A/N: revamped my profile a bit if you'd like to check it out :)) my username is now mand0jedi in honour of Astera
Astera:
Cid had no mission for us, which was a rare occurrence. Not one anyone was going to complain about though, using the off day as a chance to finally rest and relax. Wrecker slept, Echo made new calibrations to the ship, and Omega meditated in her room, a habit she had picked up from Gungi. One that I would often join her on - with the hectic and often unpredictable schedule Cid kept us on, it was becoming increasingly easier to forget to meditate.
And so I was seated on top of an unfortunate Gonky, the droid's honking noises serving to tune out any other distractions like the noise of air traffic from outside. It also helped to ground me - last time I'd gone so deep into my trance I'd begun to levitate off the floor and pull objects into orbit around me, including a very surprised Omega. Since then, I'd been forbidden to meditate alone - someone would always stay on guard around me, ready to pull me out if I went too deep again.
"Meditating again?" I cracked open an eye at the sound of approaching footsteps, Omega uncrossing her legs above me.
"Trying," she told Echo with a sigh. "Gungi and Astera taught me, but it doesn't work for me the way it does for them."
"We're Jedi." I shrugged, hopping down from Gonky and letting the droid totter away towards the cockpit. "We have a connection to the Force."
"I still like it though." She sighed again, bouncing her heels against the ladder. "You wanna try?" She asked the cyborg clone.
"No." Echo's eyebrows drew together in a stormy expression. "I... don't enjoy solitude. I had enough of that on Skako Minor."
My chest squeezed at the mention of the planet where he'd been imprisoned and turned into an unwitting informant for the Separatists. I'd finally learned how he'd survived the explosion at the Citadel, and it was more horrific than anything I could have imagined. It had taken a lot for him to get through all of that alive.
"If it wasn't for this squad, I'd still be a prisoner there. Or worse," Echo continued, gazing at Tech and Wrecker still in the cockpit. Omega followed his eyes, her expression softening as she beheld her brothers.
"Is that what made you join them?" I asked softly, thinking back to when he'd been part of the 501st. He'd seemed happy enough there, and he'd been close with Fives and Rex. I would have thought he would have returned to his legion after his rescue.
"Hmm." Echo mulled the question over. "This was where I fit. Where I was needed. Like you were needed with the Mandalorians."
Huh. I'd never thought of it that way. The more I learned about him, the more similarities I realised we had between the two of us. Perhaps that was why we'd been so abrasive towards each other in the beginning.
"We have an incoming transmission," Tech reported from the cockpit. "It's Rex."
Echo and I both straightened, exchanging a look and heading into the cockpit together, Omega hopping off her perch to join us. Wrecker was still sleeping, awaking with an ugly snort when Hunter elbowed him in the ribs.
"Hey boys," Rex greeted the men as soon as his hologram popped up in the centre of the cockpit. "Astera. Any chance I could use your squad's expertise for a mission?"
Most of us exchanged looks, wondering what said 'mission' was going to be. The last mission Rex had asked us to go on had ended with both Hunter and I taken by the Empire and almost drowned with Kamino's remains.
Wrecker, on the other hand, was not so apprehensive. Bored with being cooped up on the ship, he was rearing to do something, anything. "Finally," he groaned. "I'm tired of waiting around for Cid."
"What do you need, Rex?" Echo hedged carefully.
"I'll explain everything when you get to Coruscant." There was a hint of guilt in his tone, and he glanced at me carefully, already anticipating my reaction.
I stiffened at the mention of the former Republic headquarters, now homebase for the Empire. "Coruscant?" I repeated incredulously. The man was a friend, he'd helped me out of more tough binds than I could count, but after everything we'd endured from his last mission, he wanted us - me - on Coruscant?
"No." Hunter was already shaking his head. "I'm not taking Astera anywhere near Coruscant. It's too big an ask, Captain."
Gratitude washed through me, along with the familiar blush that was becoming too common for comfort. My revelation on Kashyyyk had finally allowed me to identify my strange reactions around him, especially after memories of Onderon and Ahsoka's very odd behaviour towards Lux Bonteri had resurfaced. I had feelings for Hunter.
My mind had violently tried to reject the notion as soon as I'd put a name to it. Jedi weren't supposed to have romantic attachments. They weren't supposed to have attachments at all. We were taught it made us susceptible to negative emotions, which in turn was a path to the dark side. And we'd been taught to fear the dark side since we were young. I couldn't have feelings for Hunter. It wasn't the Jedi way.
But you're not a Jedi anymore. Which was true. Even if the Order was still here, I was no longer bound by their rules. I was free to form attachments however I chose, though I knew next to nothing about romantic ones. It was all too confusing for me to try and figure out, so I shoved it to the side and tried not to think about it. Which was damn near impossible every time Hunter got too close or even said my name. I had to get a grip on myself.
"Why?" Omega asked, once again uninformed of our negative reactions. "What's on Coruscant?"
"It is the galactic capital," Tech told her. "And thus, the heart of the Empire."
"But the Empire thinks we're dead," Echo reasoned. "They won't be looking for us."
It still didn't seem to sit well with Hunter. "And I'd like to keep it that way," he argued. "Astera's a Jedi. Coruscant is the worst possible place for her."
"It's a covert mission," Rex reassured the sergeant before he could further veto the idea. "A simple data extraction, but a crucial one. I'll send over a flight plan to bypass Imperial security and coordinates to a safe landing zone."
"We're on our way," Echo answered before Hunter could, rounding on him as soon as the hologram winked out. "Astera's not incapable, Hunter. She can look after herself."
"Do you remember what happened last time we went on a mission for Rex? She was captured by the Empire!"
"We can't let her be the only reason we don't help Rex." Echo could be hugely stubborn when he wanted to be. Which presented a few problems for Hunter more often than not, as the leader of the squad.
"I'm right here," I muttered, more to myself than anyone else, before clearing my throat and speaking louder. "Echo's got a point. As dangerous as it is, Rex needs help." I couldn't resist reaching out to lay a reassuring hand on Hunter's arm, my skin immediately starting to tingle where it touched him. "I have all of you too. As long as we're careful, it should be all right."
"Fine." Hunter blew out a long breath. "But you do what I say and when I say it. The same goes for you, Omega."
"Of course, Sergeant." I tried to ignore the small thrill that went through me and mock saluted him with a grin instead. "When are we leaving?"
*******
Rex's safe coordinates turned out to be Trace's repair shop, where Bo-Katan and I had picked up Ahsoka after her adventure with the Pykes. He wasn't wrong about it being safe - Republic presence had been nearly non-existent at level 1313, and I assumed the Imperials would be exactly the same.
Even so, it was an effort to keep myself even moderately relaxed, my body tensing at every little noise. Omega, seeing my apprehension, reached out to take my hand with a sympathetic smile, squeezing it as the sliding doors to Trace's garage cracked open and Rex walked out, followed by a young Pantoran woman that I easily recognised.
"Glad you made it," Rex addressed us as we approached. "This is Senator Riyo Chuchi. These are the special clones I told you about," he added to Riyo.
"Hello." Omega waved with a friendly smile, one Riyo reciprocated almost unconsciously before her eyes lifted up to me.
"Senator Chuchi." I grinned at her, earlier unease forgotten at the sight of another old friend. "Why am I not surprised you're involved in this?"
"Astera!" A mirroring delighted smile spread over Riyo's face. "So you are alive. I almost didn't believe Rex when he told me you would be coming."
I stepped forward to briefly embrace Riyo, feeling five sets of curious eyes on my back as I drew away from her. "Riyo's an old friend from the Clone Wars," I explained to them. "I helped her negotiate peace with the Talz on Orto Plutonia."
"It couldn't have gone nearly as well without her invaluable assistance," Riyo said with a touch of soft amusement. "Thank you for coming," she added to the clones behind me.
"Why are we here, Captain?" Hunter asked Rex, who exchanged a look with the senator beside him before jerking a thumb back at the open door.
"Inside. There's something I want you to see."
Inside Trace's garage was a body bag, already holding something from the look of it. Omega stretched up on her tiptoes in order to see it better, only for Echo to pull her back. This was the last thing any of us wanted her to see.
Rex pushed a button on the top of the body bag, the front panel sliding away to reveal the face of a clone, his eyes closed and his skin pale, with a grey pallor. Long dead, by the looks of it.
"He's an assassin," the clone captain said grimly. "His identifying number's been wiped."
It wasn't only his number that had been wiped. The dead clone was void of any sort of identifying features too - face free of tattoos or markings and hair cut in the standard military style. The same one Cody had worn. I wouldn't have been able to pick this clone out of a lineup of rookies. Which was probably the point.
"I was not aware that was possible." Tech seemed genuinely surprised, which was a real shock. Tech knew just about anything, really. If even he didn't know this could happen, we were dealing with something really high level.
"Who was his target?" Hunter asked.
"A clone contact of mine named Slip." Rex stared down at the body with a hard expression. "He said he was in danger. I came to Coruscant to get him out, but the assassin got to him first. Nearly got the senator too."
Riyo's expression had fallen at the mention of Slip's death, like she'd seen him die personally. I wasn't the only one who noticed - Omega glanced up at the Pantoran senator, soft brown eyes huge with concern.
"Why would a clone be targeting another clone?" Echo finally asked the question that had to be weighing on everyone's minds. "Or a senator?"
"To silence us." Riyo finally spoke, the words grim. "Admiral Rampart has the entire Senate believing Kamino was lost to a cataclysmic storm."
I couldn't hold back a snort. "If the storm were his own cannons."
Riyo continued without breaking stride at my interruption. "Slip was a witness. I wanted him to testify to Rampart's crimes."
"We were there too, Senator," Echo informed her without a second thought. "I can be your witness."
"The Senate won't listen to any of us." Hunter was forced to remind him. "We're deserters."
"Not to mention formally considered dead," I added.
Rex blew out a long breath. "Hunter and Astera are right. But there's another way we can provide the Senate with the evidence of the Empire's crimes. The command log on Rampart's Venator. Slip made a copy of it on the ship's backup data banks."
"Where's the Venator now?" Wrecker clearly didn't have the same reservations that I did, eager to get underway and see some real action.
"Being retrofitted at the Imperial shipyard right here on Coruscant." The timing was far too convenient for what Rex was asking of us. "Lots of security, but I know a way in."
"Rampart's Defence Recruitment Bill goes to a vote tomorrow," Riyo informed us gravely. "We must prove his crimes before it passes. I'll return to the Senate and garner support where I can."
"You could still be in danger," Rex cut in doubtfully.
"Then I must be on the right track," was Riyo's simple reply. I grinned at her - she certainly had grown a lot over the years. No longer the soft spoken child senator always overshadowed by Chi Cho, she'd now grown into this bravely determined young woman. Though now that determinedness could likely get her killed.
"I can go with her and keep an eye out," Omega offered. Good. This mission was too risky to take her along. At least Riyo would be able to watch out for her, away from the dangers on Rampart's Venator.
Riyo's eyebrows furrowed. "You can't enter the Senate district without an Imperial security clearance."
"That will not be a problem," Tech interjected immediately.
"Take Astera too," Rex told Riyo. "It'll be safer for her and she can-"
"No." Hunter broke in before Rex could finish. "She'll have no way out if she's discovered there. Astera stays with me."
His tone brooked no argument, and no one dared try. I was too busy attempting to appear nonchalant, despite the strange wave of delight roaring through me, to notice the strange look Rex eyed him with.
"Then let's get to work," he said eventually, tearing his eyes away from the other clone and thumping a fist down on the table before him.