Nothing • Tech

32.Sixth Brother

Malaina jumped into the elevator from the ceiling, using the Force to blow the two troopers against the wall. They fell to the ground, unconscious.

While Hunter, Tech, and Echo jumped inside, she quickly sealed the double doors that the two regs had entered from.

    Just like that, they were inside of the base.

    They let the elevator go down a few floors before they got out and began slyly wandering the halls while narrowly avoiding troopers.

    Echo plugged his scomp into one of the panels on the wall. Tech stood with him while Malaina and Hunter kept watch.

The Sergeant was more on edge than anyone else, and he showed it through his impatience.
"Anything?" He asked not even three seconds after Echo had plugged into the system.

    Echo stayed quiet, the light from the screen reflecting on his visor. Then he said, "This encryption's new. This might take a while."

    Malaina bounced on her heels, running her thumb over the dull side of her vibroblade. She didn't like being in these military bases, a lot of them were the same. They were all like Arkanis, and the last thing she wanted was to roam the halls as a Jedi hunter again.

    Echo shook his head, growing frustrated. "This doesn't make any sense. The muster report lists 50 clone commandos and 1,000 TK troopers."

    "TK trooper?" Tech repeats in confusion. "I'm not familiar with that designation."

    Malaina turns around, facing them. "The Empire's first wave of human recruits, they're phasing out clones. Clone commandos train them. Code name Project War-Mantle."

    "How much longer?" Hunter asks urgently.

    "Almost got it." Echo responds, briefly glancing at Malaina, shocked by the new knowledge. The screen beeped, recatching his attention. "Found him. Cellblock 25, four levels down."

    The four of them darted back down the hall to catch the lift. Malaina used the Force to get inside of it since they didn't have a security card. They went down four floors and then emerged onto the cell floor.

Echo ran ahead of the others and took down every Imperial trooper he came across before finally coming to a stop in front of cellblock 25.

    "Are you CC-5576?" Echo asked, scooting to the side for the other three to see inside of the cell.

    The reg raised an eyebrow. "That depends. Who's askin'?"

    Echo removed the shield while Hunter answered, "Rex sent us."

    The reg laughed, nodding his head. "In that case, the name's Gregor. Now let's move out."

    It seemed as though they had to stop at every single corner, waiting for yet another squad of TK troopers to pass. They were everywhere on this floor. And they got their answer as to why when Hunter stopped the group at yet another corner. Ahead was several groups of TK troopers, all gathered in a room. They stood in formation.

    "They're gathered for inspection, There's no way past 'em." Gregor said, leaning against the wall.

    "If we can't reach the lifts, we can't get out of here." Echo muttered.

    "I can redirect them." Tech says confidently. He led the others back about ten feet to another panel and quickly got to work.

    Gregor looked over Hunter and Echo. "Armor like that, I take it you're CCs like me?"

    "CT-99s." Hunter corrects.

    "Defective clones?" Gregor chuckles, then fixes his face and gestures down the hall. "If you ask me, it's the ones who want to stay here who are really defective." Malaina smiled, deciding she liked this guy.