Doomsday

Chapter 1 - Order 66

Author's Note: I know, this is completely an excuse to make Crosshair stay all soft and fluffy – And no, this isn't going to be a complete role-swap, cuz as the former youngest before adopting some crazy little sisters myself, I assure you, even if my oldest sibling was out of action, I would not take charge. :( xDXD Probably a good thing cuz I'd end up burning the house down a few milliseconds before Crosshair would blow up the Marauder. Lol 

PS: To all Hunter and Omega fans, no worries. They're going to have a very, very similar to Canon bond. It'll just take a bit longer to form, but I promise they're going to be very close by the time this ends. ^-^ Also, I feel like I sidelined Tech a bit... I just struggle getting his voice down. ;~;

~ Rivana Rita

They're always on the lookout, always expecting another attack – it's been ingrained into them their whole lives. And really, it's hard to say exactly what happened. One minute, Crosshair and Wrecker were bickering about droid counts. The next moment, the regs attacked their Jedi. The padawan – Caleb – cut his way past them and disappeared into the trees. Crosshair wouldn't have followed him, anyway – none of them know what's happening – but somewhere amidst the chaos, Caleb had thrown Hunter into one of the trees.

"What just happened?" Wrecker asks, dumbstruck.

"The comm channel is repeating one directive: 'Execute Order 66'," Tech replies.

"I hear that, too," Echo answers. And that helps absolutely nothing.

All Crosshair does know is that there's a strange throbbing in his head, one that wasn't there a moment ago. He shakes it off, filters it out. He knows how to handle pain. They all do, and this is nothing. "I will talk to the reg Captain and find out what's going on," Tech decides, turning back to the other clones.

Crosshair scans the treetops – he's certain he saw the padawan go up, though he was distracted enough with Hunter and everything that was happening to know for certain. Not as if it matters, until they can figure out what's happening. He refocuses on Hunter, who's finally, unsteadily, pulling himself to his feet. Something is wrong. Hunter is a master at keeping his face blank, especially when he's trying, but it's never unreadable. It is never – has never – been completely numb.

And, as a sniper, Crosshair is perfectly used to seeing his brothers get hurt from many klicks away. Between that and their training, he is accustomed to seeing them injured. He knows how to hold in his fear, how to cover and hide it, because good soldiers don't let themselves be run by emotions, and they are nothing if they're not good soldiers.

"What are you doing?" he asks. Even his voice sounds wrong. It's too cold, too harsh. Hunter has never been harsh. He lashes out only when he's afraid, but this is different. "Why aren't you completing the mission?"

"We don't even know what the mission is," Echo retorts, stepping forwards, anger and confusion clear in his voice.

"We have to track down the padawan," Hunter replies, stepping forwards. He's moving a little shakily, but not too much to be unable to walk on his own.

"It appears the regs have been ordered to execute the Jedi," Tech reports, approaching. Behind him, the regs themselves are spreading out in search of the padawan.

"What?" Echo demands.

Jedi have turned traitor in the past, but this doesn't make sense. "Which Jedi?" Crosshair asks.

"All of them. They're saying the Jedi have committed treason."

What? They were with these two Jedi the entire time for a day, and mostly, they were with the padawan, but if they were doing something treasonous, someone should have noticed. Crosshair should have noticed something. None of them trust anyone, except each other. That's what's always held them together.