A loud hiss and dull clang from the boarding ramp shot through the ship. Omega crawled to the ladder and peeked out, still clutching the holo transmitter. Echo and Wrecker must have returned with the supplies.

Eager to help bring in the supplies, Omega slid down the ladder, then skidded to a stop as Crosshair staggered into the Marauder and leaned heavily against the wall.

"Crosshair! Crosshair, are you all right?"

The holo device clattered to the floor as Omega ran forward. The sniper looked up at her just as Hunter hurried from the cockpit followed by Tech, and Omega froze at the fierce grimace on Crosshair's face.

"Crosshair...?" she whispered.

Hunter strode up to Crosshair and grasped him beneath the arms. Crosshair did not resist as Hunter helped him towards the bunk room.

Omega panted, startled by the suddenness with which Crosshair had burst into the ship, and the even more sudden interference of Hunter. "Tech! Is he okay...?"

"He will be all right," said Tech quickly. "Omega, please return to your room."

"But -!"

"Please."

He didn't wait for her to respond, but hurried into the bunk room after Hunter.

The door closed, and Omega was left alone.

She shuffled back to the gunners mount, thoughts swirling about in her head until it began to ache. She checked the chrono and sighed. It was nearly 2100 hours, and Wrecker and Echo were still not back with the supplies. What had Crosshair been doing out alone? He hadn't returned to the ship with Tech and Hunter, and Omega didn't think he'd been helping Echo and Wrecker. Or maybe he was helping them, she scolded herself. Maybe that's why he was so...tired? No, he wasn't just tired, he was injured. He had been struggling on the way to Cid's, and the brief scuffle with Ketch and Bolo in the trandoshan's parlor had probably not helped him any.

Omega lay down and tucked Trooper tightly under her chin. She stared sadly out at the familiar interior of the Havoc Marauder, unable to help noticing each blinking light and glowing dial. She had practically memorized the positions of every control on the main dashboard, and was well on her way to committing the placements of the navicomputer's controls to memory as well.

Trooper rattled inquisitively as Omega pulled the blankets up, so she scootched up a bit further on her pillow to let Trooper see out as well.

Everything was quiet, seemingly all was well. But it wasn't.

There was a low murmur of voices from the bunk room, and Omega sniffed, unable to stop the tear that slipped down her face when Tech's voice snapped, "Why didn't you say something?" and Crosshair's voice hissed something Omega couldn't catch.

"I shouldn't have made him come," Omega whispered. Trooper did not reply.

Suddenly discouraged, Omega sat up and threw the doll from the gunner's mount. It skittered across the floor and stopped with a muted clink as it collided with something on the floor. It could be one of Wrecker's explosives for all she cared.

The voices from the bunk room faded, and silence pervaded the ship once more. The sky outside was completely black, and the soft glow from the dashboard illuminated the slow trickle of raindrops on the viewport from the inside. It looked strange, the shining drops eerily soothing as they slithered in pale tracks down the transparisteel.

The steady pattering of rain was interrupted by varyingly sharp and muffled taps as the metal casing of the Marauder shifted and settled. It was almost as if the ship were breathing, each breath slowing the more activity inside it settled down for the night...until it drifted off to sleep.

Omega didn't notice when her confusion fled to be replaced by a comforting darkness.

At first, Omega thought it was morning. She turned slowly and blinked blearily at the chrono, groaning tiredly when the numbers 0100 registered in her muddled brain. Besides, it was still very dark. She couldn't see any of the cockpit controls... Someone had slid her curtain closed.

The rain had stopped, but now there were footsteps moving about the ship - the heavy thuds of Wrecker's boots mixed with soft metallic taps from Echo's, and Hunter's quieter shuffling.

Omega shoved herself up on her elbows and blinked rapidly. What had woken her? It must have been noise of the hatch when Echo and Wrecker came back.

Swiping a hand down her face, Omega curled up and tugged the blankets around her shoulders as tightly as she could. Sitting up had made her cold, and she pushed her face hard against the pillow until she felt tired enough to drop back off to sleep.

The stealthy footsteps in the main area below blended together, accompanied by whispers and Hunter's low voice. Omega liked Hunter's voice. It rumbled when he talked quietly. The quiet conversation continued for some time and rain began to fall again. These nighttime sounds made a sort of lullaby, and Omega thought it would be nice to hear one.

She had tried to sing before. AZ was her only listener as Nala Se was often busy with her work, and once she had started helping the Kaminoan in her work, Omega had stopped singing. She didn't remember any of the tunes she used to hum anymore, and she didn't remember if she had ever put words to them.

Tech's voice started to drone, and Omega slipped halfway back into her dreams, drowsily wondering if any of her squad mates ever sang.

Words tapped against her mind, and Omega turned over, then woke up with a start.

The others were talking...about Crosshair!

"I don't know what he was doing hanging behind," Echo said, tone still hushed. So, they must think she was still asleep.

"I didn't notice him drop back," said Tech.

"Look, it doesn't matter," Hunter said. "I'm not sure we should be acting like probe droids with him, but at the same time..."

"Does he even want to be with us?" Wrecker muttered, volume level surprisingly controlled for his usually vociferous tones.

Hunter hummed thoughtfully. "I don't see that we need to do anything about it..."

"Hunter," Echo cut in. "I understand you want to act as if none of this happened, but we just can't. What if Crosshair is out to turn us in? We'll be executed for sure, and who'll take care of Omega?"

Omega bit her lip, heart pounding as she gingerly plucked at the edge the curtain, pulling it aside with the crooked tip of her index finger.

Wrecker was sitting in one of the flight chairs across from Tech who sat hunched on the very edge of his seat. Echo stood facing Hunter whose arms were folded stiffly across his chest. Hunter's head was bent in thought and he stared intently at the ground. His eyes were dark gray.

"He's sad..." Omega whispered to herself.

Hunter sighed through his nose and looked up at Echo. "For now, let's just take a break. Crosshair's stuck with us for at least five days. I don't understand why those injuries haven't at least closed fully, but he needs more time. I'm not just going to dump him out somewhere."

"And what if he wants to be dumped somewhere?" Echo hissed. "Hunter! You can't drag him around like this! He's going to snap or something. He betrayed us!"

Wrecker rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Yeah, but...didn't we betray him, too?"

Echo shot him a look, then turned back to Hunter. "He doesn't want this, Hunter."

Hunter pursed his lips. "I... Once he's healed...we'll let him go."

Echo looked closely at Hunter, then closed his eyes. "Hunter? If this is what you're deciding on, I'm not going to cause a problem. But I've got a bad feeling about this. People like Crosshair don't just...turn around overnight and come back. He's got some ulterior motives in mind - and he's going to go after his goals."

"He said he didn't want us dead," Hunter snapped.

"His chip was removed," Tech put in.

"Tech!" Hunter clamped his mouth shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Tech, we don't know that for sure. Look, I know you don't want to trust him, Echo. He hurt all of us by what he did. But...Wrecker's right. We hurt him, too. I broke a promise we all made at the beginning. I'm going to live by that promise now, even if Crosshair doesn't live up his end of it."

"I will as well," said Tech.

"Me too!" Wrecker waved his hand enthusiastically, only to be stared down by the other three.

"Shhh! You'll wake Omega!" Hunter warned.

"Ooh, sorry." Wrecker clapped a hand to his mouth before resting his elbows on his knees. "Hey, Hunter?"

"Hmm?"

"What if Crosshair doesn't...want to keep it anymore?"

Hunter didn't reply for a long moment.

Finally, Tech raised a finger and smiled slightly at Wrecker. "I believe he does, Wrecker. He just may not...know how..." His smile faltered, and he tapped his foot anxiously.

Hunter laughed. "Huh, yeah... I'll talk to him, Echo. For now, let's just...take a break. Speaking of which... How'd it go with Cid?"

"Aw, it went fine." Wrecker grinned. "She wasn't too happy about those thousand credits upfront, but we got it from her easily enough."

"A little too easily," Echo frowned.

Tech cocked his head inquiringly, and Wrecker went on.

"So after the supplies, we got enough fuel to...uh..." he glanced at Echo who frowned again.

"It's too easy, Hunter. It's almost like Cid wants us to go. She's a real haggler about pricing and deals, but this time she gave in with barely her customary complaint! And she refused to give us the fuel."

Hunter raised an eyebrow. "But it's part of the deal - we finish the mission, the Marauder gets a full tank."

"I know, I told her that," Echo growled. "She just said if we were walking out with a thousand credits upfront, she'd need assurance we'd come back to Ord Mantell at all."

Hunter scrubbed his forehead. "Isn't she ever going to let us out of her grip?"

"I guess she wants to keep us on her list of potential employees," said Echo.

"So what does that mean?" Hunter looked at Tech.

Tech pushed his goggles up the bridge of his nose and blinked. "It means we have enough fuel to reach Pantora and back - with enough left over for 1.376 trips to and from Verdacca."

"And that's another thing," Echo snapped. "Why Verdacca? What's there that she's so eager for us to run into?"

"Nothing that I can see," said Tech. "In this case, I believe Cid was being honest."

"So there's no danger in going there?" Hunter asked.

"No," said Tech. "I have done extensive research of the planet in the past - the climate is extremely similar to that of Naboo with the exception of the planetary rotation time and seasonal fluctuations since the planet was first discovered in -"

"Anything else, Tech?" Hunter sighed.

Tech blinked twice. "The population is comprised of over one hundred species - one hundred and thirteen, although there were some minor discrepancies between a few of the articles I found. I tapped into the communications between Ord Mantell and Verdacca, isolating the data transfers to pathways directed to and from the most...isolated terminals in the capital."

"He means the trashy places," Wrecker whispered loudly.

Tech coughed delicately and continued on. "It seems Cid was right. The influence of the Empire is almost nonexistent there. Negotiations have only just begun in the capital. Verdacca remained neutral during the war. And their exports are not valuable enough to interest the Empire - yet. They can all be easily acquired from other planets in the Coruscant sector. Verdacca mainly supplies Ord Mantell, and -"

"Yeah, we figured," Wrecker yawned. "So we goin' there, Hunter?"

Hunter chuckled softly and nodded. "We'll go to Verdacca then. Thank you, Tech."

Wrecker stood, and he and Echo went into the cockpit.

Omega was just about to release the curtain when Hunter caught Tech by the elbow as the pilot stood.

"Tech, is there any way to know for sure whether or not Crosshair's chip is removed?"

Tech frowned thoughtfully and gave Hunter a strange look. "When we were treating him after we left Kamino, I did attempt to use the scanner Omega and I built."

Omega was too focused on what Tech would say next to really notice that he had mentioned her helping him build the chip scanner.

"There...there was something Crosshair appeared to be fighting," said Tech. "But I am not certain. I cannot be certain. It may have been his inhibitor chip, or it may be the effects of the scanner working on...nothing... But that does not make sense."

"No it doesn't," Hunter agreed. "Look...can you try it again?"

Tech nodded slowly, then shook his head. "I do not want to risk something happening," he said. "If it's not Crosshair's inhibitor chip, it is something else. I would not advise using the first scanner - but we could use the AZ unit."

"The droid?"

"Yes. I came across something peculiar while working on its central processing unit. It seems this droid has performed the scan before. We may have to go to a medical facility to acquire the proper equipment, but -"

"Okay," said Hunter. He clapped Tech on the shoulder. "We'll work with what we have for now - maybe Crosshair will tell us something in the next few days that'll make it easier to help him."

"Does he...require help?" said Tech.

"Yes," said Hunter. "Our squad doesn't just...do things like that - I need to know exactly when he got out from under the chip's influence, if at all. Or if it was ever active in the first place."

He patted Tech once more, and wandered into the cockpit.

Tech remained staring at the floor for a long moment. "Be careful, Hunter," he sighed.

Omega watched him, worried by how confusing everything was when Tech looked up at her and sighed again.

She hastily jerked the curtain closed, burrowing into her covers and trying to act sleepy when Tech climbed up the ladder and pulled the curtain aside.

"Omega?"

"Hmmm...?"

"Do not pretend - you were listening, weren't you?"

Omega swallowed and nodded against her pillow.

Tech watched her with slightly narrowed eyes - Omega hoped it was because he was tired.

"We will be leaving for Verdacca shortly," he said. And without another word, he climbed down the ladder and went into the cockpit.