sekkritaus | Rex / Andy / Poe Freelance Heroes AU

Consider it an investment in a potential business relationship. [ Poe said wryly. He didn't think of it like that at all, but he could practically feel the heat of Andy's glare on his spine. If was fine. He'd give her his half of the original price and she'd let him off the hook for it. He wasn't worried. ]

Alright, so where are we going? There's a couple routes in and where we're headed is gonna effect which one's better to take.

[ The Scythian looks pissed. Yeah. That's what he thought. She must be the brains of the operation, but Poe's the heart. He must be, because if the Scythian cared enough, she'd object now, demand the other half of her money, and she'd be perfectly within her right to do so. He watches her move between him and the pilot before turning to face forward again, leading the pack. ]

If you say so, [ Rex says, voice a deep rumble in his chest. ] Round the back. The slums.

[ As much as he tries to hide it, he speaks with a military crispness. ] More open space. Less cover, but we're less likely to catch the attention of any locals, save for the ones looking to loot. Sources say Haka flowers are part of the natural flora. They're pressurized. You kick them, they spray. You puncture them, they pop. Good for a distraction.

[ He's been planning this for a while. ]

Got anything to add?

[ Everyone's got different sources. There's no such thing as being overly prepared in Rex's book. ]

[ The thing that frustrates her most is that she knows this has little to nothing to do with business. Three weeks has been enough time for her to get a good sense of Poe Dameron — unavoidably, and half against her own will. The problem is that he's a good person. She can't even blame it on idiocy — she's sure he knows this is more trouble than it's worth. No, this is because Poe's noble and compassionate and a lot of other things that she's taught herself to consider weaknesses but can't help admiring about him, deep down.

Now that's something that's truly more trouble than it's worth — it's dangerous, being attracted to someone you admire. If she wasn't already planning to leave after this, she'd have to find some other way of nipping that shit straight in the bud. ]

Doesn't make a difference to me.

[ But the soldier's cadence hasn't escaped her notice. Nor the attention to detail. Whoever this is and whatever is ahead, it's high enough stakes that he's done his homework thoroughly. There's that, at least. Andy can appreciate the competence, even if she's annoyed with everything else. ]

Let's just do what we have to do and get the fuck off this rock.

Alright, well, I know my Imperial patrols well enough to know that's where they're gonna head first. A lot fewer bribes to keep people from kicking their flowers, if you know what I mean. Also means the sweeps tend to be more invasive but less thorough - more bluster than action - so we should be able to hear them coming from a while away.

[ He was running through his head what he knew about this planet to try to figure out why the man was here. Something on the Black Market, definitely. Not arms dealing, though: the man brought next to nothing with him, and you didn't buy weapons without a pre-booked flight home. Same with large amounts of medical supplies. So that left drugs - amounts small enough to consume or carry on your person - but their client was way too focused to be someone coming to this planet looking for a hit. Or procedures. Medical ones. Dangerous or illegal ones.

Interesting. ]

The day/night cycle is also super fast- we've got about a half hour to sunset now, then four hours to day break again. Think we're gonna be able to get back to the ship before then?

[ How long will the procedure take? He has no idea. It takes as long as it takes, he'd been told, but he doesn't even have a great deal of faith that she'll stand by her word - a hundred different things could have happened between his first point of contact and now. After that, recovery. How soon will it be before he's up and running again? This is no military medical facility. Once the deed is done, he's on his own.

He quickens his pace. ]

If you wait around? No. We won't.

[ And the longer they wait, the more questions they're going to have. He's trapped between a rock and a hard place; he can't afford to get stuck in this godforsaken place, but he can't trust them either. Poe seems like a decent sort. But Rex has met a great many decent sorts who turned out to be not so decent after all once they found out who and what he is.

There's a grim sort of humour in the thought of finally getting that chip out of his brain, only to be killed by the very team he'd hired. Fives would laugh. Or maybe he wouldn't. He doesn't know. Sometimes he wonders what he's remembering correctly and what he wants to remember.

It doesn't take long before they head into the fields of the planet, the town ahead within sight, smog puffing up from it with a sense of uniformity that puts even Andy's smoking habits to shame. And, right on cue, there's the noise of something in the distance. Trouble's coming, and soon. ]

[ Andy's not making any secret of the fact that the distrust around here is very fucking mutual — the guy's decidedly fake name means "five" for fuck's sake — but fortunately, trust isn't required when it comes to mercenary work like this. She can be flexible, however begrudgingly. You don't get to be her age without learning how to adapt to these things — even if she's not exactly thrilled about the prospect of staying here when dawn breaks to expose them.

That's when she hears that noise. Far off, but still too close for comfort. She puts her hand up to signal for a momentary stop, just so their own footsteps don't get in the way of her trying to distinguish what that was.

Finally: ]

Go on ahead. Move fast. I'll catch up to you in a few. [ She pauses, reaching out to grip Poe briefly by the arm. ] Don't die while I'm gone.

[ With that, she leaves no room for argument, breaking off to double-back around. ]

[ Poe dutifully comes to a stop when she makes a signal, makes a speech, and then dashes off again. He looks over at their client and offers a smirk as he saddles the blaster rifle securing under his arm. ]

I think she likes me.

[ He smirks as he starts moving forward as instructed, keeping low as he moves. He must have had some sort of infantry training at some point, because he moves with the precision and decisiveness of a Pathfinder.

He can hear the commotion getting louder up ahead - sees a smudge of dark grey smoke rising from an edge of the town and points toward it without a word. Someone's getting hit hard in this particular search. ]

[ Rex, a man of many words, grunts. Of course she likes him. Any idiot can see that. Rex isn't sure if that's good for him or not - he doesn't fancy dealing with a protective Scythian, but it gives him some leverage if things go south, though there's a small, humble part of him that still feels guilty for even mentally going through that scenario. He stalls for a moment, glancing behind him to Andy's retreating back, uncomfortable with the prospect. Never leave a man behind, right?

But the old days are gone. Even so, he keeps step in front of Poe, loath to let anyone else lead the charge. He jerks his head off to the side, changing their path so they can approach from the side as well, not directly into where all of the commotion is happening, grip tightening on his blasters. He would have preferred getting into a scuffle out here in an open field, not in a city where they'll be risking casualties, but beggars can't be choosers. He keeps low to the ground, bent double at an angle that looks deeply uncomfortable for a man of his bulk, but he moves as though he can keep it up all day.

Once their party's been rounded up again, they move. It's all that's left to do. ]

[ It must feel like an eternity before Andy rejoins them. She's just slightly out of breath, as if she'd picked up her pace to catch up with them, but she's unscathed — at least for now — and silent as a living person can be on her approach. Apparently, she's had no trouble following their tracks — though who can say if that's really a good thing or a bad one. ]

We might have a little less time than we thought. [ No dry mockery now — she just reaches out to pluck the scanner from Poe, glancing over it as she goes on: ] Couldn't tell if they're looking for us or just patrolling, but there's a group of Imps moving in between us and the ship.

[ Her eyebrows pinch. ]

It's bad if they're coming our way. Worse if they find our ride.

[ Goddammit. He was half expecting this. It's part of why he'd been just as happy to leave them on the ship. But hell, if they wanted to tag along, then he's not about to turn them down. It looks like he's going to need all the help he can get, and time's running short; he wants to get there at the appointed time. No earlier, no later. He doesn't know how fussy the doctor will be about it, but he's not taking any chances. ]

Then we're hemmed in. Right. [ He looks over to where smoke is billowing from the city. Nothing good is happening there. ] We move forward. Strike the ones in the city before they have a chance to flank us. We do it quiet, we do it quick. We don't get any civvies involved. By the time we're in, there should be places to lay low.

[ With any luck, they'll avoid the guard entirely. ]

Quickly, now. On my lead.

[ Already contradicting the rules that Poe had laid down - Andy was supposed to be the lead of this particular charge - Rex charges forward, directly towards the town. Whether or not Andy winds up overtaking him (and she may well do so), they make their way to town without incident, the Imps on their tail bypassing them for a moment.

The town itself is not so different from other towns they know; the cobblestones are uneven and cracked, fading away to untended dirt pathways, a thick layer of smog covering the place. To their benefit, the streets are bereft of civilians. Not to their benefit, there's generally a reason for that. In their path, right where the smoke is coming from, is a bunch of Imperials, having evidently set fire to some poor sod's business that failed to provide them with what they want, big and bulky and clearly equipped to the teeth. Rex plasters himself against the wall of a building right around the corner, silently counting them off.

Fifteen of them. Probably with a few more waiting in the wings. He raises his hand, two fingers raised skywards, then points decisively. Let's go. ]

[ As it happens, quiet and quick is Andy's area of expertise — not that she doesn't love just chucking a grenade into the fray for fun as much as the next suicidal asshole, but all this time, she's been working more or less alone for reasons she'd be hard-pressed to talk about — losses that haven't healed and might not ever — and you have to learn to be clever with no one at your back. She follows their masked friend's lead without argument (no point in it, when he's the one that knows where they're going), taking her cues from him.

To their credit, they almost make it the whole way without a fight. They almost elude the guard completely. Almost.

Of course it'd be too much to ask for this to go down quietly. Goal in fucking sight too. They have to rally — get Rayshe'a or whoever the fuck he is inside and hold the Imperials off. Andy doesn't waste her breath or her time on words — they all know what has to happen now — she moves, a vicious blur of violence, trying to buy time and distance against some shitty odds. If they're smart, they'll let her fend for herself and keep moving —

But that isn't how those two work, is it? ]

[ It really isn't. Not that he doesn't trust her to be able to take out an entire Imperial battalion on her own, but it's so dead set against his programming that he can't leave her. So of course he takes off after her, careful to keep their guest in his eyeshot.

There are no more smiles from Poe. No more witty quips or smug looks. He fires his blaster with an incredible precision - anyone he can get that's actively threatening one of the three of them goes down with a blaster bolt straight to the chest. Any that look like they might be hesitating, however, he ignores - which is why he by passes the one on the left as they dash forward.

Mistake.

He only sees the rifle come up a half second before its fired. Damn thing must have been jammed. Teach him to think a trooper is a pacifist-- ]

Ray! Down! [ Is all he gets out, throwing himself with full weight into Rex's back and sending them both down hard against the ground, blaster bolts flying over head. ]

Edited 2019-01-19 23:24 (UTC)

[ Rex, of course, had spent the time fighting among them, though he showed no such restraint when it came to Imperials, grimly gunning them down with a blaster in each hand, that very same crisp, military professionalism oozing out of every practiced movement, every well-measured maneuver. But professionalism can't make up for everything, and it certainly can't make up for what could have been a lucky shot.

As it turns out, Rex would have preferred the lucky shot, so long as it glanced off of his shoulder as he suspected it might. When Poe tackles him, he lands heavily and there's a solid sounding crunch as his forehead bounces off the pavement, the plastoid of his worn mask cracking and the glass of his goggles shattering. ]

No! [ He roars.

Damn it! Damn it! He'd been so close! The chance to get this blasted chip out of his head is so close he can almost taste it, and all it took was one self-sacrificial pilot to tear that plan to pieces.

No. He's not letting it end here. He can't. He springs to his feet, bringing his hand up in one fluid movement and shoots their assaulter - the last remaining Imp - gritting his jaw, teeth bared. His face is a recognizable one for anyone in the galaxy; a little sparer than other clones, blond hair grown out in bristles and lying flat on his head, the ferocity of his expression almost but not quite masking the true fear underneath it all.

He doesn't lower his blasters. Instead he backs up, holding them aloft in case he needs them against his once-allies, eyes wide, wild. He doesn't look like a man who wants to shoot, but he looks like a man that will. How does he know how they feel about clones? They may think him an Imperial deep undercover, too brainwashed to disobey, or they might just want the pay-out that comes with returning a runaway clone, far more than anything he could give them. His voice comes out as a low rasp. ]

You got your money. You can go. Back to your ship, where you belong.

[ It doesn't have to end the way Rex suspects it might. He hopes it won't - because if his suspicions are true, he's not getting out of here alive. ]

[ She sees it all happening in slow motion, and she can't explain the surge of adrenaline, something tightening in her throat as she tries to make it there, unsure if Poe got hit in his stupidly heroic effort. Her blade makes a sickening noise as she drags it free of cooling Imperial, shoving it into her boot before scrambling to close distance —

Then she sees him. And it actually stops her dead in her tracks.

He's... A fucking clone.

Everything makes sense now. The mask, the mission, the money. The risk was higher than they ever knew it was. Not like she gives a damn about the empire or its shitty politics, but she fucking hates surprises.

Fuck.

She's still got her knife. She could probably take him. Maybe. He could get a shot off or two before she's on him, but hell, she might take those odds. Andy looks like she's thinking about it, for all of two seconds before she puts her hands up in a gesture of appeasement. ]

Don't be fucking stupid. He won't leave you to die, and I won't leave him to die — so stop wasting everyone's fucking time and get inside. [ Bitingly: ] I'll cover you. Hold the rest off when they come. Unless you feel like shooting me instead.

[ The flash of confusion that crosses Poe's face is clear. He knows these guys. He's seen them. He even fought alongside some of them, in training. Which is why it's making his brain do weird confusing hiccups trying to figure out why the hell one of them is here and what the hell he's doing. He doesn't think of undercover work. Who would send a clone, when you can send a recruit that won't be recognized if they drop their mask?

No.

Whoever this guy is, he's not supposed to be here. And the reason the imps are shooting at them, the reason they're here at all, is because they don't want him to be here either.

He's not the fastest guy on the planet - this whole thought process takes a long few seconds and is entirely visible on his face. But by the end of it, his lips set in a grim line. ]

No one's shooting anyone. We're not going anywhere. We'll hold the fort. Get you off planet again.

Then you can tell me exactly what we're doing here in the first place.

[ He stands back up, none the worse for wear, though his brows are pulled tight.

He owed a trooper, once.

Time to pay it forward. ]

We've got your back. Go.

[ Rex gapes at them both, breath catching in his chest. He'd hoped that they'd just take the money and run but he hadn't expected that they'd still want to stay. Even putting aside the distaste most people have for clones, it's a risk. A bigger risk than they knew, a bigger risk than what they had signed up for, and they want to stay? A part of him is still grasping at straws by the time he lowers his blasters, the part of him that's been burned too many times before searching for the catch, for what it is they get out of this, but he can't think of a damn thing.

He remembers, back in the good old days, listening to Skywalker and Kenobi and Tano discuss the Force. Rex believes in the Force in the same way he believes in physics. Just because he knows it exists doesn't mean he understands the damn thing, no matter how much the others talked about things feeling right. He'd never placed much faith in vagaries. But one day, Skywalker had told him that all it really was was another way of trusting your gut, that soldier's instinct that would always lead you in the right direction.

Maybe it's not the Force, but something tells him that they're telling the truth. He stares at them, torn, then inclines his head in acquiescence. ]

Fine. But if you're staying, that means you're coming with me. You won't come to any harm where I'm going.

[ He'll trust them for the time being. But part of that trust means taking that leap of faith; there's a possibility he'll be turned away with two more additional people in tow, but like hell is he going to leave these people here to die, waiting for an eventuality that may never come. ]

Follow me.

[ Andy huffs out an annoyed little breath, but truthfully? She's relieved, in a way. Poe's fine, the clone hasn't shot her, and there's still a chance they're going to pull this off. Hopefully, this means there won't be anymore big fucking surprises. ]

You gonna give us something to call you besides Five?

[ It's a mild dig, as she moves to fall in line. ]

[ Poe nods, falling in line next to Andy, but: ]

Wait, what?

Five?

Is that what that means?

[ Normally, Rex would give them his name. There's little he has left to lose; his name means far less than his identity as a clone. But Andy's tone rankles, and he hates hearing his brother's name spit in such a tone, as though it's not a name at all - not Five, but Fives, a difference slight enough to be important, but not so slight that it doesn't sting. He keeps marching steadily forward, expression stony.

He wishes he were here. He wishes he'd listened to the man sooner. ]

That's what passes for names, for us. We don't get names like you, [ he says, tone wooden, though there's something biting underneath it all. It doesn't take long for him to come across an unassuming doorway and he thumps on it in a specific pattern, muttering a password as soon as his knocks are answered. A low, musical voice answers. ] There's only supposed to be one of you.

Well, now there's three. Open up.

I didn't agree to this.

You wouldn't have agreed to my coming here if you weren't desperate for credits in the first place. It's this, or nothing. Make your decision quickly. I don't have time for this.

[ It's a gambit. He needs her as much as she needs him. But after a long moment, the door opens, revealing a Kaminoan, pale white, neck long and slender, large, black eyes suspiciously regarding the three of them as they enter what appears to be her home. ] You're Kaminoan, [ Rex says, surprised, and she inclines her head. ]

All of us must make a living, Clone. Come. Touch nothing. If you cause any problems, there will be consequences.

[ With that, the Kaminoan opens up a hatched door, hidden underneath both a rug and a desk and leads them down into the first room of a bunker, equipped with another desk, a few scattered chairs, and shelves filled with flimsi and what appear to be carefully organized experiments and holos alike. She holds out her hand meaningfully and Rex tosses a pouch of credits at her, far, far bulkier than the one he'd originally given Andy and Poe; it's the bulk of what he's saved up over the past year and change, and it's not an insignificant sum. She opens it immediately, digging through it with long fingers to make sure that it's all legitimate before squirreling it away inside of her robes. ]

Very well. I will prepare. Do what you will with your remaining time, Clone, and enter once you are prepared. I will have my eye on the rest of you.

[ Cameras, no doubt. Rex ignores the implicit threat as she disappears through the door in the back, leaving him and the others behind. ]

[ Andy blatantly eyes the Kaminoan on her way in. Damn. Been a while since she's run into one of them. This whole mission is just a rollercoaster ride. All the long years of her life, and she never would've been able to guess how this day would turn out. And hell, it's not even over yet.

But at least they get a little reprieve. Just as well — she should take a moment to tend to her wounds, catch her breath, get her head together. ]

...Well, fuck. [ She sighs, shrugging off her jacket to check a sticky gash on her arm. ] We're really in this shit together now.

[ Poe immediately moves over to her, pulling a strip of bandage out from his pocket as he reached out to take a look at that gash. ]

I don't think there's realistically been a moment when we haven't been in it. [ Poe pointed out. ] Here. Doesn't look too deep. We can slap a bacta patch on it back at the ship later.

[ He gave her another check over, but satisfied she wasn't too hurt he finally turned to Rex. ]

So. You've gone rogue, that's obvious enough. What exactly are you're doing that they send a whole battalion to stop you?

[ Rex watches the two of them move around each other quietly. It's been a while since he's been around people like them. They care more about each other than they do their own skin. He can't tell how long they've been together, exactly, but they fall in line in a way that's too familiar not to get to him. It feels like an age since he's been with people who know him that well. Or maybe it feels like he'd been with them just yesterday. He tends to change his mind based on his mood.

At any rate, he wishes he had any one of those people with him now. Instead he's here, standing on the outskirts, hoping his good luck holds out and he doesn't get these good people killed.

He rolls his shoulders back, posture still straight and stiff, every inch a professional. ] Getting proof of what they've done to us. [ They may not believe him. But even if they don't, does it really matter? ] Despite what you may think of us, we're loyal, down to the very end. But what we think doesn't matter.

[ He taps his temple. ] They designed us with chips in our brains. Once they're activated, we'll obey their every command. I deserted before they could activate mine. And now I'm fixing to get the blasted thing out. That's all there is to it.

[ She lets Poe come to sit with her, unresisting as he bandages her arm — allowing it in a way she might not, if it were someone else. If she realized it, she might be annoyed with herself, but she's listening to the clone's explanation, distracted by the steady cadence of his voice.

Even Andy can't help a little twinge of sympathy. She doesn't know much about clones, really — just enough to recognize one, to understand what they're meant for. She's never spoken to one at length before this and wouldn't have really cared to either. In truth, she's never felt much different about them than she does other humans. But even she sees that it's cruel, how they've been made — that insidious little chip. She can't blame him for deserting.

With a softened wryness: ]

Guess you're lucky you've got us. [ Us. Wasn't she mad about Poe saying us before? ] The only two assholes around that are reckless enough and good enough to get you out the other side of this.

[ Poe looked very grim, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms. ]

I hate how much sense that makes.

[ He owned his like to a trooper, but he had no idea what happened to the man afterward.

He hoped that FN-2187 managed to escape the same way this one had. ]

But she's right. There's no one better for this kind of gig than us. But where the hell are you going to go after? Where is that info actually going to help? It's not like you could march into the Academy and throw it down and yell "fix yourselves".

[ He glanced at Andy - what he was about to say was definitely not something he'd mentioned to her before, and even knowing it upped the likelihood of her getting hurt because of him. But it was important. His voice dropped. ]

I know a few people that might be able to put the information to better use. But it's-- no one dares move in the open, not right now. I can pass info, but I can't pass you. There's no one that would be able to keep you safe, right now.

[ Rex looks between the two of them, gaze softening a little. It's a dangerous thing, finding allies like this. Being alone is the only way he's managed to survive up until this point, but Rex has always been a weaker man than he cares to admit. ]

Yeah, [ he says, looking Andy's way, his low voice little more than a quiet rumble. ] Can't say it was what I was expecting.

[ But then Poe brings it back to business and the nasty business of what happens next. He'd spent all of his time and nearly all of his resources to get to this very moment. Oh, he'd had an idea about where to go from here, but nothing fixed, not really. All he's got on his side is an ever-present drive to survive, powered more through spite than anything else. Some days, he feels like he's just staying alive because it pisses the Empire off.

In fairness, that's a very, very good reason to stay alive. ]

I'll survive. I've survived up to this point, haven't I? And if they catch me, let them catch me. They won't be getting into my head, [ he says with a defiant tilt of his head, pride sparking behind his eyes. ] If more people than myself can pass along the intel, all the better. As long as the knowledge is in others' hands, it won't die.

[ The idea of the true knowledge of what's been done to them being passed along sparks something else in him. It's a little like hope. ]

That's more important than what will happen to me anyway, [ he says crisply, mind evidently made up. ] If I don't survive the procedure, the chip's all yours.

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