The Runaway {Hunter} (WATTYS 2022)

Chapter 2

The sound of the engine from the shuttle was all that filled the inside of the ship. Their flight wasn't too far off from the base but it was made into an awkward trip. Tech stood in the corner going through his pad, looking through information. The other men stood there waiting for their destination to come closer.

"So how did a Jedi like yourself get sucked into a crazy mission such as this?" Hunter asked as he turned to the Senator.

"Jedi?" She questioned, when she saw how serious he was, she let out a laugh, along with Rex and Jesse. "I'm no Jedi, Sergeant."

"Cora Tane, Senator on Coruscant." Rex announced, smiling towards the Senator.

"Heh," Hunter hummed, "Normally the Jedi work with the clones, I took you for a Jedi."

"Considering how she isn't carrying a lightsaber," Tech interrupted, "It was obvious that she wasn't a Jedi."

"That's the last thing we need." Crosshair grumbled, "Some Senator to slow us down." Cora looked at the snake like man as he glared to her, which she returned.

Before Cora could open her mouth, Rex placed his hand on her shoulder. "Senator Tane is one of the best soldiers in the field, she has ever right to be here."

"It's bad enough we have to work with regs." Crosshair rolled his eyes, taking the toothpick out of his mouth. He flicked it to Jesse who stepped forward.

"Regs?" Jesse was stopped by Hunter, his hand on his chest.

"He's talking about regular clones." Hunter said glaring back at his teammate, "But don't take it personal."

Cody stepped forward, getting the attention of everyone on the ship. "We're all on the same team, so cut the attitude and listen up. Here's the mission. Our target is this Cyber Center." The Commander took out a small hologram device and displayed a tower looking Center that they would be raiding. "It's the 'brains' of the entire Separatist campaign here on Anaxes."

"I could demolish that with one hand!" Wrecker boomed, Cody shook his head.

"This isn't a demo job, Wrecker. It's strictly a retrieval operation."

"Is this why you called me in?" Cora asked Rex.

He shrugged and glanced at Cody, "More or less."

Soon the shuttle started to go lower as the team got ready for landing. "Incoming fire!" Yelled the pilot as the shuttled jolted forward, causing everyone inside to stumble. As the ship moved around in the air, Cora could feel the shuttle be hit as the lights turned red and the alarm was going off.

"We're going down!" Wrecker laughed as the ship started to dive down closer to the ground.

Before the group of clones and Cora knew it, the shuttle hit the side of the cavern they were flying in and landed side down. The side slide across the rocks as everyone inside was flown around, no longer keeping their balance. Cora felt someone grab her wrists as she was flung forward, falling straight onto her friend Rex. As the ship flipped, she was pushed off Rex and feel on someone else, her head hitting into theirs. The shuttle came to a stop as everyone groaned.

"Everyone alright?" Jesse asked as everyone else groaned.

Cora Tane pushed herself up, rubbing her head, only to see that she was half lying on Hunter, who was also rubbing his head. She pulled herself away from him, and rubbed her temple. "You've got a hard head Sergeant." She grumbled as she stood up.

"Yours is no better Senator." He shot back as he stood up himself.

Wrecker quickly jumped out of the shuttle from the side and started to help everyone climb out of the wreckage. Rex helped Cora climb up as she grasped Wreckers big hands. She had never met a clone with such big hands. He pulled her up and she jumped down away from the shuttle. Coughing from the smoke around them, Tech cracked his knuckles as he coughed too.

"We always get shot down when we travel with regs." Wrecker joked as he helped Kix out of the wreck.

"Cody! Help!" Kix yelled as everyone turned away from the wreck. "He's trapped! We have to do something!"

"I'll get him." Rex said marching forward only to he stopped by Hunter.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah. Easy, Captain." He pushed Rex back. Looking to the biggest clone, "Wrecker, get him out."

Wrecker stepped forward and cracked his knuckles, "Get back!" He told Kix.

Everyone stood back from the flaming ship as Wrecker stepped forward. "This is ridiculous!" Kix yelled, "He's gonna need help to get Cody out of there!"

Rex kept his eyes focused on the ship, Cora looking to Jesse with uneasiness. Crosshair chuckled to poor Kix, "He's gonna get the gunship out of there. Not Cody."

Before anyone else could protest, Wrecker bent down and picked up the ship with no problem. With a few grunts and the ship cracking and creaking, he flipped the ship over and it landed down in the dirt with a thud. Wrecker reached forward and pulled Cody off the ground, putting him over his shoulders like a sack. As Wrecker walked away from the gunship, it exploded behind him, causing everyone to shield themselves from the heat coming from the fire.

Running forward, Cora dropped to her knees as Wrecker placed Cody down. Cody groaned in pain as Kix handed Cora the medical scanner. She quickly scanned his body as Hunter and the rest of the clones watched. Hunter got down next to her, watching as their friend groaned and winced in pain. Once her scan was done she looked at the results.

"He has internal damage." Cora breathed out. "I can try to cut the pain but, he needs help, fast." She told the group standing around her. "Kix help me please." She said as the clone got down with her, pulling off his pack to tend to their Commander.

"We all need help." Crosshair said as he looked down over the valley where they had crashed. "That blast gave away our position."

Cora looked up from Cody and saw an army of Separatist droids coming their way. Rex and Hunter both stood up, Hunter turned to his teammate and huffed, "I thought getting shot down gave away our position."

"Everyone. Find cover." Rex announced as Cora stood from where Cody lay. "We'll hold this position and let them come to us."

"I don't think so, Captain." Hunter shook his head, "That's not our style. We prefer going to them." The Sergeant turned to his squad, "Bad Batch! Plan 82. Shockwave!"

Like clockwork, Clone force 99 got to work. Wrecker picked up a piece of the broken airship and got ready with his team to go towards the enemy. The group lines themselves up as Cora watched from behind. They all ran forward as the droids started to shoot at them, causing Cora to stand next to Rex.

"Are they insane?" She asked frantically.

"They seem to know what their doing." Rex shrugged.

The team watched as the bad batch quickly did their own thing. One by one, with their own special techniques, they took out a full squad of droids. Soon enough the group split up and took down the spider droids that crawled around the dirt.

"You've got to be kriffing me." Cora mumbled as they took out the last few droids with such ease.

"Come on." Rex told Jesse, Kix and Cora. Cora helped Cody to his feet, letting him lean on Kix for support. The group approached the Bad Batch, in awe at what they had seen them do. "That was some show you out on just now." Rex mused to Hunter who took off his helmet.

"Just doing our job, Captain." He nodded to Rex.

"We should move out before reinforcements arrive." Cora said as the group watched Wrecker tease Crosshair about a droid head.

"The Senator is right." Rex nodded, "Our position has been compromised." Rex brushed past Hunter and started off down the valley, Jesse close behind him, with Kix helping Cody.

Cora turned to Hunter before they followed the group. "I must admit," she started, picking up her helmet. "I've met many clones, but none quite like your lot."

Hunter smirked to the Senator, "I assume you've worked with many different squads as well?"

The two started to walk behind the group. Cora nodded, placing her helmet on her head. "More then I can count." She smiled under her helmet and ran up next to Cody to help Kix carry his weight.