Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Commander, we really need to stop meeting like this.”
“We both know you’d miss me too much to stay away for long.” Fox joked, letting his arms drop from behind his back as he turned to face the teasing voice.
“Seriously. I hate fire alarm duty.” she continued, falling into step as Fox led her into the Coruscant Guard headquarters.
“Even though you’re the best at it?” he continued to tease.
“Especially because I’m the best at it. If I have to do another complete inspection of the Senate alarm system I might just lose my mind like you.” she joked back.
“Come on now, Sal, are you calling me insane?”
“You? Of course I am. Now let's get these alarms under control, hey?” She entered the break room ahead of Fox, ready to repair another faulty fire alarm trigger. “I seem to have found your problem, Commander.” she laughed. Fox peered over the top of her head into the smoke filled room.
“Kriffing hell!” he exclaimed.
“I’m impressed, Commander. In all my years on the job I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone start a fire with a caf pot before." She continued nonchalantly as she emptied the smoldering pot of caf into the sink and ran water over it.
“I am so sorry.” Fox made a mental note to find out which of his men had made such a stupid mistake.
“Oh don’t worry about it. I am thoroughly entertained. Be embarrassed instead.” she fixed him with a cheeky grin before turning to push open the poor excuse for a window. It was short and located above head level on the wall. Designed to let in light not provide a view. Fox grumbled under his breath in response as he helped her with some of the higher latches she couldn't quite reach. “The alarm should switch off once the smoke clears.” she explained.
“Alright. Thank you.” Fox smiled, nodding to her. She nodded back, only seeing the one gesture with his helmet in the way.
“See you tomorrow? 0200?” she teased.
“If anyone sets off a fire alarm at 0200 I will go insane.” Fox retorted with amusement.
“More insane.” she corrected, shoving his shoulder playfully as she exited the room to return to her job.

-

Screams. Chaos. Everywhere she turned there was another body. Another destroyed home. How long have we been here?
“Nuu! Take your crew and sweep Sector 4, Level 1032. Let the city burn. The next shift can deal with fire. Extract and evacuate as many civilians as possible.” the Chief barked, breaking her out of her thoughts.
“Sure thing Chief. What’s the word on the next shift?” Lieutenant Nuu replied.
“By the time you’ve finished you’ll have been here twelve to fourteen hours. I want you and your crew to go home.” The Chief ordered.
“Roger.” Nuu said to the Chief. He turned to Sal and the others. “Sector 4, Level 1032. Extricate and evacuate. Then we get the kriff out of here. Copy?”
“Copy!” they said in unison.
“Right. Sal and Flak. Liaise with the masiff handlers at the Corrie Guard to work on locating victims.” Nuu began assigning tasks. Sal listened through as she scanned the area for any member of the Coruscant Guard to talk to. She sighed with relief upon spotting Commander Fox giving orders to his men nearby. “Let’s get this done so we can go home.” Nuu finished, dismissing them. Sal nudged Flak and began walking towards Fox.
“Commander Fox.” she called as he began to step away. His stride faltered as he swung around to face her.
“Sal? What the kriff are you doing here?” he demanded, his voice full of confusion.
“Working. What the hell happened?” she replied, finally reaching him.
“Containment breach. How long have you been here? You look like death warmed up.” He joked.
“Thanks, Commander. Maybe nine or ten hours now.” she joked back.
“Go home.” His voice was stern but not commanding.
“Lend us a masiff or two so we can finish up locating survivors and then I will.” she replied. He nodded once then brought his comm to his bucket. In almost no time at all, three ARF troopers with masiffs were leading the way through the sector. Sal adjusted her breathing apparatus mask absentmindedly. The next few hours passed in a blur. Sal couldn’t remember most of the last sixteen hours, her focus on the recovery effort blinding her to anything else. She had a job to do.
“Hey. Sal.” a voice interrupted her lazy thoughts. Fox. “You’re done. That’s it.”
“Sal. The Guard will take you home. Come to the Station at 1000 and we will debrief then. Go and sleep. Maker knows we all need it.” Nuu ordered. Fox put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“Come on. We’ll take a gunship.” Fox said gently. With that the spell broke and Sal’s knees buckled beneath her. “I’ve got her, Lieutenant.” Fox reassured Nuu, gently catching her before she hit the ground. Nuu nodded and began making his way back to the Fire appliances.
“Fox what the kriff is going on?” Sal demanded quietly.
“Containment br-”
“You said that. People were screaming about a giant monster.” she interrupted, allowing him to wrap one of her arms around his neck as she stumbled toward a gunship.
“A giant monster that breached containment.” he replied matter of factly. His neck was warm, between the coolness of his helmet and the top of his back plate. Clones must run really warm if she could feel it through the sleeve of her firefighting jacket.
“Why was it here? Why would it do this?” she breathed, almost to herself. She turned to look back over the destruction but Fox gently turned her away. The doors of the gunship closed. Fox slowly lowered her to sit, leaning against the front wall. She took a few steadying breaths and began to remove her PPE.
“Let’s get you home. Where do you live?” Fox asked, moving to sit down beside her. He lowered himself with a groan.
“Buy me dinner first, Commander.” she mumbled as she struggled with the clasp of her helmet.
“Good to see your sense of humor is still intact.” Fox joked. Sal smiled and told him her address. They stopped a couple of times to pick up other clones on their way. A few offered her some of their ration bars. Another gave her a canteen of water. Soon enough the pilot announced they had arrived over the onboard intercom. Fox moved to stand with her but she waved him away. One of the other Guards offered her a hand to help pull her up.
“When this mess is cleaned up, I owe you all a drink. Thanks for the rations and the lift, boys!” she called over her shoulder, waving as she walked towards the door to the apartment building.

-

Sal slept for twelve hours straight. Exhausted to her very bones. At 0900 her chronometer began chiming loudly. She dragged herself out of bed. Ate. Drank. Got dressed. Then she was back at the station for a debrief. Which turned into a briefing. Which led her straight back into the carnage. This time they were on fire control. Enter. Squirt. Exit. Repeat. Change the oxygen cylinder. Repeat again. Sal’s world once again narrowed to only the present. No time for exhaustion. No time for any other thoughts. Another six hours passed like nothing and she was back at the station. She allowed herself to come back into herself as she laid out across the bottom of a wide hose locker. Her spare fire coat was pulled over her as a makeshift blanket as she felt sleep pulling at her eyelids.

-

A giant monster who breached containment. Fox’s words spun in her ears. A zillo beast. The creature has wreaked havoc throughout the Federal District of Coruscant. As a member of the Coruscant Fire Service stationed at the Federal District Brigade, Sal had been among the teams that had responded to the scene around the senate building when the beast attacked. Truthfully she was lucky to be alive, she had been in a building nearby where the military had used gas to poison the beast. Had she not been wearing her apparatus gear, the gas might have killed her too. All that destruction had been nothing compared to the sinking feeling in her gut now.
“With these budget cuts, and the aftermath of the Zillo Attack, it is my duty to inform you all that you will have to seek out alternative employment. Effective immediately all non-ranking biological personnel within the Coruscant Fire Service are now obsolete.” the Senate representative said. Sal’s stomach dropped to her ankles.
“So what? You replace us with droids? Are you crazy?” Flak yelled, standing up so abruptly that his chair fell over.
“Correct.”
“How long do we have to find another job?” Sal called, desperately hoping the representative would throw them a lifeline.
“As of this moment you are all unemployed.” Sal felt like she would throw up.
“You can’t do this to us! What are we supposed to do?” someone demanded. Sal’s head swam.
“That is not my, or the Senate’s responsibility. You are all dismissed.”

-

“Come on, Fox! We finally wrestled you out of your office and you won’t even have a drink with us?” Bly teased.
“Yeah, Fox, you owe me a drink.” Bacara joked. Fox rolled his eyes playfully at his brothers.
“One drink.” Fox offered. Cody laughed and began ordering for them.
Three drinks later, Fox spotted a familiar metal headband stepping away from the bar.
“Hey! Sal!” Fox called. He watched her scan the crowd with a confused expression so he waved. Her eyes met his and she smiled.
“Something you want to tell us, Vod?” Neyo’s face broke into a wicked grin as he watched the interaction. Fox waved him off and turned his body to fully face Sal.
“What’s popping, Commander?” She grinned as she arrived at the table. “Gentlemen.” she greeted, turning a friendlier smile to the other clones.
“I didn’t realize you came to 79s?” Fox asked, leaning back against the booth.
“I didn’t realize you have an actual face. I dont think I’ve ever seen you without your bucket.” she retorted.
“Like what you see?” Cody butt in.
“Leave her alone. You didn’t answer my question.” Fox spat to his brother, making a mental note to question Cody later.
“I don’t usually.” she sighed heavily.
“Sounds like you need a drink, come sit.” Bly said, kicking Cody under the table. Cody jumped at the contact but shuffled down to allow space for Sal to sit across from Fox, shoving Neyo into the wall in the process.
“What are you having?” Neyo asked, glaring at Cody as he reached for the tablet to order her drink.
“Ne’tra gal.” she huffed.
“This is Marshal Commanders Bly, Cody, Neyo and Bacara.” Fox introduced. “Boys, this is Sal.”
“Lillou Sal.” she corrected. Fox looked at her, surprised. She noticed his expression and scoffed. “What? Did you never know my full name?” Fox only shook his head in reply.
“Erm. Anyway, what brings you to our humble little bar on this fine evening?” Cody asked, breaking the awkward tension.
“Handing in my resume.” She replied simply.
“To 79s?” Bacara questioned doubtfully.
“To everyone.” she replied, massaging her temples.
“You’re quitting the Service?” Fox demanded.
“I got laid off.” She explained with a heavy sigh. The clones looked between themselves.
“We don’t know what that means.” Fox mumbled sheepishly. The conversation paused as the waitress set down Sal’s ale, she thanked her then downed half the pint in one breath.
“It means if you want to tell me how horrible the senators are, you’ll have to stop tripping fire alarms and actually ask for my comm frequency.” she joked. Cody’s face morphed into a smug expression and the others mirrored it shortly after.
“Funny. What does it actually mean?” Fox replied humorlessly, thrown off by the idiotic expressions on his brother’s faces.
“As of a week ago, our illustrious Senate decided the biological firefighters were too expensive and the one off purchase of specially built droids would be a better investment.” she explained, downing the rest of her ale.
“They replaced you with droids?” Cody demanded.
“Yessir.” She sighed again.
“What are you going to do?” Bly asked, staring into his drink.
“I don’t know. I’ve applied to so many different jobs across so many different industries but no one has commed me back. If I’m being completely honest I might have to go home.” she continued.
“Where’s home?” Bacara asked, trying to alleviate the tension.
“Concordia. In the Mandalore system.” she smiled weakly.
“Really? You left Mandalore to come to Coruscant?” Cody asked. Sal only smiled and nodded.
“You can’t tell anyone what I’m about to say. Is that clear?” Fox broke his silence, leaning forward with a serious tone. The others instantly stopped their joking and leaned in too. Fox met Sal’s narrowed eyes. Have they always been such a nice shade of green? How had he not noticed them before? Sal leaned forward too, her stern expression matching Fox’s.
“The Chancellor wants to hire nat-born warriors as personal bodyguards for some of the senators who don’t want to be around clones. I’m in charge of putting the force together. Please tell me you’re trained.” Fox explained.
“Of course I am. I didn’t bring my armor with me but I can get my mother to send it.” Sal replied.
“Well! That’s great news!” Bacara blurted happily, he grabbed Fox’s elbow and shoved his arm across the table at Sal. “Give him your comm frequency and he can contact you to get everything in order.” Bacara continued, shooting Fox a look.
“Are you sure?” Sal asked skeptically, her hand hesitating over Fox’s comm, she glanced up at him.
“Uh. Yeah. Yeah, I’ll let you know.” Fox cleared his throat as Sal swiveled her head to see his comm better and began inputting her frequency. “The Chancellor gets the final say but if you’re a trained Mandalorian I doubt he’ll have any issues. You’ve never been in the business of bounty hunting, have you?”
“Nope. Just firefighting.” she replied, finishing up with his comm. Fox quickly brought his arm back down to his lap.
“Do you have a training speciality?” Neyo asked curiously.
“Special ops. Mostly espionage.” she shrugged.
“So… yeah. You’re fully trained.” Cody imputed. Fox considered her answer. Maybe she could help us with our investigation. She has the training we don't have.
“Anyway. Sorry to intrude on your night. Thanks for listening to me complain.” she smiled, standing up.
“It was our pleasure.” Cody winked. Sal dug around in her pockets and pulled out some credits. She moved to place them on the table but Fox grabbed her wrist to stop her.
“You can’t give us these. Until you get a job you’ll need them.” Fox chastised. Sal shrugged as she grinned.
“Better contact me soon then, Commander.” she opened her hand and let the credits fall to the tabletop. Fox released her and she waved as she exited the club. Fox cringed as all the boys turned to him at once.
“What the kriff was that?” Neyo demanded.
“Why didn’t you tell us you have a girlfriend? I thought we were vode!” Bly whined dramatically.
“They clearly didn’t teach you to flirt on Kamino.” Bacara grumbled.
“How long have you known her?” Cody asked.
They spoke over each other but silenced when Fox waved his hands at them.
“She’s not my girlfriend.” He defended, sinking into his seat.
“Why the kriff not? That was the most beautiful woman I have seen in my entire life.” Neyo asked, incredulous.
“Yeah Fox. She likes you for now. But looking like that it’s only a matter of time before some lucky bastard steals her from you.” Bacara teased, kicking at Cody under the table. Fox glanced up at the man who seemed to have picked up a rugged smoothness from his general.
“Cody is a good man.” Fox mumbled, suddenly uncomfortable.
“Of course I am. That’s why I won’t steal your girl unless you royally kriff your chances up. I wouldn’t have much luck as is.” Cody laughed.
“The hell do you mean by that?” Fox demanded. “You get any girl you want.”
“Except the ones that are already in love. C’mon Fox you can’t be that stupid.” Cody joked, kicking him under the table.
“She is obsessed with you. She barely looked at any of us the entire time she was here. She only saw you.” Bly observed, taking another swig of his drink.
“Our relationship is professional.” Fox deadpanned. Thankfully, the others took the hint.

-

Fox stared at his comm. More specifically, her contact. He had good news but for some reason he was still nervous to contact her. We’re friends, why the hell am I nervous? He chastised, pushing his comm to open a call.
“Fox. Hey, what’s up?” her voice came.
“Hey. Are you still job hunting?” He asked.
“I’m doing well, thanks for asking! You’re doing great too? That’s amazing!” she joked. Fox rolled his eyes with a smile.
“You can ask me that in my office tomorrow when you sign on for your first shift.” He retorted. She was silent on the other end of the comm. “Sal?” he asked, checking if she was still on the call.
“Do you mean that?” she breathed. Her voice was airy over the comm.
“Everything’s approved. I just need to get some signatures from you and then the first week will be getting you settled before you start your Senatorial shifts.” he explained, absentmindedly scanning over his notes. He jumped at the sound of an excited squeal emitting from the speakers in his helmet.
“Fox you absolute madman! Oh my stars you're a life saver! Ori’vor’e Al’verde’ika! I owe you so much more than a drink! I don’t even have words to express my gratitude, Fox.” she fussed. Fox felt his face heat up.
“Kih’parjai Tracyn’ika.” he mumbled.
“‘Little Fire?” she teased. He could imagine the grin on her face.
“Little Commander?” he countered. She laughed.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Ge’tal’ika.” Her voice was soft. Fox’s stomach fluttered at the new nickname as she ended the transmission. Little Red. What is she doing to him?

-

“Hey, Ge’tal’ika!” a cheerful voice called. Fox looked up from his datapads as Sal entered the office. He cringed to himself at the shit eating grins on Stone and Thire's faces. Thankfully Thorn was passed out on the crates the commanders had forced into their tiny shared office. Sal grabbed Thorn’s ankle and shook, he jolted awake.
“What the hell, vod’ika?” he demanded, recognising her grin through bleary eyes.
“Sorry ori’vod, figured you wouldn’t want to miss out.” she joked, she waved a pile of containers in his general direction. The other commanders sat a little straighter.
“Whatcha got?” Thire asked, not so subtly glancing over the mountain of datapads on his desk. Sal placed one of the containers on his desk as she passed, distributing one to each of the commanders.
“What is it?” Stone asked hesitantly.
“I thought clones were trained by Mandalorians? Have you not tried tiingilar before?” she asked. Thire opened his container and sniffed, then seemed to melt into his chair with a groan.
“The Kaminoans made sure we got all the nutrients we needed in the standard issue rations.” Fox explained as Thire recovered and began to eat. The smell of the food filled the office and the other commanders organized space and utensils to dig into their own meals.
“Di’kutla kaminii utreekov,” Sal swore, her brows furrowing. The commanders chuckled as they all dug into the food.
“What is this?” Stone practically moaned.
“Tiingilar. It’s a traditional Mandalorian dish.” Sal laughed. “It’s like a casserole with lots of meat and vegetables. I wasn’t sure how any of you feel about hetikles so I dialed back the spice.” she continued.
“Hetikles?” Thire asked, finishing up his meal.
“It’s hard to explain in Basic. It doesn’t really have an exact translation. It’s like a burning in your throat when you eat spicy food. It’s very important in Mandalorian food.” Sal explained.
“What’s the occasion?” Stone asked, greedily finishing his meal too.
“It’s Sal’s first day as one of our new nat born Senate patrols.” Fox replied joyfully.
“Welcome to the worst job in the galaxy!” Thire joked. Stone threw a stylus at his brother’s head.
“You didn’t have to buy us food!” Thorn shook his head.
“Luckily I didn’t then. I made it myself.” Sal replied proudly.
“What?” The commanders demanded altogether.
“You better get used to it. I saw the duse the Republic feeds you.” she grinned, leaning against Fox’s desk as they finished eating.
“Let’s get you to the Senate. Have you got your armor?” Fox said as he scraped his container clean. Sal pushed a button on her wrist and a crate floated through the doorway. As the crate rotated, it revealed a small BD unit droid.
“Thanks Kih.” Sal smiled, pushing off Fox’s desk and patting the droid’s head. It chirped happily. She opened the crate to reveal a set of black Mandalorian armor. “With the nature of the work I’m trained in, I don’t like to be seen in the armor. While it’s on I’m not Sal, okay?” she explained.
“What do you want us to call you?” Fox asked curiously.
“Mandalorian. Verd. Anything but my name. I’ll leave my armor here, if that’s okay. It’s better if I’m not seen around my apartment in armor.” she continued.
“We can do that. I can organize a storage closet to be emptied for you to store everything.” Fox decided. Sal only nodded as she pulled off her colorful poncho, revealing a set of blacks underneath. The commanders turned away awkwardly out of respect. Fox swallowed harshly, trying not to stare at her. Realistically, Fox knew she needed to be strong to be a firefighter but he hadn’t been prepared to see it. Unlike the clones, Sal was bulky with muscle mass. The clones were strong but fairly spindly, although Fox was sure if Sal kept forcing them to eat proper food they’d bulk up too. Sal attached her cuirass and a small plackart to her front then her backplate. Then she attached her pauldrons and vambraces to her arms, fiddling with the one on her right side. With a huff she removed it and placed it on the floor with the droid. While the apparently modified BD droid worked on the vambrace, Sal pulled on her greaves and sabaton before attaching a belt around her waist. She buckled the lower strap of a blaster holster around her thigh then attached an ammo pouch to her other thigh.
“Pass me your helmet, I’ll get you patched into the Republic systems. You’ll get a lot of good info on your HUD.” Fox said, holding his hand out to her. Sal absentmindedly passed him the helmet. The little droid beeped and Sal bent to take back the vambrace.
“Thanks Kih.” she smiled, pulling it on. She pulled a few pins from a pouch on her belt and stuck the ends in her mouth while she wrapped her long braid around her head a couple of times, pinning it in place. Fox finished transferring the data and passed the helmet back to her.
“It’ll mostly just help identify the clones, senators and the preexisting guards.” Thorn explained from his desk. Sal pulled the helmet on and looked around the room, adjusting the settings to make the display slightly smaller. As she turned her gaze to Fox, his picture appeared in the corner of her vision along with his name, rank and designation. CC-1010. She read, similar displays showed up as she turned to look at the other commanders.
“Interesting.” She commented, “Can you help me with this?” She held up a jetpack to Fox who nodded. He moved around his desk and held the jetpack as she turned. After the jetpack was secure, Sal pulled her poncho back over her armor. Finally, she slipped a defender sporting blaster pistol in her holster and hooked the strap of a KiSteer 1284 projectile rifle over her shoulder.
“Done?” Fox asked. Sal nodded beneath her helmet. “Let’s get you to your first shift, Senator Burtoni of Kamino.” Fox grinned. The commanders groaned.
“Good luck with that one, vod’ika.” Stone laughed.

Chapter Text

Sal was not entirely sure why the Kaminoan senator was so opposed to clone guards. Being the representative of the people who created the army and all. But asking questions was not her job. Speaking at all was not her job. The senators ignored her for the most part, and that made her job all the better in Sal’s opinion. Since becoming the first non-clone guard on the Coruscant Guard’s new force, Fox had managed to recruit plenty more Senate Loyalists to the new force. That was what brought her to now. 

“If you’ll excuse me, Senator Burtoni, I must report to the Commander.” She respectfully bowed her head briefly to the Senator whose response was to wave her off like an insect on a dung heap. In general, the gesture was more polite than Butoni’s usual attitude towards the silent Mandalorian. Sal exited without another word. There was a Shock Trooper waiting for her outside the Senator’s office.

“Commander Fox ordered me to escort you to the hangar.” the trooper explained. She nodded. As much as Sal enjoyed her conversations with the clones she was strict on keeping her Mandalorian life separate from her personal one. So she maintained her stoicism, following the trooper silently through the senate building to one of the lower hangers. She thanked the trooper before making her way over to the group of other senate guards. 

“Thank you all for coming. We have summoned you all here to go over some changes that are being made to the program.” Sal recognised the speaker to be Vice Chair Mas Amedda. Beside him stood Fox and Thorn as well as a man in blue armour. Amedda gestured to the latter as he continued his speech. “This is Commander Taraay. He is here representing the Senate Guard. From today, you will all be reorganised into units under his jurisdiction. Following standard protocol you will be admitted as Privates and assigned to Squads under a Lieutenant with years of experience as a Senate Guard. Do not let this discourage you from climbing the ranks the same as any other member of the Force.” At this point in time Sal turned to shoot a look at Fox and Thorn. Obviously with her helmet on neither of them could see her, but the trio obviously knew each other well enough to guess because both of the clones responded with a miniscule shrug. Amedda was still rambling but she tuned back in when Commander Taraay stepped forward. 

“All of you should now receive a transmission via comlink containing your rank and your squad number.” She turned her attention to her comlink at the notification of a new message. 

Squad Four. Rank: Private. Assigned Weapon: Standard Issue Rifle. Assignment: NIL

Sal snorted. Private, huh? This is going to be embarrassing. She nearly shivered thinking about the future conversation with the clone commanders. The Lieutenants of the Senate Guard entered the hangar then and identified themselves as the leader of each squad. The leader of Squad Four was a middle aged man with salt and pepper hair and kind eyes who introduced himself to the group as Lieutenant Darro Vondar. The group were given a moment to find their new squads before Commander Taraay continued. 

“If you will follow your Squad Leaders we will get you all equipped with your uniforms, then move to the armoury to collect your assigned weaponry. You will undergo the Senate Guard training full time over the course of six weeks before moving back into Senatorial duties.” Great. Training. Sal rolled her eyes under her helmet but followed her new Squad Leader out of the hangar anyway. She noticed there were only two other women in the group, both assigned to her squad. To her surprise, this was the entirety of her squad. One of the women bumped her shoulder. 

“Mando, huh? Nice to meet you! My name’s Sella Tillo. Yours?” She was a human female with grey eyes and dark hair tied back in a braid. Sal eyed the woman through her visor and sighed. This is what I’ve been trying to avoid. Damn the Senate Guard for putting me in this position in my armor. I’m going to need a paint job now. 

“Lillou Sal.” she responded quietly. She can isolate this exposure to her squad. Hopefully no one else around them hears. And at least for a while hopefully none of them see her without the Senate Guard helmet too. 

“I’m Chasmi Nito.” the other woman replied. She was a female Pantoran with yellow eyes and purple hair, yellow familial tattoos across her cheeks. Sal nodded once in acknowledgment but turned away when her comlink chimed. 

Thorn: Little Private gets to go back to school!

Fox: Little Private is your only source of real food so I wouldn’t tease her too much. 

Stone: Who’s “Little Private”?

*Thorn changed Sal’s nickname to “Little Private”*

Stone: The big bad Mandalorian firefighter has been demoted to private??

Little Private: You’re just jealous that I don’t have to file reports anymore

Fox: Don’t remind me. 

“If you girls are interested, I made a tradition of taking my squads out for dinner whenever a new member joined. Right, Maxir?” Lieutenant Vondar called ahead to another Lieutenant who nodded enthusiastically over his shoulder back at the recruits. Sal shrugged. 

“I won’t say no to food.” she stated simply. 

“I’d love to as well. It sounds like a great opportunity to get to know each other!” Sella was even bubblier than Sal without her Mandalorian gear. She actually found herself looking forward to changing out of it so she could engage with these other women more naturally. Force knows her own gender was hard to come by in the Fire Service. 

“I’m in too.” Chasmi agreed. Their Lieutenant commed them some restaurants to choose from and a date and that discussion brought them to the armoury. The squads formed lines and one by one entered the facility. When it was Squad Four’s turn, a droid directed each of them to a box with their name and brand new service number on it. Sal guessed the boxes contained their armour and training kits. Lieutenant Vonar ushered them down the corridor to the next warehouse where more droids waited to check the information on their comlinks. Sal was disappointed to learn that the “Standard Issue Rifle” promised via comlink was a DC-15A blaster rifle. A weapon she had heard the clones complain about a few times. 

“That’s all for today. Our first training session at the Senate Guard Academy will begin tomorrow at 0800. You three are dismissed for now.” Vonar smiled kindly. The three women saluted then made their way to the exit together. 

“Meet you guys at the main entrance tomorrow? 0745?” Sella asked. The other two affirmed before saying their goodbyes and going their separate ways. 

Naturally, Sal made her way back to the Coruscant Guard’s Headquarters. The troopers in the front reception recognised her immediately and waved her through security. After doffing her armour and powering up Kih in the old storage compartment she decided to visit the commanders as usual. It was not unusual for most of them to be out on assignment, especially Fox, but generally there would be at least one on base. As it turned out, Thire was the officer on duty that day. She and Kih let themselves into the office, Sal plopped down at Thorn’s desk unceremoniously with a sigh. 

“What can I do for you, Private?” Thire teased. Sal scoffed. 

“Actually it’s what I can do for you, Commander.” Sal dug through her shoulder bag and produced a greasy paper bag. “It used to be a hot doughball but now it's a cold doughball.” she explained as she handed it to him. 

“Kark, Sal. You’re my favourite lifeform in the galaxy.” Thire groaned, taking the package like it was the most precious gift he had ever received. 

“I know. What would you do without me?” she joked rhetorically. Thire mumbled something incoherent through a mouthful of the dessert. Sal waited patiently for him to finish it before he tried again. 

“Do you need a lift home?” He repeated after a thick swallow. 

“No, it’s okay. I’ll catch the train home.” Sal smiled in return. Thire’s brow furrowed and he brought his comlink to his face. 

“Come in Bucket, this is Commander Thire.” he began. Sal lunged halfheartedly for him but he shoved her off easily as he ordered Bucket to escort her to the train station. “Bucket will meet you at the front entrance.” Thire grinned at her. 

“Fine. You win. Only because I have school tomorrow.” that got a chuckle out of him. 

“Good luck with that, Private. Let us know how it goes.” 

“I will.”

***

The training kit did not come with a helmet. Unfortunately, the first two weeks of training were classroom based not physical. Sal was fine with academics but felt she would probably go stir crazy by the end of the week. The uniform meant that while she easily recognised her squadmates, they did not recognise her. 

“Hey! Sella and Chasmi, right?” she called out with a wave. Their heads snapped to her simultaneously. Sella’s face broke into a wide grin.

“Lillou, right?” she waved back. Sal shrugged at her first name. 

“That’s me.” 

“I love your hair, by the way. I’ll probably ask you for advice on how to stuff it in the helmets when we get through the theory lessons.” Chasmi joked. Sal grinned. 

“Thanks! I can definitely show you.” Her hair was tied in its usual braid down her back, the platinum blonde strands stark against the navy blue uniforms. The women made their way to the assigned classroom. According to their schedules, Squad Four would be training with Squad Two. When they arrived, neither of the Lieutenants were there but the three members of Squad Two were standing on one side of the classroom. Sal scanned them quickly and made mental notes. 

Human male. Looks like a typical aloof rich boy. Probably from generations of Senate Guards. Tall. Light hair. Dark eyes. Birthmark under the eye. 

Mirialan male. Looks nice enough. Looks like a transfer from the Coruscant Police Force. Taller than the human. Black hair. Yellow skin. Blue eyes. Traditional tattoos across the forehead, cheeks and chin. 

Theelin male. Looks like a class clown. There’s something about his eyes that just says there's not much behind them. Shortest of the other squad. Green skin. Blue hair. Green eyes. 

This was going to be an interesting few weeks. 

***

A week into their training, the squad dinner was scheduled. Chasmi had recommended a diner downtown called Dex’s. Sal had heard good things about it so had seconded the idea. The Lieutenant had been surprised that they had requested such a cheap place when he had suggested some of the best restaurants on the planet but he was not going to deny them. The girls had made fast friends (especially putting up with Squad Two - save Avon, the Mirilian, who was a saint) so they had met up at Sella’s apartment and got ready together before heading out to meet Vonar at the diner. While they were walking to the taxi rank, they came across a patrol of Coruscant Guard checking ID. Sal grinned when she recognised Fox’s armour and realised he had not noticed her yet. 

“What are you doing?” Sella questioned, watching with a raised eyebrow while Sal took a holopic of Fox and sent it to him. 

“Just watch.” Sal said gleefully. “Don’t worry, he’s my friend.” she clarified when she felt her new friends shooting judgemental looks to each other behind her back. Sure enough Fox’s helmet dipped to his wrist then swivelled around looking for her. When his bucket finally stopped on her she waved and pointed to her comlink, not intent on skipping the line having their IDs checked. 

Fox: Are you stalking me?

Sal: I was hoping for Stone.

Sal watched Fox snort, his shoulders shrugging slightly. The line moved forward. 

Fox: Not Thire? He told us about the doughball last week.

Sal: I’m sure he did. 

Sal: Are you going to be here all night or will you redeploy yourself elsewhere later?

Fox: I have DrunkTank duty later. Sorry Tracyn’ika. 

Sal: Kark. If you still have my address (like a creep) then swing by when you’re done. I’ll grab you something from the diner we’re going to

Fox: You spoil me

Sal: Damn right

By this time the line had moved along enough that she was almost in front of him. So she slapped her com off and turned to him. He quickly assisted one of his men with a particularly disgruntled grandmother and then they were face to face. 

“Commander.” She greeted him. 

“Private.” She could hear the humor in his voice despite the vocoder. 

“Bal vaii cuyir ori’vod?” (and where is Big Brother?) she switched to Mando’a to tease him further about Stone. She really should not be asking at all. 

“Bat a aka at te Outer Rim.” (On a mission to the Outer Rim.) Fox hesitated briefly before speaking again. “Ni Kelir rejorhaa'ir gar Nusujii.” (I will tell you soon.) Sal nodded. He waved them through without checking their IDs. 

“Ret'urcye mhi, Ge’tal’ika.” she called back over her shoulder. 

“Ret'urcye mhi, Kebiin’ika.” he said back, quiet enough she almost missed it. Clearly, everyone heard the exchange because the next clone they passed was struggling to hide his laughter. She subtly pinched herself in a desperate attempt to fight off a blush at the new nickname. Little Blue. Sella and Chasmi chattered happily beside her, thankfully distracted with each other. She flagged down a taxi without trouble and the three of them discussed their upcoming exams all the way to the Diner. 

***

“Hey, you said that clone was your friend right? That reminded me. Why don’t we go to 79s? We don’t have class tomorrow and it could be fun!” Sella suggested. Sal bit her lip in thought. She’d obviously been to the bar before but if Sella wanted to go drinking, why the cline bar specifically?

“Why the clone bar in particular?” Chasmi asked, an eyebrow raised in suspicion. 

“A girl can’t be curious?” Sella defended. 

“Trust me. It's the same as any other bar on Coruscant.” Sal offered weakly. 

“Oh c’mon!” Sella groaned, throwing her head back. 

“I’m not really in the mood for drinking.” Chasmi added. Sal sighed at Sella’s pout. 

“I’ll go but I have a couple of conditions.” Sal paused while Sella nodded enthusiastically and gestured for her to continue. Chasmi also looked to her to hear her out. “One. We stop and get snacks on the way. Two. We don't stay long.” 

“You’re so boring.” Sella groaned again. 

“Only at 79s.” Sal grinned. Chasmi snorted. 

“I heard the only girls who go there are the one who want to hook up with the clones. And apparently, even if you’re just passing by they see you as competition.” Chasmi explained to the very excited Sella as they began to make their way to a taxi rank again. Sella and Chasmi began to debate the reasons one might want to visit the clone bar as a nat-born and Sal decided to use the opportunity to com Fox. 

Sal: You said you were on DrunkTank duty, right?

Fox: What have you done. 

Sal: Nothing yet, don’t worry. 

Fox: I don’t like the word “yet” in that sentence. 

Sal: Hypothetically, if my friends wanted to go to 79s and we were on our way there now, you wouldn’t happen to be nearby would you?

Fox: Hypothetically?

Fox: I mean I am nearby but hypothetically what if I suddenly had reports to file?

Sal: Then hypothetically isn’t the 212th on Coruscant currently? 

Fox: I don't like that hypothetical. 

Sal: I’ll see you in about 10mins or so then 

Sal: Then your fried food might still be warm when you get to eat it

Fox: That is a much better hypothetical. 

Chapter Text

“Li, what did you get for question 5?” Sella groaned dramatically. Sal flipped through her workbook quietly until she found the question necessary. 

“I just said ‘The theory is deterministic and claims that species with a bigger or bulkier physiology are more inclined to commit-”

“Pause.” Sella interrupted, flipping frantically between her work book, text book and flashcards. “Question 5 is a true or false answer?” Sella’s voice was unsure. Now it was Sal’s turn to rifle through her books. 

“Not for criminology it isn’t.” she said finally, after triple checking her work. 

“Oh! I’m doing Etiquette.” Sella sighed. Sal and Chasmi breathed out a sigh of relief. 

“Wait, there’s a test for Etiquette too?” Sal demanded before flopping backwards in her chair. Chasmi snorted. 

“You both scared me because I’m working on the Defence Strategy Theory homework.” Chasmi sat back and crossed her arms. 

“Oh! I’ve finished that, here. You can copy my answers.” Sal dug out the assignment and slid it over the tabletop to the other two, who both whipped out their Defense Strategy Theory Datapads and started inputting the answers. The three of them tapped away at their mountains of datapads for hours before Sella called a break. 

“You know what would help us get through this?” Sella suddenly brightened and leaned forward in her chair. Beside her Chasmi sat slouched back in her chair, arms dangling limply with her face turned upwards towards the roof. Across the table, Sal had leant forward to cross her arms on the desk and rest her forehead against them. 

“Alcoholism?” Sal offered, her voice muffled against the desk. 

“Death sticks?” Chasmi immediately added. 

“A blaster bolt to the brain?” Sal bounced back. Chasmi snorted again. 

“What about a spa day?” Sella ignored them entirely. One of Chasmi’s eyes opened and her chin dropped to one side to glance at Sella. Sal’s eyes appeared over her forearms. Both women waited for Sella to continue. “The best spa on Coruscant is in the Senate Building and-”

“Sella, honey, there's no way they're going to let grunts like us into a spa for the Galactic Senators.” Sal interrupted. 

“Li, shut up and let me finish.” Sella retorted, her eyes still sparkling. “During our brief time on active duty, while you were playing the Stoic Mandalorian, I was making friends. Including a few handmaidens from Naboo and aides from Alderaan and Ryloth.” Sal screwed up her nose at the prod about her stoicism but chose not to bite. 

“Huh. You were busy, weren’t you?” Chasmi hummed. 

“I’m in if you can arrange it. But I feel like it would be better to save the full, proper spa day for when we graduate. Final exams are soon.” Sal sat upright to stretch her arms above her head. Chasmi nodded. 

“We could get a head spa then, might help with the headaches.” Sella was already tapping away at her comm to liaise with her Senatorial contacts. At the reminder of their headaches, Sal and Chasmi let out simultaneous groans and slouched further back in their seats. 

***

The date of their spa day approached quickly as the end of the seven day cycle rolled around. Squad Four had dragged Lieutenant Vonar to the Academy Library after classes every single day in the lead up to that day so they could have all their homework and revision done. They had decided to wait until the last few days before Final Exams to get their head spas so they could ‘unwind and destress before passing exams with flying colours and then return after the next seven day cycle for the full spa day experience’ as Sella had decreed. So now Sal, Chasmi and Sella approached a small army of women on the landing pad usually reserved for Senator Padmè Amidala. The senator had kindly permitted Squad Four to use it temporarily for the two hours they would be in the Senate Building with two of her handmaidens. 

“Li and Chasmi, I’d like to introduce my friends!” Sella began after greeting or hugging everyone in the small crowd. 

Teckla and Moteè. Handmaidens from Naboo. Teckla had pretty, deep green eyes and Moteè had brown eyes. Other than that they looked pretty much the same.

Pampy and Supi. Twi’lek aides from Ryloth. Pampy had blue skin and Supi had green. Both had blue eyes. Pampy was a little older than Supi and had apparently been in service of Orn Free Taa for longer. Poor thing. 

Sheltay. A human female with brown hair and eyes hailing from the planet Alderaan. Apparently she was a member of the nobility. 

“This is Lillou, she’s from Mandalore. And this is Chasmi, she’s from Pantora.” Sella finished up. Sal elected not to correct her. Mandalore was close enough to Concordia considering her homeworld orbited Mandalore. The group started making their way through the Senate. Sella engaged Sheltay in conversation and Chasmi was pulled aside by the Nabooian handmaidens. Sal figured now was a good time to brush up on her twi-leki conversational skills. While she was shamelessly eavesdropping on the twi’lek aides, waiting for an appropriate time to insert herself into the conversation, she spotted a little huddle of red. Well, well, well. She nudged Chasmi and quickly excused herself, promising to be brief. 

“Sal? What are you doing here?” Thorn intercepted her, having spotted her coming. The other commanders not so subtly shoved Fox backwards into what she could only assume were tunnels for the Guard to move around without having to be seen by the Senators. 

“Socializing. What are you doing?” Her confused gaze was still fixed in the wall the other three commanders had disappeared behind. Thorn rested his hands on her shoulders with a sigh. 

“Doesn’t matter. You should get back to your friends.” He pivoted her and started ushering her back down the hall. Sal planted her feet. 

“You are being extremely suspicious, Thorn. What the hell is going on?” she demanded. 

“Don’t worry about it. Fox hasn’t slept in a while is all.” 

“You’re a horrible liar.”

“Sal, please. Just leave it to us.” Thorn took a step back. His shoulders sagged. “Just enjoy your time with your friends. We’ll take care of Fox.” 

“Thorn-”

“I promise.” Thorn cut her off. She huffed but decided that it was no use arguing so she slowly made her way back to the group. But the whole duration of their time at the spa her mind did nothing but replay the scene of Stone and Thire stuffing Fox into that doorway. 

***

The next cycle proved busy enough to distract her from it though. Squad Four were together almost constantly during Final exams. Even going so far as to stay altogether at Sella’s place because it was the closest to the Academy. Soon enough exams were done, they met up again at the senate for another spa and then results were posted. 

Squad Four has the highest average squad score of the graduating class with an average grade of 98% between the three members. 

“Holy kark!” Sal muttered, reading the notification. 

“You guys! We did it!” Sella was jumping up and down and squealing, grabbing both their hands and swinging them around. 

“What were our individual grades? I got 98%” Chasmi asked, tapping at her comm to bring up her own grades. The other two also turned to their wrists. 

“99%” Sal replied, frankly quite impressed with herself. 

“I got 97%. Lowest in the squad but higher than Avon so I’m happy.” Sella beamed. 

“Does that make Sal the Valedictorian?” Chasmi asked. 

“99% is not Valedictorian material. I’m afraid, sweet pea, that you’re going to have to do better than that.” an annoying voice cut in. 

“Boone. As charming as ever I see.” Chasmi greeted deadpanly. For whatever reason, the rich daddy’s boy from Squad Two had onesided beef with Sal. 

“Salutatorian. Second highest grade in class, Sally, but still second place.” Boone taunted. 

“Unlike you, I find validation outside of academics.” Sal’s tone was dismissive. As much as she hated the ‘Sally’ nickname, she did not care enough about Boone or his opinions to comment. 

“Are you wasting our time for a reason or are you upset that your grades still didn’t make Daddy say he loves you?” Sella was brutal when she wanted to be. Sal managed to hide her laugh with a cough. Chasmi was not so kind, bursting out laughing in his face. Boone scowled at them but stalked away without another word. 

“What a character.” Sal whistled as Chasmi continued to laugh. 

“Ignore him. We have to go pick up our armour for the graduation ceremony.” Sella’s face was set in a scowl. 

***

Little Private: Can I ask you guys a massive favour?

Thire: For the right price you can ask whatever favour you want. 

Little Private: Fox your commanders are accepting bribes. 

Fox: I also accept bribes. 

Stone: What do you need? 

Thorn: Both of you shut up and don’t bury her messages

Little Private: Is there a speeder or something I could borrow to pick up my family from the space port? They’re coming for my graduation ceremony and I'm broke broke. 

Thire: Sometimes I forget families are a real thing

Little Private: If not I’m sure I can arrange something with one of my classmate’s Senate friends. No pressure. 

Fox: I may have a gunship that could just so happen to be passing by

Stone: This has to be a breach of something

Little Private: You think my cooking is good? Wait until you meet my Ma and vode. 

Thorn: !!!

Little Private: Actually, get me a gunship and I’ll see what I can do about an ori’skraan feast. 

Fox: I would have done it anyway but I have that in writing now 

Thorn: What kind of feast are we talking?

Little Private: Likely enough to feed the entirety of the Guard.

Stone: If you can pull off a feast that big then I think the gunship thing could be overlooked

Little Private: Deal. 

***

Sal had spent the last week meticulously rearranging her apartment to fit her family. Her grandmother - as the matriarch- would sleep in Sal’s bedroom. Everyone else would be sprawled around the living room. The Sal family was reasonably traditional in its nature. Sal’s mother and her Aunty Jynna were related to Ba’buir by blood while her uncles were both foundlings adopted by the matriarch. In Sal’s immediate family alone, she had four biological siblings and two foundling siblings. That was not even counting all the children belonging to her aunt and uncles. Thankfully, the family had decided that Sal’s immediate family (Ba’buir, Buir and siblings) had priority for attending the ceremony. Her aunt and uncles and their families would visit another time. The sole exception of this was her eldest brother’s wife and brand new baby who were staying on Concordia for now. 

Fox: [Image]

Sal: Creep.

Sal snorted at the image Fox had sent of her back through the window of her apartment. She hurried out to the street access pad to meet the Coruscant Guard and their gunship. 

“Long time no see Private!” Fox teased over the sound of the engine as she quickly hopped in. 

“Miss me?” she joked back. Sal greeted the other guards and made a special effort to thank the pilots for their trouble. Sal picked at her cuticles to distract herself from the excitement of seeing her family again. Fox noticed her fidgeting and rested a hand over hers briefly to put a stop to it. He was wearing his helmet (as usual) but Sal knew him well enough now to know that that specific tilt of his helmet meant a look of disapproval. 

“Geez, sorry Commander.” Her voice held a bouncy rhythm that made it obvious she was being sarcastic. Regardless she stopped picking at her skin. Before she realised it, the gunship had settled on the dock and she could see civilians mingling around as they finished disembarking the ship. No sooner had Sal stepped out of the gunship, a loud squeal erupted from the crowd and little pattering feet carried a small child as fast as they could towards Sal. 

“Ri!” Sarad was still struggling with her ‘L’ sounds but that made her all the more adorable. Even more so as a four year old with dark brown ringlet curls and big chocolate eyes. Sal gasped at seeing her youngest sister (the newest foundling) and dropped to one knee to scoop the baby up. Sarad squealed with laughter as Sal peppered her fatty baby cheeks with kisses. Even Fox could not help but crack a smile under his helmet. Sarad was the youngest by far, the next youngest in the family being Cena, at eighteen (also the youngest of the biological children). Cena was the next to reach her. 

“Su cuy’gar, ori’vod.” Cena greeted, hugging both Sal and Sarad tightly. As the rest of the family caught up, Cena took Sarad, whispering in her ear about letting Sal hug the family before she could have a second turn. Sal mingled with her family, hugging her brothers and letting her sisters press big kisses to her cheeks. Then she was face to face with her mother. 

“Su cuy’gar, Buir.” Sal mumbled as tears built up in the back of her throat at the overwhelming happiness of seeing her family again. Her mother said nothing, only dragged her in for a keldabe kiss. When a tear finally fell and landed on her mother’s arm she finally collapsed against her neck to cling tightly. Maker, has it really been a year? After her grandmother dried her tears and her family had gathered their small bags, Sal finally turned back to Cena to take back little Sarad. 

“Thank you again, Fox.” She smiled, her eyes still red from crying. Fox smiled again under his helmet. 

“My pleasure. Let’s get you all home then. Big day tomorrow.” He stepped aside to let the family aboard the gunship. As he did, Sal reached out to squeeze his shoulder as a physical demonstration of her gratitude before turning back to babble at Sarad. 

***

The graduation ceremony was tedious. Boone had been invited to address the attendees as the class valedictorian. 

“Li, you should have crushed his windpipe in hijkata training.” Sella mumbled through their squad intercom. Sal and Chasmi used every bit of their self restraint to keep their shoulders from shaking with laughter in front of everyone. Boone continued to monologue. 

“Hey, don’t you think it’s odd that the only squad who was assigned to the ceremonial guard is the all-female squad?” Chasmi suddenly asked. Sal pulled a face under her helmet. 

“I thought it was weird that they lumped the only three females into one squad in the first place.” She replied, keeping her back rigid at attention in their formation, four rows back from the podium. 

“I feel stupid.” Sella grumbled. 

“Imagine how stupid everyone behind us must feel with these dumbass plumes blocking their view of Ladykiller up there.” Chasmi joked. 

“Nah, they’re probably grateful. The only ladykilling Daddy’s Boy up there is doing is the illegal kind.” Sal shot back. 

“Nah my bet on his illegal activity is on his touching kids.” 

“Holy kark Sella, what did Boone ever do to you?” Chasmi sounded baffled. Sal inwardly channeled every traumatic thought of the Zillo beast attack and its devastation to stop her from busting out laughing in the middle of the plaza as Chasmi lectured Sella who whined about being bored and hating their classmate. Finally, Boone wrapped up his thirty minute speech (although he was allotted eight minutes) and it was time for parade. Sal could not decide if Squad Four looked stupid or not in their double plumed helmets (that none of the other graduates were wearing) and blue velvet cloaks. Of course, under the robes their armour was the exact same blue clone trooper armour as everyone else, but nobody could tell for the velvet. Although Sal would not lie, the velvet was luxurious. As she marched with her squad she spotted her family, and standing just behind them was a figure in a hood. His head angled upwards just enough to catch her eye and she felt her face split with a grin. Fox. Someone had smuggled him into the ceremony in a disguise. Maker, I wish he would go without the bucket more often. Sal was not going to kid herself about her feelings for the commander. She just was not stupid enough to let it affect her work. Well two can play at the surprise game. Her hand holding her force pike flashed a couple of quick signs, she briefly saw a flash of recognition as he identified the clone trooper signs before she had marched past him. But she was sure he got the message. Now I’ve got your six, Commander.