Chapter Text
It wasn’t quite as easy as just stepping onto the Havoc Marauder and suddenly becoming an integral part of the team, even if that’s what it may have looked like to Rex as he waved goodbye to Echo. It hadn’t been an easy choice either, despite the decision being made in no more than five seconds after he’d been given the captain’s blessing. The truth of it was, it was less daunting to start his whole life over from scratch than to try and squeeze himself back into what had become of his old life.
Echo didn’t really think there was much left of his old life to really count. Stars, he didn’t even have much left of his old body. It would have been like trying to place Crosshair’s firepuncher into a blaster holster. It just wouldn’t fit. He was a different person now, a different type of weapon, a different clone.
Different.
The word had never really meant much to him during his short life. Being a clone, differences were harder to come by physically. Hence most of the troopers choosing to personalize their copied bodies in one way or another, just so they could stand out. Gain some sense of individuality. Echo had prided himself on being trained as an ARC trooper, for standing out among thousands of the same face.
Now though…he was more different than even that.
The modifications made to his body set him apart from everyone he once knew, and it was jarring to feel set apart from even his old self. How much of him was left at this point? How much had been changed by his time with the Techno Union physically? Mentally? He wasn’t quite sure who he was anymore.
A fresh start seemed the best choice for him in that moment, even though he could still feel the pull of his old life waiting behind Rex. He hadn’t spent much time with the Bad Batch yet, but he could see a group of clones that were used to standing out, to being different. They would know better than anyone how to live like that, and to take their deviations and use them for a greater purpose. Cause that’s what a clones’ life was. Purpose. They were created with a goal in mind, not out of love or whatever else nat borns were made from. Echo saw nothing wrong with being created for a purpose, in fact it made his life simple up until now. He craved that sense of peace again. To know that he wasn’t useless, and he had a place in the universe.
Yes. It would be easier to find his place by going with the Batchers. Not easy. But easier.
Plus, they seemed like a lively bunch. Should be interesting anyway.
At least that was how Echo comforted himself as he walked onto the ship, trailing behind his new teammates.
“Alright, Tech, let’s get out of here,” Hunter ordered as the ramp closed up behind them. The order probably wasn’t necessary, seeing how Tech was already at the controls and strapped in, but nobody protested as they got settled in.
“Do we have a destination?” Tech asked as his hands flew over the controls.
Hunter sat down in the copilot’s chair heavily, “Kamino. We’re due for restocking of supplies anyway, and we’ve got to get Echo settled in before whatever mission they send us on next.”
Wrecker let out a loud whoop and punched Echo on the shoulder, “Ah ha! We’re going home!” he cheered as Echo rubbed the spot on his arm that even armor couldn’t prevent from hurting a little bit. Going off of how many times he’d seen Wrecker playfully hit his other teammates, it was something he’d have to get used to. Oddly enough it was comforting to have someone treat him like he wasn’t made of glass since his rescue.
Crosshair rolled his eyes at the behavior, but didn’t walk away like Echo would have assumed he would. Instead he made his way further into the cockpit and stood between Hunter and Tech as the ship took to the sky. He seemed to hover there as the sky turned from blue to white, and then to black as they broke out of the atmosphere. Of all the Bad Batchers, Echo was the wariest of their sharpshooter. His severe personality and blatant dislike of regular clones made Echo a little more cautious around him. But seeing the casual way that he leaned against Tech’s chair and how well he functioned with the team during their latest mission, Echo had hopes that the sniper wasn’t as harsh as he seemed.
“Come on over, Echo!” Wrecker called, a bit too loudly for such small confines, but it broke Echo from his thoughts and brought a half smile to his face from the unnecessary enthusiasm. With only minor hesitance, Echo followed the others into the cockpit, taking in the controls around him.
It obviously wasn’t his first time in an attack vessel, but this one even to his untrained eye had been heavily modified. He heavily suspected Tech had a hand in that. Still, it looked functional enough, and he didn’t see any immediate code violations yet.
“Plotting the course for Kamino now. Should take us at least 18 standard hours to reach our destination,” Tech said crisply, his goggle lenses glinting with blue light as they went into hyperdrive.
Hunter made a pleased sounding grunt and leaned back in the chair, hands tucked behind his head, “That sounds like enough time to get some shut eye once we’re all settled in,” he said, glancing up at Echo and jerking his chin towards the back of the ship, “I’ll hand out rations once we’ve all cleaned up from the mission. Any injuries I should know about?” this time he glanced around the whole group, one eyebrow raised.
Crosshair scoffed, “No, they all behaved this time around.”
Wrecker grinned proudly, stretching out his arms to show his unmarred front to them. Tech rolled his eyes, and pulled out his data pad to start poking at, “It’s not like we get injured on purpose,” he said, but didn’t bother to defend himself or the others any further than that.
Echo’s eyes widened, wondering what that meant and if injuries were so common that Hunter asked so casually. For a moment he was a little confused why Crosshair would be the one to so confidently decree that all was well, until Echo remembered his special skills. Was his eyesight really so good that he could pick up on any small injury on his teammates, or was he just watching them closely enough from above to know nobody got hurt? He would maybe ask later…No wait, he’d ask Tech later. He wasn’t sure he wanted to ask Crosshair anything yet.
“Just make sure the med kits fully stocked before we leave Kamino. That thing came in handy a few too many times lately,” Hunter grumbled and swung his chair around to get up, “Let’s pack up and get some grub going. Echo, I’ll show you where everything is at.”
He waved the other clone over to him and Echo found himself easily following the order. The others all moved around the ship to what looked like well-practiced tasks. Tech checking the ship controls and then following after Wrecker tapping on his pad. Once Wrecker started to file away the ammunitions, he could see Tech taking inventory marks on his pad along side him. Crosshair migrated towards the table, and began to disassemble his rifle carefully, and begin cleaning it.
Hunter led him towards the back, pointing out the general location of certain kits, stocks, and equipment as they went along the body of the ship. At the very back there were four bunks along the walls, two on each side.
“Top bunks are Tech’s and Crosshair’s. Wrecker’s is the mess here on the right, under Tech. And I’m on the left,” he said, and then a hand flew into his hair and he suddenly looked sheepish, “I may not have considered sleeping arrangements earlier when I offered for you to come with us, but I’m sure we can work something out. We’ve all bunked with each other at some point.”
Echo held his hands up in surrender, “No, no, it’s fine. I can just take one of the chairs for now.” The last thing he wanted to be right then was a bother, he was already asking a lot just by going with them in the first place.
The look Hunter leveled him with was reminiscent of Five’s, “Look, we all know you need some real rest to recover, and no one can manage that in a chair. No matter what Tech says,” he added with a glare over at the specialist who looked like he was just finishing up his inventory and headed towards them.
“Hunter is always rather adamant that everyone gets some rest after a mission. Best just to listen to him or he'll have Wrecker manhandle you into a bed not necessarily of your choosing,” Tech said as walked up to them, Wrecker close on his heels.
Hardly wanting to upset his new sergeant twenty minutes into joining, Echo already felt himself caving in only to start panicking over who he’d end up bunking with. Hunter must have picked up on his anxiety given how he took suddenly looked a bit hesitant as they weighted the small handful of choices.
“He can bunk with me!” Wrecker offered, and Echo felt his eyes widen as the large clone threw his body into the lower bunk, and it felt like the whole ship shook under him despite the gravity dampeners. While Echo was happy that Wrecker wasn’t treating him like glass, he didn’t fancy his chances at escaping that bed unscathed given there was a mere few inches left open for him. How Wrecker had managed to share bunks with the other Batcher’s before seemed physically impossible, but maybe he’d ask Tech that later too.
“Maybe another time, Wrecker. I’m thinking Echo needs a little more space,” Hunter said with a small teasing smile that made his brother chuckle and blush a bit. He shrugged it off and reached around until he pulled out a large stuffed tooka. The sight of the enormous hands cradling the toy so gently made Echo rethink that Wrecker had no sense of his own strength. Even so, as welcoming as Wrecker had been to Echo so far, he was still a little worried about making it out of that bed alive the next rotation.
Just then Crosshair walked towards the bunks, seemingly done cleaning his weapon for now, and passed by Hunter’s assessing gaze.
“No,” Crosshair said without even looking at the two. He hoisted himself up into his bunk without another word.
As much as Echo wanted to be offended, he found himself slightly relieved. He still wasn’t sure about Crosshair. That left only two more choices….
“Echo can share with me, we’ll be fine,” Tech said in a tone that broke no further argument, much like how he always spoke with an unshakable confidence. And he wasn’t wrong, Echo would be fine with it. Of all of them, Tech was the least intimidating, and not just because he visually wasn’t as threatening as his brothers. After Rex, Tech was the first friendly face that Echo saw during his rescue. He was the one who whispered soft and quiet reassurances as he unhooked Echo piece by piece from the stasis chamber, narrating what he was doing each step of the way so he didn’t startle the other clone. And then he was the one who carried Echo on his back out of that horrible room. Yes, of all of them, Tech was the best choice. He seemed to know it too.
“That’s settled then,” Hunter said and went to gather up some ration bars for all of them and some water. He tossed Wrecker and Crosshair their share and went to hand Echo his, only for them both to pause and stare down at his hands. Well, one hand and one scomp extension.
To Hunter’s credit he recovered quickly and stacked the bar and water together so they could easily be grabbed in one hand, something that Echo was grateful he didn’t draw any more attention to than that before handing Tech the last stack.
His task done, Hunter ducked down into his own bunk, on top of the covers without bothering to take off his boots or armor and started to eat his food.
That left Echo and Tech standing there in the middle, and Echo tried to imagine it wasn’t as awkward as it felt.
Tech twitched his lips into a sort of friendly smile, one that seemed almost unpracticed, but it eased Echo’s swirling thoughts and anxiety a bit and he found himself smiling back. With something equally unpracticed. They both took off most of their armor, unlike the others, and stowed them away in the under bins. It was possible to sleep in armor, Echo had done it enough times himself in the past, but it would be hard enough to sleep with another person in the bunk without clunky hard plastoid getting in the way.
“Uh, after you I guess?” Echo said, gesturing with his scomp arm. The sight of it in his own visual range was still startling to him, but Tech hardly seem bothered by it. Possibly because he was more familiar with wires and gears than he was other living beings. It almost made Echo feel better, thinking that Tech would be more comfortable with their new teammate just because of that. Actually, as he looked closer he spied several pieces of wire scrap and such in the folds on Tech’s blankets, so possibly he was more comfortable sleeping with technology than he thought.
Tech easily swung up onto his bunk and immediately scooted over to the far end up against the wall and lay on his back. He balanced his data pad on his chest and started to nibble at his ration bar. Echo glanced around him at the others who were all settling in, their eyes away from the last clone standing.
He sucked in a silent breath before he stepped up to the bunk, and placed his rations on the sheets. Once again he caught sight of one human hand and one…not. As much as his heart wanted to sink again at the sight, he instead gathered his stubbornness and wrapped himself in it like one of those cloaks General Kenobi and Skywalker favored, and he hauled himself up with the one hand and used the other just to keep his balance.
It was a very small feat, considering all the things he had accomplished in his life, but he felt a small thrill of victory as he somewhat gracefully swung into the bunk beside Tech, without jostling the other clone either.
He was worried it would be too quiet now, but then the sounds of the ship started to filter in. The engines burning behind them, the navigation screen blipping steadily, and the occasional hiss and hum of all the supporting systems around them. Then there was some soft conversation that started to pass between Hunter and Crosshair on the other side of the room, with occasional loud bursts as Wrecker piped in. Echo didn’t pay much attention to the words, letting them wash over him like water instead. It was…refreshing.
After a while he felt eyes on him, and he leaned back to see Tech eyeing his scomp arm with something akin to fascination. There was a glimmer in his eyes even behind the large goggles that shone out even as the lights on the ship dimmed.
At first Echo felt himself get defensive and a little annoyed at the attention, but the earnest look on Tech’s face stopped him short. The other clone looked a fair bit younger than a standard clone, and Echo had to wonder if he was the same age as the rest of his brother’s or if he was still a bit of a shiny in some ways. For a brief moment he had painful flash of memories of the last shinys he'd worked with and their fates. His armor was quite light compared to the others, but it looked like that was deliberate. There was no mistaking the open and almost innocent curiosity there, and Echo felt himself relax back down.
With a flourish he held his arm up and spun it twice, smirking as Tech dropped his data pad and half eaten ration bar to scramble to his knees and get closer. His hands hovered over Echo’s for a moment, and glanced up at him as if waiting for permission.
“I’m still getting used to it,” Echo admitted, nodding at Tech to go ahead.
Tech showed no hesitation after that, running his fingers almost reverently over the joints and connectors, “Like any prosthetic it will take time to adjust, but you seem to have a good handle on the mechanics of it. It’s the muscle memory of your hand that you’re struggling with,” he said softly, carefully moving Echo’s arm around to test the range of motion.
It was the first time that Echo had anyone really look at it since the rescue. It was functioning well enough that the medical droids at the base had paid no attention to it. The hand was long gone, and there was nothing further to do. It was strange having someone else touch it when Echo himself was still getting used to seeing it, but it wasn’t bad. It was…comforting even. It brought a warm feeling to the icy pits of his stomach to think that at least there was one person who still was willing to touch him so freely. So gently.
“It doesn’t hurt at all, correct?” Tech asked after a bit more exploring.
Echo shrugged, “Not really, just a tingling sensation every once in a while. Worse in my legs.”
Tech’s bright eyes drifted down to the two mentioned limbs and a small frown appeared on his face, “Not an unusual sensation in cases like yours, but I’d like to check the calibrations once we get back to Kamino. To make sure everything is functioning as it should, and to see if there are any improvements to be made,” the way he made it sound there were many improvements that he was already thinking of.
“You don’t have to bother, they work fine enough and I don’t want you to feel obligated to—”
“It’s hardly a bother. I’ve optimized the equipment of every person on this team, and nearly ever system on this ship. You will not receive anything less than the best,” Tech argued, pulling his hands away only to pick up his data pad again to start scanning, “Please, I would be a pleasure to do this for you, but only if you want it. I will leave it alone if you wish.”
Echo could tell that Tech was very willing and excited to work on them, which was nice and all, but it was the sentiment that he offered by giving the choice to Echo that made his insides unknot even further. He had no choice in what had happened to his body once the Techno Union got him. It was nice to know that Tech at least would give him a choice.
“Hmm, maybe tell me what you’d like to do and we’ll go from there,” he offered, thinking he wasn’t sure if he was ready for any more big changes yet, but it wouldn’t hurt to make sure everything was up to spec first.
From the way that Tech’s whole face lit up he must have said the right thing, and Echo let himself ease further onto the bunk, laying back against the pillow and feeling his muscles go lax. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Crosshair across the way, his face was pinched and calculating, like he was trying to solve some sort of puzzle as he stared at Echo and then over at Tech, but at least he wasn’t angry. At least…Echo assumed he wasn’t angry. It was difficult to tell.
Tech was still sitting up and now tapping away reverently on his data pad, rations bar now completely forgotten in his lap. His face was lit up in a blue glow as the rest of the ship went dark, and Echo could hear Hunter and Wrecker settle in to sleep.
After only a few minutes the loud snores of Wrecker could be heard from below, but they fit in with the ship’s rumble well enough that it wasn’t much of a bother. Even Tech’s taps on his data pad were somehow familiar and calming already, like they belonged to part of a song. Echo felt himself begin to drift a bit more, lulled by the peace.
He was nearing sleep when he heard Crosshair’s voice filter into the steady rumble.
“Tech, put it away. You’ll have plenty of time to work on it when we get home, and I’m not carrying you to the barracks again,” he said, but it was softer than Echo had ever heard him speak before.
“Right, yes, sorry,” Tech muttered and the blue glow was suddenly gone and the sheets beside Echo began to shift as the younger clone started to lay down.
There wasn’t much room for two of them, so there was no avoiding at least a little bit of contact between the two of them as the settled down. Tech had his back up against the wall, facing Echo’s side, but he could still feel the warmth of the other all the way along his body. Oddly enough even where he didn’t even have limbs anymore.
It was the warmest he’d felt since coming out of that stasis chamber.
He was so preoccupied with the sudden thrill of feeling warm that he missed it as Tech almost instantly fell asleep next to him, goggles still on and everything. He only broke from his thoughts as Crosshair spoke up again.
“Careful, Reg. He’s a heat seeking missile in bed,” he said with what sounded like a smirk on his lips.
Echo wasn’t sure what they meant until a few moments later when he felt Tech inch in closer, still completely asleep, until he found himself with half a clone draped over him.
Somehow, Echo couldn’t bring himself to mind and he fell asleep soon after.
It was the first night he didn’t wake to a nightmare longer than he could remember.