Script Excerpt — Break or Bend

Timeline: Year 1, Month 8
Location: Separatist Space, Sundown’s Freighter/Ship

Setup: Sundown are on a routine mission using their ship as a mobile listening post. They stop working to take a break for dinner while they let their decryption programs process intercepted transmissions.

Characters: Nitsani | Kess | Speedy | Knox | Drums | Chigba | Master Eeridos

Content Warnings: Trauma, injury, canon typical violence, allusions to abuse.

Author’s Comments

1   INT. SUNDOWN’S FREIGHTER/SHIP,  MESS HALL,  EVENING

Nitsani, Kess, Knox, Speedy, and Chigba are in the mess hall of their ship. They are taking a break, and have all sat down for dinner. Nitsani is interacting with the datapad she brought in with her while the others continue eating. Nitsani and Chigba sit at the head and foot of the table, with Speedy and Kess together on one side, and Knox on the other.

Drums enters the room, focused on the datapad in his hands.

KESS
(Looking at Drums)
Any new info yet?

DRUMS
Nah, not yet. I’ve got the decrypters working overtime. These transmissions are locked down tighter than a Skakoan pressure suit. 

Drums sets his datapad down at his spot next to Knox and heads over to serve himself dinner.

KNOX
That air-tight, huh? 

DRUMS
Yeah, the Seppies seem to be trying fancy new things with their encryption. It’s annoying as hell, actually.

Drums finishes filling his tray and walks over to sit at the table. 

NITSANI
Can the decrypters we have work through it?

DRUMS
Yes, they should. I made some adjustments, so we’ll see. But watch, we’ll probably crack these open and it will be more useless regulation outlines wrapped in a pile of junk data.

SPEEDY
Man, I hope not. I really don’t want to have to comb through a 50-page transmission on shipping and handling regulations again.

KESS
What, you’re saying you don’t find the intricacies of Seppie logistics fascinating?

SPEEDY
There were ten pages devoted solely to shipping containers, Kess. Ten!

CHIGBA
Should have been 20. Container protocols are no joke. Sounds like they’re slacking to me.

KNOX
Only you would say that, Chigba.

CHIGBA
(Sarcastically)
Shut up and eat your food.

Knox laughs and goes back to eating.

CHIGBA
But enough about that. Did you all catch that Shockball tournament last night where that guy kept getting hit by his own teammates?

Chigba is leaning forward, clearly invested. 

KNOX
Oh, oh! We saw that! Drums and I were channel surfing and we switched over just as he got smacked in the gut with his teammate’s scoop.

DRUMS
Wait, did he really get hit more times after that?

CHIGBA
Yes, two more times! Another teammate accidentally took his feet out from under him with their scoop. And then he somehow managed to be standing too close behind a teammate who whipped around and nailed him with the shockball.

KESS
With the shockball, too? Seriously? Sounds like he has the reflexes of a bantha.

SPEEDY
For real, though! We played better shockball when we were six year olds. Maybe we should start our own team and show them how it’s done.

KNOX
Or maybe you should go train them, Speedy. Whip ‘em into shape.

SPEEDY
Oh yeah, see, if I had a shockball team I’d train them like commandos. You know, give ‘em some anti-grav training. Heavy-grav training. The occasional surprise live-fire exercise. I guarantee they’d never trip over a scoop again.

NITSANI
Surprise live-fire exercise?

Nitsani says this with a raised eyebrow and a small smile, like she’s expecting Speedy to wrap up a joke.

SPEEDY
Right. Like the ones we had in our training. Except I’d be pelting them with shockballs or whatever.

The smile on Nitsani’s face begins to fade. 

NITSANI
Actual live rounds? 

SPEEDY
Yup.

NITSANI
With no warning that it was coming?

SPEEDY
Right.

NITSANI
… With the blaster fire aimed at you?

There’s a moment of silence as Speedy looks over at Knox, confused why Nitsani doesn’t seem to be getting it. He looks back at Nitsani.

SPEEDY
Exactly.

KNOX
(With genuine confusion)
What else would it be aimed at?

The atmosphere in the room has grown heavy. All the brothers are looking at Nitsani except for Kess. He has disengaged from the conversation almost entirely, and is staring at his tray as he eats. Chigba has leaned back, her previous enthusiasm now replaced with concern.

NITSANI
I apologize, please forgive the string of questions.

She’s recognizing the effect her questions are having on the room.

NITSANI
I wasn’t aware that live fire was a regular part of your training.

SPEEDY
Yeah, it was a part of the commando programs. I mean, it’s how I lost these.

Speedy holds up his left hand to show her the missing parts of his ring and pinky fingers.

NITSANI
Oh. I… didn’t realize. I figured it happened after you were deployed, not before. I apologize for assuming.

SPEEDY
No worries, it’s ok. I never really explained it to you so I get it. It’s been, what, almost two years since it happened?

Speedy turns his attention to his brothers for confirmation. Knox and Drums nod. Kess offers nothing, showing an unusual lack of engagement in the conversation. Speedy looks back at Nitsani.

SPEEDY
Yeah, somewhere thereabouts.

Speedy shrugs as he answers, then scoops up another mouthful of food. Nitsani looks over at Kess, concerned by his sudden change of attitude. It’s clear that the conversation shouldn’t be continued.

NITSANI
Thanks for explaining, I’m tracking with you now. Didn’t mean to derail the train of thought. 

Nitsani grabs her fork and picks up some food.

NITSANI (CONT.)
So, Speedy, if you did have your own shockball team, what would the team’s name be?

Speedy’s enthusiasm returns.

SPEEDY
The Speedsters, without question.

KNOX
You’d name them after yourself? Come on, be more creative.

SPEEDY
You’re seriously telling me you wouldn’t name your own team The Knockouts?

Knox raises an eyebrow and thinks.

KNOX
Ok, good point, I totally would.

It gets a laugh out of everyone except Kess. 

2   INT. SUNDOWN’S FREIGHTER/SHIP,  HALLWAY OUTSIDE MESS HALL,  EVENING

Everyone has finished dinner and are seen leaving the mess hall. Nitsani, Drums and Chigba stop outside to finish their conversation while the others continue down the corridor. Nitsani and Drums are both looking at their datapads.

DRUMS
The programs are still running. Looks like it could be another hour before we see anything solid. I’ll be monitoring the progress from my datapad.

NITSANI
I will, too. I’ve got it queued up.

DRUMS
Perfect. In the meantime, we’re going to go watch a show in the rec room. You want to join us?

NITSANI
Sure! I’ll be there in a bit. I’ve got a couple things to do first.

DRUMS
Ok, sounds good!

Drums walks off leaving Nitsani and Chigba in the hallway. Once he disappears from view, Nitsani’s expression becomes stern. Chigba looks up at Nitsani.

CHIGBA
Why the hell did they have live rounds fired at them in training?

NITSANI
I don’t know, I had no idea that was part of the program. I knew their training was severe, but I never thought they’d take it that far.

CHIGBA
What kind of jackass thought that was a good idea? They could have died!

NITSANI
I know, I know. And it seems entirely routine to them. They were completely confused about why I was confused.

CHIGBA
I don’t understand how this could happen. There’s gotta be something we can do, right?

Nitsani pauses and thinks.

NITSANI
I’m going to call Master Eeridos. I need to talk this through with her.

Chigba nods twice.

CHIGBA
Yeah, ok. That’s a good idea. I’ll… be in my room. Just let me know if you need anything, ok?

NITSANI
I will, I promise.

Chigba turns and leaves. Nitsani turns to her left and enters the door that leads to the comms room. The room is dimly lit by the monitors that are switched on. Drums’ decryption programs can be seen running on the monitors. Nitsani moves to the holo-table at the center of the room and presses a button to power it on. She enters a code on the keypad and a projection appears on the table that indicates a call is trying to connect. Nitsani puts both hands on the edge of the table and leans. She’s looking down.

After a couple moments the call connects and the projection changes to show Master Eeridos sitting crosslegged on a circular cushion. She has a cup of tea in her hands.

MASTER EERIDOS
Good morning, Nitsani. Or, I guess it’s evening where you are, isn’t it? I will simply wish you a Good Morning-Evening.

NITSANI
Good Morning-Evening to you too, Master.

Nitsani laughs softly, her mood lightened.

NITSANI (CONT.)
I hope I’m not calling too early?

MASTER EERIDOS
Not at all. I just finished morning meditation, and I’ve poured myself some tea. Hopefully the caffeine will bring me into the general vicinity of awake.

NITSANI
Tired, huh? The younglings giving you a run for your credits?

MASTER EERIDOS
Indeed. Without you here to keep them occupied, I find myself running in circles far more frequently.

Nitsani laughs again and looks down. Master Eeridos stops to take a sip of her tea, but her eyes search Nitsani’s face. She finishes her sip and pauses for a moment.

MASTER EERIDOS
You seem troubled.

Nitsani looks up, but doesn’t speak. She’s trying to form the words.

NITSANI
I am. I just found out something that has me deeply concerned. 

MASTER EERIDOS
Go ahead.

NITSANI
I was having a conversation with the rest of Sundown over dinner, and they inadvertently brought up an aspect of their training that I was not aware of.

Nitsani pauses and Master Eeridos waits patiently for her to continue.

NITSANI
Master, it’s come to my attention that Sundown were subjected to live weapons fire during their Commando training. 

Master Eeridos lowers her cup as she listens, her expression becoming more serious.

NITSANI
Even worse, they were given no warning to expect the live rounds. It was a complete surprise. And, I fear these same training methods might still be in use.

CUT TO:

The shot changes to a view of the hallway outside of where Nitsani is talking to Master Eeridos. Speedy can be seen at the end of the hallway with his back turned. He’s speaking to the others who are around the corner in the rec room.

SPEEDY
Guys, seriously, make up your mind! Do you want the bang-corn with seasoning on it or not?

Muffled talk is heard from around the corner.

SPEEDY
No? So just plain, then?

More muffled talk.

SPEEDY
Yeah, yeah, I’ll put butter on it.

Speedy turns to walk down the hall.

SPEEDY
“Don’t forget to put butter on it, Speedy.” What’s he take me for, some kind of bang-corn charlatan? I should put butter on everyones’ but his.

Speedy walks towards the mess hall, but looks to his right when he notices that the light on the outside of the comms room door is red, showing it’s locked and occupied. He stops at the mess hall door.

SPEEDY
Huh. Weird.

Normally everyone knows when someone will be in using the comms room, especially when data is being processed. So he finds it strange that it’s suddenly occupied.

He looks off to his right to see if anyone is coming down the hall. When it appears he’s still alone, he gives in to his curiosity and moves to stand next to the comms room door. He leans in and angles his head so he can hear. Though it’s quiet, he’s able to make out Nitsani and Master Eeridos’ conversation.

MASTER EERIDOS
How often do you think this occurred?

NITSANI
I’m not sure. 

CUT TO:

The view is back inside the Comms room and the shot is focused on Nitsani.

NITSANI
It wasn’t a detailed discussion. I happened to pick up on it from something else they said, and they were not eager to elaborate. Especially Kess. He did everything to avoid the conversation except leave the room.

CUT TO:

Speedy outside the door listening.

NITSANI
And I didn’t know it before, but Speedy lost his fingers in one of those live-fire exercises.

Speedy looks surprised at the mention of his name, and keeps listening.

MASTER EERIDOS
He sustained the injury in training? I… suppose I assumed it happened after deployment.

NITSANI
I did too. I never asked, I didn’t want to pry.

CUT TO:

Comms room, focused on Nitsani.

NITSANI
Master, I know we have a Jedi presence on Kamino now, and maybe none of this is happening anymore, but I want to make certain that clones are not still being subjected to such cruel practices. There is no possible gain from it that is worth their lives.

CUT TO:

Speedy outside the door listening. He leans back a bit and looks at the door, a surprised but thoughtful expression on his face.

CUT TO:

Comms room, focused on Master Eeridos.

MASTER EERIDOS
I agree, it should be looked into and ceased if still in practice.

NITSANI
I would look into it myself, but I wouldn’t want to accidentally let it be known who I got this information from. Especially since they don’t know I’m sharing it. And… I feel I’m too close to this. I’m concerned that my personal feelings on the matter could dilute the inquiry.

CUT TO:

Speedy outside the door listening. He steps away from the door now, a somber but thoughtful expression on his face. He turns and takes a couple steps away as if to leave, but stops before getting too far. He looks back at the door, and after a moment of hesitation moves over and sits down to the right of the door. He leans his back against the wall, and crosses his arms over his knees. His left arm overlaps his right, his injured hand in clear view.

CUT TO:

Comms room, focused on Master Eeridos.

MASTER EERIDOS
I am in agreement, that is a wise choice. If you will allow me, I will work through my channels to make this inquiry myself. I believe we can get this through anonymously. 

NITSANI
That would mean a great deal to me, Master. Thank you.

Master Eeridos smiles and nods.

MASTER EERIDOS
I will check in again when I have an update. Until then, go get some rest.

NITSANI
I will. Thank you, Master.

MASTER EERIDOS
Good night, Nitsani.

NITSANI
Good day, Master.

Nitsani and Master Eeridos both bow their heads, and the transmission ends. Nitsani leans on the table, lost in thought. After a moment, she makes a puzzled face and looks toward the door. She senses Speedy sitting on the other side. 

She walks to the door and opens it, but doesn’t step through completely. She leans out and sees Speedy sitting on the floor looking back at her. 

NITSANI
Hi there.

SPEEDY
Hey, Zio.

She looks to her right down the hall, then to her left, and finally back at Speedy.

NITSANI
You alright?

SPEEDY
Yeah, yeah, I’m good. I, um, just came down here to make some bang-corn and saw that the door was closed, which seemed weird, and I might have uh… listened in on your conversation.

Nitsani is surprised, but not upset. She looks more self-conscious than anything.

NITSANI
Oh. You… heard all of that, huh?

SPEEDY
Just a part of it, not the whole thing. And,  first, I apologize for eavesdropping. I never should have done that. But at the same time… I’m glad I heard what you said.

NITSANI
Oh. Really?

SPEEDY
(With a nod)
Yeah.

Nitsani leaves the doorway and goes to sit down on the floor next to Speedy.

NITSANI
I hope I didn’t overstep. 

SPEEDY
No, it’s fine. I, and I’m actually shocked I’m about to say this… I’m glad you brought it up. 

NITSANI
Yeah?

SPEEDY
Yeah. I’ve, um… I’ve never had someone who wasn’t a clone care enough to say something about it, you know? Usually we just don’t bring it up. And by now I really should have known better than to make a joke about it. It just sort of slipped out. Kess hates it when I joke about it.

NITSANI
I certainly got that feeling earlier. I’ve never seen him eject himself from a conversation so quickly. 

SPEEDY
Yeah, he does that.

NITSANI
May I ask why he’s so bothered by it?

Speedy pauses and looks down. He’s tapping his index finger on his arm while he thinks. He looks down the hall towards the rec room before responding.

SPEEDY
Kess won’t like it, but yes. I’ll tell you the story. I think it’s important you know what happened. You got time to listen?

NITSANI
(With a smile)
I’ve got all night.

SPEEDY
Right. So this all started around two years ago, like I said. 

CUT TO:

The scene now turns into a flashback with Speedy narrating. The shot first shows the outside of Tipoca city on Kamino before transitioning to show the interior. 

SPEEDY
(Narrating)
We were headed to do some runs in one of the combat simulators. 

The staging area under the simulator room is shown, and Kess, Speedy, Knox and Drums are waiting to begin. They are in standard-issue training armor.

SPEEDY
(Narrating)
We’d been doing exercises with more of a focus on hand-to-hand at the time, so that’s generally what we were expecting. But as usual, we were not briefed before beginning the simulation. They wanted to teach us to think on our feet. Kess would always give us a briefing of his own before heading in. Used to drive me nuts.

Sundown are standing in a circle as Kess speaks.

KESS
Alright, team, we’re likely to expect a mix of battle and commando droids if the pattern from the last couple of sims holds. Keep your eyes peeled for more of those energy weapons so we don’t have a repeat of last time.

SPEEDY
You mean when Knox got zapped so hard he almost passed out?

KNOX
This again? Come on, at least I was out there doing something! What were you even doing?

SPEEDY
I was picking off targets from a reasonable distance, that’s what. I don’t need to have my fist in a droid’s face in order to get stuff done.

KNOX
Where’s the fun in that, though?

Their banter is interrupted by the voice of their trainer.

TRAINER
(Over intercom)
RC’s 0745, 46, 47, and 48 to the simulator.

KESS
Alright, we’re up. Let’s go.

They all put on their helmets and get onto the turbo-lift platform together. The platform lifts them up one floor to the simulator room.

The simulator room is shaped differently than the standard, larger training areas. It is narrow (~ 30 feet across) and long, and slopes up from the starting point into three separate terraces that simulate fighting uphill. There is cover of different heights strewn across all levels. The observation stand is at the far end of the room, situated about 15 feet above the final terrace. The trainers occupying the stand are in clear view of the trainees from any area in the room.

There are three trainers on the stand: Sundown’s regular trainer (a Mandalorian man, 6 foot tall, early 40’s) plus two other humans there for observation. Sundown’s trainer begins giving direction.

TRAINER
(Over intercom)
Your objective is to retrieve the beacon at the end of the room.

The shot zooms in on the flashing beacon set up on the last terrace just under the observation stand.

TRAINER
(Over intercom)
No further direction. Begin.

Sundown launch out of the starting zone and head for cover.

SPEEDY
(Narrating)
It seemed like a simple enough exercise. We’d done this sort of thing a thousand times. The battle droids came out on the first terrace.

Eight battle droids can be seen moving on Sundown’s position. The droid’s weapons are set to stun. Sundown collectively take out all eight with blaster fire before splitting up in pairs (Kess with Speedy on the left and Knox with Drums on the right) to push up the ramps on either side.

SPEEDY
(Narrating)
That was a non-event. The second terrace was a little more nuanced, though. 

Sundown make it to the second terrace and get behind cover. There are eight battle droids and two commando droids across the area. More battle droids are on the edge of the third terrace. The commando droids are wielding double sided electrostaffs (similar to what the MagnaGuard would carry) and are leaping over cover to advance.

SPEEDY
(Narrating)
We needed to take out the advancing commandos to protect our position, so Kess had Knox do what he does best.

Knox moves from cover with Drums hot on his heels. They stay low, keeping out of sight but moving quickly to the next barrier. The barrier is taller, allowing both Drums and Knox to stand up side-by-side. Knox stands still but looks over his left shoulder, waiting for a commando droid to come around the barrier. Within moments, a commando begins to advance. Knox waits until the end of the droid’s electrostaff comes well into view. He then swiftly grabs the shaft and pulls it from the droid’s hands. With the droid confused, Knox rams the staff into the droid’s torso, shorting its circuits and causing it to topple over. Knox then breaks from cover.

He runs full-tilt to the next barrier, leaps over and brings the staff down hard on a battle droid. He then angles the staff back to get momentum and swings it at the head of another droid, knocking it over.

The rest of the droids become distracted by the commotion, and turn their attention to Knox. Kess and Speedy take the opportunity to provide cover fire.

Knox whacks another droid with the staff, but is unaware of the last commando droid that is about to jump him from behind. Drums notices the commando, and gets two solid shots into its torso before it can hit Knox.

With all the droids taken care of, they advance forward in pairs.

SPEEDY
(Narrating)
We were ready to make our way to the third terrace. Once we breached that incline, we’d essentially be home free. Just before Kess was going to give the order to move, I see two more commando droids peer over cover on the third terrace.

Speedy sees the droids and quickly aims his blaster. He shoots both in quick succession.

SPEEDY
(Narrating)
I popped them before they could even take a shot. What I didn’t see at first, though, was the third one a little further away.

A third commando droid peers over cover off to the right. It sets up and aims its blaster at Speedy.

SPEEDY
(Narrating)
I saw the droid out of the corner of my eye and pulled back to try and get behind cover, but it was too late. 

The droid pulls the trigger. Speedy is quick enough to get his head out of the way, but the bolt shoots clean through the ends of the ring and pinky fingers on his left hand. He shouts and falls down behind cover, the blaster getting thrown from his hand. His yelling startles the others, and they duck back to cover.

SPEEDY
Kess… Kess, help!

Speedy is crumpled over with his left shoulder leaning hard against the barricade. He’s holding his left wrist tightly, shock in his eyes as he sees the state of his hand. Kess moves to his side.

KESS
Speedy, what is it? What happened?

SPEEDY
My hand… Kess they’re gone look they’re…

Speedy is shaking and can’t finish. Kess quickly reaches down and lift’s Speedy’s arm to look. His eyes grow wide when he sees the charred ends of his fingers.

SPEEDY
Kess, the commando… live fire.

KESS
Live fire? Live fire!

Kess turns quickly to where Knox and Drums are ducked down.

KESS
Live fire! Stay down! The commando has live rounds!

Knox and Drums sink down even further.

KNOX
What?!

KESS
Stop the sim!

Kess peers over cover and looks to where the trainers are observing from.

KESS
Speedy’s hurt! Stop the sim!

A live blaster bolt whizzes past Kess’ head, and he ducks quickly.

TRAINER
(Over the intercom)
Finish the simulation.

There’s a heavy pause. Kess can’t believe his ears.

KESS
I repeat: Speedy’s down! Medical attention needed!

TRAINER
(Over the intercom)
Your only way out is through those droids. Follow orders, finish the mission.

Kess looks back at Speedy, horrified.

SPEEDY
(Narrating)
Zio, I’ve never seen Kess look more terrified in my life. It was clear that we only had two options: finish the mission, or die trying. If we didn’t bend, they were going to break us instead.

Kess is breathing hard, and looks back at Drums and Knox. They’re both staring at him, wide eyed.

SPEEDY
(Narrating)
Kess only had seconds to decide what to do. To weigh the fact that stepping out of cover meant we might not make it back at all.

Kess turns his attention back to Speedy.

SPEEDY
(Narrating)
Kess looked back at me, and in a split second I saw his expression change from fear, to the scariest, most intense look of determination I have ever seen.

Kess peers back over cover to reassess the field. His eyes dart left and right before they finally settle on the observation stand. He then ducks back down and looks at Knox.

KESS
Knox! Slide me that electrostaff!

Knox obeys and slides his staff across the floor. Some shots go off from the droids, missing the staff as it slides. Kess picks it up with his left hand, and tucks it under his arm. He grabs his blaster with his right.

KESS
Drums! I’ll need droid poppers thrown at 10 and 2, and a smoker down the middle. Knox, help him with the poppers but neither of you move until I say!

DRUMS AND KNOX
(In unison)
Understood!

Drums quickly pulls two droid poppers and a smoke bomb out of his pouches and hands one popper to Knox. Kess readies himself to spring from cover.

KESS
On my mark! Ready… Mark!

Kess tears out of hiding and into the open. Drums and Knox launch their poppers.

BATTLE DROID
There they are. Fire!

The droids prepare to fire, but are cut short when the poppers explode. While they’re distracted, Kess fires his blaster at nearby droids and Drums chucks the smoker in front of Kess. The smoker explodes, releasing a large cloud of smoke. Kess takes one more shot with his blaster before throwing it to the ground. He switches the electrostaff to his right hand before disappearing into the smoke. 

The droids start firing into the cloud. It is now apparent that the majority of the shots are live rounds, and the red glow lights up the smoke as they pass through. Kess picks up speed as he runs, and only ignites the staff when he gets near the edge of the cloud. As he exits, he turns his attention not to the droids in front of him, but to the observation stand that looms above. He cocks his arm backwards, and aims at the control panel. The trainers catch on to what’s happening at the last second and backpedal away from the edge. Kess puts every ounce of strength he has into launching the staff like a javelin. 

The staff whizzes through the air, and the force of the throw combined with the electrified end allows it to puncture the siding of the stand, lodging it into the control panel. The electricity from the staff overloads the controls and activates the safety protocols. All of the droids on the field immediately deactivate.

SPEEDY
(Narrating)
We heard Kess throw the staff and puncture something, but we couldn’t see through the smoke to know what happened. It took a moment for the smoke to clear, but when it did, we saw Kess standing there with the droids deactivated around him.

Kess looks up at the observation stand but waits. After a moment, the bewildered faces of the trainers look over the edge of the stand at the staff lodged in the wall. They then look at Kess, shocked. Kess looks at their trainer with a fierce gaze before finally moving from his spot. He walks forward and lifts the blinking beacon from its stand. He takes one more hard look at their trainer before turning around and walking back to Speedy with the beacon in hand. When he reaches Speedy he crouches down to help him.

KESS
Come on, Speeds. Let’s get you up.

Kess helps Speedy up and keeps his arm around his shoulders as they walk. Drums and Knox are still behind cover, uncertain what to do. Kess looks at them and tilts his head toward the turbolift, signaling them to come along. Drums and Knox look at each other before slowly getting up and following.

The team makes it back to the turbo lift and they turn around to face the room. The trainers watch as they go, but say nothing. Kess tosses the beacon back into the room before the lift carries them down. 

SPEEDY
(Narrating)
If I hadn’t been in shock before, I certainly was then. I could barely walk straight let alone process what just happened. We went to the medbay in silence. None of us knew what to say. 

CUT TO:

The flashback continues, and Sundown are now in the medbay. Speedy sits on a medical bed with his armor on, but all pieces have been removed from his left arm. Kess stands in front of him, gingerly wrapping his injured fingers with bandages. Drums and Knox are standing off to the side.

SPEEDY
(Narrating)
I don’t know what was worse: being at the receiving end of live blaster fire, or waiting to find out what was going to happen to Kess. 

Speedy looks at Kess with uncertainty.

SPEEDY
Kess, I… 

KESS
Don’t, it’s ok. Save your energy.

Speedy stops talking, and watches as Kess finishes with his hand.

KESS
That feel ok?

SPEEDY
Yeah, I think so. 

Speedy lifts his left hand to get a better look. He rotates it back and forth slowly, looking at his fingers.

KESS
You let me know if the pain comes back, alright?

Speedy looks up at Kess and nods, then looks back at his hand.

Footsteps are heard coming up from behind them.

TRAINER
RC-0748.

Kess, Drums and Knox quickly turn and stand at attention. Speedy hops off the bed so he can also stand. Their trainer is in front of them, flanked by two clone escorts.

KESS
Yes, sir.

TRAINER
Follow me, trooper.

KESS
Yes, sir.

Kess turns to Speedy and puts his hand on his shoulder. He then looks at Drums and Knox.

KESS
You two keep an eye on him.

Drums and Knox nod, and Kess moves to follow their trainer. The trooper escorts follow up behind Kess. The others watch with concern as he leaves.

SPEEDY
(Narrating)
We didn’t see Kess again for five days.

CUT TO:

Present day, Speedy and Nitsani sitting in the hallway.

NITSANI
Five days? Where was he?

SPEEDY
On the first day, we didn’t know what to think. We honestly thought he’d be coming back at any minute. By the second, we suspected he’d been put in isolation. By day three? We were fearing reconditioning. Day four, we had the haunting thought in the back of our minds that he might not be coming back.

Speedy pauses.

SPEEDY (CONT.)
Day five was hell. We got to the point where we were certain we’d never see him again. On the morning of the sixth, we were about to head to the mess hall when Kess finally showed up.

CUT TO:

Flashback to Speedy, Knox, and Drums in the Kaminoan barracks. They’re sitting on the benches near their lockers, finishing getting ready. Kess walks around the lockers into view and stops near the edge. Speedy catches sight of him first.

SPEEDY
Kess!

Speedy springs to his feet and runs to greet him. Drums and Knox follow right behind him.

SPEEDY
Kess! Holy hell, where have you been? We didn’t know what happened to you! We thought… 

Speedy puts his hands on Kess’ shoulders as he speaks, but Kess stumbles forward, unstable.

SPEEDY
Woah! Easy, easy. Drums, help me sit him down.

Drums helps Speedy sit Kess down on the bench. Kess wobbles sideways but Drums catches him. Drums sits on the bench next to him to hold his weight. Knox sits down on Kess’ other side, and Speedy kneels down in front of him. Speedy holds Kess’ face in his hands.

SPEEDY
Kess? Kess, come on, buddy, talk to me. What’s happening?

Kess is having a hard time focusing on Speedy.

KESS
I can’t… I’m not… I… don’t feel good.

SPEEDY
I hear you, buddy. What’s hurting?

Kess makes a pained groan and leans forward.

KESS
Everything.

Speedy is about to respond when he notices something under the hem of Kess’ shirt collar. Speedy reaches with his right hand and pulls the collar down to reveal a large bruise across his collarbone. Speedy is startled, and looks at Knox and Drums. They all share concerned glances before Speedy turns his attention back to Kess.

SPEEDY
We’ve got you. We’ll fix you up, ok?

Kess wearily looks at Speedy. Tears can be seen forming in the corners of Kess’ eyes. Speedy immediately pulls Kess into a soft hug, letting Kess rest his head on his shoulder.

SPEEDY
It’s ok. You’re alright. You’re ok.

Drums and Knox follow suit and gently wrap their arms around him, shielding him. 

SPEEDY
(Narrating)
Kess was a mess. It took a while before he could even verbalize what had happened. And when he finally did, it was vague.

CUT TO:

Present day, Speedy and Nitsani sitting in the hallway.

SPEEDY
He says he was put in isolation for “the little stunt he pulled”. But that’s all he’ll say. He just… shuts down when it’s brought up. I don’t blame him, though. I probably would too.

Nitsani is still giving Speedy her undivided attention. She looks thoughtful, but moved by the testimony.

SPEEDY
It took a while for us all to find a new normal after that. It wasn’t easy. But honestly? The most interesting thing was how Kess processed it all. It’s like a switch was flipped with him. Before, his goal for us was to challenge ourselves to be the best. To break course records. And we did that, a lot. But after the accident, his only priority was keeping us safe. There was too much uncertainty for us to keep running headlong into simulations. So he decided that the best course of action was just to be… mediocre.

NITSANI
Mediocre?

SPEEDY
Yup. Baseline. Average. No big, impressive shows of skill. We still passed all the tests, but we weren’t looking to “pass with flying colors” anymore. It was more just “pass with colors”, I guess.

NITSANI
You know, that’s actually one of the things I noticed about you guys when I was originally reviewing squads for the program.

SPEEDY
Really?

NITSANI
Yeah. You know, most of the squads had high, impressive scores, but less consistency. You guys? Your scores may have been lower, but they were the exact same score. Every time. Absolutely no variation. 

SPEEDY
(Sarcastically)
So you’re saying you were impressed by mediocrity? 

NITSANI
I absolutely was, yes. 

They both laugh.

NITSANI (CONT.)
No, no. The way I figured, a truly mediocre team would be all over the place. No patterns. To manage the same score on every single test means that you all had a plan and could enact it exactly. That’s not mediocre. That takes skill and cohesion. 

SPEEDY
Huh. I never would have guessed that’s one of the reasons you picked us. It… kinda makes me feel a little better about the whole thing. I mean…

Speedy holds up his left hand to show his missing fingers.

SPEEDY (CONT.)
Don’t get me wrong, this sucked. It sucked when it happened, and still sucks now. I wish so often that it never happened. 

He pauses.

SPEEDY (CONT.)
But if nothing else… at least it brought us here.

NITSANI
I’m glad you all are here, too. I don’t think mere chance brought us together. And… I hope that, maybe, you all kind find a little peace here, too.

She pauses.

NITSANI (CONT.)
Thanks for sharing with me, Speedy. I’m grateful.

SPEEDY
Sure. And thanks for listening. I’m not really great at this whole “sharing your feelings” thing, so thanks for bearing with me. Oh, and sorry again for eavesdropping on your conversation.

NITSANI
It’s alright, truly.

SPEEDY
(Smiling)
Thanks. I promise I won’t make too big of a habit of that.

Their conversation is suddenly interrupted when Knox enters the hallway.

KNOX
Yo, Speedy! How long does it take to make some bags of bang-corn, man? I mean, really!

Knox stops when he sees Nitsani and Speedy sitting on the floor.

KNOX
Oh! I’m sorry. I… didn’t mean to interrupt.

SPEEDY
You’re good, we just finished, actually. 

KNOX
Oh, ok. You guys alright?

SPEEDY
Yeah, we were just talkin’. Sorry to make you wait around for the bang-corn, though. I’ll get that going.

KNOX
It’s all good. But hey, while you’re both here, Drums wanted me to tell you that the decryption just finished on one of the transmissions. You’ll never guess what was inside.

NITSANI
What was in it?

KNOX
85 pages of trash compactor schematics. 

SPEEDY
… That’s it, I’m resigning.

END