FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

C H A P T E R E I G H T Y-O N E

THIRD PERSON POV

It had all transpired so chaotically, that it was difficult to imagine it actually happened the way it did... To feel panicked, and feel the gravity of the situation, all while seeking those tiny moments that maybe...just maybe we could pull it off without a scratch. Maybe Tech and I were moving faster than we thought. Maybe the car would come online quicker, and we would speed away with all of us safely inside. Alas, it was all to keep us hanging onto that actual feeling... experiencing the pressure of the environment we were in... and then living the truth...

I don't recall being the optimist during the ordeal...yet I still believed we would all make it out.

Right until...we didn't.

Plan 99...Named in honor of 99's sacrifice during the Separatist siege on Kamino...

That unapologetic, articulated, and enthusiastically-dexterous genius...who always knew what he preferred and hyperfixated on the tiniest of details—relevant or not. Always knew how to get on my nerves and make me laugh simultaneously. Unbothered by my teasing and my nicknames. Bickered whenever I flew the ship without his approval. Tinkered with me in sync on every project involving mechanics. Listened to my every rant, every digression, and every—everything...

How...

How did it come to this...?

"Tell me it's not true." Fern breathed, her eyes fixated on Echo's saddened, sable orbs. Her body remained unmoved, as if she was afraid that reality would play more mind games and she'd end up in an Imperial prison next. Her lips tightened in a neutral, straight line, awaiting patiently for her friend's response.

The one she already knew the answer to.

Her vision blurred with tears before he even shook his head in defeat.

"The others, Echo," she asked next. "Where—"

"They are here." he assured in a low tone. "Hunter and Wrecker are looking after Omega. Hunter has been making rounds between the two of you. I can go get him if you—"

"N—don't go." Fern's hand shot forward and snatched his human hand, her whole body nearly tumbling off the cot, when he rose to his feet. When Echo lowered himself, she swallowed the lump in her throat, flattened her back on the cot, and stared at the ceiling. "H-how did this happen?"

"There was nothing we could do." he sighed, his eyes trailing over to the cockpit, where he had solumnly and silently processed the misfortunate and tragic events on Eriadu. "It just...happened."

"I could've done something..." Fern whimpered, shielding her eyes with her forearm. "if I only had brought my stupid, worthless gauntlet. I left it on Pabu, becau—sniff—because it'd never been useful in any situation we had faced before. So why? The one time I don't have it, this—" She inhaled as silent tears trickled down her temple. "I could've caught him with the grappling device... Dank ferrik, what have I done?"

"Fern, stop." Echo bit the inside of his lip as he helplessly watched his friend reservedly break down. Her quiet, stiff sobs clenched over his heart. His eyes crinkled in pain as his memory flashed to him unburying her unconscious body from the rubble after the tram car had crashed and catapulted from the base station... Attaching his bionicle hand to his scomp link, he'd pulled her free and carried her on his back while firing back at the enemy and providing cover for Wrecker, who'd cradled Omega to safety. "'What ifs' lead to nowhere except regret and madness. We can't change the past."

"How am I going to tell Phee?" the female clone sighed in a murmur. She lowered her arm from her eyes and allowed it to rest on her chest at an angle. She then looked at Echo sedately. "She and Tech...were just beginning to—sigh—Tech had finally—He—"