Chapter 2 - The Crossing
Tech leads them to the mine Cid apparently bought, and Omega opts to stay outside on guard with Crosshair. Not that they need both, because well, it's Crosshair, but it's just – she doesn't want to talk to or be with anyone right now.
Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker head inside to do the mining, and Omega sullenly sits on the edge of the cliff overlooking a valley far below.
Echo's absence is ringing around in her head, looping through her mind on repeat. He's gone. He's not supposed to be gone, and Omega feels lost without him. She has no idea what to do without him. They needed him.
They needed him and now, he's gone.
He's...
She needs something to distract herself with, and Omega tosses a small stone over the cliff edge. It falls, clanking and bouncing far below, echoing across the valley.
Echoing.
Echo.
She sighs, exhausted.
"You okay?" Crosshair asks her finally.
"I was thinking about Echo.
"It's weird without him around." Weird is an understatement, and entirely the wrong word. Omega doesn't know what to do without Echo. She feels like she's lost, drowning and like she doesn't have anything to ... She has her brothers now, everyone except Echo, but Echo's the one who took care of them. She feels lost. Somehow hopeless.
Omega wants him back. She doesn't understand how he could have just walked away. They need him.
"Yeah," Crosshair agrees. He's quiet, and the silence is dark and heavy. She doesn't want to move. To do anything. Doesn't even know what to do. They aren't supposed to leave each other – they're supposed to stay together.
Crosshair sits beside her, his rifle over her knees, and Omega leans her head on his arm. She's wearing her helmet, anyway, but it still... helps. Somewhat. She just... wants it to stop hurting.
"I don't understand," Omega says finally, helplessly, "How could he just leave? We need him."
"Echo's different," Crosshair answers slowly, "He's one of us, but he's still a reg."
"What does that mean?" she asks, tilting her head to look up at him. "I mean... why? I thought we were supposed to stay together."
"We were," Crosshair replies. He's staring across the valley, watching the storm clouds on the distant horizon. "Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, and I grew up together. What we are, we made. The regs are different. That's why we never leave each other."
"I wish I grew up with you," Omega mutters, tugging her knees to her chest. She doesn't really get their relationship sometimes. They're so close, and they talk just by looking sometimes. There are many things they don't even need to say. She never had anybody growing up. She's... so lonely sometimes. Now that she's here, it's better, but it's still not gone.
Crosshair glances at her. "Sounds hard to imagine."
Yeah. She has no idea what growing up was like for them. It was... always lonely for Omega. That's never fully changed. She just feels... she's one of them, but it's not the same. She wishes it was, that she could've grown up with them and actually understood how they were. She wishes she could have that relationship with someone.
Being the only girl of the family is... lonely.
There's distant rumbling of thunder, but the planet seems otherwise mostly quiet. There's not much life here, and that just adds to her uncomfortableness.
Omega stands when the rest of their brothers finally show up – it wasn't as long as she was starting to think it would be.
"Hunter, I think your storm's changing course," Crosshair says dryly.
"What makes it mine?" Hunter snips back – they've been playfully bickering all morning since they woke up.
"The weather patterns on this planet are most irregular," Tech remarks as they start climbing down from the entrance of the mine.
"We have what we came for," Hunter replies, "Let's get back to Ord Mantell."
Crosshair's mid making a comeback to Hunter's question when Hunter freezes.
"What is it, Hunter?" Tech inquires.
Hunter jumps off the platform, sprinting in the direction of the Marauder.
"That sounds like our ship!" Omega pieces together with a soft gasp. That's their ship, their home, their – no one's supposed to be over there! They were watching – how could someone have snuck up on them?
She scrambles down the platform, and Wrecker pauses to help her down. By the time they make it to where the Marauder was just minutes ago, it's already flying away, leaving them trapped here.
"You were supposed to be on lookout," Hunter snaps, whirling on Crosshair, who instantly bristles. Trying to get him to admit he made a mistake is nearly impossible, and Omega learned that a long time ago. But it's not like she wasn't out there, too, and they didn't see anyone.
"We were," Crosshair snarls back, "There was nothing there."
"Clearly that was not the case," Tech snaps back.
"There has to be a way to get it back, right?" Omega asks, because they need to get back to Ord Mantell like Hunter said, and that – that's their home. They have to get it back.
Hunter pulls his helmet off, looking down at her, expression tight and tired. He's angry, but he's already hiding it, because he just... does that. She's figured that out a long time ago, too.
"Tell me," Tech says, looking pointedly at Crosshair. Omega was there, too. They were together, and she was talking to him, and maybe if they weren't so focused on each other, he might have noticed something was wrong and someone was coming. She might not have noticed anyone from a distance, but Crosshair should've. That just makes her feel even worse. "How, exactly, did you miss our ship being compromised?"
"Well," Crosshair snaps, "If you hadn't hidden it, I would have seen someone coming."
"Yeah," Wrecker agrees, "If somethin' was out there, Crosshair woulda seen!"
"I did not hide it," Tech throws back, "There was no other suitable landing zone!"
Omega looks between them, biting her lip. She doesn't understand. This was her fault, too, and it doesn't feel fair to blame Crosshair for it. And why are they fighting? That doesn't help! It won't help get the Marauder back.
Hunter sighs loudly, audibly. "We can't stay here. Where's the nearest town?"
"During our approach, I scanned a spaceport approximately 40 klicks south of here. Perhaps we can acquire transport there," Tech replies.
She doesn't want to go to a spaceport or a – an anywhere. She just wants to get the Marauder back. That's their home, and it feels like suddenly, all they can do is lose everything and everyone. Which isn't true, but that doesn't stop the throbbing pain in her heart.
"You know how long that would take?" Wrecker protests.
"Since we do not have access to long-range communications without our ship, it is our only option." Tech's voice sounds sharp, sharper than Omega remembers him talking in a long time. He's angry, and she knows he does that, but she's still hurt.
"Let's move," Hunter says, and they set off.
**w**
Omega comms Echo, because it makes sense, and they need him. If he was here, this wouldn't have happened, and if there's anyone who can make this right, it's him. He always does, except he doesn't pick up, and Tech goes on to explain how Echo had apparently deactivated his comm.
That just makes it hurt even more.
Yeah, Omega understands he's probably on some sort of dangerous mission, but what if something happens to him again? What if they need his help? Doesn't that matter, too? Before she can demand details, Hunter freezes and motions them to stop. The ground is shaking, and there's a giant herd of – some sort of creature stampeding toward them.
Hunter attaches a grappling line to a rocky structure above, and they climb the line. Wrecker's the only one who doesn't make it up – lost somewhere amidst the stampede.
"Wrecker!" Omega yelps, panicking. There are thousands of those creatures, and even if he's in armor, that could hurt.
She gasps in relief when he finally manages to get a grappling hook onto the rocky structure beside them, jerking him off the ground and safely away from those things.
"You must protect the ipsium case," Tech yells over the sound of hoofs hitting the ground.
"Well, what about protecting me?" Wrecker protests.
"If it explodes, we'll all be dead!"
Wrecker growls annoyedly, but jumps down again, anyway.
Omega's fingers tighten over the line as she watches, but the stampede finally ends and Wrecker stands with a groan, rubbing his back.
Tech slides down the line, and Hunter and Crosshair follow. Omega climbs down last, and Hunter reaches to help her down.
"My back!" Wrecker whines, and Crosshair pats his shoulder.
"I would advise not dropping it next time," Tech snaps. Omega was genuinely expecting some sort of question or worry or a something, because he could have been hurt from that.
"Why don't you carry it?!" Wrecker throws back.
"Fine!" Tech grunts as he lugs the thing upright.
Hunter's watching the horizon, and Omega follows his gaze skyward. The storm is approaching them. Fast – she can see the dark clouds and the wind is picking up. The lightning, too.
"Well, that would certainly explain the stampede," Tech announces.
And they run. Again.
Omega stumbles, and Crosshair grabs her arm, pulling her upright.
Lightning is flashing behind them, and the wind is whipping up flying rocks.
"We need to find shelter!" Hunter yells over the noise.
"There's another mine up ahead," Crosshair calls back.
"The entrance is thirty meters away," Tech adds.
Omega squints while trying to half shield her eyes – her helmet covers the back of her head, but she really, really could use a proper visor sometimes.
"I see it!" she calls as thunder rumbles behind them again. The storm's already here, and it's hard to make up through the sand, but she can make out the darkened area. Hunter pauses at the entrance to help Omega inside, and the others follow.
"Where's the ipsium?" Omega yells over the storm when Wrecker and Tech finally make it through the case's glaring absence obvious.
Her brothers turn to the opening where the lightning from the storm is still visible. There's a large, moving object – oh no.
"Get down!" Hunter yells, throwing himself over Omega as the entrance and the case with it explodes.
She hits the floor, and there's dark and noise. Something's falling.
It reminds her of Kamino. The air is thick and smokey though it's smoky instead of humid. On Kamino, it was mostly humid and a bit metallic somehow.
It's dark. Omega hates the dark. Dark was when she woke in the cell on that bounty hunter's ship after Raxus. She didn't know if her brothers had made it back, or if – if anyone was out there. It had been terrifying. And then Kamino.
Kamino, as Omega watched her home burn to ash, as she saw it sink into the depths of the sea. Her home is gone now, just like Echo's gone.
Hunter is shuffling beside her, and Omega moves shakily to pick herself up, though she has no idea what the position of the rocks around them are. She heard something falling. They're probably basically buried down here.
The dim light of Hunter's lantern lights up the small cavern.
A glance around tells her everyone's fine, and she almost expects to see Echo, but he's – he's not here. Because he's gone.
"So, now we are trapped," Tech announces, looking at the rock-covered opening. And Omega genuinely thought it couldn't get worse than this. "And we have lost all of our ipsium."
"Well," Crosshair points out, "If you had let Wrecker carry it like he should have, we'd still have it."
"And if you had not let our ship get stolen, we would be aboard it right now with the mineral," Tech snaps back.
Hunter sighs loudly. "None of this is helping," he says, "Let's start digging our way outta here."
"Fine," Wrecker grumbles, brushing past Tech with a pointed glare.
Crosshair glares at him as he moves past, pulling his helmet off.
Omega doesn't get it – she knows he's upset, and why, but if he hadn't been lashing out at them nonstop, none of this would have happened. It was Tech's fault they're buried in here and lost the ipsium. He's the one who wanted to carry it? She's just angry. Hurt. And mostly, just confused.
She doesn't get why he's acting like this.
But if they're going to start digging, that's not something Omega can help with. She can shove small rocks around, but not more than that. And even once they do dig their way out of here, they still don't have a way off-world, and with the Marauder gone...
"Tech, can I have your datapad?" Omega requests.
He pauses to drop it in her hands before pulling his helmet off and dropping it up against one of the cave walls. The others are already at the entrance.
Ships have a transponder, which they're supposed to be able to be tracked with, and they can still find the Marauder like that. Except, when she puts in the frequency, it doesn't come up with anything.
"Something's not right," Omega tells them, unease crawling up inside her. "The Marauder's transponder isn't relaying a signal."
"It was probably disabled," Tech replies, as he works at trying to pry an overly enormous rock aside, "By the thief who commandeered it."
"Well, then how are we gonna track it?" Omega demands. She doesn't mean to sound so annoyed, but Tech is just – straight up, driving her crazy. Her brothers might fight all the time, but it's always playful. Omega can't count the number of times she's seen Wrecker and Crosshair briefly scuffle with each other. Hunter and Crosshair, too.
But she's never seen Tech fight with anybody, not other than briefly with Echo in the beginning, and now he's just...
She wants to scream. Or cry. Or throw something.
Echo's gone.
"The ship's not important right now," Hunter replies, pausing to look up at her. "We need to get outta here first."
"Unless we get out there and then get struck by lightning," Crosshair grumbles.
"The storm's already blowing over," Hunter objects.
"Doesn't mean it can't come back."
Crosshair's doing this, too? No wonder he and Tech have been fighting nonstop if both of them are trying to pick fights with everyone.
"It is most unlikely that the Marauder will be recovered," Tech adds.
Omega flinches, jolting forward. "What?! Don't say that! We have to get it back!"
"We can always acquire another ship," Tech tells her bluntly, "It is merely a mode of transportation."
"The Marauder's our home!" Omega snaps, tears burning her eyes. She doesn't care about the technicality of this – that's where they live and it's all they have. "We already lost Kamino. We lost Echo! We can't lose that, too!"
"Omega, we didn't lose Echo," Hunter objects, approaching her, "He's just... on a different mission."
"But he's not here," Omega argues, "He's – he's not with us. We're supposed to do everything together. We're a squad. He's –" He wasn't supposed to leave, she wants to say. Doesn't know what holds her back.
"This squad has existed before Echo was a part of it, and it will exist after," Tech snaps back, "What is your issue?"
Omega throws his datapad at him. Yeah, she knows that wasn't nice, but she doesn't care. Tech is – ugh. He's been so awful to everyone since Echo left, and that's just making it worse. She doesn't want to get used to a life without Echo. They shouldn't have to.
She grabs one of the lanterns sitting on the floor, making for the dark tunnel hole heading deeper into the mine.
"Omega –" Hunter starts behind her.
"I want to be alone," she snaps.
(No, she doesn't. She just wants Echo back.)
**w**
"Way to go," Crosshair snarls, "For all your intelligence, you still know nothing about raising a kid."
Tech bristles instantly. This must be one of those days that Crosshair very, very badly wants a broken nose, because the one thing in the galaxy that will make Tech angry enough to throw punches is insulting his intelligence.
Hunter doesn't exactly think very highly of any of his little brother's intelligence levels, actually. He's just – angry, too. He's not thinking any clearer than any of them are. Echo's departure hurt all of them, and he understands it, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. He was supposed to take care of them, and he promised to, but on their first mission after, everything blew up.
"I merely stated the truth," Tech snaps back.
"She already knows the truth," Hunter interjects, stepping forward and gently pulling them apart from each other before somebody ends up dead. "That's why she's upset."
Tech glances at Wrecker like he's expecting to get backed up or – or something. Wrecker shakes his head with a close-to-glare, not as if he'd do anything else when someone's going after both his little siblings.
Omega's out there by herself, and Hunter's been alone so long he knows that's the last thing she wants. No one wants that. Not really. He – he needs to talk to her, or someone does. "I'll go talk to her," Hunter says, "And, Crosshair, please don't kill anyone while I'm gone."
"No promises," Crosshair grumbles with a pointed glare at Tech, who glares right back, even if he seems more hurt than angry now.
Yeah, not like Hunter could expect any better.
"I'll be back," he says, picking up his helmet and moving farther back in search of Omega. He doesn't need to see her, or anything, to track her. He turns a flashlight on, anyway, because it's dark and he doesn't want to walk into anything – rocks don't always have a very clear energy field to follow, but he can sense Omega's lingering energy field and smell her flower-soft scent.
When he finds Omega, she's sitting on the edge of another tunnel split.
"I said –"
"I know what you said, kid," Hunter replies, sitting beside her. She's crying, and she looks away when she sees him, avoiding his gaze.
He feels sick. Awful.
He promised to protect them, and he's already failed. Echo said he trusted Hunter to take care of their brothers, but here they are. Trapped here, hardly a way out, going at each other's throats until somebody's bound to end up hurt.
He's so, so tired of being responsible for that.
He wishes things would just – work, but that's not how anything is.
"I know how it feels to be alone," Hunter says, "I know you don't want that."
"I don't want to talk to anyone." She has her knees pulled to her chest, and Hunter has no idea what to say to her. He doesn't know her like his brothers do. He never got the chance to. She's hurt, and Tech badly needs to apologize for what he said to her, but getting him to do that is a whole lot harder. Hunter doesn't know how, and he doesn't feel like he has the right to anymore. Not after what he's done himself.
"We'll make it out," Hunter promises. He wishes he could tell her they'll find the Marauder, but he won't make a promise to her he can't keep. They have no guarantee of that, and...
He doesn't want to lose their ship or Gonky or Lula or any of what they have there, but if they have to survive it, they will. They can't afford to get attached to things, and at the end of the day, the only ones Hunter is truly attached to are his brothers and Omega.
"Except we still don't have Echo, or a way off this planet."
"He'll be fine, too," Hunter promises, and he does believe that, "He's still one of us."
"I know."
They sit there in a few long, close to awkward minutes of silence. Even if she knows that, Hunter's not sure if she understands Echo's reason for leaving. He does, even if it hurts, and it does, but they've been trained for this. He always knew there was a chance someday that Echo wouldn't be here, that...
Yeah.
"Echo has... always been different from us," Hunter admits finally, shifting a little, "I know you came after him, and... understanding that is hard. It's difficult for all of us, but he's been wanting to fight for a long time. Echo used to be a reg. He had friends there. A family he found before us, and he left them to be with us. We're different from the regs because we're adaptable in a way they aren't. We're soldiers, but, I guess, we're more than that."
"We're a family," Omega agrees quietly, sniffling and wiping her eye.
"Yeah," he agrees without even thinking about it, because he knows that as much as he knows anything, maybe even more. And there is and never could be anything more important to him than his family. "Echo sees us that way, too," Hunter continues, "He's just... different than we are. He wants more than us, and something we can't give him." His hands clench and unclench, and he sighs. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Omega asks, and she looks up at him for the first time since he sat down.
"For not being able to give him what he needs to stay."
"It wasn't your fault."
"It was. To a point. It's probably been inevitable for a long time, but I still sped it up. I'm the reason he's gone, or at least the one who pushed it along. I'm sorry, kid."
Omega sighs. "It's okay," she whispers.
"Not if it hurt you."
The silence that settles over them is awkward. "I'm sorry about Tech, too," Hunter says, "He was close with Echo. He's... lashing out. That's how he deals when he's hurt. I know that doesn't make it right." He touches her shoulder fleetingly, though Omega doesn't react.
"I want to be alone right now," Omega mutters, hugging her knees tighter to her chest.
It feels like he said something wrong. Or messed something up. Or – something.
But... if Omega said she wants some time alone, Hunter doesn't have the right to turn her down again. "Okay," he says quietly, pushing himself to his feet. He looks down at her, hesitating, but Omega said so, and he doesn't think he has the right to turn her down a second time.
Omega doesn't look up until he nearly rounds the corner, but she doesn't speak.
Hunter heads back to rejoin his brothers.
"Is she okay?" Wrecker asks worriedly when he approaches.
Hunter sighs, hooking his flashlight back to his belt. "I tried to talk to her about Echo. She told me to go."
"Then it went well," Crosshair mutters. On the bright side, he neither sees nor smells blood, so it can't be too bad. Nobody was hurt, at any rate.
"Well," Tech replies, "She did say she wanted to be alone."
"No one really wants that, Tech." Hunter shoves at a giant rock, trying to roll it farther back from the opening.
"Especially not her," Crosshair adds with a pointed glare.
Hunter knows what it's like to be alone. He hated it. He doesn't know how anyone couldn't, and Omega has always wanted and tried to be the center of attention. That wouldn't change just because she's depressed.
"It'll take days to clear a path at this rate," Wrecker whines, rolling another rock. Hunter has to agree, even if he won't say so – he's pretty sure everyone but Wrecker will collapse from exhaustion before they even make it halfway through.
"Whining won't help," Crosshair points out.
"This operation could use a well-placed detonation," Tech announces as he tries and fails to move a rock about his own size, "A small amount of ipsium would be more than enough."
"Well, we had a small amount, but somebody dropped it," Wrecker objects loudly, coming to rescue Tech from the rocks he's fighting with.
"Fine," Tech grumbles, "Since losing the mineral was my mistake, I'll search for any potential extractions within this mine."
"First and only mistake you've made all day," Crosshair snips.
Hunter sighs. Loudly. "Tech, go check on Omega," he requests, "You hurt her. She might need some time, but you need to fix this." It's blunt, but he's not going to whitewash it, either. Tech needs to deal with it, and the tension will be here until he does. Wrecker and Crosshair can understand it, not take it personally, because even if he's upsetting them, they still understand him. They grew up together. It's different with Omega.
"Very well," Tech concedes finally. He slides his backpack back on and picks up his helmet.
"You sure about this?" Crosshair asks, watching Tech's disappearing form.
"They'll be fine," Hunter promises with a surety he doesn't feel. "In the meantime, let's keep digging." Just in case there isn't any ipsium here.
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