THIRD PERSON POV
"Fern?" Echo called as he arrived back at the ship. He found the female clone halfway inside the open hull with her legs flailing about.
"I'm stuck!" she shrieked. "A little help?!"
"O-okay, hold on, hold on." Echo slid his shoulder underneath her stomach and gently hoisted her out of the ship. When her feet touched down, Fern huffed in frustration; her face was drenched in sweat. She inadvertently pounded her fist into Echo's armor as she pushed away. "Who's the one working on their own now?!" she yelled at the ship and crunched her arms together.
"Um, what are you talking about?" Echo cautiously asked, trying to hide the rolling of his shoulder where she punched him.
"Nothing," Fern shook her head and hands. "I couldn't reach the stupid repulsors underneath the ship without someone like Wrecker to hand me the parts and pull me out. Where did you get these droids?" She finally noticed the cyborg-clone's new companions. They waddled and rolled around the scattered mess that were the ship's mechanical organs, anxiously beeping and whirling through their modulators.
"Long story." Echo replied, and then turned to the tallest droid and allowed her to start instructing the smaller ones to start reassembling the ship. "Go on, Fern." He nodded to the side. "Hunter is heading east of town. You can catch up with him in search for Omega."
"Yeah," Fern nodded half-heartedly, and then switched on her comm. "Boys, I'm heading out. Hunter, give me your position and I'll meet you."
Instead of replying to Fern, the sergeant called for Wrecker's position over the comm. When there was no reply from the latter, he then asked for an update from Tech.
It's like he doesn't realize I'm here, too...Fern's mouth twisted in a pout, which Echo pretended he didn't see. In his mind, however, he was thinking, Hunter is going to get a mouth-full if he doesn't respond soon...
Fern was about to head out anyway, when Wrecker panted over the comm, "I, I got to find Omega..."
"Tech, where's Hunter?"
"Hunter's got it handled." Tech chimed in. "Get back to the ship. Fern, I suggest you stay put. We're going to need to make a quick escape and cannot afford all of us searching about."
"Fine." Fern growled, and stomped right back into repairing the ship without another word. While she reattached wires, she could hear Tech's and Hunter's chatter over the comms. On Hunter's side, she heard the bustling of aircraft and buzzing of a hoverbike's engine that Hunter must've obtained, whizzing through traffic to save Omega. Fern could also detect blaster shots.
He could use backup... she thought. Even Tech wouldn't help me out...What was the point joining Clone Force 99 if they weren't going to include me when things were dire?
"Fern," Echo placed a hand on her shoulder as if to silently ease her mind. Fern shrugged him off, but not in spite, for she appreciated the sentiment - she just didn't appreciate the feeling of uselessness. With the help from the maintenance droids, the ship was back in one piece once again, and Echo released them from duty. At the same time, Hunter came swooping in from above on a hoverbike, with Omega in front between his arms. He screeched to a halt and huffed, "We need to go. Now!"
"Wrecker, pick up the pace. We don't have all day." Tech stated in his gauntlet. The muscular clone appeared from the entrance, panting, "I'm here."
Fern allowed everyone to board the ship first, following behind Echo, with Wrecker in the rear. This time, Fern joined Tech at the controls as co-pilot, taking the latter by surprise. Nevertheless, he accepted the change quickly to power up the ship and zoom into space. Once they were clear of the planet's atmosphere, Hunter dropped his bag and sighed heavily, "She must've been a bounty hunter."
"A what?" Omega questioned.
"Someone hired to retrieve targets." Echo clarified.
"And you seem to be the target." Tech pointed.
"Me?" the young girl exclaimed, her eyes widened.
"Hey, don't scare the kid!" Wrecker said.
"We have to find out who she is and who hired her." Hunter gritted his teeth. His eyes wandered over to Fern, who had not moved from the co-pilot seat, her dark eyes stared out the viewport. The corner of his mouth pulled to one side. He had heard her distressed calls over the comm when he was pursuing the bounty hunter and Omega, but the latter was his priority. He needed to respond to Tech over her in order to find the young girl. He didn't have time to wait for Fern. He'd hope his former partner understood that, but by the darkened demeanor in her eyes, he'd presumed she was hurt...
Not long after the Marauder jumped into hyperspace, everyone except Fern moved about the cabin. Echo noticed this and nudged Hunter at the computer console. When the sergeant looked at him, Echo nodded over to the isolated female clone still sitting in the co-pilot's seat. He cleared his throat for emphasis. Hunter got the message.
——————————————————————
HUNTER'S POV
"Hey, is this seat taken?" I gestured to the pilot's seat next to Fern. Her dark, monotonous eyes glanced over at me and carelessly shrugged. Taking my seat, I leaned my head forward to grab her attention. "Fern, I'm sorry I didn't respond to you on the comm. I wasn't ignoring you— I wanted to rescue Omega as quickly as possible. And—"
"I know." Fern interrupted. "I'm not upset."
Clearly, you are, I rolled my eyes. "Hear me out, will you?"
"I said I'm not upset." Fern repeated. "So there's nothing you need to explain. Omega's safe and that's what important, so forget it." I was about to object for a second time, when Fern abruptly pushed herself around so that her whole body faced me. "Hunter, we've known each other for a long time. You've always preferred your 'unaided' moments during a mission, and Omega was top priority anyway."
"And you've always been stubborn and arrogant." I shot back, stunning Fern briefly before a grin pulled at her lips. I returned the smirk and continued, "I know you felt like I was ignoring you. That I didn't acknowledge you as a member of this squad." I paused for a moment. "I didn't acknowledge you, Fern, because I'm just not used to having you part of the squad. It's been years since you and I have even spoken to each other, let alone gone on a mission. And frankly, you're wrong." I got a humorous reaction out of her for that one. "You heard me. You're wrong. I never prefer to work alone. Even if I go into the field alone, I know my squad has my back. Back then, I knew you had my back. So don't sit there and be stubborn, you hear?"
After I finish my monologue, Fern was left staring into my eyes, blinked once, and exhaled softly through her nose before breathing, "I hear."
"Good." I nodded my head and rose to my feet. As I turned to walk back into the cabin, Fern added, again in a gentle volume, "I miss that feeling...Knowing someone has your back."
That's right...Clone Force 99 was formed, and she had been performing solo missions since... all the way up until the Republic fell... Had she really lost the feeling?
"Well," I scoffed. "You're part of the Bad Batch now. I guarantee you'll feel it again. Sure, the Jedi showed loyalty til the end, but we are still here."
"The Jedi..." Fern murmured. Suddenly, her eyes bulged. "That's it!"
"What?" My brow raised from the impulsive energy burst as Fern jumped to her feet, shoved passed me, and headed for Tech and Echo.
"I know who we can go to for intel on the bounty hunter that attempted to take Omega." she said, immediately typing in coordinates in the computer. On the blue-tinted screen, it zoomed in on Ord Mantell. "Here, there is an informant named Cid who worked closely with the Jedi during the war."
"That's right." Echo exclaimed. "How did I forget that?"
"Possibly was fried out?" Tech suggested.
"Very funny." Echo grumbled.
"Why are we going to Ord Mantell?" Omega popped in. "I thought the plan was to lay low."
"Not while a bounty hunter is after you." I placed a hand on her shoulder. "We need to find out why and who she is, and Cid is the one who can."
"Ord Mantell, it is then." Tech concluded and headed to the cockpit to plug in coordinates.
"Good thinking." I commented to Fern, who clicked her tongue and then laughed.
"I'm beginning to feel it again, Hunter. It's all coming back to me now."