"So, tiny!" Cid clapped Omega on the shoulder as she followed the squad out of the office. "You going to be ready for more money-making operations when you get back?"
Omega glanced up at Hunter who had turned back slightly at Cid's question, and smiled. "Actually, we're going to take a vacation!"
"A vacation, huh?" Cid tapped her chin with a long claw, then stroked her stick thoughtfully. "Any idea where you'd like it?"
Omega scrunched up her face. "Not...really...? Somewhere nice, though. Everyone needs some down time," she added seriously.
"Somewhere the Empire isn't," said Echo firmly. He stepped back to Omega's side and watched Cid through narrowed eyes.
"Relax, bolts-for-brains," Cid drawled, rolling her eyes. "I'm not interested in interfering with your vacation! I've got a few places in mind if you need suggestions. My informants keep me pretty up to date on which places are Empire-free. For now, at any rate."
"Good." Hunter folded his arms. "Any suggestions? That won't shake whatever trust we have for you?"
"I promise, bandana. I'm not interested in getting you and your little group involved in my missions if you ain't interested. But yeah. I do have a few ideas."
Tech adjusted his goggles. "Such as...?"
"Well how about Verdacca for starters?" Cid snapped. "Quiet place, plenty of low-life bars here and there, lots of open space!" The trandoshan smiled and cocked her head down at Omega. "And plenty of grass and open sky."
"Are there any Imperial forces there?" Hunter asked.
"Not so far," Cid replied. "Seems the Empire's targeting more well-to-do planets first. Not that they're going to do anything to help the less fortunate in those places. Money-grubbing slobs..."
Echo quirked an eyebrow and looked pointedly at Cid.
"Look, metal-head!" she squalled. "I'm not a corrupt politician! I do what I say I'm about! I look out for me! You know that!"
"How is that not corrupt?" Echo muttered. Wrecker elbowed him.
Hunter huffed and shook his head. "I don't know anything about politicians - I'm just trying to take care of my squad. On which note... Tech! How's Verdacca look?"
Tech, who was busily swiping his finger repeatedly up his datapad screen twisted his mouth to the side and studied his device a moment longer before he straightened and put it away.
"Verdacca appears to be a safe option," he stated, and took a breath.
Echo leaned over and glanced down at the datapad. "No more than a few hours jump away, twenty-six hour rotation, close to standard. Hmm..."
Tech frowned at Echo's interruption and pulled the tablet away. "I will take care of preparing the ship," he said bossily. And with a pointed look at Wrecker, "We should also restock on our supplies."
Wrecker reached into his pack and pulled out a ration bar. "Good idea, Tech. I think we're running low on these."
Tech face-palmed.
"Alright," said Hunter. "Tech? I'm going to want to talk to you a bit more about this planet. See what our other options are. Wrecker? Go with Echo to restock our supplies. Omega? Let's head back to the ship."
Omega obediently followed Hunter out of Cid's office, but caught his hand outside. "Hunter? What about Crosshair? He's coming with us, right?"
Hunter looked back to where Cid was prodding Crosshair out of the office with her stick. "Yeah," he muttered. "He's comin' with us." He gazed thoughtfully at Crosshair while Cid hissed a few parting words at the sniper's back.
Crosshair ignored her.
Omega stuffed one hand into her bag and fiddled with the holotransmitter. Soon, she and the others would be back on Pantora, and Hunter could pay back the Gran shop owner back. And once that was taken care of, they would all go off to another planet for several days of exploring and fun.
"Just think, Trooper!" Omega curled up against the back of the gunner's chair and wriggled excitedly. "Just think! We have five days to see all sorts of things! And Crosshair will be with us the whole time! And we're going to a new planet!" She squeezed the trooper doll tighter and tighter with each sentence until the poor toy's limbs stuck out at odd and uncomfortable-looking angles.
She relaxed her grip and, with a tired squeak, Trooper's arms and legs fell back to their original positions.
Omega set her aside and pulled the holo device from her bag. She remembered the Gran. She had nearly broken some of his merchandise while waiting for Hunter to finish bartering. That incident led to the "no touching things in the shops" rule. And Omega tried very hard to remember. Credits were hard to come by, and there had been a few nights where she had seen Hunter and Tech in a late conversation about "economizing".
Wrecker had looked up the word for her the next day.
Omega pressed the device controls, wondering how much ten thousand credits looked like and remembered Crosshair's questions to Cid and Tech's surprised reaction. "What percent of which cut?" She thought she understood what Cid had been doing, but didn't quite see how the trandoshan had managed it. She would have to ask someone. But not Crosshair. She had bothered him enough.
The holotransmitter flickered, and a blue image of the Gran wavered into view. Omega watched the image lazily rotate three times before she straightened. There was a small flash of pale blue that swept down the holo display every few seconds. She almost hadn't noticed it. But now that she had, her attention was gripped, and she stared intently, trying to catch the small figures that flickered through the blue light.
They disappeared too quickly. Omega tried to keep her eyes on the same section of the image as it turned so that she could focus on one figure at a time. It didn't work. The second holo shifted randomly, and despite her best efforts, Omega couldn't catch a bit of it.
She shook the transmitter, turning it over to see if there was any way to slow down the recording. There wasn't. Because it wasn't a recording. It was a projection with a second one built in.
She pressed her lips together in a determined frown.
Whatever it was, it would have to be extracted.