The Clone Wars One Shots

Hearing Impaired Part 4

After returning to Anaxes, you found yourself spending quite a lot of time observing Echo's recovery from afar. He had saved you, after all. No reg had done that before -  usually it was you doing the saving. The cybernetically enhanced clone fascinated you, and as with all things that you found interesting, you took to observing him.

He was a lot like you, now that you thought about it. Traumatized, underestimated, and someone that the Kaminoans were ashamed to call their creation. You knew that if he went back to Kamino as a reg, they would kill him. If he went back with your squadron, however, he would have a fighting chance. You wanted to give him that chance. All you needed was a little help.

Crosshair, your antisocial buddy, usually joined you as you scooped out your (hopefully) future teammate, curious about the cyborg. His distrustful nature really showed at times like this, when he wouldn't allow any member of your squadron to be alone with who he deemed a potential threat. Without knowing what Echo was capable of, he couldn't bring himself to allow you out of his sight. Though he had to admit, he too was interested in the potential of the no-longer-reg.

Soon enough, Tech too began tagging along. After you had mentioned how handy Echo was with technology, he began interacting with the cyborg, hoping that he had met his match in the intelligence field. He could only win against Wrecker and Hunter so many times in various strategy games before he grew bored. Even you and Crosshair hardly posed a challenge to him anymore, despite initially proving to be worthy opponents.

Since the majority of the Batch was visiting, Wrecker and Hunter decided to see what the fuss was about.

Echo was surprised to look up one day and find the entire Bad Batch staring at him from the door, and awkwardly cleared his throat as the droids who had been assisting in his recovery drifted and wheeled away.

"Um... hello."

You waved cheerfully. He hesitantly returned the gesture, a little confused by the sudden appearance of your squadron.

"I don't believe we've been properly introduced," Hunter announced, stepping closer to the other clone. "I'm Hunter, the leader of this squadron."

"Crosshair," the sniper in question drawled, rolling his toothpick to the other side of his mouth.

"Our sharpshooter," Hunter clarified.

Tech pushed to the front of the group and enthusiastically extended a hand for Echo to shake. He hesitantly did so.

"Tech. I am the brains of this operation."

A tiny smirk tugged at the corner of Echo's lips. "I noticed."

Wrecker lumbered forwards and slapped Echo on the back enthusiastically, nearly hurling him into the wall with the sheer force of the action. "Wrecker. Demolition expert. Nice to meet'cha, reg."

"It's Echo, actually." He paused, then unsurely added: "or CT-1409. Whichever you prefer. Either works."

You rolled your eyes. What was with regs and their designations? "Hello, CT-1409," you signed, Tech translating your signals for Echo. "My designation is ARECT-23-0001-9905, Clone Force 99's unofficial battle medic and Tech's lovely copilot."

"...What?" Echo questioned, blinking in confusion.

"This is Y/n," Hunter explained, smirking.

"That's why we don't do designations," you signed. Again, Tech reiterated your words.

Once again, you came to the conclusion that Echo would be a good fit for your misfit squadron. The others just had to see it.

Thankfully, that chance came only a week later, when the Jedi declared that it was time to retake Anaxes.