{"id":17407,"date":"2020-12-02T15:00:18","date_gmt":"2020-12-02T23:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/?p=17407"},"modified":"2020-12-02T14:15:03","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T22:15:03","slug":"afternoon-fic-the-dragon-general-part-eighteen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/afternoon-fic-the-dragon-general-part-eighteen\/","title":{"rendered":"Afternoon Fic: The Dragon General (Part Eighteen)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

I normally don’t post Afternoon Fic through Advent.\u00a0 But as this story is still being worked on, I also didn’t want to leave it as is.\u00a0 So yes you’ll get a treat now and again through Advent of an Afternoon Fic.<\/p>\n

Part One<\/a><\/p>\n

Part Seventeen<\/a><\/p>\n

Author’s Note:<\/strong> So when I looked up who was the Admiral for the Negotiator the only thing listed was ‘Admiral Block’ *tries not to eyeroll* so Admiral Jacen Block was born (a throwback to Legacy Star Wars books).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Admiral Jacen Block, the Negotiator’s<\/em> Commander, stayed out of Coruscant<\/em> politics.\u00a0 His name wasn’t splashed around in high society, and he doubted anyone could pick him out of a crowd.\u00a0 He was a middle aged human male, dark hair that was more grey than black, average height, size and expression.\u00a0 He was reserved and preferred a good theatre performance over the latest holo, and had only a few friends, most of them scattered throughout the galaxy.\u00a0 His life was boring and non descript, and it was one of the reasons General Kenobi had requested him for the position.\u00a0 He wanted someone who could do the job, not a stooge for the Senate.<\/p>\n

The one time the Chancellor had sought him out, to congratulate him on a job well done protecting the Master Jedi, he politely informed him it was a group effort, and that the men on the Negotiator<\/em> were the best to work with \u2026 then promptly ran.<\/p>\n

He may not get involved in politics, but it didn’t mean he didn’t understand how it worked.<\/p>\n

So, yes, he knew something was going on with the General, but wasn’t quite sure what.\u00a0 The clones were loyal to Master Kenobi to the point, they would have no problem over throwing him, along with his crew, and seize the ship if need be.\u00a0 He also knew the loyalty went both ways, the General would not stand for discrimenation of any kind against his men.<\/p>\n

The idea of clones, at first, had disturbed him, but as he watched them find their individuality in a sea of sameness, he began to view them as individuals and accepted them as any other member of the GAR.<\/p>\n

So when one of his officers complained to the General that they were getting fresh fish twice a week, Block could only stare at the Captain for five minutes in shock.\u00a0 When he started to rant how the clones were being treated like they \u2026 they were human.\u00a0 The Admiral shipped his ass back to Coruscant<\/em>.\u00a0 He had never wanted the man on board, but his family was friends with Tarkin, which had given him even greater incentive to get him off his ship.<\/p>\n

There wasn’t much interaction between the GAR officer and the clones, which was no surprise, but the two groups knew they had to rely on each other to survive.\u00a0 So if he slid a requisition in front of the Commander for some sweets he thought his officers would like, he made sure the order was enough for the clones.\u00a0 And when Cody ordered extra weapons, he always made sure the officers got upgrades.<\/p>\n

So when the 212th landed back on the Negotiator<\/em> with the General wrapped in his cloak, barefoot and naked, something had seriously gone to shit.\u00a0 He took a deep breath, and stepped up to the Jedi.\u00a0 “General, what do you need?”<\/p>\n

“Admiral Block, we have a serious problem.”\u00a0 Kenobi motioned towards the bridge, only to have the Commander grab his arm.\u00a0 “Cody?”<\/p>\n

“Sir, I would suggest you change.”\u00a0 His hand gestured towards the barefeet.<\/p>\n

“Oh yes.”\u00a0 Obi-Wan nodded, then looked around as if somehow a Jedi tunic would appear out of nowhere.<\/p>\n

In truth the Admiral wouldn’t have been surprised if it did.\u00a0 “Sir, I’ll walk with you to your quarters.\u00a0 Once changed we can discuss what you would like to do.”<\/p>\n

“Yes.\u00a0 Good.”\u00a0 He glanced back at Cody. “Commander, make sure the men are briefed, and I suggest you check in with Snap, along with Ghost Company.\u00a0 I trust you to deal with the logistics.”<\/p>\n

“Yes sir.”\u00a0 The Commander hesitated only a second, then turned towards the men, giving out orders, watching as everyone scrambled to do his bidding.\u00a0 He gave one last look towards the General, before being dragged off by the Medic.<\/p>\n

Block was pretty damn sure something was going on between the General and Commander.\u00a0 He had worried about it at first, not wanting the Commander to be mistreated, he had \u2026 well he had heard things from the early days of the GAR and some of the abuse the clones had been subjected to, but then he had seen the General lose his serene calm on some high ranking GAR Officer, who had no regard for the clones safety or lives.\u00a0 If something was going on between the two, it was mutual, and in truth he was more afraid of what the Commander would do, if someone hurt his Jedi.<\/p>\n

Block had been in the General’s quarters many times, to discuss mission and battle plans.\u00a0 He always enjoyed the unique teas the Jedi kept, enough that he started ordering his own and extra for Kenobi.\u00a0 He kept his back turned, studying a few of the books on the shelf, ignoring the pair of blacks he saw when the General pulled out a set of tunics.\u00a0 He also didn’t see the extra weapons, ammo, and datapads that was normal paperwork for a particular Field Marshal.\u00a0 The General wasn’t this stupid, so he figured he was seeing these materials for a reason.\u00a0 “General, is there anything you want to tell me?”<\/p>\n

“Admiral, I know you’re not stupid.”\u00a0 Obi-Wan commented as he finished tying and wrapping his tunics, securing them with his belt.<\/p>\n

He had seen the Jedi’s Lightsaber hanging from the Commander’s belt.\u00a0 Even Block had heard the infamous ‘This weapon is your life, Anakin’ lectures, so for the Commander to be carrying it, well he guessed that answered his question.<\/p>\n

Obi-Wan sat down on the unmade bed, putting on his boots.\u00a0 “I appreciate your discretion, along with getting rid of a certain Captain.\u00a0 I hope Tarkin didn’t give you too much grief.”<\/p>\n

Block chuckled, giving the General a small smile.\u00a0 “I have no family that can be used against me, and a career that is so middle road, you can’t even threaten me with it.”<\/p>\n

“You’re a good man, Jacen.”\u00a0 He put a hand on the older man’s shoulder.\u00a0 “You’ve done a fine job taking care of the ship and crew.\u00a0 I have to ask you something very important.”<\/p>\n

“Anything, sir.”\u00a0 The Admiral focused his full attention on the General.<\/p>\n

“Are you loyal to the Republic?”<\/p>\n

He stepped back in shocked anger.\u00a0 “Have I done anything to suggest I’m not?”<\/p>\n

“Let me rephrase.”\u00a0 His voice softened, hand dropping.\u00a0 “Are you loyal to the Republic or the Chancellor.”<\/p>\n

His eyes widened at the implication of what that statement meant.\u00a0 “The Republic sir.\u00a0 The Chancellor is the head of the Republic, but is an elected official \u2026 even if he’s been holding on to that seat for a while.”<\/p>\n

Block knew by the way the General was watching him, he was reading him with the mysterious Force.\u00a0 Like anyone who worked with the Jedi, he had seen what they are capable of, and always astonished at their power and control.\u00a0 Being with Master Kenobi, he had also seen what Dooku and Ventress is capable of, and understood the difference between light and dark.<\/p>\n

“Sir, I have commanded the Negotiator<\/em> since the beginning of the war.\u00a0 You have kept me here, despite the many times I know the GAR has tried to remove me, you did that for a reason.”\u00a0 He swallowed, putting it all on the line.<\/p>\n

“I need you to scramble communications.\u00a0 I want you to send out a message, make it seem as if something has gone completely wrong, and that we’re limping back to Coruscant<\/em>.\u00a0 Run it through every trick to make the transmissions spotty, but I want you to make sure it sounds that something is wrong with the clones \u2026 make this an award winning Coruscant theatre performance.”<\/p>\n

“I’ll get Stage to work with Captain Grannet, our chief communications officer.\u00a0 And we both know Stage is a genius when it comes to making holos.”\u00a0 They both chuckled, if they all survived the war, Stage had a career at the theatre.\u00a0 “Will you tell me why?”<\/p>\n

He didn’t blame the hesitation, whatever happened on the ground had rattled the General.\u00a0 “The Commander received an order, one specifically to turn the clones against the Jedi.”<\/p>\n

“But why!?”\u00a0 Jacen stared at him in horror as realization set in.\u00a0 “Someone\u2026” He turned away from the General, as everything he had said and hadn’t said settled in.\u00a0 “Kriff.\u00a0 The Chancellor ordered it, how did you survive?”<\/p>\n

“My men are very loyal.”\u00a0 He answered, though it wasn’t the whole story.\u00a0 “Cody was able to make the order null and void as he was the highest ranking officer.\u00a0 We’ve sent out warnings to other Commanders, and I’ll be having a conversation with the Jedi Council.”<\/p>\n

“The Republic has my loyalty, sir.\u00a0 I’ll get work on that communication.”\u00a0 He straightened his shoulders, wanted to salute but hesitated, it was something Kenobi had asked them not to do.\u00a0 Instead he held out his hand, taking the General’s arm like he had seen the clones do, he knew it was from their Mandolorian heritage.\u00a0 “May the Force be with us.”<\/p>\n

“Always.”\u00a0 Obi-Wan gave him a nod, and squeezed his arm.\u00a0 “I’ll be on the bridge once I talk to the Council, by that time I expect at least the first ‘panicked’ communication out, then we’ll discuss what happens next.”<\/p>\n

Admiral Block nodded, and left the General’s room.\u00a0 He stood in the hallway letting everything sink in, right now they were on their own. He knew half of the GAR would follow Tarkin, who was loyal to the Chancellor.\u00a0 The fact the Chancellor tried to have the Clones kill Kenobi wasn’t surprising, he hated the General.\u00a0 The rumors he had heard, the amount of spies Tarkin tried to place, the supplies that got lost, horrible Intel, and they always got the worst missions.<\/p>\n

The fact that, the General always returned, most have annoyed the shit out of all of them.\u00a0 He couldn’t help the wicked smile.\u00a0 Well, just wait until the 212th Attack Battalion landed on their doorstep.\u00a0 So many GAR Admirals disregarded the clones, well they are going to see the blunt of their skills, and he had to admit, now that he knew he wasn’t going to be the target he was looking forward to it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I normally don’t post Afternoon Fic through Advent.\u00a0 But as this story is still being worked on, I also didn’t want to leave it as is.\u00a0 So yes you’ll get a treat now and again through Advent of an Afternoon Fic. Part One Part Seventeen Author’s Note: So when I …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[747],"tags":[746,50],"class_list":["post-17407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-afternoon-fic","tag-afternoon-fic","tag-bj-jones"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Da1M-4wL","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17615,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/afternoon-fic-the-dragon-general-part-twenty-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":17407,"position":0},"title":"Afternoon Fic: The Dragon General (Part Twenty-One)","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"December 31, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Part One Part Twenty Admiral Block loved the theatre, he just never thought he would be in the middle of a live performance.\u00a0 Stage had gone all out, segments of holos sent to the GAR, showing a ship falling apart, clones not in control, and panicked officers.\u00a0 At this moment,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Afternoon Fic"","block_context":{"text":"Afternoon Fic","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/afternoon-fic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/wot1t9uyp0911-800x384.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/wot1t9uyp0911-800x384.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/wot1t9uyp0911-800x384.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13707,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/afternoon-fic-dragon-rescue-part-eight\/","url_meta":{"origin":17407,"position":1},"title":"Afternoon Fic: Dragon Rescue (Part Eight)","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"March 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Part One Part Seven Author's Note: This week you'll be getting two!\u00a0 Repeat TWO! Postings. John let the water cascade over his aching body. \u00a0It had taken a few hours to transfer back, and all the aches and pain shifted to human form. \u00a0Ethan gave him some clothes, while catching\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Afternoon Fic"","block_context":{"text":"Afternoon Fic","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/afternoon-fic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_n5gjt14IX61s8jk4xo1_400.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6202,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/pre-sylum-advent-treat-fic-by-bj-jones\/","url_meta":{"origin":17407,"position":2},"title":"Pre-Sylum Advent Treat: Fic by Bj Jones","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"November 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Pre-Sylum Advent Treat! A new POI Fic!! 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