"Not our primary target." Shadow said as she leaned against a tree along the treeline they were hiding in.
"It's an outpost. Should we take it?" Rex spoke up behind her. He looked around, trying to see if there was a way around it.
"Probably easier than going around. All right, what are your orders?" Hunter turned to face Rex, looking at the Captain and Lieutenant. "We pick them off from the tree line one-by-one?" He asked, pointing to a few different droids.
Rex looked over at Shadow before turning back to look at Hunter. Even with his helmet on you could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke. "Actually, I was thinking we'd take a page from your book."
"Rush them head-on." Scarlett spoke up from behind Hunter. She smiled before putting her helmet on. She likes taking the fight to them for once.
"Ha, I like your style." Hunter chuckled before drawing his blasters from their holsters on his hips. They jumped from the treeline, firing and shooting down droids as they yelled. Shadow pulled out her WESTAR-34 and DC-17 blasters. Her WESTAR-34 was Mandalorian made, a sleek looking blaster pistol, silver in color. They ran around the droids, blaster them, Hunter using his knife to cut them down. They raced inside the tower and went up, her back pressed to Hunter's as they stood back to back on the lift. She saw Scarlett standing back to back with Crosshair, both their rifles in hand. Scarlett had an Assault Rifle, Mandalorian made, used by protectors on their home world. She could feel Hunter breathing, could feel his heart beating through his ribs. She took a deep breath as the lift came to a halt and droids were all around them.
"Blast em!" The droid yelled closest to her and she shot off it's head. "Nice shot." Hunter said as he threw his knife into another droid. Soon all the droids in the tower were down, Wrecker throwing a fit that the fight was already over.
"Easy big guy. We'll find you more droids to crush." She said, patting his large arm, making him smile. The large clone pulled her into a hug, making her gasp for air as she laughed.
"Oh I like you!" He said in his loud booming voice. She pulled free and smiled, patting his chest before turning to face Rex and Hunter. She pulled her helmet off and tucked it under her arm as she watched Tech get to work.
"Not bad. For a reg." Hunter said, punching Rex in the arm. Rex gave him a half smile before turning to the large window behind him and looking out to a huge building in the trees.
"All right, there it is. The Cyber Center." he said pointing at it. The others gathered around him and looked out. Shadow cursed under her breath and shook her head.
"Oh that's gonna be fun." She said as she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. Scarlett bumped her shoulder to Shadow's before going to sit with Tech to work on the computers.
"It looks like the Cyber Center itself has minimal guards, about 30 droids. Oh…" Scarlett's voice trailed off as she looked at the computers. She looked over at Tech and he nodded his head, showing he saw what she was seeing.
"What's up?" Shadow asked, sensing her sister's rising concern. She leaned over her shoulder to look at the holomap to see what she was seeing.
"Wait. Wait! I got a massive signal coming in." Tech said his voice filled with concern. He tapped away at his Holopad, trying to figure out how big of an attack was coming their way.
"A whole platoon of droids is headed this way." Shadow said, looking back over at Rex and Hunter. She crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against the desk behind her. She waited for one of the boys to come up with a plan.
"Someone's noticed our handiwork back at the crash site." Hunter said, a bit of pride in his voice. He then looked at Shadow and she smiled.
"Yeah. They noticed how much you guys destroyed their droids. Doesn't feel like they were happy about that." She joked to him before turning to Rex.
"Make sure you keep an eye on those incoming Separatist forces. I want to know when they reach this outpost." Rex said to Tech as he picked up his helmet off the desk where he placed it. He nodded to the group, and they grabbed their helmets and got their blasters ready.
"You got it, Cap!" Tech said his voice was clear. He turned to Scarlett, handing her a Holopad. "This way you can keep track of it as well." She took the Holopad and tucked it into her chest pack with a pat. Tech nodded in approval at this.
"Careful, or Tech will soon feel his mind Is not the smartest in the group." Crosshair said as he winked at Scarlett, giving his brother a teasing glance. Scarlett laughed before patting him on the chest.
"You should be worried about if I make you look like the second best shooter in the group." She teased. She watched as he rolled the toothpick in his lips before giving her a playful glare. Shadow watched them as they teased each other. She has never seen her sister like this before, never seen her…. Flirt.
"We'll grab some speeder bikes and flank them from the back." She heard Hunter say to Rex, pulling her from her train of thought. Rex nodded before telling them to move out. She went to grab her helmet when she felt a hand on her arm.
"You alright? You seem a bit… distracted." Hunter said standing beside her. She looked into his dark caramel eyes and felt her heart flutter. She nodded her head and made sure she had her blasters.
"Yes I'm fine. I was watching my sister with Crosshair… I swear she was… flirting with him." She said before pulling her helmet on. She saw Hunter raise an eyebrow before looking over at his brother strapping his rifle to his back. He nodded his head, the few loose short hairs that got free from his bandana bouncing against his forehead. She found it herself wishing she could run her hands through his long black hair. The thought surprised her, she never felt this way towards a clone. She always saw them as men, never as just soldiers, but she never felt herself drawn towards a clone before.
"Yeah, I see what you mean. He never talks this much to people outside of our squad." He agreed with her. Everyone got on the lift and went back down to ground level, going around to the back to get the speeder bikes. They would have to double up to all make it on the bikes.
"Shadow, you go with Hunter, Jesse with me, Scarlett with Crosshair, you two are my eyes in the sky, Tech with Wrecker. Let's move." Rex told them as he jumped into a speeder bike behind Jesse and took off. Shadow gave a small salute to her twin before getting on the speeder bike. She watched as Scarlett held onto Crosshair as they took off for the nearby hill to snipe from. She looked over to Hunter and smiled under her helmet.
"Come on Dark and Broody, let's go!" She exclaimed as she started up the bike. She heard him laugh and felt him sit himself behind her, his hands going around her waist. She shivered at the feeling, his hands flat against her armored stomach. His chest was pressed to her back as she took off after Rex, Jesse, Tech and Wrecker. The sensors in her helmet lighting up on the screen, showing her the life forms around her plus the droids around the Cyber Center. Thankfully the Clones were the only life forms around.
"Shadow, Hunter, Tech, Wrecker. Head up to that hill behind the Center. Make a diversion to draw out as many droids as you can. Jesse and I will go towards the front and pick off ones we can to give you a clear shot to the front door." Rex's voice filled her helmet as it came over the coms. She watched as Jesse drove to the right, going towards the tree line near the front doors. She turned left and went up the hill, following Tech as he drove around the crystal like trees. They kept going till they reached the top of a hill behind the Center and turned off their bikes. Shadow turned off her bike and felt Hunter shift behind her. His hands slowly moved from her belly where his hands had been holding on down to her hips and then slowly to her back before his touch was gone. She held her breath as her senses went into overload with the light touches. She could practically hear him smiling under his helmet as she tried to keep her body from reacting.
"You good there Ver'alor?" His voice sounded a bit smug, like he was smirking as he spoke. She hated how smug he sounded. Like he was proud of himself for pulling a reaction from her body.
"I'm fine, Ruus'alor." Shadow answered, emphasizing his rank at the end, addressing him by rank like he did her in Mando'a. She heard him chuckle under his helmet and she was thankful he couldn't see her blush. She turned her attention towards Tech and Wrecker who were looking around at a huge pile of rock. She got off the speeder and pulled up a display on the holoscreen on her visor and looked around to see if the others were in place.
"Is everyone in position?" Rex's voice once again filled her comms.
"Affirmative." Hunter spoke up, pulling out his blasters. Shadow pulled out hers as well and got ready for whatever Wrecker had planned.
"Affirmative." Scarlett's voice then filled her ears. She turned her head and looked to the east, seeing a small glimpse of her sister and Crosshair on the far hill, above Rex and Jesse. She looked over at Tech as his Holopad started to beep.
"Cap, you wanted to know when those Separatist forces breached the outpost." He spoke up looking down at the Holopad. She looked over his shoulder and saw a huge group of droids making their way to the outpost.
"Well, they're getting there just about now." Scarlett finished for him. She looked down at the Holopad and then at Crosshair who was laying down in his belly, lined up with his rifle. He turned to face her and gave her a nod.
"Looks like the fun is about to begin." He said before turning back to look through his scoop once more. Scarlett smiled under her helmet and drew her rifle, getting down onto the ground beside him.
"Then let's party." She said with a smirk. They waited till Wrecker started a rock slide down the hill, taking out some droids as it went. The two snipers started picking off droids at the front door and tower as Jesse and Rex took out more from the ground level. She turned her gun and saw her twin sliding down the hill behind the rocks with the other clones, firing their blasters at clankers as they went.
Shadow soon reached the bottom of the hill, she charged the door with the others covering Tech as he pulled out his Holopad to start opening the door.
"Hmm. This is a delicate operation." Tech hummed to himself as he tapped away on his Holopad.
Wrecker walked up to the doors and slammed his body against it, busting it open. "Boom! You take too long." He said to Tech as he looked down at his brother. You could hear the smile on his face as he spoke. Shadow shook her head and followed the others inside, blasting more droids on their way. Hunter took out his knife and started cutting down droids. Shadow felt her legs grow weak as she watched him spin and weave around the droids, cutting them down, his muscles on full display even through his armor. She shook her head as she saw a droid come up behind him so she grabbed her knife and threw it over his shoulder, hitting the droid between the eyes. Hunter turned to look at her over his shoulder and she nodded her head at him.
"Nice aim." He said, praising her before they took off for the computer room. They covered Hunter and Wrecker pulled open the doors, taking out the remaining droids in the room.
"Alright we're in." Hunter said, looking around the room making sure it was clear. "Tech, get to work on these computers. We'll go get the regs."
Shadow followed Hunter and Wrecker to the main doors where Rex and Jesse were still fighting droids and Crosshair and Scarlett were picking them off from the hill.
"What the…" One droid said before being blown up.
"Hey, where did you come from…" Another said before Hunter's knife cut him down. Wrecker went trigger happy and cut the others down till no more were around.
"What took you so long, Wrecker?" Rex joked as Jesse and him walked up to the main doors.
"Hey, this is a "delicate operation." Wrecker said, making fun of what Tech had said earlier. Shadow rolled her eyes under her helmet and looked out over the treeline. She heard the sound of tanks long before the others did. Well maybe not Hunter. She saw him perk up a bit and look out towards the trees as well. She knew he heard the same thing she did.
"Better get in there, Cap." His thick smokey voice filled her ears as they made a path for Rex to get past them. "We'll hold them off till Tech and Rex find what they are looking for." He said once Rex ran to find Tech. Shadow nodded and looked at Jesse, who was making sure his blaster was fully loaded. She pulled out her WESTAR-34 and DC-17, twirling them around her fingers. She then aimed her blasters at the on coming tanks and droids.
"Alright boys. Keep up!" She called out as she took off running, jumping into the ledge of the Cyber Center and pulling herself up so she had the higher ground. She started blasting the droids as they fell from their tanks, picking them off one by one. She saw blaster bolts coming down from the hill to her right and she knew Crosshair and Scarlett were taking out as many as they could as well. Hunter started cutting down droids with his knife and Jesse and Wrecker stood back to back, rapidly firing their blasters into the oncoming army. She threw her own knife into a droid that got too close to Jesse and he pulled it free once it fell, letting it sink back into another droid before throwing it back up to her. She caught it and threw it once more, hitting a droid that came up behind Hunter. She jumped down from the ledge and raced towards him and pulled the knife free from the droid, standing with her back to his.
"Having fun yet?" She yelled over the blaster fire around them. She heard him laugh before shooting down another droid. She felt a blaster bolt hit her shoulder plate, thankfully the Beskar armor saving her from real damage. It still hurt though and she knew she have a bruise for sure.
"You alright?!" Hunter asked, his voice laced with worry as he looked at the burn mark from the bolt on her shoulder plate.
"Just perfect." She hissed as she moved her arm to throw her knife once more.
Hunter places his finger to the side of his helmet and turned on his comms "Crosshair, we're gonna need a lift."
"Not gonna be a problem." She heard the tall silver haired sniper say. She was really growing tired of all these droids and their non stop firing. "I'm really getting over this now!" She yelled in frustration as she shot down five more droids. She growled as her arm started to swell in her armor. Hunter races back into the center to get Tech and Rex as they were starting to get out numbered. After a few minutes the three clones raced out of the Cyber Center and fired on more droids. Crosshair and Scarlett flew in on a transport.
"Need a ride?" Scarlett yelled as she shot down a droid.
"You're timing is perfect as always, dear Sister." Shadow cheered as they raced to get into the transport. Crosshair gunned it and took off once they were all in. She sat down on the floor and let out a deep breath as she put her blasters away. She winced in pain as her shoulder was throbbing. She unclipped her shoulder plate and slid it off her arm.
"You okay there?" Hunter asked, sitting down beside her. He reached up and slowly pulled away the fabric of her shirt to look at the bruising on her shoulder. He cringed and gave her a sympathetic look. "That looks nasty. I don't think it broke anything and thankfully it didn't go through the armor… but you'll be sore for a few days for sure." He softly put the sleeve of her shirt down again. She nodded her head and sighed as she leaned her head back against the seat behind her. She felt him pay her knee before he got up to make sure the others were fine.
"That number, Cap, what did it mean?" She heard Tech say from the seat over. She turned her head so she could hear them better and so she could see them a bit more.
"CT-1409... that was Echo's number." Rex answered with a far away look in his eyes. He looked like he had seen a ghost. "He's alive." Was all he said before he looked back towards the Cyber Center once more before it disappointed behind the mountains. She could feel his pain and confusion rolling off of him in waves. She knew the clones lost their brothers by the thousands at a time. She knew how hard it was to lose family, but she had no idea what it was like on his end. To lose so many brothers, so many of his flesh and blood for a war they never had to be in. At least she had a choice about joining the war, they didn't. And now… now one of his own brothers could very well be a prison of war. Shadow looked over at Rex and placed a hand on his knee.
"Verd ori'shya beskar'gam. He is of your blood…. And it's time for your Vod to come home." Shadow told him, making a vow to him in her own way. One she would soon not break by any means.