THE HUNT

Sixteen

"Pasaana?" I frown. "Where's that?" 

"Middian System." Kuruk says, closing his eyes against the blue glow of hyperspace, leaning back with his arms bent behind his head. I sit in the chair next to him, rubbing my face. 

"Have you ever been there before?" 

"Once. Swore we'd never go again, but here we are." 

"What'd you do, blow up a building?" 

"A town." Cardo calls from where he sits behind us, manning the guns in case we run into trouble, which we always do. 

"Oh?" I lift a brow. "What for?" 

"Spite." Kuruk peers at me from squinted eyes. "But hopefully we won't be dealing with locals. First Order ground troops already saw them out past lurch canyon." 

A light on the console flashes, and I reach forward, pressing it. A hologram of Kylo appears, and I grin. He's in his TIE-Fighter, choosing to take the Jedi on his own while we take the rest of the Resistance group. 

"Hey." 

"Hey, sweetheart." He smiles back, then turns his head to Kuruk. "What's your ETA?" 

"We only have a few more minutes of lane time, then we pull and land." Kylo nods. 

"I want all of you to be on your toes. From what I'm hearing, this group that's with her is the one that's been giving us problems." 

"We're always on our toes, Ren." Kuruk waves his hand. "We'll be fine." 

"Take a prisoner. Let's rattle them. Maybe throw them off the trail of Exegol for a while."

"Yes Sir." Kuruk, reaches forward, pulling a lever. I grip the arms of my seat as we pull out of hyperspace.

"It's a sand planet?" I rub my face. "Guys, we wear black."

"Yeah, hence the spiteful explosion." Kuruk says, sitting up. I roll my eyes, pulling my cloak off. 

"Sorry Kylo, but I'm abandoning my cape for this one." 

"That's fine." He pauses, then lets out a frustrated breath. "I've got to go." Before I can say anything else, he cuts off the communication. I sigh, leaning back. 

"I swear, that man would let you run around the galaxy naked if you asked to." Kuruk chuckles. 

"Well, he might not like me being naked, but perhaps scantily dressed." I retort, laughing. 

"What are you two talking about?" Bazzra asks, stepping into the cockpit. 

"We're talking about how she has our leader in the palm of her hand." He says, laughing coldly. Bazzra rolls her eyes. 

"I think it's sweet." She grabs my hand, pulling me up and out of my seat. "Come on." 

"Where are we going?"

"I have to tell you something." Her eyes narrow, and she looks around. 

"Well why can't you tell me here?" 

"Hunter." She pulls on my arm. 

"Yeah, why can't you tell her here?" Kuruk's demeanor has changed, and he's stiff. Cardo is out of his seat, hand resting on one of his blasters. 

"What's going on?" I ask, laughing nervously. 

"Nothing." Vicrul hums, appearing behind us. "Right, Baz?" 

She swallows. 

"Yeah." She lets go of me, lekku twitching. "Nothing." 

Something isn't right. It's too tense. 

Kuruk clears his throat, and the other Knights back down. 

"We're coming up on Lurch Canyon." He says. "Remember what Ren said. Stay on your toes. Take a hostage." We all nod in turn, and I activate my mask, fetching my swords from where they lay underneath my seat. 

Then we trail to the exit of the ship, waiting for the ramp to lower once we land. 

Once all of us but Kuruk gather around the space, we hear the rumble of the landing gear activating, then shortly after, the rumble of us landing. 

The ramp lowers, and I follow Bazzra onto the hot sands of the desert. 

"Come on." Cardo says, pointing at a ship perched on a rocky ledge. Out in the open. 

Not smart on their end. 

"Look!" I point at a figure walking in the sand, away from the ship. "The Jedi!"

"That's Ren's target." Ushar says, placing a hand on my shoulder. He points to another figure that chases after her. "That's our target." 

"Hunter, you and I will preform the extraction. The rest of you make sure the transport is ready."

We all nod, and I follow Ushar down the rocks. He goes in front, taking my hand to steady me when I almost fall. 

"Can the two of us really take a wookie?" I ask, watching the beast. Ushar nods. He lifts a hand, and the sound of rocks tumbling makes the wookie turn in the direction of the noise. The direction opposite us. 

"You first." He gestures for me to go, so I do. 

The sand masks my footsteps, but the beast's heightened senses let him know that I'm there. He whirls around, hitting me in my masked face with a large bowcaster. I stumble backwards, but regain my balance quickly. My sword cuts across his leg, and he howls. I dodge the large paw that he swings in my direction, letting Ushar land a blow on his back with his club. 

The wookie falls on his face in the sand, and I place my boot on the beast's back. 

"Told you we could take him." He says, pulling the beast into a large pair of binders. 

"That seemed almost too easy." I mutter, letting the wookie rise. He roars in my masked face, but I don't flinch. "Come on, let's get him in the transport. I'm sure Kylo will have fun with him." The beast growls, and Ushar laughs. 

"The wookie claims to know Ren. This will be fun." 

"That is, if he survives." I mutter, pointing at where his TIE-Fighter is flying inches from the ground. "I hate him." 

The wookie laughs, the sound like a low purr. 

"You can hate him later, let's go." I nod, pulling my gaze away. 

The moment I do, there's an explosion.