Chapter 39 - Your Hands Will Never Fail Me (2:10-11)
I groan, sprinting after, jumping onto the ladder and grabbing the side, sliding down back into the sweltering heat below. "Hey! I'm not that scary!"
"Get the engines online," Hunter yells over his shoulder and sprints after me.
Not that we make it far.
I follow them down a few levels, down a hall, and skid to a stop through a doorway, back in the same room as before. Dead end. Typical. The heat slaps my face, searing against my skin. I brush my hair back at my helm, eyes narrowing as I scan the area again. There are droids approaching. And Mokko himself, no doubt. Figures. I knew Benni betrayed us. Didn't quite expect it to be so fast, though. Ugh.
Hunter huffs a sigh. "We lost our spies," he warns into his comm. "And they called in backup."
I shrug, crackling my knuckles. "Not a problem for me. They wanna beat someone up? I'm happy."
I really hate these people, though the darkness in the air is smothering. I haven't Seen something so oppressive since we were on Coruscant, the heart of the Empire. And it's oppression, I'm sure. So... dark. There are so many people in pain there.
"It appears we have uninvited guests. Care to show yourselves?" Mokko asks mockingly.
"Yes," I snap, jolting forwards, though Hunter grabs my shoulder, pulling me back. "What?"
"He doesn't know about us yet. Stay hidden." I groan, but carefully draw my blaster. I'd like a way to just jump 'em, but they're on a level below me. And are pretty far away. I could use some Seeing, but... maybe not. Echo and all my brothers insist I can be useful in other ways. Maybe it's time I give that a chance, think about using my skill in... other ways?
The door swings open, Wrecker and Tech breezing through, blasters pointed at the droids on the same level, right ahead.
"So, you think you can come here and steal from me?" Mokko asks, waving his massive arms.
"Steal?" I whisper-hiss. "Is this guy kidding?"
"Technically, this ship belongs to us," Tech replies, equally feral. Sweet. Tech rarely gets feral, but when he does, you know you screwed it.
"Not anymore! And I'd rethink the blasters." He laughs mockingly in a way that makes me want to bash his face in. "One stray shot, and we're all done for."
"We don't miss," Wrecker snarls back.
He laughs again. "I believe you, but I think you'll reconsider." A door up above opens, and Omega's yell has my head snapping upwards. One of the droids is dragging her up to the edge of another walkway, where something must've broken it in half once. She's just... dangling there, struggling as the droid drags her to the edge.
Hunter's eyes widen.
I don't know if I'm more terrified or straight up furious.
"Lower your weapons, or she goes over!"
I tighten my grip on my blaster. "Grappling hook?" I suggest, teeth gritted, "You get Omega, I'll get Mokko." An' I'm gonna make this personal.
Hunter nods to me, drawing his grappling hook from his belt, fixing it onto his blaster end. I raise my blaster in a double-handed grip. I usually shoot left, but I trained with these enough to know how they work. I miss my bow. And Crosshair's rifle.
"Just wait," Hunter orders, "We kill him now, they'll all turn on us."
"I don't care."
"Trespassing and attempted theft. Ten years in the mines seems like a reasonable punishment, if you survive that long," Mokko is blabbering in the background, motioning dramatically. "Take them below."
The door behind Mokko opens, and Benni sprints inside. Him again? "Stop!"
"Not now, kid. I'm busy." I raise an eyebrow. Wow. That is so rude.
"You lied to us, Mokko. The ipsium's not degrading!" Benni shouts. "You've been cutting us out and keeping the profits for yourself!"
"That's a lie. Don't listen to him!"
I roll my eyes at Mokko's stupidity. As if anyone would believe that claim anymore? "Looks like they're the ones turning on him."
"It seems like his greed is catching up with him," Hunter agrees, "I knew something wasn't right. The conditions of these kids here are... bad. Only a corrupt person would do this."
"You never cared about us at all. And I have the proof right here." Benni waves the datapad, and another worker comes up, snatching it from him.
"What's going on, Mokko?" he demands, stacking forwards after scanning the data, "We toil down in the mines while you enjoy the spoils?" Well... can't say I didn't expect that.
"I was taking my share! None of you would've survived without me! Don't forget that. Throw her over!" Mokko orders with a wave of his hand. Fall, like Tech. Gone, like Crosshair. The droid tries to go for it, but Omega grabs its arm, pulling it off with her as Hunter fires the grappling hook. He's got that covered. I just got Mokko to focus on.
"No one's going to take what belongs to me. Take care of all of them!" Wrecker and Tech fire, dropping the two droids right on his either side right where they stand. I close an eye, finally closing both and just... See. Because I See everything, all the people here, everything.
The flickering, light and dark, colors blurring together. And I see the dark black that is Mokko, aim for his chest, and fire. Heart is easier to hit than head, in case I miss. He falls, toppling backwards towards the rail, catching the edge with his cane. Benni tries to grab him, but Mokko just tries to pull him over the edge. I holster my blaster, back up and jump over the edge. I push the few kids in the way aside, kicking the object off the rail. Mokko falls with a scream. I watch, not smug, but still satisfied as he crashes down towards the depths of the ipsium below.
Just like he was gonna do to Omega.
"Yeah," I mutter, looking over the edge. "You shouldn't have crossed me, either."
**w**
The kids bring our stuff back, and I sprint up to Gonky, crouching to hug him instantly. The droid honks, rubbing against me. "I'm glad you're safe," I tell him, glancing over my shoulder as Benni arrives with what's allegedly the last cart. I inhale sharply when I see Crosshair's weapon's kit, sprinting to its side even if seeing it again tightens my throat sharply.
Wrecker comes up to hug Gonky and Lula as I fish her out from the mess. She looks ridiculous, and I hug her and Sophie before taking an armful of our mess up to the Marauder. We got quite a way to go.
Wrecker takes Crosshair's weapons and armor back inside without a word, without even asking. He doesn't have to ask, because Crosshair's still a part of us. I dare to go up and touch it, brief and fleeting, and the vividness of the image that flickers in my mind, of my brother in his armor, repainted, feels too real to be imagined.
"Do you think he's ever going to come back?" I ask over the screech of me pushing them against the wall.
Wrecker freezes, shoulders slumping. "I dunno," he confesses, "I guess I wanna see him again. I just... don't think he'd..."
I want him to be back. We all do. Though I don't know how to deal with everything he's done to us. I'm starting to see... how what I Saw was real. And if we go, Tech is going to die. I don't... I can't rely on my abilities to save him.
I'm not trading lives.
It doesn't matter what Crosshair means to me. I'm not going to trade Tech for him. I'm not going to be responsible for that. But – but Crosshair needs our help. I can't ignore him a second time. Maybe it's not all my fault he's gone, but I still have to fix what part of it was. I have to give him a chance. There has to be another way.
And to think we wouldn't even be here if I'd actually acted on my last dreams. I have to do this right. For just once in my life.
Tech had told me, once, that Crosshair left us, so he wasn't our responsibility any longer. I know he said that once. I don't think he believes that. He was just... brooding. And trying to make me feel better. Or worse, I don't even know.
I just need...
Cuz nothing's gonna stop me from helping Crosshair. Not when he needs me. It's... it's not like he didn't do the same for me.
**w**
After how Cid abandoned us, I'd think she'd be a bit keener on picking up. Nope. That's too much to ask, apparently, but heeeeere we are. "Not sure what's got you all twisted up in knots," she actually has the audacity to say.
"We were stranded on that planet, Cid. We needed you, and you left us," Omega accuses, crossing her arms over her chest. Just like the Empire did to Crosshair.
"You're fine now, aren't you? And you got your ship back."
"Yeah, and we really have you to thank for that, don't we?" I scoff, waving a hand from where my arms are crossed over my chest. "You're welcome."
"Do you wanna mope or make money?" she huffs, making stupid county motions with her claws, like that's supposed to comfort anyone. "Because I got a tip on a downed ship, which means cargo ripe for the taking. I'll even give you 30% of the cut."
"That is our standard percentage," Tech replies flatly.
"All right. This one time, let's say 35%." I roll my eyes to her irritating face. A few straggly credits aren't gonna help when she nearly got us killed. Just like the Empire did with Crosshair. I thought she was our friend. Wrecker is seriously starting to nod behind me, but the rest of us just stare at her, scowling, arms crossed, even Tech. "Okay, 40." No one reacts. Wrecker catches Hunter's non-relenting gaze, and crosses his arms again. "Fine, 50% as a token of my goodwill, that you seem to have forgotten," she growls, hands on her hips. "I'm sending you the intel now. Don't come back unless you scavenge something valuable."
If that' isn't blackmail. That lizard.
"What makes you think we'd come back at all?" Hunter asks bluntly, raising a hand.
"Don't test me, Bandana," she snaps irritably, "Just get it done."
"Someone's in a mood," I throw back as she cuts the connection. I scowl at the disappearing hologram. Yeah, we're in a tight spot. I get that. She's gonna sell us out if we're not careful. Greaaaaaaaat friend. "I knew we shouldn't trust her."
Omega sighs beside me, shuffling and scuffing her feet on the floor. "I really wanted to think she was our friend," she mumbles.
Yeah. I know. Because Omega always wants to see good in people, even when it's not there. Which is nice. But it's not real, and it's gonna get us all killed.
"Severing ties with Cid could be problematic, considering what she knows about us," Tech warns, handing his datapad over to our older brother. "Perhaps we choose a diplomatic solution and complete this one last mission for her."
"Doesn't really sound like we're getting a choice, is it?" I huff. "We gotta do it. Or at least try." But what if this is the mission where –
No.
That's not until Crosshair calls us for help. And somehow, I gotta find a really creative way to make sure we don't go to help him.
"I had the feeling we weren't gonna go back to that parlor," I mutter, looking around, "At least not for a while. I'm gonna miss AZI."
"Cid only sent coordinates. No ship transponder code or indication of what caused it to crash," Hunter muses, scrolling on Tech's datapad that's displaying whatever stupid info Cid's given us.
"Limited intel. Huh. There's a surprise," Wrecker mutters sarcastically.
"How hard could scavenging cargo be?" Omega shrugs, between nibbling on her ration bar.
Hunter sighs.
"That depends what made the ship crash. Or if there's even a ship left to scavenge," I point out, sliding onto the seat across from Wrecker. We've got a high chance of turning blanks. Not that I can even care right now. We do need to eat and stuff, but I've got other priorities – hafta let my brothers take care of that for a while.
"Kid's right," Hunter sighs, "This could be dangerous. Do you See anything?"
I try to close my eyes, but all I see is echoes of snow and screams and whipping wind. "Nope!" really should stop lying. Hunter's eyes narrow on me, but he says nothing. Doesn't call me out, doesn't anythin' – I love him. When someone corners me, I dunno what I'm going to say.
I already know what they're going to do. My visions, well – they always happen. But that's not gonna stop me from trying to stop 'em. I am not letting Tech die. Or get hurt, I don't care. I'm not sitting back. He's my brother. He would never do that to me. They all risked their lives to come back to Kamino for me, and I have to make up for that somehow.
"Okay. Considering her obvious warning, I guess we'll have to check it out," Hunter replies, "Tech, better set course."
"I have my concerns about it as well," Tech agrees, "But I believe if we terminate our... relationship on good terms, we have less likelihood of being sold out to the Empire. Cid knows everything about us. She could easily lur them in if that is what she desires."
Omega bites her lip. "Do you really think Cid would do that?"
"Hard to say," Hunter answers over my "yes".
My sister sighs, shuffling towards the back of the ship as we set course for the next mission, despite the heavy reservations across the ship. Wrecker's grumbling something about not thinking this is a good idea, which blows my mind, because he's never one for broodiness. Complaints, sure, but not the 'I think our employer is evil' kind of complaints.
Was Crosshair like this? Did he also just not want to see the truth right in front of him? Not so unlike me on Bracca.
The others are talking, so I slowly slide from my chair and head to the back to check on Omega. She's brooding, which is also unusual. Guess Cid shook up a lot in all of us.
Omega was friends with her. I guess down sides to being friends with a bunch of people is that some inevitably betray you. Maybe I'm lucky in that way. This isn't so personal. Not for me. Not like it is for her.
But what? Would she really want me to be the one to talk to her? Let's not forget Bracca. I hate how I get twitchy in the dark sometimes. It's been months. Not like we all don't deserve it.
Does Wrecker ever feel like this? Does he ever look at Hunter and just wonder? I do remember, fleeting moments of that moment I skidded into the hall to see him.
But I climb the ladder and hop into the gunner's mount, anyway, sitting sideways at the edge, legs dangling off. Omega's slumped against the wall, holding Lula, studying the doll's face. "I really thought we could trust Cid," she sighs.
I shrug one shoulder. "Yeah, we all did." My fingers tap idly on my thigh, and I idly reach over with my other hand, grabbing Sophie and flipping him over. Maybe I should paint him sometime.
"After seeing what we did with Mokko, I think I understand why Echo left," she says finally. "There are so many in the galaxy like him. I just thought Cid was different."
"Sometimes I think what we wanna see and what really is about people we know gets real skewed."
"I just wish we could have gone that path with him."
What about Crosshair, I want to ask. Would you have gone with him, too? But I know the answer, because I know what he means to her. What he meant to her, what all of her brothers mean to her, and how badly I know she wants our family to be back together. Not as though we've ever been truly together. And I can't talk about Crosshair right now. "We are where we need to be," I shrug instead, because I've seen what will happen if we go after the Empire. And I can't let that happen.
Will he die?
Is there a way to stop it?
Can I stop my visions? I never have. Maybe that's not what it's about and I'm looking at it wrong.
Focus. Mokko.
"And you know we can't help everybody."
"I just think we should be doing more," Omega admits. "I don't know what we could do against the Empire, but there's so many people everywhere who need help. I just don't want to leave them."
Yeah. Those are the same reservations I have. But my choice has always been the same. Because I will not fight Crosshair. Regardless of what he's done to us. But if he's not Imperial, then what? I don't have any excuse to hide from, except... except that I'm scared.
"And leaving Kamino, it's different than I thought it'd be. I'm glad we're gone, but there's so many things different now. I miss how things... were." She sets Lula down in her lap, arms hugging herself. "I miss Kamino."
"Yeah," I offer softly. "Me too. I hated that lab."
"We can leave Cid, but now we don't even have anywhere to go. I know Hunter will find somewhere, but we don't even have a home right now. Not since Kamino and other than the Marauder. Any home we can have, we can lose so easily."
I'm starting to think loss is easier than life. Easier than anything. Whatever you have is always sucked into oblivion, by nothing, to nowhere. 'cuz there's always an end. I won't let there be one for each other. "We... can't fight the Empire. The more we do, the more attention we draw, the more danger there is. And if we keep going like this, we're not always going to make it out."
"What?" Omega breathes, twitching. "Don't say that! We're gonna be fine."
Not if... "Yeah," I mutter instead. "We'll be fine. There's just a chance that someday..."
"We're gonna be fine," she promises, repeating Tech's words from yesterday. "We'll figure this out."
"I hope so." I flip Sophie over again. He looks ridiculous balanced on the floor with his nose and uh... whatever the back of a battle droid's head is called. Tech never told me. Hair, maybe? Mechanical hair. Eew.
"Tech says there are other people who try to help, too," Omega adds, "I guess I've just rarely seen them. There is Hera and her family, of course, and Rafa and Trace were nice, and Senator Chuchi, but... we see it so rarely. What if that's not enough? What if there aren't anyone else?"
I look down at the droid, a distant image flickering in my head, a sky bright and cloudless, a field stretching and grassy, a figure working beneath the sun. Someone. A voice I know. And then I remember Anakin, and how he saved us, Imperial or no. We could have died there. "There are," I promise, a smile curving on my lips. "I know there are."
I slide down the ladder again, heading back up front. Hunter throws me a curious look, but I say nothing, and neither does he.
**w**
I'm leaning against the wall by the door, waiting as we touch down. Omega gasps softly from the gunner's mount. "There's a village here," she calls down.
"That would explain how the wreckage was reported so quickly," Tech replies from the computer down below. Wrecker wonders past me and slouches in the chair beside me, waiting. "The crashed vessel appears mostly intact. The cargo aboard should be in fair enough condition to transport."
"Did Cid ever point out the fact that, actually, this cargo might not be cargo we wanna transport?" I ask flatly.
"Nah. It's not her problem," Wrecker grumbles.
True. Sure isn't. Just ours. I really, really hate her. I thought she was a friend, too. "Cuz if we get there, and there's not anything to bring back, we're gonna have a problem."
I glance up front. Hunter's landing the ship cycle. "Come on," he says, pulling a flashlight from his belt.
"Viz. Here," 'mega calls, tossing my helmet to me. I take it with a nod and pull it on, shifting aside to let the others pass. Hunter goes first, Omega right behind. I linger in the back with Wrecker, stepping off the metal into the grass. It's a bit of an odd color. Either it's fall, or this world has different colors. It's yellowish instead of green. It's weird.
Tech is typing on his datapad as we start walking. He and Hunter lead us forward towards the ship. I pause in the back to look around. Energy is prickling on my spine. "Something's... wrong," I murmur, shuffling forwards. It's just... there. Lingering. Oppressive. Whispering. Not the alluring call of that kyber crystal. This is something... wrong. In my head, I swear I can hear something growling. "Are there any wild animals here?"
"None dangerous in this area of the planet," Tech replies, "Only two types of snakes that are not lethal, and some small wildcats."
"I'm not afraid of a couple snakes or kittens," I whine, "I just think something's about to attack us. Stay alert."
"What kind of ship is this?" Wrecker asks when we finally walk up to the shuttle in question, lying deadly on the ground. It really doesn't look good. Why is there no one nearby it?
"Don't know. No hull markings," Hunter answers, shining his flashlight at it.
"Based on the severity of the impact and the lack of communication signals, the crew aboard most likely perished," Tech adds, typing rapidly on his datapad.
"We don't know for sure. They could be trapped inside," Omega objects, "Come on."
Wrecker has to pry the door open, and Hunter carefully, slowly steps inside. Omega circles the side to enter the dark hall next to him. Tech follows, and Wrecker and I step in last. I pause in the hall, slowly reaching out and ghosting my hand across the ship's cold metal surface. Images flicker in my head as I reach out, trying to touch the metal and Look.
It sucks me in with a blurring flash.
The world is white and I trip against the car's side, bracing myself. The floor shudders beneath my feet. The world is shuddering, clouds floating past us, high off the ground. Too high. Fun jump, sure, not so much for Tech.
"I am climbing as fast as I can!" Tech calls irritably, maybe a little panicked, too. Tech is scared. Tech is never scared.
"A bit faster, please," another voice calls.
I start raising my wrist, and Hunter bats my arm down. "You can't comm, or they'll track our signal," he warns.
I don't even care about that right now. Tech's dangling about two thousand feet over the ground.
Everything flickers, and I'm still at the edge, looking down, braced on the wall. "You must sever the connection hinge!"
"Not until you're up here!" Wrecker yells back down.
"There is no time, Wrecker." Far, far below, Tech draws his blaster.
"Don't you do it, Tech!" Wrecker yells.
Tech sighs, blaster raising. "When have we ever followed orders?" Something flickers again, like a dying hologram, static crackling, voices blurring, and then he pulls the trigger. Someone's hand yanks me back from the edge. There's a blur of something blue.
And then I'm falling, tripping into the wall of a darkened hall, hearing the roar of fighters overhead, the ground shuddering. Something's burning. Everything's burning. "Door's just ahead," Omega pants.
Ships streak above in the sky. The Marauder is spinning between them, shooting. Hunter must be flying. The ship behind us explodes, the world streaking into golden-orange flames.
I slide down the wall, sinking into Wrecker's arms as his hands lift me, wrapping around me gently and guiding me to the floor. I groan, forehead leaning against his shoulder. Tech – no thinking about that right now.
"The Empire's about to show up," I warn instead, trying to hoist myself to my feet. "Whatever we're here for, we better get it and go, fast."
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