#star wars the prequel trilogy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wanderinginksplot · 1 year

Text

Gar Cyare Chapter Nine

More Alpha-17 x fem!reader!

Word Count: 5,000

Warnings: mentions of past harassment and assault, descriptions of an investigation/interrogation, mentions of the Kamino attack, brief mention of medical procedures, a hint of fluff.

Previous | Next | Masterlist

---

Echoy (Search)

You scrubbed a hand down your face as you sighed. You smiled when you realized that it was one of Alpha’s gestures you had apparently decided to copy, but it was short-lived. General Ti and Commander Colt had requested you for a ‘special project’ and the Senate had agreed, so you were officially helping with the investigation of the information leak. This was the second day you had sat in on bounty hunter interrogations and it wasn’t going well.

Currently, the general and commander were speaking with Otsa Kiro, a Pantoran male whose specialty was in information retrieval. He was an odd case - a bounty hunter whose missions had been much less violent than the others, but much more lucrative. He spent some of his time teaching the cadets how to slice, but the majority of his time was in curriculum development. He was intelligent, clearly, but very dry. You couldn’t claim to know him well, but you had difficulty picturing him doing anything as daring as spying on the Republic.

That being said, Kamino likely didn’t pay its bounty hunters very well. Maybe Kiro was searching for an outside form of payment. That had been the commander’s theory, anyway.

The holocam feed let you watch the proceedings without being inside the room itself. These interrogations were happening under the guise of a performance review. The general was in charge of the training process and, by default, the bounty hunters, so she was the natural choice of person to review effectiveness. Commander Colt was covering the trooper success rates for each bounty hunter. General Ti could monitor their responses through the Force while Colt watched their body language. You were in another room, watching the monitor used to record the sessions for future study if necessary, and could see readings of their temperatures, heart rates, and other physiological responses.

None of it had done you any good so far.

“Thank you for your time, Kiro,” General Ti said politely. “We will be in touch if there are any other findings we wish to share with you.”

“Thank you, General,” Otsa Kiro said, rising gracefully from his seat and inclining his head at her. He left the room without acknowledging Commander Colt at all.

You shook your head as the general and commander fell into quiet conversation on the screen. The galaxy at large tended to be incredibly dismissive of clone troopers, but you would never have expected to see the same attitude displayed by beings who worked with them so closely.

When you glanced back at the screen, the commander and general were gone. You had a moment to prepare yourself before a knock sounded at the door. “Yes?”

Commander Colt opened the door, letting General Ti enter first before he followed. “Any luck with the monitors in here?” he asked.

“Nothing, unfortunately,” you replied. You had been briefed on what to look for during an interrogation, receiving a crash course in the physiological symptoms of guilt and stress for a dozen different species before putting your new knowledge to the test, but you had yet to see any confirmation of suspicious behavior. “Neither of you saw anything either?”

“Nothing,” General Ti said. If she was as frustrated as you and Colt were with the lack of evidence, it didn’t show on her serene face. “We have another interview in a moment. Do not lose hope.”

You offered her a weak smile. That was easier said than done. You had gone through a reasonable percentage of the bounty hunters on Kamino and found nothing. It wasn’t a good sign for solving this mystery.

“There he is now,” Commander Colt commented, gaze drifting to the screen behind you.

You glanced back as well, stomach dropping as you recognized the familiar face and form of Doni Pender. Your interactions with him had been remarkably limited since the incident, and you couldn’t pretend you weren’t grateful for that. There was a good chance that he was avoiding you - probably spurred on by some well-placed threats delivered by Alpha - but you were happy regardless of the cause.

Surely Pender wasn’t stupid enough to sell Republic intelligence to the Separatists… though that would be remarkably in keeping with what you knew of him. But even if you did manage to see something incriminating, would your findings be considered valid since you had your own troublesome past where he was concerned?

The sound of your name made you jump slightly, and you turned to find General Ti giving you a quizzical look. “Is something wrong?”

“I-” The immediate urge to brush off your experience with Pender was strong, but you knew better than to lie to a Jedi. Besides, it would be relevant to the investigation - either because of your own feelings or because it was telling of Pender’s personality. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to be impartial with the next interrogation.”

Commander Colt made a noise that sounded like a hastily stifled snort. “You’re friends with Doni Pender?”

You also suppressed the urge to snort, shaking your head instead. “He harassed me for a brief period of time after the attack. Ended up punching me in the face before the end of it.”

General Ti’s expression showed a mild shock and an even milder distaste. Commander Colt looked like he had just connected some dots. “Wondered where you had gotten that shiner. Anything ever happen with that?”

“Uhh…” you trailed, unsure of whether you should tell them the truth given that they were two of Alpha’s direct supervisors. But they had asked you a question and you had to answer. “Alpha walked up just in time to see everything happen. He… he had some opinions.”

Commander Colt’s face cleared, his frown turning into something like satisfaction. General Ti inclined her head slightly. “Good.”

You choked back a surprised laugh at that, but the general continued before you had to come up with an appropriate response.

“If you are able to do so without any discomfort, please watch Pender’s responses,” she instructed. “As you have doubts about your own impartiality, Commander Colt or I will check your findings to ensure accuracy, but I do not anticipate a problem. Commander?”

Colt inclined his head and followed General Ti from the room. They appeared on the monitor only moments later.

“Doni Pender,” General Ti greeted politely.

Pender had stood from his chair when the general and commander walked in. He nodded to her. “Hello, General. You’re looking lovely as ever.”

It was a good thing the room you were in wasn’t being monitored as well. The violent gagging sound you had made would probably have been considered unprofessional by most people. From the look on his face, Commander Colt felt the same way - though he mostly managed to direct his expression away from the holocam.

“Thank you,” General Ti replied, sounding serene. “Please, take a seat.”

He did and she settled into the chair opposite him. Pender glanced up at Colt. “Aren’t you going to sit, Commander?”

“I’ll stand,” Commander Colt said, voice cold.

“Now, Mr. Pender,” General Ti started. “How do you feel the quality of your instruction has been over the past months?”

Pender’s face grew thoughtful. “I feel my instruction has been high quality as ever, though I’m sure everyone has to adjust their expectations after the attack. That was an inconvenience for everyone.”

The way your fists clenched was instinctive and you were thankful again that you weren’t in the interrogation room. The rest of the interrogation was more of the same: General Ti asking her questions and delivering polite recommendations while Commander Colt revealed that the success rate of Pender’s trainees was below average. Unsurprisingly, Pender took no responsibility for any of the problems, but insisted that he didn’t need any help or advice about fixing problems.

“And how are you adjusting to life somewhere as remote as Kamino?” The general’s voice was kind, but you could see her concentration in the set of her face. “Do you get the opportunity to contact your family or friends often?”

“I don’t have much family, not that I’m in contact with,” Pender answered, frowning. “You already know that from my file, right?”

“Always good to double-check,” Commander Colt said, expression blank. “We’ve seen an uptick in long-distance communications lately. Security is always a concern.”

“Is that communication from Kamino employees or Senate administrators?” Pender joked. No one else in the room laughed, though his own chuckling lasted longer than you would have expected. When he had collected himself, Pender said, “If there’s been an increase in long-distance comms, it hasn’t been from me. I keep to myself other than the occasional call to a friend back in the civilized parts of the galaxy.”

“Very well,” General Ti said after a moment’s pause, rising from her seat. “Thank you for your time.”

“Hang on,” Pender said, managing to stand up halfway before Commander Colt sent a stern look of warning in his direction, stopping him cold. “Is that what this is really about? Long-distance comms? I knew it was weird that you were doing a performance review. Kamino doesn’t care about our performance; just how the cadets do. And it’s not like the Jedi pay close enough attention to care. No offense.”

General Ti waved away Pender’s lazy apology. “We are trying to play a more active role in the training processes found on Kamino.”

“No,” Pender denied. “You’re trying to find something… or someone. You’re asking about the comms for a reason.”

Back in the monitoring room, you stared at the screen, aghast. How could it be that someone like Doni Pender was sharp enough to pick up on an ulterior motive when beings far smarter than him had missed any chance to do the same? It was mind-boggling, and in the worst possible way. Pender could keep a secret well enough - he certainly hadn’t told anyone what had happened with you - but if he had information he thought could impress someone else? He would share it with everyone he could.

“Forget the comms,” Commander Colt told him.

“No,” Pender repeated. “If you came to me specifically to ask about it, that means you’re investigating me. Why? I haven’t done anything wrong!”

There was a beat of heavy silence in the room, one that the unfortunately perceptive Pender picked up on. “Is it that administrator? The one working for the Senate? Did she tell you I did something? That I’m guilty of something? Because I’m not. She’s a liar-”

“We are not here to discuss the administrator,” General Ti said, her voice firm in a way that reminded you that some of the Jedi had powers to influence people. “Do not tell anyone what we’ve discussed here today. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter - it would be a pity to find that someone involved so heavily in training the Republic’s troops was unable to behave appropriately in such a delicate situation.”

Pender sat at the table a moment longer, staring down at his hands as the general and commander watched him. “What do you need from me?”

General Ti glanced at Commander Colt, who crossed his arms over his chest. With a casual tone that somehow managed to be menacing, he said, “Nothing, apart from your silence.”

“You are dismissed,” General Ti told Pender, who stood and left the room so quickly you couldn’t believe he hadn’t broken into a jog.

Commander Colt eyed the holocam and lifted his comlink to his mouth. You were already reaching to accept the call by the time your own comm rang. “Yes?”

“Anything noteworthy?” the commander asked.

“A lot of fear, but no guilt,” you admitted, feeling a petty surge of disappointment. It would have been a neat end to the situation if Pender had been the source of the information leak. “None that I saw, anyway.”

Commander Colt glanced at General Ti, who shook her head slightly. When the commander spoke again, his voice held a tinge of disappointment as well. “It’s the same on this side. We’ll keep at it.”

Dimly, you realized that you had been standing through the entirety of Pender’s interrogation. Now that the tension had lessened somewhat, you collapsed backward into the chair you had centered in front of the monitor.

The next bounty hunter had entered the room and was settling into his own chair. This one was a human male named Lenjam Banti. You didn’t know him well, but you recognized him easily enough by his customary headscarf. In fact, you had never seen him without it. Not that it was saying much. Other than Pender and Trem, you didn’t really know any of the bounty hunters.

As the interrogation started off with a polite greeting from General Ti and a monosyllabic reply from Banti, you rubbed your forehead.

You were never going to find this leak.

---

“We have made excellent strides today,” General Ti told you, her voice kind. “We are finished for this session.”

You frowned, feeling the sting of an unproductive day. “We didn’t find anything. I can keep going. We can keep looking for the leak.”

Commander Colt glanced over at her, his eyebrows quirked slightly. You were hardly close with him, but you had a feeling the commander was willing to continue with the interrogations as well.

General Ti shook her head, clasping her hands neatly. “We will begin again tomorrow morning. Enjoy your evening.”

And she walked away, clearly allowing the words to act as a dismissal. You glanced over at Commander Colt, trying to gauge his attitude about the day’s lack of progress. He was watching the general leave with a thoughtful look on his face, but he soon noticed you looking at him.

“Uh, good work today,” he told you, taking a moment to settle back into his typical crisp tone. “Get some rest.”

“You… too?” you replied questioningly as he left as well.

Did you seem like you needed to rest or was that just a standard dismissal among the troopers? You shook your head, checking your wrist chronometer. Well, since you apparently had some free time…

You made a quick stop and then set out for the ARC training area.

You hadn’t seen Alpha at all that day, and it was strange. The ARCs-in-training were doing an endurance exercise, one designed to stretch two full days with minimal rest, rations, and supplies. Apparently, it was meant to simulate conditions they might expect to find on more intense field missions, facing grueling work in harsh environments. It sounded exhausting to you, but you had dutifully recorded it on your datapad. It was important information for your report.

Ideally, you could go in to get an update on the ARCs’ progress, find out some more details, and record those - with sensitive information redacted as necessary, of course. You wanted to emphasize that ARC training had to shift and evolve with the strengths and weaknesses displayed by each group and each individual trainee. Any changes made mid-training program were of particular interest to you.

But there was also a chance Alpha would have to turn you away. The rules surrounding endurance exercises could be tricky, he had explained. He would allow you to visit and observe if he could, but there were certain sections that the Kaminoans kept utterly secret.

You smiled to yourself, thinking about the way Alpha had complained about this training. Not about the need to do the training itself, though. In fact, when you had asked if he would bring in another trainer to help so he could rest, he had scoffed at you. “How can I train them to be effective for two full days if I can’t do the same, neverd’ika?”

No, Alpha’s biggest complaint was that he wouldn’t be able to see you. You had spent some time together the night before last, just before he had started with the training. You had eaten dinner together and he had given you a few windows of time when you might be admitted to the training area.

Fortunately, General Ti’s insistence on stopping for the day meant that you were in one of those windows just then.

You were hesitant as you stepped inside the training area, but Alpha greeted you with a nod. He may have even sent a smile your way, but the thick plastoid of his helmet blocked you from seeing it.

Not that you were confident you could have seen it, anyway. The training area was darkened, whipped with a chilly wind that took your breath away. The ground was uneven and rocky, and you struggled to keep your balance as you walked toward Alpha.

He was walking toward you as well, steadying you when you stepped on a rock that rolled under your feet.

“This way,” he ordered, his modulated voice scarcely rising above the howling wind. You let him herd you toward the observation deck.

When you were standing safely inside, the platform rose into the air, lifting out of the worst of the gloom. The transparisteel walls flickered with statistics and images so Alpha could continue observing training from a slightly different location. He took off his helmet, eyes scanning over the information with a practiced understanding.

You blinked up at Alpha, trying to clear that water that was running down into your eyes. “What was that? Is it raining?”

“Yes,” he confirmed, frowning. “You’ve seen the training area before.”

“Not like this!” you told him, stepping toward the outer wall of the observation deck to peer down at the ground.

Every other time you had seen the training area shift to suit the needs of the trainees, it had been almost clinical. The small white squares of the floor and walls had lifted, slanted, or lowered to form a landscape still made up of white squares. The whole area had still been bright with the lights embedded in the ceiling.

This was an entirely different story. You assumed the room was still made up of those squares, but they were different colors now, mimicking an actual landscape, complete with debris and obstacles. The lighting was massively reduced, dimming to the point of being gloomy. The effect was worsened by the way fat raindrops fell from the ceiling, swept in all directions by the wild wind. You couldn’t even begin to guess where that was being generated, since it had seemed to emanate from every direction simultaneously.

Lightning flashed just outside of the deck. It was closer than you had expected and your hands shook. That reminded you about what you had brought for Alpha, and you wordlessly handed him the caf.

It was the largest cup you had managed to find, but it still looked small in his hands. He blinked at you, taken aback. “You brought me caf, neverd’ika?”

“Well, it certainly isn’t for me,” you told him. “You know I don’t drink it black.”

He took a deep draw from the cup, smiling slightly when he was done. “What’s the point in caf if you can’t taste the caffeine?”

“You don’t have to taste it to feel the effects!” It was an old, teasing argument the two of you had shared almost every time caf came up in conversation. By now, it was nothing but a farce - both of you knew every point the other would make. Still, you shuddered. “It’s like drinking sludge if nothing is in it.”

“Good sludge, though,” Alpha insisted, taking another large swallow from the cup. “But you didn’t need to bring this for me. I was fine.”

You both knew he was lying, though neither of you said as much.

“Of course,” you said instead. “Can you talk me through what’s happened so far?”

After you wiped the water from the screen of your datapad, you took careful notes on what Alpha told you. He warned that most of the information couldn’t be added to the final report… even considering that he hadn’t told you everything.

“There’s one thing I still don’t understand,” you admitted. “What makes this different than any other training exercise? It’s important, I understand that, but why the weather and the specialized landscape?”

“ARC training is divided into a few different sections,” Alpha explained, slipping into his instructor voice. “This is considered the test at the end of the first section. By now, the ARCs should have learned to do the basics - thinking and moving independently, prioritizing tasks, disregarding orders when necessary - and this is the test of that. They’re still not ARC troopers at this stage, obviously, but they should have broken their patterns from when they were standard troopers. If any of those patterns are still there, we’ll find ‘em now.”

You hummed as you wrote that down, glancing up at him when you had finished. “So, how long am I allowed to stay?”

His expression twisted with regret. “Not long. We’re moving into an intense section in a few minutes and I need to be on the ground to make sure everything goes smoothly. Besides, I need to focus.”

“You can’t focus when I’m here?” you asked, delight clear in your tone.

Alpha grumbled, but his free hand found yours. “Never know where the kamiini are, or I’d show you how distracting you are, cyare. But I’ll make sure you have access to my report after we finish up here. You’ll learn a lot more from that than you will by standing here, especially without me to tell you what’s going on.”

“That sounds good,” you agreed, fighting back your disappointment. You wanted to watch the training, but you also didn’t quite know how to act without anything to occupy your time.

Alpha’s fingers gently squeezed yours. “How has the mess been without me? Are the cadets leaving you alone?”

“Mostly.” You smiled. “Limit and the kids have been sitting with me, so no one has had the chance to get too stupid.”

“Don’t underestimate them,” Alpha grumbled. He drained the last of the caf. “I better get down there. I’ll come find you after the training is over, but I’ll need to get some sleep.”

“I’m sure,” you agreed. “If you need more caf, let me know.”

“This is the last window for visits,” he reminded you. “We’ll be working nonstop from now until the end. Thank you for this, neverd’ika. I appreciate it.”

You smiled at him and tightened your hand around his before releasing it. “Good luck.”

“Don’t need it.”

---

You hadn’t told Alpha that you actually would be eating dinner alone that night. The Bad Batch were going through some kind of genetic testing in the medbay and - while you normally would have insisted on being there just to make sure nothing horrible would happen - the procedure was being attended by Limit.

Limit wasn’t the head medical professional for the tests, but the Kaminoans had been letting him help in the medbay more often lately. It made Limit happy, so you were all for it. The kids seemed more at-ease, knowing that Limit would be there to watch their backs. It was a good situation for everyone… except maybe you, as you sat alone in the cafeteria.

You sighed as you picked unenthusiastically at your food. It seemed ridiculous to regret that everyone was fulfilling their assigned duties, but it had been so long since you had eaten a meal without having someone to share it with.

It was fine. You were fine. You would finish your food and go do other things in other places that didn’t put such a strong emphasis on how alone you were at the moment. Stars, it might even be good for you. Everyone needed a chance to take a step back every now and then. You had been surrounded by your job since you first stepped onto the arrival platform at Tipoca City. It would be good to distance yourself, even if just for a single evening.

You missed Alpha.

Scowling, you shoved the thought away, ate a few quick mouthfuls, and went to dump your tray.

From the cafeteria, you went to your office. You were on temporary reassignment, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t transmit the sections of the report you had completed earlier in the week. Uploading the sections took less than an hour and you refused to do any more work than necessary. It was an uncomfortable shift given how much time you had devoted to work only a few weeks earlier, but the end of the assignment was approaching fast enough as it was. You felt no need to increase that speed.

You puttered around in the office for a while longer, straightening up your desk and removing some of the clutter that tended to build up. When you started wondering if there was a way to clean the windows, you forced yourself to leave.

Eventually, you ended up in your room. There was a holofilm you had meant to watch, so you put it on while you backed up a datapad and wrote out a few messages to friends who had asked how you were doing. It was a quiet evening and part of you was soothed, but it also felt… shallow. Unfulfilling. There was value in spending time alone and distancing yourself from this place, you decided, but it wasn’t what you needed then. You missed interacting with people and learning more about this place.

When you thought about it, this was precisely the way you had spent your first few weeks on Kamino. It was a wonder you had managed not to quit, you thought with a soft snort. If you hadn’t met Alpha when you had, you might have.

You missed Alpha.

Fortunately, you would see him in only a few hours. He would need to sleep after he finished with the training exercise, but you would see him the next day. More likely than not, Alpha would sleep through breakfast, but maybe he would join you for lunch.

With that hope buoying your low spirits, you decided to go to sleep.

It was the early hours of the morning when you woke to the sound of your door opening. You sat bolt upright in bed, staring at the door frantically, though your vision was limited in the room’s low ambient light.

“Udesii,” Alpha rumbled, his voice instantly soothing you. “It’s me.”

You relaxed slightly as he closed the door and began removing his armor. “You scared me.”

Alpha glanced at you, dark brows furrowed. “I said I would come find you after the training. What did you think I was talking about?”

“You said you were going to get some sleep!” you defended, nettled by the confusion and wry amusement in his tone.

To your surprise, Alpha chuckled. “Sorry to disappoint you, little one, but I am here to sleep. I suppose I could be persuaded, though…”

You shook your head, amused despite yourself. “You need rest, Alpha, and so do I.”

He hummed an agreement and settled into the bed beside you. He was dressed only in his body glove, heat emanating from him in waves. In seconds, Alpha was wrapped around you, his body cradling yours from behind as his fingers laced through yours. “Rest then, neverd’ika. Sorry to wake you up.”

“I would rather have you here than anywhere else, Alpha,” you said honestly. You were too comfortable to shuffle around and kiss him, so you lifted the hand that was cradling yours and pressed your lips to the back of it instead.

Alpha’s inhale hitched slightly, but he relaxed soon enough, settling deeper into the mattress as his breathing evened out.

Unfortunately, sleep was more elusive for you. Your brain, having woken to a surge of fear, was whirring faster than ever. It had chosen to fixate on the information leak, turning the problem over and over as you considered every possible angle. You made no progress, but that didn’t stop the mental gymnastics.

You watched the chrono on your bedside table tick away the minutes as you waited impatiently for sleep. As minutes became an hour, you gave up any hope of sleeping again that night. No matter how weary your eyes were, your mind wouldn’t stop.

You gave a light sigh.

Alpha shifted slightly behind you at the sound and you caught your breath, hoping you hadn’t woken him up. It was no use - he kissed the side of your neck a moment later. “Everything okay?”

His voice, thick with sleep, made you smile even as you apologized. “Yes, I’m sorry. Go back to sleep.”

“Nice try,” he told you. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

You sighed again. “I can’t stop thinking about the leak. The bounty hunter interrogations aren’t going well, and the general hasn’t been able to find any evidence of a problem with the long-distance comms. It’s… frustrating.” You paused, an unlikely path presenting itself to your tired mind. “Maybe the Kaminoans are working with someone? Giving them information?”

Alpha snorted. “The Kaminoans don’t do anything that would jeopardize their profits.”

It had been half a theory, requiring no time at all to invent, but you were stung by his immediate denial of its likelihood. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. Nothing else could be going on. Why else wouldn’t anything show up on the comms?”

“Maybe they’re not going through the comms at all,” Alpha mumbled. You could hear the weariness in his voice and felt a sudden surge of guilt for keeping him from the sleep he so desperately needed.

“Maybe,” you agreed. “But it’s not something we need to worry about right now. Sorry to wake you up. Please go back to sleep.”

“Mmm,” he replied eloquently. “Only if you come with me.”

You smiled at that despite yourself. “I’ll try,” you promised, turning to snuggle into Alpha’s chest as his arms closed behind your back.

---

Author's Note - we're officially in the investigation! For those who were excited to see the reader do more spy-type stuff, don't worry, you'll get your chance...

Thanks for reading, happy holidays, and I'll see you soon!

To read other works, check out my masterlist. You can sign up for my taglist here.

Taglist: @rexs-wife @sugarpuffsstuff @stargazingthenightaway @just-some-girl-92 @kimageddon @ladysongmaster @carodealmeida @adriiibell @nomercyforthewarrior @boomtowngirl @bitchylittleredhead @blck-omen @hrk-fic-recs @lackofhonor @captxin-rex @literallydontlook @salaminus @mothmanbelievesinyou @archivedreading @lucyhelena @808tsuika @ladykatakuri @echos-gal @shawtyitsyou @butterbug14 @skyguy-snips @fan-fic-favs @frietiemeloen @tsedeshgishnii @buddee @justanothersadperson93 @leotatombs @mavendeb @rain-on-kamino @itsagrimm @dancingwiththeplanets @hummellchen @theclonesdeservebetter @wolffeswife @ladyemxo @maulslittlemeowmeow @murder-of-crows-1 @ollovaemisc @rosmariner @staycalmandhugaclone @marennial @fordo-kixed-rex @murderofcrows1 @quietplaceinthestars @dinsverdika

77 notes · View notes