"CT-5555, right?"

Fives glances up from his gun, letting the rag he'd been using to wipe it down sag in his fingers. There's a clone in naval greys standing in the doorway to the barracks, holding a datapad in hand and staring at him expectantly.

"Yeah, that's me," Fives confirms, working to keep his sudden suspicion out of his tone. "I prefer Fives, though." He eyes the military bars on the clone's shoulder and frowns when he recognizes the color scheme as one unique to communications officers. What is this about? Fives is… relatively certain he hasn't done anything incriminating recently, for once.

All around him, the rest of Beta have begun to raise their heads. Nax sets his datapad down on the table, not even bothering to hide his curiosity. Del had been trying to take a nap and is a little more surreptitious about it, barely raising his head from his pillow. Zeer arches an eyebrow. Tipper, Cutup, and Hevy are clustered around Cutup's bed and had been discussing something, but they've since fallen silent. Echo, seated next to Fives, goes tense. On his other side, Droidbait tilts his head.

"Right then, Fives," the communications officer says. "We just received a transmission specifically asking after you and a couple of your men—uh, CT-782, 4040, 2010, and 0408. Sorry, I wasn't given their names."

Fives relaxes just a bit at that. The Comm officer seems genuinely apologetic, and while that doesn't necessarily mean anything, it puts Fives a little more at ease.

He gets to his feet slowly, aware of the rest of Domino forming up around him in silent support. All of their numbers had been called out.

"What's this about?" Fives asks. The comm officer shrugs.

"I don't know the details, sorry. The signal is from Kamino, though."

Fives struggles to stem the brief surge of panic he feels at the mention of their birthplace. He has far too many bad memories associated with Kamino. First Ninety-nine, and then that whole things with the chips and Tup—poor Tup. He'd been so loyal, so brave. He'd deserved better, and just thinking about what had happened to him is enough to send a rush of righteous anger through Fives' body to wash away the fear.

"Kamino, huh?" Echo says. There's a hint of excitement in his voice.

There's only one person on Kamino who'd be contacting their squad specifically. Fives feels a surge of anticipation.

It's time to start fixing things.

"If you gentleman would come with me," the comm officer says politely. "A private room has been requested."

Fives blinks in surprise. A private comm room? How on earth had Ninety-nine managed that? Those rooms are ordinarily only used by the Command Staff or the Jedi. It's good that he'd done it, though, because now they won't have to worry about being overheard. Ninety-nine must have some serious connections.

As Domino begins to follow the officer out of the barracks, Fives glances back to meet Del's gaze. The sergeant is watching them carefully, and he nods once when he notices Fives looking back at him. His expression is casually neutral. Fives understands his meaning—Del isn't going to ask any questions. Not for the first time, Fives is extremely grateful for Del's patience with them. A lesser man might be frustrated with all the secrets Domino keeps, but Del is extremely tolerant. He doesn't press for any more details than he has to. Domino is lucky Rex put them where he did.

The comm officer leads them to a section of the ship that Fives hasn't frequented often—not even during his first life. They're close to the bridge, just a floor beneath it, actually. Fives had only been on the Resolute's bridge a few times in his first life, mostly to receive orders from General Skywalker after he'd been made an ARC trooper. In this section, the clone personnel are in naval greys, with the odd armored mechanic visible working on consoles every so often. Domino gets a couple odd looks, but fortunately no one seems overly curious. Soft chatter fills the air, of technical terms and important sounding reports that Fives is grateful he never had to memorize.

Their comm officer motions them inside a little room positioned slightly off to the side. It's small, and there is a long-range holoprojector in the center of the room. A little button is flashing on its surface, signifying a waiting call.

"Just press the button when you're ready," the comm officer tells them, then turns on his heel to leave. The door slides shut behind him. Immediately there is a strange sensation of pressure in Fives' ears that only lasts a split second before disappearing. The room is soundproof. Anything they say in here is completely confidential.

For a moment, Domino stares at the blinking light on the holoprojector, hardly believing their luck. Then, Echo lets out a pleased humm and whips out his datapad.

"My codes have been ready for a week," he says proudly. "If we're going to get this information, it's now."

A surge of anxious worry races through Fives' mind before he can stop it. This is so, so important. If Ninety-nine can get them into the Kaminoan's systems, they can look for the true information on the chips—and then they'll have proof.

This needs to work. He has complete faith in Echo's coding skills, but he's still nervous. Fives, of all people, knows too well how badly things will turn out if they can't fix this.

"Alright," he says. "Accept the call." He takes a deep breath to steady himself as Cutup, who's closest, reaches over to tap the flashing button. The holoprojector comes to life with a gentle hum, and a glowing blue figure appears… except it's not Ninety-nine.

"Kriff!" Cutup hisses almost on reflex, stumbling back. Fives stares at the hologram in shock for a split second before snapping to attention, vaguely aware of the rest of his squad doing the same.

"G-general!" Echo says in surprise. "Ah—we weren't expecting you!"

Shaak Ti smiles at them. She dips her head in a regal movement. "I would not have expected a call from me had I been in your position, either," she reassures them, just a hint of amusement in her voice. "Though I had thought requesting a private room might rouse your suspicions."

Fives shuffles his feet a little sheepishly. Blast it, he'd been so blinded by his excitement that he'd neglected to even consider how that had happened. He'd just assumed that Ninety-nine had called in a favor, or pulled some strings. That had been stupid of him, a rookie mistake. What the kriff had happened to his ARC training? He grits his teeth in annoyance. Echo seems to be similarly berating himself—his neutral expression keeps twitching, as if he's unable to maintain it.

"Not that we aren't happy to see you, General, but… why are you calling us?" Hevy asks respectfully. "We're grateful for your help in creating a convincing cover story, but…"

General Ti waves a hand.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to question you," she says. "The will of the Force still urges me to allow your squad to keep its secrets."

"Force, why?" Droidbait blurts out suddenly. Fives' eyes widen as he turns to look at their brother. Droidbait shakes his head slowly and continues. "Why can't we tell you? Why can't we tell anyone? How can you be content with not knowing?"

Shaak Ti's expression softens as her gaze lands on Droidbait.

"There is always a reason for these things," she answers gently. "Even if we do not know them."

"If we could just tell you, maybe you could help us!" Droidbait says. "I'm sick of keeping this to ourselves! We need help, sir. We can't do this alone."

He's right, and Fives finds himself waiting with baited breath for the General's answer. She closes her eyes for a moment, as if considering her words very carefully.

"Perhaps, if you reveal your secrets to the wrong person at the wrong time… there will be consequences for it," she says slowly. "We cannot know the will of the Force, but it will protect those who believe it will help them."

"General, you don't even know what we're doing. How can you trust us enough to help us?" Hevy contributes quietly. It's almost tangible now, the doubt that suddenly fills the room. Fives feels it, too, because how can they do this alone? How much longer will they be forced to hide the secrets that could save the Republic?

General Ti smiles.

"I trust in the Force, and the Force trusts in you," she answers. "While you might want more empirical evidence, that is enough for me. The time will come when others will be able to help you. You must have patience for a little longer."

Domino falls quiet at her words, stunned by her unshakable trust. Eventually, Echo lets out a careful breath.

"Yes, sir," he says quietly. "We've lasted this long. We can hold out a little more. But sir… when we finally feel like the time is right to talk to others, you'll be the first we speak to."

Fives blinks at his fellow ARC in surprise, but then he realizes that Echo definitely has a point. Shaak Ti had helped them from day one, and had continued to help them even after they'd left Kamino despite not having any information at all. She's trustworthy, and Fives knows she'll help them once she has all the details, as well.

"I will wait patiently for details, Echo," she says. "Now then… as for why I am here. I am returning a favor by requesting a private room for him. I think it might be easier to just streamline the call to his personal commlink." She smiles at them, reaching for something out of the hologram. "Good luck, Domino squad."

The hologram fizzles out, and for a moment Fives is worried that it had stopped working. Then, a voice comes through the speakers:

"Fives? Echo? Hevy? Did the connection go through?"
"Ninety-nine!" Hevy says enthusiastically. Fives grins.

"The General owed you a favor, Ninety-nine? Kriff, what did you do to earn that?" Cutup says incredulously. Ninety-nine doesn't answer—in fact, he goes silent for a few seconds, which makes all of Domino tense.

"Sorry about that," Ninety-nine says quietly a moment later. His words are slightly muffled, but Domino relaxes slightly anyway. "I'm close to the control room. I have an earpiece so they can't see I'm talking to anyone, but I have to be careful."

The new information explains why they only have audio, but it also quells any lingering excitement Fives had felt. Force. If Ninety-nine gets caught, this won't be worth it. Not even if they get the info they need.

That thought actually sends a thrill of horror through him. There's no way Shaak Ti isn't under surveillance.

"Ninety-nine," he says slowly, "are the Kaminoans watching General Ti? Could they have known she contacted us?"

"Oh, don't worry," Ninety-nine whispers. "They aren't watching her now. The Kaminoans are way too busy with their experience to bother watching Master Ti themselves. They get brothers to do it and then report in. Kon and Stucks are on duty. They're more than willing to turn a blind eye. At least, Kon is. But he keeps an eye on Stucks, so we're fine."

Fives vaguely remembers those two communication officers. Domino had a brief run-in with them the first time they'd spoken with Ninety-nine—and wow, that feels like it had happened ages ago.

"I trust the General," Ninety-nine says suddenly. "She doesn't know anything, but she was more than willing to help me when I asked without explanation."

"We trust her, too," Cutup tells him. "You made a good call." Fives nods in agreement.

"I thought she could be helpful," Ninety-nine says, and Fives can hear the smile in his voice. Then his tone turns a bit more serious. "I'm taking us to the main lab. Are you boys ready?"

"Of course, Ninety-nine," Echo answers, a little anxiously. "Just be careful. If they catch you…"

"They won't," Ninety-nine says confidently, which makes Fives grin despite everything. "The lab will be empty, it's a scheduled cleaning—" He cuts himself off again. Domino hears a voice calling out a cheerful greeting, and the telltale sound of a door opening and closing. "Give me a minute. I'm going over there."

He stops talking to them for the time being. Domino listens as he walks through the hallways, calling out greetings to various brothers he passes. He knows every single name, which is ridiculously impressive. As he walks, Echo begins fiddling with his datapad. When Fives glances at it, he is surprised to see strange extensions and wiring on the sides.

"Did you modify your datapad?" he mutters softly. Echo grins at him.

"Yep. I did some of the work, and Nax did some, too. I let him have it for a few days to take his mind off of everything else. He did a good job. It's much more powerful now. More storage data, better connections."

"Will it be able to do its job?"

"Of course," Echo tells him. "I've been working on this program for a while."

"How is it going to work?" Cutup asks curiously.

"My code is designed to search out unprotected access points in the system," Echo begins. "Once it finds a weak backdoor, it'll sneak its way in. There is a limit to how long my code can stay inside before the security system picks it up, though, so we won't have that much time. It'll probably give us about four minutes."

"What if there's no backdoor?" Droidbait asks. Echo smiles at the question. It's not a nice smile—it's a knowing one, bitter and grating.

"If the Separatists taught me one thing while I worked for them, it's that there's always some sort of backdoor. Even the best coders make mistakes. There's always a weak point even if there isn't easy access. If there's no backdoor my code can turn itself into a decoy—a false datapacket. When the program accepts it, it'll flood the system with a virus that will temporarily freeze the security system while copying and transmitting any files it finds to us. We have even less time if that happens, though. Maybe two minutes if we're lucky."

"Would that be enough time?" Fives asks. Echo frowns, tilts his head.

"I hope so. It's designed to search out files with specific keywords. I compiled a list of words that have anything to do with Jedi, biochips, et cetera. It's a long list."

Through the holoprojector, a cheerful greeting from a different brother sounds out. Ninety-nine responds, and then another door slides shut with an audible hiss.

"I'm inside the lab," Ninety-nine suddenly says, startling them. "There's no one here."

"Cameras, Ninety-nine. Are there any cameras?" Echo asks. There's a brief pause, where all they can do is listen to the faint rustling of Ninety-nine moving around. Fives clenches his jaw in frustration. He wishes they could do more to help.

"There are some cameras. They look… offline, though."

"That's fine," Echo tells him. "I thought they might be. I was just checking."

"The blasted long-necks probably don't turn them on unless they need to record an experiment," Fives grumbles. "Otherwise they keep they off, so there's no proof of their creepy stuff." Like killing disabled brothers via lethal injection. Though Fives is absolutely certain they've done worse things than that. The chips are only the tip of the iceberg, as far as he's concerned.

"I found the main terminal," Ninety-nine says. "What do I need to do?"

"Okay," Echo says, letting out a slow breath in preparation. "Okay, listen carefully. This should work. You have a datapad with you, right? You'll need to link it into the streamline to connect it to the long-range communicator. That way you can transmit files you find to my datapad."

"Got it," Ninety-nine says. Fives grins. Just because Ninety-nine is old doesn't mean he's any less up-to-date on the workings of his equipment, like any good clone should be.

"Great. Alright, now I'll connect my datapad into the system. Give me just…" Echo trails off, fiddling with his datapad in quick movements. "Ugh, this would be easier…" he trails off yet again, so they don't get to hear what would have made this easier. "Right, I'm connected. Now that our datapads are linked, I'll send you the codes you'll need. You'll have to plug into the main terminal and transmit the codes through."

They wait for a couple seconds. Fives casts a nervous look towards the door during the break, wondering how long they'll be able to stay here before someone gets suspicious.

Hevy is nearly vibrating with tension beside him, shifting his weight anxiously. Fives puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder, but it doesn't seem to do much.

"If he gets caught…" Hevy whispers. Fives meets his gaze.

"He won't," he comforts, much more confidently than he feels. "He said there's no one around except for the guard. He's fine."

"I'm transmitting the codes into the database now," Ninety-nine says. "I don't… nothing's happening yet."

"Wait a sec," Echo advises, eyes glued to his datapad. His foot taps on the floor repetitively. "Sync your datapad screen into the connection so I can see what's going on."

Fives leans over to look over his shoulder as Echo's datapad screen flickers. A jumble of aurebesh letters, kaminoan words, and numbers that Fives could never make any sense of flicker across the screen. Echo, however, hums pensively.

"The code is searching for an access point. Hang on."

They hear clattering from Ninety-nine's end as they wait—he's doing his job, cleaning the lab so that the Kaminoans will have no reason to be suspicious.

Echo's datapad beeps once, and Echo grins.

"Heh. What, did they think that just because it can only be accessed from the planet's surface that there was no need to upgrade their firewalls? They really think they've got us brainwashed, don't they?"

"Well, they did," Hevy grunts out. Echo flicks a hand at him without turning, eyes focused on the screen as a new wave of commands scroll across the device.

"Ninety-nine, can you still hear me? My code found an access point, we're in. You should have full access to their files now."

"Here!" Ninety-nine calls. "Can you see what I'm seeing?"

"Yeah, it's a massive database. They've got records from hundreds of years ago stored here. Don't worry, we won't have to look through all of it. I'll run my search algorithm to see if we can come up with any hits. Can you stand by to disconnect? In three and a half minutes I won't be able to cover my tracks well enough to hide this from their security."

"Standing by."

Waiting again. Fives balls his fists and wishes yet again that there was something he could do to help. There's a tight feeling in his stomach, a little ball of nerves that won't go away. Kriff, if they can get their hands on this info… everything will be easier. Echo is watching as multiple hits light up his screen. He's glancing though the file titles as fast as they come up. As the minutes slowly tick by, his expression darkens. Fives can't tell if that means he's found what they're looking for or if it means he hasn't.

"Kriff," Echo hisses eventually. "I'm getting hits, but…it's all references to a different scientist. They're either references, or the same fake information we've already seen a dozen times."

"A scientist?" Hevy asks. "What scientist?"

Echo shakes his head, a grim expression on his face.

"Nala Se."

Oh, no.

"You will have to say goodbye to your friend now," Nala Se says tonelessly. Her dark, emotionless eyes flick down to glance over Fives and Tup. She says it as if she cares, as if she even knows what a friend really is—what a brother is, and how Fives would rather die right now than leave him. He knows the truth, though: that she sees them as little more than animals, slaves, byproducts of their genetic dabblings. Hardware to use as bargaining chips.

The snarl that is ripped out of his throat is completely involuntary. It startles Droidbait, who whips around to stare at him in surprise.

"That scum," Fives hisses. "She's the Chief Medical Scientist on Kamino. She's in on the whole thing! She killed one of my friends, and she tried to kill me!" Force, she had practically succeeded at that, too.

"She has her own laboratory, in the medical building," Ninety-nine says quickly. "I'll start heading over."

Fives jerks. "Wha—Ninety-nine, no. You can't. She's not like any of the others. She'll kill you without question if she catches you looking into this!"

He remembers: "We must terminate this clone immediately!" He remembers: "You were created in our laboratories. You are Kaminoan property," and shudders to imagine what will happen to Ninety-nine if he's caught.

"This is more important," Ninety-nine says firmly. Fives shakes his head and gets to his feet, pressing his hands on the surface of the holoprojector as if it will help convince their older brother otherwise.

"No it's not, Ninety-nine. Just get out of there. She's dangerous."

"It was dangerous before, too, right?" Fives hears footsteps, and a door whooshing open. Kriff. Ninety-nine is so, so stubborn, just like he'd been in their last life. He's set his mind to it, and there's no way he's going to change that now.

"Hey, hey!" Hevy cries. "Don't worry about it, okay? We can handle it. We've got to abort for now."

"But… if we don't get the info now, when will we get it?"

Fives grits his teeth. He has a point, and they can't stop him.

Echo sighs worriedly. "Just… be extra careful, alright? You can't let her see you." Echo knows as well as Fives does that Ninety-nine is determined to see this through to the end.

"No problem," Ninety-nine says cheerfully, as if he isn't marching right into the lair of a killer. "I was always good at stealth operations. That was about the only thing I was good at!"

Hevy throws his hands up and starts to pace. Cutup reaches out to attempt to get him to calm down, but Hevy just exhales shakily and continues to walk the length of the small room.

"Hevy, he'll be alright—" Echo tries to say, but Hevy scowls at him.

"You don't know that!" he hisses. "Force, he could be—he could be walking to his death!"

No one has anything to say to that, so they leave Hevy to his pacing as they listen to Ninety-nine make his way around the facility for the second time.

The kriffing waiting again. Fives hates being unable to act.

After what seems like ages, Ninety-nine speaks to them again.

"Nala Se's lab isn't too far from here. If she isn't there, I'm going to go in."

"Kriff, wait—" Fives suddenly stumbles for words. "You have to—you need some excuse to be in there, just in case—"

"You could falsify a request for cleaning," Echo suggests suddenly. "Isn't there something like that?"

"Oh! Yeah, I could! Give me a minute!" They hear a door open, and then a clatter. Some sort of liquid splatters onto durasteel.

"Now I can say the report was mislabeled. I was given the wrong room number. Instead, I was supposed to come and clean up this mess."

"Genius, Ninety-nine," Echo says. "You remember what to do?"

"Yes. For now, we're clear. She's not in the lab."

It isn't long before Echo's datapad lights up again for the second time. The tension in the room ratchets higher. If he gets caught now, it's all over.

Echo is scanning through data again. "Okay, okay, ahh… her system has a lot more security than the other lab did. An access point isn't going to work. I might have to use the decoy code."

Two minutes, he'd said earlier. Is two minutes enough time? In some ways that's good, Ninety-nine can get out of there, but if all of this is for nothing Fives is going to throw something.

Everyone holds their breath when Echo's datapad beeps twice. Echo mutters out a curse and begins scrolling through options frantically, muttering under his breath. Fives can't take it anymore—he turns away, clenching his fists.

"The search algorithm is running," Echo announces. "I'm looking through the ones that seem relevant. There's some interesting stuff here. Not all of it is about us—"

Fives turns to look at him after his voice cuts out. Echo is staring down at his datapad, eyes wide.

"I have it," he whispers. Fives freezes.

"I have it," Echo says again, very quietly, as if admitting it out loud will make it less true. "Force, I—listen to this: Contingency Orders for the Grand Army of the Republic: Order Initiation, Orders 1 Through 150. That's it. That has to be it."

"What makes you so certain?" Fives asks, heart pounding. Echo sends him a grim look.

"Because contingency number sixty-six authorizes removing Jedi officers through lethal force," Echo breathes. "It was the biggest match to all of my keywords." Fives closes his eyes.

"Ninety-nine, get out of there," he orders firmly. He can't get excited yet. Not until Ninety-nine is safe.

"Right, right," comes the response. There's a quick shuffling sound as Ninety-nine packs up his datapad, and then Fives listens to his footsteps, slightly faster than normal as he heads for the door—

A hiss as the door opens. For a moment, Fives relaxes. Then:

"Clone trooper Ninety-nine, what are you doing here?"

No. No, no, no. Fives knows that voice. Kriff, no.

It's Nala Se.

"Ah, I got a report requesting cleaning for this room, ma'am," Ninety-nine says without missing a beat. He's a good liar. His voice doesn't waver at all.

"I submitted no such report," comes the cold answer. Domino squad is frozen, completely still in helpless terror. Force, Force, she's not going to believe him, she'll decommission him or recondition him or something worse—

"I thought so, ma'am. Your lab is very clean, as usual. I think some brother may have put the wrong room number in the report. I was just gonna go check the nearby rooms."

There is a long silence that likely drags on much longer in Fives head than it does in real life. But blast it, he can't breath, he can't move, he can't do anything but stare at the blank holoprojector dismay.

Finally, she speaks.

"As you were, then, clone."

The relief of Ninety nine getting away unscathed is drowned out by the absolute fury that overtakes him at Nala Se's derisive tone. She doesn't care about him at all. Not even enough to suspect him of something. Fives grits his teeth so hard that his jaw aches.

He hates her. Hates her almost as much as he hates Krell.

When he turns to look at his brothers, they seem to feel the same way. Hevy's expression is murderous. Echo looks grim. Cutup's eyes are wide, disbelieving, and Droidbait is glaring fiercely at the machine.

"Do you have it?" Ninety-nine asks suddenly, breaking the spell. Fives looks at Echo hopefully, who taps his datapad with a successful grin.

"I've got it," he says triumphantly. "That, and a few other files from Nala Se's records that I think some people might find very interesting."

"Yes!" Hevy shouts. He punches the air. "Ninety-nine, you did it! Thank you, thank you!"

"Aw, It was nothing," Ninety-nine says humbly. He's smiling, Fives can tell. "I'd do anything to help my brothers."

Fives exchanges a look with Echo, soft with mutual fondness for the brave old clone.

"We know, brother," Fives says gratefully. "And you're the greatest soldier they've ever made because of it."

They have the information finally, and yet, the first thing Echo feels is panic as Domino assembles in their designated meeting room. He can see a similar kind of expression on Fives' face, too—one that says, "Kriff, what do we do with this? Where do we start?" Echo knows what he wants to do with this info. He wants to shout their proof over the shipwide comms, send it to everyone, get it all over with immediately… but it's not that simple no matter how much he wants it to be.

The first thing they do is sit down and read through the contingency orders, all one hundred and fifty of them. It's horrible. Killing the Jedi is only the tip of the iceberg. Each order is very carefully worded, to the point where some of them seem very logical—and some of them are. But there are others that describe mass purges of innocent civilians, systematic executions of every senator in the Republic, and self-destruct orders that Echo doesn't even want to think about.

They're all feeling vaguely sick after getting through the last one, and it takes a few minutes for anyone to say something.

"Who…who knows about these?" Droidbait whispers eventually. "Who could make us do this?"

"The Kaminoans. The Chancellor," Fives answers slowly. "Maybe more, but those are who I know for certain."

"Force," Hevy says weakly. "We've got to get those chips out." He rubs the back of his head. "We've gotta get them out of every brother. They could make us do practically anything."

"I wonder why they haven't been using these from the start," Echo muses. When Cutup shoots him a horrified look, Echo holds his hands out in defense. "It ensures our full cooperation, after all."

"Sure, but then they'd have to reveal the existence of the orders," Fives reminds him. "And they've basically got our full cooperation anyway. It's not like we have a choice."

"The Jedi can't be aware of this," Cutup says. "They'd do something about it if they did, right? So shouldn't we just tell them? We could put an end to this right now."

Droidbait is nodding in enthusiasm, but Echo's heart sinks. He exchanges a worried look with Fives, who takes a deep breath.

"Look, guys… it's not that simple. We have to be careful about this. If we tell the wrong person, if word of this gets to the Chancellor, or the Kaminoans, or anyone else who knows… they'll kill us. They'll kill us all, probably."

"What, the whole 501st?" Hevy says. "They can't do that. People would notice. General Skywalker would definitely notice."

"Yeah, well, I don't trust General Skywalker," Fives says bluntly. Echo frowns at him in disapproval, because the others don't need to know that, but Fives plows onward. "And yes, they very well could get rid of the 501st. They can afford to get rid of a single battalion—they've got millions of us, remember?"

"If we tell the wrong person, this whole thing will be over before it can even start," Echo points out more gently, because Cutup looks like his soul has been crushed. "The people who would rather see us enslaved are powerful, and they need us for whatever the kriff their plans are later. They won't let us go easily. They'll do whatever they can to stop us."

"So, we start with brothers, then," Droidbait says. "And we keep it secret until we're all free. Then we take it to the Jedi. Worst comes to worst, we can… run, I guess."

"Not just any Jedi," Echo says. "We have it kind of lucky, here. Some clones don't have that. We've got to be careful."

"We've been over this already, though. We already know who to talk to," Hevy points out. "General Kenobi, General Plo Koon. General Secura, maybe—"

"Hold on, hold on," Fives interrupts. "One thing at a time. We start with brothers, and we find someone who can start getting rid of these chips on the sly. As for who we start with there…"

"That's easy," Cutup chimes in. "Beta squad, of course. Should we… should we tell them everything?"

"I'd say we tell them about the biochips, not the whole… Force thing. That makes things a little easier. More believable, and less… Jedi-y," Echo says. "We can tell them one of our mission objectives with General Ti was to find evidence of corruption in the GAR. So, we'll leave out the part about the Chancellor for now. We still don't have any physical proof that he's behind this."

"Alright, fine. Speaking of General Ti… I think we could tell her," Fives mutters. "She was… skeptical, but willing to hear me out the first time. Understandable, I guess. I didn't have any hard evidence. This time we do."

Echo claps his hands. He feels marginally better, now that they have some sort of plan. "So, first thing's first: We talk to Beta squad. After that, we'll find some way to get into contact with General Ti without it looking suspicious. We're just troopers, after all. We can't contact a General without having a viable reason to. We could get Ninety-nine to give us a hand."

Fives' grin at his words is triumphant and hopeful.

"Ah, Force, this is finally happening," he says, drumming his fingers on the table eagerly. "I've waited for this for a long time. Those kriffing Kaminoans won't know what hit them."

"Easy," Echo tells him carefully. "We haven't told anyone yet. Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"Let's fix that, then," Cutup says suddenly. "I'm calling Del. We're doing this now." He lifts his communicator and grins at Echo's surprised look. "It's time we told them, guys. Don't you think so? Let's stop putting it off."

Echo chuckles at his enthusiasm and gives him an approving nod. The sooner they tell someone, the sooner they'll be able to start getting rid of the chips, and the sooner things will start to change.

Beta squad takes the news with an impressive amount of professionality. They are silent through Echo's explanation, silent as they pass Echo's datapad around to show them the orders they'd plucked from Nala Se's database.

Fives is having a hard time sitting still. He's waiting, on edge, struggling to anticipate what their reactions will be. He's bracing himself for doubt, for accusations of forgery or disbelief. He's completely blindsided when Del takes a deep breath and nods slowly once Echo is finished.

"So why come to us first?" is the first thing he asks. Not, "Are you guys crazy?" or even, "Are you sure?" There is complete trust in his expression as he looks them over.

"We're telling brothers first," Echo explains. "We don't know if we can fully trust the Jedi yet. We don't know who's in on the plot. What we do know is that they could get us to do anything with these chips, and they're keeping that fact a secret from most of the Republic. Who knows what they're planning."

Zeer slams his fist down on the table. "Kaminoan scum," he snarls. "We're not mindless droids to be controlled. We're living beings."

"If they've done this, who knows what else they've done?" Nax says numbly. "This is ridiculous."

Coric passes Echo's datapad over to Tipper and steeples his fingers together on the table. His lips are pressed tightly together, and his eyes are narrowed in controlled anger.

"We've got to get them out," he declares fiercely. Fives can practically see the wheels in his head turning. "We've got to start taking the biochips out immediately. It's too dangerous not to. Whoever has access to these contingency orders has full control over the GAR. How are you planning to get this information to the rest of the army?"

"Whoa, hey," Nax says. He looks a little pale, eyes wide but no less believing. "One step at a time, Coric. Let's free the 501st first. Then we can worry about the rest of the army."

Coric looks frustrated, but he nods. Hevy is staring at Beta squad incredulously.

"How can you believe us so fast?" he asks incredulously. "You're not even going to question it?"

Del looks at him. "We don't have any reason not to believe you," he says bluntly. "You have evidence. Every clone knows that the Kaminoans are hiding a lot from the Republic, and us, too. It's not exactly a surprise. This, though, the biochips… this is something we need to stop."

"What clone hasn't been suspicious of the Kaminoans at some point?" Zeer grunts, which is an extremely valid point.

Tipper suddenly makes a disgusted noise from where he's scrolling through the datapad. He holds it out towards Echo, shaking his head. There's a shocked look on his face.

"They could make us kill each other if they wanted to," he forces out as Echo takes it back. "Blast it, I don't… we have to stop this. Coric, can you take it out? I don't want—I need you to take it out. I hate this. How soon could we get rid of it?"

Coric frowns. "I… I think I can remove it. I don't have the exact schematics of the chip, though. All I know is that it exists somewhere in the brain—"

"It'll probably look like a tumor," Fives interrupts, remembering the little medical droid AZ's ramblings. "If you do a level five atomic brain scan, it should come right up."

Coric's eyes widen. "A level five—I mean, it makes sense, but those can be dangerous, you know."

"We're all the same. It'll be in the same place in everyone. You do the scan once, you'll have the information you'll need. I'll volunteer for it, even," Fives says quickly. It didn't kill him the first time. It won't kill him now, of that he's certain. He's anxious to get the chip out, too. He wants it gone, and he wants it out of his brothers.

Del leans forwards in his chair. His eyebrows are furrowed.

"How are you planning on proceeding from here?" he asks them. "And what can we do to help? There are several things we'll need to keep in mind—for starters, Coric can't do surgery on every single member of the 501st. We'll have to talk to the other medics—"

He cuts himself off suddenly. Fives' mind had been focused on some of their plans, and so Del's abrupt silence makes him blink in surprise, turning towards the sergeant curiously.

Del is frozen in his seat, staring down at his own datapad with wide eyes. Fives frowns in alarm.

"Uh… Del?"

"The Resolute will enter hyperspace in one standard hour," he says, eyes skimming what must be a set of orders. "We're to start preparing for combat immediately. The 501st is being deployed, effective immediately."

Fives' stomach drops. No. That can't be right. They're not supposed to be deployed again for another week.

"Where?" he asks, barely daring to breath. "Where are they sending us?"

"Felucia," Del announces quietly. Fives sucks in a sharp breath. Felucia. No, that can't—he's not prepared for Felucia yet. They haven't prepared the others. It can't be Felucia. He glances at Echo. The other ARC is shaking his head in confusion. They should have another week. Why are they leaving so early?

Del is reading a few lines from the orders. While he and Beta are distracted, Fives signs rapidly to Domino.

How is this possible? We should have another week to prepare!

We've changed something Echo signs back immediately. I don't know what, or how, but somehow it was enough to push the timeline forward a little.

That's not a good thing! Fives signs aggressively. Felucia is a death trap, Echo! We needed every extra minute to get ready! There's no way all of us will— he forces his hands to still before he can finish that thought. No, he can't think like that… even though it's true. It's unlikely that all of Beta will survive Felucia—

No. Stop. Kriff, his mind is getting ahead of him. He needs to stay in the present and focus, do his best to tell them what he can before they get there. They'll have a better chance that way.

A moment later Del finishes reading the orders. The Sergeant seems grim, as does most of Beta. Everyone's heard horror stories about Felucia. What they've heard is bad, but it's nothing close to the truth. Fives swallows, feels a massive ball of dread settle heavy in his stomach. What can he possibly do about this?

"The only upside to this deployment is that the 212th will be backing us up," Del says. He looks at Domino. "The biochips will have to wait. We won't be able to deal with it while we're planetside."

Fives wants to bang his fist on the table, but restrains himself. The longer they wait, the more chance there is that something will happen. They need to take care of the chips as soon as possible. But… Force, what are they going to do about Felucia? How can they change a planetwide battle that the Republic is destined to lose? So many men had died there. Echo and Fives had been lucky the first time. The Republic had realized their defeat was eminent and started evacuating troops. Echo and Fives had been able to get off planet before the Separatist blockade arrived to trap the Jedi on the surface.

There's no guarantee Beta squad will have the same luck.

No, no, this is bad. Kriff. He exchanges another panicked look with Echo, who can only shrug back at him desperately. It's too late to do anything about it now. They'll have to brief Domino on what they can and hope for the best.

They've traded one massive problem for another. Fives struggles to stem his trepidation for a few moments. They can't afford to lose a man now. They've just barely started to make progress!

He clenches his fists and forces himself to focus. They're going to Felucia. He needs to stay calm and in-control of his fear.

If he can't maintain his composure, people will die.

There's a reason Felucia had been nicknamed "The Jungle of Horror".

A/N: Heh I know nothing about hacking please don't call me out

Out of all 150 contingency orders, canon has only confirmed what five of them are, which is REALLY frustrating to me.

The kaminoans never expected to be betrayed from the inside. They believe they are perfectly protected. Nala Se is a little more secretive, but she, like all Kaminoans, has an unshakable faith in their security systems/clone guards and the fact that their database can only be accessed in person. That was a mistake, not that she realizes it yet.

Something you guys should probably know: Not included in the story, but imagined by me every time domino squad is denied the opportunity to tell someone the truth about the time-travel, is the consequences of what would have happened if they had told that person the truth. It often ends in bloodshed. Even if Domino squad doesn't understand why, the Force always has a reason. It's actually protecting them by not letting them tell everyone, I PROMISE. Have patience, young Jedi.

Come visit my tumblr! It's meridiansdominoes! Thank you for your support and patience!