THIRD PERSON POV
Organa bowed to me with a kind smile. "I hope we meet each other again." Although he held himself up with a calm disposition, I knew he must be feeling a sense of failure after the Palpatine's calamitous declaration. The senator wasn't alone in that sense...
"Whenever you need me, Senator," I shook his firm hand. "I'm only a call away. Do not hesitate if you are ever in trouble."
"I will. Good luck."
Omega, Riyo, and I solumnly headed back to the warehouse where Rex, Hunter, and the others were waiting. I embraced the sergeant upon first arrival. "I'm sensing, based on your reaction, it did not go as planned." he sighed in my ear. I shook my head as I slipped out of his arms. Then, I faced everyone and relayed what had happened.
"Palpatine was one step ahead of us during the war," Rex said. "and he's still several steps ahead of us. We played right into his hands." He pounded his fist into his palm with frustration.
"I don't understand..." Omega sighed. "We did the right thing. We told the truth."
"And he twisted it to his advantage." Hunter gazed down on the young girl.
"It was as if Palpatine had known Chuchi would recruit us—or at least someone—find the necessary evidence, and expose Rampart for him." I huffed, crossing my arms tightly across my chest. "So then, he could convict Rampart and get what he was after all along. Even after the truth about Kamino is revealed, the Senate approved the Emperor's stormtrooper program. You all should have heard him..." I covered my mouth with my hand. "The way he spoke, was ingenious."
"And now the fate of all the clones is now sealed," Echo growled under his breath. "because of us." He turned to Rex. "What's going to happen to them?"
"I don't know." Riyo breathed, her head hung in disappointment. "But I will keep fighting for the clones. You all deserve the same rights as every citizen." She grasped my hand next to her and met my eyes, nodding with determination. "I won't give up." I smiled and squeezed her fingers.
"If you need anything, Rex, just say the word." Hunter said, then acknowledged Riyo with a small bow, indicating we were all heading out. However, I watched the sergeant turn to Echo, place a firm hand on the cyborg clone's shoulder, and say, "Wherever you end up, remember what I said."
I blinked as I dropped Riyo's hand. Wrecker playfully pushed on Echo's arm and chuckled, "Don't get into trouble without us."
"Without us?" Omega cocked her head to the side.
My lips parted in mild shock when I realized what was occuring...My fingers began wringling nervously against my stomach as my feet subconsciously stepped back, as if to create space between me and Omega. I knew this was going to deeply affect her...and I wasn't sure if I—
"Best of luck, Echo." Tech nodded, then he and the other two men headed to the ship.
"Luck with what?" The young girl questioned, her shoulders drooped.
"I'm going with Rex." Echo said. "The clones will need our help now more than ever. I can't turn my back on them."
"Y-you can't leave..." Omega stuttered, startled by the suddenness. "We're—We're a squad."
"Omega," Echo tried to console her. "this is something I have to do. I'm going where I'm needed."
"But," Omega shook her head. "we need you, too." Echo dropped down to one knee, placed his helmet on the ground, and grasped her shoulder. "It's not forever. I'll be back. Keep up with your training while I'm gone. Huh? Understood?" He gently emphasized the last command. In response, Omega jumped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. At first, he is taken back, but then embraces the tearful child with his human arm. After one last squeeze with his hand on her back, he releases Omega, who wiped her eyes and whimpered softly, "Yes, sir."
Echo picked himself up and nodded his head towards the Marauder. "Keep an eye on them."
Omega gazed over her shoulder at me and my chest tightened; her round cheeks were stained with small tears. I forced a smile in attempt to comfort her and nodded. "Go on. Hunter is waiting. I'll be right behind you, Half-Pint." I watched the young clone race off to the Marauder, where the sergeant was indeed bided at the top of the ramp. The sergeant and I locked eyes for a moment, and in that instant I wanted to change my mind and bolt to Omega's side, wrapping her in the biggest hug...
"Fern," I turned my head at the sound of my name. Echo adjusted his helmet under his arm as his shoulders relaxed. "This decision was not made lightly. There were, a lot of considerations. Most came from what you have told me in the past."
Our conversation on Serreno flashed through my mind: "But you, Echo, are different. You are a reg...bred, trained, and experienced for large amounts of companionship and duty, and your trauma at the Separatists' hands made you much more compassionate than I think I, the others, and even you realize. You care for those you don't even know because you do not want them to experience what you have experienced.
While Hunter focuses on providing the good life of his squad, you focus on providing the good life to others. And that, is admirable..."
I chuckled softly. "So I convinced you where your true purpose lies?"
The cyborg clone stepped forward with his hand stretched out. "That's not what I meant."
"It's not what you think." I said back, and paused for a moment to regain my deteriorating composure. Why was it so hard to speak? "You and I both know, sooner or later, you were going to move on from this life," I gestured to the ship. "and pursue the one you belong in. And I," My breath exhaled with airiness, "could not be more happy I helped you realize that."
I reached out and wrapped my arms under his, hooking my palms on his armored shoulders. My chin rested in the crook of his neck. I inhaled slowly as my eyes fluttered close. I had known it all along: Echo didn't want to give up the fight. While he didn't want anything bad to happen to his brothers, Omega, and me, he didn't want to say goodbye to his life as a soldier if it meant having to stop helping people. That was who he was...
CT-1409...Despite never officially meeting him until after the war, I knew all about Arc Trooper Echo before I joined the squad. His given name made him stand out as the 'by-the-book', unassuming cadet, who graduated despite everyone saying him and the rest of the Domino Squad were defective. He survived an attack on Rishi moon with only one other member of his squad. He lived through hard-won campaigns and heroically defended Kamino. Our Echo was then captured and experimented by Wat Tambor and the Techno Union, lost his best friend and batchmate to the mechanism of Palpatine's evil plans, and he survived Order 66 and the bombing of Tipoca City. After all he endured as one man, he was still willing to put his life on the line despite everything he had been through...because it's the right thing to do.
And I could not be any more proud of him.
My mixed feelings of respect and melancholy churned in my heart and stomach, and I felt them weigh me down. I wondered if Echo could feel that weight in our embrace. My breath scoffed as I tightened my grip on his shoulders to hold me up. "I guess you'll have to wait on that bionic arm I promised you." Echo pressed his hand in between my shoulder blades, but remained silent, like he couldn't find the words. I sensed this and sighed, "Hey, it's like you said, 'it's not forever.'"
"I was going to tell you earlier."
"I know," I released our hug. Raising myself on my toes, I pecked a small kiss on his left cheek as I held the other with my palm. "and, on Serreno, I would've joined you."
Finally, I stepped away and looked to our onlookers. "See you around, Captain." I gave Rex a two-finger salute. He acknowledged me with a nod. I then turned to Riyo and bowed. "The next time we meet, I hope it is on less dire terms, Senator."
"Agreed." The young Pantoran woman approached me and tightly hugged me under my arms. "Be safe, Fern."
"You, too." I breathed. After one more squeeze, I jogged to the Marauder and boarded it. Hunter was there waiting for me, just he did for Omega. Once the ramp closed behind me, Tech piloted the ship off Coruscant with Wrecker as his co-pilot. I swallowed my tears down and inhaled sharply before gazing up at the sergeant. "Omega?"
"Your room." He gestured with a nod. I looked to the back of the ship and my heart broke when I saw the young girl clutching her Lula doll to her face and chest. Echo had wanted to tell me when he made his decision...yet he and none of the other boys thought of telling Omega beforehand...
"Will you go talk to her?" Hunter questioned softly.
"Not right now." I decided. "She needs a moment before I do. So do I—I mean, I just need my own moment to figure out what I would say. After all, I was caught off guard as well..." I muttered the last part under my breath. Omega's last words to Echo replayed in my head: "We need you, too."
I saw Hunter retract his outstretched arm. "Echo had told us you know him the best. That you figured out his character before he truly understood himself, and that you were the reason he wanted to start anew. He said, out of all us, you would accept his decision the most."
"He's correct." I forced a smile. Although Hunter's message warmed me inside, my mind wandered. But that doesn't make the departure any less painful...I know I'll move on eventually, as we all do, but then there's Omega...Echo leaving temporarily...it might as well be forever to her...
It's okay. She will adjust eventually. I will help her along the way. Whenever she needs me, I will be there for her.