Naboo is green. It's nothing like Cutup has ever seen before. Kamino is blue, always, and Rishi is nothing but brown rock, with tiny gray patches of lichen in some of the deeper canyons. To see so much green is startling, even from orbit high above the planet.
A hand claps Cutup on the shoulder, and he jumps. Fives grins at him when he turns around.
"Gorgeous, isn't it?" he says. "There isn't another planet as nice-looking as this one."
"Yeah," Cutup agrees, glancing down out of the Resolute's window again. They're in the port side mess hall, the farthest one from their barracks, but it's also the only mess hall with a window. It was much busier than normal at a time like this, full of clones all vying to get a glimpse at the new planet. "It's like a giant green emerald, in space. Does it look this good from the surface, too?"
Fives shrugs. "I wouldn't know," he admits. "I've never been to the surface."
Cutup blinks at him. Behind them, Droidbait and Hevy, who had been chatting at a nearby table, glance up in surprise.
"What do you mean, you've never been to the surface?" Hevy asks. "I thought—" he cuts himself off to glance at the brothers eating and talking nearby. "I thought you'd done this before," he finishes in a softer voice.
"I haven't," Fives clarifies. "My squad wasn't called down to assist during this mission, so we stayed up here on the ship. I don't even think it was Torrent who was called, actually, so we might have to sit this one out."
Hevy tries and fails to not look disappointed. Droidbait kicks him under the table, but it doesn't do much since they're both in full armor, minus their helmets.
"So, do you even know what's going to happen?" Cutup questions. Fives shrugs again.
"I've got a pretty good idea," he says mildly. "From what I remember, there's some droid base hidden in one of the swamps. It gets shut down within a day and a half."
"Oh," Cutup says. That doesn't sound too bad—nothing that any other company won't be able to handle.
The mess hall door opens, and a flood of men stream into the room. Some head for the food, others for the window, but one detaches himself from the throng and plops into the open seat next to Droidbait.
"Hey, Echo. How's—" Droidbait begins, except Echo interrupts him with a theatrical groan, putting his head down on the table.
"It's fine," Echo groans (his words are slightly muffled, through his arms—he hadn't bothered to pick up his head). "It's fine, I'm enjoying it well enough, I guess. But you can only stare at a computer screen for so long before you start to get a headache."
Echo's more extensive programming training had begun once the commanding officers had been recovered from their little excursion to the tiny, neutral planet of Maridun. After some initial trepidation, he had come to almost enjoy the training, as disturbing as the origin of his skills were. It was rare that he was seen without a datapad these days. His training had continued even throughout the brief trip to Orto Plutonia—a mission Domino had not actively participated in, but they had stayed busy throughout the duration of their General and Captain's absence.
Beta squad was growing quite proficient. They'd drilled squad formations and practiced endlessly at the range. Domino clicks with the Teth survivors like puzzle pieces. Cutup loves training with the rest of Beta. It makes him feel complete. Like he's truly part of something bigger, not just a lowly outpost operator on the edge of the outer rim. Between Echo's steadily advancing computer skills, Coric's medical training, two heavy gunners, a mechanic, and several other miscellaneously skilled men, they have an extremely wide range of abilities on their side. Cutup hopes they'll be the best someday.
Fives pats Echo on the back. "Chin up, brother. You get through this training, you'll be a better man for it. In several ways."
Echo lifts his head and sighs, rubbing futilely at his temples.
"I'm sure you're right," he says. "It'll be useful, for certain, at some point. But that doesn't mean I can't complain about it." He glances around at them. "What were we talking about, before I came in?"
"Naboo," Hevy answers. "But there really wasn't much to tell. Sounds like whichever company gets sent out won't have any problems."
Echo blinks and glances at Fives very, very quickly.
"It's Tide Company, I think," he tells them slowly, and then looks at Fives again. Squints at him, actually, considering something. "Fives, you didn't tell them about—?"
"No," Fives interrupts bluntly. The two ARCs have a silent conversation for a moment, eyes locked, and then Echo frowns and tears his gaze away.
"Fine," Echo says. "I don't like it, though."
Cutup is curious now, and a quick glance at the others shows that they are, too. He's envious of the way the two ARCs can converse like that—without words, without handsigns—just expression, trust, and experience that can only be gained from years of service together. The rest of Domino is working on it, they're just… not quite there yet.
"What are you talking about?" Droidbait inquires carefully. Fives waves a hand at him.
"We'll tell you later," he answers. "It'll be fine. Shouldn't affect us at all."
Fives can't lie to save his life, but he doesn't appear to be lying now. In fact, his expression is impressively neutral. Echo doesn't look happy, but he's letting Fives take the lead on this.
"Oh, come on!" Hevy complains. "I hate it when you guys do stuff like this. Just tell us what's going on, won't you?"
"It's not something we'll be able to change," Fives tells them, and they're all surprised by the seriousness he's suddenly emanating. "Even if we tried, it probably wouldn't end well. Echo and I don't know enough about it to get involved. We're staying out of this one." His voice shifts again, until it's a command tone. "Am I clear, men?"
"Sir, yes, sir," Cutup says in unison with Hevy and Droidbait, almost on instinct. "But sir, what if something goes wrong and we need to know—"
"Sometimes ignorance isn't a bad thing," Fives interrupts. "Just… be patient for a bit. Once you do find out, you'll be grateful we didn't get involved."
Hevy huffs in exasperation. Droidbait shakes his head, and Cutup sighs.
"Fine," he relents. "We trust you guys more than anyone else, we just… don't like to be kept in the dark."
"I get the feeling you'd try something stupid if you did know," Echo contributes quietly. "Sit back, let Tide Company handle this one. They'll be okay." He glances at Fives again, shakes his head, and mutters something under his breath that Cutup doesn't catch. "I'm going to head to the barracks. I might crash a little early tonight. There's only an hour until sleep cycle starts, anyway."
"I'll come with you," Fives says immediately. They stand. "Anyone else want to join?"
"In a minute," Hevy says. "I haven't gotten a good look at Naboo yet."
"Me neither," Droidbait chimes in, glancing at the window a little ways from them. Cutup just shrugs. The ARCs leave, and the moment they're out of sight the rest of Domino huddles closer together.
"Alright, what the heck is going on?" Hevy hisses quietly. "Why are they hiding stuff from us? We're supposed to be a team. How are we going to save the Republic if those two start keeping secrets?"
Droidbait fidgets in his seat.
"To be fair, if they're keeping something from us it's probably for a good reason," he justifies carefully. "After all, we are inexperienced. They could just be worried."
"They've got no reason to be," Cutup says. "Torrent isn't even going to be involved in this one. Even if we wanted to join in, we couldn't."
"Yeah," Hevy confirms. "But I'm still confused. What, exactly, are they being so secretive about?"
"Listen, does it really matter?" Droidbait interjects. "We have to trust them. Everything will fall apart if we don't. If they think we shouldn't get involved, they're probably right."
He has a point. Cutup nods slowly, but Hevy snarls.
"We aren't helpless!" he protests. "They trained us to be like them! We can take care of ourselves!"
"We've experienced a grand total of two firefights," Droidbait argues. "They've probably fought in hundreds. I, for one, am going to let them make the calls. Even if it's something strange like this. The Captain likes to say that experience outranks everything, remember? He says it all the time during training."
Droidbait's reasoning is sound. Cutup feels himself cooling down, and Hevy seems to deflate finally, as well.
"Alright," he says. "Fine, fine. I don't like it, though. This had better be a one-time thing."
Droidbait sighs and pushes himself to his feet.
"I'm headed back to the barracks," he announces. "I actually got a look at Naboo before any of you guys came in."
Cutup snorts. "Sly, that," he tells his brother. "I'm going to stay up for a little bit, actually. I think I can get my hands on a sniper rifle, at the range. Just for practice. It's been awhile since I've handled one, and I don't want to get rusty."
"Fair enough," Hevy says, and claps him on the shoulder. "Good luck. Normally I'd come with you, but my Z-6 needs a little bit of maintenance work done before she's ready for battle again. Want me to call someone from Beta to join you?"
Cutup considers for a moment. "No, it's okay," he answers eventually. "Who knows, maybe even a few minutes away from you knuckleheads will improve my aim."
Hevy slugs him in the shoulder for the jest, grinning.
"Alright," he says, and joins Droidbait in heading for the door. "Have fun, then. We'll see you later tonight?"
"Of course," Cutup answers. He picks up his helmet from where it lies at his feet and puts it on as Hevy and Droidbait exit the mess hall.
He's excited to get his hands on a sniper rifle again. He'd grown somewhat attached to the one on the Rishi Moon. It had felt right in his hands. He sets his shoulders back and heads for the range.
He's only been shooting for a few minutes when the commotion starts.
Well, actually, that's not true. When the commotions starts, he looks up from the gorgeous weapon in his hands and realizes that he's actually been shouting for an hour and a half, so it's… slightly more than a few minutes. Eh, details, details. Cutup doesn't mind staying out so late, but he hadn't planned on it—he'd just lost track of time.
The sounds of dozens of footsteps passing the range makes him pause, lifting his finger off of the trigger and glancing uncertainly towards the door. He would have been notified if he'd been needed—someone would have contacted him. Regardless, he unloads the sniper rifle in a well-practiced motion and sets it back on the rack before crossing the mostly empty range to poke his head out the door.
There's a company of men running past, in the direction of the hangar. Cutup glances at the insignia sketched onto one of the passerby's armor and recognizes Tide Company's brand—a crescent moon over a basic sketch of a wave.
Tide Company must be preparing to ship out to Naboo. Cutup watches in fascination as they go flying past. Eventually, he steps out all the way into the hallway. It's late—the sleep cycle has already started, and if he doesn't return soon the rest of Domino will tease him for losing track of time again.
"You there! Soldier, a moment!"
Cutup jumps at the shout, then relaxes, believing that someone must be talking to one of Tide Company—except a moment later a someone grabs his shoulder, spinning him around. Cutup blinks in surprise, snapping to attention automatically as he notices the designs on the other clone's armor—it's a lieutenant.
"Sir!" he barks out. "Is something wrong?"
"Not exactly," the lieutenant answers. "I've got a squad two men down. Jay and Trigger are still in the infirmary. I can deal with being one man down, but two is worrisome, especially when we're headed into the unknown like this. An extra pair of eyes should keep them out of trouble. What company are you from?"
"Uh, Torrent, sir, but—"
The lieutenant goes to his commlink and taps a button. "Captain Rex, permission to borrow a man from Torrent? He's the first free man I've come across and we don't have time to find anyone else."
"That's fine," Captain Rex replies, voice slightly distorted from a gunship's distinct engines humming in the background. "Let him notify his own squad, but make it quick. We need to be in the air within the next five minutes."
"Copy that," the lieutenant says. He deactivates the comm and motions for Cutup to follow him. "You heard the man, Torrent. Make your call on the go, we need to get under way."
Cutup is so shocked that it takes him a few moments to react. The lieutenant is already several steps ahead of him by then, so he has to jog to catch up. His mind is whirling, and suddenly his heart is beating far too fast.
"Sir, um, I don't know if—"
"It's fine, rookie, don't worry about it. We do this kind of thing all the time in the 501st. It's just to make sure no squad is less prepared than any other."
Cutup bristles at rookie just a bit, because he's not a rookie—not anymore. But he doesn't voice his protests, nor does he attempt to discourage the lieutenant's idea. The officer's voice had left no room for argument, so he swallows down his nerves and falls into step just behind his momentary commanding officer.
He decides to call Echo, because between the two ARCs, Echo is far less likely to chew him out for something that isn't even his fault. Fortunately his brother picks up quickly, on external comms.
"Hey, Cutup," Echo answers. "Are you coming back anytime soon? It's getting a little late, how much longer are you—"
"Echo," Cutup interrupts him. "I've been… recruited. A lieutenant from Tide has ordered me to join them to help a squad two men down."
There's a split second of silence. In the background, Cutup hears someone who could only be Fives exclaim, "What?!"
"Cutup, where are you?" Echo demands. "You—" He breaks himself off, and it's fortunate that he does, because the lieutenant can hear everything Cutup can. Echo takes a deep breath. "Okay, we read you. Just… stay alert, alright?" There's something strange in his voice, something that's making Cutup nervous, and he wishes they'd pressed the ARCs harder for more information about this mission. He's regretting not doing so now, and something tells him Echo and Fives are regretting not telling them, too. "Don't let your guard down at any time, Cutup. You hear me? Any time."
Cutup swallows nervously. Echo's warning him, that much is for sure, but he can't say anything else, realizing other men are likely nearby.
Why hadn't the ARCs warned them about this mission earlier? Cutup takes a deep breath.
"I'll be careful," he responds. "Don't worry about me, Echo. I'll be back soon."
Echo inhales sharply, audible even through the comm. "Just… don't do anything stupid, brother. If you come home with injury number five, we're going to have issues."
Cutup blinks in confusion as he steps out into the hangar behind the lieutenant. He's only been injured once…?
Oh. The strange inflection of his voice on the word 'five'... something about Fives. Is Fives coming? How in the world is his brother going to pull that off?
"I copy, Echo," he replies carefully. "See you in a bit." Then he hangs up, because the lieutenant is glancing back at him, motioning him into a gunship. The men inside welcome him and the lieutenant as they steps inside with slaps on the back and grins that he can't see (but senses, beneath their helmets). Captain Rex is there, too, speaking quietly to someone (probably General Skywalker) over his comlink.
"You the replacement, for now?" a Tide clone asks, elbowing Cutup playfully. "Good to have you on board, brother. We're always in need of extra eyes."
Cutup grins—admittedly a bit tensely. "I thought as much, from looking at Tide's scores at the range," he quips, and gets pounded on the back several more times for his boldness. Good-natured chuckles fill the gunship as the doors slide shut, sealing them all inside.
Cutup is nervous. He knows something is off about this mission, he knows that he's not supposed to be here. Something is terribly wrong, but he can't leave now, not without calling his own loyalty into question. That's not something he can risk. In silence, he listens as the gunship rises up into the air and lets the grin slip off of his face.
"What's your name, brother?" one of his temporary squadmates asks.
"Cutup," Cutup answers. "Yours?"
"Sergeant Docks," the clone introduces. "I'm in charge of this squad, so you're under me. You'll be taking the left-mid position of a standard triangulated formation, understood?"
Cutup salutes. "Yessir," he snaps out. "I'll do my best, sir." Docks nods at him in approval.
"Listen up, men," the lieutenant suddenly says, addressing the rest of the squad. "This is an important mission. We'll be capturing a Separatist base that's been found buried beneath a swamp, and recovering the Senator of Naboo, who was taken captive. Naboo is a vital system to the Republic, it cannot fall. We must succeed here, am I understood?"
"Sir, yes, sir!" Cutup shouts with the rest of the men, just as the flight of the gunship becomes unsteady with atmospheric entrance.
Captain Rex ends his commlink conversation and draws his DC-17s. "Lock and load, boys," he orders. "We're the advance team, so we're going in first. At the ready, men!"
Cutup grips the DC-15A someone passes him and tries to steady his breathing.
He's going to get chewed out for this by the ARCs later, he can practically sense it. Echo and Fives didn't want any of Domino involved for some reason. But what else is he supposed to do but follow orders?
For now, he just needs to focus on surviving the fight, so his brothers will have someone to yell at after this is all over.
"Are you kidding me?" Fives snarls. "Are you actually kidding me—kriff. This is bad. This is really bad."
Cutup has just hung up, and Fives is pulling on his armor at top speed, movements almost frantic in haste. Echo is doing the same, but he's not quite as fast as Fives.
Cutup is going straight down into the hands of the Blue-Shadow Virus, and he doesn't even know it.
"You guys alright?" Droidbait asks, peering over at them in confusion from his spot at the barracks table. "What's with the armor? Is everything—?"
"Cutup got himself into trouble," Fives barks out. "I'm going to go get him out of there. All of Tide can't fit into a single set of gunships, there's bound to be at least one more group going out."
Droidbait's eyes go wide. Hevy had been dozing on his bed, but he sits up at that, jerking to his feet.
"What? We're coming too!" He reaches for his armor.
"Oh, no you don't," Fives growls. "This is dangerous enough as it is. You're not coming." The chances of losing someone will increase dramatically with every man Fives allows to join him.
"Yes, we are," Droidbait argues. "Cutup is in trouble. We learned this the first time we took that test on Kamino. We never leave a brother behind."
"Yeah," Hevy agrees. "Whatever the problem is, we'll take it down. I don't care if it's droids or bounty hunters or even sith, we've gotta help him—"
"No," Fives hisses. "You aren't. Coming. Is that understood? It's not—" He cuts himself off, shakes his head, and snatches a DC-15S from the rack on the wall. "It's not something you can fight, hothead. That's why it's so dangerous." He remembers seeing the handful of survivors brought back to the Resolute after the virus had been cleared from the underground base—remembers how sickly they had looked, with dark bags beneath their eyes and discolored veins crisscrossing visibly just beneath their skin.
He remembers that a few men had still died even though the Generals had brought back a cure.
Echo is nearly finished dressing, but as Fives turns and rushes for the door he turns back.
"Echo, stay."
Echo freezes just before putting his helmet on, and they all see the look of fury that flashes across his face.
"Fives," Echo snaps out dangerously, but before he can continue, Fives lets out a tortured breath, pressing a fretful hand to his head.
"Echo, please. If the virus—if we both die, they'll need someone who knows things about the war to lead them. And… they deserve to know the truth."
Echo deflates, shoulders slumping. "They should have known the truth in the first place, but I don't think it would have changed anything," he says regretfully. "Cutup got recruited. Even if he had known what was going to happen, he wouldn't have been able to get out of it."
Fives balls his fists. "I'll bring Cutup back," he swears. "I promise you guys that. Stay here. I won't be too long."
Echo nods once. His eyes meet Fives' for an instant.
Don't die, his expression begs. Fives sets his jaw.
I won't, he makes his face say. He fills it with determination and confidence, and then whirls on his heel, exiting the barracks at a full-out sprint.
He'd thought it would be best to not reveal the full story of Naboo. He'd thought it was a kindness. Droidbait and Cutup, especially, had been very distraught by knowing what was going to happen to some of their brothers but not being able to do anything about it. Fives had thought it to be for the best that they not even be made aware of it, if only to spare their consciousnesses for a little longer.
He'd worried they'd try to take the situation into their own hands, like they'd wanted to do earlier.
They'll be furious with him and Echo when they learn the truth. Fives had made a bad call, by not trusting his brothers, and he knows there will be consequences for it.
Later. He'll worry about that later. For now, he needs to make sure Cutup returns to them alive.
The secondary attack team is just taking off when Fives barrels into the hangar bay. He swears when he sees the gunships beginning to take off and redoubles his efforts, feet pounding against the metal floor beneath him. Someone in the last gunship sees him coming, and the side doors remain open for an instant longer than usual—long enough for brothers to reach out and hoist him into the gunship just before the doors close.
"That was close, brother," a clone tells Fives as the ARC recovers his breath. "Nearly didn't make it. You would have gotten so many demerits for that—"
His voice suddenly cuts off, and Fives knows it's because he's noticed Fives' armor is lacking the distinct crescent moon and wave insignia of Tide Company.
A hand grips Fives' forearm firmly, but not aggressively. Fives looks up into the helmeted face of a brother whose name he does not know.
"Kriff, mate, you know how much trouble you'll be in for this?" the clone asks incredulously. The rest of the clones are quiet, even the two squad leaders who must be present based on the number of men inside. "You'd better have a good reason for this."
The only reason he hasn't been kicked out yet is because they're already under way.
Fives heaves a sigh. He is going to be in trouble for this, but that's nothing he isn't used to. The only difference is that he won't have the kama and pauldron to protect him this time around.
"I have the best reason to come," he explains. "I've got a batchmate down their, recruited with the advance team. He's good, but he'll do better with a squadmate watching his back."
The clones are silent for a moment longer, watching him carefully. Fives knows they understand what he's doing and why—the real question is, will any of them report him on it?
Dogma would have, had he been here.
Fortunately, there are no Dogmas among the crowd today. The clone holding his arm releases him and pats his shoulder once.
"Be careful, brother," the man says. He's probably a squad leader. "We can't protect you from the higher-ups, but we'll help you if we can."
Fives nods in silent, sincere thanks and takes a deep breath to let a wave of battle-calm wash over him. He's never been to Naboo—this is new territory for him, and the first time this event had occurred he'd been little more than a shiny still. He hadn't bothered to go over the fine details of the battle, and he regrets that deeply now.
He's going to have to wing it.
Fortunately, he's always been good at that.
As they had approached Naboo on the ship in the days before they had reached the planet, the ship-wide sleep cycles had been adjusted minutely until they were aligned with Naboo's night and day. As a result, it's dark when the doors of the gunship open. Cutup has to squint to make out anything below—not that there's much to see. It's a literal swamp down there.
"We're approaching the hot zone," the Captain Rex informs them over the rush of the wind and the whine of the gunship. "We'll be rappelling in, there's not a big enough open space for the gunship to land."
A ways in front of the gunship, an explosion is visible through the trees. The gunship adjusts its course to head towards it.
"Commander Tano's begun a distraction," the pilot informs them. "We've been instructed to give her a hand." The gunship steadies, hovering over the jungle and disturbing the cloud of smoke that had gathered from the explosion. "We're over the drop zone, boys, stay safe out there!"
"Drop the ropes!" Captain Rex orders. "Let's move, men!"
Sergeant Docks grabs onto the rope and backs out of the gunship, rappelling down into the darkness below. Cutup is right next, and without hesitation he follows—he's done this in training before, and he's not about to show his nerves to men who aren't even in his Company.
It's a long way down, but he grips the rope tightly as he descends. He catches a glimpse of the jungle at the ground level as he passes—and then he's going even lower, inside an underground facility lit by harsh artificial light and streaks of blasterfire. When he reaches the floor he drops off of the rope and instinctively moves for the outside of the hallway, returning fire at the droids who have appeared farther down the corridor.
There's a few SBDs, and a horde of ordinary battle droids. Cutup takes careful aim and lets instinct take over. He takes down two battle droids in quick succession—the first, right in the head, and the second in it's chest. A super battle droid starts to advance, aiming higher—at another clone who's rappelling down from the gunship. Cutup takes a quick step forward and incapacitates it with a well-placed shot to it's hip joint, sending it crashing to the floor before it can take the shot.
"Down!" someone shouts from behind him. Cutup drops without a thought, barely avoiding a stream of blasterfire that streaks over his head. Sergeant Docks hits the deck next to him, and both of them wince when they hear a brother cry out in pain.
Cutup scrambles to his feet. He's raising his gun again and struggling to steel himself against the wave of droids in front of them, when a blurr darts past him, headed straight for the droids.
He doesn't really get a good look at whoever it is, but that doesn't matter, because a moment later he notices the bright green blade slashing through the air. Commander Tano is fast. Agile, too—she bounces off the walls themselves, deflecting the droid's fire with ease and grace that Cutup is immediately envious of.
He almost forgets to fire, actually, he's so impressed. She's deadly and aggressive, cutting the droids down and leaving them in smouldering pieces on the ground. In the wake of her charge, more troopers press ahead, firing all the while. Captain Rex runs past Cutup, twin pistols blazing in his hands.
"Forward, come on!" he urges. Cutup takes a deep breath and follows.
Commander Tano is making it a little hard to focus. Cutup is enchanted by her lightsaber. It acts as an extension of her body, whirling through the air in captivating arcs of green. He watches it deflect a dozen blaster bolts in quick succession, and realizes with a start that her skill is the only thing keeping him and his brothers from harm.
He's never seen a Jedi fight in real life before. The recordings they show on Kamino don't do it justice. Cutup is in awe, and he isn't the only one.
"Kriff, she's fast," a Tide brother gasps out next to him. "How many clankers does she go through per battle? Her kill count is probably off the charts!"
"Focus, boys!" Sergeant Docks chides, taking down a battle droid the Commander hadn't quite gotten to yet. "We're not out of trouble yet!"
As if summoned by his words, two droidekas round the corner, and Cutup swears under his breath.
"Rollies!" someone cries. The droidekas unfold themselves. Cutup frantically takes aim, as do most of his brothers, but they're too slow—the shields go up, and the droidekas start firing.
Two brothers go down before anyone can react, and then the clones are shouting, halting their advances and searching desperately for cover that simply doesn't exist in such a narrow hallway. Commander Tano places herself directly in front of them, deflecting all that she can, but it's not quite enough. Another brother falls, this one too close to Cutup for comfort. There's only seven clones left.
"Fall back!" Commander Tano orders. Her voice is strained. The droidekas have a much higher firing rate than any other droid, and she's being pushed back by their attack. The clones obey, clustering closer together behind her in an effort to stay inside her protective range.
They lose two more men. Cutup grits his teeth and keeps firing, even though he knows it won't do any good. The droideka's shields are holding, and no one has large enough weaponry to penetrate them.
"I can't hold them!" Commander Tano grunts out. Cutup tenses, ready for the full order to retreat, but before it can be issued, the whole hallway trembles, and then the ceiling starts to cave in. Cutup nearly panics until he realizes that the ceiling is only crumbling in a single spot—right above the clankers. The rubble crushes the droidekas even through their shields. When the dust clears, General Kenobi of all people is standing in the middle of the wreckage, looking pleased with himself.
Cutup's jaw drops. He's glad he's wearing a helmet.
"Need some help?" the General asks. Commander Tano lets out a sigh of relief as several clones drop down from the hole in the ceiling—a bomb squad, if their almost entirely orange armor is of any indication.
"So good to see you, Master Kenobi," the commander says. She uses her free hand to wipe sweat from her forehead as she joins the Jedi Master. Rex motions for the surviving clones to follow as the Jedi begin to move forwards again.
"Things are going well," Cutup hears Kenobi say. "The lab is secure, and hopefully Anakin has reached Padmé by now." The Jedi reach the split in the hallway a moment before the clones do, but Cutup knows there's more trouble because Ahsoka re-activates her lightsaber.
"We'll keep the droids occupied!" Ahsoka shouts as General Kenobi and the bomb squad take off in the opposite direction. Her lightsaber is already a green blur, spinning gracefully through the air and leaving trails of light in its wake.
Between the glorious sight of Naboo earlier, and now this, Cutup decides that green is his new favorite color.
There's not as many droids in this section as there had been in that very first hallway. The Commander doesn't need any help—there's only three of them, and her blade cuts through the machinery as if it's butter. Once they're taken care of, the Commander turns back to her men.
"You boys okay back there?" she asks, and there's a quick flash of uncertainty that crosses her face when she realizes there's only four of them left. All at once Cutup is struck by how young she is. She's tough enough that he hadn't bothered to consider her age. He remembers what Fives had said about her earlier—just as fierce of a warrior as any brother—and believes it wholeheartedly.
"We're good, kid," Captain Rex says. "What's our next move?"
Commander Tano considers. "We might as well search out some more clankers to fight while my Master and General Kenobi are occupied with the virus bombs. Let's clear the whole base."
"We're with you, Commander," Rex replies, nodding once in approval. "Let's go, men! On the double!"
Cutup falls into step behind the Captain. There's not too many of them left. The Captain, Cutup, Sergeant Docks, and the man from Tide who had been equally impressed with the Commander earlier are all that's left. Cutup doesn't know what had happened to the lieutenant who'd recruited him earlier.
In all honesty, Cutup can't believe he's alive. He'd acted no differently from the clones who'd been killed earlier—pure luck had kept him from sharing their fate.
"Sir," Cutup says quietly to the Sergeant as they run. "I was recruited on short notice for this mission. What are virus bombs?"
Sergeant Docks explains. Cutup sort of wished he hadn't, because there's a sinking feeling in his gut as he realizes that neither of the ARCs had said anything about the Blue Shadow Virus.
Something bad is going to happen. Cutup can almost sense it.
They're racing through another hallway searching for something to shoot when the Commander's commlink lights up. General Skywalker's voice is audible.
"Ahsoka, we've got another situation. Send all the clones to search the facility! We've got a missing—" Commander Tano leads them around a corner, and they nearly run right into General Skywalker's team. General Skywalker blinks at them and shuts his comlink off with a deft motion, continuing in person. "We've got a missing bomb, and a trigger-happy mad doctor on the loose."
Oh, no. Cutup can easily see where this is going, and why the ARCs were so reluctant to reveal what they knew. The Blue Shadow Virus is a legendary plague, one the clones actually had been taught about due to the massive amounts of planets that had succumbed to the disease years before. It's an important section of the galaxy's history. For an airborne strain to exist… Cutup can't even imagine the damage it would do to a human body. He tightens his grip nervously around his weapon.
Somehow he knows the virus is going to be released. Knows it as sure as he knows Kamino is wet.
Perhaps he can stop it. He's here already, despite the wishes of his brothers, so he might as well try and fix it. Men will die if he doesn't.
Commander Tano orders a sweep of the facility. For a while, Cutup is distracted with searching for the missing virus bomb, scanning rooms full of strange science experiments that put him on edge. They even find containers full of the original virus, contaminated water that appears normal… though everyone knows better.
Cutup is getting more anxious with every second that ticks by, half expecting the virus-leak alarm to go off any second.
From the Commander's commlink, Senator Amidala's voice cuts through their frantic search as they're running to the next room.
"Ahsoka, I found the last bomb!"
Commander Tano immediately swerves down a different corridor to head for the other woman's coordinates. The sudden motion catching the clones off guard. They have to scramble to keep up with her.
"Stay there!" Commander Tano instructs the Senator firmly. "I'll get the bomb squad." She switches frequencies. "Bomb squad, this is Commander Tano. Send a man to meet us at Senator Amidala's coordinates, immediately. She's got the missing bomb."
"Copy that, Commander," a clone replies. "I'm sending Graham."
"Tell him to hurry!" Commander Tano says urgently. "We don't have very much time!"
They take two more turns, following the Senator's coordinates, and burst into the room where the woman and gungan are. Senator Amidala is holding the explosive, eyes a little wide as she watches the timer tick down.
"The droid got away, but we managed to get the bomb," she informs them. She's obviously nervous, but she remains composed. Cutup is dimly impressed with the way she stows her fear away.
Footsteps approach, and a bomb squad clone who could only be Graham bursts into the room. His helmeted gaze zeroes in on the explosive, and he shoves his way through the rest of the clones who aren't fast enough to move out of his way. Cutup has to jump out of his path to avoid being pushed aside.
"Sorry, Senator, I'm thinking you should probably hand that over to me," Graham says as he strides up to her. The Senator hands it over instantly.
"Oh, come on, that was to be my souvenir!" she mock-complains, but there is a slight tremor to her voice. Commander Tano puts a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Graham gets to work. Everyone is silent as he does so—afraid to speak and distract the specialist from his job. That being said, despite the danger and the ticking down of the timer, everyone inches closer, intrigued by the very item that could kill them if Graham makes a single wrong move.
The timer ticks down, closer and closer. Graham's fingers are wedged deep into the inner workings of the device. After what seems like an eternity, he reaches for the pliers he'd set on the floor next to him, and cuts one of the larger wires so quickly that if Cutup had blinked, he would have missed it.
Graham's final motion is so fast and so sudden that everyone gathered around him automatically flinches back, but then he exhales in relief and sets the bomb down.
"Deactivated," he says. Cutup can imagine the pleased half-grin on the other clone's face as he continues and says, "Plenty of time to spare."
Cutup glances at the frozen timer and shakes his head disbelievingly. Bomb Squad troops are truly something else, because based on the timer another few moments would have killed them all. Graham doesn't even look rattled.
Everyone takes a moment to breath, because that had been awfully close.
"Nice job, Graham," Commander Tano compliments. "You're a lifesaver." Captain Rex claps a hand onto Graham's shoulder approvingly.
"Just doing my job, sir," Graham says, but he's proud, and rightfully so.
Cutup hears more words being exchanged, but he can't really concentrate on them now, because… it's over. They've succeeded. The bombs have been stopped, the droids are taken care of, and the Generals seem to have cornered the mad scientist.
It's over, and… nothing bad had happened. The virus hadn't been released.
Cutup hadn't changed anything. Had he? His mere presence couldn't have been enough to stop the virus from being released.
...Could it have been?
He's so confused. He's learned to never let his guard down in situations like this, but… everything seems to have worked out.
Can he afford to relax? After all… the day is saved. They'll leave this facility soon enough, and then Cutup will be on his way back to the Resolute.
He finally takes the risk—he relaxes, and allows the tension of uncertainty to drain from his limbs.
The mission is over. They've won.
And as far as Cutup knows, they've done a much better job this time then last time.
If there had been room to pace in the gunship, Fives would have been pacing. He has to settle for shifting uneasily instead, something that he knows is making the other clones curious, but he can't help himself.
The second advance team had been denied entrance to the facility. Extra troops, in the confined space of the underground lab, would only hinder those already inside. The gunships have been hovering for what seems like ages, waiting to see if a call for reinforcements will be made.
Fives is getting anxious. He needs to get down there and get Cutup out, immediately—but he can't. The gunship doors are firmly closed, and even though his brothers have allowed him to join them, he's not so sure they'll let him get away with such a blatant level of disobedience.
"I'm sure your batchmate is fine, brother," one of the clones attempts to reassure him, but Fives refuses to be reassured. None of them know what's coming, understand what's about to be released into the world.
A voice comes over the comlinks—General Skywalker's voice. Fives tenses in anticipation, but the words the Jedi says are not the ones he wants to hear.
"The day is ours, gentleman. We'll be out of here soon. Team two, you can return back to the Resolute. We're nearly finished."
Fives swears under his breath and clenches his fists. The Virus will be unleashed soon, just on the crest of victory. No one sees it coming.
There's a mixture of cheers and complaints coming from the clones around him—some happy for their Company's success, and others disappointed they won't get to see action.
"Alright, we're headed home," the pilot announces, and the gunship's engines start to whine in preparation to stop hovering and return to the Star Destroyer.
Fives sucks in a quick breath and makes a decision. He's not leaving Cutup down their alone.
There's an emergency door-open button covered by glass on the side of the gunship. Fives steels himself and shatters the glass with his elbow, hitting the button in the same motion. An alarm sounds as the doors slide open.
The sun is just beginning to rise, on Naboo. It nearly blinds Fives for an instant, but he squints against the natural light and shifts closer to the edge of the ship.
"What the kriff are you doing?" a brother asks incredulously. The other clones are scrambling in alarm, confused and struggling to figure out his intentions. Fives looks down into the jungle as the gunship lurches unsteadily. "Soldier, stand down! Stand down!"
Fives is expecting the hands that reach out for him. He bats them away with ease and secures the end of a rappelling cable to the gunship, letting it dangle down to the ground below.
"Are you trying to get killed?" someone shouts.
Far below, an alarm starts to go off inside the facility, audible even this far up. Fives remembers skimming the reports of this mission in his first life and remembers what that means: They've discovered that one of the bombs is missing it's core, and that the virus could be leaked at any moment.
It won't be long until the virus is really leaked and the base goes into lockdown. Fives only has a short window of time before he's locked out. On top of that, the gunship is moving now, just beginning to pick up speed. He has to go, now.
"Are you crazy?" a clone yells.
Fives takes a deep breath.
"A little," he answers, and jumps.
A/N: Nothing was really changed during this chapter, but that's kinda the point, this time around.
Headcanon that all of the companies in the 501st are named after water-related-things. So, torrent, tide, wave, rush, etc..
Hope you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for all the support so far! We're just barely getting started, there will be more soon!