STEALTH and TRACK: BOOK ONE

C H A P T E R E I G H T

"You tell me, Fern." Hunter crossed his arms. "Because what you claim isn't true either. When Clone Force 99 was first proposed, I wanted nothing more but have you next to me. Yes, we had a fallout at our last mission, but I knew we could recover with our new squad. Together. But then, when I heard you rejected us, I assumed - "

"Wait, you heard?" Fern's dark eyes darted away from the window and directly into the sergeant's and narrowed in confusion as Hunter confessed. "Who told you I rejected you?"

"It was Nala Se." Hunter frowned as he too began to realize. "She told me that you came to her after we had returned from Hoth that you wanted no part in Clone Force 99 when you were offered a position."

"Nala Se told you I didn't want to be part of the squad?" Fern repeated with disbelief. Hunter silently nodded, causing the female clone to clench her jaw. A pint of rage escaped in the form of her hammering her fist on the table. "Ugh, I knew it!"

"Fern?" Instead of reacting to her sudden outburst, Hunter's eyes softened, breathing in deeply and exhaling slowly. "Let me guess, Nala Se told you that I didn't want you on the team?"

Fern slumped her chest over the table's surface, digging her chin into her arm. "Actually, Lama Su did, but his word came from Nala Se... They purposely split us up. Why?"

"I'm not sure." the sergeant admitted. He was stumped, but now the truth was out and he had never felt so unsettled before. "Do you think...it's because of what happened on Hoth?"

At the mention of their last mission, Hunter thought Fern was going to ignite another debate, but when he gazed upon her from across the table, she exhibited sadness. That was a rare emotion for Fern to undergo. He shook his head as he bit the inside of his lip. "52 missions..." he breathed, compelling his ex-partner to lift her head.

"What did you say?"

"52 missions." Hunter repeated. "That's how many missions you and I successfully completed." He then scoffed. "Out of 53 in total, we failed one, and they manifested this rift between us because of it? That can't be all."

"Even if there's more to it," Fern propped her cheek on her fist. She began chewing the inside of her bottom lip. "it doesn't change the fact they didn't want us working together anymore..."

Hunter paused as he studied her perplexed disposition. "We can change it now."

"What?"

"Fern, times are changing rapidly by the hour." Hunter said, folding his hands on top of the table. "We are no longer bound to the Kaminoans, so their words mean nothing now. It means we all have free will."

"Hunter, get to the point." Fern urged.

"You can stay with us."

The clones' matching eyes locked for the first time in what seemed like forever. Both experienced an oddly-familiar surge in their chests they haven't felt since they were partners. The sergeant really studied Fern this time: Her face was slimmer, but her lips were still that dark shade, matching her eyes. Her long raven-black hair was always braided in one thick strand down between her shoulder blades. Just above her hair line she wore a gray head band that had the Republic emblem stitched on it. She looked the exact same she did years ago; she even wore the same outfit: a skin-tight, black body suit underneath gray fabric that wrapped around her thin body like a tunic. She always believed clone armor slowed her down. On her arms, were her weaponized gauntlets, and on her belt was her vibro-knife. His lips grinned to one side. "Fern, you can join Clone Force 99. Just like what we both wanted from the beginning. What do you say?"

Fern didn't say, for Cut, Suu, Wrecker, and the children appeared, announcing they were all ready to move out. Fern viscerally rose from her seat and offered to help the Twi'lek with the luggage. Hunter followed suit with Cut, accepting he and the female clone would finish their talk later.

Unless...

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FERN'S POV

Once the crew arrived in town, Hunter contacted Tech, informing him we were heading towards the shuttle boarding zone. At that point, the intellectual clone was in the process of forging chain codes. One of them would be for me...

While we continued through the bazaar, Hunter keeping tabs with Tech, my head was swimming. How could Nala Se and Lama Su do this to us? There are several matters not adding up and there are too many holes in the story...

I was so blinded by my thoughts, I bumped into Hunter's back when he and everyone came to a stop. "By herself?! You let her go by herself?!"

"Well, we didn't let her." Tech corrected on the comm.

"What's happening?" I questioned, watching from my peripheral vision Wrecker sprinting back towards the impound lot. Hunter grunted, "Omega's on her way with the chain codes. Tech was supposed to deliver them, but she took them first."

"Can she ever follow instructions?" I rolled my eyes, but I noticed on my left some clone officers watching. I reached over and gripped his bare forearm. "Hunter, calm down. We can't make a scene here."

"If something happens to her—"

"Hunter." I urged with a firm squeeze. I glanced to everyone else. "Keep moving, everyone. Act natural." I grasped onto Shaeeah's hand to not look suspicious and followed the line to the shuttle. The closer we got, however, the more nervous Cut became and almost aborted until...

"I'm here." Omega's voice was, for once, a blessing. "And I have the chain codes."

"Yeah, Omega!" Shaeeah cheered quietly.

"Not bad, Half-Pint." I smiled down on her as I ruffled her hair. I noticed the young clone had removed her Kaminoan pendant. Small wisps of blonde bangs swept across her forehead now.

"Tech accidentally made six instead of five." Omega mentioned, handing them to Cut.

"You, didn't tell her?" Cut inquired, briefly glaring at Hunter, who in return had a moment of guilt written on his face. I tried to ignore it as I selected one of the codes from the stack.

As the Lawquane family continued down the line, I stayed in between; I couldn't resist watching Hunter kneel down and pulled the young girl closer with his hand on her shoulder. As he tried to explain to her that leaving with Cut and Suu was for the best, my mind went array.

"You can stay with us...Fern, you can join Clone Force 99. Just like what we both wanted from the beginning. What do you say?" Hunter's words echoed in my ears.

No, you made your decision on Kamino. When you landed on Saleucami. When the chain codes were offered. Fern, you can't stay with them...

"But...I want to stay with you..." Omega pleaded with a soft voice, and I noticed Hunter's eyes change...

"Quit holding up the line." A clone officer ordered, and it seemed to snap the leader of Clone Force 99 back to the present. Shaking his head to the side, he urged, "You have to go, Omega. It's...for your own good." He rose to his feet and pushed her along towards me.

That's when our eyes met...and this time, I couldn't look away. How the spotlight behind me beamed onto his face, I could see the shadow etching out his half-face skull tattoo. His dark irises gleamed.

"So this is it?" he called out to me, and I couldn't bring myself to say a word. Not even a quip.

Instead, I turned on my heel, shouldered my bag, and nudged a hesitant Omega along. My tongue felt numb. As we waited for all our chain codes to be approved, I glanced over my shoulder one more time, only to find Hunter had already started his sprint back to the ship where the other three members of the Bad Batch were waiting for him...

Suddenly, our codes were handed back to us, and now it seemed like both Omega and I were averse to take another step... For me, it was like there was a taut string tied around my waist resisting my feet to move forward. 

Suu looked at both of us. "Ready?" she said with a kind smile.

Omega gazed up at me, and I down to her, and I made my decision...

We both did.