Chapter 11 - The Cavalry Has Arrived
The CX slams the end of his electrospear against Wrecker's chest, and he braces himself against the debris behind him to shove it off. He manages to push it aside but the CX swings for him again. Wrecker justchargesat him, shoving him backwards until he's off-balance enough to go fall out the viewport behind them.
Wrecker lands half on top of him on the floor far below, where the regs are still fighting off the other stormtroopers.
One of the other CX"s is just about to shoot Echo in the back and Wrecker scrambles for his blaster, firing at him several times – one of the shots going right through his head. These are regs and he might not wanna kill them but they don't have any other choice.
A stormtrooper nearly shoots Echo and he dives out of the way as the electrospear-CX stands, lunging at Wrecker again. Wrecker just jumps him before he can get his weapon, and they roll across the floor together, still fighting.
The CX finally shoves him down, hands wrapping around Wrecker's neck, trying to strangle him. He's unfairly strong somehow – hemusthave something metal in him to have this kind of weight.
Wrecker kicks him off as hard as he can, gasping for breath. Except the CX uses the opportunity to instantly go for his electrospear again, stabbing it down at him. It hits his chest, and Wrecker grunts as pain flares through his body again.
It's burning, especially when his head is already hurting so much from earlier but he's not going to go down like this. He has to get back to his brothers, but –
He tries to shove him off, but the CX is throwing all his weight into it and he can hardlybreathe.
A blaster shot rings out and the CX stumbles. Wrecker instantly uses the opportunity to shove him off, going for his own blaster as he gets to his feet. Echo's standing behind the CX, about to fire at him again.
And entirely oblivious of another operative sneaking up on him from behind, one wielding a vibrosword.
"Behind you!" Wrecker calls urgently.
Echo's never going to see it in time and –
The CX with the vibroblade swings for him and Echo barely dodges out of the way in time. The electrospear one uses the opportunity topick up his electrospear again. Wrecker ducks it when he goes at him again. He's moving slower now, though, from where Echo shot him before. It's enough that Wrecker can shoot him through the chest, only for the vibroblade-CX to jump him, nearly stabbing him.
He's had enough fights like this withHunter,but this one isn't Hunter and Wrecker's far stronger than he is. He rips the knife away from him, tossing it across the floor. The CX rolls away from him, going for a fallen blaster and firing at him. The blaster grazes across his armor, and it's Echo who finally makes the headshot, taking him down.
It's the last of the CX's. Except Hunter, that is.
But theywon.
Somehow.
"We gotta find Hunter," Wrecker says breathlessly, looking up at the structure far above where his older brother still is.
"Yeah," Echo agrees.
Somehow, they gotta get him to come with him. They aren't gonnahaveany other chances.
*w*
It's down to just them against Hunter now. Crosshair tackles him before he can attempt to stab anybody – that's not a risk he's going to take. But with as weak and exhausted as he is, Crosshair doesn't have much of a chance on him.
Hunter brings his knife at him, and Crosshair jerks his arms up, trying to shield himself and try not to get stabbed, but he's too weak and shaky and he already knows what the outcome is.
He doesn't want to fight Hunter, anyway.
Not again.
His arm gives out, and the knife presses closer, the blade touching his neck.
He doesn't fight. He should. He knows he should, but he doesn't have the strength to fight his brother anymore. He doesn't care if he's going to die here. Not really. Not anymore. Not when they already lostHunter.
Tech is standing frozen, 's nothing he can do to help anyway. Hunter couldkillCrosshair if Tech so much as made a move closer, and he knows he's as tired of fighting Hunter as Crosshair himself is.
"Hunter," Crosshair says, the word coming out strangled. He doesn't know what he wants to say. He's already tried saying so much to him and it's never made a difference.
"Don't," Tech warns, blaster raised towards Hunter. He could stun him, and probably will, but with the blade at Crosshair's throat, it would risk hurting him.
"You're my mission," Hunter tells them evenly.
"Then finish it," Crosshair replies, heart pounding. He wants to cry. "I'm not going to fight you anymore." He's done thatenough.Both when Hunter was still himself andnow.He doesn't want to do it anymore. He just wants his brother back.
He can't believe this is how he's going to die. At Hunter's hand, staring up into the foreign, unfamiliar visor of his older brother, the one he should never have had to wear, but did because Crosshair made him and ruined him just like he ruinedeverything.
Hunter'shand tightens, and for a moment, Crosshair is certain he'll do it. He doesn't really care, either, but then he pulls back and just drops it.
Crosshair breathes in a gasping sigh of relief. He didn't realize he wasscareduntil right then. Right now.
Tech moves forwards, hands still tight on the blaster.
A shuffling sounds from the doorway, and they all turn to see Omega standing there, leaning against one side of it and staring at them, wide-eyed and worried. The room is dark, but there are dark spots on her clothes that definitely aren't meant to be there.
Blood?
"Are you injured?" Tech asks immediately, tensing.
"No," she assures, "Not... anything important. Hemlock's dead."
Crosshair blinks. "What?" He'd seen Hemlock leaving the room with her, but withHunterhere, he didn't have the chance to think about going after her.
"I killed him," she replies.
"He is really gone?" Tech asks, dubious.
Crosshair can hardly believe it either.
She nods. "I stabbed him, and he blew himself up."
He doesn't doubt that she would have made sure of it.That'sprobably why she's covered in blood. He's frankly a bit impressed – they've been trying to take out Hemlock forso longand now he's gone.
The fighting's quieted down below too.
The only one left on the Empire's side is... Hunter.
He's still standing there watching them. "Then why do you smell like blood?" he asks out of nowhere.
"What?" Omega asks, blinking.
"If you aren't injured, why do you smell like blood and blaster fire?" How is Hunter stillHunterenough to fuss over her?
"He tried to shoot me. He missed. Mostly."
Tech finally moves forwards, pushing Hunter out of the way to pull Crosshair to his feet again, pulling him against his chest in a brief but tight embrace. It's so out of nowhere he almost doesn't react, but this isTechand after everything they've been through, he melts into it and clings back with all he has.
Stars.
Hunter almostkilledhim.
Not thinking about that right now. Can't stop. His neck still feels of the blade.
"Do you know the location of Hemlock's office?" Tech inquires of Hunter.
"I – have never been there, but I'm sure I could figure it out. Why?"
"I do not know of anywhere else to start looking for information on what he has done to all of you. And we must hurry to the shuttle."
*w*
They're on the way back to Pabu now. Crosshair, Wrecker, and Omega are all asleep. Hunter's disappeared into the 'fresher and hasn't come out sense.
Echo's fairly certain he's sleeping, too. Probably, he's too uncomfortable to do that in front of anyone else. It hurts seeing what he's become – Hunter was their leader, but he was still Echo's little brother, and... The Hunter he knew isn't coming back.
He's used to losing his brothers, and he's mostly just grateful that Hunter isalive– any version of him – but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.
"Anything helpful?" Echo asks, risking a glance in Tech's direction.
He's reading on his datapad whatever information he got from Hemlock's office about the CX's.
"Nothing that willhelp," Tech snaps back, expression tight. His grip on his datapad is so tight Echo's only half sure he's not about to break it. Whatever he's seeing, his face has been shifting between positively outraged and something close to tears. His eyes are still wet, actually.
Echo shifts a little closer, so he can read it over his shoulder. He doesn't think he even wants to but he ought to know what Hunter's been through. Theyneedto know, if they'll be able to do anything to help him.
He wishes Hunter wasn't the only one of the CXs they were able to save, but they didn't have any other choice. The fighting was too tense to try and talk to them.
Echo doesn't see much, but it's still enough.
Hunter had his brain electrocuted repeatedly, slowly wiping his memories and rewiring his brain. And that's not to even mention the constant physical training they got. It's far harsher than anything they went through on Kamino. From the looks of it, many of the clones don't usually survive it, and sometimes if they're failing in some way, Hemlock had one of the others kill them.
How many of their brothers wasHunterordered to kill? How many times he has come close to dying?
And that's not to mention the amount of brainwashing involved.
"A bacta injection may be able to help heal his brain, but I do not know if it is possible to restore whatever has already been lost," Tech says tightly.
He's definitely crying now.
Echo almost wants to himself but he feels too numb. Got used tofeeling numbafter a while, when he lost his first squad only days into action.
"He came with us, and I think he wants to be here. That means something," Echo offers even if it's a cold comfort.
Tech nods. He doesn't look like he even wants to keep reading, but he looks back at his datapad anyway, continuing to scroll through the information.
There's so much Echo wishes they could have done differently. But contemplating all thewhat ifsand possibilities isn't going to make any of them possible. All they can do is keep moving forward.
He touches Tech's shoulder, squeezing it gently. There isn't much he can offer, and Echo isn't really one for snuggling. He doesn't know if that would be enough to help him, anyway. It won't be enough to bring Hunter's memories back, or to somehow heal him. All they can do is try to fix it and hope someday he'll be more himself than Hemlock's operative.
Echo wishes he could stay with them for a bit now that they're all together again. That'sneverbeen true before. He needs to help get the rest of the clones settled into new homes and see if they can expose Tantiss to the Senate, though. There's still so much work to be done. But maybe he can stay for a little while, at least long enough to help his squad settle back into their new lives.
*w*
When Crosshair wakes up again, they're just getting back to Pabu. The Empire is gone, even if Crosshair can still see traces of the destruction.
Hunter pauses at the base of the ramp, just looking around. Something about it gives him the impression that Hunter finds this place familiar, on some level. From before.
From a time that Crosshair never got to see.
His brooding is interrupted when a familiar lurka hound bounds up, barking. Omega runs down the ramp first to hug her, laughing when the hound licks her face.
Batcher runs past her, coming toCrosshairnext for some reason. Though he'll admit he's warmed up to her a lot since they left Tantiss. It would be weirdnotto have her around, at this point.
She tries to lick his face, though her efforts mostly fail considering he's way taller than Omega and she goes to rub against Wrecker's leg, who's much too happy to pet her.
The hound turns to Hunter after that, sniffing him.
"That's Hunter," Omega says, patting the hound's head, "The brother I told you about."
She told theirdogabout Hunter?
"Hunter, this is Batcher," she adds, smiling up at him.
Batcher seems to have at least somewhat of an idea what Omega's saying, because she bounds over to Hunter, half standing up on her back legs as she tries to lick his face.
He sort of stumbles back from her awkwardly, like he's sure he's about to be attacked.
"She won't bite," Wrecker promises.
"Well, not usually," Omega adds cheerfully.
The moment is interrupted when AZI comes up, fretting and demanding to scan everybody. Crosshair would very much like to know what Hunter's scanssayat this point. Doesn't want to for his own. He's probably a mess from getting electrocuted. He's still sore and achy all over, but to be fair, so are all of his brothers.
Tantiss took a toll on everybody.
Emerie's here, too. It's strange to see her here, and Crosshair can't help how much he tenses when he lays eyes on their sister again. She's not a threat, and he knows that, but she still only brings memories that... he doesn't want to dwell on. He doesn't ever want to think about Tantiss or the time away from his brothers.
Omega, apparently, was grazed when Hemlock shot at her. Emerie takes her off to patch it up herself, looking none to appreciative of hearing what happened. She does care about Omega – Crosshair will grudgingly give her that.
AZI gives Tech, Wrecker, and Crosshair strict orders to rest and tell him if anything goes wrong, which Crosshair sarcastically promises he will. He has no intention of doing so, obviously, but this is a fussy meddroid. What's he supposed to say? The glare Tech is giving him almost makes him want to mean it, though.
It's not as if he's not used to dealing with the aftereffects of being electrocuted all alone, trapped in his cell on Tantiss, though. The extents of his injuries from this time aren't nearly as bad as some of the times in the past.
AZI tries to fuss over Hunter next, but he doesn't seem very appreciative of the droid's hovering. He's standing far enough away that Crosshair can't really hear what the droid is saying, either. He wishes he could.
Hewantsto know if Hunter is alright, even if he probably wouldn't appreciate any hovering right now. Crosshair knows why. A CX being 'weak' means they're defective andwillbe eliminated.
Tech will probably ask the droid the full details of his injuries, considering he's seemed to have taken it his personal responsibility to make Hunter magically recover. Well, at least he'strying.Not as though Crosshair expected any differently – Tech has taken Hunter's loss as a very personal failure.
They spread out, mostly just milling about and taking a little while to justbe. It's strange to see so many regs around, but they've fit right in with the populace here, just like the cadets Echo had brought to stay on Pabu a good while back and the children Emerie brought back from Tantiss.
Hunter disappears after a while, and Crosshair drifts off to find him. Not that he needs to, just – he wants to know if he's alright.
He was expecting to find Hunter alone, but he's talking to Emerie. They're both standing near one of Pabu's walls that overlooks the ocean and Crosshair takes a step back so he's mostly concealed around the corner, just to... listen.
Hunter probably senses him here, but he doesn't seem concerned by it.
When he finds him, he's a distance away from everyone else, alone with Emerie. Of all the people Crosshair thought he would see him with, she wasn't one of them.
"I worked for Hemlock as a lab assistant," Emerie is saying, "There were... many of our brothers who I... hurt." He can see the guilt on her face and it doesn't surprise him, but it doesn't change that all he can remember is being strapped to that table and tortured while she stood there watching.
"Hurting each other was part of the training," Hunter replies, "It was to make us better."
He wishes he didn't have to keep thinking about his own time there.
Emerie sighs. "I never wanted to, but after Omega started telling me about you and your... squad, it was different. It felt like I knew them. even if I really didn't."
Hunter breathes out heavily. He doesn't reply but it's clear he's thinking along the same lines. "We were both... tools to the Empire," he says finally.
"Our lives have never been our own," she agrees.
"They are now," Hunter replies after a long pause. "But I don't know what it... means. There was always the mission."
"Hemlock always gave me orders, too. And before that, it was Nala Se or other Kaminoans. I've always worked in the lab. I don't know anything else either," she responds.
Crosshair always did wonder how his brothers learned to live outside a mission. It was never about the mission exactly when he was with his brothers, it just felt more like like having fun with them, until after the Empire formed. But even so, the life they were going to live was always set. Not being a soldier was a terrifying thought – but not nearly as terrifying as being with the Empire all alone ended up being.
He got used to the constant restlessness with nothing to do in his cell, but... getting used to a different life on Pabu had been sojarring. Hunter no longer remembers that so getting used to it again isn'tgoingto be easy.
"What are you going to do?" Hunter inquires.
"I don't know," she replies, "But I want to stay but... There are so many of our brothers still out there and I have a lot to make up for."
Crosshair can't tell if he imagined Hunter's quiet 'me too' or not.
His chest tightens a bit as he watches them. At least Hunter's back, but... things still aren't the same. Not that they ever will be again and he knows that, but... That doesn't mean he doesn't miss it when things weresimple.
"What will you do?" Emerie asks.
"They want me here," Hunter replies slowly, "I'm going to stay."
It's almost ridiculous how relieved that makes Crosshair feel. He thought so, but he also really didn'tknow. And if he's telling Emerie that, it's because he means it, not because he's trying to please them. He's not being pressured into it. It's what he wants.
He wantsthem.
That means more than Crosshair could ever say. Maybe... maybe there is still a chance for things to be more how they used to be than he thought. Eventually, at least.
*w*
It's time for him to leave, and Echo has to stop and say goodbye to Hunter. His little brother has been gone for so long, he has to see him one more time.
"Emerie said you're leaving." Hunter is the first to talk, studying him, even if he hasn't taken his helmet off again. Echo hasn't seen his face, but it's enough to know who's talking.
"There's still a fight against the Empire. Someone has to get our brothers settled down and get the justice we all deserve."
"This isn't a war you can win."
They were standing right here together the night they found out about Crosshair. The night that changed everything. The sun has set and risen over this a hundred times, but here they are again – eternally pulled back into each other. They've stood here before, right here that night and now again, like nothing changed at all.
"I don't fight because I can win," Echo tells him, "We're fighting for our brothers in a warwechose."
"You'll die like that. Fighting for something you'll never see the end of."
"It's for what I believe in. Just like so many of our brothers have." Hunter doesn't say anything, just looks at him, so Echo keeps talking. "What are you going to do now that this is over?"
"I don't know. I don't remember being anything more than an assassin." Hunter sighs. "I know I've been here before, but I don't remember anything before Tantiss. There are... bits and pieces. Dreams. Things I can't make sense of."
"You can talk to Tech. He should be able to help you piece something together." Gregor has amnesia, too. Echo knows a lot about what that's like. It sounds unpleasant.
"It doesn't matter. I can't reconstruct what I lost."
Echo sighs. It's so, so hard to see what happened to his little brother. "We can only live with what we have, but you have them." He nods to the others. "If you want to stay here, that is."
"I think I will," Hunter replies, "I don't know where else to go. I know I killed a lot of our brothers. I... thought I was doing my duty. I did believe in it, but I – I don't know."
He is a mess. "They'll help you," he promises, "They want you here, if you're alright with staying."
"I don't have anywhere else to go." That's fair.
"Whatever you do, good luck," Echo tells him. Hunter had always told him he could come back. That he was welcome here, and he wishes he could make up for that. Hunter pulled him out of Skako Minor. It's nice to get to repay that.
He only wishes he didn't have to.
"Thank you," Hunter tells him. "I think."
Echo laughs, even if it's weighted. "You're welcome, little brother."
"You're older than me?"
"Thankfully."
"I know you were our fifth member. I think," Hunter says slowly, "I don't really remember. Just... a little bit. But I thought Omega was too?"
"I joined your squad later, near the end of the war," Echo confirms, "We lost Crosshair to the Empire right after it formed, and we picked up Omega at the same time, so we were both fifth at one point."
Hunter nods. He seems a little overwhelmed, unsurprisingly.
"I'll be back eventually," Echo promises finally. "To visit, at least." He can't saywhenconsidering how busy he's going to be but he definitely intends to be back when he can.
"I know," Hunter tells him, "You were before, weren't you?"
"Yeah. I was." He thinks he might, now that the worst is over. Maybe.
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