FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

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

"OMEGA!" I screamed sharply, charging right to her and snatching her small arm. "What were you thinking leaving the ship in this place?! You are coming with me right now!" I began dragging her back towards the door.

"No, wait, Fern, there's—" Omega tried to pull away.

"NO, OMEGA!" I roared, my enraged voice echoed in the warehouse as I whipped my head around and glared down at her. "YOU HAVE TO STOP!!!

Omega stopped struggling, her round brown eyes widened with fright. My iron grip on her arm tightened.

"I am DONE with your constant disobedience! Do you actually enjoy causing trouble for your squad?!" I scolded. "When are you going to learn your reckless actions affect us all?! Do you hear me, Omega?! It ends here and now! No more missions until its embedded in your memory!"

"B-but, Fern—"

"ENOUGH! You will do as I say, because I am your —"

I froze, realizing what I had almost blurted out...My breath shortened in sharp inhales when I became conscious to the tears rimming Omega's large, frightened eyes. Her bottom lip quivered and her whole body shrunk away in guilt.

"Ome—"

"Fern! What's going on?" Echo called and rushed to us, but before he could acknowledge the situation, a bellowing growl resonated in the warehouse followed by deep-toned droid chatter. "What was that?"

"T-that," Omega swallowed her tears back and exhaled a deep breath. "is what I was trying to tell you, Fern. There's a kid who needs our help."

"A-a kid?" I softly breathed. I couldn't break free from the mortified contorting in my heart as my words flooded back into my ears. My trembling fingers unhinged and dropped the girl's arm.

"Where?" Echo asked. Though he was wearing his helmet, I could tell he was silently concerned about me. Rightfully so...He probably was able to find us because of my hollering...I avoided eye contact as I swallowed the lump forming in my throat.

"This way!" Omega pointed and dashed off with her bow in hand.

"Fern. Fern!" Echo shook my shoulder.

"Y-yeah?"

"I'll go with Omega. You go find the others to tell them what's going on."

"Right." I nodded and refocused. With one last guilt-ridden glance to where Omega had gone, I headed in the opposite direction. My eyes stung from the image of Omega's terrified ones after enduring my harsh words. I violently shook my head. No, focus! Find Hunter. There will be time later to discuss what happened.

I heard blaster fire coming from the warehouse behind me. Still jogging through the corridor, I reached my gauntlet to my mouth and activated my comm. "Hunter, come in."

"Tell me that blaster fire wasn't you."

"I wish I could." I groaned. "More accurately, it's Omega and Echo. We need backup; I'm almost to your — Hunter?" I turned one last corner and came face to face with the sergeant. Tech and Wrecker were also with him and they all had their weapons drawn. There was no time to explain; I pulled on Hunter's arm and gestured the other two to follow me. We sprinted back down the way I came.

We arrived just in time, too, as Hunter disarmed an Axis droid upon entering a dim-lit section of the warehouse. "They're with us." he said. I caught sight of Echo and Omega taking cover behind stacked crates. On the girl's left, was a small furry creature wielding its own blaster. I gasped to myself and breathed, "A Wookie..." The gurgling growls I'd heard earlier were from him...and Omega must've heard him, too...

"I would advise you take your soldiers and extricate yourselves from the situation." The boss Axis droid exhorted. Between the split squad, there were about seven to eight mechanical adversaries, all menacing and programmed to secure their cargo — at least, that was what I deduced was the Wookie child's situation.

"No!" Omega protested, readying her phaser bow. "They're going to hurt him!"

"Oh, in the contrary," The Axis leader said, rotating its head to the girl. "The Wookie is worth a great deal to our buyer. Alive."

"You can't smuggle living beings." Hunter growled.

"For the right price, I can do whatever I want. Now stand down or be destroyed."

Suddenly, the nostalgic sound of a lightsaber activating and the battle cry of a Wookie echoed in the warehouse. I almost choked on my own breath as I witnessed the small creature wielding his green-blade weapon jumped in front of Omega when the droids opened fire. "Fern! Get Omega and the Wookie back to the ship!" Hunter ordered as he and the others engaged to give us cover.

"On it!" I circled around, unsheathing my vibro knife and slicing down two droids in my way and firing my blaster once right through a droid's head. "Come on, this way! Move it, Half-Pint!" I allowed the two kids to run ahead of me. The Jedi had dulled his lightsaber. The boys filed behind us back to the Marauder, boarding the ship one after the other.

When the Wookie hesitated, I pushed on his shoulder. "Trust me, kid." I nodded softly. "You'd want to come with us than stay here." He complied with a nervous bow and hopped up the ramp.

I leapt in the pilot's seat, locked up the ship once everyone was accounted for, and initiated take-off. "Echo, hit those boltbrains." Upon lift, the cyborg clone fired the ship's weapons, nearly destroying the ship bay itself along with the Axis droids. Once I succeeded in jumping into hyperspace, I collapsed in the chair with my fingers pinching the bridge of my nose. My mind was racked with entangled emotions and thoughts of what all occurred in less than thirty minutes...

"Another mission," I groaned. "failed...Instead, we adopted another kid."