"Fives. Fives!"
Fives blinks, roused from his nap by the nervous whisper of his name that sounds right in his ear. He rolls over, hissing when his eyes are exposed to the light of the barracks. Cutup is hovering by his bunk. There's a datapad clenched in his hand, and is face is pale. Fives rubs a hand over his face to shake off his drowsiness.
"What's wrong, Cutup?" he mumbles.
"I thought you said we wouldn't be involved with the invasion force!" Cutup hisses quietly. Fives raises an eyebrow.
"We're not," he answers, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "We're here for air support only now, the infantry isn't—"
"No, Fives, look." Cutup shoves the datapad at him. Fives accepts it, sighing when he sees the official document containing the 501st's new set of orders. He starts to skim the document… and then he sees the line.
… deployment to the planet's surface to assist the 91st Mobile Reconnaissance Corps with routine sweeps of the surrounding civilian towns to eliminate remaining hostiles using stratagem Epsilon 2-4-1—
"What," Fives says without really meaning to. "What—Cutup, is this…?"
Cutup is still hovering next to his bunk, fidgeting anxiously. "These orders just came in a few minutes ago. I don't… well. I brought them to you first."
Fives swings his legs to the floor, focusing back onto the datapad. He begins reading it much more carefully this time—Cutup's right. The orders call for the 501st to land on Ryloth.
Fives grits his teeth so hard that his jaw aches when he finally opens his mouth.
"This… didn't happen last time. We've got to call the others. Where are they?"
"Hevy and 'Bait are covering shifts for two of those guards Echo knocked out the other night as compensation for the trouble," Cutup explains. "Echo's at the range, I think."
"Call Hevy and get him back here," Fives orders quickly, getting to his feet. "I'll call Echo. Where's the rest of Beta?"
"No one here except Coric," Cutup says with a meaningful glance back towards the front of the barracks. "They're probably with Echo."
Fives takes a deep breath.
"Call Hevy and 'Bait," he repeats. "We've got to figure out what we're gonna do about this."
There's not much they can do about this, but Fives' mind is whirling anyway. What's changed? What's going on? Sure, they had wanted things to change, but with change comes a lack of knowledge. Fives has no idea what's going to happen on Ryloth. They've lost the only advantage they'd gotten from coming back. What if—?
Fives forces his whirling thoughts to slow and reaches for his comm to call Echo. He'll be able to think things through much better with the rest of Domino at his side.
"So, what's changed?"
They're back in the little conference room that's been turned into Domino squad's discussion room. One of these days Fives is sure they'll walk in on an officer meeting or something, but for now the room remains open, and private.
Echo taps his fingers on the table, tilting his head. "Plenty's changed," he answers. "We just didn't really think about it. We had other things on our mind." He sighs. "We've got to get used to looking for these kinds of things."
Echo… is better. While he doesn't act much differently from how he'd acted before, there is an air of acceptance and resolution around him now. He's not completely healed—not by a long shot, but he's more at peace with his past life. That's all Domino can ask for.
"Last time, you lost two cruisers," Droidbait points out. "This time we only lost one. We still have two fully operational star destroyers, which is more than enough to provide support to the ground forces through infantry."
"A lot less brothers died this time, too," Hevy contributes, which does make Domino feel a surge of triumph. "Both pilot-wise and collateral damage-wise. We're better equipped. Also, the orders didn't exactly say we'd be participating in the main push of the invasion. It talked more about the surrounding establishments. I think we'll be picking off any straggling clankers still hanging around the towns so that civilians can go home."
"Great, urban warfare," Fives mutters. "My favorite. Where any sniper-droid with half a processor can take out a whole squad in less than three seconds. Nice."
Droidbait goes pale. Hevy and Cutup fall silent. Echo sighs again, kicking Fives' shin under the table. Fives feels a flicker of guilt. He forgets, sometimes, that the rest of Domino squad aren't battle-hardened like the members of Torrent Fives had served with during the end of his life. His harsh statement would have prompted bitter agreements and spiteful jokes from the likes of Jesse, Kix, or Hardcase, but Fives' batchmates can't hear things like that and remain unconcerned.
"Sorry," Fives mutters to the silent room. "Sorry, guys."
"So what are we going to do about this?" Hevy finally asks to break the silence. "No one knows anything about what's going to happen down there. How are we going to…" He trails off. Stay alive? goes unsaid, but everyone's thinking it.
Fives isn't worried about staying alive himself.. He and Echo both have plenty of experience with these kinds of situations. It's the rest of the squad that he's more concerned about.
"Look, guys, the key is to not panic," Echo says. "We've been training for things like this for ages. We know what to do, we know how to act as a team. The simulations we've been running with the Commander are supposed to mimic Ryloth's terrain, remember? It's not as if we aren't prepared."
"But this is different," Cutup points out. "It's not—" He pauses, takes a deep breath as if trying to steady himself. "It wouldn't be a big deal if we were… regular clones. It wouldn't matter, because we'd be glad to die for the Republic. It was honorable to die for the cause. That's what I truly believed when I died. Remember?"
Fives remembers, but that had been a long time ago. Around the invasion of Kamino he'd stopped thinking like that.
Cutup continues. "We're not just clones anymore, though. We know things. We can't afford to risk dying for the Republic now, because if we do, the same things that happened last time will happen again. It's different. We have to survive. Before, it didn't… it didn't matter if we came back or not."
"It mattered to us," Fives mutters. Cutup lets out a bitter little chuckle.
"It didn't matter to any real person," he replies. Fives doesn't have a good response to that, because Cutup's not wrong.
No one had cared about Tup when his chip had malfunctioned except other clones. General Skywalker had shown minimal concern, and that was just because Tup had killed a Jedi. Not because one of the men he'd served with through thick and thin was teetering on the edge of insanity.
"We'll be fine, guys," Echo tries again. "Commander Tano will probably be with us, remember? And we aren't alone. The rest of Beta will back us up as much as we need. They're all veterans. We've got some of the best men in the whole GAR watching our backs."
"You three aren't rookies anymore," Fives adds. "You've gotten instruction most troopers only dream of getting. Have a little more faith in yourselves, won't you? We didn't give you ARC training for nothing."
Hevy is nodding, clenching his fists.
"Fives is right, guys. We've got all the skills we need to survive this." He looks over at Fives. "So what, exactly, is the plan?"
Fives frowns. "A set plan will be hard to develop until we have more information on exactly where we'll be and what our objective is. We could come up with some basic ideas for some of the more likely scenarios, though. Echo?"
Echo perks up just a little. This part of him has never changed, not even after becoming an ARC. He's always liked running different scenarios to find the plan most likely to succeed.
"I can think of a couple things we can start with," Echo begins, leaning forwards in his seat. "It's likely, based on the orders, that we'll be fighting within civilian establishments. That means we want to cause as little damage to the surrounding buildings as possible. I can't imagine we'll ever be facing the droids head on. It's gonna feel a bit more like guerilla warfare. If we go through a couple different situations for door-breaching, sniper retaliation, and the like… that'll be good. There are also some urban-maneuver ARC signs we can review—"
The door to the conference room slides open without warning. Echo cuts himself off mid-sentence, eyes going wide. Fives whips around towards the door, rising in his seat. Droidbait jerks as if about to bolt. Hevy and Cutup freeze in horror.
Del stares at them from the doorway, one eyebrow raised. He takes in their shocked expressions calmly.
"I was wondering where you five had disappeared to," Del says neutrally. "We're having a meeting in a few minutes. Come back to the barracks?"
For a long moment no one replies, still struggling to recover from their surprise. Eventually Echo swallows audibly and gets to his feet.
"Sure, sir," he answers casually—too casually. If Del notices, he doesn't say anything. Fives and the rest of Domino rise to follow Echo out, but Del fixes Fives with a stare that makes him tense.
"Fives… a word?"
Kriff.
Had Del heard their conversation? What does he know? Fives spends the few seconds it takes for Domino to file out of the room shoving back his panic. Echo shoots him a nervous look, but there's nothing he can do.
What does Del want? Fives can't give him the answers he's probably looking for.
When the door closes behind Echo, Fives braces himself and turns to face Del, not bothering to hide the confusion on his face.
"Sir, what—?"
"Fives, just… let me talk for a second," Del interrupts. Fives falls silent obediently, body straightening to attention involuntarily.
This can't be good.
For just a moment, Del just watches him carefully. Fives keeps his expression blank until Del finally starts to speak.
"Listen, Fives. I don't pretend to know too much about you and your squad," he begins. "But there are some things that I do know."
Fives nearly stops breathing.
"I know that you're all far from rookies, despite what the records say. I also know that whatever you were doing before you were stationed here had something to do with General Ti. Is that correct?"
It's… correct, technically. Enough so that Fives can simply nod. That had ended up sort of becoming their cover story, after all—that they had run top-secret missions underneath Shaak Ti's guidance before being assigned to the Rishi Moon Outpost.
"You can't give me details, can you," Del states. Fives just stares at him carefully. When he doesn't get a response, Del exhales slowly.
"You and Echo are both incredibly proficient with hand-to-hand and firearms. The rest of your men are good, too—not quite as good as you, but they're getting closer every time they practice. You use hand signals none of the rest of us are familiar with when you think we aren't paying attention. You huddle together and whisper every time anything of importance happens, and your entire squad will disappear for hours on end without a single word of warning. I'm assuming that's when you come here?"
Fives finally finds his voice.
"It's a safe place for us to discuss what we have to, sir."
It's useless to attempt to lie at this point. Del, and likely the rest of Beta, have picked up on many of Domino's quirks. They're suspicious now.
"Would I be correct in assuming you won't give me any fine details?" Del asks.
"Yes," Fives answers bluntly. Better to be brutally honest, like he'd been when accepting his punishment for the whole blue-shadow virus incident.
"Why can't you tell me?"
"It's not the right time yet," Fives says without having to think about it, because it's not. He knows deep in his bones that Del shouldn't hear their story yet. He remembers how it had felt when they had realized they were supposed to tell Ninety-nine everything. The wave of confidence and strength and warmth had not been his own, it had been from the Force. Right now, the Force is silent. It's not time.
Del makes a frustrated noise in the back of his throat. That answer isn't nearly enough for him.
"I'm just worried, Fives. It's my job to keep Beta alive, and if there are important things you aren't telling me, that's going to make my job difficult."
Fives tilts his head. "What, skill set wise? You've seen us all in action—"
Del waves his hand.
"No, not like that. Let me put it this way. There are things about us—those of us who served on Teth—don't like to talk about. We've been through things that we don't even discuss among ourselves. Emotional baggage, if you will. I'm sure you and your men have similar problems from… whatever you were doing before this. These are things that can affect our efficiency in battle, and your secrecy is making it hard for me to figure out what's going on."
For a long moment, Fives is frozen. He understands Del's concerns perfectly, and the sergeant is right. Beta squad should be aware of Domino's weaknesses in order to properly compensate for them.
Fives takes a deep breath, letting the tension in his body drain away.
"Droidbait… is afraid of Commando droids. He's better now, but he still freezes for a split second before engaging. Hevy can get angry really quickly if he loses control of himself. So much so that he'll be blinded by it. Like I said with Droidbait, he's getting better, but it's still there." Even though he's divulging team secrets, things that Fives has been aware of but didn't have the heart to address, he doesn't feel guilty about it. These things are important for Del to know. "Cutup likes to keep his back to a wall. He's not a fan of large open spaces. He'll get uneasy around large lifeforms, too. Echo…" He has to pause for a second to think. "Echo won't let anything affect his performance in the field."
"That's not what I asked," Del says. Fives sighs.
"Echo doesn't like needles," he reveals carefully. "He doesn't like most medical equipment, actually. Currently he's not a fan of Skakoans, either. He didn't like computers for a little bit, but I think he's recovered from that."
Del's brow furrows, but he doesn't press for more details. "And yourself?"
Fives huffs out a humorless laugh.
"If I see a Besalisk, I'm more likely to shoot first and ask questions later," he says bitterly. "I have no love for the Coruscant Guard."
"You've been to Coruscant?"
"Yes," Fives answers.
Del stares at him for a moment.
"That's not all," he finally says, and Fives wants to laugh again, but he restrains himself. Of course that's not all, but if he tried to go through every single trigger the entirety of Domino squad has they'd be here for hours.
"That's all that will be relevant for now," he replies. Del dips his head in acquiescence.
"Fine," he says. Then: "I'm making you my second-in-command."
It's so different from what Fives had expected to hear that for a moment he doesn't comprehend Del's words.
"You—what?"
"Well, unofficial second," Del corrects. "I can't promote you, not yet. But if something happens to me, I want you to take charge. I know all of my men's problems, you know all of your men's problems. This way, someone with the authority to make calls can represent both sections of our squad. We're still separated, Fives. If we're going to become a cohesive unit, we need something like this."
"What about Zeer? I thought he was your second," Fives asks.
"I already talked to him about it. He had no problem stepping down. Your men already see you as their leader, Fives, no matter what I do. This will help us trust each other more."
Fives takes a deep breath. "Okay," he says. "That's fine. I can do that."
Del claps him on the shoulder gently. "Thank you," he says, completely sincere. "I know it's not easy to talk about things like that."
"It's fine," Fives says automatically. He takes a deep breath. "You needed to know. I should have told you some of these things before." He's responsible for Domino squad now, and he kicks himself mentally for not thinking about this sooner.
"This is the first time we're going into a potential large-scale firefight," Del points out seriously. "I didn't need to know until now, and I appreciate you being willing to… well, somewhat answer my questions."
Fives is ashamed to admit that he hasn't done much interacting with Del outside of training. Del tends to be quiet outside of giving orders, making him seem like a stickler for the regs. This is an entirely new side to their Commanding Officer that Fives very much respects. Del is doing his best to keep them all safe.
"Come back to the barracks with me," Del invites with a gesture. "The others are waiting, and we have a mission briefing to go over. We don't have much time."
Fives squares his shoulders and nods.
"Right," he replies. "Let's do this."
"Hey, Beta squad! Any of you remember me?"
Droidbait blinks as the gunship pilot's voice comes through the speakers above their head, just audible over the rumble of the engines. They haven't taken off yet—they're waiting for Command to give them the final green light.
Droidbait is nervous. Fives and Echo had given them a quick briefing on what to expect from urban warfare, but it wasn't nearly enough to get Droidbait to relax.
"Should we?" Nax answers the pilot, tilting his head to look up towards the speakers. "We fly in a lot of gunships, you know!"
The pilot scoffs. "Yeah, yeah, I know that," he grumbles. "I just thought… well. You shouldn't know me, but Domino might. I'm the pilot who picked them up off of Rishi. The name's Flak."
"Huh," Cutup says from just behind Droidbait. "No, we don't remember you, but thanks for that," he responds.
"We were too out of it to really care about who our pilot was at the time," Echo points out. Flak lets out another grumble.
"Yeah, whatever. No one remembers the pilots, anyway. Dunno why I expected anything different." He sounds so disappointed that Droidbait can't help but feel sympathy for him.
"We'll remember you now, if it's any consolation," he calls out. Flak huffs audibly over the speakers.
"I should hope so. You're practically assigned to me now that you're with Commander Tano."
Attie nudges Droidbait in the arm, tilting his head to indicate confusion.
"Commander Tano?" he mutters, and it's right then that the side door slides open to provide entrance to a small, lithe figure—the commander.
"Sir!" Coric says in surprise. The medic had been rummaging through his medpack to take stock of his equipment, and he slings it back onto his back as he speaks. "What are you doing here? We thought you'd be busy helping the General with air support!"
"I was," Commander Tano replies, waving a hand dismissively. "I helped for a few hours, until I was cleared for a break."
"A break… Commander, you do know what the definition of break is, correct? Coming with us down to the planet's surface with us isn't a break." Fives points out incredulously. She doesn't look tired, but Droidbait knows that doesn't necessarily mean anything.
"I'm fine, Fives," Commander Tano says cheerily as the gunship doors close with a quiet whoosh of air. She takes a spot near Del and Cutup. Zeer shifts aside to make room for her as she reaches up to grasp at one of the hooks. "I've been sitting in a starfighter all day. If anything, I'm sick of holding still. I think a mission might actually be good for me."
Droidbait… is skeptical of that, and from the amount of helmet tilts around him, he's sure he isn't the only one. Aerial firefights are supposed to be some of the most stressful combat situations possible. She really should take a break. He's considering saying something when Commander Tano sighs, waves her free hand.
"Honestly, boys, I can hear the disapproval. I promise I'm fine. Master Skywalker gave me permission. This is our first chance to go on a mission together, it's good practice!"
She has a point. Droidbait shrugs and dips his head.
"Just… be careful, sir," Del says after a moment. She grins at him before turning her gaze up to the ceiling.
"Ready, Flak?"
"I've been ready for the past fifteen minutes, but someone had to keep me waiting," Flak replies good-naturedly. Commander Tano tosses her head back and laughs.
"Sorry, sorry," she apologizes. "It won't happen again, I swear. Are we good to go?"
"We're good," Flak confirms, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Just waiting for your say-so, now. A few other Torrent squads are coming down with us to handle other sectors of the town. On your mark, sir."
"Let's get this show on the road," Commander Tano quips. "Take us down, Flak."
"Copy that, Commander."
The gunship's engines kick into a higher gear as it finally lifts off of the ground, smooth as silk. Flak is talented. No wonder he's Commander Tano's assigned gunship pilot.
Droidbait takes a deep breath and curls his fingers around his DC-15.
It's finally time to see if all of their squad-training has done any good.
When Flak opens the doors, Droidbait winces as tiny specks of sand and dust plink softly off of his armor. The gunship's engines kick up a cloud of loose grime. Beside him, Commander Tano lets out an irritated sound as she cups her palm around her face.
"Be careful out there, boys," Flak advises as he lowers them to the ground. "Watch the Commander's back. I won't be able to assist you very much. We can't cause any damage to the civilian homes, so my heavy guns aren't an option. Only call if it's an emergency, or for extraction. I'll try to stay nearby."
"Understood," Del says, raising his rifle. "Stay sharp, boys. We're being dropped behind cover, but that's no excuse to stop paying attention."
The gunship gently touches the planet's surface. They disembark quickly, as they'd trained to. The feel of the ground beneath his feet startles Droidbait. Ryloth's terrain is rocky, a little bit like Rishi's had been, but there's a fine layer of dust underneath his feet that makes it a bit difficult for his boots to gain any traction. Droidbait wonders dimly if the dirt has always been there, or if it's a side-effect of the several-month-long war that's been raging across the planet.
Flak had dropped them off by the side of a courtyard, where a stone wall provides cover from any potential enemies. As the gunship lifts away, sending up another wind edged with gravel, Beta squad gathers together.
"Alright, boys, here's the plan," Commander Tano begins. "The scouts that looked through this town reported a few straggling droid patrols who haven't yet gotten the message that the Republic is winning. We're to clear the eastern side of the city, while Delta squad takes the west side. The scouts put down motion trackers to help us, but so far none of them have been tripped. Until then, we're going to have to do this the old fashioned way. We'll stick together unless there's need to divide and conquer. Sound good?"
"Yessir!" Droidbait calls out with the rest of the squad—quieter than usual, since they are technically in enemy territory.
He pushes down his nerves in favor of feeling anticipation over finally getting to add more tally marks to his armor. He doesn't have nearly as many as he'd like.
Ryloth's evening sun turns the entire sky pink, casting a reddish glow over the town. Droidbait keeps his eyes moving—not just to stay on the lookout, but also to get a glimpse of the life a civilian might have. There's not too much to see right now. They're walking in a ghost town. Their footsteps seem to echo around the buildings, even when Droidbait purposefully lightens his steps like Fives had taught him to. The sandy-colored stone buildings are silent, long abandoned. Droidbait shivers as they follow the street out of the courtyard.
"Wish I could see this place when it isn't the creepiest thing I've ever experienced," Attie mutters from just behind him. Droidbait turns his head to nod in agreement, eyes scanning the buildings again.
The homes aren't large. Most are about two stories high, with tan awnings stretching above the doorways. Farther in the distance he can see larger buildings towards the city center. He glances inside an open door as they pass by. There's a little table in the middle of the room, and there must be some sort of food still there because a cloud of little native insects have gathered to help themselves to the abandoned goods. The civilians had left in quite a hurry.
The squad begins is adjusting to the width of the street by the time they've walked a block, falling into proper place to watch each other's backs. Del is in the front, with Commander Tano and Hevy just behind him. Droidbait, Attie, Echo, Nax, and Cutup follow, keeping Coric at the center of the squad. Zeer and Fives bring up the rear. It's good, but not quite good enough. They need to learn to organize themselves within seconds of landing.
In Droidbait's defense, this is only the third planet he's been on. He hadn't been allowed outside on Rishi or Kamino, either, so they hardly count. This is different from anything he's ever seen before. He makes the mistake of glancing up into the sky and winces when his HUD flashes a warning at him, struggling to compensate for the glare of the sun.
Someone nudges him gently on the shoulder. Droidbait jumps, but it's just Echo. He can't see his brother's face, but something in Echo's body language is emanating gentle chastisement.
"Hey, hey, focus," he murmurs. "I thought you might get distracted. We've got a job to do, remember?"
Droidbait winces. "It's just—" he starts to say, and then gets sidetracked for a split second when his boot knocks against something that skitters and rolls across the ground. It's a little blue ball of some sort—for a civilian game, no doubt. "It's just… I'm curious, that's all." He gives himself a little shake. "It won't happen again."
Echo nods. "Good," he says seriously. "We aren't here to poke around, we're here to clear this town of hostiles."
"Aw, kriff—sorry, sorry," Droidbait apologizes, resisting the urge to kick himself. He'd barely realized his mind was wandering from the mission. What if something had happened?
Behind him, Attie comes a little closer, no doubt sensing Droidbait's shame.
"Relax, DB. We guessed it might happen, so we've been overcompensating for the past couple minutes. Just be grateful it was Echo who talked to you and not Del. My sergeant chewed me out so bad for zoning out like that on my first mission planetside."
To Droidbait, Echo's quiet disappointment is worse than anything Del could yell.
"It won't happen again, I swear," he repeats.
"I know it won't, 'Bait," Echo says. There is a tiny hint of apology in the shift of his body, but he doesn't say anything else. Rightfully so—Droidbait had messed up.
Beta squad continues to weave their way through the buildings. They check carefully around every corner and stick to the sides of the road where at least one side of them is covered by a wall. They glance in windows, too, making sure no hostiles are hidden in the residences. Now that Droidbait is focused, he can sense the tension in the air. Everyone is a bit on edge, frustrated by the lack of visibility caused by the neverending buildings. Even Commander Tano has gone uncharacteristically quiet. Her fingers tap on the hilt of her lightsaber restlessly.
Sudden blasterfire in the distance makes them all flinch. Del's free hand juts into the air, closed into a fist. Everyone freezes.
For a long moment, nobody moves. Del says something quietly that Droidbait can't make out. He's talking into his radio, and after another long second he relaxes.
"Delta squad engaged a small squad of clankers they found holed up by the market," he informs them. "They've got the situation under control." The whole squad breathes again. Del glances back at them, taking in their positions. Then he looks at the Commander.
"Sir?"
"Let's keep moving," Commander Tano says. "They don't need help. Besides, if our scouts are to be believed there are several more little squads like that stumbling around. Let's keep searching."
As they advance, the tension thickens again. Droidbait finally understands why Fives hates urban warfare so much. The buildings cast long shadows that could be hiding anything, and the rooftops overhead are perfect positions for snipers. At any moment, they could be ambushed. Separatist droids have distinct sounds, but they aren't incapable of moving quietly. Droidbait keeps his eyes moving and his finger near the trigger of his gun.
As they're passing an alleyway, Zeer suddenly lets out a grunt, stopping to turn towards the darker passage. Del calls for a halt, waiting as Zeer slings his Z-6 across his back and disappears into the alley for a moment. When he emerges, he's dragging the crumpled body of a battle droid behind him.
"It's still warm near the core," he says gruffly. "Couldn't have been here for more than an hour. Droids run hot under the sun."
"No blaster marks," Fives notes from the back of the unit. "Ran out of juice?"
"Most likely," Nax agrees, stepping forwards to inspect the machine. He glances at Del, fingers twitching eagerly. "Sir, if you want, I could get into it's processor and find out what it's most recent set of orders were. That could possibly give us a clue towards where the rest of them are hiding."
"How long?" Del asks. The mechanic shrugs.
"Fifteen minutes, give or take," he replies. "Less if Echo helps. I can do the wiring while he messes with the code."
Del hums. "It might not be helpful," he reminds Nax, who shrugs.
"Maybe, maybe not. Commander?"
Commander Tano is frowning.
"We can't stay here for too long," she says. "We've got to keep moving, and the sun will start going down soon. If we don't get any info from that tinny then we'll have wasted time we could have spent searching other blocks. We're close if it's still warm. I say we keep going."
Nax's shoulders slump, but he doesn't protest, stepping back from the droid.
"Alright, sir," he relents. "Just keeping our options open."
"Sorry, Nax," she apologizes, lips twitching upwards. "Another time, alright?"
Nax doesn't get a chance to respond. Just as the Commander's sentence ends, a bright red alert flashes across Droidbait's HUD. He can tell the others have gotten it, too, because suddenly everyone stiffens.
"Guys?" Commander Tano says.
"Motion sensor alert," Cutup tells her quickly. "The ones the scouts set up earlier. One of them's been triggered. It's close."
"How close?"
"Half a mile," Coric answers. "It's the one by the temple."
"It could be nothing," Hevy points out. "What kind of creatures live on Ryloth?"
"Gutkurr," Echo says. "Or lyleks. Those two are the dangerous ones. Lyleks are typically only found near the equator, but there are gutkurr around here. They're big enough to trip the motion sensors."
Cutup lets out an uneasy exhale. Hevy moves a little closer to him.
"We're headed in that direction anyway," Commander Tano says. "Leave the droid. Let's head for the temple."
They move much faster now, still keeping watch as they go but abandoning their high level of caution. The Commander's lightsaber is in her hand now, unactivated, but ready. Compensating for their speed. Ready for anything.
"How many tallies are you thinking about adding this time around?" Attie mutters as they break into a light jog. Droidbait huffs out a little laugh.
"At least one," he replies. "Otherwise this trip won't be worth it."
"Where will you put it?"
Droidbait thinks about it for a second. "I'll start a new column on my arm," he answers. "So that one day they'll go from my shoulder to my wrist. Maybe I'll add a couple more clusters on my chest so it doesn't start to look weird."
"Good call. Maybe for big targets you can do larger marks, on your helmet or something," Attie offers. Droidbait grins at him even though he knows his friend can't see it.
They run for a little longer before they finally start to slow. The temple's spire is visible through the rest of the buildings. It's inlaid with some sort of precious metal, glinting in the light of the sun like a beacon. When they're a few blocks away they slow even further in caution. The motion tracker is still sending them alerts, but that doesn't mean there aren't other hostiles in the area.
Droidbait's armor is streaked with dust, and his isn't the only one. 501st blue almost looks black under the grime.
"We're nearly there," Commander Tano whispers. "If I'm remembering this right… they'll be a big open space around the temple. It's a major center of worship for the Twi'leks. We won't be able to get close. We'll have to find a way to observe from a distance."
"How do you know that?" Cutup asks curiously.
"I read about it during my studies at the Jedi Temple. It's a big part of Twi'lek culture, to honor their goddess at temples like this one," she answers.
Attie lets out an amazed sound. "First she knows the B'omarr Monastery on Teth, now she knows the Twi'lek temple. What doesn't she know? Is there a whole class dedicated to the galaxy's religions at the Jedi Temple or something?"
Del stops dead. The rest of Beta follows suit, pressing themselves against the buildings automatically.
"The homes stop up ahead," Del announces. "It's that opens space the Commander was talking about. We can't get close without being seen, assuming it isn't a false alarm."
"Maybe we don't need to get closer," Fives says suddenly. "Maybe we just need a better view. Can't someone climb to the top of one of the closer buildings to check it out?"
"Good idea," Commander Tano says. She glances around at them all, and then her gaze settles on Droidbait. "What do you say, 'Bait? Up for a flight?"
"Uh—sure?"
She grins. "Alright. Don't panic." She closes her eyes and raises a hand. Droidbait stifles a yelp of surprise as his feet suddenly leave the ground. He flails for a second until he's able to get his alarm under control.
"Take some pictures with your HUD and transmit them to the rest of us when you get to the top," Fives recommends as Droidbait floats higher. "And don't let them see you!" Then the Commander makes a larger gesture with her hand. The Force propels Droidbait up three stories to deposit him gently on the roof of the nearest building.
He's not actually very high up, but he does have a good angle to see the temple just on the other side of the building. Commander Tano had been right—there's a large plaza that stretches around the whole temple. Droidbait can see three large fountains in front of the main doors, no longer running although dusty water sits stagnating in the bottoms.
There are droids, too. More than Droidbait had expected. He drops down to his stomach and crawls forwards to try and get a better look without drawing attention to himself.
A squad of B1s have passed the fountains and are marching slowly towards the temple doors. They've still got a little ways to go, and there are several at the back that are drooping as they run out of power. Droidbait counts about twenty. He takes a picture of the scene through his HUD and transmits it down to the rest of Beta. His comm goes off almost immediately afterwards.
"Get down here, Droidbait," Del orders quickly. "We have to engage before they get inside the temple."
Droidbait opens his mouth to comply and then pauses.
"How am I supposed to—?"
"Jump," Del answers. "The Commander will catch you."
Ohhhhh boy. Droidbait really doesn't want to do that, but he does trust the Commander. He makes his way to the edge of the building again and glances down to see Beta squad going through weapon checks, preparing for a firefight. Commander Tano is watching him carefully. As he watches, hesitating, Attie glances up from his rifle and tosses Droidbait a thumbs up.
Droidbait takes a deep breath and steps off the roof before he can lose his nerve. For a few heart-stopping moments, he plummets, but then an invisible hand catches him. The Commander lowers him gently to the ground.
"Thanks, sir," he says a bit breathlessly.
"Thank you," she replies, and activates her lightsaber. "Okay, boys, we'll take them by surprise. Once we get to the plaza, don't start firing until we're closer to the fountains. We can use those as cover. Are we ready?"
"We were born ready," Cutup mutters. Hevy snorts. Echo's head makes a tiny movement that Droidbait knows means he's rolling his eyes.
"We're ready, sir," Del replies, and Commander Tano grins. It kind of reminds Droidbait of General Skywalker.
"Let's go."
The squad moves out. Attie falls into place at Droidbait's side, a comforting, familiar presence that puts Droidbait at ease. They emerge out into the courtyard. The temple's spire stretches into the sky above them. It's strange to be out in the open after being boxed in by buildings for so long. The fountains are just ahead, and a little farther forwards he droid squad marches on.
For a few seconds, the only thing Droidbait can hear is the pounding of boots on the ground as they run and the hum of the Commander's lightsaber.
They're thirty feet from the fountain when Commander Tano nods to Del. Beta squad opens fire.
The droids are caught completely by surprise. Their sensors must be malfunctioning, because they really don't notice Beta's approach until they begin the attack. Droidbait takes two down before the droids can even return fire.
Beta splits up to take cover behind the three fountains. Droidbait ends up beside Attie, Nax, Coric and Hevy behind the larger center fountain. Del and Echo are to their left, while the rest of the squad is to their right.
Their cover is almost… unnecessary. It's a little sad. The droid's shots go enormously wide. Droidbait peers at the panicking machines incredulously.
"Wow," Nax comments dryly as he pokes his head around the edge of the fountain to take a few potshots. "I kind of feel bad for them. They're running on the last dregs of their power. How come we couldn't have just waited for them to die?"
"I don't feel bad," Hevy contributes gleefully, stepping out of cover. His Z-6 whines triumphantly as it tears five droids down in quick succession.
"Aw, c'mon Hevy, leave some for the rest of us!" Fives shouts, but he's too late. It's over as quickly as it had begun.
"Well, that was anticlimactic," Coric says. "Mission accomplished, then?"
"Wait," Commander Tano suddenly calls. "The temple, look at the temple!"
The massive temple doors are swinging open, and a dark shape moves inside. Beta squad tenses again, as a super battle droid comes lumbering into the light.
"One droid?" Attie mumbles in confusion. "What—?"
The droid sticks an arm forwards. Droidbait's eyes go wide.
"Rocket droid!" he shouts, but he's too late. The droid fires a bright purple torpedo before anyone can shoot it. The rocket slams into the fountain that Del and Echo are crouched behind, and the rest of Beta are helpless to do anything but watch as the fountain explodes into a million little shards of rock. Del and Echo are flung backwards from the shockwave. Tiny shards of rock shoot everywhere like shrapnel. Droidbait ducks his head as a sharp piece scratches across his helmet.
"Shoot it, shoot it before it gets another shot off!" someone shouts. Every member of Beta still standing fires, dropping the droid before it can take another step. Coric and Commander Tano are already sprinting for Echo and Del's limp forms before it hits the ground. Droidbait turns, starting to go after them. Attie is right on his heels.
"Hold your position!" Fives shouts, voice strained. "They'll be alright, Coric has them—hold position! We've got more clankers coming from the temple!"
Blasterfire rings out. Droidbait ducks as red plasma shoots over his head. He and Attie are caught halfway between where the Commander is defending Coric as he works on Del and the safety of the fountain. When Droidbait glances towards the temple, he can see a dozen ordinary super battle droids marching towards them. Droidbait pulls back, preparing to return to the fountain, but then Coric lets out a shout.
"I need a hand over here!"
Attie shoves on Droidbait's shoulder. "Go, go!" he hisses. Droidbait doesn't need further prompting. He bolts for the medic. The Commander is standing over Coric, deflecting blaster bolts with her lightsaber. She takes a step forwards as Droidbait and Attie approach to defend them as well, her blade a bright green blur.
Coric glances up and sees them. He's crouched over Del, who appears to be unconscious. There's a massive gash in his side right at the unprotected spot between thigh armor and pelvic armor. Blood drips into the dirt, staining the ground black. "Attie, get over here and help me stop the bleeding," Coric orders tersely. "Droidbait, check on Echo. He's conscious, but he's not uninjured."
They're lucky Echo and Del hadn't been flung farther from each other. Echo is a few yards away from Del, barely close enough that Commander Tano can still defend them both. She's managing, but it isn't easy. Echo is lying on his back, and he raises his head weakly when Droidbait skids to his knees beside him.
"Hey, 'Bait…" he greets. "M'not bleeding but I think… I think I have a concussion. Can't move my body yet."
Droidbait briefly tugs Echo's helmet off. One of his pupils is visibly larger than the other—yeah, he definitely has a concussion. He pushes Echo's helmet back on.
"Is anything else wrong?" he asks, running his fingers over Echo's armor to search for anything he could have missed.
Echo groans. "No, just—I… ugh, come on." His whole body lurches. Droidbait jumps. "Ah, kriff, my head hurts."
"All the more reason for you to stay down!" Droidbait hisses. "Echo, you've got to be careful! Just because you were trained to ignore concussions doesn't mean you should!"
A few feet away, it sounds like they've finally got Del's leg to stop bleeding. The cut had been on his outer thigh, not his inner, so it isn't as close to the femoral artery as Coric had probably feared. When Droidbait glances over Attie is rummaging around in Coric's medpack, searching for something.
"Is Del alright?" Echo asks, ignoring Droidbait and lifting his arm carefully. Droidbait nods.
"He'll be okay, I think," he answers, glancing up at the Commander when she makes a tiny sound of exertion, spinning to block a new flurry of blaster bolts. Beta squad have almost finished off the SBDs, but there are a couple left. "We need to get back into cover. The Commander can't defend us forever." He turns his head back towards Attie and Coric, intending to ask the medic if Echo is safe to be moved—
One moment Attie is crouched over Del, handing a bacta patch to Coric, the next he is not. Droidbait blinks, so he misses the shot—but suddenly Attie's head is jerking backwards unnaturally, and his whole body jolts. Droidbait sees a burst of red.
Then Attie's falling, falling, dropping to the dust, and Droidbait's mind still doesn't comprehend what's happened until Coric screams in wordless fury.
"No." The whispered word is torn from his lips. Every single ounce of Droidbait's fear and disbelief and despair is held in that single word. The world goes fuzzy at the edges. Dimly he hears brothers shouting, and the Commander crying out, but it's as if they're a long, long ways away.
"Snipers! From behind us, in the homes!"
"Get down!"
"Everyone, move!"
"Watch it, they're on both sides!"
"Attie's down!"
There are voices shouting Attie's name, his own voice is one of them but he isn't the only one—he hears that just as clearly as he sees Attie's limp body, terrifyingly still. His vision has narrowed; Attie is all he can see. Attie, and the pool of red beneath his head. Coric has him now, but the medic isn't doing anything, he's just sitting there with his hands hovering helplessly above Attie's helmet—
No. No, no, no—this is wrong. This isn't supposed to happen, not to Attie, not to Attie—
Anguish and denial drive him to his feet. He takes a few numb steps forwards, nearly staggering. He has to get to Attie. He has to get to Attie. He has to—
A hand wraps around his ankle. He hears a voice.
"Droidbait, stop, you can't—you can't do anything, get down, get down—!"
The hand on his ankle yanks. Droidbait goes down hard. A sniper round barely misses his head a half-second later, but Droidbait hardly cares. His breaths are coming faster and faster, this is wrong, why would this—?
Someone tackles him when he tries to stand a second time, dragging him a few feet sideways. Droidbait struggles against their hold, a voice is talking again—
"Bait, stop! Stop! You're going to get hurt, stay here, stop fighting me—"
"Let go," Droidbait cries. "Let go, Attie—"
Echo grips his wrists tightly. He knocks their helmets together and Droidbait's eyes finally focus, zeroing in on his brother. Echo is keeping him pinned down. They aren't in cover, not really, just hunkered down in a very tiny ditch. It's barely enough to keep them from being picked off. Echo is panting just as hard as Droidbait.
"They shot Attie," Droidbait gasps, twisting in Echo's grip. "Echo, they shot him—I have to go, we've got to—"
Echo draws in a sharp breath, swallowing audibly.
"I'm sorry," he breathes, and doesn't loosen his hold. "I'm sorry, 'Bait."
Droidbait shakes his head.
"No," he hisses, hysteria beginning to overwhelm him. "No, don't say you're sorry, he's—he's alright, he'll be—" his voice cracks, so he shakes his head again. "No, Echo, please."
He doesn't know what he's pleading for. For Echo to let him up, maybe, or for him to say that Attie's fine. For him to get up and run to Attie's side himself.
Echo doesn't do any of those things. He just pants shallowly and presses them both more firmly into the dirt. He knows that the moment he lightens his grip Droidbait will try to run again, and he's not wrong.
"Coric, how is he? Coric? Coric! Kriffing answer! CORIC!"
Coric doesn't respond, and that's all the answer, and that's all the answer they need. Whoever had been yelling lets out a wounded sound, then a snarl of anger.
"No," Droidbait chokes out. "No, no…" A sob makes his chest lurch. A sniper round zips over Echo's head, but the ARC doesn't even flinch.
"I'm sorry," Echo repeats. His voice sounds ragged, raw in a way Droidbait's never heard it before. Sorrowful and half-shattered. "Stay here. Just stay here, 'Bait. Look at me."
Droidbait sobs again, but he keeps his eyes on Echo obediently.
Attie, Attie, Attie—
Fives' voice sounds over the radio, breathless and enraged.
"Flak, this is Fives. How fast can you get here? We don't need your guns, just the threat. We're pinned down by snipers. If we can get them to stop firing at us for a few seconds, the Commander can get our men to safety and move closer to take them out."
"I read you, Fives," Flak responds. His playfulness from earlier is completely gone. "I'm close. ETA two minutes."
They're the longest two minutes of Droidbait's life. He can do nothing but dig his fingers into the dirt and struggle to keep breathing through the stifling grief. Echo is right there with him, murmuring reassurances that still tremble ever-so-slightly as they pass his lips. Droidbait doesn't comprehend them. His mind is stuck in a loop, replaying the moment over and over again—Attie jerks, and falls—
The roar of the gunship swooping low overhead rattles his teeth. Droidbait closes his eyes and listens as loose grit skitters across their armor again.
There is no death, there is the Force. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no death…
But it hurts. It hurts and Droidbait's chest and throat and head all ache in more ways than one. It hurts and he wants it to stop.
He's dimly aware of Fives' idea progressing as planned. The snipers cease fire for a few moments while the gunship hovers above. It gives the Commander enough time to shove Coric and Del to safety. She disappears after that, and after a few minutes her voice sounds over their comlinks.
"Two snipers down. Two more left. They're making a run for it, but—" a strange undertone suddenly enters her voice, like the growl of a predator. A sound distinctly Togrutan. "They won't get far."
Droidbait is so caught up in despair that he barely notices when Echo finally lets go of him. It's only when Echo actually pulls him to his feet that he realizes he can move again. For an instant, he clings to the last dregs of his hope. He turns back towards where Attie had fallen, desperately wanting to see Attie sitting up, shaking his head in bewilderment and surprise—
Two of the conscious Teth survivors are tearing across the ground to get to their teammates. Coric is already there, but he's sitting back, helmet off and head bowed. Someone's comm is still on, so Echo and Droidbait hear the distressed gasp of agony Nax lets out when he dives to his knees at Attie's side. Zeer lets out an almost inhuman growl, slamming his fist into the dirt.
"Nonono, Attie, come on, not now! Not after everything we've lived through, you can't…!" Nax trails off, a choked noise sounding in the back of his throat.
It's too late. It's far too late.
Del is unconscious a few feet away from Coric. It hits Droidbait like a punch to the gut—Del doesn't know yet. Del won't know until he wakes up that one of his teammates is dead—
Oh, Force.
Coric turns his head, and the expression of horror and sorrow on his face is too much. Droidbait's knees give out before he can go closer. He stays where he goes down, throat dry and limbs trembling.
Cutup and Hevy are huddled close together a respectful distance away from the Teth survivors. Fives is coming closer to Droidbait slowly, feet dragging against the ground. Echo is still at Droidbait's side, watching in horrified silence. When Fives stops next to him, Droidbait opens his mouth.
"Did you… get used to this?" he asks hoarsely. Echo and Fives look down at him, and Droidbait is sort of glad he can't see their faces. "Did this stop hurting, for you?"
Fives' helmet drops like he's looking at the ground.
"It doesn't stop hurting," he answers flatly. "But you do get used to it."
Droidbait shivers, exhaling unsteadily. Force. Force, Attie's…
The Commander emerges from the homes on the other side of the plaza. Her face crumples as she takes in the despairing scene.
Echo sighs heavily.
"Fives, go talk to her," he urges. "Don't let her think that it's her fault." Fives nods and heads towards her while she's still frozen. Droidbait shudders and turns his gaze back to Attie.
Flak's voice cuts through the hushed air.
"It's time to go, gentleman," he says gently. The gunship had landed on the edge of the open area, across from the temple. "The mission is over."
Droidbait is glad he didn't say 'a success'. It's not a success.
Zeer is cradling Attie's head in his hands, seemingly oblivious to the blood staining his gloves. Nax is hunched over by Coric, and they're all almost completely silent now, mourning. Droidbait's heart clenches, and he can feel another sob starting to build in his chest.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
He watches as Coric takes a deep breath and puts his helmet back on. The medic gets to his feet, gesturing at Del's unconscious body. He says something that Droidbait can't quite make out. Zeer nods slowly, lowering Attie's head back to the ground before he gets to his feet. The heavy gunner picks Del up with care, moving him gently towards the ship. Coric and Nax lift Attie's body cautiously into the air. One of Attie's arms dangles lifelessly until Nax notices and tucks it against Attie's chest. The mechanic's shoulders shake.
Attie is… dead.
Droidbait goes numb again as another wave of agony takes over. He looks away, struggling to control his breathing. His stomach heaves.
Echo puts a hand on his shoulder.
"Come on, Droidbait," he whispers. "We've got to go."
Droidbait nods mutely, but when he tries to stand up, he limbs don't fully cooperate. He staggers, only staying on his feet because Echo wraps an arm around his shoulder.
There is no death, there is the Force. There is no death, there is the Force. His mind runs the phrase over and over again in a futile effort to make it stop hurting.
"Come on," Echo prompts gently again. Droidbait shudders. He takes a few steps forwards, following the Teth survivors towards the gunship. He's too exhausted and beaten to care about where he's going, blindly following Echo's little tugs.
Force, let this be a nightmare. Droidbait is trembling, he'd do anything, anything for this to be fake—
But he knows it's not.
Attie is dead, and Droidbait doesn't know what he's going to do.
A/N: Sorry this took so long. It shouldn't take me that long to update again for a while, so assuming nothing crazy happens, there will be another chapter next weekend.
This one hurt me to write. I get so attached. I would be a horrible Jedi. Sorry.
Reminder: The tumblr for this fic is meridiansdominoes, check it out for some extra content!
As always, I'm very grateful for the support you guys give me! Thank you so much!