We’re going too fast. I grip onto the side of the railcar door tightly, my senses going into overdrive from the immense roar of the wind and the loud metallic screeching of the sky rail. The outside is a continuous blur of white, and as my grip on Omega’s wrist loosens, a split second thought enters my mind and I am nearly petrified. The prospect of losing another one of my own sends me into a panic, finally giving into the emotions that I've pent up since Tech fell.
We’re plummeting back to the compound when I catch Echo out of my peripheral attempting a last ditch effort to take control back over the railcar, aggressively plugging into the scomp link.
No time
NO TIME
The compound is metres away. I snap around and dive for Omega, her terrified expression is burned into my memory as I take her down onto the floor, covering her body with my own.
This kid, this strong and amazing kid. She’s ours and mine. Seeing Omega so fucking scared breaks my heart, because what kind of father figure am I if I can’t protect her from danger, no less…death. The regrets eat away at me, for not forcing her to get on that ship with Cut, for being selfish and taking her in anyway. For loving this kid so much that it would kill me to give her away.
My brothers and I are somewhat hardened when it comes to death and the afterward. But today? There was no running from this. We’re more than a squad, more than what outsiders see us as. Tech making this sacrifice breaks me apart, and I can’t begin to imagine what our kid is going through right now. She isn’t a soldier…she isn't fucking a soldier; so why is she here?
She has absolutely no protection that will absorb the impact of this crash, and before I can even tell her to hold onto me, the last thing I feel is being thrown to the back of the railcar. The metal bars give out at the force of the crash and I'm sent flying out of it. The sensation of the empty space within my arms and a heavy slab of concrete slamming onto my abdomen is the last piece of clarity I manage to hold on to before my HUD shuts down.
I start gaining consciousness fast. With my genetic enhancements and years of intense training on Kamino, crash recovery is something I'm familiar with.
But Omega is not.
A pained moan breaches as the pain radiates across my ribs. and I know the crash has severely busted them up. My HUD is a little staticky, but I start to make out the heavy smoke, the ruins and the twisted and groaning metal.
I sit up, stuttering in my movements as concrete slips off of my armour and dust billows when I push the heavy slab off my body. It flips over and breaks off as I push myself to lay on my side. I let my arm rest across my ribs, adding a light pressure as I struggle to stand on my two feet; But fail at multiple attempts.
“Tech?” A girl’s voice calls out.
A few moments later I see a shadow fall to the ground, dirt billowing up into the air. My damaged HUD is speckled with glitches, and I'm struggling to paint a clear picture of my surroundings.
In my state of shock, I force my myself to remember that Tech isn’t here and try to recall who was instead. Echo, Wrecker and Omega need to be accounted for.
Panic starts to seep back into my being when I notice Omega did not land anywhere near me after rolling my head left and right, taking in the crash site.
On my last attempt to get on my own two feet, I hear debris collapsing and metal clang against metal before fast steps quickly approach me. “Hunter, it's me. We gotta find Wrecker and Omega.” Echo falls in and lifts me up, steadying my form beside him with his right arm tightly wound around my left one. “The Empire’s gonna send in fighters, we gotta move!”
“I hear ya! I’m fine!” Wrecker calls out from beneath a debris pile. He punches his way out, and climbs over it, breathing ragged.
“O-Omega!” I shout slowly regaining my breath, HUD viciously scanning the crash site for any sign of our kid. My enhanced senses start coming into play as I focus on the layout of the site, trying to pick up any movement. A little figure sprawled close to the hole in the compound wall catches my eye. “I found her!”
I break out of Echo’s hold and rush toward her. I halt in my tracks, taking her in. Her eyes are barely open. “Omega!”
She's shivering as she weakly manages to lift her head up before she relents, collapsing back onto the ground.
An arm supports my ribs and I get down on my knees for a closer look at her injuries. My eyes travel to her lower leg, and the material is torn where I spot a deep cut. The injuries don’t look life threatening on the outside, but to be safe, Omega deserves the best medical treatment we have on hand. My mind immediately goes to AZI. I don’t have the luxury of time to debate this decision when I start detecting V-Wing ion thrusters coming into range.
“We have to get her out of here.” I look up, hearing the scrambled fighters quickly zoning in onto our location. “Wrecker, I can’t lift her up.”
“Cover me.” he groans as he bends down to pick up our kid.
My instincts to make sure Omega gets on the ship safely is replaced by the need to blast the incoming ground troopers. “Get to the Marauder!” Echo pulls at my arm, but I shake him off before bending down to swipe up Omega's energy bow. I break into a run, ignoring the pain furiously flaring up in my abdomen.
Blaster fire lights up the bleak scene of grey and black, bolts of red and blue are exchanged as we race back, Wrecker nearly slipping on rock at one point. “We’re almost there Wreck! How is she?”
Wrecker checks on her, and exhales loudly. “Sarge! She’s…please…Omega stay with us.”
I grunt in response; the pressure of it all starting to send me into a state of dread and absolute horror. For the first time since the war, I find myself begging whatever god was out there to save our kid, to keep her breathing, as I blast the never ending wave of Storm Troopers barrelling toward my squad.
I check behind me, stepping over shards of rock and jumping over logs as we keep blasting the incoming wave. I do another double take and finally, the Marauder is in sight.
“Come on, come on!” I bark, covering Echo and Wrecker as they prepare the ship for take off. The ramp shuts just as Wrecker lays Omega across his lap after he's seated in Tech’s bunk. Echo disappears into the cockpit as I rip my helmet off and look between them, barking more orders.
“Head to Ord Mantell, Azi can help her!”
“Hurry!”
Wrecker stares down at Omega and I grab a med-scanner out of Tech’s bunk before kneeling down and performing a scan on her. The scan goes red and my head rears back. “She's in critical range!”
Echo lifts us off, and the Marauder escapes the atmosphere. He frantically punches in the hyperdrive coordinates before we’re sent into hyperspace within a minute. Within a short time, I hear Cid over the holo and Echo barking orders to get AZI to prepare for their arrival at the parlour.
“Hunter, what if she can’t make it to Ord Mantell?” Wrecker pants, frantically checking Omega over and over again.
“She has to. You hear me Omega? Fight this ad’ika, for your brothers.” I beg, before rummaging through a nearby medkit for pain relievers and bacta shots.
I hear Echo’s heavy footfalls and feel his looming presence behind me as he takes over regularly scanning Omega. “Morphine shot. Bacta shot. I’ll administer it-”
“Hunter her vitals, they’re plummeting.” Echo says in disbelief.
Plummeting? “No…no, no no.”
Abandoning the medicinal shots, I sit myself next on the bunk before pulling the kid into my lap instead, her feet resting on Wrecker’s lap; The pain in my ribs not managing to outweigh my worry for her. I shake her lightly. “Omega? Can you hear me? Open your eyes for us.”
I scan her pale face. Her big brown eyes were closed off to the world. Her breathing, incredibly inconsistent and laboured, clued me in to what was happening. The utter helplessness I feel at the moment was unmatched. “Oh gods. Its Internal damage…her lungs.”
She breaks into a violent coughing fit, eyebrows scrunched up. “It’s okay, you’re okay. I’m right here…shhh…” I say softly, hand resting on her cheek and lightly caressing it.
Echo gathers the medical equipment and expertly administers the shots, gingerly pushing her hair back when he's done. There's a light sheen covering her skin and her lips were losing their soft, pink tinge. The three of us sit in silence, as I use my senses to monitor her heartbeat, and her-
"Her breathing is becoming worse. Echo what's our ETA?" I ask breathlessly, looking up at him for a second before my attention is redirected to Omega as I stroke at her hair tenderly.
Wrecker’s grip on her ankle tightens. “The bacta isn't enough.” I snap my head toward him, noticing the faraway look in his eyes.
“We’ll arrive on Ord Mantell in fifteen standard minutes.”
I shake my head, dread creeping up into my chest as I tune in my senses into Omega once again. “Wait- shes- shes not breathing.” I whisper.
“Kriff!” Echo moves in, kneeling down in front of us. I shake her frantically, calling out to her. This can’t be happening. This cannot be happening to us, to our family.
Omega’s eyes burst open, wide and alarmed. Her sudden wakefulness jolts the rest of us, bending over her. “Omega! Please!” I shout, the sight forever forged into my memory and as her eyes are trained on me only.
“Omega we’re all here with you, and we love you kid.” Wrecker says, leaning into her field of vision.
“Hn’ter…” she gasps, struggling to speak.
“You’re so strong cyar'ika.” Echo reaffirms, taking her hand in his.
“I-I don’t wnt to go-”
“Kid, stay with us. I love you…I love you.” I beg, dropping my forehead against hers.
“Tech…” She reaches out and grabs at my face gingerly, her little fingers gracing over the tattooed side of my face before her eyes close again, slumping against me lifelessly. At that moment, Omega draws a breath, before letting out a final exhale.
I manoeuvred her up into a sitting position, with her head lying in the crook of my neck. My arms go around her back, hugging her to me tightly. The silence on the Marauder is absolutely deafening, the reality of what just happened sinking in painfully.
My mind was racing a million miles a minute earlier, but now it’s reached a dead end. My sole purpose to keep going after the war is Omega, and it will always be her.
“She’s not gone.” I whisper defiantly, looking at Echo. “She can’t be.”
He scans her, and the look on his face tells me all I need to know.
“Hunter…” His lips are pulled into a straight line, but the agony is portrayed in his eyes so clearly.
I tune out my enhanced senses as Wrecker rests his head in the opposite crook of my neck, gripping onto Omega tightly. “Kid…” I hear him sob. Echo shifts and sits beside me, resting his forehead on the back of her head.
The blue hue of hyperspace cascades over us, as all noise starts to dissolve around me. I take my eyes off of her mop of blonde hair, opting to stare into the tunnel of blue through the cockpit windows.
I picture Tech in the pilot seat, and Omega in the co-pilot seat. Tech's looking over at her, he's smiling as she's pointing out toward the hyperspace tunnel. I imagine her wide eyes taking it all in. I close my eyes and grip onto the nape of Omega's neck, still warm.
Images of her running up and down the Marauder, her first energy bow lesson with Echo, defusing sessions with Wrecker, flying lessons with Tech, her smiles...her laughter. I replay the memories in my mind all at once. I rock her in my arms slowly, burying my face into her hair before giving in, finally surrendering.
Omega used to love the sight of hyperspace, but now I can’t help but think she was a part of it now, at peace and safe with Tech; together again.