[Open] I've Seen That Frustration

[only_an_echo]

WHO: Echo, et al. YOU who enter here.
WHERE: Calibrationssss
WHAT: Welcome to Echo's Room. He's not a fan of it.
WHEN: Nowish, May - June
WARNINGS: War violence and imagery, body trauma, explosions, generalized chaos.

- - - -

The room had a distinct smell to it, one that seemed to get worse every time the door slid open. But it was what it was: sunken military barracks assigned to a Clone Commando squad, its clean Kaminoan designs overruled by the chaos that was Clone Force 99.

The crude rendering of a scoreboard was etched into the metal panel closest to the door, boasting more successes than failures with every mission completed. Four inset bunks mirrored each other on either side of the entryway and its short set of stairs, personalized according to every member of "The Bad Batch."

And it was a mess. Lived-in and trashy, much of the space was taken up by sparse furnishings, stacked crates, and locker boxes of varying sizes. A long coil of cables snaked its way around a few of them, connected to a decapitated B1 Battledroid head. A large table was bolted to the floor in the center, covered in odds and ends that were left out.

Among them: a metal food tray; DC-17 blaster pistol; a case of cartridges that looked similar to an 8-track tape; a restraining bolt that had seen better days; a pyro denton explosive device, thankfully not set to go off; a data chip resting atop of a scattering of autumnal leaves; and a wrecked ARC Trooper helmet set to one side that some would be familiar with, although it was far from pristine.

In the left-hand corner furthest from everything piled and stacked, an ominously large capsule stood silently between the bunk equations and schematics scrawled over its enclosed walls and the large picture window continuously spattered by a downpour of rain. Its view of Kamino's large and tumultuous ocean waves was hard to miss, engulfing the city's structured pillars with rhythmic fervor.

And if one looked hard enough, a trio of Venator-class Star Destroyers were barely visible against the blackened, storm-ridden skies above…

Comments

doot doot doot

[deal_me_in]

"Whoa!" Cayde stumbled into the room, waving a hand before his face. "What died in here?" Did all the headspaces he visited before have smells to them? He couldn't remember, so he assumed it was probably not an important detail whoever owned them recalled.

"Ah, this is my kinda place. Reminds me of Banshee's old nook. Don't think he's used it since... Well, anyway." His optics darted about, an eager child in a toy store. Naturally he made a beeline for the gun lying there on the table, a simple pistol without any bells and whistles- definitely military-issue by his guess.

[plate_builder]

This was a very strange space. And Reeve? He'd been in a lot of minds thanks to this. Nothing quite compared to this space, seemingly alone and empty. Which of course just left him confused as to where he was and what was going on. Still, he moves carefully through the space.

At last he came to a stop in his explorations, his fingers moving to rest, carefully, on the data chip. It wasn't that he expected it was a memory, it was just that it reminded him a little bit of materia.

[only_an_echo]

Echo had paced around the room moments before the Exo's sudden arrival, turning away from the window at the surprise visit. "I'm still wondering how you're even smelling this right now. You of all people should have the advantage of not having a nose for it..." His assumptions were obviously proven wrong. "Welcome to the Bad Batch's barracks," he said with a sigh, brow furrowing as Cayde continued rambling. "Do you always burst into other people's spaces like this?"

Cayde was correct: the hand blaster was standard-issue for Clone Commanders, Captains, and ARC Troopers. The second he touched it, it immediately pulled him into a memory of a large simulated battlefield with red bolts flying directly at him and the other Bad Batchers.

"They're using live rounds!" A helmeted Hunter shouted over the noise, ducking behind the barricade after they had just witnessed the large clone hitting the grid-patterned ground. Echo fired back at the droids, barely hearing the Sergeant relaying an order to Tech. "Get Wrecker! We'll cover you!"

Every shot from the training blaster was useless against the onslaught of training droids coming up from different ends of the arena, eventually forcing him, Hunter, and Crosshair to scramble around to the other side of the barricade once more angry red bolts were shot their way.

"These training blasters are useless on them," Echo nearly scowled, his back pressed against the wall.

"Then we improvise!" Red-hot burn marks mar the black surfaces around them as the Sergeant pulled up his helmet, sharply whistling across the way to get Tech and Wrecker's attention. Although they all knew the hand signals thrown, the large clone threw a mini-fit. Whatever conversation he and Tech were having was fortunately brief in its explanation, and the thumbs-up clarified they were now on the same page.

They began their counterattack without a second thought. Echo blew out a breath, taking off like a shot, arcing around the droids that slowly made their way towards their targets, squeezing the trigger several times before jumping and clambering onto one of them. This particular action also showcased his scomp arm's other use, repeatedly stabbing at the droid's neck before finally getting in between its armored plates, the drill-like bit gouging through to disable the thing completely.

He went down with it, just in time to see Wrecker and Tech end up in the same spot with another droid the larger of the two punched down. "Reprogramming this thing would be pointless if you crush it!" Tech needed time, and he slid off the other droid to help Wrecker pin it down for the quick fix. Everything continued to be chaotic and loud, but with Tech successfully commandeering the reprogrammed droid they now had the upper hand. From there, Echo continued running, attacking another droid in the same stabbing manner while the others took care of the rest.

Again things were happening too quickly: the last droid fired round after round of plasma bolts, dropping Tech from his perch, continuing its assault on the rest of the clones regardless of being the only one left standing.

"WRECKER! KNIFE!"

The last thing he saw was the weapon flung into the air, whirling and caught by Crosshair's well-timed precision shot, ricocheting the blade right into the droid's face.

Once everything was clear, he and Wrecker hurried over to check on Tech, helping him get to his feet just as Hunter and Crosshair joined them.

Understandably worn out, they survived their test. But that deep-seated feeling of contempt in Echo's chest was far from gone.

[only_an_echo]

"I can't believe we're helping a Separatist Senator."

"So you have said," Tech replied in his matter-of-fact way. "Repeatedly."

Reeve received another memory - one that obviously wasn't his, but he would recognize the voice speaking.

From Echo's perspective, he sat across from another pilot in the Havoc Marauder as two other voices spoke somewhere behind him. In comparison to their casual approach to the situation, Echo simmered.

Why did they even take the job? They were a part of the Republic. The Separatists were their enemy. They all knew what they had their hands in, and nothing good could come from trying to assist a Senator from Raxus.

There wasn't anything he could do to stop the mission, however. He wasn't the one in charge. Their ship broke through the atmosphere, soaring above a lush autumn-colored forest, barely able to breathe before they were immediately escorted by two patrol shuttles. As a voice over the comm system requested their clearance codes, Echo shot a look up at Hunter.

"Hunter. The client is a Separatist. How do we know this isn't a trap?"

He received no answer as they waited through the processing, the soft trilling of the reader finally pinging to break the tension.

"You're cleared for entry. Proceed."

Tech cast a sidelong glance his way. "Now are you convinced?"

"No." The former ARC Trooper sounded petulant, but it was clear his feelings on the matter weren't swayed.

[plate_builder]

No, they weren't swayed, and it was understandable. The whole situation, one Reeve watched/felt, was awkward. It made him nervous.

"At least the view was beautiful, while it lasted," he lamented. "Please, how did this end?"

[deal_me_in]

"Hey, it's not like there are signposts or anything!" Cayde retorted, or at least was in the process of it before he realized what was happening. "Crap-"

If not for it being Echo's memories, he would've thought they were in the middle of a battleground, but then that wasn't really far off the mark. It was absolute chaos and those clunky droids looked like they meant business. The Exo was quickly piecing together who the unfortunate targets were, between the similarly styled armor and the colorscheme. Ah, so this was Echo's squad. They were pretty well-rounded, all specializing in something different. There was still some looseness to them even as they got down to business. Not bad at all.

After that it was pretty understandable that they were all exhausted. Cayde wasn't sure if it was from him standing there at the figurative edge of his seat or some lingering feeling from the memory. The barracks that Echo had introduced came back into focus, and Cayde looked around before glancing down at the gun in his hand. Then he tossed it across the table.

[only_an_echo]

The memory continued, now opening outward onto the grassy floor of the reddened forest. "I am simply stating the codes did, in fact, work," Tech said as he walked down the ramp of the shuttle ahead of him. "The client being a Separatist is not relevant."

While he was right, his detachment toward the matter ticked Echo off. "It is to me."

"Forget politics," Hunter cut in, turning his half-painted helmet toward them. "We're here to do a job."

"-I'm very pleased to hear you say that."

All blasters rose at the same time as a white protocol droid hobbled out from behind one of the trees, unarmed and oblivious to the fact she could have been shot. But as Tech and Wrecker worked out who she was and who she worked for, Echo burned, gun arm rigid. He couldn't displace his frustrations, and his patience was wearing thing the more she explained the situation, interrupting the droid with an irritated, "We don't care."

Hunter almost sighed. "Just take us to where the Senator's being held," he told the droid.

"Right to it. I like you." She nodded, turning and gesturing to the Bad Batch as she tottered away. "Very well. Follow me."

With Hunter and Tech going off after her, Echo shared a brief look with Wrecker, groaning under his breath as he ran after them. There was no turning back now.

The scene shifted, and it roughly cut to Echo pushing the same droid back against a wall while Tech rattled off intel, glaring into her dark vision sensors.

"Why do I get the feeling you're setting us up?"

"It is against my programming to send my allies into danger."

"We ain't allies, tin bin," Wrecker nearly snarled next to him. It was nice that one of them on his side.

"Enough," Hunter rasped, and Echo's shoulders squared, the tension palpable on his end while their sergeant gave his orders. From there, it was strictly stealth. Focusing on the mission diffused some of the former ARC Trooper's earlier thoughts while knocking patrolling clone troopers unconscious, and the direction to clear the upper floors of the senator's residence was followed without hesitation.

Clearance came in the form of stunning and punching more clones on the way up, thoroughly checking every room and corridor for any stragglers he and Wrecker might have missed. It hadn't been long before an alarm was set off, heading up to the roof to check on what was happening outside.

[only_an_echo]

That was unexpected. Echo's arm flew up instinctively as the gun was tossed, sliding off of the table with a clatter.

"Don't just throw things," he griped, shooting a look at the Hunter before walking over to pick it up.

[deal_me_in]

"I feel betrayed," Cayde said in defense. Guns had no business triggering memories, but then he was one to talk. "-although that didn't seem too bad. 'cept that was a jerk move on someone's part, using live fire in training." His metal features pinched. "What was that about?"

[only_an_echo]

The gun was given a questioning look. "What- ...oh." Echo wasn't sure how he felt about Cayde seeing that, but he understood how he and the other Bad Batchers felt at the time. It wasn't fun watching Wrecker go down so quickly, and he was thankful another hit didn't take him out.

After a pause, he walked around the table. "Yeah, about that. We were being tested because Admiral Tarkin requested to see our squad in action." He raised the gun to make a point, setting it back down with the other items. "Everything was going fairly well until they introduced new opponents to the field," he frowned. "Apparently training droids weren't good enough for his evaluation."

[plate_builder]

This was all very strange, and almost like a military missing, and Reeve had never experienced anything like this before. Well, save for one thing in Kalm which didn't count.

"Why is the droid not an ally?"

He just wishes he had answers. He can't imagine how frustrated Echo and his team must have been in the real situation.

[deal_me_in]

"Quite a squad. You been with them long?" It had to be for some time. There was some obvious previous experience, not to mention how well they all worked together, knowing each other's abilities. Cayde circled the table, arms folded as he wound his way about the other things scattered around it on the floor.

"Well, you still showed 'em either way. How'd that work out for you guys?"

War imagery: explosions, vehicle failure, war-related noises, smoke

[only_an_echo]

Clone troopers were swarming the premises as giant six-legged walkers stomped through, the closest one becoming an anchor point to zip-line down to before seizing the vehicle from its operators altogether. Tech sat up front, pulling away from the lines the moment Hunter gave the order. Wrecker lightened their load, tossing several downed troopers out the side door.

They didn't get very far, however; a missile hit the rear axle stabilizer, immobilizing the walker in seconds. "-We will need to re-calibrate manually," Tech reported amid a cloud of smoke filling the cabin.

"Get this bucket up and running," Hunter agreed, moving past Echo and the others with his gun raised. "Wrecker and I will hold them off."

Repairing the axle added onto their problems, but Echo assisted, working under a new kind of pressure as fluid leaked out from the back and blaster fire filled the air around them. His head jerked up every time another shot came close, with another missile flying overheard and barely missing their walker, landing on a wall in the distance.

They've had the odds against them before, and this was no different. But even taking down one walker wasn't stopping another from coming. "Freeze!" The clone troopers drew up their blasters, cornering him and Tech in an instant. There wasn't anything they could do except surrender.

Until an antique vase flew at one trooper's head, shattering to pieces upon contact. With the distraction, he and Tech stunned the other troopers simultaneously, completing the repairs before dashing back into the walker.

In the back, Echo had a bit more time to think. Senator Avi Singh was a Separatist. An enemy of the Republic. However, had he not thrown the vase, they all would have been captured. And now the man was directing them, urging them to trust him as they made their escape.

He still wasn't certain of the senator when he claimed there was a subterranean tunnel behind the wall they were up against. But with Wrecker's expertise, it showed him he told the truth.

Everything was quiet outside of the capital, untouched by the chaos the Bad Batch left behind. But Senator Singh slowed before he got to the ship, the look in his eyes stricken, conflicted by the turn of events. "What am I doing?" Singh asked himself, turning to look back at the city. "I cannot abandon my people. I must help them."

The droid comforted him. "You will, Senator. But not if you are in Imperial custody."

The senator was a Separatist, but he also cared about the people he swore to protect - just as he and his brothers swore to protect the Republic. Seeing he was reluctant to leave, Echo stepped forward. "She's right. Live to fight another day."

It was a small encouragement, but it was enough to give the senator some closure for the time being. In this loss, there was a victory. And maybe some insight.

The memory ended there as the ship's ramp closed, bringing Reeve back to the barracks. Echo was now present, sitting on the opposite side of where he stood, helmetless and silent, resting his scomp arm against the edge of the table.

[only_an_echo]

He nodded. "For a while now," the clone answered. "They're unorthodoxed, but they get the job done."

Sitting back down, Echo took a moment to gather his thoughts. "It satisfied him. He saw us immediately after we returned to our barracks to give us a mission." His eyes narrowed slightly at the gun, almost as if he was certain it moved from its new resting place. "We were sent to Onderon to neutralize a group of insurgents."

[plate_builder]

Ah. That was the course of it, and Reeve took a deep breath. That was an experience.

"It is possible to work with the wrong people and still want the good of those who are below you. To lead is truly to serve the needs of others. Tell me, did the man help people?"

[only_an_echo]

"Since he was a senator, I assume he did," Echo replied, gesturing as he lifted his gaze away from the leaves gathered under the data chip to look at Reeve. "And now that I've seen it, he was trying to do what the Republic was supposed to be doing for their people."

[plate_builder]

Republic, huh? And they weren't doing it.

"Do you regret helping him?"

[only_an_echo]

He fell silent, the crease in his brow prominent as he thought.

"...No." There was a subtle kind of honesty in his answer. "I wasn't in a position to argue and keep us from going on the mission. But if I didn't go, I wouldn't have seen how much further the Empire was spreading once they had a grip over the galaxy."

[deal_me_in]

Cayde grinned. "I can see that. Unorthodox is always good- means no one can anticipate your moves."

He looked around the rest of the room as he listened to Echo's reply, only to glance back at the clone as he detected something to his tone. "Something tells me that mission didn't go so well."

[plate_builder]

"And the Empire is evil," Reeve observes. It reminds him of the people that Poe said he was fighting. Was there perchance a connection?

"How did this Empire come to be? And what are the Sepratists?"

[only_an_echo]

"It wasn't what we were expecting to find. They were refugees. Saw Gerrera and his men were in the middle of escorting them off-world when we got there." Echo could feel his jaw setting, softly sighing to keep himself from clamping down. "Gerrera was a rebel even before the Empire came into existence, and he told us he'd keep on fighting. Even if he questioned our loyalty, he still remembered that the clones helped fight alongside his cause to free Onderon..."

Another pause, and his expression pinched. "I knew Tarkin couldn't be trusted. He was spying on us the whole time with a probe droid."

[only_an_echo]

That statement is quickly agreed upon. But there is an order to everything, and Echo decides it is best to start with the second question to answer the first.

"The Separatists are - were - also known as The Confederacy of Independent Systems," he explains, still not used to the use of the past tense. "The short of it was they weren't satisfied with how the Republic was handling political matters. Things escalated enough for them to build a droid army to defend their cause. In response, the Republic, the Jedi, and us clones met them head on in order to keep the peace."

Of course, the idea of peace was elusive. But Echo still fought for it. That was what he was created for, after all.

"The war took place in a span of a few years. We won some battles, we lost others. We lost Jedi and brothers, but there was the hope we finally had the upper hand to bring an end to the war when General Kenobi cornered Grievous on Utapau." His features then pinch, glaring at the wall where the scoreboard is etched. "And the war did end. But not in the way any of us expected it to."

[deal_me_in]

Yeah, that sounded like a setup. Cayde scowled. "Wow, putting you guys in a situation like that and spying? He's the one with no morals." He shook his head.

"That's pretty messed up. So, you ever give him a piece of your mind?" He doubted it. Military was tougher to do things out of line, short of an assassination attempt.

[plate_builder]

Oh no, that's ominous, and Reeve's face softens with concern.

"I fear to ask how things ended. I do not wish to ask for things that will upset you."

But it feels relevant. And... familiar?

[only_an_echo]

It is possible to leave it at that. To let it stay unspoken. At the same time, the trauma has dulled; Echo isn't sure how he feels about it anymore, and Reeve at least deserves to know now that he's here.

"We were on Kaller when the news broke. After assisting General Depa Billaba, we were ready to move on and take out more droids with her Padawan, Caleb Dume...until an order came in through the comms." His hand tightened into a fist. "We didn't know what Order Sixty-Six meant at the time, but we heard blaster fire coming from behind us. The clone troopers that were serving under Billaba suddenly turned on her. Her Padawan ran off on his own.

"Hunter had Tech and I look into the matter while he and Crosshair went after the kid. Wrecker ran interference in case any other troopers went searching for them."