CHAPTER 2: The Aftermath

"Hunter! We just broke through the atmosphere! Approximately 10,000 kilometers until impact!" Omega desperately fought to control the plunging shuttle as they hurdled towards this unknown planet at an alarming rate.

"I'm sending a distress signal to Echo before we lose our communications." Hunter kept his voice calm and steady for Omega's sake but he would be lying if he admitted he was not a little concerned about this crash landing. As his fingers flew over the keys at the computer he was seated at, he managed to bring up the ship's schematics, "Doesn't this shuttle have an escape craft?"

"Lambda-class T-4a shuttle has a detachable cockpit module." Omega silently thanked Tech for having her memorize the schematics of all ships in the Imperial fleet.

"If I can squeeze everyone into the cockpit, can you siphon enough remaining fuel to power the module for a safer landing?"

"I'll try." She put on her seatbelt harness before sweeping her hands along the console and shutting off everything besides the life support and the emergency lights. Her plan was to free fall in order to conserve as much power as possible until Hunter was ready for them to deploy the escape craft.

Hunter trudged towards the main cabin of the shuttle, careful not to lose his footing since the shuttle was taking a nosedive and one misstep could have him sliding back into the cockpit. Once he climbed his way into the main cabin, he hastily strapped on the armor he removed from Crosshair's body when he was tending to his injuries and he then did the same to Wrecker. He then used his vibroknife to sever Crosshair's restraints from the bunk he had him secured to and hoisted his youngest brother over his shoulder. He knew he had to move as fast as possible which meant letting gravity lead him back to the cockpit. He sat on the shuttle floor and effortlessly slid towards the cockpit with Crosshair, catching himself on the doorway with his legs. He carefully slid his brother over to the copilot seat and strapped him in with the harness before making the slow climb back to the main cabin to get Wrecker.

"How're we doing, Omega?" He clenched his teeth as he fought through the painful throbbing in his head, almost reaching Wrecker's bunk when the shuttle began to violently shake.

"4,000 kilometers until impact." She tried her best to mimic Hunter's steady composure, knowing from experience that panic was not her friend in these types of situations.

Hunter unsheathed his vibroknife once more and sliced through Wrecker's restraints, freeing him from the bunk he was resting on. Since Wrecker's body was much larger than his, he could not just throw him over his shoulder like he did with Crosshair.

"3,000 kilometers." Omega's voiced sounded on his comm.

Hunter knew he had to hurry but with Wrecker being in such a critical state, he did not feel comfortable just throwing his body around. He gingerly placed his brother on the floor as fast he could and managed to sit back to back with Wrecker before sliding down the shuttle towards the cockpit. Just like before, he caught himself on the doorway with his legs which proved to be more difficult with Wrecker's heavy body against him.

"2,000 kilometers until impact." Omega glanced over her shoulder to see Hunter struggling with Wrecker's weight, "Do you need help?"

"Just…" He grimaced as he slowly lowered Wrecker into the cockpit, careful not to lose his grip with the erratic shaking of the ship, "Get ready to detach the module."

"Copy that." She began firing up the shuttle's systems.

With the stabilizers back online, Hunter diligently squeezed himself and Wrecker into the cockpit and closed the door behind them. Unfortunately this shuttle only had two seats, pilot and copilot, so Hunter and Wrecker were forced to hunker down in the small floorspace between the seats and the cockpit door. "We're in position, release the craft!" He braced himself and Wrecker against the door as Omega reached for the lever.

Once she pulled the handle, the cockpit aggressively jerked upward as it detached from the rest of the ship and the full weight of the plummeting shuttle vanished. Omega swiftly hit the reverse thrusters on the escape craft to help exponentially decrease their free fall speed as they dropped just under 1,000 kilometers. As the craft slowed its uncontrollable descent, Omega pulled up on the wheel with all the strength she could muster in order to bring the module to equilibrium. Starting to feel the craft leveling out, she reached over to hit another button that turned on the forward headlights since the side of the planet they were crash landing on was experiencing its nightfall and there was no moon present to help provide light. She would have liked to have turned on the headlights as soon as they entered the atmosphere to help her get her bearings but she had to keep all unnecessary systems offline to help conserve fuel. It was no wonder that as soon as the beams came on, she was forced to dramatically jolt the module to the left to avoid a snow-capped mountain that seemed to have come out of nowhere.

"What was that?" Hunter scrambled to his feet and stood behind the pilot's seat, clutching onto the back of it to help keep his balance.

"Uh…a mountain? I think?" She jerked the craft to the right this time to avoid another hidden mountain top. "It's hard to see with these thick clouds."

"Seems like we're in some sort of mountain range." As if on cue, another snowy peak magically appeared in front of them causing Omega to yank them to the left again. "Can you try to pull up and fly above the mountain tops?"

Omega shook her head as a couple buttons began to frantically flash red across the console, "Not an option. We're running low on fuel, remember? Pulling up against the jet stream will use up too much."

"Alright. Let's try to-"

He was unable to complete his thought because while he was talking to Omega, the conversation distracted her just enough that she did not react in time to the upcoming peak hidden in the clouds and the underside of the escape craft detrimentally scrapped the mountain top. The cockpit turbulently began to rock side to side, throwing everyone inside around as if they were sailing on the stormiest seas of Kamino. Hunter practically jumped onto Wrecker's limp body, desperately trying to keep him in stable condition as he noticed that his wounds were beginning to bleed again but his pulse quickened more so when he heard Omega's scared gasp.

"Hunter! Help! I don't know what to do!"

Although his focus was on Wrecker, he responded to her in a soothing manner, "Omega, the stabilizers are gone, engines are offline, and we've lost control." His heart ached for her, he did not need his heightened senses to figure out she was absolutely terrified, "You've slowed us down enough that we'll survive this. The only thing left to do is brace for impact." The module forcefully rattled as it began crashing through what looked to be a forest.

She turned around to look at him, "I'm scared."

He glanced over to her when he felt her frightened gaze on him, "I know you are but it's going to be okay." He wished his helmet was not on so he could give her his signature reassuring smile to help calm her down, but he was too preoccupied with keeping Wrecker's bleeding in check. "Omega, listen to me. I need you to turn around though. The last thing you should be doing is facing backwards when we hit the ground."

Omega obediently did as she was told and tightened her seat harness. She tried to slow her breathing as she fought the intense sensation of fear trying to overtake her. She glanced over at Crosshair's limp body fastened in the copilot seat next to her, reminding her about what he said before they left Tantiss; I just hope this goes better than when we landed on Lau.

Omega was ever so slightly relieved he was unconscious because she could not bear to imagine how long he would hold his 'I told you so' over her for this. But she also found the strangest sensation of comfort at the thought of her and Crosshair's crash landing on Lau. I survived that, I can survive this. She tried to remind herself to keep calm but her eyes widened as the ground began to come into view. Then again, I had control of the ship when we crashed on Lau. I'm completely helpless in this situation.

Time seemed to slow as the roaring sounds of the module's hull being torn apart by the thick canopy of trees faded away and the only thing she could hear was the sound of her own heartbeat. The aggressive manner of the craft being thrown side to side continued and she was so discombobulated that she did not know which way they would land. As the planet's surface grew ominously closer with every passing breath, she tightly shut her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, tightly grasping the harness that gripped her shoulders. Preparing to hit the ground any second now, the last thing she felt was someone slipping something over her head moments before a deafening CRASH erupted around them; her body was violently yanked forward and she felt the crack of whatever was on her head hit the ship's console. Then everything went black.

Echo quietly walked up and down the halls of the science vessel, checking in on every brother peacefully resting for the first time since they made the jump into hyperspace. He had spent the first couple of hours of hyperspace catching up with each clone prisoner and hearing the stories they felt comfortable sharing with him. He wanted to make sure everyone on board felt well, comfortable, and safe. He knew what it was like to be a prisoner of war and he remembered how much it affected not only his physical health, but his mental health as well. He wanted to be there for each clone prisoner just as how Rex and the Bad Batch were there for him on Skako Minor.

After doing his rounds and satisfied with how everyone had settled in, he made his way back to the cockpit where Vik was sitting at the helm. Vik glanced over his shoulder when he heard the door slide open, "Welcome back." He did a double take on Echo's change of uniform, "Where did you find that armor?"

Echo strode into the cockpit and placed a specialized black clone trooper helmet beside the console, "It's mine." He adjusted a piece of armor sitting on his right shoulder, "As luck would have it, this science vessel is the same one I stowed away on to get to Tantiss. While I was onboard, I swapped my usual armor for a Stormtrooper one and hid mine on the ship. I never thought I'd be able to wear this again but I'm glad I found it. I feel a whole lot better in my Clone Force 99 gear."

Vik stood up and moved to the copilot seat, eyeing the blacked out gear, "Did your unit normally work in all black commando armor?"

"Commando armor? Yes. Blacked out? No." Echo sat in the pilot's seat, "We had our own color scheme, just like the rest of the troopers in the GAR. Red, black, and gray with our skull insignia somewhere on our uniform."

Vik nodded as he face forward and stared at the shimmering lights of hyperspace, "All the boys doing alright?"

"I managed to chat with each brother. Heard what they had to say, the stories they wanted to share."

"The variety of troopers is impressive, isn't it? Almost as if Hemlock went out of his way to pick a couple clones from nearly every legion, company, and battalion in the GAR."

Echo shook his head as he recalled some of the tales he heard from the clone prisoners, "104th, 41st, 212th, 21st, 187th," He glanced over at Vik, "the 327th."

He let out a soft chuckle, "And the 501st or would you prefer Clone Force 99?"

Echo smirked, "Both. I'm proud to have served with both units."

Vik watched Echo mindlessly dust off his Bad Batch helmet as if it were a delicate antique, "What was the best part about serving in the 501st?"

"I couldn't pick just one." He continued to fidget with his helmet, seemingly avoiding the topic.

"Give me a top two then."

Echo's hand paused as he gave it some serious thought, "Serving under some of the finest superiors in the GAR. General Skywalker, Commander Tano, and Captain Rex were exceptional leaders. But also fighting those clankers alongside my brothers, especially my best friend and squad mate, Fives." His chest tightened at the thought of Fives. He immediately regretted mentioning his name knowing how it affected him.

"I remember hearing about Fives." Vik sat up a bit with a renewed sense of intrigue, "After the Umbara campaign, he was practically a celebrity amongst us clones. He caused quite a stir throughout the GAR, giving us clones a purpose besides blindly following orders."

"Until Order 66." Echo sighed. Rex had told him everything that happened leading up to Fives' death. How he was the only one to figure out this diabolical plot and how he was silenced for knowing too much. To keep from falling into despair, Echo had to remind himself that without Fives' sacrifice, Rex would not have been saved by Ahsoka and who knows if Rex would have been fighting with the Empire instead of helping him fight against the Empire.

Vik noticed Echo's thousand yard stare, "What happened to General Skywalker and Commander Tano?"

Echo shook his head out of the daze he was in, "I don't know what happened to the General, I assumed he was killed. He was on Coruscant during the purge and I heard none of the Jedi at the temple survived. And Rex told me Commander Tano was killed in a Venator crash." He knew the truth about Ahsoka's fate, one of the very few who did, but Rex made him swear to never reveal the truth to anyone else.

"I'm sorry." Vik lowered his head in respect.

Echo cautiously glanced over at him, "Where did it happen for you?"

Now it was Vik's turn to momentarily disassociate as he relived one of the worst days of his life, "We were on Felucia when Order 66 was executed. I was one of many troopers who shot General Secura dead. Perhaps it was a bit much but we wanted to make her death as swift as possible. We didn't want her to suffer even if she was branded a traitor of the Republic."

Echo wrinkled his nose, a habit he did when he recognized something as being foul, "Personally, I don't believe any of the Jedi were traitors. This whole 'Order 66' purge was just a plot to annihilate the Jedi. Everything the Empire has done over the last three years wouldn't have happened if the Jedi were still around. They were used and betrayed by the Imperial agenda just as much as we were."

A minute of silence filled the cockpit before Vik cautiously spoke up, "What about General Krell? He was a traitorous Jedi who betrayed the Republic."

Echo hesitated. Rex had also shared with him the horrors of the Umbara campaign and even though he was not around for it, hearing about it made him furious with righteous anger. Even just thinking about it made his blood boil, "He was an outlier. That hydrosnake got what he deserved."

Vik's body tensed up at the harsh tone in Echo's voice. He realized he mistakenly hit a sore spot in the ARC trooper's personal armor. He was about to apologize but Echo spoke up first, "I'm going to get some shut eye during these last couple hours of our journey. You should do the same."

Vik watched him slump back a bit in his seat, rest his head against the back of his chair, and close his eyes with a long sigh. Vik took the hint and kept his thoughts to himself. He decided to take Echo's advice and tried to get some rest as well, which was not very hard given by how exhausted he was after the events on Tantiss. Just moments after closing his eyes, he drifted off to sleep. Echo opened one eye to peek over at Vik. He waited until Vik was asleep and once he noticed his deep breathing beginning to even out, he finally allowed himself to relax and let the sweet call of sleep take him as well.

A flurry of red and blue blaster fire from turrets, droids, and clone troopers rained down upon him and his troop. He threw a thermal detonator at a group of advancing commando droids and watched it detonate; the droids went one way and their blaster shields went another. It was frustrating to see one of the commando droids pop back up, not even effected by the blast. Even worse, he noticed the droid clambering over to one of the unoccupied turrets. He lowered his scope and realized the droid was beginning to take aim on the shuttle, their shuttle, their only means to escape the Citadel.

He lifted his wrist comlink, "General Skywalker, a droid is manning one of those turrets. They're gonna blow up the shuttle, sir."

Fortunately the droid was temporarily distracted by General Skywalker and General Piell's incoming bombardment but it did not take long before the droid shot down their STAP.

"This is our only chance. We've got to stop him." He and Fives ran out from behind their shelter and while Fives provided him with cover fire, he picked up the blaster shield dropped by the commando droid and made his way towards the shuttle. He did not notice that Fives had fallen back nor did he notice the commando droid controlling the turret taking aim at the shuttle until it was too late. His heart pounded louder than the firefight around him, the adrenaline shooting through his veins as he gave a valiant final effort to shoot the droid off the turret. No matter what happened to him, he knew he needed to defend the shuttle or die trying.

As he neared the ramp of the shuttle, he heard his best friend yell, "Echo, look out!"

But it was too late. He had jumped onto the shuttle's ramp just as the turret locked onto the shuttle. He accepted his fate while he continued to fire back at the droids, trying to take out as many clankers as possible before the inevitable. The last thing he heard were three rapid fire shots from the turret, immediately followed by a blazing BOOM!

Echo startled awake at the sound of a sensor beeping. He immediately wiped the sleep off his face as he studied the console, seeing the sensor belonged to the navicomputer. He nudged Vik who was still sleeping soundly in the seat beside him, "What?" His training kicked in at the sound of the sensor and he promptly sat up in his seat on high alert, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"We're coming up on Pabu." Echo smirked at his friend's bewildered expression, "Prepare for landing."

Vik tiredly wiped his face and stretched out his neck, "Is it just me, or does sleeping in these chairs hurt a lot more now than it did during the war?"

"We were younger back then." Echo chuckled as he slowly pulled the lever to drop out of hyperspace, a small blue planet coming into view. As they began their descent, Echo released a slow sigh of relief. They made it back, they actually did it. All of his squad mates made it back this time. He could not wait to give Omega a big hug once they landed. He would even allow Wrecker to give him one of his infamous Wookie hugs if he was feeling up to it. Although he knew he would not stay on Pabu for long, the thought of his brothers and sister getting the peaceful life they deserve brought a smile to his face.

Vik silently observed the scenery around them as Echo flew through the atmosphere, revealing the vibrant blue ocean below. Being a clone made them no stranger to vast bodies of water. They were created and raised on Kamino, a planet comprised of oceans. But this was different. The waves were rhythmically dancing, not violently crashing. The sun shone bright and the sky was as clear and blue as the water below unlike the stormy dark skies of their home planet. How can the landscape be so similar and yet so different? Vik's eyes widened ever so slightly when a large island appeared on the horizon, "Is that it?"

Echo nodded while preparing the landing gear, "That's it." He glanced over at his friend and chuckled at his captivated expression, "Welcome to Pabu." Echo decided to do a quick fly by around the island, giving a small tour of the town. He noticed the people of Pabu curiously looking up at them, probably unsure of who they were with the mysterious Imperial Science Vessel. He wrapped up his brief tour of Pabu and headed toward the landing zone at the top of the island, seeing two familiar ships. He recognized one to be the ship Emerie and the force sensitive children escaped Tantiss on and the other ship belonged to Phee. But what concerned him was the lack of a third ship, the Imperial Shuttle the rest of his squad departed Tantiss on.

Perhaps Omega is taking the shuttle for a spin? Maybe Phee is giving her another flying lesson? Yeah, that has to be it. He tried to convince himself, ignoring the pit of uneasiness growing in his gut. Echo steadily landed the ship and promptly stood up to peer outside the window when he saw a group walking towards them. He caught a glimpse of Shep Hazard, the mayor of Pabu, his daughter, Lyana, Omega's tamed lurca hound, Batcher, and then he saw someone he desperately hoped was off world, Phee Genoa.

"Oh kriff." Echo whispered to himself.

"What's wrong?" Vik stood up and looked out the window to see what Echo was staring at.

"Gather everyone up. I'll meet you outside."

Before Vik could even think to ask another question, Echo was gone. The ARC trooper lowered the ramp and strode down it to meet the welcoming party. Batcher practically tackled Echo in excitement upon his return so he gave the hound a couple quick pats on the head before addressing the rest of the group. As nice as it was to be back on Pabu with his friends, the worry building up inside of him extinguished any joy this reunion should have brought.

"Welcome back, Echo." Shep's friendly voice boomed, "Was your mission a success?"

"Yes."

"Did you rescue Omega?" Lyana asked hopefully.

"Yes."

"Did the rest of your squad make it out alright?" Phee inquired, the slightest bit of uneasiness in her voice. No doubt remembering the last time they returned from their high-risk mission on Eriadu, only to find out that Omega had been captured and Tech was dead.

"Yes."

The three locals breathed a sigh of relief but Phee immediately caught on to his strange behavior, "Enough of the one-word answers, Echo. According to you, everything went well but you're looking like you've seen a ghost. What happened?"

Echo glanced around once more, the worriedly confused look on his face deepening, "Has the rest of my squad returned?"

"What are you talking about?" Phee crossed her arms with a curious head tilt and jutted hip, "I thought they were with you?"

"No. They left Tantiss before me. I stayed behind to help all the surviving clone prisoners get on the ship. But they should've been here by now."

"Echo." Emerie walked over with a smile on her face which quickly faded once she saw his perplexed expression.

"Emerie?" Echo almost did not recognize her without her glasses, "You haven't seen an Imperial Shuttle recently, have you?"

"Yours is the first Imperial ship I've seen since Tantiss." Emerie glanced over at the Pabu locals and then back at Echo, "Why? What happened?"

"Something went wrong." He muttered to himself before turning to the pirate, "Phee, can I use the long-range communications on your ship?"

"Of course. Right this way." She spun on her heel and headed towards her starship with Echo close behind.

Watching them leave, Shep called out, "Lyana, Batcher, and I will stay here to welcome the rest of your clone brethren."

"Thank you." Echo gave him a grateful wave.

Emerie eagerly caught up to Echo and Phee, "I'm coming with you."

The trio boarded Phee's ship and Echo placed himself in front of the computer while the other two looked over his shoulder. He typed in the comm ID for his squad in hopes of finding their signal and to his relief he found a message on their comm channel, "Havoc 4, this is Havoc 1." Echo immediately recognized Hunter's voice, "We had a run-in with the Imperial reinforcements and took on heavy damage. We managed to make the jump into hyperspace long enough to escape but our hyperdrive just went out and our fuel line has been severed." Some heavy static started interfering with the message, "We…planet…crash…coordinates-" The white noise covered up the remainder of the message until it finally cut out entirely.

Echo knew it was a long shot but he tried to reestablish a signal, "Havoc 1, this is Havoc 4. Do you copy?" Nothing but static. "Havoc 5, this is Havoc 4. Does anyone copy?" Again, only static. Phee and Emerie gave each other a look of concern while Echo repeated his message.

After a minute of no response, Phee interrupted, "If I may make a suggestion, but it sounded like Hunter mentioned something about coordinates?"

"You're right." His fingers flew over the buttons on the console and he tried to decrypt any possible coordinates but to his dismay, nothing was sent over before the transmission died out.

Not wanting to interrupt his thoughts, Emerie softly spoke up, "Can you trace the signal to help pinpoint the sector or region where the message was sent from? You won't have the exact coordinates but at least you'll have a general idea of their whereabouts."

"Good thinking, Em." Phee playfully punched the scientist's shoulder. Emerie blinked in surprise but smiled at the friendly gesture and nickname given by Phee.

Echo replayed the message, but this time he inserted his scomp arm into the ship's terminal and boosted the signal, scanning for its location. This type of positional pinpointing normally required a much longer message so he hoped Hunter's message was long enough to at least figure out the region. Once the message cut out, Echo managed to zero-in on something, "Here we go. I got the region. It-" He paused and blinked his eyes to make sure he was reading it correctly, "It came from the Core Worlds Region."

Emerie and Phee exchanged another look of concern. Echo shook his head in disbelief while he unlinked himself from the terminal, "I've got to forward this message to Rex. He used to have a hideout on Coruscant. Maybe I can catch him between missions." He aggressively typed on the console once more, "Rex, this is Echo. Do you copy?" Much to his surprise, Rex appeared on the hologram.

"Rex here."

"Sir, I received a distress signal from Hunter. I'm forwarding it to you now." As Echo sent Hunter's message, he continued to briefly explain what had happened on Tantiss and how he got separated from the rest of the Bad Batch.

"Woah woah woah. You and your squad went to Tantiss alone?" Rex crossed his arms in disapproval.

"We had to act fast. I'll explain everything later. Point is, I managed to trace Hunter's distress signal to the Core Worlds Region before the transmission cut out. Do you still have anyone stationed at the garage base on the lower-levels of Coruscant?"

"No. We had to abandon it a few rotations ago. Coruscant is getting too hot for our operation, I relocated those troopers." Echo's head dropped in disappointment until he heard Rex let out a contemplative hum, "But…I have an old contact living on one of the Core Worlds. Not Coruscant exactly, but I'll ask them to keep an ear out for any information about a crashed Imperial Shuttle. See what they can find."

The smallest bit of weight was lifted off Echo's shoulders, but he was also curious about this old contact of Rex, "Thank you, sir. Who's the contact?"

The clone captain shook his head, "I'm afraid that's classified. Need to know basis." He chuckled at Echo's stunned expression, "Relax, Echo. I'll debrief you once you return to base. I just don't trust long-range comms as much as I did during the war."

"I understand, sir. I'll head out as soon as-" Suddenly the transmission cut out. "Rex?" Echo hastily pushed a couple buttons as he tried to reestablish the connection, "Rex? Do you copy?" Nothing but static.

Phee leaned over his shoulder and tried to troubleshoot the interruption, it was her starship after all. While the two of them rapidly worked on restoring the communications, Emerie swore she heard a low rumbling outside. As she stepped into the bright Pabu sunlight, she saw a large shadow in the atmosphere. "Echo? You might want to see this."

He jogged out of the ship with Phee right behind him and they all stared up into the sky, watching the looming shadow ominously block out the pristine sunshine. "It can't be…can it?" Phee rhetorically asked since they all recognized the angular shape of the ship.

"That would explain why the comms cut out." Emerie surmised out loud, "They're jamming our signal."

"How did they find us?" Echo's tone was nothing short of exasperation. He thought they made it through the Imperial blockade without a hiccup but it turns out they were followed.

"This wouldn't be the first time the Empire paid us a visit." Phee's normally carefree voice was lined with anger as she defiantly crossed her arms. "You think they're here for the escapees? Or are they looking for someone in particular again?"

"Omega?" Emerie and Echo responded at the same time.

"We must hide the force-sensitive children." Emerie hurried down the ship's ramp, "They can't be taken away again."

Phee called out to Emerie, "Take them to the Pabu Archium! I'll meet you there!"

Echo watched Phee head back into her starship, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to hide my ship. Last time the Empire showed up, they blew up the Marauder and any other vehicles capable of escaping on. I'll be damned if I let them blow up my precious Providence." She sat in the pilot seat and began warming up the engines, silently dismissing the clone.

Echo hopped off the ramp just before the ship lifted off. He jogged after the female clone, catching up to her with ease, "Emerie, I want you to stay hidden with the children. It's possible the Empire will be looking for you too since Hemlock and Nala Se are dead. You're the last link to Project Necromancer." Emerie froze with a dumbfounded expression on her face. It suddenly occurred to Echo that she did not know about Hemlock and Nala Se's death, "I, ah, forgot to mention that earlier huh?"

She slowly nodded her head, letting the news soak in, "Yes, well, in your defense you were preoccupied with your missing squad." She awkwardly cleared her throat as she started to step away, "I'll go find the children."

Echo watched her sprint towards the main marketplace on Upper Pabu, knowing that was the most likely place she would find the children eating ice cones or something. Meanwhile he went his own way to find Shep and the rest of the clone prisoners. They needed to be warned, assuming they did not already notice the menacing shadow looming above them. Given by how frenzied the citizens of Pabu were reacting to the Empire's presence, Echo wondered how destructive they were the last time they were here searching for Omega. Hunter had only briefly told him what happened that fateful night, but they did not have much time to discuss it in detail and Crosshair refused to talk about it altogether. Poor Wrecker did not have any recollection of that night at all since he got blown up alongside the Marauder and was unconscious during the whole thing.

This sounds familiar. Wrecker is unconscious again. The Empire is back on Pabu. Who are they looking for this time? Omega? Well, at least the rest of the squad is far from here. Although that thought was meant to be comforting, his frown grew deeper; I'm glad they're not here. But where are they? Are they safe?

Consciousness violently ebbed and flowed like the waves on Kamino. Whenever her mind tried to regain some awareness, her body would surge with sharp jabs of pain, making the darkness seem much more enticing. Despite the temptation of letting the gentle darkness consume her, her fighting spirit would not let her give up. She pushed through the pain, groaning while it exponentially intensified as she truly started to regain consciousness. Besides the throbbing pain she felt in her chest and head, the next thing she noticed was the overwhelming smell of something burning. She slowly blinked her eyes, gradually getting her bearings back.

What happened? Where are we? Omega scanned her surroundings and saw she was in the cockpit of a ship, more like hanging upside down from the cockpit of a ship. It was not until she spotted Crosshair's limp body hanging upside down beside her that everything began flooding back. Tantiss! We escaped! But, we crash landed here instead. How- Her thoughts were interrupted by the creaking sound of metal beginning to give way. We gotta get outta here! Where's Hunter?! Omega abruptly turned her head, causing an intense wave of dizziness to wash over her. She reached up to examine her cranium but her hand froze when she felt something smooth and durable over her head. What is this? She grabbed whatever was on her head with two hands and gently lifted it up, quickly realizing the object was a helmet. Who's helmet is this? But she immediately knew the answer, Hunter. That must have been what she felt come over her head just moments before the crash.

With the helmet off, the pungent smell of smoke was even more suffocating than Omega initially noticed. Although she was still struggling to get her bearings, the only thing she did know was that she needed to get herself and her brothers out of here. She put Hunter's helmet back on, knowing that as soon as she unhooks her harness, gravity will uncontrollably yank her down to the ground but she also needed the helmet so she could use the fresh oxygen filter that all clone helmets were equipped with. Aware that the billowing cloud of smoke would only get thicker, Omega knew she needed the fresh breathing air in order to keep her wits about her. She reached over and turned on Crosshair's oxygen filter, too, just before firmly grasping his forearm. She then extended her reach a little bit further to click the release button for Crosshair's harness. His lanky body cumbersomely tumbled toward the ground and forcefully yanked on Omega's grasp as she caught him, bringing a grimace to her face as the pain in her chest doubled. She slowly released her grasp on her brother and gently placed him on the ground.

Okay, my turn. She placed her hands on the release button and prepared herself for a nasty fall since she had nothing and no one to hold onto; On the count of three…one…two…three! She clicked the button and, as suspected, her body fell out of the seat and she landed on what used to be the roof of the cockpit with a harsh THUD. Omega coughed and groaned as the sharp pains in her chest had now tripled after that fall. After exerting so much energy to get her and Crosshair out of the chairs, she found it difficult to stand so she opted to crawl instead. Frantically searching for her other two brothers, Omega found a large pile of debris by what used to be the cockpit door. She scurried over and carefully pushed away the heavier, larger pieces of rubble at the bottom, revealing the two people she was looking for. Omega noticed Hunter's body was tucked into Wrecker's massive physique and his arms were tightly wrapped around his head. She carefully moved his arms away from his face and gasped.

"Hunter!" She cried out when she saw the many deep lacerations across his face. Instinctively, Omega took off the helmet she was wearing and placed it back on his head. She wanted to make sure he had a fresh supply of oxygen since he had been laying there for who knows how long since they crashed. She then leaned over Hunter's body and turned on the oxygen filter for Wrecker as well. Feeling a little better that all her brother's were receiving breathing air, Omega began to search for a way out of the crashed module. The cockpit door was completely crushed and without Wrecker's strength, there was no way she could pry the door open herself. Come on Omega, think! What is the weakest part of the ship? With the cockpit beginning to fill up with even more smoke and the sweltering heat of the flames outside intensified, she pushed herself to search the area with an even greater sense of urgency. Omega noticed a waterfall of powerless electrical wires hanging down from the ship's control console, partially covering the front windows. Windows! That's it! I can break the windows! She grabbed one of many pieces of debris lying around and bashed the window open, feeling a gust of wind blow inward and stirring around the smoke. Omega quickly scampered through the opening and took in a big breath of fresh air, ignoring how the broken shards of glass on the ground sliced up her hands and knees. She let out a few harsh coughs and turned around to get a good look at the damage.

The entire escape craft was upside down and the back portion was crushed into the ground, engulfed in flames, while the nose of the module was slightly lifted upward which was why she was able to escape through the window relatively easily. She then glanced around at her surroundings and noticed they were in a forest clearing, encircled by a thick canopy of enormously tall trees. Omega refocused her attention on the wreck, knowing it was only a matter of time before the fire spread to the rest of the craft so she needed to work quickly to pull her brothers out. She took in one last deep breath of clean air before crawling back through the window. She did not need to go too far in to grab Crosshair's body since he was originally seated at the front beside Omega. She clenched her teeth as she began to pull on his limp form, ignoring the intensely sharp stabs in her chest. Although he was quite lean, his tall figure made him heavier than Omega anticipated but she fought through the pain and after a couple minutes she had dragged him outside. One down, two to go. She huffed as crawled back through the broken window, noticing how quickly the flames had spread and how the infrastructure of the module was beginning to buckle.

Since Hunter was on top of Wrecker, Omega yanked on Hunter's body and watched him crumble to the ground. She knew Hunter's weight would be similar to Crosshair's; for what Hunter lacked in height, he made up for in muscle mass. She let out a grunt or two as she pulled on her brother's beaten body, letting out a sigh of relief when it started moving and she was able to drag him out of the wreckage. Two down, one to go. She paused to catch her breath. Not only was the throbbing in her chest hurting from whatever injuries she sustained in the crash but now the smoke inhalation was beginning to burn her lungs. She thought about taking off Hunter's helmet and using it to provide clean air for herself, but she had a feeling he needed the oxygen more than her.

Just as Omega hyped herself up to go back into the ship to get Wrecker, she heard a low growl nearby. Her body tensed up, she had been so preoccupied with rescuing her brothers, it never occurred to her how she would deal with the local fauna. "Uhh, hello? Who's there?" She steadily moved towards Hunter and Crosshair's body, reaching for the vibroknife hidden in Hunter's forearm armor. In the darkness of the surrounding tree line, she saw a pair of eyes staring back at her. Omega held out the vibroknife, "Stay back! I don't wanna hurt you!"

The creature growled once more. Then a second pair of eyes appeared, followed by a third and a fourth. The snarling sounds grew louder as the creatures drew closer to her until one of the them stepped into the clearing. It was a feline predator about 2 meters long with a brown low-slung body and thick furry red-brown mane. But the scariest feature was its two sets of menacing forward-jutting tucks in its lower jaw. As the creature snarled and the rest of its pack began to close in on her, she wildly swung the vibroknife around herself to keep a barrier of safety between them and her squad. Panic began to set in when she remembered Wrecker was still inside the crashed module and she could hear the creaking of the ship as it began to collapse.

"Hunter? Crosshair? Now would be a good time for some backup." Omega spoke out loud, pretending her brothers were conscious. Her already aching chest pounded even harder as reality started to sink in; she had to make a choice. Stay to protect Hunter and Crosshair but potentially lose Wrecker or go rescue Wrecker but potentially lose Crosshair and Hunter to these predators. She did not know what to do, she wanted-needed-to save all her brothers. Omega now found herself completely surrounded by what looked like seven of these creatures. She could not reach the ship even if she wanted to. She reluctantly accepted Wrecker's fate as a few tears stung her eyes.

Suddenly she heard a loud, animalistic screech-like cry from above. All the creatures and Omega looked upward, the predators hesitantly taking a step back. She did not notice the sudden change in the behavior of the creatures for she was too busy figuring out where that cry had come from. After a brief minute of silence, it seemed as if the mysterious creature had disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. The feline predators must have felt the same too since they began to encroach on Omega and her brothers once again. With a skilled twirl of the knife, Omega took on a defensive position as she stood above her two brothers' bodies. She was ready to fight for her and her brothers' lives or die trying. But what she was not ready for was the unexpected sound of an energy bow being engaged.

Omega turned around to see a shadowy figure hiding up in one of the trees holding an energy bow. She anxiously held her breath, wondering if this person was a friend or foe. She did not need to hold her breath for long as the figure released three rapid fire shots down on the feline predators, striking one right through the head. The creatures immediately got the hint and scurried back into the darkness of the forest. Omega breathed out the longest sigh of relief since Crosshair and Hunter killed Hemlock but she kept a cautious eye on the person hiding in the shadows. It was difficult to see who or what had saved her since the person had retracted their energy bow but she did notice a shuffling of leaves on the ground so she knew whoever it was had climbed down from the tree.

"Thank you for saving us!" She called out, hoping that her expression of gratitude would ease any hostility.

Her body tensed up as the shadow stepped forward, revealing a lean figure dressed in all black with a hood and a veil that covered their face from the nose down. Given by the curves of the figure and the way it sauntered toward her, she could speculate this person was a female. As the mysterious individual approached her, the crashed ship behind her gave way and collapsed with a thundering BOOM!

"Wrecker!" Omega cried out. She completely ignored the mysterious archer as she ran toward the wreckage, frantically trying to find a way in since her previous opening had been destroyed. Omega was on the verge of hysteria; she was so close to saving all of her brothers, she could not give up on Wrecker now. Not after everything he had done for her, to protect her. Unfortunately her rapid and stressed breathing forced more sharp pains to erupt in her chest, causing her to collapse onto her knees. She felt like she could not breathe and the adrenaline that had been coursing through her body for the last twenty minutes had finally given out. Omega suddenly felt lightheaded and her body began to tremble. She was beginning to feel uncontrollably sleepy, so much so that she did not notice someone kneeling down beside her, "You need to rest or you're going to do more damage to your body."

Omega shook her head at the soft sound of a female voice, "My brother…he's trapped." She glanced up at the woman and the first, and only, thing she noticed was her kind blue eyes.

"I'll get him out. I promise." Her voice was gentle and calm, but the sincerity in her tone is what convinced Omega to trust this stranger. Omega drowsily nodded and practically collapsed into her arms. The woman easily carried Omega's body over to Hunter and Crosshair's, gently laying her on the ground beside them. The last thing Omega recalled was seeing the stranger run towards the wreckage and hearing the familiar screech of the animal from earlier. Then everything went black again.

Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful week! :)