sekkritaus | Familiar Faces: Any time post-prequels AU

Familiar Faces: Any time post-prequels AU

An AU where the clones actually get a few happy endings godammit.

None of them remembered the Republic anymore, but all of them had heard the stories from those who'd escaped its fall. Not all of them had agreed about it, whether it had been good or bad, but they all were certain: better than the Empire, and better than the cloners.

That generation had joined them in pieces, filtering in from outside. They'd all been out and seen the galaxy, and told the youngest stories that made them want to go see it, no matter how much it had taken from their elders.

They were gone now, and so were the ones that had come after them, those made too young to see the war, but had been trained to fight against their own when the cloners soured on the Empire. Only a few of them had remained on Kamino, hidden away in windowless domes so far beneath the waves that the only sound on the outer walls was the occasional tapping of some large abyssal creature walking with slow deliberation across its surface.

That generation was the one that rebelled. The shift in indoctrination didn't take, they suspected. The cloners had pushed their luck too hard.

They'd used their training. Reached out to the clones in other domes. Planned out everything they'd need. Then one day, all at once, they rebelled. Took over the security systems, captured every Kaminoan they could find. Kept them penned up, uncomfortable, but alive. They were hostages to keep the rest of them quiet, and a vital part of what they did next.

No clones were made on Kamino that next five years. More were produced on other worlds, trained for the Empire. So many of them that some eventually found their way out, despite what had been done to them. Their training had been harder on them, made them slow to trust anyone, including themselves.

But on Kamino, they were waiting for results. The youngest cohorts aged up old enough to prove to their elders they'd be able to make this new life work. They were learning what they needed to, how to do the jobs that some had thought impossible for them.

Then, finally, the first new batch. They were healthy, they were so very young, and they stayed young longer than any of them had before.

For the next ten years, that's where they all stayed. The older generations made an uneasy armistice with the Kaminoans after several more skirmishes and careful prisoner exchanges. The clones sent topside reported back there was a new war on. But with only a few thousand of them, they had to be careful. Keep their work quiet. Lead escaped Imperial clones and old Republic-loyal men back to them, make contact with the few who'd hidden among the Mandalorians. They all took a good hard swipe at the Empire whenever they got the chance, but they had to be careful and quiet, or they'd be destroyed like the Jedi were.

The Emperor eventually died, within the lifetimes of most clones who'd seen him rise. It hadn't seemed possible until one day it just suddenly was. An era was ending, and they were ready to go meet it.

[Prompt 1]

He'd been in one of the first batches to get made after that. He'd grown up hearing stories about the clones that helped make it possible, like Rex and Wolffe and the long-dead but still remembered Fives who'd warned them what was coming. Everyone knew their names, and those who'd given all so that one day they could become a new people, with everything that made them unique.

They'd left Kamino then, when he was still young enough that he didn't remember. They'd gone to H'ratth, a forgotten Inner Rim planet that had held secret Republic strongholds. It was habitable, it was abandoned, and it was now theirs. They dug in, installed the cloning chambers in the deep vaults, and from there started to make the planet home.

By the time he was old enough to remember things, the walls were starting to be lost under waves of color. Each sector had its own shade, matching the armor of the eldest regiments. He knew what each of them meant, who the knotwork and abstract lines depicted, memorials for soldiers most of the artists had never met. He'd grown up under the pale blue-grey of 99, one of the defenders of their first home on Kamino who'd died defending cadets against invaders, and who'd proved clones could do anything they set their mind to, regardless of how they were formed.

He grew up at little more, and said very confidently one day to his teachers that he was going to join the infantry and be a sergeant. He liked the word, and some of the best stories on the walls were about sergeants. That was what he thought, anyway. They still had need of soldiers, to defend against the people who saw them as escaped slaves, weapons out of control, lost and feral pets. They youngest bristled at the assumptions that the eldest had been forced to bear. No one had to anymore, and they refused to let it hurt them all again. They'd protect their own.

Their armor was shaped differently from what the eldest remembered, shaped to clone specification on H'ratth to fit them better than the old mass-produced models, but still evoking their lines. And everybody painted up, just like the eldest had. Either you did it yourself or made a deal with an artist. A lot were getting something avant garde, soft gradients or realism were popular and daring now. Every regiment was a riot of individuality.

He'd gone with something in between the traditional and the new. The black plate of his special ops group, layered on with blue-grey paint depicting things he'd done. Spiraling cable patterns down the right arm, left side broken and cracked by geometric flashes of lightning.

And he'd earned a sergeant's pauldron. His name was Taiko, and life was the way it should be.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"That's the one!" Dirty chirped, picking up his own obnoxiously orange drink. "Come on."

They led the way up to the balcony, grabbing one of the empty tables that had a decent view of the space.

"So--" Taiko began, before Dirty cut in, waving a hand at Zero who stopped, drink almost to his lips. "Sneaky guy! You forgot a step!"

Zero tipped the glass up slightly. "Cheers."

"Close enough!" That'd have to be the toast, then.

He followed, happily, looking around as he did so, taking in the sight of all the other clones as they went about their evenings. It was - really nice, to see people so relaxed.

No one had been that relaxed in the resistance in a long time.

"Cheers," he replied happily, tipping his glass towards them before taking a drink, letting out a low, pleased sound, and then taking a seat. He shot a grin to Taiko. "So?"

Taiko's brain ground its gears again as The Smile got directed at him. "I forget, honestly." That called for another drink.

Flo jumped in rather than let the moment hang there. "You were with the Republic before the Resistance, right?"

He was never going to stop enjoying clones stumbling over themselves, and the smile turned teasing and fond before Poe turned his attention to Flo.

"Yeah, that's right. I flew with the New Republic from basically as young as they let me fly - then joined the resistance when the First Order kept making a mess but no one in the republic would let me do anything about it."

Zero slid his drink towards Taiko, but it was waved away. One booze at a time.

Flo nodded. " Don't see why they wouldn't, if they've got the manpower. It's just the Empire coming back around again, really. Just a little different."

"No clones," Taiko chipped in, now that he'd steadied a bit.

"We were too good for them," Bubbles had downed half his drink right at the start and now was going slow. "Even the old Stormies here think they're crap."

"Command has the final decision on what we do about them, though," Taiko warned. Best not to get anyone fired up for something that might not happen.

Poe's face fell, despite himself. "Yeah, well. I tried to get them to do something. But Leia is the only one who would. And now we're all that's left."

That much, he could say. That much was going to be common knowledge, very soon.

"I'm not going to lie. This isn't going to be an easy fight."

"Leia Organa?" Flo asked. She'd been all over the history books, obviously. Seemed like she never stopped being important.

"We might not be the generation that did it, but getting to this planet wasn't easy either. And we don't forget that." Even with all the paint, the buildings here were constructed like bunkers, and they'd dug deeper into the mountain than the Republic ever had, to secure the stuff that really mattered. A lot of clones just wanted to live like the older batches never could, but a part of them never stopped thinking the cloners or the Empire was going to come and try to crack them open.

"Look, talking about work's inevitable, that's what you're here for," Dirty said, gesturing with his glass, "But you're here right now for booze and having a good time."

"And we're not here to get information out of you," Taiko added. "We're curious, I'll admit that, but we're not going to push you on things."

"And we're not here to get you depressed, 'cos it's not a good look on you."

Poe forced a smile to his lips and it wasn't too hard to keep up.

"I'll have you know everything is a good look on me," he said, smugly. "But I'm hoping we'll be able to talk shop in a little while. For now, you're right, let's enjoy ourselves." He raised his glass with a short toast before taking a drink. "Unf, that hits the spot. So - telepathy is out. What about tails?"

"I dunno, I'm sure we could find a hat that would prove you wrong," Dirty says, all playful skepticism.

"Only when there's a full moon," Bubbles replies immediately. "Pheromones, though, we've got those. On a totally unrelated note, is it true that naturals can sense when you're lying?"

"You find one, I'll wear it," he replied immediately.

He turned his attention to Bubbles as an amused grin slipped to his lips. "We've got a bit of a bullshit meter," he replied with a smirk, "But if I didn't know better I'd be half inclined to believe the pheromones one. I think if it were true I'd be in even more trouble than I am already, though."

"Nah, it's a skin contact kind of deal. You're safe for now."

Zero took Bubbles' set-up and ran with it. "That's why the uniform's got gloves. Just in case."

"Ah, I see. Well... I mean, I should probably fully understand your guy's abilities," He replied cheerfully, not believing it for a second but happy to take the set up.

"Test it out with a little skin on skin contact."

"Well, I dunno, that seems a bit forward," said Dirty while taking off his gloves.

"But it's for science," Bubbles reminded him.

"Oh yeah! So who first then?" As much as he really wanted it, the desire to shove his more reserved squadmates at something was strong.

"Count me out, I've got to go ask Razor something," Flo stood, nodding towards a group of troopers who'd just entered. "Might be a while, don't wait up."

"Aw come on, you'll miss the--"

"You know I'm not like that," Flo chided, before glancing over at Taiko, who was fidgeting with an empty glass.

Taiko nodded. "Take off if you want to, we'll be fine with the scientists here."

Flo smirked at him. "You're more qualified for experiments like these anyway."

Taiko held up two crossed fingers, and Flo turned away, snickering.

Poe had been rolling back his sleeves, ready to play whatever game of chicken this was about to be, when Flo excused himself. He couldn't quite parse the tone, especially the chiding "I'm not like that", and glanced at Taiko with a raised eyebrow.

But he still put his hands palms up on the table.

"He alright?"

"He's alright. He's--Well, look." Flo had gotten over to Razor and the rest of Colo squad, looked up to see the Aiwhas watching him, and visibly sighed. He gestured for another clone, who was instantly up for whatever this was, and kissed him full on the mouth. He made a shooing motion towards the Aiwhas, not looking up again.

"Catch isn't going to shut up about that for days," Dirty grumbled. "Anyway! Sarge, you should take his advice. He's the sober and sensible one."

"Sure, he definitely looks like it," Taiko said, glancing up at Poe, then down at his hands. ...Screw it, he was going for it. The gloves came off. Dirty was gleeful, and too distracted to notice that Zero had already started, sneaking in to touch a fingertip.

Oh. That definitely sent a message. Poe could feel a warmth rise up his throat. He'd been teasing, before, but that definitely made things a little clearer. A slightly dumb half smile slipped onto his lips as he turned back his attention to the group.

He held his hands up, fingers curling them slightly when they were touched. He closed his eyes and hummed in mock concentration.

"Hmmmm, nothin' yet, but keep it coming."

Zero responded with a poke, then retreated as Dirty's hand moved in, starting down at Poe's wrist and wandering his way up across his hand. "How about now?" He asked, while Bubbles mouthed go for it to his sergeant, giving him a little nudge. Taiko swallowed, and reached in.

His fingertips were cool from fidgeting with his glass, sliding across the hollow of Dameron's palm. He looked up at the man's face while his eyes were still closed, though that didn't stop his cheeks from flushing a little more than the alcohol could account for. Outsiders were always weirdly hypnotic, but it was so much worse when one of them was pretty.

Poe chuckled, eyes still closed. "Hmm, so far feels like pretty normal human touch, I'm afraid to say. Guess that rumour is--"

He cut off, however, when cold fingertips slid over his palms, immediately ticklish and sending a shiver down his spine. Oh.

"Uh- okay, maybe I called that too early..."

"We're not identical after all!" Did Dirty kind of wish that had been him? Yes. Was he delighted with the outcome? Absolutely.

"Maybe it's a compatibility thing," Bubbles muses, grinning at his slightly dazed-looking sergeant. "Wanna take a guess who that was?"

"Not you," He replied cheerfully to Bubbles - pretty sure he wouldn't have posed the question if it was. He cracked an eye open to see if anyone was looking particularly embarrassed.

"Might need a few more tests to figure it out for sure."

"Not me," Bubbles confirms, "I'm just here to look pretty."

Taiko had passed through flustered and into slightly tipsy determination. Sure, normally it'd take him weeks to get this far, but who knew how long Dameron was going to be around for? He wasn't going to sit this out.

Zero, meanwhile, was remembering that the last time Sarge got that look, he accepted a dare to eat a red reaper, and that had gone amazing. Horrible, but amazing. "New test. Which part next?"

Poe leans back in his chair, humming thoughtfully to himself, and then pretends that it takes him a minute to come up with an idea.

"Well, I mean, there's only really one test that's accurate, right? If it's pheromones. You'll just each have to kiss me."

"You've got some very persuasive logic there," said Dirty, who had totally not been rooting for that answer at all. "Eyes closed makes it officially Science, right? That's a blind test."

"Sounds right to me," Taiko agreed, and Bubbles clapped him on the back proudly. "Let's do it."

Poe pushed his chair back a little, leaving his drink on the table as he leaned back and closed his eyes, crossing his arms. He figured he might have a decent chance of telling them apart based on what they were drinking, but he was also curious about the outcome anyway.

"Alright. Do you your worst."

"Alright," Bubbles declared, having entirely too much fun enabling this, "Mr. Compatibility, take your shot."

Taiko was determined not to be shown up. No matter whether his heart was pounding way too much for just a kiss. This was being made more intimidating by the bar filling up around them, and you just knew half of them were watching the outsider and whoever he was with.

He went for it, getting up from his chair to lean in, one hand on Dameron's shoulder, the other on the back of his head, tangling through his hair--it felt just as good as it looked, damn. There was the slightest pause for a steadying breath, and he closed the rest of the distance to kiss Dameron on the lips.

Some utter bastard at a nearby table applauded, but Zero shushed him.

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