Author's Note: Warnings: Blood, not really graphic, but still definitely present. Creepy ghosts?
~ Rivana Rita
PS. This is for the square "Bodyswap" on the Bad Batch Bingo. ;) And it's also for Day 6 of Haunted Clone Week. :D
The second part will be out in a week.
~ Amina Gila
Hunter had a bad feeling about the mission from the start. It only gets worse when they stumble upon a part of the planet that looks very familiar, and then... strange things start happening. It only gets worse when they enter an old building and get trapped inside. There's something dark inside. Something familiar but impossibly elusive.
Hunter knew he had a funny feeling about the mission in the first place. The name seemed familiar, though he could swear he's never heard it before. Then... when they came, they went after the Separatist base the way they always do, and everything was fine.
They were tracking the Separatist base from one part of the planet to try finding them, searching for their main on-planet base when something... else catches his attention.
It's the feeling of déjà vu crashing over him that takes away all rational thought, and he pauses, turning to look towards the towering cliffside nearby. It's standing out against the darkness, through the faint fog blanketing the planet's surface.
"We've been here before," Crosshair says, pausing. He sounds numb, or maybe it's the sudden frantic beating of Hunter's own heart that drowns out whatever he's trying to say.
"Yeah," Wrecker agrees, shuffling closer towards the cliffside.
Hunter's eyes find the top edge of it far above their heads. It would be a very, very long fall. He doesn't know why that's the first thought that comes to mind.
They need to focus. They're on a mission – there's not time to get distracted.
But something about the orangish brown shade of these rocks screams of such sharp familiarity he can't just ignore.
Yes, he has had moments before, but it's never like this. It never has been.
Even Tech has stopped walking, glancing up at the hillside before typing something into his datapad. "I... believe there is something... important about this place," he offers finally.
No doubt there.
"Yeah," Hunter agrees, turning away and approaching it.
The electric fields are flowing the same as the rest of the planet, though there's something not quite... right about this place. Something beyond the cliff, he thinks. Like there's some kind of energy source back there he can't distinguish, and isn't familiar with.
But there is something... something –
It feels like there should be something around here.
Hunter doesn't feel it until he approaches. There is something right around here. It's nearby – a small energy source, and he instantly raises a hand to tell them to stop approaching.
It doesn't feel like a mine, though it's underground, and it could be.
"What is it?" Tech inquires.
"I'm... not sure." Hunter approaches slowly, crouching next to it and digging his hands into the sandy dirt to find it. It's important, familiar, and there's something about it...
The others gather around him, though they're careful to keep their distance just in case.
He senses the concentrated energy of a power cell, and it's strong though not like any explosive he's ever known. It's more... something else. It's been buried under ground, not too deep, and he can't tell if it was intentional, or if it was left there and covered through rain or wind.
A hilt glints in the darkness, and Tech flicks on a flashlight to help him see.
It's... "What's a lightsaber doing out here?" Hunter inquires incredulously, "I didn't know there were Jedi involved in this mission."
"There were not, to my knowledge," Tech replies.
He means to pick it up, of the mind to bring it to Cody and ask him what they're supposed to do with it, because it belongs to the Jedi and it's probably important, but the moment he does, a flash of something flickers through his mind.
He's been here before, and he could almost swear he knows why there's a lightsaber here.
Hunter has had... dreams Before of things he's never been able to sort out, but he's never once seen flashes of things while wide awake. He can see, vividly, the image of a Wookie, the fur on its right arm and a good way down its side matted entirely with a sticky blood-like substance, cradling a dark blue Twi'lek in his arms.
Hunter has seen them both before.
They're familiar.
He blinks, pushing himself straight and forcing it from mind. The images – flashes – are distracting. They don't have time to worry about it. He doesn't even understand what it is. Their dreams are irrelevant, but those memories are trying to rip themselves back to the surface the more he stares at the lightsaber in his hand.
"I do not believe we have seen this before," Tech says slowly, "Though there is something... familiar about it."
"I was thinkin' that, too," Wrecker adds worriedly.
He can see the others, too – the green Twi'lek dropping to her knees beside them, heartbreak on her face. He sees through the eyes of someone present, too, dropping to their knees beside them, calling their names –
"Better take this with us," Hunter says, standing. "It... might be important."
"He was my brother. I just wanted to find him again. I searched the whole galaxy, and –"
He's never even seen a Twi'lek in person, much less understands why he's always dreamed of them. It doesn't make sense, but in the scheme of things? It's never mattered.
Why he sees her, or himself touching her shoulder with a hand a shade too light and a bit too... slender to be his, he doesn't know.
It doesn't matter.
Doesn't matter.
The energy of the lightsaber's power cell hums in his mind as they keep moving forwards.
Familiar. Missing. Home.
It doesn't matter.
They're just dreams. Dreams, and nothing more. If it feels like he's missing someone, well, it doesn't matter because he has Tech and Wrecker and Crosshair, and he doesn't need more than them. (Even if he wants more? Even if it feels like someone's missing.)
***
Hunter knew the... oddities of this mission are far from over, but he didn't exactly expect to stumble on another place just like the previous.
It's been a full rotation since they saw the cliff, and they're still searching.
Tech had pointed out the structure up ahead in a clearing in the trees, and they went in for a closer look.
The air is tense in a strange, vibrating way that makes his skin crawl, whispering a fierce danger and familiar at once.
It's Tech who moves forwards first, approaching the edge of the treeline.
"Wait," Hunter hisses at him, confused and admittedly a little freaked out. He motioned for them to stop, so why –
"Do you hear that?" he inquires, pausing.
"Uh... no?" Wrecker offers, confused.
"There's something to hear?" Crosshair asks dryly.
"There's nothing to hear, Tech," Hunter replies, frowning beneath his helmet. He has a... very bad feeling about this, to say the least. He's hearing is keener than his brothers', thanks to his senses, and there's nothing there. They fall quiet, anyway, and all he can hear are distant animals, and even those sound fainter than they ought to.
It's almost as though they somehow sense something is amiss here as Hunter himself does, and he doesn't like it.
"I believe it is calling us," Tech says, and from the tenseness of his posture, it's evident he wants to move in.
Hunter senses something up ahead, though. It's not like a normal electric field. It's... like something living, but it's everywhere. He can't feel the concentrated sense of the heartbeat or life the way he normally should.
The situation is all kinds of wrong, and he knows instinctively that this is something way over their heads. What they need to do is back out, extract themselves from the situation and hand it over to someone who knows what they're doing. Considering the lightsaber, it's probably some Jedi-something, not anything they can do anything about, and besides, it's not their mission.
"We need to leave," Hunter cautious, stepping back.
That's when he hears it, too – the distant whispering from the clearing.
"Lei-ah." The name from his dreams.
It means something. It's something important.
He takes a few steps closer almost instinctively, and the closer to the edge of the treeline he gets, the more distinct the voice is.
It's echoing from everywhere and nowhere at all, though he can't see its location.
It – that thing is dangerous. He knows that, knows they need to leave, to get out of here before someone gets hurt, but there's a strange pull towards the building up ahead that makes him want to go check it out. It could be a base. Looks like one of some sort, and Hunter senses the electric fields inside. There's power there, which means... it could be a Separatist base just conveniently disguised and hidden as something else.
They need to check it out, just in case, even if he wants to leave. He wants to run and not look back.
They've survived insane odds in the past, but something about this is just... it's different. It's different, and he's afraid of it, though he doesn't know why.
Hunter has never really been afraid of things before. Never had a reason to be. But this? This is different.
"Lei-ah."
That word again. Hunter still thinks it's a name, though, and it was louder this time.
"That place is important," Tech repeats, staring fixedly at it. Hunter is faintly of the mind to register that he's acting weird, but everything about this screams weird, so how's this any weirder?
Hunter huffs out a sigh. "Alright," he agrees, "We'll check it out. But if anything happens, we're leaving."
Wrecker and Crosshair exchange glances behind him before they creep forwards.
It keeps feeling like he should be hearing something, but there's nothing but silence, which somehow is more unnerving than any sound could be.
"This place gives me the creeps," Wrecker whines as they cross the grassy area surrounding the building. The grass is green and short, probably from inability to grow well in the climate. It's cool, and sticky.
The building is reddish brown, and it's... from the height, he would guess at least ten floors. It's tall, and it's large. It's not somewhere they need to be.
Crosshair suddenly freezes next to him – Hunter senses the climbing of his heart rate. He feels as much as hears his brother raise his rifle at something.
Hunter follows his gaze, zeroing in on something standing between a few trees right beside the building itself, obscuring what he's fairly certain is the cliff edge. Its eyes are red, and that's all he can see.
A pair of glowing red eyes that look far too big to be human or any animal, period.
What really throws him is that he can't sense anything.
"What is that?" Wrecker asks, backing away, sounding thoroughly spooked.
"There is nothing there," Tech says, scanning the area with his helmet visor.
Crosshair fires at it, and the eyes vanish.
"There was something there," he retaliates, sounding as freaked out as Hunter feels. This isn't normal. It's – something's happening. Either they're hallucinating, or... he doesn't know what else could be happening, quite frankly. Hunter's never dealt with anything like it before. He can smell the smoke of a burned tree, but it was glowing, and if the thing was an illusion or a shadow, Crosshair wouldn't have reacted like he did.
"Uh," Wrecker says, backing away, "You go on without me."
Hunter throws a glance at him. "We better stick together." He knows that as certainly as he knows there was something there in the trees, watching them. It's creepy.
"Why?" Crosshair asks, lightly elbowing Wrecker in the side, "You afraid of monsters?"
Wrecker lets out a frustrated growl-whine-groan and stomps forwards.
Hunter moves to the front again, though his every instinct tells him to turn and run. He's not though, and he can't quite say why. There's something familiar about this place. Dangerous-familiar. They're not safe here, but that voice – it's important.
The word it was saying is important.
"Hunter," Tech says, pausing, "I believe this may be a trap."
"Ya think?" Wrecker shudders, shifting closer to Hunter. Of everyone, he seems the most freaked out.
Crosshair has his rifle out still, and he comes forwards to Hunter's side when they continue their approach. All thoughts about their mission have slid entirely from mind, and all he can focus on is this place, the building, the voice, and the familiarity. He could swear he's seen this place before, walked these halls.
Crosshair's hand lightly touches his arm – it's fleeting and a silent request for comfort – and Hunter's eyes instantly follow it. He doesn't know why he expects it to be light gray instead of his brother's black-gloved hand. Hunter blinks, and the strange fleeting image is gone. He shakes it from mind, or at least tries to, because this is the second time he could swear he's seeing something else.
"Why do you think this is a trap?" he queries, mostly to distract himself.
Tech approaches the door, hesitating, but Hunter nods to him and he gets onto getting it open.
(Why is he doing this, why isn't he leaving, why – why is there a strange prickle burning in his mind that's not him what is happening to him –)
"It knows my name," he replies.
"You sure?" Wrecker asks, freaked out, and Hunter freezes when he senses a sudden energy behind him. Electric fields – be it living creatures or droids – are supposed to feel warm, but this is cold. It's freezing, and a shiver prickles down his spine.
He freezes instinctively, turning around slowly.
There is something there.
Standing right beside Wrecker, who instantly yowls – Hunter can't even blame him, because the shadowy is at least ten feet tall – and starts shooting. Hunter dives in front of him instinctively drawing his knife and stabbing at it.
The blade slashes through what should've been its heart, but instead of reacting either from that or the blaster shots, it disintegrates into a swirl of smoke. Hunter lands on his feet, a little awkwardly, but he pushes himself up and slides his knife away.
Wrecker is cowering by the wall, and Crosshair's on Tech's other side, rifle raised.
Hunter steps back almost subconsciously. He doesn't want to be out in the open with that thing, either. It's not like the droids or predators they've encountered. It's something... else. "What was that?" he asks, glancing at Tech, who's finally gotten the door open.
After what happened, he almost doesn't want to go inside, but he doesn't much want to take chances of going back for the trees, either. That thing might not have attacked them, but it certainly could have.
He doesn't know if it could've killed them, and doesn't much care to find out, either.
"I am uncertain," he replies, "Its energy readings were cold, not warm as they should be if it were alive."
"It isn't alive," Hunter responds, and he doesn't know what he thinks about that. "It doesn't have a heartbeat, but it's still a concentrated energy source."
"What does that mean?" Wrecker asks, still sounding spooked.
"Does it mean anything?" Crosshair snips, and he looks even more confused.
"We don't know," Hunter translates, stepping inside. Yes, he's admittedly freaked out to go inside, but they need to know what this place is. It's something important, and there's something important about it that they need to know.
The hall is brown and looks more made of stone than the metal that he was expecting. It's something... ancient. The energy fields inside are as confusing as the outside. He can't detect anything, except that the thing's traces are all over in here. But other than that? There's nothing.
The door slams shut behind them before he can order them to turn back.
He has an increasingly bad feeling about this. They need to leave, to get out of here before –
He's been here before. The hall is so, so familiar.
"Tech," Hunter asks, glancing at him as he scans the halls for the... thing. "Is there something... familiar about this?"
"I... do not remember seeing it," he answers, tapping on his datapad and scanning something on the walls.
"Yes," Crosshair responds for him, approaching the wall straight across from them. The doorway opens into a hall, and it goes down both sides. "There's a doorway here."
On the wall?!
"There's... nothing there?" Wrecker offers, confused.
Crosshair slides his rifle away, touching the wall. Hunter shifts closer, and he can see a hairline crack in the rocks. It's a doorway, and it's hidden well. The question is what is it hiding?
"How did you know of this?" Tech asks, moving closer.
"Dreams. I was here with..."
"Ema," Hunter supplies, because he knows that somehow. They've talked about their dreams, and it's something all four of them have had. Whether the regs ever do, he doesn't know, because they don't really know any of them. An image of the green Twi'lek flickers through his mind, and he forces that away because it doesn't matter now more than it ever has.
"Wrecker?" Hunter requests, stepping aside. "Get this open." Yes, he's partly trying to make Wrecker feel better about this. Of everyone, he's the most freaked out.
"Sure thing, boss," he says a little gleefully, approaching the wall.
There's a grinding crashing sound as he kicks the not-wall, and the well-balanced part of the rock slides out from the opening.
There's a light glowing on the ceiling of the much larger room it opens into. It's gold, and dim in the vast expanse of the area, but it's...
Hunter moves to the front, stepping inside. It's musty, hard to breathe. He's on a balcony, similar to the ones they have in some places on Kamino, except it's longer. The wall to his left is curved inwards a little, widening, and straight across is another doorway, though this one is entirely dark. At his right is... a very, very long stairway.
What is this place? "Where are we?" he inquires, almost more intrigued than he is scared right now.
If the door hadn't closed on its own, Hunter would think the thing died when he stabbed it. It should've.
Tech is moving forwards, and that's when Hunter feels the cold washing in from behind them again. He hears it, first – a high-pitched screeching sound.
Ow.
"Ow!" Wrecker yelps. "What's that?!"
"Noise," says Crosshair helpfully.
The temperature's dropping enough that the crystal part of the railing, which is right beneath the handholds, is freezing over. He touches it, warily, part curious, and his glove comes back wet. There are fingerprints on the condensation.
Add that to the rapidly growing list of not normal things.
"And what's that?" Wrecker adds, pointing towards the dark room when the sound lets up.
Hunter whips around, drawing his blaster half on instinct again, but there's... "There's nothing there, Wrecker," he replies, and this is sounding way, way too much like what happened earlier. On the note of what happened earlier, what did Tech mean the thing knew his name?
"I – it's watching us," he insists, backing away.
Yeah. Probably, this is where they should just back out. Slowly.
"The room is empty, Wrecker," Tech replies, lightly touching his arm.
Wrecker whines, backing away.
He's panicking, and Hunter can feel the rate his heart is going at. They need to leave –
He doesn't have another moment of warning before the thing lunges at them. Hunter fires at it, as do the others, but it's moving so fast. It's Crosshair the thing tackles, throwing him against the wall. The blaster bolts aren't affecting it, either.
Hunter's about to jump the thing with his knife when it just disappears.
Wrecker's backed up to the stair edge, and Hunter's briefly certain he's going to fall down backwards if he's not careful, but Crosshair is the one he's really worried about.
There's something... wrong with him. Very wrong.
His scent is the same as it always has been, but his heartrate is slowing far more than it should be. When he looks up, his eyes are red and glowing, the same as the eyes of the shadow thing. And something about him and the area around him looks dark despite the lighting.
"Crosshair, are you okay?" Hunter queries, crouching in front of him and reaching to touch his shoulder.
He somehow doesn't think he'll like the response, but he still didn't expect Crosshair to lash out. He could almost swear he saw the shadow thing's hand move with Crosshair's, and an unseen force flings him back.
Hunter slams against the railing behind, and right through it – his armor shielded him from the worst of it, but that still hurt – crashing a good twelve feet onto the floor below. He rolls to his feet – all things considered, the landing wasn't that bad – but what in the galaxy was that?
What did Crosshair do?
That wasn't him, was it?
He hears Tech yelling Crosshair's name above him, hears a thump and a stun shot. He looks up, watching as Crosshair drops, and Wrecker catches him, lowering him to the ground. He doesn't have further warning before the thing materializes again, almost as if it was inside Crosshair, and lunges again.
This time, straight at Hunter.
He steps back, shooting at it, but nothing happens. The shots move right through it as if it's nothing but smoke and mist, which is more and more what it appears to be. Except it's not, and Hunter feels it when the thing tackles him.
He lands on his back when it jumps him, trying to – something, but he struggles against it, and its hands are the first thing that feel somewhat physical.
Wrecker fires from above, and the creature whirls around, releasing Hutner who instantly scrambles to his feet. He draws his knife, trying to stab it again, going for its head because that should do something, but his hand slices through... nothing.
It flicks a smoky hand towards the others, and there's a screeching, breaking sound, and the floor gives out beneath the other three. Wrecker falls, shrieking the whole way out of sight and past a wall beyond, and even Tech yelps ungracefully.
That's not their only way out, but seeing them fall, knowing they could be hurt makes something inside him snap, and Hunter jumps at it.
It grabs his wrist, and he feels the sickening pressure and cold and wrongwrongwrong as its fingers dig in and the pressure increases. Hunter hisses faintly from the pain of it, struggling against it but he can't pull away. He hears as much as feels the bones breaking, and a strangled cry escapes him.
It burns, the raw agony and heat of the grip and his wrist and the way his hand is going numb, but he's used to pain, trained for it, and he needs to get out of here. He needs to get his brothers out of here, which is hard when Hunter doesn't even know what this thing is.
It rips his knife from his hands, flicking it around and stabbing the blade though the joints of his armor, cutting through skin. It's not deep, and it won't be fatal, but it hurts. He can smell the blood as much as he feels the wetness.
Hunter gasps in a ragged breath, stumbling when the thing shoves him back a step, but he's used to pain, and he has to do something, to stop this thing.
He reaches for his blaster with his left hand – the right is the one broken. Probably, he'll have to use it anyway, but right now, the pain is too sharp and cutting to try.
Its misty hand lifts towards him, and he's flung backwards again, crashing into something. A door, maybe? Hunter doesn't know, didn't have the time to look around, but darkness is blurring faintly at the edges of his vision, and he struggles to blink that away.
It's not that hard, shouldn't be that hard, but it is.
Something's a little familiar though, and he could almost swear he remembers walking through this room with a blue-skinned, red-eyed someone before.
Someone in his dreams.
Something slams shut behind it, and there's something about this room that's different. The air is colder, and it smells... different. There's a vaguely metallic scent in here, like blood. Could just as much be his own, though.
And he already has a very bad feeling about this place. There's something dark and sinister about it. It's dark, almost entirely, though there's gold lighting from something on the walls. It's significantly darker than the previous room, which is saying something.
There are some dark... marks on the walls and floor. It's like some kind of engraving, something dark, and it's –
It's not important what it is. He needs something to harm that creature, and he doesn't know what it even is.
The thing still has his knife, and he hears it clanging to the floor when it drops it, stalking towards him.
It's too far away, not that it matters anyway, because the knife wasn't enough to hurt it. Nor was his blaster, but he still has the lightsaber from earlier. He's never used one before, but it's not entirely unlike using Wrecker's vibroblade – the size is similar – and it couldn't hurt to try.
Hunter takes the hilt from his belt, igniting the blade. It's blue, and it looks so right for some reason, and there's a part of him that could swear he's held it before.
It's familiar.
Now isn't the time to get distracted.
The thing growls at him, low and threatening. It sounds animalistic, and if it were an animal, he wouldn't be scared of it. It's not though – it's something else, something that seems virtually undefeatable.
The sapphire lighting makes the thing look somehow less... dangerous. It's shadowy, but it does have a center of some sort.
It freezes, and Hunter waits a moment – expecting it to attack again, though it doesn't – before slashing at it.
It dives aside, and he has a split second to think that this is the first time it reacted to a weapon, which means it might do some good before it throws him again.
He hits the wall – or maybe it was an object in the center of the room – and slides to the floor, dazed. Yeah, his helmet took the worst of the blow, but the pain spearing through his head is dulling his senses.
The wound is bleeding badly – he can feel it soaking through his body glove – but he doesn't have time to worry about that right now.
It shouldn't be able to move things – that's something only Jedi can do. Maybe this thing is or was a Jedi, then?
Hunter pushes himself up again, trying to dispel the dizziness, but he doesn't have a chance to do anything past making it halfway to his feet before the thing lifts him again. He could be wrong, but it definitely does look like it's using the Force, though he's not seen enough Jedi to know what it looks like.
Or really any at all, either.
The thing pins him down with an unseen force, holding him still. Hunter struggles against it, but there's nothing he can do. It's not like it's physical that he can just fight off. It's something different, something other.
The thing is close, too close, and it's coming closer, circling around to sort of sit by his head. It's wrong and cold enough that it burns.
He can feel something shifting. The shadow is... doing something. He can't see it – it's a lot like whatever it is Jedi do – but he instinctively has a very bad feeling about this, not as though it even matters. He can't move anyway, can't do anything except lay here, panting and trying to find a way out. There's nothing – nothing he can think of, though Tech might know something, and it's stupid because he's their leader, and he's supposed to know these things.
It's doing something though. Something –
The thing's hand touches his shoulder, and he squirms against it again. Its touch is impossibly cold and burning, even through his armor. He doesn't even know what it is or what it's doing, or what's happening to his brothers. At least it's hurting him instead, and that's – the most he can ask for?
Something in the air feels different, staticky and energized.
That's when the burning starts up, starting with his chest and burning outwards. And – stars, he's never felt anything like it. It feels like it's ripping him apart, rewriting him into something... else, and it hurts.
It's wrong and it burns and it makes everything scream from sheer wrongness. And yeah, he's used to being poked and prodded at, to being studied like he's something... like he's an experiment. That happened all the time on Kamino. It hurt, sometimes worse than others, and it hurt his brothers, too. This is different, though. On Kamino, it was to make them better, and he hated it, but it still – it was something they could accept.
This, whatever this is, is not.
He has no idea what this is, can't think about anything except that every inch of him feels like it's burning, and he needs it to stop.
He can't move, can't make the thing stop but it feels like he's dying, being unwritten entirely somehow.
His brothers are still out there, and Hunter has to get back to them. They need him, but he needs them too, right now. He doesn't know what it's doing and at least on Kamino he always knew. This isn't that, and the most he knows is that it's chipping away at every last shred of sanity. Reasoning only works so well when he has nothing with which to ground himself, when all he can think about is the pain burning through him.
It's not stopping and there's a part of him that just wants to curl up in a ball and cry.
Hunter doesn't know how long it's been before everything finally goes dark.
***
"What if something happens? Will I ever see you again?"
"We'll be fine. I'll come back; I promise."
His head dips in a nod, tears cascading down his face.
"Hey." She crouches in front of him, squeezing his shoulder. "We'll be fine. Ema promised her brother would help us, and he will. I'll come back for you, I promise."
He nods again, and she doesn't fully think he believes it, but he throws his arms around her neck before she has a chance to object. "I love you, Lei-ah."
She hugs him back, soaking up his warmth. I'd do anything to see you smile again, to hear you laugh. "I love you, too. Be careful."
He nods against her shoulder, and when she finally stands again, moving towards the others, she can't shake the strange sense of finality.
Consciousness fades back in slowly. Painfully slowly. Every inch of him aches, even if the burning is gone. It takes a few minutes for Hunter to remember where he is, and how he got here, and it's not until a sharp, burning pain starts up in his side over where the thing stabbed him earlier that he does.
Hunter hisses faintly, trying to jerk away, pausing at the sharp pain that jars through his wrist and – oh, right. It's... presently unusable. He looks up, glancing over at the sickening smell of something burning, and he doesn't much care for the probability of that being him.
Which it is.
It's burning the stab wound closed, so it won't bleed anymore, and he knows it's necessary, but it still hurts.
"Tech?" he rasps, because he feels him nearby, sees him, but something still isn't right and the cold is still here.
The blade flicks off and the hilt clangs onto something out of his line of sight. Tech looks to meet his gaze, but when he does, it's... not him.
His eyes are glowing red, and Hunter opts to ignore the part of his mind whispering that's perfectly normal, because no, it's not. None of this should be happening, and he doesn't understand why he came here in the first place.
It's the same as what happened to Crosshair earlier. He's... not himself. The thing is... in him.
Controlling him.
That's why he was... yeah. It – makes sense. Tech wouldn't hurt him.
He deflates a little, instinctively edging away, or trying to. His armor is... off, and he's not of the mindset to question that at all right now. It's hard to think about anything except that he aches everywhere, and his head is throbbing sharply from something he can't quite remember. Feels like he should though.
He knew coming here was a terrible idea from the start, so he has no idea why he did.
It doesn't make sense. None of this makes sense, but he needs to get them out of here. It's hard when everything that's happening is way over his head.
They need a Jedi or someone who understands this.
Hunter twists a little, trying to look around, but he doesn't see Wrecker or Crosshair anywhere, which may either be a very good thing, or a very bad one. He was supposed to protect them, and all his mind is doing is replaying the strange image from his... dream-thing.
"I'll come back for you."
The name. The word was familiar.
And he remembers those eyes. Has seen them before.
They're blue, and Hunter has never seen humans with blue eyes before, much less should be dreaming about them. It doesn't matter what those dreams are.
He's restrained with something, and it feels cold on his wrists. Something metal? Another surge of pain spears through his right hand when he tries moving, and he stills again. He won't be able to get these off without help, and he can't see clearly. The angle's wrong. Probably intentional.
How is he going to get out of here?
"You won't," the thing says. It's speaking in Tech's voice, but there's a dark, shadowy echo to it that isn't him. "You'll give me what I want."
"I'm not giving you anything," he says, mostly out of pure, stubborn denial.
"You already are." It leans back, and it's so – it possessed Tech somehow, and Hunter has no idea if his brother is still in there, if he's aware of what's happening or can stop it. "You can't stop it."
He can't stop it, doesn't even know what it is, but it might help if he could... figure out. Maybe. Doubtful, but worth trying. "What do you want?"
It reaches out, and Hunter's knife flies into its hand. "You will call him here."
"I'll come back for you."
"Him?" he echoes, confused.
"Him," it confirms, as if that answers all the questions in the galaxy. It flicks the blade around, in much the same way Hunter himself often does, and he has a split second of warning before the blade cuts down, cutting through skin, and a strangled gasp escapes him. It's not too deep, but it still hurts.
This isn't him. It's not Tech even if it looks like it, and he has to keep telling himself that. "Snap out of it," he says anyway, struggling to mask his fear with anger that he doesn't really feel. Well, he is angry – at the thing doing this to them, the thing that's hurting Tech by making him hurt Hunter. If he's in there, remembers this at all, Hunter has no idea what it would do to him. "This isn't you!"
"He can hear you," the voice purrs in his mind, and he shudders at its presence, "But he won't listen."
"I don't believe you," Hunter snaps back at it, because he knows that's not true. Tech wouldn't – he wouldn't hurt them. That's ridiculous, and he can see the shimmering red glow in Tech's eyes that's not his own. There's a childish part of Hunter that really, really just wants to cry.
He thought it was just trying to kill him, them, but he was wrong. It's much worse than that.
He forces himself to breathe in and out slowly, bracing himself, trying to work this over. It won't matter if the thing can read his mind, but he has to – he needs to get the restraints off and then there might be something he could do. There has to be. He can't just...
It doesn't answer, though the burning cold is freezing through his mind. And yeah, as soldiers, they knew they could get captured sometime, that they could get tortured, but this is different. It's not what he expected, not what he was prepared for.
Nothing could prepare him for being hurt by one of his brothers.
And he doesn't even know why this is happening. It – what is that thing? What does it want with him, with all of them? Why –
His vision whites out as the blade cuts into him, deeper, longer, and he chokes back a cry.
If this thing wanted to kill him, why isn't it doing that? Not that he wants it to, because Hunter does not want to think about what that would do to his brothers. They need him.
He zones out somewhat, squirming a little, but he can't move. All he can do is lay there and breathe. Trying to stay calm is virtually impossible, but there's nothing he can do, nothing he has to work with to try getting out.
It burns even if it's not deep enough to be prominently damaging, though he doesn't even know that – Tech would know.
The blade cuts into his arm – this one's deeper again, and it burns. A gasp-whine escapes him, and he glances up instinctively, looking at Tech. He wishes he hadn't.
He can feel his brother's heart rate spiking, from fear or from something else entirely. Hunter can't read his expression well, but he can see enough to tell the gut-wrenching horror of it, and it makes him feel sick.
Yeah.
He's still in there, remembering every moment of it, too.
And here, Hunter genuinely didn't think it could get worse.
He hates that it makes him feel a tiny bit less alone.
A distant image flickers through Hunter's mind, of three others, standing beside him as he faced the same thing, the lightsaber in his hand. It felt different, though.
Doesn't matter.
Doesn't hurt to think about, though. Anything, to distract himself, but that won't make this stop, either.
He really just – it hurts, and everything hurts, and he needs –
He needs it to stop.
Crosshair remembers what happened earlier, and he is, no doubt, drowning in guilt himself for hurting Hunter, even if he didn't really hurt him. It hurt, yes, but it wasn't anything past bruises. But Tech –
"Crosshair?" he asks, because he needs to know if they're alright.
It doesn't answer.
The sense of dread inside him grows even more. "Wrecker?"
"Prisoners," it answers.
Like him.
Hunter only saw one of these things, and he can only hope that means it's the one here, and that Wrecker and Crosshair are fine right now. He won't be able to help them like he needs to, and he –
Pain flares through his forearm, and he hisses in a breath, blinking back tears. He really, really wants to cry right now. The scent of blood is nauseating, and he wants to block it out but can't. He failed them, is failing them, and it's his duty to protect his brothers. It wasn't hard with droids. Hunter knew the risks, knew they'd no doubt get hurt eventually, no matter what he did, but it's never happened before.
(So, why does it feel like it has?)
The only thing that keeps him from breaking down is the desperation of trying to make this easier for Tech, at least, and that's really the most he can do right now.
He's bleeding badly from probably at least a dozen places now, and it's bad. It's doubtful the thing really cares if he does die, though Hunter's fairly certain it's intending to draw it out more than anything else. He doesn't understand why this is happening. It feels like he should, and the strange sense of coldness he feels from it somehow isn't entirely physical anymore, though he doesn't really know what that means.
It's hard for him to focus on anything when his head is pounding so hard, or he'd be finding a focus and just breathing until it's over. He's good at that – had to be, in order to deal with his overwhelming senses. He can feel so much all the time, and it's often very overwhelming, and the only other person who really understands that is Crosshair.
It's childish and selfish and pointless, but he's never wished for someone to protect him more than right now.
Helplessness and exhaustion are nagging at him, sapping away whatever little energy he has.
He lost track of time, but it drags on until he's feeling dizzy and lightheaded from blood loss, which shouldn't even be possible considering as he's laying down, but maybe it is. Doesn't know. It's never happened before, certainly not like this.
"I'll come back for you" a voice whispers in his mind.
He's exhausted and worn, and sleeping when that thing is around should be out of the question, but he's too exhausted to do anything else. His vision is blurring dark at the edges, and he doesn't know if it's from the already dark room and slowly losing consciousness, or something else, or if it's that he's dying but he's too worn out to think about it, either way.
***
Consciousness fades back in slowly, through a haze of agony and exhaustion. He almost, almost wishes he didn't.
Stars.
He aches everywhere.
The next thing he becomes aware of – acutely – is that Tech is nearby. His elevated heart rate speaks of his distress, but Hunter feels his own alarm flare to life before he has time to worry about that. He keeps his eyes closed instinctively, not wanting to draw attention. It hurt so much, and he thought he was going to die there.
He was so afraid of what it would do to his brothers if he didn't come back, if he wasn't able to get them out.
"Hunter?" Tech's voice asks tentatively.
He sounds like himself, but that's not –
"It's gone," he continues quietly, "For now. I suggest we get out of here."
The mere thought of moving makes him want to cry, but that doesn't matter. Tech is right – they have to get out of here before something worse happens. Hunter can handle getting injured himself. He can't handle something like this happening with Wrecker and Crosshair. He twitches, trying to look around, but he can't really move.
Tech is kneeling next to him, and he hesitantly reaches out to touch Hunter's shoulder. It's brief, fleeting, but Hunter leans into it just as much for Tech as for himself.
"I know it wasn't you," he says quietly, once his brain is functioning clearly enough to formulate words.
"I am aware," Tech replies shortly, turning away. Hunter can't blame him, either. He doesn't know how they'll deal with this, but they'll take it as it comes. First, he needs to get out.
He turns his head, trying to get a clearer look at what's restraining him. It's... he can't really see. It feels cold, like metal, which it might be, but he doesn't know. Moving his arms hurt, too. It's a little like binders, but it feels like metal instead of electricity. It's not something he's familiar with, but either way, moving either of his hands really, really hurts.
"You need to get these off," Hunter tells him, blinking a few times. Everything still feels far away and distant, and he doesn't want it to become any clearer right now, but he needs to focus on finding a way out.
"I am trying," he grumbles, "But I do not see a way to."
What did it do, weld them on? That would... admittedly explain a little of why his wrists are so sore? He doesn't want to think about it. It'd make sense if it did – the heat would've burned him and it kind of feels like it might have. Hunter twitches, trying to sit up, but drops back at the pain shooting through him just about everywhere.
"You are in no condition to move," Tech snaps, irritated. Hunter twitches, anyway, turning his hand over to reach for him just in case he wants it. He's not really surprised when Tech returns it instantly, taking his hand and squeezing it tightly.
Clinging.
It reminds him a little of how Wrecker and Crosshair got sometimes if they were upset about something, as if Hunter could actually help something, anything, even if he always promised to and did his best. Once, he genuinely thought he could make a difference, that he, as their leader, could help, but after – after the past several hours, assuming it hasn't been far longer, it certainly doesn't feel like it anymore. He's never seen Tech get like this before, though, and it's weird.
Just add that to the massively long list of unnerving things that've been happening. He wants to get out of here, to go back to Kamino or the Marauder where everything feels safe, or at least makes sense.
"I do not know of anything that can cut this," he says.
"My vibroblade," he answers, and Tech flinches.
Okay. Yeah. Hunter won't ask him to touch it, then. (He doesn't want him to, either, and if he does it anyway, he's fairly certain he'll just flat out panic.)
"The lightsaber?" Hunter offers instead, and Tech looks no happier about that.
There's a crash and Wrecker's distant yowl that draws both their attention towards the doorway area.
This is what he was afraid of – that it left Tech here to go after Wrecker and Crosshair, and that it's hurting them.
Force.
Hunter can live with Tech having hurt him, no matter how much that hurts, but he can't live with... the thing doing the same to Wrecker and Crosshair.
"Go," he orders, "Find them. Get them out of here. Take the lightsaber – I think it can hurt it."
"And leave you?" Tech asks incredulously.
"We don't have a choice," Hunter reminds firmly, "I can't – just get them out of here, Tech. I'll find my own way back." It's unlikely, and he knows that. He's practically guaranteed to die here, but he can't let his brothers get hurt by this thing either. That's far more important than whatever will happen to him here.
Tech hesitates, but there's another crash outside, and he jumps down from the... thing they're on. Hunter hears it as he hits the floor and sprints for the door.
Unease twists inside him, but there's really nothing he can do except wait and hope they'll be alright. He wants to get out of here, but as injured as he is, there's no way Tech would be able to get to them on time and get him out. He's... more a liability than anything else.
Something's burning in his mind, something Hunter doesn't really understand. It's foreign and unfamiliar, and it's been there ever since he woke up from when the thing did... whatever it was the first time. He feels different, can feel too much, and he feels a distant heat-warmth-brightness in a way that reminds him sharply of his electric senses, but it's not the same.
It's something else.
There really is nothing Hunter can do right now, except for waiting, and the helplessness is grating on him.
Everything aches, and he doesn't think it's bleeding much anymore, doesn't want to think about why, but consciousness is flickering in and out.
It doesn't fade back in fully until there's another crash, and the door snaps open again.
He feels something... warm, something brilliant and familiar.
"I'll come back for you, I promise."
"Hunter?"
That voice is familiar. It's... deeper than he thought it would be for some reason, but he's heard it, knows him –
There's a light thump next to him, and he pulls his eyes open, blinking against the sudden lighting.
It's... a Jedi, but he's familiar. Hunter remembers those eyes – they're the same shade of blue as the ones he dreams about so often.
"They told me your new name," he says, crouching and drawing his lightsaber to cut through the restraints.
"I know you," Hunter manages, blinking a few times. It's... not quite the same, but it's familiar. He looks older, though, and nor does he know how he would even know. Nothing about their existence has really made sense.
"Yeah," he agrees, "My name is Anakin Skywalker."
Skywalker. The name is familiar. The name –
Ani, something far in his mind whispers, and an oddly familiar level of possession bubbles up inside him. The sudden surge of protectiveness reminds him of how he feels towards Crosshair, and Wrecker, and even Tech – something that he knows he should feel towards someone else, too.
Anakin. The name is familiar.
Another name is burning in the back of his mind – Ashla – but he doesn't know what it means or who that is.
"How did you know to find us?" Hunter asks, twitching and trying to push himself up. He can't move and everything burns.
"I sensed it," Anakin replies, reaching to take his left hand. He squeezes it gently, and it's warm and soothing. Hunter doesn't know him, has never seen him before, but he could swear he has. All he can think of is the warm weight of someone in his arms, and the burning protectiveness in his heart.
"There's no time to explain right now, but I felt your pain. The Sith spirit was trying to lure me out here."
Spirit? Is that what the thing was?
"Come on," Anakin urges gently, hand gripping his arm and tugging him upright. He's a Jedi, and Hunter's superior by over a dozen ranks or so, but he doesn't really... care about that right now. Doesn't have the sense of mind to think this through, can't think about anything aside from how much everything hurts.
He wishes Wrecker was here.
"Where're the others?" he rasps.
"Distracting it," Anakin answers, tugging Hunter's arm over his shoulder to support him. "We don't have much time."
He knows that. They – wait. That's... not good.
Hunter's gaze flicks to his armor – it's piled on the floor.
"We'll get it later," Anakin replies. "Come on."
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