The Great War • Hunter

61.Pabu

I started writing my next fanfic!! Chapters wont start being posted until I'm done with writing this fanfic this week (crying). But let me just say that Malaina may just end up being with someone entirely different than I had planned. I just started sharting out words and her character started forming differently than intended (in a good way) But I'm excited to start posting her story:)

"You didn't mention you cut ties with Cid." Phee chimed, breaking the silence of the cockpit.

Hunter sighed. "Our mutually beneficial arrangement wasn't so beneficial, mutually."

Alona rose from her seat, brushing past Wrecker and Omega, making her way to the bedroom where she closed the door and began pacing at the same speed her heart was beating.

Cid knows things about Alona and the Bad Batch that nobody else knows. She didn't just threaten Hunter, Wrecker, and Tech. She made sure they knew that she was threatening Alona and Omega too.

Alona couldn't be taken by the Empire. Not now, not ever. She had to take care of herself right now so she could be a mother, so that she could raise a kid. And she was sure that if the Empire found her again they wouldn't hesitate to kill her. There wouldn't be a lightsaber fight with Vader, they would take her down on sight.

And she would be crushed if Omega was taken. There's no telling what the Empire would do to her.

Hunter slipped into the room, sliding the door shut behind him. He stopped and gave her a sad look. "Alona,"

Alona glanced over at him, but kept pacing while her hands rubbed up and down on her pants. The feeling of the fabric constantly rubbing at the skin on her right hand burned and the metal rubbing on her left side hurt, and yet she didn't stop. She couldn't stop.

"Hunter, what if Cid notifies the Empire? What if she gives us up? It's-it's not safe, they'll kill me, they'll kill the baby. I can't-I won't be able to save it, I'm-I'm not safe, we're not safe!"

Hunter's steps are urgent as he makes his way over to her, grabbing her arms and forcing her to stop moving. "Alona, hey. Listen to me." He said calmly, cupping a hand on the back of her neck. "You are safe. The baby is safe. We're not going to let anything happen to you–I'm not going to let anything happen to you, got it?"

A tear slid down Alona's cheek and she shook her head. "No," She said, her voice barely even audible enough to count as a whisper. "No, no, nobody's safe. No one is safe from the Empire, Hunter you don't understand. We are not safe."

Her sheer panic made Hunter realize there was a deeper meaning to her words. She wasn't all of a sudden scared of the Empire because Cid threatened her. This was a fear that had been building up inside of her for a long time. "Why? Alona, what do you mean?"

Alona pulled her arms out of Hunter's grip, taking a sharp breath in. Another tear fell down her cheek. She brought this upon herself, she had to tell him. There was no more avoiding this conversation. She had had too many nightmares, too many breakdowns and flashbacks and Force visions to still be keeping Hunter in the dark.

"Anakin's alive. Palpatine turned him into Darth Vader."

Her words were shaky but heavy. Hunter's eyes stayed glued to her face while he repeated in his head what she said. Her brother, who she said she and Obi-Wan killed almost a year ago, is alive and is a Sith Lord.

Alona tore her gaze away from him, staring at the floor uncomfortably. "I found out on Kamino. Nothing about who Anakin was is left, though. It was like someone else was haunting him, and had taken over what was left of his mutilated, burnt body." Her metal hand squeezed into a fist. "I failed, Hunter. I ran from him because I was scared, and now he's still out there taking away harmless, innocent lives."