Chapter 1 -In The Dark Of The Night
Plot: Captured after his fall on Eriadu, Tech is taken to Tantiss. He's too injured to be a soldier anymore but Hemlock doesn't want his mind going to waste, so he assigns Tech as a scientist under Emerie's observation. Tech doesn't intend to start getting to know Emerie, but the more time he spends around her, the more he begins to realize she's far more conflicted about her role than he thought.
Author's Note: This is a gift for LuminousBug on ao3. It is also for Day 7 of Clone Twin Week. :)
~ Tirana Sorki
The room is gray. It is always gray, or at least it appears that way, even if the sun is up and streaming through the barred window overhead. Tech can't see it, anyway. He's seen very little since Eriadu.
He still remembers the sharp cutting pain of the piece of debris that hit him in the face. He couldn't see anything but blood after that, and he'd lost consciousness moments later, only to wake up here on Tantiss. Where he still can't see anything. He doesn't know how bad the damage to his eyes was, but they haven't recovered. If they're going to recover. Not that it has been very long.
Once, that would not have been a problem, but here on Tantiss... Hemlock is making well certain he can't function without them.
It also makes it a lot harder to think about an escape plan when he can't see. He's so used to being able to see and remember the intricate details of everything, but now he can't anymore. He doesn't know the exact positions of the guards outside his room. He can't see for certain so he has to guess by the shadowed movements he can see or by the sounds of their footsteps. He will not let this stop him, but Tech is perfectly aware of the risks.
He hears noise a moment before the door to his room slides open. Technically, it's not only his room. He's not the only one who uses it, and he would find it more uncomfortable if he were. Tech has never had his own room, and he does not see the purpose in it. He always shared with his brothers, though this is different, because it's not one of his brothers that he's sharing with.
"Good evening," Emerie greets, standing in the doorway. "How are you feeling?"
"I am a prisoner," he points out, a swell of stinging resentment rising up as he stands, "My feelings are immaterial."
Emerie sighs. "You are no such thing," she replies, "It will take time to adjust, but you will acclimate."
Change is a normal fact of existence, but this is one change he is not going to try accepting. He will find a way back to his brothers, no matter what it takes. They are his squad. His brothers. His home. They might survive without him, but they still need him.
"Come." Emerie takes his hand, guiding him to the doorway. They have taken this walk seven times before, and Tech knows how many steps it takes to cross the room, and where the stairs are, and where to turn into the hall – it's brighter out there than in their room. He can't see. He was never permitted to see his medical report, so he doesn't know how bad the damage is, or if it is permanent, but everything is blurred substantially more than it used to be.
He has seen Emerie multiple times every day, and he still does not know what she looks like.
He aches all over. Something in his shoulder was torn in the fall, as he tried to catch himself, and weeks later, it hasn't healed. Walking is hard, mostly because he can't feel his steps anymore, either. His legs are metal now. A piece of the rail car hit him second after landing. The force was enough to crush his armor and fracture his spine. It severed both his legs entirely, or at least damaged them enough they were amputated here. He was unconscious throughout most of it.
He had to spend a brief amount of time getting used to the physical changes here on Tantiss. Emerie had been there to help him, as per her role as a medical assistant, not that he appreciated such help very much. It was only a week ago now that they took him out of the recovery area of the facility.
He can't fight like he once could, but he is still a soldier. Echo makes due with even less, and his family needs him. He will find a way out, as they always do.
When they reach the lab, he can hear the two guards shifting to their positions on either side of the door. As soon as they're inside, Emerie hands him his goggles – the ones the Empire especially designed for him.
They're the only thing that actually allows him to see, even if they're nothing like the goggles he's used to wearing, but he can't take them out of the lab. The guards outside make sure of that.
Emerie leaves before he can put them, the same way she always does. He knows the work he's expected to do in here, but he won't be doing that today. Now, he needs to wait until the moment is right for his escape.
**w**
An escape is risky, especially without the proper materials or information of Tantiss's layout, but Tech cannot afford to wait. Hunter and Wrecker are no doubt searching for the facility. Echo and Rex had been as well. Crosshair and Omega are trapped inside, and Tech would much prefer escaping with them, but he is unaware of either of their locations. There is not time for him to search the facility, and he does not have the ability to in his present state, either.
He needs to get out. Omega will be safe here. Crosshair will be no worse off than he was before, and Tech can get the coordinates for Hunter and Echo. It will be safest if they return together.
Tech is on the night shift, and the benefit is the decreased number of troops and scientists. The difference is slight, but still a notable one, and this gives him a far increased chance.
He waits until a few hours have passed, into the later part of the night before making his move.
Not the best plan he has ever had, but after calling one of the guards inside and knocking him unconscious, he strips the armor for himself. It is the best disguise he can find and the only believable one.
His shoulder aches from the movement, but it is no worse than when his leg was broken on Serenno, and still perfectly functional. Tech knows how to work through injuries. All of his brothers do. That is part of being a soldier.
He took a datapad with him when he left the lab so he can access computer ports as needed, but it's not standard protocol for stormtroopers to carry these with them so trying to keep it concealed isn't easy. This is also the first time he's been out of the lab with his goggles still on. It's the first time he's truly been able to see the halls.
They still are gray all over. But at least he can see where he's going now even if his eyes aren't half as good as they were before.
It's only going to be a matter of time before someone realizes he's missing so he will have to be fast. He goes to the nearest computer port he can find, plugging the data pad in to pull up a map of the facility. It comes up quickly enough, and he scans it over quickly. Everything is shown here, except the areas that are considered classified, but his point is to get out right now, so those details aren't important. He doesn't have long to study the map, but he does not need long.
He may have lost so much of his body in the fall, but he still has his mind.
There's a hangar not far from here. He just needs to get to it quickly.
He looks up at the sound of footsteps approaching. A group of stormtroopers are coming. He yanks the datapad out of the wall, turning away so they don't see him holding it before he keeps moving, heading for the hanger.
It's been some time already by the time he gets there. Time he doesn't have. Throwing a swift glance around, Tech goes up to the controls – the doors are sealed and it requires some kind of code to get inside.
Tech enters the code he's always used only for an alarm to start blaring.
This is what happened on Daro, too, and he isn't fully certain what went wrong this time, though at least none of his brothers are here to take the fall with him. Even so, he will have to be fast to make it out.
The hangar doors aren't opening. He's running out of time.
Stormtroopers round the corner seconds later, blasters raised. Hunter would know when to surrender versus continuing to fight. The numbers are too many, and without back-up and explosives, and with his inability to fight adequately, Tech knows this is not a fight he has the ability to win.
He doesn't know what that will mean, though. What will they do when he's recaptured? What if they take precautions to try ensuring he doesn't have another chance to get away? Tech admittedly does not understand a lot about Tantiss yet, but he is fully aware of Hemlock's desire to keep him inside, and his ruthlessness.
But this was not how his escape attempt was supposed to end. This is far from ideal.
"Stand down," one of the stormtroopers warns as they surround him.
There's too many when he can't even fight.
He very grudgingly raises his hands in surrender. There is nothing else he can do. Not right now. All he can do now is hope they still consider him useful enough to keep alive and wait for another chance at escape.
**w**
They took his goggles before they threw him in the holding cell, so Tech has no idea what it looks like. He can tell from the shuffling movements that he must not be the only prisoner down here, but he cannot see anyone or anything.
He loses himself in his mind instead, thinking over the map he saw of the facility. There has to be some better way to get out. He just needs to figure out what it is.
It will be some time before he can risk another escape attempt, under the assumption they allow him to leave his cell again, and when he does, there will not be room for failure or recapture. He must find a way to let his brothers and Omega know he's alive. They don't know.
The sound of boots thumping reaches his ears, and Tech turns to the front of the cell. He doesn't even know how many people are here and it floods him with frustration. Even if he knows full well being frustrated won't change the fact. His eyes are a change he has to get used to.
"Breaking the rules, I see."
Tech stiffens instantly.
It's Hemlock. He's the one who's here. It does not really surprise him that Hemlock would come here in person, but it does mean this might not end well.
Tech recognizes the voice instantly, and there's another figure standing behind him. Their face is too blurred to recognize, but Tech thinks it might be Emerie. It's not her shift yet, but perhaps she was awoken, considering it was her role to oversee Tech's... incorporation and cooperation.
That she's here makes sense, but it still makes him angry.
"This does not look good on you."
"I don't need your cooperation, but for your own sake, it would have been wise. Your intelligence should have been enough to tell you actions always have consequences. Sometimes not in ways we imagine."
The chances are high Hemlock is intending to torture him or something else equally unpleasant. He is quite aware of that consequence, as he was before his capture, and he determined it was worth the risk.
Hemlock must have motioned for the guards because then someone approaches, shoving him out into the hall.
They start walking. Usually when he goes anywhere, Emerie is leading him, but she's keeping a small distance now. He walks blindly after them.
He does not know where they're taking him but already knows it's not going to be somewhere pleasant. Not that that knowledge makes him any more eager about getting to whatever the destination is.
He can tell from the sounds and changes in the shadows that he's led into a large room. The air smells of ozone and electricity, which gives Tech an instant, vivid idea of exactly what occurs inside. "Your other friend in the detention level has been resistant to my reconditioning. However, that will not be enough for me to stop my efforts."
The electricity turns on again. Crosshair screams, his voice raw and broken. Tech would recognize his voice anywhere. It's been months, and he believed they could get to Tantiss and find and free him before he was hurt. This is not how he imagined their reunion would go.
Tech jerks forward, because he will not stand here as his little brother is tortured, and a blaster jabs into his back, intent obvious. They'll shoot him if he moves. There is nothing he can do.
"Reconditioning?" Tech asks instead. He can't see clearly, but what he needs is information. The more he understands Hemlock's objectives, the more he will understand what they are up against.
"I have a special purpose for him," he replies, "Unfortunately, you are not privy to the details of this operation."
"Crosshair is severe and unyielding," Tech tells him, jaw clenched. "He will not break." Of that, he is certain. Crosshair is the most stubborn person he has ever met, even more than Omega. If he were not, he would not be in this position. He would have been safely away, with his squad.
"We'll see." Hemlock sounds smug. He is highly fortunate Tech cannot fight, or there would be very little left of the room. "And remember, if your disregard for orders surfaces again, it will not be you who will suffer the consequences."
Crosshair's screams ring in his mind.
It reminds him of when Wrecker lost his eye. The fire, the blood, the knowledge there was nothing he could do to stop it was not something Tech had ever forgotten, not as though it is something Tech could have forgotten anyway, considering his memory, but he dreamed of it for months. It was the first time Tech truly realized there would not always be a way to help his brothers.
But Hemlock has no idea what his brothers are capable of. "The rest of our squad will find a way here. The chances of that being an operation you survive is unlikely."
Hemlock actually laughs. "I am aware of what they are capable of, and we have taken all the necessary precautions to ensure that does not happen. And if they do in some way disclose this facility, they will make fine operatives."
"You are unaware of how we operate."
"All clones have the same weakness. Their loyalty to each other. And for now, you will determine how much CT-9904 is hurt."
They will not kill Crosshair. Tech is certain of that now – they have no leverage on him otherwise, except Omega, and they have done well to keep them apart. He finds it unlikely that will change.
He tries to study the room, searching for weak points and guard locations, but it is so dark the area appears as a blurred mass. Not too dark for him to make out Crosshair, the blurred form of his little brother's face for the first time in months.
Hemlock dismisses them a short time later, after he determined his point proven as though Tech did not understand it immediately. He pulls Emerie aside, with a "do not speak of what you witnessed in here" and Tech's fury flickers up, raw and blinding at her entirely mindless "yes, doctor" as though Crosshair is not her brother, too.
"Keep a closer eye on the prisoner for the time being," he adds, "We cannot tolerate a repeat."
Tech knows he cannot try again, not until he is fully certain of his ability to make it out successfully. There is no more leverage. He understands he has a minimal chance of escape on his own, though he now knows the route from the prison to Hemlock's... operation. That is an important fact they will need. Hemlock is entirely unaware of what all he is giving away, and Tech is fully intent on keeping it that way.
"I warned not cooperating with the doctor would be unwise," Emerie says well into their walk – she's taking him back to their room as though nothing happened.
Tech coils instantly, the waves of raw fury demanding an escape. "You are not a soldier," he snaps back, "You are entirely unaware of what it requires to be part of a squad."
"I'm not a soldier," Emerie answers, "But I have a family."
"I am aware of who you are."
She pauses, looking at him. "I never told you that."
"And you believed I would not be aware?"
It was obvious. Her demeanor resembles Nala Se. Her voice carries Omega's gentleness and a bit of Tech's own mind. Her hair is the same shade of brown as Hunter's. She has a loyalty that reminds him of Wrecker, but her loyalty is to the Empire and herself, the same way Crosshair's once was.
The gentleness with which she interacts with the clones is entirely foreign of a nat-born. It was not a difficult assumption to make, and he cannot see her face, but she is quite obviously young.
Perhaps even from the same batch as Clone Force 99.
"You are a clone as well, and you have no regard for what is happening to the rest of us."
"I am doing my job." She sounds a little heated, which is the first time Tech has seen her angry.
Crosshair's screams ring in his mind. He will not allow him or Omega to be here any longer than necessary. "Ah," he retaliates, voice crisp, "That is more important to you than family."
Emerie pauses in her tracks. He hears the abrupt cease of her footfalls, and jerks to a stop, looking back. She is looking at him, though he cannot make out her expression. "Is that what we are?"
"We're a family, aren't we?"
"Of course we are." Though after seeing how she treats her brothers, Tech is none too appreciative of it. He is not desirous of calling her his sister, even if it is the simple truth.
Emerie sounds tired when she sighs. "Regardless, resistance will not help you," she replies. He is well aware, but that does not mean he will cease his attempts at finding his brothers. "We are all here for our own good."
"Our own good?" Tech repeats incredulously, rage rising again as he remembers Crosshair's screams. "Is that what you call what they were doing to Crosshair?"
He hears her shifting. She sounds even more worn when she replied. "I also warned him that resisting the doctor would be unwise."
"And yet you still believe this is for anyone's good?"
"The dangers here are not as extreme as they are beyond this facility."
Right.
"Have you ever been anywhere outside of any facility that you would know that?" Tech asks bitingly.
There's another long pause. "Your intelligence is of great use here, the same way Hemlock found my skills useful," she offers at last, as though that means anything.
Emerie lingers in their room a few minutes after they return – she tries to take his hand, but he moves off before she can touch him. He does not need her help. Her loyalty is to Hemlock and the Empire instead of her own family. It would not be help he either needs or wants.
"It is time I must go check on Omega," Emerie decides at last.
She is unaware Tech survived. That is not a fact that makes him any more appreciative of her relationship with them, though family is far more than blood.
He ignores her "good night" entirely, and the door closes behind her after another pause of quiet.
The room is far too empty. It is not his. None of what is here is. Had there ever been a time he could not sleep for some reason when he was free, he would work on one of the machines he keeps around, or research. There was always something else to do. Here, he does not have that choice, or any choices.
It will be a long time before he has that chance again.
It feels wrong to sleep when he is fully aware Crosshair is being tortured. Perhaps not all the time, but it is happening presently, and his screams are still ringing through Tech's mind. Hemlock's choice to do this to him was not a factor Tech could control, but he should have considered the danger of it.
He endangered Crosshair, and that is not a mistake he will make a second time.
He had been the one who demanded they go for Crosshair back when this all began. He was their brother, and it was what they had to do, but it led to Omega's capture in a way Tech still does not fully understand. All he knows is that Omega was injured when she was brought to Tantiss, and Emerie was overseeing her recovery as well.
Now, they may have a chance of freeing Crosshair, but that does not change what he endured because of he and Omega's capture, or what Hunter and Wrecker are experiencing alone. They are with each other, no doubt, but Hunter had been uncertain of the mission in the beginning. Without Omega to keep him focused, Tech is fully aware he will not be in good shape, and the same applies to Wrecker.
They needed him, but he is here, unable to help, serving no purpose but furthering Hemlock's agenda with no real ability to either slow or stop it.
Hunter and Wrecker, Tech knows, will blame themselves for his loss. They have never believed a brother dead before. That is not a concept he fully understands, but he knows it will not be easy. They all saw how Echo struggled with the loss of his own squad, and they have always been... different.
Does Echo blame himself? How is he handling it? Would he have remained with Hunter and Wrecker, or returned to Rex? Those are not things Tech fully knows – he will get the answers he needs once he makes it off Tantiss.
Omega is here, and Tech cannot risk alerting Hemlock of his attempts or desires to speak with her. It would be significantly easier if he could tell her of his survival, but Omega will be planning an escape herself. Tech is unable to fight in his present state, and if she knows of his presence here, it will only hinder her abilities. He will not allow himself to endanger her again.
He is uncertain if Crosshair knows of Omega's presence here, or his own. He appeared mostly unconscious when Tech was in the room, but he cannot be fully certain.
Everything with his youngest brother is complicated. Between how he left their squad for the Empire, and his capture at an entirely undefined point, of which Tech did not have a way to determine, he does not know what Crosshair's mental state is. He doesn't know what he's like, or how receptive of Tech's presence he would be.
Tech had been the first to walk away. Sometimes, he wonders if he could have tried to speak with him again, if there would have been a way to alter the outcome, but he knew if Crosshair had gone as far as he had, there would be nothing they could offer they had not already to make him change his mind.
That does not stop the guilt. Or the anger. Or the hurt.
Crosshair walked away from them, and they let him go, which is why all of them have reached their current places, but what is most important is that they are still alive. For as long as they are alive, they have the chance of a successful escape and moving on to the life on Pabu they had been discussing.
He knows he will need to sleep to recover, but that night, sleep doesn't come.
Not when all he can hear is the echo of Crosshair's screams ringing in his head.
**w**
"Crosshair looked worse today," Omega mutters, climbing onto the table and automatically extending her hand.
Emerie's eyes flicker up to hers and she looks away. He was, because of the escape attempt she had already strictly warned Tech against trying. She did the best she could, and she is fully aware of that, though it does not stop the guilt.
"That is more important to you than family."
She says nothing, because there truthfully is nothing for her to offer. The scathing fury in Tech's voice is still ringing in her mind. She does not, truly, understand the caring or protectiveness he displays toward Crosshair. She feels the desire to protect all of her brothers, though never to the point of defying all rationality. There is only so much she can do, and orders are orders.
"That is more important –"
"There seems like a lot of guards around," Omega continues, "Is something happening?"
"A prisoner attempted to escape," Emerie replies.
Omega sighs. "Crosshair?"
If he attempted a second time, after his first, Emerie would hardly find any sympathy. "No. It was – one of the other clones." That it was another member of their squad is not something Emerie is permitted to tell her. Hemlock had made it clear that if Omega were to know, there would be a risk of another escape attempt, and Omega is needed here.
They're needed here, and they all have jobs. Those are what are important.
"That is more important to you than family."
"Is something wrong?" Omega queries, hand lingering on hers longer than necessary.
Emerie looks up at her again. Well, she cannot say she defines her argument with Tech as wrong, but it was unpleasant, and she is not accustomed to arguing. Both Hemlock and Nala Se always gave her orders – there was no arguing, only facts.
That Omega is asking confuses her. She has never had anyone ask that before. "No," she answers, "Everything is fine." She sets the vial with Omega's blood into the tray. "Here. Take these to the lab."
She sighs, jumping off the table and grabbing her container, picking up the tray and throwing a glance at Emerie before leaving the room.
Emerie cares about her in a way she does not fully understand herself. Omega is young, and there is a gentle lightness to her that Emerie finds herself instantly drawn to. Or maybe it is that she is the first sibling Emerie has known who is not the same as the others. She's her sister, and she is not a soldier in the way all of their brothers are. Omega is something Emerie can truly understand for the first time in her life.
Perhaps Tech's protectiveness of Crosshair is something Emerie can understand.
Tech says she is a part of their family, and perhaps she is, but it doesn't fully feel like it.
In truth, she cannot stop thinking about it, either. It all felt – so pointless, but she knows Hemlock will do whatever he needs to, to accomplish his goal. It is not as though they were unaware or unwarned. Emerie had made sure they both understood it.
That – does not mean she enjoys the outcome, and nor does the crushing heaviness over her chest lift.
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