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This nightmare was repeated almost every night.
“Let's see how long until you break,” was the last thing Crosshair heard clearly before his body sank into endless agony.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but the pain didn't stop for a second. The damn droid was coolly pouring more and more injections into the clone's body, which made the situation even worse. Crosshair didn't understand what Hemlock and the assistant were talking about, and when they spoke to him, he couldn't make out the words, but he knew what was required of him. But he wasn't going to give up just like that.
"I do not must talk..." was constantly throbbing in his head.
At some point, he stopped feeling anything. It would seem that there was finally a respite, but he was deliberately forced to come to his senses, and his body ached again. He was brought to his senses to continue the interrogation.
This went on over and over again, according to the same scenario. The chamber, Hemlock's face, the droid, the pain, the questions—all mixed up into one mess, and this mess stopped at some point. Crosshair felt like he was going to die here, and never had the feeling of death been so real and frightening.
But he was unlucky. Later, he woke up in some kind of hall, and could not see much. Apparently, his last blackout was total. Then everything is a blur. Someone forcibly lifted his weakened body from the operating table, and practically carried him to a cell-like cell. Unconscious, Crosshair leaned his shoulder against the wall and slid down it to the floor.
Further events flashed in front of his eyes with frightening speed until Omega's face appeared. She looked at Crosshair through the bars, and everything inside the clone snapped in an instant.
No…
Crosshair woke up abruptly, drenched in cold sweat and looking around in panic. His breathing had quickened, and his body was trembling slightly. It was only after a few moments that the clone realized that he was not on Tantiss in the cell. He was on a Marauder, and in the dark interior of the ship, the peaceful snuffling of sleeping brothers and sister could be heard.
Wreker was snoring on top of the side bunk, and Crosshair almost bumped his head against it as he sat down. He hugged himself, trying to come to his senses. When his breathing steadied and the trembling in his body subsided, the sniper swung his legs from the bunk to the floor, immediately bumping his heels into something large and soft.
Batcher.
No matter how much he sent her to sleep with Omega, lurca hound stubbornly stayed with him, using all her reserve of impudence to ask for a bed with him. But Crosshair was adamant, and the dog had no choice but to stretch out on the floor, taking up almost the entire narrow passage in the ship.
Sensing movement from above, Batcher immediately stirred on the floor and stood up, dusted herself off and wagged her short crooked tail, banging it against the metal walls. When she saw that Crosshair had woken up, she breathed joyfully, greeting him, sticking out her tongue, whining slightly, and this squeak gradually turned into an enthusiastic squeal. Batcher put her heavy head on the clone's lap. She wanted to reach out to lick his face, but Crosshair put his hands on her cheeks, holding her muzzle.
“Hey, easy here, you'll wake everyone up,” Crosshair hissed, knowing that the dog would hear him perfectly well. And Batcher whined once more, and continued to exhale through her nose, but now silently, looking into his eyes and slowly wagging the tip of her lowered tail.
When lurca hound calmed down a little, Crosshair stood up, out of habit, first of all picking up the rifle, which Hunter so kindly agreed to give him. He also walked silently through the cabin like a sniper, then went down the ladder that automatically descended, feeling a gaze on his back. Of course, the scuffle in the Marauder's tail had woken Hunter, who was already sleeping lightly, and now the sergeant was following his brother with a look full of disbelief. But the sniper just chuckled to himself. He wasn't in the mood for a showdown right now.
A cool wind was blowing on the take-off pad at the very top of the island. After a little stale warm air on the Marauder, goosebumps ran over his skin for a moment. Crosshair took a deep breath, enjoying the freshness of the ocean breeze for a second. It calmed his nerves a bit after the recent nightmare.
Batcher jumped out of the ship after Crosshair and began turning circles around the clone, sniffing the tile under her paws as if looking for something. Then her attention was attracted by munyo walking alone on the playground, and hound rushed to him with enthusiastic barking. But one hail and a stern look from Crosshair was enough for the dog to stop talking and obediently return to him, looking ingratiatingly into his frowning face.
“You should go back to the Marauder, or the little one will miss you when she wakes up,” Crosshair muttered, and Batcher seemed even more pleased that he was talking to her again. The clone could only roll his eyes at this.
Trying to ignore the dog no longer, Crosshair looked around. The lower Pabu was still shrouded in darkness, but from the height of the take-off platform and the Archium, it was visible how the horizon was covered with a light haze. Dawn is approaching, which means that the rest of the squad will wake up soon.
Crosshair took the only road leading down from the landing zone to the sea. He had heard that Batcher had followed him, and it was beginning to annoy him. He hoped that the dog would be smart enough not to stray far from the Marauder, but the longer he walked, the closer and closer Batcher found herself at his feet. Crosshair repeatedly stopped and chased her away, but lurca hound, who looked after him in confusion for a few seconds, still caught up with him later.
“You don't like following orders, don't you?” Crosshair sighed as Batcher puffed happily next to him once again. She definitely caught the humility and approval in his tone, and now she shamelessly jumped in front of him. So they made the rest of the way to the wild beach.
When the man and the dog reached the seashore, the sun began to rise above the horizon. It illuminated the Archium first, and then the gentle rays slid across the water surface, giving warmth to the awakening island.
Despite his depressed state, which he had been in for too long, Crosshair could not deny that it was almost the most beautiful sight he had ever seen in many worlds. Being a prisoner on Tantiss, he thought that he would never see sunlight again, would not feel its warmth. But now his tired face was warmed by the early rays, and his brown eyes, constantly looking beyond the horizon, shone with amber.
Crosshair sat down on one of the boulders, shifting the rifle to its usual position in his right hand and on his knee. Batcher ran to explore the beach, sniffing and looking around, not forgetting to cast concerned glances at the clone. Crosshair watched the dog scuffle for a while, but then turned his gaze back to the water surface, falling into thought.
Tantiss again. This damn place is too firmly embedded in his head. He did not remember how he got there at all, but he remembered in great detail everything that he went through after. These memories haunted him even in those moments when there was nothing to worry about. They appeared to him in nightmares.
But Crosshair believed that he deserved what happened to him and is happening now. The only thing he regretted was that he would not have been able to drag Hemlock with him to the next world if he had been given the opportunity. And he will never forget the day he saw Omega in one of the corridors of Tantiss. How could Hunter allow the girl to be kidnapped? Why would Crosshair send that message so they would ignore it? This made him incredibly angry and angers him to this day.
The news that Omega was in that lab finally broke Crosshair's spirit, and he already thought that hope was lost. However, the girl apparently learned a lot from her brothers. She did not lose faith in herself or in Crosshair. He was really afraid that if she stayed in this place even for another day, she would face the same unenviable fate, so he pushed her away from him in every possible way so that she would not waste her time on him, and at the same time not squander her enthusiasm. Now he owes her his life. The life she deserves.
Crosshair felt that his right hand was cramping again, and his fingers were starting to shake like crazy. He quickly took the rifle in his left hand so as not to drop it off the cliff. Then he looked bitterly at the uncontrollably trembling palm, moved his fingers, clenching and unclenching his fist.
No matter how much Crosshair tried to shoot, it turned out to hit with varying success, which is an order of magnitude lower than even an ordinary sniper. He didn't know if he would ever be able to get back into shape. What is the use of him now if he is not able to perform the basic function for which he was created?
Crosshair suddenly felt someone pushing insistently at his elbow. Batcher, it turns out, had been with the clone for quite a long time, and now, as carefully as she could, she was crawling under his sore arm. When Crosshair's hand rested on her neck, lurca hound purred contentedly, looking at him from the side and getting comfortable next to him.
Batcher's warm short fur glistened under Crosshair's fingers, and the sniper ran his hand along the entire length of the hound's neck, to which she responded with a joyful tapping of her curled tail. He didn't know how it worked, but the cramp in his hand began to recede, and his palm was almost not shaking anymore. Crosshair continued stroking the dog, and she turned her head and looked into his eyes, as if she was looking right into his soul.
“Omega has been buzzing my ears about you,” Crosshair said softly, now only burrowing deeper into the dog's fur with his fingers. Batcher, hearing a familiar name, smiled happily, as only lurca hound can, without ceasing to wag her tail.
Omega then saved them both. They both once blindly followed orders, and then were locked in a cell. And it was Omega, a small man with a big heart, who was able to give them back hope, and later freedom.
Batcher and Crosshair looked at each other in complete silence, and seemed to understand each other without words.
Omega saved them both. And they would both do everything so that she would never have to be rescued again.