Disclaimers: I don't own anything. Star Wars belongs to disney and Republic Commando belongs to Karen Traviss.
Darman was fine with hunting Jedi. But he wasn't so sure about hunting brothers. Roly Melusar had tasked Squad 40 with hunting down and killing Ahsoka Tano, a Jedi who had left the Jedi before Order 66. But they had also been tasked with hunting and killing Captain Rex who was believed to be with her. Captain Rex had been the second-in-command for the 501st, Skywalker's legion. Darman had always liked Rex, and he couldn't exactly blame him for deserting, after all, he was going to himself. But he hadn't yet, and while you were in the army, orders were orders. So he did it.
They were on a gunship to Saleucami, where Tano and Rex were believed to be hiding out in an old farm house. Tano had only been a Padawan when she left the Order, so she shouldn't be much trouble. He had beaten a Padawan with his bare hands before, so he wasn't very worried about her. Captain Rex was a good ARC, but he had been promoted to ARC status, not one of the original ARCs, so he was not commando level. Darman wasn't worried about beating them, he was just not sure if he could kill a vod, Kal'buir had taught his clones from the beginning to never hurt a brother. He decided he wouldn't kill Rex, he had been scarred for life when he killed the two Republic Assassin clones in self-defense. He couldn't kill another clone just because he had deserted from the army.
"ETA nine standard minutes Dar. Get ready." Niner said, pulling him out of his thoughts. He wondered if Niner had been thinking the same thing he had.
"Niner, are you going to…you know, kill Rex?" Darman whispered in his ear.
"No. I couldn't stomach it. Kal'buir taught us never to harm a emvod/em." Niner replied equally quietly.
"The pilot's voice broke over ship's comm system. "We will be landing in eight minutes. Prepare for impact."
The Imperial Officer came out of his secluded corner and strode over to them.
"This is strictly a shoot-to-stun operation. Lord Vader himself has personally requested that both targets are returned alive." The officer said in a commanding tone. Darman didn't much care what Lord Vader requested, he was just glad that he didn't have to kill Rex at all. "Intel believes the targets are hiding in an old farmhouse. There may be other occupants in the house. If so, leave them alone unless they get in your way. We will be landing five kilometers from the target's last known location. Good luck gentlemen." He said and walked back to his corner
"Two minutes to landing." The pilot said.
Darman checked his gear. His Deece was clean and fully loaded. He some extra clips on his belt, along with a Bowcaster. He had forgotten how much he loved that weapon. He hadn't used it since Qiilura when he had had to let it go to get out of the transport. Qiilura. Shab, that planet… "Landing in 5…" Niner read off a chrono, "4…3…2…1…GO!"
Darman, Rede and Niner jumped onto the ground, and sprinted to cover behind a particularly large tree.
"Okay," Niner said, "We have five kilometers to go. We cover that quickly, and then once were half a kilometer out, we drop to the ground. The grass here is tall enough to provide us with some cover. We'll crawl the last half kilometer."
It took them twelve standard minutes to sprint across the fields carrying twenty kilos each. They dropped to the grass exactly half a kilometer out. They could see the farmhouse now. It was old, very old, but it looked like it had been reinforced on the inside. They could see wets just outside the farmhouse, sitting on the durasteel bench. Darman moved forward, with Rede and Niner staying back to give him cover fire.
He set his Deece to stun, and attached the sniper bit to it. He zoomed in on the targets. He could see that it was Rex and a Togrutan of about twenty-years old, which had to be Tano.
But then he saw something else. A ring. They were married. And then he couldn't see anything but him and Etain sitting there, laughing in the sunlight.
"Shab." Darman said.
"Dar-" Niner's voice cut into the helmet comlink.
"I can't." Darman said, and lowered his weapon.
A/N: So what did you think? Reviews would be appreciated. Much thanks to foxxxduo for helping me with this story. Go check out her profile if you haven't already!
