𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 - 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 ✔︎

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

"we got your back, general, as always," the clone commander spoke, his voice echoing.

"and i always have yours," the jedi smiled back. she returned her eyes to the viewport as their ship came out of hyperspace. she folded her hands behind her back. she sighed, attempting to shrug off the anxiety that weighed her down. the clone wars were ending, and she needed to do her job.

as her cruiser, the starlight slowed to a halt, she knew that she needed to get fighters in the air. something stopped her. she blinked several times, trying to dissipate the oncoming headache. but it wasn't just any headache. screams echoed through her head, and words spoken by none other than anakin skywalker and obi-wan kenobi. she winced, bringing a finger up to her temple and gently pressing; what was going on?

"somethings wrong," she turned to face her troops but came face to face with the nose of a blaster. she swallowed and thought for a moment.

"commander, what are you doing?" she demanded.

"good soldiers, follow orders."

______

it had been a while since she's seen the clones standing before her. it had been a while since she's seen a clone in general. vana scanned the troopers' faces in front of her, thankful they hadn't shot her down.

"vana!" omega exclaimed, causing the woman in question to jump. nevertheless, she knelt to the little girl's level, giving omega more leverage as she wrapped her arms around her neck. vana couldn't be angry with omega for using her real name, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't more on edge.

hunter, on the other hand, took note of how gentle vana was with omega. he watched as vana's body relaxed and how the smile on her face seemed genuine. she was soft yet strong. not stopping himself, he observed the scars on her shoulders, the softness of her skin, the tired look in her eyes; she was a warrior.

"if you want to talk, we must go to a more...quiet location. as small as the population is here, this bar can get busy." vana explained, standing up to her full height. she gave the togruta woman — whose name was sheila — a warm smile. sheila reminded vana a lot of someone she once knew, someone that was now dead.

"right, of course, general." echo was more than happy to see she was alright, but he wondered about the fate of the other generals he worked under.

"there's no need to call me that, echo. i'm not a general anymore." she offered him a sad smile as she grabbed a cloak off of a hook. she slipped it over her shoulders, taking in the sting from her own words; her past life was gone, and she'd never get it back.

_________

they walked a relatively short distance before arriving at a small building. vana walked inside, hanging her cloak up on a hook beside the door. it was small, but it was cozy. there was a small lounge area to the left and a small kitchen behind that. the bedroom was fairly large; vana liked her sleeping space.

"i didn't know you were going to settle here, general- i mean, uh, vana." her name felt foreign on echo's tongue; he felt dirty for using it. he just had to keep telling himself that she told him to use her name.

"i would move around, but it's hard. most other systems are under empire control. dantooine is one of the few neutral systems." she explained as she took a seat in her lounge area.

"i just can't believe you're alive," hunter spoke soft words, which surprised those in the room. his eyes were trained on her, a depth to them.

"honestly, i can't either." she agreed. there was a silence as the clones of clone force 99 sat around her, much like the cadets did when vana trained on kamino. she used to tell them stories, the victorious ones, of course, to give hope to the little ones. when she finally got a look at them, she realized one of them was missing.

"how did you survive?" tech was the second of the bad batch to speak up. he sounded like he was afraid to ask her a question, which made her smile a little.

"it wasn't easy. on that cruiser, with my men firing at me, there wasn't one place i could hide. my commander knew every nook and cranny in that ship; i made sure he knew that for safety reasons. guess it backfired in the end. i eventually used an escape pod, being picked up by some scavengers. they brought me to dantooine." it was a quick and easy explanation, no feelings behind it. she tried not to shed a tear, pause, or anything like that. vana felt that if she stopped herself for too long, she'd lose it.

"i'm sorry," hunter whispered. his face showed genuine concern, but they did have a more pressing question to ask her.

"we came here to-"

"what about your father? do you know where he is?" echo interrupted hunter with a daunting question, one she was afraid someone would ask. she stood up and walked behind the couch, resting her hands on the back of the sofa.

"i don't know where he is. last time i heard, he went to mustafar. after that, i don't know." vana answered with a heavy heart. her voice was quiet and rough. she hated bringing up her father since that usually meant memories of her mother's death were brought to the front of her head too.

"i'm sorry to hear that, but we do have a reason why we're here," hunter sent a glare over at echo before returning his gaze to the former jedi knight.

"oh, do tell." she sat back down on the couch, her chest releasing the tension she'd felt earlier. the bad batch continued to tell them about crosshair and why he'd not been there. she felt awful for not noticing, but it drove her to answer their question.

"can you help us get him back?" hunter asked. hope swam in his eyes as he sat forwards. it was subtle, but he was eager to know her answer. the same expression was held on wrecker and omega's faces, their eyes lighting up with hope.

"i will," she nodded her head. she saw the relief wash over their faces as if she had just saved them.

"do you have your lightsabers?" wrecker asked, standing up. of course, he'd only be concerned with her weapons, but she found that quite adorable.

"why, of course." vana stuck her hand out, feeling the force pull her lightsaber towards her. it felt nice to be using the force again, but she wondered at what cost. the metal contacted her hand, sending a shiver down her spine. she ignited the saber, a blue hue illuminating their faces. it's twin soon became grasped in vana's hand, the same blue blade emitting from it.

"let's get down to business, shall we?" she has hope as well, but what she didn't sense in time was the scout right outside her window, who would most definitely be reporting her to the empire.

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i'm spitting out updates like there's no tomorrow let me tell you. BUUUTTT we get to see miss vana and hunter action, and even though it's not a lot ITS STILL SOME OK? anyways anyways, thank you so so much for y'all's support! i really appreciate it like no joke y'all are the best. stay safe and healthy folks!