the kaminoans are demanding that if the remaining cadets are to live - all those from ages 2 to 7, that the republic hadn’t bought yet - the republic pay them for each life. otherwise, even though the war is over, there will be millions of deaths - decommissioning, in their words, sterile and cold as the rest of kamino.
( let them, says the senate, eternal in their indifference. the war is over. the purchase of weapons of war is only probable to incite more war. there are mutterings, too, of shutting down the existing troopers, scrapping them like the seperatist battle droids. )
we are people, cody says, moving his own booth out ( the senate recognizes the representative from the gar, senator ct-2224, says mas amedda’s replacement in a bored tone, and cody grits his teeth. ) to the floor and staring the other senators hard in the eyes. you made us to die for you, and we did. we won this war for you, people of the senate. don’t we deserve the right, now, to live in the republic we were grown for and sworn to protect?
a muttering spreads throughout the booths, and cody’s hand itches to settle at his hip, where his holster should be. privately, he thinks he’s about as suited to be a negotiator as his general is - which is, to say, despite opinion, not at all. but there’s no one else to do this.
fives, personally, is not going to wait on the senate. with the exception of a rare few ( really, only bail and cody, and maybe senator amidala ), he doesn’t trust them, and he doesn’t trust the kaminoans, either. his hand comes up to touch where his chip used to be, and he grimaces.
if you pull the right wires, echo had discovered as a cadet, you could make all of their living-tubes slide into the reset position; lights on and all of them extended, and it’s what fives does now, revealing a bunch of five-year-old cadets who blink sleepily at him, confused.
come on, kids. you’re getting out of here. the cadets look between each other, confused, before one of them climbs down, and with a pang, fives recognizes him - one of the cadets from the fight on kamino. it seemed so long ago.
we’re with you, sir. lead the way. and that has a domino ( hah ) effect, cadets climbing down from their beds to file behind him, before deciding against the straight lines and just forming a clump.
they’re about halfway back to the ship when nala se confronts them.
arc-5555. where are you going with these cadets?
they’re coming with me, says fives, calmer now than he thinks he’s ever been. he fishes around in his armor, pulling out a handful of coins - his entire pension and pay, for service to the republic. i’ll give you 250 republic credits, but they’re coming with me.
nala se arches a brow at him. that would not even pay for one unit.
fives does what he’s wanted to do ever since tup was taken back here, and levels his deecee at her. how about this? 250 credits, and i don’t blow out whatever dark hole replaced your heart. nala se sneers, but she carefully takes the handful of money from him and steps to the side, letting him and his trail of cadets pass.
come on, vod’ika’e. you’re free, now.
