#cadet tech

Crosshair ducked down behind the ledge of the tower, barely avoiding the bolts of fire that went past not a second later.

“Tech? Hunter? Wrecker?” He hissed into his comm. “I could use a distraction right now.”

Silence echoed back over the feed and he risked a quick peek down onto the field to spot where Wrecker had been swarmed by droids and his other two brothers seemed to have been tagged.

Right, stupid training regulations.

If you were tagged you were effectively dead and couldn't respond to comms.

And Wrecker was clearly too busy to reply.

“Useless di’kuts,” Crosshair sighed, quickly dodging a few more bolts.

The young clone swung his training rifle up with him, quickly sniping the droids that had been firing at him.

An overdramatic shout rang through the room and Crosshair rolled his eyes as Wrecker lay down on the floor.

That left him.

Last man standing.

He quickly sniped a few of the droids that were more sluggish about moving away from Wrecker before cursing as a bolt of training fire zipped past his helmet.

Crosshair wasted no time with picking off the last few before scaling back down the tower as the buzzer that signified the end of training sounded.

Wrecker clapped a hand onto his shoulder, jostling his skinnier brother. “Awright Cross! Nice job!”

The sniper kept his expression blank as he tugged his training helmet off, Maker forbid his brothers’ tease him. “I would have appreciated it more if you didn't go down so easily.”

“In my defence, ”Tech stated, a throaty sniff punctuating his words. “I am not functioning at usual standards due to the strain of the influenza virus I have picked up after you decided to drag us into a fight with a group of regs that had just returned from another planet.”

Crosshair shook his head before fixing Hunter with his piercing gaze. “And your excuse?”

Hunter shifted, averting his gaze. “Tech’s sniffing and coughing kept distracting me.”

“Uh-huh, sure.” Crosshair dragged the word out, trying to highlight his disbelief - at Hunter's obvious lie - and annoyance to his brothers.

“Tech, I'm going to harass a medical droid to get you something to take. Hunter, you are clearly having migraine symptoms so I'm also gonna grab your painkillers, di’kut’ika. Wrecker, get Hunter to his bunk and then try to be quiet, however hard for you that may be.”

Wrecker mock-saluted before flinging their brother over his shoulder, Hunter's screeches of protest making Crosshair snicker.

After those two were gone he turned to Tech. “You look like you need to puke.”

Tech's nose scrunched. “I will inform you that I do not need to regurgitate our first meal, I am perfectly fine.”

Crosshair looped an arm around his brother's shoulders, guiding him towards the exit their other batchmates had taken. “Y'know, you really don't have to phrase it that way. Also, you definitely do, I've never seen you this pale aside from that one time when I mixed some of your rations into your drink.”

Tech gasped, turning to him with knitted eyebrows. “I was certain it was you! Why you-”

Crosshair quickly stepped back as Tech doubled over, proving Crosshair correct.

The silver-haired clone gently rubbed his brother's back, trying to give off an air of indifference.

When Tech straightened back up he adjusted his goggles with one hand, using the other to wipe the edges of his mouth.

“Yeah, I'm definitely going to harass a med droid.”

“That would be appreciated Crosshair, thank you.”

Grabbing Tech's head, he shoved it into the ground. Tech struggled to get out from underneath the clone. His body was in so much pain. Friends of the reg watched and laughed. The struggle continued as the clone beat his 'brother'.

Thinking of what to do next Tech moved to the side slightly which surprised his attacker. Despite his condition, Tech moved out from underneath the clone and stood. One of the other boys grabbed him and had him pinned to the wall almost immediately after he stood.

Tech breathed heavily and waited to figure out his next move. The regs were stronger than him. They would have to leave him alone eventually so for now he gave up and let them tear him apart. Fighting felt useless. He would just have to deal with the injuries given to him.

Once the regs had had their fun they let him go. Tech slid down the wall they never let him leave and stayed there until he felt safe to get up. He stood and grabbed his googles. Looking down at them there was a small crack in the glass. He sighed and started to walk back to his barracks.

Back in the barracks, Tech started to take care of his injuries. He stood up and walked over to the table that some bandages rested on. Then Crosshair walked in. "Tech?" He walked over to his brother. Going to grab a bandaid he brushed his brother's arm. Tech flinched and moved back slightly.

Crosshair stopped and took a look at the other. "Who did this to you?" he sneered.

"Some regs."

"Well no shit. Do you know which ones?"

"I do."

"Well then who did this to you?" Crosshair started to raise his voice.

"No. You will fight them."

"Tech, tell me who did this to you?"

"No, you will fight them. I do not want you to fight them."

"Fine, I won't fight them. Now who the fuck did this to you?" The frustration took control of his vocal cords and the boy yelled at Tech.

Tech flinched at the noise. He pulled his arms slightly upwards, "I'm sorry!" He yelped, panicked.

"Fuck" Crosshair whispered. He hadn't meant to scare him. "Fine. Don't tell me."

Tech relaxed and looked at his brother, "I'm sorry. I know you won't hurt me. That was a response to the attack from earlier."

"It's fine."

Later the two would meet with their other two batch mates for training. When asked what happened Tech simply explained that some of the other cadets had beaten him up. He said that he didn't want to talk about it and luckily neither Wrecker nor Hunter pressed.

The tight blacks and armor rubbed against his skin, hitting every bruise. It hurt to move, it hurt to breathe; but Tech had to ignore the pain for the sake of training in the same way he would ignore it for the sake of a mission. The bruises stung as reminders that he wasn't strong enough. How could he be a soldier if his supposed comrades hated him? And for what; because he was different?

The batch never failed a training exercise and this one would be no expectation. The pain from moving around so much caused Tech to almost collapse at the door on the way out. Wrecker tried to help him up but the pressure on the bruises hurt more than standing.