First Girl, Last Words

2

Echo woke up within one and a half hour, fully awake, and finding nothing else to do with the whole Rebellion asleep except for the medics, he walked to Omega's room. She was wide awake too, and smiled when she saw him.

"I was just thinking about you," she told him cheerily.

"That's an honour for me, I guess," he kissed her hand, making her giggle amidst coughs.

"Was there something you needed?" he asked, seriously.

"Yes," she turned to him. "Echo, I don't think I will survive."

"Omega-"

"Please, Echo, listen. All the medics have lost hope, and they said I have a week or most to live. If I die, and I don't get to go home before that, can you tell Hunter and the others I was brave, like them?"

"What makes you think I'll live after you?" he said, softly.

"Tech once told me, when you left, that Clone Force 99 existed before you, and even after you left, it will continue to exist. We're more than that, aren't we? You will continue after me. You have to live on, for me. If I die, that's my time being over, don't lose yourself because of me." she coughed some blood. "Thank you, Echo, for being one of the best big brothers I could have had. Thank you for giving me a home. A family. And love."

All of a sudden, she began gasping loudly in pain, her breaths coming pained and ragged.

"Omega? Omega!" He stood up to face her. "Listen to me! Look at me!"

His screams got the on-duty medics running in, some pressing buttons, others trying to inject medicines, while a few administered an oxygen supply, all to no avail.

She looked at him, eyes shining with tears, and a smile. "Well, I guess I lost this mission too." Every two words punctuated with a violent gasp. "Goodbye, Echo. I love you."

She went still.

"Omega? Omega, no don't do this to me. Don't go. Omega, don't leave me. Cyar'ika, don't leave me. Don't die!"

He was calling for help as he refused to accept the difference between his Omega and the dead body ahead of him.

Someone pulled him outside. When he thrashed against the arms, not wanting to be separated from Omega any longer, he was pulled into an embrace.

"I'm so sorry, Echo," a tear-struck Rex consoled him. "I am so sorry."

***

"Why isn't she here yet?" Hunter pounded the table with his fist. He was getting annoyed now, and so were Crosshair and Wrecker. "She was supposed to be here three days ago!"

"Let's wait until nightfall, and if she doesn't come, we'll go get her," Wrecker made a plan.

"They already overwork the kid, and they aren't even giving her a decent holiday," Crosshair growled.

"Hunter!" Wrecker called to him. "Echo is sending us a transmission."

Hunter and Crosshair both left their seats at the same time.

"Patch him through," the former sergeant ordered.

"Hunter, where are you people right now?" Echo, not even saying hello or anything, began. There was something strange and concealed about his face.

Hunter furrowed his brows. "On Pabu, where else could we be? Echo, why hasn't Omega come yet?"

Echo seemed to hesitate. "I am coming with her. Just making sure you're there, I'll be there in five minutes. With Omega."

Echo cut the channel the next moment.

"That was abrupt." Crosshair remarked. "But why wasn't Omega near him? That's strange."

"Maybe she's just tired or sleeping." After which they all walked out to the harbour to wait for Omega and Echo.

"Didn't Omega have a Starfighter?" Wrecker asked, when they saw Echo's ship, Remora-One, enter the confines of Pabu's atmosphere.

No reply to his question.

The ship landed, and first to step out was Rex.

What was Rex doing here?

Hunter stepped forward, but halted when he saw the exiting procession.

Wrecker seemed to understand what was going on. "No," was all exited his lips.

Next to come were some officers wearing the Rebellion uniforms, led by Echo. He waved at his brothers standing ahead, and then gestured to the men behind. The men seemed to carry something white on their shoulders, covered in flowers.

Even Crosshair went still. Hunter, annoyed by the lack of information, still couldn't get what was going on.

Echo picked up the white bundle, petals showering on to the ground, and he walked up to Hunter. His eyes were brimming with tears.

"I'm so sorry, Hunter," he said in a wet voice to his frozen brother.

What was he saying sorry for?

Seeing no reaction from Hunter, Crosshair slowly advanced and pulled the cloth back to see Omega's face.

NO!

"What the hell happened to her?" Hunter yelled. "Get me a med pack, how is she so wounded?"

Hunter snatched the bundle from Echo's arms, and sitting down on the cold hard ground, looked at her face frantically for any signs of life. No pulse. No heartbeat.

Even though her face was burned beyond recognition, the serenity on her face hurt his heart beyond measure.

"Why are you all standing?" Hunter's frantic gaze darted from Echo to Crosshair. "Get her help. Please!"

And we want to keep you safe.

For the first time, he wanted his senses to be messed up. He hoped his hearing was too weak to pick up her heartbeat, that she was actually alive.

Everything they'd ever done, was for her. The reason for their life had now ended. His life ended with hers.

"Crosshair," he whispered, "this isn't Omega, is it?"

Crosshair kneeled, and took his hand. Silent affirmation of his fears.

Hunter bent his head down and let his tears fall, while hugging the corpse to his body, slowly standing up.

"Omega, my girl, wake up," he sobbed, and quietly spoke into her ear. "Omega, I'm holding you, kid, look at me. Don't do this to me. Don't leave me. Don't scare me like this."

No sign of life or movement.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Rex told him, a hand on Hunter's shoulders. Out of his peripheral vision, Hunter saw Wrecker and Crosshair crying and locked in an embrace.

"She was brave, and courageous, and showed valour in times of need," an officer stood ahead as he handed Echo a medal. "But, this is the unfortunate price of war."

"Was she the only price left to be paid?" Crosshair, in a state of unhinged fury, towered over the officer and growled into his face, forcing the officer to walk two steps back.

By this time, Hunter had finally come to his senses, and the crashing truth that Omega will never come home to them hit him in the entirety. As the villagers flanked the Mayoress of Pabu and her old father, meeting the procession with one of their own, Hunter turned to Silently, he trekked to Shep's place, the remaining getting the hint to follow him, no longer a trained soldier and ruthless killer but a broken and grieving father.