Reunion (#3 Post-Order 66 Series)

Reunion - Part 13

Senna was certain she'd misheard Rex. Fives is dead. He died in Rex's arms on Coruscant. But even with all of that knowledge, the tattoo on his temple combined with the blaster scar in the middle of his chest all but confirmed it in her mind. He's so sedated I can barely sense him. No wonder I didn't feel him when we were in the corridor.

"What do we do?" she whispered to no one in particular.

"I must remind you all that we were attempting to get in and out of this facility without being detected," Tech said quietly. "If we remove him from the chamber, they'll know-"

"We are not leaving him," Echo snarled.

They all turned to Rex. He had straightened to a kneeling position, but still was staring at Fives with a look of shock and horror. Senna could feel the emotions rolling off of him in bursts like a mismatched fireworks show. Horror. Joy. Fear. Betrayal. Happiness. Sadness. She stood, resting her hand on his shoulder, and he blinked as if coming out of a trance, taking in the three sets of eyes trained on him expectantly. His tongue darted out to moisten his lips.

"He comes with us," he rasped. "I'm not abandoning him again."

Tech nodded, turning back to the console to begin studying the chamber's mechanisms. Senna pulled Rex to his feet. "You couldn't have known," she whispered. "You were told he was dead and that his body was disposed of. You can't blame yourself."

"I do though," he replied, his eyes meeting hers, haunted. "I absolutely blame myself. I failed him."

Senna gripped his shoulders. "There'll be time for self-immolation later. Right now, you need to focus so we can get him and the four of us out of here. Things just got a whole lot more complicated." His eyes met hers, and he nodded. She released him, turning to Echo. He had pushed himself to a sitting position but had removed his helmet and was staring up at Fives with the same haunted expression Rex had. Senna noted his hands trembling as he fidgeted nervously. Her eyes met Tech's behind his goggles.

You and I have to take charge here. This has knocked them off balance.

Tech nodded slightly, turning back to his work with the chamber. "I believe I have found the mechanism to drain the tank and remove Fives. We'll need a way to transport him out of here though."

Senna whirled, taking in the room around them, her eyes scanning the equipment before she found what she was looking for. "Rex, Echo, help me get this medpod working. This is how we'll get Fives out of here." Giving them a task to focus on seemed to somewhat calm their minds. The two of them allowed her to pull them to their feet, and they immediately got to work getting the pod up and running. Senna left them to it, coming to stand next to Tech.

"Will we injure him if we take him out of here? He's so thin." She'd seen injured clones throughout the war, but none that looked as frail as Fives now did. Years of not being allowed to use his body had atrophied his muscles to the point where he looked as though a stiff wind would break him in half. His body was bare except for a pair of undershorts, and Senna winced at how pronounced his ribs and hip bones were. He makes Echo look bulky. Senna chewed on her lip, wondering if Fives could even stand on his own without help after all of the time he'd spent in the chamber.

"I don't think we risk injuring him, but I believe we should keep him sedated. We have no idea what he's endured psychologically, and I think reviving him in an uncontrolled environment adds risk we cannot tolerate right now."

Senna nodded in agreement. "Do you have what you need to keep him under?"

Tech typed a few commands, and Senna heard the unmistakable sound of a drainage system kicking in. The fluid surrounding Fives slowly began to lower in the chamber, and he with it. As the tank drained, Tech glanced over at her. "The medpod should be capable of keeping him unconscious. Once we get back to the Marauder, I believe I have enough anesthetic to keep him unconscious until we arrive at Yavin 4."