A Face from a Distant Past
When Jesse and Kix stepped into the mess they knew something was different. The mess was packed with men, and yet it was eerily quiet. There were conversations at each of the tables, but everyone seemed to be trying to keep said conversations from leaving their groups. The air itself seemed heavy with tension.
The two senior troopers were forced to pause in the doorway, unsure of the cause of the unease. The mess should have been loud with this many brothers stuffed in one place, a place where they could relax after the stress of battle. The squad mates glanced at each other before moving forward toward the food line.
Both had just returned to the five-oh-first –Jesse from ARC training and Kix from a relief mission –so they could've missed whatever happened to cause this strange behavior. Though as far as Kix knew, they hadn't seen battle since before he left, else there would have been wounded in the medical bay when he checked in.
They moved to the closest table that had free space, the younger troopers glanced at them before making room. Settling side-by-side they looked at the troopers expectantly.
"Sirs?" one of the men asked in confusion.
"What's got everyone so worked up?" Kix asked.
"I don't understand what you mean, sir," the same trooper replied.
"I'm not a sir, Haze, you know that," Kix scolded, "and you boys know full well what I'm talking about."
The troopers glanced among themselves for a moment, clearly not wanting to share what was causing such an upset. Kix's brows furrowed, he could swear he saw shame on their faces. Jesse apparently saw the same, since he leaned forward with a frown on his face, before speaking.
"What have you done?"
"Nothing, sir," that was Topper.
"Really?"
"Topper's right, sir, no one's done anything. It's just the new guy… he's got everyone on edge," Tripwire pipped in.
"The new guy?" Kix questioned, he wasn't aware of any new troops or transfers.
"Yeah, the Captain dropped him off before getting called away on another mission," Haze replied.
Kix and Jesse glanced at each other again, new guys were hardly uncommon and were mostly welcomed with open arms. Why did this guy seem to have everyone on edge?
"Ok, why does this new guy have you guys so uneasy?" Jesse asked.
"Well, sir–" Topper started, but Jesse cut him off.
"Enough with the 'sirs' we're in the mess, and not too long ago I was just like you, being an ARC doesn't change that."
"Yes, Jesse. Well, this guy he's different, we're not even sure where he came from the Captain just showed up with him. But rumor has it that he was a seppie prisoner."
Both the senior troopers stiffened at the idea of one of them held hostage by clankers, at the torture he must have endured. And for him to survive it.
"He's got these terrible scars on his face, burn marks, and one of his legs is a prosthetic. The man's part droid!"
Kix felt anger burn within him at the trooper's words, that trooper was lucky to be alive and his own brothers were shunning him. But he knew better than to voice that anger, it wasn't their fault they were taught to think that way. Even Jesse had an odd look to his face, at the idea of prosthetics. But Kix was different, he was a medic.
He knew how many brothers lost limbs and were sent back to Kamino because of it, their limbs too mangled for it to be cost effective to attach a 'replacement part'. Others were luckier and were deemed worth the cost of a prosthetic, but most of them were saddled with a desk job. The only trooper Kix knew of with a prosthetic and still out on the field was Commander Wolffe, but that was probably because he was command level.
"A lot of brothers have scars, fek, it would be harder to find a non-rookie without scars. I have scars, Jesse has scars, I know you have at least one scar Tripwire. And General Skywalker has a prosthetic hand. I don't see the problem."
"But Kix, he was held by the seppies–" Tripwire started.
"And I'm sure it probably hurts to be isolated by his brothers after that," Kix's tone left no room for argument.
The younger troopers looked down at their half-finished meals in shame. Jesse nudged Kix, nodding to the far end of the mess. Following his squaddie's gaze, Kix saw a lone trooper in barracks reds, gazing forlornly at his food. Even from this distance Kix could make out what appeared to be extensive burn scars. Looking at Jesse again, he tilted his head toward their tablemates. The ARC smirked and nodded.
"Come on troopers, lets go," he barked, as he stood and grabbed his tray, Kix followed after him.
"Sir?" Haze question, hearing what sounded like an order from the ARC.
"It's time for you boys to start fixing the five-oh-first's problem, now let's go."
The men stood, their faces expressing their confusion. They grabbed their trays and followed the ARC. When they saw who they were walking toward their faces twisted into a mix between understanding and dread.
The other men in the mess glanced up at the sudden movement, and watched as the group crossed the mess toward the designated outcast. Their expressions ranged from surprise to disbelief.
They only trooper who hadn't looked up was the one they were approaching. He just continued to stare at his plate, unaware of the group that stood near him.
Now that he was closer, Kix couldn't help but wince at the damage. The medic inside him was cataloguing what could have done that to a trooper. The scars were evidence of a high-power explosion at close range. The trooper was either not wearing his helmet or the force of the explosion was enough to pop the seals and rip it off. Kix was willing to bet it was the later, he could also tell the wounds hadn't received any sort of treatment after they occurred.
Jesse cleared his throat, causing the trooper to jump and stare at them wide-eyed. He looked between the group with shock, and a faint bit of hope, if Kix was correct.
"Mind if we sit here?"
"Not at all," the trooper said, his voice strained. Kix couldn't tell if it was from disuse or the scaring.
The group sat around the scarred trooper, though the younger clones seemed hesitant. But the trooper said nothing of it, in fact he was looking between Kix and Jesse with what looked to be relief and recognition. That made Kix pause and look harder at the trooper, wondering if he knew him.
"I'm Jesse, that's Kix, and those three are Haze, Topper, and Tripwire," Jesse introduced, nodding at each of them with their name.
The trooper didn't offer his name right away, instead he looked back down at his plate seemingly worried. This made Jesse frown, but he knew better than to push, instead he turned toward the others. Soon after he had them all talking, even the unnamed trooper offered some one word answers.
But Kix wasn't really paying attention to the conversation, focusing more on the trooper. As a medic, he had learned to rely on facial cues more than the average clone, since most of his brothers tried to hide their hurts from medical. He knew that there was a flash of recognition in this trooper's eyes when he saw him and Jesse.
It bothered him a lot that he couldn't place a name to this trooper, the more that he looked at him the more familiar he became. But no matter how hard he tried to look past the scars his mind wouldn't offer up a name.
"…it's been hard without Dogma and Tup, but…"
Tup.
Fives.
"Echo," Kix's voice was barely a whisper, but it effectively stopped the conversation.
The younger troopers looked at him with confusion, Jesse just looked puzzled. But the scarred trooper closed his eyes in shame and acceptance.
"It is you, isn't it?" Kix asked softly, pain slowly bubbling up in his chest.
"It's been awhile Kix, Jesse," he said in an equally soft tone.
"Echo?" Jesse gaped at the trooper.
"Jesse," Echo replied, a small smile twisting the scars on his face, "Congratulations on becoming an ARC."
"Damn it Echo, we thought you were dead!" Jesse snapped, his voice cracked as an old wound was reopened.
"I can assure you Jesse, there were times I wished I was."
"We missed you, when Fiv–" Jesse cut himself off, and a tense silence fell over the table.
"Uh, you guys know each other?" Haze asked, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, this here's Echo, one of our old ARCs that apparently decided he wanted a vacation," Kix joked, trying to break the tension.
It worked. Jesse's eyes softened as he came to accept one of their old friends had come back from the dead, and that his anger was misplaced. Echo stared at him for a moment before he started chuckling.
"Well I'm afraid I can't recommend the place; the service was terrible. The screams kept you up all night, what little food you got was worse than ration bars, and I don't think their masseuse had the proper credentials."
"Well damn, there goes my plans for my next vacation," Jesse grumbled, before they started laughing again.
Echo wasn't normally one for jokes, and both Kix and Jesse knew it, and Kix also knew why he was joking. It was the only way he could talk about what happened to him without breaking down. He knew that he'd have to sit Echo down later to talk, a trooper couldn't keep something like that bottled up. But not here, not in public.
"Whoa, hold up," Tripwire cut in, "we're not that new, we've been with the five-oh-first since Umbara. I, at least, have never heard of an ARC by that name."
"That's because whenever we talked about Echo it wasn't by name," Jesse said softly, flinching at the hurt look Echo sent him.
"You've probably heard of him as Fives' brother, but no one would ever give you his name," Kix finished, watching the troopers' eyes light up with recognition and wonder.
"But why wasn't his name ever given?" Topper asked.
"Because it hurt Fives too much," Echo's voice wasn't questioning, he knew his conclusion was true.
"Fives changed after we thought you died, he didn't smile as much, I don't think he ever laughed again –at least not a real laugh. The closest he got back to normal was after he met Tup, but even then, he was colder, more distant," Jesse said sadly.
"Echo did you–?" Kix started, but cut himself off.
"Yeah, Rex told me," Echo said, a dark look crossing his features.
"I'm sorry, Echo," Kix whispered.
"My closest brother died thinking I was dead. The thought of seeing him again was all that kept me going. When I finally see a familiar face again, he wouldn't even look me in the eye as he told me what happened to Fives," the bitter tone of Echo's voice was cutting.
"He was a hero," Haze said, "back on Umbara. Both him, Jesse, and Hardcase, saved a lot of lives, ours included."
"Yeah, he stood up to Krell when no one else would," Topper said, nodding in agreement.
"He stood by Tup when we couldn't," Tripwire said softly.
"Thank you, it's been hard being here," Echo said, his eyes staring at something Kix couldn't see, "Seeing the five-oh-first, but not knowing any of the guys here. Besides the Captain, Jesse and Kix are the first brothers I know. It's jarring realizing how many brothers have died, without my knowledge."
"Coric is still around, so is Zeer, and…" Jesse trailed off, a frown forming.
Kix was frowning as well, he never really thought about it, there was never time. With losses spread over a period of time he never really noticed. After the Captain, Coric, and Zeer, he and Jesse were the oldest troopers in the five-oh-first. Has he really lost so many brothers without realizing it?
"Hardcase?" Echo asked quietly, but his voice held no hope.
"We lost him on Umbara, we lost a lot of guys on Umbara," Kix replied, eyes distant.
"I'm sorry."
"Not your fault," Jesse said, forcing a sad smile, "We should be celebrating. How often do brothers come back from the dead?"
"I think you have me confused with Fives," Echo tried telling the newly minted ARC, but he was already gone to fetch force knows what.
The others at the table chuckled at the older ARC's exasperation, but their eyes were still clouded with grief. Echo grumbled something unintelligible, and ran a hand over his scarred head.
Kix noticed his fingers pause at one spot, where a small silver line crossed the map of burns. His brows drew together at the strange scar, it was precise, clearly not from any battlefield injury. But before he could ponder it, Echo turned to him, and spoke in a soft voice, as if not to disturb the others.
"I noticed Commander Tano wasn't with the General."
"She's gone too."
"Not… dead?"
"No, not dead. Just… gone."
"I see."
And then Jesse was back with a deck of cards and a bottle of suspicious smelling liquid, and the group forgot the sorrows of war –at least for a little while.
Well, hi, it's been awhile. Again, not LotWW, I'm really sorry. Every time I go to work on it I get frustrated with it and that's the end of that, I am working on the next chapter its just not coming easily.
But to those of you that know me from some of my older Star Wars stuff, you're probably not happy with me either. I'm not finishing them. I'm ashamed to say that, but it's true, they are just so poorly written that they would have to be completely reworked.
But in happier news, I am working on another Star Wars chapter story. This one won't be published until its finished. It's actually what I was working on before this little plot bunny came to me.
So, if you didn't notice this story doesn't follow Bad Batch, I actually wasn't really a fan of that storyline. So, Echo was rescued by Rex and Skywalker but he was in a regular Separatist prison, without the help of mutant commandos.
And I think that's it, this was just quick little plot bunny so there are probably some errors, so I'm sorry for those. But, thanks for reading, beware the funky weather and have an awesome day/night.