Part 9 - Spoils of Ruins
Plot: It's been half a year since Omega found her little brothers and her and Echo have been raising them on the run. Tensions are slowly rising between her and Echo about their and the boy's future, reaching an all-time high when Cid sends them to Serenno.
Omega can't believe she thought the beach run was gonna be relaxing. Or safe.
It ends when them running away from a bunch of crabs as fast as they can, and she drags Echo out of the water when he faceplants.
Wrecker is dragging the crate, though they're being surrounded fast. "Tech, we need a pickup,now!" Omega yells over comms.
"On our way," Tech promises, but the ship still takes a few minutes to finally show up.
"Tech,where are you?!" Wrecker whines, shooting at the crabs that are rapidly closing in around them from all sides.
"He's coming," Hunter pants, firing a crab through its eye.
Omega's eyes narrow on the approachingMarauder. Except, what, in the stars, is – "Tech, why isCrosshairhanging off theship?!"
"It is... an unscheduled study break," Tech volunteers.
Omega rolls her eyes, pulling her energy bow string several more times at the crabs as the line comes down. With Crosshair sniping from up above, it's much faster and easier for cover. Wrecker hooks the crate onto the line, and they pile on top of it. Crosshair keeps firing with his ridiculously small rifle until the four of them pile inside and Omega slams the ramp shut.
She flops onto one of the seats, panting heavily. "That didn't go so well."
"I thought the beach was gonna be relaxing!" Wrecker wails.
Omega leans over, patting his back. "We'll get a break, I'm sure. Been working low for a long time." The kids aren't ready or made for this. She hates that it's the life they have to live. It's not fair to them.
"I can't believe youthrew me off the ship,' Crosshair gripes wheeling on Tech.
"It was entirely unintentional," he protests.
"You tried to feed me tocrabs!"
"I did not!"
"Yeah, you did!"
"It was anaccident."
"You through me off the ramp and I skinned my hands off on a cord because you tried to get me snapped in half by crab pincers," Crosshair snaps.
"Tech, what happened?" Omega asks over the bickering.
"He was attempting to bring in a fish we caught. Crabs were attacking the ship, and I had to take off before they damaged something of critical importance. I thought Crosshair was inside."
"I was literally mid disconnecting the line!" Crosshair snaps back.
"Nu-uh. Stop arguing, or I'll make you hold hands for an hour. I bet you'd like that."
Tech and Crosshair throw glances of genuine horror in each other's directions, then sit on opposite seats on the ship, almost identically cut curls flopping into their faces.Finally.
Hunter laughs. "Nice," he crows, "Now we know what to do. Now we know for future."
"Don't get your hopes up," Crosshair snarls.
Wrecker laughs, and Omega pats his shoulder again. "Come on. Let's get back to Ord Mantell."
w*
Cid is grumpy about their late return. Echo rolls his eyes about it, as does Omega – she always is. Not that she doesn't respect it. Well, once in a while.
She wants to send them on another mission, to Serenno and raid Dooku's war chest. Omega's all for it, but she doesn'tlike it. The Empire'sthere. "I don't want to take the kids into something like that," Omega objects.
"We'll be fine," Wrecker protests, "We always are!"
"Itcouldget us the credits we need to disappear," Hunter pipes up.
"It is possible," Tech agrees, "Which will mean we will require no further missions, or danger. At least after we find a place to live."
He does have a point. They all do. Omega sighs. "Alright. We'll go." The info is from a pirate, so she hopes it's not a bad idea.
Her attention is quickly eaten when Tech and Crosshairdon't stop arguing. "Alright, up," Omega orders, annoyed, grabbing their hands before someone cat hit the other, "Come with me." She drags them after her into the 'fresher, the door slamming behind them. Well, at least they won't have spectators or their brothers laughing and making this more uncomfortable.
She tries to remembering what Anakin always said when the boys fought. She never really had anyone tell her that before, and it's difficult to know what to say.
"Look," Omega finally settles on, "Crosshair, I know you're angry, but Tech was not intentionally trying to feed you to crabs. He pulled you out before we even made it back."
He crosses his arms across his tiny chest, scowling. "Yeah, cuz he knew you'd be mad."
"I'm not mad," Omega corrects, "Though I can't say I'm overly happy with leaving you two alone at the ship anymore. At least not for a while."
"He is being unreasonable," Tech grumbles.
"Heis your brother," Omega corrects, "You are brothers. You are family. The only family you've ever hand." She shoves their hands together. Crosshair looks like he's about to get it chopped off. Tech looks disgruntled, but grabs Crosshair's hand in his, anyway. "There," she orders, squeezing their hands together. "Hold hands. Tell him you love him."
Tech's lip's part for a moment. He stars at Crosshair. "What's love?"
"I hate you," Crosshair says sullenly.
Omega throws her head back with a groan. "Ughhh. You don't have to try to kill each other. You're brothers. You might fight, but you don't hate each other. You trust each other. You look out for each other, but there are going to be times we all put each other in danger unnecessarily. Andaccidentally." She looks pointedly at Crosshair.
He sighs loudly, finally actually grabbing Tech's hand. "Okay,okay. I love you. Sometimes. Once in a while. When you're not being stupid."
"I love you," Tech says, fully honestly without strings attached.
Well, she'd rather be loved by Tech than Crosshair.
"Much better." She pats their shoulders. "Now,pleaseremember that before you try to kill each other again."
Crosshair scowls sullenly at her back, and Omega breezes out of the 'fresher to hide from her little brothers. She freezes in the doorway at the sight of Hunter leaning against the door, typing on a datapad. He jumps when he sees her.
"He's taking notes," Crosshair answers, sliding past, "About how to raise a child."
Omega blinks. "Hunter, you're six years old. Why are you thinking about having a kid?"
He looks up at her sheepishly. "It never hurts to prepare, does it?"
"Yeah, I just think you'rewaytoo little to be worrying about this." Omega sighs. "I'm going up front. Call if you need me." She issotired.
No sooner does she get to her seat than she hears the clanking of Echo's metal feet following her.
"Being a mother is hard," she mumbles into her hands.
"Is that all you are?"
Omega lifts her head, blinking in confusion. "What?"
"I know how you feel about the kids," Echo tells her, "But there are others out there who need our help."
Omega blinks, lips parting.
"I know why you want agreed to this mission," he continues, "But we can do better things with Dooku's fortune thanhide, Omega. With what we're up against, we have to be prepared to fight. That means numbers and weapons."
Her heart flips, pounding in her throat. She remembers Hunter's panicked, hurt face after Daro. She can't face that again. It tookweeksfor her to be able to look her little brother in the eye again, knowing she could have avoided that entire mess if she'd actually listened to him and let someone stay with the ship.
They keep being hurt. She can't let that happen to him.
"They don't deserve that kind of life."
"Our lives are like this because of them," Echo argues, "Protecting them is the right thing to do, but we can't ignore everyone else who needs us. We've seen what the Empire is doing throughout the galaxy. We should be doing more."
Omega bites her lip. She knows he's right, but it still hurts, and the sting wells up deep and hot in her chest. She just wants to keep her brotherssafeand out of danger. She knows Echo understands that, but it's hard to remember. He struggles so much with the mission, and ever since they've started avoiding the Empire, he's gotten... darker.
He wants to fight.
Omega thinks she should talk to someone about it. Anakin would know what to do.She doesn't. He's known Echo even longer than she has, and he's a Jedi. He knows how to deal with anger. Omega really doesn't.
She just doesn't know what to do. The kids are her brothers. They're all that matter. All she cares about. She wants to help, but she just wants her brothers to besafe. How can that be a bad thing?
It feels more and more like she's losing Echo, that he's sliding away one bit at a time. He won't keep this, and he's the first brother she's ever had. The first of their squad.
She can't lose him.
*w*
The mission goes badly. Omega thought it would be fine at first. Echo is out creating a diversion, but when he sets off the explosives, it comes with the crates being shut right after she sent Wrecker off with the first small load.
The doors slam shut, leaving them in the dark interior of the container.
Crosshair gasps quietly, and Omega yanks her flashlight out, turning it on. "Tech, try to get the doors open," she requests, and her little brother plugs his datapad in, typing and trying to hack through.
"I can't," he replies, "It's externally sealed."
That's not good.
She doesn't want to comm Echo for help. Not when they've already been fighting so much, but it's that, or be carried away somewhere else. Captured. By the Empire. "Echo," she calls over her comm, "We could use a bit of help."
"On our way," he promises.
Silently, Omega prays that not be a bad decision. They desperately need help. There's really no other way out, unless Tech gets truly lucky and figures something out fast. They can't count on that, though. No, she needs another way out, which... "If Echo doesn't get here on time, we'll have to go into the main part of the vessel and steal an escape. Tech, can you get a read on that while we wait?"
Tech looks back at his datapad, typing rapidly.
"Echo, what's going on?" Hunter asks anxiously over comms, scanning the tiny, dark container again.
Omega's knuckles clench over her flashlight, but that's never going to do anything to save her. They need to get out. Come on, Echo,come on–
"Sorry," he pants over the comms, and that's thelastthing she needs to be hearing. "The Imps are closing on us. We're not going to make it."
Omega suppresses a scream. "Okay. We're gonna find another way out. Tech, what do you have?"
"If I cut through this hatch, we should be able to enter the ship," Tech replies.
"Are you sure it's the right one?" Hunter asks, side-eyeing his brother.
"If not, we will instantly be sucked out and perish," he answers way too calmly, plugging his dataport into it and hacking through the controls. "But I am seldom wrong."
"That is not as comforting as you might think," Crosshair hisses.
"The closest escape pod is five corridors away," Tech adds.
"That's good." Omega doesn't have time to worry about the chest, so hopefully the others managed to get that one crate somewhere safely. They just need tomove.
They get into the hall, predictably being cut off by a group of regs who walk in on them. Omega groans, dropping to one knee against the wall and firing stun bolts.
Hunter and Crosshair do the same behind her, covering for Tech as he works. They're cutting it close already.
Behind them, another group is coming. "Fall back," Omega warns, throwing a stun-grenade at the regs, falling back into the next hall and shooting out the controls. They don't have long.
"All the escape pods have been launched," Tech announces worriedly, "There must be an another way off the ship."
"Other than taking it over?" Hunter asks. "That's dangerous, even for us."
Omega's known to listen to Hunter by now. He'ssmart. She should've on Daro. They all nearly died there. But as for routs out, there – "This is a class four freighter," Omega replies, "We can use the cargo containers. They're equipped with reentry thrusters. They'll ignite before we hit the ground."
"Oh," Tech replies, blinking, "Ingenious. But we'll have be ejected before reaching the atmosphere."
"Noted," Omega scans the hall again. "Let's get back there. That's good. If we land with the container, we still have time to grab something if the Empire doesn't find us first." She doesn't need him to tell her that they hardly have any time for that. They have to move.
Tech plugs into the port again as they shut the doors, trying to get the ejection sequence working.
She feels the drop instantly, because it's practically weightlessly, and they're justfalling. Omega sprints to the back towards a divider, yanking it up and shooing her brothers beneath it. Crosshair crawls under it, grumbling a lot. Tech follows, and Omega hoists Hunter inside as the wall starts turning, crawling beneath it herself.
There's less to avoid back here than up front, though they'restill falling.
"Shouldn't the reentry boosters have fired by now?" Hunter yells over the crashing of crates. Or maybe it's just a straight up yell – if he's panicking, Omega is, too. This was aterribleidea.
"Yeah, theyshould've," Omega tells him.
"That is going to be a problem." Tech looks at her, wide-eyed. He's scared, too, which is bad.
"We're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna die," Crosshair starts chanting.
That isnot helping. "We're gonna be fine!" Omega yells over him, gritting her teeth, heart pounding in her chest, dizzy and lightheaded. She hates falls. Daro did not help. That wasterrifying. "We're gonna –"
The crate jerks, flinging all of them to the ground. Omega yelps, trying to catch herself, but her palms smack the floor, nearly tripping into Hunter, who's still at her side. He squeaks quietly, scrambling upright and flinging his hair from his face. It's still too long. He really needs something to keep it out of his face.
She'd tell him that if she weren't fairly certain he'd bite.
"See?" Omega asks pointedly, "Told you so."
"We're not on the ground yet," Crosshair grumbles, arms crossed, gray curls flopping into his face.
"Other than not being able to steer or control where we land, I would say this is going well," Tech chirps.
"See?" Omega asks pointedly, "I told you. We'refine."
"Famous last words."
"Would you stop arguing?" Hunter queries, irritated. Omega sympathizes so badly. She and Echo may fight, but it isneverto the extent of her brothers. Or... at least it's in different ways. She would rather not think about their most recent argument.
"Omega?" Echo's voice rings over comms, right on cue. "Did you get off the ship?"
"Yeah. We're crashing towards the ground... somewhere. I'll get the coordinates inbound. Can you give us a pickup?"
"Sure. Wait.Crashing? Are you alright?" He sounds genuinely worried. After... earlier, she thinks she needed to hear that.
"Right now, yeah. Call you later?"
"Sure."
They hit the ground again, some minutes later of waiting. Hopefully they'll land on mostly even ground.
Thankfully, when they hit the ground, aside from the violent jolt that nearly sends everyone tumbling once again, they're fine.
There are sighs of relief all around, and Omega lets out a softwhew, lifting the divider and crawling out. "That was a close one."
"The Empire's gonna be looking for us," Hunter adds as he ducks from beneath the divider himself. "We need to get out of here and keep cover until Echo can get here to pull us out."
How is it that he always knows what to do whenOmega doesn't? She's never going to know the answer to that. "Not a bad idea. Come on, let's scout a way out and see if there's something we can grab qui –" The floor shifts beneath her feet, and Omega freezes, raising her hands and gesturing to them to freeze.
"I think something's wrong," Hunter speaks up the same time. "We're... not on the ground?"
They landed at the edge of a cliff,that'swhy, and there are very heavy crushing crateseverywherein here. "Run!" Omega yells, shoving Crosshair forwards when he stands andstares, sprinting for the front of the container as fast as she can.
From there, it's a blur. Crates and vases are crashing, among other odds and ends that she doesn't recognize. The floor turns into the wall, and she's sliding down it, trying to fide something to brace herself. Hunter has his knife in the floor, teeth gritted, basically hanging from it for dear life.
Crosshair shrieks somewhere below her, but he has the agility of a cat, and Omega desperately hopes he'll be fine.
They hit the ground with a jolt, and she's flung backwards, rolling over atop a crate pile and flipping aside as another one hurdles down towards her, barely avoiding being crushed.
There are three of them in here, and she can't keep watch of all of them when she's nearly dying on repeat herself.
She has no idea what she's doing.
A year and a half, and she's more lost than she was on day one.
There's another crash, cutting short a quiet cry from Tech.
She inhales sharply, yelling her brother's name and scrambling off her perch, jumping to the ground.
Tech fell off of something and landed farther down to avoid being crushed. He's wincing visibly, but the container is too dark to see him.
Hunter beats her, somehow, leaning over him. "Are you okay?"
Tech groans softly. "I landed badly. I think I fractured something."
Omega crouches in front of him, taking his hand to gently lift him to his feet. Tech groans softly. It makes her heart ache sharply. She should've kept him safe. She hasliterally one job, and she can't even start doing that right. Cut told her this would be hard. She really hadn't believed him. "It's okay. We'll get back to theMarauder, and Echo will take care of it."
If he broke his leg – or his ankle – she's not letting him walk. Even if he is about six now, and is going to be really heavy after a while of carrying, Omega leans down and gently lifts him into her arms. It strains a little, but she rebalances him and climbs for the doorway.
It's notthatbad.
Tech doesn't mind snuggling. He just never initiates it, but when she carries him, he leans his head on her pauldron, snuggling close.
He's adorable. Even if she often doesn't understand how his mind works, or why he does the things he does. Tech's mind works differently. She realized that long ago.
*w*
They're on a ledge on a mountain, which means they still have to climb all the way up that they fell. Which isfar. Omega takes Crosshair up first, so he and Tech don't kill each other in the absence. Considering how they've been lately, well...
Hunter is the one who helps Tech over the edge when they finish pulling him up. He doesn't look good – face tensed with pain and way too pale.
"I'll go back in to get some of the war chest," Omega says.
"The Empire will be here any minute," Hunter warns, "We have to get out of sight. What if they come while you're gone?"
Echo will be upset if they don't get it, and that's what's been driving her all along. But Hunter's right. If the Empire comes and she goes back down there, there will be no one to protect her brothers. And Tech needs to be looked after, pain meds,something. "Alright," she decides, sagging, "Let's go." She's mid reaching for Tech again when her comm beeps.
"Havoc-2." Echo. "Plan Double Zero."
Speaking of problems. "Copy," she answers shortly, lowering her hand from her helmet. "Great. Alright, we gotta go."
"Double-zero?" Crosshair asks, looking up at her.
"It means we're being monitored," Hunter tells him.
"Which meansweneed to move." She lifts Tech again, heading for the trees.
"Wait," Hunter calls in a whisper, drawing his blaster, "We're being followed."
Already? In the name of the Force, can shepleaseget somesleep?
Omega sewars she is not usually this cranky, but today has been a very,verybad day.
"Don't move," Crosshair hisses, attempting to threateningly wave his gigantic rifle at the observer.
"I'm not," the man replies, hands raised. He's... fairly old, and his hair is white. He looks worn, probably through many years of hardship.
"Who are you?" Hunter asks, moving forwards, "And why are you here?"
"I live here. The name's Romar."
"So, you're Imp? Or Seppie?" Crosshair asks.
"He means Imperial," Omega translates dryly.
"Me?Aren'tyouworking for the Empire?" the man repeats.
"Of course not," Hunter argues, shaking his head. "Is there somewhere we can take shelter? My brother's hurt. He needs to be looked after."
"Well, it's a little hard to think with you pointing blasters at me," Romar replies.
"They're only set to stun," Omega replies, "I wasn't gonna give my brother's live rounds. They're just kids."
Crosshair glowers up at her.
"See? That's why." She'd ruffle his hair, except that she needs both arms to hold Tech. He's pretty heavy, and she's not as strong as Echo. "Anyway. Put your weapons away. We don't need 'em right now."
Hunter holsters his blaster and sheathes his knife – actuallywhendid he get his knife out? She didn't notice. Crosshair grudgingly lowers his rifle. It's a miracle he's managed to keep the giant weapon mostly in one piece his whole life since Bracca. He's still basically a feral kitten. Omega will never see him any other way.
"Much appreciated, but sorry to say there's no shelter around these parts," Romar says.
"I'm registering a heat source 200 meters west of here," Tech speaks up, typing on his datapad, even if he's still curled in Omega's arms. "I suspect it is your domicile."
"How did you do that?" the man inquires, alarmed.
"Scan it?" Tech asks, "I modified the scanner so it could scan any heat signatures in the nearby areas."
"Can you help us?" Omega asks, finally caving, "My brother's hurt. We need help."
"If you're not working for the Empire, who are you?" Romar inquires.
Omega hesitates to tell him the truth. "We're... mercenaries. Displaced after the Empire took over. I had to find work in other ways to take care of my brothers." Telling him that he's a clone will probably only make their situation even more perilous. He's a Separatist. He won't take kindly to that knowledge.
"Don't you have parents?"
"No," Crosshair snaps shortly.
"Gone," Omega answers, which is a lie, but she doesn't have to tell him the truth, either. "Thanks for helping. We really need it."
*w*
The time with Romar offers many pieces of knowledge that Omega didn't realize. She scouts out once for the Empire, but they're still clear. Tech helps repair a drive of Serennian history. Romar is one of the people who fled the destruction of their capital when the Empire attacked the world.
Dooku was also pillaginghis own world. Omega had no idea. She thought Dooku was just hurting other worlds, but he's even hated by his own people.
The Separatists didn't all agree with what their leader was doing. She doesn't know how that makes her feel, but it has her wondering how many people already resent the Empire for doing even worse. There were very, very few worlds damaged as much as Serenno, and Echo's not wrong. They do need to do more against the Empire.
Her brother contacts her for their coordinates, which Omega sends through, and they get to the ship right as the Empire is arriving. They board, pausing for a brief goodbye with Romar, who gives the boys some sort of toy that he gave to keep Tech temporarily distracted. He's not in good shape.
Hunter runs up to help Echo fly out while Omega sets to looking over Tech's leg. He fractured it, though it's not as bad as she originally thought. He'd jumped too long a distance, and it broke one of the bones in his lower, left leg. It's bruised, and looks very unpleasant.
She gives him a bacta injection and wraps it, with strict orders tostay off his leg. She or Echo is going to have to carry him around for at least a week. Which is complicated.
She takes Tech up to the gunner's mount to settle him down, and Crosshair,surprisingly, climbs up to sit beside him, holding his hand. Omega smiles a little as she watches them, finally peaceful and not squabbling.
"You okay?" she asks Wrecker, turning to her other little brother, whom she hasn't seen in a while.
"Aw, yeah," he agrees brightly, smiling up at her. "That was fun!"
Omega thinks that's a believable affirmative, though with Wrecker, it's hard to say. Sometimes, he can and will act as though his injures...aren'tinjuries. It can be worrying. "That's good," she replies, patting his shoulder and heading up front, even if the last thing in the world she wants is a talk with her older brother.
"I'm sorry we lost the war chest," she says softly, sliding into the co-pilot seat.
Echo glances at her briefly, sighing. "It's okay. We'll manage without."
"But you werecountingon it," she objects.
"We all were," Echo shrugs. "But Tech got hurt, and I think that means we need a break."
"We could use a break," Omega agrees, "All of this is getting... You know, you're right. I have lost sight of what it means to be a soldier, of the war we're still fighting against the Empire, but I just want something different."
"I know. And you're right, too. Maybe they'll be soldiers someday, but right now, they're just kids. And they need someone to take care of them."
"I never realized how much of a normal childhood we were missing," Omega confesses, "I want them to get that for a little while. I want them to be normal. They shouldn'thaveto fight if they don't want to." It was trying to get the war chest that got Tech injured, and... Hunter's been twitchy about fightingso much.
She's seen them all hurt over and over because they can't settle down. They just need... somewhere. It's starting to feel like she's longing for a place that simply doesn't exist.
"We did the right thing when we took them in," Echo promises, "And we are, too, by keeping them safe."
Omega smiles at him, strained but sincere, and it feels like the most real smile they've shared with each other in... a long time.
(But of course, there's a little part of her that knows it won't always last.)
Final Notes: Reviews are always appreciated! -
Come hang out on Discord (delete spaces), discord . gg / nqSxuz2 or find us on tumblr at fanfictasia (our more serious blog which does have controversial posts on it; I won't be offended if you choose to block it, promise), and disastertriowriting (which is our fun blog with crack posts or incorrect SW quotes)
We've got a YT channel for tributes! (delete the spaces) youtube channel / UC_g1M5rSCxJUzQCRS29B6pA