Star Wars © Lucasfilm
Snow lashed the outside of the Havoc Marauder with a relentless, howling fury, shaking the shuttle where she stood.
Tech looked up from the device he was working on as another, particularly fierce, gust of wind and snow slammed against the Havoc Marauder's hull. A light on the left side panel flared to life, an irritated warning that Tech dismissed with a flick of a finger - it was just another indication of damage to the hull that would be added to the extensive list Tech had been mentally cataloguing since they'd landed on Mon Torri.
It had taken all of Tech's piloting skills to escape the Imperial ship that had been pursuing them since their botched supply run in Worlport on Ord Mantell, jumping through treacherous space routes with a failing right engine and stabilizer, until Hunter had ordered him to find a planet where they could hide. Tech hadn't wanted to land on Mon Torri but the glacial mountainous planet had been the closest option and, loath though he was to think of it, the blizzard that had been devastating the planet's surface was an excellent way to hide.
But the Havoc Marauder had suffered for their desperation and the blizzard had not let up in the hours since they had landed, so Tech had nothing to do but sit and wait. He itched to get outside, to repair the damage on his ship, but he wasn't stupid. Tech would never dare to take a step outside while the blizzard, a Category 5 by his calculations and the Havoc Marauder's scans, raged - least he be swept away or blinded by the whiteout and find himself unable to find the Marauder and his brothers or-
Don't.
Tech ground his teeth together at the unwelcome images of his brothers' deaths that had clawed into his mind, fists clenching at his side as his project lay forgotten on his lap. He was losing control. Losing his rationality and cool head to the strain of being on the run, to the hunger that lingered forever within his stomach and… and to the guilt of leaving behind Crosshair.
He knew about the inhibitor chips and the sway they could hold over his brothers, and it had been right there in front of his face. Crosshair had been affected by the chip and Tech had done nothing to help his brother.
Crosshair was aloof and standoffish, prone to hurting others before they could hurt him, but Tech knew his brother would never shoot Wrecker. Not in his own free will. Not Crosshair… never Crosshair. The evidence had been there, sneering and mockingly speaking, too happy to follow directives, and Tech had ignored it.
We are immune, he'd thought, like the arrogant fool Tech was, instead of taking the time to think critically and examine his brother.
If he had been paying more attention to Crosshair, he could have acted to save his brother. Tech had plenty of toxins and poisons that he'd cultivated, a number of which were effective sleeping agents that he could have given Crosshair. He had the files downloaded on his datapad for the inhibitor chips, all he needed to have done was sift through them until he understood the surgery needed to remove the chips and-
But you didn't. You left your brother behind.
Tech let out a sigh as he rested his elbows on his knees and rubbed at his eyes with his right hand. He was… upset. Angry. His emotions, what little of them he could factualize and reason out, that is, were uncomfortably present. He had snapped at Wrecker much too sternly yesterday when his large brother had accidentally knocked over a small piece of metal while playing with Omega, causing it to clatter to the floor with an ear splitting screech.
Wrecker had apologized profusely but Tech had only glared at him and ordered him to leave the cockpit, and thus Tech, in peace. Since that incident, Wrecker had been walking around Tech as if he was on eggshells, avoiding speaking too loudly near him and being more careful than was natural for the boisterous clone around the ship.
And Echo grated on Tech's nerves without the man even trying to. They had argued and argued and argued, over every little thing they did or said, and it made Tech burn with frustration. He was supposed to be the rational one on the Havoc Marauder, he was always the one that was level headed and could think through their problems, but he wasn't that man. Not now.
He could count on both hands how many hours he'd slept since they had escaped Kamino months ago; and the constant need to move to new planets, keep low profiles and always, always, be on the watch was making even his rational mind break. He and his brothers needed a break, needed to find a distant planet where Tech could apply every single repair to the Havoc Marauder that he needed to and get enough sleep without the Empire finding them.
"Tech?"
The sound of Omega's voice, soft and cautious and shy, snapped Tech out of his thoughts, drawing his gaze to where the young girl was hovering by the cockpit door. She yawned and rubbed at her eyes before her cheeks flamed and she made a small gesture to the copilot's seat.
Tech sighed, rubbed at his eyes again, and nodded to her unsaid request, wincing as she let out a small squeak of joy and bounded up onto the copilot's seat. She stared down at the device Tech had been working on absently for a moment before she looked up at him, head tilted and eyes worried.
"Are you okay, Tech?"
Tech blinked, gaze shifting to Omega for a moment, then nodded resolutely. "I am fine. Why?"
Omega opened her mouth to answer but then suddenly seemed to think otherwise, her cheeks flushing with pink as she muttered an apology and sat down on the copilot's seat, not looking towards Tech. Tech looked at her out of the corner of his eye, reading the hunched way she sat and scratched at her arm - she was scared and anxious.
She must have had another nightmare.
Omega had woken Hunter almost nightly since the day on Pantora when the bounty hunter had attempted to kidnap her, and everyone in the Havoc Marauder was fully aware of them. His brothers often stayed up later than usual to try and comfort Omega after one of her nightmares, usually by hugging her or talking to her. She never came to him after her nightmares, but Tech did not want her to wake one of the others while he was awake, so he shook his pallor of irritation from his chest before he turned to Omega and gestured to the scanner he was creating.
"Do you understand what I am doing here, Omega?"
She brightened almost immediately at Tech's question, her body straightening as she leapt up onto the seat and nodded vigorously in his direction. He hummed at her response then began to detail every part he was working on and how he, with theories and tests, believed it would be able to help the Batch mask their comms and their ship from detection.
Omega peppered Tech with questions and pointed to specific parts of the device, her eyes never resting as she watched Tech's hands as if he was the most interesting thing in the world Omega had ever seen. It was endearing seeing how excited Omega got over learning something new, and Tech could not help but to admit how much he cherished the fact that she always asked him follow up questions.
His brothers never asked him follow up questions, and every time Omega did, his chest felt significantly lighter and his anger started to fade into the depths of his being. Omega's questions made Tech feel like he was actually interesting to the girl, interesting enough that she wanted to hear more of his rambling - Wrecker had complained to Tech often about his "rambling" making little sense or going on so long that Wrecker lost track of the point of their conversation. His brothers liked to tease him for it, but Omega had never once made any indication of annoyance after one of Tech's long winded discussions.
Omega didn't act that way around him, and Tech liked that, though he still struggled with emotional detachment towards the girl. Even for the friendliness Omega showed him, Tech felt detached - aloof, really - from the child. Hunter, Wrecker and Echo spent more time with Omega than Tech ever had; they understood the child far better than Tech did. He had spent meticulous hours reading up on children after they had escaped Kamino without Crosshair, but reading theories on how to take care of a child and having a child to take care of were incompatible.
She may have been happy peppering Tech with questions and listening to him ramble, but Omega was… she was happier with the others. Tech knew she was only asking him questions because she wanted to distract herself from her nightmares. No one really wanted to hear him talk - not his brothers, and not Omega.
But he entertained her questions nonetheless, and she stayed with him until he suddenly realized that the blizzard was finally dying down. He raised a hand to shush Omega for a moment as he accessed the Havoc Marauder's external scanners, and requested a read out of the barometric pressure and temperature outside the ship.
The scan took a minute and then responded, a detailed list of data points that Tech read through quickly. Omega, who had hurried over to his pilot's seat to look at the readout with curious eyes, looked up at Tech as he finished processing the data in his head and nodded.
"The blizzard will be clear in an hour and thirty-eight minutes," Tech explained as he gestured to each data point and described their function and utility to Omega. Omega didn't ask any questions this time, though her wide eyed gaze made it obvious that she was busy processing everything Tech was saying.
Then suddenly she pointed to the scan again and tapped the console. "What are those for?"
Tech stared at Omega for a second before he leaned closer and squinted down at the new set of data points that had just appeared on the console. They were coordinates to a signal the Havoc Marauder had picked up during its scan… though the coordinates made little…
Hurriedly, Tech inputted the coordinates into his datapad, applying them to the planetary scan he had made the Havoc Marauder initiate during the blizzard, and calculated the results quickly. Omega, to her credit, did not bother him except to peek at what he was doing, her gaze shifting between Tech and his datapad until he finished his calculations.
"There is a ship here," Tech turned the datapad so that Omega could see where the coordinates pointed to, "that is sending out a weak signal."
Omega looked at him, her brow furrowed, then quietly asked, "Do you think it's the ship that chased us?"
"Unlikely," Tech denied, "this signal is too weak to be of a recent crash. The Havoc Marauder likely picked up on this ship's energy output, what little of it is left."
"Then there might be something we can use on that ship? Right?"
Tech blinked, eyebrow quirked as he looked down at Omega, who was busy staring at the map of the planet, his heart warming slightly at her train of thought. "We could find something to use, or we could not. I do not like the idea of flying the Marauder to the crash site, because of these mountains. They produce far too much downward thrust for our ship to land safely. We would have to walk to the crash site."
"That's fine," Omega stated, her stance determined as she met his gaze - until he jerked away from the direct eye contact, heart hammering anxiously within his chest - and then crossed her arms over her chest. "I want to go with you, Tech. Please? I will stay right behind you and I will not wander off, I promise. I.. I really want to get off the Marauder, and I would like to learn more about this planet."
She looked so determined, so ready for an adventure, with her bright eyes and firm scowl, that Tech couldn't help but feel a small laugh bubble from his chest. She reminded him of himself when he was younger, both for her curiosity and her propensity to find her way into trouble. It only endeared her further to Tech, and he almost regretted his own shyness around her.
But…
"Only if Hunter agrees to it," Tech warned, "and if you get enough sleep. I will pack for the trek for you, but you will not be able to come with me if Hunter says no."
Omega smiled and bounced on the balls of her feet before she suddenly wrapped her arms around his waist in a hug, and snuggled her face against his side. "Thank you, Tech!"
And then she was gone, a burst of energy that left Tech stunned, blinking after her form with the faintest of smiles tugging at his lips. She was just like him.
Tech's scanner continued to ping quietly as he tracked the trace signal it had detected, boots crunching deep tracks in the high snow. Omega bounced behind him, her energy seeming boundless even for the miles they had trekked. Tech found the young girl's enthusiasm, intelligence and thirst for knowledge intriguing; and she had proved herself capable of fending for herself in battle before.
He was surprised too by how she had kept her promise from the ship to him. Omega had asked Hunter if she could travel with Tech to investigate a crash site, and it had taken much convincing for Tech's brother to allow the young girl to walk with him. But, since they had set out, Omega had stayed right behind Tech, stopping only to ask him questions about trees or rocks or animals they passed by.
Tech was glad to have someone to talk to on a trek he knew would take hours. He could entertain himself normally, theorizing strategies and solutions on his datapad, but talking with another sentient being was different. Especially one who actually showed interest in his vast knowledge, and did not seem to tire of his rambling.
Omega let out a gasp and froze suddenly, the change in her pace making Tech tense and turn, only to find her staring at something on a rock. She pointed to the creature, a pure white reptile with leathery wings that ran down the route of its spin, then turned to Tech wordlessly.
"That is a monaethzird. They can grow up to twenty feet long and excel in the mountainous terrain of this sector of Mon Torri, due to their gliding abilities and the air thermals in this region. Don't," Tech warned as Omega took a step towards the creature, "touch it. They are venomous."
The young girl frowned at Tech's reprimand for a moment before she nodded and stepped back behind him, her curious gaze unable to jerk away for long from the monaethzird. Tech smiled gently and then put a hand on Omega's shoulder, which drew her gaze to his quickly.
"Let's keep going in a bit, alright? You can observe it for a bit longer," Tech conceded, "the crash is not going anywhere. But we do need to continue on before the weather changes."
"I understand," Omega whispered as she slowly crouched down and watched the monaethzird.
Tech watched Omega, observing the way her head tilted with each movement the reptile made, how her breath stopped when the monaethzird opened its wings and gently lifted off from the rock. Once the reptile floated out of view, Omega turned back to Tech and smiled at him.
It was a little disarming how much Omega smiled. Tech was more used to Hunter's seriousness, and Crosshair's grouchiness, and Echo's irritability than he was Wrecker's cheerfulness and Omega's sunny disposition. Not that there was anything wrong with the two, Tech thought as he continued his march up the mountain, but it was so very unlike Tech. Too expressive, too open and too free with their feelings.
"Tech?"
"Yes, Omega?"
"I… ah," Omega whispered as she hesitantly grabbed Tech's hand and moved closer to him, her gaze searching his face for what, Tech did not know, "do you miss Crosshair?"
Tech snapped a glance to Omega, shocked at her upfront question, but he kept walking and hoped that she had not felt him startle at her question. Of course he missed Crosshair. Crosshair was his brother. Someone Tech had fought and trained beside for years, and Crosshair had always been the first to pick a fight with the clones who made it their life mission to pick on Tech. Crosshair hardly ever talked to Tech personally, but Tech had come to understood that his brother cared deeply for him and was fiercely protective of Tech.
Crosshair was stiff and cold and more aloof than Tech, but he had been part of the Batch forever, long before Tech had joined the group. They weren't the same without the sniper, just as Tech knew they wouldn't be if Hunter or Wrecker or Echo left. The Bad Batch needed all five of them to be whole, to be the family they had always been back on Kamino.
"Yes," he finally supplied after Omega gave him a worried tug on the hand, "I miss Crosshair greatly. I know that he would never leave us were it his choice and… Like Hunter, I blame myself for leaving Crosshair behind on Kamino."
"But that's not your fault!" Omega protested hotly, her eyes flaring as she gave him a look that seemed to be something of a mix between a pout and a glare. It almost made Tech laugh, if only because of how unsuitably odd it looked on Omega's face. "You had no choice in the matter, Tech! And how could we have taken him with us when he was shooting at us?"
Tech didn't answer Omega, not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't. His pragmatic side agreed with Omega, but his emotional side - the side of Tech he was most afraid of - refused to believe her. Tech had questioned none of his brother's behavior, had let Crosshair's sudden change in temperament go unquestioned within his head, and now Crosshair was under the Empire's thumb.
"I should have made more of an effort to question why Crosshair was acting unlike himself," Tech muttered, more to himself than to Omega, "I should have paid closer attention to him. I knew about the chips, and yet I… I let the Empire take him."
There was no response from Omega but for the gentle way she squeezed Tech's hand and moved ever so slightly closer to him as they walked. Tech attempted to smile but it faltered on his lips as he let out a weak sigh and shook his head.
"Please do not tell Hunter about this conversation, I do not need to add to his worries with my own problems. Understand?"
Omega's grip on his hand slackened slightly as she quickly looked away from Tech, her ears coloring before she finally nodded, albeit unhappily. Tech stashed his datapad for a moment and, with his now free hand, ruffled Omega's hair gently - he'd seen it mentioned in one of the child rearing articles that physical touch helped comfort children. She ducked her head at his touch, her shoulders hunching inwards as she let out a grunt he couldn't decipher.
Tech yanked his hand away from Omega as if she'd burned him, the regret that flamed through his chest almost stifling. "My apologies," he hissed out through clenched teeth as he pulled his left hand from Omega's grip, yanked his datapad out from its side pocket and buried his nose back into the map and coordinates blinking away on the screen.
Clearly he had misinterpreted Omega's body language, and the mistake embarrassed him. He never acted without due course, without studying his target and analyzing it thoroughly, and yet he'd done that with Omega. His thoughts were clouded by his guilt over Crosshair and the stress from escaping the Empire, and he had made a blunder for it.
Omega said nothing else to him as they continued their trek, her silence only serving to confirm Tech's anxieties over his actions. He kept to himself, eyes focused fully ahead, with only the most curt of answers aimed towards Omega when she dared to ask him a question. Tech did not want to misunderstand the girl once again, and the easiest way he knew to do that was to be as straightforward as he could.
They were four miles from the crash site when Omega suddenly stopped, though it took her calling his name for Tech to realize that she had. He startled out of his map analysis and turned to face Omega, who was looking oddly distressed, with red eyes and tears slipping down her cheeks.
Oh Force, he'd made Omega cry.
"Omega?" Tech gasped as he hurried up to Omega, eyes snapping over her body, looking for injuries as he kneeled before Omega. "Are you okay?"
She glanced up at Tech and rubbed at her tear stained eyes, before Omega shook her head and looked away from Tech. "Did I do something wrong?"
What?
"N-no," Tech stammered out, "why would you think that?"
How had she gotten that idea in her head? What had Tech said that had upset her enough that she was crying? Or maybe she had liked it when he'd tried to be affectionate, but he'd misunderstood her reaction?
Force above, I need to download more books on child rearing, clearly.
"Because you stopped talking to me," Omega admitted as she pulled at the sleeve of her shirt, eyes avoiding Tech quite obviously, "I'm sorry. I… I didn't mean to…"
Omega pulled her arms over her chest, hugging herself tightly as she hunched her shoulders inwards and turned her head to the left, as if she was afraid of Tech seeing her cry. His heart turned to ice as he slowly reached out towards Omega and, hesitantly, laid a hand on her shoulder. She stiffened at his touch at first, but Omega did not pull away from Tech.
"You didn't do anything wrong, miss Omega," Tech whispered as he, remembering the way Cut had comforted Omega after the nexu had attacked her, reached out and pulled her against his chest in a hug.
Tech felt Omega squish herself against his cuirass, her fingers brushing the plastoid of his armor as Tech continued to hug her. Only when he noticed her breath calm and her heaving sobs steadied, did he let go of his tight hold on the young girl. Tech put a finger under Omega's chin and tilted her chin up, only for the sight of tears still streaking down her cheeks to make him sigh and, gently, rub away the tears from her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Omega. I thought I had upset you earlier, and I believed you needed distance between me," Tech explained, "I misunderstood when you flinched away from my touch. I am the one who needs to apologize, not you."
Omega leaned into Tech's touch as he spoke, her eyes finally clear as she listened to his apology, then she smiled. She said nothing in response and, for a moment, Tech tilted his head and blinked at her.
What was she-
Before Tech could finish his thought, Omega launched herself into his chest, unbalancing him from his crouched position and sending him sprawling back first into the snow. Omega giggled as she leapt off from his chest and landed in the snow behind Tech, who could not move for the confusion flaring through his mind - what in the galaxy was that about?
"Omega?" Tech asked as he slowly got to his feet, his jaw tightening with a scowl as he looked down at the girl bouncing on the balls of her feet in front of him.
She was excited, eyes bright and watchful as Tech crossed his arms over his chest and quirked an eyebrow in her direction. To be cautious - Mon Torri was a foreign planet, maybe Omega was having a poor reaction to the planet's atmosphere? - Tech did a thorough bio scan of the young girl, only for it to come back perfectly normal.
The read outs never lied and Tech believed whatever his armor read off of his scan's target, but it still did not explain why Omega was acting… odd. Maybe she was tired? They had been walking for quite a few hours and she was quite young to be out trekking in snow as long as they had. It wasn't hypothermia, and they were not-
A clump of snow smashed against his helmet, raining snow and water down the front of his helmet and his goggles, stunning Tech out of his train of thought. He wiped at the snow, revealing an overly eager Omega with a clump of snow in her hand and a devilishly wide grin that looked far too much like Wrecker for Tech's tastes.
"Omega," he began to chide, "what was that for?"
"A snowball fight!" Omega laughed as she launched her second clump of snow at Tech.
The clump of snow hurtled into Tech's cuirass, exploding into a burst of water and snow as it struck against the hard plastoid. Tech could only blink and stare at the water dripping down his cuirass before he turned his gaze back to Omega.
"What is the point of this?" Tech asked.
He had never stopped on an ice planet and decided to fling snow at his brothers, though Wrecker had seemed to take pleasure out of assaulting him with snow a few times during the war. Obviously, his brother had been teaching Omega bad habits that Tech would have to reprimand Wrecker over. Tech didn't understand the appeal of throwing snow at one of his brothers when it would distract them from their mission or, worse, cause them to-
Splat.
Another snowball hit him in the chest, too distracting of a situation for Tech to linger in his thoughts for long. He did not return fire as Omega continued to make clumps of snow and throw them at Tech when his armor suddenly sent out a proximity alert.
Tech turned and snapped at Omega to stop, as he snapped open his wrist computer and hastily checked the source of the alert. He'd set his armor to warn him of incoming ships, missiles, bombs, grenades, practically anything he and his brothers could run into while attempting to hide from the Empire - including human and other species body signatures.
She let out a nervous sound and scrambled to Tech's side, as his armor sent out another proximity alert - much closer this time, and distinctly human - and, then, from the shadows, emerged an armored figure. The alert had come much later than usual, a factor Tech could only contribute to the heavy magnetic interference from the mountains as the man stopped beside a tree and glared at him and Omega. The man's armor was black and styled similarly to the regular clone armor, yet different still. And, resting against the figure's shoulder was a black sniper rifle.
Everything about the man's stance screamed of Crosshair and the armor looked like what Hunter had drawn for them after they had escaped Kamino. That could only mean that Crosshair had found them.
Crosshair.
Tech shoved Omega behind him as he slowly backed away from Crosshair, left hand moving to his belt, where he always kept his blasters. Crosshair stiffened in turn, the grip on his rifle's trigger guard tightening ever so slightly as Tech continued to take slow, careful steps backwards, away from his brother.
"CT-33-7641, you are under arrest for treason," Crosshair hissed, a layer of calm in his voice that didn't feel right, as he took a step closer to Tech.
Tech tensed at his brother's movement, stopping and standing stock still, both hands hovering over the hilts of his pistols. He did not want to shoot Crosshair, even when the rational, pragmatic side of Tech screamed danger and threat at his brother's appearance, Tech didn't even want to raise his guns against his brother… But he knew he'd have to when Crosshair pushed the issue.
Crosshair's helmeted head turned slightly, the unmarked visor so devoid of Crosshair's personality, his gaze fixed upon Omega. Omega, who had been peeking around Tech's leg to gawk at Crosshair, let out a nervous squeak when she realized that the sniper was staring intently at her, and quickly burrowed herself against Tech.
He could feel Omega's fingers knit into his toolbelt and Tech knew that the shivers wracking her body had nothing to do with the waist-high snow they were standing in. She had her energy bow to defend herself, but Omega would stand no chance against Crosshair.
"Go back to the ship, Omega," Tech hissed as Crosshair took another step towards him.
"B-but," Omega stammered as she hesitated at Tech's command, fingers locked into his toolbelt like vice grips, "I can't leave you!"
Crosshair's grip on the rifle changed and, as if in slow motion, he snapped his rifle down towards Tech.
"Omega, RUN!" Tech roared as he elbowed Omega away from himself, and pulled his DC-17 hand blasters from their holster.
The air over Tech's shoulder burned as Crosshair's bolt just missed Tech, who had ducked down in his haste to get Omega away from himself. Bolts rained down towards Tech as he raced towards a thick copse of trees and fired back, hoping and praying that Crosshair would follow him and not Omega, who was running back the way she and Tech had come.
A bolt hit a tree trunk near Tech, spraying shards of bark across his face, biting against his skin with a fire-like sting. Tech ignored the pain as he switched his blasters to stun and shimmied against the massive tree trunk, stilling his breath as he listened for Crosshair's footsteps.
His brother had stopped firing and all that could be heard was the wind in the boughs of the trees and Tech's breath. Tech braced his back against the tree then, slowly and as quietly as he could, Tech lowered his helmet's visor over his corrective goggles.
A heat signature flared to life when Tech turned his head to his left, centered behind the tree Tech was using as cover and to the left, amongst some rocks. He knew that Crosshair was waiting for Tech to move, likely with his own thermal reader lowered and watching Tech's every move.
There would be no surprising his brother.
The old Crosshair could wait all day for his target to appear, a game Tech's brother would play to make his targets lose their cool and all rational thought. This Crosshair, though, Tech did not know well at all. Tech couldn't stomach fighting Crosshair, but he knew he had to stall his brother from pursuing Omega as long as he could.
Slowly, Tech took a deep breath and lowered his blasters to his side. He kept his legs crouched underneath his body, ready to move, and closed his eyes.
"Crosshair?"
Absolute silence.
Tech bit at his lip, worrying at it while he tried to add a cheery, unbothered note to his voice. "I don't want to fight you, brother. Please don't make me fight you."
Still no answer, but he expected that. Tech had questioned Omega on everything she knew about the inhibitor chips, and from that he'd theorized that the Imperials and Kaminoans had done something to intensify the obedience the inhibitor chip forced on Crosshair. He would never hunt his brothers, were Crosshair in his right mind - shooting Wrecker had to be an aberration caused by the Imperials and the inhibitor chip.
"The Imperials don't care about you, Crosshair. They are using you for their own personal goals, and nothing else-"
"And how would you know?"
Crosshair's words came out in a sharp, thorny hiss that carried over the clearing, a sneer unseen yet heard all the same. Tech stiffened at his brother's voice before he looked in Crosshair's direction and exhaled.
"The Empire took away your freedom, Crosshair. You never cared about following orders until they made you listen to them. Is that how you want to exist? As the Empire's mindless drone? You are just a 'reg' to the Empire, nothing more."
Crosshair did not answer, though Tech could have sworn he heard his estranged brother let out a furious snarl at Tech's words. He was listening, for now.
"The Kaminoans put inhibitor chips inside all of us, Cross. The 'regs' and Hunter and Wrecker and I? We are all intended to be slaves to the galaxy's rulers. Following the Empire is no better than being an emotionless droid.
"You aren't a droid, Crosshair, but our brother. You have the chance to choose your own thoughts and instincts here with us, that which you will never be afforded with the Empire."
Crosshair let out a humorless snort that crackled like ice through the space between Tech and his brother. "Your brother, you claim? All of you are traitors, and I have no interest in traitors to the Empire."
"We were loyal to the Republic, Crosshair, not the Empire! The loyalty you proclaim to the Empire has been forced upon you, brother-"
"At least," Crosshair snapped loudly, interrupting Tech, his voice carrying through the boughs of the trees, "the Empire has not betrayed me. You and Hunter and Wrecker - my brothers, as you claim - left without me. The Empire provides whatever I need, and they value my skills. I am loyal to the Empire because I know they will not betray me."
Tech rubbed at his eyes with his left hand at Crosshair's words, unable to chase off the headache still nagging at his brain. How much of the Empire loyal Crosshair was their Crosshair? He'd always been stubborn and cold, the least willing of the group to listen to orders… Crosshair had never exhibited this level of loyalty to the Republic or to the Jedi, and had always been the first of the Batch to argue against serving the Republic.
No.
Crosshair is still in there, no matter what the Empire has done to him.
"We never wanted to leave you, Cross. All we wanted to do once we escaped the brig was to find you. We don't leave our brothers behind, Crosshair."
There was no response from Crosshair. Nothing at all.
But something urged Tech to stand and turn his visored gaze towards the rocks Crosshair had been covering behind earlier. Worry jolted through Tech as he realized that Crosshair's heat signature was no longer present behind the rocks.
His brother had moved.
Tech scrambled to his feet, eyes snapping around the forest as he slowly raised his blasters to chest height and took a step away from the tree he'd been sheltering behind. His visor picked up traces of heat - likely from small animals - but none were Crosshair.
Fear settled deep inside Tech's stomach as he thought of Crosshair pursuing Omega. The idea Crosshair hurting her or, much worse, using her to make Hunter, Wrecker and Echo turn themselves in, terrified the rational calm of Tech. He had to stop Crosshair, even if it meant shooting his brother. Tech hated the idea of firing at his brother, but his loyal brothers and Omega took precedence even over Crosshair.
"Crosshair!" Tech shouted his brother's name, stance stiff as he turned his head back and forth, scanning for his brother's heat signature.
Nothing.
Tech sighed as he slowly, purposefully, stepped out into the clearing. He didn't know where Crosshair was, but Tech could feel the sniper's eyes watching him as Tech marched through the thick snowfall.
"I know that we left you behind. I know it always was our promise to stick together," Tech sighed, his shoulders slumping involuntarily as his thoughts twisted back to leaving Crosshair behind on Kamino, "and we failed you. Hunter and Wrecker and I left you, and that can't be forgiven. You have the right to be angry with us, but are you happy with hunting each of us to our deaths? Do you want to kill us for abandoning you?"
Again, there was no answer, but Crosshair's silence was different this time. Tech still had his blasters ready, but even he could not help but to dwell on what he'd said.
Tech and his brothers had left Crosshair behind, when all four had sworn to die before they ever left one of their own behind. It had been a dramatic proclamation but Crosshair had been the first to suggest it, his eyes boring through his brothers as he spoke. Wrecker had agreed, albeit with an unusually serious manner of speaking that sounded off on the boisterous clone. Hunter was vehement in his disgust towards soldiers who left their own behind, so he'd agreed quickly.
Tech had hesitated, hand hovering over his brother's as his mind played through every scenario and mistake he could make, worrying over whether he deserved the same reciprocating vow. Tech had been afraid of further revealing his insecurities to his brothers, but he'd agreed nonetheless. And, until Kamino, the Batch had kept their promise.
As much as Crosshair's involuntary turncoat actions hurt, Tech could understand why his brother was so willing to obey the chip's oppressive control. The chip amplified obedience, be it through complacent willingness or fiery hatred, and it was a purveyor to the host's emotions.
Crosshair was angry, and the chip had morphed around that anger to make Crosshair willing to hunt down his brothers and kill. That meant Crosshair would stop at nothing to make his brothers pay, even if that was the most subconscious motivator for his actions.
A crack of snow, snapping through the air from Tech's right, almost made Tech jump out of his skin, until he spotted a small, ice-covered tralli drakryd - a lizard native to the planet that hibernated in summer and only appeared in the winter months - skitter past his boot. It wasn't spooked, so Crosshair was not to his right. That only left a radius of-
Tech heard the roar of the rifle just as his chest turned into a molten pit of fire, burning through his body as his eyes slowly tracked down to the blaster hole centimeters over his heart. He blinked, stunned. Crosshair had shot him. His brother.
Blood gushed from Tech's mouth, soaking the inside of his helmet, as he stumbled against a small pine tree clawing its way to the sun in the clearing. His breath was ragged and pained, his gaze weakly searching the forest for Crosshair. The shot had come from Tech's 12 o'clock… a perfect shot that Crosshair had decided to take... but there was no heat signature to be seen...
Crosshair's aim was always true, Tech thought to himself without humor as his legs gave out and slammed his body to the fresh snow below him.
Blood stained the snow beneath Tech, siphoning down his helmet to his neck, as pain jolted from his chest and forced him to expel a gout of blood from his mouth. His lungs screamed with fire as Tech attempted to breathe, coming out as a strained hiss that drove straight into the very core of his being.
Punctured lung, Tech theorized as he struggled to stand, left hand scraping against pine bark as his legs protested beneath him.
Tech needed to stand… but his breath was only becoming more ragged and his throat ached with blood, all of which seemed to be falling to the snow beneath Tech as he moved. A cough rattled Tech's body and made his vision swim, waves of pain that forced his legs to collapse beneath him.
Tech's body hit the tree behind him as he slumped to the ground, vision turning dark as he slumped forward and hit the snowpack beneath him.
Heavy boots stopped above him, drawing Tech's gaze up to the cold visor of Crosshair's helmet. Crosshair rolled Tech over onto his back with a bored grunt and the heel of his boot, his visor staring down at Tech with wordless scorn.
Tech coughed on the blood filling his throat and weakly looked into Crosshair's visor. "I'm sorry… big brother…"
Crosshair could see the trail of blood following them, their mangled, torn up frames emptying of their most important life source as he and his smallest brother attempted to reach the Havoc Marauder-
CT-9904 rolled the body over, a self-satisfied smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth as his eyes caught on the hole in the man's armor. He hooked his fingers underneath the clone's helmet and yanked it off, throwing the helmet into the woods to his left.
Large golden eyes looked up at him behind strange goggles, the depths of which radiated hurt and fathomless pain. CT-9904 kneeled down beside the stricken traitor, eyes flitting down to where his shot had hit true. His rifle had been updated to punch through armor with relative ease since his last run in with these traitors, and he was satisfied to see his upgrades were working as intended.
His shot had pierced through the smallest traitor's armor, a mere centimeter or two above his heart, and CT-9904 could tell that the traitor did not have long to live. The blaster bolt's entry into the clone's chest had cauterized the entry wound, but the blood pooling from the traitor's mouth indicated severe internal bleeding. And, from the strangled sound of each breath, it was more than evident that the clone's lungs were filling with his own blood.
The traitor let out a weak cough, thick with blood, as CT-9904 ran his hands over the dying traitor's damaged cuirass. The traitor's eyes tracked CT-9904's face as he finished inspecting where he'd shot the clone, though CT-9904 could not read the man's expressions for the sheer agony burning feverishly within his soft, golden eyes.
CT-9904 started to stand when he felt the traitor grab his wrist, a jolt of panic snapping through his chest at the physical contact. Disgusted that the clone would dare lay his hand on him, CT-9904 pulled his hand blaster from its hip holster and aimed it directly at the traitor's face.
"Let go of me, traitor," CT-9904 hissed as he inched his finger closer to the trigger of his blaster.
The traitor coughed up a stream of blood, his face deathly pale and scrunched with pain, before he attempted to clear his throat and released his hold on CT-9904's wrist.
"I'm sorry… Crossha-" The traitor's word's were cut off by a hacking, agonized cough that sounded deep from his lungs.
CT-9904 watched as the traitor's fingers clenched into fists, digging into his palms until blood trickled from his clenched fists. The traitor wheezed and took in a strained breath, his eyes flicking to CT-9904 apologetically.
"I'm sorry… big brother…'' Another hacking cough spread more blood down the clone's mouth. "We shouldn't… have left… you…"
There was too much blood, red as Hunter's bandanna, covering his hands and washing what was always white a bright, angry red-
CT-9904 stiffened at the intrusive memory, a shock of white and red and the injured form of the traitor before him leaning against CT-9904's shoulder, then staggered backwards, the snow crunching loudly underneath his boots. His head split with pain as a flood of memories broke through the dam inside his head.
"Crosshair!"
Tech's voice was abrasive, cutting through Crosshair's inner comms system, jarring the sniper from his sleep. His eyes opened slowly, his ever sharp vision struggling to make sense of the white blur - and the fact that he was freezing - that was too blindingly bright for Crosshair's sensitive eyes.
"CROSSHAIR!"
Crosshair winced at Tech's shout, teeth grinding together as he slowly sat up. Waves of dizziness slammed into Crosshair, strong enough that he fell onto his hands and knees with an exhale of pained breath. He shook his head and rubbed at the headache knocking inside his head, clearing it enough that his vision stopped swimming.
"Cross? Are you okay?! What is your status? Crosshair!"
Tech was still shouting at him through his helmet's comms, a strange, wavering flicker behind each carefully pronounced word that made Crosshair's head hurt further.
"I'm… fine," Crosshair gritted out as he, much slower this time, got to his feet. He wavered in place for a moment before he could take a step forward, eyes scanning his surroundings for his Firepuncher. Once he found it, laying a few feet from him, Crosshair picked it up and started to trudge away from where he'd been laid out.
That is, until Tech sighed through the comms haltingly. "I have your location and I am on the way. Stay put."
Crosshair started to retort when he felt his vision swim again, staggering him off balance as he stumbled against an aspen tree. His right side was killing him, pain blistering through his chest as Crosshair clamped a hand over his side. When he pulled his hand away, he finally noticed the blood… the blood soaking out from underneath his armor, his ruined chestplate shattered and melted where he'd been shot in the side.
He couldn't remember much but for the fact that he and Tech had been ambushed by droids on this absolute nothingness of a planet, and that he'd been taking down droid after droid. Crosshair couldn't remember being shot or why Tech was nowhere in sight, though he could vaguely remember his younger brother yelling at him before-
Movement, at the corner of Crosshair's magnified vision, stopped his thoughts cold. He ignored his injury as he slowly shifted behind the aspen and raised his rifle to his shoulder, gaze shifting to the scope. He expected droids, though he did not feel like fighting droids with his injury and persistent headache, and was more than relieved when Tech's armored figure appeared in his scope's view.
His brother had his pistols drawn, eyes skittering about nervously as Tech trudged out into the clearing. Even from the distance, Crosshair could see that Tech was favoring his right leg and there was an unmistakable river of red tracking down his brother's left shoulder. Crosshair started to step out of cover to greet his brother when he noticed Tech freeze, his head turning slowly to face in Crosshair's direction.
Tech's pistols barked just as Crosshair's ears picked up on the sound of a blaster being drawn behind him. Crosshair whirled around and fired at the battle droid, his and Tech's shots downing the battle droid quickly. Tech limped towards Crosshair's position, stopping next to him with a look that was hard to read.
"What?" Crosshair questioned coldly, arms crossing over his chest as Tech's gaze stopped on his injury sluggishly.
Tech shook his head in response before he gestured for Crosshair to sit. Crosshair obeyed, though only because he knew how loud and annoying and uppity Tech would get if he didn't listen to his brother - Tech worried about Crosshair constantly, and had only become more intensely worried over the long years of war. Crosshair hated being a source of worry for his brother, and wished that Tech would leave him alone and tend to his own injuries first.
But the stubborn man did not, as Tech removed his pack as he kneeled in front of Crosshair, fingers pulling the medical kit from its depths with practiced ease.
It was only by the time that Tech had finished cleaning, stitching and gently wrapping his side with gauze, that Crosshair realized his brother was uncharacteristically silent. Any other time, Tech would have been rambling on and on about some random factoid he remembered, so his silence was odd.
Crosshair had always attempted to encourage his brother's rambling, ever since they were cadets, as Crosshair had always looked forward to the tiny, pleased smile that would flit across Tech's mouth. He enjoyed hearing Tech's normally monotone voice spike with excitement, his words spilling over themselves whenever Crosshair would ask him a question. And Tech always talked when he was patching up his brothers' injuries, a habit Crosshair knew came from Tech's anxiety and worry over his brothers.
The sheer silence from his little brother made Crosshair's focus sharpen, even through the headache, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Tech. Tech's eyes were uncharacteristically dull and Crosshair could tell that Tech was gritting his teeth underneath his helmet - Tech's brow always knit whenever he was concentrating or had his jaw clenched. But Tech seemed unaware of his odd behavior as he helped pull Crosshair to his feet and jerked his head northwest.
"Let's regroup with the others at the Marauder," Tech finally said as Crosshair's head finally stopped swimming and he could see straight.
The two walked slowly, with Crosshair leaning on Tech's shoulder, as Tech bodied the pair through snow and over fallen timber. They walked for what felt like hours when Crosshair, who was feeling the pull of sleep clutch ever tighter at his mind, stumbled. His legs spun underneath his weight and, before he could catch himself on Tech's shoulder, Crosshair fell on a fallen piece of timber.
His vision swam as he distantly heard Tech shout his name, then his vision darkened and he heard nothing else.
Crosshair awoke to the dull lights of the Havoc Marauder's tiny medical bay and let out a wheeze of pained breath. His side gave off a dull ache, but it was nowhere near the fire it had been when Tech had first patched him up…
"Tech?"
Concern flashed through Crosshair's heart as he remembered his small brother, and thought of him lugging Crosshair's unconscious body all the way back to their ship. Tech was strong, but Crosshair had seen his brother was injured when he'd come into the clearing, and Tech had never been the one of the Batch who was able to fight through his injuries. Not with the amount of blood Crosshair had seen siphoning down Tech's arm, or in the labored dragging of his injured leg.
Anger pounded at Crosshair's skull, furthering his headache into a loud roar, as he thought of how useless he had been. How Tech had clearly been forced to carry Crosshair's dead weight all the way back to the Marauder, all while Tech himself was injured. Crosshair bit at his tongue, holding back the spite-fueled comment he wished to fling out to the quiet medical bay. It was Crosshair's job to protect Tech, not leave his brother to fend for both of them while he was injured.
A hand on his shoulder stilled Crosshair and drew his gaze up to Hunter, whose face was scratched and bruised but there, nonetheless. "Easy there, Cross. Tech got both of you back to the ship," there was a hesitance in the way Hunter spoke, and it made Crosshair want to snarl for him to get to the point already, this was Crosshair's Tech he was worrying about, but Hunter shook his head and pointed to Crosshair's left.
He turned his head and saw Tech, laid out on the second operating slab with swathes of gauze covering his frame. Crosshair did not look away from his injured brother until he had watched his brother's chest rise and fall slowly, enough times to guarantee and reassure himself that Tech was alive.
"From what we can tell, Tech must have been hit by one of the droid's mines. He had shrapnel buried in his back and left shoulder, and his right leg is broken," Hunter noticed Crosshair's expression and winced, his jaw tightening as he let out a sigh. "Scans read that he injected himself with an adrenaline stim before he found you, and then a second one after you became unconscious."
"What?" The exclamation slipped from Crosshair's mouth with clear venom, his heart slamming against his ribs as his sluggish brain registered what Hunter was saying.
Crosshair's brother had injected himself with doses of adrenaline when Tech already knew how poorly his body responded to any kind of stimulant? Was Tech a fool... or was he so desperate to help Crosshair that Tech had not thought twice of what the stims would do to himself?
"He did what? One of those stims could revive a rancor. Why the kriff did he use two on himself?" Crosshair snarled, his gaze snapping to Tech's prone form and then Hunter, who still looked worried and anxious.
Hunter swallowed and looked away from Crosshair's glare, though not before Crosshair could see the guilt that flashed across Hunter's face. "Wrecker and I lost radio contact with Tech after we blew up the tank company. He had no way to contact us, and the Havoc Marauder couldn't respond to his remote requests. Tech was bleeding out and barely conscious when he found you. Tech did what he thought he had to, Cross. You know how he is."
Crosshair said nothing in turn except for a snort of frustration that Hunter nodded agreement to slowly, though the tired slump of Hunter's shoulders made Crosshair look away from his older brother.
Hunter was worried for Tech, and very, very deeply so. Hunter had always protected and cared for Tech, but the sergeant had only become laser-focused on protecting Tech during the war, and that worry had burdened Hunter deeply. Crosshair understood his brother's pain, and that fierce desire to protect Tech, and could only assume that Hunter was blaming himself for Tech's - and Crosshair's - injuries.
"It's not your fault, Hunter," Crosshair growled out quietly, though he could not look his sergeant in the eye when he did.
Not when his best friend was laid out unconscious, his breathing labored and slow.
Tech was stubborn, Crosshair knew that. His brother had always exhibited an alarming lack of self-preservation when it came to his own injuries, but would fly into a state of such calm whenever Crosshair, Hunter or Wrecker were hurt that it was hard to remember how young Tech really was. Tech would go through hell or high water to help his brothers, no matter what happened to Tech himself - and no matter how many droids Tech would have to cleave through.
Crosshair hated the way his chest ached at the thought of Tech risking his own life to help Crosshair, and he hated the fact that his little brother had purposefully hurt himself to cart Crosshair's unconscious form back to their shuttle. Tech was breathing, but that meant nothing to Crosshair... not when he'd seen how good of an actor Tech was about being injured.
"Is he going to recover, Hunter?"
"You know he will," Hunter whispered, "he's too stubborn to let something like this take him out. And he meant it when he promised he'd never leave us. Remember that, Cross."
Crosshair looked away from Hunter, shoulders slumping before he nodded his agreement. Crosshair could not imagine what he'd do if he ever lost his little brother, lost the bright, beaming smile or his brother's sharp intellect and shy kindness. Tech had healed Crosshair in ways even he could not fully explain to his youngest brother, not in ways that Tech would understand.
Tech didn't have Crosshair's bitterness or hatred, not even after everything his former handler had put Tech through for the first four years of Tech's life. She had broken Tech, but Tech had never let that stop him from loving his brothers, and always smiling whenever Crosshair would ask him for information. Tech's vulnerabilities and kindness had broken through Crosshair, and he'd never been able to guard himself against the love and affection he felt for his brother.
If he lost Tech? Crosshair felt a shudder tear through his body, just as his veins froze with ice. He could not fathom the thought of losing his best friend... not if Crosshair wished to feel his heart continue to beat in his chest. Tech kept their team together with his quiet, brokenness perpetuated by his handler and his unwavering loyalty and love for the unit that had, as Tech claimed once, saved Tech from becoming a being without emotions or any capability to love.
Without Tech... the Batch would never be the same. They would lose so much more than their mechanic, they would lose their brother and the soul of the group that pushed Crosshair and Hunter through every day of the war. Wrecker would never be able to think of losing one of his brothers, and had saved Tech on multiple occasions without any regard to his own life.
They needed Tech, far more than Tech could ever understand.
Hunter squeezed his shoulder lightly before he turned and headed for the medical bay's door, stopping steps from it to look back at Crosshair. "Yell if you need anything. Wrecker'll be more than happy to help you. He's been worried about you and Tech since we left Rhen Var. Don't snip at him too much, please?"
"No promises," Crosshair snorted, adding a note of levity to his words in hope that Hunter would stop staring at him with that ever present worry he'd donned since they were cadets.
His brother returned a small, effort filled smile before Hunter left the medical bay, leaving Crosshair to his thoughts-
"Cross...hair…"
The sound of a weak, strained whisper snapped CT-9904 from his thoughts, jerking his gaze down to meet those same soft, golden eyes from his memories, eyes that flitted across his face with emotions CT-9904 could not understand. His head throbbed, as if split open by an axe, when he met the traitor clone's eyes and saw the sadness flickering in his dull eyes.
"This isn't… your… fault… brother," the traitor-
Pain splintered through CT-9904's head, cutting off the snarl sitting on his tongue as a voice, cold and angry and so, so broken, hissed through his mind. He could not breath for his helmet and, with a roar, he ripped the helmet from his head and flung that horrid thing far away from himself.
That is Tech.
Your brother.
He's not a traitor-
Execute every traitor, Tarkin had said- no, ordered CT-9904 to do.
Good soldiers-
Tech! Oh god, Tech!
-follow orders-
CT-9904 felt fingers brush his cheek, wiping away the tears he hadn't even realized he'd been shedding, the physical touch grounding enough to pull him from the war inside his head and to his brother's face. CT- No. Crosshair. Crosshair. Crosshair…. He was Crosshair, not CT-9904...
Crosshair did not pull away from Tech's touch, though he could not hold his younger brother's gaze for longer than a second. Not when he felt such horrified guilt at what Crosshair had done. Not when his brother was bleeding out before him, a faint, weak smile tugging at Tech's mouth as he looked up into Crosshair's face.
"Cross..." Tech choked out Crosshair's name, the words bubbled with blood and agony but blazing with warmth all the same.
Crosshair tried to keep his gaze away from Tech, but the quiet warmth in his brother's voice turned Crosshair's gaze fully onto his brother.
Tech was smiling through bloodstained teeth and bloodsoaked lips, a glimmer of some stark emotion - was that love? - in his eyes, as a single tear streaked down his cheek. "Cross…" Tech's words were becoming more slurred than before, a sound that sent an ice spear directly through Crosshair's heart, "I'm… glad… you came… back to us… s'not… your fault…"
Another hacking cough, and another gout of blood slipping from Tech's mouth, made Crosshair want to scream, want to reverse time to stop himself from aiming for Tech's heart with that satisfied, god awful smirk on his face. This was his brother! His best friend! And Crosshair had gunned Tech down without any second thought besides bitter betrayal and satisfied anger. But there was nothing Crosshair could do to save his brother from Crosshair's own mistake. Nothing in Tech's pack could stop the inevitable… not when Crosshair never missed his target, and Tech had been his target.
"Tech," his brother's name rolled off Crosshair's tongue softly, too clear in the snowy forest to mask the agony clawing out Crosshair's insides as he stared at the gaping wound in his brother's chest, "I… I'm sorry. I… I don't know why- I never wanted to-"
"I know," Tech breathed, "it… wasn't your choice… never was…"
No, it was!
Crosshair wanted to scream at his brother, to tell him what he was - the monster that had been inside his head for months - but nothing came to his tongue. No biting retort or smug remark. Nothing.
All Crosshair could do was clutch at his brother's damaged armor and, with tears stinging his eyes, he buried his head against Tech's chest. "I am so sorry, Tech."
Tech's fingers ruffled through Crosshair's short hair, a pained chuckle barely escaping his mouth as Tech's chest rose weakly underneath Crosshair. Crosshair clung to Tech as if he could prevent the life slipping from his brother by sheer force of will. It was pointless, a fruitless show of desperation, but there was no amount of self-reasoning Crosshair could argue against to make him let go of Tech.
This was his best friend, his brother, Crosshair's Tech who was dying underneath him, each labored breath shorter and duller than the next. Tech couldn't die... not Tech... anyone but Tech...
Crosshair never heard the hiss of the Havoc Marauder's engines as it flew over the trees, circled and landed some distance from where he kneeled over his brother's body. He refused to acknowledge when Tech let out an eerie, drawn rattle from deep within his damaged lung, and ignored when Tech's chest stopped moving.
If he didn't acknowledge it, he could-
"Get away from him, Crosshair!"
Wrecker's roar shattered the cold air, moments before Crosshair felt large arms wrap around his waist and chest and yank him away from Tech's body. Crosshair thrashed, hands clawing for his brother as he screamed at the offending arms pulling him from Tech to let him go. He had to get to Tech, he had to apologize, had to-
Crosshair was slammed into the snow - hard - by Wrecker, the force of his body hitting the snow knocking the air from his lungs with a weak gasp of pain. Wrecker's weight bored down on his back fully, making any chance of him escaping from his largest brother impossible. Anger and worry - and oh god, he killed Tech! - warred within Crosshair as he stilled his body and watched as Hunter approached Tech's body.
Hunter was shaking as he kneeled down beside Tech, his hand hovering hesitantly over Tech's body before he pressed two fingers to Tech's jugular. Crosshair watched, knowing deep in his heart what his brother would find, his eyes shifting away from Hunter when the older man registered the lack of a pulse in Tech's neck.
Wrecker said something - or did he sob it? Crosshair's ears were drowned with his own voice screaming at him from within to tell - and received a muted shake of Hunter's head. Sobs cracked from Wrecker as he leapt away from Crosshair's pinned body and skidded down beside Tech, large hands lifting their brother with the utmost care.
Crosshair stared at the snow, hating the sound of Wrecker's sobs and Hunter's whispered pleas, wishing that he could be anywhere but there at that very moment. Then, suddenly, Hunter was kneeling beside him, his face a mask of fathomless pain as Hunter looked down at Crosshair.
"Crosshair?"
Why did Hunter have to sound so broken? His voice cracked as he whispered Crosshair's name and, even worse, he felt warm and hesitant when Hunter's hand brushed Crosshair's shoulder. Crosshair couldn't even flinch at Hunter's touch, so strongly did his self-loathing burn within his chest.
"I'm sorry," Crosshair choked out, "I'm so sorry."
Hunter said nothing, though his silence was more than enough for Crosshair to understand. To accept.
He knew what he'd done.
He didn't deserve his brothers' forgiveness, not when he'd killed his own brother. He'd gunned Tech down in the name of the Empire, for a cause he did not believe in without the Kaminoans' influence-
I killed Tech.
Brother… I am so sorry…
Crosshair felt Hunter pick him up, saw the trees shift past and saw the Havoc Marauder's ramp descend to meet them. Felt his legs trek up the steps, felt Hunter's grip tighten on his arm as he marched him to the small medical bay, and felt eyes watching him. Heard the girl's gasp as Wrecker walked into the Marauder with Tech in his arms, heard Echo's pained protest, and heard Wrecker's sobs echoing through the ship's interior.
Hunter ordered him to lay down on the operating table, his voice flat and emotionless, and Crosshair couldn't have disobeyed even if he wanted to. He watched out of the corner of his vision as Hunter pulled a hypo out from the medicine cabinet, then turned towards Crosshair with an expression of such sorrow that Crosshair felt like purging the contents of his stomach.
"We have to keep you under stasis until we can find a place to remove your inhibitor chip," Hunter droned, his eyes looking past Crosshair as he spoke, "I'm sorry, but we can't risk something happening with you being awake."
"Oh," Crosshair snorted bitterly, "I understand. I know what I did, Hunter. I watched him die after I shot him. I am aware."
Hunter remained infuriatingly silent as he stopped at Crosshair's side, hypo stim in hand, and laid his left hand on Crosshair's chestplate. Crosshair glanced up into his brother's gaze and flinched at the distance within Hunter's eyes.
He felt the needle jab into his skin and, as the drug worked quickly to knock Crosshair unconscious, he grabbed Hunter's hand and whispered one last apology.
Not that they would ever mean anything. Not when he'd executed his youngest brother. Not when Crosshair had destroyed the Bad Batch from within.