When the time came for Lena's shift as the lookout, she made her way across the covered space. Hunter and Wrecker were fast asleep, but she could see the light from Tech's datapad reflecting off the lenses of his goggles.
"You're supposed to be resting," she said as she stopped in front of him.
Tech's eyes lifted to meet hers, and he gave her a shrug.
"My time would be better used going over the scan data that Crosshair gathered earlier. It's better if we know exactly what we're getting into before we go down there."
Lena shook her head, a small smile gracing her lips. He had a point, but she worried that he would overextend himself and be tired the next day.
"You needn't be concerned, General," Tech said as if he had read her mind. "I never get a lot of sleep, so this will be no different than any other mission."
Lena shrugged and left him to his research, making her way to the edge of the sheltered section where Crosshair was keeping watch. She sat down on the ground beside him, making her presence known by giving a small cough.
"It's my turn to take a shift. You can go back in and get some rest."
Crosshair turned his helmet in her direction, his visor gleaming at her in the moonlight.
"No need. I'm fine where I am."
Lena shook her head in disbelief. It seemed that Crosshair shared his brother's aversion to sleep.
"Suit yourself. As long as you aren't in a worse mood from lack of sleep in the morning."
Crosshair scoffed at her and turned his gaze back to look outside.
"Not all of us can be a little ray of light all the time like you, Sunshine."
Lena glanced at him with raised eyebrows.
"Sunshine?" she asked with a slightly amused tone.
Crosshair shrugged, continuing to face away from her.
"You said not to call you, General. So Sunshine it is."
While he said it casually, Lena could sense some nervousness. Despite his tough exterior, she could tell that he still cared what people thought of him to an extent. She let out a soft laugh, hoping to lighten the atmosphere.
"I've never heard that one before. I like it."
Crosshair turned to look at her again, surprise radiating from him. Lena smiled at the reaction before turning to look out into the darkness. She could feel his stare lingering on her, but she decided to leave it be for now. They sat in silence, the rain being the only source of sound around them. Lena could feel the chill in the air seeping through her robes, causing goosebumps to rise on her skin. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rubbed her hands over her arms to warm them up.
"Cold?" the distorted snide voice beside her asked.
"I'm afraid the sunshine only runs skin deep," she said jokingly. "Inside, I'm cold as an ice storm on Hoth."
Another scoff came from Crosshair, obviously not buying what she said.
"You can head back into the warmth. Not like you can see anything out here anyway without night vision. I've got this handled."
"Nah, I'm more than happy to do my fair share of the work. Besides, maybe I enjoy your cheerful company."
"Stubborn little thing, aren't you?"
"Pot. Kettle."
That earned an actual chuckle from Crosshair, a sound Lena hadn't thought she would hear from him. Just like the smile she had seen earlier, she felt the laugh suited him much more than the grumpy droning she had heard so far.
The two of them returned to their silent companionship. The silence allowed Lena to be more open to the force signature and emotions of the man next to her. The environment they found themselves in seemed to have opened him up to her more than he had been around the others. She could still feel the strong unknown emotion from before, but it seemed to have simmered to a more comfortable level. It was no longer screaming at her for attention. Almost like he had figured it out himself and gotten control of it.
"You think too loud," Crosshair said, breaking the silence.
Lena let out a soft laugh.
"Is mind reading one of your squad's special abilities?" she asked.
"I've just spent enough time around Hunter and his senses. I can tell when someone is scoping me out."
Lena's eyes widened at his words. She hadn't thought that someone that wasn't force-sensitive themselves would be able to feel her connecting to their emotions without her explicitly projecting towards them.
"Sorry. Force of habit. I'll keep my mind to myself."
Lena could feel him stiffen next to her, something close to regret flowing in the air between them. After a few minutes passed, he turned as if to say something to her, but was interrupted by the presence of a third person. Hunter had walked up to the pair of them, stretching his arms over his head and letting out a soft groan.
"You know, Cross, she was supposed to replace you as watchman. You don't always need to be on watch."
Lena stood from her place on the ground, freeing the space beside Crosshair for Hunter to sit down.
"I tried to tell him to get some rest, but he didn't want to listen to me."
Hunter shook his head at his brother, taking the spot that Lena had vacated.
"I'll leave you two to it then, unless you've finally decided to get some rest after all, Crosshair?"
Crosshair shook his head in answer to her question.
"Alright then. I'll see you gentlemen in a few hours then."
As she walked away from the pair, Lena could feel Crosshair's gaze burning into her back. Part of her wondered if Keebo had been correct in her assumption that the sniper had some kind of feelings for her. It would explain the strange emotion that she had felt from him since they met. Lena shook her head, attempting to clear the idea from her mind as she settled against the stone wall once again. She had more important things to worry about than the interests of a man she had just met.
As soon as the first rays of light appeared above the horizon, Lena and the Batch made their way back down the side of the mountain to where they had left their speeder bikes the night before. As promised, Lena helped Wrecker down to the ground, which significantly improved his mood. Then, the group made their way towards the Separatist base, cutting through a small valley on their way that they hadn't noticed from their high vantage point due to the thick forest.
"This could be a slight problem if there's trouble," Hunter said on the comm, pointing to the high rock walls of the narrow valley.
Lena agreed with his observation and pursed her lips in thought.
"Maybe we'll be able to use it to our advantage as we make our escape. We'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it."
When they reached the end of the valley, another patch of forest separated them from the base. A path just wide enough for a speeder led up the side of a hill, which Crosshair discovered led to a good vantage point that he could use to watch the entrance they were going to be going through. As he separated from the group, the remaining members made their way to the edge of the forest, hiding their bikes in the brush beneath the trees.
Peering over the bushes, Lena could see a pair of droids guarding the door. Signaling to Hunter, the pair of them snuck through the brush on the edge of the clearing in opposite directions. They each took out a droid, Hunter with his vibroblade and Lena with her lightsaber before they could even react to their presence. Tech and Wrecker joined the two of them at the door, and Tech got to work opening the door.
"How are we looking, Cross?" Hunter said over comms.
"Everything looks clear around you. There aren't any more droids outside on this side of the base. Not sure about the inside. It's shielded."
After a few minutes, Tech broke through the encryption, and the door slid open. Hunter entered first, scoping the entrance before waving the rest of them inside. As they made their way down the hallway, they encountered a handful of droids, which were easy to dispatch quietly. Eventually, they reached a room that seemed to be the security center for the base. The group made quick work of the tactical droid and B1 droids inside. Lena walked up to a low table where a clone helmet and a pair of blasters sat.
"These belong to Sparx," she said, picking them up. She handed the blasters to Hunter, who attached them to a hook on his pack and grabbed the helmet, tucking it under her arm.
Making her way over to a station where Tech was perusing through security footage, Lena's eyes scanned over the monitors. Her gaze landed on one in particular, where she could see two figures in a small cell.
"There they are. Where is that?" she asked.
Tech searched through the information in front of him before providing her with a room number and showing her on the layout where it was located.
"Alright, Tech, you stay here and keep an eye on the cameras. I don't want anyone sneaking up on us. Wrecker, you can plant your explosives. But make sure you stay out of sight. Don't make a ruckus."
"I don't think you understand how much you're asking of him," Hunter said with a soft chuckle.
"Hey!" Wrecker exclaimed. "I can be stealthy if I want. Just watch me, Sarge."
"I'll hold you to that," Lena said. "Hunter, you come with me. Let's go get them and get out of here before anyone finds out something is amiss."
Hunter nodded his agreement, and the pair of them moved out of the room in the direction that Tech had told them to go. They surprisingly didn't come across any droids as they made their way down the hallway.
"Tech, look at the cameras," Lena said into her wrist comm. "Where are all the droids?"
"It appears that all the droids have been called to the main entrance of the base to defend it from an attack. It seems the Commanders have gotten their full attention."
"Well, if we can't have any fun ourselves, at least we'll be able to get in and out of here smoothly," Hunter said.
They continued down the hall until they reached the room that Tech had said the prisoners were being kept. Lena pressed the button to open the door while Hunter kept watching for droids. The door slid open to reveal the small cell, where Lena could see Sparx sitting on the floor. He looked up at the door opening, his eyes lighting up as he saw her.
"Lena? Ad'ika, is that really you, or am I hallucinating?"
Lena tossed the helmet under her arm at him, which he caught easily.
"I promise you, Sparx, you're not hallucinating. We've come to spring you. Where's Admiral Yung?"
Sparx's expression faltered as he looked to the bench along the adjoining wall of the cell. Lena followed his gaze to where Admiral Yung lay. She entered the cell and made her way to his side.
"Admiral? Are you still with us?"
The man in front of her groaned and opened his eyes at the sound of her voice.
"General Orim? What are you doing here?"
"You didn't think I'd leave here, did you?" Lena asked as she helped him into a sitting position. "How are you? What are your injuries?"
Lena gently touched his shoulder, her eyes flicking over his body, trying to assess his injuries. She could see a large bruise over one of his eyes, and based on the groaning he had been doing as he sat up, he likely had some on his torso as well. In addition, blood was caked on his hairline, darkening the gray parts of his otherwise black hair.
"I'm not 100% sure, but I think I have at least some bruised ribs, maybe broken," Yung said with difficulty. "I hit my head in the crash, and the service around here isn't the best. They've done a number on my ribs to get information out of me."
"Droids did this?" Lena asked.
Yung shook his head in response.
"They have a human in charge of them. I don't know who he is, but he is determined to get results. I don't think the two of us were the ones he was after when our ship was shot down."
"He seemed especially interested in where you were," Sparx added.
Lena turned to look at the ARC trooper, her eyes flicking over him in assessment as she had for the Admiral. He seemed to be relatively unharmed. There wasn't even any sign of dirt on his curly blonde mohawk.
"You seem to have avoided their attention," she observed.
"I think they were more interested in what the Admiral had to say than me. Either that or they were waiting to go after me if they didn't get anything out of him."
"I don't mean to interrupt this reunion," Hunter said from the doorway, "but maybe we should get out of here while everyone is focusing on the battle outside. If this person really is looking for you, it would be best that you aren't here if he returns. Once he sees you aren't out there, he'll suspect something."
Lena nodded in agreement before standing from her place at Yung's side.
"Can you walk?" she asked.
Yung got to his feet slowly with Sparx's help, wincing at the effort. Lena lifted one of his arms over her shoulder to help support him. Sparx moved to the other side, doing the same with his other arm. Hunter grabbed the blasters off his pack and handed them to Sparx, who stowed one back in its holster and held the other in his hand. Slowly, Lena and Sparx maneuvered Admiral Yung out of the cell and down the hall in the direction she and Hunter had come from.
"We've retrieved the targets," Hunter said on comms. "Wrecker, what's your status?"
"The charges have been set, and I'm on my way back," Wrecker answered him.
"I would get here as quickly as you can," Tech said. "Some of the droids have made their way back into the base."
"A few seem to be gathering outside as well," Crosshair added. "Should I take them out?"
"Wait for us to be closer," Hunter said. "Don't want to draw attention if we don't have to."
The group slowly made their way to the security center where Tech and Wrecker were waiting for them. Once they were all together again, they headed back for the exit. Just as they reached the door, Hunter spoke again.
"Now, Crosshair."
They heard a few shots followed by the clunks of the droids outside hitting the ground. Tech opened the door to leave, but just as they moved to exit, an alarm began to sound.
"What's going on?" Hunter asked.
Tech frantically tapped on his datapad, trying to find the source of the alarm.
"It seems that the droids Crosshair just took out had sounded an alert after finding the previous guards missing. All the doors were put on alert."
"Well, that's just great!" Wrecker complained.
"Let's get out of here before too many droids show up," Lena said.
Moving as fast as they could with the injured Admiral, they made their way to where they had hidden their speeder bikes. Tech sat on his, leaving space behind him for Lena and Sparx to help the Admiral onto the bike.
"We've got company!" Wrecker shouted as he opened fire at some approaching droids.
"So much for getting out smoothly," Hunter said as he joined Wrecker in fighting off the droids.
Once Yung was fully situated behind Tech, Lena called for the others to get on their bikes to leave. Hunter jumped on his, quickly followed by Wrecker as they both continued firing. Crosshair helped take some of the droids out from his lookout on the hill, allowing them to get moving. Sparx jumped on the last speeder, Lena climbing on behind him. The group sped away, making their way back through the trees. As they were approaching the narrow valley, Lena could hear the whistle of something flying overhead. She looked up to see a projectile flying, not towards them, but the valley wall. It crashed into the rocks, causing an avalanche to start raining down.
Holding onto Sparx's midsection with her left arm, Lena raised her right arm towards the falling rocks. Using the force, she stopped their descent to allow them to pass through unharmed. While she concentrated on her task, her attention diverted from the droids that had been pursuing them. She heard a blaster go off closer than she would like and turned to look a second too late. The blaster bolt skimmed across the upper part of her right arm. The force of the shot jolted her petite frame, causing her to lose her grip around Sparx's midsection. Lena felt herself fly off the side of the speeder bike and hit the ground hard.
A/N: Please view and let me know what you think!
