Confined
Summary: The Batch are grounded on Kamino but are unsure why. Takes place after Echo joins but before they meet Omega. (Read it on AO3)
“Crosshair, if you flick a toothpick at me one more time I’m going to stab you in the eye with it,”
“Nice talk, Reg. I’d like to see you try,” Crosshair spat, as Echo scowled and sank into his hammock.
A sheet of rain slammed against the window of their bunk room. They had been grounded for days and the tension was starting to get too much for them all. Hunter wasn’t sure why they were able to stay civil on the Marauder, in much tighter quarters, but when stuck in the sterile halls of Kamino, friction erupted quickly. Maybe Kamino just brought out the worst in them.
“Easy fellas,” Hunter said in a warning growl.
“How long do we have to be stuck here, anyway?” Wrecker wined from his bunk, tossing his tookah doll, Lula, in the air and catching her.
“If I knew that I would have told you already,” Hunter said grumpily.
“Perhaps you could use the time to clean your bunk. You still haven’t located the origin of the smell,” Tech said, without looking up from his latest project.
“You’re one to talk,” Echo said looking at Tech’s bunk scattered with machinery, wires, bolts and other detritus.
Tech raised an eyebrow to his newest brother, “While my bunk isn’t up to regulation standards it isn’t the biohazard Wrecker’s is,”
“Yeah? Well, at least I clean myself. When was the last time you hit the fresher?” Wrecker asked accusingly.
“I’ll have you know that…”
Hunter pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh. They all needed to get out of here before they killed each other.
“Where are you going?” Crosshair asked as Hunter crossed to the door.
“Don’t they usually come to us?” Tech asked.
“Yeah, but I’m tired of waiting. Aren’t you?”
With the whoosh of the door, he disappeared into the bright, clinical hallways of Kamino.
Hunter made his way through the winding halls of Kamino. He wished he’d thought to grab his helmet. The bright, white light of the halls almost made him squint, and his helmet was the perfect buffer.
He wasn’t really sure how to go about getting their orders. He could go to the command room, but most of the time the Regs didn’t have anything for them. Their missions came from unknown sources, whichever commander happened to be in the room when someone asked for them. But at least he was doing something, and out of the stifling bunk room with his baying brothers.
He weaved in and out through Kaminoan medical techs, hovering droids and Regs on their way to the mess. Two shinies made their way past him.
“What kind of armor is that?” Hunter heard one asked the other.
“Special ops. I think that’s one of the Kaminoan pets” the other responded with a grin.
“Yeah, the head scientist has her own group she runs experiments on,”
Hunter had stopped in his tracks, forcing others to walk around him.
“You got a problem, reg?” he asked, moving his way over to their side of the corridor. Both men, stopped, looking startled and flustered. Hunter hated how similar they looked to him, or him to them. They may have had regulation haircuts and been devoid of tattoos, but his own eyes stared back at him, and he despised it. He may not have quite reached their height, but he knew how to intimidate when he wanted to, and he wasn’t even trying this time.
“No, eh, everything’s, fine. Sorry.” One of them spluttered, searching his batch mates face for assistance. None was forthcoming.
“It’s Sergeant, or Sir.” Hunter said, authoritatively.
“Yes, sir,” the Regs said in unison.
“Your heart rate’s up a little,” Hunter said to the trooper on the left, “you might want to get that looked at.”
Hunter watched as they scurried away and smiled to himself. He knew he shouldn’t mess with the Regs as a sergeant, but they had started it. They deserved it. He was glad Crosshair wasn’t with him otherwise they both would have ended up in the med bay, and Hunter would have had a mountain of paperwork to complete.
Hunter rounded the corner and almost collided with a Kaminoan. On second glance he realized it was Nala-se. A medical droid hovered over her shoulder.
“CT-9901, we have been trying to locate you. You and your squad are required for testing.”
Hunter balked; they hadn’t been tested since their early missions in the field. What would be the point of doing so now?
“Why?” Hunter asked suspiciously.
Nala-Se ignored his question and began to walk in the direction he had just come from. “Your squad are already in the medical bay. This way.”
Hunter passed the two shinies on his way back through the corridors, the one on the left looking smug. He scowled but felt his cheeks burn as he was led to the med bay, like a creature on a leash.
The whurr of the droid’s boosters, the light of the hallway and the sterile smell of the medical wing all threatened to overwhelm his senses. He was relieved to be led into a large, dim ward and see his brothers each occupying a bed.
“What’s this about?” Crosshair snarled.
Hunter shrugged his shoulders, “What do you think, Tech? can you find out anything?”
Tech pushed his goggles up on his nose from the bunk at the far side of the room. He was bent over his data pad, feverishly pushing buttons.
“I have been searching since we were brought here. There is nothing in our files that would indicate the need for medical intervention. I doubt we will be informed. Short of asking Nala-Se directly.”
“Yeah, I already tried that,” Hunter grumbled.
His brothers were all stripped down to their blacks and Hunter started disassembling his armor without being asked. They had all been through enough Kaminoan experiments and tests over the years to know the drill by now.
When the door on the far side of the room whooshed open, Nala-Se entered, her large black eyes resting of each of the squad mates in turn.
“CT-1409. We shall start with you,”
Hunter watched Echo stand up obediently and give a reassuring nod to the sergeant. He followed the Kaminoan out of the room without a word.
“So, this was why we were grounded?” Wrecker asked
“Must be. Although why they didn’t schedule the tests remains a mystery. This is a deviation from standard procedure.” Tech responded, stroking his chin.
“Maybe this isn’t republic testing. Maybe it’s the Kammies checking up on us.” He said grimly. The four brothers exchanged looks. It had been a long time since they had been strictly under the jurisdiction of the Kaminoan’s. Once they had won their place in the field, they were Republic soldiers first, even if they were Nala-Se’s ‘pet project’. Hunter bristled as he thought of going back to the old way. The testing, the fear of deactivation. They had proved their worth again and again. He wouldn’t let his squad be turned back into science experiments. They’d leave before he let that happen.
It wasn’t too long before the door slid open again and Echo reentered the room. He gave a shrug as he sat down.
“CT-9901” Nala-Se said slowly from the doorway. The Kaminoa’s were nothing if not predictable. Always numerical order when testing.
Hunter gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile to his brothers and followed her out of the room and across the hall to a smaller exam room. The lights were brighter here. A large scanner sat in the middle of the room and Hunter hopped on without being asked.
Nala-se spoke briefly with another Kaminoan pressing buttons on the control panel before retreating. Hunter knew she would be lingering behind the mirror on the far side wall. She was never too far away from her experiments.
Hunter laid down when prompted. The metal bed beneath him was cold through his blacks. The lights above him left spots on his eyes and he closed them in an attempt to make them go away. The machine around him hummed to life, pulsing every few seconds. The sterile smell of bacta and disinfectant filled his nose, so much so he could taste it.
The humming of the machine grew louder. He felt warmth, then heat from either side of his head and knew that the scan was about to start. He felt the crackle of the electricity next to his ears and with a loud whirr, it began.
He opened his eyes long enough to see white light out of the corner of each eye. The warmth he had felt earlier began to slowly lick his skin, then penetrate his skull. It wasn’t painful. The sensation was one of heat, energy and vibration. It wasn’t pleasant but Hunter had received enough blaster bolts, stab wounds, bruises and other maladies over the years that this was tame by comparison.
He didn’t have a sense of how long it took but It ended as abruptly as it had started with no direction from the Kaminoan still in the room. Hunter focused on the glass and closed his eyes to see if he could hear anything. Nala-Se was keenly aware of his enhancements and usually refrained from speaking when he was around.
“…Due to the unusual cranial activity, it is difficult to determine whether it is functioning as intended. I hypothesize that until the order is given, we will not know more. Unless removal and analysis is required before hand.” Nala-Se spoke in her slow, sing-song voice.
“No. They are Kaminoan assets. Test the rest for our files and release them. We will keep a closer eye on them until it happens.”
Hunter couldn’t be sure, but the second voice sounded like the Kaminoan Prime minister, although why he would be involved in routine testing he didn’t know. He sat up on the bench and waited to be dismissed.
Nala-Se reentered the room, her pale, ghostly face indeterminable. She led him back across the hall where he could reclaim his place amongst his brothers.
Hunter watched as each brother in turn followed the scientist across the hall and back. Each one relaying the same experience he had had. Each none the wiser for why they were being tested and what for.
Crosshair was the last to follow Nala-Se. But after the standard time (fifteen minutes according to Tech) he didn’t return. Hunter stood up from his bed and started pacing the length of the room as Tech rattled off the reasons for the delay.
“Perhaps the machinery malfunctioned after repeated use. Or Crosshair could have assaulted one of the medical droids, it wouldn’t be the first time…”
“I don’t like it,” Echo said, “want me to scomp in and see what I can find?” he said, glaring at the astromech interface in the wall under the door panel.
“If you did, they would know,” Tech said with the air of someone stating the obvious. “I’m sure Crosshair can handle anything the Kaminoa’s can throw at him,”
As the time ticked on, and Crosshair failed to return the rest of the batch became as restless as Hunter. Tech’s leg had started to jiggle nervously, Echo’s scomp would whir absentmindedly and Wrecker followed behind Hunter, pacing the same path with heavy footfalls.
It was another forty-five minutes before their brother walked through the door. His shoulders were slumped, sweat beaded in his hairline and he cradled his head in his left hand as though nursing a particularly severe headache.
Nala-Se stood in the doorway, her lanky silhouette blocking out most of the glaring light of the hallway. “You are dismissed,” she stated formerly. “You will return to your barracks. Your new orders will follow shortly.”
“You okay, Cross?” Hunter asked as soon as the door had slid shut behind the Kaminoan.
Crosshair grunted a response. Tech picked up a med scanner from a nearby console and waived it over his brother.
“You seem in perfect health but perhaps we should return to our room to rest. We do not know what the new orders will be.”
Hunter nodded in agreement, “Wrecker, give Cross a hand.” The bruiser nodded and swung his arm under his slender brother, taking most of his weight.
Hunter lingered behind as the others followed them out. He did a double check of the room and his armor and doubled his stride to catch up. He’d told the others of the conversation he overheard but no one had an idea of what had just transpired, even Tech.
The atmosphere in their room was entirely different when Hunter walked through the door after their time in the med bay. His squad had scattered to their respective bunks. Wrecker had convinced Crosshair to lay down. The lights had been dimmed, a soft glow emitting from the fairy lights wrecker had made when they were cadets. The smell that had been so noxious to Hunter earlier had faded, or perhaps, he was just getting used to it.
Echo leaned over the side of his hammock as Tech showed him something amusing on his datapad. They both chuckled and leaned closer as Tech’s fingers danced over the keys.
Hunter sighed as he sank into his bunk and started slowly removing his armor again. The rain that had been hammering on the window earlier was lighter now, a restful patter that threatened to lull him to sleep.
He looked over at Crosshair, curled in the fetal position under the blanket Wrecker had lovingly pulled up to his shoulders. Hunter listened intently to his slow heartbeat and was satisfied that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Why had they kept Crosshair so much longer than the rest? He had been hoping to ask him but that seemed unlikely now.
They spoke to each other in quiet voices as Crosshair’s chest rose and fell slowly. There was a sense of relief that whatever the Kaminoan’s were testing for, they had all seemed to pass.
Tech had already hacked into their updated files but found no information about what the long necks were looking for. “I will check again in a few days. If something is there, I will find it.”
Interference by the Kaminoan’s always set Hunter off kilter. He had been lulled into a false sense of security, but today’s events reinstated the notion that their lives were not their own, and not the republics either.
The rest of the evening passed uneventfully. Crosshair was back to his old self after a few hours sleep although couldn’t tell them much about his experience. He didn’t seem to remember the testing.
The squad spent their remaining hours on Kamino spread around the large table in the center of the room. Tech’s projects had been pushed to the far end, much to his chagrin and Sabaac cards sat in front of each squad member.
“Who’s going first,” Wrecker asked, Lula tucked under his arm for luck.
“No using your enhancements,” Echo said, eyes narrowed at his new brothers but a smile on his lips.
“I can’t turn my ears off, Echo,” Hunter said with a laugh, “it’s not my fault your heart rattles in your chest like bantha in heat,”
“I was actually taking to The Brain,” Echo said, shooting a suspicious look at Tech.
“I am no more able to shut off my brain than Hunter his senses,” He replied matter-of-factly and he held his cards up to his goggles.
“Can we just get on with it?” Crosshair hissed. His eyes were still dark from his experience in the med bay, but otherwise he seemed back to his usually charming self.
“Don’t even think about flicking that at me,” Echo said, eyes narrowed at the toothpick in Crosshair’s hand.
“What are you gunna do about it, Reg?” Crosshair said, affectionately.
Hunter signed, a smile crossing his lips. He knew once their new orders came down, they would swing into action. He felt a twinge of worry at the events of the day but tried to push it to the back of his mind for now. He wanted to relax and enjoy the rare, peaceful time with his brothers. Whatever the future brought, he knew they would be able to handle it, together.
