They already knew about Admiral Trench, so Yularen stayed behind, much to Soph's relief. The man had always rubbed her the wrong way, and the last thing she wanted was to work closely with him.

Instead of the direct approach they'd taken the first time to get down to Christophsis' surface, they went around the moon and came down much farther away from Trench's ships. There was still a blockade, but they slipped through undetected while other pilots took on the hyena bombers heading toward the planet.

The trip went well. While Obi Wan's team took care of Trench's ships, Soph and Anakin delivered troops and supplies to the people of Christophsis. By the time they were finished, Trench had gotten away and his ships were destroyed.

Very shortly after Christophsis, Soph, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi Wan made their way toward a medical outpost above Felucia. Soph managed to help them avoid and destroy the vulture droids simply by asking Jinx to join them. Between Jinx and Anakin, they got out just fine. Despite that, Soph insisted that they go down to the planet's surface after calling Cody to let him know the outpost was deserted.

Helping the villagers was easy enough. Soph and Ahsoka handled training the villagers while Obi Wan and Anakin focused on defending them. In the end, Hondo got away - just like last time - but the villagers were safe, and it was highly unlikely he'd come back. They left the little planet confident that they'd be okay.

They got back just in time for the trip to Malastare. The place gave Soph the creeps and it always had. Sitting around in the dropship waiting, Soph let out a dramatic sigh.

"You good, boss?" Echo asked, amused.

"Bad feeling, boys," she answered, tipping her head back to rest against the wall behind her. "Something's going to happen."

"What kind of bad feeling?" Cutup questioned. Soph shrugged.

"The kind that tells me we need to be prepared," she answered. "Look out for each other even more than you usually do. Don't get separated. I'll keep an eye out for you guys."

"And we'll look out for you," Fives told her with a genuine smile. "Someone's gotta watch your back, too."

She waved him off. "I'll be fine. Always am, with you boys around."

Hevy grinned. "Damn right."

"Alright, time to go, boss," Jinx called back. He opened the doors and turned back to look at them. "Good luck, boys. Make it back in one piece, eh?"

"Always do!" Droidbait called back. Fives winced along with Soph. She glanced at him curiously.

"Dunno," he answered at her questioning look. "Bad feeling like you said."

"Hm," she hummed thoughtfully. She shook herself and focused back on her job. "Keep up with me, men!"

"Oh, she's going to do it again, isn't she?" Droidbait complained.

"Meet you down there," Echo laughed. They watched in wonder as she gave them a lopsided grin and fell backwards out of the dropship.

She plummeted toward the ground and laughed as she did so, doing a flip in the air. She heard someone laugh behind her as she straightened. Using the Force, she slowed her fall to a much safer speed. She did a roll as she hit the ground and came back to stand straight up. There were some very startled clones already down there and she smiled at them. "Hey, guys. How's it going?"

"Did you just… jump straight from a dropship without a parachute or jetpack?" one of them asked.

"Yep," she replied. "What's your name?"

"I'm Byl, this is Fil," he said, pointing to his brother, who was watching her curiously - and maybe a bit nervously.

They were clearly Master Windu's men if the paint on their armor said anything. They also seemed to be relatively new, likely freshly experienced - no longer shinies, but not nearly as experienced or talented as the older clones around them. "Well, I'm glad to have you by my side, boys- oh, there's Domino."

Cutup touched down first. He looked her over closely. "I hate when you do that."

Soph grinned at him. "Cutup, tell me it's not the fastest way down."

"Fast, but unsafe," Hevy called as he landed as well. "You have to let me come with you sometime."

Soph laughed. "Next time."

"Well, shit," Fives cursed as he turned to stare at the droids coming toward them slowly. "That's a lot of clankers, general."

"Eh, we can handle them until the bomb drops."

"Prepare yourselves," Rex called out. He'd already dropped down earlier to prepare the troops. They all looked back toward the droids and saw them readying to fire. Soph ignited her lightsaber and stood in front of the men surrounding her. The droids began firing, and she moved rapidly to protect them. She felt Echo move to her side, only aware of who it was because she saw the handprint on his armor out of the corner of her eye.

"Bombers deployed!" Rex called. Soph didn't look back - she trusted him, so she pulled her men back. Echo stayed at her side while the rest of Domino worked to protect less experienced men, giving orders and following Rex's.

As the bomb dropped and chaos ensued, she felt a hand wrap around her arm. Dust and dirt flew around, pelting her in the face. She reeled slightly at the feeling, but kept trying to move. As she turned to order her men to retreat - there was something under the ground that was beginning to burrow upward - she felt something slam into her head. It was a mere moment before she lost consciousness.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Uh," Hevy glanced around and touched Fives' arm. "Where's the general?"

Fives frowned and looked around, too. When he couldn't find her, a sick anxiety filled him. Something bad had happened, he knew it deep within him. A thought occurred to him as his eyes settled back on his brothers. "Where the hell is Echo?"

"What's going on, men?"

Fives frowned at Rex. "Soph and Echo are missing, sir."

Rex's eyes narrowed. "When did you see them last?"

"Just as the bomb hit," Droidbait answered. "They were running with us. I thought they were right next to us, but they're just… gone."

Rex frowned to himself and pulled his wrist up. He pressed a few buttons on his comm and watched as it lit up. After a few moments of no one picking up, he tried it again, this time seemingly trying to reach someone else. No one picked up again and he glared at the comm. "I want the impact site searched now," he ordered. "Domino, take some of these shinies with you and find them."

"Yes, sir," Fives glanced around and pointed at the men Soph had been speaking with. "Byl, Fil, with us."

The search took hours. More and more men were summoned to help while the Malastare natives took care of any remaining droids. By the time they came to the conclusion that they were gone, every man from the 501st that was on planet was searching.

It wasn't until all of Anakin's men had up and disappeared that he finally came to find them. He met them down at the hole in the ground where Fives was pacing anxiously and Rex was glaring down at the hole. "What's going on? Where's everyone gone?"

"Soph and Echo are missing," Rex answered tensely. "No sign of them anywhere."

Anakin frowned. "Let me see your datapad." Rex handed it over, and he began messing with it. He flicked through something. Fives could see him logging into some sort of secure database. "Jedi comms are trackable, much like ARC datapads. If I can just… there!"

Domino and Rex moved a bit closer to get a good look - not that half of them could even see the datapad. Everyone else, however, saw a familiar system. Fives took in a sharp breath. "That's the system where Echo was taken. I'd recognize it anywhere."

"It is," Rex realized, tensing. "How did they get off planet? Did anyone see any ships land?"

"No," Droidbait answered quietly.

"One of our ships is unaccounted for," Anakin said quietly. "They took them in our ship. They're going to regret it."

"Sir," Rex said hesitantly. "You're needed here. We'll find them."

"Rex-,"

"Sir, you know we'll find them" he said seriously. "Every one of us will fight to our last breath to find them both."

"I know," Anakin said, his anger deflating. "Just… keep me updated."

"We will," Fives promised. "We can open up comms when we get to her so you know everything."

Anakin glanced at Rex. "I'm going to be busy dealing with whatever the hell happened with the ground. Send a holo to the Council for me, would you?"

"Sure thing, sir," Fives replied.

"Okay. Get to work, men. Keep me in the loop. I want them both found ASAP."

They watched him turn and walk away toward another group of soldiers, ordering them with him. Once he was gone, Fives cursed under his breath. "Who's going to tell the Council?"

"You agreed," Hevy pointed out. "You do it."

Fives glanced at Rex hesitantly. "Would it not be more appropriate for you to make the call? You're higher rank, so-,"

"I have to get Jinx and prepare the ship," Rex disagreed. "Make the call and meet me back at the rendezvous immediately."

"Great," Fives sighed when Rex had left. He shook his head and grabbed his comm. He nodded to himself typed in the comm number that Rex had forwarded to him moments earlier. He pressed the button and tensed as he waited for an answer. When the call began, he took in a deep breath. "I am CT-5555, part of General Sizre's Domino squad. General Skywalker requested for me to send this message for him. General Sizre and one of our men were taken off Malastare when the bomb dropped. In the chaos, we didn't notice them missing until it was too late. We've found their likely coordinates and are heading there as soon as our ship arrives."

"Fives, right?" someone said. He blinked in surprise. They rightfully took his silence as shock. "She's mentioned you. Now, if she's been taken, we have to get her and your man back immediately. They're both important to the war, if he's one of your brothers, one of her men."

"We will, sir."

"Update us when you find her."

"Yes, sir." The comm beeped as the call was ended and he tipped his head back. "Thank the Force that's over."

It didn't take long for the ship to get to them. Jinx had prepared the ship faster than ever before when Rex told him what happened. He got to Domino in five minutes and shot from Malastare just a bit too fast.

They followed the coordinates, but the area of space they'd been sent to was far out in the outer rim, a place pretty far from Malastare. It had been seven hours of pacing when Fives hit his head against the wall behind in repeatedly in frustration. "Can't hyperspace go any faster?"

"Uh, not really," Cutup stared. Fives wasn't known to be patient, especially when someone he loved was in trouble. The last time Echo had been kidnapped, they'd been stuck for eight days on where he'd been taken to. It was almost worse when they'd figured it out. The trip to Geonosis had taken hours, but felt like days. It wasn't much better the second time Echo was gone - it was actually worse, considering the person that was so dedicated to them, to every clone, and loved them as her own found family had been taken, too.

When Tambor had kidnapped Echo, Soph had been as broken up about it as Domino, except she had the luxury of yelling at superiors when her frustration had overflowed. Fives remembered the night after Echo had been taken, when they'd reunited with the Resolute and sat inside, just waiting.

Domino was in the barracks. In Fives's mind, where else could they go? They hadn't eaten since before heading to check on Koth's men, but they didn't want to go to the mess hall just to see the pity in their brothers' eyes. Soph had ordered them to get rest, but how were they meant to do that when their brother, their friend, was missing?

So, they'd made their way to the barracks. Everyone else was on duty, much to their relief. They'd shed their armor and sat together in their blacks. None of them were doing much. Sitting like that for an hour was too much for Fives. He'd gotten up abruptly and walked straight out of the room and into Soph. She jumped back a little and eyed him closely. "Wanna take a walk?"

Fives nodded shortly. "Any news?"

"Not yet," she answered, her brow furrowed in frustration. "We're trying to… we're trying. I just don't- we don't have any leads on Tambor's whereabouts or we'd be headed there immediately."

"I know," he replied shortly. And he did. He knew, but it only made things worse. He felt more hopeless than he had since his last life. He felt rather helpless, too. There was nothing he could do. There was nothing anyone could do, and that frustrated him more than anything else.

"Fives?"

He glanced up and wasn't able to wipe the anger off of his face before looking at her. She looked surprised for a mere moment before her face fell and she looked away, unable to hold his gaze. "I'm sorry."

"I just don't get it."

"What?"

"How can no one find him? How can he just be gone? How can you not… feel him?"

Soph winced. "We're at the will of the Force, Fives. I can't see anything it doesn't want to show me."

"Bullshit," he snapped, surprising them both. He continued, though, his frustration stronger than his horror. "How do you know you can't see him because of you?"

He could physically see the energy drain out of her. Overwhelming guilt took its place. "I… don't."

"What's the point of Jedi if you can't even find Echo?"

"Fives!"

Fives looked over to find Cutup glaring darkly at him. "Cutup-,"

"Get back in there," Cutup ordered him, pointing at the barracks. "Now."

Despite technically outranking him, Fives nodded sharply and walked away, leaving Cutup with Soph. Cutup hesitated, but he made his way closer. He saw Soph swipe at her face, clearly trying to hide the motion of wiping away a tear. He winced. "Soph…"

"He's right," she said softly. "I can't even find my friend, so what's the fucking point in all of this?"

"You can't find him now, but you will," Cutup promised. She shook her head silently. He hesitated, but he put a hand on her arm. "Soph, you're doing everything you can. There's things outside of even your power. You outrank us, you're a Jedi Master, but you're still a person. You have limitations, too, boss. Respect them and you might find it easier to focus on finding him. You have to… forgive yourself for this. Your guilt won't help anything."

Fives had never apologized.

He'd gone back to his barracks, been chewed out by Cutup and, surprisingly, Droidbait until he'd left to the shooting range to get away from them. Fives had barely spoken to the rest of Domino. There was either complete silence when they were together, or screaming matches. It had gotten so bad that Rex had tasked Epsilon with keeping Fives away from the rest of Domino.

Soph had avoided Fives until they'd found Echo. Even then, she'd been hesitant. He knew she blamed herself, but he hadn't gotten around to apologizing. There was still a part of him that blamed her for it, a small part that he tried to ignore.

He was ashamed for how the situation had been handled by him. He knew Echo would be furious if he found out. Cutup had insisted they not tell him about the fighting if only to protect Echo from extra stress. So, Echo didn't know, and Soph carried a guilt within her that didn't belong there.

Regret rang through him louder than almost anything else - only the fear screamed over it. Fear that they were already dead. That they were being tortured. That they'd be too late. That even if they did save them, they'd never be the same again.

He absently thought that he could understand why the Jedi said that fear, anger, and hate were a slippery slope to Falling. He thought if he had been a Jedi, his anger may have overwhelmed him long ago. It was a thought that had him wondering if he could ask Soph to teach him to meditate if they found her- when they found her.

The ship jolted abruptly as they came out of hyperspace and he jumped to his feet. "Jinx, windows!"

"It's not good," Jinx warned quietly. Fives bit his lip anxiously until finally, the windows cleared and they could see out of them.

There was nothing there.

"But it says we're right on top of them," Droidbait said, staring down at the tracker. "They should be right here."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Soph's eyes blinked open slowly. Her head was pounding and she thought that she probably had a concussion. Looking around, she recognized a republic ship. When she went to sit up, she quickly realized that there were restraints on her wrists and ankles. Strapped down and unable to move, she felt panic grip her chest.

What the hell had happened?

She managed to look down at herself. There was a small tube coming out of her arm. She followed it with her eyes until it came on a small bag of medicine that was dripping into the tube.

So, they were drugging her, whoever had her. She thought that it probably had something to do with the migraine she had. She also felt very out of it, and was processing everything much slower than usual. That wasn't good. If she wanted to escape, it would make things much, much more difficult.

Her mind drifted back to whoever had taken her. She could hear someone moving around nearby and took a breath in. "Hey!"

They were silent, and she thought they'd probably frozen in spot. Soon enough, they were walking toward her until finally, her eyes settled on a familiar face. Her gut churned at the sight.

"Echo?"

OoOoOoOoOoOo