Cejanr (A Rexsoka SWTCW Fanfic)

65

Echo was only with the 501st for a couple hours, just long enough to give his report on the massacre on both sides that had been the battle of Jakku.

He was being assigned to aid the Bad Batch on an extended mission afterwards, and they would be picking him up. As per usual CF 99 style, they were late.

He saw the male mandalorian and stopped. Blue armor with white markings in an almost perfect inverse of Fives's. Echo recalled that Fives had gone rogue after his 'death,' but who else could it be. He followed the mysterious mando to the hanger bay, which was deserted. The red head walked up the ramp to the ship, paused, and turned to look at where Echo stood in the shadows.

"Has nobody taught you that sneaking up on a Mandalorian is a bad idea?" She called. Her friend froze about to remove his helmet and quickly dropped his hands down to his side.

Echo gave a hoarse laugh. "Probably, but I doubt there was much you could do short of turning me into a scrap pile." He pulled his modified helmet off his head and tucked it under his flesh arm. He approached cautiously, painfully aware of his not quite natural footfalls. It made good for infiltrating separatists, but here it was nothing but a hindrance.

The male mandalorian looked back at him, Echo could practically feel him studying him. The redhead raised an eyebrow.

"Pulping you wouldn't work?" She asked. Echo gave another raspy chuckle.

"Nah, all the metal in me would be more akin to a scrap pile." He walked up to the ramp and stuck out his flesh hand, giving a tired grin. "ARC trooper Echo."

The other mandalorian stiffened and started trembling. The redhead shook his hand gingerly, looking confused and slightly unnerved at his straightforward behavior. Echo smiled slightly.

"Why are you introducing yourself to me?" She asked. Echo shook his head.

"It's not for you. It's for him." He jerked his head at who he was absolutely confident was Fives. Clumsily, he removed his helmet to reveal a pale face. The redhead looked between the two of them and gave a sad smile. She put her hand on Fives's shoulder.

"Escort Tano to mandalore. Make sure she arrives safely." Fives looked between her and Echo, looking like a lost tooka. The niteowl gave him a small push off the ramp. "Go. You know who your family is." Fives looked down and nodded, letting Echo lead him off the ramp.

The ramp closed behind them, the ship taking off once they were clear. For a moment, there was dead silence in the deserted hanger. The two brothers just stood apart, staring at each other for a long moment.

A mandalorian and a cyborg. Both so wildly different from the other despite once being identical. For a long moment they just sat there, rememorizing each others' faces from the last time they had met. Literal clones. And the person in front of them couldn't be more different.

Fives's eyes were wet, a tear tracing it's way down his cheek as he gave a watery grin.

"And here I thought you couldn't get any uglier." His voice broke over the words. Echo laughed.

"I'd like to point out that we're identical, but that doesn't really apply to us now." He grated. He took a couple of heavy steps forward, paused, then wrapped his arms around his squadmate. Fives gave a slightly strangled sob as he hugged Echo tight before letting him go and stepping back, walking a circle around him.

"One dead man to another, what did they do to you?" He breathed in mild horror as he took in the metal legs and arm, as long as the plates and scars on the back of his neck just visible over the top of his modified armor.