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The ground shook from the explosion. Tech pressed himself against the wall behind him until it was over, well aware of the drop in front of his feet. It likely wouldn’t be fatal, but it wouldn’t be pretty either.
Another job for Cid that was going somewhat sideways. Not the first one, and Tech feared that it wasn’t the last one either.
Another explosion had Tech shield his eyes from the small rocks and debris trickling down the wall. Still, he kept pressing on. The narrow path leading around the city wall was not stable and there was a high chance that parts of it would break off. There was also a high chance that parts of the wall would break off, and Tech wondered briefly who had gotten the idea to build a wall on such unstable ground. He knew he would never get an answer to that. On the other hand, who could have known that a very overeager Wrecker would accidentally set off a chain reaction of explosions? Well, who except for Tech?
He kept hurrying along the narrow path, around a bend - where he had to stop in his tracks.
Crosshair stopped too, and for a moment, none of them moved a muscle.
“So it is you,” he then snarled and raised his rifle, making Tech sigh inwardly.
“I was not aware of any imperial presence in this city.”
“We weren’t stationed here, but I know your handiwork.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
Of course Crosshair would discern the patterns and be alerted to their presence. Tech hadn’t expected anything else from him, even if he had hoped it would be different.
“Sure. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
“I agree. You’ll turn around and we take this to more stable ground.”
That got Tech a scoff. “I will not do that. You will come with me or-”
Another explosion, another tremor. This time, close, very close. Tech pressed himself against the wall again, feeling the ground shift.
Luckily, it didn’t break off.
Well.
Where he was standing.
A few meters in front of him, there was a hole where the path had been, blocking his way to safety. And …
Tech peered over the edge, noting that Crosshair at least was still moving. Luck really wasn’t on his side these days, was it?
“Are you alright?” Tech called out, going down on one knee. Through the dust it was hard to make out specifics and the general sound level made it hard to listen, too. Still he picked up a faint growl.
“Yes!” Crosshair called back after a moment. His voice sounded strained.
“Are you quite sure?” Tech waited patiently.
He didn’t get an answer, and he didn’t need to. Something didn’t look right.
Tech took another look at the wall. It looked fine, mostly, but there were small cracks running up from the ground and they were spreading, slowly but surely. It was very likely that it would crumble soon and if the fall wasn’t deadly, having a few tons of rocks landing on top of you probably would do it.
Tech pulled out his trusty grappling hook, firing it up the wall. Not ideal, but the servo would help him slow his descent.
He kicked up more dust and debris and ended up having to drop the last two meters, rolling to absorb the force of his drop.
When he got to his feet, Crosshair was scowling at him, Tech knew that, even though they were both still wearing their helmets. But Crosshair was still on the floor, hunched over.
“I think I broke something,” Crosshair muttered finally.
“I can see that.” Tech knelt down beside him. “Can you move?”
Crosshair shook his head.
“Okay. That wall is not going to hold for long anymore.” Tech cast a worried glance up. The cracks were still spreading. “And we need to get out of danger.”
To his credit, Crosshair tried to get up, letting out a pained hiss and hunching over again.
That was not going to work.
Well, plan B it was.
“Brace yourself.”
Crosshair only managed a confused “Huh?” before Tech picked him up.
He was lighter than he remembered. Still, the bulk of the armor and Crosshair’s size made it hard to lift him. And the fact that Crosshair tried to struggle, despite the pain he was in.
“What are you doing?!”
“Isn’t that obvious?” Tech huffed. “Move you out of the danger zone.”
Crosshair didn’t say another word, but Tech wasn’t sure if it was because he couldn’t think of something to say or because of the pain.
The terrain was uneven, making it hard to manoeuvre with added weight. Additionally, he was supposed to get the Marauder that was parked a klick away and pick everyone up. Tech had no idea how he was supposed to make it there in time, with added weight and Crosshair definitely not happy about basically being kidnapped. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash. Both he and Crosshair snapped their heads towards the wall that had just crumbled to the ground, burying the place where they'd been just few minutes ago under tons of rocks.
“Of course you had to be right about the wall,” Crosshair groaned. His breath was coming out in short hitched bursts. He was clearly in pain.
“I am seldom wrong.” It came out more strained than intended and Crosshair noticed. He started squirming in Tech’s grasp, or at least tried to. Crosshair stilled again after a second and Tech didn’t miss the hiss of pain.
Still, Crosshair pressed on. “You can put me down now.”
“I don’t think so. We need to get you patched up.”
An angry huff escaped Crosshair. “‘We’ need to do nothing. You need to put me down and -"
"And what, continue what we started up there?"
"We are on more stable ground now." The two stared at each other for a moment.
Tech sighed, but complied.
Once he had his hands free, he pulled out his scanner. He needed to know what was wrong even if Crosshair still scowled at him. Again, they were still wearing their helmets but Tech knew him.
The scanner beeped, and Tech really didn't like what it showed..
"Two broken ribs," he said.
"Oh, fantastic." Crosshair was panting. Tech knew that moving him had been a bad idea, but there had been no other choice. At least the scan didn’t indicate any internal bleeding. Yet. But it needed to be treated, and sooner rather than later.
His comlink crackled to life, and Echo’s voice filled his helmet.
“Tech, are you en route to the Marauder?”
“No, I had to take a detour.”
“Because of the wall?” Echo sounded out of breath.
“Somewhat.” It was vague enough to make Echo pause, but Tech was not about to explain the whole situation.
“Okay, I’m almost there. If you give me your coordinates I can pick you up,” Echo finally said.
“Thank you, Echo.”
Tech turned back to Crosshair. “Echo is en route. We can get you treatment on the Marauder.”
"You are not kidnapping me, I'm calling my squad to get me!" Crosshair hissed.
"Oh. Okay." It wasn’t a good idea to wait much longer, but it was Crosshair’s decision and as much as it pained Tech, he had to respect it.
"And don't you even think of - what?” Crosshair trailed off, tilting his head in confusion.
"I said okay,” Tech repeated.
Crosshair was silent for a second. “So you’re not forcing me to come with you.”
“No. It is your choice.”
Why did it feel like Crosshair was glaring at him even more?
“... Do you want me to kidnap you?”
“Obviously not!” As good as a liar Crosshair usually was, Tech didn't miss the conflict in him. Maybe it was due to being in pain that he was not able to hide it better. It didn't matter.
“... But you do,” Tech stated
“No I don’t!”
Tech snapped his mouth shut, pushing down the annoyance that was bubbling up. Why did his brother always have to be so difficult?
At least the familiar roar of engines announced their ship, and he wouldn’t have to deal with this much longer.
Tech straightened up, waving to Echo who turned the Marauder sideways and hovered it over ground so Tech could get on.
Then Crosshair tried to get up.
"What are you doing?!" Tech snapped, instinctively pushing him down again so he wouldn’t hurt himself more.
"Well you wanted to kidnap me, didn’t you?!"
"... Make up your mind!"
“I just did!”
"Are we really sure?" Echo asked, casting a worried glance between them.
"I kidnapped him. He's a prisoner,” Tech stated, matter of factly. He did. Kinda. Was consensual kidnapping really kidnapping?
"Am a prisoner,” Crosshair nodded along. Tech had dosed him with painkillers once on board, those always made him more docile.
“You two are awful,” Echo muttered, but seemed to accept the fact. “What if the Empire comes after you?"
"Then Tech owes me 5 credits - Ow. you did that on purpose!" Crosshair complained when the Marauder shifted a bit too fast and he hit his head.
"No, I didn't.” Echo tried not to smile. “Now let's pick up the others, Omega will have a field day patching you up."
"Echo. Echo, let me out. Echo. ECHO!"