My Unfortunate Fate

chapter 76

Hope keeps us alive.

Echo hovers above Rex and me, supported by wires plugged into his body. It takes us a few seconds to do anything due to the shock of this sight.

Echo's skin is white like a mynock, his legs and arm have been replaced by cybernetics and his bones protrude evidently through his skin. I would assume he is a carcass if not for his irises that twitch from side to side.

"Echo," Rex mutters worriedly. "Tech, we've got to get him out of here."

Rex climbs onto the console and grabs Echo. I help him lower his body to the floor, where we sit him down with his back to the console's structure.

"Can you figure out a way to unplug him from...this contraption?" I ask Tech.

He nods, indicating that he's on the task.

I count three wires attaching Echo to the pod and far more holes that have been dug into his skin. All this—three missing limbs, holes in his body and an algorithm feeding off of his brain—was caused by my inability to act when my friend—my brother—was in danger.

"Oh, Force, this is awful," I whisper, mostly to myself. "How could they do this to someone?"

Echo lunges forward, breaking out of his trance and Rex gently holds his shoulders. "We... We have to get to the shuttle..." he mutters, "...to escape the Citadel."

The Citadel. I'm somewhat relieved that those are the last memories Echo has of his life up until this point. I couldn't imagine having to remember the torture the Separatists must have put him through. At least, I assume those are his memories, but they may be some sort of traumatic flashbacks. I've had my fair share of those.

"No!" Echo rasps. "I'll go first."

"Echo," Rex and I say in unison, briefly turning to each other in surprise.

"No, no, no!" Echo rambles.

"Echo, it's us, Rex and y/n. We're here to help you."

Echo stares at me in disbelief, and in all honesty, I relate to his sentiment. He grabs my forearm weakly and says, "General? Rex? Y-you came back for me?"

"Yes," Rex says. Although his voice is steady, his appearance remains dishevelled. "Yes, we did."

"What... What happened? Where am I?" His jaw hangs loose and he glances around the room in a panic, appearing lost and confused. I cannot even imagine what he's going through, having been confined in a stasis chamber for years.

"It's okay, Echo," Rex reassures, taking his brother's hand in order to ground him. "You're safe now. Just sit tight, trooper; you're going home."

In a moment of clarity, I wonder whether those words might have been rehearsed—not for Echo, but for another brother Rex has lost. Fives. I wonder if saying these things to Echo is a sort of catharsis for him; what he wished he had, but never got to say to Fives, whom he watched die in his arms, far too soon and unexpectedly. If that's the case, I hope this delivers Rex some redemption for his guilt.

***

Waiting for Tech to finish disconnecting Echo's brain from the Techno Union interface is nerve-wracking. We could easily be overrun by droids if they have enough forces, and unplugging Echo preemptively might kill him. This process of waiting combines both those risks and the need for patience, which I've just discovered Rex doesn't excel in.

Someone runs into the room, dressed in black, shifting robes that I could recognize from a planetary system away. I stand up, allowing Rex to keep Echo aware of his reality in the meantime.