Chapter 3 - Retrieval

Omega turns the lantern off after Hunter leaves. She should probably do something, but she's too exhausted and worn to move. She doesn't want to move – anything she could think of doing feels like it's just too much.

Echo's gone, and they'll have to keep moving without him, and she doesn't want to. Everything was supposed to be fine now that she's off Kamino.

A dim blue glow catches her attention at the end of the cavern. Omega perks up a little, standing.

Glow. Ipsium glows. Omega remembers that from earlier. Cid or somebody told her. She hadn't really been paying attention – she'd been far too focused on how Echo was gone. They lost the little ipsium they got from Cid's mine, but there's more here, and – they should be able to blow their way out with it, right?

Omega pulls the drill off her belt and pushes the blader into the rocky wall. She might not know exactly how to mine ipsium, but she knows how to use the machine. She likes playing with new machines, but... this time, there was far less heart to it.

It falls away from the vibrations, shattering.

It's not just a little bit. It's – wow.

Omega jumps down onto the small platform-like ledge overlooking a massive cave-like interior. It's eerie in a way that's genuinely beautiful.

There's enough in reach that she could mine easily.

"Omega?" Tech's voice echoes distantly from behind her, and she sighs. Hunter, she gets and understands, even if she didn't want to talk about it right then, but she definitely doesn't want to talk to Tech.

She's not a baby. She can handle being on her own for a few minutes.

"Omega," Tech repeats.

"I'm here," she calls back with a sigh.

Tech's helmet appears at the edge of the darkened doorway.

"Thought we could use this to blow our way through the cave-in," Omega says shortly. She moves to the nearby wall, though after the explosion earlier, she hesitates to drill.

"I came to a similar conclusion myself," Tech replies.

"So," Omega asks finally, awkwardly, though she doesn't know how to go about this. Everything with Tech feels so awkward right now, and she's so angry at him. He might've had a right to be angry, but he was being so – nasty to Wrecker and Crosshair. "How do I do this?"

"Drill into the fossilized quartz until you reach the active ipsium inside. But you must be precise. If the mineral becomes compromised during the retrieval –"

"Chain reaction, explosion," Omega sighs. The memory of the brilliant flash as the entrance exploded flashes through her mind. "Got it." She turns the drill back on, pressing it into the rock.

"This vein appears to be much more pure than what we found in Cid's mine," Tech muses as Omega pulls the vial out of the machine and approaches him, The drop is high, and she does not want to have to climb up and down every time she fills a vial. "Perhaps you should extract as much ipsium as you can."

Omega sighs again. "Sure." Tech's staring at her outstretched hand like it's a foreign object. "Little help?" she asks, shoving the vial in his direction again, and he finally takes it.

"Grab the empty vials from my satchel," Omega requests. Might as well get this going and over with.

There's a lot of vials, though a good number were filled on the last mining excursion. Predictably, everything is fine until that moment where... it isn't.

Omega was just trying to reach the last of the ipsium in her reach, and the last vial, when she nearly slips. Tries again, and this time, when the drill hits the rock just barely out of her reach, well – Omega genuinely has no idea what happened. It was so fast – just she ends up dangling over a terrifyingly dark and deep expanse, hanging onto the drill. "Tech!" she shrieks.

"Hang on," Tech tells her, and he sounds genuinely freaked out. Omega can't think about anything other than the pounding of her own heart.

He reaches the edge of the ledge, reaching for her. Omega twists, trying to grab his hand, her weight hanging from her other. It strains her shoulder painfully and – ow ow ow – then her hand wrenches free altogether, missing Tech's by mere inches.

Omega falls. And screams.

She hears Tech yelling her name, but he's too far and she's falling and –

She was expecting to hit rock or something, but Omega gasps when her body splashes into a very Definitively cool and large body of water.

She flails her way back to the surface, gasping, hair falling sopping across her face.

Tech splashes into the water just behind her, failing to the surface himself but the current is moving too fast. Way too fast.

Omega struggles against it, but the current is pulling and relentless and rushing and she can't breathe.

She remembers this. Happened on Kamino when she went after AZI and it was terrifying. She wasn't sure she'd make it out and it was too dark, and it felt like the water was closing in on her.

Is now, too.

They're dragged down a stream and spit out over the edge of a waterfall before finally, finally surfacing. Omega splashes to the surface, coughing and flailing. Tech comes up beside her, coughing.

She makes for the nearby water bank, and they pull themselves out, flopping onto the rocks side by side.

It's still hard to breathe. She's wet everywhere, but – but she's safe. Tech's here, and she's – she's on solid ground now. Everything's fine. She's not going to die and nor will Tech and any of her brothers. Breathe.

There's the sound of a comm beeping, and Hunter's voice distantly calling them.

"Affirmative," Tech croaks, pushing himself up. Omega shoves herself upright on shaky arms. "We took an unforeseen detour, but we are alive." He sounds mildly amazed by that. Omega certainly is.

"Kid?" That's Crosshair.

"We're okay," she promises unconvincingly, stumbling to her feet and looking around. There's a light behind them. It's gold-tinted, and it looks like... sunlight, maybe? That sounds too easy. She moves closer for a better look.

"Where are you?" Hunter inquires.

"That... is a good question. Stand by."

Up close, it's definitely outside. The sun's setting, the storm's moved away, and she can see a proper "Tech," Omega hisses with a quiet gasp, "Look."

"There is a passageway just beyond this wall," Tech agrees, scanning it with his datapad, "We can use the ipsium you mined to access it."

Good. Finally, they'll be out of here, like Hunter had said, but... they still don't have a way to get off-world. Or to get Echo's help, since he's gone, and...

Tech is pacing behind her, talking to Hunter over his comm, telling him how to get there. Going over the waterfall isn't something Omega'd like to ask them to do, but they have to come here.

"We will be out of this cavern in short order once they arrive with the mineral," He announces finally, sitting beside her.

"Except we still don't have the Marauder or a way off this planet, and we can't contact Echo for help," Omega mutters, knees tucked up to her chest as she stares almost emptily at the rushing water in front of them. With the glowing ipsium beneath, tinging the water with blue light and the waterfall beyond, it's beautiful, but it's still...

Everything is different since Echo left, and now the Marauder's gone, too. It's the only place she has to call home. Kamino used to be, but even that wasn't the same. It was never where she wanted to be.

"We do not need help," Tech's response is firm, and Omega's frustration spikes again. "We will figure out a solution, as we always do."

Hunter had said he's like this because it's his way of dealing. Omega remembers having seen that on him before, but... it doesn't help anything. "I know you were close with Echo," she says, "But yelling at everybody isn't going to bring him back, either."

"I am fully aware."

She wants to throw something. Aren't any rocks around here, though. She's just – angry. She wants to lash out, and trying to have a draw-out, emotional conversation with Tech right now just isn't on the list of things Omega's up to. Or even knows how to do. Of all of them, he's the one she never really knew. "Then why do you keep doing this?" she demands, "Because you keep acting like you don't even care." She blows out an exhausted breath. "Everything's changing."

"I am not sure how I should care about change," Tech supplies, "It is a fundamental part of life. We have to adapt and move on. That is what soldiers do."

Omega sighs. She's so tired. "But we're more than that. We're a family, aren't we?" She looks up at him half-helplessly, desperately hoping for a confirmation or a – just, something. Anything. She's so frustrated and hurt and she's so, so tired of her brothers fighting. It feels like that's all they've been doing.

First, Hunter and Echo were – not squabbling, exactly, but Echo was definitely upsetting him and then Echo left, and now Tech's...

Driving everybody insane and being as useless as possible.

And maybe it's just that she's afraid of something happening and going wrong and Tech leaving, too, and she desperately needs reassurance that won't happen. She can't lose him, too.

"Well, uh – yes," Tech answers without pause, though he still obviously finds it awkward, "Yes, of course we are."

"Then... why don't you act like it?" she asks, lost and mostly just hurt. She's not angry, exactly. Not anymore. Not only, anyway.

Tech sighs. "Echo chose a different path," he answers finally, looking away, "I have to respect his decision. Even though it can be difficult to understand, we must carry on. I may process moments and thoughts differently, but it does not mean that I feel any less than you."

Hunter had basically told her the same thing about Tech earlier, but hearing it from him still helps her let it go the slightest bit. Maybe not enough, but still somewhat. She's never really been able to understand him before. He's... hard to talk to.

"Arguing with Wrecker and Crosshair will just make things worse for all of us." That's something she has to be blunt about, because of everybody, the two of them are the ones who accepted her from the start and the ones Omega has always been closest to.

"They did both nearly compromise the mission," Tech objects.

"You made mistakes, too. We all did. Rubbing it in isn't going to help."

Tech's mid saying some sort of confirmation when Omega hears Wrecker's distant yowling as he, Hunter, Crosshair, and the gear they were carrying is spit out over the waterfall edge.

Omega jumps up, waving when she sees them.

Wrecker flops face-first on the edge of the bank after throwing Omega's helmet up towards her.

"See?" she chirps, patting his shoulder, "That wasn't so bad."

Wrecker groans, giving her the galaxy's fakest thumbs up.

"Speak for yourself," Crosshair grumbles, hauling himself to his feet. "I am not jumping down a waterfall for you again."

Omega would probably laugh at him if she was in her right mind, but she's not right now. Not after Echo.

Tech's pulled the ipsium out of the water – he's babying it far more than his brothers, but considering if it exploded, they'd all be... crispy, Omega doesn't take energy to be annoyed about it.

Hunter picks her up to place the ipsium vial on the edge of the opening, and they go to take shelter behind a bounder. Tech blows it up, and with an explosion of smoke and debris – most of the rock was vaporized, or at least some of it was, and Omega thinks he gets exactly why this is so dangerous now – they're finally back outside.

Moving on his hard, like Tech said, but... in the edge of the day, it's not like she has a choice. She'll have to. They all will, even if it hurts.

**w**

The spaceport Tech took them to is abandoned, and its nighttime now. Typical.

Omega seems mostly back to herself.

Crosshair could swear she dumped her mood off on him. Maybe. They still don't even have a way off-world, and Crosshair has no idea how to change that. Tech sends a transmission through to Cid, asking if she can come to help them.

Which, even more predictably, goes splendidly.

"That went well," Crosshair grumbles, arms crossed when Cid just cuts the transmission.

Hunter sighs. "I sometimes can't believe you ended up working for her."

"Didn't have much choice," Crosshair points out, because it's the truth. Echo had tried to get them to go with Rex a few times, but they'd always been hesitant. None of them really wanted to, and the more time passed, the more resentful Crosshair felt about it. He didn't want to fight. Not Hunter. "You would've done the same."

Doesn't know that, but he didn't know a way out of it. Cid had ordered them to Corellia, and from there, they didn't have any other way to survive.

Or at least they didn't without Hunter, and it still hurts whenever Crosshair thinks about it. It feels so wrong to think Hunter was ever away from them. He doesn't want to think about how lost and lonely he felt, or how much it hurt. Or how terrified he was that Hunter would hurt them again. He already tried to kill them, and it was just...

It was hard.

It would help, if the Hunter they got back was the same as the one they lost, but he's not. He never will be again.

He came back – different.

It still hurts. Crosshair misses how confident and chaotic Hunter used to be, but that's not who he is anymore. He misses what they used to have. Who he used to have.

"What do we do now?" Wrecker asks worriedly.

Hunter glances at him, then away. Crosshair knows him, knows he's just as lost and afraid as the rest of them are, even if he won't show it, because he's Hunter, and he never shows those things. It never matters what he's feeling.

"We'll figure it out," Omega promises with the same constant certainty she always bares, "Like we always do."

Hunter tenses, moving past them. The wind's picking up again, and Crosshair follows Hunter's gaze to the distant lighting zigzags across the horizon. The storm's coming back.

Crosshair touches Hunter's shoulder, who glances at him fleetingly.

"We'll have to find cover," Hunter supplies.

"There are some still structures nearby that could provide shelter," Tech offers, "Assuming the storm is coming to us."

"Assuming they won't collapse," Crosshair grumbles.

"If the storm were enough to destroy this city, it would have been leveled long ago," Tech points out, which is fair.

But still.

After all this, Crosshair isn't thinking overly highly about their chances.

"Then let's find something," Hunter requests.

It only takes Tech a couple of minutes to point something out, and they go inside. The buildings are very... ransacked, but there's enough for them to stay inside. Or at least pretend to. The door creaks closed behind them with a sound Crosshair is firmly certain means it will blow off its hinges in the next ten minutes.

"Is the storm coming closer?" Omega inquires.

"It's nearby," Hunter answers, "I can't tell if it'll actually hit us again or not. We better get some rest."

"Once it is safe to venture outdoors, I will see if there is a speeder we can use," Tech offers.

"There are other settlements on-planet," Hunter agrees, "I think. The energy field here is... different. Difficult to read, but there's a concentrated energy source somewhere up north."

Crosshair makes a quiet sound as they take their seats.

"You'll have to preserve your rations," Hunter warns, "We could be here for a long time."

No issue for any of them except Wrecker, who's probably going to be having issues by tomorrow morning. They'll have to scan the entire settlement to know if there's anything edible here, but Crosshair doesn't count on it.

...maybe he is being just as grumpy and moody about Echo's absence as Omega. He misses him, and after Hunter left, and now Echo left, he just...

He's afraid.

Of someone else being gone. He's afraid of losing Wrecker or Tech or – or even Omega. Doubts that would happen, but... it's not impossible. Nothing...

Just.

Genuinely.

Truly.

Completely.

Ugh.

Crosshair doesn't get broody spells often, but he's drowning in it now. That's supposed to be Hunter's role. Everything changed after Kaller, and he hates everything.

Hunter sits first watch, moving to the entrance of the house they borrowed, and after a few minutes, Crosshair follows. He should talk to Wrecker or try to Fix Things with Tech, but he doesn't want to do either.

He just – stupidly, childishly – wants Hunter to just tell him everything will be fine. That's not how anything works, but it doesn't stop him from wanting it.

"Do you need something?" Hunter asks, glancing back at him.

"No." Crosshair sits down beside him, dropping a hand on Hunter's thigh. He takes Crosshair's hand, squeezing it lightly, and Crosshair scoots closer, resting his head on Hunter's shoulder.

He closes his eyes, drifting off to a mostly sleep phase, curled up in Hunter's arms.

They've managed without Omega before. Without Echo, and – and without Hunter, though he's here now, and Crosshair has to hope they'll make it just this once.

Hunter, anyway, will make it work. He always does.

**w**

The storm doesn't actually come back, and as soon as the sun starts rising, they set out to look around. Tech finds a skiff they start fixing up, though between the wear and the storm, it's... not going fast.

"I'm bored, I'm hot, and I'm starving!" Wrecker whines.

"I told you to preserve your rations," Hunter points out, looking up. He warned them. Should've guessed Wrecker'd do it anyway. Figured he would, just not on the first day?

"Well... I got hungry," Wrecker grumbles – Hunter makes a mental note to maybe figure out something about that before tonight, because Wrecker can't go very long without eating, and he knows Tech or maybe Crosshair will be stupid enough to smuggle him their rations – before flopping dramatically onto the ground. "We're wasting our time. This skiff's a heap of junk."

"Yes, but with a few repairs, it'll be a slightly operational heap of junk," Tech points out, "The energy cells have just enough power to get us to the town on the other half of the hemisphere."

"Power?" Omega asks, freezing, then jolting to her feet, "We forgot about Gonky. He's still on the Marauder."

"I'm afraid since the thief disabled the ship's transponder, we will not be able to locate him," Tech replies, not looking up from where he's working on the skiff's other side. He and Omega seem to have somewhat sorted out whatever was going on with them, at any rate. That's a good thing. Seeing his siblings argue was hard. It's always hard.

"Not the ship. I mean we can track Gonky," Omega replies excitedly. Hunter looks up at her, mildly impressed by the fast thinking. He hadn't thought of it, either. Had wondered what was happening to Gonky and Lula and all their things there, but it never really... mattered. They'll deal with that after they find the settlement and a way off-world.

"Oh. Ingenious idea," Tech replies, "Try doing a trace on his binary reference code."

"On it," Omega chirps, moving to plug into the array.

Wrecker gives a half-hearted laugh. "Don't get your hopes up, kid."

"Yeah," Crosshair agrees grumpily.

"If Gonky's still running, we should be able to track him," Hunter points out.

"If," Crosshair repeats.

It feels like his mood's been getting progressively worse since Echo left. "Do you need a hug again?"

Crosshair still looks grumpy. "No."

Sure, fine. If he's really gonna be stubborn about it...

Omega pipes up a few minutes later, saying that she finally located Gonky. He's still on-planet, and considering the fact that the Marauder's gone, Hunter thinks that's a very, very major plus. They have something to start with, and at least whoever has Gonky should know where their ship is, even if they're not in the same place.

They have to basically pile onto the skiff, and it's rickety in all the perfect ways to nearly throw them off more times than Hunter cares to count, but in the end, they make it there in one piece, and Gonky's location doesn't change like he'd been afraid of. Whoever took the ship is sitting still with it, anyway.

When they make it there, it's evening again. It's been... a long time since they came here, but at least they have a way of getting off.

They split up to close in, Hunter and Tech going together and the kids in the second group – hopefully, they won't manage to make trouble in three minutes this time.

The boy with Gonky tries to take off, but Wrecker yanks him off his escape speeder and throws him back onto the ground in front Gonky.

Omega has her bow drawn and Crosshair has his rifle out. Between the five of them, there'd be nothing anyone could do. Whoever the boy is, he's older than Omega, but he's still young, and he's not a fighter.

"Hey, Gonky, you okay?" Wrecker asks the droid, which beeps affirmatively.

"What do you care how that thing's doing? It's just a beat-up old battery," the boy snaps irritably.

"Beat-up droids are more useful than people," Crosshair snaps, "So start talking."

"Let's try that again," Hunter says, pulling Crosshair back before he actually murders the kid. Which is tempting, but no. They're not here to make enemies. "Where's our ship?"

"Can you be more specific?" the boy asks.

"The one you stole yesterday," Omega throws back, glaring. She powers her bow down, slinging it back onto her back again.

"Oh, right. That ship," he says with a very feigned laugh. "Well, Mokko has it. He gave me the droid as a gift."

Gonky honks angrily at him.

"Who?" Crosshair demands.

"Who's Mokko?" the boy asks, standing, "He runs this whole town. He's the boss. Your ship's his now."

Wrecker growls at him, low and angry. "Yeah, we'll see about that."

"Take us to it," Hunter orders firmly. He might have qualms about, well, outright bullying this kid, unlike Wrecker and Crosshair, but this is their ship. Their home. They need it, and he's not going to accept a bunch of excuses.

(He won't think about the things he did under the Empire. The people he killed. There were – innocent people he killed. Not all. Not most, but – they sent him back to Onderon, and... a lot of people ended up dead. Hunter wishes he didn't remember their faces as vividly as he does.)

"No way," he argues, "I can't help you go against Mokko! You don't know what he's done for me."

"You think we care?" Crosshair snarls.

"All right, all right," he grumbles, "I can show you where your ship is. But if you get caught, you don't know me." He gives them a pointed look.

"I estimate the chances of our being caught to be very little," Tech replies bluntly.

"Well, I don't want to take any chances!" the kid argues.

Wrecker and Crosshair herd him forward, and Hunter and Tech move to the front. He trusts the two of them to be perfectly able to keep an eye on their... thief, who is almost unreasonably proud about his skills. He strikes up a conversation with Omega easily enough, which is normal. She's visibly angry, but still almost surprisingly willing to talk to him.

Well, the most Hunter can say is that at least they're ipsium miners, not fighters. They're not gangsters or anything like that, so the risks aren't too high. Higher than he hoped, but not high. Not enough to stop them, at any rate.

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