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retrospect1003 · 29 days ago

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Calling All Skeletons | Chapter 6: More Than Scars

Notes: May or may not have had bits of this chapter in the works already... WHOOPS! Here's the next chapter! Call this the Echo and Doc bonding episode if you want :) (Hint: The next few chapters are going to be centered around specific members of the batch).

Word Count: ~2.4k

Banner by: @blackseafoam

“I can stay up while you all get some rest,” Doc suggested while everyone was gathered near the front cabin, “I can never sleep while flying, so I’ll just rest when we get close to landing.”

Tech was the most hesitant of everyone at this idea, “Are you sure? Are you trained?”

Doc flashed a reassuring smile, “I know how to steer and how to make sure we’re still on track. I know enough for you all to rest easy.”

Hunter furrowed his brow in thought before looking at his squad. Everyone looked like they needed the rest, and this was a good opportunity for them to get just that. “Fine,” He finally said to Doc, “But wake us up if something happens or if you absolutely need us.”

“Copy that,” She replied as she turned to the viewport, watching the blue streaks of hyperspace.

With that, everyone started to pile towards the back of the Marauder to pick a rack or chair to nap in, except for Wrecker who stuck around. “You want to be by yourself?” He asked as he stood beside Doc.

“I do,” She quietly said as she looked up at Wrecker, “Everything will be fine up here. Thanks for checking in.”

Wrecker nodded with a gentle smile, “Yeah, of course. Thanks for letting us get some shut eye.” He patted the head of her chair before turning to leave the front cabin.

Doc turned back to the viewport and heaved a breath, “Yeah… Anytime.”

After a good thirty minutes or so of quiet in the ship, the medic couldn’t resist the feeling of her lids closing. She forced herself to stare at the blue screen of her data pad, but her eyes kept drooping and burned from the days she stayed awake. Her eyes fought until they couldn’t anymore as they closed to drift Doc into sleep.

Doc jolted awake from her spot in a chair in the front cabin. Her breathing was quick and heavy as her hand clutched at her armored chest. She leaned forward, forcing her mouth closed to breathe through her nose.

“Damn it, not again,” She thought to herself, tears streaking down her cheeks.

The struggle was quiet, the only noise that could be heard were the quick gasps of air she took through her nose. It had been a long time since Doc last had a panic attack, and she didn’t want to make it anyone’s problem now. Her eyes tried to focus on anything to help ground her back to reality.

Echo had yet to go to sleep and perked up from his spot in the central cabin at the strange noises. His brows furrowed in a mix of confusion and concern as he stood up to go investigate.

“Doc?” He tried to get her attention as leaned into the opening for the front cabin.

With no response but intense breathing, Echo pushed further into the room. Placing a hand on the back of her chair, he peered around to see her hunched state convulsing with sharp breaths.

“…Doc?” He asked again, kneeling at her side to find her face.

The medic’s eyes were wide, pupils darting around for a moment before looking at Echo and acknowledging the clone. Her breathing hitched at the sight of him before she went back to trying to pace herself. She sucked in a breath through her nose and then shakily released through her mouth.

Echo was first shocked to see her in a state like this. He, hesitantly, moved to place his hand on her arm. His brows furrowed in concern again as they shared eye contact. He knew what this felt like. The fear, the panic. It’s constricting.

The clone never said a word, only providing silent comfort through touch. They stayed like this for a long time with only Doc’s breaths to keep them company. Once her breathing started to steady, she took long, slow, deep inhales and exhales. She closed her eyes to finally break eye contact as her lips quivered. Turning her head away, Doc brought a hand up to wipe the tears on her face.

“I’m sorry,” She managed to whisper out as she took her arm back from Echo.

“No,” Echo started with that same concern, “You couldn’t control that. Don’t apologize.”

She hung her head with a sniffle, trying to keep herself from crying to not raise alarm (Not like she hadn’t already accomplished that). Lifting her head to look at Echo, she gave him a solemn smile. “No, I should,” The medic shook her head with an airy laugh as she sat up, “I, um… Haven’t had one of those in a long time.”

Echo nodded at her words, not wanting to upset her further by arguing about apologizing. He got up and sat in the chair across from her.

“I haven’t had one in a long time either,” he confessed, resting his elbows on his legs as he leaned forward.

Doc turned her head and then her chair to look at Echo, “You… get them too?”

He shrugged as he glanced away, “Well, I did. They’ve kind of stopped now,” His eyes found the medic again with a small sad smile, “When you’re tortured against your will and chopped up, you leave with more than just some scars.”

She was eerily quiet for a good bit after he said this. Her eyes shifted away from Echo, “Yeah…” She chewed the inside of her cheek as her eyes darkened. No smile or squinted happy eyes. No shine. Just a hazy dark green that stared at the command console.

This alone sent a shiver up Echo’s back. He didn’t want to push, but he did want her to open up if she planned on sticking around.

Echo glanced away from her until he came to a realization, looking back at Doc, “You don’t know that story. I forgot.” He sat up a little straighter, “I could tell you if you want. Don’t worry, there’s a happy ending.”

Doc didn’t even flinch at his words, almost in a trance-like state. The mention of a happy end made her blink and turn to Echo, only hearing bits and pieces of what he said. “Um… Sure,” she said in a hushed voice.

Echo nodded before starting his story, “I was an ARC trooper for the 501st battalion before I joined the Bad Batch. Looked nothing like I do now. I wasn’t always… This.” He gestured to himself, looking at his scomp-link hand then to Doc.

The medic just stared with intrigue, “You worked with Captain Rex.”

“I did,” He replied before furrowing his brows and looking at Doc, “You know Rex?”

Doc shook her head, “No. I’ve heard stories about him and General Skywalker from Senator Amidala.”

“I see,” Echo nodded as he looked away from Doc to continue his story.

“Everything changed when we received a task to rescue a Jedi general who was being held at the Citadel,” He continued, “The 501st and I along with the Jedi generals were just about to complete the mission and get to the escape shuttle, but before we could I saw a droid mount a turret. The clanker was gonna take out the ship and I had to do something about it.” He paused as he thought back on this mission, releasing a heavy sigh before continuing, “Me and my brother, Fives… He covered me while I went out to shoot the droid… I was too late and, well. Exploded with the escape shuttle.”

“You exploded with the escape shuttle?” Doc repeated with a brow raised, almost in disbelief.

“Well, everyone thought I exploded with the shuttle and I was dead,” Echo elaborated further on his words. “Unfortunately for me, I didn’t die. The Separatists took me and made me their prisoner. I was their new experiment,” He heaved a breath as he shook his head, “Death might’ve been better than what I’m about to tell you next.”

Doc furrowed her brows in concern, her eyes wider with horror and a hand placed over her chest plate. Her fingertips gripped the edges of the armor as a familiar emotion washes over her. She felt that before. Death as a wish or gift rather than a bad omen. Death was freedom.

Echo looked to Doc to check on her to keep going. When he received a nod from her, he started again, “I didn’t feel it at first… I didn’t feel it until I woke up and breathed for the first time in I don’t know how long. I had to have died, and they somehow brought me back. That’s what it felt like.” He gripped his scomp-link with his hand, twisting his hand around it as he shared more, “I was awake when they implanted the main computer into me. I remember screaming until I couldn’t anymore. They were ripping me apart and forcing these… mechanisms to take over my body. I lost all control of myself.”

The medic could feel the tears stinging her eyes. Her heart thudded in her chest while her stomach dropped to the deepest pit it could. She knew what it felt like. Not exactly, but to have no sense of self. Reduced to nothing but a tool. Nothing but less than human. A shaky breath slipped from her lips, “I can’t… I could never imagine how horrific that was for you…”

The clone looked at Doc again and studied her reaction. He knew it. “Yeah,” He finally responded with a sad smile, “It was something I wouldn’t want anyone to ever deal with… It’s hard to remember what happened after everything was installed on me. I could only remember what happened at the Citadel. It played over and over, up until I had been disconnected from that pod. I didn’t think I’d be saved… Rex had caught me and I think Tech got me disconnected from everything.”

Echo chuckled to himself, “I remember the first thing I said to Rex. My head hurt so bad, but I was happy to be free.” His smile remained up until he took a look at Doc and her expression gave him that same chill from before. His brows furrowed into concern again, “Are you okay, Doc?”

She had tears streaming down her face as she stared at Echo. Her eyes showed concern yet her lips quivered like she was afraid. Her hand shook as she lifted it up to wipe away her tears, blinking a few times, “Sorry, I’m sorry. I just…” She let out a breath of air that she didn’t realize she was holding, “It’s just… It’s so sad…”

He didn’t want to push yet, responding, “Yeah, but I’m here now. I was declared the Hero of Anaxas on my next mission and received the best offer I could’ve gotten.” He smiled at her, “Hunter asked me to join the squad. And now we’re here. Not under the best circumstances, but as a squad we have each other.” He watched Doc’s expression before shifting in his chair, “They helped me come to terms with myself. Validated my feelings in their own way… We became kind of like a family.”

Doc listened closely to his words, only looking over at the mention of family. She sniffled before giving him a weary smile, “That’s sweet.”

“Yeah,” Echo breathed a chuckle as he looked to the viewport and then back to Doc, “You know… If you ever wanted to talk about anything, any and all of us would listen. It doesn’t matter what it is.” He gave her a gentle look, taking this moment to encourage her to talk about whatever could be bothering her.

The medic’s smile started to drop, her guard starting to go back up as she looked to the ground. She really considered his words for a good while before speaking up, “Right…” Her eyes found Echo again, “… It’s… Nothing could compare to what you went through.”

“That doesn’t matter,” He started, sliding to sit on the edge of his seat, “What matters is that you’re able to get help to process something your mind struggles with. You can’t move forward if you keep it inside… Consider it.” He reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder, “I won’t tell anyone if you want to talk about it. It’ll stay between us.”

Doc shook her head as she fought back a surge of overwhelming sadness, “I-I can’t… Nobody knows…”

Echo could feel a sense of dread wash over him, but he knew he was getting through to her, “Doc, trust me. It doesn’t have to be right now, but when you’re ready we can talk. I’m just asking you to consider it.” He patted her shoulder to try and console her.

With a deep breath in and out, Doc sniffed as she went to wipe away her tears. She swallowed before she spoke shakily, “O-Okay… I’ll consider it.”

“Good. I know you’ve only been with us for a short time, but I don’t think you’re leaving any time soon,” Echo started again as he backed away, “You risked your life for my brother and sister. Not everyone throws themselves out there like that for people they met a day ago. You’re a good person, Doc. Good people deserve friends and people they can trust.”

Doc faintly laughed before sniffling, still trying to calm her tears, “I just did what’s right. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t step in to keep a family together. You all deserve each other.”

Echo grinned at Doc, “You’re proving my point.”

She shook her head with another tiny laugh before the ship finally left out of hyperspace, Ord Mantell coming into view. “Well, um, looks like we’re back,” She said as she stood up, sucking in a deep breath and slowly blowing it back out as she wiped away any remaining tears or snot. As if back to normal, she grabbed her helmet and headed towards the back, “I’ll get everyone else up and ready. Take over steering?”

“On it, Doc,” Echo simply replied as he took over navigation. He looked over his shoulder at her right before she walked away, “Hey, Doc?”

“Yeah?” She stopped, looking back at Echo with a feigned smile.

“I meant what I said,” He said with a sincere look.

“… I’ll consider it,” She reluctantly gave in as she turned to head to the racks.

Feeling like he may have gotten through to her, Echo smiles to himself before turning back to focus on the controls.

Notes: I've been waiting to get a bond going with these two!! They're gonna be besties for sure. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed a little tid bit of foreshadowing more Doc lore and I'll see y'all next chapter!

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retrospect1003 · 1 month ago

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Calling All Skeletons | Chapter 5: Decommissioned Views

Notes: Ngl, there's a lot in this one. It was fun though! A lot of building trust. Enjoy!

Word Count: ~5.7k words

Banner by: @blackseafoam

Cid’s parlor was now being used for target practice. Echo stood with Omega, guiding her on how to use her energy bow. Hunter was practically monitoring them by standing directly behind the two. Tech tinkered with something, occasionally getting up to see Omega’s progress. Doc and Wrecker sat together on one of the holochess tables.

Doc winced at Omega’s latest miss, nearly hitting an entering customer, “A little too close for comfort there.”

“Sorry!” Omega shouted aloud, both to the now fleeing customer and Doc.

Echo knelt down to the young clone’s level, helping her focus back on the target for practice. While doing this, the annoying duo of Bolo and Ketch was placing bets. Doc, trying to be subtle, cleared her throat loudly at them. They either didn’t get the hint or didn’t care.

Zing!

“Ah! got it!” Omega cheered as she turned to Echo.

Echo gave her a smile, “Good,” he ushered her to face the target, “Again.”

Omega scoffed, “But I already hit the target three times.”

“Out of twelve. That’s luck, Omega, not skill,” Echo placed a hand on her shoulder, “Soldiers need to be consistent.” Omega just turned with a sigh, getting her bow ready. Bolo and Ketch were back to cackling and betting.

Doc raised a brow at Echo’s words, “Last time I checked, Omega isn’t a soldier like us.”

Echo turned his attention to Doc, “It was just a figure of speech-”

Omega’s bolt blasted through and knocked a holochess table’s power. She groaned, frustrated, as she faced the squad, “I was doing better until those two showed up!” Referring to Bolo and Ketch.

“Hey, don’t sweat it, kid,” Doc assured, shooting a glare over at the two annoying Omega.

Echo put a hand on the girl’s shoulder, “You have to learn to tune out distractions, which comes with practice.” He turned her around as he stood, pointing towards the target with his scomp, “Again.”

Omega readied her energy bow once again. She whiffed her shot, hitting nowhere near the target.

Wrecker leaned towards Hunter and Doc in a whisper, “Not exactly a natural, is she?” The medic rolled her eyes as she shoved Wrecker’s shoulder to knock him off the table. “Hey!” He blurted as he caught himself from fully tipping over, turning to Doc with his arms crossed.

“What?” Doc shrugged, feigning innocence in her expression. It didn’t stop the mischievous grin curling her lips as they held their gaze with one another.

“Okay, playtime’s over,” Cid butted in, walking over to stand in between Doc and Wrecker, “We need to talk.” She ushered Ketch and Bolo out before she continued with her proposal.

Doc and Wrecker held eye contact for a moment longer. Doc hopped off of the table as she faced Cid, her glance locked with Wrecker’s until she finally broke it. Wrecker blinked rapidly, not realizing he had been staring until that moment and shaking himself out of it.

As she walked back over, Cid placed her hands on her hips while asking her question, “I’m assuming you boys know what a tactical droid is?” After a very short period of silence, she started to give the details, “They were the op-”

Tech couldn’t stop himself from interrupting, “The operational brains of the Separatist military-”

“Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba! This is my briefing, Goggles,” Cid stopped him while he was ahead just so she could get her intel out. She turned to the holotable and pressed a few buttons to project a tactical droid, “Tactical droid intel has tremendous value. Which is why you’re going to break into this decommissioning factory on Corellia,” she practically ordered as she switched to a layout of the facility, “And retrieve one before they’re all destroyed.”

Hunter glanced away from the hologram in thought. He focused back on Cid, “We haven’t decided if we’re going to work for you or not.”

Cid wasn’t going to take no for an answer, shutting off the hologram as she spoke, “Allow me to decide for you. You’re in!”

The older squad members shared some glances between each other as Cid continued, “I’m talking a mutually beneficial arrangement. You make money, I make money, and I watch your back.”

Doc’s brows furrowed while her lips scrunched into a frown. The others looked hesitantly between each other.

“With the heat on you, it’s the best option you’ve got,” Cid finished.

With a sigh, Hunter reluctantly gave in, “I guess we’re in.”

“I know you’re in. I just told you you’re in!” She replied nonchalantly, walking over to Omega, “And you! You’re releasing too soon because of those weak noodle arms.” Cid took one of Omega’s hands and waved her arm before she took her energy bow, “Build up your strength.” She proceeded to shoot three swift shots directly in the middle of the target before handing the bow back to the girl, “Lesson over.” With that, Cid walked away from the group.

Doc didn’t realize she was holding her breath as she finally released a long sigh, mumbling under her breath, “I don’t like her.”

On the Marauder, Doc was glued to her data pad. The blue light reflected onto her face as she scrolled in a corner of the front cabin. The trip would be short, but she took whatever down time she could get to-

“Whatcha lookin’ at?” Wrecker squatted in front of the medic as she scrambled to shut off her data pad.

She sucked in a breath through her nose before sighing, “Geez, you came out of nowhere,” Doc set her data pad in one of her pouches, “It wasn’t anything important.”

Wrecker sheepishly smiled, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare ya.”

“No worries,” She wrapped her arm around the knee to her chest as she tilted her head, “Did you need anything?”

“Actually,” He started as he rubbed the back of his head, “Did ya have anymore of that stuff?”

She raised a brow, “You mean the tea I gave you?”

Wrecker’s smile widened, “Yeah! The sweet stuff you gave me for my headache.”

“You had the last of it,” Doc answered with a sideways smile.

Disappointed, he groaned as he rolled his head, “Aw man.”

“Another headache?”

“Yeah. I thought since the tea helped last time that I could drink some before it got bad.”

Doc hummed in response as she thought of a solution. She picked herself up off the ground and dusted off her legs as she spoke, “Go back to the bunks and close your eyes for a bit. The lights from hyperspace and computers could be irritating your eyes and, in turn, your head.”

From the copilot seat, Echo took a chance to glance back at the two. His brow barely twitched in intrigue at Wrecker’s request for some kind of medical attention. He took a mental note of this as he shared a similar look with Tech.

“Oh, uh,” Wrecker darted his eyes away from Doc, “I don’t really have a headache right now. I just- uh, wanted to have that tea just in case.”

The medic stared at the large clone for a moment with her eyes slightly narrowed, “Right…” There was a brief moment of silence before the large clone crumbled under his white lie, “I just wanted more tea.”

“Thought so,” she crossed her arms as she shook her head playfully at him, “I don’t blame you. It’s good stuff.”

“Better than the rations we have,” Wrecker replied with a chuckle. Doc couldn’t stop herself from chuckling softly with him.

“What’s funny?” Hunter asked as he stepped into the front cabin with Omega, looking between the two. He seemed genuinely curious.

The larger clone shrugged as he turned his attention to Hunter with a smile, “Nothin’. Just joking about the tea Doc gave me.”

Hunter’s brows scrunched, “Tea?”

“It was an herbal remedy,” Doc butted in before any other conclusions could be made.

Before anything else could be debated, Tech maneuvered the Marauder under a cargo hold as soon as they left hyperspace. He flips the ship upside down and attaches to the bottom of the base.

“This old trick?” Echo turned to the pilot in question.

“It gets us past the planetary sensors every time,” Tech defended before turning his attention back to navigation and pressing a few buttons on the console.

Doc leaned forward beside Tech’s chair to get a better look out the viewport, “Never would have thought this would work.”

Omega was studying a hologram of a tactical droid, scrunching her brows as she tried to figure it out, “Why is a tactical droid more important than the other droids?” She turned to Echo.

Echo shifted his chair towards the girl, “The more tactical droids fought, the more they learned,” he stopped for a moment as Omega looked back to the hologram, “And won.”

“Yeah, except against us!” Wrecker boasted and followed with a hearty chuckle.

Tech answered Omega’s question further, “With clones now serving the Empire, knowing how to defeat them just went up in value.”

“We’re approaching the decommissioning site,” Echo quickly pointed out, getting everyone back on track, “We can land at the industrial dockyard and go in on foot.”

After landing and ducking through dark corners, the squad finds themselves just outside the factory. Not only that, but they discover the presence of more than just some factory workers.

“Cid didn’t mention this place was guarded by police droids,” Hunter passively complained to the leading Tech.

Using his visor to scan and identify the droids’ programming, Tech reassures, “They’re operating on a rotating quadrant scan. If timed correctly, there’s an entry point in their blind spot.” He focuses on the latter and up to the possible entrance they can use, “Follow me.”

They follow each other in a line and gather around the base of the latter. At the sight, Wrecker’s gaze trails up the latter in dread, “Uh-oh…”

Doc tilts her head at his remark, “What?”

“He’s got a thing with heights,” Echo elaborated before following Tech up the latter.

“Oh,” She looks between Wrecker and the latter as Omega starts her climb. Doc gave the large clone an awkward pat on the arm before starting to go up the ladder herself.

With a groan and slight shake of the head, Wrecker follows the rest of the squad carefully up. Once at the top after everyone, he heaves a sigh of relief before going into the dingy factory.

The squad piled outside of the next door with Hunter listening closely for anyone to pass by. He readied his blaster as he heard footsteps, turning to Wrecker and giving him a nod as the footsteps grew closer. Wrecker walked up to the door, readying himself to grab and subdue whoever was on the other side. Hunter pressed the control panel by the door and it flew open as a factory worker walked by. Unfortunate for that guy, Wrecker snatched him back real quick in a headlock.

“Nighty night,” Wrecker sang as he moved back with the worker, tossing him to the side once he’s unconscious.

One by one, The Bad Batch moves out into the scaffolding and gets a better look of the facility with blasters at the ready. Hunter starts to lay out the plan while they’re ducked behind railings, “Echo, Tech. We’ll locate and retrieve the droid.” He turns towards Wrecker, Omega, and Doc, “Wrecker. Cover us up top-”

“But,” Wrecker sighs in hesitance, “Being the lookout was Crosshair’s job.”

“That wasn’t a request,” Hunter retorted firmly before continuing his plan, “Omega, Doc. Stay here and keep your eyes peeled for the target. Let’s move!”

Before any other arguments could be made, Hunter was on the move with Tech and Echo following closely behind him. Wrecker started to follow to find higher ground, nervously groaning before he continued down the path. Doc and Omega watched the men go off before looking at each other.

“If you asked me, I would’ve made us the lookouts,” Doc dryly joked as she pulled out a visor from her pack. Omega just shrugged as she moved further along the scaffolding, finding a good spot to peek through with her own visor. Awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand, Doc moved in the opposite direction of Omega and scanned the conveyor belts of droid parts.

The separate trio relayed information about the tactical droid as the others searched for any remnants of it. Zooming in on one of the conveyor belts, Omega managed to find exactly what they’re looking for, “Found it. Sort of…” She comms in, “The droid’s already in pieces.”

Tech comes in over comms, “Is the head in tact?”

“Affirmative- Wait! Someone just ran off with the droid head!” Omega relayed, moving her visor away in shock.

Doc and Wrecker quickly brought up their visors and looked in the direction Omega originally found the droid. “I see ‘em!” Wrecker confirmed, “One of the workers is stealing our target.”

Omega kept an eye on the worker as she stood up, “I’m on it!”

“Negative!” Hunter warned, “You stay out of sight. Doc, go for the droid.”

Before Doc could copy back to Hunter, she turned towards Omega and saw a worker trap her way out. The medic kept quiet with her blaster at the ready, slowly starting to approach them.

“Stay,” Omega started to warn as she armed herself with her energy bow, arms unsteady, “Back!”

The worker lifted up her mask while gesturing Omega to lower her weapon, “Whoa whoa. Take it easy, kid.” She softened her look, “I don’t wanna hurt you, but I can’t have you getting in the way.”

Doc continued to slowly approach the stranger from behind, keeping her steps light and putting her finger to where her mouth would be to keep Omega from alerting the stranger.

“You’re the one in my way,” Omega retorted with a furrowed brow.

“Rafa, I’ve got the target. Where are you?” An unknown voice relayed to the stranger, presumably Rafa.

Omega lifted her bow up, “Don’t answer that.” She glanced past Rafa to see Doc, but quickly brought her focus back to the woman in front of her. More comm chatter rang from her device, but Rafa complied and ignored it.

“Your arms look a little shaky there,” She pointed out to Omega, trying to get her to budge but having no luck. “Okay, you win,” Rafa said in Omega’s favor, “Why don’t you ease up on that thing and we can talk about this?”

Doc could see Omega considering the woman’s offer. Without a moment to waste as Omega started to lower her weapon, Doc lunged forward to grapple Rafa just as she started to reach for the girl. Out of shock, Omega stubbled back as she fired her bow, falling to the ground. Her energy bow just slipped from her hands and down onto the lower floors.

Doc and Rafa wrestled with each other before hearing the bolt’s impact with a pipe and steam to flood through. In an instant, alarms started blaring.

“Ugh. Nice going, kid,” Rafa scoffed at Omega.

“Me?!” Omega started to argue.

Doc shoved Rafa away from Omega, standing between them with a growl at the woman, “You started this.”

Police droids started to flood in immediately. Each of them turned towards the droids, Doc starting to fire at them one by one.

“Don’t just stand there,” Rafa pulled out her blaster as she glanced back at Omega, “Grab a weapon!”

“I had one,” Omega grumbled, narrowing her eyes at Rafa.

Just as Doc was firing, Wrecker joined in to help slow down the droids. “Get moving!” Wrecker called out to the two. “Working on it!” Doc quickly responded as she ducked to avoid a bolt.

Rafa started to run away, but not without Omega right on her tail as she spoke into her comm, “There’s a second person after the tactical droid! Don’t worry, I’m in pursuit.” By the time Doc got a chance to turn around, Omega had already started down the latter.

“No, stay put. We already have the droid head-”

“I’m after Omega!” Doc interrupted Hunter as she followed the young clone’s path.

Walking down the next platform, Rafa finally got a chance to use her comm, “Trace! Where are you?”

“Down here!” A younger girl looking to be Rafa’s sister called out from a set of stairs just below the platform. Just as quickly as she appeared, Hunter was bounding up the stairs after her. Not knowing what else to do, she calls out to Rafa, “Catch!” As she throws the droid head to her. Rafa manages to catch it with ease, “Got it! Come on!” She starts a run down the platform, not paying any attention as she collides with a police droid. The droid head is knocked out of her hand and falls back onto the conveyor belt.

“I’ve got it!” Trace and Omega simultaneously said, sending a determined glare at each other before going off in separate directions.

“Omega-” Doc started to call out to her before more blaster bolts were fired.

Hunter covered Rafa, shooting the droid she ran into. She turned to Hunter, “Hope you’re not expecting gratitude.”

Hunter lowered her blasters, mildly frustrated, “Should I have let the droids shoot you?”

Doc shot at a police droid from behind, turning her head over her shoulder briefly, “Is a debate necessary right now?” Police droids started to surround them, each of them firing their blasters in every direction to hold them off.

Amidst the blaster fire, Omega finally gave an update, “I have the droid head!”

“Nice work. Now hang tight,” Echo relayed over comms, still trying to override the security system.

Doc, Hunter, and Rafa kept each other covered for a good bit before noticing that the conveyors stopped. The medic immediately commed in while firing, “Echo, what happened?”

There was a short silence before Echo commed in, “Wrecker, get to the main control panel.”

“Doc, let them handle it. Focus on the droids,” Hunter called out, shooting a bolt past her head to hit a police droid coming up on her.

“Right,” She simply responded, ignoring the further comm chatter about the reboot. The amount of police droids moving in was starting to get overwhelming. Once they could, the three of them ducked behind an offshoot between the railings to try and recover.

Hunter watched Rafa as they got into cover, “Why are you after the tactical droid?”

“That’s not your business, clone,” She replied with spite in her words.

“It is today,” He pressed, trying to get an answer.

Standing back up from cover, Doc and Rafa shot at the approaching droids.

“I didn’t know there were female clones,” Rafa said aloud to Doc.

“Not a clone, but that’s not your business,” Doc sarcastically replied, shooting just past Rafa’s shoulder and nailing a droid in the head.

“Rafa, I’ve got the target,” Trace’s voice rang through Rafa’s comm, “Meet me at the north exit.”

Ducking under cover once again, Rafa grabbed her comm to respond, “Little busy right now!”

More blaster fire and dodging, yet the police droids kept coming and coming. Amidst it all, Omega’s terrified voice rings through comms, “Hunter, I’m stuck on the conveyor. I need help.”

Hunter and Doc look between each other before looking around to see what they could do to buy more time. “I’m on my way,” Hunter calls out as he grabs his grappling hook. Doc didn’t need an order to know that she had to cover Hunter and let him go through with his idea.

Rafa furrows her brows in confusion at Hunter, “What are you doing?”

“I’m taking down the support posts,” He answered firmly, “Follow me!” Without further question, Doc is right behind Hunter, leaping after him onto the conveyor belt.

“Who put you in charge?” Rafa questioned from the scaffolding.

“Does it matter?” Doc called out, starting to get frustrated. She turns to the end of the conveyor belt and has eyes on Omega. Instinctively, she starts running in that direction, “Hunter, cover me!”

The conveyor belt jerks, Hunter’s plan to take out the posts working as the wire tugs on the supports. In a moment, it all starts to crash down, Rafa taking a last minute jump onto the belt.

“Hunter!” Omega calls out in desperation as she tries to pull herself out from under the droid.

“Hang on, Omega!” Hunter calls out as he jumps and climbs over the varying droid parts. Doc and Hunter were both rushing to get to Omega, hearing Rafa complaining about something but not caring to listen.

Doc was a few feet ahead of Hunter, shooting at the police droids from above but still moving closer to Omega. “Hold on, hold on!” She called out to her. She was just about to grab her to keep Omega from falling in, but was a hair too late. Without thinking, Doc jumped into the pit after the girl. “I’m gonna get you out,” She reassured just before hearing a voice from behind them.

“Hey! Over here! Hurry!”

Trace had some back to help by some miracle. Doc didn’t waste any time as she helped Omega to her feet and hurried her towards the edge to meet Trace. Seeing that Omega couldn’t reach, the medic did the only thing she could think to do. Just as the pit started to open up, Doc knelt by the edge and turned her head to look at Omega, “Climb me!”

“What? But Doc-”

“Go, Omega!”

She wanted to protest, but did as the medic told her, climbing onto her shoulders. As soon as Doc felt Omega’s feet on her shoulders, she stood up to let Trace pull her up out of the pit. Doc could feel the parts falling beneath her feet before she jumped to grab the edge. Her fingers gripped at the metal as hard as they could as she started to pull herself up.

Doc could see the police droids moving in from above, and she was about to risk everything to get her blaster out and cover the girls until she watched a bolt fly through a droid. Hunter grunts loudly as he shoots at the droids before jumping down to the edge of the pit. He grabs Doc by the wrists and pulls her out.

Hunter turns to both of his squad members, “Are you both okay?”

“Yeah,” Omega breathes out with a smile, still trying to calm down after that scare.

Doc heaves a breath of relief, “Still breathing.”

Hunter turns to Trace after they all take a moment to catch their breath, “Thank you.”

“I think I’d be cooked if you weren’t there to get Omega,” Doc expressed as she started to get up from laying on the ground.

Trace smiles warmly at him, “You’re welcome.”

Just as they started to stand up and get their bearings, Rafa can be heard yelling before crashing down beside them. She stands up and looks at the four staring at her, dusting herself off, “Oh, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me or anything.” Doc shoots a droid behind her before placing a hand on her hip. Rafa rolls her eyes, “Well, this has been a real treat, but as you can see, the tactical droid is ours.” She gestures to the droid head in Trace’s hands.

“Still on about that?” Doc commented with a groan.

“We can debate this later,” Hunter pulled out his blasters, “If we wanna get out of her, we need to work together.”

Rafa huffed, “Fine, but I still don’t like you.”

“I’m used to it!”

With that, they all turned and bounded down the pathway, turning to shoot incoming droids over their shoulders. As they ran, they could overhear Tech’s calls for Wrecker over comms. Doc couldn’t ignore it any longer and sighed heavily before turning and running in the direction they came from.

“I’m going to find Wrecker,” She spoke quickly into comms as she continued on.

She shot at oncoming droids and she climbed the destroyed scaffolding. She flung herself onto bits of metal that was still intact and came across the tower Wrecker originally climbed. As she started to climb the latter, she whipped herself around a few times to shoot at any droids that were on her. Stepping onto the platform, she rounded the tower and saw Wrecker laid out on the floor of the tower across the way. “Oh no,” She mumbled to herself before calling out to him, “Wrecker!”

With no response, she looked down at the pit between them and groaned, “I get the fear of heights now.” She took a few steps back before running and grabbing onto the claw, swinging herself onto the ledge. In an instant, she tried to shake him to get a response, “Wrecker. Wrecker, are you with me?” A groan was all she needed to know that he was still alive as she opened one of her pouches to pull out a stimpack. Right as she started to prepare it, Omega’s comm came through.

“Wrecker, do you copy?” She starts, and like clockwork Wrecker starts to rise.

Doc scooted back to give him some space, breathing out heavily in relief as she started to tuck the stimpack away.

“Wrecker, where are you? We need your help?” Omega called out again.

“Found him,” Doc quickly responded in comms as she stood up with Wrecker. “You good, man?”

Wrecker shakes his head with a grumble, getting himself out of the daze he was in. He turns to Doc and gives her a nod, “Let’s go.”

“Great, this way-”

“Oh, no. I am NOT jumping over that again,” Wrecker firmly argued.

Doc sighed and started to look around, “Okay, well, what do you suggest we do then?”

The two started looking around as they headed down the scaffolding on the opposite side of the tower. Wrecker suddenly stopped when he looked over the railing and saw blaster fire. That’s when it hit him.

“You’re gonna get on my shoulders and we’re gonna jump down,” Wrecker looked over at Doc as he squatted down for her to climb on.

Doc looked over the edge and then back at Wrecker, “You’re joking! I thought you were scared of heights.” They stared at each other for a second before the medic sighed, “You’re not joking… Okay.” She moved behind Wrecker and climbed to sit on his shoulders, locking her legs around them to keep herself in place. With her blaster ready, she gave him a signal to go for the jump.

Wrecker laughed in excitement as he picked up a dead police droid on the ground, lugging it over the railing to get the attention of the droids below as he stepped onto the railing. He then jumped off with an enthusiastic yell as they plummeted to the ground below, Doc shouting more out of fear until they landed.

Both of them began to blast at the police droids, Wrecker letting out another hearty laugh as he slings a police droid into the others. “Yeah! I got tired of you guys having all the fun!” He exclaimed as he knelt down to shoot and also let Doc get off his shoulders.

Doc swung her legs off of Wrecker and slid off his back, turning to the droids again to keep shooting. “I’m never doing that again,” she huffed with a slight laugh, a bit of thrill rushing through her.

“Haha! That laugh says otherwise!” Wrecker pointed out as he picked up a droid to use as cover.

Another chuckle escaped Doc’s mouth as they kept shooting, the medic now behind Wrecker as he shielded them. More police droids started to flood in to the point where the squad was severely overwhelmed. Wrecker nudged Doc into cover before the droid he was using as a shield took a few hits, causing him to fall back and slide into cover with her.

“Hang on. The data exchange is nearly complete,” Tech advised as he types away on his data pad, “Done!” He pulled the data rod from the droid head as it activated.

Trace turns the head around and gives a command, “Activate battle droids. Command them to attack all police droids.”

The lights on the tactical droid’s face shine as he speaks, “Affirmative.” Each droid hanging and on a conveyor belt starts to activate and moves in on the police droids when commanded.

Echo turned, ready to shoot at a nearby droid before it turned away to go after the police droids. “Never thought I’d see battle droids helping us,” He turned to Hunter and the others.

“That’s our cue,” Hunter calls out, “Move out!”

As the squad begins to roll out, Tech walks by Hunter with the data rod and hands it to him, “Mission accomplished.”

Hunter tucks it away, “Nice work,”

Trace pulls out her comm as they run down the corridor, “R7, we’re ready for pickup.”

Continuing down the hall, Omega smiles wide as she finds her lost energy bow. She scoops it off the ground as they all continue down the way to the exit.

Trace keeps R7 updated on their position up until they’re blocked by police droids. To avoid getting shot, she lifts the tactical droid head to her chest and it gets knocked out of her hand by a blast, effectively destroying it.

In a moment of rush, Omega readies her bow and takes a shot at the droid approaching them. After nailing the hit and finding her rhythm, she smiles wide, “Yeah!” She continues her fire as Trace moves behind her with a compliment, “Nice shot.”

“It’s all about tuning out distractions,” Omega explained as she steadily continued her fire.

A ship came into view and docked near the entrance they were heading for. “He’s here! Let’s go!” Trace calls out to everyone as she runs ahead to the ship. Doc and Wrecker brought up the rear as everyone loaded onto the ship, turning towards the open hanger with blasters at the ready as it closed and the ship took off.

Doc turned to Wrecker as she took her helmet off and holstered her blaster. Just as he was taking his helmet off, the medic scrunched her brows as she pointed at the blast mark on his armor.

“I didn’t even notice that you were shot,” She first commented with a huff following, “I have to run a diagnostic on you when we get back on the Marauder. No ifs, ands, or buts.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Wrecker started as they walked up the front cabin, “But I’m fine. Just hit my head really hard-”

“Still running it. Protocol.”

“Who’s protocol?”

“Mine,” Doc firmly stated as they found two seats up front.

Rafa turned towards the two, “Hey, cut him a break. You did some cool stuff out there, big guy,” She smiled at Wrecker as she patted his shoulder, turning to the ones in the walkway.

Trace frowned, looking to the ground, “All that work for nothing…”

“Whoever Cid’s buyer is isn’t gonna be happy,” Omega added as she looked at Hunter with a frown.

Rafa looked between them all, furrowing her brows in anger, “Let me get this straight. You know how dangerous the information on the tactical droid is, but you didn’t know who you were giving it to?”

Hunter crosses his arms, “We’re being paid to acquire and deliver, not ask questions.”

“Our contact needed that information to fight back against the Empire,” Trace explained with concern over her face, “They’re trying to help people and make things better.”

Tech and Hunter share a similar look between each other, as if coming to a silent agreement.

“Why aren’t you fighting with the Empire? Isn’t that what you clones do now?” Rafa further questioned.

“Not all of us,” Hunter answered, “We’re different.”

“Yeah,” Rafa rolls her eyes as she turns away to the front cabin, “I’ve heard that before.”

Once the Marauder has taken off back to Ord Mantell, Doc started the process of a diagnostic on Wrecker. As she stuck him with a device to scan his condition, Hunter approached her. Without looking up from her data pad, Doc spoke, “Can I help you?”

Hunter crossed his arms as he leaned against the adjacent wall, “No. I just wanted to say thank you.”

Doc stopped as the data loaded onto her pad, looking to Hunter, “For what exactly?”

“Just… Everything today. Risking your life for Omega and Wrecker. I don’t know what could’ve happened today if you weren’t there,” Hunter explained honestly as he gave her a sincere look.

“I couldn’t just stand by,” Doc started with a small smile as she turned back to her data pad, “Don’t thank me. Go relax, Hunter.” With an understanding nod, Hunter got up and left Doc to examine Wrecker’s results.

Her brows furrowed as she examined the data. The blast only caused some minor bruising, but there was a major red flag when looking at his head. She presumes this would be where the chip she heard about it, and it looks to be gradually causing more irritation. “No wonder you’re always getting headaches,” She commented as she grabbed a bacta patch.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Somethin’ wrong?” Wrecker’s brows upturned with concern.

“Not necessarily,” Doc explained as she carefully placed the patch on his head, “I believe your chip is causing your head pain. Might be flaring up from previous head injuries. You need to be more careful.”

Wrecker laughed, “Careful? Me?”

Doc crossed her arms after placing the patch, raising a brow at Wrecker, “Do you want to have a headache for the rest of your life or not?”

Wrecker turned to look at Doc and felt that heat rise to his cheeks again. This was a new kind of sass he was seeing. “Uh, no. You’re right,” He eventually agreed as he got up and cleared his throat, “Thank ya, Doc.”

“Anytime, Wrecker,” Doc finally shared a smile with him as she patted his shoulder, going up to the front cabin to join everyone else.

Wrecker rubbed the bacta patch on his head for a moment as he watched her walk away. It took Echo coughing near him with a stern look to make the large clone stop staring, shaking his head with a groan. “What is wrong with me?”

Notes: YAY I DID IT!!! HOORAY! Honestly, writing this chapter made me appreciate s1:e6 even more. Hope you all enjoyed it! I'll be working on the next chapter soon and get some more one on one character interactions between Doc and the other squad members! Hooray! See y'all next time!

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