I Bet My Life

Twenty-Two: I Bet My Life

It didn't take long for the refugees from Tatooine to get settled on Pabu. As soon as they landed, they were greeted by the warm welcome of the community. For Cody, actually, he wasn't expecting to see anyone he knew there. However, when his eyes caught the sight of slightly older versions of Clone Force 99, his anxiety about coming to a new and unfamiliar place lessened. The first member that came up to him was Wrecker, who now sported a straw hat, brown and gray beard, and a colorful poncho ensemble. He brought the former clone commander into a tight, lung-crushing hug, happy that he was still alive,

"CODY! IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU! HOW ARE YOU!"

"I'm... good..."

"Wrecker let him breathe!"

Wrecker put down Cody, allowing him to catch a breath before his gaze fell upon the speaker of the voice. It was Hunter with no doubt. Cody would be able to recognize that face anywhere, even now that the former clone sergeant had some gray in his shoulder length brown waves and was dressed in what appeared to be a loose tan tunic, sandals, and baggy green pants. He smiled at Cody,

"Didn't think we'd be seeing you here ever, but we're glad you're here now."

"It's good to see you too, Hunter."

"How long ago did you get out?"

"I went AWOL after Order 66. Faked my death and went to find Rex. He removed my inhibitor chip. What about you guys?"

"We left about the same time except for Crosshair, but he eventually came around and joined us again… But that's all behind us now. We have other responsibilities that don't require us to be soldiers of war."

Hunter's gaze moved over to one of the trees on the landing platform not too far away. Underneath the tree was a teenage girl who looked slightly older than Reva, blond curly hair pulled back with pieces in the front framing her face. She was dressed in a simple white tunic and navy pants with a set of heavy-duty boots. Her face looked familiar, yet he couldn't pinpoint where he had seen it before. She looked as if she was telling a story to a crowd of children as she used her hands to illustrate a scene. He couldn't hear her from that far away, but it must have been intriguing. So intriguing that Cody spotted the twins sitting attentively in the circle, their eyes wide as she told the story. The former clone commander smiled, happy to see that Luke and Leia were adjusting well to the new change. Hunter spoke up as the pair watched the group of children listening to the blond teen's adventures,

"Are those two yours?"

"You could say that. They might not be mine directly, but I would do anything for them... I helped raise them after Order 66 with Obi-Wan..."

"General Kenobi survived?"

"Luckily, yes... Well..."

"Oh... I'm sorry, Cody..."

"It's okay, Hunter... Is she yours?"

"I guess you could say that. She was actually a clone from Kamino that worked alongside Nala Se... When the Empire came into power, they wanted to take Omega for some sort of secret project issued by the Emperor. So, we took her in as one of our own."

"Oh..."

There was a brief silence for a second before Hunter spoke up again, this time focusing his gaze at Cody in a serious manner,

"Listen, Cody...We're all done being soldiers. It's time for us to find a place in the galaxy that doesn't force us to be pawns in a war that produced nothing... We were offered a second chance to pave a life away from the battlefield... We don't have to follow orders here. We get to make our own choices... Our own paths..."