Chapter Text
His coming was sudden and swift.
He left the same with no farewell.
Perhaps he was a gift,
The Ghost of Ord Mantell!
Excerpt from a bounty hunter’s ballad on Ord Mantell, author unknown.
Crosshair had been to many a criminal backwater during the Clone Wars, so Ord Mantell was not exactly new territory for him. He knew, strategically speaking, it was a good place to hide from the Empire and blend in with all the other rabble, but it was also dangerous. The few times he had walked through the dingy streets, he had caught many distasteful things. The smell of spice wafted through the air like a strong perfume, mixed with the smell of filth and strong drink.
He and his brothers were not unaccustomed to such places, but Omega definitely was. She drifted through the streets, staring at each shiny new thing that caught her attention and remaining completely oblivious to the illicit activities going on around her. He supposed he couldn’t blame her despite how it irked him; he wished Hunter would humor him on the idea of tying a rope around her waist to keep her close at hand.
When they landed on Ord Mantell after a long trip, Crosshair decided to pass on visiting Cid’s parlor. The last job had been tumultuous, and they had spent far too long cooped up in the ship together. He wanted nothing more than some quiet, and a bar was not the place for that.
“I’ll fix that,” Crosshair grunted, marching up to Tech. “You go with the others and get a drink.”
Tech’s eyebrows shot up as he paused in his attempt to recalibrate the nav system. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Crosshair cocked his head back in the direction of the cabin. “Take a break. I don’t want to go anyway.”
Tech nodded, knowing his brother occasionally sought solitude. “If you think you can handle it.”
“You’re the one who taught me,” Crosshair shot back. “Get out of here.”
Tech stood and dusted himself off, a slight smile on his face. “I appreciate it.”
Crosshair pushed him in the direction of the door. “Go.”
Tech left the cockpit, and Crosshair could hear him talking to the others. He eyed the nav console, doing a backwards countdown from ten in his head. As soon as he reached zero, small footsteps came running into the cockpit right on cue.
“You’re not going?” Omega sounded dismayed, as if he had declared he would abandon them.
Crosshair snorted, turning to face her. “No.”
Omega stared up at him, her brow furrowed. “Why?”
“Because I’d just rather not this time.”
She studied him carefully. “Won’t you get lonely?”
“You wouldn’t let me, even if I did.”
She smiled crookedly. “You’re right.”
“I’m fine. I don’t feel like sitting in a bar tonight.”
Omega managed to look terribly crestfallen, as if the lack of his presence was some great detriment to her. “Okay…”
“I’m sure you’ll survive,” Crosshair said with a roll of his eyes.
“But next time, can you play a game of dejarik with me?”
“Maybe,” he answered tersely.
Omega grinned, knowing his “maybe” was closer to a “yes”. “I can’t wait!”
Crosshair pushed her towards the door. “Go.”
“Okay, fine.” She laughed and gave him a wave. “Bye!”
Crosshair grunted and gave her a single halfhearted wave in response.
With a few parting words from his brothers, they were finally all out the door, the hatch clanging shut behind them. With a quiet sigh, Crosshair settled down in one of the chairs.
Peace and quiet, for a little while.
“I was wonderin’ when you were gonna show up!” Cid complained when the Bad Batch entered her bar. “Thought I was gonna have to stay up all night waitin’ for you.”
“Sorry about that,” Hunter said. “The job took a little longer than expected.”
“I see Toothpick didn’t bother gracing me with his presence.”
Hunter’s lips twitched upwards. “Sometimes he just wants to be by himself.”
Cid sighed. “A man after my own heart. Sit down and I’ll get you your payment.”
The Batch took their seats at the bar. Though the parlor had never boasted of a particularly busy atmosphere, they were the only ones there at the moment, as the night cycle had already advanced quite far.
“Got a new shipment of spicebrew in today,” Cid said, counting out their credits. “Since you guys managed to not screw up the job, first round’s on the house, though it won’t be if you show up this late next time.”
Wrecker, Tech, and Echo looked towards Hunter expectantly.
“A drink couldn’t hurt,” Hunter said, accepting the credits from her.
“Also have some of that fruit fizz stuff for Tiny,” Cid said.
“Never had it, but I’ll try it,” Omega said with a grin.
“As long as it’s non-alcoholic,” Tech put in.
Cid rolled her eyes and ambled towards the back room. “Yeah, yeah, whatever you want.”
As they waited, Omega nudged Tech with her elbow. “Will you play a game of dejarik with me?”
“Still determined?” he asked.
“Yes! I’ll beat you eventually.”
Tech smiled slightly. “Your determination is admirable, though I feel compelled to warn you that Crosshair is perhaps even worse than I am. Should you beat me, you will have to contend with him.”
Omega gave him an incredulous look. “I don’t believe you.”
Tech shrugged. “Once he sets his mind to something, it’s hard to beat him. I’ve played against him many times and he has beaten me quite a bit once he got fed up with me winning. He’s always been a formidable opponent.”
“That won’t stop me from trying!”
“Of course that wouldn’t,” Tech said fondly. “We can start after we get our drinks.”
Cid came back with the promised beverages shortly, and the brothers took their drinks eagerly. Omega took hers with slightly more trepidation, eyeing the brownish foam as she settled herself at one end of the dejarik table.
“You may make the first move since I did last time,” Tech said, taking up his position on the other side.
“Okay.” She made her first move before taking a tentative sip of her drink, and she blanched. It was fruity, but it was also sour in a way she didn’t care for. She was only just coming to realize her likes and dislikes when it came to more nonstandard flavors, and sour was definitely a dislike if it was too overpowering.
As Tech made his move, she sipped at her drink a little more for the sake of Cid’s feelings—if the Trandoshan were to care in the first place—and when she was sure Cid wasn’t looking, she called out softly, “Wrecker.”
The giant clone broke off from his conversation with Hunter and Echo, looking in her direction. “Yeah?”
She passed him her drink. “Here. It’s too sour.”
He took the cup. “You sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright. I’m not letting a free drink go to waste.” He tipped his head back and downed the drink in two gulps.
Omega snickered at him and returned her attention to the game. She became so engrossed in trying to predict and defend Tech’s moves that she didn’t hear the conversation behind her at first.
“Ugh, I think I drank too much,” Wrecker said, slumping against the table.
Echo frowned st him. “What do you mean? You’ve had two cups plus Omega’s and you’re no lightweight.”
“I dunno.” Wrecker shook his head, trying to clear the fog that had started to come over his mind. “I just feel like I took too much.”
“How strong is this stuff?” Echo asked Cid.
The Trandoshan frowned, crossing her arms. “You think I’d give you the strong stuff for free? That stuff is hardly a drink. It should take a whole barrel for Muscles to feel anything.”
Hunter looked down at the cup in his hand. He had only had one glass, but now he was starting to feel strange too. It was as though his limbs were becoming weighed down with invisible weights, making him feel heavy and sluggish. “I…I feel it too.”
“As do I,” Tech said, breaking away from the dejarik game. His thoughts were starting to become muddled and slow. “Something is not right.”
Omega looked up, noticing her brothers’ distress. “What is it? The wine?”
Alarm settled over Hunter. He could feel the unnatural headiness settling over his senses, his body feeling heavier by the moment. It was a familiar sensation, like…
“Cid!” he barked, his movements feeling weighted and clumsy as he turned to look at her. “What was in this stuff?”
“Nothing!” she retorted, starting to look disconcerted herself. “It was just spicebrew!”
At that moment, Wrecker went limp with a weak groan and slipped from his seat, falling with an impact that shook the floor.
“Wrecker!” Omega shot to her feet, running to his side.
Tech stood up, attempting to do the same, and he stumbled on the way over, only barely saving himself from falling by grabbing the table. “I think…our drinks were spiked…”
Echo shoved his glass away with a horrified expression, grabbing his blaster though he had started to feel the effects too. “By who?”
“Not me!” Cid insisted, casting a worried eye over them. “I’m gonna get a medpack. I’ll be back.”
Hunter barely saw as she hurried away. He could feel his consciousness slipping away at an alarming rate, the world becoming distant and dim. “Omega.”
The girl looked up from her unsuccessful attempts to rouse Wrecker. Through the fear and concern, she was starting to become aware of a lethargic feeling creeping across her body. She was no stranger to the feeling from life on Kamino, and she knew with certainty it was a drug of some sort.
“Omega,” Hunter tried again, every word starting to feel like a tremendous effort. “Do you…do you feel…?”
“A little,” she admitted in a frightened whisper, “but I only had a little bit of my drink. I gave the rest to Wrecker.”
Tech’s attempts to hold himself upright ended unsuccessfully. His legs gave, and he would have banged his head on the floor if Omega hadn’t launched herself forward and caught him. With a strained groan, she lowered him to the floor as gently as she could.
“I think…this was intentional…dangerous…” Tech’s words came out between deep breaths as he struggled to stay awake, but to no avail. He tried to keep his eyes open, but dizzying blackness overtook his sight.
“Tech?” Omega shook his shoulder, panic starting to build in her chest. “Tech!”
“’Mega,” Echo gritted out, feeling his consciousness starting to fade. “I can’t…”
Omega jumped up, running around the table and grabbing him before he fell, lowering him to the floor as he went limp.
Hunter grabbed his comm, detaching it from his gauntlet with the last of his strength. “Take…take this…take my blaster…and hide somewhere. Call Crosshair. Someone did this…on purpose…could be dangerous…”
“Please stay awake!” Omega cried, her panic heightening.
“Can’t…m’sorry…” Hunter managed to get a hold of his blaster, putting in on the table. “…Cross’air.” He slumped forward over the table, his eyes falling shut.
“Hunter!” She tried shaking him awake to no avail. The bar fell eerily silent, and she realized with fright that she was the only one remaining. She grabbed the comm and his blaster, looking around for a suitable place to hunker down.
Somewhere in the back of the bar, a door creaked open.
Omega went stock still, her heart thundering in her ears as she tried to listen.
Footsteps, far too heavy for Cid.
Fear spurring her on, she scrambled for the closest hiding spot she could see, which was a table on the far end of the bar. She dove beneath the tablecloth, pushing herself as far back as possible as the footsteps got closer.
Clinging to the comm for dear life, she activated it. “Crosshair?”
On the other end, Crosshair lifted his head from the nav console with a grunt. He figured he would not go the whole length of their absence undisturbed, and he grabbed his comm. “What?”
Omega let out a huge breath at the sound of his voice, unable to help the tears that welled in her eyes. “Something’s wrong.”
All pretenses of annoyance were thrust aside were Crosshair heard the quiver in her voice. He was on his feet in an instant. “What is it?”
“Someone put something in our drinks.” The drugs were starting to make her feel sluggish, her stomach twisting with nausea as her adrenaline warred against the foreign substance. “They all passed out. I’m the only one left.”
Worry bloomed in Crosshair as his mind immediately went to the most obvious threat: the Empire. “Are you alone?”
Omega squeezed back even farther as she heard the footsteps grow closer. “No. Someone came in the back door. I can hear them coming.”
The worry turned to outright fear, though he strove to not let it seep into his voice. “Where are you?”
“The bar,” Omega whispered, the first tear spilling over onto her face.
“Hide somewhere in the shadows, under a table,” Crosshair growled, moving to the cabin of the Marauder. “Can you do that?”
“I’m already hiding,” Omega sniffed. “Hunter told me to.”
“Good,” Crosshair said, trying to sound unbothered as he started to gather his ammunition. “Where are the others?”
“At the table. Maybe…I should try to move them somewh—”
“Don’t.” Omega flinched a little when Crosshair’s tone turned sharp. “Leave them where they are. Stay hidden.”
The footsteps grew even closer, and it became evident they were headed for the bar. Omega clapped a hand over her mouth as a whimper escaped her. “C-Crosshair, they’re coming…”
Crosshair grit his teeth together, helpless anger beginning to simmer in his veins at the fear in her voice. The bar was three blocks away, and even if he managed to get his equipment together in time, there was no telling what was planned. He found solace only in the fact that whoever it was wanted them alive.
“Listen to me,” he said, trying desperately to maintain some sort of calmness, if only to bring her a little comfort. “No matter what happens, you need to stay hidden. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut.
“When you can see them, quietly tell me everything about them. Species, what armor they’re wearing, anything you can see.” Crosshair defaulted to his training in an attempt to override the helpless feeling and get a better grasp of the situation.
Before Omega could respond, the door from the back rooms swung open and the heavy footsteps walked into the bar. She let out a shaky breath as a hulking figure stepped into view beyond the counter, heading for her brothers. On then other end, Crosshair worked furiously, grabbing up supplies, each footstep heightening his dread for his family.
“He-he’s tall,” Omega whispered as quietly as she could, daring to scoot forward and peer under the tablecloth at the imposing individual. “He’s not human, and his skin is green and scaly, but he’s not a Trandoshan. He’s closer to human. He’s wearing armor, a there’s some sort of weird tattoo on his head.”
“What tattoo?” Crosshair murmured.
“There’s a solid black circle in the middle surrounded by a ring with spikes, kind of like a sun.”
Crosshair’s heart dropped into his stomach. That design was unmistakable, belonging to a notorious syndicate that was almost as bad as the Empire: the Black Sun.
“That’s helpful,” he said quietly, loading some explosive bolts into his ammo case. “What is he doing now?”
“He’s going up to them,” Omega whispered, watching the foreboding stranger approach her brothers. “He’s moving them, trying to see if they’re awake.”
“Is he trying to hurt them?”
“No.” The stranger started walking around the room, clearly looking for something, and Omega pressed her back against the wall, a shaky breath escaping her.
“What is it?” Crosshair asked, hearing her fear.
“He’s left them alone. Now he’s looking around the bar. I think…I think he might be looking for me.”
The blade of fear twisted itself further into Crosshair’s heart. He wanted to believe what she thought was not the case, but it was most likely true. If the Black Sun had been watching his brothers well enough to figure out their hideout, they most certainly knew about her. She could be used as leverage to ensure their compliance, if they didn’t have something more malicious in mind already.
“Listen to me,” he said, somehow keeping his voice steady. “I’m going as fast as I can, but I won’t be able to make it in time. He…he might take you.”
Omega was barely able to stifle a terrified sob, the comm trembling in her hands.
“If they do, don’t try to escape. They might hurt you, badly. If they want information, tell them we’ve been living on Ealor in the Bysis system.” The words came out hurried and hushed as he slipped throwing knives into his belt.
“Ealor, Bysis,” Omega repeated tremulously.
Crosshair could hear the tears in her voice, and it only increased the helpless feeling. “I’m going to come for you, I swear it.”
“I know you will,” was the tiny, tearful response.
The dark stranger kept searching the other side of the room before stopping. Omega could only see his boots and legs, and she held her breath, trying to stop shaking. After a few dreadful moments that seemed like an eternity, the boots walked onwards, disappearing out of her view beyond the counter.
Then, quiet.
“I think…I think he left—” Omega’s words ended in a horrified scream as the table she was hiding under was suddenly lifted and tossed aside like it weighed nothing, crashing across the room. The dark stranger, a Falleen man, stood on the bar, and before she could even think he had jumped down to the floor, grabbing her in a vicelike, unforgiving grip. She screamed and screamed, thrashing helplessly as she fought to free herself to no avail. Her wails were cut off when a cloth smelling of some vile drug was pressed against her nose, and the last thing she saw was her brothers on the floor through the blur of tears before darkness found her.
Crosshair heard it all. He stood frozen as Omega’s shrieks echoed in his head. He had never heard a sound so terrible as that in all his life. The comm creaked ominously in his grasp as the pressure of his fist threatened to break it. Blood roared in his ears, and red started to fill his vision.
“I have the kid.” The Falleen’s blunt, unforgiving tone crackled through the comm, bringing him some clarity through the rage. “The rest of them are out cold as expected. It is safe to bring in the rest of the squad to retrieve them.”
The Falleen’s footsteps faded away, and the comm fell silent.
Suddenly, the quiet Crosshair had looked forward too was made dreadful.
They were playing it safe, sending in one man to ensure the squad was out of commission before moving to take them. They were smart, but Crosshair was not accounted for yet, and he silently vowed he would not fall into the Black Sun’s hands.
He tossed the comm aside as he quickly moved to finish readying his supplies, his rage turning indignant, and he made a mental note to not forget the voice of the Falleen who had spoken.
The Black Sun would not harm his family and survive.