Impulse - Book 2 - Sergeant Hunter

[Chapter 19 - Reunion]

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Still slightly shaken after the revelation that she'd faced that morning, Stellia dug through her backpack, digging out a snack bar. As she chewed away at it, she mulled over her options. What could she do?

"What have you gotten yourself into Stellia?" she muttered to herself as she massaged her temples. 

Now looking back it was quite obvious that she'd felt this way for some time. She remembered that night at Lenora's, when she'd flat out refused to even discuss the idea of there being anything between her and Hunter- deep down she'd been trying so hard to separate herself from the other Batchers, for fear that they might hurt her, or worse, get hurt because of her. 

She weighed up the options in her mind. On one hand, if she just ignored the feelings as she had been for so long, perhaps they'd just go away and she could forget about the whole thing. On the other, if she chose to act she could have the chance at something nice.

But there were so many variables, what if he didn't feel that way and it caused a rift between them? What if he did and the IRP chose to use them against each other? There were so many ways in which it could go wrong, just as she had argued at Lenora's all those months ago. 

What was she to do?

Unfortunately her thoughts were interrupted by the other Batchers entering the closed off space with two unconscious scrappers. 

"Hey guys. What's going on?" Stellia eyed the limp bodies in Wreckers arms.

"Wrecker just introduced himself to some of the locals." Echo said dryly.

"They got spotted by some of the Scrappers. Our position may have been compromised." Tech informed. 

"Rex warned us about the scrapper patrols on Bracca. We should leave." Echo argued in a more serious manner. 

"In our present situation, we need money." Hunter countered- "And we have a chance to make a lot of it right here." 

"Ha! In this dump? How?" Wrecker laughed.

Stellia could see where this was going, and she was pretty confident it might just work.

"Tech what's the potential haul inside this cruiser?" Hunter inquired.

"My scans indicate the armory and artillery bay have not been fully off-loaded. The Dianoga must have kept the Scrappers away." Tech referred to the creature that had come after Wrecker.

"Just a few of those weapons should clear our debt with Cid." Hunter placed his hand on his chin in thought. 

"We're soldiers, not arms smugglers." Echo argued.

"Speak for yourself." Stellia chuckled, thinking back to some of her earlier 'work'- "Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do Echo." 

"We aren't able to rely on the Republic right now. We're presented with an opportunity here. We have to take it." Hunter pressed. 

"I would also add that the intel from the bridge's central system has the potential to be worth far more than any weapon." Tech added.

Wrecker scoffed- "Not to me." 

Stellia and Tech both rolled their eyes exasperatedly. 

"tech, get to the bridge. Get the power online and whatever intel you can gather." Hunter ordered.

"Uh, what do we do about them?" Omega signaled to the still unconscious scrappers. 

"We'll grab what we need and be gone before they even wake up." Hunter assured.