrator stepped through the doors an instant later. Faie appreciated Hunter’s gifts, but that hadn’t been very much warning. “Don’t say anything. We’ll figure it out and try a different time.”
“Cabur’s happy and so is Alor,” Hunter hissed. “We won’t get a better time than this.”
As the couple crossed to where Faie and Hunter were standing, Alpha was clearly trying to ignore them both, but the administrator smiled and gave a small wave in their direction.
“Hello,” the administrator greeted. “What are you two doing today?”
“Trying to figure out a tricky maneuver,” Faie answered, but Hunter interrupted a moment later.
“Captain, what’s the best way to disable the memory stored in a commando droid?” the cadet asked.
Alpha’s brows shot upward, then furrowed as he gave Faie an unhappy look. “That’s the tricky maneuver, Faie? You should know that well enough from your training, soldier. C’mere, kid.”
Faie did his best not to glare at Hunter as the cadet went to stand beside Alpha. “We’re gonna use Faie as our commando droid in this example. The memory storage is here.” Alpha’s fingertips connected roughly with Faie’s body-glove clad chest. “You’ll have to hit hard to get through the durasteel plating in the way. Your best bet is shooting it, aiming for the small maintenance panel here.”
Faie fought not to wince at the second hard prod to his chest.
“I understand, sir,” Hunter said quickly.
“Good,” Alpha approved, sending Faie a dark look. “Faie, where is the memory storage in a B-1 battle droid?”
“In its head, sir,” Faie replied immediately, struck with an idea at the same time. “Maybe you should explain to Hunter how he would remove a B-1’s head by hand if it ever became necessary.”
Alpha’s frown deepened. “He’s a cadet. He would have to use tools - knowing him, a vibroknife would be his first choice.”
“I could use an explanation for when I’m fully-grown, sir,” Hunter told him, eyes brightening in the way they did when he sensed that he could learn something new and interesting.
Alpha snorted. “Tell you what, kid: when you’re fully-grown, find me and I’ll show you then. Deal?”
“Yes, sir,” Hunter agreed.
“Faie.”
“Yes, sir?” Faie asked, a little surprised to be addressed again.
“By the end of the week, I want to see that you’ve logged at least two non-instruction hours on the droid component module.” Alpha crossed his arms over his chest and the administrator looked sympathetically at Faie.
“Yes, sir,” Faie agreed tiredly.
Alpha nodded and left, the administrator by his side.
“So…” Hunter started hesitantly. “What maneuver were you thinking would work best?”
Faie shook his head. “Forget it, kid. I have two module hours to log.”
—
When he couldn’t sleep, Drift made a point of walking around Kamino’s training compound.
There wasn’t much more he could learn from the area - after all, he had spent years mastering every subject and practice activity the Kaminoans could develop and throw at their cadets - but he enjoyed showing the Kaminoans that he could get inside. Their security measures were okay, for civilian stuff, but rudimentary considering that they had trained a literal army to do things like slice locks and break into high-security locations.
One night, Drift was walking through a darkened practice area - utterly lost in the mad tangle of sleepless thought - when a lurching fighter simulator almost crushed him.
It was a testament to his training that he even noticed it, soundless as it had been, but also that Drift was equally silent as he leapt out of the way and turned to study the machinery. It didn’t seem to be damaged or malfunctioning.
It was only then that he heard the slight gasp from inside, followed by a small laugh.
“Did I scare you?” a feminine voice asked, still bubbling with laughter.
A slightly shaking breath answered that, followed by the sound of Alpha's voice. “I’m not scared of much, neverd’ika, but your flying skills are… a challenge.”
An offended gasp. “Excuse me? I’ll have you know that I am the safest pilot I know!”
“On Coruscant?” Drift grinned at the way he could hear the captain’s raised eyebrow. “That planet has a higher number of speeder collisions than the total population of most planets. Just because you’re the safest pilot you know doesn’t mean you’re a safe pilot.”
“I’m an extremely safe pilot!” the administrator lectured, met by Alpha’s disbelieving snort. “I am! I’m just not used to flying military transport vehicles.”
She laughed again. “Alpha, I’m grateful you’re taking the time to do this, but honestly? If it ever comes down to a situation when I’m going to have to fly a military transport to live, I’m probably going to end up dying either way.”
“Not funny, little one,” Alpha growled.
Drift’s spine stiffened reflexively at that tone. The captain only used that voice when he was deathly serious about something… and there wasn’t an ARC trainee among them who didn’t listen when he did.
To his utter disbelief, she didn’t seem even slightly intimidated by the implicit threat in Alpha’s voice. “If you wanted funny, you should have caught me after a full night of sleep.”
“Yeah? When’s the last time you had one of those?”
She fell silent at that, and the quiet lasted long enough that even Drift got uncomfortable.
When the captain spoke again, it was with uncharacteristic gentleness. “It’ll get easier, neverd’ika. The nightmares fade.”
“So you tell me,” she agreed, her tone much less doubtful than the words would make it seem. “Well, since we’re awake, will you show me again how to fly this thing?”
“Yeah.”
When Drift engaged the lock on the practice cockpit, it was a half-hearted gesture at best, but one he made anyway. The simulator cockpits were small, but they were designed for a trainer and a cadet, so they boasted two seats. The locks on the simulators were flimsy and mass-produced, easy to break, and he started to leave the training area without a qualm when he heard the administrator speak.
“Wait, I- I thought I heard something. I’m going to check…” The door rattled, but not hard enough to snap the lock. Not yet, anyway. “We’re locked in. How did that happen?”
Alpha sighed. “That’s been happening a lot lately. Probably Drift.”
She laughed disbelievingly. “Drift? Alpha, you’ll find a way to blame him for anything.”
“And I’m not wrong,” Alpha grumbled. “Do you want me to break the lock? It’ll be easy enough.”
Drift’s tired muscles tensed, ready to launch into a full-speed run before they could leave the simulator and find him there.
The administrator eventually said, “I mean, there's no rush. I'm sure someone who can help us will be by soon. We’ll keep working on this, right?”
“As long as you want,” Alpha promised.
Drift left them to spend time in the two-seater simulation cockpit, grinning to himself when he heard they had been released from it the next morning when one of the instructors had found them sharing the small space as they slept beside each other.
—
“So, men,” Monnk started before the ARC training for the day had begun. “What progress has everyone made?”
“What progress have you made?” Drift countered. “I haven’t seen you around much.”
Monnk shrugged. “I’ve been doing little things here and there, but nothing too crazy. I don’t need the captain catching on.”
“None of us do,” Neyo affirmed. “Though some people could be doing more to distract the captain and keep his attention elsewhere.”
With that, he shot a glare at Bacara, who held up his hands in a palms-out gesture of innocence. “Hey, I’ve been doing plenty, especially for someone who isn’t really involved in any of this! Not my fault I’ve had to work harder keeping a certain cadet from sabotaging everyone else!”
“Cross, really?” Hunter asked, sounding exasperated, if not surprised.
Crosshair shrugged. “No one wanted a betting system. I had to find some way to keep things interesting.”
That sent a generally dissatisfied murmur through the gathered ARCs-in-training and cadets, but no one seemed truly displeased.
“Well, all of my efforts turned bad,” Faie admitted.
“Mine, too,” Neyo agreed.
“A little progress for me, but not much,” Drift told them all.
Monnk sighed, rubbing at the space between his eyebrows. “Well, I think that settles it, then. We’ve done everything we can for them and it’s either worked or it hasn’t. They’ll just have to come to terms with their feelings on their own.”
“So we’re just going to stay out of everything?” Bacara asked carefully.
“Oh, kriff that!” Wrecker said. “We have to know what happens!”
“Definitely,” Neyo agreed with a decisive nod. “We’ll keep tabs on things, but no more interfering. Agreed?”
Everyone agreed, some more hesitantly than others, but the feeling of tension releasing was strong in the ARC training area. Whatever happened between Alor and Cabur happened, but it wouldn’t be directly caused by any of the cadets or future ARCs.
It was something of a relief to all of them. War was easy, but romance? That was tricky, something best left to the professionals.
Whether Alpha could be considered one of those professionals remained to be seen.
---
Author's Note - someone suggested this, and I'm pretty sure it was an anonymous ask, but I'm not 100% on it. Whoever you are, just know that your suggestion completely took over my brain! I hope you enjoyed your gigantic bonus chapter!
You can find other works on my masterlist or sign up for my taglist here.
