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fives-girlfriend · 2 years ago

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A/N: New here? Start at First Impressions, part 1!

The Mission

Asha's first mission with the Batch goes off almost without a hitch, but when do things ever go as planned when Unit 99 is involved?

Direct sequel to First Impressions

Characters: TBB, OC (Asha Kurr)

Warnings: Canon-typical violence, descriptions of injury, burns

Word count: 3,186

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Their first mission together. Honestly, it was always the first mission that was most thrilling - at least, that's what Asha felt. Her first mission with a new deployment always meant she got to finally see what they were like in action, even if she was to stick to the back and lay low. That was with the more standard battalions - like her old assignment with Rex, or that bizarre bomb squad, or those recon specialists... this one, though, was brand new. She had never worked with such an elite task force before. And now, as she sat in the Marauder's gunner loft, everything felt... new. Whether or not that was a good thing remained to be seen.

So far, everything had been quiet. Tech and Hunter occupied the cockpit, Crosshair was alone on his bunk, Wrecker was currently "training" via pullups on the overhead, and Echo... Echo was down below. Quietly and subtly, Asha descended from the loft to the lower deck, sitting at the main terminal - Echo sat nearby. The two of them had a sort of... quiet respect for each other, in that regard. Maybe it wasn't full trust yet - even with Asha's previous allegiances - but Echo respected her, and she respected him, enough for the two of them to sit in an ultimately tension-free silence within the same area for a short while.

At some point Asha had eventually turned in her seat to slip out her toolkit, and was busying herself tending to the gonk droid that was currently below deck with them. The poor thing appeared to have something wrong with its power reserves... a quick examination proved her suspicions, as well as evidence of various attempts to fix it. Seems like the poor guy was just permanently stuck at a just-below-full-charge...

"Poor guy..." Asha mumbled, a hand ghosting over the droid's chassis. "You're different too, huh? Don't worry... I'll make sure you're in tip-top shape. Let's see... yeah, your battery's worn out here... hasn't been replaced in years... I'll make sure it's comfortable for you, okay?"

As Asha spoke gently to the droid, she didn't quite notice the pair of eyes on her. Echo was watching her, his trepidation making way for genuine fascination as she worked. Everyone he had ever met saw droids as nothing more than cold, unfeeling machines - any feelings they did have were simply programmed in. Built to follow orders, built to be tools. But here... here was someone who was speaking to something as simple as a gonk droid with all the care and patience of a medic calming down a stressed patient. She treated it like a friend.

Asha noticed Echo only after several minutes, and she looked up at him with a small smile. He hadn't even realized he'd been staring at her - his pallid cheeks flushed a bit darker, earning a small giggle from the mechanic across from him.

"Are you just gonna stare, or do you want me to show you how it-"

"I know how gonk droids work," Echo quickly replied, averting his gaze and turning towards the terminal. Even after their brief heart-to-heart back on Kamino, and the few days she had been with them before they all left on this mission, Echo had been painfully tense around her. It was understandable, at least. She wasn't expecting total trust - not from him, nor any of them. "...thank you, though."

"Echo, Asha," Tech's voice suddenly beeped from over their comms. "We will be arriving soon. Best come and get ready."

The two shared a look and a brief nod, before heading topside. Their first mission as a team of six - well, five plus one to stay behind at the ship in case of emergencies - was the infiltration and elimination of a Separatist tactical droid. Apparently, this one was the mind behind a shockingly organized deployment of droids... elimination of their head was paramount if they were to get rid of them. Asha, though reluctant, agreed to stay behind with the ship - she could pilot it in case of an emergency and she at least knew her way around a blaster pistol. When they touched down in that arid valley, hidden by the large outcroppings from any detection by the facility a few kliks off, everyone was ready to go.

"Keep your channel open," Hunter instructed before the five headed out, to which Asha gave a quick salute. "Stay with the ship, and if any of us contact you for a pickup, you know how to track us."

"Got it, Hunter," Asha nodded, and with that, they dispersed. She sat down on the ramp of the ship, watching the five of them vanish behind the nearby outcropping from where they had parked among the cavernous valley, and she was left entirely alone.

---

Night fell in the desert valley, harsh wind whipping through the rocks and canyons. Asha knew the boys were quite busy by now at the facility the droid had been tracked to - she'd been straining to keep an ear out, listening for any sort of disturbance... it wasn't until about an hour in that she heard the distant wailing of alarms. Well... there they were, doing what they did best.

Part of her wished she could've gone with them. A more logical, cautious part of her knew that it was best for her to stay back this particular one, but the part of her that wanted action - that wanted to help - screamed to go down there with them. But... someone needed to stay by the ship. Someone needed to be ready. Someone-

She froze. Footsteps were coming up the way, displacing rock and sand. Four, by what she could hear - Asha gripped her blaster, leaning back by the open hatch of the ship and just out of sight, and listened.

"Commander?" A shrill, automated voice spoke, and Asha inwardly cringed. Droids. Great. "We've located an unauthorized starship in the western canyon. Permission to investigate?"

Please don't, please don't, please d-

"Asha, you there?!" Wrecker's voice boomed over the comms, and Asha drew in a sharp breath. "You better be ready to get us outta h-"

Asha slapped a hand down on her commlink to shut it off, but the damage was done. She held her breath, as the sound of the droids' footsteps came closer... closer...

In the glare of the moonlight, she could see their shadows approaching. Her heart pounded in her chest. The guys had to have known by now that something was wrong if she wasn't answering her comms. Just a bit closer...

When they got close enough, Asha grit her teeth, and stepped out with a volley of blaster fire. She had that brief window of the door to the ship, and after the first initial shots - she managed to hit one! - she spun to the other side, back flush to the wall. However, she inwardly cursed as she heard one of the three remaining droids send an alert, that there was an intruder out on the ship - blaster fire struck the sides of the ship and whizzed through the door, scorching the interior wall. Asha was caught alone, and the guys needed a pickup - as she dove to the other side once again, she let out a sharp yell of pain as a bolt of blaster fire grazed her back, not striking fully, but harshly burning. It took all her strength not to fall to the floor, and as she scrambled for the cockpit, she suddenly heard the droids... stop. Metal on stone, clattering on the ground, was all she heard - and Asha breathed a sigh of relief. The tactical droid. They got it...

Okay, injuries later. Boys now. Asha hauled herself to the cockpit, grunting in pain at the scorch on her back, and prepped for takeoff - and she reactivated her commlink in the interim.

"Guys, are you there-?! Agh-" she yelled into the mic, terror lacing every word.

"We read you, Asha," Hunter responded. Thank the Maker. "What's happening over there? Are you safe?"

"I'm- ngh- I'm fine. A handfulla droids found the ship, but it seems like you guys took care of that problem?" she asked with a slight amused lilt in her tone, hoping to mask the pain. No doubt Hunter heard that grunt of pain. But if he did, he didn't address it.

"Get to our position, we need an extraction. Tactical droid is down, but getting back to the ship is gonna be..."

"Problematic," Tech's voice suddenly chimed in.

"Got it- coming to your coordinates, just hang tight, guys..." Asha mumbled before the line went quiet. Quickly, Asha grabbed an overshirt from her gear and tossed it on to cover the scorch – the fabric scratching across it sent shockwaves of pain through each burnt nerve – and as she steeled herself, she brought the ship airborne, and made her way down to where they had pinged.

Every movement was agony. The bolt had struck her shoulder blade, just narrowly missing her rearmost lekku – though she realized that it still felt a bit tender, so perhaps "missed" wasn't quite the right word. That wasn't what she had to focus on right now, though – Asha forced her attention away from her back, from the pain, and towards the ship controls and getting to the pickup point. When she brought the Marauder down and lowered the ramp, she was up in an instant – every movement of her back muscles sending a ripple of pain through her that she fought to ignore – and she brushed past Tech, Crosshair, and Wrecker, only to gasp in shock when she saw Hunter coming up in the rear, with Echo's limping form clutching him like a vice.

"What happened-?!" she barked as she immediately ducked out to help support Echo, help Hunter bring him aboard. Each movement made her want to scream, but she bit her tongue as she sat Echo down. Tech was at the controls before she even realized they were moving again, and as the ramp closed up, Echo all but threw his helmet off, a look of... not pain, but extreme discomfort contorting his face. Asha knelt to his side, a hand on his arm, and she looked at him with deep-set concern. "Echo, talk to me. I need you to tell me what's wrong. Let me help."

"My– my leg," Echo spoke through gritted teeth. "Mistimed a jump– landed wrong... it doesn't– it's not... working." His hand never left his thigh, and Asha looked down at it for a moment before she met his gaze again.

"Echo, I'm gonna remove your leg armor now– Hunter, can you grab my toolkit? I-I'm gonna get your armor off and I'm gonna ask that you– you roll up the pant leg. Just the one. I-I need to get at your leg and see what's wrong. Can you do that for me?" Asha's voice was shockingly clear even to herself, only barely stumbling over her words as she struggled to maintain composure. Adrenaline was running high, and she had one thing to focus on now: Echo. Hunter passed her tools to her, Asha helped Echo get his pant leg up, and she immediately winced at the problem.

"Okay... your knee joint has been knocked out of alignment," she spoke softly, as Echo's hand hovered anxiously over his thigh. "Here's– here's what I'm gonna do, okay? I'm gonna talk you through it. You're gonna be alright, Echo. I'm gonna fix it. Just focus on my voice. I'm deactivating the prosthetic now..."

She could see how tense he was at such a rushed, invasive repair – but it was a necessary one, as Tech got them all spacebound and the ship's ride smoothed out. Asha stayed kneeling as she pulled out her tools, and brought them up to the joint – Echo flinched. The leg didn't respond to his movement.

"Shh, shh... easy. Here's what I'm gonna do. These bolts are bent too far to repair..." Asha muttered, already working on removing the offending pieces. "So I'm gonna replace them, okay? Just focus on my voice. I'm pulling them out now. That's it..."

This continued for... a while. Tech was busy manning the cockpit, Hunter sitting with him – Crosshair was down below, and Wrecker was sitting nearby, watching anxiously and shockingly silently as Asha worked. She talked Echo through the whole thing – removing and replacing bent parts, realigning his joint. Rewiring what was needed and repairing the poor, abused augment.

"Okay, Echo, you're doing great... it's done, see? It's all done... it's done now. I'm reactivating the prosthetic... go ahead and roll your ankle for me?" Asha spoke softly as she sat back on her haunches, watching as she began to run the reflexive diagnostics. Echo looked down at his leg and did so, tentatively rolling his ankle around – so far, so good. "Good, good. Now bend your knee for me? Up and down, slowly now."

He did so, and Asha let out a low, long sigh of relief, as she slowly began putting her tools away. "There... there we go. You did great, Echo. I'm proud of you. Go on, go... go get some rest, okay?"

"...thank you," Echo muttered, standing up hesitantly as he rolled his pant leg back down. In all honesty, his leg felt as good as new. "But- Asha, what happened in here? On the wall–"

"Droid patrol found the ship before you guys took out the tactical," Asha grunted as she stood fully upright, already moving to head down to the lower deck. "I took one out before they all went down. Don't– don't worry about it. I'll buff out the scorches."

There was nothing more she wanted to do right now than to get down somewhere private, away from prying eyes, so she could quietly sit in agony and try to tend to herself. When she dropped down to the lower deck, however, one wrong move from the ladder was all it took...

Asha barely even remembered hitting the ground. In the wake of weaning adrenaline, that pain from the burn was coming back tenfold – the constant movement of piloting, of repairs, of making sure Echo was safe and secure and healthy, all commanding her movements, taking her mind off of the pain. But the moment she let go of the ladder, dropped her arms, that movement of scorched skin and muscle on her back sent her into vertigo, eyes rolling before she toppled over. In fact, she had scarcely hit the ground before she swore she felt arms underneath her. Was someone else with her-? Tech and Hunter were in the cockpit, Echo and Wrecker were in the main hall...

"...Cr...oss...?" Asha mumbled, ears ringing, before a low groan of absolute agony rumbled from her chest. Crosshair knelt above her – his ever-present scowl betrayed into something closer to concern, even with her vision stark-white and hazy. His arm looped around her back and that groan of pain rose in pitch to something closer to a quiet scream, and his arm immediately retracted – but he felt it. He felt the inflammatory warmth, and the stickiness matting her shirt that was getting harder and harder to hide. Without warning or decorum, he all but ripped the overshirt off of her shoulders, ripping another cry from her throat as he turned her over, pulling her close to his chest, peering at her back. She couldn't see his face, but she could hear him curse under his breath.

"...s going on?"

"Asha... 's been shot... n't notice?!"

"What?! Where d..."

The words were fading in and out, but she could clearly tell that it was Hunter... no doubt he heard her down here. A pair of arms was under her now, hauling her up – she was all but deadweight right now, but this was... too lithe to be Hunter. No... but wait, that only meant...

"...Cross...hair...?" she muttered, only earning her a quick "sh" in return. She felt herself being laid down, turned over. She heard words – muffled, distant. Her ears were ringing. It sounded like a warning. That was all she could discern before the peeling started.

He was peeling her shirt off, slicked with sweat and blood, as the frayed, charred fabric hooked to the burn on her back, and she screamed. Oh, Maker, did she scream. It was a shrill, horrid sound. It echoed through the ship. She felt it being peeled away, and that was the final sensation she could discern before rough, relieving unconsciousness finally latched onto her body, dragging her into its inky depths as a means of escape from the pain.

---

Consciousness came slowly. It was like the world was turning back on, one thing at a time. The first thing Asha could do was hear – the gentle hum of the engine. Something steady, grounding. The next thing she could do was feel. And with that, came the pain. Not as searing, not as stark – dulled, but still warm, heated, and sore. She groaned. She could hear that, too. She felt something underneath her, as well – thin, but cushioned. A mattress, military-issue. She felt something tight around her, constricting her. A hand weakly tried to raise, feel her chest. Slightly rough, with some elastic give... bandaging. She felt it tight around her back. She even felt it... they wrapped her rearmost lekku, too. As sensation slowly returned, Asha finally, slowly, let her eyes flutter open.

She was in a bunk. And she could hear something else.

"You really are surprising," a low, raspy voice spoke up, making Asha slowly turn her head. Crosshair was sitting up in the gunner loft, watching her. The bunk– his bunk? "I really, truly had no idea just how stupid one person could be."

"...good to see you too..." Asha mumbled, as she brought an arm up to cover her eyes in the crook of her elbow. "I-I was going to take care of it."

"Really?" Crosshair asked nonchalantly. "Before, or after you fainted?"

"After I did my job," Asha spat back, sounding more harsh than she meant to. Chalk it up to tension from the pain. "Echo was... was hurt. I-I couldn't let him just... sit there. Waiting for me."

"Tech could've gotten to him–"

"Tech was piloting, and it's not his mission to repair Echo. I-It's mine. I've got it in writing."

"Hm."

Crosshair offered no retort – just a disinterested "hm". Of course, he knew she had a point – and though he would never admit it... he had to admire that strength she showed. Pushing past her own pain, her own agony, in order to follow her orders and keep Echo safe. Even if she was an idiot for neglecting herself like that...

He understood it.

And as unconsciousness slowly claimed Asha again, accompanied by that hot, throbbing pain, Crosshair watched. He would never admit it, not openly, but... maybe she had proven that she'd last more than three rotations with them. Maybe she'd last seven. The smallest of smirks tugged up on his lips as he kept vigil.

What an idiot she was.

She was gonna fit right in.

#OHHHHH THIS IS MY LONGEST ONE YET. ENJOY BESTIES #tbb #star wars oc #crosshair #wrecker #tech #hunter #echo #sci writes #oc: asha kurr #neon lanes

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