Time had passed since that day on Coruscant. Several years, to be exact, and the war didn't seem any closer to ending than it did that day. It was like some endless cycle of cycles. Everything just turned on and on and no progress was ever really made. Talks in the Senate had started flaring up about the war.

About us.

About what to do with the one trillion lives they had thrust into the world with no end plan ready for when our purpose was completed. We weren't droids. We couldn't just be shut down when the war ended.

What I didn't know at the time was that Talen, our jeti'ika, was our greatest advocate. Among other Jedi generals who served alongside my brothers, he championed us, gave us a voice to replace our own that was strangled by regulation and the ever-looming threat of decommissioning.

He had gotten taller, filled out his once too big robes and replaced them with armor, and his hair had grown out. He still had his Padawan braid hanging down on his shoulder, though. That much remained the same even when the rest of him had gotten older. He wasn't exactly a jeti'ika anymore, but he was still our jeti'ika, and in the end, that's what counted. He was sixteen then, and when we would see him on the Coruscant news there was a certain measure of pride I think we all felt - almost like we were big brothers to something other than the shiny new cadets that we saw coming through here more and more often.

We, however, didn't change much. We got older, new lines and scars showed up, hair started to grey just a little bit more, the usual. Tor remained his rigid old self, but there was something in Red and Grek which changed that I couldn't quite place until we were all sitting down one day between duty shifts and cleaning our rifles. New stories had begun to flood the holonet of the war drawing to a crescendo. It was the climax we had all been anticipating with an ever-growing sense of dread.

We Clones had an odd relationship with the war. On the one hand, we wanted to see it end, to stop losing brothers over and over and stop the needless deaths of civilians. Then there was the other hand, the one that tersely reminded us that we were made by the war. It was in our blood. We wouldn't exist without it, and the idea of it ending was frightening. Senators spoke about us as if we were weaponry to be discarded, some Jedi looked at us like liabilities to peace, and many civilians saw us as a threat to their security if we had no wars to fight. After all, isn't that what we were made for? Were we not warriors soon to be without a war to fight?

The war was awful, but without it, what were we?

"Think the Beroyas would take us?" Red finally asked that day as we looked his rifle over again with a frown as one of the senators went on a tirade about how dangerous we were on the holonet. "After everything's over, I mean."

"Hope so," Grek snarled as he shook his head at the console where the new played. "Don't wanna stay here if that's how it's gonna be."

I couldn't blame them for being disillusioned with the Republic with all of the things we got to hear day in and day out from the Senate. It was even starting to get to me. You could only hear yourself get called a catastrophe waiting to happen so many times before it started to wear on you.

Tor frowned despite all of that, "You both should be proud to serve the Republic! The Senate will make the right choice at the end of everything. You'll see."

The look that passed between Red and Grek seemed less sure than Tor's statement of his firm belief in the Senate. I didn't say it at the time, but I agreed with them. They would do what was best for them at the end of the day. Not for the Republic, not for us, for them. It was naivete to believe anything otherwise.

Our comms beeped and we got a terse notice that there was a report of droids in one of the lower alleys. We were all initially convinced that this was some drunk Weequay pulling our leg to waste our time, which was a common enough occurrence that we had all but gotten completely used to it. The one thing that did get mentioned was backup.

They didn't tell us who or what, but that we were to expect a reinforcement to aid in this little quick op. It seemed a bit like overkill, but I knew better than to question anything. It wasn;t what I was made to do.

We made our way down to the coordinate given in silence. No one particularly felt like talking I couldn't blame them. The whole morning had been full of awkward half exchanges and it was just better to keep your head down than try to talk to anyone at this point. We had a job to do, and there was less fighting if we just focused on that part of the whole thing.

We hadn't expected to find anything, but when we rounded the corner and found a small group of battle droids, you can imagine that we were more than a little confused, and judging from the way they were clustered together and looking around, they seemed to be just as confused as we were. More than likely they had been dropped off in the wrong spot. I'd seen it happen before on chaotic battle sites. They get put down in the wrong spot and it takes them a little while to come up with a battle plan to correct it. Luckily for us, that makes the clean up nice and easy.

It wasn't the first time droids had infiltrated the capital, and I knew for a fact that it wouldn't be the last, but the number of them crowding that little square in the underbelly of Coruscant was a bit obscene.

"We have you outnumbered," one of the clankers had said as they raised their rifles.

"Looks about even to me." Red's reply beside me made me smile. It was going to take more than a dozen and a half clankers to stop us.

That was before the sound of a lightsaber made everyone look up as a figure dropped directly into the center and began... well, began slashing.

That was our cue.

We had been told we'd have some backup.

A Jedi was an unexpected surprise.

The fight went from guns to virboknives when the quarters got too close, and I could see the robed figure of the Jedi performing some impressive acrobatic maneuvers to avoid blaster shots and stay nimbly out of our way.

I saw Red yank open one of the droid's chest cavities and shove a thermal detonator inside as he threw it back into its brothers before Grek ripped the head clean off of another one with a maniacal laugh. Tor seemed more than a little intimidated by the move and I couldn't exactly blame him.

I had shoved a fair few knives into some of the droids and the body count was piling up around me as I accidentally sent the head of one flying clean past Red's head, but before long, the fight was seemingly drawing to a close. Droid parts were everywhere, but the crisis was averted. We turned our attention to the Jedi, who was looking around with his back to us for any sign of the person who put the clankers there, to begin with.

"Thanks for your help, Master Jedi," Tor spoke up first with a nod of his head. "We weren't expecting one of the Order."

"I do tend to show up unannounced." The voice made Red take a step forward excitedly.

I'm not sure that any of us could believe what we were seeing until the dust cleared - or droid bodies, in this case - and the robed figure turned to us and pushed back their hood. I would have recognized the kid anywhere as he smiled at us with those big blue eyes.

"Talen!" Red laughed. "Kid, am I glad to see you or what?"

I had to admit that I was happy that our Jedi liaison was Talen Jall of all people. He turned off his lightsaber and made his way over the busted droids and clipped it to his belt as he approached. He stopped before us and looked us over with a smile, "I'm glad to see you all again. I was worried the war was going to keep us separated."

"Didn't think Jedi were allowed to get attached," I replied with a smile of my own as Talen grinned back at me.

"The Order never said anything about not having friends." We stood facing one another for a moment before he rushed forward and flung his arms around me with a laugh. "I missed you guys!"

*

We found ourselves in a briefing room back at base with Talen explaining the entire situation to our commander while we waited dutifully nearby. Seeing the kid almost all grown up was something indeed, and there was a kernel of pride that sat somewhere in my chest upon seeing the rather adept warrior he was becoming.

"So they sent you to help?"

"That's correct. The Jedi Council fears that this may only be the first of many such attacks, but we have a potential suspect. I have worked with Breaker Squad before, and I would be willing to work with them again if you could allow it. We made a good team."

The Commander seemed to consider it for a moment before he glanced at us and shrugged, "Don't see why not. Bring them back in one piece, Master Jedi."

We had all stepped out when Talen finally looked at me and grinned, "Just like the good old days, eh?"

"How did you manage this?" I asked as we made our way out of HQ in a small cluster. "I figured the Council got a little touchy about you getting captured and everything."

"Master Kolar believed this was the best use of my talents," he replied with a tiny shrug of his shoulders and another smile. "We broke up a Zygerrian slaving ring and stopped an assassin. We impressed more than a few people."

"You mentioned you had leads," Tor cut in.

"Well, I have a potential witness you all may remember," Talen had a sly smile on his face as he passed us up.

"Kid... who is it?" We had all halted at the edge of the steps as he turned back to us a few meters ahead with that smile still plastered across his face.

"I'm sure you all remember Seku Ven, right?"

"The Twi'lek?" Red's surprise translated out across all of us.

"Let's just say she's been... keeping me posted." His smugness was immeasurable as he stepped into the speeder waiting for us and watched us hurry over expectantly. As we all clambered in, he continued, "Seku hates the Separatists as much as the next guy. She's been more active in the push back against them on Ryloth recently and has been moving around, following patrols, and making their lives hell."

Grek let out a long whistle, "Some Twi..."

"She and her band have been keeping me updated on the progression of some of these different cells she's caught wind of. Things are starting to change in this war," Talen's voice took on gravity that had been missing before. He'd get that sound to his voice when he was starting to think about something, and judging from the look that he had on his face - how it had hardened and set into a slight frown - it was serious.

"Have you heard from the Beroyas?" Red asked next, and I saw Tor get a look on his face.

Talen nodded, "I kept in contact with Ros. He and his family have headed back for Mandalore. Things have started getting heated. Wylan has gone AWOL and he has no idea where he is. Ros is getting worried that he's joined back with Death Watch. I haven't heard from them in close to a year and a half now, though. There's no telling what's going on. Mandalore is a mess."

"Hope they're all okay..." Grek muttered, and I saw him and Red exchange another look and Tor frown as they did.

"What's the lead from Seku," I started in a hope to ease some of the tension between my brothers in the seats behind me, "and where will we be going?"

"A planet called Zeffo," Talen replied with a glance to me. Even he seemed to be able to feel the prickling tension that had started to form over the past four years. "There are several small villages there and an odd amount of CIS activity considering how sparsely populated the villages are, to begin with."

It wouldn't have been the first time that the CIS had started digging around the galaxy to try to find an edge over the Republic and it certainly wouldn't be the last. There was a part of me that quietly ached to get off of Coruscant and start doing some real good out there again. Once upon a time, I had been somewhat content with living out my life on Coruscant before the entire incident on Ryloth. It was part of the reason I never quite got like Tor when it came to Red and Grek chomping at the bit to get off-planet. I wanted to as well.

"What are they looking for?"

"Wish I knew. They seem to be under the impression that it's far enough from the Republic's grasp to be of interest, though." Talen landed the speeder at the spaceport after we lapsed into several long minutes of silence. We knew that whatever we were going to be getting into was going to be one hell of a ride, but I think we had some measure of confidence that Talen was with us. He was our lucky star, after all. A part of me still laughed at how I hated him when I first met him.

Well, things had a tendency to change.

Jedi were good at that. At changing things.

We stepped out of the speeder together and Talen grinned at the three clone pilots who were going to be helping escort us to the dropzone. "Hey there, Hipshot," he waved and one of the pilots grinned at him. "Got the boys."

"The Fun Police, eh?" Hipshot shook his head at us, "Don't know why you were excited to get these losers, Padawan. They're a little boring."

"Ever seen Grek in the middle of a ring of B-2's?" Talen asked as Grek cocked a smirk. "Not boring."

"Got the gundark as a mascot for a reason," Red gestured to my kama as he spoke and the pilots laughed.

Hipshot shrugged, "You kick us out of 79's all the time. What am I supposed to say? Thank you for your service?" The theatrics made everyone laugh a bit, even Tor got a chuckle out of it, which was enough to make Red and Grek exchange looks that bordered on pure shock. "Heard we're heading to Zeffo," Hipshot walked over to us and stood beside Talen with his helmet up under his arm. "Lucky Master Kolar assigned me and my crew to get you there."

"Why's that?" As I asked the question, Hipshot started to grin, something I knew from experience was about as far from a good thing as you could get.

"Ever flown into the eye of a storm before?"

*

Initially, I think we were all under the impression that Hipshot was telling some joke when he mentioned storms. It wasn't until we snapped out of hyperspace over Zeffo that we realized that he was serious about the storm. It wasn't some metaphor. It was an actual storm. "Uh, kid," Red began as we all grabbed onto the upper bar for support, "how good is Hipshot?"

"If I didn't know better, I'd say he was able to use the Force his flying is so good," Talen nodded with a calm that was almost disturbing. "Maybe he can. I don't know for sure. Master Kolar flies with him all the time. I'd say he's the best we've got."

"We're getting ready to fly into a storm and you look like you're getting some tea!" Grek snapped and made Talen chuckle. "How?"

"I have faith in Hipshot."

Red, Grek, and Tor all looked at me as I shrugged back in reply to their concerned looks. Talen leaned over and hit the comms, "Hipshot, how long until we start feeling a little bouncy?"

"Give me about five minutes and we'll be in for a ride. Gotta get this trajectory right." I made my way up to the cockpit to get a look at everything before we started in for Zeffo, and Hipshot glanced up at me briefly before he turned to his co-pilot, "T-minus three minutes, Wings. You ready?"

"Always," the other clone sneered from under his helmet. "Gotta one up Oddball somehow."

"What's up, Cap?" Hipshot asked as he glanced back at me again. "Nervous?"

"Just getting a good look."

"Hey, relax," he grinned up at me. "I've known Talen since he was a baby padawan. I'm not going to fly into the eyewall of a storm and kill him now."

That was a surprising comfort as I gave Hipshot a friendly pat on the shoulder, "Don't kill us, pilot."

I made my way back and grabbed the overhead bar across from Talen, who was smiling at me as we heard Wings come over the comms, "Hold onto your hats, gentlemen! We're in for a bumpy ride!"

Bumpy was an understatement. Had I not been holding onto the bar, I would have smashed Talen clean through the wall once or twice, but the Jedi looked almost like he was having a good time. We weren't able to see much, but every now and again we heard Hipshot give a laugh from the cockpit, which I took to be a good sign.

I wasn;t satisfied, however, until our boots finally hit the ground.