Work Text:
A Day To Remember
Over the past week, Pabu had been slowly changing and Omega eyed everything that was happening around her with intense curiosity.
The houses were decorated with bright colours, banners and bunting hung from the roofs. They had different patterns on them, but the most notable one was skulls painted with different colours. Bright yellow flowers sat in planters and vases on window sills. From inside homes came the scents of wonderful food and sweet treats. The people were different too: everyone was dressed up in equally bright clothing, their faces painted just like the skulls on the banners.
It was rather confusing but also very intriguing for Omega, who had never seen Pabu so… different. When she asked Lyana what was going on when her friend came to the Marauder to show off her dress, the girl happily explained.
“Today is the Festival of Love!” She said, “it’s the day of the year we celebrate the family who aren’t with us anymore. We get all dressed up and decorate, we build altars for them where we put their photos and leave them gifts of all their favourite treats, and we celebrate with music and telling stories. It’s like… we’re throwing a party, and everyone we love is invited!”
“That sounds so cool!” Omega said with wide eyes.
“It’s amazing! It’s my favourite day of the year,” Lyana grabbed her friend’s hand, “c’mon, I’ll show you the altar my dad and I made!”
The two girls ran from the ship, Batcher bounding off after them, but Omega didn’t notice the drop in atmosphere onboard as she disappeared with her friend. The sad frowns, the bowed heads, the tense silence. Not a single one of the men on the ship said a thing.
But they were all thinking of the same person, and many others too.
Lyana’s altar was for her mother. It was just a table with a holophoto of a young and beautiful lady in the middle, surrounded by flowers and plates of pastries and sweet treats. There was a bowl of chopped fruit nearby, and leaning against the table sat an instrument of some kind that Omega had never seen before. Lyana explained that her mother had been a musician before the war came and tore apart their family, leading to them fleeing and finding safety on Pabu. It was a story most of the island inhabitants had, stories of lost loved ones torn from them too soon, but there was no sadness on the island at all. There was nothing but joy and happiness from everyone.
“We spend the whole day setting up, baking special foods and lighting candles. We sit around the altar playing music and telling stories of our family.” Lyana told Omega, “some cultures even say that if we build them an altar, the spirits of our loved ones can come visit us.”
“That’s so cool, but, don’t you get sad talking about your mom?” She asked her friend.
“Sometimes, but I mostly feel happy because the festival keeps her memory alive.”
It gave Omega a lot to think about when she headed back to the Marauder a little while later, Batcher by her side. Since coming back home after Tantiss, there had been an unspoken heaviness settled over them all. Tech was gone, dead. Omega hadn’t had the time to grieve properly when she was captured but when she told Crosshair about Plan 99, he had shattered in front of her for just a moment before he closed himself off again and told her to go away. She didn’t know how Hunter or Wrecker or Echo had processed things, if they had at all, but she knew that his loss laid heavy over them and it felt suffocating sometimes.
Tech was gone and they couldn’t bring him back, but a festival dedicated to celebrating lost loved ones? Maybe this could be something good for them.
A plan formed in Omega’s mind as she ran back up the winding path of the island towards the archium. Lyana showed Omega her mother’s altar, and other homes had similar ones outside of their houses. That was a good start.
When she returned to the Marauder , Omega went straight to her room where she grabbed one of the larger blankets. Folding it and tucking it under her arm, she climbed out of her room and looked around the ship until she found a crate that seemed large enough for her needs. She placed the blanket on top and went to lift it, but the crate was heavy, too heavy for Omega to move. No matter how much she pushed and pulled, it barely budged. Even Batcher wasn’t strong enough, and Omega could only pat the hound’s head comfortingly.
With a twisted frown, Omega was about to look for a different option when Wrecker walked out of the cockpit. “You alright there, kid?” he asked.
“I’m good!” Omega said, a smile forming on her lips, “can you help me take this crate outside?”
Wrecker raised a brow, “sure, but why d’ya need it?”
“I’m building an altar like Lyana has.”
Wrecker didn’t seem to need any more convincing. He grabbed the crate and with ease he picked it up and carried it down the ship’s ramp, placing it close to the ship but far enough away to suit Omega’s liking. “Have fun kid, m’off to the docks but give a comm if ya need anythin’!”
“Thank you, Wrecker!”
Wrecker disappeared back onboard, but only for a moment before he appeared with his fishing gear and set off down towards the docks. Omega grabbed the blanket and laid it over the crate, straightening up the edges until it was as perfect as can be. (She didn’t notice that when Wrecker walked off with his fishing gear, he had his head bowed and was looking at his feet, trying not to cry.)
Okay, step one complete. Time for step two.
Lyana had a photo of her mother on the altar. Omega didn’t know if they had any photos of Tech but she did know that her brother recorded anything and everything and stored all of it on data sticks. Heading back on board, Omega went over to the large console and powered it on. By the console was a small box that held all the data sticks Tech owned, all of them labelled and organised. Tech had shown them to Omega when she first came to live with them, when they found out she had been there when they were still in their tubes. The earliest recording was from back when they were cadets when Tech first built his own datapad and recorded the four of them introducing themselves with the names they had chosen.
Omega reached for some of the more recently dated sticks, ones that would have the most up to date images available. She plugged one in and began to scroll through the copious amounts of organised videos and images she found, and though she was happy to see recordings of their missions and even moments on the Marauder , even though she found photos of herself and the others looking happier than Omega ever remembered them being, there was nothing of Tech himself.
Having been the one to record everything, he didn’t appear physically in anything. It was a bit disheartening… they had nothing of Tech himself.
“Megs?”
Omega snapped her head up from her scrolling. Three data sticks down and she was losing hope, but she had been so engrossed in her task she didn’t notice Echo standing next to her. “What are you doing?” He asked.
“I’m trying to find a photo of Tech,” she explained, ”you’re meant to put photos of loved ones on the altar for the festival, but Tech isn’t in any of the videos or photos he took. There’s still a lot of data sticks left that I need to look through but it’s gonna take forever.”
Something sad appeared on Echo’s face and he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Let me look, I can probably find something quicker,” he gave his scomp a little whir.
Omega smiled brightly, hopping up from the chair. “Thank you, Echo! Now I can finish the altar!” She threw her arms around her brother in a tight hug before rushing off (missing the sad smile and shake of his head Echo gave as he sat down in the seat she vacated).
Next was gifts. Lyana had plates of her mother’s favourite sweet treats on the altar, and Omega wanted to make some of Tech’s favourite foods. However… she wasn’t allowed to use the kitchenette on the ship unsupervised. It was Hunter’s rule, and it was a stupid rule. She could use a blaster and go on missions, but she couldn’t touch the microwave without an adult present? It was ridiculous.
But Hunter was not on the ship, so she couldn’t ask him to supervise. Wrecker was fishing, and Echo was already looking for a photo for her…
That only left Crosshair. He was upstairs.
And by upstairs, Omega meant on the roof of the ship reading. He hid up there when he wanted to be alone.
Omega found herself climbing up the side of the Marauder onto the roof just moments later, and sure enough, there was Crosshair with his nose in a book, leaning against the top fin of the ship. He closed one half of the book and raised an eyebrow at Omega.
“...what?”
“Can you come and supervise me in the kitchen?” Omega asked, perching herself on the roof with her legs dangling over the edge.
“Why?”
“Because Hunter said I can’t be alone when cooking-”
“No, why me? Why not anyone else?”
“Well, Wrecker is off fishing and I don’t know where Hunter is. And Echo’s looking for a photo of Tech for me, so you’re the only one left,” Omega shrugged, “please? You just need to sit there, you can keep reading. I know what I’m doing.”
Crosshair stared at her for a moment, and Omega was convinced he was going to say no, but then he snapped his book shut and nodded to the ladder she had just climbed up. With a happy smile Omega clambered back down the ladder, Crosshair following afterwards.
Sure enough when they got to the kitchenette, Crosshair sat down on one of the stools and opened his book again, going back to his reading whilst Omega began grabbing ingredients. Tech had always been a bit fussy with his food, at his own admission, so there wasn’t much he actually liked outside of the ration bars they lived off of. Omega did know that he loved sweet things, and he once showed her how to bake some muffins that originated from Naboo which he said were his favourite.
Well, they had all the ingredients, so Omega got to work.
…well, she tried.
Baking was a lot more difficult than Omega thought it was. The batter became lumpy and the ingredients didn’t mix properly. The egg shells ended up everywhere, even in the bowl. A flour cloud coating the counter top in a thin layer of four dust and Omega could feel it settling in her hair.
“What are you doing?” Crosshair asked, his book having been abandoned in favour of watching Omega with an amused look.
“I’m trying to make muffins.”
“Why?”
“Because they’re Tech’s favourite,” Omega stated, inspecting her bad batch of batter with a frown. “You’re supposed to leave a person’s favourite foods on the altar for them, as a gift. And these are Tech’s favourite.”
Omega let out a sigh, feeling dejected at her failed attempt. She folded her arms on the counter, not caring that she got even more covered in flour, and laid her head down on her arms. “I… I just wanna do something for him. I miss him, and this felt like something I could do to… to honour him.”
Crosshair didn’t say anything, not at first, but then Omega heard his boots hit the floor of the ship and she looked up to find him grabbing a new bowl from the cupboard. He wiped up some of the flour and put the bowl down, grabbing the other bowl filled with the failed batter and placing it on the floor, where Batcher came bounding over from where she was laying to happily snack away at the mess.
“You gotta add the ingredients in a certain order,” he said eventually, “if you don’t they go all… well, like that,” Crosshair pointed at the bowl Batcher had her face stuck in, “grab a cloth, clean the counter. We’ll try again.”
A bright smile broke out on Omega’s face. She rushed to grab a cleaning cloth and made quick work of the mess she made, before turning back to Crosshair who had grabbed more ingredients.
“Right, start with the eggs…”
With Crosshair’s help, the second attempt went much, much better than the first. It didn’t take long for a smooth batter to form, and as Omega mixed in the chocolate chips, Crosshair lined the baking tray with the muffin wrappers Omega didn’t even know they had. Together they spooned the batter into the wrappers, then Crosshair put the tray in the oven he had preheated earlier.
“They’ll take about an hour because this thing’s a piece of crap,” he said, nodding at the oven, “but that should be it.”
“Great!” Omega checked the chronometer on the wall, “and I have enough time to go get flowers before sundown!” She went to rush towards the ramp, but as she turned she noticed the mess of dishes and utensils that now sat on the counter from their baking and she faltered. She shouldn’t leave a mess.
A hand landed on Omega’s shoulder. She looked up at Crosshair. “Go get your flowers, I’ll clean up and watch the muffins.”
“Are you sure?”
Crosshair nodded. Her smile returning, Omega ran out of the ship and left Crosshair behind in the kitchenette. (She didn’t see how Crosshair hung his head the moment she was out of sight, his face falling. His hand shook at his side as he clenched it into a fist.
“You alright, vod?” Echo asked, looking around the doorframe from his seat where he was still scrolling through the recordings.
“Fine,” Crosshair bit out, shaking his hand out, “think you can find another photo? Won’t be in the data sticks.”
“...You had the same thought too, huh? Let me see.”)
The flowers were perfect. Omega had an armful of the bright yellow blossoms as she ran back to the Marauder . One of the kind ladies who had a big garden let her take as many flowers - they were called marigolds - as she wanted, and Omega chose enough to fill a vase she knew they had somewhere.
When she finally got back to the ship, she hurried on board to grab the vase, which was exactly where she thought it would be: shoved at the back of a cupboard. She didn’t even know why they had it but she didn’t mind, she just placed the flowers in the vase and added some water before hurrying back out to the altar and placing the vase on top.
It was almost perfect.
…Almost.
Metallic footsteps sounded on the ramp behind her. Omega turned and found Echo and Crosshair descending the ramp, one holding a hologram and the other, a plate of muffins. “Got the photo, Megs,” Echo said, activating the hologram to show a perfect photo of Tech. He was sitting in the cockpit of the ship in the pilot’s seat, smiling brightly, a smear of grease on his forehead from where he had been fixing the Marauder all day long and had finally achieved one of his best upgrades. It wasn’t a moment Omega remembered, likely from before she joined the team, but Omega loved it. She happily took the holograph from Echo, placing it in the very centre of the altar. Crosshair handed her the plate of muffins which she added to the crate.
“Lookin’ good, ‘Mega!” Came Wrecker’s booming voice. He was walking across the courtyard with his fishing gear slung over his shoulder, in his hands a small basket of fruit. “Picked these up from the market on my way up.”
“Oh, they’re perfect, Wrecker! Tech would love these!” Omega exclaimed as Wrecker placed the basket on the other side of the photo. The entire altar looked amazing, perfect for Tech.
Well, it still felt like it was missing something, but Omega wasn’t sure what.
“It looks amazing, Omega,” Echo said, placing his hand on her shoulder, “it’s really great that you wanted to do this for Tech.”
“He deserves to be remembered,” Omega said with a nod, “I think this is the best way we can do that.”
The sun was setting now, but the island lights had yet to come on like they did every night. As Omega glanced around to see why, she noticed that they were one shorter than usual.
“Hey, where’s Hunter?” she asked, noting the way her brothers’ faces fell.
“He’s… still in the archium,” Echo told her, “he’s been… taking losing Tech pretty hard.”
“Is he okay?”
“...Not really.”
Omega went quiet. Then…
“Can you guys set up some candles on the altar? I’m gonna go check on Hunter.”
Her three brothers nodded, so Omega took off to the archium.
Sure enough, she found Hunter inside. The archium was quiet, which was why it was one of Tech’s favourite places in all of Pabu. The artefacts inside held history that he loved to learn about and he took extra care of the generators and early warning system for the storm surges. A small nook had been made for him - by Phee - on one of the balconies where he would often be found reading and just enjoying the sun, and that was where Hunter was, leaning against the balcony railing staring down at the island below.
Hunter always tried to hide things from Omega. Never out of malice or anything terrible, but because he felt like he had to. He always tried to be strong and put up a front, hiding his worry and his fears and distress. He didn’t like Omega knowing that he wasn’t always infallible and that sometimes he was downright terrified of things. He wanted her to think he was always strong and that she could always go to him without hesitation. But Omega already knew this. She already knew that her (little) big brother was the strongest person she knew and that she could always go to him for help, she only wished he could do the same with her and the others.
It was no wonder then that when Omega headed for the balcony, Hunter stood up from his hunched position as soon as he sensed her coming. She watched him scrub at his face with the back of his hand, and by the time she came to stand next to him at the railing, he had a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes plastered on.
“You have a good day, Megs?” he asked her.
“...I miss Tech.”
It hadn’t been what Omega intended to say, she was going to bring it up slowly, but the words tumbled out of her before she could stop them and she watched Hunter’s face fall.
“...Yeah. Yeah, me too.” Hunter admitted.
They stood there on the balcony for a moment in silence. Omega… was at a loss. She didn’t know what to do or to say. There didn’t seem to be enough that could be said to alleviate any of the pain Hunter felt. As their leader, Omega knew he carried guilt and blamed himself for Tech’s death, and she couldn’t help him with that. She didn’t know how.
“...do you remember the first day after the storm surge?” She asked Hunter after a while, “We were trying to find Tech for dinner, but we couldn’t find him anywhere. It was like he had disappeared. But, he was here,” she gestured to the archium behind them, “Phee was showing him some of the artefacts, and he had become so excited by everything he was learning that he had one of his episodes.”
“The meltdown, yeah,” Hunter said softly.
“Yeah, but it was a good one, remember? He was just so overwhelmed with how happy he was that he had to sit down on the floor and regulate for a moment. Phee just sat with him, didn’t mind that he couldn’t talk or anything. She just kept talking about the artefacts and let him be… well, himself.”
No one else had ever done that for him before. No one outside of the squad had ever been safe enough for Tech to drop his shields and let himself just be.
“And remember when we went to Lothal for a bit? Tech was meant to be fixing the ship but we found him outside fast asleep in the grass with three loth-cats sleeping on his lap!” Omega gave a giggle as she remembered the way the furry creatures had curled up on top of her brother and he was none the wiser as he snored away.
Hunter chuckled. “Yeah. When he woke up he scared one of them so badly it jumped onto his head. Nearly broke his goggles.”
Omega giggled again, and soon the silence returned. It felt lighter, but still the heaviness of loss lay heavy over them.
“...Lyana said that today is meant to be about remembering those we’ve lost,” Omega told Hunter, turning her attention back to the island below. It was getting darker still and yet, no lights. “It’s supposed to be the day we celebrate them. I think that’s what Tech would want from us. To celebrate him.” She looked up at Hunter, who met her eyes. “It’s okay to miss him, but it wasn’t your fault. Or mine, or any of ours. The whole point of today is to keep the memories of those we love alive, and we should do that for Tech. He wouldn’t want us to be sad, not now that we’re all together again.”
On Tantiss, Omega had clung to the hope that she would escape and reunite with her brothers, Crosshair in tow. She dreamed of being back home with her family, all of them, but she knew Tech wouldn’t be there. And yet, this day changed that. It gave her - all of them - the chance to remember their brother the way he deserves.
And Hunter seemed to realise that too. He let out a sigh, his shoulders dropping as all tension seeped away. “When did you grow up on me, ad’ika ? When did you get so wise?”
“I think it was around the same time Tech taught me how to fly the Marauder .”
Hunter’s laugh was melodic.
The sun was gone, fallen deep below the horizon. The lights didn’t come on, however. Instead, Omega watched as a million tiny little flames appeared, candles all being lit at once in front of every house across the island, winding right the way down to the shoreline. Music echoed over the air, and the island came to life in a way Omega had never seen before.
“Wow,” she breathed out, in awe of the sight beforehand.
“Pabu really does amaze me more and more every day,” Hunter admitted.
Omega turned to her brother. She reached up and took his hand, and Hunter gave it a squeeze. “C’mon, let’s go light our own candles.”
Hunter smiled down at her, and together they turned and left the balcony of the archium, heading down the spire and back towards the Marauder . When they reached the courtyard, Batcher bounded over and yapped away, running around their legs as they made their way over to where the others were waiting.
None of them said anything about the tear tracks.
“We got the candles!” Wrecker announced with a big grin, holding up the lighter in his hand. “Wanna do the honours, kid?”
Omega happily accepted the lighter from her brother and, standing in front of the altar, she began to light all the candles one by one. With the space slowly becoming illuminated, the photographs came to life in the light.
The multiple photographs.
Tech’s photo was in the centre, but three others had joined him. Two Omega recognised: the first was of Ninety-Nine, smiling away. Tech had shown her that before, back when Omega was still settling into life away from Kamino, and they shared stories of the old clone. The second photo was of an arc trooper who had the number “5” tattooed on his temple. Fives. Omega had only met him once after the Battle of Kamino, when she was helping in the medical wing and he stopped by to check on their injured brothers. He was really kind, make her laugh, but she never saw him again. She only knew the stories Echo told her of his twin.
The final photo was an official mugshot from the files upon files of the GAR, one that would be displayed on the profile of the clone it belonged to. This one had a CT number and name underneath. “Mayday”. Omega didn’t know him, but she did see the way Crosshair stared at the portrait with sad eyes and knew he must be important. Important enough to belong up there with the others.
The candles were lit, the altar glowing. Omega stepped back and admired it with a smile and she felt a hand land on her shoulder. When she looked up, she found it was Hunter. “It’s perfect, Omega,” he said, “Tech would love it. They all would.”
“...It’s almost perfect.”
Omega turned on her heels and ran onboard the ship. She returned moments later with the finishing touch to the altar, which she placed carefully in the middle.
Tech’s goggles.
There. Now it was perfect.
They sat down on the ground by the altar after that, comfortable in the gentle light of the candles as they talked for hours into the night. Once the stories started, they didn’t stop. About Tech, Fives, Ninety-Nine, and Crosshair even told them about his friend, opening up in a way none of them had ever seen before. At some point in the night Omega ended up sitting in Crosshair’s lap as he braided her hair with expert fingers, remarking about how he had to do so to Hunter when they were cadets or he’d wake up with the worst loth-rat nest every morning. They only spurred stories from their cadet years, which Omega happily soaked up as she had missed so much of that time.
Everything felt right, in that moment. The five of them sitting around, talking, enjoying each other’s company like they never had before. Between all the running from the Empire and the jobs they did just to get by, it was always so difficult to find time to be a family. To just… be. There was an empty space in their little circle - there had been for a long time now - but even with Tech and all the others they love gone, they remained, and with them the stories of those they love. On this day, they remembered.
And someone else remembered them.
“He didn’t actually do that, right?” Crosshair asked incredulously.
“Oh he did!” Wrecker exclaimed with a laugh, “fell right into the lake trying to record the baby turtleducks!”
“It’s the fact that he just sat there in the water with them for an hour still recording that gets me,” Hunter added with a shake of his head.
Crosshair snorted. “Please tell me you got a photo?”
“He keeps them on his datapad, I’ll grab it.” Echo got up and disappeared onto the ship, returning just a few moments later with Tech’s datapad in hand. But… he was frowning, staring at the screen.
“...what’s wrong?” Omega asked him.
“There’s… there’s a notification on here. A message, from… Tech.”
Everyone’s heads snapped up. Echo sat back down and they crowded around him, eyes on the screen. Sure enough, there was a single notification, an audio file titled, “A Day To Remember”.
“Should we… listen to it?” Omega said.
“...Play it.” Hunter ordered. Echo pressed play, and Tech’s voice greeted them.
“If you’re listening to this, then unfortunately I am not with you anymore. I pre-recorded this message in the event of my death so that I was not leaving any of you behind without proper closure, and I have scheduled it so that it will be available for you all to hear on the day that Pabu celebrates its Festival of Love, a day of remembrance for lost family members. In truth, I hope you never hear this message. I hope one day I can delete it and purge its existence from my memory and instead get to live a happy life with all of you on Pabu until my accelerated ageing claims me, but I do not know what the future will hold, hence this message.
“There are a few things I would have wanted to say to you all but I did not have the chance, and even if I did you all would have gotten emotional and would not have let me finish. So here it is: I love you all. I know that I struggle with expressing my emotions with words and that I have never said as such to any of you before, but please do know that you are my siblings and that I love you all dearly. Don’t start panicking, I haven’t lost my mind. This is still me, I have just found that the best has been brought out in me over the past two years and I know I would never have forgiven myself if I had never told you all with words just how much you mean to me.
“I have nothing to leave to you all as is usually custom when one dies, but I would like to ask that this datapad be given to Omega so she can use it as I once did, as a way to learn all she can and all she wishes to about the galaxy around her. I hope that this brings her a life of adventure and wonder she always dreamed of.
“Live boldly, everyone. Push yourselves. Do not settle for anything less than what makes you happy. Knowing you still have possibilities is a luxury, and knowing that I might have given them to you eases something for me as I record this, my final message. So… this is it. This is goodbye. Do not think of me too often, I don’t want you all to be sad. Just live well. Just… live. I will be walking beside you all every step of the way.
“I love you all.”