A/N: I do not own Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Chapter 15: Retribution

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS

Reunited!

With the help of the Bad Batch, Captain Rex rescues his old friend, ARC Trooper Echo, from the Techno Union.

The Separatist loss of Echo's strategic algorithm provides a chance for the Republic to turn the tide in the battle for Anaxes. However, Echo's horrifying experience behind enemy lines leaves lingering questions of his true loyalty and uncertain future…


Republic Base on Anaxes. 19 BBY.

It was evening on Anaxes as the sun was setting down once again. Yet, right now, the Republic base was buzzing with activity. Clones marched back and forth, preparing themselves for an upcoming attack on the Separatist-controlled shipyard. Ships and land vehicles were repaired and refueled.

This was what Echo saw as he rode on a speeder in the main hanger where the Republic command was holding a meeting. Once again, Leia stood alongside Skywalker at the war meeting. Along with Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu, they observed the hologram of Anaxes.

"We have more than a dozen active battlefronts on Anaxes, and we are losing nearly everyone." Master Windu spoke. "But if Admiral Trench can no longer anticipate our moves, we now have the opportunity to retake the planet."

"I can improve your chances."

Leia turned around with Anakin and saw Echo approaching.

Rex spoke first when he coughed. "Eh, excuse me, Generals."

He took Echo away from the Jedi to speak with him privately.

"Echo, I'm sorry, but I just don't think you're ready for battle yet."

"I am not a liability, Rex." Echo assured the clone captain. "I'm the best chance we have to take back Anaxes."

Deciding to interfere, Windu called out to the two clones. "If the trooper has a plan, I'd like to hear it."

Captain Rex hesitated but stepped aside for Echo.

"While Master Windu leads a team to retake the assembly complex, the Bad Batch will escort me into Trench's new comm vault," his right hand was replaced by an interface and used it to plug into the holo-table. "which, according to current intel, is now located on this Separatist Dreadnought above Anaxes."

Everyone observed the hologram of a Providence-class dreadnought above the assembly complex.

"Once I'm plugged in, I can feed Trench strategies, but this time, you'll know every move before he makes it." Echo finished.

"And you are certain that if we get you onboard that ship, that you can convince Trench's army to do what you want?" Mace Windu, who had his arms crossed, voiced his concerns.

"Absolutely." Echo said firmly. "Unfortunately, I've been doing this for a while, but this time I can help bring about a Republic victory instead of a defeat."


"Once again, I'm without you, guys." Leia said sadly as she spoke with Fives, Jesse, Kix, Dogma and Appo. Once again she was going with Skywalker, Rex and Clone Force 99, leaving the 501st under Appo's command.

"Don't worry about us, kid." Fives assured her. "Please, cover the General, Rex and Echo for us, will ya?"

"Don't worry." Leia vowed before bidding them farewell. "You guys be careful."

"I'll keep an eye on them, commander." Appo assured her. Nodding to the clone commander, Leia ran off towards the hangar where the Marauder was. She immediately spotted Hunter and Tech.

"Tech, is everything ready?" the team leader asked.

"Yup, Sarge. We are ready." Tech confirmed. "Still not sure how we're gonna land on that ship."

Tech then revealed his doubts regarding Echo. "To be blunt, his mind belonged to the Separatists until we unplugged him. We don't really know where his loyalties lie."

"Rex still believes in him." Leia noted.

Sometime later, the Marauder left the planet's surface and flew straight up towards the orbit, where Admiral Trench's fleet was.

"Please tell me we are blowing something up." Wrecker pleaded.

"Sorry, Wrecker, this is strictly stealth." Anakin told him. The clone groaned.

"Echo, you're up." Skywalker then addressed the freed clone trooper.

"Don't worry, general. As soon as I plug in, I'll send a signal to the command ship."

"What type of signal are you gonna send?" Hunter asked. "Nothing that'll give us away, right?

"As far as the droids are concerned, we're just gonna be another one of their shuttles coming in for a landing."

"And the regs think we take risks." Crosshair told Hunter.


Onboard his dreadnought, Admiral Trench observed his operations on Anaxes. One of the droids on deck was approached by another droid with the image of the Marauder.

"We have an incoming. Is this one of ours?" it asked.

"It looks familiar, but we don't have it in our data base."

The image of the Marauder flickered and turned into a Sheathipede-class shuttle.

"Yup, it's one of ours."

"Roger, roger shuttle TC-159." the seated droid said. "You may approach and land."


Everyone on the Marauder grinned as Echo's deceit worked. The shuttle flew underneath the flagship and flipped upside down.

"I'd still rather blow it up." Wrecker groaned.

"I have a feeling you'll get your chance." Tech assured him.

After sneaking across the Dreadnought, Anakin and Leia sliced the droids guarding the doors to the communications vault.

"I assume that's a rhetorical question." Tech answered Skywalker's question about if he could work with the interface. He began working on the panel.

Meanwhile, Anakin addressed the rest. "We should make sure this comm vault has no other entrances."

"I'm on it." Wrecker told him, clocking his DC-17.


Back on Anaxes, the Republic's Assembly Complex was heavily guarded by thousands of battle droids, while swarms of Vulture droids covered from above. Everything seemed to be quiet until a massive Republic fleet was discovered and the whole night sky of Anaxes was illuminated with heavy cannon blasts.

"Gold Leader, you are clear for launch." Mace Windu said onto his wrist comm.

A squadron of Y-wing bombers descended down before bombing the assembly complex, wiping out the Separatist defenses on the rooftops. With the defenses clear, LAAT/i gunships landed. Jedi Masters Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi jumped down through the openings caused by the bombing, followed by clone troopers led by Appo and Cody.

The Jedi ended up in a massive hall completely filled with battle droids. Mace Windu drew their attention on him and the droids stared at him.

"My name is General Mace Windu of the Jedi Order." Windu addressed the droids. "At this point of the Clone War, I have dismantled and destroyed over 100,000 of you type-1 battle droids. I'm giving you an opportunity to peacefully lay down your weapon so that you may be reprogrammed to serve a better purpose than spreading the mindless violence and chaos, which you have inflicted upon the galaxy."

"Blast them!" a B1 droid yelled, and the other droids opened fire on the two Jedi.

"Well, I guess it was worth a try." Kenobi said with sarcasm as he deflected a few shots. A clone trooper from the 212th beside him was shot.


Back on his flagship, the Harch admiral was observing the battle when his Super Tactical droid approached him.

"Admiral Trench, the Jedi are attacking the assembly plant with a large force." reported the droid.

"Yes." Trench acknowledged. "Now I will use their arrogance and desperation to our advantage. Contact Skako. I want to use the algorithm to calculate the best possible counterattack."

"As you command" the ST droid answered.

At the communications vault, Echo plugged into the interface. He felt a jolt and immediately felt a stream of data. He never thought that the he would be that lucky.

"All right," he addressed everyone. "I have access to everything and good timing. I just scanned a strategy request Trench sent to the Techno Union."

Before he could do anything, Tech stopped him. "Wait. You can't just send a signal from here. We have to make it appear as if your signal originates from Skako Minor. Otherwise, they'll know we are here."

Back on the bridge, the ST returned to Trench with a datapad. "Here's the new strategy from Skako, Admiral. Mobilize all troops on Anaxes to the assembly complex. The Republic will not send reinforcements. They will put all their faith in the Jedi."

"Give the order." the Harch commanded once he stood up from his chair.

He enjoyed watching as column after column of battle droids preparing to enter the facility in order to encircle the Republic units.

"The droids are going to overwhelm the Jedi. They don't stand a chance." he said, stroking his tusks in triumph.

"I'm intercepting a transmission." Hunter told everyone. "Trench is ordering all of his droids to the assembly complex."

Hearing this, they all snapped their heads at Echo.

"All right, Echo, what are you trying to pull?" Leia said, folding her arms.

"Don't worry, that's what I told him to do." Echo assured them.

"But our troops will be vastly outnumbered."

"Not when I send them a feedback pulse that shuts down all the droids." Echo explained.

"How do we know that's what you're really going to do?" Hunter asked with suspicion. He was not trusting this clone.

Rex interfered. "We have to trust him."

"Rex is right." Anakin agreed with his clone captain, much to Leia's surprise. "Echo, we're all counting on you."

He then contacted Windu. "Master Windu, I know this sounds crazy, but it's about to get a little more crowded where you are."

"We have our hands full as it is. What is your plan?" Mace replied.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, it isn't my plan." Anakin explained. "Echo is drawing all the droids to your position, so he can neutralize them all at the same time."


Back on the surface, a full-scale battle began between the Republic and Separatist forces.

"Obi-Wan! Skywalker just contacted me." Windu yelled out to Kenobi across the complex. "He said we've got a lot more droids headed our way."

"I see Anakin is being as insightful as ever." Kenobi answered sarcastically, slicing a B2 droid in half.

"I was told not to worry. It was all part of their plan."

"If I know Anakin, we've got the easy part." Obi-Wan joked.

Sometime later, the Jedi and the clones were gaining the upper hand and the last droid destroyed was a B2-RP battle droid shot down by Commander Cody. He then joined Obi-Wan, Mace, Appo, Fives, Jesse and Dogma.

"Well, there weren't as many as I thought there were going to be." Kenobi observed the scrap of battle droids.

Suddenly, the hangar doors opened, and massive columns of battle droids entered on march. The Jedi could not count how many, for it seemed like the columns were infinite.

"Does this meet your expectations?" Windu asked.

"This exceeds my expectations." Kenobi answered, preparing for battle.


"They're surrounding our forces!" Leia told everyone. "Do it, Echo! Now!"

Echo released a wave of energy from the reactor. In a couple of seconds, all droids at the assembly complex began to shut down before they even reached their enemies. One-by-one, they collapsed onto the floor, harmless.

"What?" Admiral Trench yelled as he observed the battlefield from the bridge of his flagship. "What was that?"

"We monitored a powerful energy surge, which has overloaded the droids' circuitry" the ST droid answered. "We are tracking the origin of this pulse now."

Trench observed the screens, deep in thought, while stroking his tusks. "The algorithm has never been wrong before. How could we have missed this?"

"The source originated onboard this ship."

"Dispatch security droids" the Harch ordered.

"What about our apparent defeat?" the droid asked.

Trench chuckled. "A wise leader does not rely completely on things such as algorithms. My personal strategy for victory is through total annihilation…"

Elsewhere,

"I am pleased to report that we are in control of the assembly complex, and all of the fronts are falling to the Republic thanks to Echo's plan." Windu's voice was heard in the comms vault.

"That's good news, Master Windu. We're on our way back to the base." Anakin answered back.

"May the Force be with you."

"Good job, Echo." Leia complimented the clone cyborg. "That was well-planned."

"Well, I guess you actually are on our side." Hunter added.

"Was there ever any doubt?"

"Some." Tech admitted.

"Come on, brother." Rex spoke next. "Unplug, and let's get out of here."

"Wait," Echo stopped everyone. "I just scanned a new order from Trench. He's initiated a countdown" Leia saw the clone's eyes widen in horror. "There's a bomb hidden at the assembly complex, but it's big enough to destroy most of Anaxes."

"Can you stop it?" Skywalker asked.

"Well, I can try."

Skywalker then ran off, passing Crosshair and Wrecker.

"General, where are you going?" Rex asked.

"If you can't stop the detonation, perhaps Trench can!"

"I'll join him!" Leia added before running off to catch up with the Jedi Knight.


The Republic forces on Anaxes were picking up the destroyed battle droids and killed clones. Medics tended to the injured. Mace Windu was observing the process when he heard Echo's voice through the commlink.

"General Windu, this is Tech. We've discovered a bomb in the fusion reactor. We need someone to go down there and help disarm it."

"I'm on my way." Windu answered before addressing his clone commander. "Get the men out of here."

He then rushed towards the elevators and descended down until he reached the reactor's chamber. He found the device of large sizes which looked like a power generator, but to the Jedi Master it was clear that it was a bomb. To make matters worse, a ray shield surrounded it, preventing him from approaching the controls.

"Echo, I found the bomb" he called out to the clone. "Tell me the sequence to shut it down."


"I'm decrypting it now." Echo answered.

"You have to unplug. They're going to detect us." Tech warned him.

"No, no, we need these codes." Echo argued, shaking his head. "The first number in the sequence is three. The next is... one. Eight. Seven."

Suddenly, a wave of energy came down and struck Echo, causing him to scream in pain.

"Echo!" Rex cried before swiftly pulling him away, but the trooper was unconscious.

"The server overloaded his neural system, and it appears deliberate." Tech reported, observing the interface.

"That means Trench knows we're here." Hunter realized what this meant.

"Echo, are you there?" Windu's voice was heard.

"General Windu, Trench took out Echo." Rex reported. "We can't get you the last number in the sequence. Sorry, General, you'll have to disarm that bomb without us."

"Don't worry about me, Captain. Just get your men out of there."

"Yes, sir." Rex nodded.

"We got company!" Wrecker shouted as B2 droids were spotted.

On the bridge, Trench was feeling triumph, giving his Tactical droid instructions. "The Jedi lacks the final sequences to stop the detonation. The loss of clones at the shipyard will seal the Republic's fate. Dispatch more units to deal with the infiltrators on the ship, and prepare our landing craft for our next assault."

"As you command" the ST droid answered. Suddenly the door opened, revealing Anakin Skywalker and Leia Organa. Anakin acted first, slicing the tactical droid in half.

"Jedi scum." Trench hissed and two droid commandos attacked. The two Jedi merely deflected their shots before destroying them with their lightsabers. Left completely undefended, Trench raised his limbs.

"Tell us the sequence to disarm the bomb!" Leia demanded.

"Never." Trench answered. "Dooku would kill me for losing Anaxes."

"And you think I won't?" Skywalker asked.

"You're a Jedi." Trench mocked him. "Your nobility…"

He didn't get to finish as in one strike, Anakin cut off all three of Trench's robotic arms. This shocked both Leia and Trench, who cowered in fear.

"I don't have such weaknesses!" Anakin spoke in a menacing tone, pointing his blade at his throat. "Now, let's try that again."

Immediately, the Harch admiral was kind enough to give Skywalker the final number of the combination and the bomb was disarmed.

"Princess, keep an eye on him." Anakin requested while he approached one of the terminals.

Leia, however, was distracted. She observed the cut-off limbs, and it greatly reminded her of Luke. When she, Chewie and Lando rescued him on Bespin, he was a wreck; he lost his right hand in his duel against Darth Vader. No one deserved this, and Leia wanted to argue with Anakin about this, but then, she remembered reading Trench's file and all the war crimes he committed during the Clone Wars.

Seeing her distracted, Trench used the opportunity to reach for his cane. Anakin saw this and quickly pushed Leia aside before being jabbed with Trench's cane, electrocuting him. Anakin roared in pain but used the Force to fight the electric energy. Both Trench and Leia watched in horror as Anakin stabbed his lightsaber into Trench. The Harch looked up at the ceiling in deep pain.

Without a word, Anakin retrieved the ship's detonator.

"Wrecker's gonna love this" he said before addressing the dying Trench. "Admiral, it was a pleasure."

Both Knight and Padawan rejoined the clones, discovering that they had engaged in a heavy gunfight with B2 droids. When the droids were dead, the task force continued their way to their ship. Rex was carrying Echo.

"Wrecker, attack plan zeta 12!" Hunter ordered.

Wrecker cracked his knuckles and neck before running out of his cover, yelling. "Time to release the wrecking ball!"

Rex and the Jedi watched with shock as Wrecker crushed the droids on the way. When the rest joined up with Wrecker, more droids came.

"I'll buy some time." Crosshair told the rest before throwing his small reflectors. He then fired his sniper rifle and his blaster shot bounced between the droids, killing them. The team soon got back to the ship. Tech and Hunter took the pilots' seats and de-attached the Marauder from the cruiser.

Anakin then approached Wrecker, showing him the detonator. "I've got a present for you, Wrecker."

"This is the happiest day of my life." the clone commando said, shedding a tear before pressing the button and the Separatist Dreadnought exploded. The powerful explosion expanded outwards, and its wave affected the entire fleet.

The Battle of Anaxes was over, and it ended with a Republic victory.

Republic Base on Anaxes.

Captain Rex, Echo and Clone Force 99 stood at attention as Mace Windu addressed them.

"Captain Rex, Corporal Echo, and Sergeant Hunter, you've all done a great service to the Republic. Thanks to your courage and effort, Republic shipyards will soon be up and running again."

Leia stood alongside Anakin, swelling with pride for the clones.

"You've got some medals coming your way." Obi-Wan added before he and Windu left.

"Thank you, General." Rex replied.

He, along with Leia and Anakin were about to leave too when Echo stopped, hesitating.

"You coming?" he asked the Bad Batch.

"Not really our thing." Tech answered.

"Accolades." Crosshair scoffed.

"Yeah, we're just in it for the thrill." Wrecker added.

"You sure it's your thing?" Hunter asked.

"What do you mean?" a baffled Echo asked.

"Your path is different. Like ours." Hunter explained. "If you ever feel like you don't fit in with them, well, find us."

Echo looked at Rex.

"Those are some of the finest troopers I've ever fought alongside" the clone captain told him. "Echo. You and I go way back. If that's where you feel your place is, then that's where you belong."

After some consideration, Echo joined the Bad Batch. He, along with Clone Force 99, saluted to Anakin, Leia and Rex, who saluted back before the five clones ascended into the Marauder.