Arguments Rex makes so Fives and Echo can join the 501st:
It was his mission, as Cody said
The shinies clearly like him more than Cody
Echo’s already got blue on his armor
The 501st has the room for two shinies
Cody recommended Rex to be Skywalker’s Captain and then he got a Padawan, let him have some happiness
They went along with the blow-up the base plan right away, they already fit in
His droid-imitation plan worked, obviously Rex knows what he’s doing
Face it, the 501st is overall the better option, Codes
And the Only argument Cody audibly agrees with:
Cody kidnapped Rex into his squad so it’s only fair he lets Rex kidnap these shinies into his battalion
The unseen opportunity Cody sees in all of this:
He can get Echo and Fives to team up against Rex and mess with him for Cody, often. Even when he’s not around. It’s a fair trade off
I need you all to realize that this means Shiny Echo and Fives one day get a comm message from Cody shortly after joining the 501st and they freak out before opening it. Will it be condolences for their squad? Are they actually being transferred to the 212th? Is it save the galaxy levels of important?
When they finally do open it, the message is just like “Hi, little brothers. You two did great in that last battle and now I have a mission for you: every time Rex says something for the next few days, you need to respond with, "Ah, just like they told us on Kamino.” Thanks. — Cody"
And that’s how ARC Troopers Fives and Echo end up with stories about being on a first-name basis with Marshal Commander Cody before they became ARCs and without being in his battalion
Yes Fives died and all that suffering still happened BUT. Because he told Rex about the chips, Rex told Ahsoka to find Fives, and Ahsoka was able to save Rex. Because Rex was saved, he saved Ahsoka from getting killed by the other clones. Since Ahsoka did not die, she helped the rebellion grow and thrive-specifically Ezra and Kanan. If they did not recieve her help, they would have died. If Ezra or Kanan had died, they would not have won major victories for the rebellion and it would have failed. I do not believe that the rebellion would not have had that much firepower during Scariff or Yavin without the help of Ezra and Kanan. Yes, Luke was the one who defeated the empire, he was the one who fired the shot, but he would not have been able to do it without Ezra and Kanan and the Ghost Crew behind the scenes, turning the rebellion into a legitimate army.
What I’m getting at here, is that even though Fives died as a silenced whistleblower, his actions sent ripples and shockwaves throughout the living Force. His act of raising the alarms about the chips did in fact save the entire galaxy because it kept the right people alive during the right situations. Fives is an unsung hero who saved billions of lives because he did the right thing, even though it cost him his life. His acion created a domino effect- if he didn’t come forward the chain would not have started and things would have been a lot worse for everyone.
Fives really needs a monument or a statue built in his honour. The clones deserve more.
“Blast it, Fives, what are you doing here? Don’t you know what this stuff is?” He strides right up to his brother, poking a finger in Fives’ chest. “Now we’re both going to die, you idiot!”
/
Fives leans forwards, pressing their foreheads together gently. It’s an old Mandalorian expression of comfort, one Fives and Echo had both picked up during their official ARC training.
“I’m not losing a batchmate so soon if I can help it,” Fives growls. “It nearly killed me last time, watching as everyone else died one by one. It’s not going to happen again.”
“Anakin Skywalker,” I said as I stepped up behind my old friend. With a smug grin, my fellow knight turned around from the window looking out over the lower half of the temple. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked me up and down as though he was sizing me up. Just like old times.
“Kit Tolsim,” he said, voice full of his normal teasing bravado. “If the council summoned you too, I must be in for quite the grueling mission.”
I smiled back at him and mirrored his stance. “Who said my missions were grueling?” I asked.
“Captain Rex,” Anakin replied, jutting his chin to motion to someone behind me. I twisted round to look over my shoulder. Walking towards us strode Rex, back straight helmet at this side. I raised an eyebrow.
Stoic as ever.
“Captain,” I greeted, crossing my arms as he stood beside Anakin.
If possible, he seemed to straighten his back more and I wasn’t sure it would take the strain. “General Tolsim,” he said.
“I wasn’t expecting you here,” I said, glancing at Anakin, “either of you really.”
Anakin’s hands fell to clasp behind his back and he shrugged. “The council requested us both specifically. I didn’t know they were bringing you in as well.”
I shook my head. “Not just me,” I said, glancing at the doorway behind me. “They wanted me to bring two of my own along,” I said, turning back to face Rex and Anakin. Anakin’s mouth opened to say something, but Rex beat him.
“You were recently given your own Battalion,” he said, nodding his head. I bit back a smile.
“Careful, Rex, Kit will think you’re keeping tabs on her,” Anakin chuckled.
A look of embarrassment and slight horror passed over Rex’s face as he glanced up at Anakin. “I just—”
“You’re alright, Rex. I took over the specialist corps,” I said, cutting him off before he popped a blood vessel. He fell quiet, eyes glancing from my face to the floor. I continued speaking. “I’m primarily overseeing ARC troopers on special assignment.” The feeling of two familiar presences appeared behind me and I raised my eyes to the ceiling as the door slid open. “They’re quite talented,” I said turning around, “though they seem to struggle with showing up on time.” We watched as two troopers made their way towards us. I couldn’t help the smile on my face as they snapped to attention.
“General Tolsim,” they said in sync.
“General Skywalker, meet Fives and Echo,” I said as I turned back around. “Two of my best. Rex, I think you know each other?” I asked with a quick glance at the captain. “You recommended them personally for ARC training.”
Rex looked… proud? “Yes, I did,” he said, smiling briefly at the two troopers next to me. Under their helmets, I was sure there were identical grins plastered on their faces.
“Well,” Anakin said, glancing at the door leading to the council’s war room. “I’ve got my trooper and you’ve got yours, Kit.” He stepped back and held his hand out to the door. “Shall we?”
Slipping his helmet on, Rex stepped out of the way and joined Fives and Echo as I followed after Anakin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Someone has been kidnapping clones and we’re only hearing of this now?” I asked, arms folded over my chest as Master Koth finished his presentation.
“It took time for anyone to detect a pattern,” Master Koth replied as he turned off the holo projector before facing us once again. “Out of a million units, the amount of desertions and the missing in action reports —”
“No one noticed that a few men were missing here and there after shore leave,” Anakin said next to me.
I glanced at him, a bitter frown on my face as I crossed my arms. Or no one cared. Raising my head, I glanced up at the ceiling. “And these men — do we know where they are?”
Koth nodded his head. “Our investigative teams discovered them in a nerf freeze facility in the undercity.” He paused. “There were… no survivors.”
“And no leads?”
“Not from that facility,” Koth replied. “But we’ve received reports that someone is looking to buy ARC troopers. So far the offer is 75 thousand credits.” Anakin and I shared a look before turning our gaze on the troopers standing at attention along the far wall.
“ARC troopers specifically?” Anakin asked.
“The clones that we found were lower ranking, which is probably why their absence went unnoticed for as long as it did. However, they wouldn’t have had access to the same intel or know our weaknesses as well as an officer—”
“Or an ARC trooper,” I finished for him, finally catching on. I glanced at Anakin. “I’m starting to see why your summons was so specific, Master Koth.”
“Skywalker has a history of undertaking unconventional missions, and Tolsim, your men are some of the best.”
“So, our mission…”
“Discover who is behind this, what they’re after,” Koth said. “And deterthem.”
I glanced at Anakin. “Any ideas on how we do that?”
The knight fell silent for a moment, before turning to look at the troopers along the wall. I glanced around his side, and found Rex still as a statue, Fives with his hands on his hips and Echo with rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. Anakin turned back to me.
“I have a few ideas.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Excuse me, ma’am, but what?”
I held up my hands as three troopers stared at me, Echo and Fives with wide eyes, Rex just as calm as ever, except for the way his eyes flitted from me to Anakin, who was standing behind me. “Don’t get mad at me, Fives,” I said throwing my thumb over my shoulder, “it’s Skywalker’s plan.”
“Hey, Master Koth had the idea first,” Anakin groused. I looked over my shoulder as he shrugged. “I just refined it.”
Echo and Fives shared a look. “Selling us doesn’t sound like much of a plan from where we’re standing,” Fives said, looking at me and I felt as though my skin might explode into flames beneath his gaze. He was always the one that told it straight, and I had a feeling that had he spoken to any other commander as he did to me, he’d be in a hot seat.
“We’re not selling you,” I said, squinting as I waved my hands, searching for someway to make this plan sound better than it was. “It’s more like — like a rental. We are not going to leave you,” I told them both, making eye contact as I said it. “I promise.”
“And honestly, I doubt Kit could sell water to a farmer on Tatooine,” Anakin said, as he moved to stand next to me, “so you don’t really have anything to worry about.”
“Is that a challenge?” I asked, hands falling to my hips. I waved a hand to Echo and Fives. “Because these two graduated at the top of their class in ARC training.”
“So did Rex.”
“ButI have two,” I shot back. I glanced at Rex. “No offense.”
The corner of Rex’s mouth quirked. “No offense taken,” he said setting his helmet down on the seat next to him. “But perhaps we can discuss the mission plan?”
Anakin and I shared a look before he took the lead. Punching in the intel holodisk, he began to speak as a planet with three moons was projected above us. “The coordinates for the broker are on Ajan Kloss. We will meet them there and attempt to complete the transaction.” He looked over the men. “You’ll each be fitted with subcutaneous trackers. When you’re… sold,” Anakin’s voice deepened into a breathy growl for a moment, “we’ll be able to track you. We want to find out who is at the top of these dealings.”
“And what if the trackers don’t work?” Echo asked.
“They will,” I said setting a hand on his shoulder. “That’s not the hard part.” Echo gave me a nod and I let my hand fall away. Across the table, my eyes found Rex watching my hand, his gaze fixed on my fingers. I cleared my throat as I hid my hands behind my back. Rex looked to Anakin who was adding on to my previous statement.
“The hard part is that if we spook the broker at all, the entire deal is off.”
“And because one of us is a little well known…” I looked at Anakin, “having two people trying to make a sale should give the whole ordeal more credence.” Crossing my arms, I looked each man in the eye. “There are a lot of unknowns to this mission. We don’t know who the broker is, or their buyer. We don’t know where they will take you. We don’t even know which one of you it will be.”
“But if we don’t do it, then more of our men could — will end up in a slaughter house,” Rex said, jaw tense, eyes staring up at the hologram. I wasn’t sure anyone else noticed how he pressed his fist against the table.
My stomach lurched at the thought of not only what we were sending these three into, but what the other clones, those missing had gone through. What if one of them had been my men? Or Rex? Always the first one into the fray, I thought sadly as Echo and Fives listened to their brother. Rex was a great leader, and I had borrowed from his playbook quite a bit since taking over the specialist troopers. They needed that leadership now and I wasn’t sure Anakin or I was going to cut it. They need him to lead.
“Not that I get an opinion, as these are orders,” Echo said, drawing my attention off Rex. I turned to Echo as he looked between myself and Anakin. “But I’d do anything for my brothers.”
Fives crossed his arms, but gave a firm nod. “We all would.”
“Then we all understand our roles?” Anakin said, looking us each in the eye. “Kit and I will play the part of trader, and you three will be the goods.”
With stiff nods, I turned to my two ARCs. “Gather you gear and be ready to move out within the hour,” I told them as Anakin stepped to the side to speak with Rex. Echo and Fives gave a quick salute before turning on their heels and leaving the room. Crossing my arms, I glanced at Anakin and Rex before moving to join them.
“I have an errand I need to attend to before we go,” Anakin was telling Rex. “Can you make sure the shuttle is prepared?”
“Yes, sir,” Rex said as Anakin left him, walking towards me.
He smirked. “It’ll be just like old times, Kit.”
“You mean the two of us trying to outdo one another until we create such a huge mess our masters will have to come save us.”
Anakin’s nose scrunched up. “We won’t need Obi-Wan or Master Krell this time.”
I smiled as he stepped past me. “So, a gentleman’s bet then?” I asked.
Anakin scowled. “You’re no gentleman, Kit.”
“Well, thanks for noticing, but neither are you.”
“Whoever gets the broker to take their ARC trooper wins?” he asked. I nodded in agreement. Rolling his eyes, Anakin began making his way towards the door once more. “I can do that in my sleep, Kit. Get ready to lose.”
“You know, Anakin, the loser is always the one to crow first,” I called as he disappeared through the door. A smirk overtook my face as I turned around.
I looked across the room, to find Rex typing away on a data pad, and relaying information through his comms. I approached.
“Ready the shuttle in bay 055-273,” he ordered, glancing at me as I made my way over. “The team will be there within the hour.” Order relayed he dropped his arm and continued working. “Was there something you needed, General Tolsim?” he asked without looking up.
“No,” I said, looking down at the war table, studying the troop lines. “I—“
“Do you know General Skywalker well?” Rex interrupted.
My head snapped up. Something inside me had hoped that when I looked up I would get to see his eyes again, but they were trained on the pad in his hand. Pushing off the table, I shrugged. “We came to the temple around the same time. He’s a few years older than I am though.”
“So, he’s like a brother then?”
I cocked my head. “I… wouldn’t say that,” I said. “Not like your brothers at least.” Raising his eyebrows, Rex looked down at his data pad and set to typing. I looked him over, happy to see that he looked healthy, maybe even a tad more… loose than he was during our stay on Saleucami. Like he had unraveled from a tight ball of string. “You look good, Rex,” I said as I leaned against the table, arms crossed .
His eyes shifted up and I realized what I had said. “Ma’am?”
I shook my head. “You look well. A lot better than you did the last time I saw you,” I amended. A heat raced up the back of my neck as he looked at me, but I ignored it. For the most part.
“I…” he looked down at his data pad for a moment, then back at me. “You look better too, General.”
I smiled softly as he cleared his throat and set down the data pad. He reached up and rubbed his palm over the back of his head. “You’ll want to make your way to the landing pad, Ma’am. The boys might have been late for the meeting this morning but they’ll be there early to set out.”
A soft hum of acknowledgment left me and I began to step backwards. “Don’t take it too hard when Echo, Fives and I beat you and Skywalker, yeah?”
Something akin to a smirk appeared on Rex’s face as he finally looked up and met my gaze for what felt like the first time in forever. “I’m placing my bets on General Skywalker this time, ma’am. No offense.”
I gave a fake gasp as I turned around, setting my hand over my heart. “Oh, I take all the offense, Captain,” I said as I made my way towards the doors. “All of it.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Fives, don’t be such a baby,” I said as the trooper lingered by the door. Echo, having just gotten a tracker shot into his side, pulled down his shirt and sat up on the examination table. The med-droid hovered to the side waiting for Fives to take his own seat.
“You heard the general,” Echo called as he sat back on his hands. “Don’t be such a baby.”
“Stuff it,” Fives said as he glared at his brother. Then his eyes flitted to me, “Sorry ma’am, it’s just…” he glanced at the med droid and swallowed. “I’ve got a thing about needles.”
I nodded. “I get it. But it has to be done for the mission.”
Grumbling and with a jaw so tense, I was worried it might shatter, Fives made his way to the table across from Echo. The other clone smirked. “I bet if you ask nicely enough the general will hold your hand,” Echo teased.
“Ahem.” Before Fives could cuss his squad-mate out, and before I could join in on Echo’s teasing someone cleared their throat from the doorway. In sync, all three of us turned to find Rex peeking into the med bay. Fives and Echo straightened up. “General Skywalker asked me to inform you that we’re an hour out from Ajan Kloss.”
“Thank you, Captain,” I said as the med droid forced Fives to lay back on the table, pulling his shirt up. I turned to Rex. “Have you been fitted with a tracker yet?”
Rex shook his head, glancing at the scene behind me. “I… can get one when you’re done in here,” he said jabbing his thumb over his shoulder. “I should get back to the general… uh, General,” he made a face as he turned around and left the med bay.
“Captain—” I frowned, unable to stop him, but twisted back around to face Fives and Echo. The two of them were sharing a look, almost mirror images of one another with eyebrows raised, mouths quirked into half smiles.
“What?” I asked them as I crossed my arms.
Fives shrugged as Echo shook his head. “Nothing, ma’am, just never seen the captain balk like that,” Fives said.
“I thought he’d be smoother,” Echo said, hand under his chin. Fives nodded in agreement as I narrowed my eyes.
“As interesting as this conversation is to anyone else,” I said, stepping next to the med-droid, “We need to get a move on. Lift your shirt, Fives.” The droid moved across from me as Fives groaned.
“Ma’am…”
I fixed him with a look. “Fives, do I need to hold your hand?”
Rolling his eyes, he laid back. His fingers pried up the hem of his black top and he didn’t move, even as the droid drew nearer. It was over quickly, a short jab over his ribs and a hiss as the injector did its job and the droid was soon pulling back readying the next set of shots for our plan. With a scowl, Fives pulled his shirt down and sat up.
“You made it,” I said as I patted his shoulder. “One down, one more to go.”
“Another?” he asked as I retracted my hand. The med droid held up two new syringes’ filled with a golden liquid. Even Echo tensed as the droid chose him as its first victim.
“Qualoquey vaccine,” I said setting my hands on my hips as Echo received an injection to the neck. “It mimics the symptoms of spice withdrawal.”
“Spice?” Echo repeated with a hiss as he set his palm over the injection site.
“All the consequences, none of the fun, sorry,” I said as the med droid moved towards Fives. He tensed but took the shot without a word. “The worst of it should hit you in a few minutes and you’ll be able to function when we land.”
“Is the captain going to be getting one of these too?” Fives asked. I shook my head and the two troopers frowned.
“No one will know I’m a Jedi, right?” I asked them, raising an eyebrow. They shook their heads. “And so, what plausible story can you think of, where little old me took down the two of you?”
They thought for a minute. “We met at a club,” Echo said, wincing as he set his hand against his temple, sweat beginning to prickle his skin. “You spiked our drinks…”
“And now we’ll do anything for another taste of spice,” Fives finished.
“I told Skywalker you two were the best,” I said slapping Echo’s shoulder as I turned towards the door. I swiped one of the trackers from the counter. “I’m going to go get myself ready, see how the general is planning on us arriving at the coordinates, without drawing attention.” Two voices groaned behind me as I opened the door, and twisted round to give them one last look. They had both keeled over onto their sides, Fives holding his stomach. Echo had his legs tucked up to his chest. “The trashcan is in the corner,” I told them. “I’ll buy you both a drink when this is over. Promise.” Turning on my heel, I left the med-bay as boots hit the floor stumbling towards the garbage can.
~~~~~~~~~~
The cockpit is silent as I enter. Anakin sits in the pilot’s chair going over reports, not reading word for word, but scrolling through quickly, absorbing the important information. In the chair opposite him, with his gaze focused on the swirl of hyperspace, sits Rex. Neither man notices me at first.
“Busy?” I ask and they both flinch, Rex so hard I’m afraid he’ll jump out of his seat and through the roof of the ship. Anakin glances over his shoulder.
“Not particularly. Did you need something?”
I shook my head. “Nothing much besides hearing what your plan is for landing? I don’t think it’s a great idea for us to show up in one ship. Do you?”
“We’ll disembark a few clicks south of the rendezvous,” Rex says before Anakin can speak. “The general and I will enter first, confirm that the meet-up is authentic and then you and your team can move in to make your play.”
I turned to Anakin. “That’s cheating,” I said dully.
He faked a laugh. “What? No, it’s not. I just thought you would appreciate not having to trek through a jungle for once.”
“Oh of course you were thinking of me,” I said dryly, rolling my eyes as I leaned up. “Well, it sounds like you boys have come up with your plan.” I turned to Rex. “I brought a tracker up for you. Echo and Fives have the monopoly on the med-bay for now.
Anakin frowned. “Rex already has a tracker,” he said. Rex’s head tilted forward as he cleared his throat.
“Actually, I uh, didn’t get one yet, sir,” he said.
“Rex, I sent you down there to get one—”
I quirked a brow as Rex looked between Anakin and me. “W-well, I uh, General—”
I turned to Anakin. “The med-droid was busy with Echo and Fives. I asked Rex to come back here.”
Anakin frowned for a moment then shrugged. With a sigh he stood up and turned towards the door. “I’m going to check my gear and get ready for the drop-off. Rex get your tracker and meet me in the cargo hold. I want to go over a few things.”
“Yes, sir,” Rex said, standing as his general left, the door closing behind him. I set the tracker and syringe on the small work table along the wall as Rex moved towards me. “You shouldn’t have lied like that,” he said. “Not for me.”
“Yes, well you can’t tell a lie to save your life,” I said, turning to face him as he sat down on the edge of the table. I hadn’t realized he was so close until the scent of him — gun oil, standard soap, and his own scent tickled my nose. I shook my head and leaned back, hoping the heat beneath the skin of my cheeks wasn’t showing. “So, I told one for you. And I know Anakin. His teasing would be ceaseless.” I knelt down as Rex stared at me. I looked up at him. “Your shirt?” I asked. Without a word, he lifted the hem, and I couldn’t help but notice the way his cheeks turned a shade of pink as I uncapped the syringe. I wiped the area quickly, watching as his abdomen flinched at the cold swab. His tan skin was warm to the touch. I swallowed as I noticed him watching me and I quickly took aim with the needle in my hand. “Besides, I think I’d prefer to tease you all on my own.”
Rex’s brow furrowed at that. “Ma’am—mmm?” he turned his head as he groaned as the needle pricked his skin suddenly. I placed my thumb atop the syringe and pressed down gently as the tracker was injected. Pulling back, I covered the injection site with a pad and set the needle on the table next to him.
I smiled. “You took that a lot better than Fives did.” I started to rise to my feet. “He has a problem—”
“—with needles,” Rex said, his voice overlapping my own. I swallowed, pulling my hand back from his side as he dropped his shirt. He cleared his voice as I set to disposing of the syringe kit. “You have a good rapport with them,” he said behind me.
I hummed, head nodding. “They’re good men. I want to see them make it through the war in one piece,” I said quietly.
“I’d like to see that too,” Rex murmured. I looked over my shoulder and smiled.
“What no, lecture about knowing when to let go?” I asked.
He tilted his head. “When have I ever lectured you, Ma’am?”
“Oh, I can think of a time or two.”
“Well, people change,” he said, stepping towards the door. I turned around quickly, eyebrows dipping. He reached out and hit the door pad, the cockpit opening to the rest of the ship.
“Have you changed, Rex?” I asked him, before he could set foot over the threshold. He froze. The room was silent again. His jaw was tense and I wasn’t sure he was breathing. His gaze fell to the floor and I looked to his hands, only to find them balled up at his sides.
“I should get to the cargo bay,” he said finally, stepping forward, out into the hall before I could ask him anything else.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You two look… horrible,” I said as I entered the med-bay. Echo and Fives looked up at me slowly as though I had just kicked them and stolen their favorite blanket. Their eyes were bloodshot, skin sickly pale, their deep bronze overtones now grey. I turned to the med-droid. “Give them a boost,” I ordered. It set to work approaching Fives first.
He shook his head and moved back on the bed. “Not again,” he moaned and I clasped my hands.
“This will make you feel better,” I told him softly as the droid gave him another injection, “but you’ll still look like you’re strung out for a bit.” Almost immediately, Fives relaxed on the table, letting out a long, drawn out sigh of relief. He turned his head and watched as Echo took his third shot of the day. I tilted my head as they sat up, wincing as they moved. “Better?”
Echo nodded. “Was it just one drink you owed us, Ma’am?” he asked. I smiled.
“Echo, for this, I’ll buy you as much alcohol as you want when we’re done.”
“No alcohol,” Fives protested, holding a hand out to me as he shook his head. “No food,” he cleared his throat, trying not to gag as he sat up. “And no more shots.”
I held up my hand, showing them my palm before placing it over my heart. “No more shots. Promise.” They each gave me their own version of the same look before standing up, a bit wobbly at first, but soon finding their footing. “Now who’s ready to beat Master Skywalker at his own game?” I asked with a smirk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We waited one hour after we left Anakin and Rex at their drop zone. One hour for Echo and Fives to rest. One hour for me to prepare. Jedi. We never owned more than we could carry on our person. Anything I had, usually, was simple, small, inconspicuous, plain, practical.
Which was why the tight leather pants I was currently wearing, were driving me insane. No matter how I moved, walked, stretched — something was pinching, squeezing somewhere it shouldn’t. My bare arms left me cold and feeling exposed and I longed for the warm safety, and modesty, of my robes.
Jaw clenched, I flicked a series of switches, releasing the landing gear of the ship as we hovered over a plant infested landing pad. Through the window, I took in the foliage, the walkway that hadn’t been cleared in who knows how long. The planet was teeming with life. None of it civilized. Ruins and temples lay hidden within the forests of the moon, yet no sentients had walked their halls for hundreds of years. It was the perfect place for a secret meeting. The perfect place to hide from unwanted eyes, specifically jedi.
Shaking my head, I tried to tune out the overwhelming surge of energy washing over me again and again as I stood up and left the cockpit. My hand fell to my hip, where normally I would find the comforting weight of my saber, but I’d sent it ahead with Anakin in his R2 unit.
Echo and Fives were waiting for me on the ramp. Some color was beginning to come back to their cheeks, but there was a subtle shake to Echo’s hands. And Fives wasn’t standing nearly as tall as he usually did, shoulders hunched, eyes tired.
“Everything ready?” I asked as the ramp lowered behind them. They turned and looked me over.
“Did you change your hair, Commander?” Fives asked, a silly grin on his face letting know that one, he was feeling better, and two, he wasn’t looking really looking at my hair. I reached up and ran my fingers through it.
“I thought a change of pace might be fun.” I stepped between them and looked down the walkway, a protocol droid shuffling towards us. “Play along?” I said glancing back at them as they took their places on either side of me. They each gave small nod and we set down the ramp to meet the welcome party.
“Greetings,” the obsidian droid said mechanically as we approached. “I am SC-7109. My master welcomes you.” The droid glanced at Echo and Fives. “Unfortunately, we are already in talks to purchase another, healthier specimen—”
I waved a hand. “I don’t deal with droids,” I told it. “Your master can tell me himself if he doesn’t want what I’m offering.”
“That’s—”
“Nonnegotiable,” I said tightly, pushing my way past the droid. It stumbled to the side, gears whirring as it righted itself before it hit the ground. I glanced over my shoulder as Fives and Echo lingered on the platform. “Come along, boys,” I called before turning forward and making my way across the bridge.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You can do better than that, surely,” a voice drifted from the open doorway. I rolled my eyes. Anakin was deep in the middle of… negotiating, by the time we finally arrived. With one last shared look with my arc troopers, I stepped through the door into an overgrown chamber. The stone walls were covered in vines and the floors carpeted with fallen leaves. A gaping hole in the ceiling and shattered floor to roof window allowed light stream in effortlessly.
“If you don’t like my client’s offer, then you’re free to go elsewhere,” a low, graveled voice answered back as I made my way towards three figures on the far end of the hall. Rex stood with his hands cuffed behind his back, watching just to the right of Anakin who faced off with a slender, dark skinned Twilek male with sharp fangs and bright yellow eyes.
Anakin’s arms crossed as he stepped back, opening his mouth to speak, but not before I did so first. “We’re not too late, are we?” I crooned, smiling as all eyes turned on me. All three men looked me up and down as I came to a stop beside Anakin. I paid him the same gesture, but feigned a look a disgust as I trailed my eyes from his head to his feet. “You’re not the one in charge I take it?” I asked, nonchalantly. Anakin narrowed his eyes.
A huffing laugh left the Twilek who stepped forward. “He is not,” he rumbled, looming over me with sharp eyes that seemed to analyze the path of my neckline with deep interest. “You may call me Kilso.”
“It seems you’re already begun negotiations without me, Kilso,” I said with a pout as I glanced back at Rex. He could afford to take acting lessons from Anakin. His gaze flickered over my face. It was too soft. Too trusting. Not the expression you’d expect of someone kidnapped and about to be sold to the enemy. I turned away.
“Negotiating implies making progress,” Anakin muttered.
“Forgive me,” Kilso held up his hands, “but if I took the first offering that came along, I would never have three clones in one room to choose from.”
“Two of which belong to me,” I said, glancing at the two clones in question as they stood off to the side. Echo was fidgeting and Fives looked as though he might need to find another wastebin soon. Not exactly an inspiring pair when you compare them to Rex.
“Yes…” Kilso agreed, following my gaze. “How did you manage to find them?”
“At the bottom of a barrel I suspect,” Anakin broke in before I could answer. He steps past me, holding out a hand guiding Kilso over to Rex. “As you can see my specimen is in fantastic shape, and a captain. So you can expect his intel will be more… well,” he glanced over his shoulder back at me, “more.”
Rolling my eyes, I moved around Kilso. I came to a stop beside Rex. “Mmm, yes a captain would have more intel, but also more training against interrogation.” Reaching out, I set my hand on Rex’s shoulder and true to his part, he jerked back as if I had stung him.
“You won’t get anything from me,” he breathed out through clenched teeth, turning on all of us with a glare. I almost laughed. Instead I turned to the side.
“I put a lot of work into snaring these men, Kilso.” My bottom lip pouted out as I turned a smirk flashing on my mouth as I glanced at Anakin, his arms folded across his chest, a frown deepening as I stepped towards him before turning my gaze to Rex. “Why spend time breaking this one when you can have one that’s already cracked open and just waiting for you to pull it apart?” I asked, turning back to face the Trandoshan. I held a hand out to Fives and Echo. “Or two for a small increase in price?”
Kilso turned with me. “What is it that ails them?”
I shrugged. “A simple spice addiction. They’ll do anything for it. Won’t you boys?”
Fives and Echo straightened up as I addressed them. Fives put on his most pitiful face. “Ma’am, please–”
With a wave of my hand, he fell silent and I turned back to Kilso. “You only have to ask and they’ll give you everything.”
Kilso tilted his head to the side, weighing my words, before turning his back on all of us and stepping towards the window. “My employer has very specific needs,” he said lowly, almost to himself. I glanced at Anakin, his face covered in a grim shroud that always hid what he was thinking. But I could feel his excitement. Turning to face us once again, Kilso held out a small holo pad.
“Your employer?” Anakin tilted his head as blue light flittered from the pad. A face came into focus, one I had only ever seen in recordings. But next to me, Anakin stiffens. I start to turn to catch a glimpse of his face but the holo speaks.
“Master Skywalker, how interesting that you’re in the business of trafficking clones.”
I had turned fully now and could see Anakin. But more than that I could feel a deep seeded anger in him. He glared at the holo before uttering one word, a name.
“Dooku.”
Taglist: New readers, lemme know if you’d like to be added!
Sometimes I look at that group holo and think Echo was trying to imitate Cody’s hairstyle. Of course this is just a dumb thought/quick doodly sketch and really has no relevance to anything in particular it’s for funsies
The holo was just one of many out of the stack Finn had taken from the Resistance records storeroom to supplement his thus far rather one-sided historical education while he recuperated, but his eyes were drawn as if by tractor beam to the tiny lettering printed on the side.
CT-7567 - that sounded like a stormtrooper designation. And below that - CC-2224. CT-5555.
Clone troopers. To hear the First Order tell it, they had been an ideal to strive towards and ultimately exceed, the perfect soldiers who had ushered in the Empire thanks to their absolute obedience and uniformity.
But when Finn booted up the holo, he saw the faces of individual men, and to his surprise, names. Rex. Cody. Fives. Echo. Tup. Kix. Jesse. The list ran on and on. He saw a dizzying range of tattoos, elaborate painted designs on armor, intricate patterns shaved into hair - even the tilt of one clone’s eyebrows set him apart from the furrow of his brother’s, a playful twist of the lips here against a harder line of determination there.
Finn didn’t know how many hours passed as he sat riveted by the holo-record. Despite the cruel circumstances of their creation, the clones had risen above being the emotionless tools they were intended as, had minds and hearts that refused to be reduced to mere organs. One had even come close to unmasking the vast conspiracy behind the rise of Palpatine. A pawn, rising against the chessmaster. And though the clone, no, the man (Fives, Finn burned the name deep into his memory) had ultimately failed, reading about how he defied everything he knew so he could fight for what was right set something to steel in Finn’s chest.
He raised his fingers to pass through the projection, as if he could absorb it into his very self like the tattoos that marked so many of the men. Finn would not let those names be forgotten.
ETA: Thanks for the warm reception on this picture/ficlet! (especially these awesome tag ficlet-comments) - I just want to clear up a few things I’ve seen in the reblog tags of this:
1) I’m very flattered that some are tagging this as the novelization, but this is just my own writing. :’D
2) This ficlet is meant to take place after the events of TFA while Finn’s in recovery - I imagine Finn finds the records in some Resistance storeroom (I don’t think the First Order would look kindly upon Fives for one! And since now Filoni says Rex lives to RotJ I can picture him telling his story to the Rebellion.) It’s important to me that Finn decided to defect on his own due to his intrinsic strength and goodness! I just imagine him finding records about clones as kind of extra encouragement after the fact.
anyway, thanks for the support this has gotten! glad to see so many fellow finn and clones fans popping up!
Rex: *sighing and flopping into a chair* Finally, got rid of Fives and Hardcase for a while. They should be gone for hours, time for some peace and quiet.
Kix: How did you manage that?
Rex: I sent them to the store for an item that doesn’t exist.
Well, this season is just going to be an emotional rollercoaster and I’m just not prepared for the end. I’m so happy Echo is alive, but at what cost? He looks so fragile/ruined, and even if he does survive the state he’s in, he’s going to go through order 66. So no matter how long we have Echo back for, we just know he’s going to die and I’m already crying. This episode brought back A LOT of Fives trauma for me, his ending was so devastating in season 6. To know that Echo will find out what happened to Fives will be soul destroying. But I’m very intrigued to see where this is all going to go.
The Bad Batch we’re awesome again, I’m going to miss them after this arc is complete. I’d love to know what happens to them during order 66. I hope we get to see that. I’m also hoping we get to see Rex, Wolf & Gregor discover & take our their order 66 chips.
Animation was on point again, the fight scenes were epic and I loved the primitive race they introduced. They were pretty damn cool.
Lastly the fact that Rex fully knows about Anakin & Padme is so heart warming to me. Anakin really trusts Rex enough to know all his secrets. I love that Rex helps Anakin to sneak away so he can have his cute little hologram calls with Padme she was looking hella pregnant in this episode too. I wonder if we’ll see her tell him this season? But, let’s not forget THAT Obi-Wan line to Anakin about Padme!!! He fully knows already about them and he’s choosing to keep the secret for his brother the feels man! The feels!
“Here, I’ve got an idea.” Fives held out his hand. “Take my hand, and Quill’s too. For every three steps you take, Quill and I will swing you forward, yeah? Sound good?”
Kiran lit up. “Yeah!” He grabbed both men’s hands quickly, biting his lower lip in concentration. “One… Two… Free!”
EVERYONE LOOK AT THEM I’M CRYING. They could be a whole little family. <3
Thank you to @space-b33 for doing a fun art trade with me!
Probably one of the cutest things I’ve drawn! And this is how I will remember them bc nothing bad will ever happen. Ever.
