Guess who lost their mind and managed to write another chapter on Three Monster Energy Drinks, two coffees and a ton of candy? Please don't ask me about my sleeping habits, I'll make you cry.
EITHER WAY! new chapter! Fastest update yet! WHOP! I'm kinda proud of myself!
Also, I updated the tags and ratings because... yeah it was kinda old-ish. Lemme know if I should tag anything else of course!
Ahsoka was no stranger to strong feelings of pain and grief on the battlefield. She learned quickly that it was a constant. However, this time, the sense of that anguish caused her physical pain. It was like a shriek in her mind, that of clones screaming and yelling. And two different waves came from different directions – it disorientated her to the point she fell on her knees, clutching her head.
"Please, please stop," she whispered, unable to even sort her own thoughts with the shrieks of her brothers' in her head.
And then, a few moments later, one simply stopped – as if the clone couldn't feel anything else. The absence was sudden and she gasped, but soon after the other presence faded as well – slowly, more steady, more in the sense the soldier calmed down. But it was no less jarring to suddenly be surrounded by the eerie quiet of Umbara.
The Padawan tried to stand, but her body shook and she nearly tumbled down again, barely catching herself. Taking deep breaths and closing her eyes, Ahsoka focused. Focused on those sensations, where they came from – who they belonged to. It was not a strong connection, and in a deep part of her mind she was guiltily grateful – it means it wasn't her brothers.
Calming herself, slowly and steadily, she found out one of the presences was closer. The second one – towards where she was already heading.
"Krell's men," she breathed out with relief. There wasn't a massive sensation from there, so it gave her hope that the soldiers were safe and not being attacked. Maybe someone was just… badly hurt.
Shaking her head, Ahsoka took a deep breath. "Move now, ask questions later." And with renewed strength, started making her way towards the 112th encampment.
"Calm down, please calm down!" Kix urged, trying to keep his fellow brother from thrashing about.
"Fives! FIVES!" Echo kept on yelling, eyes going in and out of focus, body shaking.
"He's okay, he's-," a pause as he recalled the last time he had seen Fives. Seen Hardcase and Jesse. And he swallowed, needing to believe. "He's alive."
"Fives…?" and that empty gaze turned to him. "Alive? Where… Where is he?" there was something in those eyes now. A focus. A drive. Good.
"On a mission. Echo, do you know where you are?" it's not what Kix wanted to ask, but what the medic needed to know. There's… so much here he doesn't understand, can't rationalize. He has to start somewhere.
"Echo… That's- That's me…" the cyborg's eyes widened slightly.
"Yes, yes you're Echo. CT-1409," the medic nodded. Slowly. He has to go slowly.
"The Citadel… The shuttle…"
"You're not there anymore. It's-… That was a long time ago."
A pause as Echo seemed to try and centre himself, breathing slowly and steadily. Eyes unfocused again.
"…Echo," Kix tried gently, leaning his head to try and catch his eye. "What happened to you?"
For a few moments, the lost brother just stared at nothing before speaking in a whisper, gaze still locked on some random point in the room: "…I should've died… but I didn't… The – The separatists found me… Salvaged me," the words were choked.
"Gods," Kix put a hand over his mouth, eyes widening in horror. But Echo didn't stop.
"They… kept me alive. Plugged in… so many wires… I – I didn't know… I couldn't do anything…" and he was shaking again, eyes blinking as he looked around the room. "I couldn't stop them. They – They used me – my knowledge. I didn't know!"
"It's okay, it's okay!" the medic was quick to react, putting a hand on the man's shoulder. He knew where that line of thought was going to take them. "No one can blame you, Echo. No one even knew. If we did…" and he trailed off.
Another silence settled over them as the brothers simply shared a look. Both of them slowly calming down, getting back to themselves. And then the cyborg tried to stand up.
"Easy, hey, easy!" Kix urged, scrambling to his feet to try and help him. Echo could hardly stand, so most of his weight was on the younger of the two.
"C-Connect… If – If I can connect… I can help… Can try and undo all the… awful things they made me do…" Echo muttered, looking towards the nearby control console.
"Are you sure? I mean – you can control it?"
"Yes… I'm starting to remember… I can do this."
If the situation was any less awful, if they were somewhere else and weren't betrayed by their own command, Kix would never let this happen. But as it stood… this seemed to be the best option right now. Maybe their only option.
"Alright… I should probably catch you up on what's happening?" and they slowly started hobbling towards the console.
"I know a lot already… Will know more, when I connect…"
"Okay… Good. Then you know we're likely going to expect trouble?"
Echo just smiled as he plugged his arm – Gods they replaced it with a scomp link. And in a moment, his eyes were wide open, shaded blue as movement seemed to be happening in them. It was hard to tell.
"What-?" before the medic could even ask, the door to their current room was closed and locked. Following that, there were lights shifting and turning on and off. He could hear commotion outside the chamber. And then, his commlink lit up.
"Connection established," Echo whispered but his voice still came from the comm. "Hello, everyone."
During an intermission of his interrogation, Rex managed to calm his breathing. Even convinced the Umbarans he was passed out – they clearly got enough out of him to not be too concerned about it for now.
'I'm sorry' he thought into the void, swallowed and focused again. He thought back to all the lessons Anakin and Ahsoka did – the meditations. Tried to imitate what they did. Anything really, to try and stop these monsters from stealing his memories.
"Hey, no rest for you!" one of them hissed and he felt the electric current shoot through his body. After so many strikes, he's surprised he even feels it.
Still, the Captain tried to remain focused – tried to clear his mind. Except another strike was delivered, right into his stomach and a fresh wave of pain consumed him.
"Wake. Up!" the Umbaran growled and Rex opened his eyes, panting and tired. They were readying another scan. Could see the other two set up the datapads.
'C'mon Rex, focus! Do something! Anything!' he struggled again when the device was activated, barely containing his scream.
"No!" he actually yelled out, eyes squeezed shut and at that moment, he saw another memory.
Ventress, killing his brothers. Him, trying to shoot her – blocked by a droid.
"Where is Skywalker?" Cold. Hard to breathe. Like hands choking him.
"I don't talk – to Separatist scum!" falling, hard ground.
"You will contact Skywalker, now."
And then it shattered. Like a screen breaking up, the memory glitched and faded as he recalled that moment – of how he simply could not let her use him like that. And he channelled that now – to resist. Not some cosmic force he couldn't understand, but his own mind and body. Himself. And a moment later, there was nothing but darkness as he slumped in his restraints like a doll whose strings have been cut. Those same restraints were unlocked a moment later, as the last thing he was aware of, was a fellow brother speaking: "Connection established. Hello, everyone."
It was the sudden commotion happening outside that caught everyone's attention. Krell however, could feel a change in the wind. Something had happened.
"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded to the nearby Umbaran, who was tapping and trying to make his communicator work.
"We don't know, we just suddenly lost contact with the ground base."
"Well, can you fix it?" the Jedi crowed at the Umbaran, eyes narrowing.
"It'll… take some time. The underground facilities aren't on the same network as the rest in case-," but he didn't get to finish as the Besalisk turned and started walking.
"I don't care. Make it work. And deal with the rest of these clones!" he waved two arms into the direction of the cells. "I want them ready."
"U-Understood… And where are you going?"
A pause as Krell exhaled: "Making sure the clones don't destroy everything I've worked for."
Just as the group was about to decide on a course of action, a low ringing started up in their helmets. Jetstream flinched back from his transmitter as it sparked and seemed to go haywire.
"What is happening?" Cody demanded when the ringing subsided, glancing around. No enemy in sight. No Umbaran weapons. So what was that?
"I don't-," the communication specialist was about to answer, when all of their comms were pinged and they all heard the same thing, at the same time.
"Connection established. Hello, everyone."
Ahsoka was just making another jump when she heard her wrist comm connect and ping. Confused, she paused. There wasn't supposed to be a connection. Not in this fog. Not with the blockade and everything. Still, before she could ask any more questions in her head, the device connected by itself and she heard a familiar voice speak.
"Connection established. Hello, everyone."
The camp was still brimming with energy, soldiers still gathered. It's why everyone could tell something was wrong when the signals started coming.
"S-Sir? We have a problem – I think?" one of the 112th men ran up, confused and holding a datapad.
"Everything's being – taken over. We're not sure by what, or what the source is but-,"
The clone was cut off when the Captain's comm unit lit up, followed by Fives' and then everyone else. At the same moment, an echo of the words: "Connection established. Hello, everyone," went throughout the whole camp.
And while most were confused and a bit afraid of what it meant, the ARC trooper simply stared at his comm.
"No way…" he whispered, barely audible in the confusion. But Reeve heard him.
"You got any idea what's going on?" the Captain asked.
"I- I don't- it just-," he stammered blinking rapidly, taking a step back.
"Fives? What's wrong?" Jesse and Hardcase were there, just as confused.
"…Echo…" the ARC whispered, breathing hitching, hands shaking. "That was… Echo…"
The other two 501st soldiers shared a look of utter disbelief, right before their brother fell onto his knees, eyes still wide, staring at his device.
Stepping out of the lift to the underground facility, Krell instantly saw the chaos happening all around the base. The hanger doors were opening and closing by themselves, lights flickering on and off. Umbarans were racing all over the base, yelling and shouting orders, trying to figure out what was happening. It was then, as his own communicator connected to the ground system, Pong received a transmission.
"Connection established. Hello, everyone."
Staring down at the comm unit, his eyes widened and he inhaled. A clone. But not like any he's heard before. Must be one responsible for what's happening. And the Force was gathering up in the tower-
In a moment of realization, Krell screamed in anger, the Force rippling around him, bending metal and shattering ground. A few Umbarans even paused to look at him. But he didn't care. He only knew he had to get to his chambers, because that's where he'll find the source of this problem.
"I will not be outsmarted by some tube-grown-piece-of-flesh!" in his rage he didn't even see anything beyond his next step, using the Force for whatever appeared in his way, be it living or not.
"W-What did you do?" Kix breathed out, blinking at the long lost brother.
"Disabled the communication jammer, messed with the doors by locking some into room and others out of them. Fried certain areas and disabled others," Echo listed off, eyes unfocused for a moment longer before giving a grin and looking at the medic. "In short, I sowed chaos."
Kix gave a breathy chuckle, dropping down on his sheb, nodding. "You became an enemy within the base…"
"Exactly. But it won't last."
At the words, the medic did a double-take, seeing his brother turn back to the console and apparently work on more things. "W-What do you mean?"
"They'll figure it out… And they'll come here. But I have more information than they know," a small smirk played on the cyborg's lips. "The rest will be up to you."
Kix sat there for a second before staggering to his feet, eyes wide and waving his hands in the air: "No no no no, I'm not leaving you! Not like this! Especially not after what they did to you!"
"You'll have to if you want to save the others…" Echo's voice turned to a whisper, eyes narrowing in pain. "I- I can't reach them… They're not in this system… But I found Rex."
"…Rex?" the medic whispered, body freezing for a moment.
"I'm not sure what they were doing to him… But it didn't seem good. I'll upload the coordinates, do my best to clear the way for you," and already, there was a beep on his commlink as the cyborg worked.
Kix reached out, grasping onto the brother's flesh forearm and making them lock gazes: "Come with me."
A pause as they simply stood there before Echo shook his head: "I can't… I-I won't be able to hide…" the words were said with pain and longing. "You have a disguise. They'll notice me right away. It's better this way."
"Echo," the medic pressed. "You can't expect me to just, leave you!"
"That's actually exactly what I'm expecting of you," and the lost brother just offered a pained smile. "I'm sorry."
"What-?" before he could finish that sentence, Kix heard an alarm blaring throughout the base. In his distraction, he released his brother and that's all it took for Echo to grab him and throw him towards the door. The door, which until that moment, had been locked, but now opened and let him tumble out.
"Tell Fives," Echo yelled as the medic was staggering to his feet. "Tell him-!"
"Hello? Is… anyone on this channel?" Ahsoka asked, standing by one of the trees, looking down at her commlink in confusion.
"Commander Tano?" and relief flooded her when she heard the familiar voice.
"Cody? Is that you?" she couldn't keep the smile from her face. "Is everyone alright?"
"Yes ma'am. We found the rest of the squad that was with you. We're currently together – Appo filled us in."
"I see…" her expression fell slightly as she wrapped one hand around her middle. "W-Where are you? Do you have a plan?"
"We're… not entirely sure. We just now got a connection established – still not sure how or why-,"
"Must have been someone on the base," the voice of Kenobi cut in. "We're receiving you."
"Thank the Force!" Tano breathed out, leaning her head back.
"General! Do you have our signals?"
"Afraid not Cody. There's still a lot of static on most things, but communication seems open at the moment. We can only hope it'll stay open."
"So what's the plan? If the base is back under control-?"
"It's not, unfortunately. We've received no word from them, so we can assume it was either a mistake or a system failure. They're bound to fix it."
"No, but, it was a fellow clone! We heard his message."
"She's right General. One of ours established the line."
"Curios… We didn't receive any such transmission."
"We still need to figure out what we're doing… Commander Tano, where are you? We've caught no sight of you so far."
"I'm on my way to the 112th encampment."
A pause over the line that made her furrow her brow. She vaguely heard someone take a sharp breath before Cody spoke again: "…Do you know where they are?"
The tone was cold and calm like the Commander was holding himself together. She didn't quite understand, but she had a clear idea of where to go ever since the last sensation the Force sent her way.
"Yes, although I can't give you the coordinates… It's, more a feeling."
"Understood."
"Cody, you and your men could go see what's happening at the base. Try and get some clarity on all this."
"Was thinking the same thing, sir. We'll get right on that."
"Good. In the meantime, we'll keep trying to pinpoint your locations and see if we can get hold of anyone else. Kenobi out," and with that, a clear cut one his line.
"Alright, then I'll continue heading towards the camp. I'll let you know as soon as I get there."
"Commander," the tone in Cody's voice made her pause. It… sounded wrong.
"Yes?"
"…" she clearly heard the man open and close his mouth a few times, clearly struggling for words. In the end, he settled for: "The 112th have not had it easy. Be careful with them. Commander Cody out."
She didn't get to reply when the link was cut, just stared dumbly down at her communicator. And the thing that really stuck out to her, was Cody's wording. 'Be careful with them.' Not around. Not near. With. It made her take a few seconds longer to collect herself before she continued her trek. It wasn't far off now anyway, but still, something unsettled her.
Dogma closed his eyes as two more brothers started screaming. Two more brothers lost, no matter what.
"That's fifteen now…" he heard Griff mutter, the clone sitting up to the field and watching. Why he would force himself to, no one could tell, but he's clearly kept count.
Fifteen. Scar was the only one who hadn't… survived, whatever it was this does. Probably on purpose. But everyone else since then…
"What does that even mean?" Kite asked, arms wrapped around his knees. "'Good soldiers follow orders…' What are they doing to us?"
"I don't know, but nothing good," Jigsaw was staring off into the ceiling, jaw locked tight. "Ain't many of even left at this point…"
And as if on cue, the Umbarans came to their cell next. Dogma instantly moved, kneeling next to Tup who was trying to make himself seem as small as possible. Griff and Jigsaw were instantly standing protectively in front of the rest, eyes burning in anger.
The Umbarans said something and the older two clones were being pushed away, stun batons used when they resisted.
"No, stay back!" Dogma yelled when they closed around the two of them. He could feel Tup shaking, holding onto his arm when they were pulled to his feet.
"Stop it! Leave them alone!" Kite tried to fight but one strike and he was on the ground, body still shaking.
"Dogma… Dogma I'm scared…" Tup whispered as they were dragged out, and it was like the room was spinning.
There was still yelling and protests going around, as always. And then they were shoved onto their knees. The tattooed brother was quivering himself, especially when he saw who carried the containers now. Their own brothers.
"It's okay, Tup…" he whispered and managed to grab hold of his brother's hand, squeezing it. "Whatever happens… I'm right here…"
Both were hyperventilating at this point, unable to move and not daring to either. Apparently the Umbarans didn't care for their attempt at comfort, which was a small relief.
"T-Thank you… I-I don't want to be alone…" he could almost hear the tears in the other man's voice. Felt the lump in his own throat.
"V-Vode an…" Dogma gave a shaky and scared smile, just before the compartments were opened on their collars.
The last thing either heard, was two brothers behind them whispering: "Good soldiers… follow orders…" before their whole world simply became pain.
Captain Reeve had seen a lot of things, experienced many more. One thing he never thought would happen, however, was that an ARC trooper from one of the most known Battle Legions would suddenly collapse and seem to just… break. It was the sort of thing soldiers had nightmares about. Didn't make it any less real, however.
"Get these men into the medical tents!" he ordered, snapping everyone out of the strange trance that happened ever since the transmission was received.
"Yes sir!" the medics jumped right in. He couldn't- no, wouldn't listen in to what was being said, but from the looks of it, the other two were trying to comfort the ARC. What a day…
"Captain," one stepped up – one of the trio that usually banded together. "We… don't have open communication channels… How did we get that transmission?"
Excellent question. He'd also love to know. But he doesn't have time for that right now – there are other priorities.
"Have 4484 start on that," he said instead and the brother gave a salute before running off.
"Sir!" another one ran up, holding a pad in his hands. "Sir! The motion sensors outside the trenches picked up movement!"
"Probably one of those flying bantha rats. Get the heavy guns-,"
"No sir, sorry sir!" the clone quickly stuttered out, then glancing down at the pad. "It… moved too fast. And it didn't make a sound. No lights either. Whatever this is… it's not native, sir."
A pause as Reeve tried to handle the information in his head. So much had happened in the last day, he was very sure he's going to drain the kaf machine. Still, the sudden appearance of something… not native was worrying.
"Get a squad and meet me at the perimeter."
"Sir!"
Taking a deep breath, the Captain looked back at where the 501st men were taken. He knew he should help them, somehow. Never could shake that feeling. But right now, his priorities lie with his own men. And if there's a danger to them… Well, at least this one he could shoot at all he liked.
"Rex… Rex!" the voice echoed all around him and he instantly knew he was not awake. Hopefully, he was dead. Maybe the Umbarans got pissed enough and simply offed him.
"You're not dead, Rex."
"Says who…" he grumbled out and finally opened his eyes. What greeted him, was… not the usual void he had grown accustomed to. It instead looked like 79's. But empty. There was no music, no movement and no one else, save for the lone figure already sitting at the bar. Cautiously, he walked closer, pulling out his blasters-
"What, going to shoot me Rex old boy?" the figure turned and the Captain's weapons clattered to the ground where he released them.
"…Echo…?" the sheer disbelief in the blonde's voice almost made it sound like a whimper as he gazed upon a dead brother's face.
And it was Echo. The haircut, the facial hair, even the handprint on his armour. He seemed… happy, if a bit sad. Bittersweet. And he nodded to the seat next to him.
"…I really am dead then?" Rex whispered, shakily stepping forward and dropping into the seat, a broken chuckle coming out of his chest.
"No, no you're not."
"But-!"
"I'm alive, Rex."
That simple sentence made the Captain's blood run cold as it felt like the air suddenly left his lungs. Looking at his brother, he saw his features shift – just for a few seconds. Saw instead of the normal, pale skin and a tired empty expression. Saw scars and… implants all over him. And then it was back to the Echo he knew.
"H-How-?"
"I don't have much time… I managed to connect your brain with mine into a safe databank here on Umbara right before you lost consciousness."
"What-?"
"Please, just… let me explain." A pause as all the blonde could do was simply nod.
"It's nothing too bad and I can't really, do it easily. I got lucky with you. Still, when you regain consciousness or I'm disconnected from the port, everything will go back to normal," a moment as two drinks suddenly appeared on the empty bar.
"Rex… Krell is using me. He'll probably do it again when he finds me. You need to get out. Warn the others. Help them, if you can… Kix should be on his way, but I can't know for sure. While Krell is busy dealing with me, you'll get an opening. You'll be able to run. I've cleared the comm channels. Contact anyone you want. Get help. It won't last forever, and the longer you stay at this base, the sooner it'll be jammed again."
As he spoke, Echo's form started shifting again, as did the bar around them. It seemed to glitch for a few moments before calming down.
"Kriff, we're out of time," the long lost brother sighed and turned to his friend: "Rex, no matter what," and he reached out, grasping the blonde's forearm. "No matter what… if you can't stop Krell. If he somehow tries to send me back to the Separatists… Promise me-!"
The world was glitching and fading rapidly now, Echo's words distorted. But Rex still knew what he was trying to say.
"No, no way! I'm not doing that!"
"Promise me, please! I don't want to be a weapon!"
"Echo!"
"Please! Don't even let Fives-!"
"Echo-!"
"Promise-!"
"Echo-!"
And then he woke up.
Cut! Sooooo yeah. I actually really liked this one. FINALLY managed to use some plot points and scenes I've planned for YEARS and hey, they worked nicely! Tell me which one was your favorite?
Either way, hope you enjoyed and feel free to review and leave a comment!
Till next time~