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Omega sighed as she spun in a seat on the Marauder, swinging her legs out and staring at the ceiling. In the seat across from her, Crosshair pulled his Firepuncher out of the way each time she spun, staying focused on cleaning it. She had no idea where Wrecker had disappeared off to, but Hunter and Tech told them to wait at the ship while they went on a supply run.
Crosshair sighed as she almost kicked the rifle out of his hands again. “Do you mind?”
She slowed the spinning and stopped kicking as far. “Sorry Crosshair, I’m just bored.”
“Well, go annoy Wrecker then.”
“I don’t know where he is.” As she said that, loud stomps came up the steps to the ship.
“Found him.” Crosshair said, not looking up from his work.
Wrecker stopped in the doorway, trying to hide a grin as he looked at them both. “Oh, hey guys. So, uh, Hunter and Tech are really taking their time, aren’t they?”
“What do you want, Wrecker?” Crosshair still didn’t look up. Omega thought his rifle was surely clean by now, he’d been going at it for a while.
“Well, I thought the kid’s probably bored waiting here, and I found something to do.”
Crosshair looked up at that, levelling a look at Wrecker, moving the toothpick to the other side of his mouth. “You found something to do? Because the kid’s bored?”
Omega had stopped spinning idly by then and was watching Wrecker curiously.
“Yeah! I found a nice little spot nearby. I thought we could show the kid some of the old tricks we used to do.” Wrecker groaned when Crosshair rolled his eyes. “Come on, Cross, I know you’re bored too! If Hunter and Tech ask, we’ll just tell them we were teaching the kid target practice.”
Crosshair sighed and stood, slinging the Firepuncher over his shoulder. “As long as you don’t try to kill me with an actual explosive this time.”
“Hey, that was mostly an accident! It wasn’t meant to blow up that big.” Crosshair smirked at Wrecker’s grumbling. “But you deserved it!”
Omega watched her brothers bicker as they left the ship, Wrecker quickly scooping up his pack.
“You nearly blew him up?” She asked. Wrecker looked down at her with a laugh, handing her bow to her.
“Ha! Yeah, it was great! He deserved it too. Shot me in team training before that.”
“Well, if you weren’t begging for it by standing in the middle of the training droids, you would have been fine. Its not like it was a real shot.”
Wrecker rubbed his shoulder and grumbled, “Still hurt, though.”
They kept talking as Wrecker led them away from the ship and into the surrounding forest. There was enough Imperial presence on the planet for them to need to land outside the nearby town, leaving the Marauder hidden in a clearing in the forest. Just another reason why it was so boring waiting and why only Hunter and Tech were allowed to go. Two are less conspicuous than five.
She was beginning to wonder just how far Wrecker was taking them when they finally stopped at a clearing. A cliff face rose on one side and tall trees and shrubbery kept it private and hidden. Crosshair was looking up at the trees as Wrecker put the pack down at the base of one, closer to the cliff.
Wrecker clapped, drawing their attention. “Alright! We ready?”
Omega pulled out her bow, copying Crosshair as he pulled out his Firepuncher. “Ready for what?”
Wrecker grinned as he pulled out pieces of scrap and other junk from the pack. “Shooting and booming!” He threw a piece into the sky towards the cliff. Crosshair quickly raised his rifle and shot it down, causing a small explosion in the air.
“Woah. Can I try?”
“Why do you think we bought your bow, kid. We’re not entirely lying when we say we’re doing target practice.”
“Won’t Hunter and Tech know what you mean if you do this all the time?”
Crosshair just shrugged. “What are they going to do about it? Don’t worry,” he continued when he saw her concern, “We’ve been doing this since we were cadets. No one has ever gotten badly hurt, and Hunter and Tech will get over it if they decide to have a problem with it.”
She was still a little unsure, but when Wrecker called out, she raised her bow and aimed. He threw another piece of junk and she shot, missing and hitting the cliff behind it. The junk fell to the ground harmlessly.
“Ah, don’t worry, kid. You’ll get it! Between you and me, it took Crosshair a few goes before he hit anything the first time too.” Said Wrecker, very much not just between them as he still stood a good distance away. Crosshair just rolled his eyes with a scowl. “Now he just likes to show off.”
Crosshair scoffed as he aimed again. Wrecker shouted before launching two pieces into the air. He waited for their arcs to align perfectly and shot, taking them both out at once, causing two more small explosions.
Omega guessed that Wrecker must have gotten his hands on a bunch of junk lying around and turned them into small bombs. They clearly weren’t enough to cause any real damage unless you were holding one when it went off, but it made each shot just a little cooler and more dramatic.
The went a few more rounds before she finally hit one. She cheered in victory at the small explosion, Wrecker mirroring her excitement. Crosshair just smiled. “Good shot, kid.”
She glowed at the praise and they kept shooting. She still missed often, but stayed determined to get it right, celebrating every small explosion she earned.
Crosshair’s shots were getting more elaborate, Wrecker throwing multiple pieces, or throwing them in weird directions, forcing him to move and adjust impossibly fast. He never missed.
At some point, he started looking up at the trees again. She watched with awe as he picked one, flicked the toothpick away, and effortlessly scaled it, settling down among some of the higher branches. Even though she had watched him climb, he almost disappeared completely into the tree.
“You have to teach me how to do that!”
“Hit another and I’ll show you.” Crosshair called back down after a moment.
With a goal in mind, Omega greeted the game with laser focus, determined. They went three more rounds before she hit one, cheering as the explosion lit up the sky. A moment later, she heard a quiet thud behind her and turned to see Crosshair standing there. He nodded to the tree. She lit up. The lowest branches were too high for Crosshair to reach without jumping, so Wrecker helped lift her up to them before returning to the pack, rummaging through whatever was left in it.
She listened closely as Crosshair spoke once he climbed up next to her, determined to learn everything she could.
“We’re not going to go too fast at first. I’m just going to show you how to find the best points to climb, what to avoid, where you can put your weight. Tell me if you need to stop, we’ll be going pretty high.”
She nodded and looked up. He gave her the basic run down of what to look for and be careful of, then let her lead the way. They climbed slowly, Omega regularly pausing to ask Crosshair for advice. He stayed below her in case she fell, answering each question clearly and carefully. She slipped a couple of times when she picked a branch too small or couldn’t quite reach the hold she was aiming for, but he caught her every time.
Soon, they settled into a tangle of branches big enough for both of them. It wasn’t as high as he had originally climbed, she could see that spot above them, but it was still high enough for her to feel a little nervous when she looked down. She laughed at how small Wrecker looked as he watched them climb. She waved at him and he waved back enthusiastically.
“Ready for the next round?” He called up. Omega looked over at Crosshair who nodded at her.
“Ready!” She called back down. She watched how Crosshair used the trunk and branches to steady himself in a low crouch, balancing perfectly as he kept both hands on his Firepuncher. Wrecker launched a piece and she watched him track it before shooting, a small boom echoing through the clearing.
Omega looked down nervously as she lifted her bow for her turn. She wobbled a little as she crouched with no hands to help her balance, trying to copy what she saw Crosshair do. She felt hands hold her steady and looked back to see he had moved closer to sit on the branch beside her.
“Careful. You can sit if it’s easier.”
She shuffled a little to sit on the branch, tucking her legs under it and already feeling steadier. She carefully raised her bow and aimed.
“Ready!”
She tracked the junk Wrecker lobbed and fired, hitting it on her first try.
“I did it!” She shouted, triumphantly. She threw her arms up, momentarily forgetting where she was and shaking the branch she was on. She tilted dangerously far forward and heard Crosshair swear as she began to fall.
Her scream was cut off when her fall abruptly stopped. She looked up and saw Crosshair holding her arm, leaning over the branches to catch her. She sighed in relief and began to help him pull her up. Unfortunately, her branch was much smaller than his, not able to hold the weight of a grown man, and it snapped under their combined weight.
She panicked and flailed her arms out to catch a branch, but only succeeded in hurting her hand as the small branch she caught ripped through her grasp. She braced herself for impact, turning so she landed on her back, eyes screwed shut. She felt the air knocked out of her when she landed, gasping to get air back into her lungs. She blinked up at Wrecker when he appeared over her.
“Are you guys okay?” He asked, offering a hand. She took it and he hauled her up, holding her steady as she wobbled, limbs shaking with adrenaline. She gave him a shaky nod.
“Yeah, I think I’m fine.” Her back hurt from when she landed and her hand throbbed, a little bit of blood leaking from where the branch tore into it.
As soon as she answered, Wrecker quickly moved away. She watched him and gasped when she saw Crosshair. He was lying unmoving on the ground nearby. Blood leaked from a gash on his face where he must have hit a branch on the way down. She followed Wrecker and crouched beside him as he tried to wake him.
Crosshair groaned when Wrecker patted his face, lifting a hand to bat him away. Wrecker let out a breath of relief. “Oh, you’re still alive!” He patted his face again, getting Crosshair to open his eyes to glare at him. “Come on, Cross. Up and attem.”
Omega elbowed him, shuffling closer. “Give him a moment, Wrecker. Does anything hurt, Cross?” She asked when he looked at her, gaze softening from the hard glare as he realised she was fine.
He winced as he sat up, putting a hand to his head, quickly pulling it away with a scowl when he found it covered in blood. “Ugh. Just the obvious and my ribs. Must have hit a couple of branches on the way down.”
“Yeah, you bounced around a bit up there.” Wrecker chimed in.
Omega got Crosshair to stay still long enough to check if any bones were broken. None were as far as she could tell, but he still winced every time he moved. Wrecker had put everything back into his pack as she checked him over, slinging it onto his back and helping Crosshair to his feet. He tried to supress a groan as he was pulled up, wrapping an arm around his chest now that he was standing.
The trip back to the ship was slow, Crosshair scowling and swearing every time something jostled his injuries. Wrecker checked with Omega again as they walked, making sure she was definitely unharmed. Now that the adrenaline wore off, her hand was definitely throbbing and her own chest hurt a little, but she was otherwise fine. He left her alone and focused on helping Crosshair as he began to lag behind even at their slowed pace.
Omega frowned with worry every time Crosshair swayed on his feet or grumbled at the pain. A mild concussion was a safe bet, something she was annoyed at herself for forgetting to check for before they left.
She groaned as they made it back to the ship, spotting Hunter and Tech returning with their supplies. She heard Crosshair swear behind her when he spotted them. She saw the moment Hunter clocked them, that worried frown immediately showing itself. Beside him, Tech simply rolled his eyes and shook his head with exasperation.
“What were you guys doing?” Hunter asked when they reached the ship, arms crossed as he looked them all over.
“Hey, Sarge. Me and Cross just took Omega out for some target practice. You know, to pass the time since you two were taking so long.” Wrecker said, Crosshair rolling his eyes and shaking his head, mirroring Tech.
“And I’m assuming that went well?” Tech asked dryly.
Wrecker lit up a little. “She did great! Even Cross had to admit it.” Omega glowed slightly at the praise, even as Hunter shook his head with a sigh and motioned towards the ship.
“Get inside before Crosshair eats dirt.” Said brother scoffed, but didn’t let go of Wrecker as they headed inside.
“You better not have touched any of my stuff to make those bombs again, Wrecker.” Tech said as they all settled inside.
Wrecker groaned. “Only a little bit that you wouldn’t miss. You never use that stuff. It’s been sitting around here for months!”
With Tech busy bickering with Wrecker, Omega borrowed the medscanner and scanned Crosshair before helping him get bacta for his injuries. He let her work, giving a small smile of thanks.
“We’ll definitely have to do that again.” She whispered to him. He smirked.
“Oh, I’m sure we’ll find plenty of things to throw ourselves off.”
She gave him a light shove. “You know what I mean. I’ll beat you one day.”
“You will, will you?” He huffed a laugh at her determined nod. “We’ll see about that.”