Miles Away From Yesterday

Chapter 5 - Hunted by the Shadows

Author's Note: Because this is a role swap, things... are not quite the same. ;)

~ Amina Gila

"We don't know where we stand with the Tarkin and the Empire," Tech announces as they approach the Marauder. "That was not true with the Republic."

"Yeah, if we'd completed the mission, that wouldn't have been an issue," Hunter says bitterly.

"That wasn't an option," Echo snaps. "We're soldiers, not an execution squad."

"And good soldiers follow orders," Hunter reminds.

Which – yes. That's true. It was something that was drilled into them when they were young, but that doesn't change the reality of... any of this. Crosshair doesn't know how he feels about this. He hates it, the situation they've been thrust into.

They've just stepped into the clearing where the Marauder is landed when Hunter stiffens. "We're being followed," he says, drawing his blaster as he whirls and fires. Crosshair doesn't even flinch as the blaster bolt flies right past his head. They move through the undergrowth until they reach a sparking droid lying amidst the leaves.

"That is a probe droid," Tech tells them as if they didn't already know that.

"Tarkin's spying on us now?" Wrecker demands, affronted. "The Jedi didn't do that."

"Well, not that we know of," Crosshair points out, frowning. He has an unsettled feeling about all of this, and it's only getting worse. "Omega told Hunter it was dangerous on Kamino," he says, turning to his brothers. "She wanted to come with us."

"Well maybe she was right," Wrecker grumbles, glaring at the droid one final time as they turn back to the Marauder.

"She's only a child," Hunter points out, but even he sounds doubtful.

"I would not discount Omega's insight," Tech tells them, "A state of heightened awareness is not unusual for an enhanced clone such as herself."

Wrecker laughs at that, but Crosshair stills. "Omega is a clone?"

"Well, yes," Tech answers, typing on his datapad. "When Nala Se spoke of five clones, Tarkin assumed that meant us, but Echo's a reg. The fifth is Omega. I confirmed my suspicions after analyzing her DNA while we were in the infirmary."

There's a stunned silence. "Why did you not mention this earlier?" Hunter asks.

"I thought it was obvious," Tech replies matter-of-factly.

Crosshair just shakes his head. Here they go again. He's lost count of the number of times that they've gotten into a mess because Tech "thought it was obvious", and they did something that would have been avoidable had he told them.

"How is it obvious?" demands Wrecker.

"Listen," says Hunter, interrupting whatever Tech was about to say – undoubtedly an insult about Wrecker's intelligence, never mind that none of them guessed that except him. "Tarkin must know by now that we didn't pass his test. I don't know if he really meant for us to kill all those civilians or not, but if he did..." Hunter trails off, not finishing. He seems uncertain. Civilian casualties are an unfortunate part of war, but this... would have been different, and even if Hunter isn't himself, Crosshair is glad that he's not able to justify it. "Orders are orders," he says at last, "And Tarkin won't handle our failure lightly." He looks between them. "Omega was right that it's not safe on Kamino."

"What're we gonna go?" Wrecker questions, worried.

"The kid's one of us," Hunter admits, and on that, Crosshair firmly agrees. She wants them. No one wanted them until Echo. She's just a kid. They can't abandon her to her fate while saving themselves. "We've gotta go back for her. We're not leaving her there. I'll talk to Tarkin. Maybe I can stall him long enough to possibly get answers while you extract Omega. And then..." His shoulders slump. "I guess we're going AWOL."