Chapter 19: Recovery

The Havoc Marauder was quiet and dim. Omega blinked hard, trying to adjust her eyes to the lack of light as Hunter set her down.

The Bad Batch's sergeant hurried to a control panel and slammed a button, turning back to Omega and herding her gently towards Echo who was just entering the ship.

Omega heard a soft hissing sound and noticed with distant awe a trap door opening in the floor of the Marauder. Wrecker eased himself into the hole and started down, still carrying Tech.

Hunter briefly placed a hand on Omega's head. His breath came out fast through his nose.

"Omega, stay with Echo. Echo, get the ship outta here. Keep her with you."

Then he was gone, and Omega didn't even have the chance to call his name before his dark head disappeared below the floor and the trap door slid closed, blocking Omega and Echo out, away from the others and Tech.

Omega sniffled quietly.

She let Echo guide her to the cockpit and settle her in the copilot's seat. Omega curled up in the chair, watching as Echo swiftly entered key combinations and twisted dials.

He didn't move like Tech did. Tech's motions were smooth when he activated the ship's functions.

Echo was a bit more hesitant in how he hit the keys which made his motions choppy.

Omega wanted Tech in the pilot's seat like he was when she had had a bad dream.

The Marauder lifted off the landing platform and flew towards the edge of Bora Vio's atmosphere.

Omega straightened in her chair. "Echo, what about the bounty hunters?"

"Bane was gone when we got there. Fennec...we let her go, but had a little chat with her before hand. She contacted her employer, so... Hunter will talk to you later," said Echo.

Omega nodded, her mind growing ever more numb as she went back over the Bad Batch's entry into the lab, the return to the ship, a the way up to only minutes before the current moment.

Hunter's brusque manner scared her. It seemed to indicate that Tech was not all right, as previous reassurances had confirmed, and she clenched her fists and hopped from the chair, turning to stare up at Echo with blazing eyes.

"They should have let me stay with him!" she shouted.

Echo looked down at her, his eyes soft as he stood. "Tech needs Hunter and Wrecker to take care of him right now."

"I don't care!" Omega shouted again. Her tone was bordering on hysterical, and her mind clearly demanded that she immediately stop. But something else had taken hold of her, something deep inside. And she didn't know how to stop. The only response she could manage to everything that had happened was to yell and cry again.

Echo suddenly bent to her level and gripped her by the back of the neck. Not a rough hold, but one firm enough to startle her awake, albeit momentarily.

"You went through quite an experience, Omega," said Echo. "You need to listen to me..."

Omega was already shaking her head, and Echo gripped her again.

"Omega." His voice was low and commanding, yet soothing all at once. "Listen to my voice. Listen...listen..."

He went on repeating the word, and how Omega wished she could listen to him! But her body kept shaking and her eyes kept pumping out tears until she felt so exhausted she wanted to just pass out and not wake up until it was all over.

But it wouldn't be over until she stopped. But she couldn't stop, and Echo wouldn't stop either - yet one or the other would have to give up, but Omega couldn't give up, because Tech needed her to keep a cool head and be calculating - Hunter wanted her to obey and why was Echo telling her to listen if her chance was gone? Hunter! Hunter needed to know that she lied about Tech, oh, how could she have hurt Tech so when Sullo Pria had already hurt him so much, Echo? Why? Why wasn't Echo listening to her? Why did he need her to listen when he should be? She needed to see Tech!!!

Harsh pressure built within her chest, and finally...finally the storm broke loose and she staggered, supported by Echo's shoulder, then gripped at his scomp link only to push it away, fumbling for his flesh hand...

Echo lowered her to the floor and pulled her against him, settling his hand against her forehead to keep her positioned. Omega thought she heard Tech crying out in the hold below, but everything was swimmy and dark.

Once, she became aware of arms pulling at her, and a distant voice that sounded like Wrecker...she heard herself asking to see Tech...vaguely recognized Echo's whispered answer...

"...Later..."

She didn't notice when she fell asleep.

Omega awoke.

Not in a drifting sort of coming awareness, nor the slow, methodical return to consciousness. She simply...woke up.

She waited to see what would happen.

Her mind was clear, her body, though a bit sore, was once again under her control. And it would stay that way, she decided, wincing slightly upon recalling her behavior towards Echo...

She swallowed, hoping Hunter wouldn't bar her from ever coming on missions again just because of a break down...

But he might not understand. Tech would...

Omega slid down the ladder as quietly as she could.

She wanted Tech.

The only lights still on in the Marauder were the slowly blinking buttons on the control panels. Soft, slow, always the same, never flashing...not when Tech was in control...but Tech hadn't been...

Omega scurried past Wrecker's and Echo's slumbering forms and pushed the control for the trap door.

The opening to the hold made clear, she slipped inside and hurried down the narrow steps to the floor below.

The hold was dim and not very large. It looked like a makeshift medical bay, and the strong smell of bacta and cleaners confirmed it as such.

Tech was seated upright on one of the tables, and Hunter was standing, one leg braced against the edge.

He was speaking softly to Tech, and Omega was glad his back was to her. There wasn't much room to hide, and she didn't think he would be happy to see her there. But somehow she couldn't make herself leave. An odd feeling of protectiveness stole upon her heart, so she did the next best thing and, after slipping behind the ladder, she shut her eyes tightly.

Tech's voice was raised in pitch, quavering. "You...you saw...? Hunter...?"

"It was right on the datapad, Tech. She left it for me, so...I got her message."

"I knew she was recording, but..."

"It was linked to the pad, and the system's settings had it streaming to a second tablet as well. But that one is probably nonexistant."

"No..." Tech mumbled. "It was left locked in the wall on Kamino... Oh, stars, Hunter, if they ever find it...!"

"Don't worry about it."

Tech's voice hitched, then became muffled. Omega peeked open her eyes. Hunter was hugging Tech, rocking slightly back in forth as Tech leaned on him and sobbed.

"I'm going to bring you to the bunk room," said Hunter. "Come on...?"

Tech nodded, and Hunter lifted him from the table and helped him across the room and up the ladder to the main floor of the ship.

Omega stayed hidden behind the ladder. Her mind was a swirl of thoughts once more and she became so buried in them, she didn't register Hunter's eyes peering at her through the rungs of the ladder for several moments.

She swallowed.

His voice was low and rumbling when he spoke.

"Omega? Come on out. We need to talk."

"Sir, why aren't we heading directly to Ryloth? Why the detour?"

CT 9904 looked cooly at the trooper in the pilot's seat. He hadn't bothered to learn his name, nor the names of any of the other troopers in his squad.

The man shifted. "Sir?"

"Because I said so..." CT 9904 replied. His lips tightened around the toothpick in his mouth and he glared through the viewport at the swelling mass of Bora Vio.

He clutched the swiped datapad in his fingers, then pressed it to his side under one elbow.

"We've got some experimentals to catch..."

Flashes of the video settled in his brain only to ripple away again. Memories of the video's end which he had watched during the hyperspace jump.

The Sergeant of Clone Force 99 passing the kid to...Wrecker...CT 1409 crouching near the technician...

An unexpected wave of loneliness struggled against his walls as he remembered the last few seconds of the recording...

The Sergeant...Hunter following...Wrecker out of the lab room while...Echo approached the screen...and the video cut short.

A split second of fire spiked through his head, and somewhere beneath the pain, Crosshair tried to surface.