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Chapter Text

Anaxes, 19 BBY.
Kix was reorganizing the supply closet (shinies never did it to his liking) when he heard a faint groan from the bed at the end of the medbay. He quickly scanned over the other patients- all asleep- before rushing to Echo’s curtained-off corner.

His eyes were barely open before every muscle he had left tensed. The ARC started to breathe heavily but quietly through his nostrils, looking everywhere but not really seeing anything. Kix grabbed his flesh arm to ground him. “Hey, Echo. It’s alright, you’re safe,” he soothed.

His eyes focused more and widened. “K-Kix?” The medic nodded. “You’ve got hair now.”

Kix smoothed over his head before trying a smile. “Uh, yeah. The general’s droid finally got to me,” he saw Echo’s attention slip off of him to look confusingly around. “You passed out on the way back from your rescue with Rex and Jesse, remember?

Echo nodded. He still looked worried, though. “I-”

“Try not to talk for now, okay? You’re still recovering,” Kix interrupted. He busied himself checking Echo’s vitals and reapplying bandages. “We can catch you up on everything later with the boys, but did you see Jesse’s an ARC now, huh? He was-”

“Where’s Fives?” Echo asked.

Kix’s throat closed. His hands paused in their work.

“He’s dead, isn’t he?”

He lowered himself into the chair at the bedside. “Yes,” he said simply. Echo didn’t say anything, but his jaw was clenched tightly. His eyes were wet but he didn’t cry. “It was about four months back.”

“How?”

That was a tough question. Echo deserved the entire answer, though. Kix settled in for a long explanation.

It was the early hours of the morning when Kix finally went outside. He’d put Echo to sleep with some sedatives and tried to work on surgery prep for his new prosthetics, but the smell of bacta in the medbay was making him sick. The morning air was refreshing.

He’d nearly told Echo about the chips; what he’d discovered through Fives’ ramblings. If anyone should know, if anyone deserved to know first, it would be him. But he held back. He needed more solid evidence, and as much as he hated to admit it, those Bad Batch commandos had gotten into his head. Echo had been under control for months and there was no telling if that brainwashing was still there.

Kix would tell him eventually. He would tell everyone, and soon. But they were so close to ending the war- it might just be easier to wait until it could be his main focus. On the other hand, there was no telling when those chips would turn on as Tup’s had.

He took in one last gulp of fresh air before heading back inside. Kix froze when he heard a branch snap. “Who’s there?” he growled. “I’m armed.”

Hearing movement behind him he whipped around, only to hear the unmistakable sound of commando droids from another spot. Something hit the back of his head and the world went dark.

Chapter Text

“Here, here, I can take her,” a medic said, coming beside Poe. He was hefting an injured soldier in his arms and glady handed her over to the man. “Now, go get yourself over to an empty bed.”

“I’m fine,” Poe explained. The medic gave him a blunt look but quickly focused on the more injured woman. He couldn’t place it, but the medic’s face was familiar. Oh, well. He’d remember later. Poe made a beeline for the war room to find Leia, BB-8 right behind him.

The debrief of the mission was short. Poe didn’t even want to rip all of his hair out like he usually did after all the old admirals pestered him for not following the plan to a T. At least General Leia was usually on his side, unless he actually made a mistake, in which case she never made him feel bad about it. She made him want to fight harder- and smarter.

The other officers filed out after the meeting, but Leia stayed behind to stand next to Poe. The adrenaline had left his body and now the pilot was running on fumes. “Let’s go have some tea in my office,” she suggested.

Poe sat in his favorite chair in the cluttered office. There were overflowing drawers lining the walls, and flimsi papers covering the general’s desk. There was a framed photo on it too- that was new. He couldn’t see what the picture was from his seat, though. BB-8 rolled over to the charging port Leia kept for him in the corner and trilled tiredly.

“You did the best you could, Poe,” Leia said. Poe slurped his tea loudly. “I’m proud of you.”

He smiled shortly. “Thanks,” he was quiet for another moment. “How’s Finn doing?”

The general sighed. “Nothing’s changed. He’s still unresponsive.”

“You're doing everything you can though, right?”

“Poe, of course we are,” she assured, but her brows pinched together in thought. Poe knew that face; she was working through a new idea. He gave her a moment to collect her thoughts, then cocked his head when she made eye contact again. “There’s one more thing we can try.”

~

Leia led him toward the medbay, which looked a lot cleaner and more organized than he remembered. It was still busy with people and Poe had to crane his neck to see Finn’s stasis pod in the back. The general got his attention again when they stopped near a storage closet. Inside was a medic pulling off some bloody gloves and replacing them with a new pair- the one Poe had seen earlier, he realized.

When he saw Leia, the medic made his way over to them and stood crisply at attention. “What can I do ya for, General?” he said with a thick accent.

“At ease, soldier,” she joked. He relaxed slightly, though, and stole a glance at Poe beside her. “How are you holding up? The medbay looks great.”

“I”m good, General. Nobody’s in critical condition at the moment, so I’ve just been cleaning up with the extra time,” he steeled himself before speaking again. “I could help out in the field, too. If any squads need a medic on their team I could-”

“Kix,” Leia gave him a stern look. “You’re not authorized for missions. You need to stay here. It was part of the agreement for bringing you here. If you want to change that, bring it up with Captain Ithano.”

He sighed, but dropped the subject. Poe watched curiously. They seemed to know each other pretty well, but he had never heard of this guy. Leia caught his confusion and introduced him. “Kix, this is Commander Poe Dameron of Black Squadron. Poe, this is Kix. He’s a new recruit, a field medic, and he might be able to help.”

“Yeah?” Poe asked, he sized Kix up. What qualified this guy to help Finn out?

“Kix is an excellent medic, and I think I’m right in assuming you’ve treated lightsaber injuries before?”

The medic raised an eyebrow, but nodded in agreement. Poe was skeptical. “When? Did you work at Skywalker’s attempt at a Jedi temple?”

Kix cringed but also had a faint smile. “I worked with a Skywalker, but probably not the one you’re thinking of. He had his fair share of ‘saber burns during the clone wars.”

“The clone wars?” Poe laughed. “Were you doing surgeries in diapers?”

“Kix is a clone. He served in the clone wars for three years before finding out about the control chips implanted in clones, and getting captured before he could reveal the information. He was kept in stasis for a few decades, and now he’s gonna treat Finn.”

The… clone nodded, confirming the general’s tall tale. Poe processed the fact a clone, one who had served under Darth Vader when he was a Jedi Knight, had basically time-travelled to the Resistance and was now his only hope at getting Finn some help. Then he gave a thumbs-up. “Cool. Let’s go.”

~

“You don’t usually sit this still after a fight,” Kix noted. He was patching up General Skywalker after a long fight. Ventress had made an appearance but luckily the general had gotten the better of her in time to safely get his men off world. Now he was holding an ice-pack to his forehead and pouting at the ceiling. “I’m pretty sure this is your record for being conscious in the medbay.”

“I’m tired,” he groaned. “That witch gave me a workout. I had to chase her up and down that base, like, five times!”

“Uh huh,” Kix pretended to listen. He scanned up and down the general’s form far any injuries he had missed, and caught on the general’s jawline. It was an angry red, and nearly blistering in places like a bad sunburn. “What happened here?”

“What? Oh,” Skywalker noticed what Kix was now fussing over. “It’s just from the lightsabers. If you lock swords too close for too long you get a ‘saber-burn.”

After studying the gnarly burn Kix listened intently while his general explained how they treated ‘saber burns at the temple. A simple process, combined with the fact that Jedi were impossibly resilient made for a quick recovery.

Kix would use the method many times during the war. Mostly on Skywalker and a few stressful times on Commander Tano. The rare times a brother survived a slice from a lightsaber long enough to get back to the medical tent (or hovel, or whatever space Kix and the others could use) was a relief in the sense they would be able to say goodbye to their squad. If you weren’t a Jedi, there was little chance you would survive long with a lightsaber injury.

That was why it baffled Kix that this kid had survived the burn to his back. He knew this soldier had been in the stasis corner for a few weeks- he should have died by now. Maybe medicine had improved in the last 50 years. Though he still cringed as the med droid turned the boy over to show him the scar.

“This is some Sith the first order has themselves,” he tried to lighten the mood. The audience was not amused, so he went to work. After a few requests for supplies and an hour, he was done.

“He’s not waking up,” the pilot said.

“He still has a lot of healing to do,” Kix explained. “Your friend will wake up in a couple hours.”

“Plenty of time for Poe’s physical!” General Organa grinned. Poe, on the other hand, paled and looked toward the building’s exit.

“Oh no, General, I’m fine.”

“Oh, yes. You’re late for your physical by a few months,” Kix remembered. Poe glanced over at his friend in the stasis pod, then shuffled half-heartedly to an examination table.

The checkup was over quickly save Poe’s intermittent complaints. Kix knew how to relax a patient by distracting them with pointless small talk, though. He could see that Poe was an intelligent young man, who had a lot of optimism and trust for everyone he met, even strange out-of-time clones.

“So, what did this kid do to have you stick by his side like a mynock?”

Poe shrugged. “It’s not really what he did… I feel responsible for him. I got Finn into the Resistance, and I got him hurt. Badly. He’s gonna be okay though, right?”

“I think he will be,” Kix assured him. He glanced back at Finn with the pilot. “I don’t know how he’s held out this long, but he hasn’t stopped fighting yet.”

“That’s Finn for ya,” said Poe. He parted ways with Kix for the mess hall but he knew the young man would be back at Finn’s bedside sooner or later. Kix’s shift was nearly over with the sun beginning to set and he soon headed to his room.

~

Another long day. Kix was bone tired as he dragged his feet to his little room in the barracks. He shed off his clothes, brushed his teeth, and settled in his bed but he did not close his eyes yet. There was a bottle of Corellian brandy under the bed frame calling his name and he pulled it out with practiced hands and fiddled with the cap while staring at the door. Soon enough, it opened to let a blue astromech in. Artoo rolled over to Kix and whittled in greeting.

“What took you so long?” Kix asked, finally uncapping the bottle. “Check if you have any recordings from… how about ‘957 C.R.C.? Just before Umbara.”

You should make friends here , the little droid hummed. There are plenty of other old men.

Kix gave a half-hearted glare. “When’s the last time you hung around any droid other than Threepio?”

Artoo obliged Kix’s first request, flicking on some video of troopers messing around in the Resolute ’s hangar; Anakin working deep in his starfighter’s engine off to the side. Kix could see Fives, Tup, Hardcase, a disgruntled Dogma, him and Jesse, and as he drank himself to sleep he could just ignore the garbled audio enough to be back there. “Thought so,” he mumbled to Artoo.

He’d said countless times in the past that the greatest thing he could imagine would be only seeing his brothers once a month for physicals instead of every day for patching up their battle injuries, but now he could only dream of reprimanding their recklessness while he patched them up. The clone found a nightcap paired with old recordings made for the most realistic dreams, and soon it was hard to sleep without his new nightly ritual.

He was looking out the window of the ship watching hyperspace flow past. It was sort of hypnotizing if you stared at it for too long. “Hey,” someone nudged his shoulder. Jesse. “What’re you thinking about, space cadet?”

Kix blinked, eyes adjusting to the darker interior of the barracks. “Dunno, sorry. What were you saying?”

“How was your first day in the five-oh-one? Did you not hear any of the recounts of my day patrolling the reactor?”

“Oh, I heard the beginning but about the time you got to hour three of nothing happening is when I spaced out.” His brother frowned sarcastically, Kix laughed. “I uh, got a tour of the medbay… then had to replace all the bedpans, because apparently that’s ‘shiny duty’.”

Now Jesse was the one laughing. He caught his breath eventually, leaning on Kix for support. They talked and relaxed by the window late into the night cycle. Kix was still wide awake itching for the fight that would come the next day when their battalion arrived at the front lines. He may have also wanted to avoid the barracks, filled with brothers he was not familiar with.

“Yet,” Jesse said. “You’re not familiar with them yet. But Hardcase is in there, and Echo and Fives- until they go off to be ARCs. You’ll get to know them all soon.”

Kix nodded silently. The short-lived unawareness that this was a dream was over. He was still in it though, so he would keep talking to shiny-Jesse as shiny-Kix as long as he could. “And I’ll be even better friends with you,” he smiled.

He pulled Jesse in for a noogie. The trooper half-struggled until both were simply huddled together with Kix’s arm over Jesse’s shoulder. Kix missed the simple affection he had with his brothers. It was impossible to replicate- how could he, with no brothers?

“You need to make friends now, Kix,” his brother told him.

“I have time. It’s only our first day.”

Jesse sighed. “Now, in the Resistance.” Kix frowned. “You have more in common with others than you think- you just don’t want to get close.”

“I miss you,” Kix said, ignoring what Jesse had said.

“You need to move forward, keep marching.”

“I feel like I’m marching in the wrong direction, Jesse. I took a wrong turn somewhere around researching the chips. If I hadn’t listened to Fives I could have-”

“-Died with the rest of us. But you’re still alive to save more people. Keep doing what you do best, saving lives. You know it will be easier if you commit to this time, so do it.” Jesse was fading away, slipping out of Kix’s arm. He squeezed his brother’s armor harder, but now it just felt like blankets…

~

He woke up late the next day with a headache but minimal regret. Artoo was gone and the room felt empty without the droid in it. Kix shrugged his scrubs on and hurried to the medbay for painkillers more than anything else. At least they were easier to find now that he’d organized the storage closet.

The storage area had a good view of the comatose ward, and that was where Kix saw the pilot from yesterday sitting near his friend. He made his rounds and the pilot was still there. There wasn’t much left to do for the rest of the morning.

It wouldn’t hurt to talk to him. He was close with General Organa, so he couldn’t be that bad.

“Been here all night?” Kix asked when he got to the other side of the bed. Between them, Finn was dead asleep, though he had much more color in his face than yesterday. A quick glance at his vitals told Kix he would be waking up soon.

Poe gave a bleary nod, fiddling with some pilot’s charm in his hand. Even the clone pilots had been a superstitious bunch, each with their own talisman for good luck in the skies and in life. “Wanted to make sure there was a familiar face when he woke up. He’s still new around here- might be confused when he wakes up.”

“You mentioned you recruited him? Where’s he from?” That pulled Poe’s attention.

“From the First Order,” he told Kix with wide eyes. “He got me out of a Star Destroyer when he defected. You know, it’s insane how they live in the First Order- he didn’t even have a name!”

Kix looked down at Finn- he’d been a trooper. No name until he had earned one, and had come to the Resistance. Poe noticed the strange reaction and became worried. “I shouldn’t have told you that, it’s not my place to tell-”

“It’s not that,” Kix said. “We just have a lot in common.”

The heart monitor’s pulse increased. Finn’s eyes moved underneath his eyelids, and soon enough they opened. He looked around, dazed, then quickly sat up. He nearly fell off the bed in the process but Poe and Kix were there to ease him back down. Still breathing heavily, Finn focused on Poe. “Where…?”

“You’re back at the base, you’re okay, Finn,” Poe told him quietly. He had been watching his unconscious friend all night but now he scanned Finn up and down as if he were just now seeing him since he was hurt.

Finn looked around the medbay, looking at Kix for a moment, then turned back to Poe. “Where’s Rey?”

Chapter Text

Finn packed his bag haphazardly, more worried about leaving sooner than his few belongings (were they even his? They were clothes he had borrowed, provisions lying around, an old synthleather bag he had found) getting wrinkles. Poe leaned against the wall with an unreadable expression on his face- not that Finn was ever really good at reading expressions, most everyone he knew wore a helmet constantly.

“I believe in what you guys are doing here, but I didn’t join this army- I don’t want you to think I’m something I’m not,” he explained to Poe again. He wasn’t sure where he would go or what he would do now, but he felt like an impostor here. A few months laying low might help him figure things out but Finn couldn’t do that here. Even with his new friend Poe here it was a lot.

Something was pulling him in another direction, too. Poe had asked General Organa and found Rey was far off in the Unknown Regions, hopefully beginning her training with Luke Skywalker himself. Finn supposed it was the best place she could be right now, but he still felt abandoned by one of his first and only connections to the world outside the First Order.

“You’re safer here than anywhere else, Finn. The First Order will hunt you down if you leave,” Poe told him. “The Resistance isn’t asking you to fight- I’m not asking you to fight. Whatever figuring out you need to do, just do it here.”

He handed Finn something- a jacket. The one he had worn over his underarmour blacks. Poe’s jacket. There were uneven, thick stitches down the back where it had been ripped open by Kylo Ren’s lightsaber. “I’m not much of a sewer,” he mumbled before leaving.

Finn studied the stitches, hesitating to pack it with his other things. In the end, he unpacked the bag. It was still a comfort to have it there, as an option he wouldn’t use just yet.

~

Kix was happy to see the defected stormtrooper return for his checkup the next day. When he had tentatively released him the previous day it had seemed like he might leave. Poe had convinced him to stay, then. Finn would not run off to get lost in the galaxy at large… or turn back to the First Order with Resistance secrets.

He was quiet at first, but listened to Kix- unlike most of the Resistance soldiers who always insisted they were fine. When he touched the healing scar on his back, Finn sat still, though Kix could tell every muscle in his body was tense. He made sure to finish up quickly, moving onto reapplying bandages.

“You’re staying at the base, then?”

“Just for now,” Finn answered. Kix finished up securing the bacta bandage and handed Finn back his beat-up jacket. The young man took it and pulled it on with a wince.

“You’re healing up really well, but you should still take it easy.” It was true, the scar was ugly but completely closed up. It had healed with a speed that was making Kix wonder if it was just the advances in medicine, or something else as well. He would talk to the General later.

Finn looked around. “So what do I do? I’ve never really… been given a job here.”

“Go to the firing range?” Kix suggested. “It takes a while to get used to new blasters, especially if you only trained with First Order models.”

The young soldier’s eyes widened. “Oh, you know about that, then.”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, kid,” he assured. “You left. You made a choice and you came here.”

“I nearly didn’t. Poe had to convince me to stay.”

“He’s a good friend,” Kix said. “Can I ask why you were going to leave?”

Finn fidgeted, hesitating before answering. He did not look Kix in the eye, instead focusing his attention on the rough sleeve of his jacket. “I don’t belong here.”

Kix nodded, and moved to sit next to him. He handed Finn some painkillers from his pocket. “CT-6116,” he stated.

Finn finally looked at him in confusion. “What?”

“CT-6116. It was my number. Before I had a name,” he explained. That made Finn sit up straighter, looking at the medic differently. Kix leaned over and patted him on the shoulder, careful to avoid his wound. “We both earned our names, and we both chose to be here. I’d say you belong.”

By the end of his shift (spent mostly not doing his rounds and talking with the kid) Kix was satisfied with his pep-talk. He learned a little more about him and how he had found his way to the Resistance- lots of crash landings and explosions. It sounded like something Skywalker would get himself into back in the day. Finn told him about his other friend, Rey, who had helped him. Now she was off training to be a Jedi of all things. It was amazing, Finn told him, how he could tell the lightsaber she found was meant for her. “I just wish I could use that laser sword again. It was amazing. I’m not a Jedi though, Rey’s the one who needs it.”

~

Leia was used to working late into the night. Tonight, she was reading over budgeting plans. Things were getting tight. The Resistance needed defenses to hold the First Order off but as their influence over the galaxy grew it was harder and harder to pull in the credits needed for expensive defense systems. They needed something cheap but effective.

She refilled her mug with Corellian brandy. She was trying to drink less caf these days. Someone knocked on the door before letting themselves in. It was Kix, the clone becoming more invested in the Resistance by the day. Tonight though, he had a dark look on his face.

He leaned forward and swiped the bottle from her desk. That got her attention, and she leaned back to look at Kix with a thin-lipped smile. “What is it, Kix?”

He stated his question nonchalantly. “Were you going to tell me Finn was force-sensitive?”

It was no wonder he had found out. Someone who had worked side-by-side Jedi at the height of their Order would know how to spot a force-sensitive. Leia herself had a feeling, like she had with Rey (though that girl was something else, powerful in a way only comparable to Luke) but Kix was only now confirming her suspicions. She told him as much while he emptied her brandy.

“Alright, so we should let him know. Get him on his way to train with the girl.”

That made Leia pause. “Not yet.”

“What?” he huffed. “He deserves to know and learn- if this is about him being too old-”

“It’s not that,” Leia stopped him. Kix was more invested in Finn than anyone he had met since coming here. It was unexpected, but made sense. The young man had a lot of friends looking out for him already, but she still needed to do her job deciding what was best for everyone. “It would be dangerous to have him leave now. Not only is there a chance the First Order would capture him with all the territory they control, it would leave the rest of us with less defense. Staying under their radar is what is most important right now, and that means Finn stays.”

Kix mulled over her words, swiping a hand over his stubble. “We need all the Jedi we can get. In the Clone Wars it was ten thousand against three Sith and they lost,” he said, voice straining. “Again you have a Sith trying to take over the galaxy and no doubt there’s more behind the curtains- against not a single Jedi. You have one training and another who doesn’t even know it. If he did, he could do something to really help!”

“He can help us here,” Leia offered. “Like you said, Rey is off training right now. Maybe when she returns Finn can be trained.”

“But we tell him, right? Artoo has some of Anakin’s old training recordings he can use,” Kix perked up. Leia pursed her lips, doubtful.

“I’m not sure-”

“I won’t keep something like this from him! I wouldn’t do that for anybody!” he shouted suddenly. “If you know something that important you do not hide it, especially when it comes to people’s lives.”

Leia was reminded of the reason Kix was here in the first place. He understood the Jedi more than anyone alive in the galaxy today, and he had been unable to prevent their demise. “Alright. We’ll tell him. But I am putting him under your responsibility,” she jabbed a finger at him. He blinked, slowly putting the brandy down and sitting up straighter. “Keep him here and keep him from breaking anything. And let me have a chat with Artoo as to what he can teach Finn- he underestimates how fragile humans are.”

The clone stood up and saluted. “I won’t let you down, sir.”

“I know you won’t,” she said softly as he left.

~

Some part of him had always known. There was no word that described how he was different from his squadmates growing up; he simply was and did his best to ignore it. It was helpful to know when his instructors were in a bad mood so he could avoid getting on their nerves, and he was praised for his fast reflexes and intuition in battle training scenarios. When it came to real action though, it was an understatement to call feeling the death in the air a distraction.

It was why he knew he needed to leave. It was how he’d known he could trust the captured pilot he could now call his closest friend. It was how he had survived this long.

It was the Force.

Kix had told him early in the morning at one of his last checkups. Apparently, he could tell because he had known other Jedi! It was hard to believe he had the potential to be like the mythical heroes Kix described but a lot of hard-to-believe things had come true for him recently. Finn knew one thing for sure: he wanted it.

“Hold on a minute,” Kix stopped him from dashing to pack his things with a steady hand on his shoulder. “The General needs you to stay here on D’Qar.”

“What about training? I need to meet up with Rey, train under Luke Skywalker with her.”

The medic shrugged. “Sorry, kid.”

So, that was that. If he wanted to meet the famed Jedi master he would have to wait for Rey to get back in one piece. According to Kix, training was a years long process. Luckily Poe reminded him that Luke Skywalker had ended the Empire after only three years and training much shorter than that. Still, it would be a long time until he could have his chance.

In the meantime though, there was still plenty to do. Kix eagerly showed him old recordings of Jedi training on the old astromech that followed him and Leia around. Without a lightsaber to use there was only so much he could copy, but luckily Kix knew hand-to-hand combat, too. Even using all of his training from Starkiller and heightened senses, it took weeks to finally beat the man.

He told Finn that Jedi were also talented pilots. Poe was perfectly happy to teach him and was patient with his slow learning curve. They started out with Finn co-piloting in one of the low-atmosphere transports and only hit a few trees. By the time he had moved up to piloting an x-wing he was still more nervous than excited.

“Not a scratch, Finn,” Poe wagged a finger at him from the ground. “Beebee-Ate will never forgive you.”

Finn examined his borrowed helmet. It was a lot more dented than he expected. “By Beebee-Ate do you mean yourself?”

“No, I would probably strangle you.”

He looked nervously at Poe, still not putting the helmet on. “Maybe I should run the flight sims a few more times.”

“Finn, you got this,” he assured. “I trust you.”

Against all odds, it was amazing. He couldn’t go very far, only doing an orbit of the planet with Poe on the comm the entire time, but it was enough. It made sense now why Poe loved flying so much, how he could jump into this deathtrap and fight the First Order. In this little x-wing, Finn could see the entire system. He could see the entire galaxy if he jumped to hyperspace right now- in complete control of where he wanted to go.

He checked all the ship systems. The fuel tank was full, nothing was out of place, and the hyperspace engine was ready to go. Finn flew back down to the base and landed perfectly.

“See? Not a scratch. I knew you could do it,” Poe smiled, throwing an arm over Finn’s shoulder.

The final piece of his on-site training game from Leia. Even with her busy schedule she made time a few days a tenday to teach Finn what she knew. It was a surprise to learn she even was Force-sensitive, though she did not call herself a Jedi. She taught him more practical things (in her opinion), like mind-tricks and reading other’s moods. They eventually moved onto levitation, but she confessed the more physical side of Force abilities were her brother’s forte.

One bleak and rainy day on the base, Kix had to postpone their kata practice to help with a surgery. Finn was itching with unused energy, and Leia could notice. She taught him meditation. In her quarters with some candles lit and the rain gently tapping on the glass, it was exactly what Finn needed.

“I still want to get out there and fight- for the right side this time,” Finn confessed.

“You’ve already proven yourself here,” Leia said. “But, I get what you mean. I wish we could do more now, but as unarmed and low on numbers as we are, we need to stay hidden until we’re ready to put up a real fight.”

Finn nodded. A strange new feeling came over him, and before he could overthink it he told her, “I can sense we have... everything we need.” He flicked his head over to face her. “What does that mean?”

She smiled proudly. “I believe that means you’re a quick learner.”

~

The mess hall was crowded as usual. Most of the hungry rebels were around the kitchen area where the old Ocissian woman cooked delicious meals for the base. Kix expertly weaved through the crowd to pick up a bowl of stew, stopping to pick up some hot sauce too. Then it was time to go back to his room to eat in peace and quiet-

“Hey! Kix!” Finn called. He was sitting next to Poe, surrounded by other ground soldiers. They were all raptly listening to whatever Finn had been saying and now began to look up at him. Finn was waving him over now. He couldn’t decline, as much as he wanted to sit in his room and drink. He sat down in the space that opened up for him, sitting across from Finn and Poe and squished between the rest of the audience. “I was just telling everyone some of your Clone Wars stories- you don’t mind, right?”

He shrugged. “I guess not. Nothing embarrassing though I hope?”

“Was it true your general was Darth Vader?” someone asked.

“Not when I knew him,” Kix said.

A Mirialan to his left piped up. “How old are you exactly?”

“Now that’s a complicated question…”

“Finn said you were in the 501st, did you know Commander Rex?”

Kix looked at who had asked. They were an old human, the original rebel insignia sewed proudly onto their tattered jacket. “Yeah,” he smiled. “Though I wasn’t there for his promotion. Did- did you fight with him?”

He talked back and forth with the old rebel- their name he learned was Loc, and they had been under Rex’s command in the last months of the Rebellion. It was different hearing a first-hand account of one of his old friends, instead of scouring history holos for bits of information.

Meanwhile Finn seemed to be having fun explaining his Jedi training to the rest of the group. Poe would sometimes pipe in with a joke or a lighthearted roast of his piloting skills, but mostly just smiled at his friend’s enthusiasm. Somehow, the kid had pulled himself and Kix out of their shells, and become a padawan along the way.

Maybe padawan wasn’t the right word. He didn’t have a master or even a lightsaber. Leia might have counted as his master, but she tended to avoid Jedi business as much as she could. Giving Finn some direction was all she was willing to do for now. Really, the closest thing Finn had to a master would be… Kix?

That wasn’t right either. Kix helped train him in physical combat, sometimes at the firing range. He looked out for him and made sure he didn’t get into trouble. A thought popped into his mind: he treated him like one of his brothers.

He had a brother again. Even if it was just one at the moment, he felt like a missing part of himself had suddenly been put back into place. 

Kix let the tension ease out of his muscles while he listened to his vod’ika talk. He had moved onto the story of his escape with Poe filling in things every so often. “... luckily I wasn’t just a mindless stormtrooper- I was a Jedi!”

The crowd cheered, but Kix furrowed his brow. “I don’t think that’s-”

“Hello, boys. Are you enjoying your meal?” The crowd was suddenly silent as General Organa appeared behind them. Half of the group shuffled out of the mess hall to get back to their shifts and the rest tried to look like they weren’t listening in. She could certainly command a room.

“General,” Kix saluted from his spot on the bench. Standing up was still a difficult production with the surrounding people. Finn and Poe craned their necks to look up at her. She waited for the x-wing pilot to finish loudly slurping his stew to speak.

“Come to the briefing at 2000 hours. Don’t be late.”

They were only a minute late. The only thing it lost them was a good spot around the small holotable. The three of them craned their necks until Leia spotted them and begrudgingly waved them to the front. Lieutenant Connix called for everyone to be silent, and all eyes were on the General.

“We haven’t left this base since the destruction of Starkiller. There has been limited contact with our allies, and we have temporarily stopped recruitment. All of this and a lot of luck was in an effort to stay hidden from the First Order. Had they found us here we would have been chased out and destroyed.

“It might still come to that, but I would like to put up a bit of a fight when that happens. As of now, we don’t have the defenses to withstand an attack. That can change,” she explained. A wave of her hand over the controls brought an image up on the holotable. Kix’s stomach dropped. He knew where this was going. “This is Sidon Ithano. He is the captain of a ship that looks for old CIS vaults.”

“Looks like a pirate,” Poe mumbled. Exactly , Kix thought.

“His crew sells exactly what we’ve been needing: weapons and defenses. To my knowledge they have blasters, explosives, shield generators, even functioning battle droids.” Kix knew she was right. A few weeks ago he had been selling them to less reputable people. “You might be wondering why I have decided we can risk business with him. We’re lucky enough to be in the presence of some of his crew.”

Kix liked the war-hero attention he had been getting back in the mess hall, but now everyone was looking at the former pirate Kix. He listened to the rest of the briefing with his arms crossed and avoiding eye contact.

With a small team, he would be in charge of meeting up with the Crimson Corsair and making the trade. Finn, who apparently knew the crew too, would be his second in command. General Organa had already made secure contact with the captain and they were to meet on a planet called Takodana. Finn froze at the mention of the planet, and Poe quickly volunteered to escort alongside the transport shuttle in his x-wing. The briefing ended after planning the rest of the smaller details.

The General had the three of them stay back as everyone else left. The moons were already out and it was dark in the empty briefing room even with the lights.

“Thanks for the advanced warning on that, General,” Kix said bitterly.

“Look at the bright side,” she offered. “It’s your first away mission. You’ve been wanting to get out, here’s your chance.”

Finn and Poe watched silently. And awkwardly. “You’re just returning me back to the pirates.”

“What? Kix, you know as well as I do the plan was for you to return to your crew after you fixed those AT-TEs. You decided you wanted to stay. This is your opportunity to tell them and move on.”

He scrubbed a hand over his face, took a deep breath. “Fine. I’ll be ready in the morning.” Kix stalked off to his room. He sat on his bed wondering why he didn’t like this. General Organa was right, he had been asking for this. Maybe it just felt like he was moving backwards if he were to see the pirates again. The years he spent with them were bleak and covered with a haze of depression. He had mourned his old life, and now he had moved past it to be in the Resistance.

Still, he drank and watched old recordings and dreamed about his brothers. Kix would never stop mourning. But if he could just move on from something , that would be progress. If that something had to be the pirate crew he never really had a problem with, so be it.

There was a knock on the door. The only person who ever came here wasn't really a person, it was Artoo. The knock came again faster. Kix got up and opened the door to Finn, beaming from ear to ear. “You won’t believe what Leia gave me for the mission tomorrow!”

He hurried to the small table near Kix’s bed and put a rectangular box down. It was simple and wooden with metal hinges on one side. Finn looked up at Kix and down at the box a few times until he got impatient. “Go on, we don’t have all night. What is it?”

Finn opened the box reverently. He gently pulled out the cylindrical metal item and held it up to Kix. “It’s Leia’s lightsaber.”

Chapter Text

Keeping your ‘saber moving is key to deflecting the fire of multiple adversaries. With motion, one into the next, into the next, and so on.

The recording played for the third time while Finn copied Anakin’s motions with concentrated determination. Kix watched him from his bed, fighting his drooping eyelids and the urge to yawn. He wanted to keep watching the kid practice but they also had a mission early tomorrow.

“Alright, you can practice more in the morning,” he said. Finn sighed but turned off the blade. “I can tell you with certainty that sleep-deprived Jedi are not as good at deflecting fire.”

“I hope we get some action. Maybe the First Order will try and attack us!”

“The goal is to go unnoticed, kid. If you never have to use that thing that would be good,” Kix reminded him. Finn was still packing up his things and the clone hesitated before speaking up again. “You said something earlier… about stormtroopers being mindless.”

Finn nodded. He was facing away from Kix so his expression was hard to read. His voice came out light and unbothered, though. “We’re- They’re all brainwashed as soon as they can read. I always knew it was wrong, probably because of the Force.”

“That’s not how the Force works,” Kix sighed. “You broke through their programming, and that’s amazing. It really is. But, don’t you think others could do that too? If they had the chance?”

Finn seemed confused but genuinely trying to understand Kix’s reasoning. The medic guessed he had never considered the possibility. He knew the tactics trainers used to make cadets work harder- pitting them against each other. Finn probably thought he was the only to want to escape because that’s what the First Order told him to think. Thinking like that was hard to shake, Kix knew. Even now he would sometimes hear the bitter voice of a Cuy’val Dar telling him to get up, runt , or the light insults of a Kaminoan pointing out his minuscule flaws. It never really left you, but he could at least help Finn where he could.

“Nines, maybe,” Finn mumbled. He turned around to face Kix again. “It’s not like I have a choice. I’d rather not fight anybody but that’s not exactly an option.”

“Try and think like a Jedi. They were peacekeepers first and foremost, only fighting when it was their only option. They valued all life and did everything to protect it. Kind of like a medic,” Kix explained. “Though I wouldn’t be too thrilled about having to treat an enemy. Just focus on protection.”

“Okay,” the young Jedi said.

It was truly late by then and Kix pushed Finn out to get some rest. He was too tired to watch any old recordings either and sent Artoo to charge.

“You think the captain will be okay?” Jesse asked. Kix looked over to him on the speeder bike just ahead and to the left of him. The plains of Saleucami were easy and smooth to ride across, the only sense of danger coming from hidden enemy droids.

Commando droids were especially good at catching you off guard.

“It was close, but he’ll be fine,” Kix assured his brother. “As long as he takes it easy, which I doubt he will, Captain Rex will be back on his feet in no time.”

Jesse laughed light and unburdened. “You really gave it to him back there. Like he was a cadet that didn’t want to stay in his sleep pod.”

“I’m a medic, I have the authority when it comes to his health and I’ll sure as hell hold it over him if it means he stays safe.”

“You know, you’ve really come into your own Kix,” he told him. “Best medic in the 501st.”

“Don’t tell Coric that,” Kix replied. “But thanks.”

After years of training, doubt, and being shoved head-first into an entire galaxy at war, Kix was finding his footing. It was hard some of the time (most of the time), but it was what he was born to do. Nothing would stop him or slow him down. No matter how hard it got, he would be there to protect his fellow soldiers and brothers and heal their wounds.

~

The flight to Takodana started out quiet. Nobody had been on missions in a while and were full of nerves. One soldier tapped her boot on the durasteel floor. Another was cleaning his spotless blaster. Finn, sitting across from Kix, turned Leia’s lightsaber around in his hands methodically.

After the turbulence of their third hyperspace jump (trying to go undetected on the way meant taking a more convoluted route with more hyperspace lane changes) Kix got up and slumped into the seat next to Finn. He pulled a small metal bit out of his pocket and held it between the lightsaber and Finn’s face.

“A belt clip. So you don't have to keep it in your pocket.”

Finn took it. “Thanks,” he mumbled. “How long until we’re there?”

“Another hour probably.” The conversation stopped there, as Finn returned to fidgeting with the lightsaber. Kix nudged his arm gently. “Hey. I know you’ve got a lot to think about right now, but there’s only one thing you need to focus on: protecting your fellow soldiers. That’s it. Nothing else matters.”

After he made sure Finn’s expression shifted from uncertainty to shaky confidence Kix looked up. The others were watching, listening in on his pep-talk.

During the Clone Wars, Kix had never been in charge of leading a mission. That was more Rex’s speed. If he were leading this mission he would have said something to his troops. Something to keep them focused and ready for anything.

“Alright everyone,” Kix called as he moved to stand at the end of the shuttle. Out one of the small windows the green planet was coming into view. “Stay focused, and be ready for anything. I’ll handle talking to the pirates. Connix will lead the scouting parties,” The Lieutenant gave a short nod. “Commander Dameron’s our eye in the sky, and Finn will oversee the rest of you loading the cargo.”

The shuttle landed with a thud. When the ramp slid out Kix was the first one out. The sky was just as blue as always and a light breeze swayed the tree branches. If you looked up it was like nothing had ever happened here. Only looking down the path that led to Maz’s castle made it clear this was no longer the bustling spacer haven it used to be. There was rubble everywhere. Though the smoke was clear, the air around the old battleground was dead.

He motioned to the squads in the transport. “Looks clear. Let’s get moving.”

Nobody spoke as they trudged down the path to the meetup spot near the rubble. The only sound came from birds in the trees, until they were drowned out by the roar of Poe’s starfighter doing a fly-by. Finn beside Kix looked up and waved. “How’s it looking up there Commander?”

“ All good, no signs of First Order Activity, ” crackled Finn’s comm. “ Did you ever get an official rank? ”

“Uh, no. Do I need one?”

“ Yeah you do! I’ll talk with the General when we get back. How does ‘Commander Finn’ sound? ”

“Not sure if I’ll get promoted that fast, Poe. Maybe Lieutenant. Or Sergeant.”

“ No- Admiral Finn- ”

Kix flicked on his comm. “Let’s stay focused, cadets.” His voice echoed back from Finn's comm beside him and the young man quickly turned his off, giving Kix an apologetic look. He rolled his eyes and patted him on the shoulder. “Just go do a perimeter check.” Finn seemed wary but did what he was told.

Poe’s distorted voice came back on the comm. “ Our pirates are here. Their hunk of junk is coming in from the east. ”

In the distance, Kix could see the speck of rust-brown that was the Meson Martinet . It came in a bit low near the lake so that water sprayed up around the landing area.  Kix smoothed his hair back into place and adjusted his armor. It was some of the same pieces he had scrounged up when working with the crew placed over his newer Resistance gear. He probably looked completely different to them even in the short amount of time he had been gone. The clean shave, new clothes, even the gray hairs his temples were now sporting too early.

When the small crew descended the ramp, they looked exactly the same. Sidon first of course, with Quiggold right behind him (though much slower with his pegleg). Reveth bounded out next and made a beeline for Kix. She gave him an unexpected hug. “Kix! How have you been?”

“Fine," he said. He returned the hug eventually until Squeaky came over, too. He lifted the medic off the ground in a bone-crushing hug of his own. “Nice to see you, too,” he wheezed.

They’d missed him. It was a greater comfort than he thought it would be.

“Hello, Kix,” said a new voice. It was robotic- did they add a droid to replace him? No, it was coming from underneath the Crimson Corsair’s mask. It was Sidon speaking.

“You got a vocoder?”

The captain nodded. Beside him, Quiggold explained. “It comes in handy when we need to split up.”

Well, it would certainly be interesting to have a true conversation with Sidon. They needed to finish business first, though. “I’ll get my squads over to help carry everything.”

~

Perimeter check. It was barely necessary, especially when they already had a scouting squad going around. This was just to get Finn out of the way and not get distracted talking with Poe.

He was on his first real mission for the Resistance and he was already blowing it.

This really was his first mission at all, Finn realized. After his training it took one mission that just turned out to be an execution squad to convince him to leave. It baffled him that none of the other stormtroopers that night had had second thoughts either.

He looked down at the ground and huffed in frustration. When his eyes caught on a white helmet, he froze. It was attached to the rest of the body of a fallen soldier, plastoid armor mangled and dirtied.

The soldier had died from a blaster bolt but Finn knew there were dozens of other bodies in the wreckage and some of them would have lightsaber wounds. He’d had to kill those stormtroopers- they were attacking innocent sentients caught in the crossfire. He’d had to defend himself from the one who had snarled traitor at him.

As he continued through he saw another body. The helmet had a smear of blood on it. Again, he thought of that night on Jakku. Slip, his squadmate who he had known since they were cadets, smeared his blood on Finn’s HUD. Before that Finn had been hesitant and less than enthusiastic about their orders, but that had been the moment he knew it was wrong. The violence, fear, and control caused nothing but meaningless deaths.

Jedi did not cause violence. They ended it.

~

The scouts were halfway done with their sweep and Finn finished his perimeter (returning with a much more serious attitude and the absence of his usual positivity) and rounded up the others to load the battle droids. Kix gave them a quick once-over to make sure they were in order, but he had spent enough time on the other end of this type of trade to know they were trustworthy.

He leaned on a weathered stone wall with Sidon. The rest of the pirates were helping out and making friends with the Resistance. It was strange seeing the two different parties get along so well.

“I want to stay,” Kix said. “With the Resistance. It’s not as exciting as treasure hunting sure, but I can help people.”

Sidon nodded calmly. “It’s your decision.”

“You don’t need to ‘sign’ me over to General Organa or anything? She made it pretty clear you wanted me right back after I fixed the tanks.”

“It was a formality. Besides, I wanted to make sure they couldn’t keep you against your will.”

Kix scoffed. “They’re not the kind of people to do that. In fact their whole thing is freedom fighting against Imperialism.”

“Well, then I guess I needn’t worry,” Sidon replied. They fell into silence again, watching over their crews. Kix should have realized they were only looking out for him. It was what they had done, especially Sidon, since they’d found him. He never fully understood it and maybe even ignored it. Looking back though, his four years of wandering the Outer rim could have been a lot worse without Reveth’s quick wit, Quiggold’s bad jokes, and Sidon’s silent protection.

As much as a pirate crew could be a family, they had been one. Trust was tenuous and short-lived in the business and yet Kix never doubted it in the Meson Martinet . “Thanks for looking out for me,” Kix told him.

“Sir!” a soldier ran forward to Kix, pushing through the overgrowth of the forest. “We found something. It might be a First Order probe droid.”

Kix stood up. “What do you mean it ‘might be’?”

“Uh, well, Keris blasted it to pieces before we could get a good look.”

“Hey!” a Duros girl, presumably Keris, said. “It was gonna shoot us!”

“They know we’re here now,” Kix muttered. “How close are we to getting out of here?”

Quiggold shuffled over to explain. “All the battle droids have been unloaded but your shield generators-”

“Keep them for now. We can meet up and get them another time but we have to get out of here as quickly as possible.”

“You need those defenses,” Sidon argued. “It won’t take long.”

“Boss, we’ve got an incoming ship ,” Poe broke in. “ Light cruiser, and it’s definitely First Order. ”

“Kark,” Kix muttered. This low-stakes mission was blowing out of proportion far too much for his liking. He thought his frequency of being on disastrous missions was connected to working under General Skywalker, but it appeared he had brought the bad luck along.

~

Flak was heavy as Poe darted around the cruiser. It had deployed half a dozen TIEs in a defensive formation. They were trying to guard something. He needed to get past them to see what it was.

With a full squadron of x-wings it might have been easier, but no, this was a simple operation that only needed one lookout. Poe was confident he could handle it himself of course, but it would be a lot more difficult. And impressive.

He angled to the left when a fighter got too close to his foils and came around for another pass at the group above the lake. Far below, he could see the pinpricks of ground soldiers and the pirates. One of those specks down there was Finn, counting on him to hold off the onslaught long enough for them to jump out of here with the supplies.

With renewed determination, he set his sights on one TIE. The shakiest of them; the pilot must have been new. “Beebee-Ate, redirect more power to forward shields.”

The little droid obliged, but voiced his dislike of the plan he knew the pilot was about to set in motion. “Aw, you love it. Just hold onto your dome.”

Poe set his shoulders and fired just off to the TIE’s side. It moved to easily avoid them, nearer to the other pilots. Just out of formation. Perfectly in place for Poe to ram into the wing and knock the ship away. Careening out of control, it hit two of the other TIEs and took one down with it. Poe whooped as he watched them splash and break on the surface of the water.

Finally, he could get a look back at the light cruiser. It was now releasing a transport shuttle- ground troops to attack. Poe flicked on his comm. “Finn, you’ve got incoming stormtroopers. I’ll try and stop them before they reach the ground but these TIEs are holding me up.”

It took a moment for Finn to reply. “ Thanks for the heads-up. We’ll be ready. ”

“Alright… good luck. Stay safe.”

All Poe got to assuage his worries was a quick affirmative. Despite his efforts, the transport was nearing the ground. He got a few shots in to weaken its shield before the TIEs took back his attention. He would hold the fight from the sky as he did best, and hopefully Finn’s new Jedi skills would keep him and the others on the ground safe.

~

The others were nervous. Finn could sense it in the edges of his mind. But he pushed it aside and focused. What was he going to do? Protect them of course, but he needed a plan.

He looked across the clearing to Kix. The medic was directing others like it was his second nature. He knew where the best cover was, who the best shots were and where they should fire from. With his training Finn could tell his directions would be effective in a general firefight, but he knew how the First Order did a forward assault. Kix’s instructions would keep everyone as hidden as possible as the stormtroopers came out of the transport, but as soon as they were able to get close to the nearest fighters they could make their way through the cover of brick and stone to everyone else. They would be able to get to the ship.

Kix wouldn’t know that the stormtroopers were willing to sacrifice the first squad out of the transport if it meant getting to their goal. There were too many soldiers in white Finn remembered that were devoted to a fault. Too many willing to die if it meant the First Order got its victory. He squared his shoulders and ran as the shuttle landed. Behind him, he could hear Kix yelling for him to come back.

At first, his arm reflexively went to the blaster on his side. It was a fine model that both Kix and Poe had approved of, but not what he needed right now. He reached for Leia’s lightsaber instead. It hummed with energy beneath his fingers, ready to be lit.

With the ramp lowering, it was now or never.

Just like his first time here, the lightsaber lit with a powerful thrumming noise. Bright blue, nearly the color of the sky. It was a stark contrast to the deep reds that flew on First Order flags. It also put a giant target on his head for the stormtroopers to blast him.

He quickly focused on the incoming fire and deflecting each bolt. Finn couldn’t lose his focus for a second or one laser would get past him and hit one of the others. He couldn’t look, but he hoped they were laying down some cover fire.

Eventually, Finn risked a look back. Everyone was fine, even looking at him in excitement. He could keep it up long enough for them to get out of here. With renewed confidence, he returned to deflecting the fire. It was dawning on him that he could deflect it accurately if he wanted, right back at the stormtroopers.

The idea turned sour in his head as soon as he saw one of the stormtroopers go down, though. One Resistance fighter had gotten a clear shot from behind and grinned as the stormtrooper collapsed. It should have made Finn feel better- there was one less person firing at him. Somehow, it still felt like a loss.

~

“On your left,” Kix called. Sidon shifted to make room for him behind their rocky cover. The rest of the pirate crew were nearby and Kix could tell the captain was on high alert looking out for each of them. So far they weren’t in any danger but things could change in an instant on a battlefield. The instructions he gave to the troops would only hold until he could come up with a better plan.

He needed to get a clever view of what was happening and find out where Finn was. The Meson Martinet was a fairly large ship, and it was impossible to see what was happening on the other side where Finn and the others had been unloading. A rookie mistake to not have your whole team in eyesight.

Sidon put a red-gloved hand on his shoulder. “Go,” he said. “We’ll cover you.”

He ran past the ship with his body low to the ground until he could see the worst of the fighting in between the three ships. There were clouds of dust and blaster bolts flying through the air. More random than a few stray shots, almost as if…

There was a lightsaber defecting them. Sure enough, Finn stood in the center waving the general’s ‘saber fluidly. His face was full of concentration and worry, but he had it under control. The rest of the Resistance were watching in awe from their cover or picking off stormtroopers in an effort to help Finn. Each time they got a hit though, he would wince.

There was nothing Kix would have liked more than to simply watch him put to use the skills Finn had been practicing, but Kix knew it was best not to get in his way. Instead, he turned his focus to what he knew: being a medic. Finn was keeping the blaster fire focused on him, but the TIEs in the sky had slipped past Poe once or twice to shoot on them as well. There were smoldering craters that just missed the ships- hitting where people were hiding instead.

He pulled his backpack forward as he made his way to the first crater. There were two scraped-up soldiers nearby, but nothing worse. He focused on applying bacta patches until someone shook his arm. There was a seriously injured trooper that needed help fast, they told him.

In an instant he was at the soldier’s side. It was a young Togruta boy, barely old enough to fly a ship. He was leaning against one of the crates of battle droids and being supported by the old veteran Loc. His bright orange skin was paling by the second and it was easy to see why- a huge piece of shrapnel was stuck in the kid’s abdomen. Usually if the shrapnel was still in the wound it kept the bleeding from getting out of hand, but it was messy and had probably shifted around in moving him to safety.

“Alright, what’s your name?” he asked calmly. It was always the first thing he asked a patient, just in case they never got the chance later.

“Min,” the kid replied weakly. He was trying to stay awake which was good, but was panicking more than anything. He kept trying to see the gash in his side but was unable to move his head enough to see. It was probably for the best. Loc could see, and they looked like they were about to be sick.

“I’m going to give you a stim and painkiller first, Min,” Kix explained gently. “Then when I take the shrapnel out and patch you up you’ll barely feel a thing.”

That was a lie. But, patients were a lot easier to treat if they were calm. Min still had a ways to go. Kix needed to distract him, somehow. While he unpacked the tools from his bag, he thought.

He had orange skin. Blue markings on his lekku. And a headdress of akul teeth just like a certain padawan. “Tell me about your akul hunt,” he finally said.

Min squinted his eyes at him, letting a bead of sweat fall down his forehead. “Huh?”

“Your akul hunt. I bet it was hard to get those teeth.”

The kid looked down at his side, but Loc refocused him on Kix. “Go on, tell him.”

“I-It took me forever t-to even track one down.”

Kix listened to the kid’s story while he performed the field surgery. Sometimes his voice broke or was cut off by a grunt of pain, but Kix would just encourage him to continue. By the time he was stable enough to be carried to the transport, he had finished recounting the adventure. The blaster fire had died down, too. It seemed the battle was over.

The medic heaved a sigh of relief. He made sure Min was settled on a cot before trudging towards the center of where the fighting was taking place. Finn was still there, in the center standing with slumped shoulders and looking down. At his feet were a dozen limp sets of armor.

Quietly, he asked the nearest soldier what had happened. “He was deflecting the bolts while we picked them off until he stopped and just… lifted his hand out. After a second, they all dropped to the ground.”

“Are they dead?” The soldier shrugged unhelpfully. Kix pushed through the crowd and got to Finn’s side. “Finn, what happened? What did you do?”

He didn’t answer until Kix put a hand on his shoulder. It pulled him back to the present, and he looked back up at his friend. “I want to take them in. Do you think General Organa will let them join us?”

“They’re not dead?”

“No, I couldn’t do that. Not anymore. I think I just told them to sleep. They’re unconscious but I’m not sure for how long.”

A Force suggestion that knocked out that many people? That was impressive to say the least. Kix understood time was of the essence though, and got to work directing the others to cuff their new prisoners. Then, he led Finn back to their ship.

“Do you think they’ll join us if we give them the opportunity?”

Kix let him slump into a seat next to the two scraped up men and injured Togruta boy, and handed him a ration bar. He was exhausted after overexerting his Force abilities, like Ahsoka would sometimes do. The best treatment Kix found was some rest, food, and a good nap.

“Yeah, kid. I think they will,” Kix answered.

They finished loading the battle droids and other things. With the help of Sidon, Kix put the last crate in the cargo hold. The deal done, they shook hands.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Please, you can call me Sidon. You’re not a member of my crew anymore,” the captain said.

Kix smiled, tight-lipped. “Right.”

Sidon studied him for a moment, but revealed nothing with his blank mask. Then, he turned and called over Quiggold. “How many of our buyers are aligned with the First Order?”

“About half of them, give or take.”

“Cut them off. We’re not selling to them anymore.”

Kix did a double-take. “You’re what?”

“Our first priority is helping the Resistance,” he said, and held out a hand to Kix. “Good luck out there.”

Kix grabbed the offered arm. “You too, vod .”

They left with the promise of seeing each other again soon. In the meantime, Kix would help Min recover. He would keep training Finn as long as he still had things to teach the fast learner. It may not have been the war and family he started with, but he would keep the promise he swore as a young man half a century ago. Kix would defend his family and fight for the Republic against all odds. Not because he was made to, but because he chose to.

The ship took off with a rumble, made heavier by the new cargo. They were on their way home.

Chapter Text

In the crowded mess hall back on the base, Kix retold the last day’s events. Like any good soldier, he exaggerated greatly.

They were celebrating their success and continued survival. Not much of a reason but Hells, it was close enough to Life Day. People wanted to celebrate and let loose.

“And when I got back to the others, there was this pile of knocked out stormtroopers! This kid right here,” Kix tugged an embarrassed Finn by the jacket to stand beside him in front of the gathered crowd. “Knocked out every single one of them after holding off their blaster fire. Now, I’ve seen some impressive Jedi stunts in my day but I’ve never seen that!”

“It was nothing,” Finn insisted. “I’ve only been training for a few weeks.”

“Give yourself some credit, kid. You were great,” Kix said quieter, talking just to Finn. “I’m proud of you.”

That got a huge smile out of him. Together they laughed and answered questions about the Clone Wars and what being a Jedi was like. The sun was low and the smell of food cooking wafted through the light breeze.

Eventually Finn was pulled off to meet more of the Resistance recruits his age. Kix was content to sit with the Rebellion vets. Although there were no veterans left from his war, these soldiers knew the feeling of outlasting the past.

He had healed from most of the scars war had carved into him. Even the pain of waking up six years ago was fading slowly but surely. Scars healed messily, though.

The more Kix learned about the end of the clone wars, the Empire, and the history that led up to this new fight, the more he noticed the pattern. Evil had always risen up from the grave after peace and it would probably happen again. For now, the Resistance was doing its part to hold that evil at bay. How long would it last?

~

At celebrations like these, the various groups that made up the Resistance stuck to their compatriots for the most part. The generals and admirals discussed strategy on the fringes of the party, while the fiery young soldiers danced in the center. The Rebellion-era vets sat together swapping stories and gladly added Kix to their numbers. From where they sat there was a good view of the horde of x-wing pilots that still wore their uniforms. Whether it was to be prepared for a surprise attack or simply to try and impress potential dates was only known to them.

Poe was in the crowd but he was not talking or even looking at his fellow pilots. His eyes shifted between the dancefloor and a group of soldiers. Kix was not surprised to find Finn was present in that group.

With the help of his friends, Poe seemed to build up some courage. He excused his way through the crowds to Finn and tapped him on the shoulder. Kix strained to hear the words they exchanged.

“Would you, uh,” Poe started. Surprisingly, the pilot looked flustered. “Do you want to dance?”

Finn stared with his mouth slightly open. Another soldier nudged him and he remembered to answer. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

They entered the flock of dancers. Kix lost sight of them, but returned to the conversation at his table content. Those two would be just fine.

~

Poe was nervous, he would admit. He wasn’t fully sure why though. He’d spent plenty of time with Finn already, but was asking him to dance too much? When they had walked over to the dancefloor the ex-stormtrooper had admitted to never actually dancing before. He showed him the basic steps and stood a safe and friendly distance apart from him.

Finn was focusing on their feet but eventually looked back at Poe expectantly. Should he say something? Some of the other dancing couples were talking to themselves, so he said the first thing that came to his mind. 

“So, how are the new ‘recruits’ doing?” Poe asked, nodding to the guarded brig. The two squads of stormtroopers Finn had captured were staying there for the moment. Finn brightened.

“A few are willing to join. I talked with them for a while and convinced them to stay and help! Once command clears them, they’ll be part of the Resistance,” he said. His eyes focused back on their feet, trying to stay in rhythm with the music. “There’s a few of them who are… hesitant. They still want to go back. It is their choice, though. Maybe we could use them for a prisoner exchange.”

“But you still want them to stay,” Poe guessed.

The other man nodded. Poe pulled him closer into a hug. “Don’t worry. You’re an inspiration, I’m sure they’ll change their minds. Just give it time.”

“Thanks,” Finn hummed. Suddenly, he pulled back to look at Poe with a smile. “Hey, maybe if you come up with some names for them they’ll want to join.”

“I don’t know, that was a spur of the moment thing. They should decide their own names- I- you should, too. You don’t have to use the name Finn just because I said so,” Poe said quickly. It had never occurred to him that he had so easily taken on the name Poe had come up with.

Finn shook his head. “No, It’s my name. Kix told me once finding your name is different for everyone, but when you get it you just know. When you said my name for the first time, I just knew .”

“Oh.” Poe might have been blushing, but it could just as easily be a sunburn forming after flying around in the sun all day. It was definitely that.

“I think I’m getting the hang of this dance,” Finn said confidently. He was a quick learner. Poe closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment. It felt like they were flying.

~

The festivities continued and it felt like no time had passed as seats empties and cups were cleared.

Leia appeared at Kix’s side, surprisingly silent despite how the party had quieted down. She took her time to sit down; she was tired but watched the others with lively eyes. They sat in companionable silence as the sun set.

“Are you not going to dance?” she asked. Although the celebrations had died down there was still music playing and plenty of people on the dancefloor.

Kix shook his head. “Nah, I’m too old to be doing that.” The dancing wasn’t too energetic, but his muscles were sore and his back ached. Better than most he knew his accelerated aging would be catching up to him soon.

“Look who’s talking,” Leia grumbled jokingly. “Something’s on your mind.”

She was always right. A few short weeks ago Kix would never have considered talking to someone like her, not even the possibility of it. Now, it was as easy as talking to a brother.

“I can’t tell if it’s all been worth it. My brothers and I fought to defend the Republic and lost. We lost everything. A few survived I know, and fought with you to restore it. But now, it’s crumbling again. Is what we’re doing now worth something? Why are we still going?”

Leia studied him. Her eyes seemed to catch on his hairline that hid his tattoo, his clean shave that had not been there a few weeks ago. When she spoke she looked directly into his eyes. “Some things change, and our perception of them changes. But deep down, you can always find the truth. The truth behind the clone wars might have been terrible, but you can’t be defined by that.

“People like us don’t quit. If there’s something to be done, we will always want to do it, and be there to do it. As long as there’s hope, and people like you and me,” she looked out over the crowd and caught Finn’s eye uncannily fast. Kix watched the two nod and return back to their conversations like he had seen Kenobi and Skywalker do a million times. “Like Finn, Poe, and Rey, we’ll defend the Light.”

The medic responded only to the last part of her impromptu speech. “Am I going to meet this Rey ever?”

“I hope so. She loves her galactic history; she’ll have a field day with you,” the general chuckled.

Whoever had control of the music had put on an oldies playlist. The song playing was one Kix had heard before, echoing through the 501st barracks or blasting through the speakers of 79’s.

“Well in that case,” Kix stood up and offered the general a hand. “Care to dance?”

She smiled, and accepted the hand gracefully. “I would love to.”