Archive of Our Own

Hunter was just finishing paying for their supplies when his comlink started to buzz at his wrist. He looked over to Echo, who smoothly stepped in to finish the payment as Hunter stepped away to answer the comm.

"What is it?"

"I am being followed," Tech said, sound remarkably unruffled given his words. Still, the people following him had to be threatening or he wouldn't have commed Hunter about it. Sure enough, he followed up with, "I believe they are bounty hunters."

"Can you get away from them?" Hunter demanded. "How many are there?"

"Two, but I've noticed one of them speaking into a comm, so they likely have reinforcements," Tech replied. "And I don't believe I'll be able to get away from them at the moment."

Hunter should have expected that; if Tech thought he could get away, he wouldn't have commed Hunter at all. "Can you make your way towards me and Echo? We'll start heading in your direction, and-"

"Ah," Tech interrupted, and there was a tension in the syllable that shut Hunter up immediately. "There are two others coming towards me from another direction now. I believe all four are working together. Barring unforeseen circumstances, they will reach my location in approximately sixty-four seconds."

"Where are you?" Hunter demanded. Tech was collecting supplies as well, so if he was still in the market, then maybe Hunter could reach him in time.

"I'm currently at the other side of the market from you and Echo," Tech replied. "You won't be able to reach my location in time."

"If they're bounty hunters…" Hunter said slowly, suddenly putting together the pieces.

"They're likely after Omega," Tech finished. "Is she still with Wrecker?"

"She was as of a minute ago," Hunter said. He looked over at Echo, who was standing next to him with their supplies and an expression of concern. "Comm Wrecker. Tell him there are bounty hunters here. He can't let Omega out of his sight."

Echo nodded, activating his comm. Hunter refocused on his own. "Echo is warning Wrecker. Tech-"

"Both groups are converging on my location," Tech reported.

"Can you do anything?" Hunter asked helplessly, completely aware that Tech would have already thought of it if he could. "You've got your blasters, don't you?"

"If I begin shooting, it will almost definitely start a firefight in the middle of the crowded market," Tech replied. "The risk of civilian casualties in such an event is too high to be acceptable, especially given that the chance of the firefight helping me get away is very slim."

"We'll find you," Hunter swore. "Wherever they take you-"

"Follow my comm," Tech said, and then Hunter heard what sounded like the sound of a comm being disabled. To his surprise, the sounds of his end of the marketplace still came through.

"Tech? Tech, do you copy?"

"Wrecker has Omega, and they're both safe," Echo reported, stepping up to Hunter's side. "Is he not responding?"

"I think he did something to his comm," Hunter said. "It's still transmitting from his end, but I don't think it's transmitting from mine."

Echo's expression grew grim. "He must have used his failsafe."

Hunter suddenly remembered the failsafe Tech had been experimenting with, one that would make a comm appear to be off when it was actually transmitting. It would also make it difficult for anyone but him to truly turn off his comm. The plan had been for him to perfect it, then apply the same failsafe to everyone else's comms, especially Omega's. Not only would audio still come through, but the transmitting comm could be tracked. If the failsafe worked properly, it would make it much easier to find anyone who was ever missing or taken.

Tech had designed the whole thing for a situation just like this, but Hunter doubted he'd planned for its first test run to have such high stakes.

He heard a scuffling noise from the comm, and immediately, both he and Echo leaned in slightly to listen. "Hey, you," a gruff, unfamiliar voice said. It must have been one of the bounty hunters. "You look like a clone."

"Do I?" Tech replied, a bit airily. Perhaps, Hunter desperately hoped, his mutations made him look different enough from the regular clones that the bounty hunters would think they were mistaken. Perhaps-

"You look like one of them special clones," the bounty hunter continued. "The ones with a price on their heads."

Hunter's heart sank.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Tech dismissed. Next to Hunter, Echo groaned. Tech would antagonize the bounty hunters who were snatching him off the street. He'd never been good about keeping his mouth shut at times when he really, really should have.

"You still traveling with that girlie clone?" the bounty hunter asked. "She's the one they really want."

"You are mistaken," Tech said firmly, and a moment later, the sound of a scuffle came across. Tech must have tried to walk away. From the sound of it, the bounty hunters weren't letting him leave.

"Tell us where the girlie clone is, and we won't hurt you," the bounty hunter offered. "She's wanted unharmed, but you're wanted dead or alive. Doesn't matter to me how we bring you in."

"I will not tell you anything," Tech said, steel in his voice.

"Is that so?" There was a cruel sort of amusement in the bounty hunter's voice. "We'll see about that."

There was a crackling noise, then a quiet gasp from Tech, and then a thump. Hunter knew what it sounded like when someone was stunned, and he also knew what it sounded like when someone was tased into unconsciousness. He knew which one he'd just heard.

"Put him in the speeder," the bounty hunter said. "He'll tell us how to find the others eventually."

Hunter looked up at Echo, who was staring at him with as much horror in his gaze as Hunter thought was probably in his own. "Can you trace the signal?" Echo asked.

"Not here," Hunter replied. "I don't have the equipment. I think I can do it back at the ship."

"You think?"

"I've never done it before," Hunter admitted. "Have you?"

"No, but I know the theory," Echo replied. "We'll figure it out."

"We have to," Hunter agreed. "Comm Wrecker and tell him to bring Omega back to the ship. And tell him to comm you if he needs to talk to me. I don't want to risk losing the connection to Tech's comm."

Echo obediently turned on his comm and passed on the message. Hunter grabbed the supplies and started towards the ship, walking as quickly as he could without breaking into a run. If there were bounty hunters in the area, he didn't want to attract any more attention than was strictly necessary.

"What are we going to do about Omega?" Echo asked, catching up to Hunter.

"What do you mean?"

"The bounty hunters are going to try to get information out of Tech, and his comm is going to transmit all of it to you," Echo replied. "And they'll be asking him where to find Omega. She shouldn't have to listen to that."

Hunter's stomach gave an uneasy lurch. He hadn't really let himself think about everything the comm would transmit, but he knew Echo was right. It wouldn't be pleasant to listen to, and Omega shouldn't hear it.

"I'll keep the volume low, and we'll keep her out of the cockpit," Hunter decided. "And she'll stay on the ship when we get Tech."

"Someone else should stay with her too, just in case," Echo said. "I can do it. We'll get the medkit ready."

"Did you recognize the bounty hunter's voice?" Hunter asked, knowing it was a long shot.

"No," Echo replied. "But I'm sure he was bad news. Most bounty hunters are."

They reached the Havoc Marauder, and once they were onboard and out of sight, Hunter ran straight to the cockpit. He carefully slid his comm off his wrist, then tried to identify the panel he'd seen Tech remove to connect it to the ship's systems before. If he could reroute the transmission through the ship, he could track it easily, but he wasn't sure if that could disrupt the connection, and he couldn't risk it. There was a way to connect the physical comlink to the ship, but Hunter had never done it before. The job would have been much easier with Tech there to help, but if Tech had been there, the job wouldn't have been necessary in the first place.

"Let me check the files," Echo said, linking to the ship with his scomp arm. "There might be something in here to help."

"Tech records instructions sometimes," Hunter said, still trying to figure out what he was supposed to do next. "For times when he's not available."

"And we're in luck, because he's recorded instructions for this," Echo said, pulling up a hologram of Tech. As it began to play, Hunter heard the sound of someone entering the Marauder and tensed for a moment before he recognized Omega and Wrecker's voices.

"Go tell them what's going on," Echo said, mostly focused on the hologram. "I'll figure out how to track Tech's comm."

"Call if you need help," Hunter said, although he wasn't sure how much help any of them would be in this situation. Echo nodded his agreement anyway, and Hunter left the cockpit. Wrecker and Omega were loading supplies onto the ship, but both of them stopped immediately once they saw him.

"What happened?" Omega demanded. "Echo said someone took Tech, but we're going to find them. Who took him? What are we going to do?"

"We don't know exactly who took him," Hunter said. If he told Omega it was bounty hunters, she'd put the pieces together. Hunter wouldn't burden her with that knowledge if he didn't have to. "But we can track his comm. He's using his failsafe."

"Do you think it was the Empire?" Omega asked nervously. "Will they hurt him?"

"I don't know," Hunter replied. Technically, it wasn't a lie. He suspected, he feared, but he didn't know. There was a chance Tech could come out of this unharmed.

The look on Omega's face made it clear that she knew that was a slim chance. "I can go organize the medical supplies. Tech and I have been working on that anyway. I'll be ready when you get him back."

"That sounds like a good plan," Hunter agreed. "Wrecker, come with me to the cockpit to check on Echo's progress."

Wrecker nodded, uncharacteristically quiet. In situations like this, when another member of the squad was in a danger he couldn't fight off, Wrecker always either got loud or got quiet. Hunter wasn't particularly surprised that he got quiet this time. If Hunter knew his brother at all, Wrecker was worrying about what the bounty hunters could do before they arrived. Hunter was worried about it too, especially since there was nothing they could do to stop it. They could fight the bounty hunters once they knew where Tech was, but until then, they were all helpless.

"I think I've got it set up," Echo reported when Hunter and Wrecker entered the cockpit. He looked up and frowned. "Where's Omega?"

"Organizing medical supplies," Hunter replied. "What's Tech's location?"

Echo pressed a button on the dashboard of the ship, and a holographic map flickered to life. There was a small dot moving away from the market, and Hunter assumed that was Tech's comm.

"We've got two problems," Echo reported, looking down at the map. "Or, three, actually. First, if we follow them with the Marauder, the bounty hunters will know we're onto them, and we don't want to spook them yet."

"Bounty hunters?" Wrecker repeated.

"Tech was pretty sure they were bounty hunters," Hunter said. "I don't want to tell Omega if we don't have to."

Something on Echo's face told Hunter he didn't fully agree with that, but he didn't argue. "Second problem," he continued, "is that we don't know exactly where they're going. We can see the direction they're going right now, but we don't know which way they'll go next."

"It sounds like we need to get our hands on a speeder or something similar and follow them," Hunter said. "What's the third problem?"

"Well, I don't know that it'll be a problem," Echo said slowly. "But…" He zoomed the map out a little bit, pointing to a mass of hills that looked to be in the same direction the bounty hunters were heading. "These hills are full of underground caves. If I were a bounty hunter working in this area, I'd have a base there."

"Why is that a problem?" Wrecker asked. "That means we know where they're going."

"Well, we don't know," Echo corrected. "It's just a theory. But the problem is that those caves are a maze. Tech told me about it when we were on our way here. People get lost in them all the time. It's not going to be easy to find Tech if they're hiding in there, even if we have his location."

"If it's such a maze, why would the bounty hunters use it?" Hunter asked.

Echo shrugged. "If you figure out a path and remember it, it would be the perfect hiding space. No one else would be able to find you."

"You said the caves are a maze," Hunter said slowly. "What if we solved them like a maze?"

"Like one of the mazes Tech likes to do on his datapad when we have downtime?" Wrecker asked.

"We can fly the Marauder over the hills and do a scan," Hunter said. "Then, once the bounty hunters get to their base, we figure out a path to get to them, and Wrecker and I go in and take it. You said it would be perfect if you could figure out a path and remember it. If the bounty hunters can do that, so can we."

Echo nodded slowly. "That should work. Are either of you any good at mazes?"

"I do them with Tech sometimes," Wrecker offered. "He's better than I am, but I'm okay."

"We'll all work together," Hunter said. "And we'll get Tech back. We'll make these bounty hunters regret ever targeting us."

"Bounty hunters?" a voice from the door of the cockpit asked. "It was bounty hunters who took Tech?"

Hunter turned around to see Omega in the doorway. Her eyes were wide, and immediately, Hunter knew she'd made exactly the connection he'd hoped she wouldn't. Sure enough, her voice horrified, she whispered, "Were they looking for me?"

"They were looking for all of us," Hunter said. "You might be the only reason they didn't kill Tech immediately. Apparently, we're wanted dead or alive, but you're wanted unharmed."

Hunter had been somewhat hoping that would make Omega feel better. Given the way her expression only grew more horrified, it didn't seem to work. "They want you dead or alive?" she whispered. "What if they kill him? What if they kill all of you?"

"They're not going to kill Tech yet," Echo said. "Not until they try to get some information out of him. I won't lie to you, Omega; they're probably going to hurt him. But we're going to get him back, and we'll help him get better."

Hunter would have thought that was too harsh and frank for Omega, but apparently Echo knew better than he did, because Omega's expression became resolute and she nodded. Hunter had hoped not to talk too much about how Tech would probably be tortured for information, even though Omega had seemed to suspect it would be the case already. Perhaps it was better to tell Omega now, though, rather than have it come as a surprise when they brought Tech back to the ship. Hunter had hoped to rescue Tech quickly enough that it wouldn't be a problem, but if Echo was right about the caves, that seemed unlikely to happen.

Hunter was still going to keep Omega out of the cockpit as much as possible while Tech's comm was transmitting, because knowing that Tech was going to be tortured was one thing, and hearing it was another altogether.

"The bounty hunters are getting closer to the caves," Echo reported, looking over the map again. "I'm going to fly the Marauder to the hills, but we'll loop around the other way so they don't see is."

"Won't that take longer?" Omega asked. "Why can't we just fly down and stop them?"

"They can shoot at us, but we can't shoot at them," Hunter said. "At least, not from the Marauder. Our shots won't be precise enough that they wouldn't hit Tech."

"Only Crosshair could make a shot like that," Wrecker muttered.

Hunter felt a pang for their missing brother, as happened fairly frequently. If they had Crosshair with them, they would have been able to split up evenly among three teams for the market, and Tech wouldn't have to have gone out alone. Crosshair would have noticed the bounty hunters earlier than anyone else, and even if they'd somehow gotten their hands on Tech anyway, Wrecker was right; Crosshair would be able to take them all out from the Marauder without ever putting Tech in any danger. But they didn't have Crosshair, and while they all wanted to get him back, they all also knew it would be almost impossible to rescue him from the Empire if he didn't want to be rescued. Getting Tech back would be easier, and right now, Hunter had to focus on that.

"We also don't want to spook the bounty hunters," Echo added. "If they think we're onto them, they'll panic, and if they're panicking, they won't be rational. That might help us, but it also might work against us, and we don't know which way it'll go. It's best not to risk it. If we go around and stay out of sight, then they won't have any reason to think we're coming. Remember, they probably don't know that we can track Tech. If they're expecting us to find them at all, they won't be expecting us to find them so soon."

"Enough talking," Wrecker said gruffly. "Let's go scan the stupid hills."

Echo nodded, sitting down at the controls. Omega stared at the map, her eyes fixed on Tech's moving marker.

"Can I go in and help get him out?"

"No," Hunter said, too quickly and too sharply. Omega looked at him with wide eyes, and Hunter made an effort to soften his voice as he explained, "You and Echo need to stay here and make sure everything is ready for us when we get back. We'll probably need to make a quick getaway. Wrecker and I will go in and get Tech."

"But I want to help!" Omega protested. "I don't just want to stay here on the ship!"

"We will be helping," Echo countered as the ship took off. "Like Hunter said, we need to make sure things are ready. You were going to organize the medical supplies, right? Have you finished that yet?"

Omega shook her head, some of her stubbornness fading from her face. "No."

"And we'll probably need a quick getaway, so I'll need to keep the engines running," Echo added. "We might need to have someone in the guns too. Do you think you could do that?"

"I can do it!" Omega agreed immediately. "I know how they work. Wrecker showed me."

Hunter was pretty sure he'd made it clear he didn't want Omega near the ship's guns, but apparently he'd been ignored. Wrecker didn't look the slightest bit guilty, and given the situation, Hunter couldn't bring himself to scold him. He didn't love that Echo was putting Omega in the guns during their attack, but if all went well, she wouldn't have to fire a single shot anyway. If all didn't go well, it would be helpful to have someone ready to shoot.

"Good," Echo said. "For now, you should go finish with the medical supplies, alright?"

"You promise we'll get him back?" Omega asked. She was looking at Hunter, and his heart twisted with the reminder of how much trust Omega put in him.

"I promise," he told her. "We're going to get Tech back."

Omega nodded and hurried out of the cockpit. Hunter sank into the copilot's seat, hoping he hadn't just lied.

"If we follow the route I've planned, we'll get to the hills in about five minutes," Echo said as he piloted the ship. Hunter wondered if he was speaking because he thought they should know the plan or just because the silence felt oddly deafening. If Tech were sitting behind the controls, he'd be telling them everything about what he was doing. Echo explaining what he was doing wasn't quite the same, but Hunter thought it was better than silence.

"Tech's getting close," Wrecker reported, looking at the map. "Are you sure we can't just attack the bounty hunters now?"

"They have Tech hostage," Hunter said. "If we attack them now, we can't guarantee that he'll be safe. But if we go in after them, then-"

He was cut off by a voice from his comm. It wasn't the same bounty hunter as they'd heard before, but it must have been another of the group. "We're nearly at the caves," he reported. "No sign of anyone following us."

"And once we're inside, it won't matter if they're following us," another voice said. That one, Hunter recognized. "They're not going to find us in there."

"I guess your theory was right, Echo," Hunter said quietly.

"Are we gonna put the clone in one of the cells, boss?" a new voice asked.

"Nah," the bounty hunter in charge replied. "We need to get information out of him as fast as we can. We'll bring him right to room three."

There was some rustling Hunter couldn't quite place, then the same voice said, "Room three, boss?"

"We need information fast," the leader repeated. "Room three will get it the fastest."

Hunter looked up at the others, who looked just as sick as he felt. If the bounty hunters thought this mysterious "room three" would get information the fastest, then he didn't even want to think what they'd do to Tech there.

"Fly faster," he told Echo, and he felt the Marauder speed up in response.

"I can start scanning the hills before we reach them," Echo added. "The scan won't be as good as it would be if we were closer, but it's something. And if we can track the bounty hunters going in and record it, we'll have a starting point for our maze."

"I'll record it," Wrecker said, going over to the comm. "Start scanning."

Hunter sat in the copilot's seat, hating that there was nothing he could do. Maybe Echo could tell, because he shot him a sideways look and said, "Hunter, can you take over piloting? It'll be easier to do the scans if I can focus on them."

"Sure," Hunter agreed, quickly swapping seats with Echo. Piloting wasn't his normal job, but they all knew how to fly the Marauder. He followed the flight plan Echo had already laid out, circling around the hills in a way that would keep them out of the bounty hunters' sight the whole time. Hunter hated how much extra time it took, but he knew it was necessary. The bounty hunters wanted Tech alive now so he could give them information on how to find the others, but if they thought they didn't need him anymore, Hunter didn't think they'd have any qualms about killing him. And in a firefight, Hunter knew it would be all too easy for Tech to be hit by accidental friendly fire.

He knew that was possible during the rescue as well, but he didn't want to think about it. He and Wrecker would just have to be fast and precise, and everything would be alright.

Crosshair would have been perfect for this mission, Hunter thought again, then he didn't let himself think about that anymore.

"We should be in range for the scanners in a minute or two," Echo reported. "Wrecker, how does the tracker look?"

"Think they're entering the caves," Wrecker reported. "Lots of turns."

"I don't hear the speeder anymore," Hunter added. "They must have gotten out."

"That makes sense," Echo says. "From what Tech said before, I think the caves are pretty small. A speeder wouldn't fit."

"Can you scan the caves yet?" Hunter asked.

"We're nearly in range," Echo replied. "Less than a minute now."

"Hunter?" Omega asked, stepping into the cockpit. "I've organized the medical supplies. What should I do next?"

Hunter blinked, trying to think of something that would keep Omega busy. "Uh…"

"Make sure Tech's bunk is ready," Wrecker said. "He's always got projects in it. Take them out, but do it carefully. Put them on the table, and try to lay them out as close to the way he had them as you can."

"Alright," Omega said, nodding. "I'll do it." She quickly hurried back out of the cockpit, heading for Tech's bunk.

"Tech would kill any of us if we moved his projects," Echo said in an undertone.

"That's why Omega should do it," Wrecker replied. "He won't kill her."

Wrecker probably had a point. Hunter opened his mouth to say so, and then the comm crackled back to life.

"Get him in the containment field," the lead bounty hunter said. "And be quick about it."

"Should we take his armor off?"

"Just the helmet. I want to be able to look him in the eye."

Hunter felt a stab of anger. If this bounty hunter wanted to look Tech in the eye, that meant he'd probably take Tech's goggles off too, and Tech hated not wearing his goggles. He only ever removed them to sleep, and even then, he sometimes forgot and slept with them on. Hunter knew the bounty hunters would do worse, but this was already bad enough.

"Hunter," Echo said quietly, "should I close the cockpit so Omega doesn't hear?"

"Do it," Hunter agreed, and the door slid shut. "Are we close enough to start scanning the caves?"

"I'm scanning them right now."

"He's in the field, boss," one of the bounty hunters reported. "Should we wake him up?"

Hunter could hear the cruelty oozing out of the bounty hunter's voice. "Let's get started."

Something crackled, and Tech came to with a gasp. Hunter itched for his knife, itched to do something, but he had to wait until they reached the caves. They were getting close to them now. With their current speed, he thought it would probably only take them another minute or two before they got to the caves.

Unfortunately, you could do a lot of damage in a minute or two, if you knew what you were doing.

"Wakey-wakey, clone," the lead bounty hunter said. "We've got some questions for you."

"I will not answer any of them," Tech said, and some small hysterical part of Hunter's brain remarked that that was a first.

"Oh, I think you will," the bounty hunter replied. "Boys, show him what'll happen if he doesn't."

Tech didn't quite scream, but the way he choked around a cry wasn't any better. Hunter wished he could turn the comm off, but if he did, then they'd lose Tech's location. He could turn it down, but with his enhanced senses, he'd hear it no matter what.

The others didn't have to go through this, though, so Hunter said in a voice that came out raspier than he'd expected, "Turn it down as low as it'll go."

"No," Wrecker said, shaking his head. "I wanna hear what they're doing so I know what to do to them."

"We're not going to let you listen to this alone," Echo added.

A wave of selfish gratitude washed over Hunter. "Then turn it down a little, at least," he said, not acknowledging that. "So Omega doesn't hear."

Wrecker nodded and turned the comm down a bit, just as Tech let out a long gasp. Whatever the bounty hunters were doing - and given that they'd put Tech inside a containment field, Hunter had his suspicions - they'd stopped. Hunter knew better than to think they'd stopped permanently, but at least it was a reprieve.

"You're traveling with a little girlie clone," the lead bounty hunter said, speaking loudly so as to be heard over Tech's own rasping breaths. "She's the one with the biggest bounty, so you're going to tell us how to find her."

"I will not," Tech replied breathlessly, then his breath caught on a cry. Hunter was vaguely aware of his teeth grinding together as he listened.

"We don't have to make this ugly, clone," the bounty hunter said when Tech's cries tapered off. "But if you don't cooperate, we can make it really ugly. The bounty on your head is the same if you're brought in dead or alive. The girlie clone is the only one we're not supposed to hurt."

"I will not betray my squad," Tech said. "You will not hurt them."

"Then we'll hurt you," the bounty hunter replied easily, and this time, Tech screamed.

"The scan of the caves is almost complete," Echo said, his voice just barely shaking. "Wrecker, did you record the path they took?"

"I've got it," Wrecker replied gruffly. "When will we get to the caves?"

"We're almost there," Hunter reported. "Less than a minute left."

"I'm gonna kill them," Wrecker growled. "All of them."

"I'll help," Hunter agreed.

"Getting Tech out is the priority," Echo said. "And we can always blast the hills off the map later if we have to."

The look on Wrecker's face made it clear he didn't think that was good enough. Hunter didn't entirely disagree. Echo was right, of course, and getting Tech out was the most important thing, but Hunter wanted wanted to kill these bounty hunters himself.

The leader, he swore to himself, would die by his hand. If they had to run without personally killing the others, he would do it, but he would shove his knife through the leader's throat.

"The scan is complete," Echo said, pulling it up. "Wrecker, overlay what you recorded."

"I'll bring the ship down," Hunter said, wishing the ship could go just a little bit faster. They were so close, and Tech just kept screaming.

"Alright," the bounty hunter said after far too long, "turn it off. We don't want his brain fried before he tells us what we need to know."

Tech's screams finally came to an end, but the way he gasped for breath was almost as bad. Hunter hated to hear his brother in such pain and not be able to do anything about it. He'd be there soon, but it still wouldn't be fast enough.

"Do you know where we are?" the bounty hunter asked. "We're in the Pulga Caves. No one's going to find you here. No one is coming for you. There's only one way this is going to end. You just get to decide how long it takes to get there."

"I'm not telling you anything," Tech repeated. "I will not betray my squad."

"Then maybe we need to try something different," the bounty hunter remarked. "Clearly, this isn't working well enough, but we'll figure out another way to get you to talk. We'll just try this one more time as I figure out some new ideas."

Hunter finally landed the ship, near enough to the entrance to the caves to make it convenient but also far enough away that the ship wasn't immediately visible. "Are we ready to go?" he asked, turning around.

"One more moment," Echo said, tracking a line through the caves. "Wrecker and I almost have this figured out."

"I'll finish it as we go," Wrecker said, grabbing the datapad with the map. He disconnected Hunter's comm from the ship and tossed it over to him. Hunter slid it on, then put on his helmet and redirected the feed there.

"Hunter?" a tentative voice asked, and Omega peeked into the cockpit. Hunter was glad she couldn't see his face or hear the feed from his comm; Tech's cries had grown far too close to sobs, and Hunter wanted to rip the bounty hunter's head from his shoulders.

"We're going to get Tech, Omega," Hunter said, standing. "You stay here with Echo and get everything ready, alright?"

"Is he going to be okay?" Omega asked in a small voice.

"He will be," Hunter promised. "We'll fix him up. We'll be back soon, alright?"

"Hunter!" Wrecker called. He'd already left the cockpit and had reached the ramp to leave the ship. "Let's go!"

Hunter patted Omega on the shoulder, then followed Wrecker. He stopped only to grab a few explosives; he was sure Wrecker already had some with him, but he wanted to blow whatever torture room they were using into smithereens.

Tech was still gasping in his ear, pain clear in every sound he made. Hunter would give anything to make it stop.

"You have the map?" Hunter asked Wrecker as they left the ship.

"Got it on here," Wrecker agreed. "Echo and I almost finished overlaying the tracker with the scan. I can do the rest on my own."

"Then you lead the way," Hunter said. "I'll watch your back."

Wrecker headed for the caves, and Hunter followed him, one hand holding a knife and the other hovering next to his blaster. The knife would be quieter and better for stealth, but the blaster might still be necessary. Hunter was ready to use either one.

Wrecker paused for a moment at the entrance to the caves, then entered and took the tunnel all the way to the right. Hunter followed him, trying to spread out his senses to listen for anyone coming. There was a slight fizzing that he felt over his skin that he thought probably came from the containment field. It lessened at the same time that Tech's gasps went from pained to relieved in his ear.

"Last chance to do this easily," the lead bounty hunter said. "Will you tell us where the other clones are?"

"Go kriff yourself," Tech spat, which was definitely either Echo or Crosshair's influence.

"Then we'll do this the ugly way," the bounty hunter said. "Get him out of the field and sit him at the table."

"The bounty hunters are trying something new," Hunter told Wrecker. "How close are we?"

"Pretty close," Wrecker said. "But I need to figure out which way to go next."

Hunter closed his eyes, trying to focus on the feeling of the containment field before it was turned off. If he could pinpoint it-

But the fizzing disappeared as he heard Tech fall from the field. He'd have to figure something else out.

"Right," Wrecker said after a moment, and he started heading down the righthand tunnel. Hunter followed him, trying to sense anything from Tech or the bounty hunters, anything at all. If it could get them there faster, he'd open his senses all the way and damn the consequences that always came of doing that.

"You look like you do a lot of tech work," the bounty hunter drawled. "Long fingers. Not callused in the same places as a normal soldier."

Hunter's stomach dropped. "We need to hurry," he told Wrecker. He pulled off his helmet, hoping to catch a scent, but there were scents coming from different tunnels, and he didn't know which one to track.

"This way," Wrecker said, leading him down another tunnel.

Faintly, out of his helmet, Hunter heard the bounty hunter say, "You can't do much with them if they're broken, though."

The crack after that would haunt him forever, as would the noise Tech made in response.

Wrecker went through the caves quickly, only occasionally stopping to check the datapad. Hunter hoped they were going the right way. There had been three cracks so far, and he knew a fourth was coming. The bounty hunter asked for information, Tech refused to give it, and then-

"It should be just around this corner," Wrecker said, and Hunter snapped to attention. He tilted his head, listening.

"One heartbeat right there, and then I think there must be some sort of door or something that's blocking sound," he reported. "But if there's someone on guard, then this must be something important."

"It's where Tech's comm is," Wrecker said. "Let's get him."

Hunter nodded, then he threw himself out from behind the corner, blaster at the ready. Two shots rang out, but only the bounty hunter fell. Hunter and Wrecker both went up to the door, and while Hunter tried to see if he could open it with the panel, Wrecker just threw his entire body weight against it until it gave.

Immediately, blaster fire came through the gap in the door. Hunter snarled and returned it, as did Wrecker at his side. He heard one thump, then another, then a horribly familiar voice yelled, "If you care about your friend's life, you'll stop firing."

Hunter stopped immediately, looking into the room. Tech was cuffed to a table, goggles nowhere to be seen, one hand bloody. Behind him stood the bounty hunter, with a blaster pointed straight at Tech's head.

"I was hoping your friend would tell us how to find you," the bounty hunter said. "I didn't think you'd come to us yourself."

"We've killed your men," Hunter said. "You can't hope to win."

"I have more than three men," the bounty hunter dismissed. "The others are on their way here now. There's only two of you. You can't beat us all."

"Wanna bet?" Wrecker demanded, but Hunter was looking at Tech. Tech was squinting at him, clearly trying to make eye contact despite the fact that his lack of goggles made that difficult for him. Hunter tightened his grip on his blaster and nodded, just a bit.

Tech threw his head backward, slamming it into the bounty hunter's stomach. The bounty hunter stumbled backwards half a step, and Hunter took the shot.

The bounty hunter fell, blaster wound smoking in the middle of his forehead. It wasn't quite as satisfying as using his knife would have been, but Hunter still felt fairly satisfied.

"Aw, I wanted to kill him!" Wrecker protested.

"At least he's dead," Hunter said, crossing to the table and stabbing through Tech's cuffs with his knife. They popped open as they fell apart, and Tech instinctively brought his wounded hand closer to his body.

"Is Omega alright?" he asked, his voice raspy.

"She's on the ship with Echo," Hunter replied. "She's fine."

"Good," Tech said, and then his eyes rolled up in his head and he crumpled, sliding out of the chair and into Hunter's arms.

"I've got his helmet and goggles," Wrecker said, gathering them up carefully. "Was that bounty hunter telling the truth when he said there were reinforcements coming?"

Hunter closed his eyes and listened. "I can hear heartbeats," he reported. "Four of them, not including ours."

Wrecker stepped up to Hunter and hooked Tech's helmet and goggles to his belt. "You get Tech to the ship. I'll deal with the bounty hunters."

Given that Hunter had killed the one threatening Tech, he thought that was fair. "Get back to the ship as quickly as you can," he told Wrecker, gathering Tech more securely in his arms. He was glad Tech didn't have Wrecker's sheer muscle mass, but he did wish that Tech weren't taller than him. Wrecker would be able to carry him more easily, but Hunter wasn't going to ask him not to kill the last few bounty hunters. He wanted them dead as badly as Wrecker did.

"Do you need the map?" Wrecker asked.

Hunter shook his head. "I'll follow our scents. Keep it for yourself."

Wrecker nodded, readying his blaster, and Hunter started down the hall, following the scents he and Wrecker had left behind as they made their way through the caves. The smell of Tech's blood threatened to distract him from it, but Hunter didn't let it. The most important thing was getting back to the ship, and he had to focus to do that.

"Echo?" he asked, finally disconnecting from Tech's comm and sending a message to another one. "Echo, do you read me?"

"I read you," Echo replied. "Do you have Tech?"

"I've got him," Hunter said, looking down at the limp form in his arms. "I'm on my way back to the ship now."

"Is he alright?" Omega demanded.

"He will be," Hunter said. He refused to allow for anything else. They'd get back to the ship, and they'd patch Tech up, and he'd be fine.

It didn't take too long for Hunter to emerge from the caves. Echo had apparently moved the Marauder, as it was now much closer to the cave entrance than it had been. Hunter climbed onboard, bringing Tech directly to their small medbay. Echo and Omega, who had both been waiting by the top of the stairs, followed after him.

"Where's Wrecker?" Echo demanded immediately.

"Taking care of the last few bounty hunters," Hunter replied. "He should be back soon."

"What did they do to Tech?" Omega asked tentatively.

Hunter gently lay Tech down on the bed. Omega caught sight of his mangled hand and gasped, looking horrified.

"Omega," Echo said quietly, "do you want to go wait for Wrecker?"

Omega tore her gaze away from Tech's hand and shook her head, tears glinting in her eyes. "No! I want to help Tech. I know about medicine. The Kaminoans taught me."

"Where's the scanner?" Hunter asked. "We should check for internal damage."

"I can get it!" Omega said quickly. She rushed over to their medkit, which Hunter made a mental note to refill as soon as they could, and pulled out the medical scanner. She passed it to Hunter, who scanned Tech slowly and read over the results.

"It's not as bad as it could be," he said with some relief. "There doesn't seem to be much damage from the containment field. The worst is his hand."

"We need bacta for that," Omega said, hurrying back over to the medkit. While she was rummaging around in it, Hunter heard familiar footsteps climbing into the ship, and sure enough, Wrecker poked his head into the medbay a moment later.

"Bounty hunters are dead, and I blew up the room they had Tech in," he declared. "Can we still blow these hills up from the ship?"

"I'm not gonna argue with that," Hunter said, accepting the bacta shots and bandages that Omega passed to him.

"We should do a scan for life signs first," Echo said. "In case there might be innocent people in there. But if there aren't, I don't think anyone would miss the caves that much."

"I'll do the scan," Wrecker said, heading to the cockpit. "And then we're getting out of here. This planet sucks."

"You won't get any argument from me, Wrecker," Hunter sighed. He carefully injected the bacta shots and wrapped the bandages around Tech's broken fingers, wishing all the while that he knew more about medicine. Tech has always been their primary medic, but the person who knew knew the most next to him had always been Crosshair. Honestly, their knowledge was probably comparable, but Tech had a marginally better bedside manner and was more willing to be a medic, so he'd primarily taken over the role. If he was the one who needed medical assistance, however, it had always been Crosshair who would give it.

Hunter's heart ached for his missing brother. He wished he could rescue Crosshair as easily as they'd rescued Tech. He wished they'd never left Crosshair behind in the first place, but he knew they hadn't had a choice. They'd done the only thing they could do in the situation.

Hunter still wished things were different.

"The scan shows no life signs," Wrecker announced, which was the only warning they got before he started firing on the caves. Echo hurried up to the cockpit to help stabilize the ship's takeoff. Hunter did his best to keep Tech still, and Omega scurried over to his side to help.

"How long do you think it'll be before Tech wakes up?" she asked tentatively.

"I don't know," Hunter admitted. "But right now, we just need to focus on patching him up. Do you think there's anything else he needs other than the bacta?"

"A painkiller?" Omega suggested.

"Good idea," Hunter agreed. "Why don't you get one out for him?"

Omega went over to the medkit and began rifling through it. Hunter looked down at Tech and wished there was a way he could heal him faster. The bacta would help, but it could only do so much. Hunter wished he could just fix things. There was little he hated more than seeing his brothers in pain.

"Here you go," Omega said, offering Hunter a perigen patch. Hunter applied it to Tech's neck and watched as some of the tension leaked out of his body. The wounds were still there, but at least they wouldn't hurt as much.

"Will he be okay when he wakes up?" Omega asked quietly. "I know he'll still be hurt, but…"

"He'll be alright," Hunter assured her. "Tech is tough."

"The bounty hunters were after me," Omega said. "That's why they hurt him, isn't it? To get to me?"

She looked far too old and resigned as she spoke the words, and Hunter wished she could just be a child.

"They wanted him to tell them where to find all of us," he told her as gently as he could. "We've all got prices on our heads, Omega."

"But the Kaminoans want me the most," Omega said, and it wasn't even a protest, just a sad little statement of fact. "It's my fault the bounty hunters are coming after us."

"It's not your fault," Hunter told her firmly. "None of us think that."

"Tech was hurt because of me!"

"Tech was hurt because the bounty hunters hurt him," Hunter said. "It's their fault. It's not yours, Omega."

Omega looked down at Tech, then she walked over to a stool and dragged it over to his bedside. "I'm staying with him until he wakes up," she declared, sitting on the stool and giving Hunter a defiant look.

"Alright," Hunter agreed, not seeing any value in fighting her on this. "I'll stay too."

Omega reached out like she was going to touch Tech, then she stopped and pulled her hand back. "Do you promise he's going to be okay?" she whispered.

Hunter knew containment fields like the one Tech had been held in could cause brain damage. He knew that injuries to someone's hand like the ones Tech had sustained could cause permanent problems. He didn't like to think that either would be the case, and the results of the medical scan made it seem like neither one was likely, but he knew they were still possible.

"He'll be okay," Hunter told Omega anyway, because he wouldn't allow for anything else. "I promise."

And when Tech did finally wake, he was.