Unusual for me I know...I updated quicker than normal.

Knight of Honor: Chapter 11

Excerpt:
Jas decided he couldn’t hold back his resentment any longer, and he had to make an effort to face his irritation with Dusty. He kept his voice low so he wouldn’t arouse any of Les’ika’s attention. “How could you do it, Dusty? How could you shut off your communications knowing that the entire Clone Army was depending on you?”

Dusty stopped moving inventory around for a moment and looked to his brother. “It wasn’t that simple…”

That brought a snort from Jas. “Then which head did she hold the blaster to?”

At that, Dusty grabbed Jas by the neck and pinned him against the wall on the outside of the cavern. Mouse immediately mumbled something to them about letting a vode get some rest or he’d gladly shoot both of them.

Dusty kept his voice soft but offered no room for argument. “Get your kriffing, self-righteous head out of your shebs, you di’kut.”

“You could have killed us, all of us!” Jas said, biting down on his rising voice. “And for what?”

Dusty stared hard into his brother’s eyes, and brought an unusual edge to his words. “Stop thinking like a Clone for one damn moment, Jas. You’re allowed to be a man.”

Enjoy! The next chapter probably won't be so quickly updated.

Another update!

Knight of Honor: Chapter 12

Excerpt:
Jas lowered his eyes to the rippling water, watching the reflections of his face and Dusty’s. With the exception of Dusty’s hair that needed a trim and the bruise covering his jaw, he and Jas were identical men. However, only very few others ever realized that clones were not all the same person and that every one of the men in the Clone Army was different, unique in their own way. Only a small fraction of beings ever saw how each of the clones had taken on their own personalities, becoming individuals who shared nothing more than the same face.

“It’s a foolish fantasy, isn’t it?” Jas asked as he shook his head and ran his fingers through his damp, dark hair. “I’ll be dead long before she’s old enough to look old, and I’m not even a registered citizen. She’s a princess…a kriffing princess! How could she think there’s more to me than a disposable flesh droid?”

“Because you’re a good man, Jas. Ba’vodu had done right with you.”

Jas shook his head, utterly confused over a moment that had been so right yet continued to have everything around it be so wrong.

“Nothing in Les’ika’s actions gave the impression that she was fantasizing,” Dusty offered, noting how his brother could not accept this situation easily.

At that, Jas spun toward Dusty, and his need to protect her was clearly evident in his eyes. “You were watching us?”

For anyone who's reading, I hope you continue to enjoy this little tale.

I know, I know. I took forever to update. (See my ramblings in the "I Need My Clan" section for an explanation...)

Anyway, Knight of Honor: Chapter 13 has been updated!

Excerpt:
“Mission orders are to protect the princess and get her home safe,” Gath reiterated.

Jas sighed in frustration, wondering how his brother could not clearly see the consequences. “And, if we follow those outdated orders, she may not have a home to go back to. This is what we do, Gath. This is the kind of mission we’ve been trained to handle.”

“And, we’ve bent our orders so close to insubordination that we’ve practically shattered our armor,” Gath argued. “Without communications, we don’t even know if another squad was already planted to handle those Seps. We might end up killing our own.”

“But, what if you’re wrong, Gath, then what?” Jas asked. He turned his helmeted head to Les’ika and gently lifted one of her hands from her face. He studied her eyes as they shifted from anger and fright to curiosity and concern. Wrapping his fingers around hers, Jas squeezed her hand gently to offer her silent reassurance, selfishly allowing him a second to absorb himself in the blue of her eyes.

Dusty breathed softly. “We only have one chance for this, Gath. I’m not going to take the risk that there’s another squad of ours out there. We all know we were assigned the Tochin mission because it’s out of the way from the real fighting. Reject Squads don’t get real missions, but if we walk away, Tochin might fall under Separatist control, and then we’d really be the Reject Squad.”

Enjoy!

If anyone is interested...

Knight of Honor: Chapter 14 has been updated!

Excerpt:
Arlesse took a heavy breath and instinctually grasped the edge of the blanket tighter in her hands. Zech’s eyes were clear now, and he lifted his head off the ground taking in the Republic soldiers that surrounded him. He again attempted to sit up, only to find his hands were bound behind his back and his balance was awkward without being able to use his hands to keep level. He stumbled a couple times before righting himself enough to be considered sitting up on the ground.

Arlesse watched Zech’s eyes rise slowly, and take in the Republic soldiers, the loyal guardians that Arlesse knew would protect her. When Zech’s irises came to her, she felt a cold shudder crawl down her spine. It wasn’t because she felt he would do anything to her, not with Crimson around to keep her safe. Instead she saw the regret in his eyes, the realization that everything he had planned and schemed had evaporated like the morning mist that was common in this wooded land.

“You’re alive?” he asked her, full of confusion.

Enjoy!

Finnished reading it today (gotta love study hall)
It's so cute I've been spontaneously "awww"-ing the entire day. You write Jas and Les'ika's innocent relationship really well.
Gath's story with the rodent really struck me (I used to have two gerbils. Gath, I feel your pain, those adorable critters never stay with us long enough )

oh, I also have to say that I feel like an awful person for (kind of) liking Hazar... you have to hate him for being such a... terrible person (there, PG language) but at the same time I've got a soft spot for needlessly sadistic characters (I'm thanking Zeus that this obsession only applies to fictional characters) he's so scary and creepy (and I imagine him to look like a ninja, so there's extra bonus points)

another thing I love is how often everything is compared to horror holovids. On the one hand, there's the fairy-tale feel that is really clear and on the other hand there's the reference to horror movies that seems so contradictory to the innocent feel of the story. I have to say, I love it.

Thanks for the comments, mando-mantis, for Knight of Honor!

I'm glad you've enjoyed the story thus far. It's been a fun story to do, and I only wish I had more time to update quicker! The fact that it can take a month or two to finalize a chapter bugs me, but that's how it is when there's responsibilities to be handled first.

Gath and the rodent came out of the blue. I was struggling a bit with that part of the chapter, and suddenly I had that idea come into my mind. Once I really started outlining it, that incident of his past took shape and allowed me to throw another layer onto him.

Don't feel weird about liking Hazar. I actually enjoyed writing and creating him. I just hope I never meet anyone like that in real life! Knowing he got his in the end gave me some peace of mind with creating him, I think.

LOL. The horror holovids concept comes from my...fear of watching them, methinks. Seriously, there's something complimentary between the fantasy of a love story done with fairy tale elements and the grotesque that is often reality, which prevents us from getting to that fairy/fantasy world.

I'm truly thrilled that you enjoy this, and I will have to make certain I post the next update so you're aware of it.

Thanks so much again for your comments!!!

Something a little bit different from me this time.

The story is titled: A Simple Beginning

Summary: Jango Fett comes to terms with being a father as he holds baby Boba for the first time.

Excerpt:
I see the small, white bundle cradled against her, not in any form of affection, but strictly for stability. With graceful steps, she comes to me and quickly lands the swaddled baby in my arms.

There is no prompting, no warning. He is just there, and if not for my refined reflexes, I’m sure I would have dropped him.

“Your clone,” she tells me in that melodic voice. I strangely expect her to say something more, something kind, but she simply turns and gracefully makes her exit from the room.

“He is as you requested, Jango,” the doctor says, his voice nearly sounding like it carries disapproval. “Unmodified.”

Hope you enjoy! This one was a bit of personal therapy for me.

Haha that Jango/Boba story was cute, MMJ. I know I'm going to sound like a stickler, but I hope you won't mind me pointing out that ad'ike should be ad'ika. The "e" denotes pluralism, kind of like the "s" in English. But other than that, your use of Mando'a was spot-on and I definitely felt like the story as a whole was well-written. I'll have to check out some of your other writing sometime. (:

It just occurred to me that I had forgotten to advise the last two updates to Knight of Honor.

Here is Chapter 15:

Excerpt:
“Why is Dusty a traitor?” she asked softly, her eyes darting around Crimson. She saw the genuine regret in Mouse’s eyes for snapping at her, but she had already decided that she would never do anything to cross him if she could avoid it.

“He broke protocol on a mission to be with a woman,” Gath explained, deciding not to get into any more details.

Arlesse felt her fear change from the ire of Mouse’s intentions towards Dusty to suddenly fearing for Jas’ life. Her voice was now shaky and tight. “Will you treat Jas like this after you leave Tochin? Will you punish him because I made the mistake of caring?”

---

Here is Chapter 16:

Excerpt:
“You’re one sick, shabuir,” the voice belonging to Tarj responded, the anger not lessening. There was obvious bitterness in his words that another clone would dare to imitate some of his brothers who had perished nobly in their mission. “You were warned to stop impersonating the dead…”

“Find a superior officer and tell him that the dancing nerf pup took a nap,” Gath interrupted, all serious now. “And, the nexu kitten came out of the cave.”

There was the sound of a click, followed by a long pause. Collectively, the group held their breath not certain if the silence indicated that they had lost the connection prematurely or if Tarj had cut them off in his anger.

After a long few minutes, however, the communications clicked again, and Tarj’s voice burst with emotion as though he was standing right along with them. “Fierfek! You di’kuts! How the hell did you manage to resurrect?”

“Even death rejected the Reject Squad,” Dusty said somewhat cheerfully, smiling with satisfaction that apparently the rivalry between Tarj and Crimson had never subsided.

I just came back from four days without internet and find two new chapters.
I can't tell you how happy I am.

Updated Knight of Honor!

Enjoy!!

Chapter 17

Excerpt:
Dusty hurried to the door, flashing a mischievous grin at Jas. However, when he opened the door they saw a young man, probably no older than sixteen years old, standing there. He was dressed in the plain clothing of a personal messenger, his tunic and pants a dull yellow. His shin-high boots were worn and dull, their deep brown now faded to a dark tan. The boy's auburn hair was cut short, and his light brown eyes sparkled with curiosity and awe at the four identical men and their small armament that was neatly scattered around the suite.

"I think you have the wrong room," Dusty said as he crossed his arms over his chest, smiling with that jovial charm of his he liked to exhibit around civilians.

The young man pulled his thoughts back from wherever they had been and nervously scratched at the back of his head. "Um, I've been asked to summon the one of you called Jas."

Dusty turned to Jas and winked at him. "Taylir Les'ika akay vaar'tur."

Jas fought to keep his heart from rushing while he tried to contain his embarrassment in front of Dusty, especially since his brother had just told him to "hold Les'ika until morning," and Jas knew exactly what Dusty meant by that.