Special Oneshots

Star Wars (Echo Oneshot English version)

Hello. I know this is technically my special book. But I didn't want to make a extra oneshot book. So now regular oneshots come in here. This Oneshot is mainly for the Star wars fans among you.

The Clone Wars, the Citadel, Lola Sayu, Outer Rim .
Pain. That was all I felt. That all-consuming pain that spread to every inch of my body. With the greatest effort, I opened my eyes. I must have lost my helmet, because I wasn't looking through the visor as usual, and a gentle breeze flowed around my head.

Blurred, I could see the burning shuttle a few meters away. Then it all came back to me. We had been surrounded. In my rush to get to the shuttle, I hadn't seen the guard. There was an explosion. And then there was nothing, just Fives yelling my name.
If I had had the strength, I would have screamed. But when I tried, only a miserable gurgling came out of my mouth. Blood gathered in my mouth. I spat it on the floor. When my gaze fell straight ahead a few meters to the ground, I had to swallow. There was an arm lying there. Blue armor flashed at me. It was my arm. To be absolutely sure, I turned my head laboriously to the right and looked at the place where my arm should be.

I felt sick. A bloody stump looked back at me. Tendons and muscle tissue still clung to my shoulder in a shredded way.
"Thank heavens my comlink is on the arm that's still attached," it flashed through my mind. With difficulty I pulled my wrist to my head and activated it with my chin. "Echo here" my voice sounded muffled through my ears that were strained from the explosion "can anyone hear me?" I clung to the tiny hope that they would come back.
Even though I was sure they wouldn't. Tarkin would not turn back because of a clone like me. And my brothers would have to submit to him.
I let go of the button to wait for the answer. But there was nothing. Only static. Again I activated the radio with my chin "Fives, Rex this is Echo..." before I could finish my radio call I saw something that made me shudder.

A group of guards were coming straight at me. Desperately, I began to push myself up from the ground with my left hand. Even though every muscle in my body was screaming in pain, I had to get out of here. But something felt strange. I glanced over my shoulder. Horrified, I cried out softly. My arm was not the only thing I had lost during the explosion. Some tendons and muscles had held on tenaciously. But downward from the knees there was nothing left. At the end of my strength, I clenched my hand into a fist.

I must not give up. I was an ARC soldier. ARC soldiers never gave up. With the last strength I had left in me, I began to crawl away from the guards, lying on my stomach. I heard them laughing behind me. I knew I could not escape them. "Fives..." I shakily reached my hand in the air, as if my brother would come and save me any second "Fives, help me!" my voice was barely a whisper.

An incredible coldness began to spread through my remaining limbs. A slight grin played around my mouth. I would die here. But that meant I would finally see all my fallen brothers again. I would see Cutup, Hevy, and Droidbait again. A new wave of pain made me groan. Dark beams shifted in front of my field of vision. I was getting incredibly tired. Behind me, I heard the guards approaching at a run. "Too late!" I thought gloatingly and closed my eyes one last time. I would finally find peace. At least that's what I thought.

Skako Minor, a few years later
pov. Rex
I kept shooting around. But the clankers simply did not diminish. Despite the Bad Batch's considerable skills, we were surrounded. Yet I would not leave. Not without Echo. I took out a clanker with a well-aimed headshot and then took cover behind the wall again with Tech and Hunter.

Suddenly, some of the clankers were whirling through the air like training dummies. I couldn't suppress a grin. The general arrived. General Skywalker swung his lightsaber through the air with his usual precision, cutting many of the clankers into pieces. "Tech" the General hurled several clankers into the crossfire of Crosshair and Wrecker while pointing his lightsaber at the door a few feet behind me "open that door for Rex!"

Gratefully, I nodded to my general and ran with Tech to the locked door. For a few agonizing seconds the Bad Batches genius tapped rapidly on the keypad, then the door finally popped open and I rushed into the room with blasters drawn.
I let my gaze wander. The room was as good as empty. Except for the large stasis chamber and the control panel around it. I put my blasters back in their holsters. Tech was talking something about how he could probably open the chamber. But I didn't really listen to him. Instead, I stared transfixed at the stasis chamber in front of me.

I winced a little as a whoosh became audible. Tech must have done it, because the stasis chamber opened and a figure fell out.
Horrified, I tore my helmet from my head. Echo was hardly recognizable. His skin was pale and sallow. Cables were connected to his head and torso. He was so badly emaciated that you could see every one of his bones. His right arm and his legs from the knee down had been replaced by cybernetic parts. "ECHO!" I uttered in distraught and ran toward my brother who I thought was dead.

Without regard for the buttons and levers, I jumped onto the control panel and carefully grasped Echo's torso. "Tech" I gently let Echo slide to the floor and leaned him against the wall of the control panel "we need to get him out of here" in dismay I looked at my brother who was stuttering incoherent stuff and didn't seem to be quite himself "figure out how to unplug him."
Tech immediately went to a computer and did what he does best. I dropped to my knees next to Echo and grabbed his hand "What have they done to you?" I muttered desperately.
All of a sudden Echo sat up a little "Fives" he mumbled dazedly. "We have to escape..." Echo's eyes darted back and forth nervously "Fives....help me...!"

I suppressed the tears Fives name brought to my eyes and squeezed Echo's hand a little tighter "Echo, it's all right." I put my hand on the back of his neck, supporting his head which was threatening to fall back "It's me, Rex. I'm here."
Echo's gaze cleared a bit and for the first time he looked directly at me "Rex?" he murmured weakly.

pov. Echo
Muffled, the voice came through to me. I knew that voice. Was it Fives? Was I perhaps even dead? I didn't know.
"....its Rex. I'm here." blurry I could make out blond hair shaved short. Only a clone close to me wore his hair like that.
I blinked to clear my vision "Rex?" I couldn't quite make out the figure in front of me yet.
The man in front of me made a noise that sounded like a combination of a laugh and a sob "It's all right Echo." I felt my hand being squeezed "You're safe now." he assured me.

It took a moment for his words to get through to me and even then I didn't fully comprehend them. Safe? Safe from what? The last thing I remembered was the Citadel "What happened?" I wanted to raise my right arm to run through my hair in confusion. But instead of flesh, metal flashed at me. I sucked in a breath in surprise.
Images flooded my mind. Guards of the citadel, coming toward me. I crawled across the floor, desperately trying to escape them.

I flinched as I was brought back to the present by Rex. Panic-stricken, I let my gaze wander around the room. Until my gaze lingered on Rex again, who was talking soothingly to me, though I didn't understand any of his words.
"Where's Fives?" I searched the room for my best friend. But I couldn't find him anywhere. Questioningly, I looked at Rex. The last time I saw him, he was fighting for his life with a guard. I had to know if he was all right.

Rex lowered his head and avoided my gaze. As he always did when he didn't want to talk about something. A horrible thought came to me "Rex..." my voice was rough because of suppressed tears "...where is Fives?"
As Rex lifted his head pure desperation was reflected in his eyes.
"NO!" it escaped me. He didn't need to say it. His look had been enough. I lowered my head, struck. He was dead. Fives was dead. He had died and I hadn't been there.
"Hey" Rex tilted his head so he could look me in the eye "it's going to be okay Echo, we're going to get you home." he assured me.

I nodded barely perceptible. A single tear ran down my sunken cheek. I no longer had a home. Fives was no longer there. We hadn't been called the Domino twins from time to time for nothing. Now that he was dead, it felt like a piece of my heart had been ripped out of my chest. It might be that I would return to my legion. I would wear the blue colors on my ARC gear again. But it would never be the same. Not without Fives.