Morning came far too quickly for Hunter’s liking. Jolting up he found his arms empty, panic overtook him. Noticing none of his brothers were in the room that they had all fallen asleep in last night. Getting up quickly he made his way out of the door and down the corridors of their temporary haven. It was an old house they had found on ‘Zyggeria’. Howzer had been avoiding the subject of how he came across Crosshair and he certainly wasn’t sharing with anyone, even Wolffe. Rex kept insisting but eventually gave up. Instead Howzer explained that they had been drifting in the galaxy looking for Rex and the squad after their escape from the Empire - the others knew Howzer had stretched the truth a bit but Rex bought it and that was all that was important.
Hunter found himself leaving the haven to see everyone sitting outside or within the ships. Tech and Echo were fixing the Havok Marauder while Thorn commented off to the side, ignoring the two when they asked for help. Gregor and Wrecker were sharing stories with Omega about old times they shared together. Rex stood off to the side looking anxious, his hand resting at his side almost over his pistol. The others were nowhere in sight, he heard shooting off to the side and it seemed like practice fire.
“Look who’s finally awake!” Wrecker shouted. Hunter smiled at Wrecker as Omega bounced her way over to him. Instantly grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the little circle the group had created. “That’s not how that goes!” “Well I’m sorry but you're in the way” “I’m in the way, you should see yourself” “Excuse me!…”.
“How Romantic?” a snarky monotone voice cut through the arguing like one of Hunter’s vibro blades. Echo and Tech stood up to turn to the owner of the voice to retort but failed to do so at the one who stood before them. Standing in the doorway of the Havok Marauder was none other than Crosshair with Ash attached to his leg. Hunter smiled at him, seeing that he had changed out of the black armour and was wearing his original armour to match his batchmates. Wrecker’s smile seemed to grow wider while he took in his youngest brother. The armour fit his tall, lithe figure perfectly. Making his way down the steps with Ash now attached to his hip, Crosshair slowly made his way over to Hunter who moved slightly to sit on the edge of the plank of wood being used like a seat. But, Crosshair had other plans, sitting on the ground against Hunter’s legs he moved Ash onto his lap while removing his helmet and resting his head on a shocked Hunter’s knees. Omega found herself scooting to the ground, leaning into Crosshairs empty right side being mindful of the bandaged shoulder under the armour. Automatically Crosshair lifted his arm despite wincing, allowing Omega to get more comfy, settling into his side with ease.
Gregor turned his attention away from the little family towards the trees where Howzer, Wolffe and Thorn had just emerged from the trees before settling opposite the bad batch on the other plank of wood acting like a seat. Howzer and Wolffe are sitting closer to Crosshair's empty side on another plank of wood. Echo and Tech had only joined due to Wrecker’s complaining that it was taking too long but also because they were missing out on family time. Once the circle was complete, the discussion began.
“Men and Omega, we have noticed an occurrence over the comm channels and radio’s that are virus is corrupting the Empire’s systems and erasing data. It seems that it is causing the Empire to go mad. We have received word from Ryloth that the Empire has left and our allies are rebuilding in secrecy. All those who are clones are being triple checked by our medics for any chips. I have received a message from an unknown source - claiming that the Bad Batch better get themselves back to Ord Mantell pronto as a certain woman isn’t happy” Howzer explained, reading off his datapad he may have borrowed from an unexpected Tech. Which was quickly snatched back and was in the hands of its owner.
The clones all shared smiles; those who had helmets on had different features. All of a sudden, Tech started typing so fast that Wrecker struggled to keep up, Echo cursed furiously while he looked over Tech’s shoulder.
“Tech? What is it?” Hunter asked, directing his attention away from Crosshair and more towards Tech and Echo who were both typing furiously at the datapad. “I don’t know it seems a virus has entered our systems” Echo replied when Tech did not. “Can you get rid of it?” Rex questioned watching the two. “Yeah, Tech’s brillant at these sort of things” Wrecker insisted.
Tech let out another frustrated growl, as his data bounced off the virus. He felt useless as the virus swept through his system, taking over too quickly. Echo tried to slow the virus down while plugged in but found he couldn’t even access the virus. Tech groaned in frustration as a symbol of the Empire appeared on his screen. Wrecker and Rex moved behind the two, showing support by standing like statues and looking dumbfounded. Howzer shared a look with Wolffe who still wore his helmet. Thorn looked off to the side uninterested with Gregor who kept glancing in concern at both Tech and Echo.
“I can’t get through Hunter, we might have to delete all our data to keep it from the Empire!” Tech exclaimed. “Do what needs to be done, Tech. We can’t have our information falling into the wrong hands” replying quickly Hunter ran his fingers through his hair, taking a look down at Crosshair who seemed to be in his own world with his eyes still shut and two children curled up into his sides. A totally different Crosshair that Hunter had left behind on the platform on Kamino.
“Here goes nothing. 3..2…1…Hey!” The datapad was suddenly snatched out of his hand by none other than Crosshair who’s fingers gently tapped the screen and within a matter of minutes. The virus had been wiped and it was acting smoothly. Tech stood gobsmacked as did the rest of the clones while Howzer smiled at Crosshair who closed his eyes again. Hunter stared in disbelief at Crosshair as many others shared the same thoughts and looks as Hunter. How did Crosshair do it? Thankfully it was confirmed when Tech asked, “What? How?... Mumbling the rest of it. “Cross, how did you know what to do?” Echo asked despite Tech’s mutterings to the side as he re-checked his datapad.
“Because one always knows how to get rid of its own virus” “Wait you created the virus!” Tech exclaimed looking towards his younger brother who still had his eyes closed. “Yes”. Came the short but blunt reply. “Ah little Crossy is growing up”. Gritting his teeth, “Wrecker if you don’t shut up, I will put the virus on your gaming device without question” Crosshair glared at Wrecker before closing his eyes again. Hunter noticed straight away something was off and gently wrapped his bandana around Crosshair's eyes. A whisper reached only Hunter's ears, “Thank You love”. Hunter smiled thoughtfully, allowing his fingers to play with Crosshair's hair.
Their few minutes of silence was quickly interrupted as blaster fire narrowly missed Omega from within the trees and storm troopers emerged from the trees.
YOU ARE READING
A Sacrafice of the Heart (HunterxCrosshair) Book 1 - COMPLETE!
AdventureA loss of a brother was always hard, it was never easier as time got on, but they had a job to do and if that meant honouring their brother so be it. The Bad Batch recieve an unknown message from a dead source, they go and investigate only to be mi...
