Chapter Text
PART ONE- KYLA
“Kyla?” Rex asked, bringing her back from wherever she’d been while considering his offer. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.
“Sorry, yeah?” she asked, meeting her friend’s gaze.
“What do you think? Are you willing to take the job?” he repeated, smiling slightly. Kyla nodded slowly.
“Of course. I’ve missed flying.” ever since funds had run low, and she had had to sell her ship, Kyla had been grounded. This was a perfect opportunity to get back in on the action, and back amongst the stars. Rex grinned, and she grinned back at him. He handed her a data chip.
“This has the coordinates to their ship, their Sergeant’s comm channel, as well as codes for your GAR credit savings.”
“Awesome!” she smiled, pocketing the chip. Rex grabbed his helmet, and made to leave.
“See you around?” she waved
“Of course. Don't get in too much trouble without me. We wouldn't want a repeat of Thabeska, would we?” he teased. Kyla groaned in exaggerated exasperation.
“Listen, that was all Jesse and you know it.”
“Suuuuure” He pulled on his helmet, saluted casually, and exited. Kyla sat down, mind buzzing. She was finally getting to fly again! And work with more clones! Double win! She pulled out the chip Rex had given her and plugged it into her dataport. She watched as dozens of files appeared. She selected the files on the Clone Squad she’d be working with, biting her lip curiously as the files appeared. Rex had said these clones were different, but seeing their files was a whole different thing. She selected the individual files.
CT-9901 [HUNTER]. A tall clone sporting a half-skull face tattoo, with long hair tied back with a bandana. Kyla’s eyes drifted over his well built features, admiring how a few strands of hair escaped the bandana and curled slightly just above his eyes.
CT-9902 [TECH]. An even taller clone, with a receding hairline and massive goggles. His lips were pursed, but his eyes displayed a certain excitement.
CT-9903 [WRECKER]. An even taller clone (seriously, how tall were these guys?). He was bald, and had a slightly crazed look in his eyes, smiling maniacally.
CT-9904 [CROSSHAIR]. A taller than average clone, thin and wiry with grey hair and, fittingly, sported a crosshair tattoo over his right eye. He had a sour look on his face, and looked exactly like the type of person one would do best to avoid.
Kyla took note of their files, reading a bit about their enhancements and perfect field record. Well, if anything, this would be interesting.
Over the next couple of hours, she packed up her belongings, separating them into what she would take, and what she would leave to Jexna, her kindly middle-aged Zabrak landlady. There wasn't much, but it was still sad to see it go. She placed her small pile of stuff in Jexna’s office, hugged her goodbye and went up to her room to lock up. As she pulled on her backpack, and shut her small window for the last time, she heard a knock on the door. Curious, she pressed the button, and the door slid open to reveal Fives and Echo.
“Well hey! If it isn't my favourite civvie!” Fives grinned. Kyla flung herself into his arms. He gave her a quick squeeze and she moved on to Echo. As she finally relinquished the clones, she took a step back, grinning uncontrollably.
“I haven't heard from you two in so long! How’s it going!” Echo recounted a brief summary of their adventures over the last couple months. It appeared that Skywalker had gotten himself into quite a few messes, as expected, and, equally unsurprisingly Kenobi and Ahsoka had been the ones to bail him out. Kyla chuckled, and Echo cleared his throat.
“I uh, had forgotten why we’re here. Rex told us about your new assignment and we wanted to take you there.” he explained. Fives nodded.
“I've only heard about Clone Force 99. I honestly didn't believe they were real before today. Kriff, I won't believe it until you get on that shuttle!” Kyla smiled. These definitely were Fives and Echo. It was nice to see them. It had been far too long.
“Well boys? Shall we?” She said, flicking off the lights and locking the door.
“Got your comm?” Echo asked. Kyla nodded. “Some rations?” Kyla nodded again. “A couple changes of clothes?”
“Yes mother, I have everything.” she teased, elbowing him in the ribs playfully. Fives chuckled.
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PART TWO- HUNTER
“Alright boys, listen up!” Hunter called over the racket. Tech popped his head out of a maintenance shaft, looking mildly annoyed. Wrecker looked up from his ration bar, and Crosshair ignored him completely, disassembling and reassembling his rifle. “We’ve got a new crew member joining the squad.”
“WhAT?” Hunter wasn’t sure which of his brothers had spoken, but they all seemed to be asking the same question.
“Like, another clone like us?” Wrecker asked, scratching his head in confusion. Hunter shook his head.
“No, I just got word from command. Female Human. Served on several missions for the 501st legion. She’s a pilot.” Crosshair set his weapon aside, twisting his toothpick in his mouth.
“She? We’re letting a woman on board?” he scowled. Tech adjusted his goggles, smirking slightly
“I seem to recall you letting many women on board, Crosshair.” Wrecker guffawed, clapping Crosshair hard across the back.
“He’s got you there!” he whooped. Hunter sighed.
“Well, like it or not, she arrives today at 1400. We need to be ready. That means cleaning– no dirty blacks on the floor –and we’ll want to pull out the built-in cot from the wall, so she can sleep. We can probably attach a curtain so she has some privacy.”
“I’ll set up her room!” Wrecker beamed. Crosshair stomped off to go perch on his bunk. Tech sighed.
“I suppose that means I’m on laundry duty.” Hunter nodded. He left his brothers to it, and went to the cockpit. He plugged in their pilot’s file, and scrolled through. She had been born on Naboo, and had lost her parents at a young age. She had saved up money doing odd jobs, smuggling, Hunter suspected, although it wouldn't say that on her record. He continued scrolling, and eventually a holo of her popped up, and Hunter froze. She had deep green eyes, with little flecks of brown in them. Her dark brown hair was cut short, just below her chin, and she had a determined look on her face. Her jaw was set, and she looked ready to take on the world. Hunter shook himself and turned his gaze to her near-perfect flight records.
This would be interesting.