Dear Reader, as always, I would first like to thank my reviewers: Ms CT-782, Sued13, Longlivetheclones, Cuthalion97, Pinkcookie11, princess-rey-tano, ichkak, Christina TM, and writingfan. Thanks so much for taking the time to post your remarks! I love reading them. So, this is a short chapter (what, CS is writing a short chapter?! that must be a sign of the apocalypse!). But the truth is that a lot of the Bad Batch episode is fighting scenes, and I want to get to the "Echo" part as quickly as possible :-) Again, I am following the story reel version, so Rex goes into this not suspecting that Echo is still alive. I did make a couple minor changes. For instance, I could not reconcile myself to the fact that we have a seriously injured Commander Cody, and Kix is just over sitting with Jesse, jawboning. I had to remedy that situation in my mind. Also, it struck me as the height of bad decision-making when Rex decides to attack the outpost on a stealth mission to the cyber center. Yes, their stealth was blown when they were shot down, but clearly, the enemy lost them after they'd left the crash site, so why, why, WHY draw more attention by attacking the outpost. Surely going around-even with the added time-would have been less dangerous. Also, I have never quite been able to figure out why sometimes communications are secure and other times, they're intercepted. So, I tried to address that a little bit here. All quibbles, but that's just how I am! lol! But anyway . . . you'll see that I pretty much gloss some things in my hurry to get to the parts I want. I do enjoy the little chat between Rex and Cody. I love writing that relationship. Enjoy! CS

Chapter 125 The Cyber Center

"I can see you in my mind's eye.
I can hear you on the wind.
I can feel you in the night sky
as the darkness closes in.
Oh, the sunrise shines between us,
and the future is waiting there."

In My Mind
John Lodge

"Captain, we need to find a place to stop and quickly," Kix advised. "He can't go much further, and all this moving around is only making things worse."

The medic and captain had traded off positions with Jesse and Tech in helping Cody across the landscape, but it was clear that the commander was barely able to keep his feet at this point.

"Right," Rex agreed. "Just a little further. I want to get as far from the crash site as possible."

"I'm not detecting any pursuit, Captain," Hunter offered. "I think we're safe to take a break whenever you call it."

Rex nodded. "Keep checking our six. We don't want any surprises."

Less than five minutes later, they entered a small clearing. The terrain on this part of Anaxes was not the best when it came to providing cover. The land was a series of low mesa-like steppes covered with a moderately dense smattering of trees, which at the sapling stage stood twice as tall as a clone and sprouted parasol-shaped leaves that grew into large, powder-puff sponges at the upper levels. Small rocky outcroppings dotted the ground between the trees, but there was little scrub growth, which made for easy movement across the terrain. Everything had a reddish-gray hue under a perpetual sort of twilight. Yet the planet was nowhere near the darkness of Umbara. In fact, it had a gentle beauty to it that, even in the desperation of war, was not lost on those passing through.

"We'll stop here," Rex announced. "Everyone, keep your eyes open for any signs of the enemy. Now that they know we're here, they're going to keep searching until they find us."

He and Kix moved over to where Jesse and Tech were carefully helping Cody into a sitting position on the ground beside one of the saplings.

"He's not good," Tech whispered to Kix, regarding him through the enlarging lenses of the specialized glasses. "I hope there's something you can do for him."

Kix nodded his appreciation of Tech's concern. He withdrew his scanner and ran it over Cody's body. His expression was grave. "Commander, do you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Is the pain starting to come back?"

Cody nodded.

"Are you having trouble breathing?" Kix asked.

"L-little," came the strained response.

"I need to get a better look," Kix stated. "Help me get this off." He began, with Rex's assistance, undoing the fasteners holding the cuirass in place. Reaching into his medic pack, he pulled out a simple pair of shears. "Sorry about this, Commander." He slit the upper part of the body suit straight down the center, peeling the sides open carefully.

Immediately, Cody moaned in pain.

A deep frown creased Kix's forehead. He was looking at a dangerously swollen and distended abdomen. He gingerly pressed his fingers over different areas, sometimes eliciting sharp reactions from his patient. He ran another more extensive scan, then looking at Rex, he gave his diagnosis.

"He needs an evac as quickly as possible," he said in a low voice. "He's got a ruptured kidney, a lot of trauma to the intestines." He leaned closer and grew even quieter. "His belly is filling with blood. I can try and insert a . . . a temporary drain, but we've got to get him to a medical facility ASAP."

"I'll call in an evac," Rex replied. "But you know the Separatists are scanning the area. As soon as we make contact, there's a good chance they'll ping on our signal and it will lead them right here."

"It's a chance we have to take, Captain," the medic replied. "I'd say he has . . . one hour, tops, before these injuries kill him. You and the others can move out. The commander and I will just have to take our chances that the evac gets here before the Separatists do. Maybe if you all can get a certain distance away and create a distraction, they'll follow you instead of coming here."

"Or maybe . . ." Rex straightened up. "Tech."

Tech walked over. "Yes, Captain?"

"Can you rig Kix's comm to cast false signals?"

Tech nodded, "Of course."

"We need to call in an evac, but I don't want our signal to be detected."

The Bad Batcher warmed immediately to the subject matter. This was right up his alley.

"As you know, long range signals are much easier to detect than short-range or internal comm frequencies. While a transmission from this location back to the base operations center would be considered a medium-range signal, it would still be at risk of detection, especially with an enemy scanning the area. It's much the same situation as when we send extraction teams in, except that most Republic ships have a location scrambler built into their long- and medium-range comm system, unlike the systems built into the standard clone armor . . ." He then went off on a lengthy tangent that explained why communications were safe and secure sometimes and not at other times. He concluded, at last, with, " And that means we can employ the same trickery we use on rescue missions to try and cover the signal's origin. I think I can rig a scatter signal. If I can get the right angle, I can bounce the signal off the ionosphere, create multiple false signals, and the enemy won't know which one is the original location."

"How will our own rescue team know?"

"Republic communications systems are already configured to identify the signal's origin." Tech explained.

"Do it," Rex ordered, then to Kix. "Give him your wrist comm."

Kix obliged and then returned to the unpleasant business of trying to drain the blood pooling in the commander's gut.

Ten minutes later, he'd done all he could for the time-being. A short length of surgical tubing was in place. Another low dose of painkiller. A field IV of Itenoperaxa, a drug meant to slow the heart in an attempt to slow the bleeding. Its use was not something Kix took lightly. It was usually considered a drug of last choice, the precedent to the palliative drugs like morph and cando—drugs meant to soothe a dying man's last moments.

And if he didn't get Commander Cody out of here soon, those drugs were next on his list.

"Rex . . . talk . . . just you," Cody said haltingly.

Rex knelt down beside him .

The commander's voice was watery, and that was a bad sign. It meant fluids were likely starting to seep into and accumulate in his lungs.

"Captain, not too much, please," Kix advised. "He needs to save his breath."

"Understood," Rex nodded. "Give us a minute."

Kix was reluctant to leave the commander's side, but he respected his wish and moved away to join Jesse, who was sitting on a low mound of rock and eating a protein disc.

"How's he doing?" Jesse asked the moment Kix sat beside him.

"Not good. The captain called in an evac. All we can do now is wait," Kix replied. "I've done just about everything I can for him."

Jesse leaned close. "These guys act as if they don't even care."

"Well, Tech did help with getting the signal out in a way that would prevent the enemy from tracking us to this spot directly," Kix offered. A wry grin crossed his face. "Took him the long way round to get there. He gave an entire dissertation on communication methods. He reminds me of Echo."

Jesse smirked. "No need to cast aspersions in Echo's direction," he quipped, and Kix chuckled. Jesse went on, his eyes focused on Hunter, who stood a bit apart from the others, kneeling down and sniffing handfuls of soil. He seemed to be looking for something, but he was using no instruments. "So, I get what makes the others batchers so unique, but what's so special about Hunter?"

Kix spoke behind his hand. "He can put up with the other three," he replied, only half-joking.

To their surprise, Tech, who had come over to warm up around the portable space heater, replied without any hint of animus. Kix and Jesse hadn't even realized he'd been listening.

"He was engineered with heightened senses. A place like the cyber center, Hunter can feel the magnetic frequencies from anywhere on the planet."

Jesse nudged Kix with his elbow. "And here I thought we were smart just using a holomap."

If Tech felt any sense of insult on behalf of his squad leader, he gave no indication. "Well, maps can be wrong. Hunter never is."

"You're in—ch-charge, Rex," Cody struggled. "R-remember that. Hunter will l-listen."

"He didn't do a very good job of listening when we crashed and had to fight off the Separatists that came to the crash site," Rex replied. "I think these guys only want to do their own thing."

"Th-they have g-good ideas . . . but reckless—like you used—to be." It was getting harder and harder for him to speak. "D-don't let them . . . call th-the shots. You're—you're in charge. Make them . . . work with you."

Rex feigned a grin, not only to ease Cody's mind, but also to try and lighten the commander's spirit.

"They're annoying as hell, like a pack of Kowakian monkey-lizards," he said in a near-whisper. "If I survive working with these guys, you are going to owe me in a big way, Commander."

"That's . . . fair," Cody conceded.

Rex put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Okay, no more talking. If I wear you out, Kix will have my hide."

"Move out," Cody ordered. "Y-you can't delay."

"Right. I'll go tell the others. I'll leave Kix here with you," Rex replied. "Hang in there, Cody. I'll see you when this is over." His words were more hopeful than confident.

He stood up and walked to where the rest of the team was gathered.

"Listen up. We have to move out," he announced.

Crosshair jumped down from the seedling upon which he'd been sitting. "Commander Cody's in no condition to move."

"Already called an evac," Rex replied. "Kix will stay with him until it arrives. I'm in charge now, and I've got a plan to get into that cyber center."

As their captain spoke, both Jesse and Kix felt a sense of satisfaction. Rex had laid down the lines of authority. There would be no maverick action from these specialty clones. They would fall under his command just as they had fallen under Commander Cody's.

But it became immediately clear that the Bad Batchers did not see things the same way.

Crosshair, toothpick pinched between his fingers, thrust his hand into Rex's face. "If your plans are so good, why did Commander Cody have to call us in?" he asked in a dangerously insinuating voice. And as he spoke, Wrecker stepped up behind him, as if he were hoping for a confrontation.

Rex was placid. Such a taunt was not the sort of thing that could even make him twitch, much less rattle him.

But not so for his second-in-command. Jesse, coming off nearly a year of slack behavior, now felt any sleight towards his commanding officer as an insult that required immediate redress. He sprang to his feet and came to his captain's defense. "You can't talk to Captain Rex like that!"

Wrecker saw an opening to incite the confrontation he craved. "Says who?!" he bellowed, reaching out and grabbing Jesse by the neck. With his monstrous size and strength, he lifted him off the ground and held him at arm's length with a one-handed choke hold.

"Put him down!" Rex demanded, while Kix came forward to help, only to be intercepted by Crosshair.

"Stay out of it," the sniper warned, pushing him back.

"Hey, watch it," Kix rejoined, returning the jab with one of his own. Then the two were engaged in a shoving match. Crosshair took Kix in an elbow hold, but this was something Kix well knew how to evade. It was the same move Top had long made part of his standard greeting, taking his squad mates around the neck with a non-threatening version of the hold. Thus, before Crosshair could get a firm lock, Kix was easily able to twist free. Now, the two were just jockeying for position.

At the sound of the commotion, Hunter turned from where he was overlooking valley to their north. He could not help but feel a sense of frustration with Crosshair and Wrecker. He'd heard the offending comment that had led to the confrontation. And he'd heard Wrecker chiming in aggressively. Sometimes he wondered if, in their specialized engineering, couldn't there have been some way to downplay the contentious nature of these two?

"Guys, come on," he began, feeling as if he were overseeing a scuffle between batch kits. "Wrecker, drop him. Now."

With the air of a petulant child whose plaything was being taken away, Wrecker threw Jesse to the ground. Crosshair and Kix pushed apart from each other, each casting a distrustful, loathing eye at the other.

"We're all fighting for the same thing, right?" Hunter went on. "So, let's cut the osik and finish what we started." He looked at Rex. "We'll do it your way, Captain. For Commander Cody."

Rex was not feeling any better about the situation after this little conflagration, but he would figure out how to do deal with these soldiers—for they were soldiers, no matter how they might view themselves—as the mission progressed. Right now, the important thing was to get moving.

"Okay. Let's gear up and move out," he announced.

As they prepared to set off, Kix went to check on Jesse. "You okay?"

Jesse ignored the question. "Big, fekking oaf," he ground out. "How are we supposed to work with these bastards? How's it going to be if every time they don't want to do something, they pick a fight? I wish the commander had never brought them in."

Kix gave a dismissive shrug. He didn't want to part from his squad mate, knowing Jesse was in such an agitated state of mind. "They don't matter. You just stick with the captain. He'll find a way to keep them in line."

"With Commander Cody down, the only person they listen to is Hunter," Jesse replied. "And with that . . . hulking freak ten times stronger than the rest of us, what are we going to do when they decide do go off and do their own thing? The captain and I . . . we won't be able to stop them."

Kix physically turned Jesse to face him. "Trust the captain. He'll manage. You just stay with him. Follow his lead."

Jesse recognized the admonition for what it was. "I get it. Well, I sure as hell am not following them."

"All that matters is that you come back," Kix said.

"All that matters is getting to the cyber center and completing the mission," Jesse corrected.

Kix gave a subtle grin. "That's important, too."

Tech's scatter signal seemed to have worked.

The rest of the team had moved out over forty minutes ago, and none of the enemy's forces had descended upon the spot where Kix remained with Commander Cody.

The medic had received one transmission from the inbound craft at five minutes out, and his relief was tangible. The last forty minutes had been nerve-wracking. Every sound, every movement from the surrounding wood had set him on edge. The commander had lost consciousness thirty minutes ago, and Kix had begun to doubt his survival.

But now, deliverance would arrive in less than five minutes, and Kix drew on his determination to overcome the despair.

"They're almost here, Commander," Kix said out loud. It did not matter that Commander Cody was insensible. The words were meant more for the medic's own fortification. "And I'll be damned if I'm going to let you slip away between now and then. I've got you."

He could hear the tell-tale rumble.

A gunship.

In the next moment, he raised his eyes and there she was.

The most ugly and the most beautiful old war horse, side door open, two brothers in 212th gold peering down.

He hardly had time to notice the words of relief and gratitude as he muttered them under his breath. "Thank god."

"Not our primary target. It's an outpost." This observation, spoken by Hunter, came as the team happened upon a fortified lookout tower. "Should we take it?"

"The enemy already knows we're here, but they don't know what we're after," Rex replied. "If we take this outpost, that'll be broadcasting our location and our plan." A pause. "It will probably be faster than going around, but it would bring a lot of attention down on us."

"Your decision, Captain," Hunter said. "What are your orders?"

Rex paused before responding. The seasoned officer in him said that bypassing the outpost was the safest option, even if it added more time. It would give them the benefit of stealth and surprise. The ARC lieutenant in him had other ideas.

"With these guys, we can make quick work of the outpost," he considered, feeling confident that the Bad Batch would relish the opportunity to make a violent stop enroute to the cyber center. "It'll be a race against the clock. If we hit the outpost, they'll have troops here quickly. We'll just have to be quicker."

"We're going to take it," Rex replied.

"Alright," Hunter agreed. "We pick 'em off from the tree line? One by one?"

"Actually, I was thinking we'd take a page from your book, rush them head on."

Hunter made a sound of approval. "I like your style."

Style aside, it wasn't, militarily, the most sensible course of action. But for Rex, he wanted to show these specialized clones that he was every bit as capable as they were. And perhaps there was a part of him that wanted to take the risks, to cut loose with nothing greater to worry about than the handful of men with him.

They made quick work of the outpost and headed for the cyber center, but not before noticing that a platoon-sized element of enemy forces was headed their way. They had to work fast.

The cyber center itself had minimal security, only thirty droids. Getting past them was the easy part. While Rex and Jesse created a diversion at the main entrance, the Bad Batchers took the droid defenders by surprise by circling around the rear entrance. Again, the firefight was brief; but the approaching enemy platoon was getting ever nearer.

Inside the center, Rex worked with Tech to find and remove the algorithm; while outside, Jesse and the rest of the Bad Batchers prepared to fend off the enemy.

"Okay, I'm in," Tech announced. "What am I looking for?"

Rex handed over the chip. "Here's the algorithm. You're looking for a program using this sequence."

Tech inserted the chip into a reader and began scanning. Within seconds, he announced triumphantly, "Found it!" A pause. "This is strange. It's not a program; it's a live signal . . . from another planet. Skako Minor." He turned to regard Rex with curious eyes.

"A live signal?" Rex repeated. "Can you isolate it?" Even as he asked the question, he could hear the beginnings of the assault on the center. The Separatist forces had arrived. He could only hope that the rest of his team was able to hold them off long enough for him and Tech to remove the algorithm.

Several seconds later, Tech announced, "Here it is. This is audible."

"Let's hear it," Rex ordered.

Tech complied, and there followed one of the strangest things either man had ever heard.

An eerie, guttural utterance, the words of which were unintelligible.

"What is that?" Tech wondered aloud. "It sounds almost human."

And indeed, it did sound almost human.

Rex felt his skin starting to prickle as an unlikely and incredible thought began to formulate inside his head. "It can't be," he said, both doubtful and hopeful. "Tech, find out who's sending that signal. Ask who that is."

Tech input the query.

The strange voice replied with gravelly distinction.

"CT-1409. CT-1409. CT-1409."

Rex could barely catch his breath. "I—I don't believe it . . . " He was suddenly finding it hard to focus. What had started off as a mission to remove an algorithm had now turned into something much more complicated, much more confusing.

For if this signal were not a program at all, if this signal were a live transmission emanating from a source on another planet, that could mean only one thing . . .

Echo was still alive.

One last note . . . when Rex is announcing that he's in charge, I love the expressions on Jesse's and Kix's faces - they really do like they're thinking, "Damned straight. You tell 'em, boss." Yes, I watch these things so closely, I notice little details like that. Makes it fun to incorporate that into my writing.