Chapter Text
Hunter heard footsteps coming up the ramp of the Havoc Marauder. They happened to be stationed on the same planet as the 501st and Echo wanted to catch up with Captain Rex. The planet was nice with a climate similar to that of Naboo and their assignment was strangely easy for them but hey, Hunter's not complaining. Wrecker walked up to Rex and gave him one of his signature hugs.
“Good to see you again, Rex!” he said enthusiastically
“Good to see you too, Wrecker”
The rest of the batch also exchanged greetings with varying degrees of warmth as Wrecker and Tech went outside.
Echo and Rex sat off to the side having their own little conversation. Even if they don't show it, Hunter knows that the batch all really appreciate and look up to the Captain. After all, if it wasn’t for him Echo would still be stuck over on Skako Minor. Captain Rex also looked at them as equals, Hunter knows that that is an incredibly low bar but you wouldn’t believe the sorts of things that their supposed brothers had said right to their faces.
Suddenly, he hears an explosion from outside. Everyone in the ship all rushed outside in a panic drawing weapons and on high alert. Outside, there was a circle of ash and a crater almost a foot deep in the ground. Tech and Wrecker were celebrating and seemingly oblivious to everyone else staring in confusion. Hunter was about to step forward when he saw Echo out of the corner of his eye.
“Oh shit.” he thought.
“What the actual kriff were you two thinking?!” Echo said sternly.
Tech and Wrecker wheeled around instantly despite only being with the batch for a few months Echo had solidified his reputation as the guy who you did not want to anger. If there was a conflict Tech and Crosshair would probably ignore it and hope it would sort itself out, Wrecker wouldn’t stay mad at you for long, and Hunter would talk it out but Echo would lecture you off and on for multiple days. Echo was staring daggers at Tech and Wrecker, if there was one thing he never took lightly it was safety around explosives.
“Hello Echo, I can assure you that there is a proper expla-” Tech tried to speak but was cut off
“No, not a word! You two set off explosives without telling anyone literally 20 meters from the ship! What if one of us had walked out just as it went off?! You two are smart but even smart people can blow their hand off and trust me it is not fun! What were you even using for cover?!” Echo yelled while looking around the clearing.
Tech sheepishly pointed to a little trench about 10 meters away. Echo blinked a couple times before letting out an exasperated sigh and walking back to Captain Rex.
“I feel like I’m raising children at this point” he said half heartedly.
“How do you think I felt with you and Fives?” Rex smirked
“We weren’t that bad.” Echo insisted
“You two were absolute menaces” Rex laughed
At this point all of the batch was listening in. Were they talking about the same Echo? Their Echo was nothing near what anyone would describe as a menace.
“A menace? Now this I have to hear.” Crosshair said with a raised eyebrow.
“Oh yes Echo and his brother Fives were some of the most chaotic people I had ever met” Rex said with a smile. “They once nearly blew up a training room with a modified explosive!”
Tech and Wrecker both side-eyed Echo.
“We at least had a blast shield!” Echo exclaimed.
“There was also the time you two replaced my shampoo with pink hair dye, oh and you two helped Attie run his candy smuggling ring. And that one time you two were so confident you could backflip over that river that you did it together.” Rex was now barely containing his laughter.
“It was much larger than it looked!” Echo was getting a little red in the face, obviously embarrassed at the recount of his own stupidity.
“You two got washed downstream and ended up setting us back two hours!”
Hunter and the rest of the batch was trying not to laugh or in Crosshair’s case, barely concealing a smirk.
“Why haven't we met this Fives guy, he seems like he would fit right in!” Said Wrecker
Both Echo and Rex looked at the ground. Neither of them responded and they fell into an awkward silence. Something was wrong and Hunter had a sinking feeling that he knew exactly what it was.
He stepped forward and put a hand on Echo’s shoulder.
“Hey, you don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.” he said reassuringly.
“N-No, I should probably tell you guys this sooner or later” Echo said, still looking at the ground.
He turned towards Rex who gave him a reassuring smile and took a deep breath before finally looking back up at the batch.
“Back on Kamino, I had four other batchmates, Droidbait, Hevy, Cutup, and Fives. We were called domino squad and” his gaze dropped back down to the floor “ … I’m the only one still alive.”
Hunter’s heart twisted at the words. He couldn’t imagine losing even one of his batchmates, let alone all of them. He knew the regs were more used to losing people than them but that was still a lot for someone to deal with alone. He looked around to the others and could tell that similar thoughts were running through their heads.
“He died after I was caught in the explosion at the citadel but, um” Echo choked on his words a little before taking a deep breath and continuing. “He died before you guys rescued me… He died thinking he was the last domino”and
Hunter squeezed Echo's shoulder.
“Can I ask you something?” Hunter said softly.
“ Sure” Echo replied
“How…” Hunter started “How did he die?”
Surprisingly, it was Rex who answered the question.
“He was shot. There was a manhunt for him; he allegedly attacked the chancellor. And I believe I was for a good reason”
They all, including Echo, turned to stare at the captain.
“Where was he going with this?” Hunter thought.
“Just before Fives died he was talking about these things, Inhibitor chips. He said they were placed in all of us and they could make us do horrible things, basically turn us into flesh droids. “
Hunter glanced around at the rest of the batch, if this was true they'd have to do something about it.
“Kix and I have found proof that these chips are involved in a plot to kill the Jedi. We also have reason to believe that the supreme chancellor is behind it all. This is also why I wanted you guys on this planet, this sort of information cannot be shared over comm channels. “
The batch all looked at him wide eyed. That did explain why they were on such an easy mission. But this was highly treasonous if anyone even heard them talking about this they could all be court martialed.
“So, I assume you want our help with this” Hunter spoke up.
Rex smiled at them
“It is dangerous but I assumed your squad could handle it, especially with my chaotic vod'ika”
“If anyone can cause a bit of chaos, it's me” replied Echo
“I still can't believe you were like that” Crosshair said
“Well I was.” Echo chuckled “So what do you say sarge, are you ready to commit high treason?“ Echo asked hunter
“We do seem like the best for the job” He said “So I don't see why not”