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He sat in the floor next to the bunk Omega lay on and stared unseeingly at the durasteel wall of the Marauder in front of him. The sound of Wrecker's sobs just a few feet from him seemed overwhelmingly loud.
Just like Omega's silence.
He could hear the whir of Echo's prosthetics as he moved in the cockpit, frantic movement sounds now quieted as they had escaped the planet and entered hyperspace. Small noises for small movements. He could hear every, single, sound on board this ship.
But he couldn't hear what he wanted most.
He couldn't hear Tech.
His breath caught in his chest.
He clenched his eyes closed.
*His brother was dead. Tech was DEAD*
The thought was a gut-punch that sent the air trapped in his lungs whooshing out in a strangled, messy sound that matched exactly how Hunter felt at that instant.
His little brother was dead…and it was his fault.
Hunter could feel and hear his own heart beginning to race as his breathing became more erratic, sawing in and out of his chest in a hard, uneven pace. He leaned forward, ignoring the screaming pain in his chest, it didn't even exist for him in this moment, his hands pulling at his hair as he tried to get a grip, tried to *think*!
It was his job.
He was team leader, he was the sergeant, it was his responsibility to make sure everyone came back ok.
That everyone came back.
No one left behind.
That was their motto. Their most important rule. All they had was each other so no one was ever left behind.
Only…. He hadn't been able to do that for some time now.
He'd lost Crosshair.
Now he'd lost Tech.
He'd karked up the most important job he had.
And now everyone else paid the price, paid the price for his mistake. He should have done something different, should have demanded they all stay close, in the same car if they just stayed close everything would be all right theywerealwaysokiftheyweretogetherSTAYtogetheritwasthe ONERULE
A hand grasped his shoulder hard, pushing him back from his hunched position.
"Hunter, look at me," a strong voice with a whipcrack of authority to it had the muscle memory of the soldier snapping to obey and his head shot up even as he felt that hand, gentler now, prizing first one hand and then the other loose from the death grip he had taken on his hair. He could feel the wetness on his face, the tears he hadn't realized he'd been crying still clouding his vision. Even so, he could still see the pain he felt being reflected back from Echo's eyes.
"Come on, I need to assess your injuries, stop the bleeding."
Echo hauls him up onto the edge of the bunk Omega is in and it is then Hunter realizes his chest is on fire with pain and blood is making a steady, plip, plip sound as it drips from the tips of the fingers on his right hand. He can't tell where its coming from.
Echo helps him strip off his upper armour and vambraces before peeling away the top of his blacks. He makes a sympathetic hissing sound as he surveyed the mottle of color blooming across Hunter's torso and back. Definitely some broken ribs. A large gash in his right shoulder was the source of the blood drip down his arm.
Echo was no medic but he knew basic field medicine and had enough battle experience to know when something was bad, really bad and life threatening. Thank the Force, nothing he was seeing was the latter. He was silent as he went about mopping up the blood as much as he could before slapping a bacta patch on the gash and then began strapping Hunters ribs as best he could. He was pretty positive Hunter was gonna need a derma sealer for that cut but it could wait and the bacta would help til they could get…somewhere. The ribs definitely would need a bone knitter. He gave him a painshot and watched as Hunter nearly swayed from the relief.
He shot a look at Omega. Her unconscious state worried him. It could be indicative of a brain injury. He needed to see if the old med scanner they had was still here or if had been used for parts. Tech always carried the good one with him in his pack…
Echo paused as a flash of pain shot thru him.
Tech.
He slammed his eyes shut, took a deliberate, deep breath thru his nose, 1,2,3,4, then slowly breathed out as he locked down those emotions.
Later. He could deal with that later.
Right now, his other vod'e needed him.
Once he was sure Hunter wasn't going to bleed out or puncture a lung, he helped him stretch out next to Omega, since he knew he didn't have a chance of moving him away from her and into another bunk right now.
Echo went to rummage in the storage container where he assumed (hoped) the old scanner would be. After a few minutes pushing shit around and cursing the general lack of organization, he found it.
Amazingly, it turned on.
Thankful that at least *something* had gone right, he made his way back to the bunk area. Echo had to lean awkwardly around Hunter to check Omega. He already knew she wasn't bleeding anywhere obvious, a quick visual scan as he'd rushed to the cockpit to get them the hell off Eriadu had told him. He had trusted Hunter would have let him know if anything major was wrong, like not breathing.
He started at her head and began to scan down.
Thankfully, her helmet, inferior as it was to theirs, still helped to keep her from any serious head injury. He noted several strained muscles, her right wrist had a hairline fracture, slight fracture to the right pelvic ridge and broken tibia. Evidently, she had landed hard on her right side. It was probably for the best that she was out cold. Perhaps it was her minds way of dealing with the trauma of… what happened.
At least she was feeling no pain, physically or emotionally right now.
He knew it would come.
He had heard her screaming, seen Hunter hauling her back from the broken back edge of the carriage as she hysterically tried to, somehow, jump ship and go back for Tech.
He sighed. He may need to see if they had any sedatives. Since she didn't have any head injury, it may be best to keep her down so she didn't move and make her injuries worse.
Hunter looked at him with pain-filled eyes.
"She OK?"
Echo sighed, again. "She's got some broken bones but nothing too bad, no head injuries," he smiled weakly, "I guess she's just as hard-headed as the rest of us."
Hunter tried to smile back but it was a pitiful thing. He reached out and grabbed Echo's hand.
"You're a good vod, Echo. Are *you* ok? Are you injured?"
Echo squeezed Hunter's hand. "The one good thing about being mostly metal is there's less of you to hurt. I've got a few scrapes and bruises but I'll be fine. Right now, you, Omega and Wrecker need to rest. I've set us on course to Ord Mantell. AZI is still there. I'm gonna have it patch you guys up properly before we head back to Pabu."
"You need to get some rest too."
"And I will. Once we're on planet. Until then, I've got the watch, Sargeant." Echo said firmly.
Hunter stared at him for a moment before nodding his head and slowly letting his hand drop.
"If you're sure."
"I am. Get some rest, Hunter. Believe me, you will need it later."
Sadness suffused Hunter's face as he nodded and turned his head to look at Omega beside him. With his injuries, he couldn't turn over and hug her like he wanted to but he did reach his hand out and wrap her much tinier one in his before closing his eyes. He hurt so much and he was so, so tired. He felt like he'd been tired his entire life. He was pretty sure Echo may have popped him with some extra painkillers but right now he didn't have it in him to complain. He wanted, *needed* to escape from the world for just a while, at least. He gratefully let the meds do their job.
Echo knew the painkillers would have him out like a light for several hours, especially since he'd slipped him an extra dose into the hypo when Hunter wasn't looking. He needed it though. He knew how hard Hunter was on himself when anything went wrong for the group.
This… this was going to be rough, he understood. None of the Batch had ever lost a vod, not to death, at least. With Crosshair, there was always the hope that, one day, maybe, he would find his way back to them. They had never had to deal with the death of one of their batch before. Echo knew just how hard this was going to be. He promised himself he would help them all as best he could.
He pulled up the blanket at the end of the bunk over them both before he moved over to where Wrecker was lying. He had grown silent and was facing the inside wall of his bunk.
"Wrecker, how are you? I need to assess you for injuries. Are you hurt or bleeding?"
Silently, Wrecker rolled over and sat up and Echo could tell, instantly, that he wasn't really there at the moment. It was something he had noticed each of the Batch did occasionally, to some extent. Their tendency to disassociate when something became too much to handle was something that still caused him to worry. They had gradually told him a good bit about how it was on Kamino for them as cadets but he was well aware he probably didn't know the half of it. Even so, what he did know was enough to cause him a few sleepless nights of his own. To say they had been ill-treated would have been an understatement… and that was by their own, should have been, fellow clones and vod'e. *That* revelation had come after he and Crosshair had gone a few rounds of beating the absolute osik out of one another after Echo had one to many of Crosshair's sarcastic karking "reg" references thrown at him.
After that it was mostly used as what he liked to think of as a term of affection by the surly asshole.
Crosshair was something else though that needed to be shoved back for pondering another time.
Echo sat beside Wrecker on the bunk, moving through the triage checklist as he looked him over and checked for anything broken. Palpating his neck produced the only response he received, a hiss of obvious discomfort. *probably whiplash* he thought.
Again though, nothing he could really help at the moment. He had to grab his helmet light to check for concussion but thankfully, there were no signs of that so, aside from some facial contusions and scrapes, Wrecker seemed ok. Well, ok enough.
He told him he could lay back down if he wanted and, without a word, the big guy laid back down and turned again to face the inside of his bunk.
Echo studied him sadly for a moment before making his way back to the cockpit. He stopped on the way and grabbed a ration bar and bulb of water. He wasn't particularly hungry but he knew he needed to keep himself up. Nutrition and hydration was part of that. He hit the button to seal it behind him and dropped wearily into the co-captain's chair.
No way could he bear to sit in the other.
He stared out into the swirl of hyperspace and debated what to do next. He wasn't ready to face the chaos of emotion that opening the box on Tech's loss would bring. With the flaming osik pile they were currently in, he wasn't sure when he would get a chance to do that. He understood he would have to eventually, knew it better than his vod'ika did, who had never had to go thru what he had when it came to losing brothers. Echo understood only too well what it was to lose vode, he was the last of his batch and every single loss had cut him to the heart. It was something you never got over… but you did eventually learn to live with.
He dreaded having to teach them that lesson.
With another, deep, heartfelt sigh he sank back into the chair, trying to let the tension bleed out from his body. He dropped his eyes from the hypnotizing lights outside the ship and noticed a blinking lights on the console.
The message light.
With a slight frown of curiosity crinkling his brow, he leaned forward and hit play.
He could not stop the tears that came to his eyes at the voice that spoke thru the audio message that began to play, along with scrolling lines of files pouring down the viewscreen of the control panel.
"Brothers, I am sorry for causing you pain but know it is worth it to me to save your lives. I have downloaded the contents of my personal datapad to the Maurauder so that you will have everything you need to continue on. Yooba solus ner aliit, ni kar'tayl gar darasuum. Good-bye."
Echo couldn't help the sobbing gasp that escaped him, nor the tears that unashamedly poured down his face. He dropped his head into his hands, trying to muffle the tearing sound of the grief that ripped itself loose from the walls he'd tried to contain it in.
*Oh, Tech, my vod'ika, how will I bear losing you too?*
He was assailed with memories of his quirky vod. How they often sat and snipped at one another for fun, each oddly enjoying the bite of the others dry, sarcastic humor. His precise, formal way of speaking. All the ways he showed his care for them even if he couldn't express it more conventionally. Echo learned quickly Tech had issues with certain things, learned to reign in the physical affection that he was used to expressing with his old batch because, this one was different, they seemed to have issues with those more physical expressions of care that came so normally to him with his "reg" vod'e. None more so than Tech. Wrecker was always conscious of his strength, which was understandable, but was the most like what Echo understood, always up for anything, whether it be a tussle or hug or even a cuddle (which Echo had needed quite a bit as he had first worked thru his grief over Fives). Hunter was the next most tactile but he could tell it was a struggle for him at times as well. Crosshair was a prickly bastard but he had his tells that Echo, ever observant, learned to read quickly and, after their little, mutual beatdown session, seemed to have accepted Echo enough to occasionally be tolerant of his need for, and to, touch.
Tech was different.
He had noticed how the others seldom did more than clap him on the back or shoulder, unless it was part of training, mission-related or medically related. Had noticed when, the first time he had come up behind Tech and wrapped an arm round his shoulder he had tensed and immediately, but gently, moved himself away. When Echo bearded the rancor in its den and asked if Tech disliked being touched in general or just by him, they had all looked shocked and he had wondered if it was something they had consciously noticed and adapted to or if they had always just subconsciously noticed Tech's aversion and adjusted. Tech had matter-of-factly told him it was nothing to do with him personally, it was just that often being touched seemed to cause him physical discomfort. Not always, but many times. He didn't know why and his brothers just always seemed to know if he needed to be left alone or if he was needing "physical affirmations of affection", as he termed it.
Then he apologized.
Echo remembered telling him in no uncertain terms that he had nothing to apologize for. Everyone had different needs and limits and he wouldn't have asked if he hadn't wished to know. He then told them how difficult it had been for him after he was rescued to feel comfortable with his own body again, how sometimes being touched had helped and how sometimes even his clothing had hurt his overly sensitive skin until he was able to adapt to his cybernetic implants and being outside of a tank. The upshot of that conversation had been a new level of ease and acceptance within his new batch and a Tech who had went on a mission to investigate his various cybernetics and figure out how to adjust them to Echo's needs much more efficiently.
He learned then that this was how this batch showed their affection most often and Tech in particular, in the doing of little things. Whether it was constantly checking and upgrading each others gear to making sure Wrecker got extra rations (they didn't think he noticed but he did) and being extra quiet when Hunter got overloaded or Crosshair was obviously having migraine days.
He was not a little surprised to see how they had all adjusted when Omega had joined them and Crosshair had been taken (because he refused to believe it was anything other than that Force damned chip that had made their vod try to kill them and then feel too guilty to come back. Oh yes, he knew how that worked, but forcing him would have made it worse so..)
Echo had been hesitant, at first. After all, she may have been a vod, but he technically wasn't part of the batch she claimed as hers. Hadn't been a "defective" clone. She didn't know him, *remember* him the way she did the others. And he was always wary of how he was perceived, knew that others were put off by his cybernetic appendages and not-quite-human appearance. Kark, it was the main reason he had decided to join the Bad Batch when they offered. They had been the only ones that didn't look at him as something "other".
But Omega had even worn him down. He couldn't resist the sprite and having her wrap her tiny, little arms around him in happiness just because she evidently had decided to love him was the most incredible feeling. He knew well what it was to hug a brother, to comfort one and be with them thru all the ups and downs. He was now learning how much the same and yet, very different it was with a sister.o
He wished he had more of them to learn from.
They had all become much more forward with their affection, as if she was the catalyst they had needed to do it. None of them hesitated to reach for her when she needed help or wanted affection, not even Tech, although he had noticed him being more awkward about it. Omega herself was unreserved, which Echo found rather astonishing considering how she had been raised. She had no hesitation in turning her smiles and aak eyes on any of them. No problem showing her enthusiasm for any and everything and relentlessly physically affectionate, whether it was randomly grabbing their hands to hugging them all before she climbed into her little nest to sleep. He wondered if her extremely tactile behavior was because she was just that way or because she had been alone so long and deprived of it.
He cried now for how much pain his young vod had to face when she woke again.
After a time, he dried his eyes, looking up to check the time they had left before reaching their destination only to note the message light was still blinking. Emotionally spent and unsure what this message be, he tapped play only for the image of Phee Genoa to pop up before him, trying to appear calm as she told him she had a message from Tech and wanted to know how their mission had gone. She asked for them to contact her back ASAP.
For one, breathless, heartstopping moment, he wondered if Tech was ok. If he had contacted her from somewhere on the planet, trying to find a way off since he knew they couldn't come back for him. The sick rush of hopeful adrenaline nearly made him want to throw up.
He tried to smash it back down, he *knew* how this kind of false hope could kriff you up but he couldn't seem to help it. His hands were shaking as he punched the code in to hail her, hoping against hope she was somewhere she could answer.
She was.
He wondered what he must look like to her for her face to fall so hard.
She spoke and her voice shook.
"I got a message from Tech. Is he with you?"
Echo was suddenly vibrating with tension and mad hope. *was there a chance?*
"I got your message. When? What did he say? Did he say if he was alright?"
Phee swallowed hard… and he knew his hope was in vain.
"I got it several hours back. It was just…it didn't…" she stopped as she began to choke, her eyes filling with tears and Echo's solemn face nodded at her as he sighed deeply.
"We were stuck in a cable car in the middle of the track in the mountains. No where to go. We were taking heavy fire and it broke the connection to the cable of the car he was in. The weight of it was pulling the other care loose. He chose to save the rest of us." Echo was aware he spoke like he was giving a report to a superior but it was the only way he could speak what had happened.
He could see her swallow back on her grief and then ask in as steady a voice as she could manage.
"And the others?" she asked.
"All survived. Our car crashed into the landing bay, we all sustained injuries, Hunter and Omega the worst but we will live. We're heading to Ord Mantell now to recover."
Phee frowned. "Why Ord Mantell?"
Echo replied, "It's closer and we don't have the medical supplies we need to really patch them up. We don't want to make them wait til we get to Pabu."
Phee nodded slowly. He wondered what she could be thinking.
"I understand."
He had known, Force, they all had, that the lovely pirate was very smitten with Tech. The baby aak eyes she sported every time she looked in his direction gave her away. They had all noted how much time she and Tech spent around one another and had taken bets on whether or not she would be the one to crack Tech's oblivious-to-the-interest-of-others shell or not. Not that Tech had them knocking down his door but, Echo was observant, he'd seen the admiring looks *all* of his vod'e had received since he'd been with them. They may have been "defective' or "deviant" clones, but no one could deny they were all still very attractive. Even Wrecker with his scars had his fair share of admiring looks.
Force knew, he and Fives and his other brothers had never had any trouble landing the interest of admirers. Jango Fett had been a good-looking man. Many of them had used that to their advantage when they discovered the bigger world outside of Kamino. This was something he was sure this young batch of brothers had little experience with yet. In their defense, they probably hadn't had the time. They had never been given the privileges (few as they were) that his other vod'e in the GAR had received. He knew that they'd never been granted leave and, except the few times he had helped Hunter "pad" the mission times for command, had never experienced much of life outside of battle and missions. He smiled inwardly as he remembered a few of those "firsts".
So he knew, Tech allowing this woman to take up his time *meant* something.
He wasn't sure what, but he felt she needed to know.
It truly was, the very least he could do.
Echo's face softened for a moment. "Phee…. I'm sorry. Whatever it was he said, he thought enough of you in those moments to say it. If you knew him at all, you know how much that meant."
He could see her eyes filling again and she couldn't stop the overflow this time. She nodded again, obviously to choked to respond and instead, gave him a small salute before signing off.
The wrecked look on her face let him know just how much she had felt for his lost vod.
Feeling utterly spent and ancient, Echo sank back against the uncomfortable back of his seat and let the tears roll down his face once again as he stared into the lights outside.