460 days after Geonosis, Prudiii N- 5 trained clone commando RC-3222 on Olanet in his sabotage technique. Together they entered the droid factory on Olanet, which was regarded as a high value target by military intel, and sliced the main computer. Atin described Prudii as a "glib cynic", as well as adoring son when facing Kal Skirata.
What happened to turn him into that.
Behind Enemy Lines.
"Five per cent extra carvanium does the job." Prudii – Null ARC trooper N-5 – pulled out his belt toolkit. "Trust me. I've done a lot of these."
"And? Did it work?" Atin persisted.
"It worked."
"Okay, I'm not a metallurgist."
Prudii peered over the rail as he checked his rappelling line. "Neither am I, but I knew a man who was."
Atin didn't ask about his use of the past tense. He was both an assassin and a saboteur, and at the top of his game in both fields. Until Atin got to know him as well he knew his Null brothers, Ordo and Mereel, he would err on the side of caution. Nulls were as mad as a box of Hapan chags. There were only six of them in the army, but it felt like a lot more.
Republic Commando - Odds
Karen Traviss
.
Separatist Planet.
Outer Rim.
103 days ABG.
It was his first undercover op, alone.
He swirled the deep purple alcoholic beverage around the large glass.
He looked bored.
He felt bored.
He was more used to removing the enemy with blasters than being with them.
But when he had suggested the sabotage plan to Kal. He'd been volunteered to get the information needed to complete it, by his brothers.
He needed a metallurgist.
This one was supposed to be the best.
This was Mer'ika's forte but he was deployed somewhere on Coruscant with Ordo, on more important family business. His eyes scanned the opulent ballroom, taking in everything. Full of Mongrels, separatist mongrels; beings born with a haphazard combination of DNA, with no design just the will of the Galaxy. Or with so much design, so much in breeding along the way the resulting offspring lost their chins or their brains, or both.
He was superior.
Shut up Prudii, you sound like Taun We.
Many of them looked as if they needed an injection of new blood, any blood. So long as it wasn't his or his brothers, he didn't care. His mark wasn't here yet. His eidetic memory held the image of the man.
He sniffed the beverage; it smelled more like the vinegar you put on deep fried tubers rather than something you drank for pleasure.
He still wanted to be out there, in the galaxy, hiking with extreme prejudice, as A'den had coined, rather than socialising with intent, however lethal it was.
The Twi'lek servant announced the host; he finally arrived to applause from around the room. Prudii raised his glass in a salute, as the applause gradually died down.
Circling the outskirts of the room, he caught snippets of conversations….
"Palapatine has gone too far, now…."
"Dooku is right, we need to keep up the pressure…"
"These clones, wet droids. From a bounty hunter. Slave, lowest of the low. If I saw one now…"
You'd have to change your pants. Thought Prudii. He smiled at the image in his head. The man thought he was smiling at him, agreeing.
He heard the guttural tones of a geonosian droid master, he couldn't quite understand the whole conversation but it was about increasing the numbers being produced.
"The clones, they get everywhere, like Tooka droppings….." a joke was made.
He bristled and returned to his vantage point.
Some were dancing now, a kind of stilted formal dance with specific steps; Kal had called on Vau to teach him this one and several others prior to departure. He actually said he had done well. Prudii had looked for the knife in his back, while Kal'Buir choked on his caf when he told him.
He swirled the deep purple liquid again. He would have to take another drink of it soon, he supposed. He braced himself. He would much prefer a fizz pop.
"It's not the best vintage." An unfamiliar female voice disturbed his thoughts. "Its been corked." He turned and had to look down. His eyebrow quirked.
"We really need better server droids." She smiled over her glass. "I'm sorry, I've been watching you. You don't look as if you're enjoying yourself. Especially that." She pointed at his glass. "If you put some limon fizz pop in it. It's just about drinkable."
She produced a small bottle. He nodded.
Live dangerously, Mereel always says. It could be poison.
She poured some in his glass filling it nearly to the top and then topped up hers and took a drink. It was now pink and frothy; he had to drink it or spill it.
"It won't kill you. But I can't vouch for the wine."
All types of permutations ran through his head.
It was poison.
When added to the wine it was poisonous.
Fuck it!
He hesitantly tasted it.
It wasn't too bad.
"Kiron Draven." He introduced himself to the small female standing next to him, who barely reached his chest. There was a hint of gold on her, no in her skin, which matched her hair, a reddish gold and she had green gold eyes.
Everything was gold. When she grew up she would be quite stunning. He took in her dress. High waisted, some kind of sheer bronze covered material.
She blinked slowly at him, as he took her hand and kissed her knuckles, just as Vau had taught him. Her eyes were mesmerising.
Nictitating membranes.
"Drina Raull. Pleased to meet you, Kiron. Can I call you Kiron?"
"Only if I can call you Drina?"
He smiled, turning on the charm; where Mereel had found that out, he didn't know but he also knew that Kal could be charming, he had seen it and been surprised.
She nodded, smiling back and turned to look at the other guests.
Although he had been introduced and he walked in as if he belonged, no one else had approached him. The third son of an impoverished noble family from a planet which had only just reached hyperspace travel. He didn't warrant much attention, which was useful.
"So, are you as bored as you look?" She asked, taking another drink.
"What do you think?"
She studied him. The membranes flicking over.
"Yes!"
She grabbed a plate from a passing service droid and waved it away before it could complain.
"Hungry?" She offered him the plate.
He took four, they were only small.
"Thought you were. It was your eyes."
Prudii loved it when mongrels started talking to fill in the blanks. But had he given something away.
How?"
"Your eyes followed the food."
He hadn't thought he was that obvious, it was a nano second but one he would have to watch..
"It's okay. It's normal to be hungry. I could eat a Bantha between two loaves some days. Not like these." She nodded to the other guests, "Picking at the…..delicacies when…."
"When what?"
"Nothing." She waved him away. The membranes had flicked over several times in rapid succession, was that her tell.
"You have to make your own fun at these.." she waved her free hand around a few times, "events."
He nodded. She was using the wave as a distraction, or signal. He scanned the room.
Nothing.
"I take it you do not like to dance." She asked him, out of the blue.
"Why?"
"Well ... there are numerous beautiful women, and paid escorts" she whispered the last two words, "in the room and you have not asked one to dance all night and you're standing here with me. Who is neither of the aforementioned, I might add."
"You're…" he thought of the best way to phrase this, she was different and not conventionally beautiful like a full human, "not too bad."
He cringed. Oooh, Prudii you can do better than that.
She laughed, "I'll take that as a compliment. It's better than a lot of things I've been called."
"Like what?"
She tapped the side of her nose with her forefinger. He needed to stay with her because she was his way in. He couldn't believe his luck, as soon as he heard the name, he recognised her as the daughter of the metallurgist he needed to 'talk' to.
"Would you like to dance, Drina?"
"Are you asking Kiron?"
The way she said it, almost purring, did something to him.
"Isn't that what I just did."
She looked around the room. "I don't normally get asked."
"Why? Are you too young?"
"No, I'm old enough." There was feigned annoyance in her reply, belied by the smile.
"Oh. Sorry." Suddenly his confidence talking to females took a dive. He should have looked further than her height. Now he looked further, the high cheek bones, tiny lines by the eyes,the high waisted dress pushing some impressive breasts up and together.
Mind on the job Prudii.
"I know I'm on the small side, so you're forgiven." She smiled.
And because you're the most handsome man in the room and I have you.
N- 5, Prudii, Lieutenant in the Grand Army of the Republic, offered his hand and led the lady onto the dance floor, where they showed the rest of the participants how this dance should be done.
She felt his large hand at her back, pulling her to him, the rock hard muscles underneath his soft outer garments and the effect on her heart rate, she might even be blushing but it would be difficult to tell. She slowed it.
She wondered if he would take it further, or if the potential of seeing the Count would be too enticing for him. It was supposed to be a secret but she had overheard her step father talking, the reason they were late attending and they knew the Republic was sending someone.
They had not expected a Clone spy.
Walking off the dancefloor, they lifted a glass from one of the serving droids, "The Count will be here soon." She whispered, as they reached the outskirts of the room.
"Count?"
"Dooku —a surprise visit. My step father and his entourage are waiting for him now."
This was an unforeseen complication. Even in disguise, if Ventress was part of the entourage she would recognise him as a clone.
She leaned in closer, "Would you like to take a turn around the gardens?"
Lucky!
"Yes, if you wish but won't you miss the Count?"
"I've met him before. He gives me the creeps." She shuddered, to illustrate it. She linked her arm through his and they headed out through the double transparisteel doors that were dotted around the ballroom, down the stone steps and into the gardens. The music from the band faded into the distance the further they walked from the house.
"There's a maze here. Do you want to explore?"
"Why not!"
He'd never been in a maze before, the only Maze he knew was the Alpha attached to the new General— Zey.
"So.." she said, leading him, "obviously the idea is to get to the centre, where you can rest and have refreshments."
"That sounds splendid." He did his best impression of Sergeant Vau and held out his arm.
.
It didn't take them long to find their way to the centre, there was food and drink there already and a formal pond, with floating plants and swimming fish. A fountain spouted water from the top.
Drina walked along the edge of the pond, arms outstretched, balancing.
The Tooka came from nowhere; it was large, ginger and black striped and knocked her over, she landed with a splash in the pond.
Prudii smiled, it was the best pratfall he'd seen in a long time.
Then she didn't come up.
He jumped in; it was cold and deeper than it looked. He groped wildly until he found her and yanked her up by the arm. He pulled her to the side and hooked her over the rim. She latched on, coughing and spluttering.
"I'm sorry. I don't float well."
He lunged towards the Tooka, which was sitting on the top of the fountain, having its bum hole washed and swishing its tail.
"Hey leave Trixie alone. She was only playing."
"Dangerous play!" He glared at the Tooka; it lifted a claw and licked it clean, making a point to ignore him.
He helped her out of the pond and she rang her dress out.
His eyes travelled down her body and he could see it was an improvement clinging to all the correct curves; the ones he hadn't noticed before.
.
He finally met the step father as they tried to sneak in, so she could change for dinner.
"Drina?" An authoritarian voice rang out. "Where have you been?"
His mark glared at him.
"Trixie pushed me in the pond in the Maze, luckily this gentleman was here to help me. I'm sorry I didn't catch your name."
He played along.
"Kiran Draven, sir!"
He held out his hand; it was not taken.
"Thank you. I'll arrange for some dry clothes and see you at dinner."
He put his arm around his stepdaughter and propelled her away.
.
They were kept away from each other at dinner but Drina had some funny facial expressions and he knew exactly what she meant about some of the guests.
Her Stepfather monopolised her.
He touched her a lot.
Prudii saw her minute reactions to the touches; they bothered him. He didn’t know why.
He wasn't able to speak to her for the whole evening or even get near to him.
He was escorted to his room.
.
N-05 lay on the soft bed; softer than anything he had lain on before, his blaster lay next to him. He had five days left in the summit.
The door lock to his room clicked, he pulled his blaster out ready. The welcome from the stepfather hadn't exactly been warm.
His door opened slowly.
He cocked the blaster ready, rose silently from the bed.
"Drina?" He quickly dropped the blaster to the bed.
She turned and carefully closed the door.
"I thought you might come to my room but this is much tidier. Unless you prefer my step father?"
He snorted.
"I thought not. The blaster?"
"Always sleep with one. In my world there's always someone out there to get you, even a third son.”
"I'm not."
She crept closer to him, not a sound made. Her gold shimmer silk wrap was deceptive, seemingly covering everything but actually covering nothing. He had watched the stepfather at dinner. There was a possessiveness about him, and an impressive scar down his cheek. It gave him a dangerous air.
"Aren't you?"
"Not in that way."
Go for it! He heard Mereel's voice in his head. Take the chance!
He pulled her to him and clumsily kissed her; she ignored the inexperience and kissed him back, sucking his bottom lip into her mouth. He was already beginning to stiffen, when he saw her and that kiss accelerated it. His kiss turned feral, all teeth and tongue. He didn't know where it came from but it felt right. He lifted her up, she was heavier than she looked, there was muscle.
She pulled up his shirt, undid it and he felt soft hands touch his torso, pulling his shirt off. Hands that touched him before, had never been this soft, he groaned at the feeling. Before he knew it, they were on the bed, his memory replaying what he had to do. This was his first, real live one; he was hard.
"On your back!" She ordered him. "This is a joint operation and I go first."
He grinned and flipped them over; she positioned herself and sank down on him.
"Shab!" He growled, then she started moving, finding a rhythm that suited her and the noises. His hands went to her breasts of their own volition and then to her hips; he wasn't sure which was best but he had to keep control for a little longer. Didn't want to let the side down. He took a nipple in his mouth and sucked, teasing it outwards with his teeth. He felt her rhythm stutter then she suddenly stiffened, and spasmed before she growled and dropped down to his face to kiss him. He took the hint and flipped them back over wanting more control. He didn't know why but he grabbed her wrists, pushing them above her head, then braced himself on one hand and began, her legs were somewhere wrapped around his bum, and she was working his neck. He could feel everything, her nipples dragging along his chest, as he moved. He didn’t want it to end and then he did. All these feelings merged into one as he came, groaning into her neck.
He released her wrists.
Now he knew what Mer'ika and the others always went on about. Better than blowing up a whole transport of Clankers. Now there was only Ordo left.
He moved to push himself off.
"No— stay." Her hand slipped onto his neck and into his hair.
That felt good.
Then he heard something, and felt it; she was nuzzling his neck, purring.
It was relaxing.
.
The stepfather had disappeared and Prudii wondered if he himself had been sidetracked by Drina. He should know better. She said he was on his way back, in the meantime….
He dragged his head from between her legs, licking a stripe up her stomach to between her breasts, he pulled a nipple into his mouth preparing to give them more attention. He wasn't going to be picked up for three days anyhow. This was R and R, as per Mer'ika.
He braced himself over her, she blinked, the nictitating membranes flicked over slowly, they always did when she had orgasmed.
Her eyes changed, then he heard footsteps. They were too quick for him and dragged him off her.
A piece of cloth was flung at her.
"Cover yourself!"
He was dragged off but that didn't mean anything; he had the stepfather's attention now.
.
"Drina?"
"Kiran!"
She stood looking at her step Father, or what was left of him.
He expected more from her, although he wasn't sure what more. If his Father was sitting there a battered mess, hardly breathing, he would have been incandescent with rage. Instead she looked at him dispassionately, no that was wrong; she looked satisfied.
There were specs of blood on her jacket; they weren't from her step father.
“I have the keys for everywhere."
She walked around the remains slouched in the chair; bubbles of blood were emerging from what had been his mouth.
"You've been busy."
She never took her eyes off him until the bubbles stopped.
"You're lucky, your father, your Kal'buir." They had talked too much. "He loves you."
She looked back at the mass of rasping human remains in front of her. "Mine adopted me as a means to an end, an experiment."
"Why?"
"Do you think I was born like this? " Her hand indicated herself.
"I…" his hand went to her face, it was different but beautiful in its own way and he didn't want to kill her but it had to be done.
"No! He did this to me. He married my mother, then he killed her, leaving me in his tender care. His experiments failed on her, so he started on me. Changing me at a molecular level."
"Drina…"
"Do you think I want to look like this, like a droid? That was his intention, to integrate metal into already living tissue, on a molecular level but not cloning."
Prudii didn't know what to say. He had assumed, incorrectly, that she was a rare species.
"It started when I was two — the pain was tremendous. When I grew, had a growth spurt, my skin sloughed off, I thought I was going to die."
She blinked and the membranes flicked.
"Then my mother did."
Later he said he was treating me until I realised I was changing after every treatment. I studied metallurgy and droids, to understand then I knew what he was doing."
She looked back to the mass in the chair. The rasping had ceased.
She didn’t mention the other things.
"You're a metallurgist." Guessed Prudii. He had got nothing from the stepfather. This mission had been a learning curve. Nothing was as it seemed.
She nodded. "The Metallurgist, I surpassed him, on the droid side. What do you want?"
.
They stood in the isolated prairie, his ride would be here soon. TIV pilots had no fear.
"How are you getting away?"
They had come to an arrangement.
"Oh clone!" She sighed, "I have been planning this since before Geonosis."
"The name's Prudii."
"Prudii— good name, what does it mean?"
He noted a change in her voice when she said his name; he liked it.
"Shadow!"
"Pleased to meet you Prudii."
She really did sound pleased.
"Your father?" She asked.
“My sergeant.”
“Look after him.”
“We will.”
You need to make sure the foundry adds too much carvanium to the durasteel, and the quality control sampling reads it as normal levels?" She handed him the data wafer. "0003. The Machines will believe what you tell them. Just like people."
"Will that be enough?" He was still unsure of her, of her Intel.
"Any higher and it'll be too brittle to pass through the rollers. Then they'll spot the problem too soon."
Prudii took a breath. He was remarkably patient for a Null and still not sure where this was going. What he felt for her, even though he had known her less than a week and it was unlikely he would ever see her again.
"Look, you need them to reach the battlefield and then the overpressure from a basic ion shell will crack their cases."
He inserted the data wafer into his data pad and read it.
"Then just in case they get lucky and spot that you need to do something like reduce the wire gauge just enough so that when it takes a heavy current, it shorts."
She watched his face. He understood. Finally she could have an intelligent conversation with this one.
She might still in the future.
"Or am I speaking to the converted?"
"I'll introduce a different batch of problems for each factory, in case they spot a pattern."
She nodded, she was.
Prudii checked the figures, just as he would check if a 'kill' was dead. It was a precise calculation, enough to render entire production runs of droids so vulnerable on the battlefield that they were next to useless, but not enough to highlight the problem when the units were checked before shipment.
She knew her metallurgy. It would have taken him weeks to work out; weeks in which more of his brothers were being killed.
"Why are you giving me this?" Prudii asked. Her reply would dictate whether she lived or died—today.
She smiled, "Let's just say, I'm an organicist. Keep in touch. Stay safe."
She put her hand to his cheek, for a few seconds, kissed him, then turned and left.
.
Prudii's com vibrated. He didn't recognise it. He had ten minutes before he could check it. He was training—new ARCs.
He activated the hologram.
"Hi!" She waved at him like a long lost friend, she was, "you look good." He was lying in his bodysuit and he saw her eyes run over it.
"Thought you might be interested in this?"
A file came through.
"Everything is encrypted."
He opened the file headed, Ko Sai.
"Stay safe Prudii." She blew a kiss to him. He liked the way she said Prudii, it did things to his stomach.
.
N-5's com vibrated—twice.
"You going to get that?" Kom'rk grinned he'd heard that vibration before and his brother always went quiet, different when he went to answer it.
He went to the other bunk.p and plugged his head phones in.
"Hey there! You took your time. Not an awkward moment was it?"
"No." He grinned, he enjoyed it when she called.
"I'm hearing whispers of something called 'malevolence'. Can't get any data on it and my contacts have gone quiet. It's Grievous. I know you're interested in him. But even he's being manipulated."
She looked into the camera and blew him a kiss.
"Stay safe Prudii."
His stomach went funny again.
.
His com vibrated, he knew it was her. But there was just names - Centax - 2. Arkanian Microtechnologies.
.
Prudii checked his com, he recognised the code. They'd had no contact recently. He balanced on the metal beam above the assembly line.
"Good to hear from you! It's been a while." Prudii's informant came through at the most improbable moments.
"I understand you're looking for Grievous?" The female voice was flat, all business.
Something was wrong.
"Cyar'ika, you know we are. Got some info'?"
"He's at Utapau— now."
Same flat voice, no banter, he missed the banter.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, fine."
How do you know this?"
"Because I'm sitting opposite him now. He wants Kenobi!"
"Tell him…"
He was cut off by the sound of a lightsaber igniting, followed immediately by a blood curdling scream and another sizzle of a lightsaber.
"Drina! Drina!" He felt an ice block lodge in his stomach, he didn't normally use her name.
The raspy breaths of the cyborg filled his head.
"Kenobi, on Utapau."
The transmission ended.
.
While Prudii was still sabotaging the droid factory, those last sounds she made played through his mind.
He watched the latest Factory from the TIV.
"You okay?" The pilot asked. There was normally banter between them and the Nulls; it helped with the losses.
"Destroy it!"
"What? I'm just picking you up."
"If you don't, I will."
The pilot looked at his mirror image.
He turned the ship back.
"Reduce it to slag!— No! Let me!"
Prudii slipped into the co-pilot seat.
When they left minutes later, the factory and surrounding town were all but obliterated.
He didn't feel any better.
.
"Ad'ika!" His father pulled him into a hug, something had gone wrong.
"I'm sorry Buir."
"Still got rid of them son."
"Yeah!"
"We lost your informant?" He asked. She'd been good. Her intel was better than RI's.
Prudii replayed the message.
"I'll pass it on to Zey."
"Yeah. You do that” He paused. “She didn't deserve that!"
"No she didn't."
He pulled his son to him by the neck again.
"You okay son?"
Kal was worried; he had never seen his son like this.
.
Prudii lay in his bunk.
He had kept all her transmissions.
He didn't know why.
He didn't tell the others.
There was a new one, sent after— after Grievous. It was an image and a few spoken words.
"If you're getting this, well let's say it's been fun. This was all I could ever get on this but there are plans, since before Geonosis. And it's big. Planet killer big.” She paused as if thinking about what she should say next, “Stay safe Prudii."
He flicked over to the image.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Aug 25: Minor characters day / forced apart / behind enemy lines
...
Just for fun, one of my favorite convos from Triple Zero.
... And every couple of hours, Etain Tur-Mukan had walked briskly across the plaza as if she had business somewhere, sweeping the area with whatever extra sense Jedi had that enabled them to detect concealed people. Etain was said to be good at that. She could place the squad to within a meter. Each time she passed, Fi heard Darman move or swallow, and he wasn’t sure if it was because he could see her or because she was reaching out to him in the Force.
Fi suddenly wanted the uncomplicated focus of a totally military life on Kamino. You’re getting distracted. Think of the job in hand. Maybe they’d let him keep the bead comlink after this op. They’d never miss a few back at HQ. Surely.
“I want my HUD back,” Darman said. “I want my enhanced view.”
“But you get to wear face camo instead. Makes you feel wild and dangerous.”
“I’m wild,” Sev’s voice said. Sev was behind a roof balustrade under a pile of discarded plastoid sheeting. “And then I get dangerous. Shut up.”
“Copy that,” Fi said cheerfully, and clicked his back teeth twice to exit Sev’s open comlink channel. It was far too noisy an environment for their quiet conversation to be heard anyway. “Miserable di’kut.”
“Don’t mind him.”
Scorch was at walkway level about fifty meters west of the meeting point, lying prone in a disused horizontal access shaft. “He’ll be fine once he’s killed something.”
Traviss, Karen. Triple Zero: Star Wars Legends (Republic Commando) (Star Wars: Republic Commando Book 2) (pp. 243-244). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
