Mom Omega

Part 8 - War Mantel

Staying off the Empire's radar and out of action works until Rex asks them to go to Daro. Hunter had a bad feeling about it from the start, but well, that goes the way it always does.

"We're being hailed," Echo calls over his shoulder, "It's Rex." And the others are gathered in the cockpit instantly. Rex might be a reg, but he's nice, and Hunter likes him even if he doesn't know him.

"Hello, boys," Rex greets them with a smile despite the tension in his eyes, "Sorry to cut right to it, but I could use your help."

"What is it?" Omega asks without blinking. She's always ready to help, and Hunter likes that, but it still worries him sometimes. Yeah, the action is fun, but they've been hurt before.

"I received a distress signal from a clone trooper, but I'm a bit tied up at the moment to retrieve him."

"And you want us to get him out?" Omega clarifies.

"He's an old friend, and he's in trouble," Rex confirms. The hologram flickers, and he looks over his shoulder. "Sorry, I can't talk right now. Sending you his signal. I'll be in touch."

"So," Crosshair says, lazily spinning his chair in a circle, "He wants us to go pick up a reg?"

Echo casts him a sideways slightly irked look at the tone. Yeah, he used to be a reg, too. It's easy to forget that. "Rex is sending us on this mission," he replies, "That's where we need to be."

"We are currently on a mission for Cid," Tech objects from the pilot seat, before Hunter can voice his own concerns, "If we don't complete her mission, we won't be paid."

"Rex's friend is in trouble," Omega says firmly, "That's more important than getting paid."

It's a reg, and Hunter doesn't agree just on that, but... "So, where's the signal coming from?"

"A terrestrial planet in the Outer Rim," Tech answers, poking on his datapad. Knowing him, they just have to wait a couple of minutes to get a long and unnecessarily detailed description of the entire planet. "There are no known settlements on-world."

"Then what's he doing out there?" Something here doesn't make sense, and Hunter already doesn't like it. There's something about this not adding up.

"It doesn't matter," Echo replies. "Rex sent us on this mission. It's something we have to do."

"Yeah, it does!" Hunter argues, "We don't even know what we're going into. It could be dangerous."

"Could be fun," Wrecker laughs, lightly shoving him. Hunter throws him an annoyed look.

He just wants to keep them safe. After their last many excursions, he's worried. Being soldiers means they're gonna get hurt eventually, but... it just seems different when it's happening. It's much harder to see it.

Tech slides out of the pilot's seat so Echo and Omega can take over the piloting. He and Hunter exchange a silent glance. Hunter knows Tech is upset about it, too. After everything that's happened, they're just worried, and he's just trying to look out for them.

Ryloth went bad. The trip to get Muchi went bad. Bracca, too. He doesn't want to see his little brothers hurt again.

He knows Tech can say the same, but really, this is better than Kamino. They're free now. They're free now they're free now they're –

***

Hunter's not feeling a whole lot better about the entire trip when they land on Daro and disembark. They didn't see or scan anything on the way in, but that doesn't make Hunter feel any better about it. He's fine with twisting and breaking rules, but what are they supposed to do if they don't even have food? Or fuel? They've gotten in debt with Cid before, and she's always really cranky about it.