Chapter 3 - Wyrm
Wrecker and Crosshair look at each other in wide-eyed panic and scramble away as the snow falls back and a giant wyrm slithers over the surface, roaring.
They scramble to their feet despite Wrecker's shrieks and run for the open door. Echo waves to them to hurry. Crosshair rolls through the door, and they get it to their feet. Tech fires his blaster to slow it down, and Wrecker shoves the door closed.
The wyrm slams into the closed doors hard enough the entire facility trembles.
"I guess we know what the perimeter sensors are meant to keep out," Omega pants, breathless and wide eyed.
"This would have been information to share earlier," Tech grumbles.
"I didn't know about it," he snaps back, though on hindsight, he should've. There was something in the ice when he and Mayday were going after those raiders.
On the downside, they're now locked inside here with a giant wyrm trying to eat them.
On the upside, he doesn't have to keep talking to Wrecker right now.
"What now?" Wrecker asks panickily.
"On account of the fact that we have no chance of escaping with our ship with that creature out there, I am uncertain," Tech replies. He's glaring at Crosshair pointedly like this is somehow his fault, and Crosshair wants to throw something at him. "We will have to restore power to the sensor beacons, though we will have to verify the creature is outside the perimeter."
Hunter would know what to do. He always did, though that goes entirely without saying.
Echo plugs himself into one of the ports, and the others stand around him in the darkness anxiously. "There's a fuse box for the reserve energy grid in the back of this compound. One of us needs to get over there and reset the grid manually," Echo asserts.
"I can get the defense system reactivated once power's back," Omega volunteers.
"We will have to verify the wyrm is outside the perimeter, and draw it out if necessary," Tech adds.
"I can deal with the monster," Wrecker suggests.
Crosshair's gut flips. He's not letting Wrecker out there when he already lost Hunter. "I'll go with you."
"I will locate it from the tower," Tech agrees, "If Echo can handle the breaker."
"Be careful," he warns.
The silence lasts a moment before Tech moves to the entrance, and the others follow.
Hunter ought to be here. Crosshair would do anything to get to follow him right now.
The door creaks open, and they all have their weapons out. Tech has both his blasters, and Crosshair grips his rifle tightly. It's nice to feel the weight in his arms again. It's been a long time. Not as long as it was after Kamino, but still, long. He grew up with this thing.
They split up when they make it outside the base. Normal would be Crosshair in the tower, but he'd much rather be out here where the danger is. He doesn't want to risk his brothers again. Not after Hunter.
He spots the snow moving not too far, and calls out to Wrecker, firing at the shifting snow. Wrecker ducks away when the thing resurfaces, roaring. Crosshair expects him to go for his blaster, but he yanks an explosive off his belt and jumps at it like the absolute moron he is.
Trying to wrestle a wyrm goes as well as Crosshair expected – meaning, Wrecker gets batted nicely a good distance away. The explosive goes off, sending the wyrm howling back under the snow.
"How was wrestling that thing a good idea?" Crosshair hisses.
Wrecker stumbles upright with a loud groan, drawing his blaster. "Why is there always a huge monster? Tech, you see it?"
"I do not presently have a reading," their older brother's voice crackles over the comms. "However, I believe it may be heading towards the outskirts."
"We have to move." Hunter would be so much more useful here, though Crosshair suspects even he might struggle with tracking the creature through the snow. Water often throws off his senses. It's the only thing that really does.
They never got to go to a snow planet together for long. Kaller was the first, and... and the last.
They never will again.
Snow crunches under his boots when they move again, heading for the perimeter's edge.
"I have located it," Tech warns, "It is approximately a hundred meters and closing."
Crosshair turns back, rifle raised and firing again. Wrecker raises his blaster again, firring. Crosshair's hand is shaking. He could hit it in the eye when it surfaces, except he can't, and his hand locks on, throbbing, and his fingers won't move right.
This is going to get them all killed.
It already got Hunter killed.
"I think we're making it angrier," Crosshair grumbles when it dives back beneath the surface.
Wrecker laughs. "We're good like that!"
No kidding.
"It is exiting the perimeter," Tech reports, "I am scanning its heat-signature beneath the ice. Omega, activate the sensors."
"Echo doesn't have the power back yet!" she objects.
"Working on it," Echo calls back.
"What? Are you trying to get us eaten?" Tech snaps.
...okay, this is one of Tech's moods, and Crosshair does not want to get caught in the crossfire.
"You try digging through all this snow one-handed," Echo snaps back.
...Echo, too, apparently.
"The wrym is past the perimeter, but it will not stay there if the sensors are not activated soon," Tech says, scanning with his helmet.
Crosshair is tense too, but really, yelling at Echo is not going to make this go any faster.
The ice is moving beneath their feet, the ground shaking a little, and his hands tense on his rifle as he watches. This could go badly any moment –
"Power's back online," Echo calls finally, sounding breathless.
"Activating sensors now," Omega replies, but her words are drowned but a loud roar as the wyrm bursts out of the ice, jaws gaping and dives right toward them.
Crosshair and Wrecker turn and run as fast as they can, but the wyrm is rapidly gaining ground on them. The ice is breaking beneath their feet, and Crosshair is half certain the ground will give out entirely and they'll fall down into a tunnel below and definitely get eaten.
The lights on the sensors flash to life right as they race past them, both falling face first into the snow in an effort to get away from the creature.
The wyrm stops moving once it reaches the sensor, snarling furiously at them.
They... made it. Somehow.
Batcher barks behind them, snarling up at the creature. Crosshair doesn't know where she showed up from, but she might as well be here. He picks himself up from the snow, pulling his helmet off and trying to catch his breath.
Wrecker groans from beside him.
The creature hisses at them a few more times before it finally turns away, disappearing beneath the snow.
Wrecker groans again. "You okay?"
Crosshair grunts, falling into the snow to take a few minute break from moving a single inch. "Yeah. You?"
"'m fine."
That's – good. It's good. Crosshair's just exhausted, too worn to do anything, and he wants to cry, but he feels too tired even to do that.
Batcher rubs against Crosshair's side, and he reaches over to pet her absently. It's a strange feeling to worry about and do. It's so strange to have a pet. He's seen nat-borns who do. Never really got it. Even stranger is to have to take care of the kid, even if he's had a long time to accept that he'd probably have to.
He can only hope Wrecker will have seen that he does still care, because he does. He cares with everything he has. And doesn't have.
He wishes he could've – changed everything. That he could relive everything they ever went through and set it right from the start. Crosshair stumbles to his feet, willing himself to stay upright, and they head back for the base.
Tech comes down from the tower, approaching them from a distance to check them over. He has his helmet off, and Crosshair can see his relief. It's good to know he still cares. Even if he's been all sharp this entire time.
Grief does that. Echo has always been like that. Crosshair never understood it until now.
Echo and Omega are waiting for them in the doorway when they approach. He tries not to think about the last time he was here, and he came back to the very nice welcome of being told it didn't matter he nearly froze to death. He's back from being nothing to a place where he means everything and everyone cares.
It's so strange.
They go to dig the ship out of the snow after that. It's... nice to be working alongside Wrecker and Tech and Echo again. And Omega too, even if that's an entirely new thing.
Crosshair just wishes that it didn't so guttingly rub in the one person who is still missing.
He still thinks he should say something else to Wrecker about... what they were talking about earlier but no words come and he doesn't really want to bring it up again, so he just leaves it. For now.
**w**
Echo gets a call when they're on the way back to Pabu. They all stay in the cockpit together when he answers the call – it's not as if this is anything they can't know about, even if they aren't directly helping him.
A hologram of Rex flickers to life, and next to him... another very familiar reg.
Howzer.
Crosshair starts a little at the sight of him. Last he knew, Howzer had been detained by the Empire. Back on Ryloth when – That was when Rampart had finally given him permission to get his brothers to join him instead of killing them. It was also right after Bracca, after... He doesn't want to think about any of that anymore but now that he's looking at someone from the past, it's hard not to.
Howzer catches his gaze, eyes instantly narrowing. Crosshair opts to ignore him entirely.
"Any progress?" Rex inquires, looking between them. "It's good to see you... back together."
As back together as they'll ever be when Hunter is gone.
"We don't have Tantiss' location, but we do have the datapad from the facility. It doesn't have anything that with help us find it, but it does have medical records on it. It's information we should be able to take to the Senate once we have more evidence," Echo replies.
"You expect me to believe that he was on Tantiss for a month, and doesn't know how to get back there? Even though he was able to stage an escape?" Howzer demands, glaring at Crosshair.
"Believe it or not, it's the truth," Crosshair retorts. At least to a point. Technically, he does have one clue for them because Admiral Rampart has to know something. He did send Nala Se there, but...
"I don't," he shoots back, sharply, "Most of my squad from Ryloth is dead because of you. How do we know you're not feeding the Empire information?"
Tech bristles. "I rescued Crosshair from the cell he was being held in on Tantiss, which you, despite being on the same mission, was entirely unable."
Echo side-eyes Tech. He's not angry, but he's certainly not happy with the attitude, either.
"Easy, Howzer," Rex interjects, "We're all on the same side now."
"I'll bring you everything we have once I drop them off," Echo interrupts, clearly trying to calm the situation.
Drop them off.
Because he's leaving again.
Crosshair still doesn't know how to feel that Echo just left them. He was the first person to actually want them other than each other. Omega had been the second. But Echo left. It probably won't feel real until they actually return to Pabu to try and settle down.
"I still don't see how they could have gotten there and out without knowing the coordinates," Howzer grumbles.
"I accomplished my primary mission objective of rescuing my squad members," Tech snaps, "Finding the coordinates is your mission, and you are the one who has been unsuccessful at it." He flips off the comm before Howzer or Rex can say another word.
Crosshair is admittedly grateful that Tech spoke up for him. Thinking about the time he was away from his brothers is so hard. And to think that if he'd gone back before, Hunter would still be here.
Echo looks positively scandalized. "Tech – "
"It is the truth," he retorts.
"Let me handle the call next time," Echo requests. He calls Rex back as soon as he gets a moment alone in the cockpit again. Crosshair doesn't stick around to listen to what they're talking about. He doesn't really want to think about Echo's mission to find Tantiss at all.
**w**
The ship gets back to Pabu before long. It still feels just as empty here as when they left. This place is supposed to be their new home but it just doesn't feel like it.
"You leavin' now?" Wrecker asks. He seems resigned to it even if a little disappointed.
"I am," Echo replies, looking between them, "I... would like to stay a little longer, but I have to finish the mission. Stay out of trouble while I'm gone." He hates how that almost feels like a joke. They might be safe here on Pabu now, but that doesn't mean they're safe from each other or the memories haunting every single one of them. He doesn't think he'll ever stop being terrified of something unseen lurking in the shadows – when he should always be the first to see it.
He'll never stop being terrified of something happening and Hunter not being here to protect them like he once always was.
"You're the one looking for trouble," Crosshair points out. Echo's the one who will be in danger. His concern is still fair, though. Crosshair has no idea how they're going to live now.
"Fair enough," Echo concedes.
"If there's anything else I can do, I'd like to," Omega pipes up.
"I know," Echo replies, "But right now, you need to be staying off the Empire's radar. Pabu probably is the best place for that."
"Will you visit at least?" Omega asks hopefully.
"I will try. When there's time," Echo promises. Which probably means never, but Crosshair still appreciates that he's saying he'll try. He is going to miss Echo, very badly, but at least he'll have Tech, Wrecker, and Omega. That's going to have to be enough somehow.
Echo lingers a moment longer, watching them.
Omega runs up to him, throwing her arms around his waist again. He pats her shoulder before stepping back.
Wrecker and Tech nod to him.
Crosshair just watches, feeling frustratingly out of place, even though Echo exchanges a final look with him before he heads for the ship.
They all stand in silence, watching the ship take off. It somehow makes the emptiness inside of him feel even worse. Crosshair's missed so much of what all of them have been through with each other. The others – even Omega – have known Echo far longer than he ever did. And he's just leaving and Hunter is gone and –
What are they even supposed to spend the rest of their lives doing?
**w**
Echo is going where he's needed, just as he always has, but that doesn't stop the gaping emptiness inside him. He's grateful to be back with Rex, to have a chance to help and make a difference in the galaxy as his general once would have wanted, as he and Rex are choosing to do now, but...
There's still something missing.
There's so much missing, really, and that's the center of the issue. This is where he wants to be, but that doesn't change how he's not working with a squad anymore, because he's not part of a squad.
For all intents and purposes, Clone Force 99 no longer exists, and even if it did, Echo chose to leave them.
Tech, Wrecker, Crosshair, and the kid should be safe on Pabu, and Echo fully intends to try and keep them that way. They're some of the ones he fought to protect and keep safe, but that doesn't change the fact that, in part, they're his responsibility.
He's their eldest brother, and... Hunter is gone.
Hunter, the little brother who led them through the Clone Wars. Kind and caring and brilliant, maybe not quite compassionate enough for Echo's liking, but steadfastly loyal and perfect. He accepted him, took him in and wanted him when he was struggling through the aftermath of losing everything. Of losing Fives, the Commander, and basically his entire body all at once.
Echo knows he wasn't very pleasant back in those days, but Hunter dealt with it through, no matter how much they disagreed and fought. He took care of them, and if Echo hadn't come back here to Pabu with the information...
Hunter would still be here.
But Crosshair wouldn't.
He knows this is what Hunter would want, and it's a fate he was fully accepting of, but that doesn't make it hurt any less.
Hunter is gone, and he's had to accept the deaths of so many of his brothers over the years that there's nothing surprising about it happening again, but that never makes it truly get easier.
He wishes he could stay with the others, especially when he knows how much they're struggling. He'd had to stay with Wrecker and Tech in the immediate aftermath and with how much they were fighting with each other back then, Echo doesn't know how they would have made it if he hadn't been there. But they were fighting then, on the same mission.
Echo doesn't have the option of staying with them now. He can't just walk out of the fight forever. Because that is what they did. Staying on Pabu isn't a temporary thing. They aren't planning to be soldiers anymore and Echo can't imagine any other life.
He's still worried about how they're going to be while he's away. At least they're out of danger but that doesn't mean they're alright.
He misses Hunter an irrational amount. All of them, really, and he knows he's leaving just to run away, but there is a mission to carry on and other people to help. That's the most he can do.
And hope the kid and his brothers will be fine.
**w**
Pabu is nice.
What's nice is being able to breathe fresh air again every morning, though waking up in the Marauder is strange. Shep offered to get them a house, but they opted to stay in their ship for now.
Crosshair doesn't want to live anywhere else. The Marauder is the only home they have or need.
The walls are so dark, and he takes a minute to remember that this is home, not his cell, or any cell. The doors are always open though, and that helps.
He wishes it didn't smell so different, but the fresh air is filtering out the smell of what was once their home and Hunter.
Crosshair can hardly remember what he smelled like anymore.
Trying to get up, he realizes, more and more, is hard. Tech is snappy. Wrecker is quiet. Omega is hanging out with the nat-borns.
He could swear he spends most of his time alone, or being nosed by a semi-feral Batcher, who's fitting in better than he is.
It's strange to not be dragged into the training room and get poked and prodded for hours. All of this is strange.
He wishes he could say he liked it.
At least he's not being tortured.
**w**
Attempting to survive, Tech is beginning to realize, is difficult. More difficult than he initially thought, at any rate. He would very much like to pass the lead role to someone else, but there is no one. Wrecker is not capable, Omega is untrained, and he does not fully trust Crosshair. He may believe their youngest brother will not attempt to shoot or stab anyone, but that does not mean he has any faith or trust in his judgment.
The truth is, he does not.
He could not, considering everything they have been through, even if he knows Crosshair has changed since then.
But his love for him has no bearings on his ability to trust him.
That would not be a rational decision in any form.
Crosshair is... frequently irrational, in all that Tech would not like to think that of him. And he did leave them, even if it was not fully his fault.
But the truth is that he does not know how to lead them himself. He has tried, and he will continue to do so, but he will never be able to have the same gentle reasonableness that Hunter always has.
Hunter is gone, and that is one change Tech does not know how to begin processing or adapting to.
**w**
They have nothing much to do on Pabu, but Wrecker still feels far more exhausted than he should. He was constantly focused on trying to find Tantiss so they could get to Omega and Crosshair for the past couple months, and now the mission is over. They're supposed to just live now, like Hunter told them too.
But Hunter's never going to get to do that because he's gone. Tech is the only brother Wrecker hasn't lost yet, and it was so hard when they were only with each other and usually Echo. At least Omega and Crosshair are back now, but nothing is gonna bring Hunter back.
And Wrecker is so afraid that something is going to happen, even if they are living on Pabu, that's going to lead to one of the others being lost again. It keeps happening again and again, and now he can never stop being scared of it.
Hunter is never coming back.
Echo keeps on leaving and coming back. And anything could happen to him while he's gone.
Omega was gone for a month, and the Empire still wants her for something that Wrecker doesn't understand.
Crosshair chose to leave them once even if he's back now.
Having his little brother back after so long is strange now. Wrecker can't stop remembering how he shot him and tried to kill them all on Bracca – though whenever he thinks about Bracca, he also remembers how he nearly killed them – and never came back when he could have and then told them that he didn't want to.
It's different now, he knows, but he still doesn't understand what changed or why anything would have been enough for Crosshair to want to leave them before. He doesn't know what he did wrong or what any of them did wrong or anything.
Wrecker saw Crosshair lining up the regs helmet back at that base and that had hurt. He would've been doing that if he wasn't attached to them and – and he says it wasn't because of them that he came back, but Wrecker still doesn't really understand.
He's missed him so much, and he could never stop wanting him back, but now that he is back, everything feels so different.
Wrecker doesn't want to fight anymore, but he still feels restless being here. He's trying to stay distracted with Crosshair and being around Omega again but he can't stop thinking. He misses Hunter so much.
He knows that will never stop hurting, and for the first time in his life, Wrecker has no idea how to go about an even mildly tolerable existence.
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