The Clone Wars: One-shots

Haunting Desperation

Timeline: A few months after the Bad Batch Season 2 Finale. 

Phee was right. The Corellian base was riddled with stormtroopers from outside of the metal wall that served as a perimeter to the roof where snipers and sentries alike were stationed. This was a death trap, and he should have been terrified. A few months ago, he would have called this mission off, declaring it was too risky. A mission in the Core Worlds during the Empire's rule would lead to nothing but disaster. But now? He didn't care. He would do anything if it meant finding Omega.

Over the last few months, his life had been a living hell. He and Wrecker took every mission and every piece of information they could find that had a chance of tracing back to Omega. Anytime they had no leads was torture. Hunter had nothing to keep him busy and was forced to acknowledge the deathly silence of the once lively Marauder. It would consume him, feeding him thoughts that he wasn't yet ready to face. Omega's room was untouched since her capture, dark and building dust; many of the screens within the Marauder stayed off since Tech...

And taking a moment to breathe felt like losing hours that he could never get back. Time that he desperately needed; if he was too late—

No. He wouldn't let himself go there. Omega needed him to stay strong. Omega needed him to go on this mission, no matter the cost.

The base was surrounded by Imperial Star Destroyers. Some were being built, some were being repaired, and many were ready to take off. It was haunting, seeing what the Republic's Star Ships had become. Like most things these days, he tried not to think about it, shoving his emotions down as deep as he could, effectively burying them.

Both clones slid on their helmets as Phee lowered the ship at the base's blind spot—info given to her by an anonymous client. She had said time and time again that the rogue Imperial's info was sketchy and unreliable, but Hunter and Wrecker were insistent on taking the mission either way.

"Alright, boys. This is where I'll leave you." She tossed Hunter a comlink, which he caught and then attached to his belt. "Let me know when you need a pick-up, and I'll be there," she said, gesturing at the device.

Hunter gave her a nod before heading to the lowered ramp, with Wrecker close behind.

He sighed. "Let's just get this over with."

Hunter shot Wrecker a glare from under his helmet. He was going to retort, to tell him that this was more than something to get 'over with', that he was being insensitive, or deadpan that he was usually excited about knocking out stormtroopers, but Wrecker had already leaped from the ramp onto one of the middle balconies. He took out the two patrolling stormtroopers.

"Blasted n' casted!" He remarked as he cast the unconscious troopers away from the metal door. It was locked, practically unopenable without a scomp link, making Hunter wish Echo was there instead of with Rex and their small rebellion. Sure, they were also looking for leads, but... he wasn't sure. Maybe he was afraid that something would happen to Echo, too, and he wouldn't be there to protect him.

Hunter fiddled with the panel, seeing if anything would open it without the scomp link (knowing full well such an action wasn't his expertise) until Wrecker pushed him out of the way and shot it with a single bullet of his rifle. The door slid open. Smoke emerged from the panel, and someone would have to notice its disconnect eventually, but, ignoring the risks, they ran in.

Throughout the race to the control room, Hunter's body had a mind of its own. He slashed with his vibro-knife, shot with his hand blaster, kicked, ducked, swung, and danced with death. He didn't turn around to see if Wrecker was with him, and didn't stop to see if the bodies littered behind him were alive or dead. The only thing his mind could focus on was the electromagnetic frequencies coming from the control room.