Trigger Warning: PTSD, Anxiety/Panic attack
**** to mark when it starts and when it'll end
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Sitting on the ramp outside of the Marauder, the quiet presence of the hanger was disturbed by Genesis' sharpening her sword's blade against a sharpening stone, lost her in own thoughts as the world around her and the sound of her sword sharpening seemed to fade away into an array of pure silence replaced with a ringing that didn't bother the female.
Not until she felt a touch on her shoulder as her head shot around to face Hunter as her face had formed into a look that he couldn't truly figure out as she tilted her head, silently asking what he wanted before he told her they had a transmission incoming and that it was important. She placed the stone on the step, her sword next to it as she followed her brother onto the ship and into the cockpit.
Entering the cockpit Tech accepted the transmission as a cloaked Mika with fairly longer hair that now reached her collarbone appeared in front of them.
"Hey, boys. Genesis." She nodded at the female as the clone returned the gesture with her own, a small smile on her lips. "Any chance we can use your squad's expertise for a mission?"
Sharing a glance with each other, Wrecker let out a laugh as he was clearly tired of waiting around for Cid for a next job, resulting in a chuckle from the former Jedi.
"What do you need, Mika?"
"We'll explain everything when you get to Coruscant." Crossing her arms across her chest, expecting the utter surprise of the planet they were at that brain of the hive for the Empire. And more surprised that the former Jedi was even on that planet without any worry for her wellbeing.
"Coruscant? That's a big ask, Mika." Humming she glanced at her feet before locking eyes with the sergeant. That familiar smirk on her face as she knew Hunter was clearly worried for her at the mention of her being on the planet. Despite not showing it.
Omega asked what was on Coruscant that earned a silent, tamed reaction from the clones as Tech explained it was the galactic capital and the heart of the Empire. Before he added, directly pointed at Mika that it was much too dangerous for Mika to be there.
"Thanks for that goggles." She deadpanned as Echo added that the Empire thinks that they were dead.
"I'd like to keep it that way."
"I know love, I wish for that too. But we're not storming the capital. Although I wish we were." Mika murmured that last part before continuing. "It's a simple covert mission. It's an easy data extraction but incredibly crucial. I'll send over a flight plan to bypass Imperial security along with coordinates to a safe landing zone."
"We're on our way." An immediate answer from Echo didn't surprise the Skywalker as she nodded before ending the transmission as her hologram figure disappeared.
"Well," Genesis spoke up after a minute of silence as they let the information sink in about what they were asked to do from Mika. "What are we waiting for?"
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Getting through the blockades were easy enough as they jumped out of hyperspace and flew down straight into the bustling city. A frown on her lips, Genesis leaned back in her chair as she gazed out at the city as Omega did the same, but a look of wonder and curiosity was spread across her face as the marauder flew towards this large circle that dove deeper into the planet as ships around them sank lower down in the planet or rose up passed them as they turned the ship towards a landing pad.
The hangar doors opened slightly as Mika followed by Rex and a pantoran female exited them to greet the clones, the skywalker having a smirk on her face as she greeted Hunter.
"Knew you'd come one way or another." She said as she hugged the sergeant before moving aside to greet the others as Genesis and Omega gave the jedi a strong hug.
"Glad Mika was able to convince you guys to come." Rex commented as the Jedi joined her friend, shrugging in response before introducing the Pantorian.
"This is Senator Riyo Chuchi. These are the special clones me and Rex told you about." She motioned to the crew as Omega waved at the senator as she nodded, a faint smile formed on the senator's face as she thanked them for coming.
Hunter asked Mika why she and Rex asked for them to come here as the three glanced at each other before the captain said it was inside, that there was something that they wanted to show the clones as they led them inside.
Taking them over to a table that sat a bodybag as they gathered around the table, Omega tried to get a peak of what was inside as Echo held her back. Unaware of what they would expect. Rex pressed one of the bottoms laying on top as the front piece slid open revealing a deceased clone as the Captain explained he's an assassin and that his identifying numbers were wiped.
"Who was his target?" Hunter asked as Rex explained it was a contact of his named Slip, saying he was in danger and that the two rushed to Coruscant to get him out but the assassin got him first and almost the senator first.
"Why would a clone be targeting another clone or a senator?"
"To silence us." Chuchi quickly told Echo, "Admiral Rampart has the entire Senate believing Kamino was lost to a cataclysmic storm. Slip witnessed the truth." Her head hung slightly before glancing up at the others, unaware that the six clones standing before her had first hand experienced the destruction of their homeworld. "I wanted him to testify to Rampart's crimes."
"We were there too, Senator." Echo quickly reassured, "I can be your witness."
Throughout the conversation Mika glanced over at Genesis as the female clone seemed very closed off at the moment as she hasn't spoken once since entering the hanger and especially at the mention of Kamino the grip her hands held on her covered arms tightened as the conversation of Kamino grew more prominent.
The Jedi was about to open her mouth to ask if the clone was okay before Rex brought up the command log on Rampart's Venator that would expose the Admiral of his crimes. The Captain explained that Slip made a copy of the event on the ship's backup data banks.
"Where's the Venator now?"
Not keeping her eye off Genesis, the Jedi sighed quietly before she spoke up, "Being retrofitted at the Imperial shipyard right here on Coruscant." The familiar smirk formed on her face as Hunter shook his head, knowing the meaning behind the look on her face, "Lots of security, but.." Her head turned to Rex momentarily "He knows a way in."
"Rampart's Defence Recruitment Bill goes to a vote tomorrow. We must prove his crimes before it passes. I'll return to the Senate and garner support where I can." Chuchi told her plan, determination laced in her voice and on her face as Rex brought up a point that she still could be in danger. "Then I must be on the right track."
"Me and Genesis can go with her and keep an eye out." Omega piped up as the female clone quietly glanced at her.
"You can't enter the Senate district without an Imperial security clearance." Chuchi told her as Tech brought up that he could craft one for the two females as Omega shared a look with Genesis who responded with a quick, but weak smile as she grasped the girl's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"Then let's get to work."
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"Forgot how sparky it gets." Mika joked as they came across a powered up generator that had electricity spark off rods into the generator placed in the center every so often before she approached the ladder, feeling the wind of a fan sitting below the fan blow her hair as she pulled her hood over to prevent that before she began to climb up while the others followed behind the Jedi.
Dropping onto the upper platform she pulled her blaster out as she checked the cost was clear as Rex had the Skywalker's back, following directly behind her as they checked out the area. Wrecker began to get to work on the hatch leading them outside in the hangar's walls.
"Haven't been in these maintenance tunnels since the war." Rex said watched Wrecker cut through the hatch.
"Gotta say, you two. Coruscant's the last place I'd expect you two to be." Echo admitted as the two looked over to him. "Mostly Mika."
Her shoulders rose slightly in a shrug in response to the Clone as she fiddled with her Kyber Crystal necklace that laid perfectly on her collarbone, the two indigo crystals concealed by her cloak, semi listening to the conversation going on between Rex and Echo as she sighed quietly. She had talked to Rex about potentially leaving for a bit, to figure stuff out on an empty but habitable planet, where she could potentially find herself in this new world.
But she had a strong feeling, not from the force... no she hasn't had an inkling from the force well since the war. Just a gut feeling that with Echo asking so much about Rex and her endeavors with helping clones it was likely he'd wanna help. She understood Echo's desires for wanting to help. That was something she always knew about Echo. He was always willing to help people, no matter the risk or cost of his own life. That much she realized back at the Citadel.
Her thoughts and the conversation between the two were cut short as Wrecker announced he got the hatch open as it revealed multiple ray shields before reaching the exit. Tech said he could disable them as he went back to the console to work on that.
"And how are we getting onto Rampart's Venator?"
"I'm taking a lesson from your squad." Rex told them, "We improvise." They heard the Ray shields disable as the hatch opened up and they climbed out one by one as they made their way to the Venator, passing some patrols as Mika pointed out some transports sitting in front of them as one powered up and flew off. Leaving one left as they ran to the transport. Quickly grabbing onto the red hanging parts as it flew off towards the Venator.
Mika watched as Tech hooked his datapad to the transport before turning to Wrecker as he was grasping onto the beam with all his fiber as she turned to Hunter. Slight confusion on her face "He's still not better with heights?" His helmet turned to Wrecker's feeble position, muttering to himself as the sergeant sighed at his still clear sign of his fear.
"This is him better."
Managing to get through to the controls to the transport Tech eurptedly turned the speeder before pulling it up roughly which resulted in everyone's head banging against the transport from the jolt. He flattened out the speeder once on top of the Venator, pulling the connector off the transport he signaled they jumped down as they followed suit, landing on the outside of the Venator as they watched the transport gain it's control back and flying away from them as they ran across the surface before finding an entrance point as Tech managed to hack the door open and they all dropped in one after another.
Completely in enemy territory now.
Carefully they watched two troopers pass the corridor they hid in before following Rex and Mika down the main corridor as the doors flushed shut behind them. Heading in the direction of the command center they stunned any troopers unaware of their presence before they reached the command center door, getting into position as it flew open and immediate stuns fired out from their blasters at the unprepared troopers as they did a perimeter check of the whole area before confirming that they were safe for now.
"Well, that is unfortunate."
"Wanna narrow that down?" Rex questioned Tech's comment as he and Echo were at a console that had the required data.
"Energy conduits are off-line. The only way to retrieve the data is to reroute power, which will most likely signal a security breach."
Groaning at their luck, Mika rubbed her hands down her face before turning to the two. "How much time will we have?" She questioned as she watched Tech press a few buttons on his holopad, his helmet, slightly lit up by the hue light of the console and his pad.
"Not much." Cursing she turned away as she heard the two begin work on the data, her arms that were across her chest slowly fell to her sides as she looked out through the main window overlooking the hanger.
She felt an immediate wave of Deja Vu as her hand fell to where her hilts used to hang along her belt as she remembered the coldness, the immense darkness she felt when Order 66 began, she also felt her brother losing the light. The last time she stood in this very spot, was next to her sister, and when Rex told them to run. The first time in years she thought they were gonna die.
Swallowing a lump of emotion in her throat she felt eyes boring into her form so she turned to watch Hunter with a concerned look on his face as she noticed Rex talking to Wrecker about something.
Not wanting to discuss what was transpiring through her mind at the moment so she just reached for his gloved hand and squeezed it, giving him a small smile as they heard the consoles power up as the lights flickered on before an alarm rang out through the whole ship as Tech and Echo had shut the door leading out as she heard Rex tell the group they were gonna have some company while Hunter ordered Wrecker to seal the door as he shot the control panel.
"That'll buy sometime..." Mika murmured as a noise from the other side had immediate blaster's raised at the sealed door before jolting open slightly, closing on itself while it tried to force open. Suddenly flying open, the clones and Mika were immediately greeted with shots fired from the other side as they returned the fire with stuns as the three standing in the front slid into the console stations situated in the floor.
Dealing with the troopers the sound of ships flying past the bridge windows were made out from all the fire. "New plan, 14, 5, 86."
"All of them?"
"Yes." Earning a glance from Mika as a bolt missed her by a few inches as she returned the fire, Hunter told Echo to get control of the cannons and deal with the air support, Tech completing the data transfer as the ship suddenly shook forward slightly as the engines were powered up, shifting the landed Venator slightly.
The troopers losing their balance from the irrupt shaking, Wrecker advanced on them, knocking them aside as they all ran out of the bridge, stunning any troopers they came across.
"We need an exit strategy." Rex told them as they ran towards the exit they came through
"Got one. We're going over them."
Mika didn't dare question Echo's wording as Rex did as the ship dipped causing everyone to lose their balance. Mika felt Hunter's hand on her waist, keeping her steady as she pressed a button, revealing the escape pods as they all climbed into one as Rex hesitated before following, "These escape pods are non operational."
Turning his chair, Tech reassured the captain that he could handle everything else. "This should be interesting." The captain remarked before climbing in as a sudden jolt was felt after all escape pods, including their own, were shot off towards the tunnels they originally came through.
Opening the door, Hunter scanned the area before turning back to his brother, before climbing out "Not bad." Everyone climbed out as they heard multiple alarms blaring in the distance.
"I was off by 6.4 meters. Not my best." Mika shook her head as she smiled slightly. Commenting on the distance saying her brother wouldn't be much better as Rex backed that up as the group made their way to the tunnel hatch, realizing it was almost morning; they began to quicken the process as they quickly made their way down the tunnel and back the way they came as time slowly beginning to tick against them.
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Genesis, leaning against the doorway of Senator Organa's pod, watched the confrontation between her and Admiral Rampart closely as her arms that sat across her chest tightened as Chuchi made the irrupt claim of the destruction of the Kaminoan facilities being intentionally eliminated.
A small smirk forming on the clone's face at the sight unfolding as gasps erupted all around the chamber, Rampart's face filled with dismay before returning to his formal expression, denying these accusations.
Her head turned down to Omega who rushed to the senator with the case, assuming the data was in there as Omega handed it off to Organa. "They really did it.." She murmured. Watching the scene play out she felt pride that Rampart was getting what he deserved but... something else, anxiety lingered through her body as Chuchi inserted the data drive as the destruction of Kamino formed in front of the senate.
****
She felt her chest begin to tighten as her hearing slowly became all fuzzy and warped as she wasn't hearing Omega calling out to her as her body began to ever so slightly shake as was even beginning to have a hard time swallowing as she felt a drag from behind her as Omega frantically began pulling her out of wing and towards the exit as she had contacted the others in a panicked state as Genesis was starting to freak out.
Managing to pull her out of the building she heard the sounds of a speeder as it stopped in front of the two. Immediately Tech climbed out and approached his sister slowly and calmly as if to not worsen her state anymore.
Calmly he called out to her as she managed to hear his voice through the ringing as her head slowly turned to him. Silent tears trickled down her face as Tech carefully spoke to her in a calming tone as she felt a hard object against her back as she slowly slid down it. Tech and now Hunter followed behind her as the latter kneeled next to the two. "Gen, what do you see?"
Her eyes darted around as she spotted other eyes on her as a choked sob escaped her lips, unable to get words out as she pushed herself further against the wall. Her hand covered her mouth as her body shook from the silenced sobs.
"Don't focus on them." Hunter gently told her as her eyes slowly followed him. "Just us," Observing the two as her brain was having a storm going on going between the options she had. Eventually her hand slowly fell away from her mouth and fell limp against her side as she looked between the two. Taking in a shaky breath as she nodded.
Her eyes looked between her brothers at their armor, the weapons that hung alongside the armor. "I- I see... your armors, the b-blasters..." She murmured as Tech nodded in response.
"Can you tell us five things you hear?" He then asked as the clone's eyes fluttered shut as her senses felt an overloading sensation the moment her eyes shut but she tried her hardest to avoid everything else around her and just tune in on the sounds.
She slowly told them the five things she heard as her shaking was slowing down, she felt the tears still slide down her face as she gained what little composure she had left as she looked up at her brothers, sniffing as Mika, who along with Rex and the others, watched from the back swore she could feel their hearts break as Genesis spoke in the most weakest voice they've ever heard as she managed to squeak out.
"I'm sorry..." a sob escaped her lips as she shook her head. "I'm so sorry." she then collapsed in Tech's body, being the one slightly closer to her as she sobbed into his armor. His arms slowly wrapped around Genesis as Hunter's hand fell onto her shoulder, his own silent tears forming as the female clone felt a strong impact from her other side as Omega hugged the female tightly.
Despite all of this, it was only the beginning of the shattering of the clone's mind.
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Gathering her very few items which all was in a satchel, Mika exited the Marauder to be greeted by a waiting Rex as she smiled, meeting him at the bottom as she sighed.
"Well, I guess this is it."
"Seems like it."
The Skywalker hummed as the smile fell slightly as she was beginning to have second thoughts. "Do you think I'm making the right decision here?" She asked the Captain with an uncertainty in her voice as almost immediately he returned it with a nod.
"Mika, we've been over this. You being here is a big enough risk, you'll be safer with them despite everything going on with them."
She shook her head, "I get that, and I know Echo will help as best as he can, it's just..."
"This might be another case of Anakin?" Rex finished for her as he basically read her mind as that was exactly what she was thinking about. She didn't want to, no she didn't need another situation where something bad happens to someone dear to her and she wasn't there to prevent it. She couldn't take another hit from that and he knew that.
"I haven't left your side since Order 66. And I'm scared that once I do, something will happen." She admitted quietly as she looked away from the captain. Tears formed in her eyes as she didn't need him to see her cry at a simple goodbye.
She felt a hand on her shoulder as she turned to face the Captain who held a sympathetic expression for her. "I'll be fine, Mika. You don't need to worry about me. We've dealt with worse."
She chuckled quietly at that last part, "Yes, we have." She pulled the Captain into a hug, immediately he returned it as her chin fell onto his shoulder, her eyes fluttering shut as she took in the embrace of one of her most dearest friends left in the Galaxy.
"Stay out of trouble." He told her as she pulled away as she hummed, a small smile appeared on her lips.
"No promises, Captain." stepping back from the clone he gave her one final salute as she rolled her eyes, giving the captain a humorous salute in return as she turned her back to him to go find Hunter as the Captain watched her before doing the same.
The two war survivors both go separate ways; down their separate paths that will once again, intertwine in the future.
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Mika eventually found the sergeant standing at the end of the hangar, looking out into the trafficked airspace as speeders of all sizes were either rising up or lowering down into the doors of the city planet.
Quietly approaching she wrapped her arms around his waist as she rested her head against his back. He knew about her presence before her touch but he had no acknowledgement to it as the two simply stood in the roaring silence of Coursant.
"Got everything on the ship." Mika was the first to speak as obviously Genesis' episode was clearly on his mind from how zoned out he seemed. She wanted to ease into that topic, not jump into it immediately, it's how it always worked for her.
"That's good, we'll be leaving soon." He simply said as the Skywalker frowned at the tone. He had every right to be worried for Gen, but she didn't expect it to be this bad.
"Hunter, it's okay to not know what to do." She felt Hunter freeze slightly under her grasp as it clearly drew a reaction from him. He kinda hated how she knew him so well when something was up with him.
They stood in silence for a few minutes until he spoke, spoke so quietly that she almost had to strain her ears to hear. "What do I do?"
Honestly, she didn't know what to do. She didn't know how to respond. She pulled away as he turned around to face her, placing a gloved finger under her chin he lifted her head meeting her gaze.
She sighed as she grasped his wrist. She closed her eyes as what she would have to tell him would be not what he wanted to hear. "Hunter... there's nothing you can do. This- this isn't a physical injury that you can heal over time... this is... this is more personal than you think. You can't do anything to help her. The mind is a delicate thing and the only way to heal it is for Genesis to allow herself to heal. You can't do anything, I can't do anything, but all we can do is just support her until her mind has healed."
Shaking his head Hunter tried to deny her words, there had to be something he could do to help her... There just had to be. His mind wouldn't let him trick himself into thinking there was another way but the expression Mika had on her face as she watched him. He knew he couldn't win this.
His eyes closed as he sighed through his nose.
"There's really nothing we can do?" He asked her as she sadly nodded.
"I'm sorry."
He said nothing as his hands wrapped around her waist, his forehead falling against hers as her eyes fluttered shut. And the two sat in utter silence as the Clone accepted the new discovery In dismay at himself as Mika uttered a few words she knew was a vow to himself, the others, and herself that she would make sure that he wouldn't destroy himself over this.
She swore to herself she wouldn't let him go down the path her brother went down.
The same path she couldn't follow to save Anakin from the darkness of the mind.
But maybe she could follow Hunter's to prevent his fall to the darkness of the mind.
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