Chapter 27 - Even Though I'm Far Away Now (2:2)
Omega gives up on our mutual goal of never panicking in StReSsFuL SiTuAtIoNs as Tech puts it, and starts screaming. Which, like, we're falling, so I get it, and it is terrifying. I kinda prefer to do the jump-off-myself thing, but hey, nobody asked me.
Echo, Omega, and I crawl behind one of the thingies separating the crates for cover, and Tech predictably doesn't get behind fast enough had just holds in for dear life as everything inside flies everywhere.
"We are descending at a rate of speed that is most concerning," Tech calls.
"Don't worry!" I yell, ignoring my racing heart, and I know we'll be fine, because I just know, and this – look, it's fun, okay? "We're falling! It's amazing!"
"If those thrusters don't engage soon, we're all dead!" Echo hisses, clearly unimpressed.
I pout. "Don't be a grouch! This is the best thing that's happened to me all week! All year, actually."
"What's wrong with you?" Omega half-shrieks.
"I dunno! I was born like this!"
The container jolts as the thrusters kick back on, and everything inside is thrown to the ground. I grab onto the separating mesh-thingy to stay on my feet, trying to hold onto Omega's arm to keep her upright.
. Tech just flops on his face. As does Echo.
"Told you they'd engage," Omega says, panting a little.
I pat her helmet. "Congratulate yourself after we get off, sis, will ya?"
"Other than not being able to steer or control where we land, I would say this is going well," Tech announces.
"It is goin' well!" I protest, throwing my hands up, "We're not being carried away to a who-knows where place about to get captured by the Empire – hey! Why's Wrecker the only one who hasn't gotten a near captured yet?"
"He was captured," Tech replies flatly – he still looks like a giant bug, I swear, "The same time we all were."
I raise an eyebrow. "Hm?"
"Yeah, on Kamino," Echo reminds, "When we came back to get you."
"Ohhhh, right."
Hunter contacts us again for an update, and we don't have much of one. Still crashin'.
The container crashes into the ground – or at least it must have hit something, because the entire thing jolts violently. Omega is thrown into Echo, who has his arm wrapped around her to keep her upright. I smack into the wall, wincing at the pain that shoots through my back. Ow. That's not fair. I don't have armor, either. Too bad Wrecker wasn't there to catch me. He's the only one big enough.
"That was smoother than some of Wrecker's attempted landings," Tech announces.
I laugh. "Yeah. Glad I haven't had any of those yet." I wanna hear that story, though. I – I remember Crosshair had told me something about that once. I shove that memory away as fast as it comes.
Hunter comms us again, and Tech gives him a quick rundown on how we've landed, and Hunter tells us to get out of there as fast as possible and stay out of sight until he and Wrecker can finally pick us up. Sounds good enough for me – we gotta get time to take some of the crates with us too, though. Or at least something.
Something screeches distantly as we start approaching the front of the container where the exit is. The floor is shifting, and something falls. I freeze instinctively. "Uh, what's happening?" Omega asks, voice hitching with panic, hands reaching for her bow strap.
"We haven't fully landed yet," Echo realizes as everything starts sliding.
Oh no.
"Run!" I yell, bolting for the exit area, which at least is at the end that everything's falling away from. If it got buried, we'd be in trouble. The crates are crashing towards us, and it's happening way too fast. I scramble for Omega, diving aside of the mayhem and trying not to get squashed. We come to a crashing halt, me grabbing onto the top of a crate and pulling myself over to keep from falling.
Tech's gasp is what draws my attention more than anything else.
"Tech!" Omega shrieks, and I scramble to my feet, looking up. One of the crates landed on top of him. It doesn't look pleasant.
He's trying to shove it off, and Echo, Omega, and I sprint to his side, shoving the crate off and back onto the floor. Tech's breathing heavily, groaning quietly.
"Are you okay?" Omega asks.
"My left femur has been fractured by approximately 150 kilograms of pressure," Tech replies as Echo pulls him to his feet, holding onto him for support, "So, no."
Oof. It's been a long while since someone got hurt. I've broken limbs before. I broke my arm once a couple months ago, actually, and it wasn't fun. It was just a minor fracture, though. Bruising was bad. Didn't take long to heal. That ensured with a stop-jumping-off-things lecture from Hunter, a falling-is-not-fun from Echo, and an I-am-so-done-with-you glare from Tech, and a hug from Wrecker and Omega – yes, it was the same hug. But Tech's wearing armor. The crate must've basically dented it to actually fracture his leg, and our brother's armor is hard.
"Somebody better check it out," I offer, "If you stay here with Tech, I can go."
"Go on," Echo nods, "Just be careful. We don't know what's out there."
"C'mon, I'll be fine!" While we're here, we have to take something, and getting out is our priority, but I'm good at multitasking. I pull off my backpack and toss it to 'mega. "Here," I advise, "Try to get a few gems, but don't get carried away. We can't leave with nothin'." I take off before Echo can change his mind, scrambling up the very, very clumsy not-really-crawl space up to the hatch.
"You sure you don't need me up there?" Echo calls when I freeze up at the annoying entrance code thing. It'd definitely be easier if he just scomped in and opened it, but I am not admitting that to him.
"I've got this!" I holler back, "All doors are the same."
"No, they're not," Omega argues over the clanking I hear down below, but I finally manage to get it open, anyway, jumping out. The sunlight is bright, and I have to blink against it for a moment before my eyes readjust. We're right up against a cliff, which is a shred worrying, but... I tiptoe carefully to the edge, just in case we go for a tumble – I don't wanna get smashed, exactly, but considering Hunter's fall on Daro, I'm pretty confident of my chances.
"What do you see out there?" Omega asks over the comm.
"Well, we're not done crashing, but look! There's aqua trees down there! They look tiny from up here, but they're so pretty! Hey, at least if we died here, it'd be somewhere nice-looking!"
"Great," Echo grumbles, "Can you come back? We gotta get Tech out of here."
**w**
Dragging Tech up the side of the cliff, not to mention climbing the cliff was fun. He's in pain, though, and I hate having to just watch and be unable to do anything. It feels so wrong. So much for my glorious promise to Hunter of how nOtHiNg wIlL gO WrOnG.
"Well, this mission has been eventful," Tech sighs when we finally, finally finish dragging him over the cliff edge.
"No kidding," I agree, sliding an arm around his waist and pulling his over my shoulder, helping him to his feet. Tech is leaning into Echo's side, still panting a little. He's so good at being quiet, it reminds me of Hunter, and it's terrifying.
"We have to get out of sight," Echo says.
"Trees are there," I offer, pointlessly pointing before grabbing Tech's hand again. Yes, I know he's well over a foot taller than me, and trying to carry him is kind of ridiculous, but I don't care. He needs our help.
"Wait. We can't leave without the war chest," Omega protests, and I pause. Oh, yeah. I honestly hadn't thought about it since she gave me my backpack back – she'd put a few handfuls of stuff, but it was taking too long, and Echo insisted getting out was our priority. She has a point. I should've thought to grab something. I have a backpack I could have filled – maybe should've done that instead of going out there. But still, Tech needed him.
"We don't have time," Echo replies, a bit harshly, even if I know he doesn't mean it bad, "We need to get away from here and find cover."
"C'mon," I say, waving a hand at Omega in the hopes she'll follow. I hear her trotting after us a minute later.
"Havoc-2. The fourth sun is setting. Plan Double Zero," Hunter's voice echoes over our comm.
"Copy that," Tech replies.
"Plan Double-Zero?" Omega asks, confused. Sometimes, it's very hard to remember that I know more about their plan numbers than she does. She didn't get the time training or growing up with them that I did.
"Basically, he's telling us to shut up, which is very annoying because I have like. Five thousand things I need to ask him."
"It means our comm channels are being monitored," Tech clarifies. Hey! Since when does Omega need a Vision translator? Definitely didn't ask Tech to be that.
"We're being followed," Omega whisper-hisses, and she moves forwards with her energy bow to corner the person. I draw my blaster, stepping after.
"Don't move," Omega snaps, her bow aimed at the man's back.
"I'm not," he says, freezing.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" she demands.
"I live here. The name's Romar." He's a Separatist, then? Wariness and uncertainty burn up inside me instantly. The Separatists are the one who turned Echo into this, who took his body and his mind.
"He could be working for the Empire," Echo cautions.
"Me?" he repeats, pointing at us, "Aren't you working for the Empire?"
"We do not have time to debate this," Tech not-quite snaps with another quite gasp of pain. I glance at him, biting my lip before holstering my blaster and reclaiming my position at his side.
"Where's the nearest place to take shelter?" Echo demands.
"Well, it's a little hard to think with her pointing that... thing at me," he replies.
"It's okay, 'mega," I soothe, because while I really, really don't trust this person, he doesn't seem to be a threat, either. Tech's already back to studying his datapad, with only one available hand or no. She hesitates, looking at Echo, who nods to her. Omega powers her bow down and slings into onto her back.
"Much appreciated, but sorry to say there's no shelter around these parts," Romar tells us.
"I'm registering a heat source 200 meters west of here," Tech objects, "I suspect it is your domicile." And who even says domicile, anyhow? Who even knows what that means? Tech, apparently.
"How did you do –"
"Take us there," Echo orders, sharp and firm.
"Looks like I don't have much say in the matter," he replies – he doesn't like us either, which I am fine with. I don't like him, though I still feel a little bad about basically forcing him to take us to his home. I wouldn't like it if someone did that to me, either.
Tech shoves his datapad back onto his belt, accepting my unspoken offer to carry his weight, tiny or no, and wraps his arm over my shoulder.
"Nope," I chirp, gripping Tech's hand again, "But my brother needs help, and we need somewhere to find cover for a bit. Sorry to ask this of you, but we'll be out of here soon enough."
"If you're not working for the Empire, who are you?" Romar asks, and well, isn't that a long story.
"Well, we're clones," I reply.
"So, you are with the Empire?"
"No! Not anymore. Well, we never actually have been."
"I thought all the clones fought for the Republic, which became the Empire."
"Yeah, the Republic didn't really become an Empire," Echo objects, "Palpatine unjustly appointed himself the Emperor, regardless of what the public wanted."
"Anyway," I say loudly, before we can start debating the boring politics of all this, "Blah blah, after the Empire thing came, we ditched because it was stupid and they shot one of my brothers for no reason, and – that sorta thing. The Empire's hunting us now, 'cuz they don't appreciate deserters any more than the Republic did, though I think they maybe-maybe think we're dead right now, so I guess we're lucky for that."
"So, what you're telling me," Romar concludes as we finally, finally reach his residence and he drags a crate toward the back of the front – actually, main room, "Is that you're rogue clones running from the Empire's clones, who used to be the Republic's clones?"
"Correct," Tech grunts, slumping into the chair near the door, rubbing at his leg after pulling his helmet off, "You finally got it right."
"Why is your house in the middle of nowhere?" Omega queries.
"Didn't really have a choice once the Empire showed up, but we make do."
"We?" Echo repeats – he and Tech have taken their helmets off now, and I hover in the back, gluing myself to Tech's side. He's the one I'm obsessively worried about – he's the one who's hurt.
"The other survivors who fled the destruction."
"Now that Tech is safe, let's head back to the container and get as much of the war chest as we can," Omega requests, grabbing Echo's arm, and I bite my lip. Tech's not really safe out here. That's a far, far too general term, and neither is it a fair or true one. I don't... want to leave him here. But... we do have to get the war chest, too.
"No, it's too dangerous," Echo tells her sharply. "Troopers could already be at the crash site."
"But we can't leave empty-handed. We have to complete the mission."
"Mm. Guess you're more like those other clones than you think," Romar remarks, and we all pause, looking up at him sharply. Okay, now that's just rude. He's passing a cup to Tech, though, so I hold back on snapping. "I'd stay away from that cursed war chest if I were you."
"But we need it!" Omega objects, "And it's not cursed. It was stolen."
"You think Dooku funded his war effort by only stealing from outside worlds? No. He took from us, his own people. His quest for power is why our city is now buried in rubble." Dooku – what? What the heck? What is wrong with this freak? Ugh. It's too bad he's already dead. I'd like to stab him myself. No wonder Romar seems so wary and untrusting, not to mention poor.
"Well... we'll help you... get it back," Omega offers, crossing her arms. "There's enough in that container for all of us."
"I want none of it. Let the Empire take it. The sooner they're gone, the better. And the same goes for you." Echo looks at Tech, who pointedly starts drinking. Guess this is something he wants to be left out of. "No offense."
"None taken," I promise, and for once, I actually mean it. I get that. It. Whatever. And I'm feeling sick, too. How could someone do that? I might not have a high opinion of any Separatist, but... but still. They didn't deserve that, either.
Romar goes down, and Echo sends Omega and I down to babysit when she mentions the war chest again. Which – I don't wanna go back to Cid empty-handed, either, but considering the complications? There's a reason Hunter didn't want to go. I don't know who thought doing it anyway was a good idea. Oh, right – that was everybody. I knew we were all stupid but Hunter.
Romar gives us a... thing, some sort of reflected glass object that he says is a toy. Wrecker used to collect toys all the time, but never anything quite like this one. It's... cool. Pretty, anyway.
"It makes you happy," he tells us, and that's the one thing I think I finally understand. "And believe me, that is worth more than any jewel."
"Well, right now," I confess, because why not, "I think we need jewels to buy that. We – we're in a tight spot."
"The war chest wasn't ours in the first place," Tech is saying from up above, and I perk up, returning to the ladder edge. Tech's never voiced anything in the argument Echo's been having with Hunter and I. I... wanna know where he falls on this.
"Well, we would have made better use of it," Echo retaliates.
"I am simply stating that without the funds from the war chest, we are no worse off than we were before," Tech argues. We pause mid-way on the ladder, but they're too preoccupied to pay us attention.
"That's not how I see it," Echo replies, shaking his head as he paces the length of the room, finally stopping to stand by Tech and dramatically wave his hand for emphasis. "The Empire's growing stronger, and we're still doing nothing about it."
"Where're you goin'?" I ask, sitting down at the edge of the hole.
"To check for patrols," he answers, jerking his helmet on, "I'll be back."
I look up at Tech worriedly again. The door closes behind Echo way too loudly. I don't like it. He's too reckless. Too involved. Too – angry. It's not going to get us anywhere. I know where it could lead, and I refuse to even consider that.
Omega's rubbing at her left arm, looking decidedly miserable.
Romar comes up, asking Tech to help him fix a datacore of some sorts when Omega touches my arm, instantly catching my attention.
"We have to go back after the war chest," she whispers, too quiet for Tech to overhear.
"It's dangerous," I warn.
"You heard what Echo said!" she argues, shaking her head, "We can't come back with nothing."
"Yeah, and if we get something, there's the question of what to use it for." I close my eyes, exhaling. I promised I'd bring something back for Echo, even if I know it might cause more harm than good. I – I have to, and Omega won't let this slide. She won't be able to let this go. We can go together. I can protect her, or try to. "Come on. Let's get going."
We move quietly while Tech is distracted, slipping out through the window and breaking into a run. The leaves and sticks crunch beneath our boots as we run together. "We came this way," Omega says to me, pointing.
The walk back to the container seems to take way, way less time without carrying Tech. The risk of Echo seeing us is high, but we can't just leave the war chest. I promised I'd get something, so we could – could settle down, or get something to... Echo cares more about this than anything else, and I hate that, but he's still our brother, and I have to give him something. We came here for a mission, and I can't accept our cover was blown for nothing. It's hard to say that Crosshair won't be out here somewhere, waiting to... yeah. Don't want to think about Crosshair, though.
I set to tying the cable to a tree, and Omega goes over to throw the other side into the container. Good thing she gets it right – it'd be so hard to take the time to pull it all the way back up the cliff.
I look around, unease prickling down my spine. The forest is dark, and I can hear the sounds of animals' and insects' distant scuffling. There's still a risk of the Empire showing up momentarily, and if there's two of us... "Go ahead," I nod, fingers gripping the strap of my backpack. The weight in it is heavy, but it's not that full. I never did look in it to see what she was able to get, but... if all goes well, we should be able to fill both. "I'll keep watch up here. Hurry."
She nods, grabbing the cable and climbing over the cliff edge.
The wait is agonizing. I hate waiting more than anything in the entire galaxy.
Echo gets back before Omega gets back out. I'm waiting, pressed up against a tree nearby the one we tied the line to, just in case I see someone coming. I know, realistically, I have no way of getting Omega out of there and falling back into the cover of the tree line if someone sees, but I have to try at something, right? Here, I can... still cover for her.
"Vision!" he hisses when he catches sight of me, "I told you to stay inside!"
"Hey, we get the say in doing what we think is right, too," I argue, "That's not just a you and Hunter thing. Better get 'mega out – she should have enough by now."
I catch sight of a light back in the forest and freeze.
"Get Omega!" I hiss, drawing my blaster, "I'll draw their fire."
"Vision, wait!" Echo argues, but the approaching speeders start firing at him.
"I have a plan!" I insist, "Just get to Omega. Nothing else matters." I raise my blaster, ducking out from behind the tree line and following the blue shots back to their source. I close an eye, cocking the blaster and firing. The front speeder veers off-course, and I use the ensuing explosion to run for cover.
Echo's ducked over the cliff edge to go for Omega, but one of the shots hits the cable, and I try not to react to his yelp.
They pull the speeders way too close to the edge of the cliff, and I shoot at them again, though this one misses. Dramatically.
Oops.
They turn around, and I bolt deeper into the trees. Another shot rings out, along with a burning, searing pain through my right shoulder.
I gasp, ducking into a roll and backing against another tree.
Ow.
That was mean. Very mean.
My breathing is coming in shaky gasps, but my hand tightens over my blaster. I'm not going to stop fighting just because I was shot. Hunter was still moving after getting a blaster shot through his chest. A graze on my arm's not gonna stop me.
I switch the setting to stun and fire a few rounds before ducking back into cover again. A Wrecker-sized blaster would be way, way more useful right now than this tiny thing. Or – or Crosshair. I might be like him in a lotta ways, but I'm not him. I can't do what he can. I don't have his sight. I don't even have mine. I don't have – anything anymore.
I need it back. Badly. Especially – now. If I'd known what could've happened, I wouldn't have let us go, and Tech would be fine right now.
"How about... we just talk?" I offer, because what else are you supposed to do in an outgunned situation? I've hit one, but there's two more, and – oh what? Is that Tech? Oh, yeah, it is. I can see the white of his armor even in the dim lighting. "You idiot!" I whisper hiss at him.
He stuns one of the idiots attempting to sneak up on me, though, and I swing around from the tree, taking out the other. I glance around and holster my blaster, running to Tech before my idiot brother falls face-first on the ground.
"Did you walk on that?!" I hiss, "Are you crazy?"
"Considering that you and Omega had gone into what was guaranteed to be a dangerous situation, we had little other choice."
I wince. "Sorry. Really. Just – thought we could pull this off." I pull his arm over my shoulder, trying to steady him. Didn't realize how heavy he was. I'm taller than Omega, but still tiny. Or maybe Tech is just huge. "We shouldn't have come here at all." I don't mean it pointedly, but still. Really.
"Hunter is on his way," Tech tells me, "He requested I transmit our coordinates."
"Good as a time as any," I grunt, knees shaking. Tech doesn't mention that I was shot, and now's not the best time to talk about it, anyway. It's still throbbing. Burning. Badly. I can still smell the smoke, and my eyes are stinging.
We make it to the cliff edge before I let go of Tech, crouching at the edge and shining my flashlight down. I can hear something shifting, and the door's still closed. What in the stars are they doing?
"'mega!" I shout. Nothing. I rock back, looking up at Tech. "The door's not open. They –" Oh, finally. It opens with a distant hiss, and they scramble out of the slowly sliding container, jumping onto the ledge below – well minus Omega's backpack, which we'll deal with later. I can't help letting out a sigh of relief.
Behind us, Romar arrives, saying he thought we could use some help. Which was nice, but he got here a bit too late. Still appreciate the sentiment, though.
"'mega!" I call again, "We'll be there in a moment, but –" The very annoying sound of an approaching gunship catches my ears. "Well, a few moments. There's reinforcements coming."
"Hold on!" Tech calls down to them.
"I'll get the guns," I offer.
"The shot must be precise to avoid hitting Omega or Echo," Tech argues.
"Then... I guess I'll get them." I throw the edge of the rope over the edge for them, and Romar ties the other side to the speeder to pull them up faster. Probably safer. We don't have much time.
Tech blows up the gunship right after it makes its first few shots, then spins around to take out two more approaching speeders. I try not to think hard about how those were regs, and probably just got killed. We've killed a lot of them, and I'm far from proud of it, but... it happens. Doesn't mean I feel good about it.
The explosion from behind us throws the speeder off-course, but I jump on, yanking back the bars before Echo and Omega can get smashed.
"See?" I call, waving when Tech pulls Omega up over the edge. "That would've been a beautiful way to die!"
"Noted," Echo grumbles.
There are more blaster shots from above as the Marauder finally approaches. "That would be our ride," Tech says, looking skyward.
The Marauder pulls even with us, and I can't remember the last time I've been so relieved to see Wrecker. He waves us aboard, and Echo jumps on.
"Hey, kid," Romar calls, tossing the toy to Omega. "Keep it. And remember what I said." She nods, and Tech helps her jump aboard. I go after, trying not to touch my injured arm, waiting and reaching back to Tech to help him up. Omega can still walk on her own two feet, thank you very much. Tech can't, and stairs must be even harder.
We stumble aboard, and Wrecker grabs Tech to keep him upright. I slam my hand over the button to shut the ramp. I'm so exhausted. The adrenaline is starting to wear off, sapping out my energy, which there is not time for right now.
Wrecker half carries Tech to one of the seats, dumping him in.
"I'll get the guns," I offer, but Wrecker grabs my shoulder before I can run off.
"I'll take care of it," he promises, climbing into the back.
Tech is situated, and Omega hovering nearby, so I move up front, sitting behind Hunter as he flies us out to safety.
Author's Note: Uh. I think Vision going down to get Omega while Echo covered makes more sense, but if Vision got shot onto a ten-foot drop like Echo was, being tiny and armor-less, no way would she have made it up, inside, and closing the container door over her before getting shot nearly lethally, so... ;_; It's probably a good thing he respected her opinion just that once.
~ Rivana Rita
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