First Girl, Last Words

1

Rex and Echo stood at the landing bay, waiting for the ships to arrive. The medic team was fully prepared and standing behind them.

"Captain Syndulla, report," Echo commed.

"Approaching landing bay in two minutes," Hera's voice blared through, and Echo fidgeted uncomfortably.

Recently, they had gotten the news that one of the Rebel stations on Dantooine was attacked and the troops there, even though severely outnumbered, managed to valiantly defend it and drive the Imperials. However, when it seemed they were retreating, the moment the Imperial ships entered hyperspace and the rebels returned to base, a chain bomb explosion, most likely planted by some Imperial spy, occurred, obliterating the base and causing mass casualties.

According to Hera, even the bodies were beyond recognition, and the wounded, in mass numbers, needed immediate help, to which Rex ordered them to return to their base of operations. Some people, including Hera, who had gone for a scout in the region to check on any more invaders, escaped the full brunt of it and were the ones pulling everyone out and bringing them back.

What worried Echo the most was the fact that Omega was stationed there, and there had been no report from her side yet. He was holding out hope that she was alive, and if wounded, not severely. Rex laid a hand on him in reassurance, until the noises of ships landing came in.

The medics began running with stretchers, and Rex was surprised at the effect of the bombing, and judging by their wounds, was wondering how the hell are they still breathing. No sign of Omega yet, he noted. Maybe she's in there, trying to help out. Or waiting to be helped, he thought uneasily.

The medics seemed way too less to cater to all injuries. Three gunships of burned people were way too much, but they were working speedily.

Rex then saw Hera Syndulla, but she was yelling for a medic, with a limp body in her arms. Oh, no.

Echo and Rex ran at full speed, to ask her where Omega was, but nearing her, they got their answer.

Lying in Hera's arms was no one other than Omega. Of all injuries Rex had yet seen, she had suffered the hardest. They might not have recognised her if it weren't for the weak way she spoke Echo's name, and Hera telling them that Omega needs help, immediately.

Rex, finding no free medic nearby, picked Omega gingerly, and trying not to hurt her, walked with long strides to the nearest medical bay, Echo following suit, worry and horror lining his gaunt face, med kit in hand.

"It's gonna be alright, Omega, you'll go home soon, stay strong, Omega, you're gonna be just fine. Stay awake, Omega, ad'ika, don't give up now," Echo pleaded all the while to an unconscious Omega. Rex, heartbroken by Echo's desperate pleas, couldn't bear to look at the black and red marks that replaced her creamy skin and blonde hair and was trying to balance the limp body and reassure his comrade that everything will be just fine.

"Get her immediate help," Rex barked at a medic, who with wide eyes, took Omega from him and ran over to a nearby operation theatre.

"She was supposed to go home today," Echo whispered, hand shaking against his head. "She'll heal, though. Right? Right, Rex?" Echo looked at him like a boy pleading to be true.

"She will, Echo. She's been trained by you boys, she'll pull through," Rex calmed him, his own heart in a storm. "Now you can go and get her any help she might need. I'll go check on the other troopers."

***

"You have to tell them. Maybe they can help, or think of something," Rex tried to convince a fast pacing Echo.