aftermath: life debt | the bad batch

xxvi. brothers

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xxvi.

brothers

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•••

*3 days later*

"If we go immediately to Wasskah, we're done for. What we need to do is lay low for a while. Recover from the damage that has been done," Rex said. Him, Echo, and Gregor were sitting at the ledge of the platform, trying to figure out a plan for the squad's future. When they should return to Bracca, and how long they should wait until trying to figure out what's going on on the Wasskah base. The thing, however, was that they had been arguing for two hours straight, just going in circles, making no progress in the plan whatsoever.

"If we don't, we'll lose this window," Gregor argued.

"If we wait, that would be better, catch them by surprise."

"I'm done here," Echo said, standing up. "Tell me when you guys actually have somewhat of a plan."

"Alright," Rex said. "See you in a few hours then."

Echo laughed a little, then made his way to the ship, where Hunter had gone long before.

"What are you doing here?" Hunter asked. "Weren't you arguing with Rex and Gregor about a plan of action?"

"They're making no sense," Echo replied. "Actually, Rex is being reasonable. It's Gregor that isn't making any sense."

"Why do you think I left a long time ago?" Hunter responded, taking a sip of his drink.

"Hunter, you aren't supposed to be drinking."

"It's fine to drink if it's once in a while. What do you think is going to happen? Do you think I'm so weak that I'm going to relapse?"

Echo opened his mouth as if he was about to answer, but then he shut it, deciding not to respond.

"While you're at it, pour me one too," Echo decided to say, sitting down in the chair across from Hunter.

"It wasn't supposed to end this way," Hunter said.

"You don't know that for sure," Echo replied, taking a sip of his drink. "Maybe it was supposed to."

"We were so close. So close to completing the mission."

"We aren't invincible, Hunter. Whether you like it or not, we get lucky on a lot of things."

"Nothing we ever have done has gone this badly before."

"Nothing we have done has been this dangerous before. Face it, Hunter. We put ourselves in a shitty position, making one wrong decision after another. What we really need to do is settle down."

"You know we can't do that. The empire will find us."

"Well, what do you suggest we do?"

"Finish what we started. Finish this goddamn mission."

"That could lead to more deaths."

"I'll see to it that that doesn't happen."

"You can't do that. You know that, Hunter. It's out of your control."

"If we have some damn good plans we won't need to worry about it."

"That's the thing. This whole situation we've brought ourselves into is just one big convoluted mess. There's no way that we'll ever have a good plan, much less a great one. We rely on luck, Hunter. Whether you like it or not. And we're going to have to have a hell of a lot of luck to pull off whatever stunts we're going to try next."

"We're going to have Tech and Omega though," Hunter said. "If everything is alright with them we should be fine."

"We don't know if it's going to be fine," Echo said. "It isn't guaranteed."

"It'll go fine. I know it will."

•••

"You seem to be getting better," Tech said. "By that, I mean healthier. Your tumors have shrunk significantly in size since we've gotten here."

"If I'm getting better, why do you sound angry about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Over the past few days you've seemed angry. More annoyed, actually. Are you okay?" Omega asked, sitting up, hugging Lula. "In addition to seeming angry, you look awful."

"Yes, I'm fine," Tech said, clenching his fists. Any reminder of the pain made it worse. "I'm just fatigued, that's all."

"Tech, you look pale, almost gray. You've been extremely dizzy. You've barely eaten anything in the past couple of days. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, kid," Tech replied, gritting his teeth. "Get some rest."

Omega watched as Tech walked out of her room, and she lied down, trying to take her mind off of everything that had happened recently. She tried to think about the times that made her happy. Right after the Clone War. When she first joined the squad. But not even those memories made her happy anymore. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. She hopped off her bed, following Tech into the main area.

"Tech, you aren't okay," Omega said, walking into the main area. "Let me help you."

"I told you to get rest," Tech replied, squeezing his eyes shut from the sudden pain that overcame his body. "You need to leave."

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Please tell me. I just want to help you, that's all."

"I don't need your help. I know much more in the medical field than you do anyway. Your help won't be much help."

"It's not just the pain that's bothering you, is it? Did I do something wrong? Is something else wrong? Please, tell me. Don't leave me in the dark. I need to know these things. I'm a part of the squad too."

"Leave."

"Tech I can't sit here and watch as you slowly die!"

"You really want to know what happened?" Tech said, extremely upset. "Alright kid, I'll tell you what fucking happened. During the fight, I was severely injured. But not only was I shot and have multiple ribs broken, along with some other things, but I was poisoned. With the same poison I made during the Clone War. You probably know what I'm talking about, since you were always snooping around, so you know how bad the side effects are. It makes someone basically go crazy until they die. And, you also probably know that there's no anecdote. No cure. So I'm just stuck here, slowly becoming insane before it completely consumes me. I can't cure the injuries I have and I can't have anyone cure them for me. At least, that's that my brain is telling me. I have no motivation to cure them, just like I barely have motivation to look after you anymore. Is that the answer you wanted? Hm?"

Omega glared at Tech, not caring about the situation he was in, since she knew it was almost all bullshit.

"I fucking hate you. What did I even do wrong? It's not like I can control whether I have this illness or not," she stated. She then turned around and started to walk out of the room, before Tech stopped her.

"Oh, and Omega?" Tech asked.

"What do you want?"

"Don't tell the others."

"Or else what?"

"I told you I was getting tired of you. You're nothing but a burden to this squad."

"You wouldn't do that," Omega muttered, catching on immediately to what he was saying.

Death.

"Do you want to keep testing me further?" Tech asked. "I told you. I'm going insane."