revivalproject | Spinning Wheel Got To Go 'Round

WHO: Echo, OTA
WHERE: Various
WHAT: ~~Soul-searching~~ Something to keep him occupied
WHEN: Latter half of April
WARNINGS: N/A

> Option B (For Cayde)

Echo meant to go to the meeting.

Meetings are important. Like mission briefings, it catches everyone up on the intel they need to know and brings up new information if several of them have been unaware of such developments.

Currently it's another bullet point on his growing mental list; while he has every intention of listening and participating with others in their collective, this particular bullet point decides to stack sideways instead of from top to bottom, creating a more complicated web of thoughts that constantly shift on the way toward the amphitheater.

He barely gets to it when Cayde-6 interrupts, almost taking a step back with the Exo suddenly there. "–What, is it over already?"

> Run It Off

Restless wasn't a word the ARC Trooper uses frequently – maybe in describing other clones whenever they were in that state of mind before and during missions, but never really for himself. Not until that nervous energy slowly built up long after the return from Coruscant.

So he ran.

It was one of the quickest ways to burn it off. It also killed two birds with one stone, keeping him on track with his training. And it worked...for the most part. His mind continued at a clip, never stopping when he did along the available routes, never resting whenever he tried to distract himself with other things that needed to be done.

Which led to the third metaphorical bird: he could still check in with everyone on the way around. See if they needed any help.

If all else failed, he'd try target practice near the outskirts as a means to keep his skills sharp. And to blow off steam.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Wears a hood, has metallic features. Unusually giddy. You'll know him when you meet him." That was about all he had to say about Cayde.

He had a vague idea of who Aeon meant with the clue of running over water, but it was still hard to believe. But he agreed. "The potential is there, but it would be difficult to come and go as we please. Much like sitting on a moon. Plus I wouldn't try to take away someone else's spot if they've already claimed it."

"You say that as though you have sat on a moon," she observed, raising an eyebrow. "Have you?"

Echo chuckled. "My very first assignment when I was fresh from training. My brothers and I were excited to be off-planet for the first time in our lives, only to end up in a surveillance base that had a giant eel for a neighbor."

"Slippery situation," she quipped, amused. At this point the patrol and where they were going on it didn't matter half as much to her as the conversation. "So you and your brothers all went into service together?"

"That's what we were trained for," he said, the matter-of-fact tone brief as he continued. "It was tough, but it paid off."

"Well, I'm glad it did. Were you still in the middle of what you were doing with them, when the Agrii brought you here? As one of their He Rows?" She enunciates it to emphasize their spelling choice, smirking a little.

The ARC Trooper chuckled under a breath, amused by her enunciation despite its halfheartedness. "It's been some time since then, promotions an' all, but I've been working with one brother more often than not. Last thing I remember before all of this, Fives and I doing was completing our last mission."

"So close to the finish line." She paused, perching on a half-broken column to survey the horizon ahead of them, and glanced down at him. It wasn't the first occasion she wished she could see his expression under the helmet.

"How frustrating for you."

The ARC Trooper caught up, slowing to a walk near the base of where Aeon perched. "Yeah," he sighed, turning his featureless visor to look back at where they had been. "Getting pulled from an active warfront to this place was jarring."

He then looked up at her. "Couldn't have been any easier for you, either."

"I was -" She paused, then decided that if he was being honest, she had no reason to hold back, either. "I'd just been shot. By one of my own clones."

Although she couldn't see it, his eyes widened behind the visor, the subtle shift of his chin the visual substitution of the shock.

"You're a clone?" He shook his head. "Why would they shoot you?"

"Our missions were at cross-purposes," she said. "It was complicated, but ... I don't blame them. If the shoe had been on the other foot, I would have shot me, too."

He frowned – not at her, but at the circumstances connected to the matter she was involved in. Even if she said it was complicated, what the clone chose to do wasn't right.

"No clone that I know of would've done anything of the sort. We're supposed to look out for each other."

She tilted her head, processing what he'd said. "You're one, too? Interesting. ... At home, it's kept a pretty big secret. No one is supposed to know."

"Can't really keep an entire army a secret for very long," he replied, a faint and nondescript laugh audible in his filtered tone. "Not now, anyway."

A pause. "Is it classified information? The reason behind keeping your clones a secret."

"Not here," she shrugged. "Who would you tell? ... It's a long story, but I get the feeling we've got a ways to go on your patrol."

She was beginning to wish for a drink, though - the air was beginning to hold the first dry, hot notes of summer.

"We have plenty of time." Casual joking at its finest, grounded in the reality that was Temba. He didn't push, however, scanning the area one last time before looking back up at Aeon. "If you want, we can hit The Deep End afterward. We've covered more ground than I thought we would."

That earned him a little laugh as she vaulted off a bit of rubble just for the fun of it, coming to a clean landing beside him.

"Sure. I wouldn't mind at all. I haven't been there, though: you'll have to lead the way."

Joking wasn't his forte, but he felt better when she laughed. He also could have sworn the jump rivaled the ones the Jedi did all the time.

Instead, Echo shifted, giving her a little room as he nodded. "Let's head down that way," he pointed out, taking a step in said direction. "We'll hit the same 'road' we left earlier."

"Perfect. ... So," she said, matching his stride and happy to do so. "Tell me about your brothers..."

Spinning Wheel Got To Go 'Round

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/walks them into the sunset for all the canon-share handwaving