STEALTH and TRACK: BOOK ONE

C H A P T E R F O R T Y-F O U R

"Fern, you know Rex." Echo argued. "You've fought beside him, just like me, so you know how important this is since he reached out to us."

"Echo," Fern knotted arms tightened in defense, but couldn't bring herself to snap back. In fact, she felt hurt by his persisting glare. The way the cyborg-clone leaned forward with his brows furrowed and his mouth deeply frowned... She didn't want to fight him, but she also didn't want to yield -- her gut twisted with caution. Hunter noticed this, too, and took the initiative to surrender.

"Fine," he huffed. "we'll check things out. But, I don't like it."

Tech, taking that as his cue, switched coordinates. Fern, with a light huff, retreated to her and Omega's room. When the young girl started to race after her, Hunter gently gripped her shoulder and lightly shook his head. The female clone pulled the curtain closed -- not for privacy, rather, this was her way of picking her fights. While she strongly opposed the sudden mission change, she'd rather back down and remain on good terms with her squad mates. Despite the couple months since they escaped Kamino, Fern still felt relatively...unfamiliar with belonging in a squad. Perhaps, subconsciously, she just wanted to be compatible with their unorthodox dynamic. She loved a challenge, and she hardly missed the solitude she'd felt during the war. If that required her to waive authority on certain decisions, regardless of logic, then she'd be willing to undertake the endeavor. A few hours passed, and Fern was snapped out of her deep thoughts by the ship lightly jerking out of hyperspace.  As they approached the lush terrestrial planet of Daro, she returned to the cockpit with a fresh, yet vigilant mindset.

"Tech," she spoke from behind his pilot seat. "fly us in low to avoid any tracking scanners. I have a feeling the Empire may have a presence here."

"We're banking on a clone we don't even know." Hunter shook his head, grumbling to himself. He glanced to his left and locked with Fern's eyes, yet he didn't flinched. That gaze...seemed to radiate optimism. At first, the sergeant was perplexed, yet settled into the assumption Fern had her acceded to her internal conflictions. She did not veer her head forward until he responded with a calming sigh and a nod.

The Marauder touched down a few kilometers from where the distress signal was beckoning. As soon as everyone was geared up, Tech led the way towards it, eventually locating it attached under a dead log. To no one's surprise, there was no reg to be found. The air around them was quiet and the forest seemed undisturbed to any onlooker. Unless one were an enhanced tracker like Hunter, who immediately noticed scuffed marks in the dirt. After examining it, he deduced they were already too late.

"The clone was being hunted." he gathered. "And was dragged... That way." He slipped his helmet back on and hastened into full dash through a weeded path, following along a natural stone wall. Once they cleared an opening, they were greeted by a rocky slope that stopped at a monumental sierra range.

"Hang on." Hunter halted and once again knelt down, brushing the dirt with his fingers. "There's something here...inside that mountain." His electromagnetic senses, his enhanced deviant trait, were shocking into overdrive.

"I believe you are right." Tech confirmed. "My scans are being jammed."

"You said there was nothing on this planet, Fern." Wrecked questioned the female clone.

"I also said the Empire may have a presence here." She stuck her tongue out at the muscular clone.

"Wrecker, you and Omega go back to the ship—" Hunter started before Omega objected. The sergeant stood his ground. "Coming here was up for debate. This isn't." The young girl, hanging her head with disappointment, reluctantly followed Wrecker back to the Marauder.

The four remaining clones sprinted for the base of the mountain to begin their ascension. It was a daunting and dangerous feat. They assisted each other if anyone required it. Fern, every so often, gazed around her, aweing the spacious view, then craning her neck to estimate how much farther to the peak. It wasn't the easiest task when she was practically perpendicular to the surface below her. "What do you think, is in that mountain?" she huffed as she flexed her hip bone to reach her leg up into a foot hole that was leveled with her ribs. She then heaved and pulled herself up on a small jut. Hunter stretched his arm down to her, in which she clasped onto his wrist. Hoisting her up to him, their hands locked between them, he responded, "Only one way to find out."

At last, they all reached the flat top and dashed to the what revealed to be a massive, fully-functional military base fabricated within the mountain like a metal funnel. Thick, tall trees were a natural veil to the spectacular structure.

"Okay..." Fern gulped. "It seems the Empire has more than just a presence here..."

"Let's get a closer look." Hunter led the way. They skidded down the dirt slope and stepped onto the cylindered border of the base. Lowering themselves on their stomachs, once they reached the edge, Fern almost experienced vertigo at the sheer drop the funnel reached. She couldn't even see the bottom...

"I'm clocking a couple of commandos and squads of clone troopers." Echo reported one of the open hangars through his binospecs. "And they've updated their armor."

"Let me see." The sergeant grabbed the specs.

"The mountain's natural composition makes this base well-fortified and nearly impenetrable." Tech calculated.

"This military base could not have been built overnight... It's construction must've began years ago... So, how come there are no Republic records, or any habitants until after the war ended?" Fern pondered aloud in a mutter. Tech glanced over at her, impressed that she deduced something so profound.

"This is no longer just a simple extraction." Hunter decided. "Let's get back to the Marauder and leave for Rex." He and Tech scooted himself back and rose to their feet to depart.

"But, what about the mission?" Echo asked.

"We do not know for certain if CC-5576 is even in there...or if he's still alive." Tech explained.

"We would be going in blind without any reinforcements." Hunter added.

Fern was about to argue her point, until her mind was changed when Echo pulled a clever move. "You did that on Skako Minor when you rescued me... I'd still be trapped in that place if you hadn't." He rose to their feet, and Fern followed suit. "If there's a chance that trooper's being held against his will, we have to try to get him out."

"Echo..." she sighed, and squeezed his armored shoulder. At first, it seemed like she was going to object when she said, "It is incredibly risky," but a sigh of relief escaped Echo's modulator when she finished with, "but you are right. The boys saved you on their own. They can do it again for this reg." She smiled at Hunter, and although she couldn't see his reaction, she was certain she impressed him.

"Okay," he sighed, convinced. "The four of us will—"

"The three of you." Fern corrected. "Four clones is too many bodies. You guys go on. I'll return to the ship to inform Wrecker and Omega about the plan. Comm us when -- if you need reinforcements. And boys," She crossed her arms and proceeded to walk in between them, gazing upon her three friends and praying they would succeed without any interference. "Be careful."