Chapter 8

Maatsu ran up to Anaria's house as she shooed the kids inside, his fists clenched.

"No matter what you claim, Anaria, you can guarantee nothing! It's not right that we should have to risk the chance of dealing with the pirates again. We didn't ask for them to raid us time and again! And here you are, perfectly willing to be a fool and put others' lives on the line."

"Well, I don't see you doing anything about the pirates either!" Anaria's face grew red with anger, her eyes flashed, and she took a swift step forward. "I understand, we've all lost people during these raids, and I understand you're scared. And I'm sorry! But while people were out there dying, trying to protect you and others, they paid the price for your cowardice! So many times, I knew, if just one more person helped them… Just one more! They could have lived!" Tears filled Anaria's eyes as she looked furiously at the ashamed face of the Pantoran doctor. "I was a child! I was out there, doing everything I could, while I watched people like you hide in the shadows, not to protect others, not because there were children that needed guarding, or old people that needed assistance! But to save your own sorry ass! I've hidden every time there was a raid, because I've been trusting all of you, the people in this village who are older than me and have had more experience. I've been trusting you to know what you're doing, so I've done what you said, and I've kept quiet and done my part. But you know nothing. Your solution to everything is to lay down like a doormat and let them walk all over you, and I've had enough! I'm done standing by and just taking this crap because people tell me to!"

Hunter moved to step in, but Crosshair grabbed his shoulder, holding him back with a shake of his head. "Don't."

Anaria jabbed her finger into Maatsu's shoulder, clenching her jaw. "I am going to do what I believe is right. I am going to help these men in whatever way I can, and I am going to do it without risking the lives of the people in this village. And there is nothing you can do or say that can stop me."

Maatsu gritted his teeth, clearly still upset, and was about to say something when someone behind him cleared their throat. He turned to see Mrs. Omari, standing there with her cane, her long robes brushing the ground.

"Anaria is right." The old woman smiled, nodding at the Batch. "These men may have just saved our lives, Doctor, and you wish to let that debt go unpaid? Let Anaria do as she plans, if her actions shall be at no cost to others."

Maatsu frowned, but left the house, brushing by the old woman and tossing Anaria and the clones a dirty look before continuing down the street.

Hunter took off his helmet, shaking his head, and Crosshair fiddled with his Firepuncher. "I have a feeling that's not the last any of us are gonna hear from him."

"Oh no," Anaria. "I'm sure it won't be." She turned to Mrs. Onari, who stood, smiling softly at the five young individuals in front of her. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me, dear. Now, I left the kettle on the stove, and I daresay by the time I get back home it will have spilled over, so I best leave now."

She headed down the street at a slow and steady pace, and Wrecker smiled, folding his arms. "She seems nice! Kinda weird… but nice."

Anaria sighed, pushing a strand of hair out of her face. "This has gotten completely ridiculous… I know Maatsu might mean well, but… honestly the complete selfishness of most of these people is sickening…"

Hunter shifted his helmet to his other hand, cocking his head slightly. "In a sense… I understand his concern… No one wants to get attacked. But if their safety is guaranteed?" He shook his head. "I don't see the problem. Speaking of which… are you sure there's a way for you to help without Vandrick figuring out?"

"Yes… but it would require a lot of patience on your part. And, you would need to be very very careful when sneaking in…"

Tech adjusted his goggles, stepping over to Hunter's side. "I recommend we do some recon before making any plans."

"Good idea. We'll head out and scout the area, then meet back here in a few hours."

Anaria nodded. "Sounds good. I'll probably be out until dark getting the Avital, so if you're back before I am, just let yourselves in. I'll be taking the kids with me."

"By the way," Tech pulled off his helmet, looking towards the house with a curious expression. "You mentioned Nikau was prone to anger towards the pirates due to the death of his mother… he seemed calmer than expected during this whole ordeal."

Anaria laughed hollowly. "Oh, you think so? The only reason he didn't flat out tackle Daneel is because he had Keraa."

Crosshair pulled off his helmet, placing a toothpick between his teeth. "Oh, I saw. The hatred in that kid's eyes was prominent even from my position."

Hunter gave Anaria a puzzled look. "This Daneel… how'd ya know him?"

Anaria frowned, folding her arms, her voice lowered. "Vandrick murdered Nikau's mother… but it was Daneel who killed his little brother."

Wrecker's eyebrows jumped, and Hunter noticed the flash of anger in his eyes.

"I've tried talking to him about it… but he won't open up to me. Honestly, it makes complying with Vandrick's demands that much harder, because every time they come, I can see how much he's hurting… He would probably be so much happier if they were all just gone… but revenge won't help him. I don't want him living his life with it being his sole focus. I've tried to get him to do things with the other kids, but he won't… Ah, well…" Anaria sighed, letting her hands fall to her sides. "I'm rambling, and we all have places to be."

Wrecker grinned. "Nah, we don't mind. Hey Hunter, I have an idea! Can we-"

"No."

Wrecker blinked. "But you didn't even lemme finish!"

"Don't need to. The answer is no."

"You don't even know what I was gonna ask!"

"Wrecker, we're not bringing Nikau with us on the recon mission. It's not safe."

Wrecker frowned. "It's just recon. It's not like anything's gonna happen. We go in, take a look around and come back! It's boring as dirt, but it's better than picking plants! Besides-" Wrecker pouted. "If I were him, I'd want to come."

Hunter sighed, looking back and forth between the larger clone, who was staring at him with wide, puppy dog eyes, and Anaria, who seemed to be mulling the idea over. "Wrecker… look, you just saw what happened with the villagers over Anaria offering to help us, we can't just drag a kid along, how do you think that'll look?"

Wrecker blinked, considering. "I guess… but I think it'll help him!"

"How?! He could run off and try sneaking into the base, then what?"

"Well, I wouldn't let 'im!"

Hunter pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly torn.

Anaria nodded slowly. "Tell you what… I think Wrecker may be right. Getting out and doing something with others, particularly men, would be good for him. It would also allow him to see firsthand what he'd be up against if he tried to do something stupid. So long as you can keep an eye on him, Wrecker, and he won't distract you guys from what you need to do, I'm okay with it."

Hunter considered for a moment, and then relented to Wrecker's pleas with a sigh. Crosshair's jaw dropped, his toothpick miraculously clinging to his lower lip as he stared at the sergeant in disbelief. "Seriously? We're bringing a kid?! You've got to be kidding me…" He rolled his eyes, spitting out his toothpick and placing his helmet back on his head with a groan. "Maker help us…"

Hunter looked pointedly up at Wrecker "You have to keep an eye on him at all times, Wrecker. Understand?" The taller clone nodded enthusiastically, almost bouncing in place.

Anaria poked her head inside, calling for Nikau, who came outside looking grumpy and uncertain. "These guys are going on a recon of Vandrick's base. Wanna go with?"

Nikau's eyes grew wide, and for once his expression was actually a slightly happy one. He looked over at Wrecker, who was grinning widely down at him. "We won't get to blow anything up, but it'll be fun!"

Tech looked at his brother in confusion. "Wrecker, you hate recon missions."

"Yeah, but everything is always more fun when you get to do it with someone new! Besides," he slapped Nikau jovially on the back. "I can teach him the ropes!"

Hunter raised his eyebrows, Crosshair snorted, and Tech adjusted his goggles. "In regard to missions requiring stealth… I doubt you'd be the ideal person to instruct him on what to do, Wrecker."

Wrecker frowned. "Hey! I know what to do! I'm just… not the best at doing it."

"You suck at it."

Hunter rolled his eyes, shooting Crosshair a look. The sniper shrugged. "What? It's true."

"Just, do what I say and not what I do, okay kid?" Nikau nodded, his eyes glittering with excitement, an actual smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Behave, alright, Nikau?" Anaria ruffled his hair, chuckling, and the boy took off towards the woods behind the house with Wrecker, Crosshair and Tech following behind them at a steady pace.

Hunter gave Anaria a nod, pulling his helmet on. "We'll bring him back in one piece."

Anaria smiled, raising an eyebrow. "You better. I'll kick your butts if you don't."

Hunter chuckled, dashing towards the forest after his squad, watching as Crosshair and Wrecker argued over something while waiting for their sergeant. "Alright boys, let's head out."

The base was, as Anaria had said, five clicks south of the village. The trek there took a bit longer than usual, as Nikau would have had to walk twice as fast to keep up with the clones, had they gone their usual pace. Hunter took the lead, followed by Tech and Crosshair, with Wrecker bringing up the rear directly behind Nikau. The larger clone was doing exactly as he had said he would- keeping an eye on the boy, and, surprisingly, very quietly giving the thirteen-year-old instructions on proper techniques for recon. Hunter briefly wondered if Wrecker was in fact, capable of doing everything he was describing to Nikau and he simply didn't want to do what he was supposed to on missions, or if he was actually unable to be as stealthy as he wished.

When they were about half a click away from the base, Hunter signaled for them to stop, and the group crouched down behind some bushes to hide. "We don't want to set off any alarms. Tech, how close do you think we can safely get?"

The squad's genius fiddled with his scanner, eyes darting back and forth as he took readings. "Until I locate exactly where the proximity sensors are, I would recommend we hold our current position."

"Alright then, run whatever scans you nseed to, keep me informed. Cross, tell me what you see."

"Nothing new- same entry points as before."

"We're gonna have to circle the complex. Tech?"

"I need a few more minutes."

"Alright. After he's got the sensors located we're gonna see if we can pinpoint all entrances."

Tech shifted, pulling out his data pad. "I am also going to attempt to identify the sensors' electromagnetic signature. I've been thinking about it, and I believe that is the technique that was used on us last night. Though I'd have to run more tests to be certain… If I can scramble the sensors' codes and disarm them tonight, we can get into the base from any position."

Hunter nodded, giving Tech a thumb's up. "Perfect!"

After several minutes, and lots of furious pounding on his data pad and scanner, Tech finally announced his analysis complete. "The sensors are 300 meters from the base."

"Good thing we stopped when we did then. Alright, let's go. Crosshair, I want your eyes on that base, keep a lookout for any pirates. Wrecker, eyes on the kid, Tech, any chance you can pull up a holo scan of the complex?"

"Yes, but we'll have to go slowly."

"Will do."

They made their way slowly around the perimeter, taking scans, keeping alert, and at one point, navigating their way around a large patch of brambles. Crosshair, unfortunately, did not escape unscathed, as Wrecker managed to trip on a large root, knocking the sniper into the prickly plants. The thin clone let out a pained hiss, and was quickly aided by Hunter, who yanked him out of the thorns before looking at his brother's person in alarm. Small burs clung to Crosshair's armor and blacks in several places, and when Hunter made to brush them off, he only stuck himself in the process.

"You're gonna be pulling those out for a while…" he remarked, and Crosshair yanked off his helmet solely to shoot Wrecker a death glare. Nikau let out a small giggle, and the anger in Crosshair's eyes flared, so the kid shut up, quickly stepping to the side to hide behind Wrecker, who muttered an embarrassed and remorseful apology.

Muffled, mild curses could be heard from beneath Crosshair's helmet for the rest of the trek, along with an occasional snicker from Nikau, who somehow found the whole thing very amusing, much to the sniper's annoyance.

Hunter signaled for them all to stop, pulling out his binoculars. He adjusted the focus, describing what he saw to the others. "If we go much farther, we'll reach the edge of the treeline, so this is the best place to stop. It looks like there's only one entrance on this side of the building- augh!"

Tech looked up from his scanner. "What?"

"There're droids everywhere. It must lead to the maintenance bay."

"Hunter." Crosshair nudged the sergeant lightly. "I'm not seeing the Marauder anywhere."

Hunter scanned the landing platform, but he saw no sign of their ship either. "We didn't see or hear it take off. It must be in one of the hangers."

"Or it's what the droids are working on." Tech offered, holding up his scanner. "I'm picking up our ship's signature from inside that maintenance bay."

"They're taking our ship apart?!" Wrecker exclaimed, dismayed at the thought, and Hunter shushed him.

"They better not be." Tech said, and he too wore a pained look. The thought of his precious ship being dismantled and having unknown modifications made, that he would no doubt have to fix when they retrieved it… He frowned, trying to dislodge the idea from his mind.

"What's the big deal about this ship?" Nikau peeked around Wrecker's large frame, looking around at the Batch. "You could always just steal another one instead. Vandrick has plenty." Four pairs of eyes looked at him in unblinking horror, and the thirteen-year-old shrank back.

"Not happening." Wrecker said bluntly, and Crosshair pulled his helmet off and began chewing furiously on a toothpick.

"If he makes another comment like that, we're ditching him."

Hunter sighed, shaking his head. "No, Crosshair, we're not. Tech, how's that scan coming along?"

Tech held up the data pad, a gleam in his eyes. "I'm done. And I think I have a way in."