A/N: HELLO SORRY IVE BEEN GONE SO LONG DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THIS FIC? IM INSECURE ABOUT THIS CHAPTER BUT POSTING IT ANYWAY BECAUSE I FEEL BAD FOR NOT UPDATING
Previously, just in case: Beta squad knows about the chips. Ninety-nine knows about the chips. They just returned from a long hard campaign on Felucia. Echo and Cutup turn down ARC invitations and recommend Tipper and Zeer. Hevy encounters Hardcase. Echo decides to let Kix in on the secret so that he can hopefully help them and leaves the datapad with info on the chips with him.
Beta squad is waiting for Kix the next morning when he storms into their barracks with a furious expression on his face and the datapad clenched in one hand. The medic's eyes find Echo immediately.
"Echo, what the kriff is this?" Kix hisses. "Where did you get it, how—"
He stops himself abruptly, eyes darting around the room to peer suspiciously at the rest of Beta squad. He spends a long moment looking at Del, who's standing near the door with his arms crossed, and then glances back at Echo.
"Your squad… "
"They were the first to know," Echo tells him. "They're here to help."
Kix nods once and hands the datapad to Cutup, who's simply closest. He takes a deep breath, as if to steady himself, and then sets his jaw.
"How did you get those files?" he asks quietly. "Those are classified Kaminoan records. We shouldn't have access to those."
"We have a reliable inside source back on Kamino," Fives answers vaguely. Echo winces when Kix fixes Fives with an unimpressed look.
"Why would you need an inside source in the first place? How did you know these records would even exist? This isn't something you just… stumble onto. Even if this wasn't what you were looking for, you were doing something that led you to find it."
Sithspit. Echo should have known Kix wouldn't settle for less than the full story. Fives blinks blankly. Echo jumps in before the other ARC can try and bluff his way through their pre-planned explanation.
"General Shaak Ti has been suspicious of recent Kaminoan activities," he told the medic carefully. "We worked with her before we were sent here. She tasked us with the investigations, as she couldn't try anything without falling under suspicion herself. These documents were the result of our search."
"Force," Kix mutters. He pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs heavily. There's a beat of silence before he speaks. "This is big. Dangerous, too. It could change the entire war."
"We know," Del tells him seriously. "And that's why we need to do something about it."
For a heartbeat, Kix hesitates, and Echo doesn't blame him. This burden is heavy. Kix has never been one to back down from a challenge, though. Echo watches the flash of determination cross the medic's face as he steels himself to help, just as Echo had known he would.
"Why come to me? You already have a medic."
"Two minds are better than one," Coric answers quietly. "This is too big of an operation for one medic to tackle. The more people we can get on our side, the better."
"You and Jesse helped us on Felucia," Echo reminds Kix. "You barely knew me, but you held onto the data without even glancing at it. We know we can trust you with this."
Kix looks around at them all slowly, and then he nods once.
"Alright," he says. "Alright. First thing's first. Those chips need to go."
Echo resists the urge to punch his fist through the air in victory. The rest of Beta are grinning in success, because suddenly their numbers have grown. One, for now, but if Echo knows Kix, Jesse will know everything by tonight as well.
"Any ideas?" Coric asks. He looks relieved. "I was trying to do some brainstorming, but I couldn't think of anything inconspicuous enough. We can't just have every member of the 501st in for brain surgery."
"Right," Kix agrees slowly. "Brain surgery won't get approved without reason, anyway. Maybe we could sneak a few men in. It's risky, but not impossible." He looks at Coric. "Have you done a scan to locate the chips yet?"
Coric frowns. "No. The medbay is still far too busy. It will start to clear out soon, though. Now that we're above Coruscant, some of the more heavily wounded will be transported to the Medical Stations in orbit."
"First chance we get, we need those scans. You realize this is something every single clone is going to have to deal with, right? We can't keep this among ourselves," Kix tells them. "I understand being wary of the Jedi, and the Republic, but our brothers deserve to know about this."
"You're right, but isn't that a bit risky?" Droidbait asks. "If we start distributing data, we run the risk of it falling into the wrong hands."
"We've got to start somewhere," Fives points out. "Being cautious hasn't helped us so far. We've got to trust that our brothers can keep the secret." Droidbait nods slowly in agreement, but he still looks concerned. Echo doesn't blame him for it—he's right. It's risky, but Fives is right too.
"We shouldn't send information through unaltered datapads," Nax chimes in suddenly. "Echo's has been modified so that it isn't connected to the public network, but others just rely on what we're given. Who knows how often those streams are monitored?"
"Word of mouth only, then," Echo says, and takes a deep breath.
The idea of telling everyone is daunting. The men won't be happy about being lied to. And all of this—the chips, the orders—are secrets that Domino squad has protected for so long already. Echo is eager to tell the others, to start fixing things, but it's terrifying at the same time.
"Right," Fives says suddenly, stepping forwards. "So, for the time being, we're still stuck in place, right? We can't do anything until we have better access to medical equipment."
"Yes. But if we can get the word out, I'm confident the battalion will work together to cover our actions," Kix says confidently.
"Alright. In that case, our first mission is to spread the word." Fives is taking charge. Echo glances around, wondering for a brief moment if anyone will object. No one does. Even Del is nodding with every word Fives says. "That'll be our job. The medics will deal with the brain scan. Those two things need to be done before we can take this any further. And once the medics are done with their scan we can start with us—as many as we can risk freeing without being caught." Fives narrows his eyes in determination. "We're doing this. I'm done waiting."
That's it, then.
Echo's heart is beating so fast that he almost feels sick.
Things could go so very wrong here. All it takes is one person to reveal the secret to the wrong person, and the whole thing goes up in flames. However… maybe it's just best not to worry about that, now. They've spent so long waiting, worrying, struggling to come up with ideas. They haven't made any progress.
Maybe it's time to throw caution to the wind and take action.
It doesn't feel wrong. Echo keeps waiting for that sick feeling in his stomach to make an appearance, to tell him that they're making the wrong decision, but it doesn't come.
Echo glances around at his teammates, his brothers. Droidbait's eyes are wide. Hevy's fists are clenched. Cutup has gone completely still, brow furrowed in concentration. They're worried. Who knows what will happen if they go through with this?
Fives… Fives stands tall, shoulders back. Echo meets his gaze for a brief moment. There is pain there, and hope. Fear, and resolve. Echo can't imagine how he feels in this moment. He'd lost his first life for this cause. In some ways, he has even more to lose this time around, but he isn't going to back down.
Fives is right. It's time. The sooner they can do this, the better. The Chancellor will have one less weapon in his pocket.
"Give us a plan, Fives," Kix urges. Fives looks at him, confused by the prompting. "We need some way to start this."
Fives glances around the room again, and takes a breath when he sees that everyone, including Echo, is watching him. Waiting for the word. Fives is the leader in this, that much is obvious.
"We need to reach as many men in the battalion as we can, and quickly," he begins carefully. "But we need to be careful about explaining things, as well. Our brothers need to understand that only a few people are behind this. We don't want the wrong people to be blamed. Ah… Echo?"
He wants someone to help him explain, to make sure he doesn't say anything incorrectly. Echo steps up without hesitation. He knows exactly what his brother needs.
"Here," he says. "Listen up, boys. This has to be done right."
The news spreads like the subtlest wildfire in the galaxy.
Beta squad splits up into pairs and take their message to any brother who can spare the time to listen. Word is whispered through the mess hall to brothers who abandon their meals in shock, in the training room to men who scorch the walls with blasterfire in rage. To the medbay, where steady hands shake, to the communication officers who answer calls with wavering voices and clench their teeth.
Echo had expected men to be skeptical. He'd expected to be accused of making things up, and there are some who do—but Domino has proof. Solid documents that contain signatures and theories and records far too complicated for mere soldiers to come up with.
There are others who believe Beta squad instantly. It isn't hard to believe that the Kaminoans would do something like this. There are so many things the long-necks hide from the rest of the galaxy, so many things that the clones aren't aware of. Sometimes the documents aren't necessary, even though Echo always presents them.
The whole battalion knows about the chips within forty-eight hours. Those who learn pass it on to others, who pass it on even further. Echo only explains for about two hours until men start seeking him out intentionally, wanting to see the proof.
It's a bit of a dangerous game that they're playing, because they've all heard the story of Slick on Christophsis. They're not trying to start a revolution, and they don't want to anger the men against the Republic. Many of the people haven't done anything wrong, and the Jedi, as far as Fives knows, have nothing to do with it. That's one of the first things Beta squad tells the battalion, along with strict instructions to not spread the news to others until they can find better ways to work everything out. They push for brothers to stay calm and wait for further instructions. Echo wishes they had evidence to prove that Palpatine is the one behind it, but they don't—not yet.
Regardless, news spreads, and the brothers listen. The battalion is willing to learn and willing to wait. They're all in the same boat, uneasy, nervous, but patient. Echo can hardly believe it.
The medics get to work immediately. Kix and Coric get a level five atomic brain scan done within the first day of the reveal. The chip is there, just as Beta claimed it would be, and it's yet another confirmation that they're telling the truth.
So many men suggest they tell General Skywalker that it almost hurts Echo to have to continually deny them. The 501st trusts their Jedi unconditionally. They're so certain that General Skywalker and Commander Tano can help. Echo wonders if they're right. Perhaps they are, but the suggestions subside when Beta squad explains that they're keeping the news between brothers only for now. This is a clone problem, and no one wants to risk the rest of their brothers by talking to the wrong person, even if it is General Skywalker.
Fives is the one to take the news to Captain Rex. Echo goes with him, standing in silent support as Fives quietly shows the Captain their evidence. Echo doesn't have to step in once. Fives is perfectly composed as he tells the Captain their cover story—how they'd worked under Shaak Ti's supervision to try and uncover possible malicious Kaminoan secrets, how they used an inside source to gain access to the records. Captain Rex sits down with Echo's datapad for fifteen minutes to go over the contingency orders himself. Echo and Fives wait patiently for him to finish.
Rex's expression gets more grim the longer he reads, and his fingers clench over the sides of the datapad. When he finally looks up at them, his eyes are narrowed. It takes him a moment to find his voice.
"We've always known they want to control us, but this… this is too much," he says quietly. Echo nods along with Fives. Neither of them say anything. They've already said what they've wanted to.
Rex drags his hand down his face and takes a deep breath. His fingers brush back tentatively and feels along the back of his skull. A lot of men have done the same thing, feeling for any sign of the accursed chip. The action is more involuntary than anything, because it's impossible to feel it, but they always try.
Rex sighs heavily. "Cody and I were right, then. You five were never shinies."
"No, sir," Echo answers honestly. "We were not." Rex is correct, even though it's for the wrong reasons.
"I should have known." He pauses for a moment. Echo can see the knowledge fall on their Captain like a physical weight. "Who knows about this?" Rex says suddenly, so softly that Echo almost misses the words. Rex's expression has suddenly gone from worried to graveyard grim.
"Just the men, sir. We haven't told anyone else—"
"Who knows about the codes and could potentially access them?" Rex says, louder now. Echo grimaces. Of course he'd ask the hard question right off the bat. "How many traitors does the Republic have in its midst? How deep does this scheme go?" His tone goes dark, angry, and Echo really wishes they had proof of Palpatine's involvement in this moment. Fives shifts next to him, a pained look on his face.
"We… we don't know, sir," Echo's forced to lie, and bites the inside of his cheek as Rex's fists clench. "We know the Jedi weren't aware of it, though," he continues in a weak attempt to pacify him. It works for the time being. Rex takes a deep breath.
"Right," he says, strained. As if he's struggling to keep himself calm. "Alright. There's—There's nothing we can do about that now, if your squad doesn't know."
Echo worries for a moment until Rex lifts his head, squaring his shoulders. "Well? I'm assuming you've started to come up with a plan."
"Sir?" Fives says in surprise. Rex fixes him with a humorless smile.
"We're getting these chips out, at all costs. You've brought me solid evidence to support your words. These… contingency orders… they would be the end of the Republic. They need to be taken care of immediately. It's the first step in fighting back against whoever's responsible."
Echo lets out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
Force. Finally, someone with some amount of influence knows. A strange knot in his chest unravels. He's wanted to go to Rex for help for so long. If anyone can make this work, it's the Captain.
"We don't have a solid plan, not quite yet," Fives tells Rex. "We've been concentrating on spreading the word to the battalion, first. The medics got the brain scans done, and they'd like to try operating on a few volunteers."
Rex hums thoughtfully. "There's no way they'll be able to operate on everyone. Once all the brothers know we can hide some of the surgeries, but we'll run out of supplies eventually. We'd have to find a way to justify sending for more."
Echo and Fives share a relieved glance. No one had thought of that. It's an immense comfort to have a mind as sharp as the Captain's thinking over their problems. Rex seems to be falling deeper into thought with every second, brow furrowing.
"It won't be easy to resolve this problem on such a large scale," he muses.
"You're right," Fives agrees. "But we have to try. There are others who would be willing to help us, too—eventually, once we feel like we can tell them."
"We should tell the Jedi eventually," Rex says. "General Skywalker and General Kenobi would be more than willing to help."
Echo winces. "Yes, but…"
"Not yet, of course. This is our fight, and as soon as they get involved there's a risk that unwanted parties will realize we know about it," Rex continues. Echo sags in relief again. The Captain truly is amazing. This is the first time Echo hasn't needed to explain that decision.
"Sir… do you think the battalion will be able to keep this a secret?" Fives asks seriously. Rex nods.
"They'll do what it takes to be rid of that chip. You won't have to worry about that, Fives. I'll do everything in my power to help." He glances at Echo. "Can you transfer the data about the contingency orders to my datapad?"
"Not if it's monitored," Echo responds without hesitation. Rex shakes his head.
"It isn't, not anymore. I have two. The second has been modified."
Echo nods, accepting his own datapad back from Rex and keying in the code to send the documents to the Captain. It's good that he can send it to someone else. He'd been worried about that earlier. Now, they have a backup just in case something happens to the original datapad.
"We'll need to tell the rest of our brothers about this, too," Rex tells them as they wait for the transfer. "The other battalions are at just as much risk."
"That's the plan," Echo tells him. "Once we figure out how to effectively deal with this ourselves, we can help the others.
Rex nods. "Good. Tell the medics to do what they can without raising suspicion. Start clearing men as soon as possible, but be as discreet as you can. Too many at once and someone might become suspicious. They don't have forever, either. This break won't last. Eventually the 501st will be deployed again."
"We'll let them know," Fives says. Rex turns to his datapad, offering them a dismissal. Echo starts to go, but Fives doesn't move for a long moment.
"Sir…"
Rex glances up. The stress lines in his face make him look very tired.
"Fives?"
"I… thank you, sir," Fives forces out suddenly. "Your help is… more appreciated than you realize."
Rex looks surprised for a second. He offers Fives a small smile.
"So is yours," he responds. "Thank you, Fives. If we hadn't known about these chips… that could have been disastrous. You've saved lives today."
It still could be disastrous, but Echo doesn't care to point that out. It's the pessimistic side of his brain that thinks it, anyway, and Echo is trying to ignore it.
They've made immense progress today. It's a good start, for sure.
When they turn to go, Echo sees a flash of something sorrowful and betrayed hidden behind Rex's carefully schooled expression. His mask of control is crumbling. Echo wants to say something more to reassure him, but there's nothing else he can say. They get out of there quickly, and Echo hopes that the Captain will be alright
Fives' jaw is clenched tightly as they leave. Echo taps his shoulder gently in concern.
"You alright?" he asks softly. Fives closes his eyes for a long moment.
"Yeah," he says finally. "Yeah, I'm alright. This is just… a lot. I worried that we wouldn't even get this far. We've gotten further than I did in my first life and it's only been two days."
"And we're going to get a lot further," Echo reassures him. He offers his brother a comforting smile. "We'll be alright, Fives. There's a whole battalion behind us now. We're going to make it work. It's just a little overwhelming for you, yeah?"
"Sure, whatever," Fives grumbles, feigning annoyance at the displayed weakness. He shoves Echo gently. "But I'll be fine. This is going better than I could have hoped."
Of course, Fives volunteers to be the first to have his chip removed. Echo doesn't know why he ever thought otherwise. He is surprised, however, when Cutup also volunteers.
"I want it out," Cutup tells Coric determinedly. "I hate the thought of it there. You can use me as a test subject if you want, but I need it gone."
Coric had shot Echo a concerned look, but Echo just sighed and shrugged. He isn't that worried—Fives had gone through the operation before, in his first life, and he'd been perfectly safe. The medics are worried that they'll mess something up. They aren't droids, aren't perfect, but Domino trusts them anyway. Echo is confident that his brothers will be fine.
The first operation, Kix tells them, will take a while. They don't want to mess anything up, and they want time to investigate closely, take their time to ensure that they don't miss anything. Echo knows they won't.
Fives goes in for surgery on the morning of the third day since the reveal. There are nonchalant-acting guards scattered throughout the corridors leading to the medbay that morning, quietly keeping watch. Echo doesn't go with them into the medbay. He'll be of no help to them, and he isn't in the mood to sit and pace in front of the doors like Cutup, so he follows Droidbait and Hevy to go get food once Fives has been ushered inside.
Half of the battalion turns to look at them when the three of them enter the mess hall. Echo is sharply reminded that the whole 501st is waiting for news.
Force. It's daunting, suddenly. Echo hadn't anticipated it to be this intimidating. Everyone knows now.
"They took one of our squad in for surgery just now," he announces quietly. His voice carries, because every brother has gone silent to listen. "We won't have news for at least another hour while the medics work."
There's a massive collective sigh as everyone goes back to their food. Echo exchanges a glance with Droidbait and Hevy, acutely aware of dozens of eyes still on them.
"I'm gonna go get food," Hevy announces uneasily. He's fidgeting under their gazes, slightly uncomfortable. Droidbait follows him as he leaves, a tiny frown on his face. Echo… isn't really hungry, suddenly. He scans the mess hall until he spots a familiar tattoo and makes a beeline for Jesse.
"Echo," Jesse greets cheerfully, scooting over to make room once Echo's close. He takes in Echo's unsettled expression and frowns. "Kriff. You alright?"
"You know," Echo begins, placing both elbows on the table, "no, not really. This is… the first time we've been around the battalion since this whole thing started."
Jesse raises his eyebrows. "How is this only the first time?" he asks. Echo shrugs helplessly.
"We ran around spreading the news, sure, but we didn't spend too much time around the same groups because we needed to talk to as many men as possible. We snagged rations when we could, and spoke with the medics a lot. Then we were mostly around people who already knew, to help them figure out what we were going to do. But everyone knows, now."
"That's a good thing, isn't it?"
"I mean, yes. It definitely is. It's just… we've protected this secret for a long time, Jesse. We tried our best to remain in the background, to not be noticed. It's different now, and that's… a little unsettling."
"You'll be alright," Jesse reassures. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. From what I've heard, the men are with you all the way. They're curious and concerned, that's all. It's not every day something like this happens."
It's not every timeline something like this happens, not that anyone but Domino squad would realize it.
"What else have you heard?" Echo asks. "I haven't been asking. Haven't had an opportunity to yet."
"Nothing bad. There's not much we can do about it, after all," Jesse answers. "I guess it's a little tense, mostly because anything could happen at any time and there wouldn't be much we could do about it. That could have happened way before this, too, though. Your team did a good job of keeping everyone calm. We understand that there's a lot at stake, so the battalion is holding steady for the time being."
Echo exhales slowly in relief as Hevy and Droidbait join them, sliding trays onto the table. If there was any battalion capable of taking the news without panic, it's the 501st. It makes Echo's chest swell with pride.
"I get the feeling they're aching to crowd us, but restraining themselves because they don't want to make a scene," Hevy mutters conversationally as he stuffs a breadstick into his mouth. "It's kind of weird."
Droidbait nudges Echo's elbow. "The brother I was next to in line suggested a battalion-wide meeting of some sort, just to explain everything again and talk about the plan. Is it possible?"
Echo frowns pensively. "It's possible. Maybe we could do it, but an impromptu battalion meeting might attract General Skywalker's attention. We'd need the Captain's help in order to pull something like that off. Grapevine will have to do for now. I'll see what I can do, though."
Droidbait nods and gets out of his seat, presumably to find the man he'd been talking to earlier and spread the word. His seat is almost immediately filled by a brother that Echo doesn't know, who looks at them all with wide eyes.
"Should we be worried?" he asks without preamble. "Some of us are nervous. We just… we just don't know what's happening."
Echo takes a deep breath. This has to be unnerving to the men who've only just learned about it. Echo remembers how shocked he'd been—though the shock of the chips had been slightly overshadowed by the shock of being alive in the first place, even after the month or so in between the two reveals.
"The medics are working to fix things as we speak, brother," he reassures. "We're finding a solution. Just hang on, and be patient."
The man doesn't look very reassured. Hevy grabs his arm before he can pull away from them.
"Hey," Hevy says. "We'll be alright. If only brothers know about this, there's no way whoever's responsible will know that we've become aware of the chips. He hasn't activated them before now, and he won't activate them yet. Besides, the medics will start de-chipping people within the next few days. We're fine," he emphasizes.
The clone blinks. He looks between Hevy's determined face and Echo's patient one, then glances at Jesse's supportive grin.
"Alright," he stammers out, and shakes Hevy off gently. Echo watches as he heads back to a group of men across the room and begins to talk with them urgently. Their tense expressions soften as he does. Echo sends a grateful look at Hevy, who grins back at him.
"Keep that up and we'll be okay, I think," Jesse tells them encouragingly.
Echo hopes that he's right.
Fives comes out of surgery perfectly fine, just as Echo knew he would, and Cutup is sent in. Fives won't wake up for a little while, still drugged, and the medics want to keep him longer to double check him anyway. Regardless, Echo has time to kill, so he makes his way back to the barracks and sits on the edge of his bed with his datapad in hand.
He might as well start looking at what's coming next.
The big problem is Geonosis, for sure. It's a necessary fight, one that definitely can't be avoided. Echo has no idea if it's even possible to change something of such a large scale. Changing the outcome of a skirmish is one thing. Changing the outcome of a planetary invasion is another. They hadn't even bothered to try with Felucia.
The problem on Geonosis, the first time, had been that the gunships carrying walkers had been shot down before they could deposit their heavy hitters. Echo briefly entertains the idea of somehow convincing the men to drop the tanks sooner, to try and get more of them on the ground. Would that really help, though? The walkers are slow and large, easy targets for the airborne bugs. Even if they were set down sooner, the long walk to the rendezvous might get them destroyed just as fast.
Echo doesn't have a good solution. He grows frustrated with the problem after a while of research and consideration, tossing his datapad onto the bed in annoyance.
"Well, that didn't look good," a brother says from the doorway. Echo glances up as Tipper enters the room, a sympathetic look on his face. Zeer is behind him, expression neutral. "Wanna talk about it?"
Echo sighs. He does, but not with Tipper. "I'm alright, Tip. Just tired and a little annoyed. It's nothing some rest won't be able to solve." A lie. One Echo wishes was true.
"Is it something about the… you know," Tipper tries carefully, tapping the back of his skull. Echo shakes his head.
"Not that. This is something else. It's fine, really. Nothing you need to worry about."
"Alright," Tipper says with a shrug. Echo half expects the exchange to end there, but Tipper has stopped a few feet away from him and is shifting his weight a bit awkwardly. Zeer is still behind him, silent as if waiting for something. Echo frowns.
"Tipper? Zeer?"
Tipper takes a deep breath.
"Can I… can I ask you a question, Echo?"
Echo lifts an eyebrow.
"Of course," he answers. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing," Tipper reassures. "It's just… it's—" Zeer nudges him gently to urge him onward. "Captain Rex came to us today, and asked us if we wanted to be ARC," Tipper blurts out. He looks almost guilty as he speaks. "Zeer and I—we told him we'd think about it and I kind of want to but I'm not sure if it's such a good idea because of the whole chip thing going on right now—"
So this is what it's about. Echo had been worried it would be something worse. He holds up a hand to stop Tipper in his tracks.
"Tipper, I'm not going to tell you whether or not you should be an ARC," he says, a little amused at their concern. "If you want to, go right ahead. Both of you would make excellent ARC troopers."
Tipper's eyes go wide. Zeer takes a half step forwards.
"Would it be wrong for us to leave?" he asks. "We might be needed. Would Del be angry with us?"
"He'd better not be," Echo replies. "He might be sad that you'll be gone for awhile, but you'll be back if the Captain has any say in things—which he does—and being selected to be ARC is one of the highest honors a clone can have." Neither of them look convinced. Echo smiles. "Trust me, you two. It wouldn't be wrong. Del wouldn't be angry. If anything, having men at ARC training might benefit us. When the time comes to get word of the chips out, you'll have the connections necessary to speed things along."
"Oh," Tipper says softly in realization. "I didn't think about that. What… what would you do if you were asked, Echo?"
Echo remembers adrenaline and pride and a firm "Yessir, thank you sir!" that he had shouted at the top of his lungs, Fives a steady presence next to him and excitement bubbling through his body.
"I would do it," he tells them honestly. "I would do it, and be proud to."
It takes a split second, but Tipper grins.
"I'm gonna do it," he says determinedly. "We could really help the Republic." He looks over his shoulder at Zeer questioningly, something hopeful in his gaze. Zeer nods at Echo before looking back at his companion.
"If you're in, I'm in," he says. Tipper's grin widens.
"Should we tell the Captain, then?" he asks, and practically bolts for the door. Zeer follows him.
"Thanks, Echo!" gets shouted back down the hall. Echo barely hears it as the door slides shut.
To some extent, they'll be safer at ARC training than they would be in the 501st during Geonosis. And Echo was serious about them connecting with other men while they're there. They're friends, and all of Beta squad will miss them, but Echo is certain that it's a good thing.
They'll do well as ARCs, especially as a pair. It reminds Echo of himself and Fives a little bit, and he smiles fondly to himself as he reaches for his datapad again.
He may not be able to find a solution for Geonosis quite yet, but there is something he can do in the meantime.
He types up an anonymous message to the security center of the Jedi Temple, notifying them that he'd overheard plans to steal a Jedi Holocron from a bounty hunter called Cad Bane and an accomplice. He remembers a lot of the details, though he can't mention all of them in the message. It had been all over the news their first life, and the 501st had been deployed afterwards to regain the holocron anyway. Echo wonders if he'll be able to stop things before they even happen this time. If the temple is on high alert to begin with, Bane won't stand a chance.
He's admittedly a little smug at the thought of ruining one of Bane's heists. The Duros had always seemed too proud for Echo's tastes, and if the Republic can catch him now it will save them plenty of trouble in the future.
He encrypts the message to make it untraceable and sends it with a satisfied tap of his finger. Job done, he sets the datapad down on his bed much more lightly than before.
He'll have to wait to hear what happens, but it feels good to try for now. With any luck the Jedi will be more than prepared to catch Bane off his guard.
Echo checks the time and takes a deep breath. He's done everything he can for now, and the medics should be releasing Fives soon. He crosses his fingers quietly and starts the walk up to the medbay.
He has a good feeling about this.
A/N: Sorry I was gone for so long, please forgive me! There might be some adjustments to this chapter because my brother hasn't edited it yet.
My chapters have been so Echo-centric lately, goodness. They'll be more time for the others soon, promise! Uh also I don't know if clone breadsticks are a thing but I am making them one now
One more thing... just because the battalion knows about the chips doesn't mean we're close to the end. :)