"Commander, catch!"
Commander Tano whirls around at Cutup's shout, holding out her hand as Cutup hurls a thermal detonator towards her with all his strength. She's far, but when it doesn't appear like it's going to reach her, she reaches out a hand and calls it closer, fingers outstretched. When it makes contact with her palm she thumbs the trigger before turning once more, launching the grenade towards the enemy droids with what must be the Force. The detonator goes far, and when it explodes Cutup lets out a shout of triumph—then throws himself back into cover, because the droids are determined little kriffers. A blasterbolt streaks past him as he does.
"Nice one, Cutup!" Del roars from somewhere behind him, and Cutup grins under his helmet. He leans out from behind the rock and fires off a couple more shots, snarling as a super battle droid jerks back but otherwise isn't affected by his shooting.
"Take it down!" someone else roars as they roll in to join Cutup behind the rock—it's Jesse, the republic cog on his helmet unmistakable even in the heat of battle. He combines his fire with Cutup's, and the super battle droid crumbles into sparking metal.
Cutup can't hear too well over the blasterfire, but for an instant the enemy resistance slackens. The droids are losing ground.
"Keep it up!" General Skywalker's voice shouts through their comms. "Just a little more!"
The General is ahead, standing straight-backed in the front as always, side by side with Commander Tano. They've been protecting the clones and steadily pushing forwards for the last hour, but at the General's words, the clones rally. Now's their chance. Fives and Droidbait rise from their spots just in front of them with matching war-cries. Cutup goes for it as well, throwing himself into the open, and hears the bark of a Z-6 as the clones get riskier, covering them. Hevy has their back as usual—
Oh. Well, not Hevy right now. Hardcase is keeping them safe (that does make Cutup's stomach jolt for a second because it's not bad but it's weird—though there's no time to worry about it now, they're in an actual firefight and it doesn't matter—). Del, Coric, Echo, and Nax are with him, kneeling and in Nax and Coric's cases on their stomachs as they fire at the droids.
The Jedi are pressing forwards and Cutup feels a surge of adrenaline. Push, push. They're making room. This droid battalion has been a thorn in their side for too long, preventing them from reaching the rendezvous with the 212th. Torrent company seems sick of it, by the furious shouts that are now audible as the clones start to mobilize.
Ord Mantell is a planet of nothing but mountain ranges. Torrent Company has the bad luck of having to ascend today, but with the Jedi in front of them it's easy to keep surging ahead. The turrets perched above them had been niuscences in the beginning, but General Skywalker had made quick work of them once the gunships had touched down. The problem, now, is the base, surrounded by a wall on a hill above, but the droids are firing down at them and that makes it a little more complicated.
The Jedi surge ahead, lightsabers whirling. The sun is out even though there's a thick dust billowing through the air. It sends strange shadows flickering in the air as blaster bolts whip by. Cutup furrows his brow and fires again towards the base in the distance. A droid wails as it explodes at the hip.
"Keep it up," Jesse growls, letting his blaster bark. More droids fall. The clones are more in the open now, waiting, watching. The Jedi seem to be prepping themselves, but they can't stall much longer. The droids are recovering, sending more men to fill the gaps in their defenses that the clones have worked down. A brother somewhere behind them lets out a shout that Cutup's all too familiar with—a death-cry. Up ahead, General Skywalker lifts his arm to speak with someone in his commlink. When he lowers it again, he takes a step forward.
"Let's go!" General Skywalker shouts finally, and then they're running. Cutup braces himself and goes. There's no time to think, no time to worry. He adjusts himself to follow Commander Tano's path as he goes. The rest of Beta squad is right with them. Cutup is expecting more casualties, more fear, but for some reason the enemy fire lessons as they make the mad dash up the hill. He's not entirely sure why—if the droids are confused by their attack, or if they'd killed enough of them before making the rush—
Commander Tano reaches the base wall and leaps over it, lightsaber leaving a green imprint in the air as she leaps gracefully. Cutup can't follow, so he skids to a stop and swears. Del rockets past him and braces himself against the wall. He cups two hands together and offers them near Cutup's knee.
"Going up?" he asks. Cutup blinks at him. They aren't getting fired at now, the droids are briefly more worried about the Jedi inside their base.
"I mean—I, yes?" It's not the tallest wall. It's the height of about two and a half clones, by Cutup's rough estimate.
Del nods at him. Coric plucks Cutup's gun from his hand.
"Good. Get going. I'll throw this to you."
Cutup places his foot on Del's hands and gasps when Del heaves, pushing Cutup high enough to reach the top. From there he relies on his own armstength to pull himself up to view an open courtyard. Commander Tano is in the center, deflecting blaster bolts from every side. She's backing up. Cutup snarls. She needs help. The fire is too concentrated for her to do anything more than defend. Worry settles deep in his gut.
"Coric, my blaster!" he yells, and when it's tossed to him he lets himself drop from the wall, ignoring the shouts of his squadmates. He tucks himself into a roll to soften the landing and comes out of it in a crouch. It's luck that allows him to take out three of the Commander's attackers before the droids notice him.
He's out in the open without anything to protect him. The droids fire, and pure adrenaline shoots through Cutup like a wildfire. He flattens himself to the ground and hears blaster bolts zip over his head. Lucky. But they'll shoot again, and won't miss the second time—!
Then he hears the comforting hum of a lightsaber.
He's going to be fine.
When he scrambles to his feet, Commander Tano is in front of him, teeth bared and on the defense again. She's standing in front of him, lightsaber whirling and unwilling to move an inch.
Fortunately, she doesn't have to. Cutup pokes around her side, mindful of the saber, to blast the droids down while she defends them both. A moment later, more blue bolts come raining down from above. Beta squad is climbing over one by one, using the wall as an advantage point. With them above and the Jedi on the ground, the droids are momentarily confused—and that's all it takes.
The courtyard is empty in a couple more seconds, and Commander Tano lets out a sigh as she deactivates her lightsaber.
"Thanks, Cutup," she says gratefully, flashing him a tired grin. When the others drop down from the wall to join them, her smile widens. "I knew you'd all have my back."
"Nowhere else to be, Commander," Fives tells her. His voice is gruff, but there's a softness to it that Cutup doesn't hear very often. "And also, sithspit, Cutup, be more careful next time!" Cutup just looks at him. The ARC can't see his face, but Cutup inclines his head in a way that leaves his thoughts clear—you would have done the same, so you have no room to talk. Actually, Cutup's fairly certain that any of them would have done the same thing. The Commander is their responsibility to protect, and she's basically a member of the squad at this point. Cutup had just been the first over the wall. Fives' head moves minutely—probably an eye roll, under the helmet.
"Yeah, yeah, well. That doesn't mean you should."
Nax lets out a soft chuckle, and Hardcase snorts. Commander Tano shakes her head fondly, turning to inspect the rest of the courtyard. There's a dry fountain in the center, surrounded by piles of destroyed machinery. Farther back there are three different entrances to the droid base, and they are silent for now.
"Great," she says. "Let me just…" She brings her communicator to her mouth. "Master, are you there? What's your position?"
Her comm responds with static. General Skywalker's voice is audible for a half a Tano frowns.
"Master?" she repeats, and that's when the door farthest from them jerks open. On instinct the clones scatter, diving for various nooks and crannies around the courtyard—just in time, too, because two droidekas roll out and set up in horrifying sync. Their shields go up as Commander Tano ignites her lightsaber.
"Kriff!" Droidbait yells, scrambling to put the abandoned fountain between himself and the droids—Cutup follows him, and the two of them huddle together as blaster bolts rock the stone at their backs.
"Well, this is unfortunate!" Cutup gasps out, twisting a little to the side to see if he could maybe get a shot off, but the droids fire again and Cutup cowers back behind the rock. They're pinned down. Commander Tano has similarly hidden herself—she's crouched behind a fallen pillar to their left. "What's the plan?"
"Anyone got droid-poppers?" Coric asks over comms, and is met by a chorus of tense negative, no, I wish, poodoo. To make things worse, more droids are marching out of the base, led by the droidekas. They'll be overwhelmed again if they can't fight. "Well, great. Commander?"
"Stay down!" she orders them tensely. "Give me a second, I…"
The door on the left side of the courtyard slides open. Cutup tenses—from the left door, he and Droidbait are wide open to enemy fire. He aims his weapon, aware of Droidbait next to him doing the same—
General Skywalker comes charging into the courtyard, lightsaber held high. Cutup nearly has a heart attack.
"Snips!" the General yells, and Commander Tano leaps to her feat, springing into action once more. The two Jedi advance seamlessly towards the enemy, and Cutup lets out a whoop.
Right on General Skywalker's tail is Captain Rex, twin pistols blazing. The Captain shoots down a whole line of clankers before diving to the side. A purple missile soars past him and Cutup shouts in alarm as it explodes, sending shrapnel flying in every direction. Rocket droids. Of course.
They're about to fall back again. General Skywalker is reckless, yes, but a fool, no. He knows when it's better for his men to fall back. Open combat against rocket droids only leads to casualties.
Then, the third door opens. A droid stumbles out—and is immediately sliced clean down the middle by a third blue lightsaber. General Kenobi steps into the light, a squad of 212th men behind him. Cutup's heart leaps in his chest.
"Go, go, go!" someone is shouting, so Cutup focuses on the firefight and gets lost in blaster fire and smoke and beams of light. The Jedi bear down on the droidekas without hesitation.
They fight until there's not a single droid standing. The three Jedi take out the last few clankers smoothly, without difficulty. General Skywalker stabs and General Kenobi slashes and Commander Tano whirls gracefully in between them, green contrasting starkly against blue.
While they deal with that, Cutup and Droidbait finally dare to step away from their cover behind the fountain. Two 212th clones are closest to them, and Cutup offers them a nod.
"Ghost Company?" he asks them, curious, because everyone's heard of General Kenobi's infamous company—just as they've heard of the infamous Torrent Company.
One of them laughs.
"Hi, Torrent," he responds, and Cutup grins—that's a yes. "The name's Waxer. This's Boil."
"I'm Cutup," Cutup introduces himself. "This is Droidbait."
"Droidbait, eh?" Boil says, taking a look over Droidbait's armor and the many tally marks that now score it's surface. He nods approvingly. "I like it."
"Thanks," Droidbait says, surprised. "I—"
"Hold still," Coric suddenly says from out of nowhere, grabbing Cutup's arm to look him over. When the medic sees that no one is injured, he gives a curt nod and makes a beeline for the others.
"—when I called you," General Kenobi is saying, and the clones snap back into war-mode. They can get to know each other later. Maybe. If there's time. Cutup turns to approach the three Jedi, waiting for their next move.
General Kenobi sounds slightly amused. "I wondered what was taking you so long, Anakin."
General Skywalker crosses his arms. Commander Tano stifles a smile.
"Listen, Obi-wan, it wasn't my fault that we were delayed! There was nothing we could do!"
"Nothing? I'd assumed you were just being late, as usual," General Kenobi says, and he's teasing now, but General Skywalker takes the bait, because he always does.
"Easy for you to say," General Skywalker defends grumpily, mashing his foot down on the processor of a destroyed B-1 battle droid at his feet. "You had the high ground. We came from below."
For some reason, that statement makes Waxer and Boil throw back their heads and laugh. General Kenobi smiles.
"Well, whatever your reasons, we need to head back. I left Cody in charge at the rendezvous point, and he'll be needing us back eventually."
"Right, right. Let's go then," Anakin agrees, shooting his old Master one more half-hearted glare before he rolls his eyes good-naturedly.
They aren't far from the rendezvous point, turns out—the base had been their last obstacle. The arrival of General Kenobi at the base had been the reason why the droids had lessened their attack earlier, and Cutup is grateful. The 212th men are a little more rested, and take the lead as they leave the base and climb a click higher up the mountain.
When they reach the plateau that had been designated as the rendezvous, there are already three AT-ETs set up and waiting. Captain Rex is on his comm, guiding the rest of Torrent Company to follow them, and Commander Cody greets them all with a salute.
"Sirs. We've received some bad news. The droids are retreating, but they're all congregating towards our final objective point. We've retaken the surrounding local villages without casualty, but the main force is clustered around the enemy headquarters within the next valley."
"That's… unfortunate," General Skywalker says with a sigh. The Jedi share several looks and General Kenobi strokes his beard. "Any news on the rest of the 501st, Rex?"
Captain Rex straightens. "Now that we've captured the plateau it will be possible to land the gunships, but even with increased forces it will be difficult to dig the clankers out. Their base is heavily fortified." As he speaks Commander Cody gives Beta squad a little nod of greeting. It's a friendly motion, and Cutup remembers the last time he'd seen the Commander a few days ago, jaw clenched as he braved the chip. It makes him look up to the Commander even more than he already had.
"So, we do what we always do," Commander Tano suggests with a grin. "We sneak in and blow it up!"
"Ahsoka, it doesn't always work like that," General Skywalker tells her seriously, but he's stopped by General Kenobi raising his hand.
"Wait, Anakin, perhaps she's on to something."
General Skywalker raises an eyebrow.
"You are supporting sneaking in and blowing something up?"
General Kenobi sighs.
"This time, I believe so. It seems like the best way to avoid casualties—"
"Oh, well, in that case, I'm in," General Skywalker says cheerfully. "Rex, gather a squad. We're going to sneak through the retreating forces and destroy the droid control center before the enemy can mobilize their defenses there."
"Uh," Rex says. "Here's your squad, sir."
He gestures at Beta squad. Commander Tano looks ridiculously proud.
General Skywalker nods in approval. "Beta squad. You okay with this?"
"Of course, sir," Del answers. "We're with you."
"Anakin, wait," General Kenobi suddenly interrupts. "Beta squad cannot accompany you."
Cutup feels a surge of betrayal. In fact, all the clones recoil slightly. General Kenobi wants them to stay behind? Unthinkable. Almost impossible for clones. Never leave a brother behind, rule one. General Skywalker glares at his old master in confusion.
"Why the kriff not?" he says loudly. General Kenobi sighs.
"Their information about the chips is too valuable to lose."
"They've told us everything they know!" General Skywalker protests, and General Kenobi blinks at him slowly.
"Have they?"
A ball of ice settles in Cutup's stomach. Does he know something? Suddenly all eyes are on them, and Cutup is frozen, can't move suddenly—
"At least one of them should stay behind, just in case," General Kenobi tells them. "But—"
"Hevy's on Coruscant, that's enough!" General Skywalker snaps. "And what do you mean? Don't try to change the subject!"
No one says a word. The atmosphere feels tense.
"Now is not the time," General Kenobi says. Cutup stares at him and wonders what he could possibly suspect. How it could be possible for him to know something. He can't know.
Next to him, Fives' fists are balled, but the ARC doesn't say anything. No one does. They're paralyzed.
When General Skywalker doesn't stop staring at General Kenobi, and now that Commander Tano's eyes couldn't get any wider, General Kenobi frowns.
"I'm not surprised you haven't felt it," he mutters. "You two have always been quicker to think with your sabers than with the Force."
"Felt. What." General Skywalker growls. General Kenobi raises a hand to placate him.
"The Force echoes around these clones like none other," he explains gently. "If one examines with the Force, one sees it."
"What?" Echo blurts out suddenly. Cutup feels rising panic spread through his chest. What?
"What?" General Skywalker repeats, fixing his eyes on them—and suddenly Cutup feels something. Something intrusive, not violent, but persistent, leaving no room for argument, tap at his mind. He flinches with a gasp and notices the rest of Domino jerk as well.
"Kriffing—!"
As soon as it had started, it's over. General Skywalker's eyes are wide.
Cutup isn't sure what's happening.
"How?" General Skywalker demands, and General Kenobi pinches the bridge of his nose. "What does that even mean?" Commander Tano lets out a soft sound of surprise behind him.
"Anakin, there's no time," General Kenobi reminds them curtly. "This is why I didn't want to speak of it now. There's a battle to be won." He sends the clones an apologetic look, and that does make Cutup feel a little better. He's trying to restrict them, but it's for their own safety. Cutup can be grateful to that, even if he doesn't like the idea.
General Skywalker is briefly conflicted, still curious, but his priorities are set. His shoulders untense, and he exhales slowly.
"Right. Rex, gear up. Beta… with me."
Cutup blinks.
"Sir?" Hardcase questions, confused. General Skywalker offers him a small smile—of understanding, or apology, Cutup can't decide.
"Anakin—" General Kenobi cuts himself off and shakes his head, done arguing.
"Weird Force and chips aside, you're some of the best men in Torrent. I want you with me," General Skywalker says defiantly.
Cutup's heart skips a beat. General Skywalker trusts them regardless. It makes him feel a swell of hope.
"We won't let you down, sir!"
"That being said," General Skywalker informs them carefully. "I will be asking about this later."
Cutup winces. Great. That can't be good. What on earth could the General want to know? He has no way of understanding or sensing their past lives.
General Kenobi sighs. He's done that a lot today.
"Alright, fine. Now, how are we planning on sneaking past the droids…?"
Cutup frowns in worry and tries to refocus. There isn't time to worry about what just happened. The battle is far from won.
Hevy wakes up with a groan. His vision is blurry, but the longer he waits the clearer it becomes—so clear, in fact, that he feels good. Almost normal, actually.
Today is the first day he's been able to think coherently upon waking up. It's been four days since his surgery, and his second day out of a bacta tank. He's groggy, but he doesn't feel the telltale drag of drugs affecting his mind.
"Hey, sleeping beauty."
Hevy groans.
"Shut up, Flak."
There's a chuckle from the other side of the room.
"They took you off of the heavy drugs this morning. Feeling better? Last time you just kind of muttered and then fell back asleep."
Hevy doesn't respond for a moment. Flak hums.
"Hevy?"
"Yeah, yeah," Hevy says with a sigh. "I'm awake."
"That's good," Flak tells him, and Hevy finally feels brave enough to sit up. He doesn't try to move his legs yet. Doesn't dare. But the pilot is smirking at him, so Hevy offers him a smile.
"Ready to leap into the stars like a space gazelle?" Flak asks without warning.
"Uh," Hevy answers him. "That—yes?"
"Great! I just wanted to ask because—"
"Do space gazelles even exist? I don't remember learning about them on Kamino—"
"—the medics said your surgery should have been a success, so…"
Hevy blinks. A success.
He stares down at his legs, covered by the warm blanket (far warmer than anything he's ever had before) and clenches his jaw nervously. Flak must see his doubt, because the grin slides off of his face, and the teasing look in his eye disappears.
"They did say it was a success. Promise. Look."
Hevy glances at him and perks up when Flak swings his legs over the side of his own bed and kicks out his knees a couple times, flexing his bare feet. A moment later, he scoots back into the bed and shudders.
"It's cold. But there, see? I'm fit as an oggdo bogdo. They told me I was fine, and they were right."
Hevy takes a deep breath. He's nervous that something went wrong, that for some reason he still isn't going to be able to move his lower half, that he'll only have partial function, that he won't be able to return to the 501st—
"Hevy. Cut it out and move your legs," Flak orders sharply. Hevy closes his eyes and does, flexing the muscles of his lower half and hoping—!
His knees pop loudly, but both of them bend. Hevy nearly shouts in excitement, fear transforming in an instant.
Sweet Force. He can move his legs! His breath catches in his throat.
"Flak, did you see—!"
"Yup," Flak answers smugly. "I told you. They're the best doctors in the galaxy here."
"Well, kriff," Hevy mutters joyfully, tossing the blanket from off his legs so that he can watch his toes all wiggle, so that he can roll his ankles and stretch out muscles that haven't been used in weeks. It feels so kriffing good. He could faint from relief. He remembers the geonosians lifting him, the frantic freefall, the impact of hitting the hard rock—he remembers fear just as crippling as his injury, of being useless, of never being able to fight again.
He's going back to the 501st. He's going back to Domino squad. He breathes out slowly and feels his soul soar in elation.
"I take it you're excited," Flak says. Hevy laughs.
"Understatement," he responds. "You have to feel the same way. I take it your operation was equally successful?" He'd been in the operating room and then on drugs while Flak had been recovering.
"Kriff yeah," Flak answers him, turning to look out the small window. The blinds are drawn back to reveal a bustling sky-lane of Coruscant flying near them. "I'm gonna fly again. I couldn't be happier."
For a moment, they don't speak. Hevy's imagining the 501st, and his trusty Z-6. He bets Flak is imagining clouds and stars and freedom.
"Speaking of flying," Hevy says finally, "That was ridiculous, what you pulled off on Geonosis. How weren't we killed? What did you even do? We never got a chance to thank you fully."
Flak shrugs.
"It was nothing," he says. "Just doing my job. I didn't want to die. Didn't want your squad to die, either."
"Well, thank you," Hevy tells him sincerely. "Thank you for saving us."
Flak smiles softly, glancing at the floor.
"Truthfully… I don't know how I did it. I don't know how the gunship didn't go up in flames. I don't know why we didn't roll. We just… didn't. But thanks, I guess, for the gratitude. It's what I was trained for. What I love."
"I know," Hevy says. "And now you'll get to continue it."
Flak smiles wistfully and looks out the window again, towards the speeders and cruisers and starships soaring past their window.
Hevy swings his legs out of bed. They move as he commands them, slightly sore, but whole. Real. He leans down and pushes off the bed, ready to stand on his own again—
"Hevy, wait!"
It's too late. Hevy yelps as he crumples, and a sharp lightning bolt of pain rips up his spine.
"Sithspit!" Flak shouts, sliding out of bed to grab Hevy's arm. "By the Force, don't try to stand yet! Your legs work, yes, but your body needs to recover!"
"You can stand, though," Hevy points out, and Flak sighs as he tugs Hevy up and helps him sit back onto his bed so there's no weight on his legs.
"When I try to walk, they hurt. But I've also been in physical therapy for the past four days. You're just barely off of drugs."
Hevy scowls, steadying himself against his pillow and scowling even more when his palm sinks into it instead of supporting him.
"Yeah, yeah, okay," he mutters. Flak rolls his eyes and limps back to his own bed, wincing as he goes. Fives gets a look at the edge of a scar on each of his ankles. "How long is the recovery time?"
"A week, with three more sessions in a bacta tank before we can be released," Flak answers. "But that just means released from the hospital, not released into active duty. We need to be taking it easy for the next month. They say we can't leave Coruscant until then."
Hevy frowns. It's a long time. He misses the 501st. It's going to be boring. What is he supposed to do for a month here? The thought horrifies him for a moment, leaves him fidgety and itching to feel a blaster in his hand.
But maybe the time is necessary for Senator Amidala's plan. A sacrifice well worth it, if everything goes as planned. Speaking of.
"Has the Senator spoken with you yet?" he asks, trying to find a bright side. Flak shakes his head.
"Yes, but nothing important. She called to check in on you. She hasn't gotten much by the way of evidence yet—the information is still circulating around the GAR, so we haven't gotten any responses as of yet."
Hevy nods. "And the 501st?"
"They're deployed," Flak answers. "Ord Mantell. The 212th is with them."
Fives is nervous for them. He isn't there to watch their backs. He hopes fervently that they'll be okay.
"When did they get there?"
"Two days ago."
That's not enough time to finish a campaign. Hevy wants to call them, but they won't see it until they're back on the Resolute.
"Don't call them, but send a message," Flak suggests, throwing a datapad at him casually. Hevy catches it and is reaching to turn it on when it buzzes in his hand. A message has just come in.
Hevy taps the option once and the message opens, sending words scrolling across the screen. Hevy reads, eyes narrowed in surprise, and then gasps.
"Holy kriff."
Flak frowns.
"What happened? Who was it?"
"Only the best news I've ever received in my life," Hevy answers in barely contained excitement. "Hang on one second."
He flicks the received message aside and starts to eagerly write a new message to his batchmates.
Tally mark, tally mark, tally mark.
Droidbait's going to get a lot of them from this mission.
Well, at this point he gets lots of tally marks from every mission. His armor is filling up slowly and surely, and he'd thought it was going to be more difficult to do so but he's quite frankly survived longer than he thought he would, so… there's that.
He'd died first, last time. But this time, he's still alive, and his brothers are on every side, protecting him as he guns down the clankers that had been responsible for his original death. The commando droids are fast, but Beta squad had caught them unawares in the command center of the enemy base.
Droidbait isn't afraid of them anymore. He just narrows his eyes and keeps blasting.
He's grown.
He catches a glimpse of Fives on one side, flashing ARC signs with his free hand. Four more, right side, three, two, one—
Droidbait moves with him, understanding immediately. His shoulder brushes with Fives' as they slide into the open doorway, firing together. The rest of the commando droids crumple. Fives blasts one before it can reach for it's comm, and then everything is silent.
"Good work," General Skywalker compliments in a low voice. They file into the now empty room, weapons up and ready. After a moment, Commander Tano bends down and begins attaching thermal detonators to the undersides of consoles, in places where the droids won't find them in time.
The mission has been tense. Far tenser than usual, even for a stealth mission. Everyone is on edge, and it isn't just for the nature of the task at hand.
They're worried about discovery, about everyone learning about who they really are and what had happened beforehand and thinking that they're all absolutely insane—
Rex's hands haven't left his pistols the whole time. Droidbait can't imagine how he feels. The captain had only just barely learned of their past lives—he's the only one, aside from Ninety-nine, who knows—and they hadn't gotten the chance to go back over their story with him or answer his questions. But the thought of widespread discovery, the thought of being exposed like that without having a choice, sends flickers of fear through Droidbait's entire body. It makes him grind his teeth and struggle to focus.
They've protected this secret for ages, afraid of what it could change if revealed. That if it changes too much, once people know, they'll lose their reliable information and be left in the dark once more. And they still don't have any proof of Chancellor Palpatine's treachery.
But… what had General Kenobi meant, exactly? The Force is… different around them? Droidbait can't pretend to understand the Force, but he knows that he certainly doesn't have it. The Force is what lets Jedi jump up four stories in one go. What lets them move things with their mind and have dreams to see the future and deflect blaster bolts without even looking.
He'd felt something odd, in his head. General Skywalker had looked them all over, and Droidbait had felt a strange pressure in his brain, something warm that had sent shockwaves through all his thoughts before disappearing.
He doesn't know what to think about that. It stresses him out. He wants answers too, but at the same time, he doesn't.
"The charges are set," Commander Tano says quietly. She's been similarly stifled since General Kenobi's comment, and it makes Droidbait sad. "Ready?"
"Let's get out of here," General Kenobi comments, lightsaber still active in his hand behind them. "Any longer, and I'm afraid we'll have overstayed our welcome."
As if emphasizing his words, an alarm suddenly blares to life. Droidbait winces at the piercing noise.
"Yeah, okay. Let's move!" General Skywalker orders, and they're running again.
The explosion, once they get far enough away, is blinding and satisfying, but it just makes Droidbait more nervous. Time to face the music.
They are half a click from the base when the commando droid leaps from a cliff above them and comes down vibroblade-first.
Their shouts of alarm aren't fast enough, because the vibroblade is descending right for Del and there's no time no time and Droidbait isn't close enough to do anything, can't lift his gun fast enough—!
Coric shoves Del out of the way, and the vibroblade makes a metallic screech as it cuts through the medic's armor. Coric drops like a stone.
Pure panic jolts through the whole squad. Del doesn't even look at the droid in front of him, letting out a choked cry and reaching for one of his only living squadmates left. The commando droid is a heartbeat away from slashing him, too, until Nax lets out a scream of rage and guns it down mercilessly. Then everyone is moving, converging in on their downed squadmate.
"There's more!" Hardcase shouts, firing on a second commando droid. Droidbait freezes up.
No, not again. Please not again, he'd barely survived losing Attie, they can't lose their medic, too, not like this, not now—
"Droidbait, look out!" General Skywalker shouts, and Droidbait suddenly feels something push him out of the way, something intangible, and a blasterbolt zooms by right where he'd been standing. General Skywalker activates his lightsaber to defend. General Kenobi is already sprinting forwards, taking the approaching commandos head-on. Meanwhile, Commander Tano is settled in front of where Del and Echo are crouched in front of Coric's motionless body to defend them. The two clones are frantically trying to staunch a sizable stream of blood and swearing viciously as they do.
"General, we've got to move! We need a medic, there's not much we can do here until we get back to base!" Fives shouts. General Skywalker whirls around.
"Jesse, call ahead! Tell Kix to get on a speeder and meet us halfway!"
"Yessir!" Jesse barks back, lifting his gauntlet.
"Coric, what did you do," Del is gasping out. "You idiot, you… why would you do that, you kriffing—you pushed, me, you—"
Coric doesn't respond. Echo is pulling his chest plates off frantically to get at his wound. There's so much blood. The droid situation seems to be taken care of, so Droidbait clenches his jaw and sprints forward to see how he can help.
When Kix gets to them, he leaps off the speeder bike before it's even fully stopped moving. Denal, his driver, lets out a shout of caution, but Kix ignores him, sprinting for where Fives and Droidbait are taking turns putting pressure on the large wound in Coric's side. Droidbait's hands are shaking, covered in blood, but he refuses to let up. The injury is long, not bone-deep, but not shallow either. It runs from his shoulder to his hip. They have to use their entire arms in order to cover it fully, and it's only been a few minutes but it's exhausting.
"Move," Kix hisses, shoving Jesse aside when the other clone tries to greet him, and falls to his knees in front of Coric. Droidbait has never been more grateful for the medic's bluntness. "What happened?"
"Commando droids," Captain Rex tells him grimly, arms crossed. "They must have been out on patrol when we attacked their base. They ambushed us on the way back."
"Great," Kix snarls, and reaches for his medpack. He pulls out something large and white—a bactabandage, much larger than the small ones Coric usually carries. Fives had tried to tie a few of the small ones together and it had helped somewhat, slowing the bleeding, but hadn't accomplished much more. Kix starts wrapping the longer bandage and Droidbait can finally step away as Kix takes over.
"We need to get him back to medical, ASAP," Kix says calmly. The calmness actually makes Droidbait cringe more. It's serious, then. Kix gains composure the worse an injury is. "The bactabandage won't be enough. He needs a tank, or he'll die."
He gives it to them straight. Droidbait flinches, remembers Ryloth and screaming and the Teth survivors grieving. It's not something he wants to relive. Coric is barely breathing. Droidbait knows that Kix isn't joking.
"I've got him," Commander Tano says immediately, voice small, and extends her hand. Coric's body rises, quickly but gently, and Commander Tano lets him down on the speeder. Denal catches him with a noise of alarm. Kix gets on a second later.
"Denal, get going!" Captain Rex shouts, and Denal doesn't even protest. He waits for Kix to get his arms around Coric and then floors it, leaving them in the dust.
Beta squad is left staring after them, hopeless and fearful and praying that their squadmate will be okay.
They can't lose anyone else.
When they get back to the rendezvous point, Coric is already gone. Kix had taken him back up to the Resolute, and it's out of their hands, but that doesn't stop Del from angrily throwing his helmet to the ground in a motion of barely restrained panic and guilt. The motion startles Beta squad, but it startles the Jedi even more. Commander Tano flinches back, and General Skywalker tenses. General Kenobi stares at the clones, grief flashing across his face.
"Del—" Jesse attempts to say, but Del scowls at him, face twisted.
"Do not," he hisses out. Jesse holds up his hands helplessly and takes a step back.
They give Del a moment. Finally, the squad leader takes a deep breath and squares his shoulders. He looks marginally more stable. Droidbait bites his lip and tries to keep his breathing even.
"Del," General Skywalker says softly. The Jedi's voice makes Del snap to attention.
"Sir."
"Why don't you take a break for a minute?" General Skywalker suggests. "Coric is going to be fine, so you need to be fine when he comes back."
Del inhales. It sounds painful.
"Right. Yes, sir."
General Skywalker nods meaningfully at Nax, who takes the hint. The mechanic has also taken his helmet off, and his eyes are dull, but he dutifully grabs onto Del's shoulder to tug him away from them and search for a quiet spot.
Once they're gone, General Skywalker turns to the remainder of Beta and sighs.
"Kix will do everything in his power to save him," he reminds them, not that they needed him to say it. Kix is far too good at what he does. "The rest of you… how are you holding up?"
Droidbait isn't doing so hot, admittedly. His gloves are covered in dry blood, and his legs are trembling a little under him. Echo and Fives look fine mentally, just grim. Cutup's shoulders are slumped in distress. Captain Rex is like a statue. Jesse and Hardcase are visibly shaken. Even Commander Tano has her head down and her arms wrapped around her body. No one answers immediately, and that seems to be answer enough for General Skywalker. The man shakes his head.
"You're all dismissed for the time being. Go sit down, eat a ration bar, and tend to any injuries you might have. We can talk later."
Droidbait lets out a sigh of relief. They aren't going to be interrogated now. Putting it off isn't that great either, but they'll be in a better state of mind to answer questions once they've found out if Coric will be alright or not.
Droidbait is afraid. Beta squad is changing. Del is losing his Teth survivors, one by one. Who's to say the same couldn't happen to any member of Domino squad? They've been lucky, that's all. And even then, Coric getting wounded instead of one of them isn't lucky. He's a part of their squad now, and it feels like a heavy fist is squeezing Droidbait's heart.
"Sir. Thank you," Echo says carefully. General Skywalker nods, putting a hand on Commander Tano's shoulder. She takes a deep breath as he does so, body relaxing. Letting her worry and grief go. She's learned a lot about how to handle this kind of thing. Droidbait can't decide if that's good or not.
"Well let you know if we hear anything from Kix," she tells them. "Get some rest."
She, General Skywalker, and General Kenobi turn to leave them. Rex almost goes too, until General Kenobi puts out a hand to stop him.
"You too, Captain," he says gently, and it means a lot that Rex doesn't protest, just nods and turns to return with Beta squad.
Then they're left alone, with only their anxious fear to accompany them.
This mission has admittedly been less than ideal. Fives is used to losing people, used to shutting down that fear and accepting whatever comes. This is war, after all. You move on. You mourn, and then you shut it down and keep pressing forward. That's what Fives and Echo have been trying to explain to the rest of Domino for their entire second life. He doesn't know if Coric is going to die or not—if anyone can save him, it's Kix, but that doesn't necessarily mean Coric will get out unscathed—but he does know that if it continues to effect them like this their squad is going to be incapacitated the next time they truly lose someone.
And that's not him being grim, either. It's realistic. The fact that Attie is the only casualty of Beta squad so far is statistically ridiculous.
Beta squad is seated in a patch of grass off to one side of their rendezvous point, which has quickly become a small base. They're waiting, taking comfort in the lack of responsibility or orders for a brief moment. Hardcase seems to be taking a nap. Cutup is next to him, staring up into the sky to watch the clouds. Jesse is munching on a ration bar pensively. Echo is just sitting, eyes closed, and Droidbait is silently painting tally marks onto one of his greaves with the little paint tin he'd snagged from supplies.
Nax and Del aren't here. Fives doesn't know where they are, but he hopes they're alright.
They're being patient, that's all. And feeling relieved that they haven't been questioned yet, that the General saw their distress and decided not to push until Coric's fate is decided. Although… Fives does have lots of questions about that. Questions that he can't really afford to think about now, because one thing at a time.
When they'd first sat down, Fives had taken the opportunity to answer some of Rex's questions about their past life. Rex is curious about all the things Fives had known he was going to ask: about the attack on Kamino, about Umbara and Krell. About the chips. Fives had re-explained and answered what he could, but eventually Rex runs out of questions and is content to sit and think.
When Echo's comm rings, the six of them all freeze. Echo answers it instantly.
"Echo," Nax's voice says. "We just got news from Kix. Coric is stable."
Fives lets out a sigh of relief. Behind him, he hears the others making similar sounds. Someone lets out a quiet cheer.
"That's great!" Fives says, feeling the cloud of fear that had overtaken them start to dispel itself. "Did he tell you anything else, or…"
Nax sighs.
"He's going to live, but… a nerve cluster in his arm was severed, and Kix can't mend it."
Fives' stomach drops, and Beta squad goes silent behind him.
"He can still move the arm, but his fingers don't quite… bend, like they should anymore," Nax continues quietly. There's no need to explain any further. A medic without his fingers is like a bird without wings.
Fives lets out a snarled curse in Huttese.
"Can't they just… send him to the hospital on Coruscant, where Hevy is?" Jesse asks with worried eyes. Rex shakes his head.
"I doubt it. He hasn't lost the function of the arm, just the mobility of his fingers. Maybe he can go by when we visit Coruscant to stock up on supplies, but…"
They don't do that very often. The 501st is almost always deployed. In his last life Fives had only stopped at Coruscant four times, and the last time had killed him.
"So he's gonna be like that until we go back," Cutup mutters, and Rex nods grimly. Hevy and Flak had been sent back because they were literally unable to function. Coric is just going to be crippled for a while. It's not something Fives would wish on anyone, much less a medic.
"Other than that, he's doing okay," Nax continues. He doesn't sound upset, just… accepting. Relieved that his squadmate is alive. "So's Del. We got to talk to Coric for a few minutes. He was headed into a bacta tank when Kix commed us."
It's being taken care of, then. It's easier to breathe now. It's not going to be easy for Coric, but he's alive. To Fives, that's the most important thing.
"I'm going to let the Jedi know," Nax says. "We'll join you later, okay?"
"That's fine," Echo hums. "Take your time, Nax. We aren't going anywhere."
Nax thanks him and hangs up. Everyone sighs again. It could have been much worse. Suddenly Fives' mind has the capacity to think about other things, and he runs a hand through his hair.
One worry gone, but three more instantly take it's place. Normal.
When is the General going to talk with them about the Force? More importantly, what the kriff is happening with that? Fives is pretty sure General Skywalker had prodded at their minds with the Force, and it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but Fives is confused and annoyed that he doesn't have an answer.
Echo suddenly lets out a gasp. Unnoticed by Fives, he's been messing with his datapad, but as Fives looks at him, muscles tensing, Echo grins.
"Got a message from Hevy," he says. "Good news. He's out of surgery and going through a brief recovery period, but in a week he'll be out of there."
Cutup gasps. Droidbait lets out a cheer, and Fives smiles.
"He's not coming back yet—he has to stay there for a month, but he says he and Senator Amidala are working on a couple ideas and—oh, interesting."
Fives raises an eyebrow at the other ARC. Echo sounds surprised.
"Hevy says he received an invitation from the Coruscant Guard to patrol with them while he's recovering. He'll bunk with them and everything. He sounds really excited," Echo explains, and Fives—Fives suddenly can't breathe again.
"The Guard," he repeats stuntedly, mind not processing it. "The Coruscant Guard."
"Yeah," Echo says, shooting him an odd look. "That'll be fine, they don't get too much action and it should keep Hevy busy—"
But Fives isn't listening anymore. He's remembering a different time, long ago, voices yelling and his own panic and a gun and then—
("Don't do it, soldier!")
Kriffing Fox.
He takes a deep breath to steady himself.
"Fives?" Echo asks, ever astute. Fives tries to smile at him, but Echo sees right through it, as always.
Later, Fives tries to sign surreptitiously, but it's too late—Droidbait and Cutup have caught on. They're all looking at him now.
This is a secret Fives hasn't told anyone, not even Echo. He swallows and tries to ignore his own heart pounding in his chest.
"Fives?"
He can't decide if he wants to tell them or not. He could hide it, but they'll keep bugging him about it. They know something's wrong now.
From one problem, straight to the next. There's never rest.
"There's… something I need to tell you," Fives mutters slowly, and then stops, because Jesse and Hardcase are there, staring at him curiously. "But…"
Jesse catches on to the little glance Fives sends him and frowns in understanding.
"What's so important that…" he starts, but then sighs and starts to stand. "Alright, fine. Hardcase, come on."
That makes Fives' heart hurt, just a little. He trusts them, too. They aren't the same men that he fought with on Umbara, but… they will be.
"Stay," he tells them. Jesse settles, and Fives meets Echo's gaze. The other ARC gives him a nod, so Fives bites his lip and begins.
"It's about… well. How I died."
Rex jerks to attention. Cutup and Droidbait gasp. Echo just narrows his eyes, and Jesse and Hardcase look very confused.
Fives takes a deep breath and starts from the beginning.
A/N: Droidbait hasn't gotten a good chapter since Geonosis, whoops... so he gets a couple good moments this time around.
Quick reminder! (it has been a while after all) Armor designs- Cutup has Ahsoka's markings on his helmet. Echo and Fives are the same. Hevy has blue flames. Droidbait has tally marks.
Everyone and their dog keeps asking me about if Fox and Fives are going to have a confrontation.
...yes. Just in case this chapter didn't confirm that. (IM SO EXCITED AHHH)
Thank you for your endless support and love. I didn't expect everyone to be so excited about this story being updated again, I honestly thought that everyone would have forgotten about it, but I am blown away by your enthusiasm. Thank you, thank you, thank you for being incredible readers and constantly inspiring me to keep writing. Come follow me on tumblr at "meridiansdominoes" if you want to chat! You guys mean the world to me! Love you all!
-meridianpony :)