NOW

The Battle of Teth was turning out to be a complete disaster.

Not even 24 hours after the 501st Legion successfully retook Christophsis, what remained of Torrent Company was dispatched to Teth on some rescue mission for a lost prince. Coric said it sounded very romantic, but most of the troops just wanted to get some rest when they finally got off-planet.

They made an assault on a monastery, a giant castle built on a towering pillar of stone. Taking the monastery wasn't a problem. Yes, there were casualties, like always. Still, the clones formed a decent defensive position on the fortress's east plaza with what little supplies they had. Some miscellaneous crates the droids' left behind and the AT-TEs provided sufficient cover, and it only took General Skywalker and Commander Tano an hour to find the slimeball of a Hutt. If reinforcements had returned on schedule, they would have been home-free.

Enemy reinforcements arrived instead, and they were slaughtering every living thing in sight.

Pawn could barely see through the building's dark shadows and the red and blue blaster bolts moving back and forth, back and forth. What could be discerned was the clanking of the droids' footsteps. It was Christophsis all over again, only their escape options were much more limited.

He ran deeper into the monastery. It was the only way to get out alive. Last resort was to off yourself. Second-to-last was to run.

Fortunately, Pawn wasn't alone.

Kix and Cypher were right by Pawn as they ran through the dimly lit hallways. Sergeant Tanner and two of his subordinates, Perks and Engie, followed close by. Rex gave the order to retreat, but they couldn't find him or anyone else in the chaos.

Pawn glanced back to his datapad. "Turn left!" The congregation of clones followed.

Engie, resisting a limp but keeping up, spoke up. "Where are we even going, Pawn?"

"We didn't trash that caretaker droid for nothing, Engie," Kix reminded him, referring to the only unarmed inhabitant of the castle Torrent Company had encountered. "His data banks mentioned escaping on a ship."

"Exactly," Pawn continued. "Hopefully, it'll be on the landing platform we're heading to now."

"And if there's no ship?"

"I'll buy the first round in haran. Turn right." They entered a lift. Pawn hit the controls, and the condensed room went downward. "According to the information we salvaged, the platform is on a rock formation not too far from the monastery. I think this lift should bring us straight to it." The elevator stopped moving, but instead of opening its doors, it started moving forward, probably along some rail like a train.

Tanner reloaded his rifle before training his gaze to Pawn. "General Skywalker, Captain Rex, Sergeant Coric, can you read me?" More silence, though snippets of static sounded off sporadically. "Looks like we're on our own, men. Any idea if Captain Rex escaped in time?"

"No clue," Pawn answered. "Keep trying the comm anyway." The lift gave a hard shake, but everyone managed to stay on their feet. They could faintly hear blaster fire. "Sounds like there's fighting topside." As the lift started moving vertically again, Pawn tried the comm himself. "Captain, General, this is Private Pawn. Do you read me?" More static, but he could hear scraps of radio chatter from clone troopers. Were there any clones still running around in the monastery?

The lift stopped moving, and the doors opened. Nighttime had arrived, the clouds darkening the planet's moon that shone in the purple horizon. The lost troopers stepped onto the platform, elevated on its own mountain column. There were a few crates spread about and, thankfully, a ship at the center.

Tanner exchanged a few hand signals with the rest of the clones. His squad entered the ship to ensure no hostiles were onboard. Cypher plopped onto one of the crates to take a breath, Kix keeping an eye on the elevator as he plundered through another crate. Pawn walked toward the edge of the overhanging platform. In the distance, he could see the monastery with Republic and Separatist fighters dogfighting right above it. A Republic cruiser destroyed a Separatist's, and more cruisers traded fire.

As the Seppie vessel descended into flames, Pawn's eye caught some sort of giant bug flying through the air. It seemed to move up and down erratically in a path heading toward the platform. The Private whipped out his binoculars to get a better look at it.

"By the Force," he let out under his breath. "It's the Jedi." There was a discharge of blasters from inside the ship, but Tanner called out that it was all clear.

Tano and Skywalker landed with R2 right behind them. The bug screeched something foul before going on its way. Tano held the Hutt child in her arms, visibly displeased with the task. Skywalker smiled as Cypher and Kix moved with Pawn to greet the Jedi. However, the smile quickly turned inquisitive. "Kix? Pawn? How did you get all the way over here?"

Kix pointed to the datapad on Pawn's belt. "That caretaker droid, sir? We scrapped all of the information it had. When we were overrun at the entrance, we decided to try to find its escape vehicle."

The General nodded as his apprentice placed the little Hutt on R2. She walked up, looked around, and practically exploded with, "You left Rex back at the courtyard? He's pinned down with only a few men!"

Courtyard? Was he taken prisoner?

"He ordered the retreat," Pawn clarified, mentally counting the odds of Rex's survival. If I know Rex, he'd want to save as many as he can. Practically suicide if reinforcements don't get there in time, but I'd do the same. "If we move now, we can assist him with this ship, help clear the way for evac or ground reinforcements."

Skywalker nodded his head. "Exactly what I was thinking." As R2 went up the ship's ramp, the General turned to the resident medic. "Kix, take a look at Stinky. Ahsoka, why don't you join him while we get this ship up and running?"

"Yes, Master." Everyone entered the ship, the Twilight, the name etched on its side.

X

"Engie, I think I know what I'm doing."

A scoff bellowed haughtily. "Do you know what Engie is short for, Pawn? For Engineer. I know this stuff better than you do, mate. It's red-white-red, not white-red-red."

"Really?" Pawn reached under Engie's arms and punched in the white-red-red code on the Twilight's dashboard. The ship rumbled with life as the lights and controls lit up. Engie slowly rotated his head to see his brother with his arms crossed, smug.

"I hate you," Engie stated plainly as he rose from the co-pilot seat. "If you need me, I'll be making sure this piece of junk doesn't implode on us." He nodded to Skywalker, who was watching the clones' interaction from the pilot's seat. Pawn took the co-pilot's seat, intending to help get the ship airborne.

Once they were in the air, Pawn tried the comm link one more time. "Captain Rex, can hear us? Still need an assist?"

He finally answered. "Pawn? Where the hell have you been?" Oh, sounds like he's still a little pissed at me. "I'm with Coric's squad in the courtyard, but don't worry, General Kenobi's ground forces have regrouped with us. We're cleaning house now… Where are you?"

Skywalker responded. "He's with me, Rex, along with Ahsoka and a few other clones. We have the Hutt and a ship. You sure you don't need any more help?"

"Positive, sir. Did you run into Ventress? Kenobi ran back into the temple to look for you."

Skywalker frowned but quickly answered back, "Obi-Wan can handle her. If you're really fine, we're going to get this Hutt back home."

"Yes, sir. We'll see you when you get back." Rex cut the line, and Pawn caught a glimpse of him, a single spot of striped blue armor in the mob, through the side window as they flew over the battle.

All of a sudden, the shipstuttered midflight. As Skywalker swung the vehicle wide over a barrage of Separatists Vulture droids, a Republic starfighter only barely missed hitting the Twilight.

"Sir," Pawn said, "what's the code to get us radio contact with the cruiser? This is not a regulated Republic ship and I don't want to get shot down by our own men."

"Good idea," Skywalker agreed as a Republic Star Destroyer came into view. "Everybody, strap yourselves in if you can," he hollered into the interior radio. "Give me a second," he said to Pawn.

After a few moments of dodging lasers, Skywalker finally managed to get a request to get a hangar bay door open for them. Unfortunately, they had three Seppie fighters on their tail. It took him some time, but Pawn finally found the gun controls and returned fire.

"Hang on!" Skywalker yelled. Pawn quickly realized that he did not put on his seat belt. Thus, when the General started flying upside down, Pawn fell onto the ceiling.

Ow, fierfek! Damn it, Pawn! This has happened before! Put on your damn seatbelt.

Once they were right side up, Skywalker grabbed the clone soldier and helped him up. "Come on, Pawn, you gotta get your head in the game."

You enjoy this too much. We have no idea how much of Torrent Company is down and you're enjoying this.

But now was not the time to follow that train of thought. Pawn had to make sure he could at least live to board that train on another day. So, he went back to the gun controls and resumed firing as they went for the Republic cruiser's rear side hangar. Ultimately, however, the hangar entrance exploded in a fiery burst of flames.

"Well," Skywalker shouted as he pulled the Twilight out of the ensuing smoke, "that changes our plans!"

Tano ran into the room. "Stinky's asleep now. How's –" She stopped dead as she watched the raging fire pass by.

"Looks like we're going to have to take this bucket of bolts all the way back to Tatooine ourselves."

Reluctantly, CT-4214 let out a sigh. Rex, you better make sure you find any more stragglers in the monastery. We were lucky to find this ship. The others might not. "I'll prep the hyperdrive, General."

"Thanks, Pawn."

X

CT-0612 direly wanted to go to sleep.

It was just fight after fight after fight after fight. That was all they were doing for the past few days. Training on Kamino was harsh, but you could fill an entire planet with the graves of all the clones that have died ever since the war began. First it was practically everyone in 0612's original squad. First one, then another, then Livewire… just about all of their brothers were following suit. At Geonosis, and Christophsis, and now Teth. Every new planet they come across, it's a massacre.

As CT-0612 sat within the confines of the Twilight, he was half-tempted to simply curl up against himself. He wanted bury his heads in his arms and close his eyes, hide underneath his armor. The white plates were uncomfortable and hardly better than pieces of plastic plastered together, but at least they were something familiar out of all the shabla around him.

Slick betrayed them. He betrayed all of his fellow clones, and all of their brothers, but maybe he had a point for doing it.

Just before the contemplative clone trooper let himself fall to his side onto the couch, someone shoved him awake.

"Cypher, you awake?"

It was Tanner. He was standing with a hunched back, looking expectantly from behind his visor. "Private, are you awake?"

"Y-Yes, sergeant."

"Good… We just got out of hyperspace, coming close to Tatooine now." If Tanner caught the stutter, he did not care a single bit. Instead, he nodded toward Perks and Engie sitting near the door to a storage room. Engie was busy at a control panel with Perks propping Engie's leg onto a stool. "I know Kix is busy with the Hutt, but could you go get him from the cockpit? I'm pretty sure Engie has something twisted somewhere, and Perks and I need to help him stabilize the deflector shields."

Cypher was hardly one to question orders. He muttered an affirmative and got to his feet. It was easier to do it this way, stiff and silent. Going on autopilot kept you distracted from all the stress and the thinking that would have otherwise made you go crazy.

CT-0612 was pretty sure CT-4214 was going through the same process, only in his own way. 4214 had spouted orders and took charge down in the monastery when it was technically Sergeant Tanner's responsibility to take command. That was what 4214's autopilot does; take command and keep everyone moving together to get the job done. He provided direction. 0612's autopilot followed along that direction, straight and to the point.

Cypher was thankful for that, but a little bit ashamed, too.

But he couldn't think like that. Not now. Cypher went back on autopilot, entering through the doorway and into the helm. With meticulous movement, he scanned the room. Kix was at one side; out of sight, out of mind, if you ignored the baby Hutt moaning in its sleep. General Skywalker sat in the pilot's seat, eyes forward to the desert planet through the window.

Pawn was on his backside, his upper body hidden amid the wirework within the control console. Skywalker's astromech droid was beside him. Commander Tano – Ahsoka, she was crouching next to Pawn, occasionally handing him tools.

"How's Jabba's son doing, Kix?" Skywalker asked aloud.

"Just needs rest, sir," Kix answered as he hovered over the child. He always had a soft spot for small lifeforms. "His fever's gone, so that's a good sign."

"Thank the Force." Pawn piped up from the console, his voice vaguely muffled. "What do you think would have happened if we brought the prodigal son to Jabba in a small, Hutt-let shaped body bag?"

"It was just a fever, Pawn," Kix sighed, clearly exasperated. Pawn must have been shooting out comments like that during the entire trip through hyperspace. "And this ship had some actual antibiotics. He wasn't gonna die and –"

"That's horrible!" That was Ahsoka. She looked… nettled. "How could you joke about the little guy dying?"

"Hey," Pawn called out haughtily, lifting his foot to poke at Ahsoka's leg, "you're the one who keeps calling him Stinky. Let me tell you this: when the little bastard grows up, he's going to be groomed into a life of vice and sin and crime and –"

"Relax, Pawn," General Skywalker said, simultaneously grabbing Ahsoka's shoulder so she wouldn't rise to her feet and retort a response. "And you, too, Ahsoka. We're all a little on edge." Once Ahsoka forced herself to relax and sit back down, her master retracted his hand. "Anyway, is there something you need, Cypher?"

All eyes turned to the clone awkwardly standing in the doorway. Pawn rolled out of the console and sat up to get a clear look of his brother. Even the baby and R2 twisted their heads, and all the attention was making Cypher weaker in the knees.

"Engie needs a once-over," Cypher went straight to the point. He traded a look with Kix. "Tanner wants you to check on him."

"On my way."

Cypher nodded at the medic. His next plan of action was to find a nice, flat surface to lay upon and try to put himself to sleep. However, as Kix walked pass him, he dumped the little Hutt into his arms. "Kix?"

"Just watch him. He's needs to stay upright."

The Hutt wasn't slimy, thank God. Unfortunately, the texture of his skin was as rough and hard as a rock. He was a lightweight, but he was moving his tiny arms and tiny body around, practically demanding Cypher to just drop him right then and there.

"Uhhh, do you need some help, big guy?" Ahsoka was watching the clone struggling with an endearing smile. She walked up to him and offered her arms. Wordlessly, Cypher let her take the child. She cuddled with the Hutt child for a moment, shaking him up and down and inciting a gurgling laugh out of the slimeball. Then she looked curiously back to Cypher. "So, it's Cypher, right?"

"That he is," Pawn agreed. He was on his feet and wiping his hands with a rag. "General Skywalker, if I may take a temporary leave of absence?" The Jedi waved a hand. "Commander Tano, if you could prove that all your talk of mechanical prowess wasn't all rubbish?" Pawn tossed the rag over her face. Ignoring her cry of indignation, Pawn left the cockpit and dragged Cypher with him.

The two made a stop in the middle of a hallway, somewhere near the heater. Its soft humming induced a feeling of familiarity within Cypher. His mind nearly drifted again, but Pawn snapped his fingers to get him sober.

"How you holding up, Cyph'ika?" Pawn asked. How sweet of him. In Mandalorian, ad'ika translated as child, lad, darling, daughter, or son. Adding the ika after the first syllable of someone's name expresses the speaker's affection for that person. Cyph'ika. Sometimes, it meant little brother. Other times, like now, it was a hand outstretched to Cypher, silently pleading for him to grab on and return the gesture.

"Tired," Cypher replied.

"Aren't we all."

Cypher wasn't going to pour his heart out, and neither was Pawn. It was neither the time nor the place. That is why both of them were on autopilot, because it was the only way to work and cope at the same time.

"I know that you know that you and I are not in the right mood to talk things out," Pawn went on. He opened up the standardized Grand Army Infantry backpack – wait, when did Pawn swipe that? Cypher really is out of it – and pulled out a bottle, a drink. "So, I have a proposition for you."

It had been years since Cypher had seen that brand insignia imprinted on the bottle, and once he recognized it, he flinched rigidly. "Where–Where and how?"

"Brought it with me when we first left for Geonosis. Been holding on to it ever since."

Kri'gee was a classic Mandalorian drink. Most clones enjoyed the sugary joys of chocolates and cakes, but in Cypher's infantile youth, he preferred the taste of his favorite bitter ale. That is, until their regiment's training sergeants banned the Null ARCs from putting alcoholic drinks into circulation among the white jobs.

Pawn removed his helmet. Cypher stared at a mirror image of his own face and hair. Despite the similarities, Cypher can see the fewer creases in Pawn's skin, and the eyes that can never fully close and shut away. "Want a swig, Cyph'ika?"

"But… all the things that Sergeant Sym and Sergeant Apma told us about –"

"I'm not talking about becoming addicts." Pawn put his back against the wall, leaning opposite to Cypher. "I've been taking… little slips… once every week, after Geonosis, and I'm still alive. The med-droids and Kix haven't found anything wrong with me. You should be fine, too."

"It's undisciplined."

"But sometimes, it helps you forget."

Cypher's heart skipped a beat. "Mando'ad draar digu. A Mandalorian never –"

"– never forgets. I know. Still." The bottle's cap was tossed into Cypher's hand. Pawn took one nip at the drink. You could hear the liquid come down into his throat and be swallowed. After, Pawn motioned of Cypher to grasp the bottle in his other hand. "No one can remember everything. Some things aren't worth remembering, like when you take a piss in the middle of the night. Other things happen too fast for you to catch the details, like a light show from a bombing run. Point is, even if you can't always remember everything, what counts is if you don't forget the things that are actually worth remembering."

What's worth remembering. That's what Slick must have been missing. Pawn and Rex and Cypher and everyone else in the 501st Legion always remembered to always, always stay loyal to their brothers. Slick lost that. He refused to remember the unspoken promise all clones made to one another, and he threw that promise right at their faces.

Cypher grabbed the offered bottle as he took off his helmet.

"You naughty boy you," Pawn teased.

I learned from the best.

Time flew right by Cypher after that. He had a few sips of the Kri'gee. Pawn stashed it back in his pack. They crash landed on Tatooine. General Skywalker split off to distract Count Dooku. Ahsoka and the clones were tasked to escort the Hutt-let to Jabba posthaste.

The drink really did help him forget the little stuff. Cypher forgot how the expansive sand dunes were much like those they roamed on Geonosis. He forgot how cold and traumatic the nighttime desert could be, and how the stars never looked the same from one planet's atmosphere to the other. Cypher counted Tatooine's stars as they made their way to Jabba's. He used to make names and constellations out of the stars, and that was a secret hobby he wanted to remember.

"Looks about another half mile," someone said. Cypher wasn't sure who. He just let his legs continue moving. "Not a light at the end of the tunnel, but a crime master's mansion in the middle of a valley." Never mind. It was Pawn, the cheeky cunt.

"Kandosii," a clone muttered. The tone identified itself as Perks. "I don't think I can stand being in the sand another second."

"Yes," Pawn responded, "sand. All this sand. We all hate sand, ever since Geonosis. Been the twenty-second time you've expressed your sand-hatred, Perks. Don't forget to beware the allure of the dark side."

"Please stop, Pawn."

"You first."

"Kando–what?" That was Ahsoka. Hutt-baby squirmed from behind her back, making a sound that Cypher guessed was a chuckle.

And then Cypher's endless illusion of tranquility exploded, right in his face.

The sand in front of the group burst up into the air. Three humanoid droids rose from the scattered grit – MagnaGuards. Ahsoka had her lightsaber drawn faster before Cypher had raised his rifle. He and the clones opened fire. The droids activated their electro staffs, spots of purple electricity pulsating amongst the flurry of blaster bolts.

There wasn't much where they could retreat to. On their right was a towering mountain wall and on their left was a 15 meter drop off a cliff. All they had between them and the melee droids was the small expanse of sand, and those staffs were deflecting too many shots and getting way too close for comfort.

A sharp shriek suddenly rattled the air. One of the droids got to Tanner. The Sergeant got too close and missed his shot. He screamed as his body convulsed with purple sparks, his rifle firing off wildly. The blaster shots and screams drowned out whatever orders Ahsoka tried to scream out. "Stay close," she might have said, but Cypher watched another clone fall to the ground. Wait, was that Kix? Did he – no, no, Kix was still standing. Kix, Cypher, and Pawn were all firing upon one of the MagnaGuards. Its arms flew off its body as the droid crumpled apart into a jumbled mess.

They got one. They killed one of them. Cypher reloaded and aimed for his next target. MagnaGuards were supposed to be half as tough as General Grievous, so if taking down one of them wasn't so hard, maybe Ahsoka and the clones had a chance.

No, no, that was a mistake. You're not supposed to think to yourself, "We have a chance." No, you think to yourself, "We are getting this done." First Cypher took to drinking Kri'gee again, and now he's messing up the guidelines that have been hammered into his brain since childbirth. Sergeant Sym would be so disappointed.

Karma seemed to read off Cypher's thoughts and believed he should be punished. Things turned against their favor as Engie was attacked head-on by a MagnaGuard. The purple lightning danced across his upper body, and he was thrown off the cliff. Kix made a dive to catch him. R2 was kicked backwards and brought Kix with him down the mountain.

By the time Cypher regained his sense of survival, he felt his body thrown toward the cliff side. He tumbled against the rough, ragged rock face as he rolled down the hill. His visor was cluttered with sand grains, and the clone could swear that a crack formed down the middle of the T, though fatigued minds did tend to play tricks on the eye, so Cypher couldn't say even as his body slammed against the base of the sandy valley.

His muscles were aching with bruises. His ears were ringing a piercing, shrill ring that no mechanical machinery or non-lethal explosive device can replicate. Cypher had to smash his head against the floor to reboot his system. Coherent vision and hearing steadily returned. His body was still shaking, but Cypher managed to raise himself to his knees.

The stars persisted in brightening the dark of the night sky. Cypher made out R2, upside down with his head buried deep in the sandy soil. Kix with his medic-designating stripes was nearby, and also on his knees. Cypher blinked and realized Kix was kneeling over a body – Engie.

Cypher's first instinct was to assist Kix. Then there was another scream. Cypher looked up the cliff, seeing nothing but sputtering lights.

He snatched up his rifle and ran up one side of the cliff, hoping to get back up there before the light show came to an end.

Cypher dragged his body one final step to finally reach the top of the cliff. He spotted Ahsoka farther down the path, occupied with dueling one of the droids. The other MagnaGuard was – It was missing its lower body and lying in the sand face first. It reached for its staff that was nearly within arm's reach, but Pawn stood over the droid and unloaded his entire clip into its torso.

A sigh of relief would have been too kind for Cypher to savor. He didn't get the chance as Pawn fell forward suddenly onto the dead droid. Something was crawling over him, a flurry of limbs moving wildly. Cypher shook his head to alleviate any more dizziness and ran closer to his brother to get a better look in the night darkness.

Pawn's attacker happened to be the initial MagnaGuard they had scrapped up, only missing its arm and its head. The broken droid grappled Pawn with its legs in the effort to restrain the clone and choke him out. Cypher aimed, but his eyesight blurred. Pawn and the droid kept tossing and turning over the sand sporadically, and Cypher watched his own hands shaking his blaster. Lining up a good shot was impossible. He couldn't risk firing and ending up hitting his brother in the back.

With the butt of his rifle, Cypher tried to use his blaster like a club. A metallic leg deflected his first strike. His second halted as the same leg's foot grasped the blaster. At the same time, the droid's other leg locked its grip around Pawn's neck. Cypher kicked at the decapitated Guard. It throttled Cypher off his feet with his blaster. As Cypher tried to wipe sand off his visor, the tinnie was beating Pawn with the makeshift bludgeon.

As Cypher rolled in the dirt, trying to regain his bearings, one of his hands gripped something thick. He looked through grains of sand and his shaky vision to see the forgotten electro staff. Cypher tightened hold, letting the ends of the staff burst with energy. Turning around, Cypher raised the weapon and arched it over to skewer the MagnaGuard.

The pike went straight into the droid's abdominal area. The end of the staff stopped short right above Pawn, fortunately. The MagnaGuard convulsed as if it was having a seizure, releasing its grasp on the blaster and Pawn's neck. Cypher kicked the droid off, letting it spasm on until the purple lights died out.

Cypher let himself fall on his bottom, leaning forward and letting his hands rest in his lap. The sounds of Ahsoka's lightsaber had ceased, as did all the screaming. There was only the sound of heavy breathing that Cypher could here. He took that as a good sign that he could finally take a breather.

All signs confirmed that Pawn was alright. He lay in the sand, panting, and gave a thumbs-up in Cypher's direction. "Vor entye," he said. "Vor entye. Thanks for the gaa'tayl, Cyph'ika. Damn near tore my throat out."

"Vor–what?" That was Ahsoka again. Her MagnaGuard was also in pieces with the thin outline of smoke rising from where she sliced off its body parts. She jogged toward Pawn and Cypher with the baby Hutt in tow. "Never mind. Are you guys okay?"

"No," Pawn growled with a cough, feeling his throat. "Nearly kriffing was put to sleep by these fancy zombie clankers. Hell, second time this week I was choked out. Where the hell is everyone else?"

Ahsoka was completely quiet for a moment. "Tanner and Perks are, uh, dead, and, uh..."

"Kix is alive," Cypher cut in, staring aimlessly at the sandy floor. Half of his leg was buried in it. "Down the cliff, he's looking over Engie. And R2's there."

When Cypher had spoken up, Pawn had slowly turned his head to look at him. You can hardly see a damn thing with clone trooper helmets on, but Cypher and Pawn have spent so much time together that they could tell almost instantly what they were feeling with just a look. The facial expression was only supplementary. Everything else, body language, tone of voice, gave away everything if they weren't paying attention to what they were doing.

"Looks like Skywalker's closing in on us," Pawn announced. Cypher could hear a speeder's engine roaring from behind him. Ahsoka seemed to perk up. Stinky hollered a babyish cry that could have meant anything. "Immediately after we've won the battle. Hallelujah."

Ahsoka had that nettled look again. Cypher ignored her as she ran past him. Instead, he was focused on Pawn. He couldn't tell if Pawn was looking at him or looking toward the Jedi. Pawn had stopped moving, so Cypher couldn't even tell if he was breathing anymore.

"Ner vod." Pawn was on the helmet comm. "Cyph'ika. You good? No extreme injuries?"

"I'm… good. But Engie – Engie and Kix –"

Something fell into Cypher's hand. It was the bottle of Kri'gee. Pawn raised himself to mirror Cypher's sitting position. "You want another sip?"

The bottle was about three-fourths full. The drink itself was an obsidian, black ale. Cypher wasn't sure how he could tell how much was left in the flask with the midnight gloom, but he watched it swish back and against the glass. "I miss them."

"Who?"

"You know. Livewire. Our old squad. Sergeant Sym. Everyone that's gone. I miss everyone."

A charmed chuckle was uttered by Pawn. "Yup. You and me and every other clone who's lost a brother, missing them. But, like I said, we can't forget."

No, we can't. Not ever. Cypher stood up, reeling his arms around to stretch out his shoulders. He dropped the Kri'gee back to Pawn, extending a hand to pull his brother up. "We should help Kix with Engie."

Pawn stared at Cypher again, with a sidelong look. He was trying to judge what Cypher was thinking of, how he was coping with everything that's happened so too quickly.

They held hands firmly, allowing Cypher to pull Pawn to eyelevel. Pawn still had his head tilted. Cypher kept his body straight and looked straight ahead.

"Are you really good, Cyph'ika?"

"I'll take a slip later. And… I'd like to look at your list. Of the names, and… yeah." Cypher nodded his head toward the cliff. "Later, though. We have a job to do now."

I won't forget. I promise.