Astera:
Wrecker had already been subdued, the large clone on his knees with his hands cuffed in front of him and a ring of commandos surrounding him. Their blasters were already pointing at the doorway we slowly advanced from, like they'd been waiting for us. And they probably had been, as that doctor we'd been after - Hemlock - casually strolled into the centre of the circle as soon as we appeared, a case of credits in hand.
A commando shifted forward and both of us reacted, muscles tensing and guns jerking towards the offending clone trooper. The result was every other commando brandishing their own blasters more insistently, reminding us that we were far outnumbered here.
"That's not very strategic." Hemlock was completely unruffled, maintaining his cool composure despite the threat hovering only metres away from him. "For either of you. You don't need to use your enhanced senses or the Force to know you're outnumbered here."
So he did know. It was too optimistic to believe that he hadn't found out, but some small part of me had still stubbornly hoped my actions on Eriadu had gone unnoticed. But of course it hadn't been the case.
Our only answer was to tighten grips on blasters, all three barrels shifting towards the same target. Him.
His smug expression only grew more prominent, and he passed the case of credits to his other hand, holding it out towards the bar with an almost superior look of triumph. "The Empire thanks you for your assistance."
My blood turned to ice in my veins when Cid drifted into view, shoulders hunched and completely avoiding our gazes. So that was how they knew we were here. She must have tipped them off when we'd arrived. Cid had always been good at making threats, but until now, I'd never actually believed she'd make good on them. We'd been stupid to trust her.
Hunter was good at controlling his expressions, but I could still feel him tense beside me, his features slackening in shock almost imperceptibly out of the corner of my eye. It was only for a second, his expression hardening again and his fingers tightening around his guns. I could feel my own face twist, no doubt into an expression that mirrored his.
"Our business is done. Leave." Despite the clear dismissal, Cid hesitated, mouth opening like she wanted to say something to us, before thinking better of it and trudging off, her head hanging low. I watched her go, scowling hard, until another commando's twitch had me jerking my attention back to the threat in front of us.
"Please, consider your next move very carefully," Hemlock told us, his voice still cool and flat. "I would hate for this to end poorly for all of you." He indicated Wrecker on his knees behind him, the fingers on his right hand probing at the left, covered by a glove. Almost like it was causing him discomfort.
"Here is how this is going to go," he continued. "You will lower your weapons and hand over Omega. And I will allow you to keep breathing."
"Omega's not going anywhere with you," Hunter snarled before I could reply in kind. He was still infuriatingly unfazed by our hostility, the smallest of superior smirks starting to pull at the corners of his mouth.
"Oh. Well, who knew clones are so paternal?" His gaze flickered to me momentarily, the look in his eyes almost smugly disparaging. "Or Jedi so attached? Fascinating."
I scowled at him, fighting the urge to fire back a snappish retort. He didn't deserve the satisfaction.
"I was saddened to learn of your friend's demise," Hemlock pressed on when there was no other response from either of us. "What was his name?" A momentary pause, one meant to intensify the impact it would have on us. "Ah, yes. Tech."
I flinched involuntarily, Wrecker growling from behind Hemlock and starting to surge to his feet, only to be roughly pulled back by several commandos and their blasters jabbing into his shoulder in warning. The satisfied half-smirk began to fully pull up one side of Hemlock's face as he beheld the reactions he so clearly wanted, the commando closest to him unhooking something from his belt to hand over to him.
"I'm afraid this was all I could salvage." He held up Tech's goggles, the lenses cracked and smashed, and tossed it towards us, clattering noisily at Hunter's feet. "Consider it a gift."
Neither of us made a move to take it, but I could feel the wave of anguish from Hunter, even if his expression, his posture, didn't change at all.
"To lose one of your own, it must weigh heavily on you as their leader. Or their self-proclaimed protector." He nodded towards the commandos and two of them pressed their own weapons into Wrecker's neck, a clear threat in itself. "And if you don't lower your blasters now, you will lose yet another."
Two beats was all it took to us to decide. Wrecker shook his head subtly at us, the clones jabbing their weapons into his neck again in warning, but Hunter and I glanced at each other and dropped our hands, laying our blasters on the floor next to Tech's goggles. We weren't risking anyone else today.
"And the lightsabers." I snarled under my breath at his threatening reminder, but reluctantly reached into my holsters, removing the hilts and setting them flat beside my blasters. Hunter reached for Tech's broken goggles, his eyes closing and expression falling yet again at the physical reminder his brother was gone. Hemlock's smug expression grew more pronounced and he waved the commandos forward, four of them breaking away to approach us with stun cuffs. "Wise decision."
We didn't fight when they yanked our hands in front of us and snapped the cuffs on, forcing us to our feet next to Wrecker. One of them scooped up our weapons, my lightsabers hooked onto his belt, where they dangled, almost enticingly, just out of my reach. But I knew the second I tried to go for them, we'd all end up riddled with bullet holes.
"Sir, the girl's not in the office!" Another commando burst in from the same doorway we'd come through, Hemlock turning to meet him with both his hands tucked behind his back. I couldn't see his face, but his fingers clenched ever so slightly, belying his displeasure.
"She's long gone," I finally spoke, dark satisfaction filling me at the sight of his tightening shoulders. "Like Hunter said, Omega's not going anywhere with you."
But when he turned back to me, he had already schooled his expression back into that cold indifference, only this time the smugness had disappeared. Without it, his entire demeanour had changed, lending an almost menacing air to him now. "We'll see."
Wrecker was pulled roughly to his feet at another signal from Hemlock and we were forced to move into the street, clone commandos surrounding us from all angles. Completely barring any means of escape.
Screaming had filled the streets as soon as the door opened, civilians fleeing from the walkers that threatened to stomp them if they didn't move fast enough. Bright headlamps from LAATs circling overhead beamed over us - they were clearly in search of someone, but all of this for Omega? It had been bad enough when the Kaminoans sent two bounty hunters after her, but this seemed excessive. Why did Hemlock want her so badly?
Dread dropped through me like a stone when I caught the flash of pink energy on a distant balcony, the bolt ready to fire at the commandos. No. Why, why, had she'd come back? We'd given ourselves up so she could escape with Echo. Not for her to mount a rescue on her own.
The commandos scattered at the first shots from Omega's bow, blasters automatically turning on her location, where she'd already loaded another bolt, aimed directly at Hemlock. Hunter and Wrecker inhaled sharply beside me, their own bodies going rigid as they registered the girl too, her face grimly determined.
"Lower your weapons," Hemlock ordered the commandos next to him, the clones complying and stepping back before he directed his words toward her. "Hello, Omega! We were just talking about you."
"Let. Them. Go!" She ignored him and pulled back harder on the bowstring with each word to emphasise them.
"Omega, run!" Hunter started forward, only for a commando to lock an arm around him and yank him back, struggling to get him under control.
"I won't let them take you!" She just planted her feet more firmly and yanked back on the bowstring even further, her familiar stubborn expression set in place. She wasn't leaving. But there was no way she could do anything on her own.
"How about an exchange?" Hemlock called up, undeterred by her outbursts. Even from here I could see her hesitate, her grip on the bow slackening for a moment as she glanced towards us. My face hardened again and I shook my head as subtly as I could, hoping she could see it from where she was. Don't trust him. "If you come with me, your friends will live."
"I don't believe you."
"I did not come here for them, Omega." Hemlock persisted, still with that infuriating placating tone. Like he could convince her if he tried hard enough. "I came here to return you to Nala Se. She needs your help."
"He's lying." I glared at the doctor. "They killed the Kaminoans."
"Incorrect." Hemlock held his hand out towards Omega, an invitation in itself. "Nala Se is alive and well cared for. As you will be."
"I'm not going with you." All traces of doubt disappeared and her fingers tightened on her weapon again. Hemlock only looked irritated however, his eyes flickering upwards nearly imperceptibly. Towards something on the rooftop above her.
"Omega, look out!" Another jolt went down my spine at Hunter's yelled warning and I saw the dark shape leap down from the roof, but it was already too late. The commando had dropped down behind her and hit her squarely in the chest with a stun. She collapsed instantly, the bow's pink energy winking out of existence and falling from her hands with a clatter.
"No!" I raised my hands to shove the commando away with the Force, only for electricity to snap through my wrists the instant I stretched them out, disrupting my focus and forcing the tingling in my palms to retract entirely. Two more commandos clamped rough hands on my arms when I pulled them back with a hiss, struggling to get me under control as I fought against them. Blaster barrels were jabbed towards Hunter and Wrecker when they surged forward too, forcing them into submission.
"Scour the city," Hemlock ordered the commandos, finally tearing his attention away from the balcony. "When you find the third clone, send them back to Eriadu. Governor Tarkin wishes to question you personally. Especially the Jedi."
One of the clones slammed the butt of his gun into my stomach when I started to struggle again - the air was knocked from my lungs and I dropped to one knee, wheezing and clutching at my fractured ribs as the burning ache began anew. Whatever little healing the bacta had done had just been obliterated. I could feel it.
I was given no chance to recover, the commandos yanking me roughly to my feet and forcing us all to move, in the opposite direction of Hemlock and the commando that had taken Omega. We went quietly - there was no more point in fighting back. Hemlock had exactly what he wanted, and we were just endangering each other if we tried anything else right now.
The unmistakable sounds of a walker's cannons reached our ears just before we were herded onto the LAAT meant to shuttle us off-world. I raised my head, sharing a confused glance with Hunter and Wrecker. None of the civilians were causing trouble. What need was there to fire on innocent people?
Two of the commandos guarding us ran forward to engage the rogue walker when it lurched into view, blasting the ground in front of the several troopers trying to take it down. They were all sent flying by the resulting explosion and the walker turned on the LAAT trying to take off, more lasers slamming home into its engines and blowing them out instantly.
"Echo?" Wrecker questioned, turning away to shield his face from the explosion of the LAAT.
"Gotta be Echo." Hunter slammed his foot into the commando behind him while he was still distracted, the clone toppling to the floor while Wrecker snapped his restraints over his knee with minimal effort.
"Who else would it be?" Most of my armour was still on the Marauder, and without it or my lightsabers, I was vulnerable - I dodged a stray shot just as Wrecker pried apart my own cuffs and blew the offending stormtrooper backwards with the Force, his body crunching against the wall and slumping down, unmoving. The second one was already rushing for me by the time I turned to face him, blaster whipping up to start firing at me. My lightsabers dangled from his belt.
I met the commando halfway, grabbing for his gun and trying to wrench it away from him, only for the trooper to yank it back from me all too easily and land a debilitating kick on my injured leg. It buckled out from underneath me, unable to support my weight with the extra abuse, and I landed hard on my forearms with a pained grunt.
His blaster was in my face as soon as I twisted to face him again - I rolled, the shots peppering the ground where I'd just been, and vaulted to my feet, taking the opportunity to duck under his guard and throw a shoulder up, into his stomach.
The commando doubled over with a wheeze, and I locked my hands around his arm, using his own weight to throw him over my shoulder. The impact of his helmet against the ground knocked him out cold instantly, body going limp and his blaster clattering to the ground.
A weight eased off my chest the second I reclaimed my lightsabers, and I powered them on, deflecting a third commando's round of bolts back onto himself. It didn't matter if anyone saw them anymore. They knew what I was now. We just had to get to Omega before it was too late.
The last two commandos were dispatched by Hunter and Wrecker with stolen blasters. By now the Imperials had been alerted to the theft of their walker - a second one appeared in the entrance of the street, cannons firing on the one Echo had hijacked. The shots blew out the knee of the walker and it listed to the side dangerously, the damaged joint unable to hold up the weight of the vehicle any longer.
I caught a flash of Echo leaping from the walker before it crashed to the ground as the second walker turned on us, forcing us to retreat behind the nearest building before it could shoot at us. He joined us around the side with AZI, clearly noting the absence of a certain young clone girl. "Where's Omega?"
"That Imperial took her," Wrecker growled out in answer.
"It was Hemlock," I elaborated with a scowl, powering off my lightsabers at the sight of troopers. More heat right now was the worst possible thing for us, and those yellow blades would be a beacon in the darkened streets.
"We've gotta stop his shuttle from leaving." Hunter started into the street, only to pull back when another platoon of stormtroopers ran into the street. The opposite way heralded even more - there were too many Imperials on the ground, and we had no time to fight them. Hemlock's shuttle would be long gone in the time it would take for us to get through them all. We needed a quicker option.
The answer heralded itself in a rusted metal bridge connecting the rooftops. It'd be a far more direct route, hopefully, and there were no troopers already up there. It was our best bet.
"Astera, get us up there." Hunter gestured upwards - I nodded and shoved my hands upwards when he broke into a run, the Force sending him soaring onto the rooftops. I knew how much they all hated the feeling of being thrown, Saleucami had told me that much, but none of them complained when they followed Hunter up there, too determined to reach the shuttle before it left.
Panic gripped me when the shuttle rose above the buildings, and before I knew it I was flying over Hunter's head, landing in front of him and throwing my hands out once again. It hadn't come close to working the last time, but I still found myself calling on the Force again, boots digging into the roof of the building as I caught the ship and forced it to freeze in midair, where it trembled, engines straining with the effort to break free from my grip.
"Hunter, we need to go!" Red bolts flew past my head, confirming Echo's words. It was too dangerous to stay out here for much longer, with no cover and stormtroopers everywhere. We had to move now.
"Get to the Marauder!" I didn't move at Hunter's order, still grappling with the ship. It was all I could do to keep it there, and my boots were starting to slide forward again, threatening to pull me over the edge. We were locked in a stalemate - the ship couldn't leave with me still holding onto it and I couldn't pull it to the ground - but still I held on, terrified of the consequences if I didn't. "Astera!"
Every part of me loathed myself for having to, but there was no other choice. I wasn't strong enough to ground the ship on my own, and every second I stayed made me an easier target for the stormtroopers' bolts. I couldn't do it.
I'm sorry, Omega. I dropped my hands and let the ship go, meeting Hunter's eyes with an agonised look. His expression was as pained as mine felt it was, but we said nothing as we both turned for the Marauder's docking space. It would only make things worse.
Commandos had caught up to us while they were still sliding down the pipes - I activated my lightsabers and leaped without a second's hesitation, my injured leg nearly buckling from underneath me again and deflecting first of the bolts before it could hit Wrecker's exposed back. They flew back, forcing the commandos to duck under cover before they could be cut down by their own fire.
It bought them enough time to make it down to the ground safely and we took off again, the wound in my thigh screaming with every step and the commandos immediately giving chase despite the Batch's deterring shots. Their red bolts followed us through the empty market - I cleaved another out of the air and shoved them all backwards with a wave of air, creating just enough distance for us to the Marauder's open ramp with Hunter laying down more cover fire before dashing up the steps himself.
The pain in my leg flared again as Echo threw himself into the cockpit and primed the controls, the Marauder lifting off from the planet's surface, and I nearly collapsed into the nearest seat, AZI immediately floating over to me with concern. We were alive, barely, and judging from the expressions of the two clones around me, we were more than beaten down. Tech was gone, and now Omega had been taken from us. We'd escaped, but at what cost?