Chapter 7 - Hunter
Crosshair really, really wishes he knew how this CX operates. He's good at analyzing people's moves, at anticipating them, but this isn't one he was there long enough to see. They could really use that information to their advantage right now.
The regs are coming up from the very bottom of the spire, but they get to the ship, and they don't see of the CX again until Rex is taking them off and away from the base.
Crosshair goes over to Wrecker the moment they're safely in the air, crouching next to him to look at the wound. It's still covered with his bodyglove, so he can't see it well, but he knows it's bleeding. It looked deep. They'll have to give him a blood transfusion once they're safely out away from being shot at.
Tech crouches on Wrecker's other side, touching his shoulder to slow the bleeding, but right now, unless they pull his bodyglove off, they don't really have a way of bandaging it.
The ship shudders, an alarm flashing, and then Crosshair looks up to see a very familiar – and annoying – black figure on the viewport. How did he even get on to the ship?! That's the most warning they have before he stabs a vibrosword through the shield and onto the control panel. Rex jerks back when there's a mini explosion and something sparks.
The absolute maniac is still standing on the viewport, basically begging to get shot, but he still has a vibrosword and is probably about to go for his blaster.
Tech is the first to move, firing his blaster to make the assassin jerk back, then diving across the ship and grabbing the controls, sharply twisting them sideways. The CX is thrown off-balance, and they're spiraling down. Crosshair would have been thrown off-balance if he weren't so accustomed to Tech's absolutely insane piloting.
"Remora-one, we've been compromised," Rex yells over comms, "Heading to marker 025 for an extraction. Repeat. Marker 025."
Tech returns to his seat, and they strap themselves in, in preparation for the crash.
The ship goes down in the middle of the jungle and they all clamor out of the wreckage. Crosshair looks around warily for the assassin but he doesn't see him anymore, not that that means much. This CX seems impossibly good at stealth.
Assuming he even survived the crash.
"You alright?" Wrecker asks, hovering next to Crosshair as he clamors to his feet.
He nods briskly, gaze landing on Omega who's also still getting up. "You good, kid?"
"Uh-huh," she agrees.
"Got your crossbow?" he asks, half just to irritate her.
"Yep," she chirps.
"Sure you can carry those supplies?"
"Yes," she says, somewhere near the edge of annoyed now.
"Stay close," he warns, entirely just to be frustrating now, even if it's a fair warning. But it's also something he already knows she knows that she needs to do. "It's easy to get lost in this terrain."
Omega huffs in annoyance. "I know that. You're just trying to irritate me."
Hmph. Yes, he is.
"Echo should meet us at the extraction point," Rex speaks up, "We'll have to continue on foot."
"How far away is it?" Tech inquires.
"Five klicks north," Nemec replies.
That is going to be a very long walk, not that they haven't done worse but this is when they have countless Imperial troops inbound and with no way off planet until Echo shows up.
They take off through the woods, moving as fast as they can.
That they'll actually be able to make it all the way to the extraction point without any trouble seems too good to be true but it's been quiet so far. Crosshair's still on edge, though. He's almost certain that something's about to go wrong.
He can't imagine the CX is really dead so easily. They're too good.
Batcher growls lowly suddenly, sniffing the air.
One of the regs lets out a sudden strangled gasp and Crosshair whips around, to see a virboblade lodged deeply in Nemec's back. He stumbles, landing on his knees on the ground right as another vibroblade flies right over their heads, Crosshair barely managing to duck it in time.
Again?!
The assassin is still alive?!
He sees a flash of the red on the helmet in the trees right behind them.
"Omega," Tech calls, "Smoke grenade." She yanks one out of her bag and throws it to him. "Get to the extraction point. I will draw his cover."
Crosshair already has a very, very bad feeling about this.
"I don't like that idea," Omega objects on cue with Crosshair's own "I know them better than you do."
"Go," Tech snaps, "That is an order."
The only thing he can remember is how Omega told him just a few days ago that she – Tech is handling this badly, and Crosshair cannot handle losing another brother.
He's followed enough orders in his life, but then he spots a ship overhead, and that breaks up any possible chance of them sticking together. They can't fight an assassin and the Empire at once.
Wrecker throws smoke grenades at the troops when they get off the shuttle, and they exchange a few shots before retreating deeper into the trees, circling around to attack the troops from behind. Wrecker jumps them and the others start firing stun blasts, using the smoke for cover.
Crosshair lifts his rifle, firing at the engines of the shuttle overhead after taking out the pilot with a shot through his heart. It takes several tries for the shot to hit its mark, but it finally spirals down, exploding between the trees a distance away. That's the last of the troops here for now, but they need to go after Tech.
**w**
The CX is fast, but Tech isn't letting him get anywhere near his brothers. He already hurt Wrecker and Tech is not going to allow him to get away with that. Not so long as he is a threat, at least.
Tech fires at the CX, and he ducks, raising his arm to shield his head and rolling out of sight, ducking behind a rocky pillar.
Tech follows, keeping what he hopes is a safe distance, both blasters raised. The CX is trying to find cover in the rocks, but Tech's visor can scan him.
The CX ducks beneath his shots when he fires, rolling and bodily tackling him. Tech tries to fire, though there's a hand on his wrist shoving his arm down. The shot goes wild. The assassin tries to stab him, and Tech blocks the blow with his other hand, bracing against the ground. He can't twist his blaster to shoot him, and Tech struggles to keep the blade away from him. He twists both weapons away from him finally and smashes his helmet into the CX's.
Tech grabs his arm when he recoils, kneeing him in the gut and twisting his arm to throw him off. They roll apart, standing, and the assassin spins around, stabbing his blade into Tech's blaster before he can fire again. He's well trained. A definite threat.
Tech's down both his blasters now, but that will not stop him from protecting his family. That is what he is here for. The assassin stabs at him again, swinging for his neck. Tech raises his arm to brace the blade away from him, and their vambraces press together. Tech braces his right arm with his left, backing him. This reg is abnormally strong. Tech might know how to use vibroblades, but they are not his weapon of choice.
They were always Hunter's.
And Wrecker's.
They're close to a cliff edge. He hears the rushing of a waterfall right nearby, and Tech ducks under the blade, tackling him over the cliff edge into the rushing water below.
The water splashes around them. Tech swims his way up to the surface, trying to keep afloat amidst the rushing turrets, but he knows waterfalls. He survived this before.
They go over another edge, then another, and another before finally hitting the ground. Tech rolls to his feet, his helmet having come off somewhere on the way down, splashing upright in the knee-high water. The assassin is already coming at him again, knife slashing.
Tech dodges, stumbling back in the water. The stakes are against him, but he is still perfectly capable of using the assassins weapons against him.
They trade blows before Tech kicks him again, ripping the knife from his hands and slashing at him.
The CX rolls backwards, raising his arms to shield himself, the blade inches away from his face.
He kicks Tech's leg, and he stumbles back, dropping to one knee and splashing into the water again, but he's not giving up.
The CX lunges at him again.
Tech stands, twisting around him, bringing the blade up towards his throat.
The CX leans back last minute, and the gold-lined blade cuts through his helmet instead.
Tech rolls to his feet, turning back.
The CX stands, ripping off the broken pieces of his helmet. His dark brown curls fall freely into his face, messily, familiarly, hanging into his eyes. Even in the darkness, his tattoo is visible. The half skull Tech traced onto his face years ago.
"Hunter?" Tech's still holding the knife, but it feels light in his hand.
This is Hunter. His tattoo is the same, though the wildness in his eyes are foreign. Hunter would never look at them like this, and neither would he try to kill them.
He draws another knife from his belt, lunging at him.
Tech backs up, splashing through the rushing water. He does not understand this – he saw Hunter fall. They were certain of his death, so how could he have become one of these? Someone fires a stunbolt. Howzer, no doubt, and it takes Hunter down. He's still semi-conscious, but he drops sideways into the waterfall, the liquid carrying him far away.
All of them are here. Wrecker and Omega have skidded to a stop in the back, staring. Crosshair's holding Tech's helmet in the hand not holding his rifle.
"What – was that –?" Wrecker's gripping his blaster, Batcher nosing against his leg.
"That was Hunter," Tech answers, splashing out of the water. Rex runs to the edge of the embankment to help pull him from the river. His bodyglove is soaked, and it will take a while to dry.
That was Hunter. Hunter fought him.
He's fought Wrecker and Crosshair before. Never Hunter, because it was always his elder brother's role to protect them all.
But now, he is fighting against them. The Empire has done something to him, even if Tech cannot begin to imagine what. The CX they already interrogated was no longer in his right mind, and that does not bode well for Hunter's mental state.
But he is alive. All this time they believed Hunter dead but he is still alive. If he is alive, there is a chance – however minimal – of getting him back. That, at least, is something Tech knows they can live with, though it does not change that they left him for dead.
**w**
Echo knew there was a chance that the base on Teth would be discovered eventually but he didn't expect it to be so soon. He didn't expect there to be so few survivors. There's only a few of his brothers left here, aside from the Batch. He's used to the losses but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. It doesn't mean his anger at the Empire isn't burning more fiercely every time this happens.
His brothers scramble on board and the ship takes off, but Echo notices right off that something else is wrong.
Wrecker is crying. Crosshair looks like he has been and is about to start again.
Omega and Tech look totally in shock. They look numb somehow. None of them are talking.
"Everything alright?" Echo asks uncertainly, eyeing them.
None of them seem able to find their voices.
"It's the operative who attacked us," Rex replies for them. From the way he's talking, Echo instinctively knows this is information he is not going to like. "I'm not sure how it's possible, but we saw his face. It was Hunter."
Echo freezes. "...What?"
"I know it's hard to believe, but there's no doubt it was him."
Hunter's alive.
And he's one of Hemlock's unidentifiable operatives who he's done stars knows what to, but at least he's alive.
But all Echo can remember is seeing Hunter falling and knowing it was the end. What if they saw wrong? What if this isn't really real? What if – He's just afraid to believe for nothing, even if Rex should know what he's talking about. One look at the other four and it's obvious what they saw too.
"You're certain?" Echo repeats, because he has to know even if he doesn't think he can fully believe it unless he sees it himself.
"Yes," Rex replies firmly, "He had the same tattoo; And he was good with knives. The best I've ever seen."
"Hunter wouldn't fight us." He wouldn't. Echo knew him. He was loyal. To them, at least.
"I'm not sure what's going on with the operative program. Crosshair might know something, but I don't want to push him if he doesn't want to talk about it."
No one else would have that identical tattoo or – anything. Rex would know. They all would. It's just hard to accept after Echo spent all this time thinking that his little brother was gone. Sometimes it had felt so much like his fault because he's the one who took the information about Eriadu to his brothers in the first place. But Hunter's alive.
That doesn't say much for the state he's in if he's been forced to work for Hemlock – they still don't have any answers on what he's done to those clones – but at least they have something to work with. At least... this isn't a permanent forever.
At least Echo can hope.
**w**
Wrecker sinks to the floor of the rescue ship the moment they're inside, mind still whirling. They almost didn't make it off Teth at all, but Wolffe had let them go after Rex talked him down.
Wrecker's exhausted, and yet, all he wants to do is run back out there and find Hunter. Because he's still out there. He wasn't lost. But he's also with the Empire now and – He has no idea what happened to him. But he's alive. He's alive. Somehow.
Wrecker was supposed to save him and he wasn't fast enough. He'll never get those last moments out of his head. He seems it almost every night when he falls asleep. He thought Hunter died because he wasn't fats enough. And no, he didn't die, but he still been through something unspeakable because Wrecker wasn't able to get to him. Because they left him behind, just like they did with Crosshair.
He can't stop crying.
Crosshair sinks onto the floor next to him, crying also. He leans closer, winding his arms around Wrecker's waist and Wrecker pulls him closer with his good arm.
His other arm is still burning. Hunter stabbed him. The injury was nothin' really, but now, he can't stop thinking about how that was Hunter.
Not that it's any worse than when Crosshair shot him all that time ago on Kamino, but Hunter's always taken care of them, and he doesn't understand what's happening.
Omega sits down on Wrecker's other side, face unreadable. She hasn't said a word sense.
"Your injury needs treatment," Tech says shortly, the first to even find his voice, circling to sit behind Wrecker and take off enough pieces of his armor that he'll be able to treat it.
Wrecker sits there in a numb silence, letting him work.
No one speaks for a long time.
He can't stop thinking about the burning pain cutting through his shoulder and knowing it was Hunter who did that. What's happened to him? What's the Empire done to him?
"We left 'im behind," Wrecker says finally, miserably.
All of them freeze.
"I knew we should've gone back for him," Omega supplies finally, and her voice wavers a little as she talks, "We could have at least looked."
Tech is rigid behind him. "Had we gone back, we would likely have been captured as we were all injured. But you are not wrong."
Tech is right, Wrecker knows. They hardly got out of there alive as it was, but they still left Hunter behind. Just like they did with Crosshair, and now the exact same thing is happening all over again. And Hunter isn't here to lead them through it.
He doesn't even know what they can do now. Can't really think about anything either except that brief moment where he saw Hunter's face before he fell again – this time over that waterfall. He would've undoubtedly survived that, but he still could be hurt, and this would be a second time they just left him.
Why does this keep happening?
Wrecker tightens his grip on Crosshair, who presses his face against his shoulder, still speechless.
There's not really anything to say.
**w**
Crosshair hardly has a memory of how they made it all the way back to Pabu. Echo leaves after he drops them off, and they go back to the Marauder together and just... stay there together.
All Crosshair can think about is how that was Hunter.
He thought he was gone. He's grieved him for months, struggled to accept that he's never going to get the closure with him that he's gotten with the rest of his brothers, but – He's still alive.
He still remembers what Tech said Hunter's last words were – that he loves him.
But the look in Hunter's eyes when he saw him again was entirely devoid of recognition. And Crosshair knows far too personally what that means for what's been done to him. He'll never forget being strapped down and electrocuted for what felt like hours, and... everything else that went into that training. And that's what's been happening to Hunter all this time they were here on Pabu.
The regs who survive always come out different, with little memory of their pasts. And what does that mean for what Hunter remembers about them?
"What are we going to do?" Omega is the first to speak up, "Hunter's out there. We have to find him."
"Yeah, we do," Wrecker agrees instantly.
"How?" Crosshair asks, desperately. Hunter is out there, and that means they can still get him back. But it will also mean going back to Tantiss. This is for Hunter and he's willing to do anything to get him back, but he needs to try being realistic, too. He knows what Tantiss is like. He knows how easily one or more of them could be lost if they ever go there.
Getting themselves killed in a fruitless effort to get Hunter back is going to help nothing. They're more likely to all end up as operatives instead of getting him out alive.
And he knows Hunter who still remembered them would much rather be trapped in that state forever than come back to find another one of his brothers gone to get him back.
"Echo and Rex are still searching for Tantiss," Tech points out, "There is little we can do to assist them right now."
Except there is, if Crosshair's information about Rampart could be of any help. That may be the only real way they have of getting there. For a moment, he thinks about outright telling them.
But it's been so long and it feels so out of nowhere to say it now. He wouldn't blame any of them for straight up hitting him for not telling them a long time ago. Assuming he gets lucky and nobody stabs him. Not that Crosshair could even blame them for that.
And – and he's still terrified at the mere thought. He can't lose any of his brothers again. He can't. And if they know about Tantiss, he can almost guarantee that's exactly what's going to happen.
But it still feels like he's betraying Hunter again to say nothing. Still feels like he's just abandoning him there, all the while knowing very personally what he's going through.
"But we can't just do nothing!" Omega exclaims, "We have to get him back."
"We will aid in whatever we can," Tech replies firmly, "But with the Empire after you, you are still in danger."
Omega sighs. "I know. But – But if the Empire sends someone after me again, it might be Hunter. And what if we – "
"No," Crosshair interrupts forcefully, ignoring the tiniest foolish flare of hope in his heart at the suggestion. "Wrecker was already injured. It's too risky."
Hunter stabbed Wrecker. He wasn't hesitating to hurt any of them.
Not so unlike Crosshair himself only a year ago. He doesn't want to think about that right now.
That Hunter isn't in his right mind is half of what has Crosshair so scared of going after him. They'll be fighting him and if they did get to him, what would they do?
Wrecker deflates a bit at the reminder. "But we gotta do somethin'."
"We are," he grumbles, "Staying out of trouble."
"We could try to find a lead regarding Omega," Tech suggests, "We are still uncertain what the Empire's intentions with her are. Evidently, they are something of greater significance than forcing Nala Se's cooperation."
Well, by this point, that much is clear.
"You want to find out what M-counts are?" Omega inquires.
"I suspect, with enough research, I will be able to determine what it is they are attempting to accomplish," Tech replies, "There must be someone who knows what this means. Perhaps Phee will be able to find some information."
"That still won't get us much closer to finding Hunter," Omega points out miserably.
"When we know Tantiss' coordinates, there will be something to speak of," Tech points out.
And the mere thought of that is terrifying, no matter how much Crosshair wants to have Hunter back.
**w**
Tech and Wrecker end up leaving Omega here on Pabu with Crosshair when they go to meet up with Fennec Shand over this whole M-count thing. She's certainly not happy about it, but she also understands their wariness. They lost her once already, and she's afraid of the Empire finding her again, too. She's afraid of being taken away again, even if she'll be able to find her way back.
Somehow.
For the first time in a very long while, Omega finds Crosshair down by the ocean, practicing with his rifle. His shots are still off. Far worse than she remembers from his initial coming, and she doesn't know what's wrong. AZI said it wasn't physical, but if they're gonna find Hunter, they...
She wants to help him. He's driving himself crazy over this. She's seen how much he stops to randomly glare at his hand, and it hurts to watch.
And maybe, for the first time, a sudden thought crosses her mind. She hasn't thought much about the past time with Hunter in a very long time, simply because it hurt too much, but knowing that he's still alive has finally loosened something in her.
"AZI might be right," Omega tells him quietly, "Whatever they did to you on Tantiss could've affected you more than you realize."
"No," Crosshair snaps back, the tiniest bit panicked, "It's not in my head."
"Just because there's nothing AZI can do, doesn't mean your hand can't get better," she ventures.
"It hasn't gotten any better!" he argues, "I've been away from Tantiss for months."
"Maybe it's not all what happened on Tantiss." Truth be told, Omega doesn't understand it, but she's not here for the why's. "And maybe you're the one who has to fix it."
"How?"
"I... have an idea, but you're gonna have to trust me."
"I'm not gonna like it, am I?"
"You don't like anything," Omega snips back, hopping off the rock's she's sitting on.
Her little brother huffs a sigh. "True."
Batcher must've nosed him into submission, because he does, in fact, come to join her at the edge of the ocean, overlooking the sunset. It's beautiful here. Relaxing. She can't stop thinking about the first sunset they watched, when she was out with Lyanna. When Hunter was here.
"What are we doing?" Crosshair asks, eyeing her.
"It's meditation. It'll help you heal. Not just your hand, but your mind, too."
"I doubt that," he mutters, looking away.
His hand is shaking a little again and he clenches it into a fist.
Omega reaches out slowly, laying her hand on top of his before turning it over, showing him how he's supposed to be putting it. "Now, adjust your position, and breathe."
Crosshair is still watching her dubiously but she closes her eyes next to him, breathing in and out in a demonstration of how to do it. It's helping to calm her, too. It's the first time she's felt like this since before they went to Eriadu.
"How did you learn this?" Crosshair asks.
"I picked it up from my friend Gungi and the other Wookies on Kashyyyk." They've told Crosshair a bit about the things that happened when they were apart but there's still so much he doesn't know.
"Why'd you think of this now?" Crosshair inquires.
"I don't know," she admits, "With... Hunter, I guess, it feels like we might be able to heal now. There might still be hope for all of us. And we need to heal. For him."
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