Another Batcher (Hunter)

Five

*Talia's POV*

The ship is quiet as we speed through hyperspace. Crosshair is laid nicely on a bunk, eyes closed as he sleeps. Wrecker is above him, arms dangling over the edge of the small bed, his snores filling the hull. Tech is camped out in the bunk above mine, Echo in the cockpit, and Hunter sat at one of the computers in the hull.

I sigh as I turn over, trying to get some sleep before we land. The batch has been assigned to steal intel from a separatist military base, which I can only imagine will wear me out. After a while, I decide it's pointless to try and sleep, and push myself out of the bunk. Hunter's back stays towards me as I creep past the others.

I tiptoe behind his seat, stopping to read the large screen. Information about the Separatist base is pulled up, filling the screen with words and details of the base. I jump slightly as I hear him snore, finally noticing that he had fallen asleep. His wrist is slouched over the arm rest, and I decide to join Echo instead.

He turns as I approach, sending me a kind smile. I sit beside him, staring out into the sea of blue. "Can't sleep?" He asks softly, his deep voice echoing through the cockpit. I shrug, pulling my knees up to my chest, "just anxious I guess." He hums in response, looking back out in front of him.

"This should be a simple mission," he tells me, trying to ease my nerves. "For you guys, I feel like I'll just be in the way." He turns towards me as the words leave my lips, a bit of a shocked expression on his face. "Why'd you think that?" He questions. "I don't know what I'm doing, I'm a liability. I probably shouldn't even be here," I mumble, dropping my head at the last words.

He stays silent for a minute, and I don't dare look over at him, not wanting his reaction to confirm my words. "You're one of us now," he finally responds, his voice steady and confident. I stay silent now, glancing towards him again. "We don't abandon our own." I sigh at his words, looking out the glass once more. "You'll get the hang of this, it takes time," he reassures, and I smile softly at the words.

We sit there for a while, enjoying the silence. The others slowly start waking, and I take that as my sign to gear up. I head back to the hull, slowly attaching my armor. "Landing in 5," Tech yells across the ship. I finally managed to attach all the pieces, the ship swaying as we touch down. The boys start filing out, and I quickly follow, placing my helmet atop my head.

Hunter leads the way through the rocky planet, keeping low as we go. He signals Crosshair, who heads off a different direction, then we keep going. The group is quiet as we go, the large military base coming into view. Large, black walls surround the area, layering in like an unfinished pyramid.

Crosshair's voice startles me as it comes through my helmet, "droid patrols on top of the wall, some inside. No visible droids outside the base." I spot some droids on top, walking back and forth in their assigned section. "We could scale the wall easily, there's layered ledges," Echo whispers, leaning towards Hunter. He nods in response, raising his wrist to relay the plan to Crosshair.

He then motions us forward, and we run to the wall. I place my back against it, as Wrecker starts lifting us up. "Your turn, kid," he whispers. I place a hand on the wall, another on his shoulder as I step into his hands. He lifts me up, Hunter grabbing my hands and pulling me the rest of the way.

I help pull Tech up, Wrecker pulling himself up with ease. We go up a few more layers, sticking close to the wall as we go. As we get to the second to last layer, Hunter goes up first, pulling the two droids down to us, Echo and Tech disposing of them quickly. Hunter motions us up, and I glance down into the base.

There are multiple small buildings, a few tanks, lots of droids, and one tall building in the center. "There," Tech states, pointing to the tall building. We climb down a ladder into the base, taking cover behind a nearby building. Heavy steps of droids march passed, Echo glancing out to scope the base. "Crosshair, we are heading to the center building," Hunter relays.