Summary: "He thinks his shoulders are beginning to tear apart beneath the weight." When Wrecker is downed mid-battle, Tech's the only one available to step in and fill his role. One-shot.
Prompt: Start your story with the line "We have plenty of time," and/or end it with the line "We were never going to make it."
A/N: Written for Whumptober day fourteen, Under Pressure- crush injuries.
Between Blood And Metal
"We have plenty of time, Wrecker." Tech assures his brother, tapping at a terminal. "Crosshair says that the droids are still a few klicks out."
"Why does Hunter get to have all the fun?" Wrecker whines.
"Because you are stronger than he is."
"What if he needs help?"
"He has Echo."
They're at a recently abandoned Republic outpost, scavenging to pull some important data from the systems and to destroy anything else that the incoming Separatists can use. This isn't even the first wave of droids- those had driven off the reg troopers previously stationed there, and then the Batch had been sent in to take out what remained of the droids before receiving their current orders. It's ridiculous, really, how helpless the regs can be.
Wrecker's already taken a hit in the initial skirmish, and his strength is needed to hold open the door to the hangar Tech is in. The power's been shut off, and only the malfunctioning terminal seems to be working. The plan is to retrieve what data he can on the datastick he's brought, then to blow up any traces of remaining information in the base.
While Hunter and Echo secure the armory and set up explosives elsewhere in the outpost, Crosshair watches from a mountainside several klicks away, the Marauder safe at his disposal in the case of needing a hasty exit.
But other than them, the outpost is abandoned.
Tech doesn't like how quiet it is- Republic bases, when occupied, are never quiet.
The others seem to believe the same, as Echo begins to tell them a story about where he was first stationed after completing his training. No one complains, lets his voice drone on about the battle at the station on the Rishi moon. It's quite the tale.
"That's when I met Rex. He shot the eel dead in the eye, stained his glove with its blood. Then, he stamped it on my chest. I kept that mark throughout the whole war- well, until the Citadel."
"Sorry to interrupt storytime, children, but the clankers are only a klick out. I hope you're almost done down there." Crosshair warns after a little while.
"Tech, what's your status down there?" Hunter asks.
"I need more time." He replies.
Wrecker groans. "I don't wanna get trapped in here!"
"We will be fine." Tech tells him. He's left his comm transmitting the whole time in the base, too busy to spare even a moment to turn it to one or the other if needed.
"Hold tight, Wrecker." The sergeant advises. "How long do you need?"
"Longer than we have. The terminal is not only malfunctioning, but is running very slowly. The connection to the datastick is not very good."
"Echo and I will keep them away from the outpost for as long as we can. Don't take too long."
"Affirmative."
They hear the distant sounds of blasterfire much too soon.
Wrecker, though he's holding the door up, can't stay still.
"Can you see them?"
"Yeah. It looks pretty bad."
"How close are they?" Tech asks.
"They're getting pretty close." His brother says. "You think they'll see me?"
"Well, there is less of a chance of it if you stop moving." He points out.
Wrecker does not stop moving.
Tech sighs.
The droids find them.
"Uh, Tech? Tech!" Wrecker shouts over the very near sounds of blastershots, unable to defend himself with both of his arms holding up the door.
"What?" He asks sharply, fingers quickly tapping at the terminal. It is nearly done.
"They're here!"
"Just a moment..."
"Tech!"
The terminal beeps in confirmation of the successful download, and the screen flashes green.
"Done!" He snatches the datastick from the scomp terminal, tucks it into his pack.
He turns-
Just in time to watch Wrecker take a hit to his chest and begin to collapse with a cry. Smoke rises from the hole in the duraplast chestplate.
"Wrecker!" He darts forward without thinking it through, catches the door in his brother's stead, as the giant's form thuds when it makes connection with the ground.
The door lands directly on his shoulders, forces him to bend his neck downwards after it snaps upwards dangerously quick.
He nearly chokes as all of the air is expelled from his lungs in a single gasp. Pain floods through his torso, and he grunts through clenched teeth as he strains to straighten his hunched form beneath the door. I am not built for this!
He can feel the large metal teeth of the door digging into him, his armor doing more harm than good, as one of the teeth gets caught on the edge of his chestplate and remains, digging into the skin at the start of his spine. He tries to take deep breaths, to steady his air flow, but it's useless.
He thinks his shoulders are beginning to tear apart beneath the weight. He can't help how his knees shake, slowly beginning to sink beneath him. He can feel how the bones in his lower legs bend dangerously as he tries to fight it.
A desperate sound escapes his throat against his will. Is this seriously how I am going to die?
"Tech, what's happening? Crosshair?!" Hunter demands.
"Kriff." Crosshair swears. There's blasterfire from his side of the comm, and the droids firing at Tech and Wrecker fall as the sharpshooter's aim remains true. "He's going to break his back."
"What. Does. That. Mean?"
"Wrecker's down, Tech's holding the door open."
"Tech…" Hunter growls, masking his worry with anger.
"Wrecker? Wrecker, are you awake?" Tech wheezes, his voice a breathless hiss, his body trembling violently. His face is hot with exertion, and his eyes burn.
"Wha'?" The giant's head lolls to the side, and it's clear he's barely conscious. "What're ya doin'?"
"Your job. C-can you move at all?"
"My chest..." Wrecker moans, coughing.
"Echo's on his way. Hold on, Tech." Hunter alerts him.
"I'm bringing the ship down there." Crosshair says.
No one argues with him on that.
"Wrecker, you need...need to get out from under the door." He urges, barely managing to get the words out before he collapses down to his knees with a pained cry. His shoulders jerk, and the door almost slips from them. The metal tooth jabbing into the top of his spine pierces skin, and he can feel the warmth of blood flowing down his back. Black spots swarm his vision, and his body heat clashes with the planet's temperature to fog his goggles. He's not certain if he imagines the sound of a rib cracking, but he certainly feels an extra stab of pain in his abdomen.
"Why- Oh! Tech!" His brother snaps back into reality with horror, pulling away from the tempting tendrils of unconsciousness. "What are ya doing?"
"M-ove!" His voice shakes desperately. Because if Wrecker doesn't move, Tech's going to pass out and sign his brother's death warrant with the drop of the door.
The ground is shaking, and there's a strange, dark algae that keeps disappearing and reappearing in different spots. The ceiling rains red. Something's sucking the little remaining air out of his lungs, and he feels so, so light.
A large, dark shape scrambles away from him and grows taller, thinner, and a voice out of sight shouts something in panic.
Then he's falling, weightlessly. Falling down into the infectious, alien algae.
It consumes him.
When Tech wakes, he's pretty certain he must have been stampeded by Cut's herd of domesticated Eopies. Everything hurts. His shoulders, his neck, his ribs, his legs. And his head, but it always seems to whenever he wakes up after some sort of disaster.
He's almost pulled back into unconsciousness by the time he finally manages to pry his heavy eyelids open.
"Hunter?" He rasps, finding the strength to flop his head towards the door- he's aboard the Marauder, thank the Force.
"Not quite, but close enough."
His goggles have been removed, but he recognizes the lean shape and silver shock of hair that is Crosshair across the room.
"Cross-" His dry throat cuts him off.
"You're insane." His brother remarks, moving towards him.
Tech blinks, at a loss, and swallows to wet his throat. "Is that supposed to be a good thing?"
"That depends on how you want to see it." Crosshair tells him. "You nearly crushed yourself to death saving Wrecker."
Oh.
The pain in his shoulders and back suddenly feels a thousand times worse, as he remembers what had happened.
"I take it that he is fine, then?" He murmurs.
"Unfortunately." The sharpshooter mutters, settling lightly at his side.
Tech smiles faintly at that. "You're welcome, Crosshair."
Crosshair huffs, an amused twinkle in his eyes as he relaxes. "He personally detonated the explosives in that outpost, said it deserved it for taking you down."
He chuckles, breaks off into a rather painful coughing fit. There's a spot at the back of his neck that hurts so much with each jerk of his head.
"Easy." His brother warns, an arm holding one of his shoulders down. "I said he was fine, didn't say you were."
It takes a long minute to get the coughing under control, to begin to ease his breathing again.
"Consider yourself lucky. Hunter and Echo wanted me to sedate you the moment you woke up if you were like this."
"Are you going to, now?" Tech croaks.
"Maybe, if you'll let me."
Wrecker bursts in the room before he can respond, much more mobile and lively than the last time he had seen him. "Tech? Tech! Hey, buddy- how're ya feeling?"
He winces, his head protesting at the shouting. "Well, I have been better."
"Ha! I bet." He snorts, coming to stand on the other side of him, resting a giant hand on his- at the very least- bruised shoulder. "I've never seen Crosshair look so scared. You should've seen his face!"
"...You were crying." Crosshair snipes back.
"You said you weren't gonna tell..." Wrecker pouts.
"You poke the Loth-cat, it bites back." He shrugs.
"If you two are going to argue, go do it somewhere else." Tech suggests.
"You're no fun when you're injured." His second eldest brother grumbles. He grows a little more serious. "Tech, I'm sorry about what happened. You shouldn't have had to do that for me. It's my job to protect-"
"-Please, do not blame yourself for getting shot, Wrecker." He cuts him off. "I did what I had to, and I would do it again. Even if it killed me."
Wrecker manages a small smile. "Thanks, buddy. I really mean it. Thanks for savin' me."
"Please, he only did it so he wouldn't get trapped in there." Crosshair snarks.
The pair split off into another round of bickering, and Tech smiles to himself. Yes, he thinks, I would miss this if Wrecker had died.
He meets Hunter's amused gaze, the sergeant hanging in the doorway and fondly looking in on them.
And Tech knows that there's nothing he wouldn't do for his brothers.