A/N: This is unbeta'd. I got impatient waiting for my brother to edit it, so some details and dialogue could change after he finally looks at it. You guys have waited long enough, though.
"We'll be coming out of hyperspace soon," Echo tells them quietly. "Let us tell you a little more about Ryloth."
It's been a day since their training with Ahsoka, and as predicted, the 501st has been sent to Ryloth. Fortunately, Cutup's heard rumors that they won't actually being going planetside, but he waits to hear what Fives and Echo have to say about it first. Domino is sitting huddled at a barracks table, keeping a watchful eye out for the rest of Beta squad, who are otherwise occupied with a loud sabacc game across the room. Ordinarily they would seek out some place more private, but their usual meeting room is being used by a bunch of deck officers at the moment. Beta will give them their privacy, though.
Fives and Echo softly give them the rundown of what they remember from Ryloth. They recount what they know of Commander Tano's actions—how her inability to follow the orders of the General and Admiral gets her squad killed and a cruiser destroyed. Echo also recounts General Skywalker's ridiculous scheme to smash a damaged star destroyer into the enemy ship. Cutup… isn't really surprised. Based on some of the things he's heard from the others, that's one of the General's tamer plans.
"Will we even be needed in this case, then?" Hevy asks once they're finished. "Sounds like the pilots are gonna be busy, but a space battle isn't something that'll affect us." He blinks suddenly and looks suspiciously at Fives. "It won't affect us. Right?"
"Whoa, whoa, why are you looking at me? No, it won't affect us," Fives tells him. "Unless we decide to get into starfighters and go try and change the results of the space battle ourselves."
Hevy flinches. "No," he says vehemently. "We're not doing that."
"Hey, I was kidding. Calm down."
Cutup blinks at his brother.
"Not a fan of flying, Hevy?" he asks.
"Not unless it's a gunship," Hevy mumbles, and refuses to expand on the subject.
"Uh, focusing back on Ryloth, guys," Echo prompts gently. "Last time, we didn't even go down to the surface of the planet. The 501st acted as air support while the 91st and 212th took care of the invasion. We won't necessarily be affected by this fight, but I'd say there is something we can try and change."
"Commander Tano," Cutup mutters. Echo grins at him.
"Figures you'd be the first one to say it," he says. Cutup rolls his eyes at him.
"It's obvious that Commander Tano is a pivotal figure during this battle," he defends. "She's amazing, but she's young. We learned this yesterday during training, remember? She's not like us. She wasn't born for this."
"Her mistake will cost us a cruiser," Droidbait points out grimly. "But if we could convince her to listen to the General… maybe the battle will go according to plan."
Suddenly, everyone is looking at Cutup. Cutup is startled by the attention, even more so when he realizes why they're looking at him.
"You want me to try and talk to her?" he says incredulously. "Guys, I—I can't do that! We're—" he hesitates for a split second, and then thinks, kriff it, "—friends, but she's still our commanding officer! I can't just go right up to her and remind her to listen to her Jedi Master! It's not my place!"
"Sure you can," Fives says. "I'd do it."
"Wh—but—Fives, I'm not you! I can't do that! I still have some respect for authority!"
"I'd take offense to that, except it's true, so…"
Cutup lets out a huff. "Listen, guys, I guess we can try to help her out, but we've got to be smart about it. We don't want to offend her, especially since we're her squad."
"Yeah, there's a chance she could take it the wrong way if we don't phrase it right," Droidbait contributes. "But I think I have an idea." He lifts his datapad. "The official plans for breaching the Ryloth blockade have just been sent out. Her command is explicitly detailed, down to the individual troopers in her flight squadron. The General was thorough."
"Your point, 'Bait?" Echo asks curiously. Droidbait lowers the datapad.
"I say we invite her down to the barracks for a 'Congratulations on your command' party. Uh, by party I mean sabacc game, though. Since the whole ship knows about it now, it won't look suspicious. We get all of Beta involved, and try to nudge the conversation towards a subject where we can hopefully influence her thoughts during the battle. We're off duty, so it's not like we'll be missed."
"She could be missed," Hevy points out. "Otherwise, it's a good plan."
"It's worth a try for now," Echo says. "If it won't work, we'll think of something else." He looks at Cutup. "Give her a call? If she's not busy, we'll tell the rest of Beta."
Cutup nods and reaches for his comlink.
She picks up quickly, which could possibly be a good sign. Maybe she isn't too busy.
"This is Commander Tano."
"Commander, this is Cutup," Cutup says, just a tad awkwardly. "We, uh, we heard the good news!"
"Good news? What news?"
"You've been given command of a squadron of starfighters!" Hevy jumps in to save him. He crams his head close to Cutup's so the Commander can hear them both. "That's pretty big news, sir!"
"Oh, that news," she says. She doesn't sound very excited. "Yeah, I heard about that, too."
Domino squad exchanges concerned looks. Cutup bites his lip.
"Well, sir, we were wondering if you wanted to come down and play some sabacc with us, as a celebration of sorts. To relax a little before everything gets hectic tomorrow." He pauses. "If you're not busy, that is."
"Nope, not busy!" she replies, significantly more cheerful all of a sudden. "Where are we meeting, the barracks?"
"Yes, sir."
"Great! I'll be down soon! See you then!"
She hangs up. Cutup punches the air in success.
"She's coming. This might work!"
"Assuming we can shift the conversation the right way," Echo reminds him.
Fives turns, facing the room and the rest of Beta squad. "Hey, guys, the Commander is stopping by for a quick game of sabacc! Who's in?"
Even Del perks up at that, abandoning the report he'd been working on. It makes Cutup smile, to see how eager they are to see the Commander.
They're her men, after all. It's about time they stopped being so wary.
"How are you feeling about the invasion plans, Commander?"
Cutup shoots an incredulous glance at Fives as he speaks. Fives is truly fearless, it seems—he has no problem asking what most clones might see as a question far out of line. Fortunately the Commander doesn't seem to mind. She sighs, and actually sets her cards down. The clones all blink at her in surprise.
They're perched in various spots around the barracks. The eight players are sitting in a circle on the floor. Cutup isn't participating this round, perched on a nearby bunk to watch. He'd managed to convince Hevy to take his spot. Coric is sitting out as well at the table, allowing Del to have a turn. Attie isn't actually playing, but he's still sitting in the circle next to Droidbait, supplying the gamblers with handfuls of his smuggled candy every time someone has a good hand.
Attie and Droidbait have been inseparable for the past day—even more so than usual. It's done wonders for Droidbait, whom Cutup knows had been having problems. He seems largely recovered, now, much to the rest of Domino's relief.
The Commander sits in silence for a moment, considering Fives' question. Out of the corner of his eye, Cutup sees Fives and Echo exchange a concerned look.
"Uh… Commander? Everything alright?"
Commander Tano sighs again.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. It's just… this will be my first time commanding a squadron in an actual battle. I want to make a good impression, that's all."
"Don't be nervous, sir" Attie tells her easily. "Every clone in the 501st respects you. I don't think you should be worried about impressions."
The Commander shoots him a grateful look, but then she frowns.
"I'm not nervous," she claims, but her voice is abnormally strained when she says it. Beta squad fixes her with disbelieving looks. She winces.
"I just… I don't know if I'm ready for something like this," she confesses quietly. "I spoke to my Master, and he has full confidence in me, but I'm… I'm not so sure."
Beta squad looks surprised. Domino fakes surprise.
"What do you mean, sir?" Nax asks. "You did fine commanding us yesterday. This isn't any different. Well, I mean, I guess it's in space, but you're a good pilot, so that's not a problem."
She huffs. "Everyone keeps telling me stuff like that. That's what Rex said, that's what my Master said."
"I'm starting to see a trend, then," Cutup contributes. "If the Captain thinks so, and the General thinks so, and we think so… I'm thinking it's true. You're strong, Commander. You'll do alright."
Cutup has the utmost faith in Commander Tano. He's seen her at her worst, and even then she'd continued to help her men until she'd collapsed from the strain. She can do this. They just have to slip the right words into this conversation, so she won't make the same mistakes she does in the first timeline.
"If you don't mind, sir, we could give you some general advice?" Echo begins carefully. Commander Tano's eyes widen. She nods at him, so he continues. "We've had our fair share of good commanding officers, and we've also had a few bad ones—which you are definitely not. The CO's that get brothers killed are the ones that think they know better than anyone else. They're too stubborn to accept support, too pompous to listen to those who actually know better. They urge brothers forwards through ridiculous risk."
The Commander furrows her brow. "Don't Captain Rex and my Master do that sometimes, though?"
"Urge us ahead, even through risk? Sure. There's a difference, though," Del answers, to Domino's surprise. "They're both experienced warriors, with uncanny sense for when we'll be able to push through or not. They lead us at the front instead of hiding behind us. They do what they can to preserve our lives instead of sacrificing us like pawns. That's what sets them apart. They don't put their lives above ours. They've also learned to understand when we're reaching our limits, so that they don't push too far."
Domino stares at their squad leader in disbelief. That was almost exactly what they had wanted to get across to the Commander.
"That… doesn't sound easy," Commander Tano mutters. "I thought I was starting to get the hang of commanding when we trained yesterday, but I wasn't paying attention to stuff like limits at all."
"It'll come with experience," Fives reassures her. "You did a fine job yesterday, sir, especially since this is your first time being in charge of a squad."
She exhales slowly. "Experience outranks everything," she quotes quietly. "I don't have as much experience as my Master does, or Captain Rex, but… I'll get there eventually."
"That's the spirit!" Hevy encourages. "Just stay calm, listen to your men and your Master, and you'll be fine. It's not like you're completely on your own. They'll be relaying orders and advice over comms the whole time."
Commander Tano relaxes at that, reaching back down to pick up her abandoned sabacc cards.
"You're right," she agrees. "I was so startled that he gave me command in the first place that I forgot he'd still be helping. Of course he's not going to leave me completely on my own!" She gets to her feet, tossing her hand back down even though she'd just picked it back up. "Thanks, guys! I do feel better about it now! I'm sort of… shirking bridge duty to be here, though, so I'd better get back."
Del looks horrified. Everyone else chuckles. Echo shakes his head.
"Get out of here, sir," he says. "Good luck tomorrow. We'll be waiting for you to get back."
She waves at them as she darts out of the barracks, looking significantly more at ease than she had been when she'd walked in.
Cutup hopes they've done enough.
They don't finish the sabacc game, simply because their own free time is coming to an end. Cutup gathers the cards back together as Beta prepares for their shifts. Domino squad is inwardly celebrating. Hevy bumps Cutup's shoulder as he passes. Fives shoots him a grin, and Echo nods.
When Cutup glances up, he notices Del's gaze on them. Cutup stills, worried that the squad leader will call them out, but Del only watches for a brief moment longer before turning back to his own duties.
Does he suspect something? Or had he just caught onto their plan to try and get the Commander to listen to her superiors? Cutup isn't sure, but he puts it out of his mind for the time being.
For now, they've succeeded. Whether or not the Commander takes their advice is up to her.
The next day, Domino squad aren't the only clones standing by the window in the mess hall. There are dozens of brothers crowded up close to be able to see. The port side mess' window is large enough and positioned just right so the clones can get a good view of the space battle. It's also one of the only places infantry men can watch without having to worry about getting in a pilot or technician's way.
The enemy blockade is pretty intimidating. A hushed cacophony of swearing ripples through the waiting clones when the Resolute comes out of hyperspace. The three Republic cruisers, the Resolute, the Defender, and the Redeemer, should be enough to take on the blockade… but it won't be easy. The Defender and Redeemer take positions on either sides of the Resolute to create a solid line of star destroyers.
Admiral Yularen's voice echoes through the ship, ordering all pilots to their ships. Cutup hopes Commander Tano isn't nervous anymore.
He doesn't like this. There's nothing more they can do to help, and as the first starfighters streak towards the enemy—Commander Tano and her men, no doubt—Cutup swallows in anticipation.
Everything begins just as Echo and Fives had described. Vulture droids swarm from the enemy ships, moving to intercept the Republic's fighters. Pinpoints of light color the empty blackness of space as the two forces trade fire. Cutup's heart skips a beat, but the Commander and her men are undeterred by the vulture droids. They continue on their path towards the enemy command ship, blasting away.
"They'll try to make a run for the battleship soon," Droidbait mutters quietly, hesitant to break the spell of silence that's fallen across the watchers. "That's when we'll see if we did any good."
True to his prediction, after a few tense minutes the squad of V-19 Torrent starfighters form up behind the Commander's sleek ship, swooping lower to head for the battleship. They appear to have a clear path to the enemy. Cutup tenses hopefully—perhaps their advice won't be necessary after all—but then he glances at Fives, and notices the tense set to his jaw.
Just when it looks like Commander Tano is in the clear, four additional enemy cruisers come out of hyperspace. There are two on each side of the enemy flagship, in perfect position to flank the Commander's squadron. It's a trap. Another round of curses comes from the assembled men. Cutup holds his breath.
This is the pivotal moment. What will Commander Tano do? The first time this had happened, she'd stayed her original course instead of falling back to protect the Republic cruisers. The droids had dealt out significant damage as a result.
The vulture droids are starting to surround the strike fleet. Commander Tano's men are struggling to avoid the heavy fire, which thickens with every moment. They aren't turning around.
"Hey, hey," a brother behind them says suddenly. "There's a couple droids getting closer. They'll break through and get to us unchallenged if no one does anything!"
"She'll come back," Cutup whispers, clenching his fists. "She'll come back, I know it."
"If she doesn't pull up right now, this'll end just as it did before," Echo hisses in horror. "We're running out of time."
Cutup grits his teeth together and stares out at the spiralling ships. The Commander won't fail them.
Without warning, the Commander's ships suddenly dart upwards all at the same time, executing neat twists that turn them back around so they're heading towards the star destroyers again. It catches the Vulture droids completely off guard, and for a moment, the enemy is confused. That's plenty of time for the Republic fighters to gun it, boosters flaring as they shoot back at twice the speed they'd been heading out. Cutup's heart leaps in his chest.
"They're coming back!" Droidbait crows triumphantly. The watching clones all exhale in relief, Domino included. Cutup resists the urge to pump his fist, then decides no one will care and does so anyway. He isn't the only one.
Something they'd said had gotten through to her.
Her fighters are moving fast enough to overtake the vulture droids that had slipped past them in the first place, rejoining the Republic fleet. Once Commander Tano's men have established a defensive position around the Resolute, the squad splits up to chase after the incoming vulture droids. The Commander's starfighter shoots past the window, rattling the glass.
Beside Cutup, Fives is no less tense than he had been before. If anything, he's more tense. He notices Cutup's curious gaze and shakes his head.
"She succeeded, but now we're in uncharted territory," Fives whispers. "For all we know, things will get worse from here on out."
Even as he speaks, a vulture droid manages to overwhelm one of Commander Tano's men. The poor brother's ship goes up in flames. Cutup flinches.
"What'll General Skywalker do now?" Hevy asks. "Those additional cruisers weren't anticipated. He'll have to adjust his entire plan now."
Echo frowns. "I'm not sure. Now our ships are defended, but the vulture droids are keeping us from going on the offensive. On top of that, those four enemy ships are coming closer. Regardless of what the Commander does, those cruisers still pose a problem."
Two additional squads of fighters rise from the ship Defender to help the Commander take on the enemy ships. Any hope of immediately taking out the enemy command is gone—there are too many opponents swarming through space. The flashes of red and blue laserfire are much closer than before.
Admiral Yularen's voice is giving orders over the shipwide comms, but Cutup can barely understand them over the pounding in his ears. It's obvious that everyone was taken by surprise by the additional enemy cruisers. The Republic fleet is outgunned, but General Skywalker isn't going to give up without a fight.
The clones watch in tense silence as the battle rages on outside. The enemy cruisers are pulling closer, just staying out of range of the Resolute's cannons.
"Don't worry," someone behind Cutup murmurs. "Their cruisers can't get any closer, otherwise our artillery will blow them to pieces."
He jinxes it.
The enemy cruisers don't come straight at the Republic fleet—all four of them suddenly swing wide, coming up on the far side of the Redeemer out of the range of the Resolute's cannons. The Resolute tries to turn and assist, but it's not fast enough. The clones gasp as all four cruisers open fire, pelting the Redeemer with plasma. The Redeemer fires back, but it can't hold out against four enemy battleships alone.
"Kriff!" Echo hisses, rising to his feet in horror. Several other clones do the same, watching as explosions rock their sister ship.
The Resolute shudders beneath their feet. It's moving, Cutup realizes with a start. Turning away from the enemy ships.
"Are we… retreating?" he says incredulously. "General Skywalker is retreating?"
"It's what happened last time, too," Echo breathes, brow furrowed. "Though I thought he might do something different this time, since the Commander's squadron survived."
An alarm begins to blare, warning of an eminent hyperspace jump. Cutup braces himself, turning his head to try and keep his eyes on the waning battle. The Republic starfighters are in full retreat, streaking back towards the Resolute. Even as Cutup watches, one of them takes a grazing hit. Flames begin to lick at the fighter. Cutup loses sight of the careening ship as it plummets towards the hangar. He hopes the brother gets out of there.
The moment the hangar doors close, the stars outside begin to blur. The jump is sudden and rough. Cutup stumbles from it, as do the rest of the clones—
It's over.
Cutup shakes his head, struggling to comprehend everything he'd just seen.
It had all happened so fast. Especially the end. Fully comprehending the chaos outside had been practically impossible.
For a long moment everyone in the mess is silent. Hyperspace swirls outside the window, casting a blue glow over the men.
"Kriffing…" someone mumbles under their breath, disbelief clear in his voice. Cutup wholeheartedly agrees with him.
Fives gets to his feet, grim-faced. He starts for the door. The rest of Domino follows him without any prompting. Only once they're in the hallway does Cutup dare speak again.
"Fives…?" he says quietly. "Where are we going?"
"To find the Commander," Fives answers firmly. "She's going to need some support."
Fives had expected to find Commander Tano in the hangar, or perhaps on the bridge with her Master. She isn't in either of those places. Instead they find her in the hallway outside the medbay, sitting slumped against the wall with three nervous pilots hovering around her protectively. The pilots' heads all snap around when Domino squad comes close. They all but bristle with hostility until the Commander speaks.
"F-Fives," she acknowledges. Her eyes are still wide, and her lower lip trembles. "Cutup, Echo, Droidbait, Hevy. Are you guys okay?"
Fives lets out a rough sigh, crouching down so that he can look her in the eyes.
"We're fine, kid," he says. He keeps his voice low, gentle—as if he's talking down a panicking rookie. Technically that is what he's doing. Fives has plenty of experience with this sort of thing. "We weren't the ones in danger. What about you, sir? Are you alright?"
She takes a deep, shuddering breath, curling in on herself a little more.
"I'm not injured," she whispers. "But—we l-lost Slammer. Axe is with the medics. They wouldn't let us in while they worked. He got hit at the end, when we were… we were trying to get back. He got into the hangar, but his ship was on fire, and he couldn't get out fast enough—Master said this is the reality of Command, and I don't—I don't want command if this is what's going to happen—!"
She's panicking. Not good.
"Hey, hey," Fives soothes. "Try to take deep breaths, okay? It'll help. You've got to calm down, sir."
Behind him, Fives is dimly aware of Echo speaking softly to the rest of the pilots, convincing them to sit down and relax for a second. He feels a pang of sorrow in their behalf. They've lost a squadmate, and another one is still at risk if they're all hanging around the medbay like this.
Commander Tano obeys him. Her breathing evens out. Once she's regained some of her composure, Fives holds a hand out to her.
"Come on, Commander," he prompts gently. "On your feet, sir."
She exhales and accepts his hand. He pulls her to her feet easily—she's ridiculously light. There's a few moments where he allows her to just breathe, pulling her mental fortitude back into place.
"Listen, I know you don't want to hear this, but you did good," Fives tells her after a moment. She bites her lip, opens her mouth as if to argue, but he beats her to it. "You did, sir. It was a trap. If you hadn't done exactly what you did, our fleet could have been seriously wounded."
"I didn't help at all, either," she mutters weakly. "If I could have gotten to the battleship, we could have taken out the enemy commander—"
"And then how many of your squad would you have lost?" Fives interrupts, not unkindly. She needs to understand this. "Commander Tano, sometimes no matter what we do, we'll lose. Some things, we have no control over. The only thing we can do at that point is try our best to survive, and help others survive. You all could have been killed. It's a miracle you weren't. You protected your men to the best of your ability."
She glances over at the three pilots who are quietly conversing with the rest of Domino, giving her and Fives some semblance of privacy.
"I… could have done better," she forces out. "I could have pulled out sooner, I could have been watching them more closely after we split up—"
"No, Commander."
Fives sends a surprised look at the pilot who'd spoken. The man stares at the padawan seriously.
Commander Tano blinks. "Swoop—"
"Sir, you did the best we could have hoped for. We were severely outnumbered, and outgunned," Swoop continues. "We wouldn't have lasted very long without your support. All of us would have been shot down eventually. It was only because of your orders that we survived long enough to retreat."
Commander Tano gapes at him for a few moments.
"Swoop's right," another pilot chimes in. "Kickback and I wouldn't have seen that cluster of vultures coming behind us that one time if you hadn't warned us."
"Tucker would have flown right into friendly fire if you hadn't seen that the Resolute was moving," Kickback contributes. "You kept us alive, sir. We owe you our lives."
The Commander swallows, hands clasped tightly together. "But Slammer—"
"It's alright," Swoop says, even though he flinches at their lost brother's name. "He went out flying, just like he said he wanted to. It isn't your fault in any way."
"There is no death, there is the Force," Droidbait mutters suddenly. Everyone looks at him in surprise, but he doesn't seem to have noticed he'd spoken. His words seem to strike a chord with the Commander, who lets out a little gasp.
"Sir?" Tucker says. Commander Tano takes a deep breath. She closes her eyes for a moment. When she opens them, her whole demeanor is… stable. Not repaired, not yet, but she isn't about to fall apart anymore.
Fives nods once in approval. She's strong. She's learning how to push past the pain. She'll be alright. Now, she's starting to look like the powerful young Jedi he'd served besides in his past life.
(Commander Tano is courageous and is learning how to be a warrior very quickly, but Fives wishes that she didn't have to. Some segment of his mind is appalled at what he's doing, teaching a child to cope with war—then again, the clones weren't given a choice, and technically, neither was she. This is all just one big mess.)
The medbay door slides open. Everyone freezes, staring up at the medic who appears in the doorway.
"Axe will be alright," the clone announces. Everyone sags in relief. The tension in Commander Tano's shoulders eases. "His burns weren't as severe as we'd initially thought. They'll be pretty easily healed by some time in a bacta tank. There was a hairline fracture in his wrist, and he had a couple broken ribs. In short, it looked a lot worse than it actually was."
"Thank the Force," Kickback mumbles. The pilots all suddenly look like they're about to fall asleep where they sit.
"Come on, you three," Echo says. "Axe is gonna be fine, but you guys need to rest."
It's telling that none of the pilots protest. Hevy, Droidbait, and Cutup offer support to their weary brothers, who stumble on the way out. The stress and exhaustion has finally caught up to them.
Fives glances at the Commander again. She's better for sure, but is she better enough to command the fleet? Fives knows what will happen next—at least, he knows what happened last time. Perhaps enough has changed that things will be different…?
The Commander's comm goes off. She picks it up.
"Hey, Snips. I've gotta talk to you, can you come down to the hangar?"
The General's voice is carefully casual. He's aware of his padawan's fragile emotions, at least, which is good. Commander Tano sighs.
"Of course, Master," she answers. "I'll be there in just a minute."
She drops the call and takes a step towards the door. She turns to look at Fives.
"Thanks, Fives," she says. A little smile flits across her face. Fives shoots her a soft grin in return.
"Anytime, sir," he answers, and he means it. "We've always got your back. Good luck."
She disappears, and Fives heads back to the barracks to join the rest of Beta. This battle isn't over yet.
Things don't go quite the same as they had the first time, but it is similar.
As it turns out, the Redeemer had managed to escape into hyperspace before being destroyed—a big change from before. Instead of losing the first cruiser and the second being heavily damaged, they have two operational cruisers and only one damaged cruiser.
Naturally, General Skywalker's plan still includes piloting the damaged Redeemer straight into the enemy ship. Which makes Fives chuckle, and the rest of Beta shoot him extremely concerned looks.
What? It's kind of awesome. Fives also has the additional knowledge that it's going to work.
Commander Tano assumes command of the other two star destroyers while the General Skywalker manages the whole blow-up-a-ship-with-another-ship part of the plan—which is mostly the same, except now she has two ships to deal with.
She'll be fine. Her plan last time had worked perfectly. Fives isn't as worried about this part as he had been before.
Domino returns to the mess hall to watch the second battle. It's just as nerve-wracking as the first one had been, but Fives has seen it before.
As soon as they emerge out of hyperspace back above Ryloth, Commander Tano gives the order to flip the two star destroyers on their sides to protect their bridges from enemy fire. The only downside is that the clones can no longer see that battle, which causes some annoyed grumbling from the onlookers as they stare out into empty space. The only thing they can do is sit and wait for something to happen.
General Skywalker's explosion, when it happens, is spectacular. They can see the glow of it even facing in a different direction. When the invasion fleet arrives, fortunately within the clone's view, victory cries ring through the mess hall. The arrival of the invasion fleet means that the bombers have succeeded in taking down the enemy cruisers.
Fives is glad for their success, but he can't shake the feeling that not enough has changed.
They'd had a whole additional cruiser to work with this time. In Fives' mind, that should have changed how the battle played out in some way… except it didn't.
He has to fight to push his unease to the back of his mind, because his brothers are celebrating. Fives isn't going to dampen the mood.
"On to Ryloth!" someone shouts, audible through the chaos. "Down with Tambor! For the Republic!"
The onslaught of cheers that erupt at the cry is deafening.
Fives grins at their battle-ready enthusiasm. The 501st won't ever go down to the surface of Ryloth—they act as strictly air support during this campaign, but the rest of his brothers don't know that yet.
When Fives glances at Echo, the grin slides off of his face as quickly as it had appeared.
Echo doesn't look too good. He's pale, expression blank as he watches the other clones. Something's wrong. Fives grabs Echo's elbow to get his attention, leaning in closer so the other ARC can hear him.
"What's wrong?"
Echo shakes his head. "Nothing's wrong," he replies, and pulls away. "I'm alright, Fives. Just thinking about what's coming next."
Fives frowns.
"Awful grim thing to be considering right now," he points out. "Relax for just a second. I know we've got to think about that, but you can afford to celebrate for just a few minutes."
Echo twitches.
"I'm alright, Fives," he swears. "Just… don't feel like celebrating. I'm gonna head back to the barracks, okay?"
Fives blinks in surprise. That's… strange.
"We'll meet you back there soon," he can only say, brow furrowed in confusion. If Echo notices that, he doesn't say anything. He pushes his way through the crowd of brothers, disappearing out the door.
Fives watches him go silently. Something is definitely not right. Echo's lying to him. But if Echo doesn't want to talk about it… Fives isn't going to push him.
Not yet, at least.
It's a moment of madness, a moment of blind fury that overtakes him in an instant. Rational thought disappears. Frustration disintegrates logic, pain smuthers compassion, and he's never wanted revenge more than he does in this moment.
Echo doesn't feel the urge to kill very often, not unless they're on the battlefield and killing is the only option left. In fact, he hadn't ever felt such urges in his first life until after Tambor.
Right now, he wants to kill Tambor.
He dreams. He dreams of pain and terror, of sharp needles and knives. Of torturous medical procedures that had torn him apart, that he'd had to suffer through without any anaesthesia because why would the Separatists waste such a valuable substance on a mere clone? He dreams of darkness, of feeling or seeing nothing save fragments of coding scrolling past his eyes. He remembers the sensation of being completely alone.
When he wakes to silence in the middle of the sleep cycle, the madness takes over.
He gets out of his bunk slowly, silently. It's easy to slip into his armor without waking anyone else, easier still to creep outside the barracks into the hallway.
His mind, so carefully regulated and sharpened by years of training, is muddled. Murky. Overwhelmed by the emotions that he likes to keep so carefully locked away. He can hide his pain even from himself as long as he has other things to focus on, but this—this—he can't—
Tambor. Tambor is on Ryloth, and Echo is close.
Echo wants revenge. Echo wants the cursed Skakoan dead. He'd suffered at the scientist's hands. He hadn't been able to help Fives, he hadn't been able to help fight off Krell or prove that the chips were a Separatist ploy. Tambor had kept Echo from his brothers and had hurt him and had forced him to work against the Republic.
Echo is going to kill him for that, and in his fury his brain ignores everything else but the urge to get revenge.
Wake.
Fives hears a voice. A quiet voice, but a voice nonetheless. He doesn't comprehend the word in his groggy mind, so he brushes it off, annoyed that his sleep has been disturbed. He rolls over and presses his face into his pillow.
Wake.
It sounds again, more insistent this time. Fives hisses in frustration, stubbornly keeping his eyes closed. If whoever's talking doesn't go back to sleep in the next ten seconds, Fives will make them regret it.
Wake!
A third time. Now Fives is fully awake, and officially irritated. Who the kriff is talking?
WAKE!
Fives jumps as the voice sounds a fourth time, much louder than before. His eyes shoot open to take in the barracks.
It's the night after the battle above Ryloth. Every clone is exhausted, recovering from the stress of the events that had occurred. All is quiet save the soft breathing of his brothers. No one even moves. Fives peers around through the dark in confusion, unsure of why his heart is pounding so frantically.
Everything seems fine. It's Fives' intuition that's struggling to accept that fact. He sits up slowly, glancing towards the door.
Nothing.
He's tempted to go back to sleep, but he knows now that he's on high alert his body won't calm down for a while. It's something he'd taken from his years of battle. Usually he's grateful for it. Now, it's aggravating. He swings his legs out of bed and stands up, stretching. A quick walk might help clear his head. Out of habit he glances towards Echo's bunk as he moves—
His heart nearly stops.
Echo isn't there.
He steps closer, standing on his tiptoes just to be sure. Echo definitely isn't in his bunk. A surge of panic washes over Fives that he tries to quash—perhaps Echo's just taking a walk, as Fives was about to do, or maybe he got hungry and went to grab a midnight snack from the mess—
He looks to the side and inhales sharply. Echo's armor is gone, too.
Fives remembers how Echo had looked after the conclusion of the space battle. Pale, quiet. He'd been shaken by something. He hadn't been alright, despite his claims.
The panic returns full force. Something's wrong. Something's very, very wrong.
Droidbait's bunk is closest. Fives goes to him and shakes him awake.
"Wha—Fives, what are you—" Droidbait slurs, before Fives slaps a hand over his mouth.
"Echo's gone," Fives whispers. "Wake the others. I'm going after him."
Droidbait goes from sleep-dazed to wide awake in an instant, eyes going wide. Gently, he removes Fives' hand from his face.
"What do you mean, he's gone?" Droidbait whispers. "Where could he go?"
Fives swallows. This could all be an overreaction, but somehow Fives is certain that something's wrong.
"I… I don't know," he admits softly. "Just—get the others, okay? I have a bad feeling about this. Search the ship, call if you find him." He doesn't even wait to see Droidbait's nod.
He snatches up his comlink and runs.
Fives hadn't bothered to put on his armor. He darts through the corridors in his blacks, eyes moving so quickly that he nearly makes himself dizzy. Every room he passes he glances into, every hallway that intersects he stares down before moving on. Echo could be anywhere.
A weary mechanic yelps in surprise when Fives rounds a corner and nearly barrels into him. Fives doesn't stop to apologize—he doesn't have time to. He doesn't know where his brother is… but he has a hunch, and he prays that he's wrong.
He runs for the hangar, and hopes with all his might that he isn't too late.
By the time he gets to the hangar, his chest is heaving. He misses the button to open the blast door leading to the hangar on his first try. The second time, he practically punches the control panel, wincing as his fingers take the brunt of the hit. He'd forgotten he's not wearing his gloves. The door slides open anyway. Fives races into the massive room and—
Stops.
All of the lights in the hangar are on, illuminating the rows of fighters awaiting their pilots. Without its bustling crew, the hangar looks eerie. Unnatural. Fives does a quick scan of the room and doesn't even see any guards.
That's strange. There's always guards in the hangar, no matter what time it is.
He takes a few steps inside, and finally sees Echo.
His brother is standing by a silent gunship, staring up at the little sliver of space visible from his position. He's fully armored, helmet and all. When Fives starts to walk closer to him, he doesn't react at all—nothing to indicate he'd even noticed Fives' presence.
This isn't good.
Fives stops a few feet away from Echo, carefully reaching for him. Now that he's nearer he can see that Echo is trembling minutely, but other than that, he still doesn't move.
Fives exhales slowly. "Echo—"
The punch is wild, hard, and completely unexpected. Echo hits Fives directly across the cheek, sending him reeling. Fives grunts, turning his face with the blow the best he can to minimize the damage, but it still hurts. The surprise hurts more, though, because Echo just punched him.
"Echo, what the kriff are you doing?" Fives gasps. He lifts a hand to his face to clasp his throbbing cheek. "Blast it, what's going on? Why are you here?"
Echo doesn't answer him. Instead, he takes a few stumbling steps backwards. Fives shrugs away his own pain and stands up straighter, peering worriedly at his brother.
Echo's posture is off. His whole body is tense. It looks like he's getting ready to run. When Fives listens closely, he can hear Echo's breathing through his helmet. It's ragged and unregulated.
Fives has seen this before.
Slowly, Fives taps his comlink to broadcast his location to the rest of Domino. Then he lifts his hands up placatingly.
"Echo," he tries again. "Hey, listen to me. Are you alright? Talk to me, brother."
Echo shudders.
"Fives," he says. "I—I thought that—"
He stops, shaking his head. Fives risks getting a little closer.
"You thought what, Echo? I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on." Fives has his suspicions, but he wants to be absolutely certain.
"I thought… I thought it was a good idea. It sounded perfect," Echo continues weakly. His voice trembles. "In my head, it was the best plan I've come up with in months. I just, I just wanted to…"
He trails off. His fists are clenching and unclenching relentlessly, as if he doesn't know what to do with his hands.
"It's alright," Fives soothes. "Keep talking, Echo. It'll help both of us if you do, I promise."
Footsteps sound as the rest of Domino enters the hangar. Fives flashes a handful of ARC signs at them, and they halt some distance away. Fives doesn't want to risk crowding Echo right now.
"Tambor is on Ryloth," Echo mumbles. His head lolls to the side. His voice sounds distant, like his mind isn't entirely in the present. "Tambor is down there. He's close. I could—I could get to him. I could stop him from hurting anyone else."
Fives' jaw tightens in alarm.
"Echo…"
"I know!" Echo gasps suddenly. "I know it wouldn't have worked. As soon as I got to the hangar I remembered what I was doing, remembered that I'd get shot down ages before getting in range of the capital. But I—I wanted to do it so bad, I wanted to kill him. I wasn't thinking, I was just moving, and if I hadn't come back to myself in time I could have… could have left." Echo sucks in a sharp breath. "I almost deserted. Just because I lost control for a few minutes—"
Fives reaches out slowly and grips the bottom of Echo's helmet. After pausing for a second to make sure Echo isn't going to lash out again, he gently pulls it off. Echo stares at him desperately. Panic, fear, and uncertainty are visible in his expression—three things that Fives does not and has never associated with Echo. Sorrow clenches at Fives' heart.
"I'm sorry," Fives rasps. "I'm sorry, Echo. I'm sorry he did this to you. I'm sorry I didn't notice you were hurting—kriff, how long have you been hiding this?"
Echo staggers suddenly. Fives grabs at him, gently easing them both to the floor.
"I didn't—I didn't even know it was this bad myself," Echo whispers. "Didn't think about it, pushed it to the back of my mind. You guys needed me more, there wasn't time to think about it. I'm supposed to be stronger than this."
Fives grabs Echo's shoulders, fingers finding little divots in Echo's armor to grab onto.
"Idiot," he says gently. "You could have told us you weren't alright. We would have helped you."
"I… I know," Echo replies. Domino squad is coming closer. Out of the corner of his eye Fives sees Hevy sign something at him:
Three guards unconscious by the wall. Does he even remember doing it?
Fives surreptitiously puts a hand behind his back to sign Probably not in response. The sign for 'probably' technically requires two hands, but Hevy understands anyway.
"Listen, Echo. You're alright now. You did come back to your senses, and that's what matters in the end. Right?"
"I shouldn't have lost myself in the first place—"
"Talking about things can help, but it isn't going to heal you all the way," Fives reminds him. "You told us what happened, but sometimes that isn't enough."
Echo's breath hitches.
"I know," he says. "I know that, Fives. But we had so much to worry about. I couldn't—it didn't seem right to focus on myself. There are so many bigger problems that should take priority—"
"Higher priority than you?" Cutup says softly, sitting on the floor next to Fives. "Impossible. Nothing's higher priority than a brother."
Echo exhales. "That's treasonous."
"We're planning to get rid of the Chancellor himself," Hevy contributes, a hint of amusement coloring his voice. He sits on Fives' other side. "I think we're all a bit treasonous."
Echo manages a tiny chuckle. The sound makes Fives grin.
"Brothers come first," Droidbait says. "Forget the Republic. I care about my family much more than I'll ever care about the Republic cause." He sits right next to Echo, bumping their shoulders lightly. Echo relaxes a little.
"Now that really is treasonous," Fives points out wryly. Droidbait shrugs.
"We were all thinking it," he points out. "The leader of the Republic is a Separatist in disguise anyway, so is it really treason? I think that's debatable." He has a valid point. Fives laughs.
Echo's trembling has stopped, but he's still clinging to a lot of his tension. The rest of Domino had brought in a lighter mood, but Fives doesn't think that's quite the right solution.
"It's okay to let it out, you know," he tells Echo carefully. "You don't have to keep it bottled up. Sometimes it helps to get rid of the emotions before they can grow into something dangerous."
"This coming from one of the most emotional clones in the whole army," Echo mutters, but he hunches in on himself a little bit anyway, hiding his face in his hands. He takes a deep, shuddering breath.
"Are you—we can't just sit here while I have a kriffing breakdown—"
"Yes, we can," Cutup reassures him. "It's okay, Echo. Stop thinking so much. We're here for you no matter what, so do what you need to."
Echo swallows audibly and nods, finally convinced.
It doesn't take long for the sobs to start. They are heart wrenching and terrifyingly out of character. Fives tightens his grip on Echo's shoulders in silent support.
Domino squad stays there for the rest of the night while Echo breaks. It's the least they can do. He's helped all of them overcome their challenges, and now it's time to return the favor.
If there's one thing Domino squad has learned from Echo, it's that breaking down is just the first step to build a will of solid titanium.
Echo had been strong before this, and now that he's finally allowed himself to break, he'll be even stronger.
A/N: There's a tumblr page for this fic! Follow 'meridiansdominoes' on tumblr if you want extra snippets of fic, headcanons, and other info that doesn't make it into chapters.
I always felt as if we never got to see the true effect that losing her first squad had on Ahsoka. Sure, she said she was upset in the episode, but other than that there was nothing. I felt like she'd be a bit emotionally compromised in reality.
I didn't mean for Fives to be in charge of comforting two people, it just sort of happened. I didn't mean for two people to NEED comforting, either. Echo's was planned, Ahsoka's was not. Also, there are a couple reasons I chose to skim a little over the space battles: I decided to focus more on character development rather than action this time around. None of Domino are directly involved with the space battle as infantrymen. Also, not too many details of the space battle are super different, and I don't like rewriting things that happened in the actual show. I apologize if you wanted more details during that section.
Thank you for your support, apologies for the wait! This chapter was more difficult to do than I had anticipated. Next time, more Ryloth... and brace yourselves.