"Wrecker! I promise you I'm fine," Cassiopeia protested as the large soldier picked her up and began to carry her.
"He's not going to put you down, you know," Tech followed behind Wrecker and spoke up to Cass, who was practically hanging over Wrecker's shoulder.
She sighed in defeat. "Yeah, I know."
"Hey it's free weight training for me, and you get a break off your leg. It's a win-win!" Wrecker explained in his normal excited tone.
"I suppose so," Cass laughed and rested her chin on Wrecker's shoulder. It was true, she had a free ride to the Jawas, but it was also a perfect excuse to stare at Tech the whole way there. He still had his helmet on, to her distain, but she was grateful nonetheless.
"Tech," Cass caught his attention and pointed to his visor. "What does that do?"
He stopped typing to meet her eyes and explain. "It's a computer display that allows me to scan my surroundings and perform calculations, as well as translate and store data analysis."
"It's so cool," she beamed. "I'm assuming you added your own specs and maximized the kilobit storage?"
"Naturally," Tech bit back a grin, though there was no use anyways with his helmet on.
Cass tilted her head and closed her eyes, reaching out in the force and accepting what it was telling her.
"What's wrong?" Tech squinted his eyes.
"We are close. I can feel it," Cass opened her eyes once more.
"I will never understand the blind trust that Jedis have with the force," Tech shook his head innocently.
"It's not blind trust. You can definitely feel it and see it, but only if you're willing to seek it out and accept it. Can you not feel it?"
Tech looked down and pondered for a moment before saying no.
"You don't feel it when you're home on Kamino? Or when you're in battle? That feeling of knowing that you're exactly where you need to be in that moment because the force is guiding you?" she continued in a soft voice as Tech remained silent, thinking over every word she spoke. "Have you ever changed your mind after a certain chill ran up your spine?"
"Well yes, but that's just instinct."
"Not always. The force guides you to places and people you might not understand in the moment."
Cass saw Tech's brain working, something she thoroughly enjoyed watching.
"Well...that happened when I joined the Bad Batch. I originally wanted to be a medic but," he paused, "But at the last second, something told me that I should be with my brothers. That I could do more out here."
"Sounds like the force to me," Cass hummed. "Is that the only time you've felt this way?"
Tech wanted desperately to say no. To tell her that he feels a chill every time he looked at her or spoke to her...maker, even every time he thought about her. But perhaps he was overlapping two different feelings. Or were they one in the same? This was one of the very few things he didn't know, nor could he do enough research to find the answer himself. He didn't have an hypothesis or explanation for the feeling, therefore he would keep it to himself until he did.
Tech simply shook his head. "If I did, I wouldn't have known it and most likely mistook it for instinct."
"Well you should start noticing more," Cass gently grinned at him. "Your big brain should be capable of that."
Unbeknownst to either of them, Wrecker was smiling wildly under his helmet, absolutely certain Tech was blushing red at this point.
Crosshair raised an arm, and the clones froze. He silently pointed to a cave within eyesight, one that he could now confirm was full of Jawas. Their soft murmurs could be heard now that the shuffling of feet had stopped. Wrecker slowly set Cassiopeia down on the ground, with Tech gently placing a hand on her back for stability.
"Alright negotiator, what do we do now?" Hunter whispered and remained alert, eyes continuing to scan the cave.
"We need to approach calmly, otherwise they might feel threatened and-"
A trio of Jawas suddenly jumped out and shot stun blasts towards the squad.
"-and stun us," Cass finished her sentence with a groan, jumping away from the blasts the best she could. Tech had her steady against his chest, using himself to keep her propped up. Instinctively, the clones reached for their blasters and Tech loaded up his translator, but Cass called out to the Jawas before any grave action was taken.
"Sabioto!" [Stop!] Cass yelled to the small humanoids. "Sabioto!"
The Jawas froze for a moment but kept their blasters aimed. Cass raised her empty hands and spoke again. Her voice speaking the foreign tongue caught Tech off guard, but he quickly processed it and began reading the exchange as it happened.
...[We are looking for our friends]...
Cass paused to gage their reaction.
...[will you help us?]...
The Jawas looked between each other and mumbled inaudibly.
...[We don't have time. The green lizard is out to eat]...
Cass shook her head and the Jawas didn't seem to understand.
...[We killed the lizard]...
Cass turned her leg towards them and they began murmuring again at the sight of her wound. They all began running up beside her, issuing hugs and kind words.
"What's going on?" Crosshair raised a brow and watched as the tiny humanoids surrounded them.
"Taa baa! Taa Baa!" [Thank you! Thank you!"] they cheered and raised their arms.
Tech kept reading his translator and glanced at Crosshair. "They're thanking us for killing the Scyk."
...[We owe you our lives. How can we help you?]...
Tech and Cass exchanged hopeful looks and leaned into each other. Tech's thumb rubbed against her shoulder without him even noticing, unconsciously confirming his support.
"They want to help us," Cass explained and the squad nodded contently. Tech continued to listen and translate for the group as the conversation ensued.
"She's asking about the clones...They're saying that the clones were sold...Sold to some Klatooinian gang in the North City...They will supply us with speeder bikes to get there," Tech translated.
He lifted his visor to see Cassiopeia clearly, silently taking in her presence. He analyzed and memorized everything about her, never missing a thing she said or did. She felt magnetic to him, and he imagined it impossible to let her go now that they were so close.
Was this magnetic feeling the force she was speaking of, or something else? A mix of both? Perhaps one couldn't exist without the other like a symbiote, or maybe intertwined like the Chenataaa rivers of Kashyyyk. Perhaps the force was telling him she could lead him to the path he was destined to follow, or she was the path?
It was all too much for him to comprehend in one instant, but he guessed that's what Cassiopeia had tried to explain before. That the force would show him his way even if he didn't know the way himself.
"They said they'll lead us to the speeder bikes now," Cass leaned forward and attempted to take a couple steps before Wrecker scooped her up again.
"Wrecker!" she whined in frustration. "I told you, I can walk!"
"He doesn't care," all the clones said in unison.
Cass reluctantly assumed her position and rested her arms around his neck and her chin on his shoulder.
"So Cassi, how did you and Echo meet?" Wrecker began speaking as he kept his eyes on the Jawas.
Echo heard his name and slowed his pace a bit so he could fall behind and walk alongside Wrecker.
"When my master and I first got assigned to the 501st, Echo and I saw each other in passing but never really spoke. He was out fighting in the front while I worked more behind the scenes. We were on Atzerri for a mission and when everyone set up camp and slept for the night, I found Echo wide awake and staring up at the sky. And I was pretty restless at night as well, I could never turn my mind off long enough to sleep," Cass smiled as she retold the story. Echo slowed even more to fall behind Wrecker and meet Cass face-to-face.
"Remember the first night you came up to me?" Echo recalled. "Kix was snoring so loud that you rolled him onto his side so he would stop, then proceeded to tell me I shouldn't sleep on my stomach."
"And you never followed my advice, did you?" Cass smirked and tilted her head at Echo.
"Nope," Echo laughed and Cass shook her head.
"Then what?" Wrecker asked, fully invested in the story.
"I saw that he was exhausted but I could sense his mind racing. I offered to show him a sketch I made of an Atzerrian Meek I had found earlier."
"Oh maker, you were so excited to tell me about those meeks," Echo looked up to Cass with only admiration in his eyes.
She looked down at him with the same admiration, appreciative of the special clone in front of her.
"She talked my ear off but it did the trick. I wasn't thinking about the war or the day ahead of me, only about whatever interested her at the moment."
"Yep. It always put the big baby to sleep," Cass and Wrecker chuckled, Echo rolled his eyes jokingly. "Every night after that, no matter what planet or moon we were stationed to, I would roll Kix onto his side and find Echo beside him, looking up at me."
"Not much different than now, I guess," Echo got a quick glimpse into the past as Cass looked down at him, just as she did so many moons ago.
"That's a really nice story," Wrecker added with a cheerful smile.
Cass nodded silently and melted into Echo's gaze. She forgot how calm she felt with him, how loved. He was her big brother, and she his little sister. And maker, did they miss each other.
. . . . . .
cass & echo to each other
cass: "is this the only time you've felt this way?"
tech: