Another Batcher (Hunter)

Eleven

*Talia's POV*

We huddle against a demolished building on the outskirts of the Separatist base, waiting for the battalion to engage and be our distraction. "Ready, Tiny?" Hunter asks from beside me. I glance up at him, though our helmets block our faces.

"Ready when you are," I reply, peeking around the corner of the building. Blaster bolts start in the distance, and soon droids are pushing forward, firing back on the troops. Cody sneaks around towards me, peeking around the building.

"Kriff- they have forces all the way out here," he hisses, turning to the rest of us. "We've got one shot," a 212th member states, who I learned was Waxer. Cody turns and peeks the corner again, "we can't, once they know we are here the mission is compromised."

We stand in silence for a moment, thinking. Heavy steps getting louder, and Hunter moves in front of me to peek the corner. "Tech," he says, drawing out his name. "I'm thinking," Tech replies, staring down into his datapad. I glance around, spotting a hatch on the broken road.

"We can't go through them..What if we go under?" I question, pointing to the hatch. The group turns and looks, and Wrecker gives me a rough pat on the back, "haha, good thinking kid!" He jogs over to the hatch, lifting it open.

We file down the ladder, the light disappearing as we go down. My feet splash as we get to the bottom, and I look around as we wait for the others to get down here. It is incredibly dark, and looks like your average sewer system.

The edges of the circular tunnel each have a flat ledge, the center a river of gunk. The water levels seem to be lower than normal, probably due to the town being abandoned since the Separatist arrived. Wrecker hops down last, Tech leading the way through the tunnels. Hunter falls into step beside me, handing me a flashlight.

I thank his quietly as I flick it on, scanning over the tunnel "I have gathered a map of the sewer tunnels, there seems to be access points relatively close to each of the generators," Tech states, glancing up from his datapad.

"We should split up," Echo suggests. "I agree," Cody states, and we stop walking. He pulls out a holodevice and the map of the base reappears, the generators glowing red. Cody's helmet angles up towards Hunter, who steps forward to split us into groups. "Wrecker and Tech can hit this generator," he states, pointing to a dot on the hologram.

"Crosshair, you can go with Cody and Boil, here. Waxer and Echo, here. Talia and I will hit the last generator, here." He glances up as he finishes, everyone nodding in approval. "I will send everyone the coordinates for their generator," Tech speaks up, tapping away on his datapad.

My wrist lights up a moment later, and I glance down at it. "I got the tracking Tiny, let's move," Hunter tells me, then leads us down a side tunnel. The others split off as well, and the tunnels fall silent. We jog through the tunnels, reaching a ladder a few minutes later.

Hunter climbs first, gently pushing the hatch open and looking around, before opening it all the way. I continue climbing, grabbing his outstretched hand as I reach the top. "Droids are everywhere, keep low," he instructs, sliding the hatch closed.

I follow him through destroyed buildings, surrounded by the sound of droids and blaster fire. I glance up, noticing the blue hue surrounding us from above. Four large beams of blue light can be seen rising to the dome, powering the shield. As we approach our assigned generator, a voice comes through my comm. "We've reached our Generator, on standby," Crosshair states, the comm going silent.

"We're in position," Echo states. We continue on, getting closer and closer to the generator. As we round a building, a small clearing with the generator comes into view. Three battle droids surround it, standing guard. We duck back behind the building, pushing our backs against it.