Chapter Text
The party was already in full swing when the Senators arrived. Organa, Chuchi, and Mothma were some of the more memorable names on the very short list of “Good People In That Building” compiled by the Coruscant Guard (or Corries, as they were known among the Vode), so their arrival to the Temple was somewhat exciting for the Vode on guard duty. Boom stood at attention in front of the entrance and waved them through with a nod, her bucket hiding her wide smile. Senator Organa gave her a smile and a small wave as he passed into the Temple beyond. Boom just about combusted from giddiness. Not only was she being trusted to guard this party – an assignment given to her by Commander Fox himself – but her favourite natborns were here too!
“Easy, kid,” said Sergeant Hound from where he stood behind her. “I know it’s exciting, but remember: professional. We are all that stands between our Vode and the vultures.” He gestured to the flock of paparazzi that had followed the Senators and were now trying to find the best angle possible to glimpse the interior of the Temple. Boom’s shoulder’s straightened under her too-large armour, the plastoid clacking together at the loose joints.
“Yes, Sir,” she said with a salute. It was textbook perfect, as always. She may have been shuffled off of Kamino early, but Boom always did her best to look the part of the Coruscant Guard.
The Sergeant shook his head fondly. “Ah, you’re doing fine, Boom. I’m just going to go inside and check on the Vode on duty, okay?”
“I’ll be fine, Sir,” she said. “It’s all friendlies, right now.” the Sergeant nodded and clapped her on the shoulder. He steadied his hand to keep the plastoid from slipping off her still-growing frame, then turned on his heel and walked further into the Temple.
Boom took a deep breath and turned back to her post, falling into the motions of her assigned duty. “No, you cannot enter the premises, this is a private event on private property,” she said to one group of paparazzi. “No, I cannot retrieve any of the Generals for a comment on the recent campaigns,” she said to another. “I’m afraid that the Senators cannot take questions at this time,” she said more times than she could count.
On and on it went. It’s all friendlies, she’d said. Boom should have known better.
A new speeder docked, followed by an escort of four more. Out came the kriffing Chancellor of the Republic . Boom froze, her blood turned to ice in her veins. He can’t know , she thought to herself. He can’t know. He’ll kill us all. Boom watched him advance through the crowd of photographers with dread filling her heart. She toggled her HUD to show her where Sergeant Hound was – too far away to help her before the Chancellor arrived. Osik. She sent an immediate request for assistance anyway.
He was closer now, at the foot of the front steps. Boom whimpered under her bucket, then mentally shook herself. You are a Guard, she told herself, so guard . She squared her shoulders, straightened her spine and emulated Commander Fox as much as she could. If her ori'vod/maybe-buir could handle Chancellor Palpatine, then so could she. They were made of the same stuff, right? She could do this.
The Chancellor ascended the last few steps, followed by his red-robed guards. “Self-righteous shabuire,” Boom muttered – making sure her external speakers were muted. Toggling them back on, Boom stepped into the Chancellor’s path with a crisp salute.
“Ah, trooper,” the Chancellor said with a clap of his hands. “I’ve been told that there is quite the party beyond?” It sounded like a question. It wasn’t. Boom knew that.
“Yes, Your Excellency.” She let no emotion into her voice. He thought they were barely better than meat droids. She wasn’t going to be the one to disabuse him of that notion.
The Chancellor smiled wider. “Well then, I’m sure the venerable Masters won’t begrudge me my tardiness,” he said, moving to sidestep Boom.
She kept pace, blocking his way. Chancellor Palpatine looked at her quizzically and she had to say something soon or he’d push past her and if he saw Kote they’d all die and it would be her fault and- “Do you have an invitation?” she blurted, partially just to stop her mind from spiralling.
The Chancellor seemed taken aback for a moment. “I beg your pardon?” he asked incredulously.
Boom swallowed nervously and repeated, “Chancellor Palpatine, do you have an invitation?” When he didn’t respond, she tacked on, “This is an invitation-only event.”
She glanced at her HUD as the Chancellor spluttered in offence. Sergeant Hound was rapidly approaching but was still too far away. With a flick of her tongue, Boom began uploading her helmet-cam footage to the secret Vode-only server. A little red light in the corner of her visual told her everything she saw was now being uploaded live. Good. At least then there would be a record of her last actions if this ended badly. Emboldened, she said, “If you don’t have an invitation, I will have to decline your entry.”
“I,” the Chancellor began as he puffed his chest out in self-importance, “am the Chancellor of the Republic and a longtime friend of the Jedi Order, at that. What precisely do you mean by “ declining my entry ”?” There was a nasty glint in his eyes now. Boom had seen that look before – on the trainers when Tin-Too was taken away on Kamino, on natborn officers before they reported a vod for one offence or another, in nearby civilians when the Guard carefully brought the bodies of lost patrols out of dumpsters. That glint never meant anything good.
Despite the fear seeping into her bones, Boom lifted her head. If she was about to die, she’d delay the Chancellor as much as she could – she’d buy Sergeant Hound enough time to arrive and take the situation in hand if it was the last thing she did. “I mean that I cannot allow you into the premises if you don’t have an invitation, Your Excellency.”
The Chancellor reared back. “Preposterous!” he cried, loud enough for the many microphones to hear him. Behind him, Boom saw cameras turning their way and winced. The Commanders were very clear when they outlined the unofficial rule book of the Coruscant Guard – a list of unspoken procedures that would never be written down in any regulations manual, but that saved their lives more often than not. Rule #1 – Never Have Evidence Against You. There was evidence, now. “I have been a good friend of the Jedi Order since I arrived on Coruscant as a Junior Aide for Naboo! I demand that you let me through!”
Oddly enough, Boom felt the icy fear in her veins melt a little. She was the only thing standing between the Chancellor and the mass decommissioning of nearly every vod in the Temple that night. Her life or all of theirs – the choice was easy for her to make. That certainty – that duty – was a familiar feeling. So now, she stalled. “I cannot do that, Sir.” Her voice cracked through her speakers. She cleared her throat and said again, “I cannot let you through. This is a private event on private property. If I were to let you in, I would be aiding and abetting trespassing on military grounds, seeing as you drafted the Jedi into the war effort without so much as a by-your-leave and declared their sacred ground and home to be nothing more than a military command center,” Boom said, projecting her voice for the microphones now pointed their way. “Sir,” she added belatedly.
The Chancellor’s face reddened with rage. “I beg your pardon?!”
Boom checked Sergeant Hound’s ident tag on the map of her HUD. Still a few minutes away. Osik. But- there, right next to him! That was Commander Fox’s ident tag! Her heart steadied for a moment as her mind went into overdrive. “The Jedi were forced into active service and had to subsequently turn their home into a military command center, Sir,” she repeated. “That’s because of a law you pushed through the Senate floor using your emergency powers.”
“Trooper, I’m not sure you understand what it is you are implying-” The Chancellor wagged a finger in her face like a scolding schoolmaster.
Boom did something she never thought she’d do. She broke a rule that wasn’t even in the Corrie rulebook (official or unofficial) because it just wasn’t done . She interrupted Chancellor Sheev Palpatine of the Republic. “I do know what I’m talking about, Sir. Bill Osk-Three-Six-Dash-Norn, implemented four days after the First Battle of Geonosis: All Jedi Knights and Masters are to report for duty as Generals in the Grand Army of the Republic – hereby referred to as “the GAR”,” she quoted. Immediately, all the attention in front of the Temple entrance snapped to her. She forged on. “All Padawans must report for duty as Commanders in the GAR. Their placements within their Masters’ legions shall be under the purview of said Master. Active service for all Jedi ranked Padawan and above is mandatory, unless they are physically unfit for combat, as determined by the Surgeon General of the Galactic Republic, or under the age of ten human standard years old, or species equivalent.” You could have heard a pin drop. “I could understand the slight oversight, Sir, seeing as the oldest troopers were ten when they were deployed – but still, Sir.”
The Chancellor glared at her. “The Jedi have special abilities,” he said, as if to a very small child, “that can aid them in battle. They learn all of this very young – alas, their methods are a mystery even to me – and for them to abstain from aiding the Republic during this time would be a heartless act of treason.” he shook his head. If Boom didn’t know any better, she would have thought he was saddened by the “heartless Jedi”.
“You still ordered them to send their children into battle, Sir.” If I were you, I’d reconsider who is the “heartless” one in this scenario, she didn’t say. “I’m curious Sir – do they not fall under the Republic Child Welfare Act because they’re Jedi?” She purposefully tilted her head, miming extreme confusion. Thanks to her helmet speakers she was able to hear the paparazzi’s furious muttering. She smiled grimly where the Chancellor couldn’t see.
“Well, no, but-”
“And what about us, Sir?” After one last look at Sergeant Hound and Commander Fox’s ident tags on the map – only three halls away now – she took off her helmet (breaking unofficial Corrie Rule #2 – Never Show Them Your Face). For once in her life, Boom’s baby face would work to her advantage. She heard more startled gasps, no longer tinny from her helmet speakers. She made her eyes as big and watery as she could and said, “when are you going to free us?”
“Free you? Trooper, you’re not a slave,” Chancellor Palpatine tried to laugh off.
“Aren’t we?” she asked morosely, pouring all of her desperation into her voice. “We’re not paid, there’s a bill of sale for our creation, training, arming, and deployment under the Chancellor’s office, and yet we pass every test of sentience in this galaxy.” All the muttering ceased like someone had gagged everyone in earshot. “We’re getting deployed earlier and earlier, Sir. I’m only seven,” she revealed.
“Sweet Force!” someone in the crowd exclaimed. Boom smirked internally. There was the reaction she wanted.
“I got lucky, I ended up with the Guard.” She looked down for a moment, scuffing the ground with her boot. “My squadmates got placed on the frontlines. As of last month, I’m the last one.” She looked back up, her brows furrowed together. “We were only seven, Sir, they were everything I had. Why did they have to die? Why do we have to keep dying?”
“Now look here, trooper, your brethren were made with the express purpose of keeping the citizens of the Republic safe! It is your duty -”
“But who keeps us safe, Sir? Who keeps the Jedi safe?”
“Trooper, cease with these dramatics immediately! I demand you let me through!” His face had progressively gotten redder and redder in anger until his complexion would have matched Boom’s armour.
“And I’m telling you, sir, that with all due respect I can’t !” Tears pricked at her eyes, why weren’t her ori'vode here yet, they should be here by now - “If I let you through, I violate a law central to the Military Creation Act.” She shook her head, letting the tears fall. “I can’t do that.” The cameras flashed in her face as she shook her head. It was all getting too much and they should be here by now- “I can’t,” she repeated. Through her sniffles, Boom straightened her back and bared her face to the flashes of the cameras, tear tracks and all. “I can’t and so I won’t,” she said with finality.
The Chancellor’s face twisted into a hateful sneer directed at Boom for a split second before he turned to address the cameras. With the weight of his gaze taken off of her, Boom let herself panic for just a moment. She was going to die here. Distantly, she heard the Chancellor make some kind of speech but it was muted – as if she was underwater. All she knew was the neverending reel of I’mgonnadieI’mgonnadieI’mgonna die-
“WHAT IS GOING ON OUT HERE?!” bellowed Commander Fox. Boom almost sobbed with relief as a huge shadow moved into her blurry vision. Behind her
Buir
Commander, another Vod – probably Sergeant Hound – pulled her into the Temple, tugging on her armour. Boom went without protest, glad to be out of the flashing lights.
Her breath ran fast and shallow. Her pulse felt like the hum of a dropship under her skin.
Oh. “This is a panic attack,” she said, looking at the Sergeant.
He chuckled at her, incredulous. “Yeah. Given who you were up against, we figured that a panic attack was one of the better-case scenarios.” Sergeant Hound brought her further into the Temple and gently nudged her down so Boom was sitting on a bench.
Boom rested her elbows on her knees and let her head hang as she focused on her breathing. “Best-case or not, I’m still a dead Vod walking,” she said. She looked up at the Sergeant. A muscle twitched in his jaw – a tell of defiance all vode shared. “Sir, he saw my face-”
“Why?!” Hound snarled, fear and desperation and grief pouring off him in waves. “Why would you do that, Boom – I thought they still taught you how to use the grey matter between your ears, clearly not. You showed him your face , trooper!” The Sergeant’s shout echoed in the hallway. He wheeled on her with the desperation of a man who knew he could not save her. He knew he couldn’t save any of his vod'ikevod’ike.
But he would never stop trying.
“Sir, I was dead the moment I said “no” to the Chancellor,” Boom said. Sergeant Hound sat heavily on the bench, close enough to her that their cuisses touched. “I was already dead, and I knew that, Sir, I knew that. But the vode inside weren’t dead yet. The Chancellor hadn’t seen them yet and I could keep it that way. So, I stalled for time. I sent up the SOS, I set up my bucket-feed, and I waited for you and the Commander to get here.” Her vision began to blur as sobs worked their way up her throat. “You came , Sir. I was sure that he was about to kill me then and there and damn everything I did to protect them but you came .”
“Ad'ika…” Hound said. This was no longer an officer talking to a trooper, but an older brother comforting his kid sister. “Of course we came. Of course we came. You’re our vod'ika, we could never do anything else.” He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close to him, fitting her head in the crook of his neck. “And between you and me, Old Fox is never more than two breaths away from saying the Gai Bal Manda to you.”
Warmth and hope bloomed in Boom’s chest. “Really?” she asked through her quiet sobs.
“Yeah,” Hound said as he stroked her hair. “Maybe it’s just ‘cause you’re the youngest and the longnecks never did manage to rip the Buir instinct from us, but Fox already thinks of you as his daughter.”
Overcome with too many emotions she could name, Boom buried her head further into Hound’s neck. He pressed a kiss to her hair with a calming, “Ori'vod’s got you,” and just… held her. He held her through her sobs as she let out all the fear that had built up during her encounter with Palpatine.
She didn’t know how long she and Hound had been sitting there as her tears ran dry, but inevitably the sound of armoured footsteps shook them out of their little bubble.
“Boom, I swear to the Force, the Ka'ra, each of the little gods individually then once again as a whole, don’t you ever do that again! When I saw your feed go up, I-” Commander Fox marched towards them, his hands shaking minutely – the only physical sign that ever showed his distress.
Boom launched herself up at him and coiled her arms around him as if she were a normal girl hugging her dad. “Thanks for saving me, Buir,” she whispered into his ear.
Fox gasped minutely and his arms shot up to encircle her. “Boom?”
“Yeah, Buir?”
“Do you mean that?” he asked quietly.
“Do you want me to stop?” she deflected, shielding her heart from the possibility of hurt-
“No, never, Boom. Never. Ni kar'tayl gai sa'ad, Boom,” he said, finally using the words to formalize her adoption. “My clever, brave daughter, I’m so proud of you.” He held her tightly for a moment longer, then disentangled them so he could look her dead in the eyes. “Now don’t you ever, and I mean ever , do that again, do you understand me, young lady?”
Boom laughed wetly, brushing the last few tears out of her eyes. “Ni suvarir, Buir.”
“Good,” he said. “Now, there are a great many people who want to thank you, and afterwards we can talk about your death.” he clapped her on the shoulder, leading her down the hallway.
“Wait, what?” she said, confused. “The Chancellor must’ve already ordered my death.” Her new Buir hummed in agreement. “So then what’s there to talk about?”
As they rounded a corner, Fox'buir said, “He saw your face, not your ident number – if ever there’s a time for me to be glad that that demagolka doesn’t bother to differentiate us, it’s now. We switch your ident to a dead Guard, send you off with one of the many battalions currently on leave, and then keep you as far away from the Chancellor as we can.” He smiled at her and tapped his bucket where it hung on his belt. “Right now, my batchmates are fighting over who gets to care for you – you have gett'se, kid.”
They reached a huge doorway flanked by Guards who- who saluted her before the Commander . She saluted back numbly. One of them noticed her shock and chuckled. “Sir, why am I not surprised that the one vod'ika who decided to look like a mini-you was the one to stand up to Old Wrinkly?” Her Vod asked her Buir.
Fox'buir put a proud hand on her shoulder. “Because my daughter has more Mandokar in her left pinkie toe than that shabuircould ever hope to try and emulate.”
The two Guards honed in like screech-hawks. “Gar ad?” the other one asked.
Boom nodded proudly. “Ner Buir.”
“Well, how ‘bout that. Go on in, Papa Bear. They’re waiting to meet tonight’s hero.”