...What time is it? I kinda wasn’t keeping track since I was thinking weird thoughts, but I’m pretty sure it’s about time now.

I poke my head outside the little railing of my bed. Gentle snoring resounds from below. Yup, they’re all asleep. Hehe.

I slip out of bed. If I had any shame I would wrap the blanket around my nude form, but I mean… There’s nothing to hide and the temperature is just right. Hence, no reason for modesty.

Slowly climbing down from the bed, I make sure to touch down without making the slightest sound. Since my feet have no bones and are pretty much just tense liquid, this is much easier than it should be. I’m like a cat. A two-legged, purple, octopus-cat.

And much like a cat, once I catch sight of my goal, I pounce.

Well more so that I slowly tip-toe up to him before poking him in the side.

Funny thing, apparently, Charge doesn’t snore. At all. I could barely hear him breathe. That is, until I poke him, at which point his eyes snap open and his face flashes to attention in a matter of milliseconds. His trembling pupils fly to the left and right before finally settling on me. Hm. He isn’t looking at my eyes though, so where is he-, oh! I forgot I’m covered in bioluminescent spots! Man, out in space these babies almost make me invisible since I just look like starry space. Neato.

Inside a spaceship, I guess I look a fair bit less inconspicuous.

His eyes squint into lines. “...Mort?”

Oh, he remembered my name! “Yeah, it’s me!” I whisper back at him. He seems confused and suspicious. I smile in a way that I hope is reassuring. Considering the darkness, I think that if I smiled and showed my teeth, they’d just gleam scarily, so I’ll try to avoid that. “I’m here to do good on that favour, remember?”

That got his intention. He lifts up his upper body, meeting my gaze. He went from drowsy and confused to serious in a matter of seconds. “I’m listenin’.”

I’m happy to see he’s really sincere about this whole “favour owed” deal. Otherwise, he’d probably turn down what I’m about to ask for. I swallow, and steel my spirit. “Could you tell me about the Clone Wars?”

His stoic expression breaks into one of surprise and wide-eyed bewilderment. “-The War?”

Okay, not a good sign. “Yeah, I-, I tried to read about it in the archives and stuff but it’s all very… Vague. And about the Jedi. If it’s, like, traumatic to you and stuff you don’t need to tell me, but I really want to learn about them too since there doesn’t seem to be much information about them, and-,”

He holds up a hand. My mouth snaps shut. “Yeah,” he says quietly. “If that’s what you want to hear, then I’ll tell ya.”

My eyes widen. “Really?”

He nods, throwing off his covers to sit in bed. Classic storyteller-movement.

Heart beating out of my chest, I sit cross-legged on the floor. It feels like I’m a little apprentice listening to the wise and knowing words of my master. When I think of it like that, it doesn’t feel weird at all that I’m naked and he’s almost-naked. Just two bros hanging out. Now tell me the secrets of the world.

Before starting, Charge glances up at the two brothers in the bed above him and then across at Atte. “You sure they’re asleep?”

I close my eyes and listen as sharply as I can. The heartbeat of both brothers is slow and methodical. Same with Atte’s. Compared to the heartbeat of someone like Charge, who’s actually awake, they are clearly asleep. “Yeah, sound asleep.”

His eyes fixate on a random point on the wall. “Alright, then. Where to start…?” Sighing deeply, it seems he’s chosen some part to start with. “I was born a little less than 20 years ago on a planet called Kamino.” Uhuh, uhuh. Wait. Twenty years ago? “I don’t look a day younger than 40, do I? That’s the effect of some genetic altering. Guys up top wanted soldiers quick so they couldn’t let us grow like normal. So, we all grow at double the normal rate of humans.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Double the rate. He’s twenty now. The Clone Wars started ten years ago. Assuming he went straight to war when it started, then… “You were ten years old?!”

He puts a finger to his mouth. “Shh. Quiet.” Oh, shoot! I cover my mouth with my hands and listen for movement or change in pulse. Nothing. I release my breath. “Although you aren’t wrong by any means, when we went to war, our minds and bodies were well over our physical age.”

I grit my teeth. “Still, to think the Republic would use child soldiers… Absolutely despicable.”

Somehow, Charge seems uncertain. “It’s not as though they had a choice.”

“Huh?”

He looks away almost shamefully. “The war was… Not exactly an easy fought one. The Republic had no army of its own. When the Coalition of Independent Systems formed, it wasn’t as though the Republic could just fight back at once. From what General Secu-, from what I’ve heard, one of the largest forces of the CIS - the Trade Federation - had begun amassing a lot of military power just before the war started.”

The Trade Fede-what-now? I’ll be honest, in all my research, I’ve never once heard of them. Worst of all, I can’t even be sure of whether I’ve actually seen the name and just thought it sounded so boring it wasn’t worth the time to research or if I genuinely can’t read up on them for whatever reason.

Charge scratches his neck. “Apparently they were having trouble with pirates. I don’t know much about it, but that’s why they amassed a giant droid army to begin with. Most of the time when we were fighting the CIS, it was droids and Neimoidians. The muscle of the separatists, I guess.”

“The first transgression on the part of the separatists was that blockade of Naboo. It was well before the Clone Wars actually began though, so for the galaxy as a whole, it was unsure if the CIS would actually do anything. If the galaxy would actually fall into war.” He sighs deeply. “Turns out it would. A few years later, a Jedi arrived on Kamino. At the time, we had been in training for ten years, so finally getting to use that training was really exciting. I’m not exactly sure what led up to it, but we attacked an arena full of bug people in order to save a pretty substantial amount of Jedi. In the end, we were able to beat back the CIS, but by that point, it was already obvious that a civil war had started.”

I sink down to the floor and lie on my stomach, resting my head in my hands to still look up at Charge. He smiled weakly at me.

“There was a lot happening those first few months, but the mission I remember best would be the one on Prae… Praesitlyn? I think that was the name. I’m not sure, I wasn’t thinking too much about that. No, I was much more interested in who I ended up serving under.” A nostalgic, almost idolizing grin found itself to his lips. “I didn’t work under General Aayla Secura at first, you know? She came later, though I suppose I served her more than I ever did General Anakin Skywalker.”

Anakin… Skywalker? What a weird name. Though, I guess I haven’t met anyone with a non-weird name so far.

Charge stares at me oddly. “You haven’t heard of him? It’s only been seven years. Ah, then again, you don’t know much of anything, do you?”

I laugh wearily. “No, not really.”

Leaning back slightly, Charge’s eyes turn distant and marvellous. “He was the greatest Jedi I had ever seen. Nay, the greatest soldier I’ve ever seen.” For a moment, it seems Charge has forgotten that Jedi are evil, because in a single moment of realization, his face lights up in an almost inhuman fury, ending with an animalistic snarl. “Yes, that would be him. Back then, he was known by another title, though he had yet to own it when I served under him. As a matter of fact, at this point, he was a mere Jedi padawan. Technically, I served under General Skywalker’s comrade. Some Jedi master I didn’t see much of.”

Much like before, Charge seems intensely conflicted, as though his sound mind is battling some false instinct. “He… General Skywalker was really more of a soldier than a Jedi. A damn good commander, that’s for sure.”

Lost in his thoughts, Charge stops talking for a moment. I catch his gaze. “So… What happened on Prae-whatever?”

He scoffs. “At the time, I worked with the commandos under a guy we called Green Wizard. Pretty weird nickname but it stuck, somehow. Being a commando means being raised differently from the other clones right from the start. Your brain is even wired differently. More like the original. Less altered.”

Well… Everything aside, I really don’t like that. Cloning is one thing, but to then alter them just feels inhuman. Like they’re cattle. Or slaves.

He waves his hand, shaking off his thoughts. “We were wiped out. Lost most of my comrades right then and there, but from what I hear, the battle as a whole was won. I only saw General Skywalker on occasion. He seemed much older than he really was. From what I’ve heard, he was the youngest Jedi to ever be knighted. I’m actually not sure what happened to him after all that since I was pretty quickly transferred to work under General Secura. From what I’ve heard, he died sometime during or after the execution of Order 66.”

Order 66. I gulp. “How was it working under that Secura lady?”

He crossed his arms. “It was…” He seems to strain against his own mind. “-Fine. It was just fine. She may not have been a master, but she did good work.” His nails dig into his own skin, making it turn white. “Once we got the order to terminate her, we… We didn’t hesitate. Of course not. The Jedi were obviously evil. Of course. We made sure she died. Yes, that’s right. We had all heard stories about how the Jedi can heal themselves even from mortal wounds. So-, so we made sure she died, yes. By the end, she was little more than a charred pile of cooked alien flesh and bones. It’s amazing what emptying fifteen blasters into someone can do to them.”

A shiver blossoms across my back alongside a cold sweat. I’m not alone, either. I can see how Charge trembles where he sits, eyes wide and staring at his open palms.

“Then… Then I was absorbed into this new army. Good riddance, I guess. I was assigned out here pretty quick. Not sure why, but I’m not complaining. Little shooting to be done.”

He looks at me, eyes wet and mournful. “I’m really sorry. I really am. You’ll forgive me, won’t you? With this, I’ve fulfilled my end of the bargain, so… You’ll forgive me for shooting you, right?”

“Y-, yeah. Of course.”

In the darkness of the room, his smile seems manic and unfit for his gruff face. “I see. Thank you.”

With that, I leave him.