Hello, everybody!

In case you missed it, I've got my own Discord channel on the Emerald Library server! Here's the link: discord . gg . / elibrary

(without the spaces because fanfiction . net is dumb)(it's free of charge if any of you were concerned) (also I'm not super familiar with how the server works yet but I think what you're supposed to do is say you're a reader when it asks and then my channel is under the misc fandoms/superhero section for some reason)

OneLittleSpark18: Thank you! And yeah, it was pretty amazing. I need to get the print he signed framed.

imaginationflies: I'm glad it prompted you to review, yours are always a delight! I think Fives needs a smack...and therapy. And a hug. I hope my solution lives up to your hutch of plot bunnies! And you make me BLUSH.

This week I was not able to resist basically making a chapter out of my head canons and ideas for backstories. Oops.

Oh well, enjoy!

No Mando'a this chapter!

Omega was hungry. She squirmed in her seat, feeling like her stomach was eating itself. Phee had very nicely shared her rations with them, but she'd only had enough for a few days. For one person. That meant that they had all had about one ration bar, and that was it.

They had been stuck in Phee's ship for fifty hours, waiting. No ships were allowed to leave or even send comms. Tech said the CIS had a powerful communications jammer that blocked everything except authorized frequencies. Right now he was attempting to find those frequencies, taking a break from getting Phee's ship ready for escape. Omega had been helping him until he had shooed her away.

Hunter paced as Tech worked at Phee's comms. He had his helmet on, listening to the CIS comm chatter.

Omega's stomach growled again right as Hunter removed his helmet. To her horror, Hunter paused as if he heard it. He glanced at her with a pained expression.

"We'll get through it." He said before he looked towards Tech. "I've got confirmation that they're switching frequencies-"

"Obviously they are switching frequencies!" Tech said testily. "It is common practice in situations such as these. Please limit our communication to useful information."

Omega felt herself shrink at his harsh tone.

"Then I guess you don't want to know how often they're doing it?" Hunter asked, his own voice jagged with impatience.

Tech was silent for a moment.

"I do." He said.

"It's every five hours." Hunter said before cramming his helmet back on.

Phee came from the cockpit and sat down next to Omega.

"How are you holding up?" Phee asked kindly.

"I'm okay." Omega said.

She winced as her stomach gurgled. She pressed her clasped hands into her belly, trying to quiet its complaining.

"Not used to an empty stomach, huh?" Phee asked.

"I can handle it!" Omega said quickly. "Clones are trained to go without food for way longer!"

"Your brothers might have been, but I doubt you were." Phee said. "But even if you did have that training, all kids deserve to have a full stomach."

Phee stared at the door of the ship with her brow furrowed. A harsh curse from the cockpit made Omega jump. She looked back towards Tech. He rarely swore, even during his more frustrating projects. Now he was leaning on one elbow, one hand clutching at his head.

For some reason, the sight of her brother so upset made tears spring to Omega's eyes. She felt Phee look at her.

Phee sighed, clapped her hands on her thighs, and stood up.

"That's it!" She said. "I'm going to get us some food."

Hunter paused and looked at her.

"You told us you were wanted by the CIS." He said.

"That was during the war." Phee said, though Omega thought she sounded nervous. "More important thing is that they said they had supplies out there if we needed them and I'm sure you're tired of watching your little girl starve. Not to mention that I don't think Browneyes can do much just running on fumes."

"I am fine." Tech said shortly. "As Omega said, we were trained to function on very little."

"And how much progress have you made in the last twelve hours?" Phee asked.

Tech didn't respond.

"You're not going alone." Hunter said.

"Aw, sweet of you to worry." Phee said. "But I'm fine by myself."

"Worry's got nothing to do with it." Hunter said, crossing his arms.

Omega frowned. She didn't like how much Hunter distrusted Phee. Omega liked her a lot, and so did Tech. Phee really seemed to want to help.

"You were the one who said you can't risk being recognized as clones." Phee said. "I can't see a way that you won't be identified with all that armor. I'm least likely to get us into trouble."

Hunter glared at her before stripping away his armor.

"Hon, you've got a Republic cog on that undersuit." Phee said.

"Do you have anything I can borrow?" Hunter asked. He'd left his vambraces, boots, belt, and calf armor on. "Enough to cover it."

Phee grimaced.

"I might." She said. "I haven't had the chance to clean my ex's stuff out and he was about your size."

Hunter blinked.

"Ex?" He asked as Phee opened a compartment.

Phee glanced back.

"Like ex-partner." She said. "I was in a relationship with him, but now I'm not."

"Oh." Hunter said. "Er- why do you still have his things?"

Phee stood up holding a jacket and cowl.

"Because I kicked him out." She said. "I caught him sneaking around with four different beings and using my money to get hotel rooms to-"

Phee cut herself off with a glance at Omega.

"To what?" Omega asked.

Hunter was glaring at Phee for some reason.

"To what?" Omega repeated.

"To engage in intercourse, likely." Tech said from the cockpit. "Which would be unscrupulous, if he and Phee were in a monogamous relationship."

"Tech!" Hunter snapped.

Omega blinked. Tech had once given her an explanation of humanoid procreation. She still didn't quite get why nobody ever wanted to talk about it in front of her. She knew what went on, but everyone acted as if it was some big secret.

"Yup." Phee said. "Point is, I didn't let him grab his stuff. Left him stranded on Tatooine. Didn't chuck it at first cause I wanted to burn it, but after a while I just forgot."

Hunter took the jacket and cowl gingerly.

"You two stay here." He said as he put them on. "We should be back soon. Hopefully."

"Be safe." Omega said, holding out her arms.

Hunter bent down and hugged her. Omega could feel his nervousness in the way he held her tightly. He finally let go and swiped his hand through her hair.

"Let's go." Hunter said to Phee.

Hunter stepped out from Genoa's shuttle into a large durasteel docking bay filled to the brim with a mismatch of other ships. A myriad of other beings wandered the inside and for a second their sounds and smells seemed to slap Hunter. He took a few deep breaths to let his senses acclimate. He usually had his helmet to help with this, but that would have made it obvious what he was.

As he and Genoa walked forward, he expected every eye to be drawn to him, every voice to cry 'clone!' Instead, he and Genoa were mostly ignored. The problem was that the people that seemed to notice them the most were the beings marked with the CIS symbol.

Fighting against all his instincts, Hunter headed towards one such guard. The guard looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" He said.

His voice wasn't overly aggressive, maybe somewhat annoyed. Genoa stepped forward.

"We're looking for those supplies you fellows offered." She said with a smile.

The guard narrowed his eyes and Hunter tried not to clench his fists. This had to work. He'd been relieved when Genoa had finally stood up and pushed them out of the ship. He had been too afraid.

Hunter's own insides writhed with hunger, but listening to his brother and sister's stomachs groan was- difficult. It reminded him of their cadet days before Tech had convinced Nala Se to give Wrecker double rations. They'd split their food so that Wrecker wouldn't cry from hunger pangs at night. But that meant that they'd all been just shy of satisfied when they went to bed. Hunter had gone to sleep for months to the sound of his brothers' growling stomachs.

He'd almost forgotten about it, until today. It had been torture to listen to that sound again. But the fear of being recognized, of putting Omega in danger, had been crippling.

The guard looked at Genoa and Hunter for a long time. Hunter tensed as his eyes lingered on Genoa for too long.

"They're handing out rations in Warehouse K." The guard finally grumbled. "Just tell them your ship class and they'll give you your supplies."

"Thank you!" Genoa said with a smile.

Hunter didn't know how she managed to fake being so polite in this situation. He followed her quickly as she moved on.

"He was staring at you." Hunter said.

Genoa sighed.

"He was." She said. "Problem is, I don't know if it was because he recognized me or if he was sizing me up."

"You think he would have fought us?" Hunter asked.

"Not that kind of size up." Genoa said. "See if he'd be able to take advantage of me. You probably helped convince him I wasn't worth the time."

"Does that happen often to you?" Hunter asked as they entered the main way of the station, large neon signs indicating which warehouse was which.

"Constantly." Genoa replied. "You gotta be tough when you're an attractive being on your own in this galaxy."

Hunter grunted.

"I wouldn't know much about that." He said. "Our squad's together most of the time. Don't know about us being attractive in any case."

Genoa let out a laugh that made Hunter shoot her a sidelong glance.

"Trust me, you boys fall under the category." She said.

Hunter frowned as he remembered Genoa's comments about Tech's eyes. He didn't say anything. He didn't trust Genoa, but he trusted Tech.

"Here we are." Genoa said, pointing to the neon light with the aurebesh 'krill' on it. "Hope they still got some left."

Hunter grimaced at the noise he could already hear from the warehouse. They weren't the only ones who needed rations.

As he suspected, the space was packed and poorly organized. It took them five minutes to figure out where the end of the line was. And then they waited, shuffling forward every minute or so.

"This is worse than the mess halls on Kamino." Hunter muttered after about a quarter of an hour.

"The sights are probably a little more diverse." Genoa said.

Hunter snorted.

"You have no idea." He said. "The clones outside our batch are far more identical than we are."

"How'd you tell the others apart?" Genoa asked.

"Didn't care much to." Hunter muttered.

He saw Genoa raise an eyebrow, but he didn't feel like explaining the rift between the regs and his squad. Luckily she caught the hint and fell quiet.

The chatter of all the beings was starting to get to Hunter by the time they reached the front. He could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on.

"Ship class." A woman in a CIS uniform said.

"KST 100." Genoa said.

The woman scrolled through a data pad and cursed.

"The system is being buggy." She said. "Give it a minute, it should load. Hopefully."

Hunter was glad the woman was more invested in the datapad than in Genoa. It was a long three minutes before the woman finally perked up.

"There we go." She said. "Four, right? We scanned your ship as it came in."

She turned and counted out eight ration bars.

"You'll have to come back tomorrow." The woman said. Hunter was surprised to hear a bit of an apology in her voice. "We've got strict orders. Hopefully we'll be able to get the process smoother in the next few weeks."

Hunter stiffened at the time frame. They were expected to stay for weeks?

He hoped Tech was making progress. Hunter didn't know if he could survive being here that long. If the CIS didn't plan on keeping them there longer.

Tech stared at the datapad in front of him. He couldn't concentrate. He hadn't been able to concentrate for the last hour. The combination of his low blood sugar and his increasing concern for Hunter and Phee made it extremely difficult to keep his focus. Omega was uncharacteristically unhelpful as well. She paced and often asked Tech how long it had been.

Exactly two hours and thirteen minutes after they had first left, the ramp of the Swoophawk descended. Tech put his hand to his blaster until he heard Omega's cry of 'Hunter!' He stood and turned to see Hunter catching Omega in a one armed hug.

"Hey, kid." Hunter said. "Here you go."

Tech was relieved to see his brother hand Omega a ration bar. Genoa had been correct. Food would expedite the process of their escape.

Tech accepted the ration bar Phee handed him with a nod. She winked back.

"Any progress with the comms?" Hunter asked as Tech quickly unwrapped the bar.

"Not as of yet." Tech said. "I do not have my usual equipment and it is hindering my attempts to discover the needed frequencies."

Hunter looked thoughtful. Tech took the opportunity to take a large bite of the ration bar. As usual, it was the variety whose texture made nearly gag, but he had long since learned to force the food down.

"The comms aren't our priority anyway." Hunter said as Tech chewed as quickly as he could. "What about the ship?"

Tech swallowed with a wince, repressing the urge to wretch.

"I have completed 75 percent of the necessary adjustments to the steering." He said. "It is taking longer than it normally would have, as I do not have my typical tools. But I should have that completed within the rotation."

"Then we should be good to go." Hunter said.

Tech glanced at him as he took another crumbling bite. He swallowed before replying.

"Hunter, the shields are non-functional." He said. "And I do not have the supplies to repair them. They need entirely new generators and projection lenses."

"Can we get out without them?" Hunter asked.

Tech frowned. Hunter should have known the answer. Tech was one of the best pilots in the galaxy, but flying against over a dozen enemy ships without shields would at best lead to the ship being crippled and their capture. At worst, it meant the ship's destruction and their death.

Tech was not willing to risk Hunter, Omega, or even Phee in such a foolhardy display. He told Hunter as much.

"We don't have much choice, Tech." Hunter said. "Where are we supposed to get the parts for the repair?"

"This space platform has a repair facility." Tech said, adjusting his goggles. "I am sure I will be able to find the items I require."

"If we ask for those specific parts, they're gonna get suspicious." Hunter said.

"I did not suggest we obtain them in a legal manner." Tech said.

Phee laughed. Tech blinked. He had nearly forgotten she was there.

"Sorry." Phee said. "It's just- you've got a Republic Senator over there and you're talking about stealing parts. Not something you'd expect."
"I have no moral qualms about doing so." Tech said. "If given the chance, the CIS guards here would take us into custody and use Omega against the Republic."

"I didn't say it wasn't a good idea." Phee said with a grin.

Tech glanced at her.

"Perhaps you would be willing to assist us." He said. "Given your experience and skill set."

"Hang on." Hunter said. "Let's think this through. You can't get caught at all, since you'll probably need time to install the parts."

"Why don't we wait?" Omega had come into the cockpit as well. "Boba is going to find that evidence. We can hang on for a little while, can't we?"

Tech shared a look with Hunter. Their sister's optimism bordered on naivete at times.

"We can't afford to wait that long." Hunter said. "Every day we're going to have to go out and get more rations, and every time we risk getting recognized."

Tech saw him clench his jaw.

"Tech, look into the security of the repair facility." Hunter finally said. "Let's try and make this work."

Tech nodded.

"I will also finish the required adjustments." He said.

"Good." Hunter said. "If we can pull this off, I want to be out of here as soon as possible."

"Do you need any help, Tech?" Omega asked.

"Unfortunately, we have already completed any work that you would be able to do by yourself." Tech said. "Your help has been sufficient."

Omega seemed to deflate at that.

"It has nothing to do with your skill as an assistant." Tech found himself reassuring her. "The final repairs are extremely delicate and I would prefer to be the one to perform them, as I will be the one flying the ship."

"Come on, Omega." Phee said. "I haven't shown you half of what I've got on the ship."

Tech shot Phee a grateful look. Omega would become agitated without an occupation, which would distract Tech himself. Now he could focus on his current task.

However, without the constant pain of hunger, Tech found his eyelids growing heavy.

"Phee." He called. "Do you have any stims?"

"Nope." Phee said. "Don't use the things. You all right, Browneyes?"

"I am fine." Tech said. "I will manage."

He did not. That was the issue with staying up for multiple hours: eventually his body demanded rest.

Once again Tech considered the possibility of transferring his consciousness to a droid body.

He sucked in a sharp breath and jolted his head up as something tapped his cheek. He looked over to see Phee.

"Sorry to wake you," Phee said. "But I don't think that chair is good for your back."

Tech blinked the sleep from his eyes.

"Thank you." He said. "Though I often sleep in similar arrangements."

Phee grimaced.

"I'd offer you my bunk, but your sister got to it first. But the chairs in the bay are a bit more comfortable." She said.

"That is not necessary." Tech said. "The time I slept was sufficient."

Phee raised an eyebrow at him.

"It was twenty minutes." She said.

"As I said. It was sufficient." Tech said.

"Uh huh." Phee said as Tech turned his datapad back on.

To his surprise, Phee sat down in the copilot's chair. He could feel her watching him as he hacked into the space platform's security feeds. He expected her to interrupt him. She did not.

It was a pleasant silence. Unfortunately, Tech felt the urgings of sleep assault him once again. He tried to shake himself and instinctively looked around for Crosshair or Echo. Having a conversation partner, even if one of those partners preferred to make sarcastic comments, helped keep him awake if Hunter had banned him from using stims.

"Phee," He said without looking up from his work. "May I request a conversation?"

He heard Phee shift in her chair, likely to look at him.

"You're working." She said. "Didn't want to distract you."

"I am capable of multitasking." Tech said. "But I do indeed need a distraction from my fatigue."

"I thought that your nap was sufficient." Phee said.

He could tell she was teasing him, but he did not think it was malicious.

"It is sufficient for my mind to continue to function." Tech said. "My body, on the other hand, prefers to have more rest."

Phee chuckled softly.

"Well, Browneyes, I suppose I can give you a hand." She said. "But I am gonna insist you get a few hours of sleep before we try and pull this off."

"That is acceptable." Tech said.

"So," Phee said. He saw her lean on the dashboard with her elbow out of the corner of his eye. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Any of your stories will do nicely." Tech said.

"I've been telling those for days." Phee said. "I'm kind of sick of talking about myself. You boys have barely said a word about yourselves. How about you tell me a tale or two?"

Tech felt his shoulders stiffen.

"I- do not generally speak about myself." He said.

A moment of silence passed between them.

"I'm sorry." Phee said. Her tone had grown softer. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Tech shrugged.

"I am not- proficient in storytelling." He said. "My brothers are the ones who describe our notable exploits. My version of events is often unsatisfactory."

"How so?" Phee asked. "You're plenty good at giving information."

"That is the issue." Tech replied. "I cannot merely tell the story. I too often feel the need to explain aspects of the event or give facts about what we encountered. The regs- ah, the average clone outside of our Batch, especially informed me that it was irritating."

He glanced at Phee, who was frowning.

"You boys don't seem to get along well with the other clones." She said.

"That is not entirely true." Tech said. "I know several regs that we get along with well. But there are very few besides my squad that I would call 'brother.' Most regs, especially those on Kamino while we trained, dislike us for our deviations and can be quite- cruel."

Tech felt his voice falter on the final word. It was not that he was embarrassed of the torment he and his squad endured. He had merely never spoken of this to anyone outside of his brothers and sister. Phee had an- interesting effect on him.

"Well," Phee said after a moment. "If it helps, I like facts."

Tech blinked and looked at her. She gave a slight smile.

"I bet you five credits I won't be bored." She said. "Tell me about your first mission."

Tech stared. She seemed genuine, at least to his limited ability to tell. To his own surprise, he began to speak.

"We were first deployed soon after the battle of Kamino." He said. "Which was an attempt to destroy the remaining genetic material of Jango Fett in order to prevent more clones from being created-"

He continued his story as he worked. Every time he looked to Phee, she seemed riveted.

"They're still willing to work the job?"

Fives looked up from his seat on the couch. The sun was beginning to set, bathing their apartment in warm light. Echo was standing in front of their holo. Fives could barely make out the figure of Chancellor Amidala. He heard her voice, but not her words.

"Kriff." Echo said. "That's good news. Thanks for letting me know."

A question from Chancellor Amidala.

"No." Echo said shortly. "Nothing yet."

Fives knew what he was talking about. There had been no communication from Hunter, Tech, and Omega. Chancellor Amidala said something else, Echo bade her goodbye, and then the holo clicked off.

"What was that about?" Rex asked.

He was in his usual armchair, the book he'd been pretending to read half open on his lap.

"Ventress and Vos want to go back after Bane." Echo said. "Give Fett some help."

Rex straightened.

"Excellent." He said. "The more hands they send out after Bane the better."

He paused and Fives knew what he was thinking. He wanted to go after Bane too.

It wasn't going to happen. Rex had tried to enlist that morning. He'd been denied.

Jesse and Kix had gone with him and they'd both been accepted. Fives hadn't even bothered. He knew they didn't want him.

Useless,coward,broken.

Fives took a shuddering breath. The thoughts were getting louder.

He missed Tech.

Tech didn't look shattered like Echo did when Fives told him about his thoughts. Tech wouldn't try and comfort Fives with vapid encouragement like Rex. Tech would know how to help.

But- what if Fives was too much for Tech? He had been in the past, pushing Tech to a near catatonic state. The night that Senna-

No, no no- he couldn't think of her. Her face seemed to shimmer in front of his eyes.

Failure.

As a brother, lover, and soldier.

What was the point?

"-ives. Fives!"

A hand was shaking his shoulder. He blinked up to see Echo frowning down at him. Concern creased his brother's forehead. Fives hated that look.

"You've got a message." Echo said, jerking his head towards the holo.

Fives made himself sit up and look over. The sun's light was nearly gone. Rex wasn't in his chair, and Wrecker was back from whatever errand Echo had sent him on. How long had he been sitting there?

"What's it say?" He croaked.

Echo rolled his eyes.

"I didn't look, seeing as it was addressed to you and not Senator Echo." He said. "Go read it yourself."

Fives heaved himself up and went to the holo. He didn't recognize the frequency the message was from. But it was for him, no mistake. He opened it.

Fives, It read. Please come. We need help.

Next was an address for an apartment on level 1313. It was signed by Bits.

From the top!

Yeah, this chapter is basically a set up/inbetween chapter. They're never my favorites. This one has some fun character moments, at least in my opinion, but nothing earth shattering happens until the end sort of.

I get the feeling that Phee's had a couple of partners before she's interested in Tech. And she is one hundred percent the type of person to strand a cheater on Tatooine.

Tech has totally told Omega about the birds and the bees, but in the most detached, scientific way possible. Omega does not understand the fuss. Also I feel like Hunter is a bit of a prude when he's around Omega.

So I love the idea that Wrecker wasn't fed enough for a while on Kamino because you know...angst and for a bit I was pretty sure it was a fandom creation. And then I remember the scene on Pabu, where Wrecker says he's full and that he's never full and I realized...no, this is pretty close to canon. And then I got sad.

Okay, fun fact, I wrote the scene with the system being dumb while I was at the Denver Comic Con. It was based off of my own experience. It was fun, don't get me wrong, there was just no cell service, the system for cards went down, the ATMs started running out of cash, and instead of signs, there were people yelling at us where to go. I was really surprised how much more organized my local con was. Anyway, that was my way of expressing my frustration.

More Phee and Tech. Because I love them. And have no self control. Tech's reaction to low blood sugar here is my own. Because I am useless if I have no food. Also, his reaction to an 'unsafe' texture is also my own. They activate my gag reflex and it SUCKS.

Oh hey, Ventress and Vos! Who forgot they were part of the story? Because I might have for a few minutes. In case you don't remember, they were injured by Bane when he stole the evidence.

Dun dun duuuuun Bits finally SAYS something! And we might actually learn something about him and Leaf next chapter!

Okay, that should be everything! Next chapter will be more eventful. Probably.

Stay safe, remember to review, and have a great week!