Echo smiled as he put on his helmet giving Dagger's a playful smack. She looked up at him and he could almost feel her annoyed look threw his helmet. They had finished packing their bags and putting on their armor.

Mission time, it was Dagger's first.

They were needed in the Outer Rim to take out a Separatist base that had been spotted by locals on a Republic controlled world. This planet was influential to the Republic as its tropical climate allowed for production of a surplus of food. This food helped feed many planets and the world needed to be kept out of Separatist hands.

So, Torrent Company and Ghost Company were sent. Their mission was clear. One team takes out the communication tower and one takes out the fortress. Stealth was key to this mission.

They all boarded the gunships together. The doors swung shut with a hiss to indicate that the air pressure was now locked in. As the gunship started to lift off, everyone grabbed their hand straps that were suspended from above.

Dagger grabbed hers as well, but what was an easy and secure reach for the others was a stretch for her. Her arm was completely extended and her feet coming up to stand on her toes ever so slightly. Echo didn't even notice that it was putting her off balance until they hit turbulence once they entered the planet's atmosphere.

Dagger was shifted too suddenly and her hand slipped. Before she could do anything she was falling backwards, once again she was falling with no way to catch herself. This time she didn't have to. She felt, and heard, the hard clack of armor on armor. Someone had reached out and grabbed her as she fell. She looked up and saw Captain Rex leaning over her, arm looped behind her back.

He helped her back to her feet, "you ok, Dagger?"

She nodded, now with her feet braced she looked back at the arm strap skeptically. Rex sighed and grabbed her hand. He placed it in the bent crook of his elbow that was holding on to his arm strap. It was lower and a more secure reach for her.

She felt her cheeks heat up and she was thankful once again for her helmet to conceal her face. Rex didn't think anything of it, always concerned with the safety of his brothers.

Dagger thought about it all too much. She was worried that the Captain thought she was incompetent, not even able to stand on the way to the air ship. They were jostled all the way down to the planet's surface. There was a lot of turbulence and Dagger kept a tight hold on her Captain's arm. If she were not holding on she would surely be sliding around the floor of the airship like a loose marble.

Echo's shoulders shook with laughter at Dagger's misfortune. He snickered into his helmet mic, "you good Dagger?"

"Hush Echo," she hissed back.

"Ooo, sassy," he replied but did fall silent.

Soon enough they landed on the planet. It was sunny, but rain threatened in the distance. They were to set up their base immediately, so up the tents went. Followed by the machines then the different fortifications.

It was almost nightfall by the time their base was set up. Soon enough it was tent city in the jungle. They ate their ration packs and listened to their briefing for the action plan on the planet for the next few days. Tomorrow they would scout out the Separatists and start the offensive attacks to drive out their droid armies. They should only be on the planet for a few days. Nothing too crazy, at least that was the hope.

Dagger didn't feel the eyes boring into her coming from the Commander who stood at the corner of the large tent.

This new clone, Dagger, showed up out of the blue on his own from Kamino. Picked a fight with the Captain, then outperformed most of the unit in blaster training. Then he performed terribly in the physical course, he tried hard sure, but still fell from the high bars. Cody questioned how well Dagger was qualified to be in the field yet.

The Captain seemed to think he was ready, but when it came to his brother's safety, Cody didn't trust the newest addition to the unit.

He knew that he was hiding something from them, that helmet that he never took off was just proof of that. He would find out what Dagger was hiding, he had to protect his shared unit. Cody's brothers were his life, he wouldn't let anyone hurt them, not even another brother.

~B~

After everyone was dismissed for the night the officers were called in for a strategy meeting with the Jedi. Skywalker, Kenobi, Tano, Cody and Rex all stood around the holo-table to go over tomorrow's strategy.

They would split the units into two groups and they would attack the base and the communications tower simultaneously. If one went down and not the other then the Separatists would get wind of their attack and send back up. That was a little more heat than they were prepared to handle at the moment.

Rex would take his group and infiltrate the communication tower. Cut power to the building and then work through it to eliminate any droids inside.

Cody and his group would take the fortress. This was where the Separatists were storing stolen crops from the locals, they were stockpiling it in the center of the fortress until they could get it off world. It would be a slightly trickier plan to execute.

The fortress had new tech in it. Lots of automation and sensors, if there was an energy pulse from anything that wasn't a droid, say a blaster, the whole complex would light up and all droids would be notified of their presence.

Stealth was key, the unit needed to surround and be placed at key points within the fortress before using any blasters. Neutralizing threats without their main weapons would be tricky but Commander Cody was confident their men could handle it.

They went over strategy and plans for at least an hour. After it was settled they all left to get sleep before tomorrow. As he was leaving the tent Rex felt himself being pulled to a halt by a hand on his shoulder.

The captain turned to see General Skywalker standing there, "Rex, I know we didn't talk about it just now, but here are the lists of the two groups. The troopers are sorted based on skills and strengths."

Rex scanned the lists checking to see if everyone had been placed well. He frowned when he got to the bottom of his list and didn't see a certain name, "one thing General. This is Dagger's first mission, I feel it would be better if he was in the group taking the communications tower. Less risk for a rookie."

Skywalker arched and eyebrow, "you don't think Dagger is ready?"

"No sir, that is not what I meant."

"Dagger will be infiltrating the fortress tomorrow, I have assigned Echo and Fives to that group as well. They will watch each other's backs, I have no doubt in their abilities."

"Yes General," with the conversation clearly over Rex left the tent. It had finally started to rain outside, the made his way quickly to his and Cody's shared tent. He had been worried about the newest trooper being assigned to the other group, more droids and more risk. Usually the newest troops were the first ones to die.

It was awful, but it was the way this war worked. He didn't want to loose anyone, much less the newest. He would have felt better if he could have personally watched over all of his brothers, but he knew that Cody would do his job.

~B~

It was dark outside and all of the brothers were split into tents, four per tent in their squads next to each other. Dagger settled in with her tent buddies, she laid down on the tarp on the far left of the tent, Echo next, then Jesse and Dogma. Rain pattered lightly on the tarp that was secured over the tent.

They had their cold weather gear on, as the planet was due for a temperature drop tonight. Their armor all stacked neatly in piles. Jesse and Dogma fell asleep quickly, Dagger could hear their soft breaths through the cool night air.

She couldn't tell if Echo was asleep or not. She scooted to the edge of the tent, she didn't want to be too close to Echo in fear that he would find out what she was. She knew she was acting paranoid, but it was hard to change her ways, she had never slept this close to another living soul in her life.

The minutes passed, the air got colder and colder. The ground, even through the tarp, seeped the warmth from her bones until she was shivering. Teeth chattering, she hugged her arms close, curling into herself.

Dagger saw her breath condense into little droplets on the edge of the tent that she was facing. Squeezing her eyes closed, she willed herself to get some sleep if only to get her mind off of the biting cold. She didn't notice the intent eyes that were watching her shiver.

She was so focused, lost in her own mind, that she didn't hear the faint rustle of movement at her back. Dagger was startled by the gentle arm that wrapped around her waist and pulled her backward. She was hushed quietly by Echo as she started to protest. He pulled her body to his. He held her to him, wrapping her in the jacket that he still wore.

He frowned as he felt Dagger shiver so violently, even with the high tech cold weather clothing he wore. An involuntary sigh left her lips as she felt Echo's warmth. Dagger faintly tried to wiggle away, there wasn't much heart to the action.

"Shhh. You're cold Dagger. Stay," Echo whispered.

"I'm fine," she grumbled.

Echo's chest rumbled with a quiet laugh, "I won't lose my brother to hypothermia. Relax. I promise I won't take your helmet."

He felt Dagger's body relax slightly and he pulled his partner in just a little closer before closing his eyes again. He had his body wrapped tightly around Dagger, trying to keep him warm with his body heat as Dagger's jacket clearly wasn't doing enough.

Dagger's mind was racing, she felt so small in Echo's arms. Could he tell? No, no way, she still had her chest wrapped, her helmet secure. He promised that he wouldn't take it, she trusted him. Dagger couldn't help but sink further into Echo's embrace, he was so warm and she was so cold.

Her eyelids began to droop and she fell into a deep sleep, more restful than she had experienced in a long time. It was odd because they were lying on the ground, but with Echo she was warm and in this moment she was safe.

~B~

So I just realized that none of my line breaks have gone through on my writing. I don't know why the website won't allow it to work properly, but I will be going back and putting them in the rest of the story now.