Winter Force 99

Chapter 3 - A Way Home

Crosshair is starting to get relatively certain something in his leg is broken with how bad it hurts to walk on. He's sort of limping on it, leaning on his rifle for support and expecting CX-1 to show up out of nowhere to try killing him.

There's nothing.

He wishes there was.

Is desperate for some sort of assurance that he didn't kill his brother what was he thinking what did he do that was Hunter that –

But it wasn't really Hunter.

CX-2 is Crosshair because he chose to be.

CX-1 could have chosen. He didn't.

He goes in search of a ship next. It wouldn't have been hard if not for his injuries but he makes it eventually.

But now that he has a way to get off-planet, he doesn't know what to do. He doesn't know where the others are. He doesn't know where to go.

He knows – Kamino was important, but they left there already.

Ord Mantell.

That's the only name that comes to mind when he tries to remember what happened to them or where they might have gone. He doesn't know if it's even a lead, but it's the only one he has so he goes ahead.

The ride through hyperspace gives him too long to think. What happened to CX-1? Is he –

Continuing to think about it won't change anything and if – if he was still alive, Crosshair doesn't know what he'd do now.

Hemlock's going to come after him eventually anyway though. Unless – Tech should be able to do something. Hopefully.

He finally comes out of hyperspace over the planet, flying for the surface, and landing in the middle of a town.

It looks... familiar.

There's a stand selling some kind of... food.

"One more?" Wrecker looks so hopeful.

"Tech said we don't have the credits for this," Crosshair reminds, a little grumpily.

"But only one more isn't gonna make a difference, right?"

"We should make this a tradition after missions," Omega says, grinning brightly.

They really were here. Right in this place, even if he has no idea how long ago that was. He doesn't see their ship anywhere. He just keeps walking, unsure what else to do.

There's some kind of building up ahead with people lingering around. Lowlifes, by the looks of it.

"This is the parlor?" Tech sounds dubious.

"I've never been here before myself, but yes," Echo assures.

This place is –

What is this place?

Crosshair approaches the entrance, stepping inside and looking around. He doesn't see his brothers or Omega anywhere, but it still feels like he's looking into a ghost of the past. He's been here before. He knows he has been. Many, many times – there was a whole history here. A whole life that the Empire took from him.

He expects to see people in here. Familiar faces, ones he knows and remembers from his dreams. The ones he saw on Coruscant, who took him and asked him to come home. In his mind, he can see his brothers seated at the bar counter, can see Omega climbing onto one of the seats at a holotable. He sees... her. Them. All of them, but they're not real, and they're just memories of a different life. One that it feels like he's trying to cut in and claim for himself when it was never meant to be his.