Chapter 12 - Daro

Author's Note: THIS. THIS IS WHEN THE FUN BEGINS! =D Also, it's pretty fast-paced, but I don't think the itty bitty details matter. :') Plus a bonus scene from Echo's POV for angst reasons. :')

~ Rivana Rita


Omega is working on Gonky, trying to fix his circuitry, even though everyone insists it's pointless, when Echo calls them to the cockpit for a comm from Rex. "Hello, boys," Rex greets them, "Sorry to cut right to it, but I could use your help."

"What do you need, Rex?" Echo asks.

"I received a distress signal from a clone trooper, but I'm a bit tied up at the moment to retrieve him."

"What's his situation?" Crosshair asks.

"He's an old friend, and he's in trouble," Rex replies, "I need you to get him out." He glances to the side at something off the hologram. "Can't talk right now. Sending you his signal. I'll be in touch."

"What was that all about?" Wrecker asks after the hologram fades out.

"The distress signal sent by CC-5576 is originating from Daro, a terrestrial planet in the Outer Rim with no known settlements or installations," Tech reports, looking at the scans.

"We have to go," Echo says determinedly.

"May I remind you that we are in the middle of a job for Cid? If we deviate, we will not be compensated. No money means no food," Tech objects.

"Tech's got a point," Wrecker volunteers, ever food-motivated.

"Cid owes us right now," Crosshair reminds dryly. She does, and Omega knows that. Everyone knows that, actually. They're the only reason she's still in business anywhere. Her parlor was nearly stolen, and she called them in to get her out of trouble. Which they did. Even if it got... tense.

"Rex's friend is in trouble. That's more important than getting paid, right?" Omega interjects.

"That's a risk we have to take every mission we go on," Echo replies, "Tech, see what you can find about this place."

"Seeing as it's uninhabited, that would not be much."

"And if it's a trap?" Crosshair asks.

"Rex wouldn't have asked us to do it if it wasn't important," Echo replies firmly, and they leave it at that.

**w**

"We are approaching Daro's atmosphere. I'll bring us in low to avoid any possible tracking scanners," Tech says, and sends them downwards.

They land near the signal and disembark, hands near their weapons. Crosshair sees no obvious threats, but that doesn't mean much. (Hunter's not here to sense them, either.)

"Do you scan anything?" Echo asks as they walk through the towering trees.

"My scans are being jammed," Tech replies, tapping on his datapad.

"You said there was nothing on this planet," Wrecker objects.

"That data appears to be inaccurate."

It takes a few minutes to locate the beacon, but when they do, there's... no one there. There are no signs of anyone, either.

"Where is he?" Omega asks, looking around.

With the brush and all, it's very, very hard to detect footprints here. There are many nearby broken branches, but that doesn't answer how to find him. It's not like they have a way to track him, either.

"Clearly, not here," Tech replies.

"So, where do we go?" Omega inquires.

"If there's an Imperial presence here, it's hidden," Echo says, "I didn't see anything when we were landing."

"Yeah, I didn't either," Wrecker agrees.

It's a forest planet, and everything looks entirely harmless. There were towering mountains here, but they shouldn't be enough to hide a base from view. And there should have been a clearing in the trees.

"Maybe they're underground...?" Omega ventures, and that's when he looks at the towering mountain in the not-too-far distance.

"The mountain," Crosshair realizes.

"We'll have to get a closer look," Echo agrees. "Until we know what we're going into, Wrecker and Omega, stay with the ship."

"Wait, why can't we come?" Omega argues.

"If there's an Imperial outpost there, we're not taking you right into the line of fire," Echo says, turning back to look at her.

"And Wrecker makes too much noise," Crosshair agrees. Wrecker grumbles his objections.

"Besides," Echo adds, "We'll need Tech inside, and someone has to stay with the ship. I expect we'll need to leave in a hurry." Expect is practically an understatement considering what they do know about this situation. It's practically a guarantee this will go south. They came because Echo insisted. Crosshair still isn't sure this is a good idea. Rex may have trusted this... reg, but that doesn't mean he's still trustworthy.

But Echo will follow Rex through anything, even if he ends up dead. Even if he gets the rest of them killed in the process. He doesn't have the same level-headed reasoning that Hunter once did.

The climb is long, but they make it up without incident. And sure enough, now that they're up close, it's easy to see that the mountain is, in fact, a base. A base carved and built into the mountain, that is.

"The mountain's natural composition makes this base well-fortified and nearly impenetrable," Tech says as they scan the defenses from afar.

"That complicates things," Crosshair grumbles.

"We have to move in," Echo says, lowering his macrobinoculars.

For a sudden, unsettled moment, it reminds him of Onderon, of Kaller, of... Hunter.

"We do not know for certain if CC-5576 is even in there, or if he is still alive," Tech argues.

"If there's a chance that trooper is being held against his will, we have to try to get him out," Echo argues.

"And if we end up there?" Crosshair asks shortly. It's not that he has any objections to helping. He doesn't. But – but there are equally important things that matter just as much. Like Omega. They have to keep her safe, no matter what the cost is.

Echo knows that. He understands that, but as a reg, he will always put the mission ahead of everything else. Even if he is different than the regs, even if he has been ceaselessly loyal to them, he still has never fully adapted to their way, either.

"That's why Wrecker and Omega are staying with the ship," Echo replies.

And if Hunter's here and he finds them before we can warn them? Crosshair doesn't ask that, though. He doesn't... like this. It's putting them all in danger, and yes, they are no strangers to taking risks. That isn't what bothers him. It's that their brother's absence puts all their lives on the line, because Tech may be smart, and Crosshair might be... sharp, but they both lack Hunter's calm nature, and his ability to execute plans and think fast enough around literally all problems.

It's not that they wouldn't follow Echo, too. It's just... different. They're... close, but Echo has always been more worried about the mission than them. It's how he was raised to be, unlike them. And sometimes, Crosshair can't help worrying about how far that could go. That's why they don't like the regs. Echo is... protective of them, too, very much so, but sometimes... he's just reckless.

He could offer an endless supply of arguments. He can't say why he doesn't. There is literally everything stupid about this plan that could just as well end up with everyone dead, but if Echo is going into this madness either way, they have to come with him in case things go south. Which they will.

That's what brothers do.

**w**

Echo scomps into the system as soon as they find a safe place for him to. "The encryption's new," he warns, "This might take a while."

That's bad. Crosshair and Tech split up, heading to opposite sides of the hall to keep watch, just in case.

There are people moving past across the halls, but none of them come close to seeing them.

"This doesn't make any sense!" Echo says frustratedly a few minutes later, "The muster report lists 50 clone commandos and 1,000 TK troopers."

"TK Trooper?" Tech exclaims, moving forwards, "I'm not familiar with that designation."

"Alright, found him," Echo reports, "Cellblock 25, four levels down."

And from there, they hitch a ride on the lift again before entering the prison area. It goes almost surprisingly quickly and quietly. "Are you CC-5576?" Echo asks, skidding to a stop in front of the cell.

"That depends," the reg replies as the ray shield deactivates, "Who's askin'?"

"We were sent by Rex," Echo replies.

"In that case, the name's Gregor," he replies, standing, "Now let's move out."

With Gregor's... assistance, leaving is slightly less complicated. But only a little. The troops are gathered for inspection, and Tech tries to redirect them, only to set off an alarm throughout the whole building. "I keyed a Code-16 to redirect their forces. I don't know what happened," Tech says, turning around.

"Clone codes don't work here," Gregor says, "You just triggered a security alert."

"And you –" Crosshair starts asking, irritated, only to be cut off as a group of regs start firing. Tech throws a smoke bomb at them, and he, Echo, and Crosshair start stunning them all, minus the one that Gregor takes out.

Tech crouches by one of them, pulling off their helmet. "Look at this," he says, "These are not clone troopers." They – what?

Gregor scoffs, breaking the moment of quiet. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. These are our replacements. If you can believe that."

On hindsight, Crosshair has no idea why he's even surprised about that. Saw Gererra had told them, way back at the very start, that the time for clones was over, and that something new was beginning. Of course, the clones are being phased out. Decommissioned, or whatever the Empire is doing to them.

Is Hunter going to be alright?

He doesn't have time to stop and worry about that, anyway, though, considering the number of Imperials they keep encountering, no matter how brief the fights always are.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Tech asks as they run, finally voicing Crosshair's concerns. They don't have time to stop and find an alternate route, though. They have to rely solely on Gregor's word.

"Hey, I'm the one who escaped here before."

"And you were captured."

"After I made it out."

They finally reach the lift and borrow an authorization code from the Imperials inside. So far, despite the fact that the alarms are off and everyone is looking for them, everything has been... easy. Almost too easy.

"These new troopers, what do you mean they're our replacements?" Echo inquires, now that they're finally in the temporary safety of the lift.

"Well, we clones are soldiers of a Republic that doesn't exist. These recruits come from all over the galaxy. They swear loyalty to the Empire. They're not as skilled, but there's an endless supply of 'em," Gregor explains.

He'll think about what that means later. For the first time in a while, Crosshair can't stop wondering what happened to Cody. They haven't heard word from him, but more than likely, he's still working for the Empire, just like Hunter is. What will that mean for him? Hunter, because of his abilities, should be temporarily safe. Cody doesn't... have that.

The doors open – only to reveal a hallway full of what must be at least a dozen people. Gregor spins to the controls, slamming the button to send them back down.

They could really, really use Hunter right about now. Even Wrecker would be helpful.

With the help of a few more smoke bombs, they make it down a few more corridors – only to run straight into one of the Clone Commandos, and Gregor takes two shots in rapid succession straight to the chest plate on his armor.

Crosshair and Echo take down the Clone Commando with half a dozen stun shots – their armor is specially designed to be more resistant, though that's still mildly impressive – before they keep moving.

More troops – regs or non-clones, Crosshair can't tell – are coming.

Echo pulls Gregor to his feet, and they take shelter in a control room. It's not much, but they need a moment to recollect themselves.

"Can you walk?" Crosshair asks, adjusting the settling on his rifle to scan for any approaching heat signatures, "Or will we need to drag you out?" There are some approaching from outside the door, and they're going to start cutting through momentarily. They need to move, and fast.

"Don't worry about me," Gregor waves him off, "This is nothing. I got blown up once and survived." Crosshair doesn't miss the way Echo pauses to side-eye him – the one in the building who really got blown up. "I can survive this."

"They have all access points to the central ring blocked off," Echo reports as he works over the controls.

"There. Those pipes are reactor conduits," Tech says, approaching and pointing to the overhead grate.

"The vents," Crosshair guesses, "Like on Skako Minor." At least Wrecker's not here to throw them this time. That was... annoying.

"Precisely," Tech agrees, "They should lead to the main reactor's external exhaust port. That is our path to the outside."

"The exhaust vent's halfway up the mountain. We can't survive that jump," Gregor objects.

Crosshair scoffs. "Won't have to."

"We would be able to signal our ship," Tech replies, throwing an explosive through the grate. It explodes, the twisted metal grate clanging to the floor.

Crosshair and Tech climb up first, Echo staying back to help up Gregor. Despite his insistence, he can't walk on his own very well.

Sure enough, the vent exits the mountain well over the ground. Wrecker would already be yowling if he were here, but thankfully, he and Omega are currently flying in with the Marauder. It's coming in now, and that, of course, is when the shooting starts.

They scatter instantly, Echo and Crosshair moving to the right and Tech and Gregor to the left. The Marauder glides to a stop in front of them – a little jerky, but still surprisingly smooth considering this is Omega's first real flight – and Wrecker appears in the doorway, providing cover fire.

"Come on!" he yells.

Crosshair glances down the hall again. They're closing in, fast, and he can hear the distant approach of fighters. He tosses one of his reflector disks down the hall, and he and Echo shift over to cover while Tech and Gregor climb onto the ramp.

The Marauder flies off, four fighters in fast pursuit.

It's a few minutes before Tech calls in their approach again. The Marauder glides into view again with its usual smoothness and the ramp lowers.

"Jump," Omega yells from the doorway. Wrecker must be at the guns. Of course, he is.

Crosshair slings his rifle onto his back and jumps to the ramp, scrambling inside.

And that's when it happens.

The ship jolts violently away from the end of the exhaust port as more fighters start closing in.

Echo jumps one moment after Crosshair did, but the combined movement of the ship and the angle, plus the fact that he's literally one-handed, off-balances him enough to fall. And miss catching onto the edge of the ramp.

"Echo!" Omega yells, lurching forwards, Crosshair grabs her arm to keep her steady, stumbling inside, nearly thrown off himself. Echo is already out of sight. It was just – so fast. He should've been a moment closer, and he could've caught Echo, but all of that is pointless now.

Instincts kick in, and Crosshair pulls Omega inside. The ramp hisses shut behind them.

He just feels... numb, like it didn't happen, because his mind clearly hasn't accepted the fact that Echo just fell off that cliff, and there's a very, very high chance that he could die when he lands. He's half metal though. That's their only hope. That's Echo's only hope.

He can't be gone.

Crosshair cannot fathom any universe in which he lost one of his brothers. Not again.

He settles himself into the seat behind Tech, where he normally sits. (Once, Hunter would be across from him. Hunter would –)

Gonky, presently plugged into the wall, beeps loudly as the ship is hit again and something in the ship short circuits, a surge of electricity overwhelming the droid's circuitry.

"Multiple system failures," Tech calls, "We cannot take many more hits."

"Go," Echo's voice crackles over the comm. He's alive. He's – conscious, at least, and that's a good sign. "I'll find another way."

"Negative. The odds of escape are not in your favor," Tech argues firmly.

"I got us all into this mess," Echo replies sharply, firmly. "I'll get you out. Leave. Now."

Everything feels cold. "We don't leave our own behind," Crosshair snaps. This is exactly what he was saying to Rex on Skako Minor, he remembers. That they couldn't go in blindly, driven solely by emotion and a likely misplaced hope that they can succeed.

"Oh, I don't blame you. I would've left him for dead, too."

"I'm not letting you get yourselves killed for me. Get out of here." The line goes dead.

For a moment, nothing happens.

"We have to go back for him!" Omega protests fiercely, desperately, "We can't leave!" She sounds moments from crying.

Then Tech pushes the Marauder forwards, and he brings them upwards towards the upper atmosphere. He's... right. They have to go. They don't have a choice, because going back will get them all killed when their ship is this badly damaged.

Echo... made this choice. He's sacrificing himself so they can move on, can keep living. And find a way to get him back, too.

One by one, they're losing people. First Hunter. Then Omega, even if they got her back. Now... Echo. And Crosshair has no idea how they're going to get him back.

**w**

Of course, it was only a matter of time before the Empire was able to track down his squad, or at least one of them. Hunter isn't surprised about that. He knew it would happen. (He just isn't sure he likes what it means. This will put all of them in danger. He's – he's supposed to protect them.)

But Echo – that was unexpected. Truthfully, Hunter thought it would be one of the others. He thought it would most likely be Omega trying to do something way over her head, or Crosshair or Wrecker flipping into one of their childish, chaotic moods and he wasn't there to drag them out of it, or even Tech over-trusting his own abilities. He... does that. But Hunter would never have expected it to be Echo, the most mature and responsible of them all.

But here he is, somehow.

Hunter heard what happened from the regs that witnessed it. To be fair, it wasn't entirely Echo's fault – it was Tech's just as much, since he moved the ship at the wrong time. He does that. It happens.

Echo fell down a mountainside. He could have died. Anyone else would have. Echo's a cyborg, and the metal protected him. At least it was him. Hunter doesn't know how he'd feel if one of them actually did die. Spending so much time without them is... hard.

But in the end, they're still traitors. He can't forget that. And he is still angry. They betrayed the Republic, everything they fought for.

Echo is sitting in the cell on Daro when Hunter arrives. He's not in binders because of the obvious lack of necessity – Echo only has one hand. And from how he's holding his right arm close to himself, he's obviously injured. Echo looks up sharply, a heavy glare in his dark brown eyes. He looks as angry as Hunter himself is.

For a long moment, neither of them speaks.

(Is he alright?)

"Now you show up," Echo says finally, dryly. There's a sharp edge to his voice that his elder brother has never used on him before.

"Not as though you came back sooner, either," Hunter throws back, deactivating the ray shield.

"And why would we have?" retorts Echo. "To get ourselves killed?"

Hunter steps inside, and Echo jolts to his feet, pausing mid-way with a quiet hiss of pain. Hunter himself freezes at the sound of it. Pain pulses through his own head. (It hurts to see any of his brothers in pain. Hunter should have stopped that.) He should have prevented them from leaving Kamino in the first place. It didn't have to get this far.

"How bad is it?" he asks, instinctively.

Echo shoves himself upright, balancing himself by pressing his hand to the wall, his glare never leaving. He is the only one scary when he's angry. "Why?"

(I want to help you. I don't want to see you in pain.) "Answer the question." He sounds as exasperated as he feels.

"In case you haven't noticed, I haven't been following your orders for a while now," Echo retaliates. His sassiness has reached an all-time high.

Hunter glares at him, temper flaring. "You're a traitor to the Empire, and you betrayed me. You left everything we fought for, and you put our brothers in danger. Needlessly."

Echo jabs his scomp at him, glare unwavering, snapping something in a mixture of what Hunter thinks is Mando'a and Huttese that should never be repeated. (Does he talk like that around Omega? He hopes not.)

"You'll be a useless asset to the Empire injured."

He scoffs. "Keep telling yourself that. I'll never be an asset to the Empire."

"You already are," Hunter replies shortly, sharply. He's angry. He can't help it. That's never really stopped since Kaller, especially since Kamino. "Try anything, and I'll stun you."

**w**

Echo should've been... more careful. He knows that. The Empire captured him, and they... they have access to his memories, to his mind. It would be easy for them to see anything, to find his brother's location and about Rex.

He has to protect them.

Seeing Hunter like this is hard. It hurts him to see, but Echo needs to protect everyone that's left. That's... more important. They can move forward with what they have, even if they can't go back.

Echo has lost countless brothers. Hunter is... just another one.

That didn't hurt as much as Fives.

But as the oldest, even as being their brother, Echo has to protect them, no matter what the cost.

He still remembers the mind-numbing horror he felt when he saw the explosion at the Rishi outpost, and what he felt when he realized the former leader of Domino Squad was gone.

They weren't that close. None of Domino Squad was, nor were any clone squads he's ever worked with. Clone Force 99 was the first exception, because the clones are shuffled around from one place to another throughout their entire lives. They have to learn to adapt, to work with others. And they can't get close to anyone.

Cutup and Droidbait's deaths had hurt, but Hevy's was the worst.

Hevy died to save them all.

And Echo knows as long as he's with the Empire, as long as he's alive and his memories are intact, he's endangering his brothers.

Being part machine – especially as much as he is – does often bother Echo, but he makes it work. The Separatists made him into this, and he's turning it right back at them to be the weapon they made him to be, far deadlier than when he was still human.

But that's not like right now. Now, like this, the Empire can... take anything from him. And he needs to stop it, and the only way he can is... by destroying his headpiece. And hope to the Force that his scomp is strong enough to do that.

Echo, like all the clones, had thought his whole life he'd fight and die for the Republic. He never wanted anything more. Never cared to have anything else. But yet, he's – he's afraid to die in such a manner. By his own hand. Or the lack thereof.

Hevy had the strength to do it. He's the one who gave Echo and Fives and Kamino a fighting chance. It was because of him. Now, he can only wonder if he has the same strength that his brother does, if he could do the same if it came down to it.

**w**

Repairing the Marauder takes... a long time. As long as expected without Echo here to help, but still, a frustratingly long time. It takes hours. Cid is less than appreciative of how they ditched one of her missions, but they don't have time to worry about it.

It's not what even matters.

Every moment Echo is gone, every moment they're closer to losing him forever. It would be less dangerous if it were anyone other than Echo. Crosshair may not know the full extent of the machines his brother lives on, but he knows enough. He knows how dangerous it could be if the Empire gets access to it. And Echo already lost control of himself once.

Death trap or no, they have to get him back.

All their lives depend on it.

"The systems are up and running," Tech declares at last, after what feels like an eternity of them all trying – and largely failing – to patch the ship back up.

Omega is already halfway climbing into the co-pilot seat. "Then let's go get Echo."

There's a sudden beeping on the controls, and Tech turns to look at it. "His communication device has just been activated. It appears he is no longer on Daro."

Suddenly, Crosshair has a very, very, very bad feeling about this.

"What do you mean?" Omega asks quietly, worriedly, "Where is he?"

"It appears he is being transported... to Kamino," Tech replies, looking up.

"Kamino?" Wrecker all but yelps. "Why are they taking him there?"

"Perhaps it is meant as a trap," Tech replies.

"We have to go, anyway," Omega requests, desperately, looking up at Wrecker and Crosshair.

Even so, she had... told Crosshair exactly how much she wanted to stay away from there. They all know that. She's afraid to go back, and with good reason. They'll be taking Omega directly to where the Kaminoans have been trying to get her to. That's... dangerous. "They'll be waiting," Crosshair warns, "We need a plan." They don't have Hunter to look to for orders. They don't even have Echo to turn to anymore. They just have... each other. But still, they need someone to look to. This is – not easy.

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