Two months for Omega since she arrived on Mt. Tantiss. Since arriving, Omega has merely endured what Dr Hemlock, Emerie, and Nala Se were doing to her. It wasn't pleasant, but it was her current situation, and it allowed her to remain strong when dealing with Emerie and Dr Hemlock while also continuing to process Tech's death. However, What Emerie and Dr Hemlock were doing to Crosshair stressed Omega. She had seen how broken he looked, and seeing him broken down like this pained her heart and left her worried about being broken down like that. Thankfully, the time in the Bacta Pod had lessened the shaking in Crosshair's limbs, and he could walk normally, though slowly, now, which was a relief for Omega.
She was sitting on her bed in her room, a tiny alcove at the back of Nala Se's lab one day. It was mild for an Autumn day on Mt. Tantiss, and fairy lights lit the alcove. The distant sound of Nala Se's machines humming filtered through the black curtain that hid her alcove from the rest of the lab, and the scents of wood, blankets and the curtain wafted in the alcove. The bed was supportive, though Omega couldn't describe how it felt.
"Omega," came Nala Se's voice from the other side of the lab. Omega sighed, then climbed off her bed and headed for Nala Se.
The lab was warmer than her bedroom, and the scents and sounds were stronger. Nala Se turned from her computer and looked at Omega.
"What is it?" Omega asked.
"I need to discuss something with you. Something important," Nala Se replied.
"What about?" Omega asked.
"It's about family. Specifically, you know who," Nala Se replied. Omega's eyes widened in shock when she realised who Nala Se was talking about.
"Khan," Omega whispered.
"Yes," Nala Se replied, "Have you told anyone about him?"
"No," Omega sighed, "After everything that happened to us, it's too upsetting to talk about,"
"It's fine," Nala Se replied, "What my sister had planned was disgusting and cruel. I do have good news regarding that, though,"
"How could there be good news about what she had planned to make Khan and I do?" Omega clenched her fists and glared at Nala Se.
"Cora's dead. Someone assassinated her. The rumour is that Lama Su started the ball rolling towards her assassination," Nala Se replied.
Omega sighed, "I'm glad," before she quickly added, "I'm sorry for your loss as she was your sister after all, but after everything Cora did to Khan and me and what she had planned, I can't muster any sympathy for her,"
Nala Se sighed, "Thanks, Omega. Now, I have one suggestion for you,"
"What is it?" Omega wondered.
"While Dr Hemlock and Emerie are moving you around the facility in the next few weeks, remember they're planning something internally and externally. I suggest not getting yourself hurt too severely. The same applies to Crosshair. We need you both in decent condition if we're going to stand a chance of getting away from this place," Nala Se replied.
"What do you mean, planned internally? Does it involve Khan?" Omega asked.
"One of the plans might," Nala Se admitted, "But I've heard about the Dark Trooper program. It might be why Dr Hemlock is after your brothers, and possibly Boba too,"
"I don't want any of them here," Omega grumbled, "It's bad enough that Crosshair and I are already here. Especially if what you're saying is true,"
"Keep yourself on guard at all times, especially around Emerie. Alright?" Nala Se asked.
"Alright," Omega replied before she returned to her alcove.
Over the next few weeks, Omega would continue enduring the testing. It was tough, but she'd suffered this before. One day, a week after her discussion with Nala Se, Omega was walking along in the middle of a line of Clones going in one direction through the corridor. On the other side, a second row of Clones was going in the opposite direction. It was mild for an Autumn day in the dark blue corridor, lit by ceiling lights every ten meters. Omega heard the sound of footsteps and the hum of machines, and the scents of metal and electricity hung in the air. The floor was hard on her shoes.
As Omega walked past the row of Clones, she saw Crosshair in the middle, looking completely broken and depressed, sending a jolt through her, a mix of shock and fear. Was she going to be like this if she stayed here too long? Omega sent a reassuring smile to Crosshair, but she just got a sigh in response. Omega then noticed several of the Clones were grimacing or wincing as they moved. She remembered her time on Kamino, where moving was often painful after she was experimented on, especially if Cora Sol was the one testing her.
Once the Clones, including Omega, had filed into the lab and were guided to their gurney, Dr Hemlock approached her.
"Ah, Omega, we need you to do something for us," Dr Hemlock said.
"What is it?" Omega narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
"Nothing major, just a few scans are needed," Dr Hemlock replied. Omega felt her hair stand up on end.
"What do you mean, scans?" Omega asked.
"You'll see," Dr Hemlock replied before he turned and walked towards a room that branches off the lab. Omega slowly approached, her senses telling her something wasn't right.
Omega stood in a small room with metal floors, walls and ceiling. It was warmer inside the room versus the lab, and lights came from small lights scattered across the dark grey walls and vents at the bottom of the walls. The scent of metal dominates Omega's senses as she holds a computer-like device. There are four transperisteel panels around the walls with what look like Clones behind the screens. The device is off-grey, with the top half covered in a black keyboard, while the middle section has two black joysticks. The bottom section, which Omega holds against her, has several buttons on it on different sides.
"Alright, Omega. Press the button in the middle, closest to you," Dr Hemlock said. Omega did, and four scanning units activated and scanned Omega. Omega caught Emerie's eye briefly, and her expression was hard to read.
As it turned out, if Omega had to describe what was happening in one word, boring would come to mind. At least when she pressed the buttons, the machine buzzed funnily. After about an hour, Dr Hemlock was satisfied, and Omega returned to her part of the lab, where Emerie was ready for her.
When Omega saw the other Clones, her heart sank as she saw many cringing in pain. She looked at them empathically but was tapped on the hand by Emerie, "Oi, don't get distracted by them. They're not worth your energy,"
Once again, Omega felt a shiver go up her spine as she heard the sadistic note in her voice. And it was at that moment that Omega also understood what was going on with the other Clones hurting. Emerie was doing this. And while Emerie seemed as intelligent as she was, she appeared sadistic, enjoying inflicting unnecessary pain on other Clones.
As the scans and tests began, Emerie said, "You're oddly calm about this,"
"After what happened to me on Kamino, I'm used to this," Omega replied.
"Oh," Emerie replied before registering what Omega said, "Nala Se was doing this stuff to you?"
"How else was she going to, as she said, make Clone Force 99 the best they could be?" Omega replied.
Emerie raised her eyebrows at Omega, "Are you saying you were the test puppet for Clone Force 99?"
"Yes," Omega sighed. Emerie didn't respond, but Omega found that Emerie didn't go out of her way to hurt her. However, Omega still felt that the brief conversation was weird. Why was Emerie probing her about her past on Kamino?
"Were you hurt by your Supervisor?" Omega wondered. Emerie didn't reply, and before long, Emerie had concluded her scans on Omega, and she left her gurney.
As Omega left, she noticed Scorch briefly talking with Emerie. Emerie and Scorch chatting surprised Omega. Omega thought that Dr Hemlock controlled whom Emerie could communicate with.
Omega was distracted by this revelation. So she accidentally wandered down the wrong corridor. The corridor was as lit as the other corridor, but the air was the warmest she felt. She wiped her brow as she started to sweat. There was no sound, which left Omega on edge. The scent of metal combined with her sweat as she walked down the hard floor.
Omega got about a hundred meters down the corridor before realising she was on the wrong corridor. She looked around and realised that she was alone in the corridor. And suddenly, she realised that this corridor led to one of the landing pads. She ran down the corridor and, to her shock, Omega realised she might have a way to escape. But she wasn't going to run off on her own. Crosshair needed him. Emerie intentionally hurt the Clones, so she needed to help them, too.
Omega felt the wind blow on her as she walked onto the landing pad. The wind made the warm conditions inside the facility cooler. The sun had just gone over the facility's roof, but the landing pad was still well-lit. Omega inhaled the scent of the forest, and it calmed her.
Omega didn't get to experience this much before Sev found her.
"There you are," Fixer said, "Went down the wrong corridor, eh?"
"Yeah," Omega replied as her heart rate quickened. She had been caught by a Commando, meaning her disappearance had caused a scene. Dr Hemlock and Scorch close behind.
"Well, well, well, look who we have here. Did you seriously attempt to escape?" Dr Hemlock taunted.
"If I wanted to escape, I would've," Omega replied defiantly.
"Oh?" Dr Hemlock asked.
Fixer looked to Scorch for advice about what to do with Omega, and to his surprise, Scorch made a motion that indicated an injection of some kind.
"She might have gone the wrong way due to being disoriented after Emerie's testing. Emerie is rough with the test subjects," Fixer suggested.
"Possibly," Dr Hemlock said, "However, she does need some form of punishment for running off like she did,"
"I'll stun her and take her back to Nala Se's lab. I need to talk to her, anyway," Scorch suggested, making Omega flinch.
"Fine," Dr Hemlock replied, looking maliciously at Omega. Scorch signed to Sev to prepare to catch her, and when Scorch stunned Omega, Sev caught her and carefully laid her to the ground.
"Take her back to Nala Se's lab and tell her about what Omega did," Dr Hemlock stated before he continued towards a nearby Lambda-Class Shuttle. Scorch picked up Omega and took her inside and back to Nala Se's lab.
Nala Se's lab was milder than the facility as Scorch entered with the stunned Omega. Nala Se's lab was well-lit, and the sounds of the equipment were non-stop on Scorch's senses. The scents of Bacta and electricity wafted through the air.
"There's an alcove near the back of the lab where her bed is," Nala Se said without turning to face him. Scorch carried Omega to the curtains at the back of the lab, and after opening it, Scorch saw Omega's bed. Scorch gently laid Omega on the bed before walking back to Nala Se. Once Scorch had returned to Nala Se, she turned to face him.
"What did you do to her?" Nala Se asked.
"Omega got lost on her way back to your lab and found the landing pad. Dr Hemlock probably wanted to do something more to her as punishment for trying to escape," Scorch made quotation marks with his hands when he said trying to escape, "But I convinced him to let me stun her instead,"
"It could be worse," Nala Se sighed, "I sense you want to talk to me about something,"
"Yes," Scorch replied, "Just to make you aware, there's something called the Dark Trooper Program. And I have reasons to believe that why Dr Hemlock is going after the other Batch members because he wants to use their mutations to create new Spaarti Clones that have all their abilities in one,"
Nala Se's eyes widened upon hearing this, "That's not good. Is Hemlock going to use Omega for it?"
"If Omega stays here too long, then Dr Hemlock will turn her into a Dark Trooper," Scorch replied, "Crosshair is more likely, though,"
"Thanks for informing me," Nala Se replied, "I knew Dr Hemlock couldn't be trusted,"
"Agreed," Scorch replied before he departed. Unknown to both, the stun on Omega had worn off enough that she heard every word.
The knowledge that Dr Hemlock would turn the Clones he was torturing, including her, into Dark Troopers haunted Omega over the next month. The weather steadily cooled as Fall progressed in and around Mt. Tantiss, and Omega was somewhat relieved that she wasn't sweating as much during the day. What Omega didn't expect, however, was when Dr Hemlock paired her with Emerie during the testing run of the Clones.
It was a mild Fall day in Mt. Tantiss, and it was early afternoon. The lights shone on the lab where Emerie was chaining the Clones. The sounds of the Clone's whimpers and moans floated through the lab, and the scent of metal and fabrics from the gurneys wafted through the air.
Dr Hemlock was watching from nearby, interested in the contrast between Omega and Emerie.
Emerie handed Omega several white needles attached to long cords into a machine nearby.
"Now take these wires and stick them into these four Clones," Emerie said to Omega, who suppressed a flinch, barely, as she remembered the Kaminoans stuck the wires into her when they hooked her up to the machines on Kamino.
Omega carefully put the wires into the Clones and hated seeing them wince and recoil in pain. As she did this, she looked empathically at them, and to one, Omega felt compelled to say, "I've had this done to me many times before, so I know how this feels,"
Once Omega had finished, she looked over to Emerie and was horrified to see two of the Clones with a needle in their sides instead of their arms.
"Emerie, what the kriff? That's not where you to put them," Omega said.
"Don't question my methods," Emerie sneered as she gave Omega a cold, unfeeling glare that caused a shiver to go up Omega's spine. How could Emerie be so frosty, so apathetic? Emerie was intentionally causing these Clones pain. Was this Dr Hemlock's influence?
Omega returned to working her way through the tests she had been told to do, with her and Crosshair under threat if she didn't cooperate. Omega did her best to ignore the cries of pain she heard from the Clones that Emerie was handling. While Omega worked, she pushed down the emotions and memories of Kamino, determined not to show weakness in front of Emerie.
Suddenly, just as Omega finished the third stage of the tests, Omega heard someone collapse. She turned around and was horrified to see a Clone lying motionless on the gurney with a bloody nose. Emerie stood there nearby with a hand clenched, a look of dark fury in her eyes. The Clone was trickling blood out of his side as the needle lay nearby.
"What was that for?" Omega asked in shock.
"That's what you get for calling me a Lab Scrubber," Emerie snarled with a sadistic smirk. Emerie turned to Omega, then stated, "Didn't the Regs call you a Lab Scrubber on Kamino too?"
"Just because a Clone called me a lab scrubber doesn't give me the right to attack them," Omega replied, "What gives you the right to inflict pain on them so casually?"
Emerie glared at Omega, the icy glare piercing her soul, "Don't you dare question my methods and motivations. You might be a Lab Assistant like me, but unlike you, I prefer to return the pain that they inflicted on me,"
Omega gasped in realisation. Emerie wasn't merely her age-accelerated counterpart. Emerie was a dark mirror of her. A warning of what she could become if she lets them get to her.
"That's enough," Dr Hemlock called from above, causing Omega and Emerie to turn to face him.
"Emerie, control your temper. We can't get proper results if we abuse them as you did," Dr Hemlock replied, "Now. Move that Clone you just assaulted to the medical area, then head to your quarters to cool off,"
"Fine," Emerie replied, and she grabbed the gurney and wheeled that Clone off.
"Sorry about that, Omega. Due to her past, Emerie has a temper and a lust for revenge," Dr Hemlock replied.
"I feel bad for her," Omega admitted.
"Don't be," Dr Hemlock replied, "She's not your problem to worry about, remember?"
"I know," Omega sighed.
"You'll cover Emerie's clones. I think they'll be glad you're testing them and not Emerie," Dr Hemlock replied. When Omega nodded, Dr Hemlock nodded in response. Omega returned to the testing feeling sick to her stomach. Emerie was torturing the Clones for her sadistic pleasure. And that smile as she did it, Omega hated it. All Omega knew was that she didn't want to be in the same room as her. Force only knows what Emerie would do to her if Dr Hemlock gave her the chance.
Several hours later, an exhausted Omega reached Nala Se's lab. It was mercifully cooler for a Fall day in the lab. Lights in the ceiling lit the laboratory, and the sound of holograms and equipment hummed as Nala Se worked. Everyone can see the hologram Nala Se is working on, though only Omega knows what Nala Se is working on. Omega made it to her room, opened up the curtain, and climbed into her room. She curled up into a ball and shuddered. She was scared and rattled. Emerie was abusive to the Clones and had no qualms about assaulting them for badmouthing her. Omega grabbed her nearly complete doll from under her pillow and held it against her. She found holding it calmed her slightly.
Nala Se noticed Omega retreating to her room and paused her research to check on her.
"What took you so long," Nala Se asked. Omega turned to Nala Se and replied, "I had to cover the testing of Emerie's Clones after she assaulted one for insulting her,"
"Wait, Emerie assaulted a Clone? And Dr Hemlock is making you test the other Clones?" Nala Se's eyes widened.
"Yes," Omega replied, and she glared at Nala Se as she continued, "The tests Dr Hemlock made me perform on them are the same tests you performed on me on Kamino,"
"Right," Nala Se replied as she saddened noticeably, "That's how Dr Hemlock will try to break you,"
"Apparently," Omega sighed before she returned to looking at her knees.
"Does Crosshair know about the Dark Trooper Project?" Omega asked.
"No. I feel that Crosshair would accept being turned into a Dark Trooper if told about it," Nala Se replied.
Omega shuddered, and Nala Se asked, "What's up?"
"If Crosshair has been broken by Dr Hemlock, how long before Hemlock and Emerie start breaking me," Omega asked.
"You have to stay strong, Omega. If you need to, I can have Crosshair brought in regularly so you have someone to talk to,"
"You would? Thanks, Nala Se," Omega replied, smiling gently for the first time since she arrived on Mt. Tantiss.
"No problem," Nala Se replied, "Now get some rest, alright?"
"Alright," Omega replied. Nala Se then noticed the doll Omega was holding.
"How long have you had that? How did you get it?" Nala Se asked, pointing to the doll.
"I've had it since shortly after I arrived here," Omega replied, "I managed to find some scraps of fabric that Emerie had left behind. I hid them under my uniform and found a way to bring the pieces together,"
Nala Se then noticed what looked like staples holding the doll together.
"So that's where my staples went," Nala Se said, "How about I remove the staples and sew this doll together? That way, you don't have to use my medical staples,"
"You'd do that for me?" Omega asked.
"Sure," Nala Se replied, "Next time you wind up in a Bacta Pod, I'll make the changes. How does that sound?"
"Sounds good," Omega nodded.
"Good," Nala Se replied, "Now get some rest, alright?"
"I will," Omega replied before Nala Se returned the curtain covering Omega's room to its original position.
With Nala Se
A few minutes later, Nala Se got in contact with Kuan Si.
"Hello, Nala Se," Kuan said.
"Kuan Si. Have you got anything for me?" Nala Se asked.
"Yes," Kuan Si replied, "We have intelligence reports that Dr Hemlock is planning to go after Boba Fett,"
Nala Se's eyes widened again, "That'll be because he can't just use the Batch in his plans due to Omega being Androgen Insensitive,"
"That would explain it," Kuan Si replied, "You might need to get in contact with the Bounty Hunter friend of yours that helped keep Omega out of Lama Su's hand,"
"I will," Nala Se replied.
"Good. I'll leave you to it," Kuan Si replied, and the transmission ended.
Nala Se then activated a unique transmitter, and after a moment, Fennec Shand appeared.
"What's up, Nala Se?" Fennec Shand asked.
"Remember when I hired you to protect Omega from Lama Su's Bounty Hunter?" Nala Se asked.
"I do," Fennec replied.
"Dr Hemlock is after the Alpha, now known as Boba. He is also after the other members of Clone Force 99. I'm hiring you to keep him safe from Dr Hemlock," Nala Se replied.
"You know what to do," Fennec Shand said.
"I will send you a down payment now, and I will make the full payment if you can stop Hemlock and whatever Bounty Hunters he sends after Clone Force 99 and Boba. For each one you fail to protect, you'll lose one-quarter of the payment," Nala Se replied.
Fennec Shand thought about it momentarily, then nodded, "Sure. I'll protect them," before the intercom disconnected.
Nala Se sighed. She knew what she had gotten herself into and hoped Dr Hemlock wouldn't track the payment to Fennec Shand back to her.