The Nighttime Fear

Chapter 5 - Captured

Author's Note: WARNING: Crosshair being Dark, torture

~ Rivana Rita

Hunter isn't overly surprised, considering the recent disturbance in the Force, that they get an incoming message from Anakin.

"Sorry to cut right to it, but we could use your help," Rex says from beside Anakin.

"What do you need?" Hunter queries.

"Well," Anakin says, "We received a distress signal from a clone we used to know, but we're a bit... preoccupied at present."

That could be easy. It also could be very, very risky. "Where exactly is he?" Hunter inquires, "What's his situation?"

"There's no time to explain right now," Anakin replies, "But it could be a little... tenuous. Be careful."

Something heavy and worried settles inside him. It's not foreboding, but Hunter has been in enough tight situations to know another one when he hears it. He knows whatever they're about to walk into isn't something they'll be making it out of easily. He's been sensing something wrong for a while now, and it feels like everything is... about to blow up. It reminds him of how it felt right before Umbara.

The darkness was overwhelming, and it never really lifted. It's never really gotten better, even if Krell wasn't there to hurt them anymore.

Either Anakin or Rex, whoever it was, send them the coordinates. It's from a planet called Daro, which Tech says there's no settlements on. It's odd. Why would a clone be all the way out there?

There's definitely something... more to this, and he has an uneasy feeling about it, but they've gone on even riskier missions during the war, so they set course. Hunter's still worried, though. Tech had been reluctant to take it, but Tech has been reluctant about just about everything since Kamino. He used to be far more reckless than this. It hurts to see how that's faded, too. Omega wanted to go, and Hunter wasn't going to turn down a request Anakin gave them, so here they are.

Something's wrong on the planet. Hunter can feel it even from space. It doesn't feel Dark in the Force, but something about it is definitely wrong. All they can do is be careful.

Omega's the first to spot the beacon, plucking it off the log it was placed on and passing it to Tech. "Found it!" she calls.

"So, where's this reg?" Wrecker asks, confused.

He was here. Hunter can sense the faint, fading presence of someone in the Force, and he can feel the lingering vibrations with his other senses. "We're already too late," Hunter replies. "The clone was being hunted. He was dragged." He looks up, scanning the grass and trees in front of them. Electricity catches onto everything it touches, in any shape or form, and there were many people here. Hounds too, he thinks. They converge here, heading the same direction. "That way." He points through the trees, and they move forwards.

But the further they go, they closer they go to the mountain, the stronger he feels something... unnatural.

At first, he thought the atmosphere might just be a bit electric, because some are just like that, and it can be very overwhelming, but this is something more.

"There's something here, inside that mountain," Hunter tells the others, pausing again.

"I believe you are right," Tech replies, looking up from his datapad, "My scans are being jammed."

"You said there was nothing on this planet!" Wrecker protests.

"That data appears to be inaccurate," Tech points out.