I’m terrible at coming up with names. I’ll probably change Makkia’s at some point, as it’s much too close to her mother’s, but not now.
Author’s Note
Keel’ath reeled back from the console. His mechanical heart picked up its pace slightly to compensate for the sudden movement, but it didn’t feel nearly fast enough for the situation to the Commander.
“You’re certain?” he said to the Cathar in the hologram.
“They were overwhelming our position with walkers,” replied Jorgan. “Major Kellaro believed he could jam their signals and distract them with a short circuit of the GONK battery, and since we were able to get away with no other casualties, I believe he was successful. We have had no contact with him since then.”
“Lifeform readings… Have you tried the sensors? To look for the lifeform readings–” Keel’ath was babbling, and he firmed his lips before going on. “Have you scanned the planet’s surface, Captain?”
“I’m sorry, sir, but we just about got busted getting out alive. There was no time to look back.”
Keel’ath began to pace, partially out of old habit, partially to kickstart his too-slow heart. The situation felt like it was racing away from him, and he was caught out flat, spinning his wheels in the mud miles behind.
“There is one other thing,” Jorgan said heavily. “Your other son, the Sith, broke ranks and went after him before we could take off. Engineer Vette tells me he has a one-way holocom on his person, but if so, he has not used it to contact us yet. We expect… well, it’s unlikely either survived,” the trooper ended quietly.
Keel’ath stopped. “Theron,” he finally said. “Take this over for me.”
“Sir?” said the spy master, looking up from his own console across the room.
“Havoc Squad needs new orders, and I need to think.” He didn’t say anymore, but he didn’t have to. Jorgan saluted him emphatically, and turned to the human as Theron moved into view of the holo projector. Keel’ath left them to it, passing out of the control room and into the hall. He let his thoughts wander; he knew no amount of pacing or thinking would give him a clear head about this…
Lana greeted him almost immediately outside the office. “I don’t believe a word of it, Commander.”
Keel’ath paused. “You overheard?”
“I saw it in Theron’s thoughts.”
Keel’ath gestured her to walk with him, but he still moved aimlessly about the base. Lana began to speak into the silence without waiting for his prompting, as she normally might.
“Commander, Darth Merce and I are bonded. He has a strong imprint on the Force. If he fell, I would have felt it.”
“I believe you,” said Keel’ath.
Lana stopped. His tone had still been oddly final.
“It’s only a matter of time with those odds, Lana,” Keel’ath finished.
“Don’t count him out yet,” said Lana, but he heard the hesitance buried in her tone. She was practical; she knew what Brant had been facing.
“Inform me if anything changes,” he said and passed her by.
He debated if he should tell Mako or wait for more certain news. His feet carried them to their suite anyway, where Mako was taking a break from her slicing job — tagging Zakuulian business accounts for a later steal — and was playing with their four-year-old daughter. Keel’ath stopped in the doorway, just watching as Mako hid behind an old sheet of scrap metal she held up to her face, popping out behind it to invoke rounds of clapping and giggling from their child.
Keel’ath smiled despite himself. Mako had begged him for another son almost as soon as they had reunited, but it taken several years for the war effort to reach enough of a lull he could search out an appropriate cloning facility. A male hadn’t been in their capability to make, as Keel’ath’s DNA continued to deteriorate, and this child looked even less like him than the twins had, with Mako’s brown eyes and broader face. Still they both adored her: for all his children, related by blood and otherwise, Keel’ath had never raised a daughter from birth, and the different demands were a pleasant distraction and a reminder of the good that life still held for the battered cyborg. He hoped fervently Makkia would follow a different path than his sons, turning away from the constant battling to find peace in some quiet corner of the galaxy.
The thought of his sons and the war broke through his happier reminiscing, and he sagged on the doorframe. Mako looked up at him in concern.
“Hey, big guy… what’s the long face for?”
Keel’ath just gazed at her for a moment, wondering if he could bear to see her cry again. She had seen so much death and loss already: perhaps a comically-small amount compared to his centuries of half-life, but the desire to shield her remained.
She so hated being shielded, though.
“I just got some bad news, Mako…”