AN: Reminder, Order 66 happened like 2 weeks ago, and the Padawans are still a little raw. I'll be attempting a little character development this chapter. After all, what's the point of restoring the Republic or Jedi Order if you have no one to fight for?
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As soon as it seemed that things had just settled down, and Corvus was feeling quite smug with how CF-99 had all but agreed to join his faction, something went haywire.
He felt it before he saw or heard anything.
Rage, and betrayal. Those feelings were hot, and thrummed in the Force.
"Master, you cannot be serious! You would have us ally with these, these murderers!? You killed thousands of clones before, I thought our mission to Kamino would end in all their deaths! You promised us vengeance for what they did to us at the Temple." Yon hotly accused, and pulled his lightsaber from a hidden compartment on his utility belt.
Green plasma burst into life, yet for the barest of seconds, Corvus saw it bleed red on the edges. The Force sang from Yon's kyber crystal, and their harmony was a terrifyingly beautiful thing. Ordinarily, a Sith would transform their lightsaber red by torturing it through the Force, making it a relic of evil. Yon, on the other hand, was emitting strong sensations of resolve fueled by desperation. It was a cocktail of emotions that left Corvus intrigued and confused. As if Yon were on the brink of falling to something, but still had it all together.
As Corvus was internalizing this wonder in the Force, Yon pointed his weapon at the clones, prompting them to raise their weapons in kind.
"Easy now, we've all been through a lot. I understand the betrayal in your heart, but-" Hunter began, only to be interrupted by a powerful Force Push.
Yon shoved both his hands forward, and held all the Jango clones against the wall. Their armor plating began to creak as the hate flowed through the teen.
Jax, meanwhile, was absolutely still. He didn't partake in Yon's actions, but Corvus sensed a small sliver of satisfaction from him.
Order 66 was still fresh in their minds, and Corvus had taken the boys straight into the lair of the beast. They must have been expecting a mass casualty event like what was done to them…Corvus fealt somewhat guilty, and wished he had foreseen these actions. In his rush to teach them the skills of the Jedi Shadow, to elevate them to Knighthood so he could reach a condition for his Path of the Jedi Master quest, he had been blinded to their emotional needs.
Over the past 8 days, he had taught them a skill of shadows, one that blurred the line between Light & Dark, he had accepted Yon as his student, as well as the burdens and responsibilities of being master & disciple. It was his job to act as a steady, guiding masculine hand to a wounded child who had been raised upon ideals of peace, yet had fought the last three years in galactic war.
It was up to him to raise Yon right, and become a man. Jedi didn't have parents, not really, but that didn't mean Corvus couldn't act like the father-figure his students needed.
Corvus, of course, could use Valor, or siphon the darkness away at this moment, but that was like a bandaid approach, and something Corvus would resort to if he had too. If he was going to resolve Yon's trauma, he would much rather use dialogue, love, and understanding.
Sometimes all a man needed was to be acknowledged to find belonging.
"Stop it!" Omega yelled, and ran toward Yon, but Jax held her back.
Taking a step to Yon, Corvus placed a hand on Yon's shoulder.
"I am proud of you, Yon. I can sense that you have created a Force Bond with your kyber crystal during the ritual on Ilum. That is a magnificent accomplishment. You have come a long way since that day." Corvus said in a warm, genuine tone. "But I'm going to need you to let go now."
"Why should I? They killed Master! If they come with us, they'll betray us again, and kill you! I won't let that happen!" Yon yelled out with emotion, and increased his pressure.
"You're hurting them. Please! Don't do this!" Omega begged, tears poured down her face.
"The lives of my friends, my family are gone because of men just like him. I won't ever stop." Yon darkly intoned.
"And then what?" Corvus calmly asked.
"You are good with explosives, Master, we should destroy this city!" Yon hastily replied.
"I am flattered by your faith in my abilities, my young apprentice. Besides, Kamino has dozens of such research facilities around the planet. It is unfeasible. Say we kill these men. Hunter, Echo, Crosshair, Wrecker, Tech. Good, loyal men who believe in fighting for what's right. Men who would give everything for their little sister. What would you do with their bodies? What would you say to the girl who would be your fellow Padawan after carving through her family? Think Yon, what would you do?" Corvus pressed in a savage, deep tone.
"I don't know." Yon said in an impossibly quiet voice, as a conflicted look came across his face. The way he said it, it was like he was lost, reliving something that wasn't there.
"Yon…let's not." Jax voiced his disagreement to their actions.
Corvus stared at Yon's side profile, and saw the clash of emotions on his face. His intuition told him that Yon was fearful of his disapproval, yet he felt that he had to eliminate these clones, lest they face betrayal once more.
"It's okay, Yon." Corvus took the stormtrooper helmet off so he could look him in the eye, and slowly deactivated the teen's lightsaber.
"I don't know." Yon shook his head, and muttered. Meanwhile, his line of sight was still lost looking off a million miles away. Unbidden, a few tears fell down the black haired, short teens face.
"It's okay. I'm here. You're going to be okay." Corvus pulled Yon into a tight hug, and felt him shudder, and gasp as tears wetted the front of his uniform.
Upon embracing Yon, the Force Push was released, and the clones had dropped to the ground.
"Hunter, Crosshair, Wrecker, Echo, Tech!" Omega ran at the group and glomped them.
Corvus ignored them, and patted Yon on the back.
"Nice deep breaths, Yon, recite the code with me:
I am at Peace; for I know Emotion.
I have Power; for I also have Knowledge.
I have Passion; for I am Serene.
I can embrace Mortality; for I know Death.
I am balanced through the Force."
Looking Yon in the eye, Corvus saw the black haired boy sulkily glance at the ground, and took a step back in embarrassment. The feeling of weakness and self pity suffused him.
"There is no shame in expressing your emotions, Yon. Especially with those you trust. Anger, sadness, jealousy, these are but pieces of the whole that make us human. To deny one is to deny our very nature. Yet overindulgence in any one facet can spell disaster.
I have made a promise to you two, but you must be patient, and trust me. I know working with these men brings about terrible memories, but you must always keep in mind, the inhibitor chips in their brains transformed them into mindless puppets executing Palpatine's will.
With freedom of thought, they are capable of anything, even becoming our friends." Upon finishing his speech, he felt the darkness recede from his Padawan, and merge back into a more balanced, symbiotic state.
"Run that by me one more time, why shouldn't I out you to Sector Command?" Hunter threatened, and held up a communicator. It was primed, and would send out a message at the click of a button.
Of course Hunter knew he'd likely die if he did. They both knew that. On the surface, Corvus might think Hunter was bluffing, but what he didn't know, was that Corvus had watched the Bad Batch show. He knew how insane these guys were. This wasn't a bluff. If Corvus didn't give him the answer he wanted, they would have some serious explaining to do if they wanted to escape clean and tidy.
Sure, Corvus could kill them all in the blink of an eye with Force powers or a lightsaber, but the evidence would be damning. Meanwhile, if he used a blaster, he wasn't sure if he could get all of them, CF-99 were experts at running away. And as discussed previously, any overt/obvious [Mind Trick] likely wouldn't work on these guys.
Dialogue was the only option.
During this tense stand off, Yon looked as if he wanted to say something, and Corvus was about to step forward, but Jax was the one to seize the initiative.
"I'm sorry for holding you back. What we did was wrong. I apologize." Jax looked every man in the eye, then lowered himself so he was eye level with Omega, and offered a hand.
"Okay!" Omega ran forward, and took it with a smile.
Hunter sighed, then powered down his communicator. "There's just no winning when that kid's around. I suppose when children are involved a few bumps and scrapes are expected." Hunter smiled in satisfied defeat.
Corvus made eye contact with Hunter, and nodded.
"Yes, this war has been a terrible, and ugly business. You understand what it would be like to fight alongside troopers you trusted with your life, then suddenly they're different people trying their best to kill you." Corvus explained Yon's actions in an effort to diffuse any remaining tension.
At the same time, now that he had helped resolve Yon's issue, he cast Valor on everyone present, and felt everyone's morale begin to increase.
"I don't like it." Crosshair said with narrowed eyes.
"But Crosshair, you recall the fear on young Caleb's face, and read the report regarding Order 66. The fall of the Jedi Temple must have been a horrifying experience. By my calculations, at least half of all Jedi have been terminated." Tech spoke up.
"Look, look, I'm doing it!" Omega happily showed CF-99 that she was levitating the lightsaber she had been given in front of her hands.
Jax was somewhat smiling at the sight, and Corvus patted Yon on the back, then stepped forward.
"We can train her. Most children aren't so quick to adapt to the Force, but this only proves how dangerous Palpatine could become if they got their hands on her. I apologize for my student's actions, but in all fairness, Crosshair did attack us first. Let us work together for our future, for the childrens' future." Corvus said with as much honesty, and sincerity as he could muster.
"You said your name was Corvus? Call me Hunter. We'll follow you for now, but if at any time you endanger Omega, we're gone." Hunter said in a tone reminiscent of a protective uncle or older brother.
Corvus smiled as he saw the girl warm up to Jax, then turned to Hunter.
"Trouble, my friend, has a way of finding the Jedi. Your little sister, Omega, is special. She's one of us just like she's one of you. If you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly like other Jedi. If someone touches my people, I make them pay." Corvus said in a dark tone.
"So what is it exactly are you doing here?" Tech asked from the side.
"Sabotage." Corvus replied with a smirk.
Tech rolled his eyes, and Crosshair scoffed.
"Oi, I think e doesn't trust us!" Wrecker loudly declared.
"The feeling is mutual." Crosshair muttered.
"Actually, I'm a big fan of Clone Force 99's work. I didn't come here to recruit you men for nothing. Truthfully, sabotage is the best answer I can give you. I'll tell you one thing I intend to do, however. I'm going to steal the entire armories arsenal." Corvus said with pride. He then spawned in several different weapons, and dishes of food from his inventory, and then he retrieved the weapons.
"How'd e do it?! This some kinda magic trick?" Wrecker lowered his head to the ground where the weapons had been, but found nothing.
"Indeed, it goes against all scientific reasoning!" Tech gasped as he joined Wrecker in his inspection.
"You guys wouldn't believe what I saw General Skywalker do. This isn't as surprising as you might think." Echo added.
"Now that would be a useful ability to have during an op. You saying Omega can learn how to do stuff like that?" Hunter asked Corvus in an impressed tone.
"Maybe not this ability specifically, I'm special in my own regard, but yes, one day she will move faster than you can track, and will be able to learn all of your skills at an enhanced rate." Corvus explained.
"So what now?" Hunter asked as he glanced down at the giggling Omega, the taciturn Jax, and silent Yon.
"I have a meeting with Lama Su planned, and a mission in another city on Kamino, then we depart. There isn't anything I need from you five, but I suggest you prepare your things for a long trip."
As Corvus finished speaking, he received an incoming text from Taun We.
[The Prime Minister's experiment has reached a critical stage. I have scheduled your meeting with him tomorrow at noon.]
Corvus frowned, and wondered if he was being given the runaround, or if the kaminoan was truly busy in an experiment.
Whatever the case may be, this meant he had some time to kill before he met with Lama Su. Tapping his fingers on his armor, Corvus decided to slightly alter his plan.
"That look on your face says there's been a change in the plan." Hunter said, and found a blaster preparing for action.
"My meeting with the Prime Minister has been pushed back to tomorrow…I am suspicious of his intentions."
"Want us to investigate?" Hunter offered.
"Sure why not. In the meantime, my apprentice, Jax, will continue to keep Omega company, and instruct her on the basics of the Force." Corvus pointed towards Jax.
Jax looked up, met Corvus's gaze, and nodded.
"Yes Master."
"As for Yon and I, we will be off to the side mission I had alluded to earlier." Corvus explained.
"Sounds dandy. Alright, listen up boys, time to prove to the Jedi why Clone Force 99 is the best of the best!" Hunter turned to the other clones, and declared.
Corvus tuned him out, and regarded Yon.
"Come along, we're going to go look for an old Jedi library in the abandoned former capital, Derem City."
Yon was uncharacteristically silent, so Corvus just sighed.
Perpetuating and fomenting intergalactic terrorism was easy. Teenagers? Raising teenagers was hard!
Shaking his head, Corvus put his helmet back on, and left for the Falcon.
Hopefully they would be off this planet soon. Something was giving him a bad feeling about Kamino, but he didn't know what.