Chapter Text
When he first heard heavy footsteps outside the barracks door, Echo’s first thought was that somehow, Wooley must have been mistaken. The shiny had very clearly said that he was with Cody on the far side of the Negotiator, and there was no possible way that the commander could have crossed that distance in the time that had elapsed since Echo’s call.
But when the door hissed open to reveal a scowling, intimidating block of orange and white armor, the cyborg amended that thought with a second one; that, perhaps, General Kenobi hadn’t been exaggerating about Cody’s dislike of the Weequay whose vessel was quickly approaching their own.
The moment the commander opened his mouth, all doubt was erased on that score. “You have got to be kidding me.” Dark brown eyes seized onto Echo with lava-like intensity. “What’s the ETA?”
Echo was currently peeling Tech and Wrecker apart after the latter had interfered with the former’s transcription work, so he just shrugged, jerking one shoulder in a show of exhaustion that he hoped could be confused with eloquence. “No clue.”
“Of all the kriffing –” Cody broke off the rest of that sentence, presumably because of little ears, and growled instead.
Hunter suddenly popped up at his side, amber eyes glinting. “Grrrr,” he growled back happily.
Despite his attempt to quell it, Cody’s lips twitched.
“Don’t growl, Cody.” Obi-Wan’s gentle reprimand came in an unflustered, crisp accent, as if he too hadn’t just been thinking of ways to escape the impending meeting. He shook his head as the little tracker pounced onto Cody’s arm, kicking his feet happily while his older brother hefted him high in the air. “You’re teaching them things.”
Cody huffed and rolled his eyes. “Believe me,” he retorted, then grunted as a small boot thunked into his thigh plate. “I didn’t make them like this. This lot was decanted that way.”
“Hunter taught us how to growl,” Crosshair informed the Jedi, still snuggling his thin little frame into his new best friend’s ribs and warm robe. “He bites, too.”
“Only – oof.” Hunter’s grip slipped on Cody’s arm plating but before the commander could catch him, deft fingers had already caught a new handhold on his elbow. “Sometimes.”
Wrecker nodded proudly, as if biting one’s acquaintances only occasionally was something to be praised. Having been successfully rescued from an irritated Tech, he was now taking shelter behind Echo’s metal legs. “And only Kaminoans.”
“I hope he’s been vaccinated, then,” Obi-Wan chuckled. He had noticed Crosshair trying to lean further into his robe, and in one smooth motion, he slipped it from his shoulders and draped it over the young sniper. Crosshair squirmed until his face escaped the soft-spun folds, elation evident in his features, and let the Jedi pat his snowy head. “Who knows what diseases Kaminoans carry.”
Cody set Hunter lightly on the floor, the throb in his elbow reminding him that while cadets weren’t exactly heavy, they weren’t exactly light, either. “Don’t bite Ohnaka,” he ordered the smallish sergeant. He was aware that Hunter was even worse at obeying orders at this size than his usual one, but he chose to hope anyway. “You’ll probably die.”
Hunter’s eyes widened, then he nodded in wary agreement. “Okay.”
Wrecker scrunched his nose and blinked up at Echo. “I thought his name was Hondo,” he whispered.
“Hondo Ohnaka,” Echo clarified. “Hondo comes first.”
“Oh, yeah, natborns have two names.” Wrecker’s expression very much indicated that he didn’t understand that attribute. “Weird.”
Crosshair’s white head popped up from the brown expanse of his newly acquired blanket, bright eyes pinched in determination. “Hey, he’s got two names!” He jerked his chin toward Obi-Wan. “He’s not weird.”
Cody’s reply was remarkably swift, as if he’d already anticipated that line of reasoning. “Yes, he is.”
“Why, thank you, Commander.” Far from being offended, Obi-Wan laughed, his gray-blue eyes dancing. “Being normal in this galaxy would be a rather sad state of affairs.”
Echo saw four small pairs of amber eyes light up at the declaration, and his heart warmed as he realized how remarkable the Jedi’s words probably sounded to the young clones who had always been patently not normal in a system that demanded uniformity. But before he could reinforce the general’s words, he was interrupted by a hesitant voice crackling in over Cody’s open comm.
“Uh, Commander?”
Cody gave a preparatory sigh, as if he knew what was coming, and reluctantly spoke into the mic. “What is it, Highbeam?”
“Well, Sir, Ohnaka’s vessel just docked and he’s not exactly being cooperative – hey!” Highbeam’s voice cut out with a crackle and a thud, as if he’d dropped the comm onto the hangar floor. “Get back here!”
Echo scooped up Tech and ignored the squeak of protest as the cadet clutched his precious datapad to his chest. “Do we have time to hide them?” he asked, the question directed at no one in particular and everyone at once.
Obi-Wan scrambled to his feet, bringing Crosshair with him in a bundle of hissing brown fabric. “Maybe if we put them behind the bunks—”
There was a thump outside and the door mechanism began to whir. Cody planted himself between the door and the remaining two cadets, using one hand to hold Hunter behind him and the other to restrain a very curious Wrecker.
“Karking pirates…” the commander rumbled. The sound reverberated quietly in his chest, vibrating in the back of his throat. “Of all the kriffing days…”
Hunter glanced up at Cody and blinked, the growl of the older clone’s frustration as loud in his enhanced hearing as a peal of thunder. Then he turned back to the opening door with bared teeth, snarling in solidarity. He wasn’t sure who this newcomer was, but if Cody didn’t approve of him, neither did he. Growling, punching, or kicking were all still options, even if biting had been prohibited.
Then again, his ori’vod knew that Hunter wasn’t very good at following orders. Maybe it had been meant as more of a suggestion.
The door panels slid far back into their tracks and a voice boomed into the echo-prone barracks, accompanied by some strange chittering noise that made Hunter’s brain itch in immediate dislike.
“Hello, my friends!” the voice laughed. “You didn't think I would get here so fast, did you?”
Echo hugged Tech tighter to himself, glaring daggers at the Weequay, and Cody looked like he was dying to deck the man on sight. The cadets were all waiting for some signal from the grown-ups, telling them how to react to this new character in their midst.
In the end, Obi-Wan was the only adult in the room who retained enough manners to address the situation. He sighed deeply and looked like he wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose, something he seemed to do quite a lot, but with Crosshair cradled in his arms, he resorted to a head shake of despair and a simple,
“Hello, Hondo.”