FROM THE MOMENT THAT HUNTER HAD STEPPED ABOARD THE SEPARATIST VESSEL, HIS HEADACHE HAD AMPLIFIED. He'd done a decent job ignoring the pain since it only served as a distraction from the job at hand. Most of the corridors looked the same, and each had been empty, yet he refused to let his guard down. There would be no more close calls on this trip. He couldn't risk losing anyone else on his watch. However, it was difficult to ignore the way Echo kept glancing in his direction.

"What?" Hunter finally broke the silence, turning to face Echo with a sigh of exhaustion. "You think I made the wrong call making them stay behind?"

Echo shook his head. "On the contrary... I'm just surprised you made the call is all."

"Well I did, and you were right. Is that what you wanted to hear?" Hunter asked.

"I thought it was implied well enough," Echo shrugged, the corner of his lip lifting playfully for a brief second. "I know it's a lot but we'll handle it."

"Is now really the time for this conversation?" Wrecker asked in a harsh whisper that was just slightly softer than his normal speaking volume. "I thought this was a stealth mission?"

"We certainly don't want to draw unwanted attention," Echo agreed then shrugged as he plugged his scomp into the port on the nearby wall, "But from what we've seen this vessel is abandoned. There's no detectable forms of life anywh—"

Hunter's jaw tensed as Echo cut himself off. "What?"

"A security sensor was tripped near the laboratory," Echo replied. "And I've got a feeling that it's a few cadets that aren't very good at following directions."

Wrecker scoffed. "You talking about your batchmates or ours?"

"At this point I think that characteristic applies to both," Hunter retorted, picking up the pace to a light jog down the corridor. "Lab is which way Echo?"

"Right," Echo replied, shouting out directions as he unplugged from the wall and ran to catch up.

The floor beneath them shuddered and a few of the overhead lights flickered as if the ship was regaining power. Those lights immediately shut off again yet a slow pulsing red flash kept the corridor lit.

"That can't be good," Wrecker muttered under his breath.

Suddenly the doors in front of them slammed closed, nearly catching Hunter by the arm if Wrecker hadn't pulled him back. The door behind them followed a similar pattern, closing just as Echo caught up.

"No problem," Wrecker grinned, slamming his fists together as if challenging the door. "Let me pry this—"

"Wrecker, wait!" Hunter reached out to pull him back, but he was too late. As Wrecker took a step forward, his large foot dislodged the pressure plate on the floor with a hiss. Immediately a stasis beam connected the ceiling and the floor, trapping the three clones within.

Wrecker winced as the others turned in his direction with twin looks of frustration. "Oops."

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IT HADN'T TAKEN MORE THAN A MOMENT FOR THE FIVE CADETS TO SPLIT UP AND IMMEDIATELY BEGIN EXPLORING THE LABORATORY. Against Crosshair's protests, Omega and Droidbait had rushed to the control panels to experiment with the variety of levers and buttons. The ship's power was briefly restored before the generator failed and relied on the reserves. Cutup and Hevy had rushed over to what they assumed was experimental weaponry whose development had likely been halted when the ship crashed to the surface of Ponemah Terminal.

Help.

Crosshair clutched the side of his head as the volume of the voice seemed to increase dramatically. He winced yet as he opened his eyes, his vision tunneled on the trio of cryochambers that the others had elected to ignore. Slowly, he wandered in their direction—keeping just enough distance to remain cautious while feeding his curiosity.

Omega glanced over her shoulder, noticing that Crosshair stood as if stuck in a trance. "Find something?"

"I... don't know," Crosshair hesitantly replied, refusing to tear his gaze away from the cryochambers.

Droidbait glanced between them, a mild look of concern softening his features. "Are you still hearing voices?"

"There's something in these tubes," Crosshair replied, ignoring the implied question about his sanity.

"I can see if they'll open," Omega offered, turning back to the console. She pressed a few more buttons—which seemingly did nothing—then pulled a lever on the wall beside the console. With a hiss, the cryochamber doors cracked open and a cold mist leaked into the lab.

Cutup and Hevy looked up from across the room. They gathered a couple of the smaller weapons that weren't too unwieldy for their smaller stature to carry then rushed over to rejoin the others, skidding to a halt beside Droidbait. Cutup offered something reminiscent of a blaster to Droidbait, who accepted it without hesitation.

The central chamber was the first to fully open. It was difficult to see through the chilling mist, but a figure did form in the shadows. The room was silent for a minute before the figure staggered forward, choking on the fresh air that mingled with the stale cold air of the cryochamber.

Omega quickly moved away from the console and over beside Crosshair. Her protective stance did not go unnoticed; however, Crosshair kept his attention on the stranger in the center of the room. Yet, despite the fact that the man before them was a stranger, his face was unmistakable as all five had spent their lives surrounded by it.

"He's a clone," Omega whispered.

"How'd he get here?" Hevy looked as if he were trying to size up the other clone, which hardly had the desired effect as he was half his size with a blaster too large.

"He must've been taken prisoner toward the end of the war," Droidbait noted.

Crosshair's eyes narrowed and the hair on the back of his neck bristled. He knew this clone. He didn't know how or from where, but there was something oddly familiar about him. Something that rubbed him the wrong way ever-so-slightly.

The clone's eyes slowly focused and his breathing grew regular as he tried to straighten to his full height. And that's when he noticed the five cadets staring at him with large bright eyes. Startled, he took a step back and nearly lost his footing. "Where am I?"

"Count Dooku's lost ship," Omega replied. "Who are you? How'd you get here?"

"Dooku..." the clone's gaze drifted toward the space behind them as if he were drawn back to a different time and place. "Fives was right. The chips. Have to warn them—"

The clone took a step forward as if he planned to bolt, but Omega intercepted him with outstretched arms. "Woah, woah, woah. Slow down. Let's start with something simpler. What's your name?"

Brought back to the present moment. The clone pinched the bridge of his nose to clear the forefront of his mind before brushing that hand through the side of his hair, briefly revealing the tattoo that started at his hairline. And suddenly Crosshair knew exactly who the clone before them was. Although he didn't recall his name, Crosshair did remember their brief time on Anaxes together. The last time they'd seen each other, Crosshair had the medic in a chokehold after a minor disagreement.

"Kix," the medic said, taking a breath to regain his composure. "My name is Kix."

"How do you know Fives?" Droidbait asked, his brow furrowing with skeptical curiosity.

"We fought alongside one another in the 501st," Kix explained, a somber expression hardening his features. "His death inspired me to look into his biochip theory. It didn't take long to find the truth, but once I did Dooku ordered my capture and interrogation. Last thing I remember is I was supposed to be shipped off to Serenno so Dooku could interrogate me himself. I can only assume something interfered along the way. Where are we exactly?"

"Ponemah Terminal," Omega replied, freely giving away any information that might have given them leverage if needed.

"So then what's a bunch of cadets doing in the Outer Rim all alone?" Kix questioned. "Where's your supervising Sergeant?"

"Hunter's around here somewhere," Omega nonchalantly said with a shrug. "Crosshair heard a voice saying someone was in danger, so we came to help. That's how we found you."

Crosshair flinched at the mention of his name as Kix's eyes studied him. A look of confusion twisted the medic's expression as if trying to recall a vague memory. "I met a clone by the name of Crosshair a few weeks before I was captured. He was part of a squad of enhanced clones—called themselves the Bad Batch or something similar." Kix lightly chuckled under his breath as if it were simply a moment of irony. "Had the same silver hair and everything."

Omega glanced between the two. "Wait. You know each other?"

The look of confusion returned to Kix's face; however, whatever question had come to mind was quickly forgotten as a pair of small coughs echoed from the other two cryochambers that had finally opened. Similar to Kix, a figure stumbled from each tube gasping for breath. Only these figures were much smaller and more frightened by their unfamiliar surroundings.

Danger. Crosshair ignored the voice tugging on his fight or flight reflex. The individuals before them had done nothing to earn a hostile response yet.

Besides both figures were also unmistakably clones, with minor differences distinguishing them from one another. The cadet to Kix's left was slightly shorter than the one to the right. But in comparison to the other five, they were about the same height as Cutup. The order now being that Omega remained the tallest—by not even half an inch, then Hevy, then Cutup and the cadet to Kix's right, then the cadet to the left, then Droidbait by an inch or so, and then Crosshair who stood at least a head shorter than the rest. The cadet to the left had slightly longer hair which had been neatly pulled out of his face into a low ponytail and a face covered in freckles that weren't often seen on clones. The cadet to the right had a scar along his right temple—and Crosshair could've sworn the pale mark was reminiscent of the number five.

"So then who are they?" Cutup questioned.

But an answer did not come. Instead, the current conversation was cut short as the lab doors from the other side of the room slid open and over a dozen battle droids marched into the room with blasters raised.

Droidbait immediately paled, but his brothers quickly pulled him behind cover to correct his frozen terror. Omega grabbed Crosshair by the hand and pulled him behind a crate of various scrap metal while Kix snatched the other pair of cadets and dove behind a workbench.

Danger. Crosshair's jaw tensed as he mentally chastised himself for ignoring his instinct the first time around. He glanced around the crate to get a better idea of what they were dealing with, but it was apparent they were outnumbered and outgunned. The Domino trio could hardly move without the risk of being shot. Kix and the other two cadets were in no condition to fight. And he had a sinking feeling that even if he were to retrieve the DC-17 holstered at his side, he couldn't hit the broadside of a bantha after the taxing day he'd endured. His dominant hand trembled, which he quickly tried to hide by holding it close to his chest with his left hand. Perhaps he should have insisted they listen to Hunter, despite how annoyed he'd been by the sergeant's decision to leave them aboard the Liberator.

The clatter of metal crashing against the ground, brought Crosshair back to the present. He whipped his head back around the corner of the crate and was pleasantly surprised by the side of a thrumming vibrokife impaling the head of the nearest battle droid. Hunter was retrieving said knife a moment later. The relief Crosshair felt was only temporary as their eyes met and the disapproving look on Hunter's face brought back his unease.

Wrecker released a battle cry mixed with a raucous laugh as he tore apart another pair of droids while Echo handled the pair making their way over toward the Domino trio. He looked equally irate as he shot the trio a warning look. Hunter took care of the last of the droids while Echo stepped over to the console along the wall, closing the doors to the lab.

"Hunter!" Omega cheered, sprinting to the sergeant's side.

However, he held out a hand with a stern look and raised his voice. "I told you to wait on the skiff."

"But there were clones that needed our help," Omega insisted, defending their actions as Kix and the other two cadets stepped out from behind the workbench. "We couldn't just leave them here."

"That doesn't change how reckless and dangerous your decision to ignore my instruction was," Hunter continued to chastise. "You could have seriously been hurt."

"That goes for all of you," Echo agreed with a pointed look toward the Domino trio. "How'd you end up in the lab anyway?"

"We followed the voice in Crosshair's head," Cutup shrugged as if that wasn't an entirely insane thing to admit.

Crosshair frowned, silently pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh. He already has his squad questioning his skills, he didn't need them questioning the sanity of his adult mind too. However, as he opened his eyes, the glance of concern between Hunter, Wrecker, and Echo did not go unnoticed.

"We'll discuss this later," Hunter said, pausing the conversation, "We need to leave now. When the reserve power generators were activated, the security system was triggered. Wrecker, you and I will barricade the door so no more of those droids can get through. Echo, locate another way to get back to the skiff."

"Echo?" The cadet with the scar finally spoke, pushing past Kix to stare at the aforementioned clone.

Echo slowly nodded his head. "Yes?"

The cadet quickly shook his head, his breath shortening as if on the verge of a panic attack. "You can't be! He's dead. I—I saw it. I was there!"

Echo's pale face blanched as he briefly glanced over at the Domino trio before focusing on the trembling cadet. His eyes widened as they noticed the scar on the boy's forehead reminiscent of a tattoo engraved in his mind. "Fives?"

"Fives?" The Domino trio chirped in unison, shock slackening their features.

The trembling boy slowly nodded, staring up at Echo before tilting his head to look at his small hands. Finally noticing that the world around him was much larger than he remembered, which only added to the terror plastered to his face.

Wrecker finished sliding a large cabinet in front of the lab doors after Hunter had fused the panels together. A pained look of confusion twisted his features as he turned to address the group. "I thought Rex said Fives had been killed?"

"He did," Echo agreed. He felt as if his body were going numb. That he would collapse any moment without warning.

"What—" The fear in Fives's eyes widened as he processed the sound of his own voice. His hands immediately clutched his throat. "What did they do to me?"

"I promise we'll explain everything later," Hunter chimed in. "But right now we need to leave. Echo. Escape route."

Albeit still pale, Echo snapped out of his trance. He plugged his scomp back into the console, analyzing the ship schematics for an alternate route. "Got it!"

Without delay, Echo took the lead. At the other end of the lab, concealed behind the cryochambers was a hidden set of doors which led down to the escape pods. They weren't easy to navigate, but the pods did their job and provided the desired escape from the vessel. And just in time too, for as they climbed back aboard the skiff—putting some distance between them and the vessel—Dooku's lost ship began to implode. Flames of orange and yellow destroyed the ship in segments as if a chain reaction had been set off by their departure.

"So how'd you escape?" Droidbait eagerly asked as Wrecker recounted the tale of being trapped in the stasis beam while surrounded by droids.

"Echo stood on my shoulders and hacked into the system from the source above," Wrecker explained. "And then we just took out the droids like we did in the lab. Running on reserves they weren't as coordinated."

"From the sound of it, the reserve power wouldn't have been turned on in the first place if you five had stayed aboard the cargo skiff," Hunter joined the conversation, crossing his arms as he glanced at each one of the accused.

"Yeah, but then we wouldn't have found Kix and Fives and—" Omega paused, turning to the cadet that had latched himself to Kix. "You haven't told us your name."

The cadet didn't answer. He simply looked at the ground while his knuckles whitened as he gripped the pant leg of Kix's blacks a bit tighter.

"I can't imagine the Separatists were too kind to him from my own experience. He may just need some time like the rest of us..." Kix's eyes slowly scanned the group before settling on Crosshair. "Seems like you lost a good three feet from the last time we met. How'd that happen?"

Crosshair bristled, but Omega placed a hand on his arm before he attempted to defend himself through a physical altercation.

"It's something called Project Samsara," Omega replied. "It transfers the life force and memories of one clone to another. I assume Fives went through the procedure like the rest of the Dominoes."

"Echo could explain it better," Hunter added. "And I'm sure he will once the shock fades and we're safely back on Pabu. That's why we were here. To collect intel on Project Samsara that was supposedly on Dooku's ship."

"Looks like we found it," Omega agreed, glancing toward the helm where Fives and Echo had become inseparable. "It just turns out that intel was alive."

Kix slowly nodded his head. "I might need someone to explain everything again... like five more times."

"I've been here for most of it and I still don't understand," Wrecker retorted. "And that's before we add in the other complicated stuff like Cody and his mandalorians."

"Commander Cody?" Kix questioned, his brow furrowing. "Mandalorians?"

Hunter nodded his head with a sigh. "It's a long story. And we'll explain what we can once we're back on the Remora."

Kix nodded again and the group fell into silence. It wasn't too much longer before they returned to the midst of what little civilization there was on the planet. The cargo skiff was returned—albeit a little worse for wear—and the group clambered up the ramp of the Remora, equal exhaustion exuding from each. Wrecker and Echo took control of the cockpit, insisting that Hunter rest. It was evident from the bags under the sergeant's eyes and the way he winced every other minute that he was reaching a breaking point of overstimulation from the electromagnetic frequency of the planet. Despite his protests, he did head down to the bunks to rest.

Fives refused to leave Echo's side, that is until the Domino trio introduced themselves to their batchmate. Although he was skeptical at first, there were just too many nuances to deny the truth. Crosshair had thought the Domino trio was loud before, they were nearly insufferable as the Domino quartet.

Kix had quickly passed out in the cargo hold, having no issues falling asleep despite the raucous behavior of the Dominoes. Meanwhile, the lone cadet that had yet to introduce himself sat off to the side mumbling under his breath.

"Maybe he's hearing voices too," Omega whispered, startling Crosshair as he hadn't realized she'd snuck up beside him.

"I'm not hearing voices," Crosshair contradicted, chewing on the tip of his toothpick. Despite his claims otherwise, the question of his own sanity had been a concern. What had started as a feeling of discomfort and warning occasionally had grown into something else. And even worse, it didn't seem like it would be stopping anytime soon. If anything it only appeared to be getting stronger. "It's more like a feeling..."

Omega shrugged as if it didn't make too much of a difference. She didn't look at him like he was crazy, she simply acted as if it were a completely normal thing to say. "Well then maybe he's hearing the same feelings."

Crosshair blinked. "Omega—"

"Come on," Omega tugged him by the arm across the cargo hold until they were standing in front of the cadet. "Hi! I'm Omega."

Crosshair grunted as she elbowed him in the ribs. "Crosshair."

The boy slowly lifted his eyes from the ground, but he didn't seem to be present. His eyes danced back and forth, reverberating as if reliving some terrible memory. He quietly mumbled, "Good soldiers..."

Crosshair froze. He was no longer standing on the Remora, but trapped somewhere where no light could be summoned. He was surrounded by a cacophony of voices all repeating the same phrase. Taunting him in a low voice that he once claimed as his own. A voice he was beginning to forget the sound of as a high pitched whine echoed from his lips with every syllable he uttered since waking up in a form too small to ever feel comfortable.

He felt himself lurch as if the world had been flipped upside down and inside out. He blinked to find himself staring up at Omega. Her bright eyes filled with concern as she supported his head, having caught him before he crashed against the metallic floor. "Crosshair, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." His voice cracked and his hand trembled, immediately contradicting his claim.

"Good soldiers follow orders," the cadet continued to whisper under his breath as he rocked back and forth, clutching his knees to his chest.

The Dominoes seemed to have noticed because Hevy, Cutup, and Droidbait were standing behind Omega with similar looks of concern while Fives had placed a hand on the shoulder of the other cadet.

"It's alright," Fives consoled the other boy. "You're safe. You're among brothers."

The cadet blinked, breaking free of his trance. His chest quivered and his breath was shaky, but he did stop muttering. He blinked again as if trying to see through a thick fog. "Fives?"

Fives nodded. "I'm here, brother."

"Fives, I... I think I did something—something bad," the cadet stammered. "It's all hazy... I can't remember, I need to remember! General Tiplar—"

As if he'd finally regained his sanity, the cadet stared at his hands—freezing his wild movements with a look of disbelief. Fives swallowed as if knowledge that none of the others knew had dawned on him. "Tup?"

The cadet didn't answer, but the look in his eyes was true enough. Fives immediately enveloped the other boy into a tight hug, and the silence was filled with soft sobs.

Still a bit unbalanced, Crosshair pulled himself back up onto his feet and silently snuck out of the cargo hold to another corridor of the Remora. His heart pounded against his ribcage and the echoes of that phrase reverberated around his skull. And while the moment he'd left behind was touching, he needed to be alone.

He could feel Hemlock's eyes watching. The scientist was nowhere in sight, but every clone they crossed who'd been an experiment of Project Samsara only fueled his nightmares. Every cadet they crossed who'd once been a weathered soldier only reminded him of what he used to be and the torment he endured. He felt smaller and smaller with each additional piece of information they procured, and it certainly didn't help that he was quite literally the smallest thing aboard the Remora at the present time.

And then there were the echoes of Project Necromancer and the other signs of how he differed from the cadets they'd encountered. The mysterious presence that was summoned without warning that none of the others ever experienced. And although they weren't to the same degree of skill, he appeared to be the only clone with additional mutations despite the plentiful opportunities to improve on the original product. And there was the question of his age. As much as he hated singling it out, he was far younger than the other cadets.

His clouded thoughts slowly cleared as his aimless wandering led him toward the bunks. Hunter's soft snores provided a warm light to guide him through the dark. For a brief second he paused and considered turning around, but Hemlock's cold gaze was all that waited for him in that corridor... and maybe he didn't really want to be alone.

"Kriff," he swore under his breath between gritted teeth, resigning with exhaustion to his overwhelming desire for solace.

Tense as if fearing rejection, Crosshair slowly walked forward. Fighting against his second thoughts, he crawled into the bed between Hunter and the wall. The sergeant stirred. Crosshair froze. Hunter peeked over his shoulder with one eye, yawned, then slowly turned over to wrap an arm around Crosshair before falling back asleep without a word. Crosshair released a breath of relief. His eyes drooped as the warmth of the bed calmed his nerves. And for the first time in a while, his sleep was peaceful. No dreams. No nightmares. Just a blissful nothing as if no harm could be done while under the protection of his brother.

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𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞| I know it's been awhile, but I hit a moment of writer's block trying to figure out how I wanted the interactions of this chapter to go. Thank y'all so much for the votes and comments!