Chapter Text
Then
“After discovering Crosshair’s clone number on the transfer register,” Tech said grimly, typing viciously at his datapad, “I checked our old comm channels and found a recent distress message sent from Crosshair’s old code.”
“What did it say?” Omega asked trepidly.
Wordlessly, Tech leaned over to press a button on the console.
Immediately, loud and heavy panting filled the room.
“Plan… 88,” Crosshair’s voice croaked over the comm. Omega’s eyes widened at how horrible he sounded. In the background, she heard a strange hissing sound. “You need to hide. They’re after Omega. I know we haven’t… always seen eye to eye. But you have to listen to me.”
He cut off with cough and they all cringed as his hacking coughs turned into choking gasps. There was some scrambling before the distinctive thud of a body collapsing to the floor rang through the comm.
They all listened as Crosshair’s gasping and pained groaning filled the room before another voice was picked up by the comm as though from a distance.
“Hmm… having trouble processing the toxin? It’s my own special formula.”
Echo flashed Hunter a hand signal, and Omega looked up at him in time to see him mouth ‘Hemlock?’ Hunter didn’t respond, but his hand clenched to a tight fist at his side.
“One I’ve built an immunity to. You, however, have not.”
Crosshair groaned quietly one more time before falling silent.
“Take him back to his cell,” the voice - Hemlock - said to whoever was with him. “Clearly, I have been too generous with him. We may need to resort to more drastic–”
The transmission cut off before he could finish, plunging the Marauder into deafening silence.
“Plan 88 - the seeker,” Tech repeated. “We are being targeted and he was trying to warn us.”
“So… what do we do?” Wrecker asked.
“We have to help him!” Omega said immediately.
She looked around at the others, expecting to see a similar level of enthusiasm, but quieted as the other four all shared silent glances.
“It could be a trap,” Hunter said, though he didn’t sound convinced.
“He told us to hide,” Echo pointed out. “Not sure how that could be a trick.”
“We are going to help him,” Omega cut in, surprised by the lack of concern. “Right?”
Wrecker shifted on his feet awkwardly and Hunter looked discomfited.
“It… sounds like Crosshair risked a lot to send us this message,” Hunter said haltingly.
“He sounded scared,” Wrecker added. “Crosshair never sounds scared.”
“All the more reason to help him!” Omega said. “The Empire is hurting him!”
“Crosshair is a lot of things, but he’s not stupid,” Echo cut in. “He wouldn’t risk himself like that unless he believed it was worth it. It sounds like he’s concerned about what they’re going to do to Omega if they find her.”
“But what about what they’re doing to him?” Omega asked. “Even with everything he’s done, he doesn’t deserve that. No one does.”
“Omega, this Hemlock seems dangerous,” Hunter said firmly. “Whatever it is he’s doing, it cannot be good. ‘Unethical and unorthodox experiments’? I just don’t think we should rush headfirst into this. Especially if he’s looking for you.”
Omega looked at Echo and Wrecker, but saw the same pained resolve reflected in their eyes.
She turned to Tech, who so far had remained silent, staring down at his datapad in thought.
“What about you, Tech?” She asked. “What do you think we should do?”
Tech was silent for a moment before looking up at her.
“I think… we have many plans focused on extraction,” Tech said slowly. “Yet, Crosshair mentioned none of them. Like Echo said, Crosshair is not stupid. He also says exactly what he intends. If he intended for us to rescue him, if he thought we would have a chance, he would have said so. He did not even mention where he is — he only ever intended to warn us.”
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” Omega said, throwing her hands up. “Crosshair is your twin. He is our brother. We can’t just abandon him!”
“We won’t be,” Echo reassured her, placing his flesh hand on her shoulder. “With this information, Rex and I can try to find out more about Hemlock, maybe find his lab. If we can do that, we’ll find Crosshair, too.”
“Right,” Hunter nodded at Echo gratefully. “We aren’t going to ignore Crosshair. But… I don’t like the sound of this Hemlock. And if Crosshair thinks this guy is dangerous enough to risk trying to warn us, then I think we should do our best to keep you as far from him as possible.”
The others nodded in agreement and Omega looked around the room, shoulders dropping.
“So that’s it?” She asked quietly. “We’re just going to do nothing?”
“We won’t be doing nothing,” Echo said, kneeling down in front of her and squeezing her shoulder. “We’re just playing it safe.”
Omega frowned, but nodded. She looked at the security footage of Hemlock frozen on the screen. Something about him was unnerving, like if she looked into his eyes in the image, he’d be able to look right back at her.
On the one hand she understood what the others were saying. They knew already that the Empire was not something to be taken lightly, that they weren’t to be underestimated. But on the other hand, how could she live with herself, sitting happy and safe on Pabu while Crosshair and who knew how many others were being tormented every day by some mad imperial scientist.
Because if even Crosshair was scared enough of Hemlock to send them a warning, what was Hemlock doing to those poor clones he was taking from the Empire?
And what did he want with her?
Part 1
Now
I was one of you. You may have forgotten, but I haven’t.
Crosshair is severe and unyielding. You cannot change that. He cannot change that.
I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye.
Clearly, I have been too generous with him. We may need to resort to more drastic–
Tech jerked away with a gasp, the early morning light pouring in through the window and hitting him directly in the eyes. Hand up to block the onslaught, he felt around the bedside wildly until his other hand landed on his goggles. Sitting up with a groan, he slid the goggles over his head.
He blinked wearily around the room, wondering what it was exactly that had woken him up so early. He had dreamed of Crosshair again, and while it wasn’t an unusual occurrence, it usually wasn’t enough to disturb his regular sleep cycle.
A glance to his left revealed the likely reason for his sleep disturbance – the other side of the bed was empty.
The longer he was awake, the more attuned he became to his surroundings and realized he could smell caff brewing in the kitchen. Phee must have woken before him, though why she was awake so early when she typically liked a lay in did not bode well.
“You are up early,” Tech said in greeting as he walked into the kitchen.
Phee lifted her head from her hands and gave him a tired smile.
“Yeah,” she said, “gave up on sleep after the third trip to the bathroom.”
Tech frowned, pausing as he poured his caf. “You are still feeling unwell?”
“Meh,” Phee waved him off with a casual flick of her wrist. “It’s just a bug or something. I’ll live.”
“It’s been almost a week with this bug,” Tech said. He set his mug down on the counter and made to go to his study. “Maybe I should give you a scan—“
“Don’t bring that datapad near me, Brown Eyes,” Phee rolled her eyes. “I’m fine.”
“‘Fine’ people don’t throw up every day for a week,” Tech said dryly, but still turned back to his caf.
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Phee assured him, sipping her own morning brew. She grimaced, and put the mug down. “If it isn’t gone by the weekend, I’ll talk to AZI. Does that satisfy you, Doctor Tech?”
“That is sufficient,” Tech agreed. “If you’d like, I can give—“
He was cut off by rapid beeping from his study.
“That doesn’t sound good,” Phee said.
“It’s a priority alert,” Tech said, frowning.
He stood from his stool and quickly made his way down the hall. It took some digging, but he managed to unearth his buried datapad from the mound of projects he had spread across his work table.
“What is it?” Phee said, leaning against the doorway.
“It’s a message from Echo,” Tech said, tapping away at the pad.
“Echo?” Phee asked, face pinched in concern. “He’s on that op with Rex, isn’t he? It go south?”
“It’s not a distress signal,” Tech said offhandedly. He frowned down at Echo’s message. “He wants to meet with myself, Hunter, Wrecker, and Omega for a holocall at 1000 hours. Says it’s time sensitive.”
“Best get going then. It’s almost 9 already.”
Tech nodded, already grabbing his helmet from a table where he’d been updating it. By the time he armored up and made it to Hunter’s, there would be enough time to get everyone together and to the Marauder.
Phee stepped aside when he walked to the door, but Tech paused, looking her over.
“You’ll be alright if I leave?”
Phee rolled her eyes.
“I’m sick, I’m not dying. Go do your thing, Tech.”
Tech’s face remained pinched as he glanced over her once more, but knew better than to argue. He made to leave, but paused to lean down and press a chaste kiss to her lips.
“I wouldn’t,” Phee said with a smirk before he made contact.
“Right,” Tech said, quickly readjusting and pressing a kiss to her forehead instead.
“Go,” Phee said, shoving at his shoulders with a laugh.
Tech wasted no more time, taking off toward their room to put on his kit. He sent Hunter a message on the way to warn him he was coming, and hoped that at least Hunter was already awake.
~
“Damn it!”
Hunter flinched, ducking down as a blaster bolt splintered the tree next to him.
“What did I say about live fire?” Hunter called out as continued to climb out of the brush.
“At least two clicks from the house, I know,” Omega said, lowering the rifle. She looked down at it as though it had personally offended her.
Hunter pushed through the foliage into the clearing Omega had chosen as her firing range. In the middle of the clearing was a large, flat rock. Omega was knelt down behind it, supporting the rifle that lie atop it.
“I’ve been trying to make this shot all morning,” Omega said, brushing her hair from her eyes. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, but her usual headband was missing, which meant her bangs kept falling into her eyes. “It keeps going wide, and I can’t tell why.”
“Maybe it’s because you can’t see,” Hunter said sarcastically, ruffling her bangs. He smirked when she glared up at him.
“Here,” Hunter said, untying his own bandana and holding it out to her. Immediately the slight breeze blew his own hair into his face, and he tried in vein to push it behind his ears.
Omega was quick to tie her bangs back and readied to take the shot again.
“What are you even doing?” Hunter asked, looking at the rifle in her hands. Not her usual weapon of choice, and immediately he knew exactly where she got it.
“Trying something,” she said distractedly, already looking down her scope and evening her breathing.
He looked around the clearing, trying to find where her target was. There was a piece of fruit on the branch of a tree three yards to her right, where he’d just been walking.
He turned back just as she took her shot, breathing out slowly as she pressed on the trigger. The familiar pop of the sniper rifle echoed through the clearing, and Hunter watched as the red bolt flew toward a silver disk on a tree, bounced to the left and hit another, before bouncing again and going wide to the right. The bolt missed the piece of fruit by about a foot and hit the tree behind it.
Omega groaned, dropping her head down to the rock pitifully.
“Guess the hair isn’t the problem,” she grumbled.
Hunter walked over to the first tree and examined the reflector.
“Where did you find these?”
Omega looked at him sheepishly as she stood.
“On the ship,” she said, rubbing her neck. “It was... it was in Crosshair’s old stuff.”
Hunter hummed, the usual pang that accompanied the reminder of his youngest brother bubbling up in his chest even after five years.
“Why were you looking through Crosshair’s stuff?”
“I was looking for a scope. I found those and, well. It’s not like he’s using them.”
Hunter nodded, running his fingers over the reflector.
“Your form is good,” he said. “I think your math is the problem.”
“I wanted to figure it out myself, but I guess I’ll have to ask Tech.”
“Speaking of Tech,” Hunter said, turning from the reflector like it burned him. “He’s on his way to the house. We need to get to the Marauder, Echo wants to talk to us.”
Omega paused where she was putting Crosshair’s rifle away. “Extraction?”
“No,” Hunter sighed. He’d thought the same thing, originally. “Just time sensitive. Said he didn’t trust sending a message, even through encryption.”
“Sounds serious,” Omega said, shouldering the weapons kit.
Hunter nodded. Omega came to a stop beside him, and he had to fight not to get too nostalgic or feel too old. Despite not having accelerated aging, it seemed like she was growing exponentially every time he saw her. He didn’t even have to look down to meet her eyes anymore.
“Is everyone in this family going to be taller than me?” He asked as they walked away.
“Maybe that’s part of your defect,” Omega grinned, “vertically challenged.”
“I’ll show you vertically challenged,” he said, throwing his arm around her shoulders to trap her. She danced away with a laugh, taking off at a brisk jog and yelling back for him to ‘keep up, old man.’
He rolled his eyes, following her slowly. She’d grown more than just physically in the last five years. Gone was the once shy but outspoken little girl he once knew, and in her place was a confident, well trained young woman who bled righteousness and didn’t know when to back away from a fight. He supposed they only had themselves to blame for that. They all had a hand in raising her, and even though she was unique in her own way, he could see little bits of them all in her.
His own determination, Tech’s cunning, Wrecker’s heart, Echo’s integrity. Even Crosshair, despite not knowing her long, he could see in her. Her stubborn will, her focus and straightforward attitude towards her training. Even the way she smirked made Hunter flashback to their days in the war, when Crosshair was still with them and would joke and play battlefield games with the others.
They’d spent the last five years on Pabu training, hiding from Hemlock, the Empire, and generally listening to Crosshair’s warning. It was different, but in a good way, to have somewhere to call home. To have somewhere where they didn’t have to look over their shoulder constantly. Where the threat of the Empire wasn’t looming over them. Sure, they’d hear stories from refugees who came and went, or from Echo, Rex, and the other clones who were working the clone network and building the rebellion. Terrible atrocities, crimes against the galaxy that the Empire committed against the weak and the exploitable but on Pabu, they were safe. By some miracle the Empire hadn’t discovered (or at least had no interest in) the planet, nor the island, and for that Hunter counted his blessings.
Omega, of course, agreed less and less as she got older. She didn’t like hiding, didn’t like not being able to help. It was only the reminder of what had been sacrificed already to keep her safe that kept her from going off on her own. And maybe a bit of fear over what she would find if she did leave, or what exactly she would lose.
He had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to keep Omega away from the fight much longer. It was coming up on her 18th decant day and he knew that she saw age of maturity as freedom. But he would do whatever he could to keep her safe a little bit longer.
The sounds of pots and pans banging around poured through the open window as Hunter walked into the house, which meant Wrecker was awake. Sure enough, walking in he was greeted by Wrecker making breakfast while Omega tried to sneak food behind his back.
Tech was already inside, looking over something on his datapad with a deep frown.
“Morning,” Hunter said as he slid into the seat beside him.
“Good morning,” Tech said, not looking away from his pad. “What do you make of Echo’s missage?”
“Not sure,” Hunter said, nodding gratefully as Wrecker placed a plate before him. “Didn’t seem like he’s in danger.”
“No,” Tech agreed, “but it does raise questions of what they have found on their mission.”
Hunter nodded, conceding the point. It was likely they’d found some information to share, which had its own implications. Their team hadn’t been on any missions together in nearly 3 years, not since a near miss with Omega while helping Rex. Since then they’d completed missions either individually, or in Omega’s case, not at all.
Which meant that if Echo and Rex wanted to talk to them all, there was very limited information that would be relevant to all of them.
Namely, information about Hemlock.
Or Crosshair.
“Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it,” Hunter said.
“Ahhh it’s prolly nothin’,” Wrecker said, setting a plate in front of Tech as he sat down with his own plate. Tech glared up at him, removing the plate from on top of his datapad and putting it aside. “Just an update or something.”
It was possible, Hunter thought as Omega sat down with her own plate. He smacked her hand when she tried to take his bacon as he sipped his caf. Whatever it was Echo wanted, hopefully it wasn’t enough to cause any problems.
~
“You want us to what?”
Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, and Omega were crowded around the holo-table, looking up at the blue visages of Echo and Rex.
“We have an Imperial informant we’ve been working with,” Echo explained. “He’s contacted us recently and asked for a meet up, says he has sensitive information that he doesn’t want to pass over transmission.”
“Problem is, we’re stuck on Dantooine with this op for the next few days,” Rex continued. “The coordinates he gave for the exchange are on Eriadu. We’re too far to make the meet up time, but it’s only a few systems over from you. I was hoping your squad could go meet my informant.”
“Eriadu,” Hunter said flatly.
“It is a temperate planet with various mountain ranges and jungles in the Seswenna Sector,” Tech said, tapping away at his datapad. “It–”
“I know what Eriadu is, Tech,” Hunter snapped, briefly glaring in Tech’s direction before turning his glare back to Rex. “Which is how I also know that planet is an Imperial stronghold. We’ll be lucky to even breach atmo without running into trouble.”
“I trust in your ability to be creative,” Rex said dryly. “We can give you Imperial codes for your ship, but I would suggest not taking the Marauder. It’s easy to trace back to you.”
“We could take Phee’s ship,” Tech offered. “It would lend credibility to us being merchants.”
Hunter held up a hand and Tech’s mouth snapped shut.
“I’m not even convinced we should take this mission,” Hunter said firmly. “We would be flying directly into Imperial space. Need I remind you, we are wanted by the Empire.”
“More like I’m wanted by the Empire,” Omega said.
“Exactly!” Hunter said. “We can’t risk it, I’m sorry.”
“I understand why you’re hesitant, but I figured if anyone wanted this information, it’d be you guys,” Rex said.
“Why?”
“He says it’s about Hemlock.”
The ship fell silent as Hunter’s protests came to an abrupt stop.
“How sure are you that he was telling the truth?” Tech said, stepping forward.
“Fairly sure,” Rex said, eyebrows raised. “Sure enough to contact you and tell you about it. The trooper in question used to work under Vice Admiral Rampart, but was transferred to Admiral Tarkin after Rampart was arrested.”
“Do you remember Captain Howzer?” Echo asked, waiting for their nods before continuing. “He says this trooper was his ARC on Ryloth. His chip started to degrade a couple years ago and he’s been working for us from the inside ever since.”
“Howzer says he trusts this trooper with his life,” Rex continued. “And I trust Howzer with mine.”
Hunter sighed. “I don’t know, Rex, I—“
“We’ll do it.”
All eyes quickly turned to Omega.
“Omega, hold on, let’s—“
“No,” Omega said, shaking her head. “Hunter, we have to do this. This could be our chance to finally find Crosshair.”
Hunter paused, and he, Wrecker, and Tech shared a tentative glance.
“‘Megs,” Wrecker said hesitantly, “it… it’s been five years.”
“And?”
“Crosshair was Hemlock’s prisoner,” Tech continued, adjusting his goggles. “The chances of Crosshair still being aliv—“
“So we’re just going to give up on him?” Omega asked, crossing her arms with a glare. “What happened to ‘if we find Hemlock, we find Crosshair’?”
“Omega—“
“And,” Omega continued, “what about all the other clones Hemlock has? The experiments? Rex and Echo need that information, and we’re the only ones who can get it.”
“Be that as it may,” Hunter said, “that doesn’t mean all of us would go. I’m not flying you directly into Imperial Space, Omega.”
“But Crosshair—“
“Crosshair sacrificed what he did because he was protecting you from the Empire,” Hunter pointed out firmly. “He may have sacrificed his life and you would throw that away to do something he didn’t ask you to do?”
Omega flinched and a wave of shame crashed over Hunter. He knew it was a low blow, he knew Omega struggled with guilt over the uncertainty of Crosshair’s fate, but he needed her to understand. Any missions they’d done in the last five years were mild compared to flying directly into an Imperial Admiral’s home planet.
Omega avoided eye contact, glaring at the ground at Hunter’s feet.
“Even if we do manage to get information on Crosshair, this mission isn’t going to save him,” Hunter said gently. “There’s no reason for you to take that risk at this time.”
“I’m not a little kid anymore,” Omega protested hotly.
“Maybe not,” Hunter said, “but as leader of this squad, I say you’re not going.”
Omega remained silent, but Hunter could see the clench of her jaw and the way her eyes were shining.
“We’ll take the mission,” Hunter said quietly to Rex and Echo, who were watching the exchange silently. “Wrecker, Tech, and I will go.”
Before anyone could speak, Omega turned and stormed down the ship’s ramp. An awkward tension descended over the ship in her absence.
After a heavy sigh, Hunter made to chase after her. He stopped when Tech put a hand on his shoulder.
“I will talk to her,” he said, clipping his datapad to his belt.
He quickly walked down the ship’s ramp, leaving Hunter to stare after them and listen with half an ear to details of the mission as Rex and Echo explained them.
Information on Hemlock was good. Possible information on Crosshair was better. He wouldn’t deny that Omega was right when she said they owed it to Crosshair to at least find out what happened to him, but he couldn’t justify that as a reason to throw caution out the window. Omega was still on the Empire’s most wanted list, and Hunter wasn’t going to risk Omega’s safety when there was no reason to do so. He just had to hope she’d understand.
~
Tech didn’t have to go far to find Omega. She was towards the edge of the top of the island, leaning against the wall and looking out at the fishermen’s boats on the horizon.
“Did Hunter send you to convince me?” She asked without turning around. “Because I’m not—“
“He did not,” Tech said before she could get worked up. He stopped beside her and looked out toward the sea as well. “I actually agree with you.”
He felt more than saw Omega start, turning to look at him no doubt incredulously.
“You are more than capable,” Tech said, glancing at Omega. She stared back with wide eyes. “You have been training for five years, you are intelligent, and you are a fighter. Hunter knows that.”
“Then why won’t he let me help?”
“Because Hunter is not thinking with his head,” Tech said, sighing. “It would be illogical to assume he could protect you from the Empire for the rest of your life. He knows this. He is simply… afraid.”
Omega sighed forcefully, running her hand through her hair in a way that was so ironically Hunter that Tech couldn’t help but grin.
“I’m not a child. And I can’t just sit back while you guys deal with Hemlock.”
Omega clenched her fists, looking back out over the sea.
“I already lost one brother because of Hemlock,” Omega said quietly. “Hunter was right. Crosshair sacrificed a lot, maybe even his life, to keep me safe from them. I hate the thought of any of you doing the same and I’m not there to stop it.”
Tech understood her guilt, even if it was misplaced. She had nothing to feel guilty for. Unlike the rest of them, it was not her decision to leave Crosshair in the hands of Hemlock. He carried that guilt with him every day.
“If this trooper actually has information on Hemlock, then I want to help Rex and Echo do something about it,” Omega said, shoulders set and eyes alight. “I’m done hiding.”
Tech looked over the line of Omega’s brow, the severeness of her stare, and the pinch of her lips. Maybe it was because of his dream from last night, or maybe the discussion on the ship, but he could see so much of their lost brother in her. Severe and unyielding.
“‘If’,” Tech emphasized. “‘If’ this trooper has information on Hemlock. I agree that you can fight, but I agree with Hunter that this mission is not the one for it.”
Omega rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, turning back to glare out at the ocean.
“Say we go on this mission and the informant is missing, or it’s a trick, or it’s information we already knew,” Tech continued. “We’d be risking your exposure to the Empire for a chance. I’m not suggesting you should stay out of the fight forever, but I am saying going on this mission is a risk you should not take right now. Not until we have more information.”
“We’ve been waiting for more information for five years,” Omega grumbled.
“Then it should not hurt you to wait a few days more,” Tech pointed out.
“It’s just— it’s not fair. It’s my life. I should be able to make my own choices.”
“You should,” Tech conceded. “Whether it is fair or not is irrelevant. That is just life. We all have to deal with things we do not like.”
Omega sighed, rolling her eyes as she turned back out towards the ocean. He watched her, the defeated slump of her shoulders, her disappointed expression, and the guilt in her eyes.
He sighed, already knowing his next words would complicate things. “Stay here for this mission, and if this information is valuable, I’ll help you convince Hunter to let you assist.”
Omega perked up, eyes brightening.
“You mean it?” She asked, leaning forward hopefully. “You’ll help me with Hunter?”
“Yes,” Tech said, “but— but you have to stay here for this mission. Is that agreeable?”
Tech stumbled back as Omega jumped at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Tech held his arms around her waist to support her, awkwardly patting her back.
“Thank you, Tech!” She said, pulling back to look at him with a wide smile.
”I admit, my motivations are partly selfish,” Tech said. “While we are gone, can you check in with Phee? Try to convince her to go to the med clinic.”
”She’s still sick?” Omega asked with a frown. Her face fell back into grim determination when he nodded. “You can count on me, Tech.”
”I know,” Tech said, smiling as Omega did, “We should rejoin the others. You can help us plan.”
”Go ahead,” Omega said, waving him off. “I’m going to stay out here for a bit. I just need some space I think.”
Tech nodded and started back toward the ship, hopeful that he was able to adequately comfort their sister. He sincerely hoped the information from this informant was valuable, and that they would be able to find out the fate of his twin. If not to soothe his own guilty conscience, then for Omega.