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Two years after the battle of Geonosis
Umbara, Expansion Region
Fives stood with Echo and Rex on the transparent lift near the bottom of the brig. He could feel the stares of every Umbaran prisoner above and below them. Only a few hours ago, he, Jesse, and Hardcase had shared space with them, still wearing Umbaran flight suits, after successfully destroying the CISA supply ship. It had been Echo’s idea to wear the Umbaran uniforms. And it was Echo who had distracted Krell while they took off. If it hadn’t been for Echo, they might not have all made it back alive. Fives should have done more. He should have done more, sooner. So many brothers had died, and he should have done more.
Fives pulled Dogma out of the cell they had placed him in while they apprehended Krell. He was wound too tight. Young and inexperienced soldiers like Dogma feared punishment far more than death. It was never their intention to punish him, only to make sure he didn’t hurt himself or others while they arrested Krell. Fives liked Dogma. Echo had really taken a shining to the kid. Of course, Dogma leading that execution squad put a damper on their relationship. But no more than Rex putting Echo behind the blaster.
Dogma was crying silently. He had red marks on his scalp and neck where he’d been pulling his hair. His bottom lip was swollen from chewing on it with worry. Fives tried to reassure him by placing an arm around his shoulders. He wasn’t sure it did any good. Echo would know how to comfort his little brother better, but Echo was shaking with rage as he operated the lift and could do little more than give Dogma a tight smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
Krell sneered at them through the rayshield. Rex had his hand on his DC-17. His fingers were still shaking.
“We know you sabotaged the transmitter,” Rex growled. “We know you sent the order for the 212th to attack us. What I don’t know is why.”
Krell sneered. A chill ran down Fives’ spine. He'd grown accustomed to that sneer. The soft red glow of the Umbaran foliage reflecting off the glint of sharp teeth in the dark. The fear and betrayal and the screams of his brothers in the dark and fog. Tripping over clone bodies on the spongey ground and looking up into those yellow eyes and that slimy sneer.
“Because I can,” Krell said, his voice oily. “Because you fell for it. Because you’re inferior.”
“We’re not inferior,” Echo hissed at him. Fives glanced at Echo to see his face contorted in rage. Dogma whimpered and contracted beneath his arm. Fives wished they’d done this sooner. He wished Tup had let that plant eat this monster. He wished he’d taken that shot when the darkness had seeped into his mind and Krell’s head had lined up in his scope.
“No? You were made in a lab. Your connection to the Force is artificial. It is easy to manipulate. You are easy to manipulate.”
“But you’re a Jedi. You’re supposed to value all life.” Rex’s voice was faltering. His finger traced the trigger of his blaster.
“I am no longer naïve enough to be a Jedi,” Krell sneered. “I will hand this planet over to Count Dooku, and he will make me his new apprentice.”
“How could you do this?” Dogma sobbed from where he was slumped against Fives’ shoulder. “I trusted you. I was loyal to you! And you—you made me kill my brothers!”
“So easy to manipulate,” Krell replied, that oily sneer never leaving his face. “Your blind loyalty to me played right into my trap.”
Dogma whimpered again, crumpling in on himself. Fives squeezed his shoulders reassuringly. Rex pulled his blaster from its holster on his hip. Krell stared down the barrel without fear, the way Fives had done mere hours before.
“Go on, Captain. Kill me now. Your suffering only makes me stronger. The longer you wait, the stronger I become.”
Rex swallowed hard. “Turn around and get on your knees.”
Dogma shifted under Fives’ arm. Echo gripped his DC-15 when Rex signaled for him to open the rayshield. Fives could practically feel the Umbaran prisoners holding their breath around them. Krell turned slowly and sank to his knees.
“You can’t do it, can you?” Krell jeered. “I can feel your trepidation. You’re not worthy of command, hraladar. You can never disobey, can never fight back. You’re not programmed to disobey.”
Rex’s shoulders were shaking. He took a step backwards. Fives and Echo glanced at each other, and Fives’ concern was mirrored in Echo’s eyes.
“What are you waiting for, hraladar?” Krell’s voice was soft and slippery. It made Fives’ skin crawl. “The Umbaran army is coming. Coming to kill you. Coming to free me.”
“I have to do this,” Rex whispered. Fives’ stomach dropped. He was faltering. If they didn’t kill Krell, he would give away all their intel, all their classified information, battle plans, security codes. If they allowed Krell to defect, they could very well lose the war. And all those brothers would have died for nothing. Nothing.
But Rex’s blasters had dropped a few centimeters, and doubt and determination warred on his face.
“Yes, but you can’t. Because you’re inferior, and you know it. And in the end, you’ll do what you were programmed to do and die at my—”
The blaster fire was deafening, echoing off the durasteel walls of the brig. Krell’s body tipped forward, slow at first and then all at once, like a tower crumbling under its own weight. His face was a splatter of dark red and pink across the back wall of his cell. Rex turned toward Dogma, who was holding Fives’ pistol still aimed at where Krell’s head had been seconds before. Dogma let out a strangled sob as he slid from Fives’ grasp onto his knees.
“He hurt our brothers,” Dogma sobbed. “I hurt our brothers.”
“It’s not your fault, Dogma,” Echo said, his voice still tense. “He used us. He used you.”
Dogma swallowed. “I thought killing him would end it. But I can still hear their screams in my head. And I killed them.”
His breath evened out as he stared at the pistol in his hands. His fingers stopped shaking. Fives frowned. He was too calm. Dogma closed his eyes and tilted the blaster. Fives watched, his mind spinning, not understanding. Dogma was staring down the barrel of his own blaster, and by the time Fives understood, before he could reach out, it was too late. Dogma pulled the trigger.
Fives felt the heat of the bolt as it passed too close. Dogma slumped to the side even as Rex was still lunging to stop him. Echo’s plea fell on deaf ears. Dead ears. Rex crashed to his knees, unsure how to pick up Dogma’s body when his head was blown apart. His fists clenched in the fabric of his body glove.
One more casualty of Umbara. One more needlessly dead brother.
Fives turned and retched, his dehydrated bile mixing with the blood and brains and burnt flesh spread on the transparent lift.
Below, an Umbaran prisoner looked up at him and sneered.