Hevy jumps when the door opens.

"Alright, it's empty," Fives announces, stepping out of the common room. "We won't have very much time, so we'll have to explain quickly. I nominate Echo to be in charge of speaking, in that case."

"Seconded," Cutup says. "Want me to keep watch?"

"Yeah, if you're fine with that, Cutup," Fives answers. Cutup nods. "Warn any brothers away. The other door—"

"I've got it," Droidbait says quietly. Hevy sends him a concerned look, but Droidbait avoids his gaze.

That… isn't good.

Fives had been out of it for a few painful hours after the news of their failure, but he had pulled himself back together eventually, straightening with a terrifyingly neutral expression on his face. As unfortunate as it is, Fives has plenty of experience dealing with these kinds of things. It's no secret that he'd lost many brothers over the course of the war. That doesn't make it any easier to watch him shut himself down.

("It… it was going to happen, regardless of them knowing," he'd said dully. "I was just too determined to see that. Maybe we did change something. Perhaps they were able to do something different. But it wasn't enough in the end, so it doesn't matter. They're dead. We need to move on.")

Now, he seems normal, and that's almost just as terrible. How many times has he had to do this? How many times has he struggled to build himself up after such a devastating loss, to be so good at it?

Cutup and Hevy himself hadn't necessarily taken the news well, either, but with Echo's help they'd been able to keep their emotions in check.

Droidbait hadn't been able to stabilize himself for a whole day. The rest of Beta had been very concerned.

Holding grudges is one thing, but if Hevy's learned one thing about Droidbait, it's that their brother is extremely emotionally invested. They never got to see this side of him during their first life—there hadn't been anything for him to invest in. Now, they fight with purpose. They have a goal, and a big one at that. There's plenty to invest in, and that isn't necessarily a good thing.

Droidbait had thrown all of his hopes in with the 64th. This is the first time he's experiencing true loss. As the first one to die in their first life, he's never had to deal with this before. He's not handling it well, but there's not much the rest of Domino can do for him. Every time they attempt to comfort him he only pushes them away.

Echo glances down at his datapad, frowning at the spiralling numbers that Hevy can't make heads or tails of.

"My protective code should be ready," he informs them. "The Kaminoans won't be able to splice in to intercept the transmission. We're good to go. The heck did you do to clear the common room so fast, Fives?"

"Ahh—it's probably best if you don't know," Fives answers hastily. He steps back to open the door. Echo glares at him.

"Fives—"

The door slides open. Fives slips inside before Echo can question him further. Hevy stifles a grin as he follows the ARCs, Droidbait on his heels. Cutup stays outside to stand guard by the first door.

It's strange to see the commons so empty. It's only a medium sized room, but it's normally packed full of brothers. Two pool tables sit abandoned in the center. Several old couches line the wall. A couple Dejarak boards are scattered about, and a big holoscreen is centered across from the door. None of Domino typically likes to spend time there. According to Echo, Fives had during their first life, but he doesn't now.

The holoprojector sits in the corner. Fives and Echo make a beeline for it while Droidbait heads out the other door to stand guard. Hevy joins them as well, standing next to Echo as Fives punches in the holocode for Kamino. Echo uses a slender cord to connect his datapad to the holoprojector. The machine lets out a chorus of beeps.

"The signal is now being broadcasted under a protective code," Fives announces. "We're almost there."

"Wait, hang on," Hevy says, a sudden wave of panic overwhelming him. "Are we sure we can do this? We don't even know Ninety-nine's personal comm code—"

"It's alright," Echo tells him, but there's a furrow in his brow indicating that he's at least worrying a little. "We can contact their communications center. It's run by brothers. We won't get in trouble for it."
"Are you sure?" Hevy asks, uncertainty still hovering in his mind, but then the holoprojector blinks, and the image of an armored clone appears.

"This is CT-7265 of the Kamino Communications Station. This is a restricted channel. State your serial number and purpose, please."

"Uh—CT-5555," Fives says. "Listen, Six-five, we know this is a little unorthodox—"

"State your purpose, please."

"Ohhh, kriff," Echo mutters. Hevy winces. Fives scowls.

"We need to speak with Ninety-nine," he grits out. "But we didn't have his personal comm. Would you be willing to redirect us to him?"

CT-7265 gives them a flat look.

"This channel is to be kept open for emergency or official transmissions, not private calls," he says. "This is not proper proto—"

"Oi, Stucks, whatcha got there?"

The first clone's face twitches in annoyance as a second clone appears in the holoprojector, slinging an arm around the first's shoulders. Stucks shrugs him off.

"Don't call me that," he hisses. "Get off, CT-94—"

"It's Kon, Stucks," the new clone says cheerfully. He looks at Fives. "What can I do for you, brother? Sorry, this one's new." He elbows Stucks aside, who glares at them all before disappearing from view.

"Can you connect us to Ninety-nine?" Fives repeats. "We'd like to speak with him, if he's available."

Kon lifts an eyebrow.

"Course I can," he replies. "Why do you need to talk to him?"

"It's personal," Echo says before Fives can attempt to answer. "We have a couple questions for him, that's all. He helped us out while we were in training."

Kon shrugs easily. "Yeah, sure. It'll take me a sec, alright? Stand by."

He disappears. Hevy breathes a sigh of relief.

"Thought that shiny was gonna try to tear into us or something," he mutters. Fives rolls his eyes.

"Newbies think they know everything. We would have taken him down before he could get three words out, the stuck up little comm kriff—"

"Alright, alright," Echo interrupts, but there's a tiny smile on his face. "Focus, guys. We can't blame the man for doing his job. Technically he's right, after all."

"Technically my butt," Fives grumbles. Hevy barely contains a snort, face contorting, and it's just his luck that Ninety-nine picks up right then, a look of surprise on the old clone's face.

"What can I do for—oh. Is that… oh! Echo! Fives! An'... an' Hevy!" Ninety-nine beams at them. Hevy's heart clenches suddenly, and he grips the edge of the holoprojector in an attempt to steady himself.

"Hey, brother," Echo says warmly. Ninety-nine's smile brightens even further. "How've you been?"

"Ah… same as usually, Echo," he answers. "Just doing my duty. But you three—you three, you've done things, haven't you? Done things, and…" he trails off, smile fading just a little. "Where are Droidbait an' Cutup? Did…"

"Nah, they're fine," Hevy answers, anxious to wipe the sudden look of sorrow off of the old clone's face. "We had a few close calls, but all five of us are still alive. They're keeping watch for us, that's all." Ninety-nine's face relaxes in relief.

"That's good, that's good," he says. The smile returns. "But tell me about your missions, won't you? I don't—I don't really get to hear back from very many brothers, how's the war?" Then he stops, raising an eyebrow at them. His excitement dies down. "Uh, wait, did you say, keeping watch? Why?"

Hevy exchanges a look with Echo, who takes a deep breath and steps forward.

"Ninety-nine, we actually… have a question for you. We'll tell you all about our experiences later, but for right now, time's a little limited. We won't have this room to ourselves forever."

"Oh, well—go ahead and ask, boys," Ninety-nine says, curiosity evident in his voice. "What's this about?"

"We need some information from Kamino," Echo begins carefully. "The only problem is, it isn't exactly the type of information we're supposed to know."

They'd expected Ninety-nine to balk at that, but the clone doesn't even bat an eye.

"There's a lot of information here that we aren't supposed to know," he tells them. Ninety-nine tends to lean towards the side of optimism, so Hevy is surprised to hear a hint of bitterness in his voice. "A lot that I'm not supposed to know, but the Kaminoans tend to forget I'm around, so I hear… some things."

The clones aren't stupid. They know there's plenty the Kaminoans haven't told them, but it's not like they can just ask. That doesn't make it any easier to hear, though. Hevy shakes his head in sorrow.

"Heard anything about inhibitor chips?" Echo asks hopefully, and then sighs in disappointment when Ninety-nine shakes his head.

"There's a document that was released to the Republic describing the cloning process. One section of it mentions an inhibitor chip, but it's pretty short, and only describes how they prevent us from being overly aggressive."

It's the same old lie. Hevy scowls. Fives balls his fists in fury.

"Ah, kriff," Echo mumbles. "I was hoping… well. We have reason to believe that there's something… not right, about the chips. We want more information, to prove our theories."

"What do you mean, not right?"

Echo exchanges a nervous glance with Fives. Hesitating. Reluctant and worried to tell the truth. Wondering how much they can safely share.

That's when Hevy feels it.

A warmth blossoms in his chest, so suddenly that he gasps from the sensation. It's not just warmth—suddenly he feels confident, self-assured. He looks at his brothers and wonders if the old clone should know the truth.

The warmth intensifies at the thought until it is nearly scalding, but it isn't painful. He feels comfort and hope rise within him, washing away the doubt. He gasps again, and knows with instant surety that this is the Force.

"Guys, tell him," he blurts out. "Tell him everything. He needs to know."

"What? Hevy, are you sure? What if—" Fives cuts himself off, eyes going wide. His hand darts up to grasp at his chest. He feels it too. "What—?"

"The Force," Echo breathes. "Shaak Ti was right."

Ninety-nine squints at them. "Echo? Hevy? Fives? Are you alright?"

"Better than alright," Hevy says breathlessly. It's finally happened. They can tell someone, and it's right. "We'll tell you everything. But it'll have to be quick." He looks at Echo. "We're still on a time limit. How much can you explain in five minutes?"

"He'll have questions, but he only needs the basics for now," Echo says. He takes a deep breath, stepping closer to the holoprojector. "Ninety-nine… we've got a story to tell you."

Ninety-nine is silent when Echo finishes his hasty retelling of their story. For a long moment, Hevy wonders if they've made a mistake, but then Ninety-nine inhales slowly.

"The Chancellor," he mutters. "The Chancellor. A traitor." It sounds as if he's having a hard time understanding the association between those words.

"I'm—I'm sorry, Ninety-nine," Hevy apologizes weakly. He hangs his head. "I didn't want to believe it either, but… I know it's true. That man is responsible for the deaths of our brothers. He's responsible for this entire kriffing war, as far as we know, and he needs to be stopped. You've got to believe us."
Ninety-nine jerks as if he's been struck.

"I believe you," he says instantly. His gaze hardens, and he stands up straighter, fighting his hunch. "I believe you guys. This… makes sense. The deceptions, the betrayal. It all fits together. I believe you."

Hevy lets out a sigh of relief.

"I was worried you wouldn't," he admits. Fives puts a hand on his back to reassure him.

"I'll trust my brothers over Kaminoans any day," Ninety-nine says boldly. Even though Hevy thinks the same way, he still flinches to hear it said out loud. Such a statement is dangerously close to treason. "An' I also know that you five aren't traitors. You worked too kriffin' hard to get into the army to waste it on as far-fetched a theory as this one. It's got to be true."

Fives snorts, the corners of his lips twitching upwards. "Will you help us then, brother?" he asks.

"Of course," Ninety-nine answers. "What do you need me to do?"

"We think that we can find proof that the inhibitor chips carry contingency orders somewhere in the Kaminoan database," Echo says. "We can't get to it from here on our own, though. We'll need inside help."

Ninety-nine's eyes widen. "You want me to get into the central database?"

"Yeah—well, sort of. If you can get their manually, and transmit me the information over a synced system, we'll be able to get access even though we're lightyears away. I'm positive it'll work. Unless… unless you don't think you'll be able to get there."

"I can do it," Ninety-nine reassures. "I can get there. My maintenance crew cleans the main laboratory every week, I'm sure I can buy enough time for you to do whatever you need."

There's a determined set to his jaw that makes Hevy nervous. He's seen it before on every one of his brothers, himself included. It's the look of a man who's determined to succeed no matter what.

Hevy knows better than anyone that such determination can be useful, but it's also a good way to get killed.

("Do we take prisoners?")

The Kaminoans won't take prisoners. Not when it's Ninety-nine, at least. They allow him to live currently because he's useful for maintenance, that's all. If they believe he's involved in any kind of scheme, they'll kill him for sure.

"Ninety-nine… you don't have to do this, you know," he says, just a little desperately. "It's dangerous. You might get caught."

Ninety-nine smiles at him.

"My brothers are on the wrong side of blasterfire every single day. You included, Hevy. If they can handle a little risk, so can I. I'm a soldier, just like you. I can do this."

Hevy sighs. "I know you can, Ninety-nine. I just… I really look up to you, brother. I worry for you. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"There's the secret soft side Droidbait told me about," Echo teases. Hevy swats at him.

"Shut up," he mumbles.

That had been a mistake, during his first life. To act as if he hadn't cared. To pretend like the only thing he wanted was to be on the front lines.

He knows better now. Death will do that to you—it'll teach you what you truly care about. Hevy cares for his brothers. He fights so that they'll live. He'd take on every droid battalion in the galaxy for them if he could.

"I'll be alright, Hevy," Ninety-nine says. The old clone smiles at him. "Trust me."

Sithspit. He can't keep this up, not when Ninety-nine is looking at him like that. Hevy sighs. "Okay. I trust you. Just be careful."

Fives' comlink suddenly chirps.

"Guys, I've got a crowd of annoyed brothers who want there rec room back," Cutup reports nervously. "How much longer is this gonna take?"

"How soon can you get to the database?" Echo asks urgently.

"We're scheduled to clean the main laboratory again in three days," Ninety-nine answers. "We'll have to get in contact again sooner than that, though."

"Send me a written message through the datapad system," Echo says. "It's not very convenient, but it's better than nothing. I'll send you my contact number, alright?" He presses a few buttons on the holoprojector as Ninety-nine nods. "We've got to go for now. We'll talk again soon, alright? And… then we can talk about more pleasant subjects, too."

"We'll talk soon," Ninety-nine agrees. "Good luck, boys. Be safe out there."

"You too, Ninety-nine. Be safe," Hevy says. Ninety-nine gives them one last kind smile before his image flickers and disappears. The holoprojector powers down with a sad whine.

"Cutup, Droidbait, we're finished," Fives says into his comm. "Let 'em in. We're on our way out."

A flood of 501st enter as Domino is leaving. Hevy doesn't recognize any of them, they're Wave Company, but they seem to recognize Fives. They cheer at him as they go past. Echo lifts an eyebrow.

"Fives," he begins suspiciously. "What, exactly, did you promise those men if they abandoned the rec room?" Droidbait is waiting outside. He flashes a quick, general inquiry sign at Hevy. Hevy gives him a thumbs up instead of an ARC hand signal in return. Droidbait smiles.

(That's good. A sign of improvement. He hasn't done that for a while.)

"Uh, well—the good news is, it's not anything too bad," Fives says.

"Based on how pleased they seem, I find that hard to believe."

"We'll just have to pull double shifts for a few days. Ehhh… maybe triple."

"You kidding me?" Cutup bemoans, sliding out the door and joining them. "Triple? Force, how many brothers are we taking shifts for?"

"Hey, what else was I supposed to do?" Fives snaps. "It's not like I have credits to bribe them with or something!"

"Alright, that's enough," Echo sighs. "He does have a point, guys. A few extra shifts won't kill us, and it's a small price to pay for the ally we just made."

"He said he'll do it?" Droidbait asks. Echo nods.

"He said he'll do it. Here, let's go back to the barracks. We'll explain everything there."

Hevy falls in next to Fives and takes a moment to breathe.

Someone else knows their secret. It's crazy how much of a relief that is.

They aren't alone anymore.`

"You're on duty again?" Commander Tano says incredulously. "Why?"

Droidbait shrugs. "It's Fives' fault," he says mildly.

"Really, 'Bait?" Fives hisses. "Come on, we've been over this! It isn't my fault!"

This is day three of pulling intervals of double and triple shifts. It isn't actually that bad—mostly menial tasks, heavy lifting, and patrols. Droidbait doesn't mind it too much. It gives him something to do, to take his mind off of… other things.

They're currently in the hangar by the wall, waiting for the next carts of fuel to be brought in from below deck so that the labor squad can distribute the tanks to different sections of the room.

Commander Tano huffs and puts her hands on her hips. "The rest of your squad isn't on duty. Where are they?"

"Probably in the barracks," Echo answers. "It's no big deal, Commander. We owed a couple guys favors, and this is their way of cashing in."

She doesn't seem satisfied with his answer. Her eyes narrow.

"Well, this is ridiculous. As Commander, I am officially taking you off-duty."

Droidbait blinks and shares a confused glance with Hevy. She's a Commander, so it's technically fine, but at the same time…

"You can only take us off duty if you have a good reason, sir," Fives reminds her in amusement. "Otherwise, we're needed here. Those tanks aren't going to move themselves."

Commander Tano scowls. Then, her eyes light up, and she grins.

"Lucky for you boys, I do have a good reason," she says, and reaches for her comlink.

"Hey, Master, I found my squad," she says. "Can I take them off duty and go run some drills?"

"You found a squad?" General Skywalker responds. "Who is it?"

"Beta squad, Torrent Company," Commander Tano says proudly. "I fought with two of them down on Naboo. They'll have my back, I'm sure of it." She smiles warmly at Fives and Cutup. Fives gives her a little two-fingered salute in response, while Cutup returns the smile.

"Alright, Snips, go ahead," General Skywalker says. "Send in another squad to replace them, and then you're free to go."

She gives them a triumphant look once the General is gone.

"What do you mean, your squad?" Droidbait asks, just to make sure he hasn't misunderstood.

"I mean, my squad," she answers. "I decided that a long time ago, and I've been trying to catch you when you weren't on duty for the past two days, but you were always busy. I got impatient. Call the rest of your squad, won't you? Tell them to meet us down on the training level."

Echo laughs.

"Copy that, Commander," he says, and reaches for his comm to summon the rest of Beta.

The training deck is home to a multitude of firing ranges, battle simulators, and gyms that are rarely not in use. Beta squad follows Commander Tano through the busy firing range, to the largest gym on the ship. Once they've filed inside, she turns to them, and they all snap to attention.

"Okay, boys," she says brightly, "This is gonna be interesting."

Nax raises a hand like he's a cadet in a classroom. "Hey, sir, what exactly are we doing? Feeling like filling us in?"
She takes a deep breath, and suddenly her stance shifts. She crosses her arms, curling her fingers around her elbows. A sign of insecurity.

"Well, I was hoping… my Master told me that I could pick a squad to take with me on missions, if it's an operation that requires me to have one. I was hoping… that mine could be you guys."

"Of course!" Cutup blurts out immediately. Droidbait knows he really respects the Commander—his helmet markings match her facial ones, even.

"Even if we didn't want to, it's not like we could say no, Commander," Attie jokes. Del gives him a disapproving look. Commander Tano blanches.

"Well, if you guys don't want to, you don't have to, I can—"

"Relax, Commander," Echo says gently. "We're more than willing. Excited, even. Anyone who can beat us in sabacc is worthy to lead our squad, I'd say."

Beta squad murmurs in amused agreement. Droidbait huffs out a little laugh, and it feels good. It feels good to laugh. He doesn't think he's done that since they found out—

No. Not thinking about it. It's easier that way.

Anyway, he doesn't mind being part of Commander Tano's squad. He hasn't gotten the chance to fight with her yet, but Fives and Echo speak highly of her, and Cutup practically worships her. He's excited to give this a try.

Attie seems to notice his excitement and nudges him gently with a grin. Droidbait returns it. Attie's grins are infectious, he can't help it. Almost no one can.

"Well, if we're going to be a squad, we should probably get some training in so you can get used to my," she pauses, and puts fingers in the air, deepening her voice comically, "crazy Jedi stunts. That's what Captain Rex likes to say, though I think he'd add some stronger words in if he wasn't afraid to offend me."

"He'll stop caring about that eventually," Fives mutters softly. The others can probably hear, but they likely just think it's a prediction. Echo chuckles.

"This room has been set up with a brand-new holographic training system," she says, pointing upwards. Droidbait follows her finger. There's an impressive amount of machinery on the ceiling. "It can simulate a few different scenarios that we can use to practice. We can't use live weapons, so there are training blasters on the racks by the wall." She motions to Del, who nods.

"Alright, troopers, gear up and get back here ASAP."

The weaponry is identical to ordinary DC issued guns, but slightly lighter than normal, missing the key components of a live weapon. Once they've grabbed their preferred blasters they return to where Commander Tano is waiting, tapping some sort of command into her wrist-remote.

"Ready for your orders, sir," Del says smartly.

"Alright. The simulator is set on a randomly generating mode, so it'll be a surprise for all of us when it begins," she says. "Starting… now." At a click of a button, the floor begins to tremble. Droidbait's eyes widen as the holographic projector sends beams of light all around them, and at the ends of the room, the floor begins to rise in certain sections, simulating an uneven terrain.

"Uh—this isn't exactly a good place to start," Zeer points out in his steady voice. Droidbait glances around and balks—they're in the center of the gym, and the countless columns of light are forming into holographic droids.

"Aw, kriff," the Commander mutters. "I didn't know it would—"

The holograms solidify, and suddenly they are standing in the middle of a ring of clankers.

"Blast them!"

"Scatter!" Commander Tano yelps. Blasterfire rings out. Droidbait has to throw himself to the side to avoid being hit by a pale red holographic bolt. Attie hits the ground next to him, and they both scramble to their feet.

Droidbait knows it isn't real, but his heart is hammering all the same. He fires his weapon at the nearest droid. There's zero kick to the shot—he's shooting light, after all. A holographic blaster bolt emerges from his gun. The droid he'd aimed at dissolves into thin air.

Something isn't quite right, though. His whole body feels sluggish, unable to react with it's usual peak efficiency. His brain isn't quite on top of things. Why…?

He knows why. And he still doesn't want to think about it. He should be strong enough to get over it on his own.

He's more than capable of shutting off his emotions, like Fives and Echo had. He's fine. He just has to convince himself of that.

"Get to cover!" Fives yells from somewhere behind him. His shout startles Droidbait out of his thoughts. "Come on, this is real now! Move, move, move!"

Fives rarely does anything half-heartedly, so it's not a surprise to see him sprinting full out, as if in the middle of a real battle, for the raised section of the floor. Echo and Nax are hot on his tail. Closer to the wall, Coric, Cutup, Del, Zeer, and Hevy have ganged together and are making their way towards the rendezvous.

"We gotta move, DB!" Attie shouts to him, blasting at another holographic droid. Droidbait nods and pushes himself into a run, ducking under a spray of blasterbolts. They hurry for the ridge.

"SBD's on our tail!" Attie yelps when they're about halfway to safety. Droidbait turns, already firing as he does so. There are several super battle droids behind them, marching forwards with single-minded determination. Droidbait swivels to provide cover fire as he retreats, and—

His heart skips a beat as he stumbles. The split-second mistake is easily corrected, but the lost time makes it practically fatal. The droids lift their arms to fire. Instead of taking out three to buy them more time, he only gets one. It's not enough.

They aren't going to make it. The droids prepare to fire.

"Hang on!"

The Commander falls from the sky, landing in front of them and igniting her lightsaber. She deflects the holographic bolts with ease. They're apparently programmed to mock-bounce off of her blade.

"Fall back!" she orders. "I'll cover you!"

Droidbait and Attie don't hesitate. They sprint for the raised section once more, where Fives, Echo, and Nax have already begun to return fire, laying on their stomachs to fire at the droids below.

Droidbait is furious at himself. He's drilled that little motion thousands of times. It isn't something he should have messed up.

It would have gotten he and Attie killed had the Commander not been there.

Attie is drifting closer to him as they run. Droidbait can't see his face, but he knows that Attie is watching him carefully. They spend enough time together to be able to tell when something is off with the other, and Attie isn't blind. He'd definitely seen the mistake, but he doesn't say anything. Droidbait can't decide if he prefers that or not.

"Nice of you two to join us!" Nax shouts between bouts of shooting when Droidbait flattens himself to the ground next to him. "Some party, eh?"

"Yeah, some party!" Attie agrees, landing beside them. Droidbait can hear the grin in his friend's voice. "Only thing that would make it better is a whole lotta heavy gunners!"

"Someone call for a heavy gunner?"

Commander Tano is guarding the backs of the rest of Beta squad as they climb the raised section to join them. Hevy leads the group, Z-6 slung on his back to give him more maneuverability as he climbs.

For a few moments, everyone is firing from the top of the ridge. The crowd of droids thins a little, but not nearly enough.

"Alright, we need a plan. Fives, Zeer, stay on the ridge and hold the droids back," Del orders eventually. "The rest of you, behind, now."

The squad obeys seamlessly. Zeer and Fives stay put, laying down more cover fire as the rest of the clones shift, sliding down into safety behind the raised section. The Commander joins them, too, deactivating her saber. Droidbait blinks at the grin on her face.

"For your information, I've never done this before, so I had no idea that would happen," she informs them with an apologetic shrug. "Sorry, boys. We don't have a plan, and I have no clue what the objective is."

"It's alright, Commander. We'll probably be surprised by the enemy plenty out in the field. This is likely more accurate than any other simulation." The whine of Zeer's Z-6 above them makes Coric's words hard to hear. "What happens if we get hit?"

"I dunno, but it can't be that bad. It's just a holograph, after all," she says. She sticks her head up over the ridge and peers across the gym floor before looking back to them. "There's a second raised ridge on the other side of the gym, and a whole lot of clankers surrounding it. I'd say it's safe to assume taking the opposite ridge is our goal."

"More droids forming by the walls!" Fives shouts down from above. "We should probably make a move soon, Commander!"

She blinks at them, the uncertainty from before suddenly flashing across her face.

"Right, right," she says. "Uh—we'll split up. Two squads, one on each side. You guys know your strengths better than I do, you wanna form up the teams?"

The division is easy. They've done it before. Fives, Hevy, Coric, Nax, and Cutup go into one team, while Droidbait, Attie, Echo, Del, and Zeer form the other.

"Okay, what if we use one team to distract the droids and lure them to one side? Once they're distracted, team two can come around the other side and take them from behind." She glances at Del as if wanting his approval. He's nodding in acknowledgement. It's not a spectacular plan by any means, but it should work. "I'll go with the team drawing fire—Fives' team. At my signal, team two, Del's, will advance down the other side. Sound good?" At their nods, she takes a deep breath. "On my mark."

She waits for a split second longer, allowing them to prepare themselves, before initiating the charge. Fives' squad rushes out around the left side of their cover, the Commander's blade whirring as it deflects enemy fire. They disappear. Fives vaults himself off the top of the ridge into the fray while Zeer slides back down to join team two.

The moment team one is gone, a hand grabs at Droidbait's wrist. Droidbait stares at Attie in surprise.

"Droidbait, what's going on?" his friend whispers. Droidbait, not DB. That's how he knows that Attie's being very, very serious. "You don't make mistakes like that. Something's wrong. And don't," he continues, as if sensing Droidbait's desire to interrupt, "try to tell me you're fine, because you aren't."

"I—I can't—" Droidbait begins, startled by Attie's direct approach.

"Team two, advance!" Commander Tano's voice orders over their comms. Droidbait and Attie move almost on instinct with the rest of their squad.

"We're going to talk about this later," Attie whispers, and then they're diving around cover into the battlefield.

Team one has made significant progress. The droids are startled to suddenly be caught in a crossfire. The hologram captures their confused flailing well—it's easy to take them down. He hears Hevy whoop in excitement as the holographic clankers dissolve from their blaster fire.

"Head for the base!" Commander Tano shouts. "We can make it!"

"You heard her, men! Keep moving!" Del orders. There are more super battle droids ahead. Squad two lets squad one take the lead, putting the Commander in front so she can defend them. They reach the enemy ridge without much trouble, but there are plenty of droids on top, firing down at the clones below.

"Squad two, go around behind!" Commander Tano shouts, spinning to the side to protect their flank. Squad two splits off, firing up at the raised section as they go. Droidbait nails a battle droid in the head and feels a surge of satisfaction as it dissolves.

He hasn't lost it yet. He can still fight just as well as the others.

They're rushing over the top of the ridge when Zeer suddenly lets out a grunt of frustration, and the whine of his Z-6 goes quiet. Droidbait glances over at him and blinks when he sees that Zeer's armor is bathed in red light from the holoprojector. Team two's forward motion comes to a halt. Del looks back from where he'd been taking point.

"Zeer, what's wrong?"
"Got hit," Zeer hisses furiously. "My weapon is useless."

"Fall back and wait until we're finished," Del orders quickly. "Everyone else, keep pushing forward! We're almost there!"

They make it to the top jut in time to watch the Commander slice through three droids with one swing of her lightsaber. The holographs pixelate and fizzle out of sight on contact. The rest of squad one is right behind her. Coric blasts the final droid into oblivion, and then everything is silent. Everyone pauses, waiting to see if anything else will happen.

"Is it finished?" Nax asks cautiously. The Commander glances around for a split second before relaxing and powering down her lightsaber.

"For now," she answers, and looks to Del. "Status?"

"We did alright, sir," he answers a bit unhappily. "Zeer took a hit, though."

Zeer trudges up behind them. His free hand is balled into a fist.

"Sorry," he apologizes. "I was careless, and forgot that we didn't have the Commander with us to deflect fire. I got too used to it from before." The red light on his armor disappears as the program shuts down.

"It's alright, Zeer," Del tells him. "That's why we're here, to learn how to anticipate these things."

"It's not alright," Zeer snarls. "This is the second time I've taken a hit with this squad. It won't happen again."

Droidbait believes him.

"I wonder if there's a setting that'll imitate Ryloth's terrain," Commander Tano wonders quietly. Droidbait stiffens at the mention of the planet, and notices out of the corner of his eye that Echo does, too. "That's probably where we'll be stationed next, after all."

Machinery humms above them. The ridges start to flatten out, startling the clones, but Commander Tano doesn't look alarmed.

"It's resetting," she informs them. "It'll start a new scenario unless I stop it. I say we run another few, just so we can get used to working together." She's so much more confident now. Droidbait realizes this is as much for her as it is for them. "Ready, boys?"
Fives is grinning behind his helmet. Droidbait knows he is.

"Ready and waiting, Commander," the ARC crows.

Droidbait takes a deep breath and forces himself to focus as the next simulation begins.

Afterwards, Attie catches him in the hallway outside the barracks. The Teth survivor tugs Droidbait inside before Droidbait can make up an excuse to avoid him.

"Attie—"

"Oh, no you don't," Attie growls. "We're doing this now. I refuse to sit by and watch this any longer."

He shoves Droidbait down onto his bunk and sits down next to him. Coric is the only other squad member there. Fortunately, he isn't doing anything important. He gives Attie a sharp look but obeys when Attie gestures for him to leave.

Droidbait's breath hitches when Attie's eyes bore into his own.

"Okay. Now, you tell me what's going on," Attie demands. "We've been friends ever since you joined our squad, Droidbait, and I've never seen you act like this. What's wrong?"

Suddenly, Droidbait is nervous. He can't tell Attie why he's upset. He can't. Attie isn't supposed to know, even though Droidbait wishes he was.

"Attie… I…"

He stops.

Maybe… maybe Attie can help him without knowing all the details. In order to get answers of that sort, though, he'll have to bring up a taboo subject.

Attie is always grinning. He's cheerful, upbeat. He boosts morale wherever he goes. How? Droidbait doesn't understand how he does it. Attie's experienced more loss than almost anyone else. All of the Teth survivors had lost their entire company. How can Attie be so bright after such a massive failure?

Maybe he has the key to Droidbait's problem.

"How are you so happy?" The question comes out as barely more than a whisper. Droidbait is ashamed to ask it. "It hurts, Attie. I can barely stand it, but this is nothing compared to what you've been through."

Attie's eyes go wide. He looks taken aback. Droidbait shudders, certain that he's blown his chance. Of course Attie wouldn't want to talk about it. He moves to get up, but Attie grabs him before he can.

"Hey, hey. It's alright," Attie says quietly. He pulls Droidbait back down to the bunk. "I don't mind talking about it. Not anymore. Who did you lose?"

Droidbait winces. "The Sixty-fourth," he breathes, dropping his gaze to the floor. Let Attie take what he wants from that. Fortunately, it's enough—Attie sighs, and doesn't press for details.

"I'm sorry, 'Bait," he says. "I… heard about that. They were good men."

"I know they were," Droidbait replies. "Why, then—why did this happen?"

"Who knows, brother," Attie tells him gently. "Who knows. I can't answer that." He takes a slow breath. "I can answer your other question, though." He pauses for a long moment, to compose himself. Then, he begins.

"We lost… a lot of brothers, on Teth. Beta squad—they aren't our original squadmates. Del and Zeer were in the same squad, but the rest of us, we had our own teams. At the end of the day… we were all that was left."

His voice wavers just a little, but he keeps talking. Droidbait doesn't interrupt. The air around him seems to thicken with each detail Attie describes.

"We hated ourselves for surviving," he admits. Softly, vulnerably. "We wanted nothing more than to have died with our squads. I wasn't happy. I was hurt, I was tired and lonely and sad. When we got back to the ship, we stood in front of General Skywalker in the hangar that had once been filled with men. It was completely empty. Just us six. I'd… I'd never seen such a look of devastation on the Captain's face before. I hope I never see it again, because that nearly broke us. He was just as rattled as we were."

Droidbait swallows and shakes his head.

"So how—how did it get better? Did it get better? I don't—"

Attie shushes him gently. "Wait, brother. To understand, you need to hear the full thing."

Droidbait nods, and waits as Attie continues.

"We didn't know each other well. We were practically strangers. Captain Rex put us all together in a squad, in an attempt to save what the old Torrent had, but it didn't work. We didn't want comfort, we wanted everything to go back to normal."

Droidbait blinks, because that's exactly what he's been thinking. He doesn't want comfort. He wants everything to be fixed. That's why he's so stuck, because that just isn't possible.

"The squad was dysfunctional. We didn't work well together, with each other, or the new troops that were sent to fill in Torrent. It lasted like that for a while—until our first mission." His lips curve upwards, into a little smile of remembrance. "We almost died. Del was furious. He marched us back to the barracks and sat us down—chewed us out for twenty minutes, and then got really quiet. He said, 'Your brothers wouldn't want to see you like this. They'd want you to fight, and avenge them. Help the Republic achieve victory in their names.' He… brought us back. Convinced us to stop focusing on the brothers we'd lost, and focus on the brothers beside us. Our second mission together as a squad was so successful that the General came to compliment us personally."

It's still not quite the answer Droidbait's looking for. Fortunately, Attie isn't finished.

"I'm happy because I fight side by side with my brothers," Attie tells him. "There's no one I care more for in the entire galaxy than I care for my brothers. And, you know… there's no telling when a brother I care about will leave. There's no telling when I'll leave. I've lost people I care about. But I choose to stay in the present, and focus on what I do have. Do you know what the Jedi believe? They say, 'There is no death, there is the Force.' I don't pretend to know exactly what that means, but I like to imagine that our brothers are still alive, somehow, in the Force. Watching us. Cheering for us."

Attie smiles. It's like the sun has come out from behind the clouds.

"When I think about it that way, it's not hard to smile, and be happy. This is war, and we're going to lose people, but I think we'll be able to see them again. I know they'd want to see me happy, in the meantime. Otherwise they'll tease me mercilessly when I join them."

"You really believe that?" Droidbait asks curiously. "That they still exist? That they can see us?"

"Sure," Attie confirms. "Why not? Hope keeps us alive. It gives us courage, and helps us protect those we love. That's why I think that."

Droidbait closes his eyes. There is no death, there is the Force. He thinks about his own death. How he isn't actually dead, how the Force is guiding them to save the Republic.

Attie is right. This is war, and five clones can't possibly save everyone.

It helps, though, to have hope. Droidbait relaxes a little.

There is no death, there is the Force. It's very Jedi-sounding, but he… kind of likes it. He likes the version of it that Attie explained. It does make him feel a little better.

He lifts his gaze and looks at Attie. His friend is watching him kindly, giving him time to think.

"Did that… help at all?" Attie asks, a little apprehensively. Droidbait thinks about it for a second, and is surprised to realize that it did help. He has something that he didn't have before.

Hope.

"Yeah," he says truthfully. "It did help." He channels every bit of sincerity he can into his next words. "Thank you, Attie."

"It's no problem, DB," Attie responds with a relieved grin. Just like that, the solemn moment is gone, and Attie is back to his usual bright self. "Now, what do you say we go and get some food in the mess? We'd better give Coric his room back before he finds some way to get revenge."

Droidbait takes a deep breath. He's alright now. "Shots during our next med-checks, probably," he grumbles playfully. Attie shudders, then grins.

"Race you to the mess?"

Droidbait blinks. "Wait a mi—"

Attie is already sprinting for the door. Droidbait scrambles to his feet and launches himself into pursuit.

He keeps the Jedi line running through his mind. It really does help. He knows they're just words, and that they can't actually fix anything—but to him, they provide comfort.

There is no death, there is the Force.

For the first time since he'd realized he'd have to helplessly watch brothers die, he feels real hope.

A/N: Thank you so much for your support, guys! I really appreciate it! I'm starting work on the next chapter immediately, so it shouldn't be such a long wait next time.

Can't think of anything else important to add. Well, hope you enjoyed it, and see you next time!