THIRD PERSON POV
The sun peaked its first golden rays upon the crest of the snowy mountains...on the second day.
Athena had cried when the first day dawned. Silently composed. She had not moved from her inventorial hideout, hugging her legs as her eyes remained fixated on the horizon. While her mind was distracted with preparations to welcome and then skedaddle with Crosshair and Mayday, her body did not permit her to weaken, occasionally chomping on a ration bar or catching a wink of sleep. She wouldn't dare admit she had fallen in a trance, but if she was to be spotted, one would assume the frozen alpines had captivated her. And as the first day retired into the freezing blizzard of the night, the bounty hunter wept all over again thrice over—her frustrated tears painfully stung her numb cheeks.
I'm so tired... Athena rolled out her sore neck. Not tired like I need sleep to cure it, or even a dire need of peace of mind to soothe it. This tired feeling...it's like the galaxy has drained me for everything that I had, which wasn't much to begin with...and when I feel like it couldn't possibly squish another drop of hope, it expunges me to no end. By the Force, I am exhausted...
Where. Are. They?...
The second night was brutal...Athena could hardly see ten yards across the barren platform. Although she was protected by a mere tarp to keep dry, she could no longer feel a single nerve in her body. Her toes hurt when she wiggled them in her boots. Her bloodshot eyes squinted in pain as occasional gusts of snow smacked her face. Despite the blizzardous torture, she dared not move a muscle from her post; Mayday told her to keep a watchful eye on the horizon, and she intended to do so until she spotted them on the platform. She forced herself to refrain from imagining the two clones in the same horrendous weather, alone in the mountains, to save her sanity... Eventually, she fell asleep with her face buried in her coat, and she woke up to the sound of roaring engines and distant shouting.
When the first ships landed, the sun was on the rise. The storms had finally ceased, revealing a tranquil aurora of yellow, orange, and purple in the cloudless sky. A subtle breeze wisped away the snowy and icy remnants from the platform. Suddenly, Barton VI was a stunning winter wonderland that could take a spectator's breath away. But the newest arrivals were far from interested in the scenery. Stormtroopers filed off the ships and rank officers were inducting orders to start transporting the 'valuable' cargo off-world. Not a single person paid heed to the secluded, shivering woman. A clue fleetingly passed her thoughts that perhaps they knew she was a clone and ignored her just like any other.
Athena repaid the favor, regardless. Her eyes veered around the dozens of soldiers blocking her view for what felt like hours. Ultimately the second day went on, and a clear, blue sky was cast with a bright, shining sun. Its rays reflected off the metal surface in some areas, briefly blinding the bounty hunter. Directive chatter that filled the air droned on in her ears, which brawled with her focused consciousness.
Two days may have come, but Athena's hope remained stronger than stone. A sense of apprehension may have wept along with her tears, but she never once questioned 'what if...'
They will return. she told herself. They will return.
The sun warmed the air, and its rays baked the platform, radiating a subtle mirage. With her optimistic thoughts in mind, Athena slowly shed her heavy parka and calmly folded it before placing it gently next to her. She unzipped her bomber jacket to her navel and carefully worked on massaging feeling into her toes, legs, and fingers.
"Hey, what's that over there?" someone shouted.
"Do you see that?"
"They made it?"
Athena Quinn overheard stormtroopers gasping and quietly clamoring. Her eyes narrowed as she rose to her feet for the first time in 36 hours. Her legs wobbled as she stepped out from under the tarp and into the sun, shielding her face with her fingers. There were people beginning to crowd, blocking her view. They all faced the platform ledge.
"Move!" she grunted, storming forward and shoving the troopers from her path until she stumbled in front of the pack. Her head jerked up. When her eyes instantly caught sight of what caused the commotion, her mouth gaped, choking on a sharp gasp.
Crosshair...
Athena forgot any sense of the aching pain in her legs. Her feet bolted across the platform, sprinting and pumping her arms. The wind roared in her ears. Suddenly, when her eyes locked on the weary soldier, her pace drastically dwindled... He was dragging Mayday's limp body in his arms. The commander was using his sniper rifle, an instrument of destruction, as a crutch. Lastly, while Mayday's helmet was secured on his head, Crosshair's...was nowhere to be found...
It wasn't the only thing amiss...the symbol of his Imperial role, his Imperial rank, his Imperial future, his Imperial ideology...all have vanished. No signs of him trying to find something to defend without stopping to think if it was worth defending at all...In fact, there was not a single trace of the numb demeanor he sternly exhibited at the start of the entire transport mission. Nor the stoic, unyielding shell he had curated and guarded ardently... Now, there was nothing left to be shielded.
And there, she detected the regret in his strained, amber eyes...and the anguish and frustration with himself...
After shaking her head, Athena resumed her sprint, nearly tripping over her feet when she finally reached her partner. "Dank ferrik, Crosshair, you really know how to worry a girl." She didn't understand how she could possibly be witty at this moment. Nevertheless, as her body collided with his, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and under his free arm, her sympathetic disposition flipped on like a switch. "What happened out there? Mayday..." She pushed on Crosshair's chestplate with one hand to support him as she veered her attention to the commander. She heard labored breaths through his helmet's modulator. Crosshair's heavy respiration clouded her ear.
"He's—cough—He's dying..." the elite clone said.
Athena pulled her head back so she could see his face. He was sickeningly pale. The rife scope tattooed over his left eye was more prominent than it ever has before. When her fingers cupped his stubbled jaw, he was numb to her touch. His tired eyes could hardly stay open. But was the most shocking was the genuine pain and worry strickened in those eyes. The bounty hunter's breath shuddered as she nodded. "Yes. Okay. Stop. Stop, Crosshair."
She forced the enduring soldier back, when abruptly Crosshair's knees buckled. "Hey, hey! Easy. Let Mayday down." She helped both clones down, laying the wounded commander on his side and scooting herself on Crosshair's right, pulling him closer. "Collapse onto me. I got you."
Her eyes scanned the crowd that had gradually formed. Her eyes narrowed as her mouth twisted in disgust. "What are all you standing around for?! These men need help! Move it!"
"Athena..." Crosshair muttered.
"Shh." Athena wrapped her arms under his chin and around his shoulder blades, hugging him tightly. She swallowed down her tears as she pressed her lips into his forehead. Then again, just above his brow. Her final kiss planted itself on the bridge of his nose. Crosshair sank deeper into her embrace and allowed his eyes to close momentarily, his mouth buried into her jacket sleeve. Hearing Athena bark orders at the troopers was soothing to him. Her voice then changed when she addressed him, nonetheless consoling to his troubled soul. "You did well, Crosshair. Remember that. You've done everything right."
I've done everything right?... Crosshair cursed himself. No, I've done everything that isn't right. Athena and I, we should have ran away from the Empire when we escaped Endor. She has ruined her life by waiting for me to wake up and realize my neat, little fantasy has plummet into nothing before my eyes...that everything I dedicated my service—my purpose—to meant nothing. When I did wake up, I never expected the one 'something right' to emerge out of all this, would be her. And I fought to get back to her, with Mayday, and the three of us could move on from all this. For good.
The soldier had no energy to even attempt to profess his feelings. How her embrace was the closest resemblance to a home he never had. That despite her charming, chaotic, and cocky nature making him roll his eyes everytime she scrunched her nose, her fierce, beautiful presence was comforting, like he could fall asleep with a smile and wake up to she'd taken care of everything. He suddenly felt more safe than he ever has before. He'd fallen in love with her...and he couldn't muster the strength to tell her.
"What is the meaning of this?" The shrill voice of Lt. Nolan cursed the air. "Get back to work! All of you!" The crowd dispersed as quickly as it formed. Athena lifted her attention to the officer, who moved in until he towered over the clones, his shadow casting over the bounty hunter. His hands folded behind his back. "About time you two returned." he chided, then glared down at her. "Ensign, make yourself useful, get up, and assist in loading the crates."
"I'm exactly where I need to be." Athena growled, tightening her grip around Crosshair's chest.
"H-he...he needs a medic." the elite clone panted. He reached over and gently slipped off Mayday's helmet. Athena's stomach clenched and a lump formed in her throat. The commander's tan complexion had flushed into a sickly green and ash-gray. His jaw locked in agony as he groaned.
"I see you didn't retrieve the crates, which means you've failed your mission." Nolan sighed with disappointment.
"Did you hear what I said?" Crosshair lifted his head weakly from Athena's arm, his face contorted anguishly. "Help him!" The bounty hunter was absolutely struck speechless by his desperate pleas...
"Certainly not. That would be a waste of the Empire's resources."
Tick. Tick. Tick.
"Are you mad?" Athena turned her chin to the Imperial monster, disbelief fuming in her eyes. "Get the man—"
Hhyuck.
Athena's words choked when she heard Mayday hacking up blood. She lowered her chin and somberly watched the once-dignified eyes of the commander roll to the back of his head, his body shrivelling one last time, and his doomed soul releasing lifelessly... Crosshair panted, dropping his head into the crook of Athena's arm in utter defeat...
Commander Mayday had survived excruciating pain for almost two days, clinging onto the hope he would receive medical attention because Crosshair was determined to get him some...to save him. And Mayday believed his comrade could and would. He heard Crosshair's demands for help. He recognized he had a friend or two with him by his side. Lamentably, he died in front of the man who carried him all the way, refusing to leave him behind, within help's reach... It was as if the moment Mayday knew he would acquire none...he surrendered to his suffering.
"He served his purpose as a soldier of the Empire." Nolan said in a befitting fashion, as if to provide a sense of condolence. His factitiously cruel tone boiled Athena's blood. Her heart pumped violently in her chest. Her fingers clutched Crosshair's armor, bending her nails into its thick surface.
Tick.
"You...You could have saved him!" Crosshair growled.
"Perhaps you didn't hear me." Nolan said, deepening his inflection. "He is expendable, as are you. And if you speak to me again with such disrespect, I'll see to it you meet a similar fate, clone. Now, leave him and get back to work...both of you, while you're still useful."
Consequences. Athena bit her lip as she stared at Crosshair's face. She cradled his left cheek in her palm. She read his pain, and her heart ached. Every choice he's made—deciding to remain loyal to the Empire, ignoring my warnings and sticking to his pride and arrogance...even leaving his former squad in the first place. After all he's been through, he's paying a price for it... The man who dedicated himself to a purpose no one wanted from him and sacrificed everything was finally realizing how dispensable and replaceable he was to that same Empire. This man, who was always distant, cocky, and a damn good soldier...was now facing the bitter consequences...
The bounty hunter recalled their discussion on Endor...
"Tell me what Hunter said."
"On Kamino, when Hunter was under my custody, he told me what the Empire was doing throughout the galaxy and that clones were being replaced. He told me, 'All you'll ever be to them is a number.' His words didn't particularly phase me because, well, I don't really care what happens to me as long as I serve my purpose in the Empire."
There was no more denial.
"Do you believe you are expendable, Crosshair?" She watched him slowly nod. "And you've accepted this?"
Another small nod.
"Well, I don't...You heard me. I do not think you are expendable. No matter what you believe your purpose is in this Galatic Empire, you better convince yourself that you matter and you deserve recognition for your service."
"Says the clone who doesn't exist."
Athena Quinn didn't need to exist. She was no longer haunted by her past, because she had accepted that it was what led her to this moment. And she wouldn't trade it for the galaxy.
Lt. Nolan walked away.
Caw...Screech...
Above the clones' heads, ice vultures circled eagerly. Hungrily.
"Crosshair?" In Athena's arms, she felt Crosshair grow stiff. Then, he began to pull himself to his feet. The bounty hunter did not protest or question him, instead she aided the weakened clone. When her eyes trailed down to his left hand, they broadened with cathartic realization as his fingers curled around his blaster. Then, a sense of composure softly sighed through her nose when she noticed his hand trembling. Still clinging to him across the back of his rib cage with her right arm, she reached down with her left and wrapped her fingers over his. The two clones lifted the blaster slowly. Athena exhaled again deliberately through her lips, her breath harmonizing with Crosshair's labored respiration. Once the weapon was steadily poised, she squeezed his hand to brace him, support him of this desperate, frustrated act...an act she understood would have... consequences.
And we shall act, despite all. Athena focused her serene gaze on Nolan's back. One last sigh exhaled from her lips. Crosshair and I are finally one of mind. You, Lieutenant, a pathetic, ignorant excuse of a military officer has broken the precedent of one...Mayday was the last straw.
We are most likely to be executed for treason; but the commander deserves to be avenged, nevertheless. We are ready to die right here...on this outlandish, depressing Outpost. But I will fight for us until my last breath. I will end every single Imperial's life who stands in our way for the sake of our well-deserved future. From this moment on, Crosshair is not a commander nor I an agent of the Empire. He is no longer an obedient soldier nor I a ruthless bounty hunter.
He is Crosshair, Experiment CT-9904.
And I am Athena Quinn, Experiment CT-9900.
"Lieutenant..." Crosshair snarled.
Nolan pivoted on his heel and faced a man and a woman, in all their glory, holding a blaster at his disdainful, cruel heart.
They pulled the trigger together.
Pow!
With a single wheeze, the Imperial officer stumbled and collasped with a thud.
"Crosshair!" Athena gasped as the soldier suddenly fell unconscious and crumbled in her arms, the blaster clattering to the metal platform. The bounty hunter caught him across his chest. "Crosshair. Crosshair, don't—Not now. No, no, no, you need to wake up." She moved her arm up and cradled his head, his mouth buried into the crook as his cheek relaxed into her bicep. As the crown of his head nestled under her cheek, her palm pressed into his webbed scars above his left ear. "I'm right here." she whispered through sharp breaths. "Crosshair, if you can hear me—whatever happens, I love you. All of you. Even the parts that you believe are unyielding, severe, an-and broken and unworthy. I love—"
"Hey, you!"
Athena glared at the stormtroopers rushing towards them, unshakeably clutching her partner.
The very image of a formidable woman devotingly protecting a broken man...would rattle any spectators to the core.
Tick! Tick! TICK!
Athena's instincts snapped. Still holding Crosshair's head to her collarbone, she surged forward and snatched up the blaster. She jerked her arm out and aimed at the troopers. Her bloodlust erupted in every cell in her body, roaring at her to act upon her nature to her burning heart's content. Only this time, she must protect Crosshair.
"Stay back!" she shrieked hysterically, whipping the weapon side to side. "Get back! Stay away from him! You will not touch him!"
The Imps invariably did not listen, swarming the clones. "Drop it! Now!" They moved in.
"You don't listen!" Athena screamed, and fired.
Pow! Pow! Pow!
Pewsh!
Stunned from behind, Athena dropped. As her body sprawled across the platform, her arm was crushed under Crosshair's temple.
The last thing she saw was the clear, blue sky...and the majestic ice vultures waiting ever so patiently...