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It was meant to be a simple mission.
A cargo ship had broken down, and the Bad Batch was called in to not only help a colony on the planet below, but also to help the cargo crew get their systems back online…particularly their life support systems.
The cargo ship was easy, so Tech volunteered to do that on his own, knowing that he had the most experience.
The others could all help out on the surface, including echo, who might have been to help more than them...but it was easy, so Tech volunteered to do it solo.
He was halfway back to the planet after completing that part of the mission when it happened. It had all been so quick. The space debris that orbited the planet, including the ruins of ships from the Clone Wars.
Two of these ships bumped into each other, part of one breaking off another and sending it careening outwards.
Tech didn’t get the chance to react as it smashed into the side of the ship.
He was knocked out momentarily and when he finally came too, the ship was on an uncontrolled spiralled path towards the planet surface, all systems malfunctioning, a gaping hole in the side. Before he could even think about trying to regain control of it, the ship jerked sharply to the right, knocking his head against the control panel as his world went dark once again.
….............................................................
“Kriff!”
Hunter turned to Crosshair, frowning when he saw the sniper staring off into the distance, before he took off running.
“TECH!”
Hunter had never heard Crosshair that scared before.
“What’s going on?” Echo rushed over to his side, “Why’s- “
“-Come on.” The village was safe now, giving them the chance to follow Crosshair as quickly as they could, “Echo, see if you can get a hold of Tech on the comms.”
It was then that they saw the ship falling in the distance.
“TECH!”
…………………………………………..
Tech’s eyes blinked open.
Where was he?
What was going on?
Why was he so hot?
His brain had never felt so slow in his life.
……………………………………………
Crosshair had never run so fast in his life, eyes still on the ship that was heading straight for the ocean that lay near the village.
There wasn’t much of a chance that Tech or the ship would survive this… but that was a chance and Crosshair wouldn’t stop until he knew for certain.
……………………………………………….
Tech’s eyes blinked open once more.
There was fire surrounding him, and he could see what looked like blood trickling down his goggles. He couldn’t tell where he was, or what was happening, and if he didn’t feel so tired, maybe he would have the strength to panic at that.
There was something glimmering below him.
Water?
The ocean?
He didn’t have time to really think about it before everything was going black again.
……………………………………………………………………..
Hunter watched as Crosshair dived into the water, frantically swimming towards the crashed ship, which (thankfully) hadn’t crashed too far away from the shoreline.
“Echo. Omega, see if you can find a boat and meet us out there!” He ordered, turning to Wrecker, “Follow me.”
They dove into the water after Crosshair, swimming towards what was left of their ship.
Climbing onto the ship, Hunter could feel his heart sinking to his chest.
The chances of Tech surviving were low… and if they lost Tech, he knew that they would also lose Crosshair.
Crosshair was already crawling into the cockpit, as Hunter and Wrecker hung back.
“He’s alive!” Crosshair finally called out, “Barely, but he’s alive!”
Barely alive wasn’t good… but barely alive was workable.
“Echo.” Hunter said into his comms, “I hope that boat’s ready to go. The village has medical supplies, right?”
//Yeah, but… it might not be enough. That crash looks bad. \\
“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.” Hunter knew there was a chance they could do nothing to help him, but he wasn’t going to admit that out loud, as he headed into the cockpit, “Crosshair, don’t move him until Echo get’s here. He can scan him to make sure it’ll be safe.”
“So, we’re leaving him here?!” Crosshair hissed, hands hovering nervously over Tech.
“Nobody’s leaving anyone… we’re just waiting with him, whilst Echo gets here.”
Looking over at Tech, Hunter winced. Tech looked so small, limbs all weirdly bent, as though his bones were shattered. There was a huge gash on his forehead that Crosshair had placed a piece of gauze over (which was steadily soaking up the blood quicker than what was reassuring), past blood drying on his face.
That was going to need bacta and possibly stitches.
They needed an oxygen mask, and he didn’t need a monitor to know that Tech’s heartbeat was slow… especially when he saw the chunk of metal sticking out of his brother’s side, blood all around it.
He was in critical condition.
“Echo.” Hunter sighed, “You might need to speed it up. Tech- it’s bad.”
Crosshair flinched at the words, even as Echo assured them that they were on their way.
…………………………………………………………………………
Crosshair could only watch from the doorway as the village healers, Echo and Omega all swarmed around Tech, giving them space to work.
The pained screams of Tech as they removed him from the ship would haunt him in his dreams.
His knees felt weak, like he was going to topple over any second now, feeling someone take a hold of his shoulder.
“Come on.” Hunter grunted, “You need to sit down.” He wrapped an arm around Crosshair, leading him to a nearby bench that he could sit down on, ignoring the curious stares of the other villagers. Once seated, Crosshair put his head in his hands, taking deep breaths as Hunter rubbed his back.
“Is-Is he okay?” He heard Wrecker ask nervously from nearby.
Before Crosshair could make a sarcastic remark, Hunter spoke up instead, “Are any of us really okay Wrecker?”
“… No.”
“No.” Hunter sighed, “Come on, sit. There’s nothing more we can do now.”
“I-I can look for another ship for us.”
Wrecker hated just sitting still, but Hunter wasn’t sure he trusted him to procure a good ship.
We can do that later.” He gave Wrecker a reassuring smile (or at least he hoped it was), “Why don’t you see if any of the villagers need any help with anything?”
Wrecker nodded and headed away, just as the village healer emerged from the hut. “We’re finishing up now.” She informed them, “He’s still in critical, but stable condition.”
“Thank you.”
Hunter wasn’t surprised when Crosshair shot to his feet and rushed inside. If Echo and Omega saw that Crosshair’s eyes were red-rimmed, dried tear-tracks on his face, neither of them mentioned it.
Possibly for the best as Crosshair fell to his knees beside the bed, taking Tech’s bandaged hand into his own as he muttered desperate pleas into the broken and bloodied flesh.
If Tech didn’t make it, Hunter knew they would lose Crosshair too.
…………………………………………
Tech felt like he was under miles of water, seeing nothing but darkness and hearing nothing but silence.
It was calm and peaceful.
Until he heard a familiar sobbing.
He remembered a time on Kamino. He’d been dragged to the testing centre, pulled from his bed in the middle of the night as his batchmate and brother Crosshair, cried out for the Kamino’s to stop, to let him go.
He’d returned the following night feeling like his head was going to explode, only to find Crosshair curled up on Tech’s bunk, sobbing bitterly into his hands.
“I thought they’d de-commissioned you.” He’d whispered into Tech’s neck, after seeing him and pulling as close as possible, “I thought you were gone.”
The sound he was hearing now was not unlike that day.
“I think he’s waking up.” He vaguely heard someone say, the soft sobbing cutting off in a choked hiccup.
The light was blinding as he cracked his eyes open, immediately closing them at the harshness, before trying again. It took some time, but he finally adjusted to the light, seeing two familiar looking, blurry blobs looking down on him.
“Oh, wait, wait, wait.” He heard Wrecker, “Omega fixed your goggles for you.”
Gently, those goggles were put back on, clearing up their faces.
Everyone looked awful, was his first thought. They all had deep, dark circles under their eyes, but they still smiled down at him.
“Hey.” Hunter whispered, “Welcome back.”
“What… happened?” Tech managed to get out, his throat sore and scratchy.
Hunter and Crosshair looked at each other, before Crosshair took the lead, “You crashed… it looks like you were hit with some debris. You were lucky that you crashed into the sea.”
Tech took that information in for a moment, flinching when Omega was suddenly beside him, a cup of water in her hands. With a little bit of assistance, he managed to take little sips at it, letting the cool water soothe his throat.
“Did anyone else get hurt?” He asked weakly, “How long have I- “
“- A month.” Crosshair’s voice was a little shaky, “We didn’t think you were ever going to- “he cut himself off and looked away.
“A... month?” Tech struggled to comprehend that, which was a rarity for him.
“You were hurt pretty badly.” Wrecker muttered, “You looked dead.”
“Most of your severe injuries are healing well though.” Hunter reassured him, “The Villagers have been mor than helpful with that, even without bacta.”
“What about... Marauder?”
They all looked at each other.
“We... managed to get most of our stuff out.” Hunter sighed, “But...there was nothing we could do for the rest of the ship.”
Tech was alarmed that he actually felt sorrow at the news.
He’d been piloting that ship from the first moment that they were allowed off of Kamino.
And now it was gone.
“it’s okay though!” Wrecker beamed, “We found another one!”
“We did.” Hunter chuckled, “We can always get or build another ship…. We couldn’t have gotten another Tech.”
“Well, technically we were all built as- “
“- Tech. There will never be another one like you.”
Tech nodded, smiling softly when Crosshair took his hand again, “Yes… Sarge.”
“… It’s good to have you back.”
“Thank… you.”
“No worries vod’ika, no worries.”