196TH ON UMBARA
“this is ridiculous,” pongs complained, watching as layout surveyed the dense neon forest of umbara for what seemed like the one hundredth time.
layout turned to pongs with a stern glare, and the trooper fell silent. “we need to hold this position long enough for master plo to provide us with the backup we need to take the separatist stronghold,” the commander reminded, raising the binoculars to his face once again. “without us, wolffe and his crew will be heavily outnumbered.”
“they should just bring more shinies with them the next time then, yeah? they’d sure as hell love to see all the action,” trapper chuckled, earning a grin from pongs in response.
“they’re young and they’ve been stuck on kamino for the entirety of their lives. even i was looking for some action by the end of my training,” rewire piped up from the shadows of a nearby plant.
“doooooesn’t make it a good idea though,” dents chuckled next to him.
cinch cleared his throat, gathering his brothers’ attention. “may i suggest we camp out here for the night?”
layout looked at him curiously, and the medic took that as his cue to continue. “master plo doesn’t arrive until tomorrow’s rotation, and we could all use a break.”
“i’m with cinch. we’ve been staking out the same places for forever now,” pongs whined, falling backwards onto the ground.
“you’re an arc trooper, pongs, start acting like one,” layout reprimanded, turning around to face his brothers. although he agreed with taking a break, he had no idea if it was safe enough or not.
pongs scoffed but fell quiet.
“hey hey hey,” cinch chimed in, filling his role as the mediator during arguments. “why don’t we ask the general what the best course of action would be, okay?”
the commander nodded, and cinch let out a breath before turning to look at general ilunatum.
the boy in question was behind them, looking intently at a holo-map. the soft blue glow only accentuated the bags under his eyes, and layout felt sympathetic for the knight, remembering that the general’s work ethic is controlled by the council, and not actual understanding adults.
pedal scooted over towards the jedi, catching ilunatum’s attention as the trooper put on his best puppy dog eyes. “sir, please let us take a break. we’ve been observing this outpost for ages, and nothing on our readings suggest an attack,” pongs chimed in.
no’a sighed, looking at his commander, who shrugged. “alright,” the jedi caved, his previously tense posture loosening.
pongs fist pumped, flopping down on the grass, and promptly passing out.
layout watched the rest of his men settle down into sleeping positions before turning to look at the general expectantly, waiting for the boy to finally rest his head.
what he did not expect to see, however, was the general grasp onto pedal’s arm as if it were a lifeline, and press himself into the clone trooper, curling up like a loth-cat.
the trooper looked up wide-eyed at his commander, who looked equally confused in return. “uh, general?” a couple of the troopers sat back up to witness the current situation, but the general made no indication that he was going to move anytime soon.
pedal tried again, with a shaky “sir?”. no’a only curled into trooper tighter. “just leave him be,” cinch chuckled, laying back down. “it’s been a long mission, and he needs rest.”
layout observed no’a for a few more seconds before shrugging and turning back to the readings.
pedal, seeing there was nothing to be done right now, just let out a deep sigh, resting his head on top of the general’s. the boy’s fluffy hair piled atop his head acted as a decent pillow, and the 196th trooper allowed himself to relax, slowly drifting off.