Chapter 15 - We Move Too Fast (1:11-12)

Author's Note: Bonding with the kids and Echo, and Ryloth begins. Enjoy all the feels! :'D

~ Amina Gila

Omega and I do, in fact, go a few rounds. Hence, this.

"It's not winning if it's cheating," Omega says sullenly.

"It's not cheating," I insist, grinning. "Using all my skills to my advantage isn't cheating." Let's be honest here – someone needed to win against her once. I don't care if I used my vision abilities to predict all her next moves after doing a detailed analysis of how she does things.

It took ten rounds, but I still got one win, so it counts. Honestly, I have to be better than her at something sometimes.

It's also been over a week since Bracca. I've honestly lost track of time. Crosshair has been away for so long.

That's not something I wanna think about, though.

"You used your abilities to see what I was gonna do!"

"And you do the same," I reply smugly.

"But I can't See like you can!"

"Better," I object, "I think you read minds."

Omega blinks. "I... can do that?"

"Dunno, but I got my Force-sensitivity from somewhere, right?"

"Force-sensitivity is not strictly inherited," Tech replies, always happy to burst my bubble.

"I hate you," I tell him seriously. I'm not even kidding.

**w**

The mission is... it is, but it's night when we get back to the Marauder. It's a quiet, peaceful place, and we opt to stay overnight, or until Cid calls us off again. The... original three Batchers are squabbling about something too fast for me to even get a word in, and I lost track of the conversation somewhere midway.

Omega pokes my arm, gaze on the open ramp, and my head snaps around. Echo's sitting outside alone.

"Oh," I breathe. This's happened before. It's familiar, something I can actually deal with. I used to struggle with it too in the beginning. Still do now, but it's worse for Echo, because he actually had another squad before coming here. He knew people who died. I can't imagine that.

I move outside instantly, and the other three are a bit too preoccupied to comment. We're with Echo, anyway – it's fine.

I drop myself beside him with an unnecessarily loud thump, and Omega sits on his right a moment later, far more gracefully. "Hey," I say, leaning my head against his arm. Echo looks down at me, quiet. "Mind if we stay?" It's a pretty rhetorical question because no one wants to be alone.

"No, it's fine."

Maybe he's trying to make us accept him as much as we have in reverse. He wanted to stay, and the points to which the Batch went to make him feel accepted were a bit insane sometimes. They would do anything for him – he's the first person who wanted them.

On this note, there's a ton of things I've been waiting to ask him about.

"You okay?" I ask on second thought.

Echo sighs. "Dreams."

I wince. We've all dreamed about Bracca. I've heard it. Echo doesn't sleep much in the first place, but I've heard the others waking up sometimes, half panicking. It was hardest on Wrecker. Between that and Crosshair having shot him back on Kamino.

"What was your old squad like?" Omega queries curiously.

"Well," Echo replies thoughtfully, "There were five of us. Hevy was our leader. There was Cutup, Droidbait, Fives, and me." This is the longest I've ever heard him talk about them. I've never really heard their names before. Fives is the only one I know of, half because he gets so sticky about the number.

"How do you... deal with it?" I ask quietly. "I mean... I can't imagine losing someone I know. Just... gone and all of that."

"We're clones," Echo answers slowly, "We were made to be expendable. I always thought that way, until I met you."

By you, he doesn't mean me, but he met me the same time as our brothers. "Yeah," I agree grudgingly, "But you're people, too. You feel. I'm the same. That's not any different than the natborns."

"Except we were born to die." Brutal, but true.

"Don't say that," Omega argues, gutted. There's a veiled horror in her voice that reminds me of how new to this all she is. She's not a soldier. She's... meant as something else, something I am not. "You're my brother."

"They aren't mutually exclusive," Echo replies, "I never understood the cost of war until our first mission."

Omega hesitantly touches his shoulder.

I don't really think there's anything either of us can say to that.

"But how do you... deal with it?" I ask a little desperately, "With losing someone you know? Just... knowing you'll never see them again?" I can't imagine what that'd be like. The sheer hopelessness of it isn't something I can imagine, much less recover from. Omega dealt with losing our brothers from the fact that they were still alive, and she stubbornly clung to the knowledge she'd be reunited with them someday.

"They are still a part of me," he answers slowly. "I fight in their memories."

And if you die? I want to ask, but that's not something I can think about. I refuse to accept a reality where any of my brothers die. It figures, though – he's lost so many. He's gonna hafta believe something like that. It's not truly something you can just accept. "What if they're not really gone?" I blurt out, and Echo is looking at me now. "I mean – everyone thought you were – never mind." I have no idea what I'm saying. I'm not even trying to get at anything right now.

I drop my head to his arm instead, trying to... something. He's been through so much, and there's nothing I can do except deal with it.

That's true for all of us, isn't it? This is – it's depressing, but it's a part of Echo, and if he cares about them, I think his brothers deserve it, too. They deserve to be remembered, for someone else to hurt for them... even if they were regs. They're not all mean. Echo isn't. Rex wasn't. Cut wasn't, and I trust Echo's judgment.

"It's not easy," he admits, "But it's who we are. It's what we were born for. We all knew it would happen."

Yeah. I guess we did, even me, though I never really thought about it. I had no idea what war could do until I saw Echo, and how mechanical he was. He lost half of himself in an explosion. Wrecker just lost an eye. But Echo? Stars, he has so many things wrong with him, I was on the verge of tears by the time Hunter told Tech to shut up. Echo can't eat normally, and I think that's the worst. That, or the – taking care of his million mechanical pieces. It's not easy, especially now that they don't have a place to be taken care of.

"Can I ask you something?" I ask on an irrelevant note, but while we're being depressing, we might as well continue it. "It's... about Anakin."

Echo tenses up, but nods. "Go ahead."

"What was he like?" I close my eyes, memories of a burning fire, safe and warm in mind. I Saw it flicker dark, cold, and black, the same way everything is now. The galaxy looks dark, devoid of life somehow. But we'll be fine because he'll be fine.

Echo makes a sound that's half a laugh, half something else. "Intense," he offers immediately.

I hum an agreement. I only knew him for what, a few minutes? But all I could think about was him. He was just there, but with a presence so bright I couldn't see anyone except him.

"He cared," Echo adds quietly, "A... lot of people did, but he was always special."

"I don't have anybody to teach me the Force," I continue quietly. "I wanted to ask him to." It sounds so silly – I'm just someone, and he's a Jedi, but I still... wanted it?

"He would have," Echo answers, "Except he... already had a padawan."

"What does it mean to be a Jedi? What do they do?"

"To the General, it was always about helping people," Echo replies, "And that's what we always did."

"And now that he's not here, you wanna keep doing it? For him. For everyone."

"Yeah."

"I saw your Commander once," I muse, "I think. Maybe? She's a weird species."

"Fives used to drive her crazy," he says, and I See how his normal darkness is flickering, burning with something. Longing and regret and a soul-deep emptiness mingle in his voice. I feel that whenever I think about Crosshair and he's still alive. Still out there. "She was so tightly wound sometimes. Fives and the General spent a long time trying to get her to let go."

The guilt is what I latch onto though. "What happened to him wasn't your fault," I offer quietly.

Echo sighs. "I spent years trying to keep him out of trouble. I memorized the reg manuals to keep him safe, and the moment I leave... it's what I've been afraid of for years. It's been a long time coming."

"Well," I offer tentatively, "We're not going anywhere."

"He would've liked you," Echo adds, near whisper. "You're so much like the Commander."

"Me?" I squeak.

"Both of you, actually," Echo adds, "She was young. Too young for the life and responsibility she had."

I don't really know how to feel about that. I settle next to Echo, closing my eyes again. I can't really offer him anything. No one can. The most we can do for them now is to fight for whatever they believed in. Continuing their legacy is the most we can do for them.

But as for us, for Crosshair, that's not what we need. We need to find a way to get him back. Assuming he doesn't find us, first.

I drift off slowly, to the quiet voices of Echo and Omega conversing, and our other brothers still bickering inside. We're still missing Crosshair, but at least sometimes, I can find calm.

"It would seem I underestimated your four friends," a voice says, as an image slowly flickers into view. It's hazy, like I'm looking through four inches of solid glass, but still there. It's that Admiral, whatever his name is, and – and Crosshair. They're standing somewhere, lit by a golden orange glow of fire. "If only they were fighting for us, instead of against us."

"Request permission to hunt them down," Crosshair says, his voice level and oh, this is going to end badly.

"Hm. Granted," comes the response, and the Admiral walks off, leaving Crosshair behind.

I can see his face clearer, see the darkness and empty loneliness that I felt so strongly myself during those few hours on Bracca. I haven't seen his face since Kamino, when... they took him from the cell.

And he promised he'd never leave.

"Hunter!" I hear Omega – and myself – screaming, as the imagery changes to a tree covered mountain, and I see our brother crashing through branches that look an infinite level off-ground.

And then there's fire. The air is humid with water and thick with smoke, explosions overrunning crashing ocean waves.

That's finally where I jolt awake, panting.

Gasping.

"Viz!" Omega at my other side already, Echo gripping my shoulder to keep me upright, and my hands clench as I struggle to reorient myself. "Breathe, Vision."

I press forwards, head buried against her chest, struggling to think. I saw Hunter fall. Stars, is he going to die? We were just talking about dying.

And Kamino, what is that?

"Hunter," I rasp, pushing myself up shakily. Omega's steadying me as I stand, and Echo's still touching my shoulder.

"Hunter," Echo calls, "You better come down here."

He appears almost instantly of course, and I launch myself at him, not really caring how I got into his arms from where I was on the ramp a second ago. I cling to him, desperately, burying my face in his neck and struggling to breathe.

I saw him fall. And Crosshair –

"They're gonna come after us," I explain in a jumbled, rushed tone, "They –"

"The Empire?" Wrecker asks – he's here too, somewhere.

I nod. "Crosshair's – he's looking for us. Or will be. I don't know."

The silence is numb, quiet except for my own uneven breathing as I struggle to calm down. Stars, I am so, so tired of having nightmares all the time. I'd rather not dream at all, thanks. I don't want to be perpetually plagued with what ifs. But Hunter – Hunter –

If anyone could survive it, he could, but still.

"He was talking to Admiral blah-bity-blah-whatever about it," I add.

No one says anything.

I'm seconds from screaming at them to talk when Tech speaks up, and for the first time, I'm glad to hear him. "That does not sound promising."

"Was there anything else?" Hunter queries, shifting me in his arms a little.

I move back, enough to look at him, blinking back a few stray tears that sting my eyes. That's not really something I know how to answer. "Don't jump off a mountain," I tell him seriously, "Or fall, for that matter."

I probably sound like an idiot, but I am one, so.

"Okay," he agrees, a little dubiously, but he's used to me, and this is far from the strangest thing I've ever said.

We're going to see Crosshair again, and I'm not sure everyone's ready. I am, but... he shot Wrecker. I don't think Wrecker will ever be ready to see him again.

I reach up, lightly pressing my hand to his cheek.

"Please?" I ask quietly. "I Saw... we can't lose you."

He nods again, half mindlessly, agreeing just because I asked, but I'm not certain he understands. "I know." He does, and I – I believe him, but I still Saw it, and I'm still scared.

**w**

If I'm being honest, I adored Hera from the moment we met. She's the very first child I've ever seen, and she's a very weird, cool species. I like green. Prefer blue, but green is still pretty. And she's green. Never seen a green person before.

Didn't expect her to comm us in a panic right after we left, though.

"You have to come back to Ryloth," Hera's saying – she has a weird accent, but I kinda like it. She sounds terrified, though. The boys are talking in the background, but I don't really listen, focusing on her. "The Empire's taken my parents, and they're after me now too. I'm sending coordinates. Please hurry. I need your help."

I don't really know what parents are, except that technically, Omega's my only one, and that doesn't really matter. I know it's a... thing, something about people who take care of you or make you or whatever, but not why it's important.

Still, though, if she needs our help...

"You gave her our comm channel?" Hunter asks incredulously.

"For emergencies, and that sounded pretty urgent. We have to go," Omega insists.

"Yeah," I agree sheepishly, "Hera needs help, or she wouldn't be calling us."

"Perhaps the situation is not as dire as described," Tech interjects, predictably, immediately contradicting me. "Children often overreact."

I glare at him. "You're nine years old, Tech. She's older than you."

"With our enhanced aging, we have the maturity and rationality of someone twice our age," he argues, and I can't remember ever hearing him so annoyed before.

Rationality? Please. I bite back a snarky comment because I think he's already angry enough. I'm annoyed at him, but I don't really want to hurt him, and I don't want to escalate this, either.

"You heard her. She needs us," my sister insists.

I look at Echo, unable to help remembering what we talked about not so long ago, about fighting for what his... former brothers believed in. For what Anakin believed in, and the Jedi helped people. Who's gonna do that if they're not here anymore, and if we don't? "We have to go," I agree.

"Vision, Omega, it's a big galaxy," Hunter argues, touching her shoulder, "We can't put ourselves on the line every time someone's in trouble."

"But she's not someone, she's Hera!" I argue, "And she needs us! We're not even on another mission right now. If she needs help, who else is gonna help her?"

"Isn't it what soldiers do?" Omega presses.

I see it the way I always do when Hunter gives in, despite his better judgment. I know he's trying to keep us out of trouble, but... I can't just ignore Hera, either. That would be wrong. And messed up. And – awful. She needs us. She wouldn't ask if she had someone else, and I can't imagine how desperate I'd be if I lost everyone. Or anyone. Or just –

I saw Hunter fall. I don't know what happened, or if he'll be fine, but... he has to be.

It's Hunter.

We can't lose him.

**w**

Hunter still is overly wary about the whole thing, but I don't really blame him. I don't think it really sunk in that going to help her would mean going against the Empire until we actually got there, and suddenly, I'm more nervous than anything else. Hera's parents are in the capital city, and I don't know how tight the Imperial forces here are, but it's... bad. It's practically the same as sneaking deep into Separatist territory, and... it's stupid is what it is, but that's what we are.

The Admiral is giving some long, boring speech about blah-blah, as I said – Admiral blah-bity-blah.

I'm on Hera's other side, forcibly resisting the urge to steal Omega's macrobinoculars for a look myself. I hate having to wait without knowing what's happening. It's annoying. Maddening, actually. I can't shake the feeling that something's wrong. Happening. Maybe about to happen, or we're being watched. I only had the dream about Crosshair looking for us once, and I'm afraid of... something happening now. Because we made the choice we did.

"Hunter," Omega says quietly, and she sounds scared. I haven't seen her scared since she was kidnapped, and I press a little closer to Hera, though that won't change anything. "Crosshair's here."

"Great," Wrecker groans, as Hunter takes the binoculars from Omega to look himself. "Just what we need."

I groan quietly, dropping my head to my hand. "Should've guessed." He's here. That's why I was dreaming right before we came to Ryloth. We're about to see him again, and I want to, but I'm also not sure I'm ready for the emotions that'll bring up.

He's going to be fighting us, and it's not going to be easy. Again. Whatever happens, we have to be careful. Very careful. That's okay, though. Hunter always knows what to do.

Hunter makes a motion at us to get back, and the boys crawl back from the cliff edge before standing and moving farther back and hopefully out of Crosshair's line of sight. If we can see him, he can see us, too.

"The plasma bridge into the city's been deactivated," Tech supplies, and I push myself up, glancing at Hera and Omega, where they're lingering a distance back. It feels weird to go anywhere without Omega right beside me. (I hate more how it feels like I have to choose between her and our brothers all the time. That's not what's happening. It's not.)

"Well, I say we fly in and blow our way out," Wrecker volunteers.

"The Capitol scanners would detect our ship," Echo argues.

"I don't like the look of this," Tech adds, looking up from his datapad, "The troop presence here is similar to that of Raxus. This is a military occupation."

"That doesn't sound promising," I mutter, coming over to stand beside Wrecker.

"Ryloth's not a Separatist planet," Echo objects.

"Exactly my point."

"Wait here," Hunter orders – the first he's said anything, and takes off.

I bite my lip. Something's wrong. I know that feeling, and I have it now. Don't much like it. I don't say anything though, just wait, and a moment later, Hunter drops from the sky on a probe droid.

So much for not jumping off mountains.

He stands, ripping the blade out of what was once its eye.

"Oh, good," Tech supplies sarcastically, "A probe droid. The Empire will know we're here."

"And so will Crosshair," Hunter adds. I don't miss the way Wrecker's expression instantly shifts to alarm at the mere mention of seeing him again. I don't know how we fell this far. I don't know what we've become if we have to spend our lives terrified of our own brother. "Come on. Let's move." They make for the back, the way we came, and Omega grabs Hera's hand with a "come on" when she stalls.

The droid, Chopper, rolls along after.

**w**

The hideout is big, but it's dark. Too dark for my liking, but at least we're safe here? Temporarily. Crosshair is going to come looking for us, and every minute we spend here is giving him more time. We need to move.

Get in and out.

But Crosshair's here, on-planet, for the first time since Bracca, and how are we supposed to walk away from that? From him? We can't. We – we have to get him back. I know the desperate hopelessness I felt when I lost control, and I can't let him deal with that longer than necessary.

"All my father wanted was peace on Ryloth. Why is this happening?" Hera asks desperately.

"He's a voice the people stand behind. That makes him a threat to the Empire," Echo supplies. Blunt, but honest.

"I don't care about any of that. I just want my parents back," Hera murmurs. She's facing away from us, from me at least, and I can see her desperation. I'm not good with people. Don't even know what I'm doing, and I don't know her, but she needs help, anyway. And she's nice. I've never cared about anyone who's not family before, but I care about her.

"Don't worry," I promise. "We'll figure something out."

Her eyes are green. I think I really realize that the moment she looks up at me again. I've never seen green eyes before.

"We're all over the Imperial comm channels," Tech reports, walking down the ramp, Chopper flying down in front of him. We all turn to face him. "They've increased patrols within the city. Crosshair will expect an attack."

"The element of surprise is gone. There's nothing we can do," Hunter says, turning away.

My gut flips. "But, Hunter, she needs our help!" I'm not angry – just a little desperate and hurt and confused. I could never be angry at Hunter, and I step back, biting my lip the moment I remember vividly the last time I blatantly disobeyed his orders. That was Corellia, and I nearly got everyone killed, and I don't want to do that again. Still. I – I have to. She needs help, and I can't ignore that.

"Wait, you can't leave!" Hera protests, and I'm stuck by a sudden, flip-flopped feeling of déjà vu, like begging someone to help save my family is something I've done before. Which it isn't, thanks. My heart clenches tighter as I watch.

"I told you, no guarantees," Hunter replies, looking back at her. "We'll get you off-world and take you some place safe."

"Stop!" she cries, grabbing his arm. "I'll pay you double."

"All the money in the galaxy won't matter if we're dead," he answers firmly, "What you're asking us to do, it's not worth the risk."

"Not to you," Hera snaps, spinning around and stalking off towards the back. Chopper follows with a series of beeps I don't want translated.

Omega starts after, pausing and turning back to glare at him.

"Hunter," I interject, stepping up to him before Omega can start talking. She's angry, and I've never really seen Omega angry before, but I definitely don't want her to be angry at Hunter, even if I am, too. "If Crosshair's here, this is what we've been waiting for, right? Can't we like, go get him? He's our brother. We both have family we're missing, and – and it can –"

We talked about this once before, only briefly, but never seriously, and after – he needs us, and we need him, and it's so simple. If we just get him back, we won't have to worry about any of this anymore.

"Vision," he says, crouching, and I can see the deep and hopeless grief on his face. "It's too dangerous."

I frown. "But – we have to try! He needs us, Hunter. You don't know what it's like. I do." It's not something anyone can really imagine. The fear and helplessness and rage were driving me to the edge of my sanity, and I can't imagine what it'd have been like to be like that for more than a few minutes. Or however long it was. Probably, it was actually a few hours. Most of the time, I was unconscious.

"Being strategic means knowing our limitations."

I shake my head, biting my lip, ignoring the tears burning my eyes. "But he's our brother. We don't leave each other. That's not what family means. That's not who we are, that's not –" I don't understand. We need him, and we can't leave him there, hurting.

"Vision," Hunter says slowly, "After what happened on Bracca... he wouldn't hesitate to hurt us. The stakes are too high. Even if we could get to him without – even if we could get to him, he wouldn't come willingly."

I shake my head again. "I didn't come willingly. You knew what I really wanted. You knew you could help me. Why's this different?"

"You knew what was happening," he points out, "You understood. That's not a chance he got. We don't have anywhere to get his chip out. We can't go back to Bracca. They'd be prepared for us there. We can't... keep him prisoner. That would be wrong."

"Yeah," Wrecker agrees dismally, "And too dangerous."

My eyes snap to him. He's the one that Crosshair shot, so I have to be fair in giving him an exception. If – if I hurt 'mega, and she didn't want to be around me, I wouldn't blame her, either. I understand it, sort of, but I still don't like it. We're supposed to take care of each other. That's what Hunter is doing, but it's...

They're right.

Just like with me, he'd be trying to kill us non-stop the entire way. It's a guarantee someone would be hurt, possibly permanently, and I can't imagine what that would do to Crosshair. I can't imagine what it would do to me, and he's known them longer. We have nowhere to keep him, and we can't... keep him sedated for the indefinite future until we found a place.

That's just screwed up.

And I'm terrified of being hurt by him, too. I wouldn't blame him, but it's – he's my brother. It wouldn't be something I could just forget or let go of.

Is that how Omega feels about me?

Is she angry at me? Is –

"Hera's just trying to help her family, Hunter," Omega interjects, pointedly switching topics. Yeah. Is she angry at Crosshair, too? I don't think so, but... I don't know. She's not attached to him the same way I am, but I'd still have thought she'd... I don't know. Agree with me? Or maybe it's just that she already thought through all of this before I even got started. She is the smart one. "I'd do the same for you."

I can't read the look on his face.

Can't see it overly clearly, either.

Can't think to ask myself if that's shock at the prospect of someone doing the most decent something for him.

"We can't just leave him," I whisper.

"We don't have much choice," Echo points out. If he wants to help Hera, he doesn't say, and I respect him so much for that, because I don't think we need to turn that into a full-blown argument. I – I want to help her, because I know how it feels to be lost and terrified – and Omega does even better, which is probably part of why she's so driven to help – but I don't want to risk losing another sibling, either.

I want to, anyway, I realize. I'd rather do it alone than not at all, but Hunter's right. It won't serve any of us good if – if Crosshair kills me. I want to see him again – I need that more than I need to breathe – but that won't help any of us.

I turn away, moving towards the darkness of the back to where Hera disappeared to.

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