Warnings: None, really. Mention of Tech going on the mission to Eriadu. Includes angst and hope.
A/N: This is a Tech Lives fic and a Tech Lives blog.
Word Count: a little more than 800
Another successful mission complete, Phee landed Providence on Pabu and patted a partially-functional-but-now-powered-down Mel on her way out the door. She put the crystal dagger she’d recovered in the Archium and paused next to Lula and Tech’s goggles. Her heart ached. She wished she could see him again or at least redo their last encounter. She wished she had been braver with her feelings, or offered to come with them, but she couldn’t change that now. She dragged her feet back home and slouched into bed.
The next morning she grabbed a bite of fruit for breakfast and headed back to the ship to work on Mel. She’d been her usual helpful droid self, but some severe blaster fire meant Phee needed to rebuild her again.
She sat in front of Mel and twirled a spanner before powering her up. The droid made a whirl, some of her lights coming on and others not. Phee removed the burned-out photoreceptor and a few wires that needed to be replaced. A new photoreceptor was modified and Phee hummed a tune to herself while replacing the wiring. Mel’s lights came on as she attempted to take in the information around her, almost panicked as if she was still on the run from yesterday.
“It’s okay,” Phee said, “We're home, but I'm not done with you yet.”
The droid relaxed and Phee was at least pleased that the new parts were working. She pulled out part of Mel’s front panel and sighed at the piece. It was completely covered in carbon scoring and while it protected some of the inner workings, some shots had managed to disrupt a power coil and a memory bank. Phee grabbed a spare metal scrap and continued to hum while cutting it down to size for Mel. She attached the front panel and left it open while she dug around to assess the damage to the memory. It wasn’t too bad. A little light was off, indicating part of it wasn’t working like it should. Another wire was replaced and the light came on, but started blinking. Phee knitted her eyebrows in frustration, but then found a small component attached to the back of the memory bank. It looked like a tiny restraining bolt. How did that get there? She picked it off and the blinking light stayed on strong. Once she replaced the memory bank and closed the panel, Mel beeped at her.
“A recording?” Phee asked. “Why didn’t you mention that before?”
Mel indicated that she didn’t know it was there before. Phee was getting more suspicious of the little restraining bolt. Someone must have put there without her knowledge between now and the last time she rebuilt Mel, but the only person who helped her with the droid since the last time she was rebuilt was Tech. Phee felt like she was falling upside down and spinning. Had she been standing, she would have toppled over. It was all she could do for the words to get from her brain to her tongue.
“Play the recording, Mel!”
Mel started playing a holovid. Tech’s face appeared right in front of Phee and she felt hot tears at the sight of Brown Eyes adjusting his goggles before he spoke.
Hello Phee. If you are seeing this then my family and I, or perhaps only some of us, are missing in action. It was our intention to retrieve information vital to saving Crosshair and keeping Omega safe, but as you know, things do not always go to plan. I have taken the liberty of hiding codes and secure information in Mel. I know the Imperials are not smart enough to find this data and leaving it solely in the hands of my brothers seems reckless should we all be caught. It will only be a matter of time before you have to rebuild her and I am certain you will easily find this recording. With the information I’ve left in Mel, you should be able to retrieve any recordings on my goggles and datapads including those behind an extra layer of encryption. There is also an encrypted backup on the Marauder’s computer. Should something happen to us, I will try to leave behind what clues I can. While I hope this is all for naught, I know that if any of us goes missing, there is no one better to find us than you.
Tech’s soft smile pulled at her and she watched him reach forward to stop the recording. Phee stared at Mel in shock before reaching for the button again. She paused on Tech’s image as the projection restarted and tears fell on her cheeks. Mel beeped at her almost asking if she was okay.
“Come on,” she said, rising to her feet, “We have to get to the Archium.”
Warnings: Mention of Tech’s fall, but Tech lives! Includes CX-Tech, amnesia, and the beginnings of recovery. SFW. A continuation from my first Pheebruary prompt here.
Word Count: About 1,350
Phee held her breath as she watched the holovid from Tech’s goggles and Omega and Wrecker slowly fell from view. Only they weren’t falling. He was. Watching this scene was no easier on any of his family who, by this point, were gathered round and trying to get any and all information he left using the codes in Mel. No one needed to worry that the trail went cold once Hemlock found Tech’s goggles. Although his mind had been played with, CX-2 managed to remember Tech’s encrypted channel well enough to try to reach them even if it was for no discernable reason. It was a message sent while he was off on a mission for Hemlock; as if he was remembering that he needed to contact someone in his past but was on autopilot.
“Havoc 4. Do you read me?” was all he could say.
It sounded like Tech and yet not. He was distant.
“Disregard.”
Apparently, he didn’t remember enough to know why he was trying to contact Echo and at that point he probably didn’t even remember who Echo was. The brothers felt a punch to the gut thinking they’d unknowingly left their brother on Tantiss.
No new information existed on any of the hardware except for a recent time stamp on another message; this time only one standard rotation ago.
“Havoc 4, this is Havoc 2. I am…. We are….. nearing the forest moon of Endor. I am not sure where I should…..”
Again, it sounded like Tech, but distant. He sounded confused and agitated. He was clearly lost.
“Who is ‘we’?” Omega asked the group. She was only met by shrugs and Crosshair standing up.
“He’s alive,” Hunter answered.
“That’s all that matters,” Crosshair added; already headed for Phee’s ship and clearly determined to get his brother back.
They flew in silence with the hope that they could at least find a clue to his next steps, if not find Tech himself.
They landed near the coordinates from the comm message. A pirate ship was left nearby; which Phee recognized. She had to laugh to herself a little as the group hid behind some trees. When she told him not to run off with pirates, she didn’t foresee that he’d actually do it. She rolled her eyes when a familiar voice started talking about profitability.
“You know them?” Echo asked.
“Hondo,” Phee replied. “He’s one of a kind.”
“Think they’ll give us any trouble?” Wrecker inquired while Crosshair stood on his shoulders for a boost to climb a tree and get a better view.
“Doubt it,” she answered. “He’s a big talker, so leave it to me.”
“There,” Crosshair whispered with a nod. He climbed back down with a smile, finally getting to see his brother. “Tech’s arguing with someone near the front of the ship.”
“What’s the plan?” Omega asked.
Hunter took a breath and looked from one person to another while forming his thoughts.
“From what we know, Tech doesn’t seem to remember much. Phee knows these guys so she should definitely approach, but I’m thinking maybe it’s best if only one of us goes with Phee, so we don’t overwhelm him and if backup is needed, the rest of us step in.”
“Right,” Omega replied. “So who should go with Phee?”
“Hondo Ohnaka,” Phee said, wasting no time and clearly announcing their entrance so as not to get shot sneaking.
“Phee! All the way out here,” he replied. “And what brings you this way? Hopefully you didn’t come this far for another one of your trinkets.”
“No,” she said. “As a matter of fact, we’re here for him.”
She pointed at Tech who stood frozen.
“Ha... Havoc 4?” Tech ventured.
Echo nodded and smiled.
“Fantastic,” Tech said. “Goodbye Hondo.”
“Wait wait wait wait wait,” Hondo interjected, trying to get between the lost clone and his destination. “You promised me you would be my new pilot.”
“And I was,” Tech curtly replied. “Now I am not.”
Phee offered, “I thought you could fly anything, Hondo.”
“Of course I can! I may simply be expanding business and in need of some good men.”
“And have you paid this man for his time and skills?” Echo asked with a grin.
“Not exactly,” Hondo answered. “Not for this trip at any rate, but that is because we are not done.”
“You haven’t paid him and you still have the rest of your crew and a way to get home,” Phee surmised.
She couldn’t help noticing Tech staring at her almost helplessly and confused, but she stayed focused.
“Then you’re out nothing,” Echo added, taking a few steps toward Tech.
Echo put his hand on his shoulder. Tech nodded; the friendly touch grounding him. They both walked toward the Providence with Phee following and keeping an eye on Hondo.
“You can’t just walk away from me,” Hondo shouted.
“Bye Hondo!” Phee shouted back.
They walked as fast as they could and before long the ship was in sight.
“Everyone else is on the ship,” Echo told Tech as they got closer. “Hunter, Wrecker, Omega, and Crosshair.”
“Crosshair?” Tech asked.
“Yeah,” Echo replied. “Long story, but we’re all here.”
They walked onto the ship and Phee got into the pilot seat with Mel parked at her side. She would have her moment later. For now, they needed to get back to Pabu.
The family reunion was more than a little awkward.
“I don’t remember everything,” Tech admitted, “but I know your faces.”
Omega reached for Tech. She hugged his waist and he instinctively returned the hug.
“I’m sorry,” was all he could say. He felt he had let her down.
“We missed you, Tech!” She looked up at him with tears in her eyes and while Tech searched his memory, he knew he needed her to feel safe now. He squatted down and held her.
“Does Tech give hugs now?” Wrecker asked as quietly as he could, bumping Hunter with his elbow. The oldest brother shrugged and smiled.
The flight home was quiet, but filled with Tech putting pieces together using his old datapad and goggles. Crosshair had brought them along, hoping it would speed up his recovery process. He sat next to him and they discussed what Tech could remember about Hemlock and Tantiss. Between the chemicals Hemlock loved to use and the CX indoctrination, it was a wonder Tech was still mentally as okay as he was. Phee overheard the conversation and wiped tears away. Mel inquisitively beeped at her.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Phee replied to her trusty droid. “I’m glad he’s back.”
Once on Pabu, she landed the ship and the group discussed logistics. A routine would go a long way in helping Tech adjust.
“Why don’t you wander around the island with an expert?” Hunter suggested to him, nodding toward Phee.
“Very well.”
Tech watched a lurca hound run up to Crosshair and Omega and smiled to himself. He was certain that was new.
“We didn’t have one of those before, correct?” he asked Phee.
“Correct,” she answered with a smile.
They stood as Tech took in the scene around him, barely believing he was even there. He started walking next to Phee as she took him to familiar places. The Archium, the tree, the spot where they had their first dinner together just the two of them, and the balcony where she showed him Pabu’s sunset for the first time.
“I’m remembering more,” Tech said quietly. “It will take time. Not recalling what I know to be basic facts is incredibly frustrating.”
“I know,” she replied. “Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
He turned to her and looked into her eyes as the sun began to set.
She paused and cautiously asked, “Do you remember me, Tech?”
He tentatively reached for her hand and said, “I remember that I love you.”
She held his hand up and kissed his wrist, eyes fixed on his. Her heart burst as Tech tenderly leaned in and kissed her lips for the first time and only pulled away to say, “Phee.”
