FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

C H A P T E R F I F T Y-N I N E

As Fern proceeded to fight off the Imperials, her eyes caught the scene below. Three transport vessels identical to the crashed one were hovering around the powerplant. They began their barrage on the Zillo Beast by blasting the generating station, thus disabling it and ceasing the creature's energy intake. Next, they armed and aimed a single ventral, long-range ion cannon. A powerful stun beam was fired and it pierced the Zillo Beast in its spine. It crumbled and fell to the ground. It crawled weakly to escape, but with two consecutive hits, it dropped and lost consciousness. One of the transports produced a giant, metallic claw...

They're not killing it." Wrecker gasped. "They're taking it."

"Let's not be next." Hunter said. "Fern, we need cover."

"You're such a backseat driver." Fern quipped, before pulling up on the steering mechanism. The ship soared into the cloudy atmosphere. "Why don't you go order Wrecker to aim better and take these guys out?"

"Fern, we are clear of the vessel and heading to the landing zone."

"Copy that." Fern jerked the Marauder up and then dove down, causing Hunter to nearly tumble out of his seat. All three clones aboard felt their stomachs lurch under their ribcages from the G-force. She directed them right to the cedarglade from which they departed from just as Tech and Omega emerged from the tall grass. Hunter leapt out of his seat and darted for the ramp, lowering it so they could jump in. Fern managed to hover the ship just long enough to get them both on board.

"Confirm?" she called. When she received none, she screamed, "CONFIRM!"

"They are on board!" Hunter shouted back. "Go!"

"Dank ferrik, you would think this our first time escaping from the Empire." the annoyed pilot muttered to herself as she flipped switches, kicking the Maruader it into gear to ascend through the planet's stratosphere. She caught the cranking sound of Tech securing Omega in a crash-sequence chair before strapping himself in. Once the Marauder was clear of the planet's gravitational pull, the clones were faced with three Imperial Venators, no doubt summoned to ensure the Zillo Beast was recaptured.

It did not matter, as Fern yanked the lever to shoot the ship in hyperspace. She collapsed against the back of the chair and slumped in exhaustion, burying her face into her hands and groaning with frustration. She was officially over with missions involving anything with the words 'salvaging,' 'cargo,' and 'valuable'.

"Fern, you will want to come see this." Tech called her from the main control room. She hoisted herself up and joined the others as the intellectual clone was plugging in what data he downloaded from the crashed vessel. "You were right," he said to her. "The specimen known as the Zillo Beast was part of an Imperial cloning operation."

"No, the directive started before the war ended." Fern corrected. "This was a Republic-based operation first."

"In that case, it was ordered by the Supreme Chancellor before he became Emperor." Tech nodded.

"What's he want with it?" Wrecker questioned.

"The creature's genetic material has the potential to be weaponized in the hands of the right scientist." Tech explained as he flipped through the data.

"Where were they taking the creature?" Hunter inquired.

"Unknown. The ship did not have a destination logged." Tech set his datapad down. "Hunter, there is far more to this than we realized. From what I have gathered, I suspect the Empire did not destroy the cities on Kamino to end cloning. They merely wanted to control it."

"Send the data to Echo and Rex. See what they can find out." The sergeant said.

"We shouldn't concern ourselves." Fern muttered, knotting her arms, to which Hunter and the others faced her. With the spotlight on her, Fern stepped forward and leaned herself on the console right next to where Tech was sitting. "It makes all the perfect sense that there is no destination logged. After all, the very vessel the Zillo Beast was transported in had no hull markings. All this being said, we have other pressing matters to discuss." Her intonation accelerated the longer she pronounced; she took a moment to collect herself, inhaling and exhaling softly. She then gazed upon her squad as she rolled her shoulders back and cleared her throat. "First off, we are witnesses to the Zillo Beast's existence, and I wouldn't be shocked if we were now targets of the Empire. I don't know if they were able to scan our ship—our signature is still scrambled, so perhaps not—but we have officially blown our cover. We need to lay low. I propose," She paused to swallow the lump forming in her throat. "that we cut ties with Cid. For good."

The clones exchanged looks to one another, frowns dropping on all their faces. Omega, who was perched in her and Fern's room, hugged her Lula doll to her chest as she listened in. Hunter crossed his own arms as he sighed, "Are you sure, Fern?"

"I am." she said plainly.

"Then," Wrecker stammered. "what do we do now?"

"We do not have many alternatives in terms of connections to consider for assistance or employment." Tech noted, tapping his chin in thought. Then, he lifted his index finger with one brow raised. "But, I can think of one as of right now."

"Who?" Fern inquired.

"You, Fern, may not be particularly pleased with this contact, but keep in mind we do not have many agreeable options." Tech reminded.

Fern's eyes narrowed. "Who, Tick?"

Hunter seemed to catch on and rubbed the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed as he exhaled again. Fern glanced over to him, then back at Tech. The realization dawned on her, to which the spectacled clone confirmed her speculation with an awkward adjustment of his goggles.

Fern's eyes bulged, her nose scrunched, and her jaw clenched. "Nooo...Not her..."