Astera:
Omega jammed a tool into one of the many ports on Gonky's body, throwing sparks and causing the droid to seize up and shudder as the port spit out arcs of electricity. She jerked her hand back before it could zap her hand, Gonky still spasming and spewing unintelligible noises. "Uh oh."
"What's going on here?" Hunter stepped down from the gunner's mount, drawn by the suddenly malfunctioning droid noises. Omega glanced up towards him with a worried look, tool still clutched in her hand as Gonky's shaking ceased and the droid recovered himself.
"Droid's prime power source won't fully charge," I filled in for her, watching from my seat across from her. Whatever the other three had been working on in the cockpit didn't need me, and I wasn't sure if they particularly wanted me there anyway. Omega had delightfully agreed to my supervision, even if it was only to make sure she didn't shock herself fixing the battery droid.
"I'm fixing him," she supplied helpfully.
"You can't. He's a defective unit." Hunter's brief explanation was cut even shorter by Tech calling him from the cockpit; the sergeant clone went after him, leaving a dejected Gonky honking sadly in the back room. Omega patted the side of his body consolingly.
"Don't worry, we're defective too."
I got up and followed Hunter to the cockpit, curious to see what Tech needed him for. He stood just in front of the doorway, blocking my way in, but I could still hear the tail end of Tech's words:
"...recorded transmission, but I do not recognize this frequency."
"Patch it through," Hunter suggested, taking the only free seat. I inched forward, into the doorway and leaning against it as Tech thumbed a couple of buttons on the dashboard, connecting the transmission to the holoprojector.
Short green head tails and dirty brown clothing were the first things I registered when the hologram popped up, the young child delivering the message crouched and tensed with urgency. "Omega, it's Hera. You have to come back to Ryloth."
We had seen the girl less than a day ago. Why was she contacting us now?
"Isn't she the kid from the weapons drop?" Wrecker seemed to share my thoughts, throwing a large arm out towards Hera on the recorded message. Omega pushed past me suddenly, .... To get a better look at the bluish holo message.
"Hera?"
"The Empire's taken my parents, and they're after me now too." Hera's eyes darted nervously around on the message, as if afraid that the Empire would show up even as she recorded her desperate plea for help. "I'm sending coordinates. Please hurry. I need your help."
We all knew who had given Hera the means to contact us - only one person had spent an extended amount of time with her, and it was something Omega would have done either way. Five pairs of eyes turned on her disapprovingly as the hologram froze, but Hunter was the only one who spoke. "You gave her our comm channel?"
"For emergencies," Omega said defensively. "And that sounded pretty important. We have to go."
"Perhaps the situation is not as dire as described," Tech cut in, factual and logical as always. "Children often overreact."
I sucked in a quiet breath. As right as he was, it was the wrong thing to say, especially to a kid Omega's age. Old enough to see it as patronising, too young to see the truth in it.
"No, we don't!" Omega fired back indignantly. "You heard her. She needs us."
The last three words were said quieter, pleadingly, to Hunter rather than Tech. He put a consoling hand on her shoulder, something he tended to do often. Especially right before telling her a hard truth she needed to hear.
"Omega, it's a big galaxy. We can't put ourselves on the line every time someone's in trouble."
Exactly what I'd told the Martez sisters and Rex, only in different words. It pained Hunter to tell her that, I could tell, but he was looking out for his squad. It wasn't the time to be selfless, especially not against a power that could wipe us out as easily as I could snap my fingers.
Omega didn't see it that way.
"Why not?" She challenged, staring Hunter down. "Isn't that what soldiers do?"
Her words struck a chord within him; his flinch was small, barely perceptible, but years of reading people, detecting microexpressions to manipulate as a Jedi caught the slight widening of his eyes, the lips parting in surprise. He recovered himself quickly, but the grudging resignation that replaced the surprise was not promising.
"Turn the ship around," he told Tech, getting up from his seat. I shook my head and stepped back, allowing him to pass by me without a word. He really could not say no to the girl.
"I would advise against it," the intelligently enhanced clone began. "We are putting ourselves at unnecessary risk by returning-"
"Just do it, Tech." The firm authority in his tone filled in the rest. That's an order. Tech's jaw set, but he nodded anyway and turned back to the controls, hauling the Marauder around and inputting coordinates into the navicomputer. The hyperdrive's lever was thrown forward a second later, familiar blue streaks blotting out the star dotted emptiness of space and jolting us forward, back towards Ryloth.
Omega had run off to put her bow on as soon as we'd entered hyperspace, only to take it off and put it back on another five times out of pure boredom when she realised the journey would take longer than she originally anticipated. She had taken it off yet another time when the ship finally exited hyperspace over the Twi'leks' planet, leaving it behind in her eagerness to get to the front of the cockpit and see Ryloth.
She clutched the handlebar on Echo's seat, staring at the rocky formations and treacherous canyons in the rust coloured surface of the plant. Though the other side of Ord Mantell had similar views, Omega never failed to take complete and utter wonder in every new planet she saw. It reminded me of my first encounter with Christophsis.
The coordinates Hera sent had Tech manoeuvring into a tight channel splitting off from the main canyon. Inside was a large dip in the rock, big enough to fit enough supplies and the Marauder. From the way it was stocked, this hollow had likely served as an outpost for Cham in the early days of the war.
A loud babbling droid wheeled around the corner, two appendages jutting out from it waving crazily as it chattered, almost threatening in its advances. Omega took several steps back as the droid almost ran over her foot, bubbling out other warnings and threats.
"What's his problem?" Wrecker regarded the little droid with disdain, looking almost tempted to smash it.
"Thank you for coming." Six heads snapped up to watch the green-skinned Twi'lek emerge from a hidden spot in the cave, following behind the orange droid. "I wasn't sure you would."
We almost hadn't, but none of us were about to tell her that.
"You said you were in trouble." Omega shrugged like it was obvious.
"Care to tell us why the Empire is after you?" Hunter wasted no time in getting down to business ...
"Because my father is Cham Syndulla."
"The freedom fighter?" Tech's head lifted from his data pad, perhaps the first time anyone had ever distracted him successfully from it.
"Yes," Hera said softly. "This was his old command outpost. It's where I've been hiding. The Empire's begun targeting anyone loyal to him."
"What do you want us to do?" Echo, the sceptic as ever.
"Free my parents from the Capitol. That's where they're being held."
"That's a pretty big ask, kid." I shifted to the side, a hand going to my hip in a move that mirrored one very similar to one Bo-Katan might have made. In front of me, Hunter folded his arms - quiet, but it was obvious that he agreed with me.
"They can pay you if you get them out!" Hera's tone was beginning to border on desperation, her outburst suddenly much louder. "Please," she added in a quieter undertone. "I don't have anyone else to ask."
Omega's head flicked up to Hunter before she stepped forward, resting her hand on the other girl's arm reassuringly and giving her an affirming nod. No words were spoken, but the firm alliance was clear.
"Let's see what we're up against first," Hunter acquiesced eventually, watching the girls with an inscrutable expression on his face. "But no guarantees."
The entire population of Ryloth had gathered in the capital's main square, surrounded by clones, probe droids and AT-TE walkers. Considering the Republic was meant to clear out of Ryloth when the war ended, the number of troopers still on the planet was disproportionate. It seemed like there was an even larger military presence than when Ryloth had been under its heaviest fire.
Hera had led us to an outcropping in the mountains high above the capital, allowing us to see directly into the square and the balcony of Orn Free Taa's house. We were too far away to see anything beyond hazy outlines - six macrobinoculars and one rangefinder were lifted to seven sets of eyes, magnifying the view before us.
The doors of the balcony situated high above the ground opened, a man dressed in the telltale admiralty uniform and a clone clad in teal and white armour stepping out to address the citizens. From our vantage point, his voice was murky, indistinct; Chopper's signal antenna popped up and began to swivel, amplifying his words as clearly as if he were standing next to us.
"... The perpetrators of this heinous assassination attempt have been captured..."
"Assassination attempt?" Hunter questioned, lowering his macrobinoculars briefly to throw a meaningful look at the Syndulla girl. The admiral in the balcony continued to drone on, further implicating Cham Syndulla and 'his insurgents.' Hera's shoulders hunched inward at the mention of the assassination attempt.
"That's not what happened," she muttered defiantly, pressing her macrobinoculars harder to her face.
A flash of black armour at the outskirts of the gathered crowd caught my eye; I zoomed in even closer on the rangefinder, squinting into it as though I could change what I saw if I looked hard enough. There was no denying it though. He was here.
"Hunter..." Omega began bleakly the instant I opened my mouth to say something. "Crosshair's here."
"Great," Wrecker grumbled, throwing down his own pair of binocs. "Just what we need."
Hunter said nothing, merely signalled to the Batch and slowly pushed himself back to his feet, retreating farther down the mountain with the rest of the clones in tow. After a moment's hesitation, I got up too and joined them, leaving the younger girls to continue surveillance of the city. Other than a side glance from Echo, there was no objection to my self inclusion.
"The plasma bridge into the city's been deactivated," Hunter began, ready to begin laying down a plan, to be cut off by Wrecker.
"Well, I say we fly in and blow our way out." His excitement at the prospect of blowing something up was muted for once, in the name of stealth, but it was there nonetheless. Except he'd forgotten the defences the prison would be sure to have been outfitted with.
"The Capitol's scanners would detect our ship." Echo's tone held a faint note of exasperation as he told the larger clone something that should have been obvious from the very beginning.
"I don't like the look of this," Tech interjected, adjusting his goggles. "The troop presence here is similar to that of Raxus. This is a military occupation."
"Ryloth's not a Separatist planet."
"Exactly my point." That familiar uncomfortable feeling settled over me, tuning out the rest of Tech's words. I shifted to the side discreetly, darting eyes searching for the source of the I wasn't the only one unsettled; Hunter shifted as well, sensing something in the air.
"Wait here." And suddenly he was gone, sneaking away around the side of the rock formation jutting out next to us. Something above him caught my attention, dark grey metal, completely the wrong shade and shape to blend into its surroundings properly, and the reason why this ominous feeling had chosen to make its appearance again. My eyes averted away from it with a grim smile under the helmet. Best to act like we hadn't caught onto it yet.
The droid smashed to the floor, Hunter's knife stuck right into its eye. It shuddered, spewing unintelligible noises as he yanked the blade out, throwing sparks and electricity crackling over its body in its death.
"Oh good. A probe droid." Tech's words were laced with sarcasm as he beheld the dead droid. It was clearly why the unsettled feeling had suddenly settled over me. That feeling wasn't gone though, only lessened. Like there was something else...
The second probe crashed to the ground a second later, its main eye shattered with a sparking electroshock dart embedded in the remains of the glass. My arm was still raised, a small gap between the three darts loaded into the small chamber on my vambrace. "You missed one."
His eyebrows raised at my dry attempt at humour, but he made no comment, merely sheathing the knife back onto his forearm.
"The Empire will know we're here." Echo's words were nothing compared to the impact Hunter's next ones had on the entire group.
'And so will Crosshair. Come on. Let's move."
Hera hesitated, visibly shaken, only to be grabbed by Omega and pulled along with her. She remained uncharacteristically quiet the entire trek back to her hideout, shoulders curled inward and hugging her elbows.
"All my father wanted was peace on Ryloth." When she finally spoke, it was quiet, feet wearing a short path into the dust of the caves. "Why is this happening?"
"He's a voice the people stand behind." Echo was gentler than I'd ever heard him. "That makes him a threat to the Empire."
"I don't care about any of that!" Hera's arms wrapped tighter around herself. "I just want my parents back."
It was hard not to feel for her, looking so small and unsure of herself. Being alone was difficult, especially at such a young age. Without such a great risk of capture, it was probably likely I would have accepted the mission myself, out of favour to Cham and simply because of the haunted look in Hera's eyes, simply from the prospect of never seeing her parents again.
Chopper's loud chattering interrupted my thoughts, the droid wheeling out of the Marauder and boosting himself down the steps. Tech was close behind him, eyes glued to his screen again.
"We're all over the Imperial comm channels," he informed us, tapping away at the datapad in his hands. "They've increased patrols in the city."
Dank farrik. Whatever slim hope I'd heald that the probes hadn't managed to transmit the information evaporated. Crosshair and the Empire knew we were here.
"Crosshair will be expecting an attack." Hunter glanced down at the young Twi'lek almost regretfully. "The element of surprise is gone. There's nothing we can do."
"Wait, you can't leave!" Hera's reaction was instantaneous, switching from the quiet, muted girl, back to the desperate one we had met in the outpost.
"I told you. No guarantees." Despite the look I had caught on Hunter's face, his words were hard and final. "We'll get you off world and take you someplace safe."
"Stop!" She grabbed at his arm, pulling him back roughly before he could take a step. "I'll pay you double!"
"All the money in the galaxy won't matter if we're dead." Harsh words, but each one rang with truth. "What you're asking us to do, it's not worth it."
Still harsh, though true only for him. I winced, watching Hera recoil, hurt flashing across her face. He was only looking out for his squad, the ones he considered family, but so was Hera.
"Not to you," she whispered, storming off deeper into the cave. Chopper fired off some obscene expletives, directed mainly at Hunter, before going after Hera, one of his appendages held carefully at her back in an attempt to comfort. Omega started after her, face darkening in anger for perhaps the first time ever.
"You shouldn't have said that." Her hands were clenched at her sides as she stared Hunter down. He was unaffected by her words,
"Being strategic means knowing your limitations, Omega." The other three clones began to file onto the ship, guilty expressions telling me they were not going to get involved in this.
"Do you think so too, Ashe?" Omega's stare shifted to me, the only one to remain behind. Crap. I knew I should have gone on the ship when I had the chance. The only answer I could give her was one she wouldn't like. No matter how badly the selfless instincts in me screamed to accept Hera's ask. With such a large Imperial presence, the danger outweighed everything else.
"Hunter's right, kid." I answered eventually. Reluctantly. "The risk is too great for us. It could end up with all of us dying."
Her eyes hardened further. "She's trying to save her family. I'd do the same for you."
Dank farrik. She always knew exactly what buttons to push. She was already walking after Hera, leaving Hunter and I both to stew in her response.
I met his eyes steadily when they flicked up to meet mine, expression masked by the inscrutable visor, as always. No words passed between us before he broke it and went up the stairs, but the mutual understanding was there. We'd give Omega some time to console her new friend, but when they came back, we had to leave.
Except when they came back, they had a plan instead.
"Attack the Capitol?" Wrecker said incredulously, tone and face coloured with pride. "Wh- That was my plan!"
"Not the Capitol," Omega corrected. "The Imperial refinery on the outskirts."
At Hera's signal, Chopper pulled up a holographic blueprint of the refinery in question. "I've been spying on their activity. I know their routine. If we attack there, reinforcements will be diverted from the Capitol."
"We can use that distraction to rescue Hera's parents," Omega surmised determinedly with an encouraging smile to Hera.
"Any heavy defences at the refinery?" Echo squinted at the hologram, as if he could pick them out himself in the mess of hazy features.
"Five perimeter cannons," Hera confirmed, hands flying over the blueprint to point them out, Chopper outlining them in red as she indicated. "But they are unmanned."
"Auto cannons are extremely vulnerable," Tech cut in from the pilot's seat. "Where is the control console?"
"Right inside the main gate. It is heavily guarded, but Chopper can slip inside with the other droids and disable the cannons."
It was a well laid out plan. The beginnings of one, at least. Hunter stared at the blueprints with a hard expression, brows drawing even tighter together the longer he looked. Hera focused on him instead, mingled hope and fear written on her features like an open book.
"All right," he relented eventually. "You two go with Chopper as backup, but at a distance."
The last three words were emphasised heavily. It flew right over their heads - their relief of Hunter's approval dominating everything else.
"Really?" Both gasped in unison, wide, disbelieving smiles duplicates of the other's. Their excitement was not mirrored by the others,
"By themselves?" Tech questioned, eyeing the pair with measured concern.
"No. Ashe will go with them."
"What?" My head jerked up at the unexpected change of plans, ready to protest further, but Hunter was pressing forward before I could get another word in edgewise.
"Tech, Wrecker. Wait until those cannons are down and move in. Echo and I will scale the Capitol Wall and free Hera's parents." He leaned down, closer to Hera's eye level to address her directly. "I guess we'll follow your lead."
"Why am I with the girls?" I pulled Hunter to the side the first chance I got, with the others beginning to prepare for their respective roles. "I can do more than just watch them. Let me go with Tech and Wrecker on the Marauder."
"This is a dangerous mission. It could easily go wrong."
"Hasn't stopped either of us before."
"That was before..." He glanced around, voice lowering, ensuring that no one else was within earshot. "Do you know what the Empire will do to you if you're captured?"
I sucked in a hard breath. It was the first time either of us had mentioned it since the caves on Gorse, the secret hanging heavily between us. It didn't change a thing. "I don't need to be protected. I can handle myself."
"Doesn't matter. You're with us, we look out for you. That's what being part of a team is."
That brought me up short. Was that what we were now? A team? We'd run most of Cid's missions together at this point, and I'd saved them plenty of times, and vice versa. Hell, I'd even been around for missions of their own. I suppose that did make us a team, for as long as we were both employed under Cid at least. Business arrangements, if anything.
"Fine," I conceded eventually. "But if Tech and Wrecker need backup, I'm jumping in."
He jerked his chin down in a sharp nod. "Alright."