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mylifeisactuallyamess · 6 months ago

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Sanctuary part 2

Chapter 7: Betrayal

A/N: Another chapter from the Batch pov.

Warnings: 18+ Hemlock, again. Cid, what a bitch. Mentions of canon war, injuries, canon violence follows the very end of season 2.

Word Count: 4.6k+

Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8

Masterlist

The ship was quiet as soon as Hunter had stopped pacing. The laser tracked over Omega’s still form and Tech made a slight grimace at the readings. Her vitals were slowly dropping, she needed to be seen by a medic as soon as possible.

His chest squeezed at the thought of a medic, of you. He knew the basics, he’d had always been the one to administer the trauma kit in the field but an injury like this…well it was beyond his knowledge parameters. And it irked him. He felt he was failing you by not knowing these things.

Wrecker let out a grunt in his sleep. He was sat on the floor at Tech’s feet, head bent awkwardly to rest on the bunk where Omega lay. Hunter was asleep on the stairs to the gunners pit, his head had fallen forward to rest on his chest but he’d managed to keep his arms crossed. A position that Crosshair used to favour.

Tech stepped over his sleeping brother, mentally counting down the drop from hyperspace and also analysing Omega’s results. By his calculations Ord Mantell was approximately 46 standard minutes away and if Omega continued to deteriorate, at her current rate, had at least 3 hours before her situation needed intervention.

He sat in the chair by the console, picking up his datapad to check the homing beacon they had placed on Hemlock’s ship. They had no way of knowing if it was the Doctor’s personal shuttle, or one supplied by Tarkin. Something he had not factored in when they were planning the mission. It was still moving, unable to transmit coords in hyperspace.

He placed the datapad down, not wanting to look at it anymore. The feeling was alien to him, the sickness that burned in his stomach was inescapable and he folded his arms. The tips of his fingers dug into his ribs, pressing his arms tightly, as far as they’d go. It felt like he was receiving a hug. If he closed his eyes he could smell you, pretend his own warmth was from you instead. It made the constant ache a mass in his chest, a feeling nothing could counter unless it was you alive and in his arms once more.

The entire squad had agreed Omega needed AZI, but once again, flying into the unknown was wearing thin. Even if Cid turned them away they would take the droid. He rightfully belonged to the clones anyway. Well, Omega. He was a friend to Omega and they owed AZI after what happened on Kamino.

“How is she?” Tech dropped his arms, glancing over at Hunter as he stretched the sleep out of his joints, his worried gaze already focused on Omega.

“Barring any complications, she should remain stable long enough for us to get her to the parlour.” Because they couldn’t take Omega to the medbay…the last time they had seen it, it was trashed. Ruined. All your hard work wiped away by the spiteful hand of the Empire.

Tech had never given much energy to hating things, he disliked certain textures and noises, he avoided people that made him uncomfortable but he had never hated. Though right now he hated the Empire with everything he had. If he wasn’t careful, such a feeling would consume him. And he needed a clear head.

“How long?” Hunter rasped.

“We shall be planetside in precisely 37 minutes.” Landing on a planet where he’d seen you dance in the sunshine. Where he’d tucked a blanket around you on the nose of the ship so you didn’t get cold. A planet where you had kissed him for the first time and he’d been so stunned by the feel of your lips he didn’t know what to.

It had been your home for a time, memories will be everywhere he looked. Ones that had buried under his skin and embedded in his soul. It had taken him so long to see how you made him better, you made him feel accepted outside of his squad. You helped him experience a feeling so intense, he assumed all descriptions of it were fiction.

His gaze snagged on the headset he’d made you. It felt like a lifetime ago when he placed them gently over your ears. Now they played a different tune. He had managed to untangle the encryption that had ruined your recorded message on Beeto.

He had heard you say it. Words he had never considered being aimed at him.

Tech. I love you.

They kept him going.

The four of them stood to the side, hovering. They collectively held their breath as AZI scanned Omega, his receptors were able to take a more detailed reading than a medscanner.

“Omega has sustained a fracture in the patella, I can reduce the swelling. Her vitals are stable for now. I should be able to splint it but she does require at least two weeks of rest.” The little droid reported matter of factly, looking at each clone as he spoke. “She is not the only one with injuries.” Tech looked at Echo who shrugged, the pair of them turning to Hunter and Wrecker. The larger clone scowled at the droid while Hunter sheepishly rubbed at his chin.

“You’re injured and neither of you said anything?” Echo scolded, crossing his arms and glaring at them both.

“I was worried ‘bout Omega,” Wrecker grumbled.

AZI cocked his mechanical head to the side. “I suggest you come back to Cid’s where I can dress your wounds properly. She salvaged what she could from the abandoned medcentre and keeps it in the store room.”

Abandoned? Tech felt the words itch in his mouth. There was nothing he disliked more than incorrect information. You hadn’t abandoned it. You had been taken.

“We need to get Omega on the bed,” Hunter said, placing a gentle hand on Wrecker’s chest. “Not you.”

“I’ve got her,” Echo responded, clearly still upset his brothers had been hurt and they hadn’t said a word the whole way here.

They were a sorry procession through the streets of Ord Mantell. Omega was sedated on the bed with AZI pushing. Hunter favoured his side and Tech wondered if he had rebroken his ribs. Wrecker was tugging on his armour, clearly uncomfortable.

Tech looked around as they walked. The rubble had been cleared away from the attack the city had sustained, but the buildings were standing empty with gaping holes in the walls, roofs and foundations. Tech glanced at his datapad, noticing the beacon was still on the move and unable to transmit exact coordinates.

There was no market. This side of the town was quiet, people hurrying away at the sight of the clones to watch them pass from the shadows. It was so different from the bustling hub they had first stepped into all that time ago

A little tension left him when they descended into the parlour. The lights still flickered, the air was tinged with damp but it was blissfully empty. Not much had changed here then. Cid was behind the bar, her reptilian eyes narrowed at the sight of them.

“Well look what the Nexu dragged in,” she said. “No contact for months, thought you were all dead and you come back like nothings happened! Well you can turn around and leave because I’m done with all of you.”

“Omega is injured,” AZI piped up. “As are Hunter and Wrecker. I advised them about the medical supplies you keep since the medcentre was abandoned.”

“Did you now?” Cid glowered at the droid but he only blinked innocently at her.

“We need your help. She needs your help,” Hunter ground out, gesturing at Omega. He kept his expression neutral but Tech could hear the tiredness beneath them.

Cid’s eyes blinked, a scowl lining her scaled face. “Fine. Fix them up.” She turned her back, grumbling as she shifting some bottles around.

“Echo, Tech. Run checks on the Marauder,” Hunter spoke quietly. “We might need to leave on short notice.”

Tech lifted his goggles a little. “I do need to check the damage we sustained after our abrupt departure from Eriadu.”

“Good-a time as any to run diagnostics,” Echo agreed.

“Keep coms open,” Hunter warned, a look passing between the three of them before he followed Omega and Wrecker to the back.

The spaceport was empty at this time. It was cloudy, stars shrouded from sight and he paused for a moment to just look. You were out there somewhere. It was just a simple case of eliminating planetary systems that were not within Empire control, or inhabitable, or unoccupied…a process that would take longer than the years he had left.

He was hanging off the back of the Marauder, inspecting for hull damage and luckily only finding carbon scouring. He quickly pulled himself from his thoughts, pushing his goggles up the bridge of his nose, refusing to fall into the pit of his memories.

His neck tingled. Nothing about this place felt right anymore, too much change and damage had happened. Scars left by the Empire ran deep into the planets surface and its people.

“Ready?” Tech called down to Gonky, removing a long tool hanging from his belt, feet planted firmly in the exhaust vents and his other hand magnetised to the ship exterior. Gonky made an affirmative noise, letting Tech know he was ready and the heat lance blasted to life in his hand. He dropped the visor on his helmet, darkening the screen to protect his eyes from the glare as he began to burn the marks off.

It was the quickest method, not his favourite way of removing blaster shot residue, but he had no other choice right now. He frowned when the lance sputtered in his hand, the intense heat dying out completely. He swung his helmet round to look at Gonky on the ground, the little droid was hopping from foot to foot trying to get Tech’s attention.

“Let me look.” He clipped the lance back onto his belt, letting his feet slide to dangle in mid air, held on only by the magnetising glove. He stretched out his fingers, releasing the magnetic pull and dropped to the ground, absorbing the landing with a deep bend of his knees.

Gonky shuffled toward the clone and Tech saw the problem immediately. The connector had slipped loose from Gonky, so the lance wasn’t getting any power.

“Easy fix,” he murmured to the droid, gently running a hand over the top and along the side as he crouched down. “You knocked it loose, that is all. Try to…” Tech paused. He felt the air shimmer and press around him. Usually a precursor to something large breaching the atmosphere. He straightened, looking up at the dark sky and letting his goggles pick out the lines of a ship he knew so well.

“Tech!” Echo charged down the ramp of the Marauder. “The Empire is here! They’re jamming our coms.” The droid stepped towards Echo, giving a few firm gonks to get his message across. “No. No you stay here,” Echo responded. “We’ll find them.”

“A landing party is on the way,” Tech informed them, noticing the shuttle and fighters separating from the Venator. “I shall head to Cid’s and warn the others,” he continued, checking his blasters were in their holsters and detaching the heat lance from his belt.

“I’ll keep watch. Make sure they don’t come too close to the ship. I have no doubts Tarkin will want our heads for infiltrating Raven’s Peak.”

“Tarkin is not a man to forget such transgressions,” Tech agreed with Echo.

“Oh and Tech.” He turned to look over his shoulder as Echo slipped his helmet on. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He gave his brother a quick salute before disappearing into the dark.

Tech melted into the shadows. Treading softly on the ground, his visor picked up recent ground disturbance near the parlour entrance and he slowed. Crouching down he observed the two commandos standing guard by the door. He couldn’t reach from here with just a stun blast, and shooting them would be too loud, alerting whoever was inside to his presence. Which could result in his brothers being hurt or killed and Omega captured.

Not the outcome he wanted.

He pushed silently away from the wall, climbing the building with ease so he could run across to the next roof. This one took him within leaping distance of Cid’s roof. He cleared the gap, desperate to keep his landing as silent as possible, he rolled. Hoping his armour didn’t make too much noise, coming to a stop against the half wall that ran around the top of the building.

Tech held his breath, waiting for his audio receptors to pick up com chatter or movement from below. Thankfully, nothing. He peered over the edge and found himself directly above the commandos. He slowly pulled a blaster free, easing himself onto the lip of the roof, steadying himself with a hand between his bent legs as he crouched.

Without warning, he dropped. Straight onto the commando below him. The sickening crunch of armour against armour, as well some severe bone breakages, split the night air. Before the other commando even had to time to turn his head, Tech had stunned him twice and reached out to catch the soldier, lowering him quietly to the floor.

Now he pulled his other blaster free and side stepped down the stairs, keeping his back to the wall. He stopped near the middle and slid down to a silent crouch. He knees were paying for the fall and the awkward landing but he had to keep going. He could see the backs of some more commandos who all had their blasters converging on one spot, Wrecker seemed to be bound and on his knees, and a man that made Tech’s eyes widen. He recognised him from the photo out of the old Republic archives he’d stumbled upon…Doctor Hemlock.

The very man they were trying to pin point.

Hemlock moved to the front of the squad. “That’s not very strategic, Hunter.” The man’s voice was quiet but picked up easily by Tech’s helmet. At least his brothers were alive and there was currently no sign of Omega.

Seven commandos, Cid and Hemlock — although he looked unarmed — out numbered him, Hunter and a bound Wrecker. If he had been able to hail Echo for backup, he would have moved in.

“You don’t need to use your enhanced senses to know you’re outnumbered.” Tech watched with a narrowed gaze as Hemlock took a credit case from one of the soldiers and handed it to Cid. “The Empire thanks you for your assistance. Our business is done. Leave.” The Trandoshan didn’t need telling twice.

Tech debated moving from his position when she headed for the stairs, it would have been the sensible thing to do…but she had already noticed his crouched form in the shadows. He tensed, ready to blast her back down into the parlour if she so much as blinked wrong. Instead she stared down the barrel of his blaster, her reptilian face looked forlorn but Tech held no sympathy for the creature. He understood now, your hatred for them, your intense mistrust. They all should have known better.

Cid didn’t change pace or alert the soldiers to his hiding place, apparently she decided she’d done enough damage to them. As soon as she disappeared to the streets, Tech focussed his attention on down below.

“Please,” Hemlock said to Hunter. “Consider your next move very carefully. I would hate for this to end poorly for both of you. Here is how this is going to go.” Hemlock eased his arms behind his back, seemingly at ease with the whole situation. “You will lower your blaster and hand over Omega. And I will allow you to keep breathing.”

“Omega’s not going anywhere with you.” Tech let out a shallow breath at the dangerous tone Hunter used. He aimed his blaster down into the parlour and sighted the commandos. If Hunter made a single move to indicate hard contact, Tech would be right there with him. Consequences be damned.

“Oh,” he couldn’t see the Doctor’s face but his body shifted slightly. “Well, who knew clones were so paternal? Fascinating.” Tech felt a faint shiver travel down his spine. That’s all they were to Hemlock, fascinating subjects to be picked apart and studied. He was used to being viewed as a unit, or reduced to a number. But since the war had ended and Omega, along with you, had come into his life; you made Tech see there was so much more. That they, were so much more.

Hemlock breathed in, clearly enjoying the power he was wielding in this moment. “I have something that belongs to you.” He held out a hand for a commando to drop something small and black into the upturned palm. Tech felt his jaw clench and his heart dropped in his chest. “A homing beacon, planted on my shuttle. Curious,” Hemlock continued, almost musing to himself. “Are you…looking for someone?”

The tension in the air thickened, Tech hardly dared to breathe, barely able to keep his finger from slipping on the trigger. Wrecker let out an aggressive snarl as the tracker left Hemlock’s hand and skidded across the floor to rest before Hunter.

The Doctor scoffed quietly, taking a step forward while ignoring the blaster aimed directly at his heart. “You are missing a member of your squad? Aren’t you? A medic?” It was getting harder to breathe inside the helmet and an uncharacteristic tremble made Tech’s aim shaky. Pulling his arms in he tried to get a grip on himself, to ignore the heat rising under his skin.

“Maybe I am mistaken,” Hemlock said into the stoic silence that Hunter offered him. “But, I don’t think I am. To lose one of your own, it must weigh heavily on you as their leader.” He turned to acknowledge Wrecker behind him and a blaster was rammed suggestively into the large clone’s neck. “And if you don’t lower the blaster now, you will lose. Yet. Another.”

Only years of ingrained training kept Tech in his current position. Only knowing the odds of a successful outcome and how very slim they were, kept him hidden in the shadows. Hemlock knew who you were and Tech had no doubts that Hemlock knew exactly where you were.

Hunter lowered his blaster, picking up the homing beacon and turning it over in his hand. It had been their one chance to find Crosshair, for a lead on you and once again, they had nothing.

“Wise decision.” Tech frowned as Hunter was bound, carefully moving backwards up the stairs. He knew how the commando visors worked, they would be alerted to his presence if he lingered here much longer.

“Sir!” He froze at the sound of someone entering the bar. “The girl’s not in the office.”

“She’s long gone,” Hunter said smugly. “Like I said, Omega’s not going anywhere with you.”

Tech moved out onto the street, moving as quickly as he could. Omega was out here somewhere, he needed to find her before anyone else did.

He was barely a few streets over, dodging walkers and screaming citizens when he recognised the humming twang of Omega’s bow. He didn’t hesitate, triangulating the source of the noise on his visor to find Omega standing there with her bow drawn, facing Hemlock down like a true soldier. She was brave, Tech admired that, but she should have run.

Between them stood his brothers and Hemlock.

More commandos had increased the guard around Wrecker and Hunter. A rather large set back, one that couldn’t be rectified even if Echo was nearby. Coms were still being jammed, all Tech could do right now, was watch this interaction play out.

“Hello, Omega.” Hemlock shouted to her above the chaos the Empire was causing. “We were just talking about you.”

“Let them go!” She demanded.

“Omega! Run!” Hunter’s shout was choked off by the thick, armoured forearm of a commando.

“I won’t let them take you!” This feeling of being stuck, of not being able to do anything was frustrating and he began to survey the surrounding buildings. If he could reach Omega…he could protect her, find Echo and they could track the Venator. An outlandish plan, with a possible 5% chance of succeeding. He would probably fail at the first hurdle. There had to be another way…

“How about an exchange?” Hemlock offered. “If you come with me, your friends will live.”

“I don’t believe you,” she scowled deeply, drawing the bow tighter. Good, she shouldn’t believe him, the Doctor was after one thing and he’d do anything to get it.

“I did not come here for them, Omega. I came to return you to Nala Se. She needs your help.” Hemlock sounded so earnest, so convincing to a child.

“He’s lying,” Hunter shouted. “They killed the Kaminoans.”

“Incorrect,” Hemlock countered angrily, turning back to face Omega. “Nala Se is alive and well cared for. As you will be.”

“I’m not going with you.”

Tech’s gaze drifted past her to see the glisten of a blue visor in the dark. He surged forward.

“Omega! Look out!” He caught a glimpse of her encased by the blue stun blast before the air was punched forcefully from his lungs. He was disarmed swiftly and binders snapped around his wrists.

“Your interference was too late,” Hemlock told Tech quietly, a self-satisfied grin growing. “You gained, nothing from that little show. But I gained, so much.” He turned to address to commandos. “Scour the city. When you find the fourth clone, send them back to Eriadu. Governor Tarkin wishes to question you personally.”

“Not your best move,” Hunter grumbled quietly as they were shoved along.

“I calculated for that,” Tech whispered. Hunter raised an eyebrow in question but couldn’t ask anymore.

“Quiet!” The demand snapped from the nearest commando followed by a swift push with the end of a blaster.

A gunship was sitting in the street, such a painful reminder of the war and what they once fought for. A reminder of how it had been destroyed, ripped apart at the seams and disintegrated into nothing but echoes, screaming across the galaxy.

Blaster shots sounded. The group came to a halt, Tech tilted his head. Sounded like an Imperial walker — which sure enough stomped round the corner and blew up the squad trying to shoot it down. The waiting gunship tried to take off, only for the walker to shoot out the hull, making it skid across the floor and take out two of their guards. Tech let out a quick breath, his gamble had paid off.

“Echo?” Wrecker grunted.

“Gotta be Echo.”

“Without a doubt it is Echo,” Tech stated as he waited for Wrecker to break his bindings. “He is our only ally here.”

They worked efficiently, taking out the remaining commandos and Tech was able to retrieve his pair of DCs. They hurried forward as a single unit, providing cover for Echo’s walker until another arrived. There was nothing they could do when the enemy walker toppled the one Echo was in, spilling him and AZI out of the top hatch.

Smoke filled the air around them, covering their retreat from the remaining troopers. They weren’t even round the corner when Echo asked, “Where’s Omega?”

“That Imperial took her,” Wrecker growled.

“It was Hemlock,” Tech told him.

“We’ve gotta stop his shuttle from leaving,” Hunter snapped.

“The beacon…?” Echo started but Tech shook his head.

Heavy footfall caused them all to flatten against the wall, letting the commandos run past before Hunter nodded to a rusty gangplank above their heads. They followed his lead, climbing over the fallen larty and onto the building, Wrecker and Tech providing cover fire while the others climbed up.

“Look out!” Wrecker jumped off the ship at the last minute, clasping Tech’s outstretched hand from the balcony when the ship exploded in a shower of heat and shrapnel.

More shots were fired, almost from every angle. “There’s too many!” Wrecker shouted, helping Tech pull him up.

Hunter surged ahead at the sound of engines powering up. The world dulled around him as the lights of the ship flared into his eyes.

It was happening again.

Someone who had trusted him with their life, was being taken by Imperials. He was losing her, just as he had lost you. The ship carried on rising, leaving them in a wake of its dust and fuel fumes, taking Hunter’s heart away from him for the last time.

“Hunter! We need to go!” Echo roared, blaster shots exploded around them, sharpening back into focus as Hunter realised he was still responsible for the rest of his squad.

“Get to the Marauder.”

Bolts followed them through the streets. Didn’t matter how many they took down, more soldiers took their place. It was slow. Time consuming. Every second that notched past was a second Hemlock flew further and further away. Tech ran towards the Marauder, the ramp coming down, beckoning him to hurry up.

As soon as his brothers were on board, he hauled the ship up as fast as it would go, trying to ignore the faint plink plink of more carbon scouring on his hull.

“Where is he?” Hunter almost knocked into Tech when he barrelled into the cockpit. His eyes searched the darkening sky as they left the atmosphere of Ord Mantell.

“I have run a scan,” Tech explained. “But there are no shuttles in the vicinity.”

“We have to enter hyperspace before they get any ideas about attacking us.” Echo was already priming the hyperdrive while Tech entered some coordinates, neither of them waiting for Hunter to give the order.

Light slid over the nose of the ship. Stretching and warping at a rate that befuddled the eyes until pinpoints became a solid barrier.

The silence in the cockpit was almost unbearable. Tech glanced up at Hunter before removing his helmet and adjusting his goggles.

They had failed. Again.

It wasn’t a feeling Tech liked and he wasn’t comfortable with how much he was experiencing it at the moment.

He side eyed Echo, watching Hunter’s fists clench and relax rhythmically as he stared blankly out the canopy.

Echo twisted his chair round. “There was no way to track Hemlock’s ship. He could have taken Omega anywhere.” The tattoo on Hunter’s face stretched at the mention of Omega from Echo. Tech couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his brother this angry and Crosshair was not involved.

He watched Hunter turn and stride back into the hold, followed by a dull thud and a raw noise that came from someone frustrated, angry. Tech stared at the blurring lights, detaching from the pain rising inside him.

They would just keep looking. It was all they could do.

“Injuring yourself won’t bring her back,” Wrecker commented gruffly, his voice thick with his own emotions. He managed to sit Hunter down at the console, both of them staring up into Omega’s room. The curtain was open, her yellow warm lights were off and the space filled with the cold, harsh light of hyperspace. All it did was illuminate how empty that space was. How empty they all were without her.

Hunter took a ragged breath in. “We are going to get her back. We are going to them both back, and we don’t stop searching until we do.”

#sanctuary #sanctuary part 2 #tech x reader #tech x you #tech x f!reader #the bad batch #tech the bad batch #the bad batch fic

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