Seven
It was all over the holonet.
Three weeks after the event, and vision of Coruscant burning was still making headlines. Now interviews between broadcasters and influential Coruscanti businessmen discussing the betrayal by the Jedi was on almost every station. Echo had taken to leaving the screen off, tired of watching the images of blue marching through the Temple.
They weren't his brothers.
Not any more.
Stoyan was finally home from hospital.
The stroke had been severe. The staff neurologist together with the intensive care specialist had decided that immersion in bacta may aid the recovery from the haemorrhage.
That had been the toughest time for the former soldier.
Echo had excused himself from the ICU ward and as soon as he was a respectable distance, dry wretched into a corner – the smell, coupled with the sight of the luminescent blue liquid brought back too many memories.
Bad memories.
Freya then took over the daily visits until Stoyan was back on the ward.
The healing wasn't complete; bacta could only manage a certain level of cellular regeneration. But seventeen days later he was discharged to her care, with a succession of support specialists to continue his rehabilitation at home. Echo had made himself busy replacing stairs with ramps to accommodate the repulsor chair and installing handrails in and around the house.
It was the one thing he could do.
Stoyan wasn't concerned in the slightest. He knew he would walk again.
He may have been damaged from the gift that had cursed him his entire life, but he also knew he could tap into that power source and rebuild it, one day at a time. He had defied the doctors already by surviving and his previous training at the hands of the Jedi meant he knew the virtue of patience; he would wait and his former life would return.
"How you doing today buir?" Echo asked as he entered his room and lifted the blinds. He would always start his day there, bearing two cups of caf. He would silently steel himself before he entered the room however, the sight of his father like this always affected him. Stoyan of course could sense him behind the door, his trepidation at entering was something that burdened his heart.
Echo had to learn patience also.
It was a good lesson for them both.
Stoyan had been awake long before Echo, he had taken to watching the programmes streaming from Coruscant. He would shake his head and listen to the reporters and so called experts wax lyrical about the Jedi uprising and the gratitude to the Chancellor for acting quickly and saving the Universe from the dreaded religions mind trickery.
But not Stoyan.
He wasn't fooled, neither would any surviving Jedi. He knew exactly who was leading the Empire.
Why couldn't anyone else see it?
Echo pulled the bed covers back slightly and moved the plastimug of warm caf forward, holding the drinking straw up for him to take. He was genuinely confused; this was the only time that he could recollect of Stoyan showing any interest in Jedi business.
"What are you watching that osik for anyway buir?"
The distorted image of the Emperor spewing diatribe had consumed all Stoyan's thoughts.
" 'ith," Stoyan slurred as he looked at Echo.
"What's that buir?"
He seemed frustrated that Echo showed little or no interest in current events, especially ones involving his brothers back on Coruscant.
If only he knew.
He moved his arm up to hit Echo on his shoulder.
"-ITH! Ook E-ho, ook!"
Echo could see that Stoyan was trying hard to tell him something and he reluctantly turned to face the screen.
"Sith? You think he's Sith, is that what your saying?" Then he saw it. The crumpled malformed face of his former commander and chief as the new self proclaimed Emperor.
Stoyan flopped back against his pillows, "-es."
Echo sighed heavily as he sat down and increased the volume. Up until now he had avoided watching the broadcasts on Coruscant. He considered himself no longer part of the Republic or part of the army that had marched on the Temple or turned on their generals in the field. The Republic had abandoned him on the hanger deck of The Citadel. He was done long ago.
Stoyan could feel his reticence at watching through the Force and looked at him, giving him time to make a comment.
Echo swung his head in disdain, "fek," was all he could muster and knew he had some explaining to do.
"Order 66 was part of a special contingency of orders that covered emergency situations. It meant that any clone was prepared to execute, without question. No one ever spoke of it; we - I never thought it would be used, especially against the Jedi. If what you are saying about Palpatine being Sith is true, then, well, then we've all been used."
They both sat in silence and continued to watch the replayed vision from the Temple. Echo recognised armour markings; Appo, Coric, Vill amongst others. It was weird, watching his old unit perform their duty, however heinous it was. He felt lost, torn. However the only thing offering any solace was the simple fact that he never saw Rex or Fives.
Echo had matured and grown a conscious. Gone was the quintessential soldier that could recite any part of the GAR manual verbatim to one who was now questioning his very existence. Talking and philosophising with Stoyan had helped him work through the disappointment of his abandonment by the Republic. Not seeing Rex or Fives on any of the footage meant one of two things.
They couldn't carry out such an atrocity. Or they were dead. Either way, to a professional soldier, defying an order of such magnitude meant a court martial at the very least, or a one way ticket back to Kamino at the worst.
" – ou iss it?"
"No. No I don't miss it. I miss the people, my brothers. But not this," he turned to look at the screen, "this isn't what we were trained for." He slapped Stoyan on the leg gently, "I'm the lucky one. I have you and Freya and a second chance at a life that I was never allowed to dream, let alone live. No. I'm resolved buir."
Stoyan switched off the channel before they both swung around quickly as the door was thrust open and Marek bound in squealing with delight at the start of another new day.
Echo stood and lifted him up onto the bed and watched as Stoyan and his little shadow giggled on the covers together. He smiled when he heard her call.
"Echo? Echo! I need you here. Now!"
"That sounds like trouble," he laughed. "You right here?" Stoyan flicked his head for Echo to leave. He and Marek had lots to talk about. There had been an energy shift in the house and Stoyan knew this day would be one they would come to celebrate for a long time to come.
"ECHO!"
.
"When are you going to talk to me Fives? Fives!"
He looked up from his caf, "I am talking to you Tash. I have told you that I am not cold and that I will come to bed in a minute," he replied sarcastically.
"That's not what I mean and you know it."
Fives ignored her comment and continued to stare at his cup. Tash was increasingly worried about his behaviour following the events on Coruscant. He had become even more taciturn and moody, almost the man she had treated at the GAR hospital a lifetime ago. Brash, brilliant, but still struggling with his emotions. He was a far cry from the strapping young man that had initially fought her every step of the way in her assessment and therapy but one that eventually she cracked and fell in love with. She was trained to spot the signs and knew this was a turning point in their relationship.
"Fives," she tried a new approach, "come to bed," she said rubbing the back of his neck. He shrugged her off but she persisted. "Come on," she cajoled, "please?"
It was the one part of his life he missed as much as the army.
The physicality of their relationship had changed and their love making was not always, successful.
He smiled at her beauty, and wrapped an arm around her hips, pulling her into him. There he buried his head into her abdomen and she cradled him running her hands through his hair.
"I want to Tash, but I just," he stopped. "I just need to be. You understand?" She looked down at his face and could see the emotion written all over it.
"What I understand is that you have to rise above this slump Fives. You've worked so hard to get to here, both mentally and physically. Whatever is happening on Coruscant is way beyond anything that can affect us here." He knew what she was saying was right.
But unlike Tash, he hadn't made the decision to leave. He had been given a glimpse of what was going to happen on Coruscant after his meeting with the then Chancellor Palpatine. But instead, he had been hunted down as a traitor and left for dead, and would have been if not for the quick thinking of Dr Boll and the ingenuity of Lieutenant Reed.
"No one believed me Tash," he said quietly. "No one listened when I said this was coming, that they were all in danger, and now," he shook his head, "now look what's happened. I don't give a fek about the Jedi. Half of them never knew one end of a battlefield from the other, but the men, they were good men and look what they made them do?"
There was no amount of psychology training that could make her rationalise what he was saying, so she didn't even try.
"C'mon, come to bed. I'll make it worth your while," she said with just the right amount of seduction he couldn't help but laugh.
"Alright then," he said as he let her go and stood gingerly from the table, "but only if you get on top."
"I'm always on top you lazy shab'uir!"
"That's only because I like watching you bouncing around up there."
They always did have a unique relationship.
.
