People really are out here acting like Tech couldn't possibly have survived the fall because of the epilogue.
Wrecker was fine and she took Lula.
'She didn't say 'take care of Tech'' ofc not that man can handle himself and he has Phee.
Gregor came back from the dead--TWICE--with zero explanation as to how. None. He just shows up in Rebels and TBB. But Tech could not possibly~ have survived. In the 'people randomly come back franchise' we must have an exception for the autistic MoC with a black love interest, apparently.
I commissioned some art from @luxris from a short scene mentioned in my fic where Tech lives and comes home to Pabu after Tantiss. This is my fic where Tech is not CX-2, but he still goes through a lot to come home and builds himself a hoverchair. Thank you so much for making this! I love how comfortable and in love they are!
One thing I do want to have happen on Pabu is that Hunter suddenly goes full fucking domestic. Yes he was a clone sergeant in special forces and has a half face tattoo of a skull but now he is a STAY AT HOME DAD and he has opinions on CURTAINS and is GOING TO THE FARMERS MARKET. You can't fucking stop him. He's going to learn to cook.
Echo gets a visit from Tech, Crosshair, AND Wrecker and it turns out that they're here in this potential war zone to escape Hunter's cooking projects because he's very much not good at it yet. Omega tried to hide in the cargo hold but if they took her with them Hunter would DEFINITELY follow so. Sorry kid.
Back home Omega is eating a possibly toxic souffle and plotting revenge.
I miss Tech. I know you might not be able to write for awhile and I get that. If you feel up to it though could you please write a fic where Tech is able to come to Pabu after tantis and finds out the Marauder is gone. Maybe reader (platonic/aromantic) comforts him with hugs and memories tks
Hello! I have some pretty strong feelings about Tech and how we still didn't see him in the entire last third of The Bad Batch. Here is hoping he will come home soon. And in manifestation of this....
Tech x GN!Reader
Warnings: Mention of injuries, but nothing explicit. No indication of whether Tech was CX-2 or not. Tech lives, obviously!
You sat on the landing pad near the ocean. It was empty now, but the last few remnants of the Marauder were only recently removed. In the rush to get to Tantiss, the people of Pabu did their best to help clean up the mess from the explosion while Wrecker, Hunter, and Crosshair left with Phee. You were among them, trying to grab whatever you could and sort through anything that you felt the brothers would want to keep. There wasn't much. Thankfully Gonky, Lula, Tech's goggles and various pieces of armor were already removed when the ship exploded. You did, however, manage to find and keep one thing.
You smiled to yourself as you looked down at the yoke and the lever used to jump to hyperspace.
"You recovered it?" Tech asked as he approached.
"I did," you replied with a smile. "I thought you might want to keep it."
Tech sat next to you with a flinch and sighed.
"You okay?" you asked.
"I'm better today." He was still healing, but mostly there. His family had waited until he was better to tell him about the Marauder. He didn't take it well, although he tried to insist it was merely a ship that could be replaced. You all knew better, but it was Tech's way to try to process the information.
Tech reached for the yoke and you gladly gave it to him. He held it in his hands as he had done hundreds of times while piloting the ship. It fit his grip perfectly.
"I requested this particular part," he said. "I requested the modifications to the Marauder. I was nine, but argued that since they felt we were nearly ready for battle, we should be able to get the best equipment. They made some of the modifications, but I made most of them. Even the ones they deemed unnecessary."
He reached for the lever and you handed it to him. He felt so natural holding these pieces, yet they were less familiar since they were no longer attached to anything.
"What was it like when you first flew the Marauder?" you asked.
Tech fondly smiled and answered, "The training simulations were not adequate, but I adapted quickly."
He grimaced, now faced with the thought that he would never fly his ship again. He would never have that home again. He took in a breath. Things changed, but he wasn't alone. He made it to Pabu, their new home. He put the yoke and lever aside and tried to smile at you. You opened your arms to invite him in for a hug if he wanted it. He didn't hesitate. He'd been separated from his family and friends for so long. He rested his head against yours and you held each other. While he wasn't usually one to cry, a few tears trickled down his face.
"I cannot explain why I feel this way. I'm home. We lived. I should only feel gratitude."
"It's okay, Tech," you reassured. "Sometimes I can't put my finger on my feelings, but I simply feel them. We're all built a little different. Besides, you survived a terrible fall. It takes a toll on your body, including your exceptional mind."
He nodded and took in a deep breath. You held him a little closer and waited for him to feel ready to let go. You stayed up with him and watched the ocean while he spent the night telling you all kinds of stories about flying and the modifications he wanted to make on a new ship.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
surprise bitch i bet you thought you'd seen the last of me!
I finally remembered my password so Chapter 32 ("Family reunion Part One") of we were a family pulled from the flood is up!
This sneak peak contains spoilers for the new chapter and the entire fic!
Wrecker carries Tech on board, followed closely by Echo. His brother seems terrified to rustle the broken body in his arms too much but the ship doesn’t actually touch down on the planet, instead stalling above ground so they have to do a small jump to get on.
Now that they’re so close to safety Crosshair suddenly realises just how exhausted he is. Even the ramp hovering just a few hands above ground seems like an insurmountable hurdle. His legs burn, as do his lungs and his hands and his head and-
“Need a hand?” Echo asks. Crosshair barely has the energy to nod which at least means there also isn’t any left to feel humiliated when Echo all but lifts him up and pushes him aboard.
His knees drop heavily against the metal of the Marauder’s floor, sending a jolt through his body and finally waking him up. Echo keeps a grounding hand on his shoulder, fingers squeezing slightly. “We’re all here!” he barks loudly in the general direction of the cockpit. “Go!”
Crosshair watches Wrecker and Hunter make a quick provisional spot for Tech where they lie him down and immediately hook him up to an IV from their med kit. Only then does Crosshair suddenly realise: “If we’re all here…” he meets Echo’s eyes, “are you letting Omega fly?”
As ordered the Marauder suddenly turns to its side sharply, probably avoiding the fighters and Destroyers in orbit. Hunter opens his mouth to answer but is cut off by the shields taking a heavy hit. “Hunter?” Crosshair barks. “Tell me you’re not letting her fly!”
“Of course not!” Hunter snaps back. “Help me with Tech first!”
Crosshair grits his teeth but gets up to help his brothers secure Tech on the provisional flatbed he’s currently on. “At least he’s lost consciousness again,” he mumbles, taking a seatbelt from Hunter and wrapping it around Tech’s hips. “He didn’t,” Wrecker says. “I gave him something to knock him out ‘cause I knew it was gonna be a bumpy ride.”
“Fantastic.”
“Hey, do you have a better idea!?”
Crosshair doesn’t deem that worth answering and instead makes sure the IV is safely attached until another hit shakes the Marauder.
“Damn it!” he snaps.
“Omega’s safe,” Hunter suddenly says. He is looking at Crosshair, eyes dark and understanding as if he can read his mind. “I sent her back with Howzer on the first ship that returned to the fleet.”
Involuntarily Crosshair lets out a relieved sigh. The corners of Hunter’s lips quirk up and he drops to the floor heavily, still clutching his side. “You should have seen her fight, man. She was screaming and kicking-”
“And biting!” Wrecker adds, rubbing his arm.
“Yeah, she was insistent on not leaving you behind and nothing we said could calm her down.” Hunter huffs out a laugh that turns into a pained hiss when it rustles his stomach. “Took Howzer and three of his men to wrestle her on board.”
Crosshair can’t help the smile creeping onto his own face and quickly lowers his head to hide it. “Three? Howzer’s losing his touch.”
Hunter grunts. “Tell me about it.”
“Well, we promised her we wouldn’t return without you,” Echo adds, settling down onto the floor next to the rest of them.
“Yeah, I was about to blow up the side of the mountain when some other asshole got to it first,” Wrecker huffs. “Not exactly an expert if I may add, took down nearly the entire-”
Another shot makes the Marauder shake and screech, the shields’ energy audibly crackling under the effort. “Shab¹!” Wrecker interrupts himself.
“Speaking of not being an expert,” Hunter groans. “I should probably-”
Echo is faster, pushing him down again when he tries to pull himself up with the help of the seat’s armrest. “No, you stay here and put some bacta on that wound. I’ll man the cannons!”
And with that he is gone.
Silence envelops them, only interrupted by the sound of the engine, blaster fire and Tech’s laboured breathing under the oxygen mask.
Hunter begins shedding his armour and Wrecker and Crosshair don’t even have to look at each other to communicate. Wordlessly Wrecker begins helping their eldest with his breastplate and blacks as Crosshair fishes out another IFAK² to apply to the nasty looking wound on Hunter’s abdomen.
“Even with the bacta, that’ll leave a scar,” he mumbles as he presses the edges against the tattooed skin underneath his fingers. You really gotta stop getting stabbed.
“What’s one more?” Hunter mumbles. He is staring at Crosshair, has been ever since Echo left. As if something is just now dawning on him.
Crosshair tries to ignore it as long as he can but by the time Hunter’s blacks are on again and the IFAK² is stored away, it becomes far too irritating. With a sharp twist he turns to his brother and snaps: “You’re staring! What?”
To his surprise Hunter doesn’t deny it, doesn’t turn away or even have the decency to look caught. Instead he tilts his head. “Nothing. Just…When you got trapped behind those ray shields, I thought…” A deep sigh and he turns his head away. “Don’t ever do that again.”
Crosshair clicks his tongue. “And what would have happened to Omega if I hadn’t done that, huh, sarge? What was I supposed to do?”
“Crosshair…” Wrecker interrupts him quietly. “Hunter wasn’t criticizing you.”
It’s Crosshair’s turn to be embarrassed. Right. Not everything is a fight.
“Sorry,” he presses out. The word still feels sour in his mouth, old habits die hard, after all. But it doesn’t burn his tongue anymore.
Still, he can’t stand the eye contact so he turns away and begins fiddling with the parts of his Firepuncher that survived the journey through Tantiss.
The parts left look miserable, to say the least. Scratched and singed, with pieces broken off.
Who knows if it’ll ever work again, Crosshair thinks, trying to ignore the anxious, hopeless feeling in his stomach. It’s just a weapon after all. Stars, he got a brother for it!
He turns around again to look at Tech’s broken form on the floor of the Marauder, looking smaller than he ever has. But his chest is moving up and down, his eye flutters underneath the lid and his breath clouds the oxygen mask from the inside, which means-
“Stars, he’s alive,” he mumbles, realising too late that he has said it out loud.
“Yeah, he is,” Wrecker agrees, sounding choked up. Because of course he does. “You both are.”
Crosshair huffs. “I’m not the one looking half-dead. In fact, out of the four people on this ship, I make the upper half.” He pointedly looks at Hunter, with his heaving form coated in sweat.
Hunter grins weakly. “That’s only funny cause you’re both alive, vod’ika³!”
“Nah. Funny either way.”
“I am going to sleep,” Hunter groans, his head falling back against the wall behind him. “I am going to sleep for four standard months and when I wake up I am never leaving any of you out of my sight ever again.”
“Sure boss,” Wrecker hums, a light smile still gracing his face. “Did ya feel that? We’re in hyperspace!”
Crosshair holds still for a second to feel the familiar pull of gravity pushing them over the edge of light speed and realises Wrecker is right. He groans and lets his head fall back. They’re in hyperspace. His bones ache with relief.
For a while no one says anything. They sit and wait, listening to the Marauder hurl them through the cosmos. Then Echo comes back, loudly announcing that - miraculously - nearly all ships made it out unharmed.
“Nearly?” Crosshair asks and the reg sighs. “We lost three smaller ships and one of the escape shuttles.“
“Four ships isn‘t ‘nearly’ all. That‘s still…“ he does the math in his head, deciding that the painful burn behind his forehead stems from the strain of today’s events, not the grief for brothers he never met, “at least 30 men!”
“34,” Echo sighs, sitting down on one of the seats, metallic legs squeaking painfully. “Don’t start, Cross. I know what you wanna say and you’re right.” He sounds too exhausted to argue so they don’t. The last few months without Tech’s expertise have left their trace.
“Rex will blame himself,” Echo says.
Wrecker barks out a humourless laugh. “And their brothers will blame us, no doubt.”
For some reason that rubs Crosshair the wrong way and he feels the inexplicable need to defend the regs. “You don‘t know that,” he snarls, turning away so he doesn’t have to face their questioning looks. Wrecker opens his mouth to ask, though, and so Crosshair quickly changes the topic. “You said Omega wasn’t the one flying?”
“No,” Hunter mumbles without opening his eyes, undoubtedly already half asleep.
“Which reg was willing to risk their neck for me and Tech then?”
Echo throws him a lopsided grin. “No reg at all.”
“Who else would be suicidal enough to fly back into that?“
[...]
Read the entire fic over on AO3!
You can find my Writing Masterlist here!
I loved this beautiful Fanart of the Techphee ship of Star Wars Bad Batch of the characters of Clone Tech Trooper and Phee Genoa together and especially because I love that in it it has the theme of The Little Mermaid and above all because I really love that Tech is a newt while Phee is still human but also because I love that in the Tech he is still alive together with Phee but at the same time I will not lie to them I would have really liked that in the Star Wars Bad Batch series the character Tech could have been saved and that he would also have been able to survive and that he could have returned to the side of his beloved Phee in Pabu and that he could have had a beautiful happy life with her but I would also have liked that in itself Phee would have been Force Sensitive then she would have been able to save her beloved Tech from dying and that also if Tech had been Force Sensitive then he would have been able to protect himself and life could also have been saved... sincerely
By the way, these beautiful Fanarts of them are not mine and the credits are not for me, but I will let you know that right here I am going to leave you the link of the real creator on Tumblr.
A MerMay special :D
An adventurous pirate befriends and gets smitten with a curious (yet a little oblivious) merman. She brings him books, t
It had been a few days of jumping from planet to planet to collect resources and continue to run — all in hope that Tech would remember something else. The glimpse of Omega using her energy bow of a child gave most of the team hope, but there was also an existential dread that Tech would give up and abandon the squad once again.
“Echo’s comm has been off for several days now,” Omega explains. “There’s no way to reach Gregor either.”
“Hmm,” Hunter thinks to himself, “Gregor had some memory problems too quite a few years back now. It’d be nice to get his input on what’s going on.”
“Echo would be so relieved to see him,” Omega sighs. “Rex too.”
“We’ll keep trying them, even after we’ve dropped Tech off,” Hunter nods.
“We’re still dropping him off?” Crosshair interjects.
“We’re still on our way to his crew’s rendezvous point,” Phee shrugs.
“It’s been a few hours, should someone check on him?” Wrecker asks.
“I’ll go,” you volunteer. Hunter and Crosshair shot you with mixed expressions of confusion and almost frustration. “Look, I’m not personally vested in him staying or going. I might be the only neutral voice here to just see where he’s at.”
“Fine,” Crosshair breathes.
You wink at Crosshair, “I’ll call you if I need you.” You turn from the clones and walk down the ship’s bridge to the living quarters in the back. You pause your hand just above the door switch and to collect your thoughts. You hit the button and the door unveils Tech welding pieces of metal together.
“What are you doing?” You say as you quickly close the door behind you to continue his privacy from his family.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” Tech stammers.
“Sorry, can I rephrase? Despite how I know it’ll take some effort for you to back up and tell me — why are you welding?” You sit down at the table with him. He sighs out of annoyance and takes off the welding mask then sets his tools down.
“It’s clear to me now that my memories are in-tact, but the act of recovering them by choice is still impossible,” Tech begins.
“So you’re going to stimulate your hippocampus with this apparatus you’re constructing,” you finished for him.
“Precisely,” Tech nods.
“Tech, have you thought of the full-consequences of remembering everything?” You ask plainly.
“I’ve considered my options,” Tech narrows his eyebrows.
“You’ve lived two full lives,” You reiterate and take a deep breath. “If you remember both, will you have the capacity to exist in both worlds or limit yourself to one, knowing the other exists?”
“I cannot know where I desire to stand if I cannot remember,” Tech picks up a tool again and starts to work on his head piece once more. “Why do you care?”
“Crosshair and Hunter, Phee, Omega, maybe Wrecker, they all have opinions on how you should live your life. I’m just hoping you have the strength and tools to make your own decision, in spite of what they want,” you cross your arms on the table and rest your chin on them.
“Why are you the only one that is taking my side?” Tech asks.
“Because I never lost you. And they’re all afraid of losing you again,” you sigh.
“Hmm,” Tech grumbles as he applies his welding mask. “Look away.” You stuff your eyes into your arm as he begins to weld again. Where did he even find Phee’s welding mask and these supplies? You thought to yourself. He continues to weld for a few moments and you feel yourself wanting to drift to sleep in the comfort of your own arms. It felt like falling asleep at school when you were a young girl; just posed at a desk, exhausted.
“There, it is finished,” Tech announces. “Will you stick around while I use it? Just in case I didn’t calibrate it correctly and —- “
“Maker, don’t electrocute yourself to death in my presence. Your brothers would kill me,” you laugh. “But yes, I’ll stay.”
Tech removes his goggles and places the apparatus over his head. It looked like he was wearing headphones as the electrodes spread across his sensory cortex to stimulate the hippocampus.
“Tech, maybe this could cause you to remember things maybe — too quickly,” you caution in bewilderment of his invention.
“There is no time,” Tech sighs.
“Here,” you guide him to the bunk, “Lay back.”
He complies and lies on the bunk. He hands you the controller to the apparatus. “Turn it on with this and increase the electrode output here.”
You nod, “Talk me through what you see so I know you’re here with me, okay?”
“And if what I remember is — inappropriate or violent?” Tech nervously realizes.
“I can take it,” you laugh. “And your secrets are safe with me.”
“I oddly trust you,” Tech nods and lays back in the bunk once more. “Begin when ready.”
“I’m turning it on now,” you switch the device on. “Beginning electrode stimulation in 5, 3, 7, 2 —- “
“Who taught you to count?” Tech sits up.
“The electrodes are on now, just testing to see if you’re still conscious,” you snicker. “Lay back.”
Tech relaxes again into the pillow and closes his eyes. You slowly increase the stimulation until he begins to speak.
“Nothing,” he sighs. “I feel or see nothing.”
“I would think that to access a memory, you’d need something to trigger it,” you realize out loud. You stand for a moment and grab Lula from Omega’s bunk. “I want you to hold and smell this.”
Tech reaches out with his eyes closed and takes the stuffed creature. He brings it to his nose and inhales thoughtfully. Tears well in his eye.
“What are you feeling?” You ask.
“I — I do not know,” Tech mutters.
“But it is causing a reaction within you?” You ask.
“I suppose so,” Tech nods and embarrassedly wipes his eye. “It is a toy, correct?”
“Yes, but did you gather that from inspecting it now?” You question.
“Yes,” Tech sighs, “So, no memories.”
“Let go of the now,” you say. “You know, like a Jedi.”
“How should I know what Jedis do to let go of the now?” Tech begins in frustration.
“Kriff, I have no idea. We’re both in unnavigated territory with this experiment,” you sigh. You look around the room for anything else to trigger memories and spot his goggles on the table. You stand slightly to pick them up and lay them across Tech’s chest. “Tech, what did I hand you?”
“My goggles,” Tech responds.
“And how do you know they are yours?” You ask.
“Omega told me so, but they’re also a perfect fit,” he feels the frames and glass. “It appears that I had shattered them.”
“How did you shatter them?” You hint.
Tech remains silent for a moment and you increase the electrode stimulation slightly. He flinches a little, but says nothing, then relaxes again.
“Can you describe Eriadu?” You hoped to jog his memory as you pictured Eriadu yourself.
“It’s a moderate and temperate climate throughout the year. It is green, mountainous, and is privy to fog and frequent thunderstorms,” Tech sounds off like he’s reading from a book.
“But what does it feel like?” You press.
“I don’t know how I should feel about Eriadu,” Tech shrugs.
You were ready to give up. You audibly sigh on accident.
“It’s not working, is it?” Tech opens his eyes and sits up in the bunk.
“You remembered Omega’s energy bow, so something jogged your memory,” you remind him.
“What if you spent more time with them?” You motioned towards the door to where his brothers were.
“And if I never remember everything?” He looks down at the goggles and Lula.
“Then you’ve found yourself a group of powerful allies that would do anything for you,” you assure.
“I think I will try to get some sleep in my remaining hours here,” Tech sighs as the weight of his reality crushes him into his bunk once more. You hand him the controls to his device and nod as you stand from your seat. Unsealing the door, you don’t even look back as his tragedy begins to weigh on your heart.
Crosshair was waiting for you to appear in the doorway as he sat around the table. Hunter, Wrecker, and Omega had fallen asleep in extra seats, while Phee spent her time in the cockpit. Hyperspace continued to hum softly.
“What’s wrong?” Crosshair pulls you into his lap in an embrace and rests his head on your chest.
“He wants to remember,” you whisper. “He’s sleeping again now.”
“Hmm,” Crosshair acknowledges your statement.
Phee’s proximity sensor sounds and the ship moves from hyperspace. You look up through the shield to see a blue planet with aggressive weather systems bursting with lightning. Hunter, Wrecker, and Omega begin to rub their eyes as they awoke and stare out into space.
“Is that — “ Hunter squints.
“Kamino?” Omega whispers.
“Did Tech ever say where his coordinates were leading us to?” You stand up from Crosshair’s lap and take his hand as you both walk to the cockpit to marvel at the great blue planet.
“No, he didn’t say,” Phee slows the ship from entering the atmosphere. The squad stares at the planet in silence as mixed emotions of regret and longing wash over them.
“Someone go wake him up,” Wrecker grumbles.
“I’ll do it,” Crosshair sighs and begins walking back to the living quarters.
He opens the door to find Tech sleeping on the bunk wearing his metal apparatus. Crosshair inspects it and removes it. “Tech, wake up.”
Tech grumbles and shifts in the bunk and slowly opens his eye; clearly he needs sleep. “Crosshair? How are you here right now?”
“What?” Crosshair coolly gasps a little as Tech’s old persona of expression and speaking peaked Crosshair’s attention. “Tech?”
The lapse in memory passes and Tech sits up and peers down the ship’s isle into the cockpits windows. “Ah, I see we have arrived.”
“No, what were you saying before?” Crosshair grabs Tech’s shirt and pulls him up to his feet.
“What do you mean?” Tech flusters.
“You knew who I was,” Crosshair snakes a little.
“Put me down,” Tech shakes Crosshair off and scoffs. “Clearly, we’ve become acquainted in the last few days.” Tech grabs his goggles and stomps out of the room to make his way to the cockpit. Crosshair stays in the living quarters trying to comprehend what had just happened.
“Kamino?” Hunter asks Tech.
“You know of this planet?” Tech muses. Crosshair walks back up the ship and takes your hand once more.
“You were created here,” Omega furrows her eyebrows. “We all were.”
Tech stays silent and looks out the window. “I – I wondered why it felt like home,” he looks at you and gives you a small nod, acknowledging your earlier efforts to help him feel through the past.
“It was our home for years,” Wrecker adds.
“Your crew is down there?” Phee asks.
“There is a platform at these coordinates,” Tech hands his datapad to Phee. “If you could land there, I would be most thankful.”
“Okay,” Phee sighs and takes the datapad back to her seat. She begins the descent into the atmosphere. “It might get rough through these clouds.”
Wrecker, already sitting down and strapping into a chair, shouts, “We remember.”
You, Crosshair, Hunter, and Omega sit down with Wrecker, while Tech takes the seat next to Phee.
“There is the platform,” Tech points through the storm. The ship exits the clouds and finds the weather above the platform to be a soft drizzle. Phee pulls the landing gear and sets her spacecraft down. You and the squad unstrap from the seats and stand; marveling out the windows.
“Of all the places our absent minded brother could have picked,” Crosshair mutters as he stares out the window.
“How many rotations were you stranded here for?” Hunter joins Crosshair in looking out the window.
“Thirty-two,” Crosshair breathes. You squeeze his hand as it was news to you. The platform was desolate and surrounded by ocean for miles.
“How did you survive?” You whisper.
“Very carefully,” Crosshair sighs and heads for the ramp. You and Hunter eye each other.
Phee, Tech, and Omega were already outside and down the ramp. Omega stares into the horizon, soaking in the ocean and stormy air of her sudo-birth planet. Phee and Tech stand separate in conversation.
“You don’t remember anything about this place, but you had a feeling it was home?” Phee asks Tech.
“I suppose I gravitated towards it,” he informs.
“And did you gravitate towards me, that day we met again on Eriadu? You didn’t need to help gather my things,” Phee presses.
“I —,” Tech stammers. He looks into Phee’s eyes and then quickly darts his gaze away.
“Mmhmm,” Phee surmises. “Let go of what you know. What is your “gravity” pulling you to right now?”
Tech gathers his strength to look into her eyes once more and shift his shoulders to stand in front of her. Phee stands her ground, but remains open.
“That is not how gravity works — “ Tech replies bluntly, but cuts himself off as he knows it’s not what she implied after looking into her eyes. He takes a breath of courage in and sighs, “I feel like I miss you, but I do not know how,” Tech smoothly states. “It’s like I’ve known you for years.”
“Then why are you running away?” Phee tears up a little.
“It is illogical to miss someone I’ve never known,” Tech explains. Phee takes his hand. At first, he flinches a little: The sudden intimacy feels like fire. The intensity of her touch is almost too much, but he relaxes into her hold. He takes her other hand and holds both of them close to his chest, studying each of her digits.
“Not everything needs to make sense,” Phee sighs.
“I would beg to differ — ,” Tech starts, but gives up as he looks up to recognize the desperation in Phee’s expression. Phee looks at his lips and moves closer to his face. Tech adversely pulls away, but only for a small moment. He clutches her hands tighter and pulls her into him. She kisses Tech softly, but with a somber longing. Phee pulls her hands from his and laces her fingers behind his neck. Tech moves his hands to her waist and pulls her closer. He breaks the kiss and studies her face.
“I have known you for years, haven’t I?” Tech mutters.
“Do you remember me?” Phee wishes.
“I only recall these feelings as familiar,” Tech analyzes.
“That’s enough for me,” Phee kisses him again quickly, then turns to see you and the clones approach.
Tech lifts his head to see his brothers walk towards him; their helmets balanced on their hips as their arms hang over them; armor, glimmering in the Kamino sun. He felt his heart relax at the sight of them; they were so familiar in how they carried themselves. Hunter flicked his hair back with a movement of his neck, Wrecker stretched his arms out revealing his massive wingspan, and Crosshair cooly placed a toothpick between his lips.
Then, there was Omega running from where you slowly walked behind to the clones. Tech shifted his head slightly to the side in partial recognition. She was much older now, but the memory of her as a child burst through his third eye. Tech had never experienced a Deja vu so violent. Tech’s vision blurs and he fumbles backward in a loss of balance.
“Tech?” Phee tries to catch and stabilize him, but he slips through her grasp. He continues to stumble backwards, holding his head as he grows nauseous.
“Somebody catch him!” Omega yells as she leaps forward from the clones, who were all running towards Tech now. His heel catches the lip of the platform, sending him sprawling backwards into the water. His vision darkens, then illuminates, as he hears muffled voices from above the surface of the ocean. His vision fades once more to black as the ocean devours him. The silence of the ocean envelops him as his mind begins to race.
When have we ever followed orders?
No!Tech!
Did you require a… briefing?
He is still our brother.
Hopefully, not mental. Clearly, we’d never pass that.
You, the clones, and Phee all leapt into the ocean after Tech.
Wrecker reaches his unconscious body first and pushes him towards the surface. Crosshair, Hunter, Omega, and yourself each grab a limb of his and swim to the surface. Phee takes him into her arms at the surface and holds him above the water. You climb onto the platform first, then pull Crosshair up. Crosshair lifts Hunter from the water, then Wrecker. Wrecker reaches down and pulls Phee and Tech from the water and into his arms. He sits down on the platform and pants as Tech begins to cough.
“Tech?” Phee turns his face to the side. Tech coughs out some ocean water and gasps for air as he regains consciousness.
“I’m —,” he reaches for his head and shields his eye from the sun. He sits up and feels his face, hair, and eye patch. With a small jolt of situational awareness, he looks around at his brothers and Omega.
“What if he forgot everything again?” Wrecker sighs.
“Wrecker, I – “ Tech takes a breath and coughs. “I survived the fall on Eriadu.”
“Well, obviously,” Wrecker mutters. Hunter grasps the situation and elbows Wrecker in the sternum. Wrecker’s eyes grow larger as he recognizes Tech’s memory may have returned.
“I installed small re-entry jets into my suit. It seemed obvious after surviving the crash in the cargo crate with Echo and Omega on Serenno. I had broken my leg during that accident and wished to not relive that experience,” Tech listlessly explains.
Omega knelt down and put her hand on his shoulder. Tech looks into her eyes and studies her adult face. He sighs as he realizes how many years he had missed.
“And I see you found Crosshair,” Tech says to Omega. He then turns his attention to Crosshair, “I shouldn’t have left you here.”
Crosshair’s eyebrows raise, but he stays silent. He takes a step towards Tech and extends his hand. Tech grasps his forearm and Crosshair pulls him up from the ground.
“Are you willing to wait thirty-two rotations for your crew to show up?” Crosshair deadpans.
“Thirty-two?” Tech gasps a little in realizing the specific number pertained to Crosshair’s imprisonment on the platform years ago.
“Should be easy for you after a few years on Eriadu,” Crosshair snickers a little.
“How long should we wait?” Phee asks while scanning the skies.
“We?” Tech stammers.
“What? Did you really think we’d leave you here?” Hunter laughs.
“Well, considering the past,” Tech shrugs.
“That’s not who we are anymore,” Crosshair affirms. “We’ll wait here with you for your crew.”
“What you decide next is up to you,” Hunter nods.
Tech breathes in the Kamino air as he studies how each of his brothers aged and compares them to memory. He sits on the platform once more and steadies himself.
“Are you okay?” Phee kneels next to him.
“I’ve never had to process more information simultaneously,” Tech hums.
Phee takes his hand once more and stares out into the horizon. Kamino’s sun begins to set as the sky turns pink and the ocean reflects the light purple hues.
“Now you’d never forget a sunset like that,” Wrecker stretches and takes in the beauty.
“I’d beg to differ,” Tech states.
You couldn’t hold back your snort at the comedic relief. You felt Crosshair drape his arm around you and lean in to kiss your forehead. You wrap your arm around his waist and pull yourself into his armored chest and embrace the pink skies and the peace you felt warm your chest.
“Could you spend one more rotation here?” You look up at Crosshair.
“With you? I could do thirty-three,” he softly smiles.
