STEALTH and TRACK: BOOK ONE

C H A P T E R T W E N T Y-S E V E N

Faster. I enforced upon myself. Faster. Faster! FASTER!

My inner encouragement seemed to work, as my fleet feet picked up and at my max, my toes barely touched the surface before I pushed off to surge forward. At last, I caught sight of the hangar we had parked the ship in. Behind me, I could hear one of Crosshair's vessels hovering along the wreckage, scanning it with its spotlights to find us. It was possible they already knew where the Marauder was. Which meant I needed to pick up the pace even more and have the ship ready when everyone else arrived.

The hangar was perched on top of a mass of crumbled cruisers, and so, in one last effort, I began climbing. It was the hardest I've pushed myself in a long time. My arms burned from the strain of hoisting my body up. Hunter and Omega must've have already reached the ship...

I was only few more feet from the platform when... I heard two blasters fire just a split second in between each other. My heart sank to my gut when Omega's voice screamed, "Hunter!" 

No. No, no, no. I wrenched myself up, just in time to see a familiar ugly face.

Cad Bane.

I watched the Duros, donning that ridiculous wide-brim hat, board his shuttle with an unconscious Omega hooked under his arm.

"BANE!!!" I screamed as I sprinted towards him. The bounty hunter glanced over his shoulder and a disgusting smirk spread across his thin lips. Tipping his hat to me, he taunted me, "We'll tango another time, my lady." in that low raspy voice. Helplessly, I watched him fly off with Omega.

...Hunter.

My watering eyes fell upon the sergeant, who lied unmoving to my right. "Hunter..." I breathed and dropped to my knees next to him. On his chest plate, was a smoking hole where a blaster had found its mark. "No, no, no...Wake up, Hunter...Please..."

Before I could remove his helmet, the hangar erupted with more blaster fire. Wrecker, Tech, and Echo appeared with Crosshair's forces right behind them. "Fern!" they called to me. "Get to the ship!"

"Wrecker!" I cried, gripping Hunter's hand that fell at his side. "Hunter's been shot! Help me!" The big guy wasted no time hoisting the sergeant's body up, slinging his arm around his neck. Groans escaped his modulator, alerting me he was still alive. Echo and Tech provided cover; the latter ordered me to leave Hunter to Wrecker and get myself, who was fully vulnerable, on board first. Reluctantly, I did as I was told. Once we were all aboard, the intellectual clone piloted us out of the hangar.

What happened next, I couldn't tell you. I know Crosshair was pursuing us, but my priority was on Hunter. I helped Wrecker prop him down on a chair and I removed his helmet, gently catching his jawline before his head dropped. He was panting and heaving in pain from his wound. His face was drenched in sweat.

"He...He took her. He took Omega." he coughed.

"I know, I know, Hunter." I shushed him, using my other hand to wipe his brow and cheek clean. "I saw him and I couldn't save her."

"We have...to get her...back..."

"We will, we will." I bit my lip as I watched the anguish set in his face. And when his eyes opened and locked onto mine, there was only guilt and longing in them, crushing my heart into a million pieces. "Please, just stop talking."

"Get us out of here!" Echo shouted from the controls.

"No...Tell Tech...We can't leave the system without her."

"I know Bane." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "He's no longer here. But we can't find Omega if we are captured or killed by Crosshair. So please..." My voice cracked. "let us...let me take care of you."

In response, our eyes never straying from one another's, he sighed heavily and gave in to his exhaustion and nodded.

"Tech, Echo, make the jump the moment you are clear." I shouted, at which the two of them hesitated at first, as if they weren't used to receiving orders from someone other than the sergeant, much less me. But they did as they were told, and the Marauder escaped Bracca and Crosshair through hyperspace.

"Hunter?" I breathed, holding his head in my hands. "Can you still hear me? We'll get Omega back. I swear it."

"I believe you." he answered quietly.

"Okay," I nodded, a small smile crept at the corners of my mouth. "Let's get you patched up."