Noctilucent - a Hunter x OC love story

Captivity

He never quite got used to sleeping in proper barracks without the sound of thunder and rain in the background. Storm clouds, lightning, water dropping at high speeds being moved by turbulent winds, that was what he was used to.

He was also used to the company of his squadron. Their bickering, their randomness... it was too quiet without it, and even with his enhanced hearing, that was a silence Hunter never enjoyed. It wasn't his home planet he missed, it was his brothers.

The clear sky of Daro glistened with thousands of stars and faded into a horizon of forest as far as the eye could see. That view was the only thing that had come close to bringing him peace those previous months after the Empire had risen into power. Looking at those stars always seemed to ground him when his mind started to wander off to his brothers, wondering where they were, if they were safe. He'd never stopped worrying for them or looking out for them. He'd once been their leader, and he hadn't forgotten that.

His eyes involuntarily shifted focus from the stars in the sky to his dim reflection on the large window of his private barracks. Hunter looked at himself, still not used to the way he looked. His armor had been replaced for another set, all black, lacking the red details, the skulls and the 99 glyphs. His face had remained the same if not for the fact that he seemed angrier all the time, and his hair fell gracefully down his face in the absence of the red bandana he always liked to wear. As he scanned the skull tattoo covering the left side of his face, Hunter brought his fingers to feel the chain around his neck that held the ingot necklace he'd gotten a while back. It seemed as if, except for that necklace, the Empire had stripped him from everything he once knew and loved.

And they replaced it with a darker, angrier version of himself. The sergeant he used to be, charismatic and collected, willing to be in on his brothers' games and even tease them from time to time, had vanished the moment he'd sacrificed himself, and he doubted he'd ever be that man again.

His more than perfect hearing allowed him to hear the inner mechanism of the clock above his bunk just before it struck ten minutes before the hour. It was about time Hunter had to get moving to that final meeting of the day, after which he'd be able to be in his solitude for a few hours before the next day. With one last look at the stars, he made his way out of his room into the gray, dimly lit hallways. If there was anything he could begin to like about that place, it was the lighting. It was certainly not like the painfully lit white hallways on Kamino where he'd had to squint every time he tried to walk in them, but it wasn't as if lighting that was more gentle on his eyes could get him to enjoy his stay there either.

He arrived shortly after at the central briefing room of the facility where his new squad was bound to meet him. As he expected, they were all there already as well as Admiral Rampart, who he simply hadn't taken a liking to. Hunter's presence in the room instantly made the members of his new squad straighten and quiet down. From the other side of the briefing room, the Admiral looked at Hunter and gave a brief nod, only making Hunter observe him further. Rampart looked like a charismatic man but he was not to be underestimated. At the very least, it didn't seem as if Rampart suspected anything of Hunter anymore, and his gaze would finally have some sort of trust as though he were convinced Hunter wouldn't make a run for it. Besides, Hunter had proved himself to be an exceptional soldier, and the Empire wouldn't waste such an opportunity.

"Ah, you've arrived right on time," Rampart made his way through the room to stand next to Hunter as they both looked at the squadron. "Three soldiers specialized in different disciplines as well as an engineer. They should be enough for the beginning of the operation and the squad will grow at the rate of the next operations. They're all under your jurisdiction; should you have a problem with them, report them to me."