dear_mun | WELP HERE GOES NOTHIN'

My mun says she used to play someone like you. Fiver? Something like that. Not the same squad, though.

--you're a clone, aren't you? [ Anakin jr is fascinated. In his timeline, much of the clones' history has been destroyed. ]

[Aaw kriff it's a tiny- he's not sure how to handle kids.]

No kidding? Don't know any Fivers off the top of my head. Know what squad?

Yep, born, bred and raised. In a jar.

[ Anakin shakes his head, then hesitates. ] Which squad are you? I mean, you're from the hologames, right? My mun only ever played book characters.

That's astral though. I guess it's kinda like the twins, only on ... a wayyy bigger scale.

You've got so many brothers.

That. Would be Delta Squad. Hologames, yeah- sure. Although we do get some novel-time.

Er...yeah. What does one call it when you have over millions of brothers? Milliontuplets?

Right! (My mun's hoping that'll be one of the games that runs on her sibling's laptop while her own computer's in storage next month.) The other's Omega Squad, right?

I don't know much more than that. My grandpa didn't save records of much more than Commander Cody, Captain Rex and the 501st.

I ... I guess just brothers?

Ah, those guys. Yeah, I know Omega. So would that have been Fi that you might have meant?

[He's still not sure if he likes the guy or not. The guy sure talks- this coming from Delta's main mouth.]

Huh, not familiar with this Rex guy. Cody, he's the one that follows General Kenobi like a lost akk dog, right? Then again, us commandos usually do separate jobs. They like throwing us into some real messes.

...mmmyeah, guess that makes sense. So who's your grandpa? Was he one of the mo- er, he a part of the military?

Yeah, I think it was Fi from Omega Squad.

[ Anakin jr really doesn't know much. He recognises the name "Cody", but so much of the Clone Wars records were blacked out by his time.

But he suddenly brightens. This clone might not know-- well. ]

Ah-- my grandfather was Anakin Skywalker. I was named after him-- my name's Anakin Solo.

Guy's okay I guess.

[(Mun thinks Scorch is unsure because sometimes Fi is kinda like himself. -also randomly, it's nice to see the littlest Solo about.) That helmet tilts thoughtfully before Scorch snaps his fingers.]

Oh yeah, I did meet the guy! It was pretty brief. We had to bring back a couple of bodies from Devaron to the Council.

[He pauses a bit, looking awkward as he wonders if that's something to say to a normal kid. But more importantly-]

Hey wait- Skywalker was a Jedi, right? I thought they weren't supposed to have family...things.

[ Anakin shrugs it off. He's seen dead bodies and been in battle situations before, though his parents have tried to ensure a normal childhood for him and his siblings. At least until now that they've started Jedi training.

He smiles a little ruefully.] My grandfather ... wasn't exactly the best Jedi. He didn't follow all the rules. He secretly got married and had my mom and uncle.

The rules have changed in my time anyway. For me, the Clone Wars were ... hmm ... forty-something years ago? Lotsa Jedi have family now.

[ Okay, mostly because there are like ... 50 Jedi across the entire galaxy, so not letting them have families would be like forcing them to die out. THANKS, CLONE TROOPERS. ]

...well, can't say I haven't met a Jedi or two who didn't follow all the rules.

[Or clones for that matter, but then they didn't quite have rules like the Jedi Order did. They just had...limited rights? Pff. Try no rights. No life expectancy, no nothing. Wow, he's going to make himself depressed- SEE THIS IS WHY HE DOESN'T LIKE FI. Putting all those thoughts in his head...]

Jedi families, huh. Guess that's nice they cut them some slack.

[His tone's a little unenthusiastic but then clones weren't intended to have families or much of a life. He'll be lucky if he makes it to thirty in clone years.]

Uh huh. We still go to the Academy as children, but parents can visit, and Jedi can get married.

[ He's about to add that his uncle started everything from scratch, but belatedly notices Scorch's bitter tone. ]

...were the clones allowed families? You were soldiers, right? Seems to me you shoulda had all the rights of all Republic soldiers.

[ Anakin, you little idealist. Go play with computers for a few years and let's talk when the Vong hit. ]

Edited 2016-06-06 22:47 (UTC)

[Maybe just a wee bit bitter, yeah. He knows that it's nothing personal, the kid's just explaining things. It still hurts a little.]

No. Hah! -what rights? We were engineered and bred to do one thing- fight a war that the Republic previously would have had no troops to fight for. The only "family" we have is our brothers, and no one else cares a lick when they die. So we just try harder not to.

...anyway, it's not like we've got very long to have any normal life. Our lifespans are already cut in half from the start.

They-- they what? Cut in half?

[ Anakin's horrified. See, this is what happens when Grandpa and Uncle Palpatine destroy all the records and the only 'clones' you know about are people like ... "Luuke". ]

I'm sorry you were-- made for that reason. Aren't your brothers good family though? I mean, I know my brother can be annoying sometimes, but I still love him and I'd be sad if he died.

Oh yeah. We age twice as fast. Didn't know that, did you? How old are ya, kid?

[~~pfff oh goodness, not Luuke~~ At this point Scorch doesn't care if he's being a bit moody. He seems to cringe a little at Anakin's following words.]

...I thought we were. I'm mostly close to my podmates- the rest of Delta Squad. There's four of us. ...

[He swallows, but he still refuses to believe they've really lost one for good.]

[ Anakin shakes his head slowly. ] I'm eleven. So ... I'd be the same as twenty-two if I were a clone. Is that right?

[ Scorch has given Anakin a lot to think about. Almost too much. But shying away from conversation was part of Anakin's childhood, not part of his Jedi training (and future as a Jedi Knight). ]

Okay, four clones per squad. That's like a family, right? I'd say, those clones are your brothers, and the rest are cousins or something.

Oh, so I'm only a year older than you. Technically I'm twenty-two now. Twelve going on twenty-three. Or...something. It gets really confusing sometimes.

[He tilts his helmeted head.]

Well, for us commandos, anyway. Four seems to be enough to give Seps some hell.

[The Republic only sends them out when the going is really tough, after all.]

I think it makes more sense to say we're all brothers- we just don't know a lot of them as well as others.

[ Anakin isn't sure that math makes sense, but shakes his head and moves on. None of this makes sense. ]

Yeah -- brothers is more accurate, genetically. I just thought -- well, your squad, aren't those ya real brothers? And the others, the people like my mun's Fi-- those are more like cousins, as I see them anyway.

I dunno. All I have are my brother and sister -- and they're twins, basically clones, so I'm the odd one out anyway. [ rueful smile ]

Now you're just making things complicated, kid. But either way, you're never left with a good feeling when you see them fall. Or dead.

....sorry, that was a morbid turn of conversation. Um.

...sooo a brother and sister, huh. Do they act alike?

Yeah. Well, I hope I never see that. Or at least, not soon -- we're still just kids in training.

[ No worries, Anakin, you're the first to die anyway~ ]

I'm sorry you've had to go through that. [ He means it. Anakin doesn't like death, as much as he's experienced it already. And he's still young enough to think it's simple... ]

Oh -- no, they're almost complete opposites. [ small laugh ] My sister Jaina is good with machines, and Jacen, my brother, spends half his time talking to animals instead of sentient beings.

[Anakins have the worst luck.]

It's...not like we aren't prepared for it. I mean, your purpose is to fight a war, so the possibility of death is rated pretty high. Never know when the next mission will be your last. But the thing about being alive is that you can't help but be attached to...well, life.

[Despite the helmet, the smirk is evident in his tone.]

That right? Well, I guess that was kind of a stupid question considering we're all pretty different too, despite being cloned.

WELP HERE GOES NOTHIN'

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