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Omega blinks, her frazzled mind confused when she only sees darkness. She squeezed her eyes shut, then slowly opened them again. Her chest ached, and the air around her was dusty and cold. Darkness still surrounded her, but she could just barely see a stone floor. Wincing, she slowly pushed herself up, her limbs protesting the movement. How had she ended up… wherever she was now? She had just been practising using her bow with Echo, so how had she ended up away from him? Had she hit her head?
She coughed, looking around the area she was in. It looked like some kind of cave, part of it having collapsed behind her. That probably explained how she had ended up here, but where exactly was here, and how could she get out? Instinctively, she reached for her comlink, but was dismayed when she found that it had been damaged. Luckily, her glance downward had also revealed that her bow had fallen down as well.
Activating the weapon, Omega set off into the darkness, her way now slightly illuminated by a purple glow. Her footsteps echoed as she walked, a slight limp in her step. Now that she was awake, a couple of injuries became obvious to her. It hurt to put her full weight on her left leg, she had a cut on her arm, and she was almost certain she had hit her head because it was pounding.
She tentatively moved a hand down to touch the cut and hissed when she felt wetness seeping out into her sleeve. It must have been bleeding quite a bit. Frowning, she extended her uninjured arm and began to feel along the wall. She had no idea where she was going, but she couldn’t just stay put. Maker only knows what was in these caves, and there was a good chance that she could run into something dangerous down here.
Crosshair growled softly as he stalked through yet another tunnel. Damn this network for being a kriffing maze! His task was suppose to be simple, enter the caves and search for rebels. Apparently, there was supposed to be a camp set up in the central cave, but he wouldn’t know because he couldn’t find it!
To make matters worse, he had heard part of the cave network collapse not too long ago. So now, on top of having to navigate his way through this underground hell, he also had to worry about the whole place coming down on his head. Fun.
A sound pulled him from his inner complaining, and he stopped in his tracks. Enhanced hearing was Hunter’s thing, but the one good thing about this place was that sound carried tremendously well. It was a quiet sound, soft foot steps that didn’t quite sync up properly. Then, a more interesting sound, the ignition of an energy bow. Someone injured, but armed. However, unless you had enhanced vision, like him, such a weapon was of little use in the dark.
His hands found his own weapon and he gripped it, slowly moving forward. His steps were silent, and he slowed his breathing to make as little noise as possible. The other person’s footsteps were light, but not in a way that made it seem like they were trying to be. They were small, most likely young. It was odd that a child would be in this far, and alone at that, but that just made his job easier.
Somewhere, buried beneath the influence of a modified chip, a piece of his mind screamed to just leave, that what he was doing was wrong. But he blocked out the voice.
Good soldiers followed orders.
Omega sighed as she hit another fork in the tunnels. The labyrinth of caves seemed to stretch on forever, and she had no way of telling where she had been, where she was, or where she was going. Releasing her pull on the energy bow’s string, she slumped down. Archery training had already been wearing her out, and her muscles just weren’t developed enough to draw the string back that long. As the purple light died, she pulled her knees up to her chest. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she pressed her head against her knees as she sat in the dark. She wished that she wasn’t alone.
Suddenly, she felt something. It was like the feeling she’d gotten the day she’d met Pillow, but also like the one she’d gotten just moments before she’d nearly been drowned. Something, or someone, needed help, but there was also danger. She stood up but did not draw the bow’s string. Instead, she listened, and tried to use the feeling to gauge where the other life-form was. As she stood still, the feeling got stronger. Whatever it was, it was getting closer.
Not wanting to be caught in a dark tunnel, Omega decided to keep moving. Using the wall as a guide, she moved down the left tunnel. The other presence seemed to detect her sudden movement, and it increased its speed in turn. It wasn’t just coming towards her, it was chasing her.
Forgoing stealth, Omega drew back the bow’s string and began to run down the tunnel. Her leg protested such an act, but she simply grit her teeth and kept going. A rush of relief surged trough her when the tunnel opened up into a larger cavern, and she immediately killed the light. As quietly as possible, she backed into the room, her eyes flicking around the darkness. She needed to know what she was dealing with, and how much room she had to move in.
She drew back the string farther, the bow humming with unreleased energy as she waited for whatever was chasing her to catch up. Once the feeling reached what felt like it’s peak, she fired.
The bolt illuminated the room, a ripple of purple light shooting across the room. As it struck the space above the tunnel that she had just came from, she saw her pursuer. Intense brown eyes flashed in the purple light, the signature reticle tattoo making her stomach drop and her blood freeze.
‘Oh shit.’ Was the only thought that ran through her mind at that moment.
Crosshair locked eyes with her as the light disappeared, and Omega immediately drew her bow string back again, firing off another round. She saw it flash by Crosshair, the experienced clone easily dodging the shot. Desperate, she aimed her next shot towards the ceiling, hoping that she could cause something to fall and distract the elder clone for a moment.
As the surge of energy flew upwards, she caught a brief glance of Crosshair’s confused face. The shot hit its mark, and a chunk of the ceiling broke away. Omega leapt back as a large hunk of rock hit the floor. She was about to make a dash for the tunnel she had came from when another piece of the ceiling came crashing down. Dirt and rocks began to cascade down upon them, leaving both clones to scramble for safety.
Omega rolled away as a stone shattered nearby, a few of the bits of rock embedding themselves in her skin. She yelped and pulled herself against the wall, trying to get away from the chaos she had created.
Crosshair had almost made it back to the tunnel, but one of the rocks managed to clip him as he ran. He skidded across the floor, unable to get up fast enough as more rocks fell down around him.
Omega coughed as the room filled with dust. She covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve until it settled, keeping her eyes closed so that no dirt or grime could get in them.
Peeking over her arm, her pupils constricted as she took in the damage. A few cracks of sunlight now shone through the collapsed ceiling, illuminating the once impossibly dark space. Chunks of cave stone and mountains of dirt now covered the cavern, spilling out across the floor. Pulling away from the wall, Omega slowly stalked around the edge of the mess, her eyes scanning for any signs of Crosshair. She hadn’t meant for this to happen, she had just wanted to distract him!
A groan met her ears, and she quickly limped over to a pile of rocks. She gasped as she saw the prone form of Crosshair, his lower half buried under the rubble. A large gash on the side of his head gushed blood, the crimson liquid dripping onto the floor. Omega dropped down to her knees and started to push and pull rocks off the unconscious man.
“Oh Crosshair, I’m so sorry! I never wanted you to get hurt…” She said apologetically.
Once enough rocks and dirt had been cleared off of him, she set about dragging him forward. She was only a little girl, however, so the task took her far longer than she would have like. By the end of it all, Crosshair was free, but she was exhausted. The terror and the running and the lack of fresh oxygen was beginning to take its toll, and she flopped down onto the ground beside Crosshair. Breathing hard, she let her head tip back, resting on Crosshair’s back. Sleep sung its siren song, and she soon found herself caving in to her body’s demands.
Crosshair groaned, wiping at his face. His head was pounding, but for the first time in a while, it felt almost completely clear. Shaking off his disorientation, he propped himself up on his elbows and took notice of a few things at once. One: The room he had just been in was now a heap of rubble. Two: He had a large cut on the side of his head. And Three: There was a child using him as a pillow.
He turned over, easing Omega’s head to the ground as he got to his feet. The coldness that had been holding his true self hostage had been beaten back, although it still slunk through the recesses of his mind. For now, though, he was in control, and he took a moment to decide what he wanted to do with his newfound freedom.
He looked at Omega, who was still sleeping off her exhaustion. She’d had a perfectly good opportunity to kill him while he had been unconscious, and she would have been well within her right. Yet she had not only spared his life, but had seemingly pulled him free of the debris, something he might not have been able to do by himself.
A beam of sunlight caught his attention. An exit. He could easily grab her and bring her back to Kamino, as he was ordered to do. Good soldiers followed orders…
…but family protected their own. He hadn’t had the choice before, but he did now, and he wasn’t about to squander his chance to start to make things right with his brothers.
Scooping up Omega and ignoring his own pain, he ascended the rubble pile. Once he was close enough, he chipped away at the cracks in the ceiling until he had created a big enough hole to fit through. He put the girl through first, then shimmed his way out of the underground space. Picking up Omega once again, he scanned the area. They had come up into a dead forest, the plants here having been scorched at some point.
After setting Omega down as gently as he could, Crosshair began to scale one of the trees. His razor sharp vision allowed him to spot a familiar ship, and even more familiar people. They looked frantic, pacing between the ship and what looked to be the site of a cave in. He could tell that they were arguing by their wild hand gestures and tense postures.
‘They must still believe Omega is down in the caves.’ He thought to himself. ‘I need to get their attention.’
Reaching behind him, he gripped his trustworthy rifle and took aim at the ground near the Havoc Marauder. He fired off a shot, far enough away to not be dangerous but close enough to be noticeable. His brothers startled at the sudden blaster bolt, and he saw them look towards his direction. He activated his comlink.
“If you’re looking for the girl, you might want to come over here.” He said smoothly, smiling a bit in amusement when he saw his brothers look at each other in surprise.
Before he could get a reply, he deactivated his comlink. They’d be here soon, and he needed to be gone before they arrived. He wanted to stay, he really did, but now was not the time. If he went with them now, he risked bringing the Empire down on their heads. Not to mention the fact that his chip was still active, just muted for now. He didn’t want to be around them when it took over again.
Hopping down, he paused for a moment to look at Omega again. The girl had obviously been practising with the new weapon she’d picked up from somewhere, and a part of him ached at the thought that he wouldn’t be there to help teach her.
“I’ll return soon, ad’ika. Then you’ll get some proper lessons.” He said, his voice holding a promise without actually saying it.
Turning away, he sprinted off into the forest. He’d need to come up with an excuse for his mission’s failure and a plan to escape the Empire’s watchful eyes.
‘Wait for me, vode. I’ll find a way home.’ He thought to himself, disappearing into the ashen forest.