Moving through the ventilation shafts quietly was not hard for Hunter. Back on Kamino, he had gone through many tests, in sound-proofed rooms, that required him to move in silence. Every sound he made was measured, including his breathing – if he stepped too loudly, or stumbled and caught his breath – if the computer registered anything over fifteen decibels, he had to retake the test. That training was serving him well now.

Every half meter or so was a band of metal. Hunter hadn't stepped on any yet, but whoever was in the shaft with him had; the metal strips made a lot of noise. Despite that, the person continued to move fast, and Hunter was able to time his steps carefully, using the sound of the other man's footsteps to cover the sound of his own.

"I only saw two," said an accented voice – a Twi'lek's, maybe. "But there are others, clone . . . Am I right?"

"Are you?" Cody's deliberately lighthearted response was followed by a sharp crack, then a thud.

"Hey!" barked a Weequay's voice. "Cut it out, I need him alive!"

"He knows something, boss," the Twi'lek argued.

"Just cuff him to that panel and get over here! We need to stop those two before they destroy our transportation!"

Hunter hesitated, tilting his head to listen as footsteps rushed past. The front door was opened slightly, and then several blasters went off at once. Answering blaster fire came from outside, and the man in the shaft stopped walking, then increased his pace. A wavering beam of light drew nearer. But Cody was almost directly below him . . .

Half-drawing his knife, Hunter stepped over to the corner between two shafts, pressed himself back against the curved wall, and waited. As the man got closer, Hunter held his breath and tried to sink into the shadows cast by the slightly extended wall to his right. The laserfire outside was increasing, which meant that Tech and Wrecker were still fighting – but for how long? Had either of them been injured?

Before Hunter could worry further, the man stopped directly beside him, just on the other side of the thin wall. There was a brief silence before he stepped forward and flashed his light down the length of the tunnel Hunter was in. The hand that held the flashlight was only centimeters away from Hunter's chest, but the man didn't notice him. Hunter had the advantage, but he didn't want to give away his position. Go on, get out of here, he thought, still not breathing.

Then a panicked shout and a flurry of raised voices sounded below – "Close the door, close it!" – and then from outside came the roar of a violent explosion.

Cursing under his breath, the man clicked off the flashlight and ran back through the shafts towards the control room, hitting his comm as he did. "Jorick, what is going on?"

"They just blew up the rest of the speeders, that's what's going on," the Weequay answered furiously. "Get back here. We're going back to our old plan."

"On my way."

As soon as the man was a safe distance away, Hunter slipped back to the front grate and drew his knife. The remainder of the speeders were nothing but a smoking pile of twisted metal, and despite his worry over Jorick's new plan, Hunter couldn't hold back a grin. Good job, Wrecker, he thought, glancing around for his teammates.

He caught sight of them quickly – well, two of them, anyway. From his position, he could just see Tech's and Wrecker's helmets as they took shelter behind the slope of the hill. From the doorway below Hunter, the bandits likely couldn't see them at all. But Crosshair was nowhere in sight. Still on the roof, maybe . . .

Hunter set to work cutting through the grating so his teammates could enter that way. He'd sliced through most of the metal bars and was about to start in on the last two when the front door blew open from the inside.

At the top of the hill, Tech and Wrecker jerked upright with their guns ready – then froze. Hunter ducked instinctively.

"Yeah, that's right," Jorick yelled. "Hold your fire!"

Oh no . . . Hunter leaned forward in an attempt to see better just as Jorick left the base, shoving Cody in front of him. The Weequay had one forearm looped around Cody's throat while the opposite hand gripped the commander's wrists, which were cuffed behind his back.

"Drop the guns!" yelled a blue Twi'lek, jamming his pistol under Cody's jaw. "Drop 'em or he's dead!"

Hunter had his own blaster out, but there were five men around the commander. He couldn't get all of them before Cody died –

"Okay!" Wrecker stood slowly, hands raised. "Okay, I'm unarmed!"

"So am I," Tech called, standing next to him.

"Good. You the only two there?"

"Yes," Tech answered.

"Then get over here. And move slow, you hear me?"

"Yeah, we hear you," Wrecker shouted back, sounding irritated rather than frightened, despite the blasters trained on him. Keeping his hands over his head, he led the way with Tech following in his tracks.

Hunter tensed as his teammates approached the bandits. As soon as Wrecker was close enough, he could risk taking a shot – Wrecker would be able to stop the others from killing Cody. But not yet, not yet . . . just wait a few more seconds . . .

Lifting his pistol, Hunter pointed it at the back of Jorick's head. Come on . . .

Several other men had left the building now and were watching the approaching clones.

Hunter put his finger on the trigger. Just a little closer, Wrecker –

"That's far enough!" Jorick called, then shoved Cody to his knees. "Keep an eye on him, Noal."

Cody almost lost his balance. "Tech, don't –"

The Twi'lek clapped a hand over his mouth, braced a knee against his back, and leaned over him. "Keep quiet. We wouldn't want you losing your tongue now, would we?"

Hunter watched silently, busy calculating his odds. He could jump in there now, take out the Twi'lek and maybe three others before he was taken down. If Crosshair joined in, they might be able to deal with eight or even ten. But it would end in all of them being captured.

What should I do?

Jorick was watching, arms folded, as his men chained Tech's and Wrecker's hands behind their backs and searched them for weapons. One Weequay took Tech's helmet and started studying the visor. Hunter narrowed his eyes, watching carefully. All the squad's names would be visible on the HUD display . . .

Tech seemed to remember the same thing, because his eyes widened, and then he snapped a hard kick to the inside of the Weequay's right knee. The Weequay crumpled with a yell of pain, dropping the helmet. Jorick stepped forward, but one of his men was already on top of Tech, punching him in the face.

"HEY!" Wrecker swung sharply around. The two guards holding him by the elbows went flying to land in the snow, and Wrecker threw his full weight against the man hitting Tech, utterly flattening him.

Jorick grimaced, then stepped towards Wrecker and pointed his gun at Tech. "Get off him!" he ordered.

Wrecker looked up, muttered, "Awww . . ." and obeyed. The man he'd tackled just stayed where he was, lying on his back in the snow as he stared dazedly up at the sky.

"Get up!" Jorick barked, then turned to Wrecker. "And you, stay where you are or I'll put you down for keeps. Probably should anyway for destroying our speeders."

Wrecker shrugged, completely unconcerned.

"You're the one who broke into the base and captured Cody," Tech pointed out, prodding gingerly at one cheekbone.

As the Weequay who'd been examining Tech's helmet limped to his feet, Jorick turned to the other guards. "Get these two inside."

"What are you gonna do with us?" Wrecker demanded.

"Nothing yet," Jorick answered. "But I have no problem shooting you, or your pal, or the commander here if any of you cause any trouble. Understand?" He glared at Tech.

"Yes, but what I do not understand is how you could possibly have been given the impression that I would cause trouble," Tech said primly. "I simply do not like to be manhandled."

Jorick grunted, rolling his eyes. "Just get moving."

The two commandos obeyed. The sound of a harsh cough, followed by a disgusted scoff from Noal, made Hunter look back down at Cody just as the commander leaned forward and spat blood into the snow. There was a bruise on his cheek, but nothing on his face – either he'd bitten his tongue, or . . . his old injury had reopened.

At the realization, a new worry seized at Hunter's insides.

Noal was still wiping his hand off on his coat when Jorick approached.

"I told you to stop beating him up," complained the Weequay, gesturing exasperatedly as Cody coughed up more blood.

"That's not from me hitting him," Noal snapped. "He must've already been injured."

"Yeah?" Jorick seemed to consider for a moment, then shrugged. "Eh, not like there's much we can do for him."

"Nope."

"Gives me an idea, though," Jorick went on, and stepped over to Cody. "Look, you tell us how to get to Gringov, and we'll let you head off-world, get some medical attention."

"Can't," Cody answered, then stopped to clear his throat. "Gringov's – working for the Republic."

Jorick's slanted eyes narrowed. "So? He'll probably betray them next."

"Not my call." The commander sounded short of breath. "And I already told you your best options."

"Yeah . . . like contacting the Republic will get us anything but more prison ship time." Jorick sounded angry, but the look he cast at the base's doorway was almost nervous. "You know what, Noal? I think we should leave this guy outside for a while. Let him think up more options for us . . . like arranging a meeting with Gringov."

"But he is injured!" Tech protested, stepping forward. "The cold will exacerbate –"

With an irritated growl, the still-limping Weequay slammed a blow against the back of Tech's neck. Tech crumpled and Wrecker swung around, but six stun shots hit him before he could even take a step.

As Wrecker flopped bonelessly into the snow, Cody looked up. "I can't help you, Jorick," he said evenly. "But you'd better take care these soldiers stay alive. They're some of the GAR's top cadets, and there are several commanders – and a Jedi general – who know where we are."

"I believe it." Jorick looked disgusted.

Noal performed a slight double-take, then shot him a glare. "You do, huh?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Jorick retorted. "It just about figures, doesn't it? This whole job has been a bust from the start."

He turned on Cody. "Bet we can't even take Gringov's ship."

"Not without being tracked," Cody answered. "You could risk it, though, try getting a new number. Even if the Republic locates you, it might not matter. The GAR has a lot better things to do than chase down a stolen shuttle."

Jorick shook his head, glancing at Tech as he stumbled to his feet.

Hunter looked between Jorick and the commander, who was watching the gang leader carefully. After a moment, Cody said, "Look. If you let us go, when I file a report on the situation I'll recommend we cut our losses and forget the shuttle."

The other men glanced at each other, then at Jorick, who appeared to be thinking it over. Hunter felt himself relax, just a little.

Noal scoffed. "We're already on the Republic watchlist. What's the matter, Jorick, you getting cold feet?"

Tech cleared his throat, his gaze flickering up to the roof. "I cannot see how he could avoid it. We are, after all, standing in eight centimeters of snow."

Hunter almost snorted, and Cody shot Tech a mildly amused look. The Rodian's large eyes grew wider, and everyone else just stared in complete confusion for nearly five seconds.

Noal recovered first. "I say we kill the three of 'em and bait the Marauder to get Gringov out here."

A couple of the bounty hunters shifted uneasily.

"Don't be a fool," Cody shot back, voice cold. "Gringov has nothing to do with us and couldn't care less if we lived or died. Also, he traded the Marauder in for a different ship – probably because, if I'm reading this right, he was well aware you'd be after him."

"Slimy son-of-a-Hutt," grumbled a human.

"Yeah." Jorick folded his arms, frowning.

Wrecker groaned and shifted. "Ow," he mumbled, brushing uncoordinatedly at the snow on his face.

As he started to get up, Jorick gestured to his men. "Come on. Everyone back inside. I need to think about this." He turned, observing the land around him, then pointed to three of the men. "Let's put you guys on watching the shuttle, just in case."

Noal grabbed Cody, and Wrecker followed closely. As everyone else crowded towards the door, Tech hung back for just an instant, his eyes flitting up to the roof, then to the grate.

Then Jorick shoved him inside, the other bounty hunters followed, and the front door was forced closed again.

Hunter glanced from the blood in the snow to his knife. With a few movements, he finished making the last two cuts, then carefully removed the grate and laid it on the shaft floor. After crawling to the very edge, he twisted around, replaced the grate as best he could, and climbed silently up to the roof.

Crosshair was just getting up from a prone position. "What are you doing here?"

"Regrouping." Moving lightly, Hunter joined him in the center of the roof. "What happened?"

The sniper tilted his head. "How long were you there?"

"Since right after the speeders blew up."

"Hm." Crosshair pulled his helmet off, looking more sour than usual. "Guess you know what happened, then. I couldn't figure out how to get involved without ruining our chances."

"Same." Hunter sat back on his heels. "I've got the grate open, we can go in that way. . ." He trailed off, thinking.

"And what?" Crosshair asked, reaching for a toothpick.

"Crosshair –" Hunter felt a sudden burn of exasperation and looked away, pinching the bridge of his nose as he bit back his temper. He didn't need his squad mate's tendency to question, and his usual difficult attitude, on top of everything else. The commander and Tech and Wrecker were prisoners, he and Crosshair were outnumbered ten to one, if not more, and the enemy was barricaded inside the base. . .

Still annoyed, he looked up in time to see the sniper frowning defensively down at the roof. "I was just asking," he muttered. "I . . . don't have a plan."

Oh. Hunter deflated. "Sorry," he said after a moment, then added, "I don't have a plan either."

He'd been trying to come up with one, but everything he considered seemed too dangerous for the others. The best one still seemed to be taking Jorick hostage, but would the other bounty hunters want Jorick enough to return the other prisoners? Or would Noal take over?

A toothpick bounced off his chest plate. "Guess we could use Wrecker's standard procedure of smashing everything we come across," Crosshair said.

The sergeant huffed. "Yeah, but Wrecker's the only one with enough muscle to pull that off." He tugged his helmet off and dragged a hand through his hair. "Look, we've got a way in, let's start with that. Any of those shafts go directly to the brig?"

A smirk flickered over Crosshair's face. "Yeah. . . It ends right above the control panel for the ray shields. Terrible security flaw."

"I'm starting to think they were put there on purpose," Hunter said, jamming his helmet back on as he got to his feet. "Let's use that to our advantage."

Crosshair reached for his own helmet and stood. "Right behind you, Sarge."