#max writes things

Mornings on Pabu were so peaceful. The breeze rustled the trees, carrying with it the soothing scent of ocean brine. The early morning rays filtered through the thin curtains at the window and warmed Leli's face as she lay in bed listening to the gentle crash of the waves against the shoreline. The sound was almost enough to lull her back to sleep. She much preferred it over the sound of traffic. Life was slow here. It had been a big adjustment coming from the hustle and bustle of Coruscant, but the island had grown on her. She still missed the city, and the salty sea air had made her curls untenable, but she could honestly see herself building a life here. A place where her kids could grow up happy and safe...

C R A S H

The sound made her bolt upright.

Spoke too soon.

Instinctively she reached out for Echo, but her hand landed against the empty mattress. His side of the bed lay in a disheveled heap. Her stomach dropped and her heart started beating a mile a minute, shaking any remnants of sleep from her system. No matter how remote Pabu may be, Leli knew the state of the galaxy and she wasn’t going to take any chances, not with her sons’ safety on the line.

She unlocked the drawer of her nightstand and pulled out the blaster that Rex had given her. Slowly, she made her way out of the room, creeping silently down the hallway to check the boys’ room. Fear gripped her heart when she saw their beds empty, but she steeled herself and made her way towards the source of the noise.

The acrid smell of smoke hung in the air. Had someone set their house on fire? Leli’s grip tightened around the frame of the blaster, finger resting against the trigger guard, ready and waiting. Hushed commotion came from the kitchen, muffled voices carried out into the hall. She pressed forward, her back pressed against the wall as she neared the kitchen entrance. As she drew closer, the voice became clearer.

"Quinn get your fingers out of the batter-”

“SKYLAR DO NOT TOUCH THAT"

"Be careful Sky, you're gonna drop all the eggs.”

“Quinn please, save some berries for your mother.”

She heard Echo before she saw him and it made her smile. She pressed a hand against her chest, relief flooding her system.  All the tension left her body in an instant, shoulders sagging as she let out a soft sigh.She peered around the corner to see what all the fuss was and it took everything in her to keep from bursting into a fit of laughter. 

The kitchen was a disaster. The sink was piled high with dishes and the counter was barely visible, littered with various ingredients and utensils. A wad of soggy paper towels lay on the floor, floating in what looked to be about a half gallon’s worth of spilled milk.

Echo stood at the center of it all, covered in pancake batter and looking more exhausted than she’d ever seen. Their twin sons, Quinn and Sky, sat on the counter giggling amidst the chaos.

“I thought you boys were gonna help me.” He grumbled, scomp arm resting on his hip. Sky’s face lit up.

“I help, boo!” He exclaimed proudly. The nearly three year old reached over, picked up an egg in his chubby toddler hands and promptly cracked it right onto the counter. 

Echo deflated, shoulders sagging as he looked at the mess. 

“Thank you, son. That was very helpful.” He sighed, voice dripping with sarcasm that was lost on the twins. 

Not one to be outdone, Quinn puffed out his chest and reached for the nearest thing. “I help too, boo!”

“Wait no-!”

Before Echo could stop him Quinn tipped the box of pancake mix off the counter. It looked like a smoke grenade had gone off in the kitchen, the whole room disappeared in a puff of white as the box hit the floor. When the dust settled the kitchen and her family were coated in a thin layer of mix. Leli had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. The scene was just too precious.

Echo scrubbed his hand over his face, smearing some stray pancake batter in the process. Quinn and Sky sat giggling away on the counter, looking like two mischievous powdered donuts, extremely pleased with the mess they had made. Echo, however, was not nearly as pleased. He was all pursed lips and furrowed brow, arms crossed over his chest as he eyed the culprits.

“Uh-oh.” Quinn ducked his head, trying and failing to look even slightly apologetic, unable to wipe the grin from his face.  

“Uh-oh is right, kid.” Echo huffed. “Mom’s not gonna be happy if she sees this.”

“In his defense,” Leli said finally, stepping out from her hiding place and leaning against the entryway to the kitchen. "You kinda set yourself up for that one, Eck."

"Angel!" Echo turned to face her, wide-eyed. He smoothed a hand over his ruined apron--her apron-- and leaned against the counter in a feeble attempt to obscure the mess. "Ah- you're awake." 

"Kinda hard to sleep when I’ve got an active warzone in my kitchen."

"Fair enough,.” His eyes drifted down to the blaster hanging at her side. “Whoa, what were you planning on doing with that?"

"I take my beauty sleep very seriously." She said, flipping the safety on before placing the blaster high up in one of the cabinets, far away from curious toddler hands. Echo chuckled at that. 

"No kidding."

Leli dusted off one of her sons, ruffling his dark brown curls, then scooped him up in her arms, resting him on her hip. Sky nuzzled close to her, smearing remnants of egg over the exposed skin of her neck as he wrapped his arms around her. She scrunched up her nose at the feeling. 

"Care to explain yourselves boys?" 

Echo grinned sheepishly in response, rubbing his hand along the back of his neck. 

"Well we were gonna try and surprise you with breakfast in bed, but uh-- things didn’t quite go according to plan.” 

You can say that again.

Leli’s eyes scanned over the messy countertop; amidst the chaos sat a plate of pancakes, slightly burnt and messily topped with whipped cream and strawberries (though it looked like someone had already taken a few bites from them). Her heart swelled at the sight.

“Sorry about the mess. I'll clean it up, I swear.”

“I know,” She said playfully, though it sounded more like ‘you’d better’. Her gaze shifted between the mess on the counter and the mess that was her family. “You did all this for me?”

“It’s not much,” Echo said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. Leli looked up at him, her smile bright enough to give the rising sun a run for its money. There may have been tears in her eyes, but her couldn’t be sure

“It’s perfect.” She stepped towards him and placed a gentle kiss to his cheek, careful to avoid the smear of batter. “Thank you so much.”

Leli gave each of the twins a little kiss in turn, grinning at their delighted little squeals. Echo deftly scooped Quinn up with his good arm and leaned into Leli, placing a kiss to her temple.

“I don’t like this,” Echo said for the hundredth time that afternoon.

“Ya know, I’m starting to see why your brothers named you Echo,” Leli smirked, pulling the poncho Rex had given to her over her head. After all the missions she’d done with Rex, she still did not understand the train of thought that led all clones to think that poncho = civilian. 

Echo gave an unamused huff from where he sat in the corner of the boys’ room. She didn’t have to look at him to know he was pouting. It was that same kicked tooka look that he wore when Fives had approached her at 79’s back when the world still felt normal. Seeing him from across the bar with that cute little pout on his face made Leli’s heart flutter in her chest, and although that night felt like a lifetime ago, something just never changed.

She finished adjusting her new ensemble before walking over and placing a gentle kiss to his forehead. She felt some of the tension ease beneath her touch, but she could tell he wasn’t going to give this up anytime soon. She reached out to cradle his cheek in her hand, tilting his head up to place a chaste kiss on his lips. The kiss was far too short for Echo’s liking. When Leli pulled away he chased after her, but she stood up straight, a satisfied smirk dancing across her lips. 

“Relax, will ya? I’ve run this sort of mission dozens of times,” Once the war had ended, Rex found himself short on allies. She had found him waiting for her outside of her apartment in the lower levels of Coruscant and had been helping him anyway she could ever since. 

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it,” In fact, it made him dislike it even more, but he would never admit it. 

“Quit worrying trooper, I can take care of myself,” 

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” He grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. It wasn’t a lie, not fully anyway. Leli wasn’t a soldier, sure, but she had never been one to shy away from a fight, especially when it came to defending clones. It was one of the things Echo loved about her--the passionate way she defended him and his brothers touched him so deeply, but it had gotten her into more than her fair share of trouble over the years. Now, more than ever he was worried for her safety. If anything happened to her or the boys, he would never forgive himself. But something else about this mission just didn’t sit well with him. 

His eyes followed her as she moved about the room to continue prepping for tonight. She tucked the counterfeit chain codes Rex had given her into the pouch at her hip then made her way towards the two cribs that sat against the far wall of the room. Leli bent down and plucked one of the twins from his crib, cradling him gently against her chest. Based on all the fussing, he knew it must have been Sky. 

Over the last few months, Echo had committed the twins’ disparate mannerisms to memory. The events of the Citadel and his imprisonment at the hands of the Techno Union (as well as his own insecurity) had robbed him of the first year or so of their life and he was determined to make up for lost time. Quinn was typically calm, he rarely cried and went down for naps without a fight. Sky on the other hand was a menace. 

He takes after Fives, Leli had joked the day that Echo had finally met the twins. He’s always up to something.

At the time, Echo did not understand how an infant could be “up to something”, but after the first week with the boys, he understood completely. 

Once Sky had stopped fussing, Leli adjusted him so that he was settled on her hip. She smoothed her hand over the small tuft of curls on his head and pressed a kiss into his hairline. The sight made Echo’s heart melt. He stood up from his seat and made his way towards her. 

“The boys will be alright too,” She said, her tone more serious. “I would never let anything happen to them,” 

“I know that,”He said softly, stepping closer to her. And he meant it. Leli had managed to take care of the boys on her own for so long. Echo knew that she was more than capable of keeping them safe. 

Sky babbled happily on her hip, unaware of the conversation taking place between his parents, drool dribbling steadily down his chin. Before he could think better of it, Echo reached out his hand and wiped Sky's chin, then  grimaced at the mess it had made of his glove. The look on his face made Leli snort. He wiped his hand on his blacks before smoothing her hair back behind her ear. Leli scrunched up her face at the residual dampness which made Echo let out a snort of his own.

“Then why are you so worried?” She questioned with a smile. Kriff, he loved that smile. Echo bristled.

“Who said I was worried?” He tried playing defense, but Leli was not having it.

“You did, now spill”She shifted her grasp on Sky and placed her now free hand on her hip. Echo knew there was no getting out of this one. The ex-ARC trooper sighed, bending down to pick up the neglected Quinn from his crib in an attempt to buy himself more time. The action was still a bit awkward as he tried to use his scomp as minimally as possible, but he was starting to get the hang of it. 

He held Quinn against his chest the same way that Leli had and relished in the warmth of his son pressed up against him. He would never get tired of this feeling, even when the boys decided to spit up on him. 

Leli tapped her foot impatiently, but couldn’t help the smile that spread across her lips at the image before her. It was a sight she thought she would never get to see, a little different than she had imagined, sure, but it was still a sight she would treasure forever. Echo met her gaze sheepishly before turning his gaze back to Quinn with a heavy sigh. 

“I just don’t like this mission, alright?” Echo frowned. The mission itself was simple enough. They were essentially smuggling a deserter off world and into the outer rim where they would theoretically be beyond the reach of the Empire. It was a standard operation for Rex and his men, Echo knew that. But it was the way in which they were going about it that got under his skin. 

Smuggling a single clone trooper onto an off-world transport was tricky. They were more likely to be recognized if they were traveling alone. A family however--

Echo scowled at the thought. He knew that the twins made Leli the perfect candidate for this role, but he still didn’t like it. The thought of someone else cosying up next to her, even if it was one of his brothers, bothered him to no end.

 A knowing grin split across Leli’s face as she watched Echo wrestle with his thoughts. She let out a bark of laughter that made him look up. 

“Awww look Sky,” she cooed playfully. “Buir’s jealous.”

Heat crept up Echo’s neck and his cheeks dusted an adorable shade of pink that only added to Leli’s amusement. Echo sputtered a bit, desperately searching for a reply. 

“Am not!” Was the best he could come up with. 

“Are too,” Leli smirked, leaning in to press a kiss to his flushed cheek. “You’re upset that I have to pretend to be someone’s wife.”

She had hit the nail right on the head, but Echo was too proud to admit it. 

“No,” He said lamely, letting out an exasperated huff before trying another excuse. “I just don’t like this mission. You sneaking onto a transport past imperial security with the boys.”

“Technically I’m not sneaking. I do have a boarding pass, ya know.” She said, her tone remained playful as she grinned at the flustered clone before her.

“There’s too many variables. What if something goes wrong?”

“Nothing is going to go wrong. And if it does, my husband will be there to protect me,” She teased. Echo scrunched his face at her use of the word husband. His face was so red he could've passed for an imperial guard. Leli let out another bark of laughter. The look on Echo’s face was priceless and she wished she could snap a holo of it for future reference. 

“Very funny,” Echo rolled his eyes, lightly bouncing the baby in his arms. Quinn snoozed soundly against his father’s chest, completely unfazed by the events unfolding around him. In this moment, Echo envied his son. 

“Aw don’t be like that Eck, I’m only teasing you,” She purred, stepping close enough to rest her head on his shoulder. “And besides,” She placed a kiss at the base of his neck that made him shiver. “You’re cute when you’re jealous.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Echo grumbled, but he couldn’t hide the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips. He rested his head against hers, drinking in the moment. 

A beat of tender silence passed between them before he spoke again, voice barely above a whisper.

“I am worried, though.” He murmured against the top of her head.

“Everything’s going to be fine, Echo. I promise.” She replied, pulling back to look into his beautiful deep brown eyes. “You’ll be there to watch my back, won’t you?”

“Always, cyare.” His breath fanned against her face as he leaned down to capture her lips in a gentle kiss. 

The Havoc Marauder was docked in a sleepy spaceport on an equally sleepy outer rim planet. The sun shone brightly overhead. All was quiet and peaceful. Well, outside of the Marauder at least…

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

“C’mon Tech!” A voice boomed from within the ship’s hold. Wrecker sat square in the middle of a grubby old couch, watching impatiently as Tech fiddled with the device in his hands. “Hurry up will ya? You’ve been at this forever”

“That statement is factually incorrect,” Tech said flatly. “Now, if you would stop complaining and allow me to work I would finish much faster.” Tech moved the analog sticks this way and that, adjusting sliders and calibrating settings until they were what he deemed ‘optimal’. 

“Is he still fiddling?” Echo entered the makeshift living room clutching a bowl of what looked to be homemade Mantell Mix if you squint hard enough. He made his way over to the couch, stepping over the rat’s nest of cables that covered the floor of the hold. Their gaming setup was rigged quite precariously. One misstep, one snagged wire, and it would all come crumbling down.

“Optimizing,” Tech said, the slightest hint of annoyance coloring his tone. “and I am almost finished.”

“You said that ten minutes ago,” Wrecker groaned through a mouthful of “Mantell Mix”. He’d shoved his hand into the bowl the second Echo sat down, spilling a considerable amount into his brother’s lap. Wrecker coughed and sputtered, grimacing at the flavors that assaulted his tongue. “Tha’ tastes terrible,”

The glare Echo shot his brother could’ve cut glass.

“Don’t talk with your mouthful,” Was all he said, brows furrowed and arms wrapped protectively around the bowl. This was the last time he’d try doing something nice for Wrecker. He leaned his body hard into the couch’s heavily stained arm when the large clone inevitably went for another handful. “Get your own! And scoot over, will ya? Other people have to sit here too.”

“Careful Wrecker,” A smug voice called from the shadows. “You’ve activated mom mode.” 

Crosshair draped himself over the back of the couch, meeting Echo’s glare with a satisfied smirk. The ex-ARC trooper huffed.

“You’re lucky I’m not your mother, you’d all be grounded indefinitely.” Wrecker clapped Echo on the back, spilling even more of the mix onto the floor.

“HA! I’d like to see you try,” Wrecker laughed. Echo’s glare turned into a pout as he hugged the bowl closer to his chest. He opened his mouth to scold Wrecker, but was cut off when Tech cleared his throat.

“If you are quite finished, we are ready to begin.”

“FINALLY”

Tech managed to squeeze in beside Wrecker on the small couch. He was still amazed that they had actually managed to fit this particular piece of furniture in here, though Wrecker always had a knack for cramming useless items into the Marauder. Tech pressed the ‘x’ button on the controller to confirm his newly optimized settings and the game’s title flashed across the holoscreen before them. 

Resident Evil 4

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

“Get in here, Hunter! You’re missin’ all the action!” Wrecker called, bouncing with excitement as Tech maneuvered the player character through the twisted ruins of a dilapidated farmhouse.

“I do not believe that this domicile can be deemed liveable,” Tech remarked as he examined what looked to be a simmering pot of rotted offal. Echo scoffed, eyes scanning over the wires, junk, and literally garbage littered about the ship. Don’t even get him started on the smell.

Hunter made his way out from the cockpit just in time to hear Wrecker scream as a hostile took hold of Leon. Unfazed, Tech began rapidly pressing buttons in a sequence that ended with a hunting knife lodged in his assailant’s neck. 

Hunter swiped a hand over his face and sighed. He could feel the beginnings of a headache pressing against his skull, but he was determined to spend some quality time with his brothers. This was going to be a long day.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

“We should probably get the scope.” Echo suggests as the brothers bickered over the merchant's wares.

“Don’t waste your money,” Crosshair said through his toothpick. As if to prove a point, he plucked the small sliver of wood and flicked it away. It bounced off two walls and Wreckers forehead before landing in the garbage bin that Echo didn’t even know they had.

“More storage space would be quite useful given that Wrecker insists on picking up every explosive he comes across,” Tech stated, casting a pointed side eye at his largest brother.

“Hey! We need the ammo!” Wrecker defended, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Maybe if you were a better shot,” Crosshair snarked from his perch at the back of the couch.

“I’d like to see you do better” Wrecker was pouting now, craning his neck to glare at Crosshair.

“Hand over the controller then, di’kut,”

“Play nice you two,” Echo warned from beside Wrecker. His bowl of mix had long since been emptied, but he still held it tightly in his lap.

“Yes mom,” Wrecker and Crosshair sang in unison, causing Echo to scowl. 

“OOO! We should get the treasure map!” Omega called out excitedly, emerging from her hiding spot beside the couch to try and wrench the controller from Tech’s hands. The goggled clone lifted the controller out of her reach with ease, looking mildly offended at the attempt. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Hunter called out, placing a hand on her shoulder to still her. “You shouldn’t be here. This game is too scary for you.” Dad mode: Activated.

“Aw, but Wrecker said I could,” Omega whined.

“Yeah! S’not tha’ scary.”

“Says the one who's been cowering behind Lula the whole time.”

“You leave Lula outta this!” Wrecker cradled his beloved tooka plushie close to his chest.

“I thought I told you two to play nice.”

“Sorry mom”

“S T O P calling me that!” Echo gave yet another exasperated huff and went back to watching the screen. Tech was silently examining the weapon upgrades, trying to determine which to expend their very limited funds on. “Besides, Hunter’s right, Omega. This game is rated M for Mature.”

“Wrecker should definitely not be here then” Tech remarked, eyes still glued to the screen.

“HEY”

“Please Hunter,” Omega begged, drawing out her vowels as she looked at the ex-sergeant with the biggest puppy dog eyes he’d ever seen. He didn’t stand a chance.

“Fine,” Hunter sighed. Echo rolled his eyes and shook his head. His brother never could say no to Omega.

“Pushover”

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

“Wait, go back!” 

“No, not that way!”

“You missed a crate back there!”

“I think I see something on the ceiling!”

“WATCH OUT FOR THAT GUY ON YOUR LEFT!”

The gaming controller was not exactly scomp friendly, so Echo had been forced to take a back seat on this activity. 

“It's for the best, '' Crosshair had joked. “I always heard the Regs were terrible shots.”

“You want to test that theory out for yourself” Echo had challenged, chest puffed with pride and shoulders squared. Crosshairs smirk widened, eyebrows quirked with intrigue. 

“I’d love to-”

“No!” Hunter barked, and that had been the end of it.

Echo had resolved to make the best of a bad situation. Just because he was in the backseat didn’t mean he couldn’t be useful, right? It had begun innocently enough. He would occasionally call out something his brothers had missed or warn them of a hidden enemy. But as the session dragged on, Echo’s “help” had become marginally less helpful.

“You’re supposed to shoot those ones in the head,” Echo remarked as the ‘You Are Dead’ screen flashed up for what felt like the hundredth time this session. That simple phrase had seemingly been the last straw for Tech.

“Echo, if you do not cease your backseat gaming, I will stun you.” Tech threatened, pressing the continue button with more force than was necessary. 

“Just tryna be helpful,” Echo grumbled, slumping back against the couch.

“And while the occasional assistance is appreciated, you do not need to tell me how to play the game. I am well aware,”

“Well maybe if you played better-”

“Do not start with me, Wrecker,”

They carried on in silence for several minutes until the death screen inevitably reappeared before them.

“You didn’t shoot him in the head,”

Hunter wordlessly gripped Tech by the shoulder and shoved him firmly back down on the couch before he could reach for his blaster.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

“I told you we should’ve bought the scope,” Echo tutted as both Tech and Wrecker struggled to take down an enemy manning a turret. 

“No need,” Crosshair scoffed as a pair of long spindly legs crested over the back of the couch and shimmied between Wrecker and Tech. “Move over losers, it’s Crosshair’s time to shine,”

Cross took the controller from his brother’s hand. The room went silent as he lined up the shot…

And it erupted in raucous laughter when he promptly missed.

“Nice shot, Cross,” Wrecker cackled, wiping a tear from his eye. Crosshair scowled and Hunter quickly ripped the controller from Crosshair’s hands before he could bludgeon Wrecker with it. The sniper was fuming and resigned himself to sulking in the background for the rest of the evening, all the while muttering about poorly designed game mechanics. 

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

“Hello, Beautiful,” Wrecker leaned forward towards the holoscreen. A goofy grin spread across his face and his eyes sparkled at the sight before him. Wrecker was so excited that he was practically drooling over the latest addition to the merchant’s stock: a kriffin’ rocket launcher! In Wrecker’s mind, this game just got a thousand times better. “Oh yeah! Now tha’s what I’m talkin’ about!”

“There is no room for that in our inventory,” Tech announced, quickly quelling his brother’s excitement as he resumed scrolling through the merchant’s wares for a more pragmatic purchase. 

“I’ll make room,” Wrecker moved to snatch the controller from Tech. The attempt was easily avoided; it had become such a regular occurrence during this session of gaming that Tech had begun to do it on instinct and it was beginning to get on his nerves if he was being completely honest. 

“We do not need a rocket launcher. And besides, we can’t afford it.” At 30,000 pesetas, the rocket launcher sat well out of their limited budget, and that was before the upgrades and repairs that needed to be made to their arsenal. 

“Sell some of those health sprays then,” Wrecker grumbled, still determined to get that rocket launcher. His habit for making impulse purchases was exactly why he was no longer allowed to hold the controller when they approached the merchant. “Who needs five health sprays anyway?”

“You do,” Tech stated matter-of-factly, adjusting his goggles so that he could better read the item descriptions before continuing. “Seeing as you refuse to take anything less than significant damage whenever you are in control. However I do not understand the logic behind the first aid sprays. Given the type of injuries we sustain simply spraying-”

“I do not!” Wrecker spat, ignoring Tech’s ramblings and cutting him off before he could delve any further into the medical inaccuracies of a fictional world.

“You walked into three consecutive bear traps and a tripwire on your last turn, vod,” Echo recounted. With nothing to do other than spectate, Echo began keeping track of his brothers’ fumblings, but kept them mostly to himself to avoid being stunned. 

“‘S’not my fault I couldn't see ‘em’” Wrecker grumbled. “We had to adjust the brightness so someone could see the screen.” 

“My eyesight is not to blame for your lack of skill.”

“Why you-”

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

The sun had long since slipped below the horizon, and the night carries on in much the same fashion as the day, both within the Marauder as well as without. The stars shone brilliantly overhead. The night was still, the quiet punctuated only by the bickering and booming laughter that echoed against the durasteel walls from within the modified attack shuttle. 

Whenever the boys inevitably ran out of ammunition, they passed the controller to Hunter to melee’d his way through wave after wave of infected hostiles almost entirely unscathed. He managed to defeat one of the bosses armed with nothing but a hunting knife and a single green herb (Wrecker had depleted their stock of health items in record time).

“You brought a gun to a knife fight, osi’kovid,” Hunter muttered as he slashed wildly at a rather large man with a gatling gun. “Ne shab’rud’ni!”

Echo tried to cover Omega’s ears, silently cursing the fact that he only had one good hand. His Mom Mode had been thrown into overdrive.

“LANGUAGE!”

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

The crew of the havoc marauder had no idea how much time had passed since they’d begun, too engrossed in the game to get up for anything more than a quick trip to the ‘fresher.