Chapter Text
Out cold in the snow
'Sometimes one has to die at least once to make a better life for oneself.’
Crosshair was standing there, in the middle of the barren snow-clad field.
With the blaster in his hand still smoking of the rapid fire having ensued just moments ago. They were all dead. The Lieutenant, the TK-Troopers… all the imperials. Crosshair, had killed them all. Out of spite, out of anger, out of hatred and most of all, what they had done to them. The clones.
Nothing!
They had denied medical attention to the one who needed it, the one having only lived to serve this, this regime which now denied them, saw them as second hand property!
Mayday!
Crosshair fell kneeling onto the ground, right there, beside Mayday, seeing the Commander slumped in a heap of…
No!!!
The internal cry was reverberating inside Crosshair, loudly so even if the words were not coming out in the cold air.
Crosshair pressed his gloved fingers on the pulse point of the man stricken down.
But, there was nothing there to find. Ripping off his glove with his teeth in haste, his frozen hand reached for the neck again, the skin having gone cold. Crosshair tried and tried, but he could not find the one glimmer of hope in all of this, this disaster which had become his life now.
The Empire!
Karking, kriffing ALL them to Hell!
Crosshair closed his eyes, palming his forehead in frustration as he tried to think.
And then, he tried again. Reaching to the inside of Mayday’s cuirass, the chest plate while feeling around the organ he needed to revive if even possible. Finally finding the warmer spot there.
There was still hope!
Pressing, kneading, Crosshair finally felt it! The very faint beat of the heart. There was still life there inside of the Commander. And so, Crosshair continued his ministrations for what must have been a longest while. The shivers of his own body completely ignored.
And then, the reward. Mayday stirred.
Mayday, was alive!
Crosshair was thinking on his feet. Trying to figure some place for them to hide. The Empire would most likely come and check the Outpost when the Lieutenant would not report back.
Glancing around the area, Crosshair made a visual and mental scan of his options. A small cave he remembered from before.
Crosshair got up with his last strength, hauling Mayday to his feet as well.
“Wha…???” Mayday tried to speak, not full on board of what was going on.
“Hold on Commander. I’ll get us out of here.”
Crosshair could only hope he had not made a promise he could not keep.
If the imperials would not get them, then the cold surely would. Either way, they would both be dead and he would not have to worry about broken promises after all. But Crosshair needed to try. The instinct for survival strong within him now and so, they started on their journey.
*
“Is anyone out there? I repeat, this is Crosshair. If you can hear this, we are on an Outpost on Barton-4. Barely alive and in need of immediate evac.”
Crosshair was using his old GAR sanctioned clone frequency on an open channel on his comms device. Only hoping the rumours of the clones going AWOL using them were true, those trying to help others of their kind to escape as well, and, that someone would actually pick up his distress call.
Having managed to haul the two of them into the cave had not been an easy feat, but with sheer spite having given Crosshair the strength to carry on.
The small fire inside the dark and damp cave their only source of warmth and light. Mayday was in and out of consciousness. Crosshair himself in none too great shape either, his body cold and numb. But he had to try at leat. For both their sakes.
“Please, we need help!” Crosshair’s voice was almost gone by now having related the distress call several times over, but the cold was getting to him. The pleading if ever present there in his voice. “Anyone?” The last word almost a croaked whisper.
There was nothing but the crackle of static on the open line. No response, from anyone.
Crosshair stared at the communications device in his hand, his eyes finding the sleeping form of Mayday close by. Crosshair moved close to Mayday, huddling around the unconscious man, the shared body heat hopefully keeping them alive a moment longer.
As Crosshair had to believe someone would come for them. They could not abandoned them now, their kin, right? After everything…
With those last thoughts on his mind, Crosshair fell into the restless slumber. The darkness consuming him, his last thoughts, those of… Mayday.
*
Crosshair felt the shaking all around him. What the kark was going on?
Opening his eyes, he could see someone standing there, hovering over him. Someone familiar?
“Cody?”
“Yeah, Cross, it’s me.”
Crosshair was staring at the Commander in total and utter disbelief. They were no longer in the cave, that much was for sure. Rather, as Crosshair felt the familiar shakes and rattles all around, they were on a ship. Flying in hyperspace!
“How?” Crosshair was trying to remember what had happened after making the distress call and then falling asleep, and then, nothing after that.
“I got your call, Cross.”
Crosshair’s eyes found Cody’s, the Commander was smiling at him at the unasked questions. The how and when and where to.
“I carried you onto the ship and got the hell outta there before the Empire arrived.”
Crosshair only nodded, seeing as he was grateful and all for the rescue.
Cody having arrived soon after receiving the call and having seen the carnage on the snowy plane. Deducing quickly there must’ve been one helluva fight Crosshair had put up against the Empire. But, with the imps on his scanners closing in, Cody had acted impossibly quick while landing the ship to the spot where the life signs were coming from and then hauling the two slumbering bodies on board before taking off again.
“Thanks.”
And then it hit him. Cody had only mentioned him so far. Cody couldn’t have left Mayday behind, right? Could he?
“May…???”
“He is fine. Or rather, he will be fine. Resting over there.” Cody nodded towards the second cot in the cramped cargo hold of the small ship. Something of a makeshift bunk room Cody had put together for himself and now the other two.
Crosshair’s eyes immediately honed in on the sleeping form of the Commander. Seeing Mayday was indeed there and with the blanket rising and falling, he was breathing. Mayday, was alive.
“He got hit bad during an avalanche.” Crosshair explained then, his eyes never leaving Mayday.
“I scanned you both. You have some frostbite, but Mayday had internal injuries. I managed to use some of the stuff I have on board so he is stable for now, but he needs a proper medic to make sure he’ll stay that way.” Cody sounded more serious telling all this to Crosshair.
It dawned on Crosshair just then, that Cody had used Mayday’s full name.
“You know the Commander?”
“Yeah… yeah I do.” Cody chuckled lightly, taking a seat on Crosshair’s cot. “He and I did some black op missions back in the day.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. He’s a good man.” Cody’s tone was solemn suddenly, the all too brief stint down memory lane clearly having an affect on the Marshal Commander.
“He is.” Crosshair had seen it right away, having taken an immediate liking to Mayday. A first for sure with Mayday being a reg and all. But it had all clicked with Crosshair at first hello.
“So, you too had quite the adventure from what I could see.” Cody was referring to the still smoking imperials of course, not really knowing what had happened on the Outpost fully.
“Yeah… yeah we did. It’s a long story.” Crosshair was already feeling better, the warmth of the ship, Cody being there, him and Mayday safe…
“We have some time.” Cody was being somewhat cryptic about their destination. After all, last he had checked, Crosshair was still quite imperial.
“I shot them.” Crosshair stared Cody right in the eyes. Answering the question on Cody’s mind. “They were about to let him die. Us die.”
Cody could only nod. He wasn’t arguing about what Crosshair had done. After all, it was them or the others. The Empire was their enemy. The clones enemy now.
“So, wanna tell me about it?” Cody then asked after a spell of silence.
Crosshair was quiet for a moment, before he started spilling it all to Cody. Everything which had happened after Cody had left him back on Coruscant, leaving Crosshair to fend for himself basically. About the mission on Barton-4 and Mayday and Mayday’s team. All of it.
For someone with few words, Crosshair, was talking a lot suddenly.