Project Boussh: Believing Doesn't Make It So
by Josh Nolan

"Wes, you're not smiling.  I don't like that."

"No sir, I'm not."

"And you're calling me sir."  Wedge's face took on a haunted air.  "Very
well.  At ease, Major.  Take a seat."

"Thank you, sir, but I prefer to stand."

Wedge shut his eyes and took a deep breath.  The news was going to be
bad indeed.  "Get on with it, then, Wes."

"We've lost some of the Terrans, sir.  At least two humans, and more
than a few Ewoks.  I don't have precise numbers on the Ewoks yet."  Wes
glanced briefly at Wedge, and met the Corellian's gaze.  Wes knew his
commanding officer too well to stand seeing that look for too long.
"Both of the humans went missing on board the Admonitor."  He gestured
towards the sword he wore at his hip.  "I couldn't find Terra Eleven -"
He broke off.  "Sorry, Wedge, I can't go calling them by their
callsigns."

Wedge smiled weakly, and Wes took this as a signal to continue.  "I
couldn't find Alison anywhere - and I looked - but I know she wouldn't
have left her sword behind."  He swallowed, fighting the lump in his
throat.  "She wouldn't leave home without it."  Wes cursed himself for
making a crack at a time like this.  He knew how Wedge always took this
kind of news.

"Noted, Major.  Please continue."

"The other one was Crispy.  The kid jumped in front of that musclebound
Ewok, Korak, and took a couple of blaster hits for him."  Wes threw
another glance at Wedge, but the General was leaning back in his chair,
staring intently in the general direction of his boots.  "When Korak
told Vickie about it, Vickie said she could still feel him through the
Force.  She grabbed Korak and dragged him off to where Crispy got vap-
where Crispy went down.  He wasn't there."

That got a reaction from Wedge.  His head jerked up, an inquiring look
on his face.  Still, the Corellian said nothing, so Wes kept talking.
"Korak picked up a scent trail, though, and they ran into Hobbie, then
me, while following it.  Problem was, they found me in the middle of a
lightfight with a bunch of stormies, and after that I think they lost
the trail.  Vickie talked with a mouse droid a bit, and it led us to a
medical bay.  Crispy was in a bacta tank there - at least, we thought it
was him.  We beat up the medics, and Vickie sent Korak to take Crispy
and find a shuttle.  We took bacta patches and stuff, and we followed
the trail Korak left us.  He found us a sweet little shuttle, and so we
were off."

"But it wasn't Josh."

"I sure hope it wasn't, boss.  Because he woke up on the shuttle, and
started screaming stuff like 'Die, Rebel scum'."

Wedge's face turned haunted again, then made the transition to pained.
"Sithspawn."

"Yes, sir, I would think so.  Hobbie tells me Crispy had a bit of a
problem with stormtrooper indoctrination or something - I didn't know at
the time."

"So what happened?"

"He vaped Korak.  Vickie tried to reason with him, but he attacked her
with a vibroblade, and, well, he hit the ground in two different
places.  That's when I came in.  Vickie was distraught, and she started
saying that Josh was left-handed, this guy was right-handed."

"Do you believe her?"  Wedge gave a half-hearted grin.  "I'm not talking
just about how much you like her smile."

Wes fell silent for a bit, then spoke.  "Yeah.  I do.  I told her I
believed her then, and I still do, even after what Hobbie told me.  I
didn't know Crispy that well, and the kid seemed, well, too scared to be
a stormie.  He was nice to his Ewoks, and that's always a good sign."
Wes took a deep breath.  "It's better than the alternative, anyway."

"So what happened then?"

"Well, that's about the time the Defiant went down," Wes said, trying to
ignore the flicker on Wedge's face.  "Vickie was yelling at us to turn
the shuttle around, to get back to the Admonitor and get Crispy back.
Then, well..."

"No more Admonitor.  No more Crispy."  Wedge's voice was outwardly
calm.  Wes knew what lay beneath it.

"Yeah.  Hobbie's getting Vickie to a room.  She didn't take it too
well.  Not well at all.  I think she blames herself.  I got a medic to
look after the remains on the shuttle, and check if the Crispy we had
was actually a clone.  I'm not sure what we're supposed to do about
Korak."

"We'll find out something.  Is that it?"

"That's all from me, boss.  Can I get you anything to drink?"

"I want something foul-tasting with a kick like a gundark.  If
necessary, just bring a gundark here and get it to kick me."

"As ordered, boss."  With that, Wes snapped a salute and left.

Wedge leaned back in his chair, wiping at a tear that was forming.  *No
matter how much you try, they just get under your skin.  Even if you
distance yourself, it still hurts.  Damn it all.*

He keyed his comlink.  "Elassar."

"Yes, oh Great One?  It's actually a coincidence you called, bec-"

"Cut the chatter, Elassar.  I want you to send out your medical files on
Terra Eleven and Terra Five.  If either of them turn up, I want to know
about it."

"As ordered, Wedge.  But I was just about to call you and tell you -
Terra Five's turned up."

"What?  Turned up?  Where?  How?"

"That's right, our little Crispy made it out.  S&R picked him up in an
escape pod full of droids.  They've got him floating in bacta at the
moment, and outlook is favourable.  From what I gather, if he hadn't
been burnt so badly he'd be dead now."

"If he hadn't - is that supposed to make sense, Elassar?"

"You're talking to the Master of the Universe, Wedge.  I henceforth
decree everything I say shall make sense, whether it makes sense or
not."

"It's a good thing you don't execute yourself for breaking your own
decrees, then.  Send out the request about Alison."

"Flibble garoop, General!"

"Antilles out."

*********

"Is it safe?"

Corran cocked his head for a moment, and nodded.  "Your lane's clear.
Are you sure you're up for this?"

Ooryl's mouthparts moved in a grin.  "It's about time you took a break
from these duties, Ooryl thinks.  Besides, Ooryl could use the hazard
pay."

Corran nodded.  "I've got your wing."

"Just watch my six.  Ooryl can take this alone."  The Gand opened the
door to the unlit room and knocked on the frame.  "Hello?"  In the
darkness, Ooryl could barely make out the form of a human female sitting
cross-legged in the centre of the room.  He could more easily make out
the wreckage of what used to be the cabin's bed strewn across the
doorway.  He gingerly picked his way over the junk and squatted down
near Vickie.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Vickie quietly, her voice choked.

"Ooryl came to see if you were all right."

"Corran's outside.  Why didn't he come to see?"

"He is there to haul Ooryl out if you are still in the mood to break
things," the Gand replied.  "Ooryl would prefer to stay unbroken."

Vickie took a long, deep, shuddering breath, and let it out with a sob.
"I'm over that now.  Breaking stuff won't bring him back."

"Does he mean that much to you?"

"He was my friend!  I left him to die, and dragged some clone off in his
place.  So now he's dead, because I left him."

"Josh is Ooryl's friend, too," Ooryl said.  "And Ooryl knows what he
would be saying about that sentiment if he were here."

"But you can't *know*," Vickie returned, her voice choking up.  "That's
the point.  You can speculate all you like, but..."  The word was left
hanging for a while, until Vickie was able to speak again.  "But he's
not here."

Ooryl regarded Vickie for a few moments, and then said, "Ooryl is
Findsman.  What if I told you that I have found a way to ease your
pain?"

Vickie snorted.  "What, amnesia?"

"On the contrary.  Ooryl can lead you to a place where pleasant memories
can again make you smile, rather than cause you pain.  Where you may yet
get a chance to say your goodbyes."  Ooryl held out a hand.  "Will you
follow?"

Vickie stared at the Gand for a while, then reached out and took his
chitinous hand.  "I will."

***********

The door slid back, and Ooryl motioned Vickie inside.

The room was a spartan medbay, containing an empty bunk, a medical droid
and an occupied bacta tank.  There was a pile of clothing on the bunk,
folded green fatigues topped off with a holster belt and a blaster.  The
2-1B turned its optical sensors towards the door as the Jedi and the
Gand came in and gravely nodded a silent greeting.  Ooryl returned it,
but Vickie was busy studying the bacta tank's occupant.

It was Crispy, naked save for a convenient loincloth.  She had heard
about his near-miss from a walker, but only now could she see the full
extent of the burns.  The entire right side of his body was covered in
smooth pinkish skin, still hairless, which even extended up onto his
head.  It stopped just short of the goatee he wore, but most the right
side of his scalp was hairless.  Contrasted with the floating strands on
the rest of his head, the asymmetry was off-putting.

She could see the more recent damage as well - two angry red patches of
skin on his chest where he had been shot.  Her brow furrowed as she
recalled the similar wounds on the clone she had found on the
Admonitor.  She turned to Ooryl.  "Are you sure it's the right one?"

"Quite.  But he should be coming out soon.  Why not ask him?"

"Because he might try and kill us.  Is that a good enough reason?"

Ooryl chuckled.  "Try would be the operative word there.  Do not worry."

At that moment, Crispy's eyes flickered open.  The young man flicked his
gaze around in confusion for a moment, until he saw Ooryl and Vickie.
He smiled, as much as was possible around his breath mask, and raised
his hand in greeting.

Vickie smiled in spite of herself.  Subconsciously, she had reached out
with the Force, and the flickers she was getting from the man in the
bacta tank weren't those of a psychotic stormtrooper.  *Where am I?
Hey, it's Ooryl.  And Vickie.  Hey, guys.  Oh, crap, I'm naked!*

She grinned.  "It's him.  He made it."  She turned and, much to the
Gand's surprise, hugged Ooryl fiercely.