Earthlings 2: The Dark Age

13

"... And what makes you think I'll hand it over?"

Eli looked at Hunter, then at the Fae holding the basket. He could tell she wasn't gonna give up the flower easily, for whatever reason she needed it for...

"Gregor's not gonna be very happy if we come back without it," Echo tried to reason. "He said it was really important."

The Fae narrowed her eyes. "Gregor-? Who the kriff is Gregor ?"

"CC-5576, former Captain of Foxtrot Group- a subdivision of the 212th Attack Battalion," Tech replied, raising a finger in his hand. 

In response, the Fae scoffed before turning her heel. "Well, that's really unfortunate, but this baby's all mine. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must get it back to my client-"

"NOT- while you're being watched." Hunter held up a hand before moving off to the distance.

Eli stiffened. "Oh, I sense it."

"Watched- sense- what do you mean-" The Fae raised a brow before moments later a probe droid was brought down a few feet away. Hunter withdrew his knife before rejoining them. "Oh, kriffing hell... this Empire really sucks."

"Tell me about it," Noble quipped. "Now can we have the flower?"

The Fae thought about it. "If you guys can prove to me that you're different than all the other clones that are wrecking Echiva's environment-"

"Those aren't clones," Hunter interjected. "They're TK troopers."

"Same thing." The Fae huffed before continuing. "If you prove you're different than the rest of the clones, AND if my client agrees... I'll spare you a petal after the flower blooms."

"A petal only-?" Echo asked incredulously.

"2 petals. Deal?" The Fae gave the group a wry smile. "Plus a seed so you can grow your own flowers. There's no way that isn't fair."

"I mean..." Dean mused besides Eli. "The petals are what makes the moonlight lotus an asset in the medical field..."

"Exactly!" The Fae agreed. "Y'all should listen to him, guys."

"We'll... see about that," Hunter said after a moment.

--

Mors watched the cut security footage on Slender's datapad, his eyes on the group of clones seeming to bargain with the Fae woman. He could swear he saw some of them before...

"Your orders, sir...?" The Captain inquired. Mors didn't respond, instead thinking back to an event in the Outer Rim planet Yalbec Prime in the beginning of the year. General Isla's fleet was in the system during a battle in the system, and the Yalbecs were causing a bit of a problem. So Isla's padawan had suggested calling in an elite squad to deal with them, something Mors, Rampart, and Engrid had begrudgingly agreed to despite Rampart's complaints that they had plenty of capable men who could do the job instead. Mors vaguely remembered exchanging a few words with the one called "Crosshair", though he was nowhere to be seen in the footage...

"Sir...?" Slender pressed.

"Tell me, Captain... who are those clones?" Mors finally asked.

"I... believe most of them are part of Clone Force 99," Slender replied. "One is-"

"Clone Force 99..." Mors mused, narrowing his eyes in curiosity. "Yes... I remember. Yalbec Prime, was it?"

"I'm not sure, sir," Was Slender's response. "I just know they deserted from the Empire early on."