Chapter Text
Techie's eyes darted around the small space. Bionic pupils blowing wide. Heavy footsteps. They were coming. Where the hell could he hide. Where could he hide! His eyes locked onto a crevice between two of the large circuit boards. Techie sprang towards it, wriggling between the wires. Their jack plugs jabbed into him as he pushed his body further back between the boards. He froze. The footsteps had stopped. Techie's heart bounded in his ears. His whole body tensed forcing himself to stay still as he heard it again. Heavy boots. A Judge... and they were close. He tried to make his breathing as noiseless as possible. There was a quiet whooshing sound. Like someone had just opened the door to Ma-ma's private apartments...but, how did they? Techie could feel his stomach tie in knots, threatening to bring anything it could find in there spewing from his lips. He had nothing to offer them.
Silence swallowed the crevice as Techie stayed hunched in it's belly. Pins stabbed at his feet, but he dared not move. He could barely feel the pins and needles over the dread filling his chest and the alarms blaring in his head. The door shushed open. Heels clipped across the floor. And then stopped. The dull light from the opening of the boards disappeared. Techie screwed his eyes shut.
“Xavier?”
His heart leapt. Techie knew only one other person that knew that name. He'd almost forgotten it himself. Stuffed away in his room with only the machines for company. Techie scrambled close to the opening, he could feel his hands shaking as he tried to grip the sides of the circuit boards. Then there were other hands, easing him gently out. He grabbed the fabric of the man's sleeves, shoving his face into his chest. Techie couldn't bring himself to care. He could be his stupid, weak little brother, but he didn't care. Armitage had come for him. He could hear himself babbling, unsure of the words spilling out.
“Hush. We're leaving here Xavier.” Armitage kept one hand on Techie's back as he leaned back to look at him. His twin's lips pursed a fraction, his eyebrows drawing together as he traced the rust lining Techie's eyes.
“I should have given her worse.” he said quietly, iced fury glinting in his eyes.
Armitage straitened up, letting go of his twin. “Come, those Judges will be here soon. We don't need to deal with them.” Glancing at Xavier's eyes, Hux's jaw tightened. He could get that seen to later, they looked infected, right now they needed to get to ground level and back to his ship.
Techie followed close behind as they wove through the corridors and stairways. People streamed past them in a bid to get out of the cross fire. Bodies lay sprawled on the ground or as unrecognisable smears on the walls. Armitage tightened his grip on his blaster. His other hand found Xavier's. They'd make it back to that damn ship.
They broke free of the buildings, sprinting across the plaza. Techie didn't look behind him. He could feel his lungs protesting, but he had to keep going. The riot hadn't reached the ground levels yet. Though he could see evidence of it splattered on the stone slabs. The Judges would be too busy with the commotion on the upper levels to notice one technician. They had a small window, before they found Ma-ma and started to question things. In the best case scenario they would be glad she was gone and leave it at that. But Armitage wasn't taking any chances on that.
The boarding ramp lowered as they approached the vessel. Hastily bundling themselves inside, Armitage slid into the control seat and fired up the engine.
“Find a seat and hang on.” he called back.
Techie hastily looked around as the ship began to take off. He dropped into a passenger seat to the side of the main controls. Fumbling he managed to secure the safety belt before they blasted through the atmosphere. Techie's eyes grew wide. The stars stretched out before them in their multitudes. He could feel the pressure building behind his eyes. The scared remains of his tear ducts watering. It had been so long since he had seen sunlight, but this, this tugged at memories he wasn't even sure he had. He stared at the stars until they blurred into strips of light as Armitage put them into hyperdrive.