A/N: Had an idea, and ran with it. Since it starts a few hours after the finale, it's still technically canon compliant until season two comes out. XD

And to anyone who has Animal Crossing: New Horizons... I had some fun. nwn I decided to make some clone "dolls" (display the design on the ground, and it looks like you have a doll). I've only made CW Echo and ARC Fives so far, but more will be added soon! My creator ID is MA 5566-2144-2026.

The Marauder had never been so quiet. Echo was almost afraid to move, as if the slightest noise could shatter his squadmates.

He knew Hunter and Omega were asleep, Hunter unintentionally. But Omega, seeking comfort, had curled up on his lap and fallen asleep. It hadn't taken long for Hunter to follow.

Which was good; they both needed it. They all needed it, really. But Echo couldn't get his mind to slow enough to sleep.

Tech, sitting in the pilot's chair beside Echo, was still wide awake. Echo couldn't make out his expression, as all the lights and consoles had been turned off in the cockpit. Wrecker was on his bunk, but had been awake when Echo last checked on him.

Echo stared at the nothingness of space. He felt… disconnected. Like his whole body had been turned off.

Crosshair was gone.

The thought was like a stab to Echo's heart. His teammate, his brother, had turned his back on them.

In the months since the war, the squad had one mission: get Crosshair back. They never said it out loud, but they all wanted it. Without Crosshair, there was a gaping hole not even Omega could fill.

Crosshair was cold and harsh, but… he was their brother. And a brother's bond, it couldn't just be broken. Not by words or actions.

Not by death.

Echo looked down. Without thinking, he'd put his flesh hand against his chest. He lifted it, imagining blue left behind on his armor.

Echo's sigh felt very loud. Tech's visible jump made Echo wonder just how loud it had been.

"Is something wrong?" Tech asked, a bit of a rasp to his voice.

"Just seeing ghosts," Echo said.

Tech blinked slowly. Echo didn't bother to elaborate. Tech would probably just have some perfectly logical reason as to why Echo could almost… feel his lost brother.

"There's room for one more," Tech said.

Now it was Echo's turn to be confused. But Tech, perhaps mimicking Echo, didn't explain himself.

The silence that fell was more stilted, almost awkward. Echo felt an invisible press to speak, to say the first thing that came to mind. He huffed a small laugh.

Fives never did like silence.

Echo stiffened, mind racing for safer ground. But it was too late. Whispers ghosted at the edge of his hearing.

"Heard you the first time, Echo."

"Get your nose out of the manuals, Echo!"

Echo groaned and pressed his hand to his face. He told himself the voices were just in his head. It was just him and Tech in the silent cockpit.

But he couldn't stop them. Echo's heart ached, and he let himself fall to the whispers.

Fives' firm and steady voice. The clatter of Hevy's rotary blaster. Cutup's sarcastic huffs. The nervous tap of Droidbait's feet.

"Echo."

The sounds he pretended to not hear in Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair, and Tech. All the things he'd never hear again.

"Echo!"

Echo jolted forward, eyes snapping open with a gasp.

"Woah, take it easy."

It was Hunter, just Hunter, not-

Echo shook his head and blinked at Hunter. His eyes felt scratchy.

"You were talking in your sleep," Hunter said.

"Wha- I wasn't sleeping."

Echo rubbed his eyes and clicked on the chronometer. He blinked when he saw two hours had passed.

"Yeah, sure," Hunter said with a tired smile. "Listen, AZI's powered up. I was coming to see if you were awake." He tilted his head. "Caught you in the middle of a nightmare."

"No, no," Echo said consideringly. "Not a nightmare. Just… just a ghost."

Hunter's brows drew down. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It's just… you haven't talked about the ghosts for a while."

Echo waved off Hunter's concern. "I'm fine. Just remembering. It's, uh… it's been a long couple of days."

"Yeah."

Hunter straightened with a sigh. The two stared at the stars for a minute, then Hunter held out a hand. Echo accepted Hunter's help in standing, and the pair slowly moved to the nav room.

Omega was sitting on the floor, watching AZI boot back up. Tech and Wrecker stood nearby, watching. Echo suspected that, like him, they were just glad for some sort of distraction.

With a pleasant chime, AZI's eyes flickered on. The little droid's head swiveled back-and-forth before stopping on Omega.

"Oh! Omega, I am glad to see you are safe."

"Thanks to you," Omega said with a lopsided grin.

"I see that everyone has- oh." AZI's head turned in every direction. "Where is CT-9904?"

Omega's smile vanished. "Crosshair… didn't come with us."

A slight whirring sound came from AZI. He pushed himself up so that he was hovering, then turned in a full circle. Echo half expected him to ask more about Crosshair -droids were oblivious like that- but AZI asked instead, "Where are we?"

"An hour's sublight travel from Kamino," Tech said.

Everyone had been too tired mentally to plot a hyperspace course, even to return to Ord Mantell. Tech had ended up just flying straight for an hour before stopping and turning off everything but the scramblers and proximity scans. They'd been drifting since.

"Oh, we must go back," AZI said.

"We are not going back to Kamino," Hunter practically growled.

AZI's manipulators fiddled with each other, the picture of discomfort. "But there is something I must do there." Hunter opened his mouth, but AZI cut in, "We would not have to return to Tipoca City."

AZI's statement gave them all pause. There weren't any other cities on Kamino.

"I'll bite," Echo said. "Where are you going?"

AZI's eyes flashed, then a holographic image appeared in front of him. It was a series of coordinates, instructions to summon a landing platform, and clearance codes.

Echo studied the coordinates, then shook his head. "That's nothing but empty ocean, half a day's travel from Tipoca City."

"Looks like there's a hidden landing platform," Omega said, tilting her head at the instructions.

"What do you need to do there?" Hunter asked.

The image disappeared as AZI said, "I am unsure. The instructions were given to me a month ago, but no extra details were given."

"You could have mentioned them earlier," Hunter said.

"They were hidden in my database until I left Tipoca City," AZI said.

Hunter hummed. "Echo, Tech, are you sure there's nothing there?"

"You aren't thinking of going back," Wrecker asked.

"I don't see the harm," Hunter said. "Depending on who gave AZI the instructions."

"Nala Se," AZI said.

Echo could have sworn the temperature in the Marauder dropped ten degrees. Nala Se? She had enough secrets with Omega alone; what was she hiding a quarter planet away from her city? More than that, Nala Se had too many tricks up her insanely long sleeves. Who was to say this wasn't just another trick?

"She wouldn't know it was us," Tech said.

Everyone looked at him.

Tech went on, "I do not think it is a coincidence that AZI is the only droid to escape being turned off. Nala Se likely programmed him to hide, which would in turn reveal her instructions to him. AZI, what are the instructions?"

"To go to the given coordinates," AZI said. "Nala Se said I would understand my next directive when I arrived."

"Meaning she won't be there," Tech said.

"So?" Hunter said with a scowl. "Doesn't make going back any more appealing."

"Nala Se was hiding something from her fellow Kaminoans and the Empire." Tech tilted his head. "Aren't you curious about what it was?"

Hunter opened his mouth, then paused. Echo held back a smile, amused at how easily Hunter was swayed.

"And if AZI's instructions were to blow up on site?" Wrecker asked.

"I am not equipped with self-destruct measures," AZI stated.

"AZI had many duties on Kamino," Omega began slowly, "But his primary duty was to raise me. Teach me, keep me safe. If Nala Se chose AZI to go there, it was because she wanted something protected, not destroyed."

"Medical droids aren't equipped for protection," Tech said. "But, yes. It is safe to assume that Nala Se wanted whatever she had hidden to remain so."

"Which is our cue to go and steal it," Wrecker said with a grin.

For some reason, everyone looked at Echo. He raised an eyebrow at them.

"What?"

"You've been quiet," Hunter said. "What do you think?"

"I think I'll be happy to never see Kamino again," Echo said. He shrugged. "But it's not like we have anything better to do."

Silence fell over the squad. Echo winced as he realized how poorly he'd worded his opinion.

But… it was true. Without Crosshair to bring back… what were they doing?

Luckily, AZI decided to break the silence. "Does that mean you would like the coordinates?"

"Yes," Echo said, rather quickly. "Let's see what the big deal is."

"There's nothing here."

Tech glanced at Echo, but kept most of his focus forward. "It appeared that way before."

"No, there's literally nothing here," Echo said. He tapped the console. "Nothing on scanners."

"A single platform could avoid detection, especially below the waves," Tech said.

Echo sighed and lifted his head. There was nothing but waves and pouring rain to be seen outside the viewport.

The sight stirred uneasy memories. The medical room where the Kaminoans had studied Echo's cybernetics. The day they left Crosshair behind. Kamino crumbling all around them.

"Echo."

Echo flinched and turned to Hunter. The sergeant watched him with a frown.

"Hey, come on. We're waiting for you."

Echo blinked and looked outside. The Marauder sat on a small landing platform among the waves. They'd landed, and Echo hadn't even noticed.

"You can stay here if you want," Hunter said when Echo didn't move.

"Huh? N-no, I'm coming." Echo stood. "Just lost in thought."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Hunter asked skeptically.

"Yeah, great." Echo glanced outside. "Let's just get this over with."

Ignoring Hunter's frown, Echo left the cockpit. Everyone else was waiting just inside. This time, someone had the foresight to make sure Omega was wearing the cloak they'd picked up a few missions back. Echo grabbed his helmet and put it on, and his brothers did the same. Everyone darted through the rain to where a console rose from the platform.

While AZI put in the code for the lift, Echo scanned the frothing waves. There was still nothing out there, though Echo couldn't shake his unease.

"That's strange," Tech said abruptly.

"What is?" Hunter asked.

"Look at this," Tech said.

Tech crouched and pointed to the base of the console. Echo squinted, but he didn't get what Tech meant.

"Look at what?" Echo asked.

"Rust," Tech explained.

The lift clicked, and slowly lowered. Echo quickly checked the console as they dropped, noticing red-brown spotting the console.

And it wasn't just the console. As the group descended into the transport tube, Echo could see more rusty spots in the frame.

"Since when do Kaminoans let things rust?" Wrecker asked. "I thought their metal didn't rust, actually."

"All metal will rust under the wrong conditions," Tech corrected. "Namely, submerged in ocean water."

"Never saw any rust on Tipoca City," Wrecker persisted.

"The tube isn't maintained," Hunter cut in. "If Nala Se was hiding this from everyone, then she wouldn't have had time."

"It's not going to be a problem, is it?" Omega asked.

"We'll be fine," Hunter assured her. "This structure could be older than Tipoca City, and that's why it has rust."

Echo tilted his head at a deep rumble from somewhere inside the lift. If this lab or whatever it turned out to be really was older than Tipoca City and hadn't had maintenance in who knew how long… maybe they should have stayed away.

Despite Echo's concerns, the lift reached the bottom without problem. Everyone tensed when the doors slid open, but the room they found was empty.

Consoles wrapped around the room, stopping on either side of a door opposite of them. The room was bare, lit by a couple light bars, and the air tasted stale.

"Nobody's been here for awhile," Echo whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" Tech asked in his normal tone.

"I don't know." Echo narrowed his eyes at the glass walls. "Feels right."

Hunter frowned. "Echo-"

"I'm fine, Hunter. Just don't appreciate being on the ocean floor again."

Hunter hummed. "Tech, see what you can find on the consoles. AZI, hold off opening that other door for now."

AZI bobbed his head and floated over to one of the consoles. He put in a few codes and moved aside for Tech.

Echo moved to the opposite side of the room. He stared into the water distractedly for a minute, then realized he could see light from further inside. The second room, Echo guessed.

While Echo was watching the light, it appeared to dim briefly. Echo startled, then the light went back to normal. He squinted, but the light didn't change again.

"There's nothing here."

Echo turned at Tech's voice. His youngest brother was scrolling through blank screens.

"Whatever work Nala Se intended to do here, it would appear she never did it," Tech said. "All the files are empty."

"But why would she have AZI come here if there's nothing?" Echo asked.

Hunter shrugged. "Maybe she thought she would have time to move something here. Or she'll come eventually, and wanted AZI here to be ready."

"AZI," Omega said. "Do you remember any new instructions?"

"No," AZI said. He swiveled. "But we still do not know what is beyond that door."

"Another empty room," Wrecker grumbled.

Tech pulled up another screen to reveal static. "There appear to be cameras somewhere in the structure, but they were never activated."

Echo went to Tech's shoulder. "Can you get them on?"

Tech fiddled around, then shook his head. "They must be damaged."

"Damaged?" Echo repeated.

Tech pointed to a red dot on the screen. "Power is running to the cameras, but I can't access any visuals."

"What about audio?" Echo suggested.

"It appears to be active, but I can't be sure unless something makes a noise from inside," Tech said.

"Well, there's an easy way to answer our questions," Hunter said. "AZI, open it up."

AZI floated over to a panel beside the door and typed in the code. The door hummed open.

Beyond was a bigger room that appeared to be living quarters. A wave of recycled air hit Echo as Hunter stepped inside.

Living quarters. Broken cameras. Fresh air. The flicker in the light, as if-

Echo hissed, "Hunter-"

Hunter twisted, hand reaching for his blaster, then something -someone- dropped on him from above. Hunter and his attacker hit the ground, grappling.

"Hey!" Wrecker roared.

Wrecker charged into the room. Echo and Tech were right behind him, in time to see Wrecker fling a gray-clad figure across the room. Hunter scrambled to his feet and drew his blaster. Echo strained to see the attacker, but Wrecker was still mostly blocking the doorway.

"Who are you?" Hunter demanded.

The stranger gave a short laugh. "I was about to ask you the same thing."

Echo flinched so hard, he nearly dropped his blaster. Tech gave him a startled look, but Echo didn't explain. Couldn't explain.

He… he knew that voice.

No. It was just in his head, Echo told himself as he shoved past Wrecker. Hearing things. A familiar voice, sure, but one he'd grown up surrounded by.

But. But that face glaring at the squad. Echo knew that face. He wasn't just seeing ghosts, he'd seen Wrecker throw him, it surely wasn't-

"Fives?"

A/N: I'll be posting a new chapter weekly. Want to read new chapters early? Dabbler supporters on Pat reon get new chapters a week early!