Error n’ Reg Shenanigans #56
“Apparently Sev found another commando who got out, he’s bringing him here for a meeting.”
Cadel sighed as she went to join Skirata at the mock landing site his little compound had.
He always got excited at the prospect of finding a clone that managed to get away, moreso if they were a commando.
Hoping to find more of his boys, she thinks.
The sting of that thought has lessened over the years, she realized, I guess time will heal all wounds.
Cadel joined the Cuy’val Dar late, she never saw herself training elite squads of any kind, she had been listless, after so much loss in her life she needed something to focus on. Kal Skirata was the one who talked Jango into sending out the invite to her, and she accepted.
Having lost her family, she already felt like she didn’t exist, so why not make it official?
She’d only had time enough to train one batch before being discharged after Jango Fetts death, but that was all the time she needed to become attached.
00, Flare, Snap, and 404…her sweet 404. Always wanting to know what she was doing and if he could help, her little cooking assistant. She remembered once he snuck down to the kitchen to steal ingredients, apparently she was out, just to make his vod a late night snack.
Hearing they had survived Geonosis, one of a few commando units to do so, filled her heart with pride, that she taught her boys well and they used what they learned and survived.
When Skirata called, yet again, asking if she would help him as a advisor for the commando’s, she jumped at the chance. If anything to see her aliit again.
She saw them a handful of times since, listening to them excitedly tell her about their last mission while she treated them to her home cooking, bragging they get it fresh knowing she’d bring the leftovers to the barracks for whatever squad was back at that time.
“Cadel…the report says they are MIA, no bodies were discovered but it’s highly likely they-Cadel I am so sorry”
Skirata delivered her the news, after throwing a fit at the Jedi who sent them on the mission. She lost count of how many times she’d gone over the report.
Standard information retrieval mission, in and out, her boys had done similar before. But this one…something was wrong with it. Location, nature of the intel, all blacked out and now behind so much red tape. To much for it to be the “standard” they kept saying it was.
Skirata, ever the bleeding heart, tried to help and find out as much as he could. Going so far to have one of his boys slice into the system to see what he could find.
More blacked out documents.
She grieved, still grieved, but remained to help. If anything she strived to help keep the others alive, they deserved better than this…better than what her boys got.
Which is how she found herself here, after everything went to osik’la she helped Skirata get his own out and started this little clan. She still felt the outsider, these weren’t her ad’ika.
Flare, always patching up his vod.
Snap, constantly hacking into her data pad and changing her training programs.
00, she never knew someone could find so many creative ways to blow things up.
404, for as quiet as he was on his feet and as lethal a assassin as he was…he was the most gentlest of the 4.
As she stood by Skirata, watching the ship land, she thought back on everything. Her training Sigma, their death, everything leading up to now. Skirata joked Sev was now her’s, all she did was mother the man when he first came here, and he took a liking to her cooking. Anything with nuts.
The ship lands, dust settles, side door slides open, ramp comes down, time to meet the new member to clan Skirata-
Sev is first off, following him is a familiar face.
They all have familiar faces Cadel, it can’t be-
But the tattoo…she remembered, right before Geonosis, her boys wanted to get tattooed.
Flare and his blue square, Snap a purple triangle, Flare a red circle, and 404…her 404…a green X.
Whoever this was saw her, he looked as surprised as she felt, but his excitement quickly turned to concern as he raised his hands in surrender.
“Cadel, what are you-ok…Cadel…lower the blaster.”
Cadel wasn’t aware she had drew her side arm and was pointing it at this stranger. It felt like she was outside her body, Skirata calmly talking her to lower her blaster sounding muffled to her ears, Sev looking between the two confused.
“Who are you?” She was proud she kept the shake from her voice.
The hurt that crossed his face at that statement caused her heart to ache, but this wasn’t 404. 404 died with his squad, this clone is some imposter who dared to get the same tattoo as her ad’ika.
“Cadel-“ Skirata reached out to grab her arm, to get her to lower her blaster.
“No, I want to know who this is, and why he has Fo’ika’s tattoo.”
“Well that’s a long story, but it is me Buir-“
“I am not your Buir, my ad died, years ago. You aren’t him.”
The stranger took a deep breath and started reciting…a recipe? Cadel was confused at first till it clicked. It was a dish she used to make when her boys did well on a training exercise. But how-
“How do you know that?” She couldn’t keep the shake out of her voice that time.
“You used to make it for us…heh, once I snuck out of our room to go to the kitchens and-“
“-stole the ingredients to make it,” Cadel didn’t know what to feel, “all because the others wanted a midnight snack.”
He looked sad, “You are half right Buir, 404 did die, it’s Error now.”