:Incoming Transmission From: Coruscant Guard Holding Ward:

:Incoming Message from: CT-3996, Guard Trooper Tumbler:

Gotta ask, did they send you to us because we have the "cushy" job?

- @corrie-guard-tumbler

To be honest, I don't know. I was drugged out of my head for most of the decision-making process. Although I do know that if nothing else is true, the fact that Coruscant is a static base and that I was less likely to have to carry a trooper like a rag doll for 50+ klicks to an extraction point were definitely important factors.

That and well, I think Commander Blackout felt better sending me to a post he could visit.

I know, Fett'ika. Did you know that I'm scared of the Kaminoans, too? But they aren't here in this base. This is guard territory, and we look out for our own. And you can be a part of that, if you want to be? No one will do anything to you you don't want us to.

@corrie-bite @corrie-guard-tumbler @cc1010fox

My apologies for interrupting, sirs, but it would appear that a feral Boba Fett (@youngfett) has stumbled across the barracks, and he's wounded. I understand that I need to learn to take initiative, but I figured that it's different for Boba, you know? I mean... He's Prime's kid. After the fiasco with Aurra Sing, I want to make sure that he's got people in his corner, and who better for that than the vod'e?

The second Bite hears the recording he ditches his meal and sprints faster than he ever has to the room a follow-up broadcast indicated all troopers with information should report to immediately. Blood roars in his ears, ka'ra he doesn't think he has ever heard Tumbler so scared. He almost slides across the floor as he plants his feet outside the meeting room, and before he has even caught his breath, he forces open the door.

"What do we know?"

A mix of officers, ARF scouts, comms and baseline troopers were all crowded around the central table that was covered in maps, personnel lists and the odd stream of code from those trying to hack the missing vods signal. It's one of the riot troopers he knows from their last trip to the medbay that acknowledges him.

"Not much, Comms have pinpointed the exact location of the transmission, but we still haven't been able to regain contact. Narrowing down the list of individuals that Tumbler has enough contact with to justify the amount of knowledge they have has been slow given the amount of Senate shifts he takes. There are a couple of ARF scouts out with mastiffs trying to find a trail, but no luck so far."

Bite nods his thanks to the scout before joining the rest of the group around the table. The transcript has little useful information, Tumbler obviously unable to report specifics with so many unknowns, but it isn't the transcript of Tumblers voice that catches his eye.

"Lady. Pet. Oh, by the Ka'ra if this is who I think it might be, then manda let us find him soon"

We are coming for you Tumbler.

*BZZZZZZT*

If anyone is getting this, I need back-up! This is CT-3996, I am on level 105, I am being chased by unknow-KARK!

*There's a thud and grunt, then a quick scramble of action. As if the speaker had fallen and quickly gotten back up and ran afterwards. There's some voices in the background, muffled and inaudible*

I don't know who the suspects are or if they are gang affiliated, they are wearing concealing face-wear and no verbal confirmation of Separatist allegiance!

*There's a brief lapse of silence as Tumbler seems to be ducking around obstacles, huffing as runs from the assailants. They are getting closer and a blaster sounds off, earning a panicked curse from the Guard*

OSIK! VODE, THEY'RE AN INSIDE JOB! THEY ARE DIRECTING ME AWAY FROM MY KNOWN ESCAPE ROUTES, THEY ISOLATED ME FROM OTHER PATROLS! THEY-

*A another round of blasters before Tumbler is seemingly hit, hitting the ground with a heavy thud. His bucket records his unsteady breathing until footsteps are heard approaching*

Time to come home to our Lady, pet.

*The last recording before Tumbler's signal vanishes ends*

Later, when Bite has a rare down moment in the bunks, he carefully peels the sticker off the front of his chest plate before turning it over and pasting it inside.

"Thanks, vod..."

*gives the corrie guard stickers*

( Mun you have liberty to pick what every Corrie guard got as a sticker )

Tumbler stares at the collection of stickers gifted to him and looks back up at the Natborn.

"Uh...thanks for the stickers, sir/ma'am. I'll be sure to distribute these among the Guard evenly. If you have need of our service, please contact our head office."

With a salute and quick turn, Tumbler walks out of sight. Then he sprints, grin manic as he begins to assault vode with stickers to the bucket or shell.

A small cartoonish Massif with adorable eyes is slapped onto the side of Mouse's head, with 41 getting a shield slapped onto his shoulder and 07 getting a blue rose on their arm. (@squad380)

Bite will get a sticker of a bandaged smiley face to his chest as Tumbler darts in and out of the vents. (@corrie-bite)

Mallet will be suddenly blinded as a apple sticker is slapped into his visor from the vent above, with only Tumbler's laughter giving him away as the culprit. (@clonetroopermallet)

Commander Fox will get a gentle slap on the back of the head, later to find a small Caf sticker on the back of his bucket. (@cc1010fox)

"Alright vod'ika, one step at a time. First, I need you to tell me whether you have any injuries other than those scratches that I need to worry about. Third, I need you to let me know whether you want me to deal with your scratches here or back at base."

Bite is now close enough to see the haphazard way Mouse's armour has been strapped on and the look in his eye that screams hurt.

"May I sit with you vod'ika?"

Mouse is lounging on a plush couch in a senator's private chambers, trying to ignore what happened before the senator in question left him alone. Her name and face are a blur, same as the touches she left on his skin. There is a platter on the table that he is looking for food to fill with. It's almost as an afterthought that he pings the Guard comm channel. "Hey, can someone come....come be with me? I don't wanna be alone. Sending location and vitals now."

Saying Goodbye

*On the corrie landing pad, seconds after touchdown*

Bite: Dank farrik, I do not remember larty landings being this rough...

Hssiss: Aw, vod'ika, the landing wasn't any rougher than to be expected. You're just feeling them more. You could have strapped in, you know?

Bite: Not a chance, I haven't needed to strap in for a landing since that drop where a seppie EMP took out our systems, and Switch nearly sent us into a mountain.

Switch, from the pilots seat: Hey! We agreed that the mountain wasn't my fault! And anyway, my landing was perfect.

Hssiss: Sure, vod, perfect.

Switch: Bastard...

Manda, Bite was going to miss his vode. The brass wouldn't let the rest of his squad escort him to the surface, so only Hssiss as his corporal and Switch as pilot were given clearance to say goodbye to him. He knew from experience that his squad rarely ever got shore leave, so it would most likely be a long time before he saw them again. As the LAAT/s door started to lower, the finality of it all hit Bite like a speeder.

Bite: You're going to visit me, right? You will still have my comm code too, and I know that you di'kut'e can use a comm and-

Hssiss: Bite, vod'ika, breathe. Yes, we will visit you. Yes, we will comm. We couldn't stop Atin if we tried, you know that. You are going to be ok, Bite, Commander Blackout said, so remember.

Bite: Yeah, I remember.

Switch: It will be ok, Ori'vod! You'll see!

Oh, how Bite hopes Switch is right.

"Kark!"

This was not what Bite had been expecting to occur when we came back from his long shift with a burning need to wash the grime of the lower levels off his skin. The punch came too fast for previously unguarded medic, and the only real indicator of what had just happened was the tense brother in front of him and the throbbing pain from the steadily growing bruise on his cheek.

"07? What the hell was that for?!"

1607 despises people seeing his scars. They're a thing of shame, after all-- not battle scars, just evidence of what's been done to him. The elaborate patterns trail down from his shoulders to his wrists, and all along his ribs. He despises them. So, when he steps out of the shower and is face-to-face with another trooper, he acts on instinct-- he punches them.

"Ka'ra, why are all the corries so murder-y? No, I do not need you to stab someone vod. And you are good on the punching thing. Work with injured troopers long enough, few things faze you in the end."

Bite prods at the blooming bruise a few times before he is sure there is no real damage. The towel around '07s shoulders does little to hide the scars from Bites trained eye, and the way the vod has slightly curled his shoulders and refuses to meet his eye tells him all he needs to know about '07s opinion on that fact.

"Are you alright? I know tension is always high on Coruscant, but it doesn't usually end in bruises outside showers."

1607 despises people seeing his scars. They're a thing of shame, after all-- not battle scars, just evidence of what's been done to him. The elaborate patterns trail down from his shoulders to his wrists, and all along his ribs. He despises them. So, when he steps out of the shower and is face-to-face with another trooper, he acts on instinct-- he punches them.

"It's- I- I don't know. I feel like I'm there, in that room, but I can't be because my squad came for me, right? They got me out, but they aren't here, and I don't know where here is. I don't know where I am. And where are my squad? Kara, please say I got out! Please say I'm not making that up!"

Bite's breathing is slowly starting to even out as he subconsciously mimics the pattern of the vod in front of him. His mind is still racing. Every reason he finds to think he might be ok is immediately joined by more reasons he isn't. At least he isn't alone, the warm body under his palms, not a trick his mind is capable of playing.

"Not alone, not alone, not alone..."

(from: @squad380) for Spotify wrapped starters/asks: 27

[Nice, song 27: Panic Room by Au/Ra]

Bite wakes with a jolt and a loud swear, tumbling from his top bunk and groaning as he lands on the previously distant floor.

"Kriff, one night of uninterrupted sleep in all I ask for." Bite mumbles in staggered, sharp breaths, aware of the vode sleeping around him. He pushes himself up on shaking limps as the adrenaline from his nightmare continues to rage through him.

In the darkness of the barracks, Bite could have sworn he was somewhere else, the cold floor only serving to help his mind send him places he never wants to think of again. Only the steady breathing of sleeping clones, intrupted by the sounds of rustling sheets and creeking frames, grounds him in the room.

Even now, Bite can feel the panic in his throat, and the images of past horrors flash across his vision. The shaking has spread throughout his entire body, and his breathing is still uneven. With each thunderous beat of his heart, Bite moved further into the shadows of his mind.

Mouse approaches Bite with a folder. "I was snooping around and found a couple things-- well really only one thing, just a note, everything else in the folder is my own ramblings and attempts to find connections-- but the note's something about a really impressively large sum of money and some sort of large pet. But-- I just want you to have this, so it doesn't get lost while I'm out on my ill-advised rampage"

Bite takes the folder from Mouse's hands, already trying to figure out how this information could help him locate Tumbler.

"And where do you intend to go on your 'ill-advised rampage' vod? Because we don't have a location for Tumbler or Senator Vyrim right now and if you run off to cause havoc not only will you not be permitted to join the extraction team, you may also get yourself killed."

He knows his words are harsh, his kih'vod usually someone he tries to keep a nicer tone with, but right now Tumbler takes priority and Bite can not afford to get distracted with trying to keep an eye on his obviously distressed vod as well as providing specialist insight on extraction plans and tactics to the command staff and working with the tech boys on information gathering and processing.

"I know you are angry, kark. I'm furious, but right now, Tumbler needs you as level-headed as you can manage. Can you control yourself until we have a plan, trooper?"