The Great War • Hunter

48.Rex's Mission

The hangar bay on Ord Mantell where the Havoc Marauder resided was almost entirely quiet on this peaceful evening. Really the only sounds were Gonky's honks and Wrecker's grunts as he lifted the droid up and down for his seventh workout of the day.

Alona and Hunter were seated on the steps that were receiving the last of the sun rays before the moons would take over the sky. They had just finished their dinner, the metal trays sitting at their feet.

Hunter looked down at the rations tray that Alona had just disregarded, noticing a frequent pattern in what she eats and what she doesn't. "Is there a reason you never eat the cracker?" He asked, looking to his side at Alona.

She immediately chuckled and nodded, looking down at the large rectangle cracker that had not a single bite out of it. "Yeah, it's a funny story." She replied, scooting closer to him.

"Tell me." Hunter hummed, snaking his arm around her waist. She rested her head on his shoulder.

Alona let out a long sigh, the corners of her mouth perking up. "It was a small covert mission with Cody, Jesse, and Fives. One night we were staked out in a tent and bored out of our minds, so we decided to play truth or dare. Fives dared me to eat an entire cracker in under two minutes, and you know I can't back down from a challenge." Alona explained, a grin plastered across her face.

"And you also know how dry those MRE crackers are, so naturally as I went to swallow, it got stuck in my throat and I started choking."

Hunter tilted his head up and muttered an "Ah."

"Cody had to do the heimlich on me while Fives and Jesse rolled around on the floor in tears." Alona laughed, pausing to wipe a tear from her eye. "And I laugh now, but back then it completely freaked my 17 year old ass to death and I vowed to never eat a cracker again."

Hunter smiled, shaking his head. "I reckon that freaked Cody out."

Alona nodded. "Oh yeah. For the next couple of months every sound that even remotely resembled  a choke sent him into panic. And it didn't help that Fives would pretend to choke around him."

"We have an incoming transmission. It's Rex." Tech announces from the cockpit.

Alona's eyes brighten and she stands up, grabbing the metal rations boxes and heading into the cockpit with the others.

Rex appeared on the projector, a poncho thrown over his civvies. "Hey boys, Alona. Any chance I could use your squad's expertise for a mission?"

Alona, Echo, and Tech look to Hunter to see what he thinks.

Wrecker stretched in his seat. "Finally. I'm tired of waiting around for Cid." Because yet again, the trandoshan had left her top team stranded jobless while she does Force knows what.

Echo looked back at the Captain. "What do you need, Rex?"

Alona looked down at Omega and ruffled her blonde hair. She could tell by how relaxed she was that Omega had been meditating like Gungi had taught her. Though sometimes Omea grew frustrated that she couldn't do it as well as a trained Jedi.

"I'll explain everything when you get to Coruscant." Rex replied.

Alona stiffened, looking at Rex with a bewildered expression. "Coruscant?"

"Coruscant?" Hunter echoed with a more disapproving look on his face. He glanced at Alona for a second before straightening his posture. "That's a big ask, Captain."

Omega raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Why? What's on Coruscant?" She asked.

Alona felt her stomach churn and she kind of swayed to the side, taking a deep breath and forcing down what she figured was nerves. If that was the case, she had been nervous a lot recently. Maybe she had anxiety, it wouldn't be a surprise given her history.