Chapter 1 - The Mission
Plot: One of Hemlock's operatives, Crosshair remembers nothing of his past. At least not until he runs into what's left of Clone Force 99. Bit by bit, he starts to remember his brothers and begins to realize that another one of the CXs working with him may have once been one of them.
Author's Note: This is a gift for Ares on Ao3. :)
~ Tirana Sorki
They're finally off Tantiss and being given their first mission, though CX-2 didn't think their first mission would entail hunting down another CX.-0, who went off-radar, and was detained by the people he was sent to take out.
Pathetic.
Really.
"Are you clear?" CX-1 asks.
He can't help rolling his eyes. "I'm clear," he snaps back, "I only heard the mission details three times. I'm beginning to think you just like hearing yourself talk."
The glare is impressively hard even through the helmet. "Stay focused."
"I am focused. Stop giving me orders."
"I am the one in charge of this mission."
CX-2 crosses his arms and scowls fiercely at the person who is supposedly one of his brothers. How he could be related to someone so annoying, he still doesn't get. "And I'm well aware of what the mission is. You can stop repeating it."
"That's good," CX-1 tells him flippantly, "Because your life is depending on it."
He knows that. Everything on Tantiss depends on usefulness, and if they fail, they die. They'll die eventually, anyway – no one can survive an infinite number of assassinations, but that doesn't mean CX-2 is very keen on it being fast.
Not that it matters.
How would it matter if he died, except that he wouldn't have done enough for the Empire?
(The Empire that has given him nothing, only taken and ripped him apart until there's – there's nothing left to take?)
That's the only life he has. All that matters, but...
Focus.
He swears he didn't used to be like this, but he can't remember a time he wasn't. This is all he ever does remember even if there're fleeting moments where he can't help thinking that it feels like there was something... before.
Whatever that even means.
He could hardly have been born at whatever age he is now, after all. Not that he has any real knowledge of the passage of time on Tantiss. But –
It doesn't matter. Nothing but the mission matters. That's all there is and he needs to stop thinking about anything else.
That's probably why CX-1 is being so annoying. They can't afford to get distracted, but he keeps letting it happen.
CX-2 has never seen a city before though something about the city they're flying through now looks familiar. He shakes off the sensation, keeping his focus on where their target is.
They're tracking CX-0's tracker, and it's leading them down somewhere in the underworld of Coruscant.
They leave their ship behind once they're on the right level, approaching the target on foot to conceal themselves. There's no one outside the building. CX-1 motions him forward, sprinting up to the entrance and forcing the door open.
The place looks like some kind of mechanic's shop. There's machine parts and various kinds of ships everywhere, and it does well to conceal them.
CX-2 can hear voices filtering in from the far side of the room.
They move across the room together, until they're close enough that they can see the targets. There are six of them.
CX-0 is restrained to a beam behind him.
Pathetic.
There's four other fully grown clones present. More of their brothers. And in this case, traitors.
(Something about them is – different. He's seen... the armor. The white and orange, the two gray and orange. But something about them is... wrong. Different. Not real. Not... right.)
(Stop. It doesn't matter. He has a mission. Orders.)
A younger girl is standing next to them. Her hair is blond, and she's wearing a helmet. There's an energy bow strapped to her back, though she doesn't have armor. And beside them is a Pantoran – the Senator who they were told was down here.
The one they were supposed to eliminate if possible.
CX-2 raises his rifle and fires, taking down CX-0 with a shot through the heart, as ordered. Cut information ties.
The others scramble for cover.
The blond clone – Captain Rex. He remembers that name – pulls the Senator down behind a workbench, flipping it over to block the shots. The one who is clearly a cyborg draws his blaster and starts firing back, ducking and rolling to cover when CX-1 fires back at him.
The tallest of them starts shooting wildly, and CX-2 jerks back against a crate to avoid getting shot. The one with a datapad throws something at them, and smoke starts filling the air instantly.
As if that will be enough to stop him when he can scan their heat signatures and CX-1 can sense them. Somehow. He doesn't really understand how that works but it's not important.
CX-2 fires at them a few more times, but they all dive for cover, losing him. He sees CX-1 jump one of the others through smoke, only to get thrown clear across the room. It's the largest clone. CX-2 fires at him a couple times, but he ducks out of the way and jumps him, wrestling his rifle away as he knocks him to the ground.
His strength is insane.
CX-2 has trained grueling for – literally all the time he even remembers, but it's still not quite enough to match this kind of strength.
He hardly knows how it happens, except that his helmet half comes off, and he doesn't have the time to pull it back on, so he just yanks it off and throws it in the clone's face.
CX-2 is about to use the moment of distraction to dive for his rifle again.
The clone makes a strangled sound, letting the helmet fall to his feet without retaliating.
"Crosshair?" he gasps, freezing.
That word.
That –
He knows that word.
Doesn't know from where but it's familiar. He's heard it. He knows he has, and that voice is familiar. So, hauntingly, guttingly familiar – a piece and part of him that's been achingly absent all that time when there was nothing but the dull gray walls surrounding him. All that time alone, there was something in his heart missing, and that was...
This.
Him.
He doesn't know who he is but he's important.
He doesn't know what that word is – that name. The clone's saying it like it belongs to him but he's CX-2. He doesn't have a name.
"Who's Crosshair?" he asks.
He has a mission to finish. He needs to keep moving. But –
The other freezes. "Ya – ya don't remember us?" He sounds so wounded that CX-2's mind freezes over. He's supposed to go for his rifle and shoot him through the heart but it feels like he already did with how gutted and hurt his brother sounds.
How can this person feel more like his brother than CX-1 when he's been with him for all the months he remembers? But something is there in his mind, a whispering he can't ignore.
"I don't know who you are," CX-2 throws back.
Why does it feel like he should? Why is this one of his brothers so familiar?
The clone looks close to tears, for... some reason.
CX-1 moves into view out of the smoke suddenly, unsheathing a knife and going for the clone. That seems to snap him into motion again and he whips around, twisting the knife out of his hand and shoving him off.
The mission.
CX-1 is carrying out the mission, and he is just standing here.
Failing.
He dives for his rifle, instincts kicking in again.
A shot rings out from behind him. CX-2 doesn't realize what it was until a moment too late. The stun shot hits him and everything goes dark.
**w**
Consciousness fades back in slowly. When CX-2 opens his eyes again, it's to see he's –
Wait.
Where is he?!
He's sitting on the floor, leaning against a wall, somewhere – that's definitely not the same place he was in when he was stunned – and his wrists are in binders.
He blinks a few times, taking in his surroundings. The same clones from before – except for Captain Rex and the Senator – are here. CX-1 is nowhere in sight.
He was captured. They somehow captured him, and CX-2 knows what that means. He just killed CX-0 for this exact same failure. And now he let it happen to himself because he was distracted. He knows what this is going to mean for him.
He also knows what he is supposed to do. In case of capture, they are to terminate themselves immediately so no one can find any information. That – that is what he's supposed to do now
But –
"Crosshair?" the blonde-haired girl asks, her eyes wide as she studies him. She looks like she wants to cry, and he doesn't really get that. But – but there's something about her. Something that...
She feels almost as familiar as the other ones do.
But why do they keep calling him that word?
He should finish the mission. He's failed enough already. He –
"Why do you keep calling me that?" he asks.
"It is your name," the clone with a datapad speaks up. "You are our brother. You were a part of our squad before you were captured by the Empire. Though I cannot say what they did to you."
That seems – impossible. To think he had a life before, something outside of the dull, gray walls of Tantiss. A life where he fought the Empire instead of fighting for it. And yet, something about it resonates deep within himself as – yes. It's true. He did, once in another lifetime.
He knows them. There's a word in his mind, but it's too far buried for him to say it. To remember.
"I fought the Empire?"
"You did," the cyborg confirms quietly, "You left the Empire with the rest of us. They were telling us to kill civilians. We wouldn't do it."
But that's... their job. To do whatever they're told. To... follow orders. And what are they if they don't? They're purpose is to kill. Who the target it is isn't really important.
"Our purpose is to follow orders," CX-2 objects finally. He doesn't understand why he would have done anything differently before. That is certainly not what he's doing now, though. He should have terminated himself already and he's not.
"That is what the Empire may say," the one with the datapad replies, "But we have always been more than that."
"I'd say we were effective as soldiers because we didn't always follow orders," the cyborg adds, a little dryly.
That doesn't make any sense.
Does it?
It sounds familiar, though.
"If I was one of you, then... what happened?" CX-2 asks uncertainly. It's unsettling to know that there are things about himself that they know that he doesn't. It shouldn't matter but it – He can't stop thinking about it.
The others exchange glances. They seem hurt, whatever they're thinking about.
"We were on a mission to rescue another clone the Empire was imprisoning on a facility on Daro," the cyborg says finally, "We were outnumbered and you got left behind, covering for us." He sighs. "I'm sorry we left you, Crosshair. I know you'd never do the same to us."
He feels numb. Like... they're talking to someone else, but their words pull at something deep inside of him. Something else he doesn't remember. A life that was taken from him.
"We were gonna go back for you," the tallest clone goes on, "We tried to find ya, but when we got back, you were already gone. Tech said Hunter transferred you off-world."
Hunter. That word is familiar. It unsettles him, igniting a sparking surge of nervousness. He thinks there was once a time it was... good, but it isn't anymore. Now, it terrifies him, and he doesn't know why. "Who – who is Hunter?" he asks warily. It feels like something he ought to know.
"He was the leader of our squad," the one with the datapad replies.
"Then why did he take me to the Empire and not the rest of you?" He doesn't know why he feels an instinctive flare of betrayal deep inside of him.
The Empire is his only purpose. That someone took him back to it should be – good.
But –
"All clones have inhibitor chips implanted in their brains to modify their behavior to make them compliant," the one with the datpad goes on, "Hunter's was activated when the Empire formed. He... turned on us before we left the Empire."
...oh.
That is what this 'Hunter' should have done. That is what CX-2 is supposed to be doing. So why is all he feels inside a strange amount of hurt that Hunter – someone he doesn't even know – would do that? (He did know him, though. He knew him before, and he just forgot. Forgetting isn't enough to stop the anger. It's not enough to stop the hurt.)
"I tried to talk to him but it – wasn't enough. It wasn't his fault, though," the girl says, biting her lip, "You don't... remember us at all?"
It's unsettling to know they know so much about him that he does not. None of it is important to the mission, so it should not matter but it is – strange to just feel emptiness when he thinks of a past that he... evidently did live. It was real. It wasn't just a dream. "No."
"I'm Omega," she says, "A clone, like you. I joined your squad when we left the Empire."
Sister.
He... has a sister.
She is so small. How is she already a soldier?
"And those are Tech, Wrecker, and Echo," she goes on, motioning to each of them in turn.
CX-2 absorbs the names, looking between each of them.
All of their names are so... familiar.
So right.
But none of this changes that CX-2 has a mission. He is losing focus of it entirely. This is his sole purpose and he is failing it. He knows what failing means. It was drilled into him over and over again. He saw others who were failing at training being terminated and that was a far more minor infraction than what he is doing now. He knows what it means. It –
"Do you know what happened to Hunter?" Wrecker asks hopefully.
How would he know?
"No."
The others exchange glances.
"He's not the operative you were working with?" Echo inquires.
CX-1?
Is he serious?
Something about him may be familiar, but he is the only brother CX- has worked with as long as he remembers. "He does not have a name. None of us do," he replies bluntly.
(Crosshair. His name is Crosshair. Evidently, some of them do have names.)
"That's not true," the girl argues, shaking her head, her eyes welling with tears. "You do have a name. You're Crosshair. You're our brother."
Wrecker and Tech exchange wordless glances, though their conflict is visible in their eyes.
"I'm sorry we left ya," Wrecker tells him quietly, "We didn't know what else to do."
He knows. Somewhere deep inside, CX-2 knows that, though he doesn't understand where or why or how. He remembers this. He's been here before, and he knows them as home. Somehow.
He – he wishes he remembered.
"Are you injured?" Tech inquires.
CX-2 freezes, blinking at him. That question does not mean anything good. It never has – it's always been a promise of pain because they're not supposed to get hurt.
"I can treat it if you are."
"I'm fine," he snaps. "Why are you asking? What do you want with me?"
"We're just going to fix you up," Echo promises, "It's alright, Crosshair. We won't hurt you."
"I'm your prisoner."
"You are our brother," Tech replies, "And we want to make up for how we failed you. You were captured because we were not as careful as we should have been." He means it. CX-2 cannot remember the last time he saw someone truly sincere. If he ever has, but they are now, and it leaves him wildly at a loss for words. The Empire doesn't care what he wants or how he feels. If he's too injured to get up, they'll kill him. Not try to help.
And these people are apologizing for a wrong he doesn't even remember.
He doesn't understand. It's so confusing. Why are they being like this to him? Why would anyone be? "What made you come back?"
"We've been looking for you ever since we lost you," Echo tells him, "Didn't expect you to find us. Where have you been?"
His jaw clenches. They're interrogating him, now? Of course. His body tenses, eyes darting around the ship.
"What did they do to you, exactly?" Echo asks, "What... are you?"
What is he? Nothing.
"An assassin."
"But why are you helping the Empire?" Wrecker asks, wounded, "You belong with us."
His heart clenches. It feels heavy, an internal pressure drawing everything inwards until it feels like it's about to explode or burn itself out. He wants to cry.
He remembers this clone. Has a fleeting image of someone, of leaning on his shoulder and an arm around him, something that means safe. Something he's been without for so long.
But these are traitors. They left him.
"You want me to come back when you're the ones who left?"
Wrecker deflates. His eyes look wet. Is he going to cry? "I – I'm sorry, Crosshair. Ya told us to go, and we did." He can't fake that. CX-2 knows he's not. Somehow. He's guileless.
He bites his lip hard enough it bleeds. What is he supposed to say?
"We want to get you and Hunter out of there," Echo tells him, "You've been hurt there."
"I'm fine. I'm functional."
Tech steps forwards, raising his datapad to scan him over. CX-2 tries to hold still, looking down and away. Tries not to panic. Scanning is always bad. Whatever Tech sees, he doesn't like it. His lips thin and his eyes darken. "They tortured you," he states.
Wrecker inhales sharply and he darts forwards, wrapping his arms around CX-2. He hisses faintly, jerking against him, but he's so strong. It doesn't hurt, though. It actually feels strangely... nice, and he closes his eyes, slowly leaning into it. Tries to let go and loosen up. He's exhausted from being so tense.
His wrists are still cuffed, so it feels awkward, but he very, very slowly raises his hands to his brother's chest. Wrecker kisses the top of his head, and he closes his eyes. This actually feels really... nice.
"I'm sorry," Wrecker whispers.
"Yeah, whatever. Stop crying. It's freaking me out." CX-2 shoves at him half-heartedly. He misses the touch the moment it slips away.
Something beeps from the front. Tech pauses, looking over his shoulder before taking off. "Another ship just exited hyperspace," he calls. Echo follows, and Wrecker and Omega are already on full alert.
CX-2 can only guess who it is.
Probably one of the other CX's, sent to kill him. Because he didn't finish it himself.
He doesn't want to die. That's becoming increasingly clear.
But there's nothing he can do to stop it now. It's too late.
He hears the sound of laser shots suddenly, and the ship goes swerving violently. He nearly faceplants on the floor, no thanks to his wrists being cuffed so he can't move properly to keep himself upright.
The shootout doesn't last long. The ship jerks violently suddenly and he can feel it starting to fall.
They're going down.
Crashing.
"Brace yourselves," Tech calls from the cockpit, and he grips the armrest of the chair he's in, waiting for them to hit the ground. CX-2 doesn't remember a crash landing before, but he knows he's been in some before. He could swear he remembers something about Wrecker crashing. And some sort of... living... really... hell.
There's a crashing and tearing sound, and CX-2 hears something breaking. The lights flicker, and something beside him sparks.
"Next time we crash," he snaps, "Don't tie me to a chair."
"Sorry," Omega tells him sheepishly, "I honestly didn't know it'd get that far."
"Naturally," he hisses. Wrecker's staring at him, wide-eyed. He looks hurt for some reason.
"Echo is out," CX-2 hears Tech saying. He circles in from the cockpit a moment later, his blaster drawn. He heads for the direction of the ramp.
There are noises nearby but CX-2 can't follow what's happening. He's not really in a position to see very much and he's too focused on his steadily growing fear.
He knows why CX-1 is here.
It's to – to finish him.
And he doesn't have a chance to escape. CX-1 is efficient. The others may not even make it.
He doesn't want them to die.
He doesn't know why that suddenly concerns him now when it didn't matter before. They're still traitors. He should be helping CX-1 in taking the rest of them down.
There's a crash from somewhere out of his line of sight, and the sound of a brief struggle. Wrecker draws his blaster, running for the back.
CX-2 twists around in spite of himself, because he needs to know what's going on. CX-1 is attempting to stab Tech, who's barely avoiding him. Wrecker just straight up picks him up from behind, and CX-1 twists around, ramming the virboblade into his side before he can knock it from his grasp.
Wrecker makes a strangled, wounded sound, stumbling back. His grip slackens long enough for CX-1 to kick him, hard enough to wrench himself free.
Tech throws a smoke bomb and the room floods with smoke instantly. CX-2 coughs, turning his head away from it but he can hardly move at all, and then –
He hears another thump from the back. Doesn't know who it was that got knocked down or if they're dead or not or what, but then CX-1 darts into view, coming over to his chair. He draws his vibroblade as he does.
His heart skips a beat, panic rising but there's nothing he can do. Not when he's still cuffed.
But then CX-1 just cuts the restraints free. "Come on. Let's go," he tells him.
Wait.
He's – not planning to kill him?
CX-2 blinks in confusion but gets to his feet immediately. There is little other choice he has, is there?
Why is CX-1 not killing him? That – has to be what he's supposed to do. That's what failure means. That's what it's always meant.
"Stay back!" Omega yells, stepping out of the smoke, bow raised.
CX-1 turns to look back at her.
CX-2 doesn't know why fear that he's about to kill her sparks through him. That's not something he ought to care about but he can't stop, not after everything they've told him.
He takes off for the ramp. He tries to ignore the flicker of relief that runs through him when CX-1 is quick to follow, instead of stopping to deal with Omega.
"Crosshair, don't," she says desperately, when she seems to realize he's fully intent on leaving.
He hesitates, but only for a moment.
He can't stay here. The Empire won't stop coming after him. There is no other choice.
They run off the ship together.
Omega doesn't fire.
He thought she would, but she just... doesn't.
An Imperial shuttle is landed not far away, and they get to the ship. CX-1 goes to the pilot seat, firing up the engines and taking off. CX-2 sits down next to him.
The silence that hangs over them is tense, uncomfortable.
"Did they hurt you?" CX-1 inquires.
"No," he replies quietly. He's still a little confused as to why they didn't. But that makes far more sense than the fact that CX-1 hasn't killed him yet.
He nods a little, turning away.
They don't speak again. There isn't anything to say.
He doesn't know what's going to happen now. He knows what failure means. He lived to make it back, though and that will count for something but it doesn't change that he didn't finish his mission like he ought to have. Hemlock will not be pleased.
Final Notes: Reviews are always appreciated! ^-^
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