"No," Droidbait whispers to himself, barely audible above the sounds of roaring ships and blaster fire above. The wet platform vibrates beneath him. His limbs feel like they've been dipped in carbonite. The Resolute sinks towards Kamino's waves, ion engines spluttering in death throes. Umbaran fighters swarm around it.
Hevy grabs Droidbait by the shoulder. "Move, move, we've gotta move!" His words force Droidbait into motion. He jerks back around towards the hatchery dome and stumbles a few steps over to where Commander Tano stands with her head bowed, lightsaber loose in her palm.
"So many men gone," she whispers, hunching her shoulders. She's never looked smaller.
Droidbait takes a shuddering breath and squeezes his eyes shut. Near the edge of the platform, Hevy and Cutup pull Fives towards safety. One good shove is all it takes to get him moving again, but Droidbait can see from the set of his shoulders that he's anything but alright.
Echo brings up the rear. "Go, go!"
There's no time to grieve anymore. No time to wonder if Coric has escaped, or what the Umbarans are doing here. Droidbait sets his jaw, ignores the fear boiling in his stomach, and runs.
A gunship engine screams in protest as it shoots overhead, followed closely by an Umbaran fighter. Droidbait spares a second to fear for Flak—but the thought is driven from his mind when the Umbaran fighter banks sharply and spins around to dive at them.
"Look out!"
"Get out of the way—"
"Here it comes!"
Droidbait flings himself to the side as bright green lasers fill his vision. He hits durasteel hard. The impact punches the air from his lungs. He picks his head up to stare at the blackened scorch marks where the blaster bolts had struck home. Too close.
"Hey!" Hardcase grabs Droidbait by the arm and pulls him to his feet. "You okay?"
"I'm—" Droidbait heaves for breath. "I'm good. The others?"
"Kix got singed a little, but he's fine, two of your squadmates are over there, don't know which ones since you all look like shinies right now—"
A shout interrupts him. Droidbait jerks towards the sound in alarm.
Commander Tano lies on her stomach at the edge of the platform, both hands flung out over the metal lip. She stares down at the churning water below. Droidbait's stomach drops down to his toes.
"Commander!" Del shouts, racing over to join her with Nax hot on his heels. Commander Tano shifts to get a leg underneath her, palms still outstretched. Droidbait realizes with a jolt that she isn't in any danger of falling as he'd immediately assumed. Her shoulders tense as she slowly lifts her hands, straining against an invisible force. Jesse and one of Droidbait's squadmates rise into view. Jesse's hand is wrapped desperately around the Domino squad member's ankle as they dangle helplessly in the air. Droidbait fights against his panic. If the Commander gets distracted, they'll fall.
"I've… got them," Commander Tano grits out. Cutup and Kix grab at her. She pulls Jesse and—Echo, Droidbait is pretty sure it's Echo—back over the platform and lets them drop a few feet to the ground with a clatter of plastoid.
Jesse gasps as he rolls to a sitting position. "F-force. I thought I was done for, sir."
"Thank you, Commander," Echo says. His voice trembles a little. Hevy darts to his side and pulls him to his feet, holding onto Echo just a little longer than necessary.
Commander Tano wipes her forearm across her brow and sighs in relief. "I wasn't going to let you fall." She manages a weak smile. "Is everyone alright?"
"Kix got singed. Hevy hit his head pretty good, but other than that, we're fine." Del glances around as he speaks to take stock of Beta squad, and nods in satisfaction when no one appears to be injured any worse. Droidbait frowns. He shifts to step closer to Hevy and Echo, worry burrowing deeper into his chest. Hevy seems fine, but it's best that someone sticks close to him regardless. Fives, on the other hand, stands with his fists balled and his back straight, staring up into the sky.
Droidbait turns to make approximate eye contact with Cutup, flashing the ARC sign for Fives' name. Cutup reacts immediately. He moves away from Commander Tano and slides next to Fives, carefully nudging his shoulder.
Fives flinches far more than he should. His head snaps around, body coiled and ready to strike, but he sags when Cutup just stares steadily back at him.
"We've got to move. We're too exposed, another fighter could come past at any moment," Del orders. "Come on, keep moving. We're alright. They need our help up ahead!"
They resume the charge towards the hatchery dome. The light from the flames licking the Resolute's hull illuminates the boiling waves of the sea with orange. Droidbait bites down on his lip to stop himself from reacting.
Force. His kriffing armor. Droidbait's beautiful armor, a symbol of his new life and confidence and competency that he was never able to gain the first time around. It's gone now—likely blown to more pieces than the tally marks on its surface could ever amount to. His throat feels tight, suddenly. It's foolish. It's just armor. He should be grateful that they're alive, and armor is easily replaced, but it doesn't make it hurt any less. He painted the tallies but never bothered to total them. Now he'll never get the chance.
Fives speaks. "The Umbarans will stop any other forces from getting close to Tipoca City. We're on our own until someone can make it past them."
Droidbait had expected anger from Fives, frustration, maybe, or even terror. He just sounds tired, and sorrowful.
Commander Tano raises her comm to her mouth. "Master? Are you alright?"
"Snips! You okay?"
"We're fine, but the Resolute—!"
"I know," General Skywalker growls. "Those Umbaran traitors—" He stops. "It'll be okay, Ahsoka. Stay focused. Don't let your emotions distract you from the moment at hand." It's good advice, Droidbait thinks, but not easy for any of them at this point.
They approach the hatchery dome doors. Commander Tano's hand clenches around her lightsaber hilt. She takes a deep breath. "Yes, Master. I can do this."
"I know you can. Help as much as possible in the hatchery dome. I'm at the DNA chamber. There were a few droids down here, but no sign of Ventress yet. If you find her, don't engage, understand? Focus on stopping Bane from setting those detonator charges."
"I've fought that hairless harpy before," Commander Tano grumbles. Droidbait nearly snorts despite himself. "Yes, yes, I will."
"Good. Reinforcements are on their way, we just have to hold out until they get here. Try to meet up with the squads already deployed and give them support. Stay sharp, alright?"
The grating drag of damaged doors on metal drowns out Commander Tano's response. The moment Beta squad sets foot into the hatchery dome entry hall, the sound of blaster fire up ahead becomes audible.
Commander Tano ignites her lightsaber. Bright green nearly burns against the white of the hallway. "Come on!"
Droidbait steels himself. If he's starting over with fresh armor after this, he might as well rack up a decent amount of tallies to begin with. He thinks of the burning Resolute, of Coric, of the suffering cadets. Hot anger sparks to life in his chest. He lunges forwards with the rest of his squadmates and rounds the corner to enter the main chamber.
The ceiling extends high above them, and the rows of blue incubation chambers stretch from the ground up just as Droidbait remembers—but what used to be a haven for the growing fetuses has become a battlefield. Clones hide between the massive pillars, firing aggressively at the cluster of droids marching through the room. Older cadets in red training tunics crouch behind cover close to the door and near the large central control terminal. Their expressions twist in fury and determination as they defend their unborn brothers. Red and blue blaster fire reflects eerily off of the incubation pods, creating a kaleidoscope of disorienting color.
Commander Tano leaps into the fray with a war cry. Beta squad follows without hesitation.
Droidbait blasts two droids in quick succession, careful to keep himself positioned behind the Jedi for defense. Commander Tano deflects blaster bolts with every movement, slashing into the droids with an explosion of sparks. The surrounding clones rally, throwing themselves out of hiding.
"Sitrep, trooper!" Del shouts to a nearby member of Rancor Battalion.
"Sir! There are more droids further in! Some squads pursued them, but we were separated! The bounty hunter is here, too, but he's too fast, we lost him! He's been planting detonators on the cloning chambers!"
"Understood! You heard him, men! Find that bounty hunter before he has a chance to set any off!"
Glass crunches underneath Droidbait's boots. A moment later he steps in a puddle of incubation fluid. His stomach twists in nausea. Blackened scorch marks cover the nearest incubation column. Only a few pods remain untouched—the rest are shattered, jagged edges like knives and liquid dripping from their points.
He very pointedly does not look at the floor as he runs.
A massive explosion rocks the entire facility. Up ahead, a massive chunk of machinery near the ceiling blasts apart, raining shrapnel towards the floor. Pods shatter. A fragment slashes through the weak point of Droidbait's armor near his shoulder that isn't completely covered. He winces at the burning pain, but it isn't enough to deter him.
More droids march up ahead. A squad of clones opposes them. Droidbait takes one look at the armor and doubles his pace. Dogma's chevron is barely visible as the young clone dives into cover—Iota squad must have touched down alongside General Skywalker before being sent here.
Denal, hidden behind a crate with Tup at his side, turns as they approach. For a moment, Droidbait sees relief in the set of his shoulder. Then the Sergeant tenses up again. "Behind you!"
Droidbait whirls just in time to watch a figure soar overhead. Rocket boots spit out flames as the figure hovers in the air. Droidbait has just enough time to register the wide-brimmed hat and blue skin before the bounty hunter perches on an incubation column and opens fire.
The LL-30 blaster shrieks as it spits blaster fire. Droidbait can't move fast enough. One of his batchmates tackles him to the floor instead, pitching them both behind a technician's control panel. Cutup lands right beside them.
"It's Bane," Fives growls into Droidbait's ear.
"Oh, really? I thought it was kriffing Jabba the Hutt," Cutup gasps, winded.
Fives doesn't laugh. "He'll kill us all, including the commander, if we can't stop him."
Droidbait swallows nervously.
Shouting emanates from behind them. The panic constricting Droidbait's chest eases a bit as the rest of Iota squad comes into view, blasters at the ready. A scorch mark sits high on Vaughn's chest as if he'd been just grazed by a blaster bolt, and Redeye limps ever so slightly, but they seem otherwise unharmed. Kano leads them to join their squadmates, forcing Bane to duck behind cover.
Bane takes a few potshots at Iota, barely missing Dogma. Denal pulls him out of the way, but then he becomes the bounty hunter's new target, diving frantically for cover as blaster bolts streak towards him.
"No!" Fives shouts. He scrambles to his feet and plunges towards the fight. His charge distracts Bane from Denal. Hevy and Echo take the opportunity to step out of cover as well. Bane moves back again. He tosses something metallic and glinting through the air.
"Detonator!" someone screams. Clones dive away. The thermal detonator hits the durasteel floor. The explosion knocks Droidbait's hearing out for a second. He shakes his head to get rid of the white noise shrieking against his eardrums. When his hearing comes back, it's oddly muffled, as if he's underwater. Next to him, Cutup groans in frustration.
"… more, watch out!"
"Mixer's down! Mixer's down!"
"Back up, now!"
"Medic! We need a medic here!"
A flash of blue and red catches Droidbait's eye. Kix goes barrelling past him, fixated unwaveringly on his goal. Jesse is barely a step behind.
Blaster fire erupts from the side as more droids march into view. Hevy and Fives swerve to engage them.
Echo rolls into cover next to Droidbait. Can you guys hear? his hands ask.
Cutup tilts his head. "Ugh, barely."
"Yeah, I can hear," Droidbait says, unwilling to take a hand from his DC-15. "Sort of."
Echo nods. "We need to get up there, otherwise he'll just keep throwing from above. We've got to get the high ground!"
"Easier said than done," Cutup groans. "If only we had ascension cables, or even kriffing jetpacks. Times like this I'm almost jealous of the Jedi!"
Droidbait hesitates. "Wait a minute. Where's Commander Ta—"
"Hey, sleemo!"
"Found her," Echo says, pointing up at the sound of her voice. Droidbait's ears pop. Sound comes back in full force. He winces at the sudden barrage as he tilts his head back.
Commander Tano scales the incubation tower with quick leaps. Bane fires at her, but she comes too fast, hurtling towards him like a blazing green comet. She flings herself across the final gap. Bane activates his rocket boots just in time to avoid her. Instead of distancing himself, he flips around so that the flames from his boots catch her across the arm. She yelps. Bane smashes the butt of his blaster into the side of her head.
"Commander!" Cutup shouts. He raises his gun, but he can't risk firing while she's in the way.
"She's okay," Echo says, but he doesn't sound completely convinced.
"Did she ever fight him in your last life?" Droidbait asks.
Echo winces, eyes trained on the combatants. Commander Tano fights doggedly, but Bane avoids her. "A few times. It never went well, from what I understand."
Droidbait clenches his jaw. "We've got to help her."
Fives and Hevy come careening towards them. Fives' head whips back and forth as he counts each member of Domino, and his shoulders relax a bit once he realizes that all five of them are there. "The rest of the droids have been taken care of. Bane is the last one."
"How's Iota?" Echo asks.
"We lost Mixer. But the rest of them are alright."
Droidbait flinches. Echo swears.
Fives' comm goes off. He answers with a jab of his finger. "Sir!"
"We're going around to try and get a better angle on Bane!" Del says. "Stay here, make sure she's alright!"
"Copy that!"
A few yards away, Del, Jesse, Kix, Hardcase, and Nax split off, sprinting around a column. Up above them, Commander Tano drops a few feet to stop a flurry of blaster bolts from hitting a cluster of intact incubation pods. She loses momentum, slowing drastically. Bane swoops in. She deflects his blaster fire, but can't quite dodge the knee to the gut. She tumbles over the edge.
Droidbait's heart stutters in his chest. "Catch her!"
Commander Tano cries out as she falls. Hevy dives for her. He gets his arms beneath her just in time. Her sudden weight slams them both to the ground, but the Commander lands safely.
Bane tries to come after her. This time Commander Tano isn't in the way. Domino squad opens fire. Bane dodges, soaring towards the other end of the hall. More blaster fire answers him as he flies in range of Del and the others. Someone gets lucky. A bolt grazes one of Bane's boots. He begins to spiral out of control. He deactivates the boot and lands on a platform above them, hiding in the cover the lip of the shelf provides. Droidbait scowls in frustration.
Commander Tano coughs as she rises to her feet. Hevy moves with her, blaster trained on Bane's hiding spot.
"Come down here and fight us all, you coward!" Commander Tano yells.
Bane chuckles. Despite the distance, his voice is still audible. "The Separatists don't pay nearly as much for a baby Jedi as they do a real one. But I'd bet your head could bring me a pretty profit anyway, little lady."
Droidbait scowls. Hevy yells a curse in Huttese. Across the room, Iota squad shouts in rage.
Cutup doesn't even waste time talking. He lifts his blaster and fires, heedless of the way his shots don't even come close to striking home. "Don't talk to our commander that way, you piece of filth!"
"Come on, then, little Jedi. I'm waiting," Bane says with a sneer. His single boot sputters as he rises to slip through a maintenance entrance high above. He tosses something behind him. It clangs loudly against an incubation tower as it falls. Droidbait's chest constricts in horror when the telltale chime of a thermal detonator chirps in greeting.
"No!" one of his brothers shouts, but it's too late, and even if it weren't, there's nothing they can do to stop it.
The detonator explodes. Droidbait ducks away. The shockwave punches the air from his lungs. Shrapnel skitters across his armor. He gasps for breath as he turns back to the source of the explosion. The incubation tower crumbles. The sanctuaries of their tiny unborn brothers shatter as chunks of machinery tumble through the air, crashing against each other.
"Move, move!" A hand grabs Droidbait by the shoulder and throws him to the side. Droidbait sprints for safety. Behind him, pieces of the tower land with screeches of contorting metal. The room shakes.
When everything stills and the dust clears, Droidbait stares at the crumpled remains of what once could have been a platoon of loyal brothers and clenches the muscles in his stomach to control his nausea.
"Force," Echo whispers behind him. "Force, please…" Droidbait isn't sure what he's begging for. He's not even sure Echo knows.
His comm goes off. Droidbait reaches down numbly to answer.
"Everyone alright? Sound off," Del orders. Droidbait obeys along with the rest of the men. "Good. Regroup by the central control terminal." He pauses. "What's… left of it, that is."
Echo turns and begins to move. Droidbait can't follow. He hears Echo stop.
"Bait… Come on. You're alright."
"I know," Droidbait responds. He hesitates. Hot grief swells in his chest and climbs up his throat. He bites the inside of his cheek hard.
"There are others who need our help," Echo reminds him grimly.
Droidbait takes a deep breath. Echo is right. The longer they linger, the more time Bane or Ventress or any of the other droids on Kamino have to destroy their home. He spares one last look at the destroyed infrastructure and shoves the grief away as best he can. There will be time to mourn later.
Most of Beta squad is already assembled when they reach the sparking remains of the central control terminal. Droidbait and Echo make a beeline for their batchmates. Their shiny armor isn't so shiny anymore. Chips and scratches have greyed the plastoid.
Hevy drops his Z-6 to reach for them, skimming his hands along Droidbait's armor as he searches for injuries. Droidbait winces as he prods at the shallow shrapnel wound in his shoulder. "Kriff. I'm glad you weren't hurt worse."
Droidbait shivers. He thinks of the Resolute, and the innocent cadets, and the destroyed incubation tower. He's okay physically aside from his shoulder. Mentally is a different story.
Hevy seems to pick up on that. He leaves one hand on Droidbait's shoulder, a steady pressure that comforts far more than Droidbait expects. Hevy doesn't say anything else, but Droidbait doesn't need him to.
Commander Tano finally joins them, holding her arm stiffly at her side as she runs. Kix rushes to her side and prods at the injury for a moment before reaching for his medpac.
"Ow, ow, ow—"
"Stay put, sir." The firm words don't do his gentle hands justice. "If you try to keep going before I get some bacta on this, you won't be able to hold your own for much longer, understand? You got burned pretty good."
"I didn't move away in time. His boot thrusters got me." Commander Tano winces as Kix bandages her wound. She peers around at the assembled clones, lekku flicking out wildly at the motion. "Is everyone…?"
"We're all here, sir," Nax says.
She sighs in relief. "Good. Hurry, Kix. We've got to go after him. He's got a head start."
Someone calls out a greeting. Iota squad approaches, Denal in the lead. The rest of the squad trails behind, heads lowered. Vaughn and Sterling stick close to Kano like baby banthas following their mother. Dogma and Tup come right behind them. Ridge supports Redeye at the rear.
Kriff.
Mixer's gone. Droidbait remembers Fives shouting the terrible news, but it hadn't registered completely until now.
Droidbait hadn't known Mixer too well, barely spoke with him outside of training, but Mixer and Redeye were batchmates. Redeye lists a little as he moves, now. Kano keeps glancing back at him, tough facade faltering under his concern.
Kix tightens the Commander's bandage. She winces as she turns to Denal. "There were other men here, right? Cadets?"
Denal straightens. "Yes, sir. They're guarding the perimeter to make sure more clankers don't get in."
Commander Tano frowns for a moment. "We'll go after Bane. Stay here and give them support. Remove as many detonators as you can." It makes Droidbait's chest swell with pride to see the way she steps up to take command.
Denal salutes in assent. Behind him, Vaughn takes a deep breath, leaning towards Sterling, Dogma, and Tup seemingly involuntarily. They cluster up, but they raise their weapons in approval when their squad leader turns back to them, determined. Redeye's fists clench. He nods tightly.
"Let's move!" Denal says. Iota squad darts away.
"Sir, how are you expecting us to be able to find Bane again?" Jesse asks. "He's fast, and Kamino is a maze even for us clones sometimes."
Commander Tano grins. "I may not have taken him down, but I did get pretty close." She holds up her wrist comm. "I snuck a tracker onto him right before he pushed me off the ledge. It's, um, why I didn't catch myself when I fell. I was too distracted trying to tell if it had attached or not. Sorry, Hevy."
Hevy snorts. "You only gave me a few bruises, sir, you don't weigh that much. It's fine."
Fives shifts his weight. "We can't underestimate Bane, Commander. He's more crafty than he looks."
"Well, who killed him last time?"
"Um…" Fives glances over at Echo.
Echo shrugs. "Don't look at me, I was a prisoner."
"I don't think anyone managed it, sir," Fives admits, shoulders tense. "Or if they did, I didn't hear about it. He caused plenty of trouble. Killed a lot of people. Almost killed you."
Commander Tano freezes for a moment. She shakes her head. "I won't let him."
"Yeah, we won't let that happen, either," Hardcase says.
"I—we just need to be careful." Fives exhales slowly, glancing up at where Bane had disappeared. "He's dangerous."
Soft voices behind him make Droidbait turn.
"He'll be okay, Nax," Del whispers. "We've just got to have faith in him."
"Coric wouldn't have left the wounded behind," Nax responds at the same volume. "You know what he's like, Del. What if we're the only two left—" his voice cracks.
Del's head bows. Droidbait can't see his expression, and he's reluctantly glad that he can't. He doesn't want to see that kind of anguish.
"Come on," Del urges. "Trust him. Trust me. We've got to stay focused."
"You know I trust you," Nax says. He worries one finger across the edge of the opposite gauntlet.
"Then stay with me here in the present. Don't get distracted. We fight now, and we'll find Coric later." Del sounds so certain that even Droidbait, eavesdropping, believes him.
Up front, Commander Tano fiddles with her comm. It chimes cheerfully, then begins to beep steady and consistent. "The closer we get, the faster it'll go."
Fives still seems uncertain. Droidbait worries for him. The arrival of the Umbarans had to have brought back terrible memories, but Fives has never been one to let trauma affect him during battle. Afterward is another story. Droidbait shifts a bit closer to his batchmate in quiet solidarity. It doesn't do much, but it's the best Droidbait can offer at the moment.
"Let's go!" Commander Tano says. She leads them through the hatchery's main hall and out into a nearby corridor. Empty halls greet them, lit by red emergency lights. Droidbait tightens his grip on his weapon in unease.
Commander Tano lifts her comm to her mouth as they run. "Master, Bane is on the run, but we're in pursuit."
"Good work, Ahsoka. Be careful. Master Shaak Ti has finally finished in the mess hall, so she'll be searching nearby."
"What about outside?" Fives asks quietly. Commander Tano repeats the question.
"Masters Gallia and Tiin have engaged the Umbarans, so our ships aren't bearing the full force of their attack anymore. Master Gallia found Admiral Yularen in an escape pod. He's back at the Defender, holding down the fort."
Commander Tano sighs. "What a relief. Is he—" Her comm begins to chime more frequently. Her head snaps up. "Sorry, Master, we're close." She drops the comm without another word.
They drop into silence save the beeping of the commander's tracking device and the echoing thud of their boots against durasteel. Commander Tano stops briefly at an intersection to lean in both directions, testing the frequency of her device before choosing a direction. She increases her speed. Beta squad stays right with her.
"We're close," she repeats. The red light clashes oddly against her orange skin. Droidbait can't see her very well.
The emergency lights flicker and die. The hallway goes pitch black. Droidbait collides with Kix in front of him. "Kriff, sorry, Kix—"
"Sithspit. What's going on?" Nax says.
"Bane," Fives growls.
"Kriff," Del murmurs in the darkness. "Lights, men."
Helmet and blaster flashlights barely make a dent in the oppressive darkness, but it's better than nothing.
Commander Tano activates her lightsaber. Green scorches Droidbait's retinas for a moment until his eyes can adjust.
"Stay sharp," Fives orders. "He could be anywhere."
"No, not yet," Commander Tano whispers. "The tracker isn't beeping as fast as it could. He's still not very close."
A cold feeling sinks into Droidbait's chest. At first, he wonders if the temperature conditioning has been damaged in the fight, but the further he walks, gun at the ready, the worse the sensation becomes. He aches with it. The cold pierces through his ribs straight to his heart, and leaves him feeling empty, afraid.
Something's wrong.
"Guys…" he starts to say, but an echoing laugh resonates from up ahead, gravel-filled and taunting. Bane.
"There!" Commander Tano cries. She bolts ahead.
Echo jerks. "Sir, wait! He's too—last time you nearly died, stay with us!"
She's already too far ahead. The glow of her lightsaber disappears around the corner. Beta squad sprints to catch up, but they can't compete with a Jedi.
Droidbait can't breathe. His chest hurts. "Cutup… do you feel it?"
Cutup glances at him. "Feel wh—Force." He staggers suddenly. "Kriff. Kriff, yeah, I feel it. We've got to get the Commander out of there." He reaches for his comm. It flickers as it contacts her, but after a few tense moments, Cutup drops it. "She's not answering…" His voice wavers with thinly concealed panic.
"Come on, on the double," Del orders grimly. "She could be in trouble. Watch each other's backs. Don't let anyone flank us."
They can't risk running anymore. They creep through the hall, swiveling within the group to keep an eye on every angle. Droidbait strains, but he can't hear anything. Kamino stands silent around them.
They move into a four-way intersection. Droidbait can't help but feel even more exposed here. Something could come from any direction.
"Ah, thank the Force. There she is," Jesse says. He sets off down the hall towards where the green glow of a lightsaber is visible from around the corner. Hardcase sighs in relief and follows.
The view of her lightsaber should be reassuring, but Droidbait's body refuses to relax. He can't remember the last time he felt this afraid. Cold cuts him open. Something's wrong, something's wrong—
STOP.
Droidbait gasps so abruptly that he nearly chokes. He nearly thinks he'd imagined it at first, it's been so long, but the word comes again, loud and unmistakably real.
STOP!
The word vibrates through Droidbait's skull. It must be the Force. Droidbait can't think of what else it could be, he's only heard the Force once before, it mostly comes as just a feeling, but if the Force thinks that something is important enough that it needs to use actual words—
"Hardcase, Jesse, stop!" Droidbait flings himself forwards. If they don't stop, they'll die. Droidbait knows it as surely as he knows his own hands. They've almost made it to the corner. Droidbait's breath comes out in stuttering little gasps. They need to move, they need to move.
"Stop, get back!" He grabs their shoulders and throws his entire body weight backward. Jesse and Hardcase come tumbling down with him.
The lightsaber slashes through the wall, cutting through the tip of the corner at neck-height. It would have decapitated all three of them. Hands snag onto Droidbait and yank him back. His heart pounds so fast that he feels like his ribcage is going to explode. Hardcase and Jesse scramble to the safety of their brothers. Beta squad shouts in shock, leveling their blasters.
Metal scrapes against metal. Heavy footsteps clunk against the floor. Droidbait scrambles to his feet. Terror clogs his throat. The green lightsaber comes around the corner followed by a metal hand. Then a clawed foot.
Yellow eyes glow in the light of the stolen Jedi weapon. General Grievous raises himself to his full height, activating a second blue lightsaber with his free hand. The bright orange slash on the wall next to him fades into a black scar.
Droidbait's hands tremble.
"Hello there," Grievous purrs.
"Open fire!"
Droidbait doesn't know who bellows the order, but his body reacts accordingly. Beta squad lights the hallway with a maelstrom of blaster bolts. Grievous hurls himself forwards. Droidbait dives to the side. Twin lightsabers flash. Someone screams in pain.
"Back up! Back up!"
"Move, come on—!"
"Blast him!"
"Look out!"
Droidbait's vision narrows. Grievous moves too fast. They won't all make it. Someone is already dead. If he doesn't do something, they all will be.
There's no time to think. If he has to die, he might as well go out living up to his name. He dives at Grievous' feet. The giant cyborg jerks as if surprised. Droidbait rolls around sharp claws and grabs onto Grievous' leg. He shoves his fingers between metal plates and pulls the first wire he gets under his fingers. Machinery hisses in response.
Grievous growls and stops. Droidbait gets .2 seconds to revel in his victory before Grievous shakes him off, sending Droidbait slamming into the wall. Stars erupt in front of his eyes. He slumps.
Grievous towers over him. He slashes a lightsaber down. A blaster bolt connects with the cyborg's shoulder. The arc of the lightsaber changes, but it isn't enough.
Droidbait feels searing pain, so all-consuming that he can't even tell where it originates. His vision whites out. It feels like he's being torn apart.
Mercy sends him into darkness.
Echo isn't fast enough to save Droidbait.
He's fast enough to sink a blaster bolt into the cyborg's shoulder right before, maybe, but the lightsaber still lands. Droidbait doesn't even scream. He just goes limp.
Echo's vision blurs. He can't tell where Droidbait was hit, but Grievous turns back to them, and that's as good a sign as any that Droidbait is—is—
"Droidbait!" Hevy screams.
Cutup tries to charge forwards, but Fives grabs him. "Don't, don't! He did it for us!"
"Run!" Echo yells as Hevy's Z-6 clatters to the ground.
They run. There's nothing else they can do.
Echo's eyes sting. He follows the blue lines of Hardcase's armor flashing in front of him and pushes himself faster, faster. If Grievous kills them all, Droidbait's sacrifice will be for nothing. Hevy lets out an aborted sob next to him as they tear around a corner. Echo can only hope that Fives and Cutup are behind them.
Whoever is in front begins to slow. Echo nearly slams into Kix. "Don't stop! Don't stop!" The clanking of metal feet behind them sends his heart rate up a notch. "He's right behind us!"
"General, this is Fives, we've encountered General Grievous, Commander Tano is MIA, we need help, we're in the hatchery dome—!" Fives shouts into his comm. Echo doesn't hear the General's response.
A closed blast door blocks their way. Kix slams his palm frantically against the door control and yelps at the shower of sparks that erupts around his hand. It's already broken.
Grievous rounds the corner on all fours. Primal terror flashes through Echo's body. He feels electrified, adrenaline surging, grief clenching tight around his heart.
Grievous races towards them. Jesse shouts in horror. He leaps forwards to help Kix pry at the doors, but it's no use. Echo hears two lightsabers ignite, prepares himself to feel a hot blade pierce through his chest—
A third lightsaber ignites further down the hallway. Commander Tano hurls herself towards them. Grievous snarls, whirling to face her. She clashes with him in a shower of sparks.
"Get those doors open!" Commander Tano yells. She throws herself into a roll to dodge a swipe of a lightsaber. She comes up ready to fight, standing between them and certain death.
Grievous pauses. "Ahh. The youngling." He sounds far more pleased to see her than he should.
"We can't leave her," Fives says, coming to the same conclusion and stopping mid motion, hand hovering next to the door's crushed control panel he had been attempting to rewire. "She can't take him!"
"Neither can we!" Kix says, voice high.
"Perhaps this time I will claim your lightsaber as my own," Grievous says, gaze fixed on the weapon.
Commander Tano adjusts her stance. Echo recognizes the motion as a nervous tick. "I don't think so. This lightsaber is mine, and so are they." She gestures back towards Beta squad.
Grievous laughs. "As if you could stop me, child. Two men you claimed to be yours are already dead by my hand!"
Commander Tano flinches. Echo does, too. Two men…? He whips his head around. Jesse, Hardcase, Kix, Cutup, Hevy, Fives. No Droidbait. He stops that train of thought. Del stands halfway leaned against the wall, one hand pressed to the visor of his helmet. His limbs tremble.
Echo inhales. "Del?"
"Nax… pushed me out of the way," Del says. Echo's blood runs cold. No, there's no time. He whirls back around.
"Back off! I'm warning you!" Commander Tano says through bared teeth.
Grievous advances slowly. His claws click against durasteel. "An amusing bluff. But not amusing enough to entertain me."
Echo gasps. "Commander, move!"
Grievous lunges. Commander Tano yelps. She brings her lightsaber up just in time to deflect him. They clash again and again. The force of it sends Commander Tano stumbling back with each hit.
"We've got to do something!" Hardcase says.
"I can't get a bead on him!" Jesse has his DC-15 pointed at the swirling blue-green fight, but Grievous keeps the commander in front of him. Jesse can't risk the shot.
"Droid poppers!" Cutup snarls, shoving one into Echo's hand. "He's half-clanker, right? It might shut him down!"
"Worth a shot!" Echo hefts the projectile. Commander Tano leaps up and kicks off Grievous' back as he lunges. The cyborg's attention goes skyward.
"Now!" Cutup rolls the droid popper along the floor. Echo does the same. The thin sound of metal rolling across the floor hides beneath Commander Tano's war-cries.
The droid poppers erupt. Grievous lets out a mechanical wail. His limbs spasm under the barrage of electricity. When the droid poppers finally die, he slumps… and then rises back up with an angry growl.
"Kriff me," Fives swears. "EMP-resistant casing."
"We made him mad!" Hardcase says, raising his gun.
Grievous starts for them. Echo recoils, but before the cyborg can get close, Commander Tano intercepts him again. Grievous coughs. He swats at her as if she were little more than an insect.
"Go, go! Please go!" Commander Tano yells. Del fumbles for the door controls.
Grievous lashes out with a clawed foot and catches Commander Tano across her midriff. She shrieks in pain. Her lightsaber clatters to the floor as she drops to her knees.
Grievous picks it up and hefts it triumphantly, igniting the blade. "You were saying, Jedi?"
"No!" Echo shouts. He raises his gun as Grievous raises the commander's saber. Echo's already too late. Just like he was too late to save Droidbait, now Commander Tano will die, too, there's nothing he can do, he's too slow and Grievous will slaughter them all afterward without even breaking a sweat—
Commander Tano's lightsaber flies free, zipping behind the cyborg into the darkness. Grievous goes still.
General Skywalker comes out of nowhere, a snarl on his lips and lightsaber a blur in his hand. He collides with Grievous like a meteor. Grievous digs his clawed feet into the durasteel floor to withstand him, lashing out. General Skywalker throws himself aside. He flings out a hand. The Force blasts Grievous backwards. Echo's ears pop from the sudden pressure of overwhelming power. The air hums with it.
General Skywalker's expression twists in fury. He sinks into a battle stance as Grievous staggers against the far wall, coughing.
"Ahh, Skywalker." The cyborg's eyes gleam. "I was wondering when I would get the pleasure of killing off Kenobi's prized pupil. Surrender, and I promise you will die quickly!"
"The pleasure's all mine, Grievous, but I don't plan on surrendering." The General's eyes blaze with anger. Grievous takes a few slow steps towards him. Echo shrinks back despite himself, but the general doesn't even move. "You're not nearly as intimidating in person as I'd heard. Actually, you're shorter than I expected. Soon to be even shorter, since you threatened my padawan and my men. I think you could stand to lose a few inches. Your head should work just fine."
Grievous growls. "Jedi fool. You will die just as pathetically as the rest of your kind!"
General Skywalker reaches for his side and pulls Commander Tano's recovered lightsaber from his belt. It blazes to life in his hand. "I'm not so easy to kill."
They rush each other at the same time. General Skywalker matches the cyborg blow for blow. They circle each other frantically. Grievous swipes out with claws again, but General Skywalker nearly takes his leg off, and Grievous doesn't try again. Echo's mouth drops open.
Next to him, Cutup gets to his feet. "There's an opening. I'm getting the commander!" A moment later he's gone.
Echo panics. "Cutup, you kriffing idiot, get back here!"
Cutup—brave, loyal, stupid Cutup—dives around the blinding fight. He heaves the Commander up into his arms and sprints back to them, barely even burdened by the Togruta's weight. A streak of orange blood mars his chest plate when he sets her down.
"Sithspit." Kix hovers over her for a moment, hesitating. His fingers twitch. "I can't do this here. The best I can do right now is stop the bleeding." Four slashes stretch across her stomach. "If the Jedi would just invest in some kriffing armor—!" He rips a wad of gauze from his medpac and presses down hard against the wounds. Commander Tano convulses, eyes shooting open.
Echo slaps a hand across her mouth before she can cry out, wincing in guilt. "Sorry!"
She stares up at him, tears collecting in the corners of her eyes. She makes as if to reach down towards her stomach. Hevy reaches over and squeezes her hand instead. She squeezes back, gaze traveling across the assembled clones.
"Jesse, come help me with this door!" Del growls. Jesse pushes past them. Hardcase keeps his gaze fixed on the fight, muscles coiled in anticipation. Fives mirrors him, gun trained on Grievous.
The Commander makes a muffled sound. Echo moves his hand.
"Nax? Droidbait?" she whispers.
Echo's heart seizes in his chest. He nearly chokes.
Force. Droidbait…
"They sacrificed themselves so that we could run," Hevy whispers. No one else speaks.
Commander Tano shudders. She lifts her free hand to hide her face. Echo half wants to do the same.
Droidbait can't be gone. The Force didn't bring them back just to die all over again. Echo doesn't want to believe that. He refuses to, he can't—
Fives shouts. "Look!"
Echo turns. At the end of the hallway, some distance away now, General Skywalker and Grievous dance around each other. Grievous detaches two additional arms with a rasp of unfolding metal. One hand slips through the gap in General Skywalker's defenses to grab his face and slam him into the wall.
The general staggers, spitting blood from his mouth. He tears away from the fight. "Get him, men!"
There's enough distance between the two fighters. Beta squad leaps to their feet. Echo lifts his blaster and squeezes the trigger rapidly, barely bothering to aim. All around him, his squad does the same. There are too many flashing lights as blaster bolts streak by. Echo can't tell if anyone lands a shot, but Grievous roars. He zigzags across the hall, blades lashing out to deflect their fire. Smoke from at least one good hit trails behind him as he charges.
General Skywalker shoves out with his hands, propelling Grievous back with the Force. The cyborg digs two blades into the floor. He slides to a stop. His additional hands sneak under his cloak and come up with more lightsabers.
Commander Tano makes a muffled sound. She begins to pull herself up. "I need to help—"
"With all due respect, sir, I think you'd barely last a minute longer than any of the rest of us injured like that," Jesse says, voice tight. Kix pushes her back down.
"Door's fried!" Del slams his palms against the metal in frustration. "We're not getting out unless we can get past the fight!"
Echo swallows nervously. That's not going to happen anytime soon. Grievous' wrists spin in dizzying circles. His lightsabers flash, forming a barrier around him as he slashes at General Skywalker. The flailing blades strike the walls. Glowing orange scorch marks light up the corridor. There's no room to sneak past.
The tip of one of Grievous' blades slices a jagged line down General Skywalker's side. The General reels back with a cry.
"Master!" Commander Tano yells. Echo's mind goes numb. If they've changed the timeline enough that General Skywalker dies—
If anything, the injury just seems to make General Skywalker even more furious.
Grievous chuckles as he lunges. All four arms splay wide.
General Skywalker steps inside his guard and severs two of his hands.
Grievous howls in fury. The General presses the attack. He swings both lightsabers with vicious strength. The blades hum in deadly harmony. Grievous goes on the defensive.
"Force. The General might actually win," Del says weakly.
"Don't… jinx it," Commander Tano says in between gasps for air. Kix shushes her.
Echo stares, transfixed, as General Skywalker fights. The Jedi looks angry. Grievous doesn't seem to know how to handle the aggression. Even from far away, Echo can feel the air pulse in time with the General's movements.
Grievous jerks away as if to flee down the hall.
"Oh, no you don't!" the General snarls. He reaches out with one hand, two fingers raised off of the lightsaber hilt. The Force snags at Grievous' limbs. "You're not going anywhere!"
Grievous crosses his arms in front of his face, claws digging into the floor. He manages one slow step. A second, a bit faster.
General Skywalker's expression darkens. His chest heaves as he inhales, and then shoves his hand forwards.
Grievous goes flying uncontrollably in the direction he'd been attempting to flee. The momentum is too great for him to stop. He slams into the wall. Durasteel bends beneath his weight. One of his remaining two lightsabers drops from his hand, skittering away. Grievous draws another from his belt.
The cyborg rounds on General Skywalker. A crack runs through the front of his faceplate. The force of his coughing rattles his entire body. "You will regret this, Skywalker! I will make your death slow and agonizing! Kamino has fallen! Your clone army is doomed!"
General Skywalker reaches out, jaw clenched. Echo feels the surge of power in his bones. It rattles his teeth. Grievous strains, limbs creaking, eyes going wide as the General holds him in place—
"Shoot him!" General Skywalker shouts.
For the second time, Echo doesn't think. This time, however, he picks his aim much more carefully.
For Droidbait.
"Let him have it!" someone shouts. A hailstorm of blaster bolts fly. Echo fires until his blaster scalds his palms even through the material of his gloves, overheating. He fires until the tibanna cartridge runs dry and the blaster only makes a faint clicking noise as he pulls the trigger again and again. He can barely see. A flare of orange light pierces through the blue haze and snuffs out.
A charred husk of metal thuds to the floor.
Echo stares in incomprehension. Five seconds. Ten.
"Holy kriff. Did we just… kill General Grievous?" Hardcase sounds like he can't decide whether to laugh or cheer or maybe cry.
General Skywalker limps towards them. He manages a weak grin, then winces. "Ahh. Force. I think he knocked a tooth loose." He sways on his feet. One hand darts down to ghost over his side where the tip of the cyborg's blade had grazed him. Smoke rises from the burnt fabric of his tunic.
Fives jerks into motion. He reaches over to drape the General's arm around his own shoulders. The Jedi hisses as the motion pulls the wound on his side, head tipping back.
"General… are you alright?" Jesse asks.
Echo can't tear his eyes away from Grievous' body.
"Yes, Jesse." It might have been more believable if the general hadn't been leaning so heavily against Fives. "Kix, how's Ahsoka?"
"I need to close up the wounds, but she'll live. Right, Commander?"
Commander Tano doesn't respond.
General Skywalker's expression drops. "Oh, Snips. How many did you lose?"
It's as if the entire world tilts uncontrollably. Echo loses his balance and stumbles against the wall. Droidbait. Droidbait Droidbait Droidbait. He inhales and nearly doubles over at the strength of the grief that fills his chest. It's too much for him to contain.
Hevy growls. "No. I won't believe it. Not until I see it." His voice cracks. Across from them, Del puts his head in his hands, slumping. Hardcase reaches out to console him.
General Skywalker's eyes skim over the group. "Nax. And Droidbait." It's not a question. "Grievous?"
Echo nods. It doesn't feel real.
Not Droidbait. Anyone but Droidbait. Echo should have thrown himself at Grievous first. That likely would have hurt less. It feels like his chest is splintering, like his ribs have pierced straight through his heart.
General Skywalker's comm goes off. General Shaak Ti's voice filters through. "Skywalker! I'm in pursuit of the assassin Ventress, as well as the bounty hunter! They are fleeing towards the northernmost landing pad!"
The General jerks. "Did Ventress get the DNA?"
"She did not. I made sure of it."
"Copy that. I'm coming to assist—" He takes a step and bites back a cry of pain.
"Skywalker? Skywalker, are you alright?"
"Fine, I—" he heaves a breath. "I might have strained myself a bit. But I have good news. Grievous is dead."
General Shaak Ti's inhale of surprise is tiny, but just barely audible. "Are you certain?"
General Skywalker chokes on a weary laugh. "I'm pretty sure. He kind of exploded."
"You killed him?"
"Nope. Just held him down."
In any other situation, Echo would be celebrating Grievous' death. Right now, he can hardly bring himself to care.
General Shaak Ti makes a noise of approval. Blaster fire echoes from her end of the line. "If you are injured, stay away. Reinforcements have arrived. The Umbarans are being chased out of the sector and gunships from the arriving cruisers should land any minute. Master Windu accompanies them."
"These little scratches are nothing," the General protests. "I can help. I'm on my way."
"Based on the fact that you can hardly stand, you have a concussion, sir. You won't make it far," Kix mutters.
General Skywalker waves him off. "Nothing I haven't had before."
"Master," Commander Tano croaks.
General Skywalker stills instantly. He drops down to her side. "Ahsoka?"
A hand finds Echo's shoulder. Echo jerks around, but it's only Fives.
"We're going back while Kix finishes what he can with the Jedi," Fives says. Cutup stands silent and motionless at his side. Del waits as well, already staring down the hallway where they came from. Force, Echo didn't even think about Del. It happened too fast, no one could react in time. Del prides himself in protecting his men—for one of them to lose their lives saving him instead—
"I'm coming, too," Hevy says.
Echo squeezes his eyes shut. "Yeah."
General Skywalker glances up as they begin to move past. He meets Echo's gaze and nods once. Permission, and an apology. Echo knows they can't linger behind for long, though.
"Echo… I'm so sorry," Commander Tano whispers. "I'm so sorry. If I had gotten there sooner—" She hunches in on herself.
Echo forces himself to breathe. "It's not your fault, sir. We know the risks. You saved us. We all would have been killed if you hadn't come when you did."
The words fall flat. Echo wants to comfort her, but they need to go back for their fallen comrades while there's still time. He trusts that General Skywalker will be able to help her and turns to join his squadmates.
The corridors where Grievous had pursued them are laced with tiny scratches along the floors. Echo follows the trail, struggling to ignore the white noise shrieking in his ears. None of them speak.
They round a corner. Echo looks down the hall. His gut contorts in horror at the sight of two bodies, motionless and crumpled.
Force. He can't do this. He can't. Not again.
Hevy turns away. Fives and Cutup step forwards. Echo stands frozen in place.
Del reaches Nax first, removing his helmet and bending over his fellow Teth survivor. His shoulders shake with silent heaves. He might very well be the only Teth survivor left. Echo wishes he knew how to comfort him, but he can barely comprehend his own sorrow.
Cutup sobs as he drops to his knees next to Droidbait's… kriff. Droidbait's body. Echo's breath hitches in his chest. He turns away as Cutup reaches out with trembling hands. He can't watch. It's too much. He thought that one lifetime of tragedy would numb him to this kind of loss. He was wrong.
Cutup gasps. "Wait—"
"Holy kriff. Holy kriff." Fives' voice comes out panicked. Echo hears the scrape of armor against metal. "That shouldn't be—Force. Kix. Get Kix right now!"
Lightning jolts down Echo's spine. He whirls around.
Fives and Cutup crouch over Droidbait's motionless body. Cutup supports Bait's head. Fives' hands hover over their batchmate's chest. His unmarred chest. Echo looks closer and nearly drops his gun. Droidbait's chest is fine, but his arm—his entire kriffing arm—
"Get Kix! Bait's alive!" Fives shouts. Hevy sprints away. Echo dives for Droidbait. This close, he can finally make out the faint movement of his body as he breathes, he's alive—a limb gone, sheared completely off, but Echo's lived with that before, it's nothing that can't be overcome—he's alive, he's alive—!
Echo grabs Droidbait's limp wrist, squeezing tight as if he could anchor Droidbait to the world of the living with the touch alone. "You're okay, Bait. Stay with us, you hear? Stay with us, it'll be alright, you'll be fine—"
Droidbait doesn't respond, but his heartbeat pounds beneath Echo's grip. Echo sends a silent prayer of thanks to the Force and begs his brother to keep breathing.
A/N: As a quick continuity note: I realize that they're all in blank armor and don't technically know who's who but i got sick of having to be like, "he didn't recognize him at first but then he realized it was hevy woww" so I stopped worrying about it ha! There's some mention of it, but nowhere near the amount last chapter. It's fine. Just ignore it. I got lazy XD
Thanks to the amazing AngelWars for the beta read and LancerFate for the fantastic editing as usual!
Some of yall are way too smart and predicted like more than half of this chapter, lol. Am I predictable? Maybe. Do I care? Absolutely not heheh
Thank you for your patience with updates! I'm so grateful for your support, you guys are fantastic! Thank you for reading!