#guarded

Echo stirred fitfully, trying to will himself back into the embrace of whatever pleasant dream he’d been having. Pulling the blanket up under his chin, he kept his eyes closed stubbornly, as if opening them would constitute surrender to wakefulness. 

He’d never really readjusted to life with mechanical limbs, and his time on Skako Minor still haunted him, making sleep elusive even when exhaustion weighed heavy on him and dreams that weren’t filled with terrors from his past a rarity. He couldn’t remember everything about the dream he’d been pulled from abruptly, but he knew he’d been running with his own legs, the ones he’d had when he first came into existence, arms pumping and chest heaving with each deep breath that he pulled into his lungs. It had felt so real, he could have sworn he almost felt a muscle soreness in his cybernetic legs when he awoke, flexing and rolling his ankles to stretch calf muscles that no longer existed. The smile had quickly faded from his face as he tried to grasp at the pieces of the dream, but it was like trying to grab a handful of sand in water; only a few grains remained as everything else vanished into the waves of consciousness. 

Heaving a frustrated sigh, he tried to readjust again and doze back off, but sat bolt upright when he heard the front door of their suite open. His blaster was already in his hand before he looked over and noted Tech’s bed was still empty. He let out a sigh of relief at the realization that there was no midnight intruder, just his brother being his usually unusual self. His shoulders slumped as he scrubbed a hand over his face. The receding surge of adrenaline left a lingering prickle down his spine as he muttered to himself. 

“What in the Force is he doing at this hour?” 

Rolling out of bed, he slipped his yellow guard tunic back over his head and belt around his waist, holstering his blaster out of habit before creeping back down the hall. It was closer to morning than he’d realized, the black of night fading to a slowly brightening grey that peeked through the drawn blinds on the windows that lined one side of the corridor. 

Echo found Tech seated at the low table in the common area, the glow of the datapads arrayed in front of him reflecting off of his lenses. The goggled clone glanced up at the sound of Echo’s footsteps. 

“I apologize if I woke you.”

Echo shrugged. “Wasn’t getting great sleep anyway. What were you doing out and about at this hour?”

“Uncovering information that I think you will find most helpful. Or troubling. Perhaps both.”

Echo pulled up a chair next to him, picking the last remnants of sleep from the corners of his eyes.

 “How?”

“I just had an interesting conversation with Queen Nodala and-“

“With the queen?” Echo interrupted, slightly flabbergasted. 

Tech had always had the ability to look beyond titles and honorifics when interacting with important beings, but social interaction had not ever necessarily been his strong suit. Echo had noted how Tech had nervously swallowed when they’d met the queen that afternoon and the slight blush that had emerged on his cheeks when she’d met his eyes. 

Who would have thought a gorgeous monarch with a rebellious streak would be the one that would fluster him?

He wondered how long Tech and the queen had been talking and made a mental note to watch their interactions more closely going forward, if nothing else but for his own amusement.

Tech cleared his throat. “Yes, the queen and I had a discussion. Apparently, she also struggles with sleeping on occasion.”

“Uh huh.” The room was mostly dark, but Echo was almost certain Tech was blushing again. 

Seemingly taking no note of Echo’s raised eyebrows, Tech dug through one of the pouches on his utility belt, extracting a tool that resembled a small wand. He connected the device to his  own datapad via a cable and began pacing the room, waving the probe in the air at seemingly random intervals.

“What are you doing?” Echo asked, leaning back in the chair to watch his brother, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. 

“Scanning the room for any potential transmitting devices or bugs. The information I’m about to share with you is incredibly sensitive. In fact,” he paused, turning to face Echo, “you may want to wake the others.”

Echo rubbed his face. “Can’t we just tell them in the morning?”

Tech blinked at him. “It’s urgent. And almost morning.” 

“Urgent enough to wake Wrecker?” 

“Indeed. Which is why I have delegated the task to you.”

Echo paused for a moment, trying to decide if Tech was joking or not. The other clone seemed absorbed in his current task, clearly not planning to change his mind. Grumbling under his breath, Echo plodded off down the hall to do as he was asked. 

Hunter and Crosshair were easy enough to wake, but just as he feared, Wrecker wrapped him in a hug in his sleep with Lula falling to the floor, rolling until Echo was trapped underneath him squirming and swearing. The only thing that managed to rouse the large clone was a punch to his side that Echo managed to land when he finally got his arm free. 

The squad assembled in the common room just as the sun was beginning to softly illuminate the space, not quite cresting the horizon. 

“What’s all this about? I was having a nice dream,” Wrecker grumbled.

Tech was just finishing his sweep of the rooms and returned apparently satisfied that they weren’t being listened to. 

“I have obtained information about the threat to Queen Nodala that I think will help clarify why we are here.” He launched into a recounting of the conversation he’d had with Nodala, relaying the information about the mysterious resource dispute and who the real culprit behind the threat was. 

Echo felt his jaw clench tighter as Tech revealed the source of the attacks. 

Of course it would be the Empire. Couldn’t just be a simple escort duty. 

He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to look at Crosshair as the sniper shifted uneasily where he leaned up against one of the walls. They’d largely managed to avoid the Empire since his rescue, and he could see the discomfort in Crosshair’s posture at the understanding of the threat they were facing. This was no longer just a simple mission for him either; he was standing against the entity that he had sacrificed everything for and been betrayed by. Echo couldn’t even begin to fathom how his brother was feeling, but he knew better than to acknowledge it, particularly when Crosshair caught his eye and glared at him.

As Tech concluded his briefing, silence fell over the room. Hunter was rubbing his face in frustration as he stood, beginning to pace the floor as he digested the information. “Nodala’s sudden rhetoric about planetary sovereignty makes a lot more sense now. We all knew the Empire was working to suppress dissent and remove any obstacles from their path, but I never thought it would be to the point that they’d be trying to kill a sitting monarch. Even when Iden told us it was a resource issue, I didn’t make the connection. I just assumed there were other people feuding with the queen that wanted her dead.”

“Naboo is rich in resources that are considered valuable to multiple parties. I made the same assumption,” Tech replied.

“But all of this over some metal?” Wrecker asked.

“Bandorium is extremely precious,” Tech explained. “It was already rare before the Clone Wars, and the expansion of various fleets during that time depleted its supply even further. Now with the Empire attempting to swiftly expand its military power, the metal is needed. It is a critical element in counter-sensor technology, and with the number of fighters and star destroyers that are coming out of Imperial factories, I imagine finding an alternative source would be quite the discovery. There have been attempts to create synthetic alternatives over the years, but no one has been able to come up with a strong enough imitation to replace it. The discovery of a new source of Bandorium here on Naboo would be incredibly fortuitous and critical to the Empire’s continued military expansion. Combine that with a strong-headed monarch that resists them at every turn, and you have our current predicament.”

Wrecker was leaning up against a wall grumbling. “I don’t understand why they didn’t tell us this from the start.”

“I do,” Echo said quietly. “They don’t know us. And if the information is worth killing the queen over, I understand the need to keep it compartmentalized and keeping the circle tight. We could have protected her without knowing all of this.”

“Not if the Empire ramps up its efforts,” Crosshair growled from the corner. “What even is the endgame here?” 

“We keep her alive,” Hunter replied. 

“For how long? Until her term is up? That’s years away, especially if she’s re-elected. And as popular as she is, they may even try to keep her for a third term.”  

Echo looked to Tech, who just blinked. It was a question he apparently hadn’t thought to ask, which was unusual for him.  

Crosshair noticed as well, scoffing. “Of course all of that is based on the assumption that we get very, very lucky, and the Empire doesn’t decide that taking what they want by force is worth spending the political capital. We would have been completely blindsided if an invasion occurred, or were we expected to fend off an entire Imperial battalion on our own without warning?” He plucked the toothpick from his teeth, flicking it across the room. “There’s more they’re not telling us.”

Echo’s brows furrowed. “What makes you so sure?”

Crosshair looked at him. “The story they told us yesterday about the incident has holes in it. For starters, the window.”

“What about it?” Wrecker asked.

Crosshair turned to Tech. “The window opening was supposedly what woke her. You opened it. Did it make so much as a creak?”

Tech contemplated this point. “No, but there are numerous factors-“

“And there’s something else about the queen. She’s hiding something, although I’m not sure what it is,” Crosshair continued, steamrolling past Tech’s reply.

Hunter sighed. “I understand your skepticism, Crosshair, especially after what Tech’s told us, but I don’t think that there’s anything more nefarious at play here. I think they were afraid of this information getting out, but that’s it.” He sighed. “I’ll talk with Typho today to see what exactly their end goal is.” 

“Maybe they think the Empire will eventually give up if they can’t kill her,” Wrecker offered. 

“Then they’re fucking fools,” Crosshair muttered. 

“That’s enough,” Hunter snapped, glaring at his brother. 

Echo felt a pang in his chest as he watched Crosshair shut back down and retreat into himself, closing his mouth in a thin, tight line, and leaning back against the wall, glowering sullenly. Echo could see both sides of the argument, and while he didn’t voice his opinions without concrete evidence to back them up, he did agree with Crosshair; it felt like something more was at play here, although he couldn’t put his finger on what yet.

Hunter stared down the sniper for a few more moments before pushing himself to his feet. “Like I said, I’ll have a talk with the captain. We need to determine what sort of contingencies are in place should the Empire show up with force.” Stretching his hands over his head, he twisted, and his spine popped loudly in several places. “I’m sure after the Trade Federation invasion, they’ve hopefully at least planned for that. Until then, we take it one day at a time. Echo, you’re up first with escort duty today, so get ready to go. For everyone else, I think it’s best that we perhaps work to arrange a tour of the palace to get an idea of the layout and the various security protocols.”  

Echo nodded, rising to move off down the hall and finish getting dressed. He noted Crosshair slinking off to his room and again felt the small tug of guilt in his chest. He and Crosshair had never been particularly close, even before the end of the war, but he was still a brother, and he was still one of the men that had saved him from Skako Minor. He remembered the sniper’s steadying hand on his shoulder as he’d stood on a cliff with mechanical legs he had yet to grow accustomed to, waiting for Anakin to announce their next move. It was small, but it had meant something to Echo. 

But Crosshair wasn’t one for sentiment. After the rescue, he just accepted Echo into the team without any fanfare, as if he’d been a permanent fixture amongst them from the beginning. Given the sniper’s disdain for regs, Echo had always supposed that was as much as he could hope for. 

Despite his cold demeanor and lack of obvious affection for his brothers, it had been painful to watch Crosshair turn against them at the end of the war, seemingly with no explanation. That is, until they found the chip.

Echo rubbed the back of his neck, his fingers grazing the neural implants that ran up his spine. For what felt like the millionth time, he wished he knew how to show Crosshair that he harbored no ill will towards him. He’d always been one to just address the issue head on, but a forced conversation would be uncomfortable, and Crosshair would loathe it. So, Echo had opted to just exist near his brother, hoping that things would eventually feel normal again, but he knew his discomfort showed in every interaction, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

He sighed, pushing through the door into the room he and Tech were sharing. Looking at the made bunk that Tech had yet to crawl into, he laughed softly. I have no idea how he functions on so little sleep. Crouching down, he picked up the armor that fit over the top of the guard uniform. His clone armor had been modified to be able to be put on with only one working hand, but this uniform had no such accommodations. Echo was still able to slip the chest plate over his head, but the buckles to fasten the plates together were on the side of his scomp link. He spun around several times before finally managing to grab the clasp with his hand, swearing as he pinched his fingers.

“Do you require assistance?” Tech’s voice made him jump, and the clasp slipped out of his grip. He swore quietly again before looking at Tech who was watching him fixedly through his goggles from the doorway. He sighed again, trying not to look as defeated as he felt.

“Yeah. That would be great.”

Echo lifted his arm over his head as Tech approached him to allow Tech to snap the clasps together unhindered, but to his surprise, Tech reached up and took the scomp, lowering it to eye level. Echo gave him a puzzled look until he noticed what Tech was holding. It was a metallic hand and wrist, similar to one that Tech had created for a friend. He was studying the inside of the wrist and the adapter where Echo’s scomp link met his upper arm. 

“Hold still please,” Tech said, and Echo tensed the arm, holding it steady as his brother carefully slipped the cybernetic over his scomp, nestling it against the adapter and giving it a slight twist. Echo felt the hand engage, his neural links working to identify the newest part of him. 

Tech was studying his face. “Is it alright so far?”

Echo nodded as his body adjusted to the new limb’s presence.

Tech gently released his hold on the arm. “I was going to wait a while longer before giving you this, but I believe having you use it and provide feedback could prove helpful for making my final adjustments. If possible, can you give your fingers a test wiggle for me?”

Suddenly, Echo found himself nervous. He knew Tech had been working on this for a while, and he desperately wanted it to work for his brother, who was watching intently, a hint of eagerness gleaming in his eyes behind his goggles. But even more so, Echo wanted the limb to work for himself. He wanted to be able to hold a blaster in that hand again, to be able to scratch that side of his body without having to contort himself. His life had been filled with little inconveniences and adjustments since he’d escaped from Skako Minor, and while he considered himself incredibly fortunate to still be alive and to have been rescued at all, he’d be a liar if he claimed he never felt frustration at the changes to his body.

Taking a deep breath, Echo did his best to wiggle his fingers. He was disappointed for a second until he saw his pointer and middle finger twitch slightly. “Is…is that it?” he asked.

Tech was watching the hand carefully. “It may be for now. The limb needs time to map the various commands coming from your neural center and vice versa. It will take a little while, but the limb should respond more quickly as your neural system becomes accustomed to its signals.” Reaching forward, he deftly finished clasping Echo’s armor in place, apparently realizing the limb wouldn’t quite be able to complete that task yet.

Echo nodded, trying to hide his slight disappointment. One thing he’d never been good at was patience. He noted Tech was still watching him, and he gave his brother a small smile before flexing the limb again. This time, his thumb moved as well, and a spark of hope ignited within him.

“Thank you,” he said quietly.

“Of course. I realized last night that I was perhaps overthinking it. I will still try to improve upon it, but I believe it’s functional enough to aid you now. Please let me know if it causes any discomfort. One last thing.” Tech gently took the limb back in his grasp, rotating it so that Echo could see his forearm. “There’s a panel here.” He pressed it open, revealing a diagnostic screen and a few buttons. “I know this probably isn’t as clean and easily accessible as you’d like, but if you depress this button and flex your wrist upwards such that your hand is perpendicular to your arm…” 

Tech pressed the button and gently pulled Echo’s new hand upwards. To Echo’s surprise, he felt something click in the palm of his hand. Rotating the limb, he saw that a panel in the hand had opened, revealing his scomp tool. “This way, you will still be capable of slicing. To retract the scomp, just press the button again.” Echo tried it out and watched as the tool clicked back into place, and the compartment closed to hide it once more. He inspected his palm, tracing his finger over the remarkably smooth surface, the seams of the scomp panel blending perfectly with the rest of the cybernetic’s structure.

“It’s great, Tech. Honestly. Thank you.”

Tech nodded his acknowledgement, turning and quickly stripping off his boots and the yellow guard tunic before crawling under the blankets in his bunk. Echo managed to finish dressing and grabbed the helmet and brown leather gloves that went with the uniform, tiptoeing out the door and closing it behind him as Tech’s quiet snores began to waft from beneath the blankets.

---

The throne room was incredibly bright as the sunlight poured in through the massive windows that lined the room. Echo had been instructed to stand behind the queen, flanking her with another palace guard as she went through her daily schedule. He was trying everything in his power to not doze off from boredom. Nothing in his ARC training had prepared him for standing for long hours listening to various diplomats drone on about infrastructure or taxes or other policies. He had started to sweat slightly beneath his collar from the sunlight beating down on his shoulder and wondered how the queen was possibly comfortable. Today, her hair was braided intricately and wrapped around her head with a large copper headpiece that covered her ears and reached down to her neck. Her gown was a deep green color with billowing sleeves and a long skirt that covered her feet when she walked. Echo wondered if she had a built-in cooling system somewhere in the dress as she didn’t appear to so much as glisten as the room warmed up around them.

After what felt like an eternity, the queen stood, turning to catch Echo’s eye. He realized he’d allowed his mind to drift somewhere else, and it took him a second to realize she was speaking to him. When he finally looked at her, she had an eyebrow raised quizzically. He grew hotter under the collar as embarrassment seeped into his skin.

“M’lady?”

“I was wondering if you’d be so kind as to escort me to lunch so that I may eat before my afternoon appointments.”

“Of course, m’lady,” Echo replied, dipping his head.

She turned and strode out of the throne room, and Echo hurried to fall into step just behind her. The two of them walked in silence for a few hallways before she stopped and turned to look at him. He paused, meeting her eyes.

“You have no idea where we’re going, do you?” she asked, dropping the deep and deliberate speech cadence she adopted in the throne room.

He ducked his head sheepishly. “I was following your lead, m’lady.”

A smirk tugged at the corner of her red and white painted lips. “I suppose a tour is in order then.”

Echo stared at her. “Don’t you have-“

“Lunch can wait. I actually have a fairly free afternoon and am not required again until early evening. That last secretary just drones on forever if I don’t cut him off, so I normally ensure there’s nothing immediately following his appointments.” She grinned. “He’s excellent at his job, but always gets the important information out in the first five minutes. Everything after that is just him letting his mind wander aloud. I don’t think he has enough people that listen to him in his life. Or perhaps they’ve all grown weary of him.” 

Echo chuckled, and the queen’s smile widened. “So, would you permit me to give you a tour of the palace?” she offered again.

“I don’t wish to be an imposition.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Echo, it would be my honor. Plus, I understand Hunter has requested a tour for the rest of the team sometime today, so I think it would be best if you also receive the same knowledge. Don’t you?”

He grinned back at her. “I do.”

“Excellent. This way then. But do try to make it seem as though I’m not leading you. The queen giving a palace guard a tour may seem odd. Or give the staff the impression that I have favorites.”

“We certainly can’t have that, m’lady,” he chuckled.

“Indeed,” she replied. 

In that moment, Echo decided he liked her. 

The queen led him down hallway after hallway, quietly explaining what was in each corridor and the general layout of the palace. He was impressed with the breadth of every room, columns reaching up to arched ceilings and large windows illuminating polished stone. Everything on Kamino had been sterile and white, so Echo had always had a certain appreciation for the obvious artistry in the architecture. It was elegant without being overbearing, impressive in its scale without seeming large for the sake of being so. 

It didn’t hurt that Queen Nodala made an astonishingly excellent tour guide, explaining the historical and at times, tactical significance of various features. It seemed that the palace had been slightly upgraded since the Trade Federation invasion, but in Echo’s opinion, it was far from a stronghold. If the Empire shows up, there’s no way the palace can be held. He bit back this thought, deciding now was not the correct time to tell the queen such things. I’m fairly sure she knows anyway.

As they stepped out into the public gardens, Echo couldn’t help but smile as a soft breeze tickled his nose, bringing the smell of fresh flowers and grass with it. He felt the queen watching him and turned to meet her eyes. She smiled gently. “I take it you’re not used to getting to enjoy the sunshine.”

“No, ma’am…er…m’lady,” he said quietly. “Our home was rarely sunny and certainly not green. And after what happened to me, well, you could say I have a certain expanded appreciation for the small things.”

She walked slowly next to him, lowering her voice. “I’m going to tell you the same thing I told your brother. When it’s just the two of us, you may call me ‘Kestia’ or ‘Kes’.”

Echo nodded, a smirk tugging at his lips. “I’m sure he struggled with that.”

The queen chuckled. “He did.” She hesitated for half a moment, clearly wanting to ask something. Judging by the way her eyes flicked to the place where Echo’s tech poked out from beneath the helmet, her next question wasn’t surprising. “Also, would you feel comfortable telling me what happened to you? If not, that’s certainly fine.”

Echo ran his tongue along the bottom of his lip as he considered her request. It wasn’t that he felt uncomfortable talking about it, but it wasn’t exactly a light and cheerful conversation. More often than not, it led to pitying looks and apologies that made the deliverer feel better rather than bringing him any comfort. Kestia didn’t strike him as someone that wasted words to protect her own emotions though. 

“I was technically killed in action during the Clone Wars,” he began slowly. “I made a foolish, reckless error and was hit with an explosive. I was left behind by my squadron because they believed I was dead, and by all accounts, I should have been. It was chaos, so I don’t blame them at all, but I was recovered by the Separatists and taken to Skako Minor, where I was made into this,” he said, gesturing at his lower extremities. Kestia gave him a look, and he realized she hadn’t understood his legs were cybernetic. He gave a knock on his leg and her eyes widened. “As my brother has so kindly put it, I’m more machine than man at this point, at least percentage-wise.”

The queen was silent for a moment, and he could see she was searching for the correct words. Before she could give him his thousandth “I’m sorry” to fill the silence, he stopped her. “I’m alright. It was and continues to be an… adjustment, but all things considered, I’m alive and grateful for that much.”

She nodded, a slight smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “I was going to say that I’m grateful you are alive as well.” 

Echo was unsure of how to respond to that, managing an awkward smile before dropping his eyes to his glove. He flexed his hand again, noting that the digits on his new limb were indeed beginning to respond more quickly. When he looked up, he saw Kestia also watching his fingers move with obvious delight. 

“Did Tech manage to perfect your hand?” she asked excitedly. 

Echo shot her a puzzled look and she grinned. “I did notice that you had a scomp on that arm yesterday. When your brother and I were speaking last night, he told me he had been making some minor adjustments to a new cybernetic limb for you. I’m guessing he gave it to you, but you’re still getting used to it by the way you’ve been flexing that hand all morning. You definitely couldn’t be doing that with only a scomp attachment.”

Deciding it was better to just accept the queen’s observation as complimentary rather than try pressing her about her conversation with Tech, Echo paused behind a well-manicured hedge that obscured them from view. The queen raised an inquisitive eyebrow, but he could see she was suppressing a grin. Echo suddenly understood now why Tech had found conversation easy with her. She was far less intimidating when she wasn’t putting on the royal persona, even if she was still in her full regalia, and he found her interest in the people around her endearing. 

“Would you like to see it? It’s pretty impressive,” he offered.

Kestia nodded her head eagerly. “If that’s alright of course. I’ve always thought cybernetics were fascinating, particularly the advances that have been made over the last few years, but what Tech described seemed even more groundbreaking than that.”

Echo gently tugged the glove off of his hand, revealing the metal limb underneath. Kestia leaned forward, inspecting it carefully. 

“May I?” she asked, and he nodded. Gingerly, she took his arm in her hands and turned it over, inspecting the interface at his elbow. “It’s truly remarkable. And you have full use of it?”

“Not quite yet. Tech said it would take a little while for the limb to understand my neural signals. That’s why I’ve been flexing it all day. I could only wiggle a few fingers this morning.”

“Extraordinary,” she breathed. “May I test your grip?”

When he nodded, she clasped his hand as if she were greeting him, and he gave it a firm squeeze. 

“How was that?”

“A respectable handshake,” she replied, grinning at him, and he returned the smile. “Very impressive progress if you were only able to wiggle fingers this morning. And your scomp?” Echo demonstrated the slicing mechanism, and the queen’s face lit up. “He said he very much wanted you to retain that capability. Absolutely ingenious.”

Echo huffed a laugh as he pulled his glove back on. “Careful telling him that. It’ll go straight to his head.”

She giggled quietly as she resumed walking, her expression seamlessly shifting to something more neutral as they stepped out from behind the hedge. “He doesn’t strike me as someone with an ego.”

“You’d be surprised.”

They walked in silence for several more moments before she spoke again. “There’s something bothering you.”

Echo did his best to keep his expression unchanged. “How can you tell?”

She shrugged slightly. “I’m good at reading people.”

Echo looked at her, but her eyes were facing forward. He could see the monarch had fully returned, a very different person from the woman that had just been excitedly inspecting his hand moments ago. He considered his words carefully. “You weren’t honest with us. About who’s after you.”

“Surely you can understand why.”

“Of course I can. But it makes it more difficult to build any sort of trust between all of us, and in our line of work, trust is either the key to your survival or the thing that gets you killed.”

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, arching a dark eyebrow at him slightly. “You suspect I am hiding more?”

His tongue darted out to wet his lips nervously, and he did his best to ignore the heat creeping up his neck. “It is certainly hard to tell, ma’am.”

She nodded. “I understand your skepticism.”

Something about her lack of emotion bothered Echo. “You aren’t denying my accusation though.”

“I would hardly call that an accusation,” she joked dryly.

They’d made it around a corner, and with no one in sight, Echo stepped in front of her. The queen wasn’t quite as tall as he was, but her green eyes bored into him as he leaned close, keeping his voice low. “Alright. I think there’s more you’re not telling us, Kestia.”

For half a moment, he was worried he’d crossed a line. His spine straightened out of instinct as she silently observed him for a moment. She didn’t seem intimidated at all, having not even taken a step back to put space between them. If anything, he swore the corners of her mouth were upturned slightly in amusement as her green irises burned into his brown ones. She took a breath, her expression shifting to something more serious. 

“I need you all to trust that I’ve told you what is relevant to your assignment. More than I probably should have. Can you do that?” Her tone was apologetic, but it was clear she would be giving nothing else away. 

Echo nodded reluctantly. “I can m’lady, but surely you realize ‘trust me that I’m telling you what you need to know’ doesn’t exactly sit well with soldiers that were lied to all of their lives about the purpose of their existence.”

“Your purpose?”

Echo met her eyes again. “Surely you heard the rumors.” When she didn’t reply, he continued. “We were never meant to protect the Republic. We were meant to destroy it, even if it was against our will. The inhibitor chips made sure of that.”

Kestia studied his face for what felt like hours even though he was sure it was only seconds before she spoke quietly. “I had friends that I lost at the end of the war, but I also understand what happened. I know the clones had no control over it, although the exact mechanism to compel you and your brothers is still a bit fuzzy in the public eye. A chip?” He nodded, pushing up his helmet just enough to reveal the small scar on his head. The queen’s expression darkened for a moment, a rage flickering across her serene expression. Echo had to fight the urge to step back from the heat of it, but in the space between two heartbeats, the anger in her eyes shifted to sadness. She placed her hand on his arm. “I do not blame any of you, although I am sure you blame yourselves. I also understand how that can make trust a difficult thing to come by for those you interact with.” She sighed, giving him a small, tight smile. “However, you’re going to have to trust me for now, as I trust you with my life.”

Echo chewed the inside of his cheek as the two of them . He was uneasy, and Crosshair’s words ricocheted  in the back of his mind. 

They’re still hiding something.

After the conversation they’d just had, he felt certain that was true. But what else could he do? He dipped his head in concession.

“Understood, m’lady.”

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