#badbatchdalorian

[badbatchdalorian]

Safe & Sound

MEDIA: The Bad Batch (2021-2024) CHARACTERS: Hunter & Omega RATING: G TAGS: Mentioned Crosshair, Mentioned Wrecker, Mentioned Tech, Mentioned Echo, Post-Episode: s03e04 A Different Approach, Canon Compliant (so yes tech's death is alluded to i'm sorry), Hunter is Omega's Parent, Hunter is Trying, Soft Hunter, POV Hunter, Protective Hunter, Good Sibling Hunter, Hunter Needs A Hug, Hunter Angst, Hunter-centric, Parental Hunter, Good Sibling Omega, Hunter & Omega-centric, Fluff and Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Omega Needs a Hug, Omega Gets a Hug, Hunter Gets a Hug SUMMARY: Hunter is Omega's safest space in the galaxy, and the night she returns home, he's determined to remind her of that, despite his own self-doubt. cross-posted from ao3

The Marauder was quiet, but it wasn’t the same kind of silence that had been suffocating Hunter for countless months. This one was peaceful, pierced only by the gentle sounds of three familiar, soothing heartbeats in his sensitive soundscape—and a new fourth one, belonging to the only non-human on board.

Hunter still couldn’t quite believe it. He was sitting in the cockpit now, gazing out at the stars as the rest of the squad slept, but even in his silent solitude, he couldn’t bring himself to terms with the fact that they were together again. After so much searching… crossing the galaxy five times… they had finally found her.

No, she had found them. And she had managed to bring along the brother Hunter never thought he would ever have returned to him.

Things with Crosshair were bound to get complicated—kriff, they already were, as Hunter allowed himself to acknowledge some of the unresolved bitterness festering deep within his chest—but beneath it all was Hunter’s genuine relief that Crosshair was truly back with them, and he was okay. Their other brother had given his life to try to make that possible.

His sacrifice was worth something again. Now, all Hunter could do was protect those he had left. He owed it to their fallen brother to make sure of that at all costs.

Hunter heard an unfamiliar snore, and he huffed quietly to himself as he spared a glance back towards the bunks. He was amused that the lurca hound Omega had named Batcher was sleeping with Crosshair, who had been acting like he wasn’t fond of the creature’s company. Clearly, Batcher recognized that Crosshair needed the comfort of a creature like herself, especially when he wasn’t ready to accept it from his estranged brothers.

Hunter hoped that would change. It was going to take more introspection on his part, and that alone was going to be hard work, but he was willing to do it. He had lost enough brothers already. He wouldn’t lose Crosshair, too. Not again.

The sergeant straightened when he suddenly heard something else, a different kind of motion that originated from somewhere further back inside the Marauder. He spun around and saw Omega tiptoeing her way down the ladder from the gunner’s mount. As she turned to head towards the cockpit, she offered Hunter a sheepish smile, as if she was embarrassed that she had been caught by him.

If only she knew how much the sight of her meant to him, especially now. Hunter couldn’t even find it in him to be upset about the fact that she wasn’t getting the sleep she so desperately needed.

To be fair, he was avoiding rest, too. He didn’t want to fall asleep and risk all of this being a mere dream.

Hunter waited until Omega had crossed the threshold of the cockpit to start speaking. “Hey, kid.” His low timbre was soft, minding their sleeping brothers as he watched her take the seat opposite from his own. He leaned his elbows against his knees and tried not to make the concern in his once-over of her leaner form so obvious. “Can’t sleep?”

Omega gave her head an aimless shake. “I just…” She pulled her legs up to her chest like she used to when she was younger. It reminded Hunter of that night they spent here together after Bracca and Bora Vio. “I can’t believe it.”

Hunter let out a gentle hum. “Can’t believe what?”

“That I’m actually back.”

Omega looked with awe at the viewport, and Hunter watched the stars flicker in her disbelieving eyes. Something in his chest ached when he realized there was a certain light that had completely faded from her gaze—no doubt something Hemlock and the Empire had taken from her.

He tightened his hands into fists. “I’m sorry it took so long.”

Omega frowned at him and shook her head. “It’s not your fault.” Her gaze softened as she went on. “I never gave up on you, and I know you didn’t give up on me, either. I always knew you and Wrecker were trying to find me.”

Hunter watched as he wrung his hands together. Flashes of the darkest moments from the last five months haunted him like shadows, bringing out the worst parts of himself and amplifying them until they nearly swallowed him whole.

He had been too close to descending into desperate madness. Without Wrecker—and Echo and Rex whenever they could be there—he surely would have lost himself completely.

But of course Omega never gave up hope in them, even when Hunter had felt so hopeless. She was his guiding light for a reason.

Hunter was able to muster up a small, genuine smile for her, but said nothing. Omega continued to fill the space.

“I knew I’d make it back somehow. But, now that I’m actually here…” Omega looked back at the stars and gave her head an aimless shake. “It sounds weird to say, but I’m scared that if I go back to sleep, then…”

“You’ll wake up and find out it was just another dream.”

Omega’s head snapped over to Hunter as he finished her thought. “Exactly.” She blinked at him a few times as her brow furrowed in a way that reminded the sergeant far too much of himself. “How’d you know that?”

Hunter huffed. “There’s a reason why I’m not sleeping, either.”

Omega instantly softened again as she considered him. She then sat up straighter and let go of her legs, lowering them until she was sitting in the chair normally. Hunter’s brow rose in wordless confusion at her sudden shift in posture.

Omega’s voice was quieter than usual when she finally responded. “You had dreams, too?”

Hunter unclenched his fists and nodded. He didn’t speak just yet; he was still observing Omega’s change in behavior. She was clearly more guarded as she tightened her lips and looked down at her lap.

“I never really thought about how hard this all must have been on you guys, too.” Omega spared Hunter a heartbreaking look. “I’m sorry.”

“Omega.” Hunter was soft yet stern as he addressed her. Thankfully, she held his stare as he went on. “You shouldn’t be apologizing for any of this. Like you told me before, it’s not your fault.” His jaw tightened hard enough to make it ache. “It’s the Empire’s.”

“Yeah.” Omega’s voice sounded as distant as her gaze was, even though she forced a smile at Hunter as if she was trying to convince him that she was truly present. “But you don’t have to worry about me anymore. I’m okay now.”

Hunter’s slowly healing heart shattered at that. He should have found consolation in Omega’s words, because he never had a reason not to believe her—but that was before Tantiss. The little girl who had been taken from him wasn’t the same girl who had come back.

Hunter was excited to get to know her, the new parts of her, but that could wait until she was healing. Right now, she wasn’t, and she was trying to convince him of the opposite.

It was a behavior he could spot easily, because he had been doing so for his brothers for years. Whether it was physical wounds they were hiding or something deeper, Hunter had learned to specialize in reading his brothers and ensuring they received the proper treatment, attention, and comfort that they needed. It was different for all of them, but by the end of the war, Hunter had it down to a science—even for Echo, who had still been new to their squad at that point.

Omega had been easy to learn initially. She was still a child, which meant that she wore her heart on her sleeve more than his brothers. It didn’t take a genius like Tech, however, to recognize that something had changed in Omega while she was in Tantiss. She wouldn’t have been able to be so vulnerable in the cruel clutches of a regime as oppressive as the Empire.

She had created her own armor, and now, Hunter had to learn how to gently dismantle it. First, though, he had to find out why she had suddenly put it back on.

Hunter let out a soft exhale before he finally spoke. “It’s okay to not be ‘okay,’ Omega.” His voice unintentionally wavered as he went on. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.”

I should’ve been there to protect you from it.

Omega’s hardened exterior cracked just the smallest amount at that, but it was gone in a flash, drowned out by the sound of her quickening heartbeat. “I didn’t have it so bad.” She spared a look back towards the bunks. “Crosshair and the other clones had it a lot worse. At least I wasn’t in a cell.”

Hunter folded his hands together and softened his naturally rough voice even more. “That doesn’t mean it wasn’t hard for you, too.”

Omega’s gaze fell to the floor. Her shoulders tensed, as if she was tightening the straps on her invisible armor. Hunter ignored the sharp ache in his chest and went on.

“You care so much about everyone you meet, Omega. It’s your greatest gift. It’s changed all of us for the better.” Hunter pushed past the sudden lump in his throat. “Especially me.”

That drew Omega’s attention. Her eyes betrayed her disbelief as Hunter opened up the most vulnerable parts of himself to her. It was one of the hardest things he had ever done, but he would gladly bleed himself dry if it meant helping, and saving, her.

“But… like with any gift, bad people can twist it against you. That’s what Hemlock and the Empire did. Maybe they didn’t physically do anything as bad to you as they did to the others, but even just making you watch was enough to hurt you just as much.”

Omega deflated. Hunter could see the slow fracturing of her composure, but she was still gripping onto it with white-knuckled fingers. Her hands tightened on her legs as she spoke in a low, uncharacteristic croak.

“Crosshair wouldn’t tell me what they were doing to him. But I passed him every day in the corridor, and he… he looked so defeated.”

Omega’s voice wobbled. Hunter resisted the urge to reach out and take her into his arms, instead planting himself where he was in the chair across from her and proving she had his devout attention.

“I had to be strong for him, Hunter.” Omega’s stare met his, but it must have been too much for her, as she quickly averted it and looked down towards the floor. “He was so… hopeless.”

She paused. Hunter didn’t speak. He could barely even breathe. If hearing this was enough to hurt him worse than any physical wound, then he couldn’t imagine what it was like for her.

He wanted to fight the whole galaxy for putting his little girl through this.

“It wasn’t so bad until I… I had to tell him.” Omega hiccuped on a breath, no doubt shoving down a sob as she once again tightened her shoulders and threw on her metaphorical armor. She glanced almost helplessly at Hunter. “I had to tell him, Hunter.”

Omega didn’t have to say what it was. Hunter knew. It twisted in his stomach like the blade inside his gauntlet, sending a searing, blistering pain through the most tender parts of himself. Hunter forced himself to ignore the unhealed wound as he kept his focus on her.

“He asked a lot of questions. I answered them the best I could. But when I told him why we were there when it happened, and what we were doing…”

Omega paused again, her lips trembling. She only continued when she had regained some semblance of her composure.

“He wouldn’t talk to me. I thought he was angry, but when I got up to walk away, I heard him.”

She sniffed and looked away from Hunter, hiding her face the best she could. Her voice was a haunted whisper.

“I’ve never heard someone cry like that.”

Hunter closed his eyes and hung his head. The idea of it alone was enough to make heat burn at the back of his eyes. He hadn’t exactly taken the space to mourn Tech himself; between the squad’s injuries at the time and Omega’s capture, Hunter simply hadn’t allowed himself to really think about it.

But this wasn’t the time, either. Right now, he had to be present for Omega, because her wound was even more raw than his—and she had to be the one to open up Crosshair’s, too, as if she hadn’t already been going through enough on Tantiss.

It was all so karked, and so unfair. Dwelling on that wouldn’t help anyone or change anything, though. Hunter had to do what he could with the shattered pieces of his family to put them back together, and right now, he was going to start with his kid.

Hunter reopened his eyes and lifted his head. Omega was curled away from him, her hands kneading the material of her pants as she fought desperately to cling to her composure.

“Omega.”

Hunter’s voice was so gentle and quiet that it was nothing but a breath that floated along the cockpit’s tense air. He was swift in the way he rose from his chair and kneeled down by Omega’s. He held the sides of it the way he had when he made that promise to her long ago, and although he hadn’t been able to keep that one, he would sooner die than break this one.

“Look at me.”

The order was softer than the ones Hunter was typically used to giving as a sergeant. Omega took a visible breath before she obeyed, her trembling lips straightening into a line as her teary eyes opened.

The amber gaze staring back at him was the same one Hunter used to see in the reflectors around Kamino. That, along with the blonde pieces of hair that escaped her ponytail, made it all too easy for him to know exactly what she was going through, because it was exactly what he had put himself through when he was her age.

It wasn’t supposed to be that way, though. She wasn’t supposed to have to go through this. Hunter was supposed to have saved her from that, to have given her the childhood they never got to have.

He might have failed in that regard, but he would stop at nothing to preserve what little of her childhood he still could.

“You’ve been strong. So much stronger than anyone your age should ever have to be.” Hunter dared to lift a hand to brush some of the hair back from her face. “I’m so proud of you for that.”

Omega didn’t flinch away from his touch. Instead, she leaned into it just the slightest amount, as if her body was fighting her heart.

“But you don’t have to be that strong anymore. Not with me.” Hunter took one of her anxious hands in his and nodded. “You’re safe now.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I promise.”

Hunter would understand if she didn’t believe him. After all, he had let her be taken to Tantiss in the first place—and then he hadn’t even been the one to find and rescue her. He had failed her.

But he wouldn’t fail her again.

Still, Hunter waited for Omega to scoff and remind him of his critical failures. He would never blame her for reacting like that. It was a nightmare he’d had more than once before, after all; he could, and would, bear it again for her.

But that wasn’t what she did. Instead, Omega crumbled the same way she had when she first saw Hunter outside the Marauder. She let the invisible armor tumble from her trembling form as she slid down from the chair to practically fall into Hunter’s waiting arms, her grasp tightening around his neck as she clung to him for dear life.

Hunter held her just as tightly. He kept her tucked against his chest, his eyes closed as he set his chin on top of her head. He placed a firm hand between her shaking shoulder blades, running soothing circles there as the dam she had built over the last few months finally broke.

Through her quiet, muffled sobs, Hunter’s senses were still able to string together her nearly incoherent words. “I just wanted you, Hunter.” Her arms squeezed tighter. “All I wanted was you.”

Her words knocked the air from Hunter’s lungs and made it hard to breathe for a moment, but he recovered quickly for her sake, holding her closer as he spoke in a soft, steady voice. “I’m here. I’m here now.” He buried his face in her head and let out an exhale. “You’re safe.”

Hunter repeated these reassurances to Omega as she cried out whatever tears she had left. It was just as healing for him as it was for her; he had been haunted by the phantom of her lively spirit in the emptiness of the Marauder for so long that it was still hard to believe his nightmare was coming to an end, and that she really was here in his arms. Holding her like this, and speaking to her like this, was a balm to his wounded soul.

Once Omega had caught her breath enough to speak more coherently, she let out a shaky exhale and only slightly loosened her grasp on Hunter. “I missed everyone, but… I always feel safest when I’m with you.” She lifted her arm to wipe her eyes. “That hasn’t changed.”

The dark shadow of bitter failure loomed in the back of Hunter’s mind and obscured the ray of light Omega’s reassurance attempted to bring him. He fought the sudden tension in his shoulders and let out a light sigh. “You don’t have to say that just to make me feel better.”

“I’m not.”

Omega’s sadness and desperation was traded for determination in an instant as she sat up from where she had burrowed herself in Hunter’s neck and shoulder to face him.

“I trust you to protect me.” She lifted a hand to Hunter’s tattooed cheek, her brow furrowed in severity as her amber eyes flitted between his own. “I always have.”

Hunter wanted to be convinced by the breathtaking amount of honesty in both her stare and her words, but that dark shadow of doubt remained, sticking like tar to the most vulnerable parts of himself that only Omega had ever been able to reach. Still, the warmth of her touch began to bleed through his pain as he spoke around the sudden lump in his throat.

“Omega… they took you. They took you and I couldn’t even find you.” Hunter couldn’t face her anymore. His gaze fell as he straightened himself the same way she had before. “I understand if you don’t trust me the way you did before.” 

Because I failed you.

“Don’t say that. None of this is your fault.” Omega lowered her hand to hold both his shoulders in her tightened grasp. “You gave me an order on Ord Mantell, and I disobeyed it. It was my choice, Hunter.” She knit her brow together, never once looking away from his devastated gaze. “You did everything you could. I’ve never blamed you for this.”

Omega lifted her chin, portraying strength in a way that was different than before—and much more familiar. It was a stark contrast to the tear stains on her cheeks, along with those that continued to sit upon her waterline.

“I never lost faith in you. You would’ve found us if we hadn’t gotten out first.” She offered Hunter the best smile she could manage. “I bet you were close already, weren’t you?”

Hunter shrugged. He wished he could go along with her sweet optimism, but the monster who had consumed him over the last few months wouldn’t quiet down enough for that. “We had a few leads, but… it wasn’t close enough.” He shook his head, recalling the pit that had opened up inside his stomach when the data from Hemlock’s destroyed lab had only come back with a single system. “It was never enough to save you.”

Omega’s gaze softened even as her determined exterior remained firm. “It was what I learned from watching you, Hunter, that saved me.”

She paused and lifted her hands from his shoulders, instead holding the sides of his face as she went on.

“You taught me to be strong. You’re the reason Crosshair and I made it here at all, even if you weren’t there with us. You, and Wrecker, and Echo, and… and Tech, too.”

The name hit Hunter like an unexpected uppercut, forcing his eyes closed as his unhealed wound tore open. Omega’s words, however, crept in more and more, stitching his wound and his heart back together as he mused upon the truth of them.

She really had become so much like him—like all of them. Hunter could see the glimpses of all his brothers, old and new, within her, making her into a mosaic of who Clone Force 99 had been and still was. She was everything he had ever hoped for his squad to be and more.

And that had saved her. It had gotten her out of that wretched place. Maybe it didn’t matter that Hunter wasn’t the one to fly in and come to her rescue. To know that he played some kind of role in helping her escape, even if it wasn’t physical, healed him in a way no amount of bacta ever could.

Hunter hadn’t realized a tear had escaped his closed eye until Omega was already brushing it away from his cheek. He looked at her and watched as her own eyes brimmed with more unshed tears, though her trembling lips were still managing a smile for him.

He refused to shatter now. Omega had been picking up the pieces of herself and Crosshair for too long already. Hunter wouldn’t make her do the same for him.

Instead, he gently wrapped a hand around the back of Omega’s neck to ease her forehead to his own in an affectionate gesture that was long overdue for the two of them. It was only when she was close enough to see clearly into the depths of his vulnerable soul that Hunter dared to speak, his rough voice strained by the genuine, heavy meaning behind each word.

“Thank you.”

He wanted to say so much more, but he wasn’t sure how. It was against a soldier’s nature to give anyone a window into the complex feelings that swirled like a storm within him, even if he wanted to learn how to. It would be a lesson for another day, though, and Omega would understand. She always had.

And Hunter was right. The smile that broke out on Omega’s lips was worth every single painful moment Hunter had been through in the last few months. With the exception of her immediate reunion with both himself and Wrecker, it was the happiest he had seen her ever since they had left Pabu.

Omega’s voice was quiet yet meaningful when she finally responded. “You don’t have to thank me, Hunter.” Her smile remained as her kind eyes searched his. “I just want you to feel as safe with me as I feel with you.”

Hunter didn’t have to force the smile that overtook his own lips. “I already do.”

His hand slid up to the back of Omega’s head, minding her small ponytail, as he eased it upon his shoulder. Her grasp tightened around his neck again, though this time, her body completely relaxed against his. She let out a soft, content sigh, a sound that washed Hunter over in waves of relief.

Everything was far from perfect still. Hunter didn’t know half of what she had actually been through, and there were traces of guilt and determination in her eyes that warned him of a mission she had already given herself. In this moment, however, none of that mattered.

What mattered was that she was safe, and she was here—and she was on her way to healing.

Omega only continued to relax more against Hunter, adding more weight that he could easily handle. He was careful as he rose from their place on the floor of the Marauder to return to the chair where he had been before. He kept Omega where she was against him, letting her lay upon him as he stared out at the stars over her head.

She was gently kneading the fabric around his neck, a sure sign that she was trying to keep herself from falling asleep. Hunter let out a soft hum and patted her back.

“You can go to sleep. I promise I’ll still be here when you wake up.” Hunter let Wrecker’s and Crosshair’s familiar heartbeats brush up against his soundscape along with hers. “We all will.”

Omega didn’t need more convincing. It only took a minute or two for her breathing to slow, and her heart rate leveled out to one that matched the slower rhythm of their brothers’. The familiar harmony of all three of them, even without the two others that had once completed his symphony, was enough to make him feel more like himself than he had in a long, long time.

He was back in his solitude, but it wasn’t the same this time. Hunter wasn’t preyed upon by the shadows that had all but consumed him around the empty ship that had become a haunted house. He wasn’t trapped within the bottomless pit of his own desperation and self-loathing. Instead, he was genuinely, truly hopeful, like the dawn breaking upon a new day.

And Omega was his sun.

It was then, and only then, that Hunter allowed himself to splinter apart. Every overwhelming emotion he had been pushing down escaped through the cracks in his composure until they all spilled over. He buried his face in Omega’s head and let it happen, holding her tighter as he eased the shaking of his own shoulders to keep himself from disturbing her slumber.

Tears of joy, relief, fear, grief, and pure disbelief ran rivers into the blonde hair Hunter hadn’t even helped to wash yet, beginning the process of cleansing both of them from the painful stain of Tantiss’ haunting grime on their minds, bodies, and souls. The battle wasn’t over, Hunter knew that deep down inside himself, but they had at least gotten a victory.

They were, at long last, back in their safest spaces in the entire galaxy, and for now, that would be enough. It would always be enough.

[skellymom]

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[thecoffeelorian]

Fandom Friday, 04/25: Fanfiction!

Hello and good morning to you all, and welcome once again to another Fandom Friday. As always, this is your host Coffeelorian or if you prefer, just plain Coffee, back with another round of fanfiction from around the vast fandom that is Star Wars.

Before we begin, however, I would like to say that I've changed the order of things around just a little for this, specifically by raising the amount of included links upwards from 10, as well as changing the format around to better fit the new limit AND hopefully increase user engagement besides. It's been feeling a little quiet around here, after all, so maybe this can be the first step to change it!

Second, a few little birds told me that today is the 20th anniversary of the release of "Revenge Of The Sith", so! If anybody sees me suddenly spam-reblogging all the posts I can find from that movie, it'll most likely be because I just watched it for the first time, and am catching up on pretty much everything.

Anyways...without further delay, here are my picks of the week.

THE PREQUELS

The Prequels Fanfiction: "Soulmate AU #1--Prologue", by @ivorydragoness44 The Prequels Fanfiction: "Beneath The Bacta Lights", by @mykindalovr

THE CLONE WARS

The Clone Wars Fanfiction: "Steadfast: Welcome", by @dangraccoon The Clone Wars Fanfiction: "Leave Her, Johnny", by @artist-kreating-stuff

THE BAD BATCH

The Bad Batch Fanfiction: "Hot Sunny Day", by @greenygreenland The Bad Batch Fanfiction: "Perfectly Plucked", by @nahoney22 The Bad Batch Fanfiction: "Stutters", by @clonetrooperjournals

ANDOR

Andor Fanfiction--By @djarinsphere:

THE MANDALORIAN

The Mandalorian Fanfiction: "Here Comes The Bride, 1--Scent", by @maybege The Mandalorian Fanfiction: "Falling Hard", by @orcasoul

THE SEQUELS

The Sequels Fanfiction--"Plumbing Therapy", by @eyelessfaces

CROSSOVERS

The Bad Batch/The Mandalorian Fanfiction--"Missing Piece, Part 1: Are You Mandalorians?", by @badbatchdalorian

In conclusion, as part of my mission to poke around the Star Wars fandom and highlight those writers who might otherwise go unnoticed…I hope you will check out the links I have included for yourselves and like, comment on, and reblog them, as well as also giving the writers a few more followers to their Tumblr pages.

Please also like and reblog this latest installment so that these links can be spread around to as many other fans as possible, just in case not all of them can tune in at the same time.

An additional thank you goes to @djarrex for making the divider I used earlier in this post, but still want to give credit for.

If anybody likes what they see here AND would enjoy seeing more posts like this; please drop the rock star emoji (👩‍🎤) into the comments or reblogs, and I’ll be sure to tag you when the next update comes.

And finally, so that I do not forget…thank you to my friends, thank you to this fandom, and above all else, please stay safe out there.

No Pressure Tags: @algo-o-nada @the-osborn-way @everybirdfellsilent @skellymom @aknightreaderr

@leos-multifandom-corner @maggie-dylan @leenathegreengirl @gun-roswell @tazmbc1

@bluedeedeedoop @its-time-to-rise-above @tlmtwelve @snoowply @apocalyp-tech-a 

@totally-not-your-babe and anybody else who might be on the lookout for new SW fanfiction.

[dindjarindiaries]

I changed my username on my gen AO3 from beautifulbeskar to badbatchdalorian! So if you see the change, that’s why! 🫶

[badbatchdalorian]

Missing Piece - Part 1: Are You Mandalorians?

MEDIA: The Bad Batch (2021-2024), The Mandalorian (2019-2023) CHARACTERS: The Bad Batch & Din Djarin (Young) RATING: T (14+) TAGS: not canon compliant, PTSD, trauma, childhood trauma, canon-typical violence, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, family fluff, Tech lives, protective siblings (more here) SUMMARY: In this galaxy far, far away, it's experimental unit Clone Force 99 that saves Din Djarin instead of the Mandalorians, forever altering not only his fate, but also their own. How they manage to survive with not one, but two young soldiers-in-training under their wings proves just how far they're willing to go to keep their family's missing piece as close as possible. cross-posted from ao3, where updates are more frequent

PART 1: Are You Mandalorians?

Hunter flipped his knife into the air just as the emergency comm channel began to blare. He jumped in his seat and narrowly avoided missing—and being cut by—the blade as it fell back into his grasp. Every head turned towards the cockpit, though some snapped more quickly than others. Wrecker was noticeably groggy as he groaned in dismay.

“C’mon!” Wrecker exclaimed, heaving a breath as he did so. “I was havin’ the best sleep I’ve gotten in weeks! ”

Hunter had already started towards the cockpit, and he knew Tech wouldn’t be far behind.

“Complaining about new action?” Crosshair huffed. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“I can’t face new action without any sleep ,” Wrecker insisted.

Hunter tuned them out as he reached the Marauder ’s controls. He sat down in the co-pilot’s chair and pressed the button, watching as a blue image flickered to life. Hunter’s brow shot up as a Togrutan silhouette formed more fully.

“General?” Hunter managed the title even amidst his own surprise. He didn’t need Tech to tell him that General Shaak Ti being on the other end of the emergency comm was highly unusual, though he could practically feel the thought simmering in Tech’s brain from the pilot’s chair beside him.

“ Sergeant .” General Ti was as calm as ever, bowing her head in greeting before going on. “ I understand your squad is currently en route back to Kamino? ”

“That is correct,” Tech answered for his brother. He adjusted his goggles before letting his fingers fly over the controls. “We are approximately a single rotation and three additional standard hours away, given how distant our point of origin was.”

“ Is there any chance your squad is near the Relgim sector? ” General Ti’s expression morphed into something Hunter had never seen in the general before: desperation. “ We’ve just received a dire call for help, but the settlement is too remote for anyone else to get there in time. I saw your squad’s current route and hoped it wasn’t too late .”

Tech had already begun to analyze where in hyperspace they were the moment General Ti had requested it. Hunter fought back the exhaustion creeping into the corners of his mind as he pressed for more information. “Where would we be headed, General?”

General Ti still looked troubled as she responded. “ Aq Vetina .”

“In that case…” Tech paused, reaching for the hyperspace lever and pulling it back.

Hunter gripped the nearest support he could find as the Marauder shuddered out of hyperspace. Something fell behind them, and Wrecker grunted as Crosshair cursed loudly. Hunter chuckled, shaking his head—and knowing full well any other squad leader would have been mortified to have such a thing happen in front of a Jedi general.

“Your timing could not have been more optimal, General.” Tech spoke to General Ti while he focused on piloting the Marauder towards a distant world. “We are currently in the Relgim sector, and we are now on approach to Aq Vetina.”

General Ti let out a sigh of relief, her shoulders visibly lightening as she did so. “ Thank the Force. ” She focused on Hunter as she went on. “ Your orders are to engage only if the Separatist forces can be handled by your squad alone. If not… then we must consider this a loss .” Hunter didn’t need to be a Force-sensitive Jedi to sense her devastation at the mere thought of such an outcome. “ But I know that if any squad can take on such forces without backup, it’s yours, Sergeant. ”

“That’s right!” Wrecker was suddenly behind Hunter, his voice much brighter than before. He grinned at the Togruta Jedi and waved. “Hey, General!”

General Ti returned his smile. “ Wrecker, it’s good to see you .” Each word was genuine, spreading a comforting warmth through Hunter’s chest. Of everyone on Kamino, she had no doubt been the kindest to Hunter and his squad growing up, and for that he was forever indebted to her. “ I’m afraid I don’t have much time to catch up, though, and neither do you. Sergeant, if you wouldn’t mind contacting me on this frequency when you have an update on the situation? ”

Hunter nodded. “Of course, General.”

General Ti returned his nod. “ Thank you, Sergeant. Your squad is this settlement’s only hope. Do not engage in a battle you know you cannot win, but keep this in mind as you prepare for what’s ahead. ”

Those were the words she left them with. Her blue image faded, and for a few moments, all Hunter could hear—even with his enhanced senses—was the soft hum of space around them.

Hunter nearly winced when Wrecker raised his voice again from just behind them. “A surprise mission? Oh, yeah!” He punched the air. “I take back what I said before. This was totally worth missin’ out on some sleep.”

“What’s going on?” Hunter spun in his chair as Echo approached. He’d been surprised that Echo hadn’t joined him and Tech inside the cockpit for the comm, but given the way the ARC trooper was stretching his neck and suppressing a yawn, he had been in the middle of a deep, and clearly much-needed, sleep. “Was that General Ti?”

Hunter nodded. “It was.” He rose from his chair and clapped his hand on Echo’s shoulder. “Gear up. We have another mission.”

Echo’s eyes doubled in size. “ What? ” He shook his head. “That can’t be right. I thought we were headed back—?”

“There’s a remote settlement we’re passing by that needs help.” Hunter set his jaw, conveying an uncharacteristic amount of severity. “The general said we’re their only chance.”

Echo immediately straightened. Hunter began to smile in satisfaction. “What are we up against?”

Hunter kept his smile even as he gently brushed past Echo to head further into the ship. “Don’t know. We have to get a closer look.” He turned his head just enough to raise his voice over his shoulder. “Tech, let me know as soon as you have a visual. As for the rest of you…” Hunter looked pointedly at Crosshair, who had been watching everything unfold from the chair he was lounging in. “Get ready for a fight.”

Wrecker cheered in the background as Crosshair raised the corner of his mouth in a much more subtle form of celebration. Hunter could see the exhaustion looming within the depths of his brother’s eyes, and the darkening of the circles that hung underneath them, but that exhaustion was overpowered by their genuine love for what they did best: battle.

Hunter himself felt all of it—the exhaustion, the excitement, the addicting rush of adrenaline that shot through every single vein and nerve in his body. This time, however, he also felt something that he didn’t always experience, at least not to this degree. It was the same thing that had been written all over General Ti’s face.

He wanted to help these people, and he felt responsible for their safety.

But Hunter also felt responsible for his own squad, just as he always had. The weight of their flawless success rate got heavier with each new mission, though the success rate paled in comparison to the safety of his brothers. He wasn’t willing to sacrifice any one of them for a mission, not even one like this.

As hard as that truth would always be to swallow.

Hunter shoved these thoughts to the back of his mind just like always and focused on gearing up, paying extra attention to the way his armor snapped into place. He spared a look around and saw that Wrecker, Crosshair, and Echo had made just as much progress as himself, with Tech well on his way after he had put the ship on autopilot for the time being.

Hunter wasn’t looking forward to a reality where this rush and preparation for battle wasn’t necessary. Based on what General Ti had told them, it was very likely that they could be forced to bail after seeing what they were up against.

The last thing Hunter reached for was his helmet before he strided back towards the cockpit. He could see Aq Vetina on approach through the viewport, a small world that didn’t get much bigger even as the ship got closer.

“ Force .” Echo’s voice was a mere breath behind Hunter, but the sergeant wasn’t surprised by his close presence. He had sensed Echo’s whereabouts long before he had spoken. “That’s a small planet.” He exhaled, his voice dropping lower. “No wonder why they need help so badly.”

“Let’s just hope we can provide it.” Hunter turned towards Tech as he joined them. Tech returned to the pilot’s chair and Hunter stood behind him, letting Echo take the co-pilot’s seat. “Tech, how’s it looking from here?”

“I’ll have a better idea once I’ve navigated us closer.” Tech gently pushed the Marauder ’s steering wheel ahead, allowing the Omicron-class shuttle to move forward through the stars. 

Hunter could sense the shadows of Wrecker and Crosshair behind him, no doubt just as curious about what awaited them. Despite the fact they were all—at least, almost all—just sleeping peacefully a few minutes ago, they were itching for a fight, especially one that sounded so critical.

For once, the squad remained silent as Tech continued to steer the ship forward. The tension was so thick that the sound of the proximity sensor going off made everyone jump.

“I’m clocking… one Separatist ship.” Tech sounded unimpressed as he continued to analyze the incoming data.

They all waited a beat before Wrecker spoke up. “That’s it?”

Hunter narrowed his eyes. “Is it a command ship?”

“Negative. I assume they have already left the system.” Tech’s voice lowered only slightly as he went on. “The battle may very well be over.”

Echo shook his head. “Not if they’ve left a ship here. They could’ve realized a planet this small only needed one ship’s worth of forces and sent the others to their other targets.” He glanced up at Hunter, his gaze hopeful.

Hunter returned Echo’s look and considered their next steps. Tech and Echo could both be right, and there was only one way to find out.

“It’s worth checking out.” Hunter nodded towards the viewport. “Bring us in, Tech.”

Tech returned Hunter’s nod and obeyed the sergeant’s order. Wrecker chuckled victoriously and must’ve nudged Crosshair’s shoulder, based on the way their brother grunted in dissatisfaction soon after. Echo flashed Hunter an appreciative smile before he focused on assisting Tech with the landing sequence.

Hunter lowered himself into one of the chairs off to Echo’s right side and exhaled a gentle breath through his nose. While spontaneous planning was their usual style, this mission was too delicate to abide by their typical tactics.

Hunter thought through each step carefully and brainstormed every possibility he could come up with in the time it took the Marauder to exchange the view of the stars for the grayish-blue of Aq Vetina’s atmosphere. His heart tightened uncomfortably when he caught plumes of smoke on the horizon.

Tech started his warning. “Hunter…”

“Don’t bring us too close.” Hunter was back on his feet, setting a hand on the backs of both Tech’s and Echo’s chairs as he surveyed the situation for himself. “Keep us a few klicks away. We’ll do a loose recon before we decide if we’re engaging.”

Wrecker groaned in disappointment. “So we still don’t know if we’re gonna fight?”

Crosshair hummed. “No use in trying to save their skins if there aren’t any skins left to save.”

Echo spun around in his chair to fix Crosshair with a pointed look, his eyes narrowed dangerously. Hunter didn’t have to look back at Crosshair to know he was unaffected. Echo still hadn’t gotten used to Crosshair’s severe nature, but he would have to understand that Crosshair meant no harm by it. He was just a realist, one who still cared deeply—even if he refused to show it.

Hunter tightened his grasp on the chairs as Tech brought the Marauder down. Its descent was even smoother than usual, no doubt a result of Tech’s abundance of caution, and it wasn’t long after that Tech powered it down completely. Hunter stepped back to give him and Echo room to stand.

Hunter was already setting his helmet over his head. “Let’s get moving.” He turned and pushed himself through the small gap between Wrecker and Crosshair at the cockpit’s threshold. “The longer we wait, the more lives we put at risk.”

The lack of Hunter’s usual enthusiasm heading into a mission caused the others to follow his order without complaint or hesitation. Hunter led the way off the Marauder before he sped up into a fast jog that helped them disappear quickly into the surrounding wood.

Hunter wove through the trees easily, gently touching the bark as his senses created a reliable trail to the city that had gone up in flames. The crunching of his brothers’ footsteps behind him was reassuring, grounding him to the present even as the leadership part of his mind tried to think far ahead.

It wasn’t long before the first sandstone building came into sight. Its blue, domed roof was charred with black grime, and the sounds of blasterfire and explosions were unmistakable to Hunter’s sensitive ears.

Hunter raised his fist, signaling for the squad to stop as he pressed his palm against the sandstone. He listened more closely for another few heartbeats, letting the sounds of the firefight rattle against his eardrums.

Super battle droids. Not enough to overwhelm his squad, not at all, but certainly enough to level a settlement of this size. They had to act fast to minimize whatever damage they could.

Hunter turned to face his brothers and nodded. “We’re going in.”

Wrecker cheered.

“We’ve got SBDs.” Hunter glanced at both Wrecker and Crosshair. “Crosshair, head up. Wrecker, give him a boost.”

The pair nodded at the sergeant before bounding forward. Wrecker knelt down just enough for Crosshair to lift his foot into his brother’s cupped hands. Crosshair pushed off just as Wrecker threw his arms up, and Crosshair had more than enough air to get onto the roof. Hunter continued as they did so.

“As for the rest of us, Plan 70.” Hunter nodded at Tech. “You’re with me. We’ll head to the east,” he waved two fingers at Wrecker and Echo, “you take the west.”

Echo tightened his grasp on his blaster. “We’re on it.” With that, both he and Wrecker disappeared into the settlement, the ARC trooper guiding the way.

Hunter looked over at Tech and watched his brother tighten his grasp on his blasters. One nod was all it took for them to communicate their next move. Hunter passed Tech to lead the way to the east. They stuck close to the walls of the structures they passed, checking around each corner before moving ahead. The fight was getting closer and closer.

A new wave of adrenaline shot through Hunter’s veins like a rocket. If the stakes weren’t so high for the people they were rescuing, he would even smile at the sensation, but it felt disrespectful. He couldn’t enjoy it when there were civilians caught in the crossfire.

Hunter flinched when the helmet comm suddenly opened up. “ You four might want to speed things up ,” Crosshair warned. Hunter shared a concerned look with Tech, noting the way Tech’s gaze flashed with cautious curiosity. “ Looks like the clankers are about to have this battle won. ”

Wrecker snarled over the comms. “ Not if we can help it! ”

Crosshair sighed. “ That’s exactly what I’m saying, Wrecker .”

Hunter fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Focus. Remember what General Ti said. We’re their only chance at survival.”

Like his brothers, he didn’t mind the rush of battle, but this was different. This wasn’t blasting droids on the battlefield. This was rescuing civilians from the destruction of their home.

Hunter held his arm out in front of Tech when he caught sight of a horde of SBDs. He holstered his blaster and drew his blade from his gauntlet instead, keeping it at the ready as his other hand rose back to his helmet.

“Echo, Wrecker, status report.”

Echo answered for them. “ In position. ”

Hunter steadied himself with a breath before nodding to himself. “Move in.”

He didn’t waste another second. Hunter sprinted out from behind the protection of the nearby building and launched himself at the first droid in his path. He flung one arm around the droid’s neck from behind as the other jabbed his knife into the droid’s chest, frying its circuitry. Hunter pushed himself off the droid as it collapsed, leaping into the air and dodging blasterfire as he made a beeline for the next one.

Hunter was so lost in the familiar yet thrilling routine of battle that he paid little attention to the rest of their surroundings. It was only after he tripped over something unexpected that he was forced to stop and glance down at the unpredictable obstacle.

It was a body, clothed in red robes that tragically matched the color of their spilled blood. One quick look around the courtyard they were in proved that it was far from the only one of their people who had fallen.

Hunter blanched, but only for a moment. He couldn’t afford to take any more time. Hunter snapped his helmet up and watched as a droid threw open the doors to a bunker in the ground, taking aim with their weapon soon after.

Someone had to be alive down there. Someone they could save .

Hunter threw his knife before he had even gotten to his feet. The blade sunk into the side of the SBD’s head, causing it to stiffen before it collapsed to the side. Hunter was already running over, not bothering to retrieve his knife just yet as he awaited helping the person, or the people, who had taken refuge in the bunker.

When Hunter skidded to a stop in front of it, he nearly lost the ration that he had eaten just a few standard hours ago. He blinked in disbelief and attempted to catch his mind up with what his eyes were seeing.

It was a child, a boy no older than nine cycles, who was slowly reopening his eyes to look up at Hunter with fear, shock, and hope .

Hunter felt as if the wind had been knocked from him, the same way he always did whenever Wrecker sacked him during their sparring sessions. Still, he couldn’t afford to freeze up like this in the heat of battle, especially not when there was a helpless child staring back at him.

“It’s okay,” Hunter finally said, lifting his gloved hands up for the scared boy to see. “I’m not gonna hurt you. We’re here to help.”

The child blinked, his trembling lips parting as he tried to speak. “W-We?”

Hunter pasted on a small smile. “My squad.” He nodded in further reassurance. “We’ll keep you safe.”

The boy’s shoulders sagged in relief. He looked as if he was about to ask a question, but then thought better of it. Hunter fought to ignore the sudden ache in his chest as he glanced over his shoulder and narrowly dodged a blaster bolt.

“Stay down here for now.” Hunter was gentle with the order. “I’ll protect you from up here, and once the droids are dealt with, we’ll get out of here. Sound good?”

The boy nodded, his small fists clutching the dirt on the bottom of the bunker as he did so. Hunter let out a quiet exhale and spun back to face the battle.

Hunter lifted his fingers to his helmet as he tore the blade from the SBD’s head. “Has anyone else come across survivors? I’m protecting one right now.”

It took some time for the others to answer as they focused on blasting the last few droids. “ Negative ,” Tech answered for himself.

Echo was next. “ Same here .”

Wrecker maintained optimism. “ Not yet! ”

It was Crosshair who had to deliver the news that dropped like a stone into Hunter’s stomach. “ I’m not seeing any survivors from up here .”

Hunter’s jaw tightened as he held his position, using the SBD’s body as cover to fire off shots. They had been too late, after all. Hunter couldn’t help wondering how this boy had gotten so lucky.

That’s when he dared a look to the side of the bunker he was closest too. His breath caught in his throat when he saw a charred red slump that was half-hidden by the bunker’s damaged door.

Someone had purposefully protected the boy, and Hunter was willing to bet he knew exactly who they were. Suddenly, the boy’s hesitant attempt at a question made sense. He wanted to know if his parents were still alive.

Hunter closed his eyes behind his visor and gave his helmet a small shake. This was the part of the war he could never truly come to terms with, the part that was so easy to ignore when it was just him, his brothers, and a crowd of clankers. It was the reason why they were fighting this war in the first place.

Hunter reopened his eyes and watched as Wrecker took down the last droid. The settlement went eerily silent, and the blaster smoke made the atmosphere feel even heavier. Hunter sighed and turned back to the boy in the bunker.

There were fresh tear trails on the boy’s dirty cheeks, running from a pair of dark brown eyes that were open so wide Hunter half-feared they would pop right out of the boy’s head. Hunter put all his weapons away and lifted his helmet to show the child his face.

“Alright, we got the last of ‘em.” Hunter knelt down and rested an arm upon his propped-up knee. “Not too bad of a wait, huh?”

The boy sniffled, but Hunter caught the corners of his lips rising in a small smile. Hunter nodded at him in encouragement.

“You did great down here, following my orders.” He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “You listen better than my squad does.”

The child chuckled. Hunter grinned, even as his heart squeezed tighter.

“My name’s Hunter.” Hunter pressed both hands against his chestplate before he gestured towards the child. “What about you?”

The boy lifted his arm and rubbed his face with the sleeve of his red hooded robe. He hiccuped on a breath as he fought to answer Hunter’s question. “Din, s-sir.” His voice was so quiet that Hunter wouldn’t have been able to hear it if it weren’t for his enhanced senses.

“Nice to meet you, Din. I’m… sorry we couldn’t get here sooner.” And Hunter meant that. His regret was already leaving a resounding ache deep within his bones.

Hunter looked over his shoulder and saw his brothers standing close by. They all had their helmets tucked underneath their arms, their expressions giving away their curiosity. Crosshair had already joined them again.

Hunter’s gaze fell back to the ground that was littered with the bodies of both the droids and the civilians. He circled his jaw and turned back to Din.

“Okay, kid, I have one more order for you.” Hunter tightened his gloved hand into a fist and maintained the best duty voice he could manage. “Think you’re brave enough to handle it?”

Din nodded earnestly, taking one more wipe at his tears. Hunter beamed.

“That’s what I thought.” Hunter tapped the edge of the bunker. “I’m gonna help you up, and we’re gonna take you on our ship to somewhere safe. I need you to keep your eyes closed until I say so. Got it?”

Din nodded again. “That sounds easy, sir.”

Hunter let out a genuine chuckle as he raised his brow. “I knew you’d be up for the challenge.” 

Hunter leaned down into the bunker and extended a hand towards Din. The boy stood to his feet and shuffled his way over. After the two of them interlocked hands, Hunter paused, his stare meeting Din’s.

“Ready to close your eyes?”

Din gave Hunter’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Yes, sir.”

Hunter nodded. “Alright. Close ‘em.”

Din obeyed. Hunter tugged the boy up with ease, gently setting him onto the terrain at his side. Hunter tucked his helmet under his arm and stood to his feet, keeping his grasp on Din’s hand. He looked down at the boy who had his eyes shut tight enough to make the skin on his lids wrinkle.

“The rest of my squad is here, too,” Hunter told him. He spared a look at his brothers, whose expressions had all fallen at the sight of the young child. “I’ll introduce you when it’s time to open your eyes. Okay?”

Din nodded. He hesitated before he decided to say something. “T-Thank you, sirs.”

Wrecker said “Anytime, kid!” right when Crosshair said “Don’t thank us yet.” Crosshair shrugged when he was leveled with a warning glare from all four of them.

Echo’s gaze met Hunter’s before he signed the best he could with his hand. A kid?

Hunter cut his gaze over to the bunker door. Everyone’s eyes followed his. Echo’s jaw tightened as Wrecker’s brow furrowed in devastation. Tech adjusted his goggles uncomfortably, and even Crosshair shifted his weight and looked away from the sight.

Hunter addressed his squad when he spoke again. “We have to get going before they send more down.” He set his helmet over his head and gave Din’s hand a gentle squeeze to get his attention. “I’m gonna carry you so you don’t have to worry about where you’re going. Is that okay?”

Din’s voice was only growing stronger. “Yes, sir.”

Hunter let go of the boy’s hand and reached over his back. He removed his pack and tossed it to Wrecker, who caught it and nodded at the sergeant. Hunter picked Din up and guided him onto his back, helping the boy to wrap his arms around Hunter’s neck.

Only once the boy was settled did Hunter nod at his squad. “Time to go.”

Hunter wasted no more time standing around. He began to jog back the way they had first come, using his senses to recall their path. The crunching of the terrain behind him told him that the squad was matching his pace, barely exhausted by the quick battle.

They were about halfway back to the Marauder when Din broke their silence. “Hunter, sir?”

Hunter flashed him a quick look over his shoulder as he continued ahead. He huffed out a fond breath. “You don’t have to call me ‘sir,’ kid.”

“Okay.” Din’s voice was wobbling a bit. An uneasy knot tied up in Hunter’s stomach. “I was just wondering… when are we gonna go back and help everyone else?”

Hunter nearly stopped dead in his tracks. Only his desire to keep Din from panicking kept him moving. The knot in his stomach rose into his chest, making it difficult to breathe—and suddenly mindful of Din’s extra weight upon his back.

It was like a blaster wound straight to the chest.

“Kid…”

Hunter inhaled a soft breath. Din was no doubt old enough to tell whether Hunter was lying or not. Hunter had already done what he could for Din by keeping him from having to remember the sight of their bodies. He deserved to know the truth; it was better for him to hear it now than later.

“There was no one else for us to save.”

The silence that followed was louder than any other Hunter had ever heard. He wasn’t used to silence, not with senses that picked up on just about everything, but focusing on this one now was utterly painful.

Hunter’s jaw tensed and refused to relax until Din spoke again. “Oh.” Din’s arms tightened around Hunter’s neck. “Okay.”

Din’s tone was one of distant acceptance. It shattered Hunter even more that a child like him had to come to terms with something like this.

Suddenly, he was angry. Angry at the Separatists, at the war, at the galaxy . This was a kind of loss that Hunter, thankfully, never had to experience, but if he was given the choice to face it in this child’s place, he would have.

But then he glanced back at his squadmates, his brothers , and Hunter selfishly thanked the Force that he never had to know what this kind of loss was like.

The sight of the Marauder was relieving, but not relieving enough to dispel all the darkness and tension from Hunter. He could sense the same weight upon the shoulders of his brothers behind him as they reentered the ship. It was obvious in the way Tech quietly dismissed himself to the cockpit for takeoff while the rest of them began to set down their gear, each one careful to make less noise than necessary.

Hunter helped Din’s feet get back to the floor. He lifted his helmet and set it aside, kneeling in front of the boy whose eyes were still closed diligently. Hunter softened.

“Okay, kid. You can open your eyes now.”

Din obeyed. He blinked a few times as he glanced around the space, his jaw falling open in wonder. Hunter chuckled to himself as Din’s hands clutched into small fists at his sides. “A spaceship ?”

“Technically, this is a shuttle,” Tech corrected him from the cockpit. Hunter fought the urge to roll his eyes fondly. “An Omicron-class attack shuttle, to be precise.”

Din just let out an impressed, exaggerated exhale. “ Whoa .”

The boy’s attention then fell on the squadmates who were huddled behind Hunter. The sergeant spun around to take a look at them himself.

Echo’s arms were at his sides, his brow pinched in distress. Wrecker had a warm smile on his face. Crosshair’s arms were crossed, his expression thoughtful and considering. Tech was still in the cockpit.

Hunter looked back at Din, whose chin tucked closer to his chest as the boy shyly addressed the room. “Are you Mandalorians?”

Immediately, Wrecker burst out into fond laughter. Echo gave him a light shove, despite the smile that started to tug at his own lips. Even Crosshair was wearing an amused smirk. Hunter chuckled to himself.

That hearty rumbling quickly disappeared from Hunter’s chest the moment he heard Din’s heartbeat quicken. He turned to see the boy’s gaze cast downward, his face reddened underneath the grime that coated his tan skin. Din started to shrink in on himself, clearly embarrassed by whatever error he had made.

Wrecker stepped forward before Hunter himself could act to remedy the situation. He knelt down to Din’s level and offered him a smile. “You’re right about us bein’ soldiers, kiddo, but not Mandalorians. We’re clones.”

Hunter heard Din’s racing heartbeat slow back down at Wrecker’s warmth as the boy’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Then why don’t you look like each other?”

Wrecker looked over at Hunter, who shrugged at his brother in amusement. “Fair point,” Hunter murmured. Wrecker turned back to Din.

“We’re clones, but…we’re different.” Wrecker jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “Wanna meet us all?”

Din nodded earnestly. Hunter smiled again. He was trying to assess Din for any signs of shock, but clearly, Wrecker’s distractions were working for the time being. Tech could make a proper assessment once he was done piloting them into hyperspace.

Wrecker pointed to himself. “I’m Wrecker, and I like to blow things up!”

The delivery of the fun fact was enough to make Din laugh. Hunter’s chest warmed for the first time since he had rescued the boy.

Wrecker turned to face Echo and Crosshair. Echo took the glance as an invitation to step forward, kneeling down at Wrecker’s side. “I’m Echo.” He rested his left arm against his knee and managed a smile, though Hunter could clearly see the sadness set deep within his gaze. “It’s an honor to meet someone as brave as you.”

Din smiled at Echo’s praise. The warmth in Hunter’s chest blazed into a steady flame.

The boy’s smile faded when he looked down and caught sight of Echo’s scomp link and cybernetic legs. His expression was marred by worry. “Echo, sir, can I ask you a question?”

Getting rid of formalities was no doubt an adjustment for Din, one Hunter was more than willing to excuse. Echo held Din’s gaze and nodded confidently, allowing the boy to go on.

“What happened to your arm and legs?” Din cradled his own hands close to his chest. “Are you okay?”

Echo chuckled, the sound full of genuine warmth as he nodded again. “Yeah, kid, I’m alright.” Echo set his hand on Din’s shoulder. The boy relaxed underneath the soldier’s touch. “Something bad happened to me, but…” Echo paused, his gaze searching before he focused on Din again, “these guys found me and helped me learn how to make the most of it.”

Din brightened at that. His shoulders lifted, and his chest puffed up in hope. “Does that mean they’ll do the same for me, too?”

Hunter was about to answer in the affirmative from the boy’s side, but Echo beat him to the punch. “No doubt about it.” Echo gave Din’s shoulder a soft squeeze. “And so will I.”

Din’s smile remained, though his gaze shifted from Echo to something beyond him. The light of curiosity flickered in his gaze again, something to match the quicker rush of air Hunter heard in the boy’s lungs. Din’s voice was almost a whisper as he spoke.

“What’s his name?”

Wrecker and Echo both turned their heads to look at Crosshair, who was standing just behind them. Wrecker huffed and faced Din, gesturing with his head back towards their youngest brother. “That’s Crosshair.”

Din blinked a few times at the sniper, who had already tasked himself with balancing a new toothpick between his lips. Hunter watched as the boy studied his brother before he spoke up again.

“Do you like to shoot things, Crosshair?”

Crosshair’s arms stayed crossed over his chest even as his armored shoulders lifted with his amused exhale. “I do.” His brow shot up. “Looking to be a new target?”

Hunter narrowed his eyes and prepared a proper disciplinary speech for Crosshair, but Din’s laugh split right through his thoughts. “You’re funny!”

The corner of Crosshair’s mouth rose at that. Hunter’s tightened jaw relaxed. The kid could not only understand, but also appreciate Crosshair’s crude humor. He was already fitting in around here.

Not that he would be staying for long. The weight of reporting back to General Ti sat heavy upon Hunter’s shoulders, as he already knew what would result from telling her about their sole survivor. They would be redirected to Coruscant, where they would drop off Din at one of the refugee organizations—likely one created just for orphans.

What Hunter couldn’t fully understand was why that was an order he had no desire to comply with. Though, it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t want to comply with an order. He and his squad had been that way ever since he could remember.

Still, this was different, and one look at the brothers around him confirmed it. Everyone was glowing at this child, who had just been through the unimaginable, but was still displaying an admirable amount of strength and curiosity.

Finally, Tech stepped out of the cockpit, his voice breaking through the squad’s brief silence in the hold. “We are en route to Kamino once again,” Tech informed them, though he looked pointedly at Hunter. “Although I do expect to be rerouted to Coruscant once you have briefed General Ti on our… findings.” Tech adjusted his goggles as he stared at Din.

The boy pointed at Tech’s eyes. “I like your goggles, sir.”

Tech lit up and knelt down eagerly in the space between Echo and Hunter. “These goggles were designed to enhance my less-than-average eyesight,” he explained to Din. “As something had to give in order for the Kaminoans to enhance my genetics and carefully craft my exceptional mind.”

Din’s brow scrunched up. “Enhance your genetics?”

“That is correct.” Tech gestured with his head to the squad around him. “It is why our physical appearances vary, despite the fact we are all made from the same genetic template.”

Din looked at Hunter for guidance, and the sergeant nodded at him. “We’re named for our enhancements.” Hunter tapped his own chestplate. “I’m good at tracking and sensing things. Wrecker’s good at… well, wrecking things. Crosshair’s the best sharpshooter you’ll ever meet. And like Tech here said, he’s got an incredible mind.”

Din looked almost worriedly at Echo. “What about Echo?”

Echo offered the boy a reassuring smile. “I wasn’t originally a part of this squad. I got my name a long time ago, when I was still with my batchmates.”

Din tilted his head. “Batchmates?”

Hunter read Echo carefully as the ARC trooper cleared his throat and went on. “My brothers. The clones I was born with and trained with until I started to fight for the Republic.” Echo’s gaze lightened as he went on. “My brothers called me ‘Echo’ because I used to repeat all our orders.”

Din nodded in understanding. He looked around the group as a smile spread across his lips. “I like all your names.”

Tech lifted a finger. “Technically, they are nicknames. We were not given names when we were created, only numerical designations.”

“Oh.” Din began to deflate again. “I was only given a name, but… I wish I had a nickname like you guys.”

Wrecker set a hand on Din’s shoulder. “Well, you gotta’ know a lot about Mandalorians to think that’s what we were, right?”

Din looked up at him and nodded. “Yes, sir.” He blinked in succession and rushed to correct himself. “I mean, Wrecker.” He hesitated before going on. “I learned a lot about them in galactic history. And my pare…”

Din came to an abrupt stop. Grief powerful enough to knock Hunter off his feet washed over the young boy’s face, though he still pushed on to finish his thought—even if his voice was considerably smaller.

“They used to tell me a lot of Mandalorian stories.”

Wrecker shared a concerned look with Hunter. Still, he maintained his usual cheery disposition as he focused on Din. “That makes you an honorary Mandalorian in my book, kid. How about Mando for a nickname?”

That at least got Din to brighten again. “Mando…” Din even began to smile again. Hunter was overwhelmed by a wave of relief. “I like that.”

“Good.” Wrecker mirrored Din’s smile. “That means you gotta’ catch us up on all the stories, though!”

As Wrecker continued to keep Din busy, Hunter nudged Tech with his armored shoulder to get his attention. His brother gave him an inquisitive glance, which Hunter responded to by gesturing with his head back towards the cockpit. Hunter stood and Tech followed him over to the open threshold.

“I’m gonna contact General Ti,” Hunter nodded towards Din. “Give the kid an assessment to see what symptoms of shock he might be presenting. He’s a strong kid, I’ll give him that, but I’m not convinced that he’s just forgotten about everything that happened.”

Tech returned Hunter’s nod. “That would be a wise conclusion.”

Hunter set his hand on Tech’s shoulder before he turned away to walk into the cockpit. He paused just in front of the communicator, heaving a breath through his nostrils as he closed his eyes in consideration.

There was something tugging at his gut, squeezing his lungs hard enough to make breathing feel like a chore. Reporting to a higher ranking officer, even a general, wasn’t anything new for Hunter, so he knew that wasn’t the problem. It was something else.

Hunter reopened his eyes and spared a glance over his shoulder. Wrecker and Echo were distracting Din with more conversation as Tech tended to him, causing their soft voices and Din’s gentle laughter to fill the space. Even Crosshair looked fondly amused from where he was still standing behind his brothers.

Hunter smiled. The Marauder was… warmer. Lighter. Happier . He hadn’t seen it like this ever since the war had started, since before his brothers sourced their joy from things much more innocent than warfare.

Then Hunter faced the communicator again, and his stomach clenched hard enough that he thought he might be sick right there.

Something wasn’t right. Hunter wasn’t sure what to make of it. Maybe he just needed better sleep than he’d been getting these days, but deep down, he knew exactly what it was, because he knew exactly what order was awaiting him on the other end of the call.

Was he really about to drop this freshly orphaned child off like some kind of cargo shipment?

Hunter shook his head. There was no other choice; they were soldiers, and there was no business exposing a kid to a life like theirs. Hunter had never thought twice about keeping survivors around before. He wasn’t sure why it should be any different this time.

The sergeant forced himself to press the button on the communicator before he could hesitate again. After a few heavy heartbeats, General Ti’s holographic image appeared in front of him.

“ Sergeant Hunter. You’re reporting sooner than expected .” There was no missing the caution in General Ti’s tone as she undoubtedly prepared herself for the worst. “ How did your mission go? ”

Hunter steadied himself with a breath and looked apologetically at the general. “I’m afraid we were too late, General. The settlement’s been destroyed.”

The general blanched, though she otherwise maintained her usual composure. “ Any survivors? ”

Hunter circled his jaw, once again considering his words. As disobedient as he and his brothers could be, this wasn’t something he should lie about. “Just one. A child.”

General Ti’s head lowered. After a brief moment of silence, she spoke in a softer voice than usual. “ May the Force be with him, and with those he knew who have faded into it. ”

Hunter didn’t respond. He was waiting to receive his order, one that he should have had no problem following. They had disobeyed much more complex orders before.

“ Bring the child to Coruscant. I will call ahead and let them know you’re coming. ”

Hunter nodded. “Yes, General.” He cleared his throat, but kept the sound quiet enough for only him to hear. “We’ll see you back on Kamino after our… detour.”

General Ti returned his nod, and she even managed a genuine smile for him. “ I’ll be looking forward to it, Sergeant .”

Thankfully, General Ti ended the call there. Hunter released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and closed his eyes.

The sergeant didn’t know what to make of the Force, and like many other clones, he had his own suspicions about it, but whatever was suddenly tugging on his heartstrings certainly felt like a mysterious force. It screamed at him to disobey in a way he hadn’t experienced before, not even in their riskiest endeavors.

Hunter reopened his eyes and turned his head over his shoulder. The dynamic between everyone had already changed, with Wrecker, Echo, and Tech huddled on the ground around Din as the boy spoke with wide, excited eyes. Even Crosshair was lingering closer, his chair spun in their direction as he smiled around the toothpick between his lips.

The sergeant reached out with his senses to listen more closely.

“... and zzsskk! ”

Din raised his arm as if he was pretending to pull a weapon from a sheath. Wrecker let out an eager gasp, his gaze glittering almost as much as the child’s. Tech looked pensive, while Echo beamed at Din the best he could.

“The warrior had a glowing sword!”

“Glowing sword?” Wrecker chuckled and nudged Tech. “Now that’s wizard.”

“Technically, if this ‘sword’ did have a luminescent glow, it would classify as a lightsaber,” Tech spoke up. He paused and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Though I suppose vibroswords and blades can, at times, produce luminescence of their own accord…”

Din blinked at Tech in innocent confusion. “Huh?”

“Uh, that’s alright,” Echo waved his hand at Din in reassurance. “What happened next, Mando?”

Din’s shoulders lifted at the nickname, and he gave Echo an enthusiastic nod before going on.

Hunter gave his sensitive hearing a rest as he smiled to himself. Every heartbeat on that ship was at ease for the first time in much too long. He knew his brothers enjoyed battle, but that didn’t mean they didn’t still feel the stress of it. This was the calmest they all had been since the earliest days of their deployment.

Surely, that couldn’t be a coincidence. Hunter just didn’t know what he was supposed to do about it.

════════════════════

Echo was more than happy to volunteer for the first watch shift, and he had no intentions of rotating out anytime soon. He had offered his bunk to their young passenger, and the last thing he wanted to do was interrupt the child’s slumber. If anyone knew how important that first bout of rest after such trauma and loss was, it was Echo.

In fact, he’d been remembering a lot of those moments ever since they left Aq Vetina.

Such as Echo’s own eternal slumber after the Citadel. He shivered just thinking about the confusing stretch of darkness and flickering light that seemed as if it would never end. Sequences had run over his eyes constantly, letting light in each time they did, but they were never enough to bring him back completely.

Echo blinked his weightless eyelids to relieve the burning ache within them.

It had taken a long time for him to get comfortable with sleeping again, and clearly, he was still adjusting. He had been good about it for a while, but there was something about Din’s tragedy that had felt so personal to him.

Echo had understood it, that feeling of losing everybody, especially those held closest to the heart. He hadn’t even been given proper time to grieve Fives after he woke from his stasis. Somehow, that hurt more than the idea of having to witness his brother’s fate with his own eyes. He couldn’t even be there to protect his brother from the relentless force of death.

And then there was the explosion causing the fate of Din’s parents, and Echo was brought right back to Rishi Moon, to the graveyard of his three other brothers.

Echo tapped his scomp against his thigh and closed his eyes. No, he wouldn’t be sleeping tonight. Facing these horrors in his conscious mind was bad enough.

Plus, if it wasn’t him out here, it would be Hunter, and Echo couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his brother get more than an hour of sleep—if that. Hunter had been teetering on a migraine purely from his senses getting little to no rest before Echo had assured him for a third time that he would be just fine having a solo watch shift.

Echo’s eyes only reopened when he heard gentle footsteps behind him. Knowing better than to actually expect a threat, Echo let out a sigh and prepared to lecture Hunter for not staying asleep.

But when Echo turned his chair around, his gaze was forced to lower to meet his visitor’s. Lost brown eyes met his own, the grief within them three times larger than the boy’s own stature.

“Hey, kid.” Echo kept his voice low to keep the others from waking. “What’s up? Can’t sleep?”

Din shook his head, his stare falling to his arms as he pulled the sleeves of his red tunic over his fists. His words were barely a whisper as he spoke. “I keep seeing them.”

Echo’s heart splintered within his chest, but he kept a steady expression for the boy. “Your people?”

Din’s shoulders rose and fell with a heavy breath before he lifted his head again. His lower lip quivered as his gaze sparkled with unshed tears. “My parents.”

Echo deflated, his eyes cutting away from the child for just a fraction of a moment. The swell of grief that rose within him was strong enough to make him lose his breath, though he found his voice and recovered quickly for Din’s sake. “I’m sorry, kid. I really am. I…”

Echo paused, pressing his lips together as he considered his next words carefully.

“I know how hard it can be to sleep after things like this.”

Din’s brow wrinkled at him, the light of curiosity—and a sense of hope—sparkling in the dark depths of his devastation. “You do?”

Echo let out a gentler breath this time. The memories had already been on his mind, anyway. It wouldn’t hurt to coax them out just a bit further to ease this young boy’s fresh wound. “I do.” Echo managed a smile. “Want to hear a story?”

Din nodded eagerly, no doubt grateful for the distraction. Echo let out a soft chuckle and tapped the co-pilot’s seat next to him. Din hopped right up, spinning in the chair to face Echo as he tucked his hands underneath his legs and swung them back and forth in anticipation.

Now, if only Echo could find a way to keep this story from making things worse.

“These guys here,” Echo gestured with his head back towards the bunks, “they’re my brothers. We’re a squad. But… it wasn’t always that way, like I told you before. They're batchmates, and I used to have my own, too.”

Din’s expression began to fall as he realization dawned over him. “What happened to your batchmates, Echo?”

Hearing his own name from the boy’s lips made it even harder to say the truth out loud for some reason. Echo swallowed hard and pushed on. “They’re gone.”

Din frowned. “I’m sorry.” He adjusted the way he was sitting on his hands before he continued. “How many brothers did you have?”

Echo brought himself back to the past for a moment, when he and the rest of Domino Squad were just eager cadets who had finally managed to get along and pass the test. Back when they had their whole lives ahead of them.

Back when he was naive enough to really believe that.

“Four.”

Echo smiled, and it was genuine. He kept a careful eye on Din and saw the boy lightening up the more he spoke. Sharing his pain was making Din’s more manageable, and Echo would bleed himself out if it meant this boy would get closer to healing.

“Their names were Droidbait, Cutup, Hevy, and Fives.” Echo’s voice wavered on the last one.

Din’s eyes were bright with enthusiasm, even in the midst of the heavy topic. “How did they all get their names? Was it like yours?”

Echo bobbed his head. “In a way. Droidbait… well, he kept acting like bait for the training droids, and he’d get hit by ‘em all the time.”

Din’s brow pinched together. “Did it hurt?”

“Not too bad, but he definitely had a lot of bruises.” Echo waited until Din had relaxed to keep going. “Cutup got his name from one of our trainers. This trainer… he was real tough on us, but Cutup wasn’t afraid to talk back to him. So, the guy called him a cutup, and he used that as his name.”

Din giggled. “That’s wizard.”

Echo grinned, recognizing Wrecker’s vernacular on Din’s tongue already. “Isn’t it?” He took a deep breath as Hevy’s image entered his mind. “We named my brother Hevy, because not only was he the strongest of us, but he also loved heavy machinery. He used the biggest blaster the clones are allowed to carry, a Z-6 blaster cannon.”

Din’s eyes doubled in wonder. “ Whoa .”

Echo chuckled. Hevy would’ve loved this kid, no doubt.

That left him with one more name to review. Echo fought the glassiness that had already started to overtake his vision.

“Fives got his name from his CT number. Do you remember Tech telling you about those?” Din nodded. “Fives’ was CT-5555, so he shortened it to Fives. Fives and I… we were really close, because we lost our other brothers early on in the war.”

Din deflated. He searched Echo’s gaze before he asked a question in a quiet and cautious voice. “Can I ask what happened to them?”

The corners of Echo’s mouth lifted as he nodded. “They’d want their stories to be told.” Echo exhaled a breath and went on. “We were stationed at an outpost on a moon. It was our first mission, and we had been there for a long time. Nothing had ever happened, but one night, we were suddenly attacked by droids.”

Din inhaled a sharp breath. Echo softened; it would be all too familiar for the boy, based on what Echo had seen once they had arrived on Aq Vetina.

“Droidbait was one of the first to try to hold them off, but there were too many of them. The rest of us got out of the station, but Cutup got taken by local wildlife. We had some reinforcements arrive, two of our finest commanding officers, but even they weren’t enough to overrun the droids.”

Echo’s mouth was getting dry. It was never quite easier to tell this story, but it did heal little fractals in his soul each time. The pain would turn into mending eventually.

“That’s when Hevy gave his life for ours by blowing up the whole base. His actions not only saved both our commanding officers, Fives, and I, but it also told the Republic that we were in trouble, and prevented a major attack on our homeworld of Kamino.”

Din’s lip was starting to quiver again, but his voice was still fairly strong when he managed a response to Echo’s story. “He was a hero.”

Echo closed his eyes and blew out a heavy breath. “He was. Because of what he did, giving his life for Fives and I, we were able to fight in the war for a long time, side-by-side. His loss, and my other brothers’, never got easier to deal with, but… I know that they did what they did for a reason, and I wanted to honor that the best I could by moving forward and continuing their fight.”

Din was silent after that. Echo reopened his eyes to see the boy staring at his lap, fresh tear tracks visible on his cheeks. Echo’s heart leapt into his throat at the mere thought of accomplishing the opposite of what he had wanted by upsetting Din further, but before he could do anything, Din began to move.

The boy slid off the chair and practically fell into Echo’s side, wrapping his arms around the ARC trooper the best he could. Echo froze for a few heartbeats, too shocked to do anything just yet, but he eventually came to his senses and gently held Din closer to his side.

Din sniffled back his tears and spoke, his voice muffled from where he was practically buried in Echo’s side. “I’m sorry about your brothers, Echo.”

Echo was selfishly grateful that Din didn’t ask about Fives. That was a story he wasn’t ready to tell.

“It’s okay.” Echo gave the boy’s back a soft tap. “I’ve moved on now, but it doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten them.” Echo dared to lower his voice and go on. “One day, you’ll be able to do the same, too, because their sacrifice was the same as Hevy’s.”

Din lifted his face from Echo’s side. It was still wet with tears, but there was a newfound strength there that the ARC trooper could clearly see within his dark eyes. “They’re heroes, just like your brother.”

Echo smiled and nodded. “They are.”

Din returned his smile. His expression morphed into something more pensive before he spoke again. “If your brothers all give each other nicknames, and you all gave me a nickname… does that mean I’m your brother now, too?”

Din’s expression was something so breathlessly hopeful that Echo found himself speechless at first. After so many years spent witnessing the galaxy’s outward opposition to clones, it was hard to imagine that someone on the outside, even a child like Din, would ever want to be counted amongst their ranks. But here he was, practically pleading with his eyes full of wonder to be considered one of them.

And who was Echo to refuse him?

“Yeah, Mando.” Echo set his hands on Din’s shoulders and nodded. “It does.”

Din grinned, the last traces of sadness fleeing from his gaze as he bounced on his heels. He then retreated back to his seat and all but jumped into it. Echo blinked a few times at the quick and unexpected change in pace, but then he laughed.

It was all too similar to both Fives and Hevy.

“Well, I better make good on my namesake then, right?”

Din clapped his hands together excitedly, then tensed as his head whipped towards the bunks. When no one grumbled or swore about getting woken up, Din relaxed and continued. This time, his voice was a whisper.

“Can I tell you another story?”

Echo smiled and leaned back in his own chair, suddenly grateful he wasn’t alone anymore. “I’d be honored.”

Din straightened in severity and nodded, letting his smile linger as he got right into it.

“This one starts ten thousand years ago, with a man named Mandalore the Great.”

════════════════════

next part

[badbatchdalorian]

Missing Piece - Part 2: A Strange Phenomenon

MEDIA: The Bad Batch (2021-2024), The Mandalorian (2019-2023) CHARACTERS: The Bad Batch & Din Djarin (Young) RATING: T (14+) TAGS: not canon compliant, PTSD, trauma, childhood trauma, canon-typical violence, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, family fluff, Tech lives, protective siblings (more here) SUMMARY: In this galaxy far, far away, it's experimental unit Clone Force 99 that saves Din Djarin instead of the Mandalorians, forever altering not only his fate, but also their own. How they manage to survive with not one, but two young soldiers-in-training under their wings proves just how far they're willing to go to keep their family's missing piece as close as possible. cross-posted from ao3, where updates are more frequent

PART 2: A Strange Phenomenon

Tech had already observed that Echo’s bunk was vacant when he woke for his watch shift, and thus it was not a surprise when he discovered that their adolescent passenger, Din, was in the cockpit with Echo. What was quite shocking was the fact that the child had managed to fall asleep in a less-than-ideal position, with his whole body curled into the seat.

Echo, however, had not joined Din in slumber, which—given his current responsibility in keeping watch—was optimal.

“I cannot imagine he will be pleased when he wakes,” Tech spoke into the open air, keeping his tone quiet enough to avoid rousing the boy. Echo spun around in his chair to face him. “That position has a high likelihood of causing unpleasant muscular strains.”

“Ah, he’s young.” Echo waved his hand. “His muscles are more relenting than ours.”

Tech rolled his shoulders, which contained an ever-present soreness as a result of his long hours spent staring down at his datapad, projects, and other tasks. “That… is a fair point.” He used his finger to push his goggles up his nose. “Well, at least you now have your bunk to return to.”

Echo rose from his seat and grimaced. He mumbled so quietly that Tech had to ponder whether Echo truly meant for his brother to hear his words or not. “If I can even get any sleep.”

Echo looked down at Din’s sleeping form, and the corners of his mouth rose. He pressed his hand gently against the boy’s shoulder before he stepped away and nodded at Tech.

“Try to keep him asleep, yeah?” Tech could easily identify the dark familiarity in Echo’s eyes as he patted Tech’s armored shoulder on the way out. “It’s a miracle he’s even sleeping after something like this.”

Tech simply returned his nod, uncertain of what to say. He was, of course, aware of Echo’s own tragedies, particularly because he played a key role in the ARC trooper’s survival, but it was not a subject that was broached often, if ever.

As for Tech, it was not something he was familiar with. Not in the slightest.

Tech eyed the child warily as he took his place in the pilot’s chair, and for some odd reason, he cleared his throat. He immediately winced to himself, all too aware of how that sound could have accomplished exactly what Echo had endeavored to avoid: rousing the child.

Thankfully, however, the boy did not stir. In fact, by Tech’s quick observations, it appeared as if he was only entering a deeper stage of slumber. His eyelids had started to flutter, indicative of him entering his REM cycle.

Tech gave his head a curious tilt. He could not imagine that those dreams would be pleasant, but so far, Din seemed to be at peace. He shrugged to himself and set his attention on his datapad.

They were making sufficient progress to their ultimate destination on Coruscant. Tech was not thrilled to divert from their original path, particularly given the fact they had been away from Kamino for more rotations than even Tech had bothered to memorize. He did, however, understand the rationale as to why it was happening.

Unfortunately, Tech did not… feel very good about it. Which was strange, considering Tech was certainly not one to operate off of mere feelings as opposed to staunch facts.

When Tech chanced another glance over at Din’s tiny sleeping form, that feeling intensified. It was a strange phenomenon. Searching for a proper explanation, Tech ruminated over what could possibly be causing this sensation, especially when he himself knew nothing of such tragedy and loss.

That was precisely when a memory reemerged, the only one Tech could associate with such heavy feelings.

Tech tapped through his datapad, committing details about their upcoming mission to memory—including all the information he could gather about the planet, its population, and its history. He was in the middle of a fascinating report from nearly two-hundred cycles ago when he first heard the muffled sound emerge from their bunks.

Instantly, Tech was alert, setting aside his datapad in favor of adhering to his duty of keeping watch. He suspected it was nothing more than one of his brothers having fitful rest, which certainly would not be the first time, but it was not a sound Tech was familiar with. That alone promised something unusual.

When Tech made his approach, he quickly concluded why the sound was unfamiliar. It was Echo, who had only just joined their squad, and he was very much awake. He was adjusting something on his scomp, seemingly ignoring the very distinct tear trails on his pale cheeks as he did so.

Tech hesitated. It was not often that he did so, but in a situation as delicate as this, with someone he had only just met, Tech calculated that it would be best to take an extra moment or two to decipher exactly how to approach the situation.

“Do you require assistance, Echo?”

Echo’s head snapped up to stare at Tech. He rubbed the sleeve on his organic arm against his face furiously and blinked a few times. “Oh, uh… sorry, Tech, I… didn’t…”

The ARC trooper was at a loss for words, it seemed. Tech assisted amidst his floundering.

“Your scomp.” Tech pointed at Echo’s mechanical arm. “Would you like a hand with that?”

Echo managed an amused huff. “Literally?”

Tech held a breath and glanced down at his own hands. “Unfortunately, no.” He offered Echo a polite smile. “I can, however, take a look at what may be bothering you.”

Echo sighed. Tech did not need to analyze the sound to sense how troubled it was. “I’m not sure this is something you can fix, Tech.”

Tech’s chin rose. “I am willing to try.”

Echo smiled, and this one was quite genuine. He let out a softer breath and nodded. “Alright. But let’s go back to the cockpit.” He swung his legs out from his bunk, and Tech gave him the proper room to maneuver himself to his feet. “I’m not really willing to wake one of ‘em up during my first week here.”

“That is a wise choice.” Tech pointed a single finger up as he led Echo back to the cockpit. “The last time one of them was roused during their REM cycle, a punch was delivered.”

Echo’s brow shot up. “Who did that to who?”

“Allow me to spare you the details.”

“Fair enough.” Echo chuckled.

Tech sat back in the pilot’s chair, and Echo took the co-pilot’s chair beside him. Tech made a motion for Echo’s scomp, though the ARC trooper hesitated before settling the cool metal inside Tech’s grasp.

“According to my quick observations, everything looks normal.” Tech’s gaze flickered over the scomp, searching for something amiss—though he failed to find it.

“Yeah…” Echo sighed again. “There’s nothing wrong with it. I’m just… getting used to it.” Echo’s gaze shifted to the viewport, where the blue flashes of hyperspace were still illuminating the small space. “To all of it.”

Tech let go of Echo’s scomp and adjusted his goggles. “I can imagine that returning to reality from such a state of stasis is a difficult endeavor.” He paused. “Would you like to elaborate?”

Echo’s eyes fell closed. “It’s not just that.” A pained furrow knit in the ARC trooper’s brow. “It’s what happened while I was… gone. All the things that I missed.” His voice shook. “All the brothers I lost.”

Tech deflated. He glanced down, as if the floor of the cockpit would have something to assist him in this difficult conversation. He was not so fortunate.

“I lost my last batchmate.”

Tech’s attention immediately returned to Echo as the ARC trooper spoke again. His voice was even more fragile than it had been before.

“He died while I was trapped on Skako Minor. He… never knew I survived.” Echo’s breath hitched. “And I never got to be there to protect him from death.”

Tech caught sight of a new tear falling from Echo’s closed eyes, due to it reflecting the bright lights of hyperspace. He tightened his lips and reached forward to set a hand on Echo’s shoulder. The ARC trooper’s eyes reopened.

“It is not your fault, Echo.” Tech, as usual, focused on the facts, and he used them to comfort Echo the best he could. “Every clone created is aware of the sacrifices that must be made in this conflict. Your brother was aware of that when he thought you had perished, and there is no doubt he embraced that when his time arrived.”

Echo’s stare fell again, and Tech watched as his eyes darted around the small space. His voice was so low and haunted when he spoke that Tech had to strain to hear him over the thrum of hyperspace. “Rex said he was killed by another clone.”

Tech could not help giving Echo’s shoulder a squeeze as his eyes widened. That... was certainly an unusual thing to hear.

“He said that Fives wasn’t… that something was wrong with him at the end.” Echo closed his eyes again. “He was going through something that Rex still doesn’t understand, and he had even attacked the chancellor.” Echo shook his head. “And I wasn’t there for him, to help him through whatever was going on.”

“Because you were captured by the Separatists.” Tech was quick to provide more facts. “Had they not apprehended you and turned you into… this, then you truly would have perished at the Citadel.” Tech’s chest began to ache with a sensation he certainly wasn’t used to, but he surmised that it was a sad type of sympathy. “There was nothing you could have done for him.”

Echo’s eyes opened. His stare was empty as it focused on the systems displayed in front of him. “Yeah, you’re right.” He exhaled a heavy breath and gave his head another aimless shake. “But that doesn’t make losing him any easier.”

Tech frowned. Acutely aware that his factual data was not providing a solution, he withdrew his hand from the ARC trooper’s shoulder. “I apologize, Echo. I’m afraid you may have been correct before.” He pushed his goggles up his nose. “I am uncertain of how to remedy this.” Tech glanced over his shoulder to look towards the bunks. “Particularly because I have never experienced such loss.”

“Good.”

That time, it was Echo who set his hand on Tech’s shoulder. Tech was at least pleased to see that Echo’s gaze had brightened more than before, which meant that something had certainly been fixed.

“I’m gonna do everything I can to keep it that way, for all of you.” Echo nodded, the lines of his face set in palpable determination. “I never want you to have to go through what I’ve been through—and what I’m still going through.”

Tech nodded, uncertain of how else to respond. Echo gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze.

“And thank you, Tech. You’ve helped more than you realize. Talking about it may hurt, but it lightens the load, bit by bit.” Echo managed a small smile. “Thanks for giving me the space to do that.”

Tech could only blink at Echo. Again, he was uncertain of what to say. With a mind that primarily thought in technicalities and factual data, it was difficult to make sense of something as elusive as feelings.

By the time Echo headed back to his bunk, however, Tech could not help but feel accomplished by whatever he had achieved, because it clearly had worked.

As Tech blinked down at the small adolescent in the chair beside him, he finally understood what this strange feeling was.

It was that same, sad sympathy he had felt for Echo.

For a moment, Tech looked over his shoulder, his stare attempting to follow Echo’s path. He wondered if the ARC trooper was in need of a listening ear once again, given how the rescue of this boy likely brought up those old, unpleasant memories.

Echo, however, had not asked for such assistance, and Tech was soon too occupied by the boy stirring at his side.

Tech’s eyes widened in an odd sort of panic as he watched Din lift his head. His eyelids were hooded by drowsiness, though they soon flew open as Din observed Tech sitting next to him.

“Where’d Echo go?” Din asked, his soft voice somewhat roughened by his slumber.

“Echo is hopefully headed to get some rest. I am supplanting his position so that he may do so.” Tech lifted his brow at the boy. “You ought to do the same.”

Din shifted in the seat, pulling his knees towards his chest as he wrapped his arms around his legs. Tech observed that the boy was growing more timid. “I don’t really want to go back to sleep again.”

“Why is that?” Tech gave Din a thoughtful once-over. “Is it because of the difficulties this chair is giving you? I had warned Echo about that. My bunk is now available should you wish to rest there instead.”

“No.” Din sniffed, and Tech inched himself closer to see tears lining the boy’s lashes. “I don’t want to see it again.”

“See what, exactly?”

Din buried his face into his legs, causing his voice to be muffled as he responded. “Those droids.”

“Oh.” That feeling gnawed at Tech’s chest again. He called upon his memory with Echo as he folded his gloved hands over his middle. “Perhaps talking about it would help?”

Din lifted his head to give Tech a wary look. “How?”

Tech thought for a moment before he shrugged. “I am not certain. I do know, however, that Echo has told me before that speaking about such things can be helpful, albeit painful.” He gave the boy a firm nod. “I will listen should you wish to tell me.”

Din seemed to ponder Tech’s words as he watched hyperspace flicker all around them. For Tech, it was quite reminiscent of that moment spent with Echo long ago. “Okay.” Din’s jaw tightened as he fixated his stare on Tech again. “I’ll try.”

Tech nodded, fully rotating his chair in Din’s direction. He leaned forward as well, further assuring the boy that he had his full attention.

Din watched his fingers as they picked at something on the fabric of his trousers. “It happened so fast. My parents heard the ship first, but the shooting started almost right after that.”

The boy began to rush through his words. Tech did not mind; it fit with the typical speed of his thoughts.

“We thought we’d be safe at home, but my father looked outside and saw that they were blasting doors open, so he picked me up and took my mother and I out the back door, and then we just kept running and running…”

Din’s voice began to tremble. Tech’s brow furrowed.

“It smelled like smoke, and some other stuff I’m not really sure about, and it was really loud.” Din sniffed again, wiping his face with the sleeve of his maroon robe. “My father kept saying I would be okay, but I kept seeing those droids…” he hiccuped, his voice growing quiet, “killing people.”

Din paused. Tech analyzed his expression and determined that he would be unable to speak for the time being, and so he endeavored to fill the space with facts that could potentially help.

“Unfortunately, that is what these battle droids do.” Tech adjusted his goggles as he pinpointed the correct facts to say. “Because they are not sentient beings, and they lack more personalization than many other droids, they do not have the potential to feel at all, much less understand what it means to take a life.”

Din blinked up at Tech, the corners of his mouth turned downward in a frown. “But why did they do it?” He shook his head. “We never did anything to them, Tech.”

Tech set his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I am aware.” He gave it a soft squeeze. “They were acting on orders from the Separatists. It… can be difficult to understand what their motivations are at times, though your homeworld is far from the only to be attacked by them in such a manner.”

Din’s head lowered again. His lips were trembling, much like his voice. “If my parents hadn’t put me down there…”

He stifled a cry. Tech moved out of his chair to kneel beside Din.

“Why didn’t they save themselves, too?”

Tech was starting to feel crushed by this sensation inside of him, tightening his chest to the extent that even the simple act of inhaling and exhaling oxygen felt like a chore. He instead focused on giving Din’s shoulder another squeeze and supplying more facts that could assist.

“It is very likely that there was no possible scenario in which saving themselves would have also saved you.” Tech’s stare met Din’s when the boy lifted his head back up. “Their primary objective was to make sure you lived, and as you can see,” Tech’s free hand gestured to Din, “they succeeded.”

Din’s eyes searched Tech’s goggles. Tech’s head tilted at him.

“It is my personal belief that your parents would have wanted you to take advantage of the life they have given you, despite the fact they are no longer in it.”

Din’s tense body began to relax, and Tech smiled to himself at the visual evidence of him regaining his composure. The boy’s wet eyes blinked a few times at Tech. “I think you’re right.” He sniffed and wiped his face once again. “But I still miss them.”

“That is natural.” Tech patted Din’s shoulder before allowing his hand to fall back to his side. “It is evidence of the genuine care you have fostered for them, as is typical in a relationship between parents and their children.”

Tech scratched the back of his neck.

“This is, however, merely a hypothesis, as I have no such experience with a parent-child relationship.”

Din’s brow furrowed. He adjusted his position so that his small legs dangled off the side of the chair. “What do you mean?”

Tech rose enough to sit back down in his own chair again. “As clones, we do not have parents. We were all created from the same genetic template, a bounty hunter named Jango Fett. Fett, however, perished at the beginning of the war, and he did not care for us the way a parent would prior to that.”

Din’s stare fell to the floor. “That must be sad.”

Tech shrugged. “I cannot mourn something I never had.”

At Din’s continued silence, Tech rotated back to his datapad and navigated to the files he intended on reading through during his watch shift. Just before he could advise the child to seek proper rest, however, the boy spoke again. “Well, maybe one day you’ll have it.”

Tech’s brow shot up as he returned Din’s glance, which was quite sympathetic. “I believe I am far beyond the point of necessitating a parental relationship.”

Din looked away for a moment, his face scrunched up as if he were pondering another alternative, before his head snapped back towards Tech. “Maybe you’ll be the parent, then!”

Tech would have gladly filled Din in on why that was highly unlikely, considering that Tech was a soldier bred for war and was thus unable to ever have a family outside of his brothers. He was, however, struck with that strange feeling again, and it was powerful enough to stop him from doing what he did best: being honest.

Instead, Tech offered the hopeful boy a small smile. “Perhaps.” He looked back down at his datapad and let out a light breath. “For now, you should at least rest somewhere more suitable than this chair.”

Din shrunk down into the chair in Tech’s periphery. “But then you’ll be alone.”

Tech shrugged without looking away from his datapad. “That is fine. I am used to it, particularly during these watch shifts.”

Din’s voice was smaller the next time he spoke. “But then I’ll be alone.”

And there it was again, that strange phenomenon that made Tech’s chest tight. He ignored it, even if he did resolve to lighten the child’s worries. “No, you will not. The bunk room is currently occupied by the rest of the squad, and though they typically do not take kindly to being woken, I’m certain they will make an exception for you.”

Tech spared a quick glance at Din to see the boy’s shoulders lifting and his eyes brightening. After another moment’s hesitation, Din nodded and slid off the chair. “Okay, fine. You said I could use your bunk, right?”

“That is correct.”

Tech was about to put his full focus onto the datapad in his hand when Din added one more thing. “Thank you, Tech. For the bunk, and…” Din smiled, “for making me feel better.”

Tech looked at Din and smiled again when that unfamiliar warmth boiled over inside his chest. He offered the boy a firm nod. “You are most welcome.”

Din returned the smile before he walked out of the cockpit and headed for the bunks. Tech watched after him only for a moment, as he was eager to get back to his files.

Still, it took longer than usual for him to focus, as Tech’s thoughts were continuously pulled back to their young passenger. He quite liked Din’s curiosity; in a way, it reminded Tech of himself.

But there was nothing to do about it, so Tech eventually pushed the thoughts from his mind and set his full attention on the glowing vidscreen in front of him.

════════════════════

Crosshair didn’t have to share his eldest brother’s enhanced senses to hear the child’s small footsteps returning to the bunks.

Well, eldest if he wasn’t counting Echo, though Crosshair wasn’t sure yet on whether he was ready to consider the reg his brother or not. Echo was a hell of a soldier, certainly more than deserving of his ARC trooper rank, but Crosshair wasn’t blind to Echo’s level of integration with the squad. He was well aware that Echo was still adjusting to all of their deviant natures, particularly Crosshair’s severity.

Crosshair couldn’t, and didn’t really, blame Echo for that, but it still kept him wary. Until Echo could go toe-to-toe with him the way the others could, then Crosshair couldn’t count him as a true brother just yet.

It was why Crosshair was intrigued by the boy they had saved from that pitiful settlement. Din had been able to respond to Crosshair’s harsh attempt at a joke with the proper amount of amusement, which wasn’t the kind of first impression the sniper was used to. He had been ready for Hunter’s lecture on softening up his nature for the child, but Din honestly didn’t seem to mind.

Crosshair had to give him credit for that, and credit for catching the sniper’s intrigue in general. That was a hard thing to do.

Crosshair remained where he was in his bunk, but trained his eyes upon Din’s approaching figure. Kriff, he was tiny, but that was probably because Crosshair and the squad had gone too long since they had last seen—and been—cadets themselves. Din was likely the size of one, but something about the robe he wore swallowing him up just…

Crosshair’s train of thought stopped when he saw where Din was headed. A single eyebrow shot up as he looked between the child and Tech’s not-so empty bunk underneath his own.

There was no way Tech was actually sanctioning this.

Crosshair barely bit back his groan as he sat up and swung his legs off the bunk. He rested his elbows against his knees and spoke in his usual hiss, though it was quieter than usual to keep the others from waking up. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Din froze and whipped his head up, facing Crosshair with a concerned knit in his brow. “W-What do you mean?”

Crosshair gestured with his chin to Tech’s bunk. “Don’t go in there.”

Din blinked a few times before he jutted his thumb over his shoulder. “But Tech said I could…”

Crosshair snickered, causing Din to trail off. The sniper shook his head. He would never take Tech for a clueless person, but clearly, this was an oversight that even his closest brother’s exceptional mind was capable of making.

“You won’t get any sleep in there.” Crosshair hopped lightly onto his feet and turned around, peeling back the blankets to show Din what was underneath them.

Din’s eyes widened with both surprise and interest as his gaze flickered over the bunk. “Oh.” He stifled a giggle. “What’s all that stuff doing in his bed?”

Crosshair let out his own huff of amusement as he looked back at Tech’s assortment of stashed-away collectibles. It consisted of various tools, a small spare datapad, stray bolts, and other metallic items even Crosshair couldn’t identify.

“Who knows, kid.” Crosshair lowered the blankets again and rose from where he’d been kneeling. “I stopped asking him questions like that a long time ago.”

Din just shrugged before he looked hesitantly at all the other occupied bunks. “Is there anywhere else for me to go? Tech said I should sleep somewhere better than the chair I was in.”

Crosshair pursed his lips in consideration, but there was something else he needed to speak on before he could provide a solution. “Before we do that, you have to lower your voice more.”

He cut his gaze over to Hunter’s bunk across the way, which hung above Wrecker’s—though the latter’s snoring was probably keeping the sergeant’s sensitive ears occupied, anyway.

“Hunter’s enhanced senses could pick up the tone you’re using right now from at least a klick away.”

Din’s eyes widened in wonder. “Whoa ”

Crosshair was pleased to hear the boy’s voice lowered to the proper amount. He then let out a quiet sigh as he glanced up at his own bunk.

Well, he was already awake. No use trying to go back to sleep knowing this child was wandering aimlessly around the ship.

“Here.” Crosshair patted the bunk that was far above Din’s head. “Take mine.”

Din glanced up at Crosshair in disbelief. “But you’ll need your bunk, won’t you?”

Crosshair shrugged. “I was already awake. Might as well take the time in this peace and quiet to clean my rifle, which I can do from anywhere.”

Din continued to hesitate. He looked between Crosshair and the bunk a few times, just enough for the sniper to roll his eyes.

“Arms up.”

Crosshair’s command was curt enough for Din to obey without question. Crosshair grabbed the boy underneath his arms, remaining gentle while also maintaining the proper amount of firmness to lift him. The sniper set Din on the bunk and let out a dramatic exhale as he lowered his hands.

“There. Decision made.” Crosshair turned towards the nook where he kept his weapons kit. “Now get some sleep, before we wake Hunter up and get a lecture for it.”

The boy seemed to comply, based on the fact he didn’t respond. Crosshair could hear Din shuffling around in his military grade bedsheets while the sniper grabbed his rifle and his cleaning supplies. He shoved some of Tech’s stuff to the side, just enough to make room for Crosshair to sit there.

Crosshair kept his boots propped up against the floor as he rested his rifle along his thighs and busied himself with cleaning. After balancing a toothpick between his lips, he was almost fully dissociated into his calming work, but a small voice from above managed to break through his temporary reverie.

“Crosshair?”

The sniper stopped and sighed. He closed his eyes and curled his fingers around the rifle. “What?”

There was no response for a few heartbeats. Crosshair’s patience was starting to wear thin by the time Din spoke again. “Do you ever wish you had parents?”

Crosshair’s eyes widened unexpectedly at the question. “What…” he hissed and blinked a few times while shaking his head, “why are you asking me that?”

“Well,” the boy let out a soft breath, “Tech told me you guys don’t have parents. And…”

Din paused, his voice wilting as he went on.

“I don’t have parents anymore, either, so… I guess I just wanted to know how you guys do it.”

Something in Crosshair’s chest tightened so hard that he had to take a second to remind himself to breathe. The first part of that sensation was no doubt frustration as he made a mental note to reprimand Tech for telling a child about their… complicated situation as clones. The other, though, was something largely unfamiliar, something that tugged from his chest down through his gut, almost enough to make him sick.

Suddenly, Crosshair wanted to do whatever he could to put Din at ease. Even if it meant being more vulnerable than usual.

Not a smart tactic for a sniper, but this wasn’t a battlefield, and this child was clearly no adversary.

“I’ve never thought about it.” Crosshair stared down at the rifle in his hands and held it just a bit tighter. “Having my older brothers always felt like having parents, anyway. Especially with one as protective as Hunter.”

Din hummed thoughtfully from above him. Crosshair let out a quiet chuckle when it reminded him all too much of Tech. Just how much had Tech taught this boy during their brief time together?

“Are you the youngest?”

Crosshair sighed. He’d walked right into this one, but he never quite enjoyed being reminded that he was the youngest. He had heard enough of that from his brothers growing up. “Technically, yes.” Crosshair took up his rag and started cleaning the rifle again. “But in terms of the squad, Echo was the last to join, so…”

“Who’s the oldest? Is it Hunter?”

Crosshair smirked to himself. “It’s easy to tell with him, isn’t it?”

“It is.” Din seemed to muse upon something. “I think he’s a good older brother.”

Crosshair spared a look at Hunter’s bunk. His sharp eyes provided him with a clear view of Hunter’s closed eyes, proving the sergeant was still asleep before he responded. “I think so, too.”

“So, who’s next?”

Crosshair cut his eyes towards the cockpit. “Tech. Then Wrecker.”

“And then you.” Din still sounded much too excited for a boy who needed to sleep. “How old would Echo be if he wasn’t the last one to join the squad?”

“Older than all of us.”

Din inhaled a sharp breath. Crosshair leaned out enough to look up at his bunk and send the boy a warning glance. Din looked frantically towards Hunter’s bunk, but the sergeant still didn’t move. He let out a relieved exhale and lowered his voice even more than before.

“Sorry. Um… that just makes sense. Echo told me about his batchmates.”

Crosshair’s brow shot up. “He did?”

Not even Crosshair had heard about Echo’s batch yet, at least nothing significant. He tried to fight the sensation of betrayal that rippled through his chest. It was yet another reason why Crosshair still had to keep his walls up with Echo, just for now.

“Yup!” Din clearly didn’t pick up on Crosshair’s pitiful distress. “But it’s sad. He said a lot of them died on their first mission.”

Crosshair’s shoulders fell at that. He glanced up at Hunter and Wrecker sleeping across from him, and spared another look at the cockpit. He was suddenly swept by a wave of relief over the fact that he had never experienced such loss.

Crosshair never prayed, but he did plead to the stars right then that he would never have to experience it.

“Not a very cheery thought to have on your mind while you’re trying to sleep.”

Crosshair set his rifle aside and stood, turning to face his bunk. Din tensed as if he were in trouble, but the sniper simply reached forward to tuck the sheets closer to Din’s face and sides.

“Trust me, you don’t want to pull an all-nighter, kid.” Crosshair removed the toothpick for a moment and nodded. “You can ask us whatever questions you want once we’re all awake. Just get some rest.”

Din returned the nod, smiling before he tucked his chin closer to his chest and closed his eyes. Crosshair lingered for a moment, narrowing his eyes to make sure the boy wasn’t tricking him, but the sniper could tell by the steadying rise and fall of Din’s chest that he was truly beginning to fall asleep.

Crosshair picked up his rifle and turned towards the cockpit. He stopped, however, when he felt a new pair of eyes on him. His gaze shifted over to Hunter’s bunk, where he caught the sergeant’s watchful eye.

Crosshair resisted the urge to crawl out of his skin. Of course . If he was lucky, Hunter hadn’t heard much of that particularly vulnerable conversation. He braced himself for his older brother’s teasing and a lecture about why he was holding his rifle instead of sleeping.

But all Hunter did was flicker his gaze towards Din before nodding with a proud smile on his face. Crosshair’s brow wrinkled in confusion, but the sergeant was already turning away to focus on sleeping again, this time even slipping his bandana low enough to cover his eyes. Crosshair heaved a sigh of relief and trudged towards the cockpit.

Tech didn’t so much as flinch while Crosshair made his approach. He fell easily into the co-pilot’s chair and set his rifle on his legs once again, continuing with his task of cleaning.

“Do you have a proper explanation for why you are not indulging in rest at the moment?” Tech’s voice was nearly as chastising as the gaze behind his goggles.

“Only if you have a ‘proper explanation’ for telling that kid about our complicated lineage.” Crosshair returned Tech’s accusatory glare.

Tech simply pushed his goggles further up his nose. “It is not distressing information to share, and it is only the truth.” He looked back down at his datapad, seemingly resigned already with whatever was keeping Crosshair awake. “There was no benefit to lying.”

“For now.” Crosshair exhaled and shook his head. “The kid’s just lost his own parents, and now he knows we don’t have any, either. Not really great for his morale.”

Crosshair waited for Tech to quip back, but he was only met with silence. The sniper paused his work to look up at Tech again, just to find that his most confident brother was for once looking quite uncertain.

“Tech…”

“Crosshair, have you also been experiencing a strange phenomenon with this child? Encased within the thoracic cavity?”

Crosshair huffed. “You mean sympathy, from the heart?”

Tech shrugged. “If that is the case, then yes.”

Crosshair’s lips tightened before he nodded. “Yeah. Kid’s had it rough.”

Tech’s brow furrowed. “But this… it is different, Cross.” It wasn’t often that Tech used the shortened version of Crosshair’s name, something that alone expressed his true severity. “We have crossed paths with several people in a similar position, yet I have never felt so physically influenced by it.”

Crosshair leaned back further in the chair. “Well, I’m glad it’s not just me.”

Tech shook his head. “Unfortunately, there is little we can do to remedy it.” He checked the navicomputer. “We are making good time to Coruscant, and with General Ti having alerted them to our upcoming arrival, there is no way we can deviate without arousing suspicion.”

Crosshair blinked at Tech in surprise. “Why would we deviate?”

Tech froze while he was adjusting his goggles. “I…” he blinked a few times, “am uncertain.” He lowered his datapad to his lap and held his chin with his forefinger and thumb. “How strange.”

Strange, indeed—but even stranger was that Crosshair was just as disappointed by the truth of their current destination as Tech was, and their inability to find a way out of it. But what were they thinking, even considering keeping this boy around? They were soldiers in the middle of what felt like a never-ending war. This kid’s life had already been torn apart enough by the conflict.

Yet as Crosshair and Tech carried on their respective tasks in silence, the sniper could practically feel the tension sizzling in the air, and if he looked closely enough, he could see both their bodies weighed down by some invisible burden. Crosshair didn’t know what that meant, and as usual, he would let his older brothers be the ones to figure that out.

════════════════════

[badbatchdalorian]

The First Plan 99 - Part 1: Orders

MEDIA: The Bad Batch (2021-2024) CHARACTERS: Hunter & The Bad Batch RATING: T (14+) TAGS: graphic depictions of violence, Hunter-centric, torture, medical torture, psychological torture, aftermath of torture, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, broken bones, family drama, family fluff, protective siblings, non-canon compliant, childhood trauma, anxiety attacks, Crosshair rejoins Clone Force 99 (more here) SUMMARY: Hunter's capture on Daro is more than just a way for Crosshair to set a trap for the rest of their squad, and the sergeant proves just how far he's willing to go to keep his family, including their wayward brother, safe. cross-posted from ao3, where updates are more frequent

PART 1: ORDERS

Hunter chanced one more look at the busy Daro sky. The Havoc Marauder was fading from view, and with it, the four familiar heartbeats that slipped through his senses the same way he’d fallen to the planet’s forested surface.

Tech was obeying Hunter’s order to leave. He could still hear some of the chaos on the comms within his helmet, most notably Omega’s worried shouting and desperate pleading, but he’d already said his piece.

Plan 99 was what this was, even if none of them had the faith to say it, and it was the only viable option from Hunter’s perspective. He had no regrets about this, any of this. They’d still freed a fellow clone, after all; a close friend of Rex’s, Hunter had surmised.

This was a mere exchange, one clone for another, and after all Hunter had done ever since their galaxy fell into disarray on Kaller, he was no doubt the one who deserved to be left behind.

All of these thoughts were rapid-fire as Hunter watched the Imperial troops close in on his position. He’d already sheathed his knife, and now, his gloved hands were rising slowly in surrender. The comms within his helmet finally stopped, proving that either the Marauder had already left atmosphere or that the boys had at least done Hunter the favor of ending the somber torture of hearing Omega in such distress.

Hunter forced himself to focus his senses on these men and their unfamiliar heartbeats. Most, if not all, of these men were forcing their hearts to work harder than they should. They knew who they were up against, and even if the odds were massively stacked against him, they still feared him.

Hunter took more delight in that than he probably should’ve.

“Feeling alright there, lads?” Hunter called out.

Clearly, their commanding officers weren’t as amused. “Disarm him,” the commando who wasn’t currently restraining a bloodthirsty hound ordered.

Hunter allowed it, because he didn’t have a choice. As grim as the circumstances were, he still intended on making it back to his squad somehow. Resisting right now would only make things worse for him and, in the long run, the rest of them.

It was still hard to watch them take his blade, though. Hunter growled, a low sound of frustration, and grinned ferally to himself as he saw some of the troopers flinch. It was again something he took pleasure in.

Once he was fully disarmed, Hunter’s wrists were cuffed in front of him, and two troopers flanked him, each one taking a tight grasp on his arms. Hunter tugged at them out of pure spite, making their grips tighten.

“You gonna comply, Sergeant?” The commando stepped forward, further into Hunter’s space, and kept his blaster lifted at the sergeant. Hunter watched the commando’s thumb toggle the switch on his weapon to stun. “They want you awake for what comes next, and I’d like to deliver on that objective.”

Hunter shrugged the best he could. “Depends.” One of the troopers at his side ripped off his helmet, and Hunter threw the man a harsh glare. “I won’t follow orders I don’t agree with.”

The commando was nearly toe-to-toe with Hunter now, the blue glow of his visor just about eye level with the sergeant. “Is walking too tough a task for your morals, sir?”

Hunter simply raised his brow and never once let his gaze stray from the commando’s visor. “Lead the way, and you’ll find out.”

The commando said nothing, but after a few more heartbeats of staring at Hunter, he hit the barrel of his blaster against Hunter’s shoulder. The sergeant tripped back a step, but the troopers at his side kept him steady as they pulled Hunter along their commanding officer’s tracks. The commando led them into one of the Imperial transports.

Hunter used this precious time to think about his squad. He could only hope that Tech would continue to follow through on the orders Hunter would give if he could, taking them to Ord Mantell to repair the ship—because even the sergeant had seen how many hits the Marauder had taken. More importantly, though, Hunter hoped they would get Gregor proper treatment for his blaster wounds, and that he was properly rendezvoused with Rex.

What Hunter wanted as the leader and protector of their squad was for them to move on and never risk coming back to this treacherous place, instead trusting him to fight his own way back to them. As a brother, though… Hunter couldn’t help hoping, and truly knowing, that the last thing they were gonna do was pretend Hunter wasn’t being held captive here. They would come for him.

And even if Hunter was hoping for it, he didn’t want them to.

Fate, the Force, or whatever it was seemed to have a funny way of working things out. Hunter was finally facing a fitting retribution for what he had done to one of their own. He should have had to see it through, whatever the ending would look like for him. It sure as hell wouldn’t be any shred of loyalty for the Empire, though.

Of course, Hunter was still going to try to get back to his squad, but not for his own sake. It was because he refused to leave them on their own, even if he knew they were all capable enough to keep themselves safe. It was his fault they were in this predicament, wounded by the glaring absence of not one, but two brothers; they didn’t deserve to suffer for it.

And Omega… just the thought of her made Hunter ache, especially as he remembered the way she had begged for him not to do this. He didn’t want to know how she would react if something worse happened to him.

It was really no surprise, then, that the squad was acting as Hunter’s sole motivation to fight his way to freedom somehow, or at least delay whatever the Empire’s plans for him would be. If it was just rotting in a cell, then Hunter could handle that, even if it meant being locked away with his tumultuous thoughts for gods knew how long. If it was something else, something worse, Hunter would still deal with it.

Hunter was forced to focus on his surroundings when the transport touched down. Based on the frequencies thrumming at the sergeant’s temples already, he knew that they had landed back inside the Daro base. There was life and technology all around Hunter, to the point where he had to rein in his senses more than usual. Thankfully, he was already used to it inside this base, considering he had quite literally just infiltrated it—and nearly escaped it.

The transport’s doors opened, and the commando continued to guide Hunter and his flanking troopers through the busy base. Hunter kept his expression neutral, but seeing many of the troopers in the corridors still recovering from his, Tech’s, and Echo’s assault brought him a type of feral joy he struggled to contain. So much for base security, if three troopers were able to take a clone commando from right under their noses.

Hunter was soon able to recognize the detention level, where he had been not all that long ago. He was actually quite amused to realize that they were taking him directly to Gregor’s former cell, no doubt knowing for certain now that it would be empty. That made the corners of Hunter’s lips quirk up in a small smile.

The commando stopped at the empty cell and disabled the ray shield. The troopers all but threw Hunter down inside it, causing the sergeant to stumble and catch himself on his cuffed hands and knees. He turned just in time to throw them a vicious glare as they powered the ray shield back up, and the commando walked away as the other two kept their backs to Hunter and guarded the cell.

Hunter at least got himself to his feet and positioned himself on the bench inside the small room. Not having his helmet, or his knife, itched at his vulnerability, but he refused to dwell on that. Instead, Hunter steadied his breaths, listening for his own heartbeat within his ears, and began to analyze the weak points within the cell.

This wasn’t a perspective Hunter had gotten last time. The sergeant figured that his best chance would be some kind of transfer outside the cell, but he couldn’t be sure that Gregor hadn’t found a way out of this specific room during his first unsuccessful escape attempt.

Looking for a way out brought Hunter’s memories back to the last time his squad was together before his youngest brother’s apparent turn to the Empire, when they were locked within Kamino’s makeshift cell, when Hunter had tried to fight for his brother to stay just to watch him be led away, when Tech had come up with a plan to get them out. Hunter could never have imagined just how badly that would all end.

Dwelling on that part of the past wouldn’t help Hunter now, nor would wishing that Tech were here to find the cell’s weaknesses more easily. Hunter had to do this on his own, and he would, for the sake of his squad.

Unfortunately, Hunter wasn’t alone for long. He could hear the approaching footsteps as soon as they turned into his cell’s corridor. Hunter sat up straighter and reached out for the new heartbeats. There were three, though one of them was familiar enough for Hunter to realize that it was the same commando from before.

Sure enough, three figures—the commando from before, a new commando, and an officer with a crisp uniform—stood in front of the ray shield. The officer nodded at the guard closest to the locking mechanism, and the ray shield disabled itself long enough for the officer and the two commandos to step through.

Hunter narrowed his eyes at the human man as soon as the ray shield went back up. He refused to speak first, but he soon realized the officer wasn’t giving him the chance to do so, anyway.

“Sergeant Hunter of Clone Force 99.” The officer kept his arms tucked politely behind his back. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards, but he gave nothing else away. “Isn’t that what you call yourself, CT-9901?”

Hunter couldn't hold back his threatening growl at the sound of his designation. There were too many overpowering flashes of memories with the longnecks referring to him as such before inflicting the kind of pain that came with being one of the GAR’s only modified soldiers. The derogatory use of that number wasn’t just an experience he and his enhanced brothers had, but the kind of trauma they all had associated with it was devastatingly unique.

Hunter was at least pleased to hear the officer’s heart rate spike at the sound he’d made. The sergeant composed himself quickly, harkening upon the thorough training and life experience he had had as a commanding officer, and simply raised an eyebrow, beckoning—or daring—the officer to continue.

“I must say, Sergeant, I’m thoroughly impressed.” The officer added a nod of respect. “Your squad made effective work of our forces here, and even managed to successfully retrieve one of our prisoners.” He added a huff. “And that wasn’t even your full squad. You were notably down two men.” The officer’s expression grew more smug. “Or just one, nowadays.”

Hunter forced himself to ignore the piercing ache that slashed across his chest like the tip of his own blade. There was a pause, clearly meant for Hunter to fill with words, but the sergeant refused to speak. He wanted to understand this man’s angle first.

“That was quite a risk. One that’s now resulted in you taking the other captive’s place.” The officer cocked his head. “So, Sergeant, what was your objective? Why that clone in particular? There are thousands to choose from, after all, and they’re all the same.”

Hunter’s jaw tightened. The muscles locking into place on his chiseled face would be evident to the three men standing in front of him, but it was better than any more aggressive alternative. Hunter was truly just starting to understand and empathize with regs, courtesy of Echo and Rex, but such a comment about clones still sat sour in his stomach.

“It had to have been important enough for you to be willing to leave yourself, their commanding officer, behind.” The officer feigned pity in a way that had Hunter circling his jaw. “Don’t you know what happens to clones when they lose their chain of command? They need orders to follow. They’ll lose their way. I’m sure you know that, as a sergeant yourself.”

The officer took a few more steps closer to Hunter. The sergeant didn’t move, instead hardening his expression and straightening the way he sat even more. The officer stopped and bent at the waist until his eyes were level with Hunter’s.

“Why risk it, then? Why take that clone?” The officer’s gaze searched Hunter’s. “Your squad doesn’t have a rich history with normal clones, so I doubt this was of your own accord. Who gave you this mission?”

Hunter continued to look the officer dead in the eye as he finally spoke. “We don’t take orders from anyone except ourselves.”

The officer chuckled. “If only that were true. Is it not one of your own who’s become one of our most effective commanders, renowned for his loyalty to following orders?”

That searing pain returned with a burn harsh enough to steal Hunter’s breath for a moment. The chip, Hunter wanted to ground out. It was that damn chip you put in my brother’s head to use him like a puppet.

But that wouldn’t do Hunter any good here, and he wasn’t interested in talking about his youngest sibling with one of the people who was responsible for manipulating him. He simply exhaled a quiet breath through his nose and continued to stare back at the officer.

The Imperial sniffed and altered his course. “In any case, Sergeant, I was still fascinated at what I found when researching you and your squad during your infiltration.” He gave Hunter a quick once-over. “Your ‘name’ comes from your abilities, no? A master tracker?”

Hunter’s frown harshened. The officer’s sly grin widened.

“Your specialty’s with electromagnetic frequencies, correct? You bear a sensitivity to them?”

Hunter’s blood ran cold, but he remained unaffected on the outside. It didn’t take an exceptional mind like Tech’s to know where the officer was going with this.

His silence was damning enough. “Perhaps such electrical currents will be more enticing for you than my meager attempts at civil conversation. Your squad has been noted to have a preference for danger and risk, anyway.”

Hunter’s inner child thrashed inside him, begging for him to fight his way to freedom before they could do such a thing, but he maintained his composure instead. He would get through it the way he always had growing up, when he volunteered himself to answer for his brothers’ outbursts and misunderstood attempts at self-defense. This was no different, really. If anything, he was stronger now.

And he was still doing it to defend his brothers, even those who weren’t enhanced like his own squad—and their sister, his kid, too.

“We do.” Hunter had found his voice, and it was even lower than usual. “So if you really think a few electrical shocks are gonna get me to talk, then…” Hunter shrugged. “Well, it’s your resources going to waste, sir.”

Hunter leaned closer to the officer.

“And all for a clone, huh? Are we not disposable to you?”

The officer looked oddly satisfied. “You misunderstand me, Sergeant. It’s not about a singular clone, especially not the one your squad took. It’s about whoever gave you this mission.” His eyes flashed with wild delight. “And then it’s about the rest of your squad.”

Hunter’s violent itch for problem-solving was getting harder to ignore.

“If just one of you could become such an effective and loyal soldier, then imagine what we could accomplish with the rest of you.”

“That won’t happen.”

The officer grinned wickedly. “You don’t know that.” His gaze flickered down to Hunter’s shackled hands. “And you’re in no position to guarantee it.”

Hunter’s patience for diplomacy had finally dwindled. He stood and shoved his bound hands against the Imperial’s chest, seeing nothing but red as he prepared to raise his arms and bring his fists down as hard he could upon the officer’s head.

But the odds were against him, with two commandos still in the room. One of them stepped forward and slammed the end of their blaster against Hunter’s jaw, and he hit the ground before he could even see it coming. The other side of his head made contact with the cold, hard floor, making stars dance along his vision as sharp lightning bolts of pain radiated from his skull through the rest of his delicate senses.

Still, Hunter lifted his head to face the three men inside his cell, fighting through the daze to scowl at them from the floor. The officer’s words sounded muffled to the ringing in Hunter’s ears, but it didn’t hinder the sergeant from hearing them.

“We’ll allow you an hour or so’s reprieve, Sergeant, and then we shall truly see if your reputation for resilience holds up.”

Hunter narrowed his eyes dangerously at the unnamed officer and his men, ignoring the stinging on his left temple and the aching on his right as he watched them leave the cell. The smell of his own blood became apparent to his senses, too, but Hunter also elected to ignore that even after the ray shield went back up and trapped him alone inside.

Only once there weren’t eyes on him anymore did Hunter fully sit up and rest his back against the bench. He let the back of his aching head lean against it, too, his chin rising as he closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, the soft sound of air entering and leaving his lungs. That sound used to drive Hunter mad when he was first getting a grip on his senses, but right now, it was the most calming thing he had without his brothers’ and sister’s heartbeats nearby.

There was no time to be afraid, nor to take pity on himself. He reminded himself again that it was his necessary retribution for leaving another one of their own behind. He had to be ready for what would come, because the last thing Hunter was willing to do was leave more of his family within the cruel clutches of the Empire.

════════════════════

Echo was unfortunately familiar with leaving brothers behind out of necessity and survival. He was even familiar with the experience of losing a commanding officer and being left to figure things out on his own. That’s what had happened on Rishi Moon, after all, and that wasn’t counting the loss of his own batchmates, his brothers, in the process.

But even he knew that paled in comparison to what this squad was dealing with right now, because Hunter was so much more than their commanding officer—and even more than just their brother. Echo didn’t have to be around for long to know that.

Hunter was the closest thing any of them, Omega included, had to a father, someone who fiercely protected and guided them through a devastatingly harsh galaxy. And he was gone.

The Marauder’s alarms were still blaring in hyperspace. Echo didn’t have to scomp in to know that the shields were in bad shape, and he nearly groaned just thinking about how bad the carbon scoring would be on the exterior hull. Wrecker was still somewhere behind Echo and Tech in the cockpit, hopefully helping Gregor with his blaster wounds, and Omega had gone uncharacteristically silent.

Tech’s gloved fingers were flying over the controls when he finally broke their focused silence. “Echo—.”

“Yeah, I’m on it.” Echo scomped in, allowing the data to run across his vision as the familiar cold seeped into his body. Multiple alerts came up right away, and Echo ran through the necessary sequences to resolve them the best he could. He wanted this done as soon as possible, because he could practically feel this squad reaching their breaking point.

As if he’d summoned it, he soon realized the cause for Omega’s silence: she was saving her breath for this particular outburst.

“Tech!” Omega’s sudden shout was tearful and heartbroken. “You have to take us back!”

Echo quickened his pace as his organic eyesight carefully watched Tech and Omega’s interaction in his periphery. Omega was quickly approaching Tech at the controls, and he was gently, yet firmly, setting a hand on her shoulder to push her away.

“Turn around! Take us back!”

“Omega, we are in hyperspace, now.” Tech’s voice seemed as calm and informative as usual, but Echo could hear the way it subtly wavered. Even their levelest head was shaken up by what had just happened. “There is no way for us to simply ‘turn around’ as you have requested, and Hunter ordered us to leave.”

Omega continued to fight him. “Since when do we follow orders? He… he needs us!”

Tech’s eyes behind his goggles betrayed the grimace he wore under his helmet. “Hunter will manage on his own for now. The Marauder has sustained significant damage and requires thorough repairs if we are to attempt a rescue.” Tech turned his full attention back to the controls. “You must allow me to give these repairs my full attention.”

“We’ll be too late!” Omega’s voice was trembling as much as she was, and soft cries were beginning to bleed into her devastated tone. She tugged at Tech’s right arm. “Please, Tech!”

Echo withdrew his scomp as soon as he had completed the bare minimum of what he had to do to keep the Marauder flying. His helmet was still on as he bent down to take Omega by the waist and lifted her away from Tech.

“No!” Omega tried to fight Echo’s grip, but thanks to the solid metal of his scomp protecting his organic arm and his cybernetic legs, her struggles were no use. “Echo, please! Please tell him!”

“Easy, Omega.” Echo’s voice was as soft as he could possibly make it as he took her away from the cockpit. “Easy, kid.” They passed Gregor and Wrecker in the main hold and continued on to the bunks. “Easy.”

Echo couldn’t carry Omega up the ladder like this, even when she stopped fighting him and instead sat limp within his grasp. Her tiny body was wracking with heartbreaking sobs, though, the adrenaline and devastation hitting her all at once in a way no child should ever have to experience. Echo set Omega down in the closest bunk, Wrecker’s by the look of it, and held her heaving shoulders.

“Breathe, Omega.” Echo lifted his organic hand to remove his helmet and returned it to her shoulder, running his thumb in circles there to soothe her. “Just… take a few minutes. Okay? We’re alright here.”

“But he isn’t!”

Echo’s stomach twisted into a painful knot. “We don’t know that, kid. You trust Hunter to take care of us, right?”

Omega wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt and nodded.

“Then you should trust him to take care of himself, too.” Echo nodded. “Like Tech said, he can manage on his own for now. We’ll go back for him. We just… we have to make sure we can first.”

Echo gestured to the rest of the ship behind him.

“If we don’t help the Marauder now, then she won’t be able to take us back to him later.”

Omega was still crying, but the sounds were softer, now. Echo continued to hold her as she composed herself enough to speak in a quieter voice.

“Why did he do that, Echo?”

Echo let out a soft breath. “He made a choice, Omega. A choice no one should ever have to make.” He made sure Omega was returning his gaze before he went on. “He had to choose between his own safety and the squad’s, and he chose us.”

Omega’s lips wobbled even as she calmed her cries enough to reduce them to pitiful sniffles. Echo remained patient as her eyes flickered wildly around their surroundings, her shoulders hunching in on herself as if she was carrying a burden three times her own weight. Echo’s concern grew even before Omega whispered the hauntingly untrue words.

“It’s my fault.”

Echo blinked a few times. “What are you talking about?”

Omega closed her eyes and lowered her head. “I saw him jump, and I-I couldn’t catch him in time.”

Echo frowned. “Omega, if you had even tried, you probably would’ve been pulled down with him.”

Omega shook her head. “At least he wouldn’t be alone now.”

Echo moved his organic hand to the side of Omega’s face. The gentle gesture encouraged her to reopen her eyes and look at him. He faced her with all the same sincerity that his words held.

“Do you think Hunter would want you blaming yourself for this?”

Omega hesitated before shaking her head. Echo nodded.

“What do you think he’d want you to do, then?”

Omega straightened her shoulders some and wiped her eyes again. “He’d want me to listen to your orders and complete the mission.”

“Exactly, kid.” Echo gave her tear-stained cheek a gentle pat. “And that’s what we’re gonna do, okay? But there’s no point in trying if we don’t even give the Marauder a chance.”

Echo softened as he made his next point.

“This isn’t just hard for you, Omega. Trust me.”

He spared a look at the others. Wrecker was gruffer than usual while helping Gregor, and Echo could notice even at this distance that their strongest brother’s steady hands were shaking more than usual. Tech was still hunched over the controls, and he hadn’t even removed his helmet yet.

“We’re all worried. Tech especially had it hard, having to be the one to make the decision to comply with Hunter’s order.”

Omega’s gaze flashed with guilt as she averted Echo’s stare again. “Did I make him feel worse?”

Echo shrugged. “No one would blame you even if you did.” He let out his own heavy sigh. “This whole situation is karked.”

“Right.” The smallest of smiles started to tug at Omega’s lips. “Karked.”

Echo eyes widened. “Hey, don’t repeat that.” He pointed a cautious finger at Omega. “I’ll be the one in danger if Hunter finds out about this.”

Omega giggled and wiped away the last of her tears. “I won’t tell him.” She let out a breath and glanced towards the cockpit. “How can I help?”

Echo gestured with his head to the gunner’s mount. “For now, you can help us by getting some rest. We’re headin’ back to Ord Mantell, where we can finish making the repairs. Hunter will need all of us at our best, and rest is the best way to guarantee that.”

Omega steadied herself with a deep breath and nodded. “If that’s what’ll help Hunter, I’ll do it.”

Echo returned her nod. “That’s the spirit.” He stood, but kept his grasp on her shoulder, gently guiding her towards the ladder. “I’ll check on the others. Alright?”

Omega nodded again and looked up at Echo with a soft smile. “Thank you, Echo.”

Echo simply gave her shoulder a squeeze and watched as she climbed her way into her private nook. He waited until she was inside to turn around and check on the next member of the squad. Echo strolled over to where Gregor was still sitting by one of the control stations and rested his scomp arm upon the back of it.

“How’s it goin’ over here?” Echo observed the situation the best he could. Wrecker had at least done a decent job with Gregor’s bandages.

“Ah, don’t ya’ worry, I barely feel a thing!” Gregor said with a laugh. Echo was beginning to realize that was just a normal part of the man’s dialect.

“That’s ‘cause I gave ya’ a hypo,” Wrecker grumbled, looking far less amused than he usually would. He stood from where he’d been kneeling in front of the clone commando to set the medkit back where he’d pulled it from.

Echo followed, reaching forward to set a gentle hand on Wrecker’s shoulder. Wrecker paused before he turned his head to face Echo. His expression gave everything away; Wrecker had always been the one to wear his heart on his sleeve. Wrecker blinked past the dampness in his eyes and glanced towards the gunner’s mount.

“How’s the kid?”

“Better.” Echo squeezed Wrecker’s shoulder. “How ‘bout you, big guy?”

Wrecker’s jaw tightened as he faced the medkit again. He shoved it back into its proper place with more force than required. “I wanna go back.” He let out a frustrated huff. “And I hate waitin’.”

“I know.” Echo sighed and shook his head. “I do, too. But as soon as Tech and I are done with the repairs, we can go.”

Wrecker gave Echo an appreciative glance before gesturing with his gaze towards Gregor. “What’re we gonna do with him?” He managed to keep his voice to a whisper in a way that was surprisingly successful. “We can’t wait for Rex to come get ‘im.”

“I agree.” Echo pondered Wrecker’s words for a long moment. “We’ll have to take him somewhere Rex will remember. When we land on Ord Mantell, take Gregor to Cid’s while Tech and I work on the repairs. I’ll comm Rex and tell him to take Gregor from there.”

Wrecker nodded. “I can do that.”

Echo offered him the best smile he could manage. “Thanks, Wreck.” He glanced at the cockpit and gave his jaw a worried tick. “I’m gonna check in with Tech and see what we can fix before we land.”

Wrecker frowned as he also looked back at the cockpit. “He’s bein’ too quiet.”

Echo patted Wrecker’s shoulder. “I’ll take care of it.”

Wrecker gave Echo another appreciative smile before the ARC trooper stepped away from him. He finally returned to the cockpit, where Tech was now working between his datapad and the navicomputer. Echo sat down in the co-pilot’s seat and gazed curiously and carefully at Tech’s work.

“I am ascertaining that we are taking the most efficient route from Daro to Ord Mantell,” Tech answered before Echo could even ask the question. “There is limited, if any, time to spare.”

Echo grimaced. “How’s the Marauder looking?”

Tech sighed and went to adjust his goggles, but upon realizing his helmet was still on, he simply gave up and returned his hand to his datapad. “The ship is functioning for now, but we will have to complete several extensive repairs upon landing if we intend on returning to Daro.”

“That’s fine.” Echo sighed as Tech’s pace in his work never slowed. “We can divide and conquer. You give me exterior repairs and you can handle the interior.”

Tech nodded. “That is satisfactory.”

Echo waited a few beats, but Tech didn’t fill the silence. The ARC trooper let out another breath and stood, stepping forward enough to grab Tech’s helmet and slide it off for him. Tech immediately lifted his hand again to properly adjust his goggles while Echo set his helmet off to the side.

“Tech.”

The engineer cut his eyes at Echo, but didn’t stop his work. Echo set his hand on Tech’s datapad and lowered it.

“Tech…”

Tech’s grip on his datapad tightened as he tugged it away from Echo’s grasp. His eyes were widened in surprise, but Echo could plainly see the other grueling emotions swirling within their depths. Tech was never the type to act on emotions rather than logic, and in this case, he was outright ignoring the former.

“Please do not interrupt, Echo.” Tech straightened himself and frowned at the ARC trooper. “As I said before, time is of the essence. I still have calculations to run about our route, and afterward, I will be compiling the list of priorities for the repairs.”

“Fine.”

Echo held Tech’s shoulder instead as he gave his brother a knowing look. Tech was no doubt the member of the squad who Echo had grown the closest with, as Tech had been instrumental in helping Echo to adjust to his cybernetics and had even lent his hand in making significant modifications that saved Echo a lot of pain and hassle, and Echo was eager to return the favor with his own kind of comfort.

“Just make sure you believe your own words about Hunter. He’ll manage just fine on his own for now.”

Tech’s stare fell. He adjusted his goggles again, although the gesture was completely unnecessary from what Echo could tell.

“And you did the right thing, following his orders. Your actions saved all our lives.”

Tech’s brow shot up. “That is a gross overstatement. However…” Tech relaxed and offered Echo a nod, “the sentiment is much appreciated.”

Echo returned the nod. “Of course.” He patted Tech’s shoulder and sat back in the co-pilot’s chair. “Is there anything I can help with while we’re still en route?”

“Indeed.” Tech didn’t waste a beat as he nodded towards the scomp link. “I would greatly appreciate your assistance in ascertaining the route.”

Echo steadied himself with a breath and gave his scomp a quick spin. “You’ve got it.”

As Echo prepared to launch back into action, he stole a quick, quiet moment for himself, working through his past trauma the way he was always trained to. Hunter was more than capable of fending for himself for now, and he had a hell of a motivation in wanting to get back to his squad. If anything, Echo knew their sergeant’s fierce protectiveness would guide his way back to them.

The only terrifying thought lingering in the back of Echo’s mind was the other wayward member of their squad getting to Hunter first.

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next part

[badbatchdalorian]

Missing Piece - Part 3: You're One of Us

MEDIA: The Bad Batch (2021-2024), The Mandalorian (2019-2023) CHARACTERS: The Bad Batch & Din Djarin (Young) RATING: T (14+) TAGS: not canon compliant, PTSD, trauma, childhood trauma, canon-typical violence, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, family fluff, Tech lives, protective siblings (more here) SUMMARY: In this galaxy far, far away, it’s experimental unit Clone Force 99 that saves Din Djarin instead of the Mandalorians, forever altering not only his fate, but also their own. How they manage to survive with not one, but two young soldiers-in-training under their wings proves just how far they’re willing to go to keep their family’s missing piece as close as possible. cross-posted from ao3, where updates are more frequent

PART 3: You're One of Us

Wrecker was relieved when he finally heard movement from behind him. While he would do just about anything to protect his brothers, keeping watch was a tough one, and not only because it was easily the most boring task he could ever have as a member of the GAR. Wrecker just hated being alone for so long.

He spun around in the pilot’s chair to see Hunter approaching from the bunks, a small smile stretching across the sergeant’s lips as he caught Wrecker’s attention. Wrecker returned his brother’s smile tenfold, his shoulders lifting in newfound energy.

“Mornin’, Sarge!” Wrecker exclaimed in his best hushed voice. If Tech were awake, he’d probably make a comment about it still being loud enough to scare a flock of porgs. Or the fact that it wasn’t technically morning, because they were still traveling through hyperspace.

“Hey.” Hunter set a hand on Wrecker’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze before sitting in the co-pilot’s chair. “How’re you doing?”

“Good! Just bored .” Wrecker laid back further in the chair to emphasize his point. “Kinda wish we actually got attacked or somethin’. It hasn’t even been a full rotation of travelin’ yet, and it’s already felt like forever!”

Hunter huffed and raised an amused eyebrow. “Can’t say I completely agree with you on that, but I’m also not a fan of the change in pace, even if we need the rest.”

The sergeant then exhaled and looked back towards the bunks. Wrecker’s gaze followed, and he wondered if Hunter was sensing something there that Wrecker couldn’t. He had always been curious about his brothers’ enhancements, but he found Hunter’s to be the most difficult to wrap his head around. What he would give to spend a day in Hunter’s head…

“Is somethin’ wrong?” Wrecker almost cringed at the sound of his own voice. Yeah, maybe Tech had a point about his whispering, after all.

A muscle in Hunter’s jaw ticked the way it always did when he was deep in thought. Wrecker paid close attention to his brother even before he spoke.

“I’m… not sure.” Hunter blinked a few times and shook his head. “There’s just something about that kid.”

Wrecker smiled just at the thought of Din. Since they were separated from the other cadets on Kamino back in the day, Wrecker wasn’t used to interacting with kids other than his own brothers, especially during the war. Even then, Wrecker knew something about this kid was different. He was a real good storyteller, and braver than any kid should ever have to be.

“I like Mando.” Wrecker nodded towards the bunks. “It’s a real shame we don’t get to have more time with him.”

Hunter offered Wrecker yet another small smile, but it faded quickly. Wrecker frowned and studied his older brother closer.

“Like you said before,” Hunter started, “it hasn’t even been a full rotation yet, and I’ve already watched this kid bring out a side of our squad I haven’t seen in a while.” He huffed again. “Or ever.”

Hunter looked at Wrecker and tilted his head.

“You should’ve seen how Crosshair was with him while we were all asleep.” Hunter shook his head in disbelief. “I’ve never seen Cross so… gentle .”

Wrecker leaned forward. “Crosshair? Gentle ?” He laughed. “Yeah, right!”

“I’m serious, Wrecker.” All Wrecker had to do was meet his sergeant’s eyes to believe his words. “He gave the kid his bunk.” Hunter started to smile again as he looked back towards the bunk. “He even tucked him in.”

Wrecker gasped, because how else could he respond? There wasn’t even a mental image Wrecker could conjure up for that. “Wha… Why?”

Hunter shrugged. “Don’t know. Something to do with Tech’s bunk, I guess.”

“Oh. Yeah, that makes sense, actually. I mean, you’ve seen Tech’s bunk, haven’t ya’?”

Hunter closed his eyes and sighed. “I can’t even get close. The frequencies that come from it could give me a migraine in seconds.” He lifted two fingers to his temple and gave it a rub, as if he already had a headache.

Wrecker narrowed his eyes. “Speakin’ of migraines…”

Hunter’s eyes reopened as he looked at Wrecker. “I’m fine.” He nodded. “I’m just trying to figure this out.”

“Figure what out?”

Hunter gestured with his head towards the bunks. “How this kid’s managed to soften us all up the way he has, to the point where Crosshair is tucking him in .”

Wrecker let out another laugh. “Thanks for remindin’ me, boss! I’m never gonna let him hear the end of that one.”

Hunter leveled Wrecker with a skeptical look. “You know better than to do that.”

Wrecker scoffed and crossed his arms. “I’m not afraid of him!”

Hunter raised his brow, calling Wrecker’s bluff as he started to shrink in on himself—as much as his broad frame could. Yeah, Hunter had a point. Wrecker wasn’t sure that teasing Crosshair would be worth whatever he got in return.

Wrecker groaned. “Fine. I’m a little afraid.” Wrecker sat up straighter again. “A healthy amount!”

“ Mhmm .”

Hunter chuckled and went back to looking at the bunks. Wrecker watched as the sergeant unsheathed his blade and started to twirl it between his fingers in a motion Wrecker knew was practically subconscious.

Wrecker held his breath. There had to be something more about all this that was bothering Hunter. Sure, it was Tech who had the exceptional mind, but no one knew all their brothers’ tells like Wrecker did.

“There’s somethin’ else you’re not tellin’ me.”

Wrecker rested his elbows against his knees as he gave Hunter a stern look. The sergeant cut his gaze towards Wrecker, and the blade paused perfectly within his gloved palm. After a few heartbeats, Hunter let out a heavy sigh, his eyes closing as his fist tightened around the hilt of his blade.

“Fine. But I’m already aware it’s ridiculous, so don’t make fun of me when I say it.”

Wrecker raised his brow. Of all his brothers, he would never expect Hunter to say something ridiculous.

Tech was smart, real smart, but Wrecker and his brothers didn’t really understand half the things that left his mouth, which made them sound pretty ridiculous to him. As for Crosshair… he said things just to get a reaction, so ridiculousness was expected with him, too. Wrecker was self-aware of the things he said himself, and Echo was still too new for Wrecker to gauge.

But Hunter? No, not unless he was really joking around.

The sergeant reopened his eyes, looking worriedly towards the bunks again. “I’m having second thoughts about taking the kid to Coruscant.”

Wrecker sat up straighter and blinked a few times. The only thing more shocking than Hunter saying that was the fact that Wrecker agreed with him. Ever since the sergeant confirmed their plans to head to Coruscant, Wrecker had felt more than disappointed. He had almost felt sick, and it got worse the more he looked at and interacted with Din.

It was even more than guilt, Wrecker realized. It was something dutiful , as if Wrecker had been given an order he couldn’t refuse—which was really the weirdest part of it all, because Wrecker and his brothers had no problem disobeying orders when they wanted to.

Wrecker finally composed himself enough to huff. “I don’t think you’re the only one.”

Hunter’s head snapped back towards him. “Really?”

Wrecker shrugged. “Well, I mean…” he scratched the back of his neck, “I’m pretty sure that’s how I’ve been feelin’, too, if that makes ya’ feel any better.”

Hunter looked relieved by the revelation. “Yeah, actually, it does.” He huffed and shook his head. “Thought I was losing it for even considering that.”

“Knowin’ how much sleep you don’t get, I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.”

Wrecker gave his brother’s armored shoulder a punch. As usual, it was hard for Wrecker to gauge his playful blow on someone who didn’t have his same strength, and so Hunter grimaced after being jostled and rolled his shoulder.

“Whatever.” Hunter exhaled sharply through his nose. “That’s not important right now. I’ll sleep when I’ve got this situation with the kid figured out.”

Wrecker watched the sergeant’s stare flicker over every bunk on the ship, as if he could see them all perfectly from where he was sitting. He probably could, with those enhanced senses of his.

“Or when the war’s over.”

Wrecker was the one to huff this time. “Yeah, good luck with that one, boss.” He wasn’t usually the one to voice this unspoken thought that simmered between all of them, especially because Wrecker really did enjoy fighting clankers, but after all the time they had spent fighting already… it felt like there wouldn’t really be an end.

Or, at least, it wasn’t something clones like them ever wanted to think about.

Hunter let out a heavy sigh, and when Wrecker looked at him again, he noticed the sergeant had slouched in on himself—as if he had just aged a few years with that single breath. Wrecker’s chest tightened; he never liked remembering just how many burdens his eldest brother took upon himself to carry. After all, Wrecker was literally made for carrying burdens. Why wouldn’t Hunter let him help?

“Let’s just focus on the kid for right now.” Hunter opted for a change in subject as he began to flip the blade in his hand again. It twirled easily around his fingers as if it was nothing more than a strand of own hair. “This feeling you’re having… can you describe it?”

If Hunter wasn’t going to let Wrecker help with that burden right now, then the least he could do was go along with the topic change. “It’s hard to, honestly. When I think about leavin’ the kid there, it just shows up. But I don’t just feel it.” He hit his own fist against his chestplate. “I feel it.”

Hunter’s gaze met Wrecker’s, though the movements of his blade never stalled. “Me too.”

Wrecker’s brow shot up. “Really?” He chuckled, though he wasn’t as amused as he usually was when he let out that sound. “I wonder if the others are feelin’ the same thing.”

“Yeah.” Hunter’s stare flickered to the rest of the squad’s direction again. “Maybe it’s best if we talk about this as a group.”

Suddenly, Hunter’s blade stopped again. Wrecker was alert the second he saw the sergeant’s body tense. But after a few heartbeats, Hunter relaxed, so Wrecker did, too—especially once his brother’s lips started to curl up into a small smile.

“Someone’s awake.”

Wrecker followed Hunter’s stare and saw a tiny shadow stepping into the light of the cockpit. He let out a hearty laugh as the kid got closer.

“Mando!” Wrecker sat closer to the edge of his seat, smiling before he even saw Din doing the same. “What’s up, kid? How’d ya’ sleep?”

Din shrugged. “Not so good at first, but Echo, Tech, and Crosshair helped me get better sleep after.”

Wrecker’s own chest warmed upon hearing that, but seeing Hunter’s own face glow like never before made the feeling intensify. Wrecker had always worn his heart on his sleeve, at least that’s what he had been told, and Hunter had to become a caretaker because he was the oldest, but it wasn’t the same for their other brothers. To hear about them helping the kid was nice. Real nice.

Hunter spoke while Wrecker patted the seat behind him, inviting Din to hop up onto it. “Glad to hear it. The first night’s always the hardest.” Din nodded dutifully at the sergeant.

Wrecker couldn’t help his own curiosity. “How’d they help ya’?”

Din set his attention on Wrecker again, tucking his hands underneath his legs as he did so. “Echo told me about his brothers.” His brow scrunched up in thought. “But there was another word for it…” his eyes lit up, “batchmates! Right?”

Wrecker met Hunter’s gaze in mutual astonishment. Echo hadn’t even told the rest of them about his original batch yet. But Wrecker trusted Echo with his life already, so he knew that the eldest of them all would’ve had a good reason for sharing something like that with the kid first.

“That’s right, kid.” Hunter nodded at Din.

“I fell asleep for a little bit after that,” Din went on, “and when I woke up again, I was with Tech in here. He let me talk about…” the kid paused, and Wrecker held his breath as he watched Din deflate, “... what happened. That made me feel better, so he told me to find a bunk, and Crosshair gave me his and talked to me about you guys!”

Wrecker couldn’t stop the curt laugh that rumbled within his chest. “What’d Cross have to say?”

“He told me how old everybody is.” Din grinned in Hunter’s direction. “I guessed you were the oldest, and I got it right!”

Hunter let out a soft chuckle. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah! I could tell because you’re a good older brother. Crosshair agreed with me on that!”

“Ah, did he?”

Wrecker watched Hunter’s eyes light up with mischief, matching the smirk that was starting to spread across his lips—but he also knew his brother well enough to see the genuine way in which he was beaming at their youngest brother’s praise for him. It wasn’t often that any of them got to hear Crosshair say something like that about them.

“And how did that come up?” Hunter asked.

“Well, after talking about… my parents,” Wrecker winced at the way Din’s voice faltered, “Tech told me you guys don’t have any, so I was asking Crosshair what it was like, ‘cause I’m in the same speeder now.”

Wrecker could see Hunter’s entire body tense out of the corner of his good eye. His eldest brother’s voice was strained by disbelief when he spoke. “Tech told you what ?”

At least Din didn’t look, or sound, too bothered by it as he went on. “He told me how clones were created. I guess I hadn’t really thought about you guys not having parents before.”

Wrecker looked nervously between the sergeant and the kid. Hunter’s eyes closed as he pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a heavy exhale. Wrecker fought to suppress another laugh—because of course Tech would say that. In Tech’s eyes, it was just a fact that they didn’t have parents. Wrecker understood that, but that didn’t mean Din would. Really, they were lucky the kid was so easygoing.

“And on that note…” Hunter grumbled as he rose from his chair. “I think it’s time to wake the rest of the boys up.” He turned and walked towards the bunks. He mumbled something else under his breath, but without enhanced senses like Hunter’s—and a severely damaged eardrum of his own—Wrecker couldn’t hear it.

It took a few heartbeats for Din to break the silence, and when he did, his voice was almost as small as it had been when they’d first introduced themselves to him. “Did I make him upset?”

Wrecker’s entire body filled with both sympathy and panic as he practically dove out of his seat to kneel at Din’s side. “No! No , Mando. Don’t ya’ worry.” Wrecker ruffled the kid’s hair, relieved to see him relaxing at the gesture. “It wasn’t you. Hunter’s just…” Wrecker searched for the right word as he scratched the back of his neck.

“Protective?” Din’s brow wrinkled. “That’s what Crosshair said last night.”

Wrecker nodded at Din’s suggestion. “Yeah, exactly! And since he knows your parents—,” Wrecker inhaled a sharp breath. Here he was, rubbing salt in the wound! “Uh… Hunter just didn’t want anyone to upset ya’.”

Din, much to Wrecker’s surprise, started to smile. “I understand.” He shrugged. “But it didn’t upset me. It made me feel less alone.”

The kid looked down at his trousers and tugged at a loose thread. Wrecker grimaced when he realized how dirty and tattered his red clothing had become.

“We might not have parents, but at least we have each other. Right?”

Wrecker didn’t even think twice as he set his hand on Din’s shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. “That’s right, Mando.”

Din perked up at that. Wrecker started to smile before the kid even said anything. “Echo told me that you guys only give your brothers nicknames. Is that why you gave me one?” 

There was that feeling again, the one that crushed Wrecker’s chest more than any heavy weight he’d ever carried. Every instinct screamed at him to reassure the kid, and there was no good reason to ignore it. “Yeah, kid.” Wrecker nodded. “As long as you’re here, you’re one of us.”

Wrecker waited until Din was smiling again to stand up and sit back in his chair. He still kept his weight forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he beamed at the kid.

“You got another story for me, Mando?”

Din let out an excited gasp that made Wrecker chuckle. “I have the perfect one.”

════════════════════

Din crumpled up the wrapper of his finished ration in his fist as he half-listened to Wrecker, Tech, and Crosshair’s “debate” over the explosives by Tech’s bunk. It sounded more like an argument to Din, but he wasn’t one to judge. He’d never had siblings before, anyway.

The other half of Din’s attention was drawn to the cockpit, where Hunter and Echo were sitting together. Din had always been good at reading people’s expressions, at least that’s what his mother had told him, and he could tell even from a distance that the two of them were talking about something serious.

Based on the way they kept stealing looks at Din, he had a feeling that it had to do with him.

Din wasn’t too worried about it, though. He hadn’t known this clone squad long, but because of the way they took him in so quickly, Din really felt like one of them. It was making everything so much easier to deal with.

But Din still had his moments. He was just good at hiding them from the clones. He didn’t want them to worry about him any more than they already were—especially Hunter, who was pinching the bridge of his nose again. Din noticed he did that a lot when he was really worried about something. He hoped it wasn’t about him this time.

Din slid off the chair he’d been sitting on and dared to approach the cockpit. He tiptoed his way over, but Hunter’s gaze snapped over to him before he’d even gotten that close.

Din froze in shock. He was still getting used to everyone’s enhancements, but Hunter’s were the hardest to understand. He couldn’t imagine what it was like to sense… well, everything .

Echo’s stare followed Hunter’s, and Din was relieved when Echo started to smile. “It’s alright, kid.” Echo gestured back with his head. “Come on in.”

Din walked in, sheepish. At least Hunter had started to relax like Echo, too, even as he stood up to offer Din his chair. Din mumbled a shy thank-you as he hopped up onto it. Hunter folded his arms and rested them on the back of the chair, setting Din inside his protective shadow.

“How’re you holding up?” Echo’s brow was wrinkled as he leaned closer to Din’s chair.

Din shrugged. “I feel normal.”

He hoped Hunter’s senses couldn’t somehow detect his lie. It was true in a way, though. Din didn’t really feel anything when he thought about what happened. He was just kinda numb. But even then, he knew the squad was helping him somehow.

Hunter hummed from above him. Din looked up, catching sight of his doubtful expression. “You can tell us the truth, you know.” Hunter’s voice, which was lower than his brothers’, was still soft, which Din appreciated. “We want to help you.”

“You are! I mean, you do . I just…” Din hesitated, pressing his lips together as he let himself think.

Echo patted him on the shoulder with his hand. “Take your time, Mando.” He nodded. “We understand. It’s… a lot to take in.”

Din smiled at the nickname. He couldn’t help it. It made him happy every time he heard it. It started to fade, though, as he remembered the last time he’d talked to Echo. “How long did it take you, Echo?”

Echo lifted his brow. “What do you mean?”

Din looked down at his hands and mumbled, regretful to bring up such a heavy topic. “After what happened to your batchmates.”

Din felt the chair move underneath him, and he realized it was because of Hunter stiffening above him. He was about to ask Hunter if he was okay when Echo responded.

“Well, to be honest, I didn’t really have time to think about it.” Echo was looking off into the distance, as if he was actually seeing everything he was talking about. “Fives and I had just been deployed into the 501st, and we wanted to make a good first impression.” Echo blinked a few times and looked back at Din. “But the nightmares mostly stopped after a standard month or so.”

Din deflated in his seat. “That sounds like a long time.”

“It wouldn’t have been as long if I didn’t try to ignore it.” Echo fixed Din with a serious stare. “I know it’s hard to talk about it, but it really does help.”

Din started to perk up at that. “That’s what Tech said when he let me talk about it last night!”

“Oh, really?” Echo let out a soft huff. “He did that for me, too, you know. It wasn’t long after I joined the squad.”

“Really?”

Din was surprised to hear Hunter’s response. He sounded really shocked. Why wouldn’t Hunter have known about that?

Din was even more confused to see Echo look guiltily at his older—wait, no, technically younger , according to Crosshair—brother. “Yeah. I can, uh, tell you about it another time.”

Din frowned and looked down at his hands. Had Echo told him something that he hadn’t even told his own brothers? Din didn’t make Echo feel like he had to tell him such a sad story, did he?

Suddenly, Din also felt very guilty.

The apology was past Din’s lips before he could help it. “I’m sorry.”

The emotions of the last rotation were finally catching up to him, now, and he was ashamed to lift his head for fear of the two clones seeing the sudden tears in his eyes. They were already so worried about him, he knew that. He didn’t want to make it worse. He couldn’t . Because if he did… maybe they would get rid of him.

And then he’d really be alone.

Din was only pulled out of his dark thoughts when his chair swiveled in a new direction. Hunter was kneeling in front of him, now, and he set a hand on one of Din’s shoulders.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for.” Hunter’s voice was even softer than before.

“Yeah, kid. Why are you apologizing?” Echo sounded surprised—and concerned.

Din winced and hoped that Hunter’s senses didn’t hear it. “I didn’t mean to make you talk about your batchmates, Echo.”

Echo huffed and shook his head. “You didn’t ‘make’ me do or say anything.” He added a nod. “I wanted to tell you.”

Din messed with the loose string on his trousers for what had to be the millionth time today. “But you haven’t even told all your brothers about it, yet.”

After a long stretch of silence, Din dared to look up, afraid to be met with angry faces. Instead, he saw Echo lost in thought, and Hunter returning that glance with a cautious knit in his brow.

Maybe Din shouldn’t have brought that up. He was making a real mess of things, wasn’t he?

More tears started to cloud his eyes. There could only be so many mistakes until the squad had had it with him, for good. If only he had stayed out in the hold with Wrecker, Tech, and Crosshair…

“That’s… different, kid.” Hunter finally spoke for Echo, and he let out a steady breath before he looked at Din again. “We haven’t really had time to talk about things like that. Our squad gets a lot of missions, more than any other, really.”

Hunter gave Echo an apologetic glance.

“And we haven’t exactly asked Echo about his batchmates, either, so it’s no one’s fault except our own.”

Echo had only just started to smile at Hunter when a new voice joined the discussion. “I beg to differ.”

All three of their heads turned to Crosshair, who leaned against the hull inside the cockpit with his arms crossed. He had a toothpick balanced between his lips that he removed once the attention was on him.

“Crosshair…” Hunter warned, his brow furrowed.

“Now’s not the time,” Echo added. His eyes were narrowed at Crosshair. “We can talk about this later.” He gestured with his stare towards Din.

“Stop acting like the kid can’t handle this.” Crosshair pushed off the hull and walked closer to them.

Hunter stood and stepped in between Crosshair and Echo, as if he was trying to make a wall between them. Din’s eyes widened.

“He’s made it clear that he can.” Crosshair nodded at Din. “And he’s got a very good point.”

Din looked behind Crosshair when he saw more movement from the hold. Wrecker and Tech had crept closer, and Tech had even left his datapad behind. Din hadn’t been around the squad for long, but he’d been there long enough to know that Tech didn’t go anywhere without his datapad.

Something bad was happening here, and it was Din’s fault.

“Crosshair.” Echo chuckled, but he didn’t sound amused, at least not to Din. “Are you seriously jealous of the kid hearing about my batchmates before you lot?”

“It’s not about jealousy.” Crosshair lifted his hand to point a finger towards Echo. Hunter also raised his hand in response to the movement, setting it firmly against Crosshair’s chestplate. “It’s about trust . And you’ve just made it clear that you trust the kid more than you trust us.”

“This isn’t even about trust.”

Echo finally stood to his cybernetic feet, too, causing Hunter to extend his other hand towards him in caution. Din even saw Wrecker shuffling in closer from behind them all. Din started to shrink in on himself.

This is all my fault.

“This child’s gone through a type of loss that you can’t even begin to imagine.” Echo’s organic hand tightened into a fist at his side. Din whimpered, quickly earning himself Hunter’s observant stare. “I know from experience that what he needs is someone who understands what that’s like. That ’s why he heard my story, not that I have to explain myself to you.”

“So, what?” Crosshair’s sneering voice was actually scary when he was angry. Din flinched just from hearing it. “You were just gonna wait until something happened to one of us to finally open up?”

Hunter growled. “Crosshair, stand down .”

Crosshair didn’t listen to his older brother’s order. “I won’t give my loyalty to someone who’s told a child more about himself than he’s even told his own squad .”

“To be fair, I have at least partially heard this story,” Tech added from somewhere behind Crosshair.

“Not helping, Tech,” Echo hissed.

Din squeezed his eyes shut so hard that it made his head hurt. He could feel the scary, ugly emotions all building up, the floods of tears behind his eyes begging to pour out, because he’d already broken another family after less than a full rotation.

As if breaking up his own wasn’t enough by making his parents give their lives for him.

There was more being said, but it was muffled by Din’s heightened distress, and he wasn’t sure exactly what he interrupted when he suddenly opened his eyes and spoke. “It’s my fault, I’m sorry!”

Din jumped up from the chair. Between that and his outburst, he suddenly had every eye in the cockpit on him.

“Just, please, stop fighting.” Din tried to take a breath, but he let out a hiccup instead. “I don’t wanna ruin another family.”

Din only took a single moment to observe everyone’s reactions to that. Hunter looked equal parts confused and mortified, while Echo’s brow was furrowed in remorse. Wrecker and Tech were sharing an uncertain glance, and Crosshair was looking anywhere but at Din—but Din could still see his mixture of frustration and guilt.

Seeing them like this was scary enough. Din wasn’t ready to hear whatever they would have to say in response, especially if they agreed with him.

Din wove his way through the frozen clone troopers and shot out into the hold. He wasn’t sure exactly where he was going, although Wrecker had given him a tour of the ship before they’d all gone to sleep, so he at least had some idea. Din passed the bunks, which were a blur to his teary vision, and headed straight to the ladder on the far side of the ship.

He was soon inside the gunner’s nest, if he’d remembered what Wrecker had told him correctly, and he was hitting a dead-end. Din hoisted himself into the chair there, taking care not to accidentally press anything as he hugged his knees to his chest and buried his face there.

Then, for the first time since leaving Aq Vetina, his home , Din cried. He really cried.

There was so much Din had lost that he hadn’t really processed just yet. It was still hard to wrap his head around the fact that he wouldn’t ever see his parents again, or hear their voices telling him they loved him. It was also hard to imagine never going home again, because there was nothing to go back to.

Just like that, everything Din had ever known and loved had vanished. Now, Din was afraid that this would vanish, too, this brotherhood who had welcomed him in with open arms. Who had given him a place to feel safe when he was at his most vulnerable. Who had given him a nickname , a practice that was sacred to them.

Din knew it wasn’t really his fault, or at least anything he himself had done, but it seemed that wherever he went, devastation followed. It had happened on Aq Vetina, and now it was happening here, on this ship. He didn’t want to leave behind the very same people who had saved him, but he didn’t want his bad luck to hurt them, either.

Maybe it was for the best that he left.

“Hey, Mando.”

Din’s head rose from his knees, the fabric now darkened with tear stains, at the sound of Wrecker’s voice. It was a lot quieter and softer than he was used to hearing it.

“Is it okay if I come up there with ya’?”

Din leaned out from behind the chair to look at Wrecker, who had nothing but a warm smile to offer him in return. The others were still in the cockpit, but the door was closed. Din had a feeling that Hunter was giving them a stern talking to about whatever had just happened.

Remembering Wrecker had asked a question, Din nodded. He didn’t trust his voice just yet, especially when it felt like someone had tied a knot really tightly inside of it.

Wrecker’s smile grew as he climbed up. The space instantly felt smaller, thanks to Wrecker’s namesake size and strength, but Din already felt much safer.

So, when Wrecker knelt down next to the chair, Din slid out of it and let himself fall right into Wrecker’s arms in a desperate embrace.

Wrecker held him there tightly, patting his back in a soothing way, but Din still knew somehow that Wrecker was withholding some of his strength to keep himself from crushing him by accident. Din cried whatever tears he had left into Wrecker’s shoulder, and though a part of him said that he should be embarrassed, he really wasn’t. He felt safe here.

After a few minutes, Din had composed himself enough to lean away from Wrecker and wipe his eyes with his sleeves. Wrecker kept his hands on Din’s shoulders, still offering a kind smile even as he spoke.

“I’m sorry about all that, kid.” Wrecker gestured with his head towards the closed cockpit door. “Hunter should be handlin’ ‘em now.”

Din huffed a little at that. “Are they gonna be in trouble?”

Wrecker shrugged. “Crosshair will, if I had to guess.” He shook his head. “But it’s not your fault, Mando.”

Din tucked his chin closer to his chest. “They were fighting because of me.”

“No, kid, they weren’t.” Wrecker gave Din’s shoulders a gentle squeeze, encouraging him to look back up again. “Cross, he’s… big on loyalty. That means a lot to ‘im. Always has.” Wrecker’s gaze searched their surroundings for a second before he went on. “So while the rest of us understand why Echo hasn’t really been ready yet to talk about his brothers, Cross took it more personally.”

Din blinked a few times as the words sunk in. “Oh.” He tightened his hands into fists at his sides. “Are they upset that Echo told me, though?”

Wrecker shook his head. “Nah, we get why he did it. Even Crosshair isn’t upset with you . It’s… a little complicated, yeah, but ya’ shouldn’t feel bad about it.” He looked at Din more seriously. “And you’re definitely not ruinin’ our family.”

Din’s lips started to quiver at that. He wasn’t really sure if it was because of his sudden relief, or because of the tiny part of him that still thought he really was responsible for all of this.

“You wanna know somethin’?” Wrecker’s eyes brightened as he went on. “Hunter and I were just talkin’ about the fact that we haven’t seen the squad so happy ever since we met ya’.”

Din felt the corners of his trembling lips starting to rise. “Really?”

“Really!” Wrecker gave one of Din’s shoulders a pat. “I think ya’ bring out the best in us.”

“You do?”

Wrecker nodded firmly. “I do, kid.” He gestured back towards the cockpit again. “So does Hunter, and I bet the others have been thinkin’ it, too.”

Din’s smile widened enough for it to reach his eyes. “Does that mean you guys won’t be getting rid of me?”

Wrecker’s expression faltered for a moment. “Gettin’ rid of you?”

Din shrugged and looked down. “I just figured, y’know, after making you all so worried all the time and causing some trouble, you’d want to get rid of me.” His brow furrowed. “I think bad luck follows me.”

Wrecker ruffled Din’s hair, causing him to look back up at the soldier again. He had nothing but honesty to offer Din as he spoke in a meaningful tone. “No one wants to get rid of ya’, Mando.” He nodded in further affirmation. “Not a single one of us.”

All Din could do was smile again at that. The words sent a warm rush through him, making him even safer than before. He was so relieved he could’ve fallen down, but he held his ground in front of Wrecker, borrowing from his new brother’s immense strength.

“Now, I think we’ve still got some time to kill.” Wrecker glanced back at the cockpit. The door was still closed. “You got another story for me?”

Din sighed and sat down on the floor of the gunner’s nest across from Wrecker, who was also settling down from his kneeling position. “I’m… not sure.” He twisted his lips as he tried to think of one.

“How ‘bout I tell a story?”

Din’s eyes widened with delight. “What kind of story?”

Wrecker grinned. “You wanna know how Echo joined our squad?”

Din nodded earnestly. “Yes!”

Wrecker chuckled at his enthusiasm and nodded. “Alright, Mando. It all started when we heard from our reg friend, Commander Cody.”

════════════════════

[badbatchdalorian]

The First Plan 99 - Part 3: Finding Strength

MEDIA: The Bad Batch (2021-2024) CHARACTERS: Hunter & The Bad Batch RATING: T (14+) TAGS: graphic depictions of violence, Hunter-centric, torture, medical torture, psychological torture, aftermath of torture, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, broken bones, family drama, family fluff, protective siblings, non-canon compliant, childhood trauma, anxiety attacks, Crosshair rejoins Clone Force 99 (more here) SUMMARY: Hunter’s capture on Daro is more than just a way for Crosshair to set a trap for the rest of their squad, and the sergeant proves just how far he’s willing to go to keep his family, including their wayward brother, safe. cross-posted from ao3, where updates are more frequent

PART 3: FINDING STRENGTH

Hunter’s bleary vision began to clear when he heard the swoosh of the door opening. He hadn’t been keeping track of time as the black-armored troopers had carried out their assault, but if he had to guess, he would say it had been a good half a standard hour or so. His head was throbbing the way it often did when he had a sensory migraine, if not a little more intense, and that pain was enough to distract him from the rest of his body.

The sergeant’s arms had at least gone numb from supporting his body weight for so long. Hunter’s shoulders were aching from the strain of it, and he wouldn’t be surprised if at least one of them was on the cusp of dislocation from the awkward position, paired with his body’s struggle to get away from the blows he was dealt.

It was hard to say just how much damage had been done to Hunter in that time, especially without sparing himself a glance, but the catch in his ribcage each time he tried to breathe informed him that the worst had to be at least one broken rib. He could deal with that.

The Imperial officer stepped into Hunter’s clarified vision, along with the guards who had exited with him earlier. This time, the commandos were each carrying a metal rod, though they passed them off to the dark-armored troopers.

Every screaming muscle in Hunter’s aching body tensed as he realized exactly what the weapons were.

“Ah, yes, this is more like it.” The officer’s eyes were cruelly illuminated in the dim space as he observed Hunter’s beaten-down state. “Your strength is extremely commendable, Sergeant, but even the strongest have a breaking point.”

Hunter raised an eyebrow and chuckled as he wet his lips to speak. He tried not to cringe at the metallic taste of blood he caught from the split in his lip. “You really think this is my breaking point?”

“That’s left to be seen.” The officer nodded at the weapon in one of the trooper’s grasps. “I trust you know what these are.” His tone lowered. “And what they can do.”

Hunter refused to dignify his words with a verbal response. Instead, he narrowed his eyes even more, wishing that his stare had the power to throw vibroblades the way his hands did.

“Wonderful. Then we may proceed.” The Imperial officer gestured out with his hands to both the armed troopers, who obeyed his silent order by igniting the weapons.

The crackling of the electricity was enough to send Hunter’s delicate senses on the fritz, even if they hadn’t made contact with him yet. He squeezed his eyes shut and grit his teeth, fighting off a pained groan as valiantly as he could. He could feel every spark that lit up along the electrostaffs, barraging through his every sense and leaving a metallic taste on his tongue.

But he had been trained for this, even if it was a cruel kind of training no one should ever have to endure. Hunter steeled himself and reopened his eyes, allowing the rageful fire within him to burn in their depths. It intensified when he was met with the officer’s smug expression.

“Your squad targeted our base to free CC-5576. Who gave you that order, and what were your intentions with them?”

Hunter’s hardened features never faltered even as he spoke. “That’s two questions.”

The officer began to frown. “I’m aware.”

Hunter tilted his head. “Not sure who taught you interrogation tactics, but you’re supposed to—.”

Even mid-sentence, Hunter was still able to prepare himself for the first shock. The officer’s aggressive hand movement had clued him in, as did Hunter’s own awareness that he was purposely taunting the man, and it gave him a precious second or two to rein in his senses the best he could.

Both the rods made contact on his ribs simultaneously, and for a moment, everything turned white.

Hunter had taught himself during the experimentation on Kamino how to cope with the white-hot, all-consuming pain of electrocution that devoured his senses. He had to find something else to focus on, something more powerful than the agony that could pull scream after scream from his rattled lungs without him having any control over it.

For Hunter, that was his love for his squad, his brothers. It was always his brothers. And now, it was Omega, too.

First, he focused on Tech, the eldest of his younger brothers who was a calming, steady, and reliable presence in Hunter’s life. Even now, as Hunter’s body began to shake from the excruciating jolts of electricity, he found relief in the idea of Tech guiding his squad through whatever they were experiencing in Hunter’s absence.

The sergeant had every bit of faith in Tech to lead them and keep them safe, as Tech would always properly assess the risks of every move they made. The specialist had never let Hunter down before.

The troopers pulled back, and after the last few tantalizing sparks of electricity tapered off, Hunter was able to breathe again. He fought to keep his eyes open, refusing to show how worn he and his senses were already. The first and second waves were always the worst; once they got to the third, Hunter and his senses would be numb enough to manage the pain for a while.

At least these short bursts were better than the constant flow of electricity that the longnecks ran through him.

“I am inquiring about CC-5576, not interrogation tactics.” The Imperial officer’s voice was warbled as Hunter’s sensitive ears adjusted and recovered, but he could make out the words easily enough. “Why were they your target?”

Hunter waited until his breathing was steady enough to answer, and he was pleased to hear that his voice wasn’t as broken as he was expecting it to be. “Why not?”

The officer took a step closer to him. Hunter winced quietly as he reached his agonized senses out far enough to listen for the man’s heartbeat, which was quickening in the same amount of frustration Hunter could smell on him.

“This is a highly irregular move for you and your squad. Do you think we have not noticed the fact you have been hiding ever since you last crossed paths with your former squadmate on Bracca, aside from your brief stint on Ryloth?”

Hunter tightened his jaw, but said nothing. The fact the Empire was still watching their moves so closely made him uneasy.

“And there, you left a clone behind. A clone like CC-5576.” The officer furrowed his brow, his gaze searching Hunter’s. “So, Sergeant, what changed? Why risk your men for this clone, and not the other?”

Hunter swallowed hard, borrowing from his inner strength, and answered. “You’re wrong. They’re not the same.”

The officer’s eyes glittered with sudden interest—and hope. “Oh?”

Hunter enjoyed watching the light fade from the man’s eyes as he smirked, even if the motion tugged painfully at his split lip. “One of ‘em is a commando.”

The officer’s face hardened immediately. Because the officer hadn’t moved, and Hunter’s senses couldn’t pick up on the subtle hand movement behind the man’s back, he was left more unprepared for the next round of shocks.

The contact from both electrostaffs drew a pained cry from Hunter, especially with how horrible the second wave always was, but he recovered enough from the white-hot agony when he thought of his next squad member: Wrecker.

Wrecker, who was bred to be entirely hard, rough edges, had quickly proven himself to be the softest of them all. It had only become increasingly evident in these darker, more uncertain times that Wrecker was everyone’s cornerstone, a reliable crutch that they could all lean upon.

Hunter had no doubt that Wrecker was doing everything he could to ease everyone’s anxieties now, when the sergeant wasn’t there to do it himself. He was also comforted by the fact that if Wrecker were here right now, he’d be the first to catch Hunter when he fell from the exhaustion of it all.

When the troopers pulled away, Hunter settled into the familiarity of the pain he was experiencing, watching the white fade from the edges of his vision as he steadied himself with the deepest breaths he could manage. If Tech were here, he would correct Hunter on the fact they were merely wheezes, not full breaths.

But at least there was air going in and coming out. That was promising.

“In all honesty, the clone is of little importance to me.”

The officer and his voice were both still a blur, but Hunter faced him as if that wasn’t the case. He had backed up a few steps, presumably once the electrostaffs had actually activated.

“What’s always been of value to us is your squad. With just a slight alteration to your… perspectives… you would all make exceptional additions to our forces.”

Hunter’s voice was nothing more than a broken growl. “That won’t happen.”

The officer grinned. “It already has.”

Hunter’s chest tightened as he realized exactly what he had just walked into. No. Don’t say his name.

“CT-9904 has already proven himself to be quite a capable leader.”

Hunter bared his teeth before he could help it. Hearing his youngest brother’s designation, hearing him referenced as little more than a number from this man’s mouth, was infinitely worse than having to hear his name. “He had no choice.”

“I wonder…” The officer continued as if Hunter hadn’t spoken, stroking his chin with his hand. He didn’t bother to hide his smile as he did so. “Would the other members of your squad fare just as well, if not better, if they stepped out from the shadow of your own leadership amongst our ranks?”

Hunter somehow found the strength to raise his chin higher as he stared down the officer. “They would.” He furrowed his brow and set his jaw. “But never for you.”

The officer’s brow furrowed, casting his face in a menacing shadow. “Their choices are loyalty to the Empire or swift death.” Hunter saw it this time, the subtle gesture of his fingers that he waved as he finished. “So are yours.”

The electrostaffs made contact, and Hunter disappeared into the agonizing oblivion of whiteness.

But the pain was distant, now that Hunter had grown numb to it—and it was even further out of reach as the next squad member came to mind, someone who had no doubt dealt with much, much worse than Hunter himself was currently experiencing.

Echo had fit in so well with the squad that Hunter often forgot he hadn’t been with them for most of the war. The ARC trooper carried himself in a way that the sergeant had always admired, and Hunter would be the first to admit that he looked up to Echo and his fierce nobility. One of Hunter’s best decisions as the squad’s commanding officer was to assist General Skywalker and Captain Rex with Echo’s risky rescue on Skako Minor.

Hunter had no doubt that Echo was assisting Tech in leading the squad now, and that assurance is what kept the sergeant’s heart from withering within his chest. Echo was a reliable guide for Hunter alone, and he knew the same could, and would, go for the rest of the squad.

The whiteness turned to darkness as the electricity stopped, reuniting Hunter with the back of his own eyelids as he fought for air between pitiful gasps. He wasn’t given recovery time before the officer’s interrogation continued, his voice—barely audible to Hunter’s damaged hearing—betraying his frustration.

“My patience is wearing thin, now. You do not want to become useless to me, Sergeant.” The officer frowned, his face now painted in haunting shadows. “Tell us where to find your squad.”

Hunter managed to open his eyes as he wet his lips again to speak. Unfortunately, this time, his voice was indeed broken by whatever pained sounds he had been making. “I’m… Sergeant Hunter… of Clone Force 99.” The interrogation training he had received was like second nature, even to his foggy mind. “Designation CT-9901.”

That answer plunged Hunter headfirst into the white blaze of agony, but a single name broke through the static to provide a warm, loving escape.

Omega.

She was everything good in the galaxy that Hunter had never experienced for himself. To be in her presence alone was to be fulfilled. Hunter could already see pieces of his brothers, and himself, within her; she had Tech’s curiosity, Wrecker’s emotion, Echo’s integrity, and Hunter’s own protectiveness.

Hunter could even see his youngest brother’s loyalty within her.

Omega was a gift Hunter wasn’t sure he deserved, and although taking care of her was no doubt his most difficult mission yet, it was easily his most rewarding. He would do anything for her, even set aside the lifestyle he and his brothers had been created for. The thought of her now, after hearing her pleas through the comm as the Marauder disappeared from sight…

It was enough to jolt Hunter back to awareness when the shocks nearly took him under. Everything was a blur, and Hunter couldn’t be sure what he was actually sensing versus what his pained mind was conjuring up to cope with the debilitating pain that throbbed in time with his slowing heart.

The officer was just as spent. His voice rose to a volume that had Hunter wincing pitifully. “I will only ask once more, Sergeant. Where have you been hiding? Where are they?”

Hunter blinked, his eyes squinting to see as the lights of the room quickly became too much for him to bear. He forced his aching chest to inflate with one last final effort. “‘M… S’rg’nt Hun’er… of Clone—.”

The whiteness stole his breath completely this time, but not without forcing the image of his last family member into his mind. The ache their name alone brought him was so intense that Hunter whispered it inaudibly on his lips.

“Crosshair.”

Hunter missed him. Gods, he missed him so badly that the pain of it was worse than any electric shock could ever provide. Hunter wouldn’t ever forgive himself for leaving Crosshair the way he did, even if it was the only way to keep everyone else safe.

Tech could remind him about their limited knowledge of the inhibitor chips at the time. Echo could recall the way Wrecker had been shot inside Kamino’s hangar. Wrecker could speak from his own experience that there was nothing more they could do for their brother. Even Omega could promise Hunter that they would still get him back somehow.

But nothing would ever convince Hunter to forgive himself for letting everything happen to Crosshair in the first place.

We don’t leave our own behind.

It was Hunter’s own words that haunted him as the whiteness faded into darkness, and this time, the darkness stayed.

════════════════════

Wrecker had learned how to fight back the anger the Kammies had tried to program into him at a young age, but right now, he was finding it even harder than usual to swallow it down. His gloved hands were pulled tight into fists at his sides. He noticed that the people he passed on his way back to the Marauder looked even more scared of him than usual, but Wrecker couldn’t bring himself to care.

His brother, their leader, the closest person Wrecker had to a father, was in the hands of the Empire, and Cid wanted to charge them for it.

Wrecker and the lot of them knew that Cid wasn’t exactly a stand-up or trustworthy ally, but they didn’t have much of a choice. He could basically see the weight of it on Hunter’s shoulders all the time, detailed in the creasing lines around his face and the darkening circles under the sergeant’s eyes. Unfortunately, the Trandoshan was still their best chance at survival right now.

But she was about as useful as kark in helping them to save Hunter, whatever they were doing to him right now.

Wrecker steadied himself with another breath as he turned the last corner before the Marauder’s hangar bay. He remembered the reassurances both Echo and Tech had given him on the way to Ord Mantell, and the ones he had given them in return. If anyone could fare on their own against the Empire, it was Hunter. Being mad at Cid wouldn’t help their sergeant right now, either.

What Wrecker needed to do was what he had been made to do: to lift and support heavy weights. For Wrecker, that was more than just physical weights, and it always had been.

That’s why he made it his personal responsibility to approach Omega when he strided through the threshold of the Marauder’s bay. She was clutching Lula like the tooka doll was a lifeline, her brow furrowed as she anxiously watched Echo work on the ship. Although Wrecker could see that she was trying to help by passing Echo the tools he needed, he could tell that this was the last thing she needed to be doing.

“Cid’s not happy,” Wrecker announced his arrival with a scoff.

Echo looked at Wrecker over his shoulder before he continued whatever he was welding. “Good thing we don’t care.”

Wrecker stopped behind Omega, and even as he kept addressing Echo, he set a firm hand on one of her shoulders. She leaned into the touch, resting her back against him. “I think she’s gonna try ‘n charge us.”

Echo halted his work to give Wrecker an incredulous look. “For what?”

Wrecker shrugged. “For goin’ rogue on the job to help Rex instead. And ‘cause she’s watchin’ Gregor.”

Echo huffed and rolled his eyes. “Whatever. That’s a later problem, and she’ll live.” He returned to his work.

Wrecker hesitated before speaking up to the ARC trooper once more. “Echo…”

Echo kept his hand and scomp where they were, but turned his head to raise an eyebrow at Wrecker.

“Any chance you’re good to work on your own right now?” Wrecker flickered his gaze down to Omega, who had started to all but curl in towards him.

Echo’s stare followed Wrecker’s, and the lines around his hardened expression softened before he nodded. “Yeah, yeah, I’ve got it from here.”

Wrecker nodded and turned his full attention to Omega. He gave her shoulder a squeeze, encouraging her to look up at him. Her eyes were wide and fearful, but they weren’t shining with tears like they were after they had first left Daro.

“Alright, kid.” Wrecker gestured with his head towards the Marauder. “Wanna help me with a special project?”

Omega’s eyes lit up only a fraction of the amount Wrecker would usually see after a proposal like that, but it was still a win in his book. She nodded earnestly, keeping Lula tucked against her as she turned towards the ship. Wrecker offered the girl his hand, and she kept it clasped in one of hers as he guided them onto the Marauder.

Wrecker only stopped once they were inside the main hold. He knelt down to her level and faced her, setting both his hands on her shoulders.

“You wanna help Hunter, just like the rest of us. Right?”

Omega nodded more dutifully this time. “Right.” She hardened her expression in a way that reminded Wrecker all too much of both Hunter and Echo. He chuckled under his breath and returned her nod.

“Well, that’s what we’re gonna do.” Wrecker pointed at Hunter’s bunk, which was usually neat—but had been somewhat messed up by Wrecker when he’d gotten the sergeant’s pillow. “We gotta’ get things ready for ‘im to rest when he gets back. We don’t know what he’s goin’ through, so… we gotta’ be ready for anythin’.”

Omega’s stare lingered on Hunter’s bunk, her lips pulled tight as she fought a frown. Her voice was so quiet that Wrecker nearly missed the words she spoke. “Do you think they’re hurting him?”

Wrecker lifted a hand from her shoulder to scratch the back of his neck. He couldn’t look at her as he answered. “I’m… not sure, kid.” Wrecker took a deep breath and hushed the voices in his own head that were fearing the worst for his eldest brother. “But we’re gonna be prepared, just in case.”

Wrecker looked at Omega again. She was watching her finger trace Lula’s eye when she asked her next question. “Do you think he’ll be okay?”

I hope so. Those were the words that nearly left Wrecker’s lips, but in reading Omega’s expression, he quickly realized they weren't enough. She needed reassurance, firm reassurance, and Wrecker could give her that.

“Yeah, I do.”

Omega’s eyes met Wrecker’s as her brow shot up in surprise. The light within her began to reemerge even more at his confident answer. “What makes you so sure?”

Wrecker shrugged, and he still firmly believed everything he was saying. “It’s Hunter. He always finds a way.”

Omega stared at Wrecker and blinked a few times. Then, for a moment that Wrecker wished he could capture in a canister and keep forever, Omega smiled. “You’re right.”

Wrecker returned her grin with a toothy one of his own. “Hah, now that’s not somethin’ I hear often!”

Wrecker gave Omega’s shoulder the lightest playful shove he could manage, and thankfully, he calculated it correctly. Omega was barely jostled, and the motion actually made her smile widen.

“Let’s do our part for him, now. Yeah?”

Wrecker set his hand, palm down, in the air between them. Omega beamed as she set a hand over his.

“Yeah.” Omega withdrew her hand and stood straighter. “What do we need to do first?”

Wrecker nodded towards Hunter’s bunk, bringing it back to her attention. “First things first, we gotta’ neaten this up for him.” He shrunk in on himself as he imagined the reality of his next words coming true. “He would not be happy if he saw it like this.”

Wrecker could barely blink before Omega was in action. She found the missing pillow in record time, taking it from Wrecker’s bunk and fluffing it up the best she could before setting it neatly where it belonged. Wrecker had to force himself to stop watching her in amazement and actually help her.

While Omega continued her own work, Wrecker headed towards their storage and opened up a crate that held their emergency supplies. He took the extra blanket within it and paused as he spotted one of the medkits. Wrecker debated asking Tech what to do with the medkit, but he decided that having it close on hand just in case would be a good decision in the end.

As Wrecker made his way back to the bunks, he couldn’t help smiling again at Omega. She was sitting inside Hunter’s bunk, arranging both Lula and Trooper perfectly against the propped-up pillow. Omega was so absorbed by her task that she barely noticed Wrecker’s arrival until he was kneeling down to refold the blanket.

“I don’t know if Hunter will want these, but…” Omega paused and looked at her setup, smiling softly. “They’ve helped me a lot after some bad things.”

Wrecker grinned a little wider, leaning forward enough to gently tussle Omega’s hair. “He’ll love it, kid.” Omega was beaming again as Wrecker set up the blanket and medkit at the other end of the bunk. “Lula used to get passed ‘round a lot more, ya’ know.”

Omega’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Wrecker wandered back into some of his hardest yet most beloved memories. “When we were cadets. I used to give her to the boys when they had a bad day, and sometimes, I wouldn’t see her again for a couple o’ days.”

Omega looked at Wrecker as if he’d just told her the galaxy’s greatest secret. “And everyone used her?”

Wrecker nodded. “She mighta’ been mine, but she has a piece of every one of us.”

His gaze shifted to the tooka doll that was staring back at him. In his periphery, he could see Omega doing the same.

“Hunter’s the one who found the materials for her. Tech designed her, and Cross…” Wrecker used all the strength he was bred with to swallow down a wince, “Crosshair stitched her.”

Omega’s stare softened more than the plush material of Lula herself as she looked at Wrecker again. “They… made this for you?”

Wrecker nodded. “Mhm. I was… havin’ a tough time for a bit, and they wanted to cheer me up.”

He didn’t necessarily like revisiting the days when he was learning how to cope with everyone staring, calling him names behind his back, or genuinely acting scared every time he tried to approach them. Wrecker had always been sensitive, but his brothers had protected him from it all the best they could—especially Hunter.

And Wrecker would be damned if they couldn’t finally do the same for him now.

“So you were right to bring ‘er and Trooper.” Wrecker patted Omega’s shoulder. “I think Hunter will really like havin’ ‘em here when he gets back.”

Omega’s grin was brighter than Wrecker had seen it ever since Hunter had given the order for them to leave. Sadly, it didn’t last as long as he’d wanted. Omega’s gaze found the medkit Wrecker had set out, and her entire body deflated as the dark cloud of worry pooled in her eyes again.

“Wrecker, can you be honest with me?”

Wrecker schooled his own expression to match hers, conveying his severity as he nodded. Omega hesitated before going on.

“Are you scared at all?” She looked down at her hands as they started to fumble with each other. “I know you said you think he’ll be okay, but… is there any part of you that’s scared he won’t be?”

Wrecker eased himself inside the bunk and sat beside Omega, setting his hand over Omega’s the way he had done for Tech not that long ago. He only started to answer her question when she looked up at him.

“I am scared.” Wrecker’s gaze fell to their hands for a moment. “We already lost Cross a while ago, and I don’t wanna lose another brother.” He shook his head and blinked a few times. “Especially not Hunter. He’s always been there for us. I mean, he’s always tried to be. It’s a lil’ tough with Cross right now.”

Omega leaned into Wrecker, her head resting against his arm as she also looked down at their hands. Her brow was furrowed even more than before. “Do you think Crosshair’s there?”

Wrecker raised an eyebrow at her. “Where?”

Omega’s gaze found his. “With Hunter.”

Wrecker blew out a breath and shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess he would probably wanna be.”

Omega’s eyes darkened even more before she tried to go on. “Do you think he’ll…”

She couldn’t finish her question, and Wrecker was glad she didn’t. He closed his eyes tightly at the image that appeared violently within his own mind, a flashback to the hangar on Kamino when it was Wrecker at the end of his own brother’s rifle. A rifle Wrecker had picked up for Crosshair on the battlefield more than once, and had even memorized the modifications for. And Wrecker hated memorizing things.

No, Wrecker didn’t want to imagine that Crosshair would hurt any more of them against his own will.

Wrecker reopened his eyes when he felt something soft against his neck. He looked down and saw Omega holding Lula up to him. With a gentle smile, Wrecker accepted Lula with one hand and wrapped the other around Omega’s shoulders, inviting her to lean even more into him as they silently comforted one another with their presence.

They had done everything they could do for Hunter right there and then, and that would have to be enough.

════════════════════

[badbatchdalorian]

The First Plan 99 - Part 2: The Unknown

MEDIA: The Bad Batch (2021-2024) CHARACTERS: Hunter & The Bad Batch RATING: T (14+) TAGS: graphic depictions of violence, Hunter-centric, torture, medical torture, psychological torture, aftermath of torture, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, broken bones, family drama, family fluff, protective siblings, non-canon compliant, childhood trauma, anxiety attacks, Crosshair rejoins Clone Force 99 (more here) SUMMARY: Hunter's capture on Daro is more than just a way for Crosshair to set a trap for the rest of their squad, and the sergeant proves just how far he's willing to go to keep his family, including their wayward brother, safe. cross-posted from ao3, where updates are more frequent

PART 2: THE UNKNOWN

Hunter woke without realizing he’d ever gone to sleep. His chin was tucked down towards his chest, and his body was aching from the position he was still taking on the floor of his cell.

He shifted, and instantly, Hunter let out a tight groan. No, his body wasn’t hurting from the positioning alone, because Hunter’s muddled mind was quickly realizing that this ache was much more intense—and it was only getting worse the more he stirred.

Hunter thudded the back of his head against the cool metal behind him and immediately regretted it. His head was swimming from the fall, the hit from the commando’s blaster, and the weight of his worries for his squad and his current situation. He clenched his teeth and lifted his gloved hands, still cuffed together at the wrists, to delicately touch the temple where he’d been struck. Even through the gloves, he could feel the dried blood sticking there, unlikely to be cleaned and dressed anytime soon.

Hunter then moved his awareness through the rest of his body. His tactical pack had broken most of the impact from the fall, both the initial impact with the rock on the mountain and the second on the forest floor, but there was still a wicked soreness that splayed over the expanse of Hunter’s neck and back. The sergeant also winced as he tested his ribs, which were sensitive from him hitting the Marauder’s boarding ramp and steps after he had jumped.

And when Hunter stretched out both his legs in front of him and rolled his ankles, his left one screamed in protest from an impact Hunter really couldn’t discern amidst his struggle to break the fall the best he could.

Force. Tech really was right; adrenaline was a hell of a drug. It was shocking to think just how much pain it had been masking until now.

It was hard to judge the full scale of his ankle injury without putting any real weight on it, and without having Tech here. The specialist had made himself the squad’s medic not only with knowledge he accrued in his own time, but also by attending various courses on Kamino to ensure he was up-to-date with the Republic’s standards. Tech would have known in seconds what Hunter had done to his ankle, and likely would have had an accurate guess about how and when Hunter managed to hurt it during the fall.

But Tech wasn’t here, and as panicked as Hunter was without the ability to hear his brothers’ and sister’s heartbeats, he was glad for it—because it meant they were safe. Just like when they were cadets on Kamino, Hunter would be fighting the electrical shocks to keep it that way.

As much as he tried not to go to that dark place inside his mind, Hunter’s mental walls were less fortified with the pain that was radiating through his skull already, and the promise of his upcoming fight against his greatest weakness was even more intimidating now that he was already in pain. Of course, it wasn’t like Hunter hadn’t experienced that before, either.

Hunter’s past experiences with electricity weren’t just limited to punishment. They were also a part of the experimentation that was done to him and his brothers, when the longnecks, notably Nala Se, wanted to test the limits of Hunter’s capabilities. They researched how much he could take, how far his senses could reach, before it was too much. Before he broke.

It hadn’t stopped when Hunter was screaming in agony. It had only stopped when he said nothing at all, when the dark void of nothingness had pulled him under, and his chest had stopped moving for a few haunting heartbeats.

They would pick moments when Hunter was in full health and when he was injured from his training and battle simulations. The latter, they told him, would be useful for when he was on the battlefield, allowing them to determine just how capable Hunter could still be if something happened in the heat of combat. Hunter couldn’t be sure, but he thought he screamed louder whenever he was injured.

Hunter could only thank the Force his brothers had never witnessed that part of his experimentation. The longnecks had at least done him that favor.

Hunter would face it again now, even injured, if it meant keeping his family safe. After all, in a twisted way he shouldn’t have had to endure, Hunter had been trained for it. Whatever interrogation tactics awaited him, it was more than likely he had endured just the same, or worse, on behalf of either his brothers or himself during the peak of their training and experimentation.

And that wasn’t counting the grueling, specialized training Hunter had received as a sergeant.

Hunter really didn’t want to have these dismal memories fresh in mind when it was time to be taken for his first round of interrogation, but he heard the footsteps approaching down the corridor before he could think of much else, especially with the fogginess of his aching head. He at least straightened himself the best he could to face whoever was coming to escort him away.

The sergeant was greeted by two commandos, presumably the same from before. He pushed his senses just enough to recognize the vague familiarity of their heartbeats. They were the ones who had been holding the leashed creatures before, when Hunter was initially apprehended in the forest.

The ray shield was disabled, and while Hunter could have tried to stand on his own, he figured he would give these men the honor of doing it if they were so intent on taking him elsewhere. He also didn’t fully trust his body anymore, not with the resounding ache that pulsed through every bone, muscle, and nerve ending, and the last thing he wanted to do was accidentally show weakness before the true interrogation began.

Sure enough, the commandos walked over and grabbed Hunter’s arms, forcing him off the floor. The sergeant fought back a tight curse when he had to set his weight on his unreliable ankle, but thankfully, it wasn’t nearly as bad as Hunter thought it might be. The intermittently sharp yet overall dull pain there told Hunter that it was likely nothing more than a sprain.

Hunter made himself walk on it as if nothing was wrong when the commandos guided him out of his cell. The regular guards who had been standing there followed, as did two more who had also been waiting in the corridor.

Hunter huffed and raised an eyebrow as he looked around the group. “Why don’t we invite a few more friends to the party?”

One of the guards shoved him from behind. Hunter chuckled to himself even as he tripped forward a step. It was nothing compared to Wrecker’s usual friendly back pats.

The commando on his right hissed. “Quiet.”

Hunter relented, if only because his ankle was starting to throb, and he needed to put all his focus into walking normally. He kept his expression neutral even as he memorized their path to the interrogation room. It was only a few corridors away from his cell, no doubt meant to be a short trip for those who couldn’t make it back to their cells on their own strength.

Seeing as Hunter had no intentions of giving anyone the information they were seeking, he expected to eventually be one of those incapacitated prisoners. But he wasn’t afraid, not when he knew that it was all in the name of protecting his squad. If anything, Hunter was filled with a sense of purpose.

This was what he was trained for. Not for protecting the Republic and its secrets, but for protecting his family.

That also meant making his way back to them somehow, because Hunter hated to think of how his prolonged absence, or even his death, would affect them. The last thing Hunter ever wanted was to be the reason for their pain, whether it be physical, emotional, or mental.

And Omega… Force, she was still so young. Her distraught voice pleading for Hunter to revoke his orders over the comms still haunted him, cutting through the fog of his mind like a klaxon alarm. He refused to put her through the trauma of losing a brother.

Hunter may have failed his brothers in that regard by leaving one of their own behind, but he could still keep Omega from feeling that same pain. Maybe one day, if he really did survive this, he could rectify that mistake, but for now, he would control what he could control.

Hunter’s dazed and wandering mind snapped back to attention when the commandos and other troopers led him into a room. The sergeant was surprised to find that there wasn’t any electrical equipment, at least nothing that compared to what the Kaminoans would hook him up to. There was only a single restraint suspended from the ceiling of a four-walled room, though both Hunter’s senses and his observant stare could catch the cams hidden in the upper corners.

The group of them stopped in the middle of the room, just underneath the suspended restraint. The commandos relinquished their grasps on Hunter’s arms, though one of them held their blaster and gestured to the sergeant’s cuffed hands with the barrel. “Arms over your head.”

For a moment, just a single heartbeat or two, Hunter assessed his odds, and again tried not to think about how much easier that assessment would be if Tech were here. If he were in full health, even without the full access to his arms and hands, Hunter probably could have had a chance. But factoring everything else in—his throbbing head and unsteady ankle—the sergeant ultimately determined that the attempt would be unsuccessful.

So, Hunter obeyed the command, lifting his cuffed hands and arms over his head to allow the commandos to affix him to the restraining device. Blue light flickered to life above him, attracting the similar light that radiated from Hunter’s cuffs and easing the sergeant’s feet from the floor just enough to leave them dangling in the air.

At least it temporarily relieved the pressure of his body weight from his injured ankle. Hunter didn’t even need Wrecker or Tech’s constant aptitude for optimism to help him find the bright side this time.

It was only then that the rest of Hunter’s armor, which they had previously left alone, was stripped from him, leaving him in nothing but his blacks. Thankfully, for whatever reason, they kept the armor piled up somewhere instead of discarding it, though Hunter didn’t consider himself lucky. It was being saved for something.

The Imperial officers’ desires were still a clear, sharp warning even in Hunter’s foggy mind: If just one of you could become such an effective and loyal soldier, then imagine what we could accomplish with the rest of you.

Hunter would let himself die before he joined their ranks.

But that would only happen if all other options were exhausted, as Hunter still wanted to avoid burdening his squad with his death. He’d find a way out; they always did.

Hunter forced his muddled mind to focus by giving himself a brief once-over. Reduced to just his blacks, Hunter could now see more of the damage from his fall in the form of snags and tears in the gaps between his armor. The only blood he could smell on himself was coming from his temple, which meant his body bore nothing more than some meager scratches and bruises at best.

The sergeant had just finished his brief assessment when the door to the room reopened. The Imperial officer from before strided in, flanked by two new troopers who were encased in black armor—hauntingly similar to that of Hunter’s youngest brother. The door closed behind them.

“Pardon my late arrival, Sergeant.” The officer didn’t look nearly as apologetic as he was attempting to sound. “I was making arrangements for a special guest to join us, though I’m afraid they won’t be making it to this particular session.”

Hunter didn’t have to think too hard about who the special guest in question would be, even with his mind currently in a pained fog. It made his expression harden as his heart splintered within his chest. The mere thought of reuniting with his wayward brother, his biggest regret, when he was alone in such a vulnerable state was terrifying.

But it was also inevitable, and in another more hopeful way, it was relieving. Hunter had expected to see him the moment he was apprehended by the Empire. Now that the sergeant had seen the inhibitor chip working in real time and he wasn’t as pressed for time and danger as he was on Bracca and Ryloth, he fostered hope that he could somehow save his youngest brother.

To get there, however, Hunter had to focus on his main objective: surviving.

“You’ve got plenty of time to make it up to me.” Hunter gestured with his head up towards his cuffed hands.

The officer let out an amused sniff. “Indeed.”

He turned his head to nod at the two troopers by his sides, and Hunter watched with a cautious pit in his stomach as they walked closer to where he hung. They switched places with the commandos that had still been standing there, who then flanked the officer to act as protection.

Hunter fought back a scoff. The amount of security for this officer was almost embarrassing, given how utterly defenseless Hunter really was at the moment.

Both the dark-armored troopers set their blasters onto their backs, leaving their hands free. Hunter tensed in preparation of what was to come.

“Now that the pleasantries have been exchanged,” the officer’s polite grin transformed into a sinister smirk, “I must express my eagerness about the idea of having another surprise guest join us, should you identify them.”

Hunter lifted an eyebrow. When the officer didn’t continue speaking, the sergeant huffed. “Got hit in the head earlier, sir. Can’t really figure out who you’re talking about right now.”

The officer hummed thoughtfully. “In that case, perhaps a similar blow will jog your memory.”

At least Hunter was somewhat ready for it. He still couldn’t hold back the pained grunt he let out when the trooper on his right side slammed his fist against Hunter’s temple, the side that hadn’t been struck earlier. He let his grunt morph into a chuckle as he flashed a toothy grin at the officer.

“Right. The nonexistent person who told us to free that clone.”

Hunter distracted himself from the smell of his own blood on his temple by honing in on the officer’s clear displeasure. There was a quickening in his heartbeat that Hunter identified as frustration, which was further evidenced by the twitching the tracker caught under the man’s eye.

“Tell me, Sergeant.” The officer took a few steps forward, watching his boots as he did so. One hand remained tucked behind his back while the other rose to his chin. “What caused your change in heart? Your records from the war make it quite clear that your squad limited contact with other clones as much as possible. You only took one into your own ranks when they underwent some… interesting changes.”

Hunter instantly grit his teeth at the indirect reference to Echo. He treated, and truly thought of, the corporal as one of their very own, as if he had been with them from the very start. To hear this man insinuate that they had only accepted Echo because of the enhancements forced upon him and not because of the ARC trooper’s own capability and bravery during battle filled him with hot, seething rage.

“Why risk your men for this normal clone, then, if you were not requested to?”

Hunter shrugged the best he could in his current position. “Why not? If you really looked at our file, then you’d know we’ve done crazier things than—.”

The sergeant caught the subtle flicking of the officer’s hand just before another punch caused him to cut himself off, this time from the trooper on his left. The blow landed on his jaw, making Hunter winced as he gave it a cautious circle. He’d seen blood spatter, and the sudden throbbing of his lower lip proved that he’d split his lip.

Honestly, the pain was more than bearable. The worst part was the smell of his own blood, which was only intensifying now that more of it was being spilled.

“What are your squad’s intentions for the clone?”

The officer was already losing patience. Hunter wanted to click his tongue in disapproval. This man had set the bar way too low for Hunter’s own endurance.

“Can’t really make a plan if I don’t have my squad here.”

The officer’s gaze lit up at that. Hunter tried to keep his heart from leaping into his throat, instead calling upon the most tranquility he could find as the officer strided even closer to him.

“Fair point, Sergeant.” He grinned again, a sickening gesture that Hunter wanted to wipe off his face using his boot. “If you were to help me locate them, I believe they would be of great assistance to the two of us.”

Hunter tilted his head. “Not sure I agree with you on that.”

The officer leaned closer and raised his brow. “No?”

Hunter schooled his features, making himself the picture of serenity. “No.”

The officer hummed again. “Then I’m afraid my reservations are indeed true.” He remained where he was for a few heartbeats before he stepped away. The officer turned towards the door, but paused to look back at the two dark-armored troopers. “This conversation will not be productive until you are more prepared.”

He nodded at the two troopers, who stood at attention to await their orders.

“See to it that the sergeant is ready for me when I return.”

The troopers saluted him, and Hunter watched without panic as everyone aside from himself and the soldiers clad in dark armor filed out of the room. He knew what was coming, and it was something he could at least prepare for in a way he couldn’t with the electric shocks. While pain certainly rattled his senses, Hunter had experienced enough of it on a regular basis to know how to deal with it.

The door had just closed when one of the troopers closed in to throw a fist straight into Hunter’s bruised ribs. He let out a sharp hiss of pain before finding his voice through gritted teeth. “Not wasting any time, are we?”

His witty retort was met with silence, which only broke from the sounds of Hunter’s own pain as the second trooper joined in. Hunter withdrew himself from the increasing intensity of both his pain and the smell of his own blood by thinking about his squad, and praying to the Force that they were still running as far away as they could from this gods-forsaken place.

════════════════════

Anxiety was not a feeling Tech considered himself to be familiar with, particularly given the fact that he was both able and eager to equip himself with knowledge of essentially everything. His exceptional mind made that possible, allowing him to explore the supposed “unknown” to the extent of harboring a rare amount of aversion to just about any scenario.

Unfortunately, however, losing Hunter was not a situation Tech had ever allowed himself to explore in much depth.

The specialist was aware in hindsight that this was not a wise choice, but he rarely let himself dwell on scenarios that seemed highly unlikely. The sergeant had led Tech and his brothers to their one-hundred-percent success rate during the war, and although much had changed since then, Tech firmly believed that Hunter had continued to choose the most optimal routes in most of the scenarios they had faced ever since. Thus, there was no reason to ever ponder about losing their sergeant.

Hunter, however, was more than just Tech’s commanding officer. He was his eldest brother, a firm foundation that he and his batchmates had stood upon ever since their decanting. Although Echo was older than all of them, Tech had recognized rather quickly that Echo thought of the sergeant in the same manner, particularly with Hunter being the one who had invited him into their squad following the conflict on Anaxes.

Because of this, the more sentimental reason behind Tech’s hesitation to ever ponder this scenario at great length, Tech was now left with a grand feeling of anxiety.

This came with an unanticipated burden of responsibility that Tech had certainly not been expecting. While Echo was technically the eldest among them, Tech was the next senior member of Clone Force 99 itself. The corporal had certainly taken on a leading role in Hunter’s absence, but the specialist could tell that more familiar eyes, most notably Wrecker’s, were looking to him as well for reassurance, guidance, and comfort.

Unfortunately, Tech did not believe he was well-versed in the latter. Hunter was the one who had properly attuned himself to all of their brothers’ needs, which allowed him to comfort them in any scenario without having to make any inquiries. Tech had, of course, observed and noted his actions, but now that Hunter was not here… the simple act of approaching someone like Wrecker was intimidating, and altogether foreign.

Tech thus resigned himself to remaining within the cockpit, where he could continue to track the remaining duration of their trip to Ord Mantell and properly log all the necessary repairs they would have to make to the Marauder prior to their departure. He was curious to note that there was a surprising amount of trembling in his hands as he worked, which Tech attempted to resolve so as to avoid it affecting his wiring later on.

The engineer was quadruple-checking his finalized list of repairs when Echo strolled back in. He cut his eyes at the corporal from behind his goggles before he pushed them further up his nose.

“How is Omega?” Tech had been relieved when the ARC trooper had volunteered to check in on their youngest squad member after spending quite a while assisting Tech in the cockpit.

Echo took his place in the co-pilot’s chair and exhaled a breath through his nose. “She’s fine. A little restless in her sleep, but not anything I had to wake her up from, by the looks of it.”

Even without having to properly face Echo at the moment, Tech could sense the concerned shift in the corporal’s expression as he went on.

“She’s not the one I’m worried about.”

Tech’s head snapped up from his datapad at that. He lifted one trembling hand to the rim of his goggles to adjust it for no pressing reason. “Has Gregor’s condition deteriorated?”

“Gregor’s fine.”

Tech blinked a few times, his stare failing to meet Echo’s as he arrived at the proper realization.

Echo leaned forward enough to set his organic hand on Tech’s shoulder. “There’s not much I can do for him.” His expression was soft yet stern as he went on. “I think he needs one of his own.”

Tech frowned at that. “Echo, I must remind you in Hunter’s absence that you are also, indeed, one of our own.”

Echo smiled. “I know, Tech.” He tilted his head. “But I’m still not his batchmate.”

The words Echo did not say were suspended in the air between them. Memories from their decanting onwards played briefly within Tech’s impressively visual mind, proving Echo’s point more and more the longer he dwelled upon them.

At last, Tech let out a simple sigh and nodded at the corporal. Echo squeezed Tech’s armored shoulder before allowing the specialist to stand. He set his datapad onto his chair and cautiously made his way out of the cockpit.

Tech passed Gregor, who had run the course of the hypo enough to fall into a deep slumber within one of the navigation chairs, and pressed on towards the bunks. There, he found Wrecker huddled into the corner of his own bunk, grasping tightly onto a pillow in lieu of Lula, who was no doubt comforting Omega at the moment.

One quick observation of the other bunks informed Tech that the particular pillow Wrecker was holding belonged to Hunter, as the sergeant’s bunk was currently missing one.

Tech had made enough noise upon his arrival to encourage Wrecker to lift his head from where it had been buried inside the pillow. For as large as Tech’s younger brother truly was, he looked frighteningly small now, with his organic eye bloodshot and his broad shoulders drawn tight around the object he clutched in his abnormally strong grasp.

“Wrecker.” Tech cleared his throat and adjusted his goggles. He noted that his hand was trembling more severely than before, and thus he resolved to set both of them behind his back. “It seems you are having trouble adjusting to Hunter’s absence.”

Wrecker frowned. “And you aren’t?”

His accusatory tone took Tech aback for a moment. He straightened his shoulders before offering his retort. “That was not meant to be implied.”

“Hunter’s gone, Tech, and we might not get ‘im back! Just like Crosshair!” Wrecker’s gaze was hauntingly devastated as he offered his older brother a disbelieving once-over. “Why don’t you care?”

Tech paused for a moment before he let out a heavy exhale. His eyes closed behind his goggles for a moment, and he let arms fall back to his sides. Concealing the truth was certainly not Tech’s strong suit. Hopefully, Hunter would have used the same technique with Wrecker that Tech was preparing to employ: honesty.

“I do care, Wrecker.” He sat beside Wrecker inside his bunk, and once he was settled, Tech lifted his trembling hands for Wrecker to see. “I am even experiencing this strange, physical response to Hunter’s absence that I am quite unfamiliar with.”

Tech swallowed hard and focused more intently on the sight of his hands than he had to.

“I… had started experiencing the same phenomenon after we parted ways with Crosshair on Kamino, but Hunter had identified the issue straightaway and had provided the proper comfort to alleviate it. Without him, I am now uncertain of what to do.”

Wrecker had visibly softened, and the absence of sharpness in his tone proved such as he spoke in perhaps the most gentle tone Tech had ever heard from his brother. “You really are worried.”

Tech hesitated before nodding. It was still difficult to confess, even if it was true. Tech had prided himself on the fact that he favored facts and data over mere feelings, but there was little of the former for him to operate off of here. They had never before lost their sergeant in such a frightening way, especially not after dealing with the absence and betrayal of their youngest brother for so long.

“Tech…” Wrecker whimpered and positioned himself closer to Tech’s side, “there’s only two of us left.” He closed his eyes, appearing to be in pain. “How did we let this happen?”

“We did not ‘let’ anything happen, Wrecker.” Tech fixed Wrecker with a stern look, even if his younger brother still had his eyes closed. “Crosshair departed due to the effects of his inhibitor chip that we were not aware of until it was too late, and Hunter gave us an order to leave him on Daro.”

Wrecker reopened his eyes to face Tech again, and the specialist watched as his brother inhaled and exhaled a careful breath. “What do you think his odds are?”

Tech lifted a trembling hand to his chin. “Considering Hunter has evaded and escaped capture numerous times before, I would typically be inclined to say that they are quite favorable. However, the Empire is a more unfamiliar entity, therefore…” Tech’s chin fell towards his chest, “I am uncertain.”

Tech watched his hands again. The trembling was getting worse. He was preparing to wring them together in an attempt to still them when Wrecker suddenly took them and held them between his own. Tech’s stare rose to meet his younger brother’s.

There was a breathless amount of optimism in Wrecker’s tone as he spoke in a quiet voice. “When has Hunter let us down before?”

Tech mused upon the question for a drawn-out moment, but he ultimately came up with no proper answer. “I cannot recall any instances of such.”

“That’s what I thought.” Wrecker looked down at their conjoined hands again and let out another deep breath. “I’m angry, I’m upset, and I’m real worried, but I have a feelin’ that Hunter’s gonna make it out somehow.” Wrecker gave Tech a hopeful glance. “He always does.”

Before Tech could even attempt to think of a scenario that contradicted Wrecker’s words, his younger brother gave his hands a gentle squeeze.

“And you don’t have to know everything, Tech, even if ya’ do have a big brain.”

Tech frowned at that. “On the contrary, I was engineered to—.”

“Nah, none of that.”

Wrecker let go of Tech’s hands to shove the pillow against Tech’s face the way he typically would with Lula. Tech snatched the pillow from his brother’s grasp as he furrowed his brow in displeasure. Wrecker, however, continued anyway.

“Not knowin’ things means you get to learn somethin’ new. Isn’t that right?”

Tech considered Wrecker’s words with surprise. “I… suppose you are correct.”

“Thought so.” Wrecker grinned, though after a brief pause, his expression hardened in severity. “I think what you’re supposed to learn this time is that ya’ don’t always have to have an answer to make me, or anyone else, feel better.”

Wrecker wrapped his arm around Tech’s shoulders, and a moment later, he felt Wrecker’s head rest against his own.

“We just need you.”

Tech’s chest bloomed with warmth at the honest words. Despite the circumstances, he found himself wearing a small grin as he let himself lean more into his younger brother’s broad frame. “Thank you, Wrecker.”

“You don’t gotta’ thank me.” Wrecker patted Tech’s shoulder. “I mean, honestly, it’s kinda nice to know that even you don’t feel so good about all this.”

Tech’s brow lifted in surprise. “Why is that?”

Wrecker shrugged. “Dunno. I guess it’s just… if someone as smart and confident as you is worried about somethin’, then it makes me feel better about thinkin’ the same thing.”

“I understand.”

The two brothers sat in silence for a standard minute or so as Tech continued to ponder Wrecker’s words. Eventually, the specialist let out a light breath as he dwelled upon his failed objective. He meant to alleviate Wrecker’s worries, but had instead given his younger brother the responsibility of doing that for Tech himself.

“I must apologize, Wrecker.”

Wrecker huffed, the movement of his chest slightly jostling Tech. “Why?”

Tech looked down at Hunter’s pillow in his grasp. “I had meant to provide comfort for you the same way Hunter does, but I unintentionally made you provide me with comfort instead.”

Wrecker laughed. The sound was so unexpected that it startled Tech for a moment as he turned his head to look up at his brother.

“Well, ain’t that funny.” Wrecker smiled at his brother, though Tech could identify the lingering sadness in his gaze as he went on. “Hunter knows I like to help carry things, so when I need some comfort, he lets me take burdens.” Wrecker jostled Tech more purposefully this time. “Just like ya’ let me do with you.”

Tech blinked up at his brother. “Oh.” He recalled a few memories of observing Hunter doing such for Wrecker. “I wasn’t certain I was employing the correct technique.”

“You sure did.”

There was a gentle touch on Tech’s chin, and following it was an even softer touch of his younger brother’s forehead against his own.

“You did good, Tech. You always do.”

Tech closed his eyes as an overwhelming phenomenon of warmth rushed through his typically chilled body. He could already sense the trembling alleviating in his hands at the honesty in Wrecker’s praise for him.

“And so does Hunter.” Wrecker’s hand shifted to the back of Tech’s head as he gave it a gentle pat. “He’ll hold out for us.” Wrecker let out a chuckle. “Hah, he might even beat us to the breakout!”

Tech hummed in shared amusement. “It would certainly not be unprecedented.”

He took a deep breath and lifted his head to instead rest it back against his brother’s shoulder. The two of them were content to remain in silence for a long time, a duration that Tech had no desire of tracking. Instead, he mused upon his happier and more hopeful memories with his squad—his family; Crosshair included.

The two of them only stirred when Echo approached, his expression hardened in severity as he gestured back towards the cockpit. “Only a few minutes until we exit hyperspace.”

“Very well.” Tech sighed as he handed Hunter’s pillow back to Wrecker and stood from the bunk. He turned to face his batchmate as a small smile tugged at his lips. “I will do whatever I can to ensure this is a brief repair.”

Wrecker returned his smile, and as Tech turned to Echo, he saw the corporal giving him the same look as well. The hopefulness did not quell every worry Tech had about his eldest brother and his odds against the Empire, but it certainly allowed him to push forward and focus on exactly what he was endeavoring to do: reunite his family.

════════════════════

[dindjarindiaries]

The First Plan 99 Chapter 7 is out NOW!

I really did not think I was going to finish this tonight, but here we are! Lots of stuff is going down sooooo buckle up and get ready for what's to come!

[dindjarindiaries]

The First Plan 99 Chapter 10 is out NOW!

Crosshair stans... you're gonna love/hate this one.

It's a long one, so buckle up and enjoy it!

[dindjarindiaries]

Me? Starting ANOTHER new series? It’s likelier than you might think!

This is one I’ve been planning for a while, and due to recent events/discoveries, I simply can’t keep myself from holding it in any longer. Here’s the beginning of my take on what that time period between seasons 2 and 3 might have looked like for Hunter and Wrecker!

[dindjarindiaries]

Awwww this makes me so happy to hear! You’d probably enjoy my other Mando x TBB story I have going on my gen fic account @badbatchdalorian too! (You’ve probably seen me commenting on Cadet Batch with that user on AO3—yes, that’s me! 🥰)

And regarding your sweet, sweet tags! Please!!! I literally adore your writing so much, you have no idea. Your Hunter melts my heart every time, and as a Hunter girlie, I can’t thank you enough for that. Please talk to me whenever, I am not too cool for ANYONE… I’m just a fan girl who got really, really lucky! 😭🫶

WAIT I JUST GOT THE BEST IDEA FOR A TIME TRAVELING MANDO & TBB FIC HAHAHA WAIT

[thecoffeelorian]

@badbatchdalorian This. Is. So. COOL.

I can also hear traces of Pedro Pascal's speech pattern as I read Baby!Din's dialogue--super, super job!

Missing Piece - Part 1: Are You Mandalorians?

MEDIA: The Bad Batch (2021-2024), The Mandalorian (2019-2023) CHARACTERS: The Bad Batch & Din Djarin (Young) RATING: T (14+) TAGS: not canon compliant, PTSD, trauma, childhood trauma, canon-typical violence, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, family fluff, Tech lives, protective siblings (more here) SUMMARY: In this galaxy far, far away, it's experimental unit Clone Force 99 that saves Din Djarin instead of the Mandalorians, forever altering not only his fate, but also their own. How they manage to survive with not one, but two young soldiers-in-training under their wings proves just how far they're willing to go to keep their family's missing piece as close as possible. cross-posted from ao3, where updates are more frequent

PART 1: Are You Mandalorians?

Hunter flipped his knife into the air just as the emergency comm channel began to blare. He jumped in his seat and narrowly avoided missing—and being cut by—the blade as it fell back into his grasp. Every head turned towards the cockpit, though some snapped more quickly than others. Wrecker was noticeably groggy as he groaned in dismay.

“C’mon!” Wrecker exclaimed, heaving a breath as he did so. “I was havin’ the best sleep I’ve gotten in weeks! ”

Hunter had already started towards the cockpit, and he knew Tech wouldn’t be far behind.

“Complaining about new action?” Crosshair huffed. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“I can’t face new action without any sleep ,” Wrecker insisted.

Hunter tuned them out as he reached the Marauder ’s controls. He sat down in the co-pilot’s chair and pressed the button, watching as a blue image flickered to life. Hunter’s brow shot up as a Togrutan silhouette formed more fully.

“General?” Hunter managed the title even amidst his own surprise. He didn’t need Tech to tell him that General Shaak Ti being on the other end of the emergency comm was highly unusual, though he could practically feel the thought simmering in Tech’s brain from the pilot’s chair beside him.

“ Sergeant .” General Ti was as calm as ever, bowing her head in greeting before going on. “ I understand your squad is currently en route back to Kamino? ”

“That is correct,” Tech answered for his brother. He adjusted his goggles before letting his fingers fly over the controls. “We are approximately a single rotation and three additional standard hours away, given how distant our point of origin was.”

“ Is there any chance your squad is near the Relgim sector? ” General Ti’s expression morphed into something Hunter had never seen in the general before: desperation. “ We’ve just received a dire call for help, but the settlement is too remote for anyone else to get there in time. I saw your squad’s current route and hoped it wasn’t too late .”

Tech had already begun to analyze where in hyperspace they were the moment General Ti had requested it. Hunter fought back the exhaustion creeping into the corners of his mind as he pressed for more information. “Where would we be headed, General?”

General Ti still looked troubled as she responded. “ Aq Vetina .”

“In that case…” Tech paused, reaching for the hyperspace lever and pulling it back.

Hunter gripped the nearest support he could find as the Marauder shuddered out of hyperspace. Something fell behind them, and Wrecker grunted as Crosshair cursed loudly. Hunter chuckled, shaking his head—and knowing full well any other squad leader would have been mortified to have such a thing happen in front of a Jedi general.

“Your timing could not have been more optimal, General.” Tech spoke to General Ti while he focused on piloting the Marauder towards a distant world. “We are currently in the Relgim sector, and we are now on approach to Aq Vetina.”

General Ti let out a sigh of relief, her shoulders visibly lightening as she did so. “ Thank the Force. ” She focused on Hunter as she went on. “ Your orders are to engage only if the Separatist forces can be handled by your squad alone. If not… then we must consider this a loss .” Hunter didn’t need to be a Force-sensitive Jedi to sense her devastation at the mere thought of such an outcome. “ But I know that if any squad can take on such forces without backup, it’s yours, Sergeant. ”

“That’s right!” Wrecker was suddenly behind Hunter, his voice much brighter than before. He grinned at the Togruta Jedi and waved. “Hey, General!”

General Ti returned his smile. “ Wrecker, it’s good to see you .” Each word was genuine, spreading a comforting warmth through Hunter’s chest. Of everyone on Kamino, she had no doubt been the kindest to Hunter and his squad growing up, and for that he was forever indebted to her. “ I’m afraid I don’t have much time to catch up, though, and neither do you. Sergeant, if you wouldn’t mind contacting me on this frequency when you have an update on the situation? ”

Hunter nodded. “Of course, General.”

General Ti returned his nod. “ Thank you, Sergeant. Your squad is this settlement’s only hope. Do not engage in a battle you know you cannot win, but keep this in mind as you prepare for what’s ahead. ”

Those were the words she left them with. Her blue image faded, and for a few moments, all Hunter could hear—even with his enhanced senses—was the soft hum of space around them.

Hunter nearly winced when Wrecker raised his voice again from just behind them. “A surprise mission? Oh, yeah!” He punched the air. “I take back what I said before. This was totally worth missin’ out on some sleep.”

“What’s going on?” Hunter spun in his chair as Echo approached. He’d been surprised that Echo hadn’t joined him and Tech inside the cockpit for the comm, but given the way the ARC trooper was stretching his neck and suppressing a yawn, he had been in the middle of a deep, and clearly much-needed, sleep. “Was that General Ti?”

Hunter nodded. “It was.” He rose from his chair and clapped his hand on Echo’s shoulder. “Gear up. We have another mission.”

Echo’s eyes doubled in size. “ What? ” He shook his head. “That can’t be right. I thought we were headed back—?”

“There’s a remote settlement we’re passing by that needs help.” Hunter set his jaw, conveying an uncharacteristic amount of severity. “The general said we’re their only chance.”

Echo immediately straightened. Hunter began to smile in satisfaction. “What are we up against?”

Hunter kept his smile even as he gently brushed past Echo to head further into the ship. “Don’t know. We have to get a closer look.” He turned his head just enough to raise his voice over his shoulder. “Tech, let me know as soon as you have a visual. As for the rest of you…” Hunter looked pointedly at Crosshair, who had been watching everything unfold from the chair he was lounging in. “Get ready for a fight.”

Wrecker cheered in the background as Crosshair raised the corner of his mouth in a much more subtle form of celebration. Hunter could see the exhaustion looming within the depths of his brother’s eyes, and the darkening of the circles that hung underneath them, but that exhaustion was overpowered by their genuine love for what they did best: battle.

Hunter himself felt all of it—the exhaustion, the excitement, the addicting rush of adrenaline that shot through every single vein and nerve in his body. This time, however, he also felt something that he didn’t always experience, at least not to this degree. It was the same thing that had been written all over General Ti’s face.

He wanted to help these people, and he felt responsible for their safety.

But Hunter also felt responsible for his own squad, just as he always had. The weight of their flawless success rate got heavier with each new mission, though the success rate paled in comparison to the safety of his brothers. He wasn’t willing to sacrifice any one of them for a mission, not even one like this.

As hard as that truth would always be to swallow.

Hunter shoved these thoughts to the back of his mind just like always and focused on gearing up, paying extra attention to the way his armor snapped into place. He spared a look around and saw that Wrecker, Crosshair, and Echo had made just as much progress as himself, with Tech well on his way after he had put the ship on autopilot for the time being.

Hunter wasn’t looking forward to a reality where this rush and preparation for battle wasn’t necessary. Based on what General Ti had told them, it was very likely that they could be forced to bail after seeing what they were up against.

The last thing Hunter reached for was his helmet before he strided back towards the cockpit. He could see Aq Vetina on approach through the viewport, a small world that didn’t get much bigger even as the ship got closer.

“ Force .” Echo’s voice was a mere breath behind Hunter, but the sergeant wasn’t surprised by his close presence. He had sensed Echo’s whereabouts long before he had spoken. “That’s a small planet.” He exhaled, his voice dropping lower. “No wonder why they need help so badly.”

“Let’s just hope we can provide it.” Hunter turned towards Tech as he joined them. Tech returned to the pilot’s chair and Hunter stood behind him, letting Echo take the co-pilot’s seat. “Tech, how’s it looking from here?”

“I’ll have a better idea once I’ve navigated us closer.” Tech gently pushed the Marauder ’s steering wheel ahead, allowing the Omicron-class shuttle to move forward through the stars. 

Hunter could sense the shadows of Wrecker and Crosshair behind him, no doubt just as curious about what awaited them. Despite the fact they were all—at least, almost all—just sleeping peacefully a few minutes ago, they were itching for a fight, especially one that sounded so critical.

For once, the squad remained silent as Tech continued to steer the ship forward. The tension was so thick that the sound of the proximity sensor going off made everyone jump.

“I’m clocking… one Separatist ship.” Tech sounded unimpressed as he continued to analyze the incoming data.

They all waited a beat before Wrecker spoke up. “That’s it?”

Hunter narrowed his eyes. “Is it a command ship?”

“Negative. I assume they have already left the system.” Tech’s voice lowered only slightly as he went on. “The battle may very well be over.”

Echo shook his head. “Not if they’ve left a ship here. They could’ve realized a planet this small only needed one ship’s worth of forces and sent the others to their other targets.” He glanced up at Hunter, his gaze hopeful.

Hunter returned Echo’s look and considered their next steps. Tech and Echo could both be right, and there was only one way to find out.

“It’s worth checking out.” Hunter nodded towards the viewport. “Bring us in, Tech.”

Tech returned Hunter’s nod and obeyed the sergeant’s order. Wrecker chuckled victoriously and must’ve nudged Crosshair’s shoulder, based on the way their brother grunted in dissatisfaction soon after. Echo flashed Hunter an appreciative smile before he focused on assisting Tech with the landing sequence.

Hunter lowered himself into one of the chairs off to Echo’s right side and exhaled a gentle breath through his nose. While spontaneous planning was their usual style, this mission was too delicate to abide by their typical tactics.

Hunter thought through each step carefully and brainstormed every possibility he could come up with in the time it took the Marauder to exchange the view of the stars for the grayish-blue of Aq Vetina’s atmosphere. His heart tightened uncomfortably when he caught plumes of smoke on the horizon.

Tech started his warning. “Hunter…”

“Don’t bring us too close.” Hunter was back on his feet, setting a hand on the backs of both Tech’s and Echo’s chairs as he surveyed the situation for himself. “Keep us a few klicks away. We’ll do a loose recon before we decide if we’re engaging.”

Wrecker groaned in disappointment. “So we still don’t know if we’re gonna fight?”

Crosshair hummed. “No use in trying to save their skins if there aren’t any skins left to save.”

Echo spun around in his chair to fix Crosshair with a pointed look, his eyes narrowed dangerously. Hunter didn’t have to look back at Crosshair to know he was unaffected. Echo still hadn’t gotten used to Crosshair’s severe nature, but he would have to understand that Crosshair meant no harm by it. He was just a realist, one who still cared deeply—even if he refused to show it.

Hunter tightened his grasp on the chairs as Tech brought the Marauder down. Its descent was even smoother than usual, no doubt a result of Tech’s abundance of caution, and it wasn’t long after that Tech powered it down completely. Hunter stepped back to give him and Echo room to stand.

Hunter was already setting his helmet over his head. “Let’s get moving.” He turned and pushed himself through the small gap between Wrecker and Crosshair at the cockpit’s threshold. “The longer we wait, the more lives we put at risk.”

The lack of Hunter’s usual enthusiasm heading into a mission caused the others to follow his order without complaint or hesitation. Hunter led the way off the Marauder before he sped up into a fast jog that helped them disappear quickly into the surrounding wood.

Hunter wove through the trees easily, gently touching the bark as his senses created a reliable trail to the city that had gone up in flames. The crunching of his brothers’ footsteps behind him was reassuring, grounding him to the present even as the leadership part of his mind tried to think far ahead.

It wasn’t long before the first sandstone building came into sight. Its blue, domed roof was charred with black grime, and the sounds of blasterfire and explosions were unmistakable to Hunter’s sensitive ears.

Hunter raised his fist, signaling for the squad to stop as he pressed his palm against the sandstone. He listened more closely for another few heartbeats, letting the sounds of the firefight rattle against his eardrums.

Super battle droids. Not enough to overwhelm his squad, not at all, but certainly enough to level a settlement of this size. They had to act fast to minimize whatever damage they could.

Hunter turned to face his brothers and nodded. “We’re going in.”

Wrecker cheered.

“We’ve got SBDs.” Hunter glanced at both Wrecker and Crosshair. “Crosshair, head up. Wrecker, give him a boost.”

The pair nodded at the sergeant before bounding forward. Wrecker knelt down just enough for Crosshair to lift his foot into his brother’s cupped hands. Crosshair pushed off just as Wrecker threw his arms up, and Crosshair had more than enough air to get onto the roof. Hunter continued as they did so.

“As for the rest of us, Plan 70.” Hunter nodded at Tech. “You’re with me. We’ll head to the east,” he waved two fingers at Wrecker and Echo, “you take the west.”

Echo tightened his grasp on his blaster. “We’re on it.” With that, both he and Wrecker disappeared into the settlement, the ARC trooper guiding the way.

Hunter looked over at Tech and watched his brother tighten his grasp on his blasters. One nod was all it took for them to communicate their next move. Hunter passed Tech to lead the way to the east. They stuck close to the walls of the structures they passed, checking around each corner before moving ahead. The fight was getting closer and closer.

A new wave of adrenaline shot through Hunter’s veins like a rocket. If the stakes weren’t so high for the people they were rescuing, he would even smile at the sensation, but it felt disrespectful. He couldn’t enjoy it when there were civilians caught in the crossfire.

Hunter flinched when the helmet comm suddenly opened up. “ You four might want to speed things up ,” Crosshair warned. Hunter shared a concerned look with Tech, noting the way Tech’s gaze flashed with cautious curiosity. “ Looks like the clankers are about to have this battle won. ”

Wrecker snarled over the comms. “ Not if we can help it! ”

Crosshair sighed. “ That’s exactly what I’m saying, Wrecker .”

Hunter fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Focus. Remember what General Ti said. We’re their only chance at survival.”

Like his brothers, he didn’t mind the rush of battle, but this was different. This wasn’t blasting droids on the battlefield. This was rescuing civilians from the destruction of their home.

Hunter held his arm out in front of Tech when he caught sight of a horde of SBDs. He holstered his blaster and drew his blade from his gauntlet instead, keeping it at the ready as his other hand rose back to his helmet.

“Echo, Wrecker, status report.”

Echo answered for them. “ In position. ”

Hunter steadied himself with a breath before nodding to himself. “Move in.”

He didn’t waste another second. Hunter sprinted out from behind the protection of the nearby building and launched himself at the first droid in his path. He flung one arm around the droid’s neck from behind as the other jabbed his knife into the droid’s chest, frying its circuitry. Hunter pushed himself off the droid as it collapsed, leaping into the air and dodging blasterfire as he made a beeline for the next one.

Hunter was so lost in the familiar yet thrilling routine of battle that he paid little attention to the rest of their surroundings. It was only after he tripped over something unexpected that he was forced to stop and glance down at the unpredictable obstacle.

It was a body, clothed in red robes that tragically matched the color of their spilled blood. One quick look around the courtyard they were in proved that it was far from the only one of their people who had fallen.

Hunter blanched, but only for a moment. He couldn’t afford to take any more time. Hunter snapped his helmet up and watched as a droid threw open the doors to a bunker in the ground, taking aim with their weapon soon after.

Someone had to be alive down there. Someone they could save .

Hunter threw his knife before he had even gotten to his feet. The blade sunk into the side of the SBD’s head, causing it to stiffen before it collapsed to the side. Hunter was already running over, not bothering to retrieve his knife just yet as he awaited helping the person, or the people, who had taken refuge in the bunker.

When Hunter skidded to a stop in front of it, he nearly lost the ration that he had eaten just a few standard hours ago. He blinked in disbelief and attempted to catch his mind up with what his eyes were seeing.

It was a child, a boy no older than nine cycles, who was slowly reopening his eyes to look up at Hunter with fear, shock, and hope .

Hunter felt as if the wind had been knocked from him, the same way he always did whenever Wrecker sacked him during their sparring sessions. Still, he couldn’t afford to freeze up like this in the heat of battle, especially not when there was a helpless child staring back at him.

“It’s okay,” Hunter finally said, lifting his gloved hands up for the scared boy to see. “I’m not gonna hurt you. We’re here to help.”

The child blinked, his trembling lips parting as he tried to speak. “W-We?”

Hunter pasted on a small smile. “My squad.” He nodded in further reassurance. “We’ll keep you safe.”

The boy’s shoulders sagged in relief. He looked as if he was about to ask a question, but then thought better of it. Hunter fought to ignore the sudden ache in his chest as he glanced over his shoulder and narrowly dodged a blaster bolt.

“Stay down here for now.” Hunter was gentle with the order. “I’ll protect you from up here, and once the droids are dealt with, we’ll get out of here. Sound good?”

The boy nodded, his small fists clutching the dirt on the bottom of the bunker as he did so. Hunter let out a quiet exhale and spun back to face the battle.

Hunter lifted his fingers to his helmet as he tore the blade from the SBD’s head. “Has anyone else come across survivors? I’m protecting one right now.”

It took some time for the others to answer as they focused on blasting the last few droids. “ Negative ,” Tech answered for himself.

Echo was next. “ Same here .”

Wrecker maintained optimism. “ Not yet! ”

It was Crosshair who had to deliver the news that dropped like a stone into Hunter’s stomach. “ I’m not seeing any survivors from up here .”

Hunter’s jaw tightened as he held his position, using the SBD’s body as cover to fire off shots. They had been too late, after all. Hunter couldn’t help wondering how this boy had gotten so lucky.

That’s when he dared a look to the side of the bunker he was closest too. His breath caught in his throat when he saw a charred red slump that was half-hidden by the bunker’s damaged door.

Someone had purposefully protected the boy, and Hunter was willing to bet he knew exactly who they were. Suddenly, the boy’s hesitant attempt at a question made sense. He wanted to know if his parents were still alive.

Hunter closed his eyes behind his visor and gave his helmet a small shake. This was the part of the war he could never truly come to terms with, the part that was so easy to ignore when it was just him, his brothers, and a crowd of clankers. It was the reason why they were fighting this war in the first place.

Hunter reopened his eyes and watched as Wrecker took down the last droid. The settlement went eerily silent, and the blaster smoke made the atmosphere feel even heavier. Hunter sighed and turned back to the boy in the bunker.

There were fresh tear trails on the boy’s dirty cheeks, running from a pair of dark brown eyes that were open so wide Hunter half-feared they would pop right out of the boy’s head. Hunter put all his weapons away and lifted his helmet to show the child his face.

“Alright, we got the last of ‘em.” Hunter knelt down and rested an arm upon his propped-up knee. “Not too bad of a wait, huh?”

The boy sniffled, but Hunter caught the corners of his lips rising in a small smile. Hunter nodded at him in encouragement.

“You did great down here, following my orders.” He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “You listen better than my squad does.”

The child chuckled. Hunter grinned, even as his heart squeezed tighter.

“My name’s Hunter.” Hunter pressed both hands against his chestplate before he gestured towards the child. “What about you?”

The boy lifted his arm and rubbed his face with the sleeve of his red hooded robe. He hiccuped on a breath as he fought to answer Hunter’s question. “Din, s-sir.” His voice was so quiet that Hunter wouldn’t have been able to hear it if it weren’t for his enhanced senses.

“Nice to meet you, Din. I’m… sorry we couldn’t get here sooner.” And Hunter meant that. His regret was already leaving a resounding ache deep within his bones.

Hunter looked over his shoulder and saw his brothers standing close by. They all had their helmets tucked underneath their arms, their expressions giving away their curiosity. Crosshair had already joined them again.

Hunter’s gaze fell back to the ground that was littered with the bodies of both the droids and the civilians. He circled his jaw and turned back to Din.

“Okay, kid, I have one more order for you.” Hunter tightened his gloved hand into a fist and maintained the best duty voice he could manage. “Think you’re brave enough to handle it?”

Din nodded earnestly, taking one more wipe at his tears. Hunter beamed.

“That’s what I thought.” Hunter tapped the edge of the bunker. “I’m gonna help you up, and we’re gonna take you on our ship to somewhere safe. I need you to keep your eyes closed until I say so. Got it?”

Din nodded again. “That sounds easy, sir.”

Hunter let out a genuine chuckle as he raised his brow. “I knew you’d be up for the challenge.” 

Hunter leaned down into the bunker and extended a hand towards Din. The boy stood to his feet and shuffled his way over. After the two of them interlocked hands, Hunter paused, his stare meeting Din’s.

“Ready to close your eyes?”

Din gave Hunter’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Yes, sir.”

Hunter nodded. “Alright. Close ‘em.”

Din obeyed. Hunter tugged the boy up with ease, gently setting him onto the terrain at his side. Hunter tucked his helmet under his arm and stood to his feet, keeping his grasp on Din’s hand. He looked down at the boy who had his eyes shut tight enough to make the skin on his lids wrinkle.

“The rest of my squad is here, too,” Hunter told him. He spared a look at his brothers, whose expressions had all fallen at the sight of the young child. “I’ll introduce you when it’s time to open your eyes. Okay?”

Din nodded. He hesitated before he decided to say something. “T-Thank you, sirs.”

Wrecker said “Anytime, kid!” right when Crosshair said “Don’t thank us yet.” Crosshair shrugged when he was leveled with a warning glare from all four of them.

Echo’s gaze met Hunter’s before he signed the best he could with his hand. A kid?

Hunter cut his gaze over to the bunker door. Everyone’s eyes followed his. Echo’s jaw tightened as Wrecker’s brow furrowed in devastation. Tech adjusted his goggles uncomfortably, and even Crosshair shifted his weight and looked away from the sight.

Hunter addressed his squad when he spoke again. “We have to get going before they send more down.” He set his helmet over his head and gave Din’s hand a gentle squeeze to get his attention. “I’m gonna carry you so you don’t have to worry about where you’re going. Is that okay?”

Din’s voice was only growing stronger. “Yes, sir.”

Hunter let go of the boy’s hand and reached over his back. He removed his pack and tossed it to Wrecker, who caught it and nodded at the sergeant. Hunter picked Din up and guided him onto his back, helping the boy to wrap his arms around Hunter’s neck.

Only once the boy was settled did Hunter nod at his squad. “Time to go.”

Hunter wasted no more time standing around. He began to jog back the way they had first come, using his senses to recall their path. The crunching of the terrain behind him told him that the squad was matching his pace, barely exhausted by the quick battle.

They were about halfway back to the Marauder when Din broke their silence. “Hunter, sir?”

Hunter flashed him a quick look over his shoulder as he continued ahead. He huffed out a fond breath. “You don’t have to call me ‘sir,’ kid.”

“Okay.” Din’s voice was wobbling a bit. An uneasy knot tied up in Hunter’s stomach. “I was just wondering… when are we gonna go back and help everyone else?”

Hunter nearly stopped dead in his tracks. Only his desire to keep Din from panicking kept him moving. The knot in his stomach rose into his chest, making it difficult to breathe—and suddenly mindful of Din’s extra weight upon his back.

It was like a blaster wound straight to the chest.

“Kid…”

Hunter inhaled a soft breath. Din was no doubt old enough to tell whether Hunter was lying or not. Hunter had already done what he could for Din by keeping him from having to remember the sight of their bodies. He deserved to know the truth; it was better for him to hear it now than later.

“There was no one else for us to save.”

The silence that followed was louder than any other Hunter had ever heard. He wasn’t used to silence, not with senses that picked up on just about everything, but focusing on this one now was utterly painful.

Hunter’s jaw tensed and refused to relax until Din spoke again. “Oh.” Din’s arms tightened around Hunter’s neck. “Okay.”

Din’s tone was one of distant acceptance. It shattered Hunter even more that a child like him had to come to terms with something like this.

Suddenly, he was angry. Angry at the Separatists, at the war, at the galaxy . This was a kind of loss that Hunter, thankfully, never had to experience, but if he was given the choice to face it in this child’s place, he would have.

But then he glanced back at his squadmates, his brothers , and Hunter selfishly thanked the Force that he never had to know what this kind of loss was like.

The sight of the Marauder was relieving, but not relieving enough to dispel all the darkness and tension from Hunter. He could sense the same weight upon the shoulders of his brothers behind him as they reentered the ship. It was obvious in the way Tech quietly dismissed himself to the cockpit for takeoff while the rest of them began to set down their gear, each one careful to make less noise than necessary.

Hunter helped Din’s feet get back to the floor. He lifted his helmet and set it aside, kneeling in front of the boy whose eyes were still closed diligently. Hunter softened.

“Okay, kid. You can open your eyes now.”

Din obeyed. He blinked a few times as he glanced around the space, his jaw falling open in wonder. Hunter chuckled to himself as Din’s hands clutched into small fists at his sides. “A spaceship ?”

“Technically, this is a shuttle,” Tech corrected him from the cockpit. Hunter fought the urge to roll his eyes fondly. “An Omicron-class attack shuttle, to be precise.”

Din just let out an impressed, exaggerated exhale. “ Whoa .”

The boy’s attention then fell on the squadmates who were huddled behind Hunter. The sergeant spun around to take a look at them himself.

Echo’s arms were at his sides, his brow pinched in distress. Wrecker had a warm smile on his face. Crosshair’s arms were crossed, his expression thoughtful and considering. Tech was still in the cockpit.

Hunter looked back at Din, whose chin tucked closer to his chest as the boy shyly addressed the room. “Are you Mandalorians?”

Immediately, Wrecker burst out into fond laughter. Echo gave him a light shove, despite the smile that started to tug at his own lips. Even Crosshair was wearing an amused smirk. Hunter chuckled to himself.

That hearty rumbling quickly disappeared from Hunter’s chest the moment he heard Din’s heartbeat quicken. He turned to see the boy’s gaze cast downward, his face reddened underneath the grime that coated his tan skin. Din started to shrink in on himself, clearly embarrassed by whatever error he had made.

Wrecker stepped forward before Hunter himself could act to remedy the situation. He knelt down to Din’s level and offered him a smile. “You’re right about us bein’ soldiers, kiddo, but not Mandalorians. We’re clones.”

Hunter heard Din’s racing heartbeat slow back down at Wrecker’s warmth as the boy’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Then why don’t you look like each other?”

Wrecker looked over at Hunter, who shrugged at his brother in amusement. “Fair point,” Hunter murmured. Wrecker turned back to Din.

“We’re clones, but…we’re different.” Wrecker jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “Wanna meet us all?”

Din nodded earnestly. Hunter smiled again. He was trying to assess Din for any signs of shock, but clearly, Wrecker’s distractions were working for the time being. Tech could make a proper assessment once he was done piloting them into hyperspace.

Wrecker pointed to himself. “I’m Wrecker, and I like to blow things up!”

The delivery of the fun fact was enough to make Din laugh. Hunter’s chest warmed for the first time since he had rescued the boy.

Wrecker turned to face Echo and Crosshair. Echo took the glance as an invitation to step forward, kneeling down at Wrecker’s side. “I’m Echo.” He rested his left arm against his knee and managed a smile, though Hunter could clearly see the sadness set deep within his gaze. “It’s an honor to meet someone as brave as you.”

Din smiled at Echo’s praise. The warmth in Hunter’s chest blazed into a steady flame.

The boy’s smile faded when he looked down and caught sight of Echo’s scomp link and cybernetic legs. His expression was marred by worry. “Echo, sir, can I ask you a question?”

Getting rid of formalities was no doubt an adjustment for Din, one Hunter was more than willing to excuse. Echo held Din’s gaze and nodded confidently, allowing the boy to go on.

“What happened to your arm and legs?” Din cradled his own hands close to his chest. “Are you okay?”

Echo chuckled, the sound full of genuine warmth as he nodded again. “Yeah, kid, I’m alright.” Echo set his hand on Din’s shoulder. The boy relaxed underneath the soldier’s touch. “Something bad happened to me, but…” Echo paused, his gaze searching before he focused on Din again, “these guys found me and helped me learn how to make the most of it.”

Din brightened at that. His shoulders lifted, and his chest puffed up in hope. “Does that mean they’ll do the same for me, too?”

Hunter was about to answer in the affirmative from the boy’s side, but Echo beat him to the punch. “No doubt about it.” Echo gave Din’s shoulder a soft squeeze. “And so will I.”

Din’s smile remained, though his gaze shifted from Echo to something beyond him. The light of curiosity flickered in his gaze again, something to match the quicker rush of air Hunter heard in the boy’s lungs. Din’s voice was almost a whisper as he spoke.

“What’s his name?”

Wrecker and Echo both turned their heads to look at Crosshair, who was standing just behind them. Wrecker huffed and faced Din, gesturing with his head back towards their youngest brother. “That’s Crosshair.”

Din blinked a few times at the sniper, who had already tasked himself with balancing a new toothpick between his lips. Hunter watched as the boy studied his brother before he spoke up again.

“Do you like to shoot things, Crosshair?”

Crosshair’s arms stayed crossed over his chest even as his armored shoulders lifted with his amused exhale. “I do.” His brow shot up. “Looking to be a new target?”

Hunter narrowed his eyes and prepared a proper disciplinary speech for Crosshair, but Din’s laugh split right through his thoughts. “You’re funny!”

The corner of Crosshair’s mouth rose at that. Hunter’s tightened jaw relaxed. The kid could not only understand, but also appreciate Crosshair’s crude humor. He was already fitting in around here.

Not that he would be staying for long. The weight of reporting back to General Ti sat heavy upon Hunter’s shoulders, as he already knew what would result from telling her about their sole survivor. They would be redirected to Coruscant, where they would drop off Din at one of the refugee organizations—likely one created just for orphans.

What Hunter couldn’t fully understand was why that was an order he had no desire to comply with. Though, it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t want to comply with an order. He and his squad had been that way ever since he could remember.

Still, this was different, and one look at the brothers around him confirmed it. Everyone was glowing at this child, who had just been through the unimaginable, but was still displaying an admirable amount of strength and curiosity.

Finally, Tech stepped out of the cockpit, his voice breaking through the squad’s brief silence in the hold. “We are en route to Kamino once again,” Tech informed them, though he looked pointedly at Hunter. “Although I do expect to be rerouted to Coruscant once you have briefed General Ti on our… findings.” Tech adjusted his goggles as he stared at Din.

The boy pointed at Tech’s eyes. “I like your goggles, sir.”

Tech lit up and knelt down eagerly in the space between Echo and Hunter. “These goggles were designed to enhance my less-than-average eyesight,” he explained to Din. “As something had to give in order for the Kaminoans to enhance my genetics and carefully craft my exceptional mind.”

Din’s brow scrunched up. “Enhance your genetics?”

“That is correct.” Tech gestured with his head to the squad around him. “It is why our physical appearances vary, despite the fact we are all made from the same genetic template.”

Din looked at Hunter for guidance, and the sergeant nodded at him. “We’re named for our enhancements.” Hunter tapped his own chestplate. “I’m good at tracking and sensing things. Wrecker’s good at… well, wrecking things. Crosshair’s the best sharpshooter you’ll ever meet. And like Tech here said, he’s got an incredible mind.”

Din looked almost worriedly at Echo. “What about Echo?”

Echo offered the boy a reassuring smile. “I wasn’t originally a part of this squad. I got my name a long time ago, when I was still with my batchmates.”

Din tilted his head. “Batchmates?”

Hunter read Echo carefully as the ARC trooper cleared his throat and went on. “My brothers. The clones I was born with and trained with until I started to fight for the Republic.” Echo’s gaze lightened as he went on. “My brothers called me ‘Echo’ because I used to repeat all our orders.”

Din nodded in understanding. He looked around the group as a smile spread across his lips. “I like all your names.”

Tech lifted a finger. “Technically, they are nicknames. We were not given names when we were created, only numerical designations.”

“Oh.” Din began to deflate again. “I was only given a name, but… I wish I had a nickname like you guys.”

Wrecker set a hand on Din’s shoulder. “Well, you gotta’ know a lot about Mandalorians to think that’s what we were, right?”

Din looked up at him and nodded. “Yes, sir.” He blinked in succession and rushed to correct himself. “I mean, Wrecker.” He hesitated before going on. “I learned a lot about them in galactic history. And my pare…”

Din came to an abrupt stop. Grief powerful enough to knock Hunter off his feet washed over the young boy’s face, though he still pushed on to finish his thought—even if his voice was considerably smaller.

“They used to tell me a lot of Mandalorian stories.”

Wrecker shared a concerned look with Hunter. Still, he maintained his usual cheery disposition as he focused on Din. “That makes you an honorary Mandalorian in my book, kid. How about Mando for a nickname?”

That at least got Din to brighten again. “Mando…” Din even began to smile again. Hunter was overwhelmed by a wave of relief. “I like that.”

“Good.” Wrecker mirrored Din’s smile. “That means you gotta’ catch us up on all the stories, though!”

As Wrecker continued to keep Din busy, Hunter nudged Tech with his armored shoulder to get his attention. His brother gave him an inquisitive glance, which Hunter responded to by gesturing with his head back towards the cockpit. Hunter stood and Tech followed him over to the open threshold.

“I’m gonna contact General Ti,” Hunter nodded towards Din. “Give the kid an assessment to see what symptoms of shock he might be presenting. He’s a strong kid, I’ll give him that, but I’m not convinced that he’s just forgotten about everything that happened.”

Tech returned Hunter’s nod. “That would be a wise conclusion.”

Hunter set his hand on Tech’s shoulder before he turned away to walk into the cockpit. He paused just in front of the communicator, heaving a breath through his nostrils as he closed his eyes in consideration.

There was something tugging at his gut, squeezing his lungs hard enough to make breathing feel like a chore. Reporting to a higher ranking officer, even a general, wasn’t anything new for Hunter, so he knew that wasn’t the problem. It was something else.

Hunter reopened his eyes and spared a glance over his shoulder. Wrecker and Echo were distracting Din with more conversation as Tech tended to him, causing their soft voices and Din’s gentle laughter to fill the space. Even Crosshair looked fondly amused from where he was still standing behind his brothers.

Hunter smiled. The Marauder was… warmer. Lighter. Happier . He hadn’t seen it like this ever since the war had started, since before his brothers sourced their joy from things much more innocent than warfare.

Then Hunter faced the communicator again, and his stomach clenched hard enough that he thought he might be sick right there.

Something wasn’t right. Hunter wasn’t sure what to make of it. Maybe he just needed better sleep than he’d been getting these days, but deep down, he knew exactly what it was, because he knew exactly what order was awaiting him on the other end of the call.

Was he really about to drop this freshly orphaned child off like some kind of cargo shipment?

Hunter shook his head. There was no other choice; they were soldiers, and there was no business exposing a kid to a life like theirs. Hunter had never thought twice about keeping survivors around before. He wasn’t sure why it should be any different this time.

The sergeant forced himself to press the button on the communicator before he could hesitate again. After a few heavy heartbeats, General Ti’s holographic image appeared in front of him.

“ Sergeant Hunter. You’re reporting sooner than expected .” There was no missing the caution in General Ti’s tone as she undoubtedly prepared herself for the worst. “ How did your mission go? ”

Hunter steadied himself with a breath and looked apologetically at the general. “I’m afraid we were too late, General. The settlement’s been destroyed.”

The general blanched, though she otherwise maintained her usual composure. “ Any survivors? ”

Hunter circled his jaw, once again considering his words. As disobedient as he and his brothers could be, this wasn’t something he should lie about. “Just one. A child.”

General Ti’s head lowered. After a brief moment of silence, she spoke in a softer voice than usual. “ May the Force be with him, and with those he knew who have faded into it. ”

Hunter didn’t respond. He was waiting to receive his order, one that he should have had no problem following. They had disobeyed much more complex orders before.

“ Bring the child to Coruscant. I will call ahead and let them know you’re coming. ”

Hunter nodded. “Yes, General.” He cleared his throat, but kept the sound quiet enough for only him to hear. “We’ll see you back on Kamino after our… detour.”

General Ti returned his nod, and she even managed a genuine smile for him. “ I’ll be looking forward to it, Sergeant .”

Thankfully, General Ti ended the call there. Hunter released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and closed his eyes.

The sergeant didn’t know what to make of the Force, and like many other clones, he had his own suspicions about it, but whatever was suddenly tugging on his heartstrings certainly felt like a mysterious force. It screamed at him to disobey in a way he hadn’t experienced before, not even in their riskiest endeavors.

Hunter reopened his eyes and turned his head over his shoulder. The dynamic between everyone had already changed, with Wrecker, Echo, and Tech huddled on the ground around Din as the boy spoke with wide, excited eyes. Even Crosshair was lingering closer, his chair spun in their direction as he smiled around the toothpick between his lips.

The sergeant reached out with his senses to listen more closely.

“... and zzsskk! ”

Din raised his arm as if he was pretending to pull a weapon from a sheath. Wrecker let out an eager gasp, his gaze glittering almost as much as the child’s. Tech looked pensive, while Echo beamed at Din the best he could.

“The warrior had a glowing sword!”

“Glowing sword?” Wrecker chuckled and nudged Tech. “Now that’s wizard.”

“Technically, if this ‘sword’ did have a luminescent glow, it would classify as a lightsaber,” Tech spoke up. He paused and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Though I suppose vibroswords and blades can, at times, produce luminescence of their own accord…”

Din blinked at Tech in innocent confusion. “Huh?”

“Uh, that’s alright,” Echo waved his hand at Din in reassurance. “What happened next, Mando?”

Din’s shoulders lifted at the nickname, and he gave Echo an enthusiastic nod before going on.

Hunter gave his sensitive hearing a rest as he smiled to himself. Every heartbeat on that ship was at ease for the first time in much too long. He knew his brothers enjoyed battle, but that didn’t mean they didn’t still feel the stress of it. This was the calmest they all had been since the earliest days of their deployment.

Surely, that couldn’t be a coincidence. Hunter just didn’t know what he was supposed to do about it.

════════════════════

Echo was more than happy to volunteer for the first watch shift, and he had no intentions of rotating out anytime soon. He had offered his bunk to their young passenger, and the last thing he wanted to do was interrupt the child’s slumber. If anyone knew how important that first bout of rest after such trauma and loss was, it was Echo.

In fact, he’d been remembering a lot of those moments ever since they left Aq Vetina.

Such as Echo’s own eternal slumber after the Citadel. He shivered just thinking about the confusing stretch of darkness and flickering light that seemed as if it would never end. Sequences had run over his eyes constantly, letting light in each time they did, but they were never enough to bring him back completely.

Echo blinked his weightless eyelids to relieve the burning ache within them.

It had taken a long time for him to get comfortable with sleeping again, and clearly, he was still adjusting. He had been good about it for a while, but there was something about Din’s tragedy that had felt so personal to him.

Echo had understood it, that feeling of losing everybody, especially those held closest to the heart. He hadn’t even been given proper time to grieve Fives after he woke from his stasis. Somehow, that hurt more than the idea of having to witness his brother’s fate with his own eyes. He couldn’t even be there to protect his brother from the relentless force of death.

And then there was the explosion causing the fate of Din’s parents, and Echo was brought right back to Rishi Moon, to the graveyard of his three other brothers.

Echo tapped his scomp against his thigh and closed his eyes. No, he wouldn’t be sleeping tonight. Facing these horrors in his conscious mind was bad enough.

Plus, if it wasn’t him out here, it would be Hunter, and Echo couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his brother get more than an hour of sleep—if that. Hunter had been teetering on a migraine purely from his senses getting little to no rest before Echo had assured him for a third time that he would be just fine having a solo watch shift.

Echo’s eyes only reopened when he heard gentle footsteps behind him. Knowing better than to actually expect a threat, Echo let out a sigh and prepared to lecture Hunter for not staying asleep.

But when Echo turned his chair around, his gaze was forced to lower to meet his visitor’s. Lost brown eyes met his own, the grief within them three times larger than the boy’s own stature.

“Hey, kid.” Echo kept his voice low to keep the others from waking. “What’s up? Can’t sleep?”

Din shook his head, his stare falling to his arms as he pulled the sleeves of his red tunic over his fists. His words were barely a whisper as he spoke. “I keep seeing them.”

Echo’s heart splintered within his chest, but he kept a steady expression for the boy. “Your people?”

Din’s shoulders rose and fell with a heavy breath before he lifted his head again. His lower lip quivered as his gaze sparkled with unshed tears. “My parents.”

Echo deflated, his eyes cutting away from the child for just a fraction of a moment. The swell of grief that rose within him was strong enough to make him lose his breath, though he found his voice and recovered quickly for Din’s sake. “I’m sorry, kid. I really am. I…”

Echo paused, pressing his lips together as he considered his next words carefully.

“I know how hard it can be to sleep after things like this.”

Din’s brow wrinkled at him, the light of curiosity—and a sense of hope—sparkling in the dark depths of his devastation. “You do?”

Echo let out a gentler breath this time. The memories had already been on his mind, anyway. It wouldn’t hurt to coax them out just a bit further to ease this young boy’s fresh wound. “I do.” Echo managed a smile. “Want to hear a story?”

Din nodded eagerly, no doubt grateful for the distraction. Echo let out a soft chuckle and tapped the co-pilot’s seat next to him. Din hopped right up, spinning in the chair to face Echo as he tucked his hands underneath his legs and swung them back and forth in anticipation.

Now, if only Echo could find a way to keep this story from making things worse.

“These guys here,” Echo gestured with his head back towards the bunks, “they’re my brothers. We’re a squad. But… it wasn’t always that way, like I told you before. They're batchmates, and I used to have my own, too.”

Din’s expression began to fall as he realization dawned over him. “What happened to your batchmates, Echo?”

Hearing his own name from the boy’s lips made it even harder to say the truth out loud for some reason. Echo swallowed hard and pushed on. “They’re gone.”

Din frowned. “I’m sorry.” He adjusted the way he was sitting on his hands before he continued. “How many brothers did you have?”

Echo brought himself back to the past for a moment, when he and the rest of Domino Squad were just eager cadets who had finally managed to get along and pass the test. Back when they had their whole lives ahead of them.

Back when he was naive enough to really believe that.

“Four.”

Echo smiled, and it was genuine. He kept a careful eye on Din and saw the boy lightening up the more he spoke. Sharing his pain was making Din’s more manageable, and Echo would bleed himself out if it meant this boy would get closer to healing.

“Their names were Droidbait, Cutup, Hevy, and Fives.” Echo’s voice wavered on the last one.

Din’s eyes were bright with enthusiasm, even in the midst of the heavy topic. “How did they all get their names? Was it like yours?”

Echo bobbed his head. “In a way. Droidbait… well, he kept acting like bait for the training droids, and he’d get hit by ‘em all the time.”

Din’s brow pinched together. “Did it hurt?”

“Not too bad, but he definitely had a lot of bruises.” Echo waited until Din had relaxed to keep going. “Cutup got his name from one of our trainers. This trainer… he was real tough on us, but Cutup wasn’t afraid to talk back to him. So, the guy called him a cutup, and he used that as his name.”

Din giggled. “That’s wizard.”

Echo grinned, recognizing Wrecker’s vernacular on Din’s tongue already. “Isn’t it?” He took a deep breath as Hevy’s image entered his mind. “We named my brother Hevy, because not only was he the strongest of us, but he also loved heavy machinery. He used the biggest blaster the clones are allowed to carry, a Z-6 blaster cannon.”

Din’s eyes doubled in wonder. “ Whoa .”

Echo chuckled. Hevy would’ve loved this kid, no doubt.

That left him with one more name to review. Echo fought the glassiness that had already started to overtake his vision.

“Fives got his name from his CT number. Do you remember Tech telling you about those?” Din nodded. “Fives’ was CT-5555, so he shortened it to Fives. Fives and I… we were really close, because we lost our other brothers early on in the war.”

Din deflated. He searched Echo’s gaze before he asked a question in a quiet and cautious voice. “Can I ask what happened to them?”

The corners of Echo’s mouth lifted as he nodded. “They’d want their stories to be told.” Echo exhaled a breath and went on. “We were stationed at an outpost on a moon. It was our first mission, and we had been there for a long time. Nothing had ever happened, but one night, we were suddenly attacked by droids.”

Din inhaled a sharp breath. Echo softened; it would be all too familiar for the boy, based on what Echo had seen once they had arrived on Aq Vetina.

“Droidbait was one of the first to try to hold them off, but there were too many of them. The rest of us got out of the station, but Cutup got taken by local wildlife. We had some reinforcements arrive, two of our finest commanding officers, but even they weren’t enough to overrun the droids.”

Echo’s mouth was getting dry. It was never quite easier to tell this story, but it did heal little fractals in his soul each time. The pain would turn into mending eventually.

“That’s when Hevy gave his life for ours by blowing up the whole base. His actions not only saved both our commanding officers, Fives, and I, but it also told the Republic that we were in trouble, and prevented a major attack on our homeworld of Kamino.”

Din’s lip was starting to quiver again, but his voice was still fairly strong when he managed a response to Echo’s story. “He was a hero.”

Echo closed his eyes and blew out a heavy breath. “He was. Because of what he did, giving his life for Fives and I, we were able to fight in the war for a long time, side-by-side. His loss, and my other brothers’, never got easier to deal with, but… I know that they did what they did for a reason, and I wanted to honor that the best I could by moving forward and continuing their fight.”

Din was silent after that. Echo reopened his eyes to see the boy staring at his lap, fresh tear tracks visible on his cheeks. Echo’s heart leapt into his throat at the mere thought of accomplishing the opposite of what he had wanted by upsetting Din further, but before he could do anything, Din began to move.

The boy slid off the chair and practically fell into Echo’s side, wrapping his arms around the ARC trooper the best he could. Echo froze for a few heartbeats, too shocked to do anything just yet, but he eventually came to his senses and gently held Din closer to his side.

Din sniffled back his tears and spoke, his voice muffled from where he was practically buried in Echo’s side. “I’m sorry about your brothers, Echo.”

Echo was selfishly grateful that Din didn’t ask about Fives. That was a story he wasn’t ready to tell.

“It’s okay.” Echo gave the boy’s back a soft tap. “I’ve moved on now, but it doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten them.” Echo dared to lower his voice and go on. “One day, you’ll be able to do the same, too, because their sacrifice was the same as Hevy’s.”

Din lifted his face from Echo’s side. It was still wet with tears, but there was a newfound strength there that the ARC trooper could clearly see within his dark eyes. “They’re heroes, just like your brother.”

Echo smiled and nodded. “They are.”

Din returned his smile. His expression morphed into something more pensive before he spoke again. “If your brothers all give each other nicknames, and you all gave me a nickname… does that mean I’m your brother now, too?”

Din’s expression was something so breathlessly hopeful that Echo found himself speechless at first. After so many years spent witnessing the galaxy’s outward opposition to clones, it was hard to imagine that someone on the outside, even a child like Din, would ever want to be counted amongst their ranks. But here he was, practically pleading with his eyes full of wonder to be considered one of them.

And who was Echo to refuse him?

“Yeah, Mando.” Echo set his hands on Din’s shoulders and nodded. “It does.”

Din grinned, the last traces of sadness fleeing from his gaze as he bounced on his heels. He then retreated back to his seat and all but jumped into it. Echo blinked a few times at the quick and unexpected change in pace, but then he laughed.

It was all too similar to both Fives and Hevy.

“Well, I better make good on my namesake then, right?”

Din clapped his hands together excitedly, then tensed as his head whipped towards the bunks. When no one grumbled or swore about getting woken up, Din relaxed and continued. This time, his voice was a whisper.

“Can I tell you another story?”

Echo smiled and leaned back in his own chair, suddenly grateful he wasn’t alone anymore. “I’d be honored.”

Din straightened in severity and nodded, letting his smile linger as he got right into it.

“This one starts ten thousand years ago, with a man named Mandalore the Great.”

════════════════════

next part

[skellymom]

Ooooh! The dialogue is SO GOOD!!!

The First Plan 99 - Part 1: Orders

MEDIA: The Bad Batch (2021-2024) CHARACTERS: Hunter & The Bad Batch RATING: T (14+) TAGS: graphic depictions of violence, Hunter-centric, torture, medical torture, psychological torture, aftermath of torture, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, broken bones, family drama, family fluff, protective siblings, non-canon compliant, childhood trauma, anxiety attacks, Crosshair rejoins Clone Force 99 (more here) SUMMARY: Hunter's capture on Daro is more than just a way for Crosshair to set a trap for the rest of their squad, and the sergeant proves just how far he's willing to go to keep his family, including their wayward brother, safe. cross-posted from ao3, where updates are more frequent

PART 1: ORDERS

Hunter chanced one more look at the busy Daro sky. The Havoc Marauder was fading from view, and with it, the four familiar heartbeats that slipped through his senses the same way he’d fallen to the planet’s forested surface.

Tech was obeying Hunter’s order to leave. He could still hear some of the chaos on the comms within his helmet, most notably Omega’s worried shouting and desperate pleading, but he’d already said his piece.

Plan 99 was what this was, even if none of them had the faith to say it, and it was the only viable option from Hunter’s perspective. He had no regrets about this, any of this. They’d still freed a fellow clone, after all; a close friend of Rex’s, Hunter had surmised.

This was a mere exchange, one clone for another, and after all Hunter had done ever since their galaxy fell into disarray on Kaller, he was no doubt the one who deserved to be left behind.

All of these thoughts were rapid-fire as Hunter watched the Imperial troops close in on his position. He’d already sheathed his knife, and now, his gloved hands were rising slowly in surrender. The comms within his helmet finally stopped, proving that either the Marauder had already left atmosphere or that the boys had at least done Hunter the favor of ending the somber torture of hearing Omega in such distress.

Hunter forced himself to focus his senses on these men and their unfamiliar heartbeats. Most, if not all, of these men were forcing their hearts to work harder than they should. They knew who they were up against, and even if the odds were massively stacked against him, they still feared him.

Hunter took more delight in that than he probably should’ve.

“Feeling alright there, lads?” Hunter called out.

Clearly, their commanding officers weren’t as amused. “Disarm him,” the commando who wasn’t currently restraining a bloodthirsty hound ordered.

Hunter allowed it, because he didn’t have a choice. As grim as the circumstances were, he still intended on making it back to his squad somehow. Resisting right now would only make things worse for him and, in the long run, the rest of them.

It was still hard to watch them take his blade, though. Hunter growled, a low sound of frustration, and grinned ferally to himself as he saw some of the troopers flinch. It was again something he took pleasure in.

Once he was fully disarmed, Hunter’s wrists were cuffed in front of him, and two troopers flanked him, each one taking a tight grasp on his arms. Hunter tugged at them out of pure spite, making their grips tighten.

“You gonna comply, Sergeant?” The commando stepped forward, further into Hunter’s space, and kept his blaster lifted at the sergeant. Hunter watched the commando’s thumb toggle the switch on his weapon to stun. “They want you awake for what comes next, and I’d like to deliver on that objective.”

Hunter shrugged the best he could. “Depends.” One of the troopers at his side ripped off his helmet, and Hunter threw the man a harsh glare. “I won’t follow orders I don’t agree with.”

The commando was nearly toe-to-toe with Hunter now, the blue glow of his visor just about eye level with the sergeant. “Is walking too tough a task for your morals, sir?”

Hunter simply raised his brow and never once let his gaze stray from the commando’s visor. “Lead the way, and you’ll find out.”

The commando said nothing, but after a few more heartbeats of staring at Hunter, he hit the barrel of his blaster against Hunter’s shoulder. The sergeant tripped back a step, but the troopers at his side kept him steady as they pulled Hunter along their commanding officer’s tracks. The commando led them into one of the Imperial transports.

Hunter used this precious time to think about his squad. He could only hope that Tech would continue to follow through on the orders Hunter would give if he could, taking them to Ord Mantell to repair the ship—because even the sergeant had seen how many hits the Marauder had taken. More importantly, though, Hunter hoped they would get Gregor proper treatment for his blaster wounds, and that he was properly rendezvoused with Rex.

What Hunter wanted as the leader and protector of their squad was for them to move on and never risk coming back to this treacherous place, instead trusting him to fight his own way back to them. As a brother, though… Hunter couldn’t help hoping, and truly knowing, that the last thing they were gonna do was pretend Hunter wasn’t being held captive here. They would come for him.

And even if Hunter was hoping for it, he didn’t want them to.

Fate, the Force, or whatever it was seemed to have a funny way of working things out. Hunter was finally facing a fitting retribution for what he had done to one of their own. He should have had to see it through, whatever the ending would look like for him. It sure as hell wouldn’t be any shred of loyalty for the Empire, though.

Of course, Hunter was still going to try to get back to his squad, but not for his own sake. It was because he refused to leave them on their own, even if he knew they were all capable enough to keep themselves safe. It was his fault they were in this predicament, wounded by the glaring absence of not one, but two brothers; they didn’t deserve to suffer for it.

And Omega… just the thought of her made Hunter ache, especially as he remembered the way she had begged for him not to do this. He didn’t want to know how she would react if something worse happened to him.

It was really no surprise, then, that the squad was acting as Hunter’s sole motivation to fight his way to freedom somehow, or at least delay whatever the Empire’s plans for him would be. If it was just rotting in a cell, then Hunter could handle that, even if it meant being locked away with his tumultuous thoughts for gods knew how long. If it was something else, something worse, Hunter would still deal with it.

Hunter was forced to focus on his surroundings when the transport touched down. Based on the frequencies thrumming at the sergeant’s temples already, he knew that they had landed back inside the Daro base. There was life and technology all around Hunter, to the point where he had to rein in his senses more than usual. Thankfully, he was already used to it inside this base, considering he had quite literally just infiltrated it—and nearly escaped it.

The transport’s doors opened, and the commando continued to guide Hunter and his flanking troopers through the busy base. Hunter kept his expression neutral, but seeing many of the troopers in the corridors still recovering from his, Tech’s, and Echo’s assault brought him a type of feral joy he struggled to contain. So much for base security, if three troopers were able to take a clone commando from right under their noses.

Hunter was soon able to recognize the detention level, where he had been not all that long ago. He was actually quite amused to realize that they were taking him directly to Gregor’s former cell, no doubt knowing for certain now that it would be empty. That made the corners of Hunter’s lips quirk up in a small smile.

The commando stopped at the empty cell and disabled the ray shield. The troopers all but threw Hunter down inside it, causing the sergeant to stumble and catch himself on his cuffed hands and knees. He turned just in time to throw them a vicious glare as they powered the ray shield back up, and the commando walked away as the other two kept their backs to Hunter and guarded the cell.

Hunter at least got himself to his feet and positioned himself on the bench inside the small room. Not having his helmet, or his knife, itched at his vulnerability, but he refused to dwell on that. Instead, Hunter steadied his breaths, listening for his own heartbeat within his ears, and began to analyze the weak points within the cell.

This wasn’t a perspective Hunter had gotten last time. The sergeant figured that his best chance would be some kind of transfer outside the cell, but he couldn’t be sure that Gregor hadn’t found a way out of this specific room during his first unsuccessful escape attempt.

Looking for a way out brought Hunter’s memories back to the last time his squad was together before his youngest brother’s apparent turn to the Empire, when they were locked within Kamino’s makeshift cell, when Hunter had tried to fight for his brother to stay just to watch him be led away, when Tech had come up with a plan to get them out. Hunter could never have imagined just how badly that would all end.

Dwelling on that part of the past wouldn’t help Hunter now, nor would wishing that Tech were here to find the cell’s weaknesses more easily. Hunter had to do this on his own, and he would, for the sake of his squad.

Unfortunately, Hunter wasn’t alone for long. He could hear the approaching footsteps as soon as they turned into his cell’s corridor. Hunter sat up straighter and reached out for the new heartbeats. There were three, though one of them was familiar enough for Hunter to realize that it was the same commando from before.

Sure enough, three figures—the commando from before, a new commando, and an officer with a crisp uniform—stood in front of the ray shield. The officer nodded at the guard closest to the locking mechanism, and the ray shield disabled itself long enough for the officer and the two commandos to step through.

Hunter narrowed his eyes at the human man as soon as the ray shield went back up. He refused to speak first, but he soon realized the officer wasn’t giving him the chance to do so, anyway.

“Sergeant Hunter of Clone Force 99.” The officer kept his arms tucked politely behind his back. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards, but he gave nothing else away. “Isn’t that what you call yourself, CT-9901?”

Hunter couldn't hold back his threatening growl at the sound of his designation. There were too many overpowering flashes of memories with the longnecks referring to him as such before inflicting the kind of pain that came with being one of the GAR’s only modified soldiers. The derogatory use of that number wasn’t just an experience he and his enhanced brothers had, but the kind of trauma they all had associated with it was devastatingly unique.

Hunter was at least pleased to hear the officer’s heart rate spike at the sound he’d made. The sergeant composed himself quickly, harkening upon the thorough training and life experience he had had as a commanding officer, and simply raised an eyebrow, beckoning—or daring—the officer to continue.

“I must say, Sergeant, I’m thoroughly impressed.” The officer added a nod of respect. “Your squad made effective work of our forces here, and even managed to successfully retrieve one of our prisoners.” He added a huff. “And that wasn’t even your full squad. You were notably down two men.” The officer’s expression grew more smug. “Or just one, nowadays.”

Hunter forced himself to ignore the piercing ache that slashed across his chest like the tip of his own blade. There was a pause, clearly meant for Hunter to fill with words, but the sergeant refused to speak. He wanted to understand this man’s angle first.

“That was quite a risk. One that’s now resulted in you taking the other captive’s place.” The officer cocked his head. “So, Sergeant, what was your objective? Why that clone in particular? There are thousands to choose from, after all, and they’re all the same.”

Hunter’s jaw tightened. The muscles locking into place on his chiseled face would be evident to the three men standing in front of him, but it was better than any more aggressive alternative. Hunter was truly just starting to understand and empathize with regs, courtesy of Echo and Rex, but such a comment about clones still sat sour in his stomach.

“It had to have been important enough for you to be willing to leave yourself, their commanding officer, behind.” The officer feigned pity in a way that had Hunter circling his jaw. “Don’t you know what happens to clones when they lose their chain of command? They need orders to follow. They’ll lose their way. I’m sure you know that, as a sergeant yourself.”

The officer took a few more steps closer to Hunter. The sergeant didn’t move, instead hardening his expression and straightening the way he sat even more. The officer stopped and bent at the waist until his eyes were level with Hunter’s.

“Why risk it, then? Why take that clone?” The officer’s gaze searched Hunter’s. “Your squad doesn’t have a rich history with normal clones, so I doubt this was of your own accord. Who gave you this mission?”

Hunter continued to look the officer dead in the eye as he finally spoke. “We don’t take orders from anyone except ourselves.”

The officer chuckled. “If only that were true. Is it not one of your own who’s become one of our most effective commanders, renowned for his loyalty to following orders?”

That searing pain returned with a burn harsh enough to steal Hunter’s breath for a moment. The chip, Hunter wanted to ground out. It was that damn chip you put in my brother’s head to use him like a puppet.

But that wouldn’t do Hunter any good here, and he wasn’t interested in talking about his youngest sibling with one of the people who was responsible for manipulating him. He simply exhaled a quiet breath through his nose and continued to stare back at the officer.

The Imperial sniffed and altered his course. “In any case, Sergeant, I was still fascinated at what I found when researching you and your squad during your infiltration.” He gave Hunter a quick once-over. “Your ‘name’ comes from your abilities, no? A master tracker?”

Hunter’s frown harshened. The officer’s sly grin widened.

“Your specialty’s with electromagnetic frequencies, correct? You bear a sensitivity to them?”

Hunter’s blood ran cold, but he remained unaffected on the outside. It didn’t take an exceptional mind like Tech’s to know where the officer was going with this.

His silence was damning enough. “Perhaps such electrical currents will be more enticing for you than my meager attempts at civil conversation. Your squad has been noted to have a preference for danger and risk, anyway.”

Hunter’s inner child thrashed inside him, begging for him to fight his way to freedom before they could do such a thing, but he maintained his composure instead. He would get through it the way he always had growing up, when he volunteered himself to answer for his brothers’ outbursts and misunderstood attempts at self-defense. This was no different, really. If anything, he was stronger now.

And he was still doing it to defend his brothers, even those who weren’t enhanced like his own squad—and their sister, his kid, too.

“We do.” Hunter had found his voice, and it was even lower than usual. “So if you really think a few electrical shocks are gonna get me to talk, then…” Hunter shrugged. “Well, it’s your resources going to waste, sir.”

Hunter leaned closer to the officer.

“And all for a clone, huh? Are we not disposable to you?”

The officer looked oddly satisfied. “You misunderstand me, Sergeant. It’s not about a singular clone, especially not the one your squad took. It’s about whoever gave you this mission.” His eyes flashed with wild delight. “And then it’s about the rest of your squad.”

Hunter’s violent itch for problem-solving was getting harder to ignore.

“If just one of you could become such an effective and loyal soldier, then imagine what we could accomplish with the rest of you.”

“That won’t happen.”

The officer grinned wickedly. “You don’t know that.” His gaze flickered down to Hunter’s shackled hands. “And you’re in no position to guarantee it.”

Hunter’s patience for diplomacy had finally dwindled. He stood and shoved his bound hands against the Imperial’s chest, seeing nothing but red as he prepared to raise his arms and bring his fists down as hard he could upon the officer’s head.

But the odds were against him, with two commandos still in the room. One of them stepped forward and slammed the end of their blaster against Hunter’s jaw, and he hit the ground before he could even see it coming. The other side of his head made contact with the cold, hard floor, making stars dance along his vision as sharp lightning bolts of pain radiated from his skull through the rest of his delicate senses.

Still, Hunter lifted his head to face the three men inside his cell, fighting through the daze to scowl at them from the floor. The officer’s words sounded muffled to the ringing in Hunter’s ears, but it didn’t hinder the sergeant from hearing them.

“We’ll allow you an hour or so’s reprieve, Sergeant, and then we shall truly see if your reputation for resilience holds up.”

Hunter narrowed his eyes dangerously at the unnamed officer and his men, ignoring the stinging on his left temple and the aching on his right as he watched them leave the cell. The smell of his own blood became apparent to his senses, too, but Hunter also elected to ignore that even after the ray shield went back up and trapped him alone inside.

Only once there weren’t eyes on him anymore did Hunter fully sit up and rest his back against the bench. He let the back of his aching head lean against it, too, his chin rising as he closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, the soft sound of air entering and leaving his lungs. That sound used to drive Hunter mad when he was first getting a grip on his senses, but right now, it was the most calming thing he had without his brothers’ and sister’s heartbeats nearby.

There was no time to be afraid, nor to take pity on himself. He reminded himself again that it was his necessary retribution for leaving another one of their own behind. He had to be ready for what would come, because the last thing Hunter was willing to do was leave more of his family within the cruel clutches of the Empire.

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Echo was unfortunately familiar with leaving brothers behind out of necessity and survival. He was even familiar with the experience of losing a commanding officer and being left to figure things out on his own. That’s what had happened on Rishi Moon, after all, and that wasn’t counting the loss of his own batchmates, his brothers, in the process.

But even he knew that paled in comparison to what this squad was dealing with right now, because Hunter was so much more than their commanding officer—and even more than just their brother. Echo didn’t have to be around for long to know that.

Hunter was the closest thing any of them, Omega included, had to a father, someone who fiercely protected and guided them through a devastatingly harsh galaxy. And he was gone.

The Marauder’s alarms were still blaring in hyperspace. Echo didn’t have to scomp in to know that the shields were in bad shape, and he nearly groaned just thinking about how bad the carbon scoring would be on the exterior hull. Wrecker was still somewhere behind Echo and Tech in the cockpit, hopefully helping Gregor with his blaster wounds, and Omega had gone uncharacteristically silent.

Tech’s gloved fingers were flying over the controls when he finally broke their focused silence. “Echo—.”

“Yeah, I’m on it.” Echo scomped in, allowing the data to run across his vision as the familiar cold seeped into his body. Multiple alerts came up right away, and Echo ran through the necessary sequences to resolve them the best he could. He wanted this done as soon as possible, because he could practically feel this squad reaching their breaking point.

As if he’d summoned it, he soon realized the cause for Omega’s silence: she was saving her breath for this particular outburst.

“Tech!” Omega’s sudden shout was tearful and heartbroken. “You have to take us back!”

Echo quickened his pace as his organic eyesight carefully watched Tech and Omega’s interaction in his periphery. Omega was quickly approaching Tech at the controls, and he was gently, yet firmly, setting a hand on her shoulder to push her away.

“Turn around! Take us back!”

“Omega, we are in hyperspace, now.” Tech’s voice seemed as calm and informative as usual, but Echo could hear the way it subtly wavered. Even their levelest head was shaken up by what had just happened. “There is no way for us to simply ‘turn around’ as you have requested, and Hunter ordered us to leave.”

Omega continued to fight him. “Since when do we follow orders? He… he needs us!”

Tech’s eyes behind his goggles betrayed the grimace he wore under his helmet. “Hunter will manage on his own for now. The Marauder has sustained significant damage and requires thorough repairs if we are to attempt a rescue.” Tech turned his full attention back to the controls. “You must allow me to give these repairs my full attention.”

“We’ll be too late!” Omega’s voice was trembling as much as she was, and soft cries were beginning to bleed into her devastated tone. She tugged at Tech’s right arm. “Please, Tech!”

Echo withdrew his scomp as soon as he had completed the bare minimum of what he had to do to keep the Marauder flying. His helmet was still on as he bent down to take Omega by the waist and lifted her away from Tech.

“No!” Omega tried to fight Echo’s grip, but thanks to the solid metal of his scomp protecting his organic arm and his cybernetic legs, her struggles were no use. “Echo, please! Please tell him!”

“Easy, Omega.” Echo’s voice was as soft as he could possibly make it as he took her away from the cockpit. “Easy, kid.” They passed Gregor and Wrecker in the main hold and continued on to the bunks. “Easy.”

Echo couldn’t carry Omega up the ladder like this, even when she stopped fighting him and instead sat limp within his grasp. Her tiny body was wracking with heartbreaking sobs, though, the adrenaline and devastation hitting her all at once in a way no child should ever have to experience. Echo set Omega down in the closest bunk, Wrecker’s by the look of it, and held her heaving shoulders.

“Breathe, Omega.” Echo lifted his organic hand to remove his helmet and returned it to her shoulder, running his thumb in circles there to soothe her. “Just… take a few minutes. Okay? We’re alright here.”

“But he isn’t!”

Echo’s stomach twisted into a painful knot. “We don’t know that, kid. You trust Hunter to take care of us, right?”

Omega wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt and nodded.

“Then you should trust him to take care of himself, too.” Echo nodded. “Like Tech said, he can manage on his own for now. We’ll go back for him. We just… we have to make sure we can first.”

Echo gestured to the rest of the ship behind him.

“If we don’t help the Marauder now, then she won’t be able to take us back to him later.”

Omega was still crying, but the sounds were softer, now. Echo continued to hold her as she composed herself enough to speak in a quieter voice.

“Why did he do that, Echo?”

Echo let out a soft breath. “He made a choice, Omega. A choice no one should ever have to make.” He made sure Omega was returning his gaze before he went on. “He had to choose between his own safety and the squad’s, and he chose us.”

Omega’s lips wobbled even as she calmed her cries enough to reduce them to pitiful sniffles. Echo remained patient as her eyes flickered wildly around their surroundings, her shoulders hunching in on herself as if she was carrying a burden three times her own weight. Echo’s concern grew even before Omega whispered the hauntingly untrue words.

“It’s my fault.”

Echo blinked a few times. “What are you talking about?”

Omega closed her eyes and lowered her head. “I saw him jump, and I-I couldn’t catch him in time.”

Echo frowned. “Omega, if you had even tried, you probably would’ve been pulled down with him.”

Omega shook her head. “At least he wouldn’t be alone now.”

Echo moved his organic hand to the side of Omega’s face. The gentle gesture encouraged her to reopen her eyes and look at him. He faced her with all the same sincerity that his words held.

“Do you think Hunter would want you blaming yourself for this?”

Omega hesitated before shaking her head. Echo nodded.

“What do you think he’d want you to do, then?”

Omega straightened her shoulders some and wiped her eyes again. “He’d want me to listen to your orders and complete the mission.”

“Exactly, kid.” Echo gave her tear-stained cheek a gentle pat. “And that’s what we’re gonna do, okay? But there’s no point in trying if we don’t even give the Marauder a chance.”

Echo softened as he made his next point.

“This isn’t just hard for you, Omega. Trust me.”

He spared a look at the others. Wrecker was gruffer than usual while helping Gregor, and Echo could notice even at this distance that their strongest brother’s steady hands were shaking more than usual. Tech was still hunched over the controls, and he hadn’t even removed his helmet yet.

“We’re all worried. Tech especially had it hard, having to be the one to make the decision to comply with Hunter’s order.”

Omega’s gaze flashed with guilt as she averted Echo’s stare again. “Did I make him feel worse?”

Echo shrugged. “No one would blame you even if you did.” He let out his own heavy sigh. “This whole situation is karked.”

“Right.” The smallest of smiles started to tug at Omega’s lips. “Karked.”

Echo eyes widened. “Hey, don’t repeat that.” He pointed a cautious finger at Omega. “I’ll be the one in danger if Hunter finds out about this.”

Omega giggled and wiped away the last of her tears. “I won’t tell him.” She let out a breath and glanced towards the cockpit. “How can I help?”

Echo gestured with his head to the gunner’s mount. “For now, you can help us by getting some rest. We’re headin’ back to Ord Mantell, where we can finish making the repairs. Hunter will need all of us at our best, and rest is the best way to guarantee that.”

Omega steadied herself with a deep breath and nodded. “If that’s what’ll help Hunter, I’ll do it.”

Echo returned her nod. “That’s the spirit.” He stood, but kept his grasp on her shoulder, gently guiding her towards the ladder. “I’ll check on the others. Alright?”

Omega nodded again and looked up at Echo with a soft smile. “Thank you, Echo.”

Echo simply gave her shoulder a squeeze and watched as she climbed her way into her private nook. He waited until she was inside to turn around and check on the next member of the squad. Echo strolled over to where Gregor was still sitting by one of the control stations and rested his scomp arm upon the back of it.

“How’s it goin’ over here?” Echo observed the situation the best he could. Wrecker had at least done a decent job with Gregor’s bandages.

“Ah, don’t ya’ worry, I barely feel a thing!” Gregor said with a laugh. Echo was beginning to realize that was just a normal part of the man’s dialect.

“That’s ‘cause I gave ya’ a hypo,” Wrecker grumbled, looking far less amused than he usually would. He stood from where he’d been kneeling in front of the clone commando to set the medkit back where he’d pulled it from.

Echo followed, reaching forward to set a gentle hand on Wrecker’s shoulder. Wrecker paused before he turned his head to face Echo. His expression gave everything away; Wrecker had always been the one to wear his heart on his sleeve. Wrecker blinked past the dampness in his eyes and glanced towards the gunner’s mount.

“How’s the kid?”

“Better.” Echo squeezed Wrecker’s shoulder. “How ‘bout you, big guy?”

Wrecker’s jaw tightened as he faced the medkit again. He shoved it back into its proper place with more force than required. “I wanna go back.” He let out a frustrated huff. “And I hate waitin’.”

“I know.” Echo sighed and shook his head. “I do, too. But as soon as Tech and I are done with the repairs, we can go.”

Wrecker gave Echo an appreciative glance before gesturing with his gaze towards Gregor. “What’re we gonna do with him?” He managed to keep his voice to a whisper in a way that was surprisingly successful. “We can’t wait for Rex to come get ‘im.”

“I agree.” Echo pondered Wrecker’s words for a long moment. “We’ll have to take him somewhere Rex will remember. When we land on Ord Mantell, take Gregor to Cid’s while Tech and I work on the repairs. I’ll comm Rex and tell him to take Gregor from there.”

Wrecker nodded. “I can do that.”

Echo offered him the best smile he could manage. “Thanks, Wreck.” He glanced at the cockpit and gave his jaw a worried tick. “I’m gonna check in with Tech and see what we can fix before we land.”

Wrecker frowned as he also looked back at the cockpit. “He’s bein’ too quiet.”

Echo patted Wrecker’s shoulder. “I’ll take care of it.”

Wrecker gave Echo another appreciative smile before the ARC trooper stepped away from him. He finally returned to the cockpit, where Tech was now working between his datapad and the navicomputer. Echo sat down in the co-pilot’s seat and gazed curiously and carefully at Tech’s work.

“I am ascertaining that we are taking the most efficient route from Daro to Ord Mantell,” Tech answered before Echo could even ask the question. “There is limited, if any, time to spare.”

Echo grimaced. “How’s the Marauder looking?”

Tech sighed and went to adjust his goggles, but upon realizing his helmet was still on, he simply gave up and returned his hand to his datapad. “The ship is functioning for now, but we will have to complete several extensive repairs upon landing if we intend on returning to Daro.”

“That’s fine.” Echo sighed as Tech’s pace in his work never slowed. “We can divide and conquer. You give me exterior repairs and you can handle the interior.”

Tech nodded. “That is satisfactory.”

Echo waited a few beats, but Tech didn’t fill the silence. The ARC trooper let out another breath and stood, stepping forward enough to grab Tech’s helmet and slide it off for him. Tech immediately lifted his hand again to properly adjust his goggles while Echo set his helmet off to the side.

“Tech.”

The engineer cut his eyes at Echo, but didn’t stop his work. Echo set his hand on Tech’s datapad and lowered it.

“Tech…”

Tech’s grip on his datapad tightened as he tugged it away from Echo’s grasp. His eyes were widened in surprise, but Echo could plainly see the other grueling emotions swirling within their depths. Tech was never the type to act on emotions rather than logic, and in this case, he was outright ignoring the former.

“Please do not interrupt, Echo.” Tech straightened himself and frowned at the ARC trooper. “As I said before, time is of the essence. I still have calculations to run about our route, and afterward, I will be compiling the list of priorities for the repairs.”

“Fine.”

Echo held Tech’s shoulder instead as he gave his brother a knowing look. Tech was no doubt the member of the squad who Echo had grown the closest with, as Tech had been instrumental in helping Echo to adjust to his cybernetics and had even lent his hand in making significant modifications that saved Echo a lot of pain and hassle, and Echo was eager to return the favor with his own kind of comfort.

“Just make sure you believe your own words about Hunter. He’ll manage just fine on his own for now.”

Tech’s stare fell. He adjusted his goggles again, although the gesture was completely unnecessary from what Echo could tell.

“And you did the right thing, following his orders. Your actions saved all our lives.”

Tech’s brow shot up. “That is a gross overstatement. However…” Tech relaxed and offered Echo a nod, “the sentiment is much appreciated.”

Echo returned the nod. “Of course.” He patted Tech’s shoulder and sat back in the co-pilot’s chair. “Is there anything I can help with while we’re still en route?”

“Indeed.” Tech didn’t waste a beat as he nodded towards the scomp link. “I would greatly appreciate your assistance in ascertaining the route.”

Echo steadied himself with a breath and gave his scomp a quick spin. “You’ve got it.”

As Echo prepared to launch back into action, he stole a quick, quiet moment for himself, working through his past trauma the way he was always trained to. Hunter was more than capable of fending for himself for now, and he had a hell of a motivation in wanting to get back to his squad. If anything, Echo knew their sergeant’s fierce protectiveness would guide his way back to them.

The only terrifying thought lingering in the back of Echo’s mind was the other wayward member of their squad getting to Hunter first.

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