Dreamsight

Omega stood in the lab, frozen and confused. She watched as Emerie worked with the blood samples. Every clone took them, even her. Yet Nala Se had destroyed it every time.

Now, Hemlock needed Nala Se for help with the "guest" arriving, and had left Emerie in charge of the lab.

The Kaminoan's last words to Omega before departing were instructions to escape. The girl had been trying to find an opening for months. Crosshair had been less than helpful, but she wouldn't leave him behind.

The young blonde furrowed her brow and curled her lip. Her expression made it clear she was contemplating.

"Did you need something, Omega?" Emerie asked.

The girl blinked out of her mental burrow. "I..." She searched for something to answer with. "Hemlock said there's a guest arriving. Who is it?" She swung her arms innocently.

"It's best not to ask questions," Emerie answered. "See to your tasks for the day."

The wheel holding the blood samples turned, clicking as it did. Omega's earthen hues settled on the one that contained her own blood. Then they shifted to Nala Se's datapad in a terminal. If she could get that, she was home free.

"Are you feeling well?" Emerie asked.

Omega didn't answer, and the brunette's expression softened slightly.

"Forget your assignments and get some rest," she said.

Omega nodded. "Okay." That worked better than she expected. She approached the datapad slowly. She froze when she heard Emerie's voice.

"Omega, I can handle things here," she ordered. "Go. I'll check on you later." Emerie looked back to her own datapad.

Omega pursed her lips, checking over her shoulder one last time before grabbing the datapad and running out the door.

                    •°•°•°•°•°•°•

"Whoa...." 

Mox, Deke, and Stak stood in the plaza. The salty breeze tickled their noses and rustled their shaggy hair. They stood looking at the sea, watching as the sun sank into it and painted the sky in vivid hues.

"Feels like home," Deke said.

"No. This is nothing like Kamino," Stak countered.

A smile formed on Mox's lips. "It's better."

Hunter couldn't help but smile at the boys' awe. It wasn't very long ago he felt the same way. "Alright, boys," he said. "Let's get you cleaned up."

The cadets looked back at him, then down at their scruffy appearance. "I don't know if these'll survive a wash," Deke said, pulling at his threadbare shirt.

Wrecker chuckled from where he stood beside Hunter. "Don't worry, kid. People here love to help out."

"But we still have money to pay for it ourselves," Hunter added, casting a glance at the demo man. "But, yeah, the people here are very welcoming."

The five clones started to make their way down the path that led to Shep's home. Althea had opted to stay behind with the ship, muttering something about disinfecting a cut.

Hunter had wanted to ask her where she was hurt, or if she drew blood. Between the stress and the jungle stink, the tracker didn't think it was outlandish if he wasn't able to detect her blood. But he didn't. Althea was still angry at him for leaving her an Pabu. It wasn't like he wanted to leave her alone, it was that he didn't have a choice. 

Hunter had already lost Omega, he wasn't going to lose Althea too.

"Hey, now," a familiar voice said. "Where'd you pick these three up?"

Hunter snapped from his stupor to find Phee standing in front of them. Wrecker was recounting their story on the jungle planet, the boys chiming in here and there.

The liberator listened amusedly, but her expression fell slightly. Her gaze shifted from the energetic clones to the one who remained quiet. She and Hunter locked eyes.

"Why don't you four go on ahead to Shep's," Phee suggested. "Hunter and I need to have a talk."

Hunter suddenly felt as if a spotlight were on him. He wanted to run, to hide and never come out. But from the way Phee was looking at him – friendly, yet stern – he had the feeling that there was no getting out of it.

                        •°•°•°•°•°•

"Crosshair," Omega whispered, crouching outside her brother's cell.

The clone had his eyes closed, but it was clear he wasn't sleeping from his stiff posture. "What are you doing here?"

"Escaping. And you're coming with me."

Crosshair opened his eyes, and while his expression conveyed no interest, he sat up and leaned forward. "You found a weak point?"

"Not exactly," Omega admitted. "I'm kinda improvising."

Crosshair blinked in disbelief. "Is that some kind of joke?"

"I'll explain later. Just get the guards' attention," the teen ordered.

The sniper sighed. "That's not a plan."

"Just distract them," she scoffed before sneaking off to hide around the corner. She could hear his exasperation as he spoke to the TKs.

While they approached his cell, Omega snuck to the terminal and inserted the datapad. She opened the cell door, allowing Crosshair to quickly take out the guards and steal their weapons.

"Nice work," the 15 year old said, observing the unconscious troopers.

"Didn't have much choice," Crosshair grunted as he dragged the TKs into his cell.

"You're out of the cell, aren't you?" The girl countered as she closed the cell door.

Crosshair didn't argue. He just took a blaster and handed her the other before they both took off.

When they came to another door, Omega slid the datapad in and went to work.

"Well?" Crosshair said expectantly. "Start talking."

"I told you. We're escaping."

"Why now? What's changed?"

"Nala Se said I had to," Omega told him. "And I wasn't gonna leave without you. She told me to use her datapad to access the base and find a shuttle. We just need to get to a hangar."

The door opened, and they slid out into the hall, hiding behind a central terminal as two troopers passed.

"We're not supposed to be on patrol until midwatch," one griped.

"Commander's orders," said the other. "All hands on deck until the Emperor departs."

Once they passed, Crosshair turned to the girl. "The Emperor's here?"

"What?" She huffed. "I didn't know."

Crosshair sighed. "Another reason why this was not the day to wing an escape."

Omega glared up at him. "Thanks for the reminder, but I think we're past that point."

A quiet clattering grabbed her attention. She shifted her gaze to where Crosshair's right hand held the blaster. It rattled against his leg. His hand had been doing that for a couple months now, and she couldn't place why.

"Your hand's getting worse, isn't it?" She asked.

"I-It's fine," he grunted.

Omega turned back to the datapad and frowned at the information it displayed. "Uh-oh."

"What?"

"All shuttles have been grounded, except the Emperor's," she told him, grabbing the datapad. "We'll have to steal it."

"Impossible," Crosshair scoffed. "It will be too well-guarded, even for me."

The blonde racked her brain for answers. They needed a ship. Wait-! She knew where one was! "Wait," she gasped. "I know a shuttle we can use. It crash-landed outside the perimeter back when I first came here."

Crosshair stared at her in disbelief. "How does a crashed shuttle help us?"

"If the comms are still functioning, we can contact Hunter, Thea, and Wrecker," she told him.

"And how do we get outside?" He asked.

Omega smirked. "Follow me."

                       •°•°•°•°•°•

"So, how are you doing?"

Hunter blinked, confused as to what Phee meant. "...fine."

The liberator stared at him, her chocolate hues boring into his earthen ones. It was like she knew he was lying. 

"Hunter, you and I both know that's not the truth," she said.

Hunter sighed. "Well, what do you want me to say?" He was tired. He didn't have time for this, he needed to be working to get back Omega. "I'm failing, Phee."

Phee's eyes softened. She said nothing, imploring him to continue.

"Everywhere I turn it's a dead end. We went to the planet in hopes of finding Omega, but there was nothing but a destroyed base an a few abandoned kids. I'm glad we found them, don't get me wrong," he said, "but everything's going wrong and I can't do anything about it."

He groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Althea keeps throwing herself into the fire and being completely reckless. She's gonna run herself into the ground."

An amused chuckled came from Phee. Hunter looked up at her, confused as to why she thought that was funny.

"I'm sorry," she said. "It's not funny at all. But she's a lot like you, y'know."

Hunter furrowed his brow. "What?"

"Everything you just described is exactly what you do," Phee said. "She even glares at people the same way."

Hunter sighed, closing his eyes. "I don't know what to do," he admitted. "She's just...angry at me all the time." He felt a hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and glanced down to see Phee giving him a sympathetic look.

"Hunter, you can't treat her like a little kid," she told him. "I know you want to protect her, but coming from someone who was an 18 year old girl, you have to respect her choices."

The tracker groaned an ran a hand down his face. "But what if her choices are dumb? You said it yourself: she's a lot like me."

Phee chuckled. "Then she'll learn. Trust is a two way street, if she sees that you don't trust her, then she won't trust you."

"How do I even–"

"Go talk to her," Phee folded her arms. "She lost everything too, Bandana. She probably just needs a hug."

                       •°•°•°•°•°•

As much as she missed her canine, Omega was grateful Batcher was missing. Sneaking out of her chute was hard enough, but if it had been used recently it would have been disgusting.

Word of their escape had spread. Emerie had caught them in the stables, and while she tried to cover for them, she ended up signaling security.

On the bright side, she and Crosshair had made it out. On the not-so-bright-side, it was night, and there was a large creature growling at them.

It approached, standing up on it's hind legs and growling. Then suddenly, a lurca hound barreled into it. Then another. They must have been the hounds that were supposed to come after them, the prisoners.

"Go!" Crosshair ordered.

They ran to the ship. It was in worse shape than Omega wanted it to be. Vegetation had overrun the ship and rusted it out. Six months had been rough on it.

Omega went to work, trying to activate the comms as Crosshair kept watch. She groaned and slammed her fist into the console. "It's not working! Comms are completely dead."

Sighing, she grabbed a backpack from the floor. It was filled with supplies from the previous owner, but they weren't here to use it. As Omega exited the ship, Crosshair looked up at the sky, signaling with his hands.

"They're coming," he said.

Quickly, they ducked against the ship to hide as the shuttle passed over head.

"I'm sorry," Omega whimpered. "I thought this would work."

"You got us this far," Crosshair said to her. "And we're not done yet. Did they teach you plan 72?"

"Mm-hmm. Tech had me memorize all the plans."

A sad smile graced the sniper's face. "Of course he did. Hook in and stay alert."

                       •°•°•°•°•°•

Althea let out a sigh as she bandaged the cut on her arm. It wasn't deep, but she prefer not to get an infection from the creepy wildlife on Setron. Hunter said there wasn't much information about Tantiss from data.

Even with their constant searching and scouring, they always fell 10 steps behind Hemlock. It always seemed they were missing something. Just one piece and they would find Omega. Just one piece and they could rescue her from whatever sterile hell she was trapped in.

Althea found her gaze drifting to where Tech's goggles sat on the console. He would be able to find Omega, but without him, what were they? They would never find Omega. She was gone and never coming back. Just like Tech.

Just like Tech.

Tech was gone. Althea's chest felt like a gaping whole where all the oxygen was falling in. Her brother was gone. It didn't hurt this bad with Crosshair. That was what she always told herself. But Crosshair was alive, he had been the one to warn them about the Empire.

Tech was never coming back. The familiar sound of his datapad beeping, or his quipped remarks would never be heard again. It had been 6 months, how had Althea not realized this sooner?? She grabbed Tech's goggles and held them tightly. They were cracked and the glass was missing in some places. The last thing he saw was behind these. Everything he saw was.

Pain clawed up Althea's throat, her eyes stung with unshed tears. Tech was gone, and he was never coming back. She lost another one. Another brother she failed. It was all she was good for: failing.

She failed Thao, she failed Crosshair, she failed Tech, she failed Omega, she failed Hunter. She failed them all because she wasn't good enough. It was no wonder why Hunter didn't want her on missions. She almost died from slipping up! She still had the scar. He didn't need her around, messing up while he and Wrecker were trying to find Omega.

The weight of Tech's goggles was pulling her down. She'd give anything to feel the coded taps on her hand, or hear his voice correcting her on something silly. Althea would give anything to see him again.

Footsteps sounded behind her.

Even though it was stupid and irrational, his name fell desperately from her lips as she turned. "Tech?"

Hunter stood in the door, expression unreadable as he looked at her. His eyes flitted to the goggles in her hands, then back up to her tear stained face. His mouth opened to speak, but no words came out. He just stood there, staring at her with pain in his eyes.

Althea broke down, her breaths coming in sharp gasps as tears rolled down her cheeks. She held Tech's goggles so tightly the broken glass threatened to cut open her fingers.

Hunter crossed the cabin to her in three strides, taking her in his arms. She gripped the goggles, hiding her face in his chest.

"It's okay," Hunter's words were barely audible. He held her head in one hand and rubbed her back with the other. "It's okay, I've got you."

She adjusted her grip on the goggles and felt a sharp prick in her finger. She felt the blood start to ooze out, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Hunter pulled away from her, probably smelling the blood. He looked down at her bloody finger before guiding her to the console chair. 

He took the goggles out of her hands and grabbed the small bandages, kneeling down in front of her. He cleaned the blood away before wrapping her finger. More tears formed in Althea's eyes. He should be trying to find Omega, not wasting his time on her. "I'm sorry," She choked out. "You came to work on finding Omega, not help me."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for." Hunter said gently, his gaze focused on her bandages.

"No, because if I didn't mess up so much we wouldn't be where we are." Her voice was thick and wet. "If I had just been better Tech, would still be here, a-and you wouldn't hate me, and–and..." Her voice broke with more crying.

Hunter looked up at her, brow furrowed. "You...you think I hate you?"

She nodded, wiping her hand under her nose.

Hunter exhaled, his eyes refusing to meet hers as he fumbled for something to say. "Kiddo, Tech's death wasn't your fault. It's no one's fault."

"But–"

"It's hurts like hell, I know. But he wouldn't want you to feel like this."

Althea took a few deep, shuddering breaths. "O-okay."

Hunter rested his hand on her knee, squeezing it gently. "I don't hate you, Althea. I haven't been letting you come on as many missions because..." He sighed. "Because I was scared of losing you too."

Althea watched him with watery eyes as he continued.

"I can't lose you, kiddo." His voice was thick. He looked up at her and she saw how glassy his eyes were.

A fresh wave of tears rolled down her face. From relief or pain, Althea didn't know. All she knew was she needed Hunter. She dropped down from the chair, wrapping her arms around his neck. She broke down into sobs, barely even able to breathe.

Hunter pulled her into him, cradling her like she was the most precious thing in the galaxy to him. "I've got you, baby. You're okay, I've got you."

Althea clung to him, crying into the crook of his neck. Hunter rubbed circles in her back, soothing her gently. "It's okay, baby, I've got you."

Althea's breaths shuddered. Hunter had to remind himself that she wasn't mortally wounded, at least, not physically.

"I've got you," Hunter repeated that to her as he took her in his arms and stood. She never let go. The tracker sat in the console chair, still keeping Althea in his grasp. She kept her head on his shoulder as she sat on his lap. Tears still streamed steadily down her face, but her breathing was back under control. 

"I'm sorry," She croaked. "I don't know why it's hitting me so late–"

"Hey," Hunter sat up slightly to look at her. "There's no wrong way to grieve." He took the hand that wasn't supporting her back and cupped her cheek. Althea's golden eyes gazed up at him vulnerably. Maybe it was because of the tears, but she seemed so much younger. So innocent, like she depended on him for everything. The scar on her lip quivered as she struggled to keep herself calm.

But her effort was in vain. She broke down into inconsolable sobs. Hunter held her as she cried, his own heart breaking at her pain.

"Dad," She choked out hoarsely.

Hunter froze for a split second, but his shock was overcome by affection. He leaned his head against hers, squeezing her tightly. "I'm here. I've got you, baby girl."

Hunter didn't know how long he held her for, only that at some point she cried herself to sleep. Her head rested on Hunter's shoulder. He had one hand cradling her head and the other holding her back.

He looked down at the girl in his arms. She seemed so much smaller now, more vulnerable. Every fiber in his being screamed to hold her forever, to protect her from the galaxy. But he was too late for that. He had failed to protect her from the beginning, resulting in her becoming a child soldier in a war that wasn't hers to fight. This girl, as innocent as she looked, she had killed many people. She had hardened herself against the galaxy, becoming little more than a trained killer.

Hunter knew that Phee meant well when she said Althea was just like him, but the reality of it was not something he took pleasure in. It was funny, how he told Althea that Tech's death was no one's fault when he blamed himself every day. He would do anything to put the girl at ease, even if it meant burying his own emotions.

She's a lot like you, y'know.

It was almost cruel. Hunter spoke the words he needed to hear, yet he could never apply them to himself. Maybe it was because he was the leader. He felt responsible for his team, his family. 

Hunter was drawn out of his thoughts by the sound of Althea murmuring something. Hunter gazed down at the girl, a soft smile took the place of the worried frown he so often wore. She curled in further to him, sighing softly as her body fully relaxed into his.

Hunter held her head under her short black locks, leaning it closer to press a sweet kiss to her head. "I love you, kiddo." He whispered. "More than you'll ever know."

​​                     •°•°•°•°•°•

Omega raised her blaster to the trooper, but before she could fire, a blue blur took him out. It was a lurca hound, one with a scar on her paw.

Omega couldn't believe it. "Batcher?"

The canine barked happily.

"Stay close," she ordered. 

It was all a blur. Omega took out the pilot in the working shuttle as Crosshair distracted the other troopers. She blasted at the troops with the ships guns.

Quickly, the girl opened the ramp and set the ship to autopilot. She ran to the lift, blaster ready as it lowered. Crosshair climbed into the ship, trading places as Omega blasted at them.

She ducked behind the wall and brought two fingers to her mouth, whistling. "Batcher, come!"

The lurca jumped in, staying by her side.

The ramp closed and the ship took off. Omega made her way back to the pilot's seat, taking the controls.

More ships chased after them, firing as they flew.

"They're locking onto us! I..." She grunted. "I can't shake them! Systems are failing!"

They made it to the atmosphere, when suddenly the ships eased up and stopped firing.

"Now!" Crosshair shouted.

Omega didn't hesitate and made the jump to whatever planet was next.

They had made it.

<- Previous

COMPREHENSIVE WARNINGS LIST: In general, lots of flirting, innuendo, pet names. Established relationship for all

Hunter: LOTS of flirting (he is a whore), p in v sex

Tech: Oral (f receiving)

Crosshair: Fingering

Wrecker: Not much for him honestly, implied canoodling (p in v), oblivious boy ♥

Captain Rex: dirty talk, praise, oral (m! Receiving)

Commander Wolffe: rough! p in v

Fives & Echo: Multiple clones (no clonec*st), lots of flirting, Echo is self conscious!

-ART ASSETS I drew all of the Clone art! I found the most nakedest screencap I could of any of them (SURPRISINGLY DIFFICULT) and then traced the base, then looked for Star Wars Male Fashion (WAY FUCKING HARDER) to draw on them and dress them up! I think for Hunter and Fives/Echo I just went crazy but for all the rest lmk if u can spot who I stole the outfits from, i deadass dont remember at this point For Background art I found them all on google images - from what I recall, it's mostly concept art and screenshots from games! -ENGINE I made this in Twine, an incredible tool for making text-based games! I highly recommend looking into it. It's really easy to use and there are a ton of tutorials online!

AN: Thank you so much for playing! Please let me know what you think, I had so much fun making this✨✨ it is so phenomenally cringe but I hope you all enjoy ♥ (also if you spot any bugs or typos, please feel free to let me know and I will fix!!)

TELL ME YOUR FAVORITE PATH I like Rex Crosshair Wrecker the best I think