THE HUNT

Prologue

    White spots explode behind my eyelids. A cry pulls itself from my lips, and a breath shudders from my lungs as I spit a glob of blood onto the floor

    "What is your name?" The man before me grabs my face, lifting my head up roughly. I glare.

    "I don't have a name." He hits me again, knuckles digging into my cheek. I grit my teeth, a sob escaping me. It takes a moment for my breath to return, a raspy cough breaking free.

    "What is your mission?" I look up, seeing his passive, blank face.

    "I don't have a mission." His hand wraps around my throat, and I manage to suck one last breath in. He leans in close, and I fix him with a stare. He laughs, pulling away. I cough, letting a small smile spreading across my face as well. He bends down, releasing me from the ropes around my wrists. I spit again, using the back of my hand to wipe away the tears remaining, pressing a few fingers to the bruise I know is forming on my cheekbone.

    I'm going to need a night in the bacta tank.

    "Good job." He picks up a dripping rag from a bucket, ringing it out. I accept it gratefully, wiping my face as another sob rips from me. "I wish we had more time." He takes another cloth, cleaning his hands. "But you resisted the probe, so you should be okay." I nod, another shuddering sob chilling my bones as I remember veins of fire running through me and conditionally offered antidotes.

    What's your name?

    "I won't break." I promise. "This mission is too important, Urcos."

    "I wonder if you'll still be saying that when you're under a real First Order interrogator." He muses.

    "This is the greatest responsibility I could be given." I assure him, standing on shaky legs. He helps me up, and we walk to the door. "I have nothing to lose."

    "Your life, Hunter." He reminds me, opening the door. As it swings open, we come face to face with a man. "Casius, I wasn't expecting you for another hour or so." Urcos says, angling his head.

    "Timeline got moved up." Casius jerks his chin towards me. "You need to get in the bacta tank." He tells me. "We leave in the morning."

"I hate that idea." I groan, wiping another tear from my face.

    "Go see your friends and family after you get back from med." Casius suggests. "We'll be gone for a while."

    I watch him retreat down the hall, and once I'm alone, I limp down to the med bay. Thankfully on D'quar, it's not too much of a walk. I move to open the door to the hospital wing, when two arms wrap around me from behind. I jab my heel into the person's feet, sending my elbow into their stomach.

    "Ow! Hunter!" I whirl around, seeing a familiar face sitting on the ground, holding a hand to his stomach. The faint smile drops from his features as he takes in the damage to my body. "Oh-"

    "I leave in the morning." I blurt. He doesn't react, only stares at me.

    Imrie, the boy who's stood by my side since we were too young to understand what friendship even was. The boy who held me after I found my mother's body. The boy who cried with me when I got my assignment.

    The one I'm leaving for tomorrow.

    The one that will keep me away from home for a long time. Unless I die on the First Order battlefield, or get caught and killed after weeks and weeks of torture.

    "I-" He opens his mouth to say something, but I pull him to hiss feet before he can. I hug him tight, and he holds me gently. "Hunter, I-"

    "I have to go spend the rest of my time here in a bacta tank, Imrie." I say into his chest. "I won't see you before I leave."

    That's a lie. The bacta tank will take five hours at most. I just don't think I can bear to say goodbye right before I put on stormtrooper armour and board a ship that will take me to a base filled with monstrous people, where I will stay for the next five years.

    I didn't even want to see him now.

    Imrie, the closest person I have to family.

    "You can't go." He says weakly. "I- I can't- It's too early."

    "We always knew it would probably get pushed up, Imrie." I remind him, pulling back. "I have to go."

    "I know." He whispers, pulling me back in for one more hug. "I just-"

    "I love you too." I finish. He nods, stepping back. I look at him one more time, my best friend, the closest thing I have to a brother. "I'll see you on the other side, Imrie." I offer a salute before turning and stepping through the door to the med bay.

    Five years.

    That's a long time to pretend to be someone else.