"Come on!" Omega grabbed Cal's hand, yanking him onto his feet and dragged the two boys down the corridor.
"Who's Wolffe?" Cal asked.
"Commander Wolffe of the 104th Battalion's Wolfpack," Hunter replied. "Rex managed to track him down and we removed his and Crosshair's chips."
"Chips?" Cal asked, confused. What was he on about?
Omega answered him. "All clones had inhibitor chips implanted in their heads. It's what made them attack the Jedi. Once it's activated, they turn into mindless droids. No emotions, no personality, no control. Wrecker's activated when we last came here and he was terrifying." Omega shuddered at the memory.
"They didn't betray us willingly?" Cal whispered. All this time he assumed that the clones had fired on them out of their own will, but they didn't. They were forced to. They had as much say in their actions as he did. "They didn't kill Master Tapal by choice."
"You okay Kestis?" Caleb placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I'll be alright." Cal took a deep breath, processing this new information.
"Who's the new kid?" the clone in white armour enquired.
"Gregor, this is Cal. Cal, this is Gregor, a clone commando," Hunter explained.
"Nice to meet you kid," Gregor grinned, glancing at Hunter. "You're gonna have to stop adopting Padawans you find,"
"Shut up Gregor," Hunter grumbled, leading the three of them into a wrecked medical bay. It was disgusting and unhygienic. Cal couldn't believe they'd successfully performed surgery in this hovel. A massive clone in black armour was sitting beside a medical pod, staring at his brother on the bed. Beside him, a clone in white armour with red accents was typing on a datapad and another in Hunter's black and red armour was slumped against a wall, his face extremely pale. Shockingly, both of his legs and one of his arms were metallic replacements. He was also wearing a black kama, a sign of the ARC trooper status.
The giant noticed them come in and a wide smile spread across his face. "Omega!"
"Wrecker!" Omega shrieked, dashing towards the huge clone. Laughing noisily, he swung her around and hugged her tightly. Cal saw that one of his eyes was white, the result of a nasty looking scar on the side of his bald head. His other eye sparkled with delight at seeing his niece again.
The clone in white and red pocketed his datapad and swiftly took Omega into his own arms.
"I'm relieved to see you alive Omega," he grinned.
Omega giggled and cuddled him. "It's good to see you too Tech."
"Hey 'Mega," the cyborg clone smiled sleepily.
"Echo!"
Dropping down from Tech's arms, Omega hugged the ARC trooper, seemingly unaffected by his metal limbs.
"Glad to see you kiddo," Echo murmured, ruffling her hair with his biological hand.
A blond clone in the white and blue armour of the 501st Battalion approached them. He knelt down in front of Cal and beamed at him.
"Who might you be?" he asked gently, his tone assuring Cal that he could trust him.
"Cal Kestis, General Tapal's Padawan,"
His eyes widened. "I never met your master, but I knew he was a compassionate and selfless general. I'm sorry for your loss."
"Thank you. Who are you?"
"Rex, Captain of the 501st Battalion."
Cal gasped. "You're Master Skywalker's Captain!"
Rex chuckled. "Yep!"
"Rex!" Omega barrelled into him, making him laugh.
"Good to see you survived Omega,"
Moans from the clone on the stretcher caught everyone's attention and Cal recalled why they were summoned.
Rex's smile quickly vanished. Easing Omega off him, he stood up, shielding them from Wolffe's view. Clearly impatient to meet him, Omega tried to dart around Rex, but his hand clamped down on her shoulder, preventing her from possibly getting hurt.
Cal peered around the captain and saw Commander Wolffe for the first time. With a groan of torment, Wolffe eased himself into a sitting position. His right hand flew to the side of his head where a white bandage indicated that was where the ghost of the chip lay. With his helmet lying abandoned on the floor, Cal could see the familiar face that took his master's life. His right eye was cybernetic and stared blankly into the unknown, whilst the other held memories of countless victories and defeats.
"Wolffe?" Rex carefully approached his brother, a hand hovering over his blaster.
"R-Rex? W-What happened? Where are we? This-This isn't Neimoidia."
"Calm down soldier. What's the last thing you remember?"
Moaning in pain, Wolffe twisted around so his feet rested on the ground. "W-We secured a victory. General Koon took some of us on a-..."
Wolffe stopped abruptly and his eyes expanded in horror. "No, no, no, no, no! General Koon!"
Distraught, Wolffe buried his head in his shaking hands, before letting out an unearthly wail. Rex sat beside him and curled his arm around Wolffe's shoulders.
"I killed him! I killed him!" Wolffe kept repeating. "I killed him!"
Hunter cleared his throat. "Boys, Omega, let's give Wolffe some space."
Disobeying Hunter, Caleb gingerly neared the clone. "Uh, Commander?"
Sniffing noisily, Wolffe glanced up at him.
"It wasn't entirely your fault, what you did to Master Plo. You were under the influence of your inhibitor chip."
Wolffe let out a strangled laugh. "I appreciate that, but the fact remains that he'd be alive if I hadn't pulled the trigger on him."
"Caleb." Echo called.
Through his blurred vision, Wolffe watched him leave the room, along with the other two kids. The guilt of what he'd done to General Koon swamped his senses, his actions suffocating him, making him pay the consequences for murdering his kind, compassionate, and brave General, whom he'd served throughout the entirety of the Clone Wars. Flashbacks from the deadly, yet wonderful times Wolffe had charged into enemy fire, his brothers flanking him and General Koon leading them up front surged into his mind.
"Did you do the same to Skywalker?" Wolffe whispered.
Rex shook his head. "No, but I fired on Ahsoka. The boys and I would've killed her if she hadn't removed my chip."
"Lucky trooper."
"Wolffe, I may not be feeling as much pain as you, but believe me, I regretted almost killing Commander Tano."
Wolffe inhaled slowly and released a long breath, a tactic he used to calm his nerves before a fight.
"Do you know if any survived?" Wolffe asked, desperate for some good news.
To his dismay, Rex bowed his head. "To my knowledge, Grey killed General Billaba, Cody opened fire on Obi-Wan, Bly took out General Secura."
Wolffe let out a small chuckle. "He was definitely under someone's influence. He'd never harm her otherwise."
"So, Commander Bly did love Master Secura?" a young voice enquired.
Startled, both clones looked towards the doorway which was filled with the three children.
"There is some good news," Rex assured him. "They survived."
"They're.. younglings?"
"Padawans," Caleb corrected. "Well, Omega wasn't, but we'll be teaching her some stuff, so she'll be our padawan."
"I'm Cal Kestis," the ginger haired boy introduced himself. He gestured to Caleb and the girl. "This is Caleb Dume and Omega, who's a clone like you."
Shocked, Wolffe stared at Omega. There were certain notable differences that set her apart from him and his brethren. Her hair was yellow, like Rex, her skin was paler and she was female. Wolffe had never seen a female clone before and the concept intrigued and concerned him.
Omega waved cheerily at him. "I'm glad the surgery was a success."
Her enthusiasm was infectious as Wolffe felt the corner of his mouth curve upwards. She somehow managed to find a bright side to all this torment.
"Me too."
"Commander Bly actually loved Master Secura? I thought that was just a rumour," Cal stepped forward.
"How'd you know about that?" Wolffe asked.
"Your brothers in the 13th Battalion liked to gossip about it from time to time," Cal explained, sitting next to the Captain. "I always assumed they made it up."
Wolffe chuckled quietly, remembering joking with his Wolfpack about Bly's supposed crush on his Twi'lek general. "No, a few members of Bly's battalion noticed his affection for General Secura and within a rotation, every clone knew about it."
"Did she love him back?" Omega asked, sitting on Rex's lap and holding his helmet.
Wolffe shrugged. "Some speculated that the General felt the same way, but – being a Jedi – she wasn't allowed to form attachments."
Moans from the clone on the medical bed diverted his gaze. The grey-haired clone grunted with anguish and his head slowly tilted towards them.
"Crosshair!" Omega shouted, wriggling out of Rex's hold and dashing over to her brother. "Dad, Echo, Wrecker, Tech! Crosshair's awake!"
"Omega, wait," Caleb grabbed her arm. "Remember Kaller? We need to make sure he's not going to hurt us."
Omega hesitated, letting his words sink in.
"Goodie, you two are here," Crosshair said, his voice no less harsh than before.
"He won't hurt me. Trust me Caleb," Omega pleaded.
Caleb withheld his grip on Omega and retreated to the furthest corner, clearly anxious about Crosshair.
"How do you feel?" Omega asked.
"Like I did after Wrecker hugged me when he got excited and hit my head on the roof of the Marauder," Crosshair complained. "Did you call Hunter 'Dad'?"
Omega nodded enthusiastically.
Booming laughter filled the medical bay. "Look who's awake!"
Wrecker strode across the floor, sat next to Crosshair and pulled him into his side with a monumental arm. "Good to have you back Cross!"
"Hey Wrecker."
Tech, Echo and Hunter entered and joined their squad on the bunk; Echo beside Wrecker, Tech flanking Crosshair and Hunter perched on the edge.
"We missed you brother. How are you feeling?" Hunter asked.
"Superb," Crosshair replied flatly.
He let out a squawk of surprise when Omega threw herself onto his lap, her arms tightly coiled around his waist.
"Hunter, what is your daughter doing to me?"
Hunter chuckled. "Relax, she's hugging you. You're supposed to hug her back."
"Why?"
"It's a common sign of affection and forgiveness," Tech explained.
Groaning outwardly, Crosshair reluctantly patted Omega on the back.
"It'll be good to have you back in the squad Cross," Echo leant behind Wrecker to place his hand on Crosshair's shoulder.
"You can give me some shooting tips!" Omega exclaimed.
Crosshair snorted. "Not a chance kid."
Pouting, Omega stuck her tongue out at him, earning her a soft hit on the head.
"Strategically, it makes sense for you to train Omega. You're the best sharpshooter in the galaxy and she needs sufficient training-"
Tech was interrupted by an annoyed wail from Crosshair. "I did not miss your pointless rambles Tech."
"Well, he's definitely back to normal,"
A faint smile began to crack Crosshair's statue-like expression and Cal couldn't resist laughing at Tech's comment. His chuckling caught Crosshair's attention.
"Who's he?"
"I'm Cal Kestis," he answered. BD beeped a 'hello' from Cal's shoulder.
"Okay," Crosshair's keen eyes swept the room, making contact with Wolffe and Rex before drifting over to Caleb, who was leaning against a corner, glaring daggers at the sharpshooter.
Crosshair's tiny smile vanished and guilt filled his eyes.
"Remember me?" Caleb spat venomously.
Crosshair nodded slightly. "Dume."
"The Padawan you tried to kill multiple times," Caleb snarled.
Omega could feel the hatred and distress that Caleb was experiencing and she honestly couldn't blame him.
"He's not under the chip's control anymore," Omega pointed out.
"I don't care, he almost shot me and have you forgotten that he threatened you?"
With a weary sigh, Crosshair lifted Omega off his legs, rose, dumped her on Tech's lap, and cautiously approached Caleb. When he was roughly three feet from the boy, Crosshair stopped.
"I know what I did as a puppet of the Empire," his voice rang with regret, sorrow and sincerity. "I want you to know that I hate myself for every act I committed, especially the events on Kaller. You have every right to hate me and I'd be surprised if you didn't. In fact, you can hate me for the rest of your life. I deserve it. But I don't want to be your enemy anymore, so allies?"
Frowning, Caleb considered Crosshair's offer. After a couple of tense moments, Caleb decided and held out his hand.
"Deal,"
Cracking a small grin, Crosshair shook his hand. A memory from when he was under the chip's influence suddenly resurfaced.
'A few months ago, you reported that Caleb Dume wasn't killed. We cannot allow any Jedi to live and start a rebellion against the Empire. Your mission is to eliminate him on Kaller,' Admiral Rampart instructed.
'Yes Admiral,' Shoving his helmet back on, Crosshair stoically walked to the door, which opened before he reached it. Three TK troopers entered the briefing room. Crosshair hated that clones had been replaced with these weaklings. He'd watched them train and immediately noticed how clones were far more skilled and efficient. These idiots would be the reason the Empire fell.
'Sir, we were successful,' one of them announced.
A trooper came forward and Crosshair saw a tiny baby in his arms. He looked peaceful, his eyes closed. He wore an orange playsuit with yellow accents and his head was covered in little tufts of blue hair.
'Why do you need him?' Crosshair asked. He didn't expect Rampart to give him an answer, something he rarely gifted him.
To his surprise, Rampart smiled. 'Well done trooper. Take him to the facility on Felucia.'
He turned to Crosshair. 'He's Force-sensitive. He's an infant, therefore, has no allegiance to the Republic. With hard training, Ezra Bridger will make a tremendous asset of the Empire.'
Crosshair bit back a response. Without another word, he left the room. He was angry at himself for being affected by Ezra's capture.
'Is this how Hunter felt about Omega?' he shook his head frustratedly. He had a mission to complete. However, Ezra's terrified screams momentarily halted his steps. For just a second, Crosshair imagined going back and taking Ezra to the Bad Batch. Maybe they would accept him back. Hitting himself in the head to disperse the thoughts of desertion, Crosshair ignored the baby's cries for help and pushed forward.
Ezra's wails ricochet around in his mind, haunting him. He should've gone back for him. He knew how the Empire treated clones and their new soldiers; Ezra would have to be a resilient baby to survive their tests and trials.
"Uh, Crosshair? You okay?" Caleb asked, shaking him from his fears.
Crosshair blinked and noticed that he was still holding Caleb's hand. Humiliated, Crosshair hastily let go and discreetly wiped his hand on his black armour.
Facing the group, Crosshair cleared his throat, gaining their attention. "There's something you all should know. The Empire's been hunting Jedi survivors and any Force-sensitives relentlessly. I was sent to eliminate Dume, and another squad was tasked with kidnapping a baby," Crosshair winced and grasped his head again. "Just as I was leaving for Kaller, they returned with the infant."
"A baby? They stole someone's child?" Hunter growled.
Crosshair nodded. "Rampart told me he's Force-sensitive. They plan on turning him into a weapon for the Empire."
"We have to save him! We can't let the Empire brainwash him into one of their soldiers!" Caleb demanded.
"His parents must be worried sick," Echo frowned. "I remember a time when this happened before. A Sith lord hired Bane to steal Force-sensitive children, but General Skywalker and Commander Tano stopped them."
"Do you know his name?" Cal asked.
"Ezra. Ezra Bridger."
"Why would they take a baby?" Omega whispered fearfully.
"He has no allegiance to the Jedi Order or the Republic," Crosshair explained. "If the Empire raise him, he'll be an unstoppable enemy."
"We'll track Ezra down and return him to his parents," Hunter decided. "Rex, Wolffe clearly needs time, so you and Gregor take him somewhere safe."
The Captain nodded.
"Cal, what about you?" Hunter turned him. "You're free to come with us, if you'd like that."
Cal considered his options: he could stay here, become a Scrapper and ignore his Jedi past, or he could leave Bracca and help prevent an innocent from becoming the Empire's weapon. It pained him to think of his master and clones were the root of his fears. But if he left, he would have a family again, have brothers and a sister.
"I'll go with you."
Omega squealed with happiness and clapped her hands excitedly.
"Cross? Fancy coming along?" Hunter asked, holding out his hand.
Without a moment's hesitation, Crosshair pressed their forearms together and grasped his elbow.
Hunter grinned. "Welcome back brother."
*Author Note*
Hey guys! Hope you liked this chapter and are looking forward to seeing Ezra in the next chapter! Originally, I wasn't going to include him, but I wanted to so I hope it doesn't feel forced. Personally, I don't ship Aayla and Bly, but I know a lot of other people do. May the Force be with you!