Hunter, Wrecker, Aurora, and their new friend Deke all were making their way in the jungle. They had to make one stop at the ship but the sun had started setting and they had to use their flashlights to make the journey back.
Hunter and Wrecker were leading the way and Aurora was walking next to Deke. "I can get you inside the ruins." Deke said. "But you won't be able to get anything from the console without a power source."
"We got that covered." Wrecker reassured him. "We just need to grab something from our ship."
Deke looked down before looking at Aurora. "This clone you're looking for..."
"Omega." Hunter reminded him.
"How long has she been gone?" He asked.
"Too long." Hunter said. "But we're not giving up."
"Is she like your daughter or something?" Deke asked Aurora.
Aurora put a hand on his shoulder. "She's not but she's still very important to all of us."
"I wish the other clones felt that way about us." Deke admitted. "You may be defective CTs, but at least you're loyal."
Aurora kept her hand on Deke's shoulder. "And you're safe now, you and your brothers. We'll get you out of here." Deke nodded and the group walked up to the Marauder.
The door opened and Wrecker climbed on board. "Whoa!" Deke exclaimed as he walked up to the side of the ship. Aurora and Hunter watched the young clone. "Your ship has seen some action."
"Mostly during the war." Hunter said.
Aurora chuckled. "Mostly?"
"And some after." Hunter admitted.
Deke lowered his flashlight. "I thought, one day, I'd be flying one of these on a mission. A lot's changed."
"Deke..." Aurora trailed off.
The sound of Wrecker grunting had everyone looking to the opening of the ship. Gonky was beeping as they saw the droid strapped to Wrecker's back. "Well, I've got the gear and power." Gonky beeped some more. "Lead the way, kid." Wrecker tossed both Aurora and Deke rebreather masks. They put the masks on and Deke took a deep breath before moving forward into the jungle. The other three close behind him.
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Aurora thought the smell was bad getting off the ship, but the smell just got worse and worse the closer to the facility they got. Creatures echoed in the distance. Aurora realized the closer they got to the facility, the more vines were in the way. It looked like the orbital bombardment didn't work after all.
Deke paused. "There's slither vines everywhere in there. Be careful where you step." He continued moving and the others followed.
Wrecker tripped on something but caught himself. "Whoa!"
"Wrecker!" Aurora hissed. "He literally just told us to be careful!" She scolded him.
"Sorry!" He whispered.
The floor inside the facility wasn't badly covered in the vines, but the walls were infested. Aurora was walking behind Deke with Hunter behind Aurora. Wrecker groaned, he was a little ways behind, a bit more slower than normal with Gonky strapped to his back. The droid beeping on away.
The group rounded a corner and Aurora looked up, hearing the sound of metal creaking. I hope this place doesn't come down on us. She thought.
Wrecker could be heard groaning. "How much further is the console?"
"Hard to tell." Deke said. "More vines have spread down here."
"So, they can reproduce... how cute." Aurora moaned.
"We had to stop scavenging the site because of it." Deke said.
"What other experiments were going on in this place?" Hunter asked. Aurora wasn't even sure if she wanted to know the answer.
"Nothing good." Deke said. "They didn't exactly tell us what was going on." They rounded another corner and Hunter noticed first but even Aurora could hear the sounds of the vines growing more active the further they got in the facility. Hunter turned and everyone became alert. They were looking behind them and missed the vine that slithered up to Deke and wrapped around his ankles. He was forced to the ground and he screamed.
"Deke!" Aurora ran after the clone with the others behind her. Deke dropped his staff but Aurora managed to grab his arms and kept him from being lifted further. "Hunter!" She yelled for him. Another vine wrapped around his mouth, the rebreather mask being ripped from his face. Wrecker also grabbed Deke while Hunter swung at the vines.
Hunter cut the vines and Deke was free from them. Wrecker caught Deke and lowered him to the ground while Aurora quickly grabbed the mask and put it on his face. Hunter and Wrecker worked on kicking the vines away while Aurora checked Deke over.
"Are you okay?" She scanned him. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine." Deke said and the two of them stood up.
Aurora heard something else and saw something moving in the vines. "Hunter..." The group turned to where she was looking. The vines grew legs and started chittering. "What. Is. That!"
Hunter grabbed her arm. "Go! Keep moving." He pushed her ahead of him and Wrecker pushed Deke to the front as well. Another three-legged vine creature was in front of them and jumped right at Aurora's face. Hunter blasted the creature and it tumbled to the ground but it got up and ran up the wall.
"I'm going to scream!" Aurora yelled.
"Go!" Hunter ordered them. They continued running down the hallway ignoring the being careful rule.
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The four of them came to the end of the hallway and into an opening. They all stopped at the ledge and everyone shined their flashlights in different directions. The creatures could still be heard behind them. Hunter and Wrecker were looking up at the night sky while Aurora was looking at the gurgling liquid below them.
"Ugh, that smell!" She exclaimed. Hunter followed her gaze as the water bubbled. They couldn't even confirm if the liquid was water or something else.
Wrecker groaned as well. "I agree, I also didn't think the smell could get any worse."
"We're all in agreement on that." Hunter added.
Deke shined his flashlight over a switch board. "There's the console. Come on." Deke jumped down followed by Aurora. Hunter was the next to jump with Wrecker jumping last, making the metal echo. The group walked in a line with Deke leading them, being very careful where they step. They jumped from platform to platform until they made it to the ledge where the console was at.
All four of them walked up to the debris that was covering it and together they lifted it with ease. Tossing it overboard and into the murky liquid below. The water was deeper than anticipated as the large debris disappeared without a trace.
Deke was at the controls while Hunter helped Wrecker get Gonky off his back. Aurora was looking at the surrounding area. She couldn't hear the chattering of the vine creatures anymore and it was a little too quiet for her liking.
Hunter pulled a wire from the controls and handed it to Wrecker who carefully took it and placed it into Gonky.
"Alright." Wrecker patted the top of the droid's dome. "Do your think little guy."
Gonky chatter while Hunter pulled a wire from the data-pad and into the control panel. It turned on. Deke watched Hunter closely. Aurora continued to survey the area. The water was still bubbling.
Metal was heard creaking and Hunter turned around. He saw Aurora looking to where the sound came from as well. A hand on her holster.
"Something's coming." Hunter said. "We need to make this quick."
"Is it more of those things?" Wrecker asked.
Aurora turned to face the group. "I don't want to stay around and find out."
"It's not." Hunter said. "It's something else."
"Can we hurry it up then?" Aurora questioned as she walked up to Deke, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I don't like this place."
"I'm familiar with the system." Deke pitched in. "Give me some time." Hunter looked at Deke. "I'll see what data I can pull up."
Hunter handed Deke the data-pad. "Aurora, stay with Deke." She nodded and Hunter turned to the ledge they were standing on. Wrecker followed. Hunter held up his blaster while Wrecker chose his Vibro-blade. Aurora watched as Deke started pushing some buttons on the data-pad, extracting some information.
Hunter and Wrecker were looking at the place they entered from when a loud shrieking was heard and the platform started rumbling. The liquid below started becoming more aggressive and the two clones backed up.
"Hunter?" Aurora called for him.
"Stay with the kid." Hunter ordered.
A large vine broke the surface and soared above the group. Hunter and Wrecker started firing at it and the vine slammed down on the platform, separating Hunter and Wrecker from Aurora and Deke.
"Deke!" She yelled. Aurora and Deke fell over and Aurora grabbed the kid and pulled her close to him. Deke lost his comm-link in the process. Hunter and Wrecker were back to shooting at the vine. The first vine disappeared back into the water but two more popped up behind them. With Deke and Aurora still on the ground, she pulled her blaster out and started firing at one of the vines while Deke looked around.
Deke turned around and jumped onto a lower platform. "Deke, get back here!" Aurora yelled, still firing at the vine.
Deke ignored her and grabbed his comm-link. "Mox! Mox! Stak!" He called into the comm. "The vines! They're everywhere! Help! We need help!"
"Deke!" Aurora got to her feet, ran, and jumped down after Deke.
"Mox! Come in, Mox!" Deke continued to yell into the comm.
"Come on!" Aurora grabbed him by the underarm and pushed him back towards the group. The two of them climbed back up onto the platform. They ran back to the control panel as Hunter and Wrecker caught up to them.
"Time's up." Hunter said. "Get the data-pad!"
"These can't be the vines!" Aurora yelled at Hunter. "Are they?!"
Deke disconnected the data-pad as Wrecker strapped Gonky to his back again. Hunter helped secure the droid as Aurora and Deke ran forward. The other two close behind them. They jumped off the platform right as the vine destroyed it.
A third vine appeared behind them and Aurora grabbed Deke and pulled him behind her.
"Whoa! Look out!" Wrecker yelled and the group jumped onto another large piece of debris. They were running up it when Aurora turned her head to see the water rising.
"The water is rising!" She told them. They jumped up and grabbed a large metal beam and started climbing it and Wrecker turned to shoot the vine. They were still climbing when the vines hit the beams, causing them to shake. Aurora and Deke started going down. Deke screaming had Hunter turning around. "Deke!" Aurora grabbed Deke's hand and managed to jump up and Hunter grabbed her hand. Aurora pulled Deke up and Hunter grabbed the kid and pulled him up before grabbing Aurora and pulling her up as well.
Deke started running but Aurora was looking at the vine. "Move!" Hunter grabbed her and they continued to climb up the debris. The vine following them. They came to an end and saw more of the murky liquid below.
"We're trapped." Aurora commented.
They heard the vine coming up behind them and they all turned and started blasting it. The water continued to rise and Hunter turned. He saw a floating platform coming towards them. Hunter move to jump, the others followed him, and they all jumped onto the platform and pulled themselves up.
More vines broke the surface and the group continued to shoot. "It's everywhere!" Deke yelled.
A bright light came out of nowhere and shined above them. Aurora looked up, shielding her eyes. "Is that our ship?!"
The Havoc Marauder slowly descended and the door opened. Two ascension cables were lowered down.
One of the vine creatures jumped onto Hunter but he shook it off and fired at it. The others continued to fire at the vines. The cables appeared before them.
"Grab the cables!" Mox yelled from above.
"Deke go!" Aurora ordered. Deke and Wrecker grabbed the cables and Mox flipped the switch and they started rising.
"Aurora go!" Hunter yelled at her.
"Not without you!" She yelled back, grabbing his arm.
"I'm right behind you!" Hunter said. "I'm not getting on until I know you're on first!"
Aurora groaned. "You better be right behind me!" She grabbed the cable and started climbing up. Hunter shot the vines a few more times before he jumped up and grabbed the cable as well. The group watched as the vines rose above them and started to wrap around the ship. Mox reappeared with a blaster and fired at the vines.
Something started coming out of the water and Aurora looked down. All she saw was teeth.
"Shoot for the mouth!" She heard Mox yell. Deke had climbed on board of the ship. He and Mox wielding blasters and started shooting again.
"A kriffing Sarlacc?!" She yelled. The blaster fire only seemed to make the creature become more angry and pulled on the ship some more. The ship started shaking along with the cables the group was on.
"We need more fire power!" Hunter yelled. Wrecker pulled out a grenade and dropped it into the Sarlacc's mouth, but the only thing that did was make it more angry. "That's not enough!"
"Grab the case of explosives!" Wrecker yelled to the clone cadets above them. The ship started getting dangerously close to the mouth of the Sarlacc and Aurora started losing her grip.
"I-I can't hold on!" Aurora yelled.
Aurora lost her hold and started falling with a scream. "Aurora!" Hunter yelled. Aurora jolted to a stop and she looked up seeing that Hunter had grabbed her hand. She reached up and used her free hand to grab his wrist. "It's alright! I got you!"
"Hunter!" She yelled again.
"I won't let you go!" He reassured her. Aurora looked down at the creature just right below her and her breathing started to pick up. "Don't look at it!" Aurora looked back at Hunter. "Just look at me!"
A case and falling grenades flew past them and everyone couldn't help but look at it as it dropped by. Everything fell into its mouth and Deke activated the last grenade and dropped that into the Sarlacc's mouth last. The beeping disappeared into the creature's throat and not a moment later the grenade blew up, causing a chain reaction from all the other grenades.
"Yea!" Wrecker cheered on.
The Sarlacc let go of the ship causing it to jolt up. The now dead Sarlacc slowly disappeared into the murkiness below and Wrecker climbed onto the Marauder. Hunter pulled Aurora up until she could grab the ledge and she pulled herself up. She bent over and helped pull Hunter up and once he was standing, Aurora wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug.
The hug threw Hunter off guard but he quickly recovered and wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair. He could feel her shaking against him. "It's okay, you're okay." He whispered. "I have you."
"Hunter, I-I-" She said into his neck.
"Shh." He whispered some more. "Let's get inside." Reluctantly she let go and the two of them went inside of the Marauder with everyone else. They ran on board and the two of them saw Stak piloting the ship. "Let's go." Hunter ordered. Stak flew the Marauder back into space.
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Hunter was looking over the data-pad at the comm-computer. He looked up to see the clone cadets, Wrecker, and Aurora all talking in the bridge. All of them seemed to be laughing and enjoying themselves, but even he saw Aurora's smile falter. He got up and walked up to the group.
"You mean you married a clone?!" He heard Deke exclaim.
"But I thought we clones couldn't get married?" Mox questioned.
Aurora ruffled Mox's hair. "When you boys are old enough you can be anything you want. Marry whoever you want. Do whatever you want. The choice is all but yours." Aurora told them.
"Awesome." Stak said.
"But I do think the first thing you all should do is stop at a refresher." Aurora said and she and Wrecker both started laughing.
"I've been going over the data." Hunter said to the group. "Looks like Hemlock transferred his entire base of operations to another location." Aurora looked at the cadets and saw them look down. She couldn't help but look away too. "His experiments too."
"Did the intel say where he went?" Mox asked.
Hunter looked at the data-pad once more. "There was a mention of a sector but nothing more." Everyone watched as Aurora walked away from them and towards the gunner's mount. "It's a lead, but we're got a lot of space to cover."
"Well, if that's where Omega is, then that's where we're going." Wrecker said.
Hunter nodded. "We'll drop you three off someplace safe."
"Where?" Mox asked.
"An island." Hunter informed them. "There are good people there. They'll take care of you."
"We're cadets without an army." Mox said. "I don't know where we fit in anymore."
"Like Aurora said, the future is yours." Hunter said. "You have time to figure it out. You can be something other than a soldier."
"What about you?" Mox asked.
"Our mission is not over yet." Hunter said. Wrecker stood up and put a hand on his brother's shoulder. The two of them nodded to each other. Mox looked up at Hunter again and slowly brought his hand up. Hunter raised his as well and the two of them shook hands.
A quiet sniffle had Hunter turning around. Aurora had her back to the group but he could see her shaking a little.
"Go talk to her." Wrecker told him.
"I don't think she wants to talk to me." Hunter said. "Maybe you should?"
"She definitely doesn't want to talk to me." Wrecker said. "She wants to talk to the one she's married to." He nudged his brother forward. Hunter shook his head but walked towards Aurora.
"Wait, that's the clone she married?" He heard Deke behind him. Wrecker responded by laughing.
Hunter stood behind Aurora. "Hey." He whispered.
Aurora wiped her eyes and sniffled some more. "What do you want?"
"To talk." Hunter said.
"And what are we going to talk about that isn't going to end with us fighting?" Aurora quipped. She still kept her back to him.
"I don't want to fight with you." Hunter said. "What's bothering you?"
"Leave it alone." Aurora snapped.
"No, I'm not." Hunter gently grabbed her shoulder but she shrugged him away.
"Can't you just stop?" Aurora turned to face him. He saw that her eyes were red and puffy from crying and her cheeks were tear stained. "There's nothing you can do."
Hunter sighed. "Aurora, come here." He stepped closer to her.
"No, just go away!" She backed up some more.
"I'm not going anywhere." He stated as he moved closer to her.
"Hunter I swear..." She went to shove him back but Hunter knew this game by now. He grabbed her wrist and quickly pulled her into his embrace. She tried to push his back but was failing.
"What's on your mind?" He whispered and rubbed her back.
Her sniffles returned as she leaned her head on his shoulder. She knew there was no point in trying to argue further with him. "What if... what if we never find Omega? What if the Empire has taken her for good." She whispered.
"Don't think like that." Hunter pulled back and caressed her cheeks. Aurora was still pressed against him as he started to wipe her tears away with his thumbs. "We'll get this information to Echo and we will get her back. We will find her."
"You don't know that." Aurora continued to whisper.
"I do know that." Hunter said. "She is a strong kid and will find her way back to us." Hunter leaned in and gently kissed her. Aurora met him back with a kiss. The two of them heard the commotion up in the bridge.
In the bridge the clone cadets looked away. "Ew!" Stak gagged.
"Do they have to kiss right in front of us?" Deke also looked away.
Wrecker laughed. "Ah, don't worry. They do this kind of thing all the time. They fight and they make out."
"Don't you mean make up?" Mox questioned.
"No, I do not!" Wrecker laughed some more. "I mean make out. They are both kinda stubborn."
"How often do they fight?" Mox questioned some more. Wrecker only answered his question with more laughter.
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A few hours had gone by and they were almost to Pabu. Most of the ship was asleep. Hunter was sitting in the bridge with Wrecker asleep, snoring behind him. Someone walked up and sat next to Hunter.
Hunter looked over. "Mox? Can't sleep?"
"Old habits die hard." Mox sheepishly said. "Stak and Deke are asleep and I can't sleep when they are sleeping. One of us always kept watch on Setron."
"I understand." Hunter nodded. He turned around and saw Aurora, Deke, and Stak all asleep. They were sitting against the wall on one of the cots. Both clones were on either side of her. Her arms wrapped around them.
"They really like her." Mox said, also looking at them. "She reminds us of Mother Ti. In fact they even started calling her Mother Aurora."
Hunter chuckled. "She reminds you of Mother Ti?"
Mox nodded. "Like Mother Ti, Aurora doesn't see us as just clones. We're humans too and Aurora doesn't care that we are clones. I know Deke and Stak like that. She's really caring, also like Mother Ti was."
"That she is." Hunter agreed.
"You two fight a lot?" Mox asked. "Wrecker said you do."
"Yea we do." Hunter sighed. "I try not to but..."
"Is it because you both are stubborn?" Mox questioned. "Wrecker also said you both are stubborn."
"Both of us stubborn?" Hunter said in disbelief. "I suppose so." He looked at Aurora sleeping peacefully once more. "I love that woman far more than I think she realizes. I would die for her if it meant she lived happy and healthy. She doesn't deserve this rough life. She deserves the peace and security of a stable life, but yet she still stays and comes on the missions."
Mox shrugged. "Maybe she feels the same way. That's why she stays."
"Perhaps." Hunter chuckled. "You should also get some rest too. If it'll make you feel better, I'll watch over you three."
"I'll try." Mox got up. "I like Mother Aurora too, and I also like you and Wrecker as well. Thank you for rescuing us, even if we weren't part of the plan."
"Of course." Hunter said. "Get some rest." Mox nodded and walked to the cots. He climbed onto the one across from Aurora and the cadets and laid down. Hunter turned back in his seat and smiled. "Mother Aurora." He chuckled some more. I wonder how she feels about that.