Chapter Text
“Sir, Commander Tano just landed at the main gate.”
Clone Commander Fox looked up from his console in the control center and nodded to Rhys in acknowledgement. “Understood, I will take it from here.”
Fox couldn’t understand the reasoning behind it, but the prisoner, Turmond, had requested to speak with Tano after several uninformative interrogation sessions that had led nowhere. She had refused to divulge any particularly pertinent information that Fox didn’t already know from the Jedi’s investigation into the Temple bombing.
As far as clones went, he wasn’t exactly a fan of the Jedi for several reasons, but he couldn’t fathom why anyone would blow up a hanger bay. Jedi, clones, and civilians were all killed in the blast.
But if sending a Jedi down would help speed up the interrogation process and potentially get something useful out of Turmond, he was all for it.
Tarkin had taken jurisdiction of the investigation from the Jedi Council on behalf of the GAR and was practically breathing down Fox’s neck for results.
He could bitch all he wanted about the Admiral in his off-time with Stone and Thire, maybe Thorn if he wasn’t busy handling senators while off-planet. But for now, Tarkin told him to ‘jump’ and Fox asked ‘how high.’
He'd heard good things about Commander Tano though, so he was confident that they would finally make some progress. He’d seen her on Coruscant before, but hadn’t really interacted with her before. The kid had a good head on her shoulders, according to Rex and some of the other clone Commanders that had worked with her in the past.
The last time he’d seen her was when Cody’s Jedi General had decided to go undercover by faking his death and pretending to be the (attempted) murderer in order to infiltrate a high-security prison that Fox was in charge of. Commander Tano and General Skywalker had ‘apprehended’ not-Hardeen and dropped him off at Fox’s doorstep.
He’d been infuriated when it was revealed that a plot to assassinate the Chancellor had been thwarted as a result of the undercover operation.
No--not because the operation had been successful, but because Fox and the Guard had been left in the dark by the Jedi. They hadn’t been trusted to do their jobs.
The Jedi were certainly happy enough to let Fox and his men clean up the mess they had left, though. The prison riot they had caused led to several troopers on prison duty being injured and killed, not to mention the inmate casualties.
The crematorium had been pushed to its limit for an entire week and the infirmary was filled to maximum capacity. Some of the injured troopers never recovered enough to return to duty and were sent back to Kamino, despite his protests. He never forgave himself for it.
Fox was the head Commander of the Coruscant Guard . He was literally in charge of the city-planet’s security and it was definitely his business to know things like this. The Jedi Council’s secrecy and rogue-like attitude of taking matters into their own hands with zero consultation of the Guard or GAR was putting more people in danger and making his job harder.
The fact that he hadn’t been trusted with something as serious as the Chancellor’s safety, a role given to these self-proclaimed peace-keepers, only made his distrust and frustration towards the Jedi grow--
The whoosh of the cell block door sliding open snapped Fox out of his broodings.
“Yes?” he asked before recognizing Commander Tano’s distinct figure standing on the other side of the transparisteel window.
“I’m Commander Tano,” she introduced herself. “Letta Turmond requested to see me.”
Fox stepped away from the console and crossed his arms. “A lot of people died in that blast, good job capturing her.”
Commander Tano didn’t respond, a look of what seemed to be unease settling on her face as her eyes darted around the control center.
Fox brushed it off. She was a kid playing the role of a soldier while being restricted by some old morally conflicting code. In any case, this was probably the first time she’d seen the inside of a Republic prison and she was about to interrogate a terrorist who had caused a ton of people to die--who wouldn’t feel a little bit uneasy?
“Alright,” he turned to Rhys and Jek. “Scan her.”
Beeping from the troopers’ workstations immediately filled the room and Fox glanced at the screen to locate the discrepancies.
“Leave your commlink and lightsabers here,” he said, pointing down at the item tray with two fingers.
The Jedi dropped her belongings into the tray without protest, which is more than what he could say for some visitors.
The tray swiftly retracted and Fox promptly exited the control center with Rhys and Jek in tow.
“Follow me,” he ordered Commander Tano as he passed her, placing his hands together behind his back.
The group made their way around the corner to the beginning of the cell block, where the ray shields began deactivating one by one, the clone troopers escorting the Jedi Commander deeper into the facility.
The dark gray bulkheads stood out menacingly on either side of the hallway, the harsh fluorescent lighting and red glow of the ray shields illuminating the scrape marks that scarred the reinforced metal, evidence of years of abuse.
Fox glanced back to make sure the Commander was still following and saw that her eyes were wandering, the expression of unease back on her face again.
Yeah, this place definitely isn’t for someone like her to be around.
Looking a little further, he mentally scoffed at Tano’s battle dress. It was a tight sleeveless brown tunic that left nothing to imagination, with a small egg-shaped hole in the upper chest and the majority of her backside left bare, followed by an equally tight pair of leggings with diamond shaped cutouts in the sides.
Was this really what she went into combat wearing? No armor and looking like she was heading to Corrie’s entertainment sector?
Fox scoffed again, this time doing it for real but managing to pass it off as a cough. He imagined Jedi often dressed this way because of the mentality of near-immortality they held as Force users.
He was about to turn back around when she caught his gaze and immediately looked in another direction, the blue stripes of her head tails and orange skin visibly darkening in color.
Fox casually turned away as if nothing had happened and maintained his pace down the hallway, contemplating her reaction. He had no idea how the biology of any species other than humans functioned whatsoever, so he had even less of an idea when it came to Togrutas, but if he had to guess, it looked like she was blushing.
Blushing usually meant embarrassment, but as far as he was concerned, there was nothing to be embarrassed about . Kid looked a little rough so he wanted to make sure she didn’t get lost or anything. That was it.
“Commander, were you… ogling the Commander ?”
Jek’s teasing voice on the internal comms brought him back to reality.
“ What? ” Fox managed to ask without turning around and strangling the trooper.
“Were you--”
“Do you want to be assigned an extra shift on patrol, Jek?”
Luckily, that was enough to shut him up for now, the only audible sound being Jek and Rhys’s quiet snickering, which Fox quickly put a stop to by muting the comm channel.
If there was one thing he hated, it was being involved in a rumor. Having a reputation to maintain and long embraced the title of being the ‘fun police’ from his fellow brothers, it would not do well to have anything tarnish or dispute it.
At last, they stopped in front of cell 173 without any further incident and Fox slid his keycard through the lock control panel. The door slid open, revealing Turmond sitting in the corner of the cell on the metal block that served as a bunk with her arms wrapped around her.
Commander Tano walked down the steps and into the cell, Fox following her inside at a respectful distance but stopping half-way down the steps, shifting his weight into a more comfortable position and preparing to wait things out for the long haul.
“What do you want, Letta?” Tano asked sternly in a no-bullshit tone.
Turmond looked down and shifted her hat. “I was... told if I ever needed help, you were the Jedi to contact.”
The hell was that supposed to mean?
It wasn’t the most vague thing he’d ever heard a prisoner confess, but it was certainly still confusing.
Fox could imagine the look Commander Tano was giving the prisoner right now, because it was probably the same incredulous expression he wore under his helmet currently.
Turmond’s gaze shifted from Tano to Fox, transforming into a glare of hatred and disgust.
He tilted his head slightly in amusement, completely unfazed by her sudden bout of hostility.
Try it, bitch, and I promise you’ll be on the ground in binders before you can even say ‘flesh droids.’
As a clone and Guardsman, he was plenty used to civilians and criminals expressing their ‘distaste’ for him and his brothers. It was simply another day on the job as far as he was concerned.
Commander Tano seemed to have noticed the silent confrontation that was occurring and turned back to Fox, her eyes and expression softening.
“Give us a minute, please,” she said politely.
Eh, he had other things to do anyways, as entertaining as it might be to set this lady straight.
He gave a small nod of acknowledgement before climbing back up the steps and exiting the cell, locking the door behind him.
“Let’s head back to control, boys,” he said as he passed Jek and Rhys, walking back the way they came. “Commander’s probably gonna be a while.”
“Aw man, the show was just getting good, sir!” Rhys whined. Yes, whined . As in whined like a cadet who wasn’t getting his way.
“I know you’re behind on reports, Rhys,” Fox chuckled good-naturedly. “Plus, you can keep an eye on the camera feed, let us know when the Commander’s finished.”
“Hey, the Commander’s got it all sorted out,” Jek piped up, smacking Rhys on the shoulder. “There’s your show, brother.”
“Ha ha, very funny.”