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xxiv.
enigma
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•••
"Retreat," Crosshair ordered. "Send any remaining troopers to Ord Mantell. That's where the girl said their 'base' is. If they escaped, they're probably going there. And make sure most of the troopers go to Cid's Parlor. They'll be there."
•••
"We're fucked," Tech muttered, letting his comm link fall out of his hand and onto the floor. The pain only increased since the squadron that Crosshair sent had left. Not because of the poison, that was a separate issue. But the injuries he sustained from the fighting had been enough for him to be in immense pain. And what was worse, he was in so much pain that he couldn't fix the pain that he was in. He lay down on the bench he was sitting on in the main area of the medical bay, and through his peripheral vision, he saw a shadow standing in the doorway. He adjusted his goggles, and sat up halfway, to see that it was Omega.
"Oh my god" Tech muttered, sitting up. "You're alive?"
"What made you doubt that?" Omega said, entering the main area and sitting in a chair by the door, hugging Lula to her chest.
"You had no pulse, that's why. What are you doing up?" Tech asked, frustratingly putting his comm link away. "You should be in bed."
"Just be happy I'm not dead," Omega replied.
"Yeah and I'd like to prevent that from happening ever again," Tech continued. "You scared me back there, kid. I thought I lost you."
"What are you trying to do?" Omega asked, sensing that Tech was frustrated.
"I was able to intercept a radio transmission from the empire. One that I need to warn the others about immediately. But Hunter isn't picking up."
"Maybe he got hurt during their escape," Omega said, hoping that she was wrong.
"That is a possibility," Tech replied. "However, since Hunter is the best at stealth, I highly doubt he was the one to get injured."
"Maybe they haven't fully escaped yet?"
"Who knows. Maybe this, maybe that. Maybe they were captured. Maybe they're all dead. Who knows."
"Don't say that," Omega said. "They had to make it out alive. They just had to."
"Yeah, well things don't always go as planned, kid," Tech responded harshly. "Sometimes things are going to go wrong and we have to deal with the change, no matter how great or small the change in question is."
"I understand," Omega said.
"Tech?" Tech heard Hunter say through his comm. "Were you trying to reach us?"
"Hunter, wow, you're alive," Tech said. "I was trying to reach you, yes. But first, how did the escape go?"
"Not very well, but I would prefer not to speak about it right now," Hunter continued, his voice cracking.
"Oh, what happened?" Tech replied sarcastically, not reading that what had happened was serious. "Did Crosshair say something mean to you?"
"Wrecker's dead, Tech," Hunter said, so quietly that Tech almost couldn't hear. Tech's face went blank, trying to process what Hunter had just said.
"I," he stuttered. "I don't believe-"
"It's true," Hunter replied. "It's true."
Tech had forgotten that Omega was still in the room. He looked up, seeing her across the room. Even though the room was pretty dark, he saw a tear roll down her cheek as she clutched Lula harder. She wiped her eyes with her sleeves and stood up, walking out of the room without a word.
"Did Omega hear me?" Hunter asked.
"She did," Tech said. "Look, I know you guys are going through a lot, so I'll tell you what I need to tell you and get this over with. You can't go to Ord Mantell. I intercepted a transmission from Crosshair to his squadron. They're setting up troopers there. I know you guys are already almost there, but unless you want to die, you'll have to find somewhere else to lay low. Understood?"
"Understood," Hunter said, before going radio silent. Tech put his comm link away for good, and lied back down on the bench. He knew he couldn't tell Omega about the pain he was in. It would worry her too much. He took his goggles off for a brief moment, and rubbed his eyes, then put his goggles back on. One thing was for sure. He needed to go talk to her. He found the strength to stand up, and walked into the room Omega was in.
"Omega?" Tech asked. He saw her lying on the bed, still clutching Lula, with her face buried into her pillow.
"Go away Tech," Omega replied, her voice being muffled.
"I know this is difficult-"
"Yeah, no shit," Omega responded, lifting her head. Tech saw that her cheeks were stained with tears, her eyes glossed over from crying. "Are you going to give me a lecture on why I need to move on? Why this doesn't matter? Well, too bad, Tech. It's not like he left for a little, or even got captured by the empire. If that was the case, we could still get him back. But no. He's dead. Gone. Forever. There's no getting him back. Do you not even care?"
"Omega, I-"
"Let me finish. You weren't there when I thought Hunter had died at the hands of Cad Bane. You found him almost dead, but alive. I was under the impression he died for quite a long time. You don't understand the toll that took on me. I don't want to seem selfish, but it affected me. A lot. That day, I realized that death was closer than I had known. Ever since then, I've been scared that one of us would die. Even though I'm not always thinking about it, it's a thought that's always in the back of my mind. And now that it's actually happened..."
"Listen," Tech said. "I know it's hard. I understand. I lost many brothers during the war-"
"None from your own squadron though!" Omega yelled. "Now that you have, do you feel no remorse? Is it just like any other death during the clone war? Because it shouldn't be. Wrecker was your brother, Tech. And now that this has happened, it's just overwhelming. Even though this has been on the back of my mind constantly, I never thought it would actually happen." Tears started to stream down her cheeks again. "Please Tech. Please just leave."
Tech sighed, nodded, and left the room, sensing that this might lead to a downward spiral. He didn't want to see her go down the same path Hunter did. He couldn't see her go down the same path as Hunter did. Because, with Omega, he knew it would end up being worse.
•••
"Bring the ship out of hyperspace!" Hunter yelled, going to the cockpit.
"Why?" Rex asked. "Aren't we going to Ord Mantell?"
"Tech just contacted me," Hunter replied. "They sent troops to Ord Mantell. They know we go there. They know we're employed by Cid- for god's sake, Rex, take the ship out of hyperspace!"
Rex sighed, and turned around, facing the large window of the ship. "Alright, if you say so. Hold on to something."
The ship came to a sudden jolt, surprising both Echo and Gregor, who were in the back of the ship, and didn't hear Rex's warning.
"What the hell?!" Gregor yelled. "What was that for?!"
"There's been a change of plans," Rex said. "We can't go to Ord Mantell. The empire knows we're going to be there."
"What are we going to do?" Echo asked. "We didn't plan for this."
"It's simple," Hunter replied. "We're going to have to find another hideout for now. A place where we can fit in for a few days, where we can slip by undetected. Or, we'll have to find a place that the empire wouldn't look for us.
"Kessel?" Rex asked, starting to suggest ideas.
"Spice mines. If we're found we might be stuck there forever," Hunter said. "We've had too many close calls there."
"Onderon?" Echo asked.
"Onderon has a lot of political and economic problems right now. We maybe shouldn't go there, for our own safety," Rex responded.
"Lothal?" Gregor chimed in.
"There's an imperial prison there like on Daro, I don't think that's where we want to be. Plus, didn't you just escape a prison on Lothal?"
"Yeah, so what?"
"Why the actual hell would you want to go back?"
"I don't know," Gregor mumbled, shrugging his shoulders.
"How about Naboo?" Echo suggested.
"Naboo has become one of the empire's strongest allies, just like it was one of the republic's strongest allies during the clone war," Rex said. "Even though it's a possibility, it's still too risky."
"Coruscant?" Gregor asked. The entire group looked at him, with nothing but a blank stare on their faces.
"Are you fucking crazy?" Echo asked. That's empire central. Why the hell would we go there?"
"Exactly. They won't think we're crazy enough to go there, so they won't look for us there. Simple."
"Gregor, I seriously hope you're just joking around at this point," Rex replied. "You realize Coruscant has the most advanced security in the galaxy. We won't even be able to get on the planet, much less hide out there."
"I was," Gregor muttered. "Partially. But you know what? I think we should go to Mustafar," he continued, sounding proud of himself. The rest of the team just looked at him in confusion.
"That's Sith headquarters," Rex said. "I hope you know that, right?"
"I don't know Rex, I barely remember anything before a year ago okay? Give me a break my god."
"Gregor, are you drunk?" Echo asked. "This is common knowledge."
"There's alcohol on this ship?" Gregor asked, not aware of Hunter's prior addiction. "Where?"
"That's none of your business," Echo replied.
"Jakku?" Hunter asked.
"Too far out into the outer rim. And it's barely inhabited. We'll die of starvation and dehydration quickly," Rex explained.
"Scarif?"
"Large imperial presence."
"Bespin?"
"We'll be found in no time."
"Kashyyyk?"
"Too dangerous, and the empire has spread to there too."
"Alderaan?"
"Again, large imperial presence. Even though it does lean more towards the ideologies of the republic rather than the empire."
"Geonosis?"
"Abandoned after the start of the war. There's nothing there."
"Hoth?"
"We don't have the equipment for Hoth. Our ship will freeze within a matter of days."
"Well then what did you have in mind, Rex?"
"Recently, a planet called Ferrix has been starting to become more inhabited and popular amongst civilians, and I was thinking maybe we can disguise ourselves as civilians and go there. But the problem is that with that attention, the empire is bound to send troops there as well. So I don't think we can get in and out without being detected."
"What about Kamino?" Gregor suggested.
"I swear to god Gregor I'm going to smack you across the face right now," Echo said, clearly frustrated with Gregor.
"With what?" Gregor asked. "Your little robot arm?"
"Yes. And it'll hurt twice as bad. So be careful."
"We have to go somewhere where the empire has little to no presence," Hunter said.
"How about Tatooine?" Rex asked. "That's a desert. They won't find us there."
"Yeah, I don't think that will work," Echo said. "You see, we kind of already made trouble there. With the pykes."
"You're kidding me," Rex said, clearly mad. "You made trouble with the pykes?!"
"It was a few weeks ago," Echo replied, trying to make it sound better.
"That's even worse!"
"The Kamino idea doesn't sound so bad," Hunter said.
The rest of the team blankly stared at Hunter, just like they did then Gregor suggested Coruscant.
"Well this makes two people I have to smack across the face with my robot arm," Echo said, sitting down on one of the chairs in the cockpit. "The entire planet is an ocean!"
"Look, listen. The empire blew up Tipoca City. We were there, we witnessed it. There's that platform that you guys landed the ship on. That wasn't blown up. We'll have to tough it out, but if we can manage to stay on that platform for a few days surviving on the rations we have, this could work. The empire won't look for us there."
"This is the stupidest plan I've ever heard," Gregor said. "I suggested Kamino as a joke."
"It might be our only way out of this."
"You know what?" Echo said. "This plan is so dumb it might just work. Rex, change our coordinates to Kamino."
Rex sighed. "Time to go home," he said, resetting the coordinates for Kamino.