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Crosshair scowled at the three people in front of him, keeping himself between them and Omega. None of their brothers were with them, he had taken Omega with him to scout the area and teach her reconnaissance while their brothers were doing repairs on the ship. Hunter would have joined them, but was recovering from getting shot a few days ago and the pair had insisted they would be fine.
Crosshair found he now despised that insistence as he stared the people down, watching where they aimed their blasters. They looked like common thugs, marauders who must have claimed this area as their ‘territory.’ They had caught them by surprise as Crosshair was showing Omega how to spot recent tracks in the underbrush, following the tracks of a creature that had recently passed by. He scowled at the irony of the situation.
“What do we have here?” The one in the middle said. “Some lost folk who wandered too far from the beaten track.”
Crosshair rolled his eyes. It was bad enough that he’d been caught off guard by some simple marauders, the dramatics were going too far. His hands itched to pull the Firepuncher off his back, but with Omega there he couldn’t dive out of the way, and he couldn’t take them all out without getting filled with blaster bolts.
“Nice rifle you have there.” The leader said, looking them both over. “Tell you what, hand it over, and anything else worth anything, and we’ll let you go.”
Crosshair scoffed, reaching carefully for his comm. “Sorry, I’m a little attached to it. Just let us go and we won’t have a problem.”
The leader shook his head. “That’s not how this works. Now cooperate or this’ll get a lot less fun for you.”
“Hey!” One of the others barked. “Leave it.”
The leader looked down at his hand with a smirk. “You got friends around, do you? Can’t have them ruining anything. Take the comms.”
The two others approached them. Crosshair reached back to Omega, who stayed quiet behind him. She had left her bow on the ship, and even if she had it, she would have had the same issue Crosshair had with his Firepuncher. With his other hand, he reached for his sidearm.
He drew the blaster quickly and took out the one on his left, swinging around to aim for another when it was thrown from his hand by a bolt. He kept the momentum going, aiming for a punch on the other marauder, grabbing for their blaster hand when he knocked them off balance. He saw Omega jump in and grab the marauder’s leg, throwing their balance off even more, before she was kicked off.
The marauder took advantage of his momentary distraction and slammed their elbow into his face, with a crunch and a rush of blood from his nose. He cried out as he staggered back just enough for the leader to aim his blaster.
He didn’t make a sound as he collapsed to the ground, chest burning where the bolt must have hit. He heard Omega shouting as the world darkened around him. With effort, he got his elbow under him and began to lift himself up. Omega shouted again as a shadow fell over him. He didn’t have time to look up before a boot met his face and he was plunged into darkness.
He groaned into awareness, blinking at the trees above him. His chest burned and his nose throbbed. He tasted the metallic tang of blood when he licked his lips as the world came into focus.
He sat up sharply when he remembered Omega and the marauders, letting out a hiss of pain as his chest and head protested the movement. There was no one around him, just the ambient sights and sounds of a thick forest. He reached for his comm and swore when he realised it was gone. He reached back and found his Firepuncher missing and couldn’t see his DC-17 lying in the underbrush anywhere.
He got to his feet and scanned the area, blinking as the world tilted slightly. It hadn’t gotten any darker, which meant the attackers couldn’t have gone far. He knew he should go back to the Marauder, but it was a longer trip back there than it likely was to wherever the attackers had taken Omega. They had to have taken her since she wasn’t lying anywhere he could see. He also had to get to her before they got too far. As far as he knew, they could have her on a ship off planet at any moment.
He scanned the area as he had been teaching Omega to do right before they were ambushed. He saw a trail of heavy footprints and broken foliage leading deeper into the forest and followed it.
He crept carefully along, following the trail closely. He wasn’t as good a tracker as Hunter, no one was, but his enhancements were good for more than just shooting at a distance. These marauders had earned his undivided attention, and he was going to find them. He winced occasionally as the movement jostled his injuries, but he didn’t slow down.
Sooner than he expected, he reached a clearing where he saw movement. He crept along the tree line and studied the clearing. It looked like a camp, with tents and shelters set up. These people were clearly either new to the area or nomadic. He spotted speeders scattered on one side of the camp, and people walking throughout it. There were about twenty people total. Maybe more he couldn’t see inside.
He scowled when he spotted the cages. They were set up on the opposite side of the camp from the speeders, and were heavily guarded. There were all sorts of creatures and droids huddled inside them. No other sentients, it seemed like these people were mostly poachers. He found Omega in a cage closest to the middle of the camp. It was surrounded by tents and structures.
He studied the area and patrols, and came up with a quick route. He slunk around the clearing, staying in the tree line. He paused in some bushes as a patrol passed by, before moving quickly again. He made his way around to the tents flanking Omega’s cage.
He stopped and watched for a moment. There was a large gap in the clearing between the tree line and the beginning of the camp. He would have to run at just the right time to not get caught. Luckily, he saw no lookout, just patrols and guards stationed at the cages themselves.
He waited for just the right time, then ran in a low crouch, wincing at the pain in his chest. He reached the closest cage, pressing himself close between it and the structure next to it. He peeked around, seeing the guard stood at this end of the cages.
He waited for a patrol to pass, then slunk around to the guard. He looked through the cage, saw no one looking, and lunged forward. He wrapped an arm around their neck and pressed his other hand to their mouth, pulling them back into the gap he had hidden in. He waited for the struggling to stop before dumping them unceremoniously into the gap and searching them. He took their blaster, sliding it into his holster. Finding nothing else of use, he moved on.
He slunk around the back, past the structure behind the cages. He made it to Omega’s cage without a problem, looking around before crouching beside it. Omega lit up when she noticed him.
“Crosshair!” She whispered. “You’re alive!”
He motioned for her to be quiet and crept to look around the cage. He peeked out right as a guard was approaching. He quickly pulled back, but saw through the cage that they had sped up, rapidly approaching the corner. He waited in a crouch and sprung up when they turned the corner.
He caught them by surprise, but they were big and kicked out when he sent an elbow into their throat to silence them and made to grapple them and pull them down. He grit his teeth as the kick caused pain to flare through his chest, but pressed forward again, dragging the guard down and knocking them out and letting their body slump to the ground.
He took a moment to let the pain die down to a persistent throb instead of a sharp stab, and turned back to Omega. She whispered to him as he made his way to the front of the cage.
“It needs a code, but I saw them put it in when they opened it to put me in here. Try 7342.”
He entered the code and couldn’t help the feeling of pride at her as the cage door slid open.
She rushed out and hugged him quickly before pulling back to let them move. “I saw them put your stuff in the tent over here.” Before he could stop her, she was sneaking ahead. He quickly followed her, staying vigilant. She stopped in front of a tent and peeked inside. “There’s no one in here. Come on!”
She pulled him inside. He winced as it agitated his injuries. He scanned the room and spotted his pack and Firepuncher among some other unsorted stolen goods. He quickly slung his pack on, replaced the stolen blaster with his own, and held his rifle ready, making sure it was undamaged.
He grimaced when he turned back to Omega, the world spinning a little. He blinked back into focus and heard Omega gasp. “You’re bleeding!” He looked down and saw that the kick from the guard must have opened the blaster wound in his chest, breaking the cauterised layer. Blood now leaked steadily from the wound.
“I’ll be fine, we need to move.” As he spoke, they heard voices approaching the tent. Omega froze and he shoved her behind him, raising his Firepuncher. “There are speeders on the other side of the camp. I’ll clear a path.”
He didn’t look back to see her response. As soon as the tent flap opened, he fired. A man fell to the ground. A second raising his blaster with a shout of alarm, quickly followed. As soon as they fell, Crosshair took off out of the tent.
He stayed low as he ran, Omega close behind him. He took out two more poachers as they ran, seeing the speeders ahead of them, before he hit the ground with a cry. A third poacher had tackled him to the ground, knife in hand. He manoeuvred to block with his rifle and shove her away, but was too slow. The knife plunged into a gap in his armour, earning a gasp of pain. The poacher grinned and twisted the blade in his side. Black encroached on his vision as pain shot through his side.
He heard Omega shout somewhere to the side and growled. With a surge of adrenaline, he shoved his rifle up and bucked his hips, rolling so that they swapped places. He swung down with the Firepuncher twice, knocking the poacher out cold.
He spun around and saw two more poachers dragging Omega away. She was kicking and pulling as much as she could, but they had her in a firm grip. He raised his Firepuncher and took two shots, the poachers falling to the ground on either side of her. She looked at him with wide, scared eyes and rushed over to him.
He pushed himself up with his rifle, ignoring the black spots in his vision, and ushered her towards the speeders. She hopped up on one as he slung his Firepuncher over his shoulder and hopped on behind her, taking the controls and shooting off into the forest.
He kept them low to the speeder as shots flew past them, a couple hitting the speeder but doing minimal damage.
“They’re coming!” Omega shouted with a gasp. He glanced back and swore at the sight of three speeders following them.
“Hold on.”
He began manoeuvring more erratically through the trees, ducking and weaving. Blaster bolts singed the trunks as they passed them. He heard a shout before a crash as a speeder hit a tree behind them. Not looking back, he kept driving, taking them back towards the Marauder.
Omega screamed when a bolt flew past them, bringing a large branch down on top of them. Crosshair slammed the breaks and turned hard, swinging around in a large arc before continuing forward.
“Take my blaster and fire back.” He ordered. Omega quickly did as she was told, pulling the blaster from his leg holster and peeking around him to fire back. He doubted she hit much with how they were moving, but any cover fire was better than no cover fire. He heard the poachers shout at the sudden return fire.
He swung hard around another tree, squeezing between a thick copse and a large boulder. He heard another shout and crash behind them. Just one speeder remained.
He recognised the area they sped through, they were close to the Marauder. Hopefully close enough for Hunter to notice the approaching speeders. He swore when another blaster bolt came too close for comfort. As he recovered, another hit the speeder, taking out a thruster and sending it spiralling. He wrapped himself around Omega as they tumbled to the ground, the speeder flying off to explode against a tree.
He looked down when he felt her shift in his arms and saw her looking dazed but unhurt. The pursuing speeder stopped by them and he scowled as he tried to sit up. The pain in his side flared, sending him crashing back down. He recognised the hazy image of the man from the initial ambush and was about to try again when blasterfire lit up the forest. He heard a familiar shout signaling Wrecker’s appearance and held Omega close as the fight raged around them.
He felt Omega shaking and held her closer. “It’s okay” He whispered. “You’re safe now.”
She looked up at him. “But you’re hurt.”
“I’ll be fine.” He assured her, even as the world began to darken once more as the adrenaline left his body. He let himself slump to the ground properly, Omega appearing above him as the forest grew quiet again. She looked scared still, and he heard her panicked voice as she talked to him. He tried to stay awake, but the darkness was insistent and he was tired.
He heard other voices join his sister’s as his eyes slid shut.
He woke to the sound of the Marauder rumbling around him. He felt dull pain throbbing in his side, chest and face, and a weight against his side. He slowly blinked his eyes open. He was lying on a bunk, and he could hear the sounds of his brothers talking further in the ship.
He looked down when the weight beside him shifted and saw Omega curled up next to him, asleep. He huffed as she shifted again and wrapped his arm around her, tucking her into his side. She shifted again then settled, snoring lightly.
He lay there for a few moments, enjoying the peace and quiet before letting himself slowly drift off to sleep.