STEALTH and TRACK: BOOK ONE

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

"I'm pinpointing the exact coordinates." He worked away at the keyboard. "Hang on!"

"Hurry, Echo." I squeezed his shoulder from behind, as if to send him energy to find her. A few, protracted moments later, he steered the ship into hyperspace. My fingers unclasped from his shoulder, and I gazed around me at the squad. Hunter had collapsed back into the seat, the adrenaline had evidently receded. Wrecker began to uncharacteristically pace up and down the corridor. Even Tech tapped his foot with impatience. I sighed, knowing all we can do now is wait.

But who knows what will happen between now and when we arrive? If Bane caught her while she sent out the signal...What would he do to her? I instantly shook the distressing thought out of my head. My body then froze; my eyes narrowed as a revelation bloomed over the anxiety. 

Look at you, Fern... Look at how you've changed in these past months. You've grown soft. My mind was right. I could not recall a time I was so overwhelmed with worry in my whole life, even when it was just me and Hunter or when I was on a risky solo mission.

I made a lap around the cockpit and rested a hand on each of the boys' shoulders, just to provide some reassurance. I didn't know what else to do. They all seemed to appreciate the gesture, for they all returned a kind smile. Yes, even Wired-Brain.

Finally, the ship jerked out of hyperspace and sailed down the foggy atmosphere of the desolated planet. It was almost impossible to navigate, but the Marauder remained on course to the coordinates that Omega had radared. If I had not been staring out the windshield, we would've missed it...

"There!" My reflexes jolted and I snatched the steering from Echo, wrenching the controls straight into a nose dive. "Tech, get the magnetizing mechanism ready on my count!"

"Understood."

"Fern," Echo used a brash tone. "What is it? You need to pull up..."

"No," My eyes narrowed, and then burst wide open when I caught sight of a round, sky-diving capsule. "On three, Tech! One...Two...Three!" The spectacled clone activated the magnet and it snagged the capsule out of the air. I then strained to pull the ship up at its normal level. Luckily, I received help from Echo from behind; his human hand reached around and clasped down on her left hand and yanked back. The instant Tech set the autopilot, we all leaped to the hatch, which hissed upon opening.

"Omega? You in there?" Wrecker stuck his head down.

"W-wrecker?" The sound of pure relief in her voice triggered tears to my eyes. The big guy hoisted the young girl up and hugged her tightly. I noticed her hands were cuffed in front of her body. Then, sniffling soft tears, she leaned her head into Hunter's stomach, in which he winced in pain, yet then... 

As Omega cried over the nightmare of her life being repeatedly endangered, Hunter smiled, relieved and almost lovingly, down on her and knelt down, gently gripping her shoulders. "Are you okay, Omega? Are you hurt?" His voice was kind, soothing.

"Why is this happening?" she whimpered.

I stood behind her, next to Echo, who rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, "Hunter...you have to tell her..."

"Tell me what?"

Hunter, reluctantly, explained to her how valuable she was to the Kaminoans. Omega continued to cry softly. "I saw something in that facility... Something awful, and I think—"

"Stop," I could not take it anymore. My chest could not compress any tighter. I viscerally dropped to my knees, swiftly used my vibro-knife to slash the cuffs off, and pulled her into my arms all in one motion, holding her head to my shoulder and smoothing out her blonde hair with my right hand. Omega continued to cry and I breathed, "Shush... You're safe now." I strengthened my tone. "This will never happen again. I swear it."

Omega surrendered to my embrace and wept. She collapsed on my knee, wrapped her arms around my neck, and buried her face in my shoulder. While I held her, I gazed up at Hunter with soft eyes, rimmed with tears. "I promise, Half-Pint, nothing is going to harm you. Not while we're around."

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THIRD PERSON POV

Despite feeling comfort in Fern's arms and words, Omega still had doubts about her safety. She couldn't sleep and left her room to join Hunter at the main console. Fern, half-asleep, noticed almost immediately and quietly followed her and hovered just close enough to overhear them talking.

"I don't want to end up an experiment in a tube..." Omega breathed, hugging her knees up on the pilot's seat. "Lama Su will keep sending bounty hunters..."

"He can send everyone in the galaxy." Hunter argued. "You have us."

"You can't fight them all..." The young girl buried her head in her arms, and Fern unfortunately agreed with her. They could not, in fact, keep going on like this. Eventually, they would be exhausted...and may lose Omega forever. The female soldier watched the sergeant gently slide out of his seat to one knee and spin the pilot's seat to where the young girl faced him.

"Omega," he said, then again with assertion. "Omega, look at me. You are never going back to Kamino."

"...Promise?" She sniffed back tears.

"I promise."

"I promise, too." Fern entered the touching moment and lowered herself next to Hunter, gazing up into Omega's round eyes, rimmed with tears. "This is going to end. Just you wait, Half-Pint." She swallowed Omega's nimble fingers in hers and squeezed them. "Why don't you go get some sleep? And tomorrow, I'll teach you how to braid my hair." The young girl smiled, feeling better, and took up on Fern's offer.

Once she retired to her room, both adult clones rose from their knees. Hunter seated himself back in the copilot's chair while Fern lingered over him, viewing the endless starry void outside the windshield. "How's your wound?" she breathed, struggling to suppress her overwhelming emotion. Hunter's heightened senses immediately detected this and offered her to sit. She complied, but instead of the pilot's seat, she plopped herself in the crevice between Hunter and the armrest.

At first, the sergeant froze, unsure how to respond, but as she snuggled herself in, her legs crossed over his lap and temple resting on his non-injured shoulder, he viscerally grew relaxed by her presence. Fern, on the other hand, overwhelmed with absolute exhaustion, began longing for a familiar feeling she had not experienced in awhile...

"Do you think," she exhaled in an airy sigh, her eyes closed. "Crosshair is out of our reach?"

"He's under the influence of the inhibitor chip," Hunter replied in a low tone. "He doesn't know what he's doing nor does he have a choice. If we could just somehow get him alone and take him to a medical bay, Tech could remove, like he did for all of us."

"Mhmm..." Fern hummed.

"Why do you ask?" he questioned, very curious on the sensitive subject.

"After rescuing Omega," she sighed sleepily. "somehow, I feel like we are not quite complete..."

"I know what you mean." Hunter exhaled. His hand reached up and rested on her temple, his fingers rubbed over her headband and hair. Eventually, he sensed she'd fallen asleep and did not want to disturb her. He left her exactly where she positioned herself. His other arm reached around and carefully pressed against her back, rolling and holding her closer to his chest. And suddenly, something inside him had awaken...a feeling that had been tucked away for many years...