Brothers Forever

Fives's P.O.V:

Being a soldier isn't easy, especially when you're raised to be one since birth. The name's Fives, but if you prefer a more technical name, you could call me ARC-5555. This is the beginning of a strange odyssey that sent me and another brother of mine, Echo (a.k.a ARC-0408), to a strange land after our apparent deaths. What follows next is how it went on how I and Echo could recall it.

It began in the Citadel, a captured Republic prison once designed to hold rouge Jedi, but was now in the hands of the Separatists on the crumbling, inhospitable sulfurous planet of Lola Sayu. The mission was to rescue Jedi Master Evan Piell, who knew vital coordinates for a key Republic supply line called the Nexus Route. It was our job to rescue Piell before the Seppies could get the information from him. Turns out that he'd split the info with another one of his officers: Captain Tarkin. We quickly freed Piell and Tarkin and all we had to do was get to get out alive. Our current objective was to try and make it to our transport: a captured Separatist shuttle to escape the planet, and... at first,  all seemed to be going well. We almost had gotten aboard when the commandant's Tactical droid had to ruin it all and informed a clanker right next us that we had escaped. Obi-Wan grinned and made a two finger salute before slicing the droid and the platform erupted into chaos as droids flooded in. I let my instincts and training kick in, shooting droids and holding the position. Things were starting to look bleak, the place was swarming yellow-marked Citadel Commando Droids and there were a few Crab Droids to contend with as well. Blaster bolts flew everywhere, and the shots rang loudly in my ears. Echo carefully threw a Thermal Detonator, which took out a Crab Droid which was slowly approaching us.

Suddenly, Echo lowered his rangefinder and said, "General Skywalker, a droid is manning one of those turrets. It means to destroy the shuttle!" Echo ducked back behind the large container we were hiding behind to avoid some incoming blaster fire. "This is our only chance! We've got to stop him!" said Echo, darting forward and grabbing a handheld force-shield as I fired a few cover shots for him.

"Echo, look out!" I shouted.

The turret began firing and it's green bolts narrowly kept missing Echo.

"Echo, no!" I yelled. I ran and tackled him in an attempt to save him, but I was too late.

Suddenly, the turret hit shuttle and it exploded, "This is how it ends. Now I know how Hevy felt," I thought. The last thing I did was use my body as a shield to try and save Echo, but I blacked out before I felt anything.

Captain Rex's P.O.V.

The force of the explosion shook the entire landing platform, throwing all that was left of us off our feet.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I yelled. Fives and Echo, probably the two best men he had ever known, were dead.

"We have to go, NOW" said Obi-Wan.

I hesitated for a moment, but I too fled. "Something's not right..." I thought to myself as I left the landing platform behind. "They can't be dead... that shouldn't have happened..."

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Fives's P.O.V:

The first thing I felt was warmth, the sun heating up my armor. But the environment was surreal. I observed that I was sitting in what appeared to be a grassy alpine meadow on a mountain top. The mountains were somewhat mound shaped and very steep, having nearly vertical sides. "What the brix just happened?" I mumbled as I got up. It felt odd getting up and collapsed as soon as I stood up. "OW! I've definitely broken something, my leg, probably," I thought. "This can't be the afterlife, or afterlife sucks."

"Fives, I think we're dead," said a familiar voice. It turned towards the sound, yelped, and jumped back. Standing in front of me was a small quadruped creature, similar in stature to a Guarlara from Naboo. It had what looked like ARC Trooper Armor on, complete with Kama, Pauldron, and experimental Phase-II helmet. What was disturbing is that the armor had markings that were nearly identical to Echo's.

"WHAT THE KRIFF ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ECHO!" I yelled, attempting to draw one of my DC-15's from their holsters.

"I am Echo. Don't tell me you get dumber in the afterlife..." said Echo in his new form. "You're basically the same as me. Don't ask me why, I don't know."

"What, you can't... wait if you're Echo... where was the last place I visited?" I asked.

"Lola Sayu," responded Echo.

"What's my designation?" I asked.

"ARC-5555," responded Echo.

"What's..." but Echo interrupted me.

"Fives, knock it off. We're both... whatever we are and you're injured. I need to get you to shelter and look at that leg," said Echo.

I tried to think of a protest, but I came up with nothing. Inside, part of me was overjoyed that I'd saved Echo in some obscure and strange way, but the other part felt sad, like even though we were reunited, it felt like wasn't have supposed to have happened,

Echo somehow got me on his back and he began carrying me down the steep mountainside.

"So... back on the landing platform..." said Echo. "You tried to save me. Thank you."

Echo's P.O.V:

Fives responded by making a retort about how the shuttle must've had gas. Really stupid and funny, but mostly stupid.

"I can walk," said Fives.

"No... no you can't, not with a broken leg. You need a splint, at least..." I said. "So, would you rather not have to do anything while I carry you down a treacherous mountainside or would you want to sit here and wait until I somehow got a splint made for you?"

"I'll take option B," said Fives.

"Alright, I'll be back in... Yoda knows when," I said as I began the probably futile search for splint materials. Spice mines of Kessel, it was hot! The summer sun here was really heating up my armor and making me really uncomfortable. I wished could've just stripped off everything and laid down under a tree, and for some reason I felt... ah... best not talk about it. I'm thinking of the kids, you know. Anyways, luck was on my side and I came across a cabin with small yard. Freshly washed clothes clipped to a clothesline flapped in a much needed breeze. Hopefully, someone was home. I ran, or... galloped in this case across the yard and up to the front door of the cabin. I reached out and forehoof and rapped on the door. I heard a muffled feminine voice and rushed footsteps. The door unlocked with a loud click and swung back, revealing a lime green equine with a white mane and tail about the same size as me. She also had  what looked like tattoos of a slice of strange green cake of some kind with a brown rust and a small amount of cream on top on both sides of her flank.

"Oh my... can I... help... you?" said the equine in a wary feminine voice. She gave me curious gaze and it also looked like she was surprised and a bit afraid.

"I'm Echo, and my friend... Fil... has broken a leg, I need to get splint for him. Do you have anything that I could..." but the lime green mare cut me off before I could finish.

"Oh heavens! Why don't you get him here and we'll fix him up!" said the mare. "Oh, Mr. Echo, I'm Key Lime. My husband, Shining Spear and I were on vacation. Don't worry about, we'll be fine. Also, not to be rude, but you are a bit strange... you must not be from around here."

"Yes, well... I'll be back in five minutes," I said. Though the rules said I should try to ask for communications for the Republic or ask what their side was above anything else, I felt like giving away our true identity wasn't a wise idea. I found this partially justified in the fact we really weren't even their race, we had somehow been made into their form; and also the fact that revealing that we were aliens ins't usually what  one brings up in idle conversation. Anyways, I got back to Fives and told him about my encounter with Key Lime.

"Alright, then let me carry you there," I said, slinging Fives over my back.

"Well, as long as we keep our real identity hidden we'll be fine," said Fives. This I interpreted as his agreeing statement.

I flinched and decided not to tell him that I had revealed my true name to Key Lime.  Despite carrying Fives, we quickly arrived and Key Lime, along with another equine with white fur and a silvery-grey mane and tail, who I assumed to be Shining Spear, were waiting for me.

"Key, is that the 'Echo' pony you've been talking about?" said Shining Spear.

"Yes Shiny, he is," said Key Lime.

"I don't trust him. Look at what he's wearing, its really, odd to say the least. You don't think this is a recipe for disaster?" said Shining. "He's also walking on two legs, pretty strange for a pony."

"Sir, I can assure you, I'm a pony, and I mean no harm to either of you," I said.

"What's with the frown, then?" said Key Lime.

"It's my helmet's visor," I explained. "Can I please get Fil to a bed, he's getting really heavy now."

The ponies obliged, but gave us scrutinizing gazes as I walked in.

"There's a guest bedroom off to your right," said Key Lime.

"Thanks, we greatly appreciate your hospitality," I said, quickly walking towards the bedroom. Finally, I managed to lay Fives down.

"Well, now would be a good time for that splint you promised," said Fives.

After setting the bone (at which Fives remarked that It was less painful than he had imagined) and splinting Five's leg, I took my helmet off and wiped my brow.

Key Lime and Shining Spear both seemed less tense after revealing I was a pony (for now) and that my intentions and explanation was sincere, but they still seemed a bit untrusting of us.

"Why don't you two get some rest and I'll start making dinner. You're welcome to join us," said Key Lime.

"Thank you, ma'am, that's very kind of you," I said.

"It should be ready in two hours," said Key Lime before walking off to the kitchen, Shining following.

I sighed and sat on the opposite side of the bed. "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

"I don't know, Echo," said Fives. "I don't know..."