Eventually, Hunter reached Coruscant and carefully guided Fennec Shand down into the underground. It was a warm Autumn day in the Coruscant Underground. Artifical lights lit the landing pad, and Hunter heard the sounds of patrons at the various establishments. The scent of concrete, alcohol and spice hung in the air as Hunter walked along the hard concrete floor towards Rex, Wrecker, and Echo, with Fennec Shand behind and Kuan and Khan close behind her. Irala elected to stay at the Freighter, too nervous to join such a big crowd.
"Good to see you, Hunter," Echo said when he saw Hunter approach, "I'm surprised to see Fennec with you. How did you two reconcile?"
"Turns out she was protecting Omega from Lama Su's Bounty Hunter. But it's nothing compared to who hired her," Hunter replied.
"Who?" Echo asked.
"Nala Se," Hunter replied. Immediately, both Echo's and Wrecker's jaws dropped.
"You're joking," Echo said.
"Nope. You can ask Fennec Shand about this," Hunter replied, "I also need to introduce you to another two targets of Dr Hemlock,"
"Who is it?" Wrecker asked.
"How about Omega's Kaminoan brother, Khan So, and his father, Kuan Si," Hunter turned to face the two Kaminoans.
"I didn't know Omega had a Kaminoan brother," Wrecker looked confused at Khan and Kuan.
"Omega's hiding a lot from her past," Echo sighed, "I've tried to indicate to her that it's OK to open up about what happened to her on Kamino. But she's stayed shut about it,"
"After what the Kaminoans, or one Kaminoan in particular, did to us and intended us to do, I'm not surprised she's not talking about it," Khan replied, a haunted shadow crossing his features, "It's not something I want to talk about,"
"I understand," Hunter replied, resting his hand on Khan's shoulder, which made Khan smile gently.
"What makes you two special?" Wrecker asked.
"They're Force Sensitive," Echo replied, "That's why Dr Hemlock is after them,"
"And we'd like to take advantage of that to make your mission easier," Kuan replied.
"We'll use the Martex sister's apartment for this talk. It's important that nobody overhears us," Rex said, interrupting their conversation.
"Alright," Hunter replied, following Rex towards the apartment. Echo, Wrecker, Fennec, Khan and Kuan all followed.
On the way, Fennec said, "By the way, Wrecker, Echo, I'm sorry about the scuffle on Pantora. I was testing if you could protect Omega from someone like Cad Bane,"
"Apology accepted," Echo replied, "You kept Hunter safe. That's important,"
Hunter caught up to Captain Rex and said, "Remember when you said that the Empire was holding a kid, referring to Omega?"
"I do," Rex replied, "Why?"
"It's kids now," Hunter replied, "Dr Hemlock's got Boba too,"
"That's not good," Rex replied, "Is that how you wound up working with Fennec?"
"Pretty much," Hunter replied, "I still find it amazing that Nala Se hired her,"
"Agreed," Rex said, "By the way, have you heard the rumours about what's been happening surrounding the Kaminoans in the last year or so?"
"No," Hunter admitted, "What's happened?"
"A Kaminoan Scientist was assassinated in jail late last year, just before a visit to the jail by Dr Hemlock. The rumour is that Lama Su got the ball rolling,"
Hunter was shocked hearing this, "Which scientist? And why?"
"Her name is Cora Sol," Rex replied.
"I don't know who that is," Hunter replied. Rex glanced back at Khan and Kuan, then said, "She's related to them, somehow. I'm sure they don't want to talk about her,"
"I wonder what she did that led to the Kaminoans not only banishing her from Kamino but handing her over to the Republic and why Lama Su got the ball rolling towards her assassination," Hunter replied.
"We had Gregor investigating, but we haven't got much information from it," Rex replied.
"Strange," Hunter admitted.
Eventually, everyone reaches the Martez sisters' house. The house was mainly wooden, although there was steel reinforcing the structure. It was warm for a Spring day, and as Rex turned on the lights, a dusty carpet and floor lit. There was a gentle hum from the lights, and the dusty scent wafted as Rex walked on the hard floor.
"Hey there, Rex," came a voice from nearby. Looking around, Rex spotted Gregor waving at them.
"Are we finally storming that mountain?" Gregor asked upon spotting Kuan and Khan.
"That we are," Rex replied. Gregor waved to Hunter, "Good to see that you survived the fall,"
Hunter grimaced, "Didn't mean that it didn't hurt,"
"Let's get going. We've got much to discuss," Rex replied as he led the group to the house's back.
"Fennec Shand? Didn't expect you here," Gregor called.
"I've been working with Hunter for several months," Fennec replied coolly.
"Wait, you left your squad?" Gregor ran to Hunter in shock to confirm what Fennec said.
"I had to rediscover leadership and the true meaning of family," Hunter replied, turning to Wrecker and Echo.
"You've got to inform us about everything," Wrecker replied.
"Especially how you and Fennec worked together," Echo added.
"All in due time," Hunter replied as everyone assembled around the table.
"I guess the first question we all have is, do you have schematics of Mt. Tantiss?" Gregor asked.
"I do," Kuan replied, "Boba managed to grab some and get them to me through Nala Se,"
"So Dr Hemlock is now holding both Fett twins," Rex replied grimly, "That only magnifies the importance of this operation,"
"Agreed," Fennec replied as she uploaded the schematics of Mt. Tantiss into the holo table, showing them to everyone.
"There's tons of guards everywhere, so we'll need a sneaky entrance," Fennec said.
"Are there any secret entrances that Omega or Boba noticed?" Hunter asked.
Fennec pushed a few buttons, and the schematics zoomed into a zone opposite the Dark Trooper Training Arena.
"There's a possible secret entrance here. Though we'll need to transfer from a shuttle to the ground directly," Fennec replied.
"That shouldn't be too hard if we can keep the Imperials off our back," Kuan replied, "We've got squads of fighters to help, but we don't know how long we'll be able to hold them off,"
"Are the fighters you have capable of hyperspace travel?" Rex asked.
"That we do," Kuan replied.
"That's good. Just be aware of the anti-fighter craft," Rex said.
"We will," Kuan replied.
"There are hundreds, if not thousands, of Clones imprisoned there," Hunter pointed out, "How are we going to extract everyone?"
"Kuan?" Rex asked.
"You'll need to disable any anti-ship weaponry before we can do any extraction," Kuan replied.
"Then that's an important objective, and maybe we can find a way to get someone to sabotage from the inside," Rex replied.
"I can handle that," Fennec replied.
"Sounds like this will be a multi-phase plan," Gregor said.
"Where do we go to find the imprisoned Clones?" Hunter asked.
"Dr Hemlock spread the imprisoned Clones over each level of the facility," Fennec replied before she turned to Hunter, "But Boba, Omega, and Crosshair are our priorities, aren't they,"
"That they are," Hunter sighed, "Where's Nala Se's lab? We should find at least Omega and Boba there,"
"Top floor, west wing," Fennec pointed the lab out.
"Then that's where Wrecker, Hunter, Fennec and I will go," Echo replied, getting an approving nod from Hunter.
"Khan, what will you do? Dr Hemlock may come after you due to your past associations with Omega and," Rex started.
"My mother," Khan growled but nodded, "She's dead, and I'm glad. Dr Hemlock has lost an important potential ally, and that's important. I also don't want to talk about it,"
"Understood," Rex replied.
"So, as a basic summary, we need an internal saboteur to knock power out of Mt. Tantiss," Hunter said.
"We can handle that," Kuan replied.
"Then we send a first wave to distract fighters," Echo said.
"Important," Rex replied.
"Then we come in through the secret entrance and get as many Clones as possible out," Gregor said.
"Meanwhile, Echo, Wrecker, Fennec and I will find Omega, Boba, and Crosshair while also taking out Dr Hemlock and Lama Su," Hunter added.
"What about Nala Se?" Khan asked.
Hunter bit his lip, "Nala Se abused Omega on Kamino and probably has abused her on Mt. Tantiss. At the same time, she cares for Omega. She helped us escape and hired Fennec Shand to protect Omega,"
"You're welcome," Fennec replied.
"How do you know about the abuse Nala Se inflicted on Omega?" Gregor asked.
"Tech," Hunter sighed, "When he was treating Omega after she escaped from Fennec and Bane, he saw that Omega had significant scarring on her upper arms. We've since learned the scars from the Kaminoans, including Nala Se,"
Kuan sighed, "I still feel guilty for letting it happen. But there wasn't much I could do to stop it except for taking care of her where Khan and I could,"
Hunter and Kuan met eyes momentarily, and then Hunter said, "I forgive you, Kuan,"
"Thank you," Kuan replied.
"So, we have a plan," Rex said.
"We do," Kuan replied, "Let's do this. And may the force be with you,"
Everyone nodded and dispersed towards their departure areas.
Meanwhile, on Mt. Tantiss
The corridor was less humid and milder versus Nala Se's lab, which relieved Scorch. The artificial lights mixed with the star to provide light as Scorch heard snippets of conversations between Troopers as he inhaled the scent of metal dominating the corridor as he walked on the hard floor. On the way to Dr Hemlock's office, multiple times, other Troopers intercepted Scorch in the facility and enquired about why he had Omega, Boba, and Crosshair with them.
"I'm escorting them to Dr Hemlock's office. Once Dr Hemlock has returned, he needs to discuss plans relating to their time here with them," Scorch told the other Troopers each time. Thankfully, they fell for his lie and allowed him to continue. Eventually, the quartet reached the door that leads to Dr Hemlock's office.
Omega had never considered another section of Mt. Tantiss. It was noticeably colder inside this corridor than outside for a Winter day. The carpeted floor and steel walls provoked an ominous atmosphere. Lights in the ceiling provided light, but Omega couldn't hear any sounds except her and the other's breathing, which added to the corridor's ominous atmosphere. The scent of carpet and metal wafted as Omega walked on the soft ground.
"Where is his office?" Omega whispered to Scorch.
"Nearly here. Emerie's room is to the right," Scorch replied.
Omega noticed the wooden door to Emerie's room and sighed, "Her room is opposite Hemlock's office. At least she has privacy,"
"I know," Scorch replied, "But we're here at Hemlock's office,"
"Alright," Omega said.
"Now what?" Crosshair asked. Omega turned the doorknob, but the doorknob only moved slightly.
"Locked," Omega said.
"Move," Boba replied, "I'll unlock it," he revealed a lockpicking kit from under his shirt.
"How did you hide that?" Omega asked in astonishment.
"I have my methods," Boba replied as he got to work. After about thirty seconds, Omega heard a click.
"Unlocked," Boba said.
Omega, Boba, and Crosshair all entered Dr Hemlock's office.
Dr Hemlock's office was the warmest place in Mt. Tantiss. Despite it being Winter, Omega sweated with how hot the office was. Dr Hemlock's office had a wooden table and chairs, transperisteel windows, brown vinyl floor and steel walls and ceiling. Dr Hemlock's office had a foot-high pile of papers alongside a lamp that lit the table and chairs. The sound of the communicator in the centre of the table echoed through the room, and the scent of wood, transperisteel and electricity wafted as they walked on the soft but crusty carpets.
Omega noticed several massive filing cabinets and drawers along the wall opposite the table and chairs.
"Boba, do you think we could go through the draws to find that remote?" Omega asked.
"Sure," Boba replied.
"I'll check the filing cabinets then," Crosshair sneered as he headed for the filing cabinets, and Omega and Boba started opening random draws.
Most of the drawers contained stuff that didn't interest them. Most drawers were full of disused medical equipment, an acceptance note from Palpatine to the Advanced Science Division, and medical equipment.
"If I were Dr Hemlock, where would I hide a remote to unleash the Zillo beast?" Boba asked.
"I would keep a remote to unleash the Zillo beast with me," Crosshair replied.
Who Dr Hemlock was gave Omega a thought. She left the drawers and headed for the table and chairs. After a moment, she realises there are small drawers underneath the table. She checked each and found a black remote that was jet black, with a small extender sticking out of the top and red, blue, and green buttons in the silver control panel.
"Guys, I've found the remote," Omega called to Boba and Crosshair, showing the remote.
"Good. Now let's get out of here," Boba replied. As Crosshair moved towards the exit, however, he knocked many of the papers off the table.
Crosshair rapidly grabbed them up. And quickly realised what these papers were about.
"Hey guys, you might want to read this," Crosshair sneered as he handed the papers to Omega and Boba. The papers were terrifying for them both, revealing that, as opposed to Crosshair being the one turned into a Dark Trooper, it was Omega and Boba.
"Why would Dr Hemlock want to turn us into Dark Troopers?" Boba asked.
"Omega's Abilities," Crosshair sneered, "She has slight mutations from each of us. If Hemlock wants to create the best Dark Troopers while minimising the issues associated with your mutations, he must refine the armour to ensure that. And he'll need you to test it. As for Boba, I don't know. Maybe a baseline comparison?"
"That would explain it," Omega replied.
"Help me fix this stack of papers, or else Hemlock will have all our heads," Croshair said.
"I'll handle this mess. You three get back to your positions," Scorch said.
"Right," Omega replied, "What will you do to cover us?"
"I've got a fake remote for the Zillo beast. I'll plant it. I'll also fic the stack and use the cover story that I accidentally knocked them over while checking on his office," Scorch replied.
"Right. Thanks, Scorch," Omega replied before the trio ran from the room. Omega and Boba returned to Nala Se's lab while Crosshair returned to his cell.
Dr Hemlock returned to his office after returning to Mt. Tantiss. It was late at night and cold for a Winter night. A lamp on the table provided light for the table and chairs. The hum of the communicator in the middle of his table echoed as the scent of carpet and wood wafted. He sat on his hard chair and noticed the smaller stacks of papers. Dr Hemlock saw Scorch standing at the entrance, and Dr Hemlock asked, "Why are there multiple stacks of papers on my desk instead of one?"
"I accidentally knocked your significant stack of papers to the ground. I cleaned the papers up into smaller stacks," Scorch replied. Dr Hemlock looked at Scotch, and it was unclear if he believed the story.
Suddenly, Dr Hemlock heard his communicator go off. Activating it, he asked, "Dr Hemlock here. Who is it?"
"It's Emerie. We've had a big development about the blood samples we obtained from Omega and Boba," Emerie replied.
"Bring the results to me," Dr Hemlock said.
"Will do," Emerie replied as Dr Hemlock ended the communication.
A few minutes later, Emerie entered with two Data Pads. Scorch had departed the room, and Dr Hemlock had packed his travel cloak and bag away.
"What have you learned?" Dr Hemlock asked.
"It's about Omega and Boba," Emerie replied, "We did the analysis. And both Omega and Boba reacted. Their blood has the stability required to accept a high M-Count,"
"WHAT?" Dr Hemlock asked. He was astonished at this revelation. But when Emerie gave Dr. Hemlock the two Data Pads, they confirmed what Emerie said.
"This is interesting," Dr Hemlock said, "So this is what Nala Se has been hiding this fact about Omega and Boba. I need to contact the Emperor about this. Especially because of Omega's Kaminoan brother, Khan So,"
"What do you mean by him?" Emerie asked.
"Omega's Kaminoan brother is Force Sensitive. If Khan is also biologically Omega's brother, he has everything the Emperor needs. There's a reason those two are exceptionally close," Dr Hemlock replied.
"Right," Emerie replied.
"You're dismissed. I need to rest and think on this," Dr Hemlock told Emerie, who nodded and departed with Scorch close behind.
A week later, Wolffe was in his room cleaning his rifle. It was a warm Spring day on Mt. Tantiss. Artificial lights lit his room as the sounds associated with him cleaning his rifle echoed. The scent of polish mixed with wood, fabric, and steel wafted as Wolffe sat on his soft bed.
As he finished, there was a knock on his door. Sighing, Wolffe opened the door to see Sinker and Comet standing at his entrance.
"What's up?" Wolffe asked.
"Scorch has called the Wolf Pack to a meeting," Sinker replied.
"Scorch? What does he want to talk about?" Wolffe asked.
"We don't know. But we should head for the Dark Trooper training arena to find out," Comet replied.
"Right," Wolffe sighed, confused. Packing his rifle away, Wolffe followed Sinker and Comet towards the arena.
When Wolffe, Comet, and Sinker reached the Dark Trooper training arena, Delta Squad members Boss, Fixer, and Scorch greeted Wolffe, Comet and Sinker. The arena was warmer than the rooms above, and Wolffe could hear the hum of the equipment and the dizzying array of scents as Wolffe stood on the hard floor.
"Why did you bring us here?' Wolffe asked Scorch.
"We've discovered that Omega and Boba will be the test subjects for Dr Hemlock's Dark Trooper program," Scorch explained, "We also have learned that Emerie is vulnerable to something horrible Dr Hemlock is planning. We need them to get them all out here, alongside as many Clones as possible,"
The looks of shock and concern were visible on everyone's faces.
"What's the plan?" Wolffe asked.
"We need to play our part until the right moment," Scorch replied, "We need to time our betrayal of Dr Hemlock for the right moment,"
"Why are we betraying Hemlock?" Comet asked.
"Does anyone here know of the Kaminoan Scientist Cora Sol?" Fixer asked.
"I did," Wolffe replied, "We were escorting Cora Sol from Kamino to Coruscant so the Republic could prosecute her. I never found out what her crimes were, but if they were bad enough to necessitate that, then they must have been horrendous,"
"From what I've heard and read, they were," Boss replied, "Anyway, we're betraying Dr Hemlock because he's conspiring to restart those plans,"
"How does he keep track of all of this? He must have three or four plans going at once," Comet asked.
"He's Dr Hemlock, that's how," Scorch replied, "Anyway, what we need to a signal for when we turn on him and others,"
"Right," Wolffe replied, "We can't use hand signals because we're unlikely to be within sight of each other,"
"That means we need a signal through our communicators that other troopers don't realise the true meaning of," Boss replied.
"Someone sent Nala Se a suggestion to aid their escape," Scorch suggested.
"What is it?" Wolffe replied.
"Sabotage the power systems so their anti-ship weaponry can't fire," Scorch replied.
"Isn't there a power source for that in the middle level of this facility?" Comet asked.
"There is," Fixer replied, "I'm probably in the best position to operate that,"
"Good. Now, back to the signal," Scorch said.
"Perhaps Fixer disabling power could be the signal?" Wolffe suggested.
"That's a good idea," Scorch replied after a moment, "But how do we signal Fixer?"
"Maybe we could use a Mando'a term?" Boss suggested.
"Perfect," Wolffe replied, "But which one?"
"It would have to be a more obscure one," Comet replied, "We've used a fair bit of Mando'a around Hemlock, so he knows a decent amount,"
"How about Solka?" Sinker asked.
"Is that the one I think it is?" Wolffe asked.
"Describing Cora Sol?" Boss asked.
"Yep," Fixer replied.
"Perfect," Scorch said.
"Oh, we need another word for if something goes wrong. Which, honestly, it will," Wolffe suggested.
"Di'kut?" Boss asked.
"It's funny," Sinker replied, "But I think it'll work,"
"Good. We could use other Mando'a terms to cover if we get back up. You know that Hunter and Fennec recently stormed Obroa-skai's archives. They were looking for the coordinates of this planet. If they have it, an attack will happen soon," Wolffe replied.
"Then we'll need to time our betrayal for when they arrive," Comet replied.
"Then it's a plan," Wolffe replied, "Let's see how much of this plan succeeds,"
"We'll find out," Scorch replied before the others dispersed.
Scorch eventually returned to Emerie's room, knocking on the door.
"Come in," Emerie called. When Scorch entered, he found Emerie was still up. Unlike last time, when Emerie just had a blanket over her legs. Now, the blanket was covering her from her shoulders down.
Scorch awkwardly said, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything,"
"You're not," Emerie replied, "I had a feeling you wanted to talk to me about something,"
"I do," Scorch replied, again sitting at the foot of Emerie's bed, "Have you decided on what you'll do if we get the chance to escape?"
"We?" Emerie raised her eyebrows.
"Well," Scorch shuffled, "I'm planning to escape this facility and go into hiding. Maybe I can find Sev, the fourth member of Delta Squad,"
"And how does this involve me?" Emerie asked.
Scorch braced, "I thought you could join me in the escape. I know you've spent your entire life being guided by others. Either your Kaminoan watcher or Dr Hemlock,"
"And you want to be my guardian post-escape from here?" Emerie asked.
"Yes," Scorch replied, "Potentially, everyone in Delta Squad. You could be our fifth member. But I'll leave that up to you,"
Emerie considered Scorch's offer for several moments, during which Scorch waited nervously. Finally, Emerie replied, "I'll consider it. If the opportunity presents itself, I'll follow through. But there are no guarantees. Alright?"
"Alright," Scorch replied, conceding that this was the best result he could hope for. He smiled at Emerie, who returned it, and Scorch departed her room, leaving Emerie to sleep.
Meanwhile, Nala Se, Crosshair, Omega and Boba
Nala Se, Omega, Boba and Crosshair were standing in Nala Se's lab. It was a cold Winter night inside Nala Se's lab. Artificial light lit the lab, and the hum of the equipment buzzed in Omega's ears. The scent of Bacta and steel wafted as she sat on the hard floor.
"It's time to plan our escape from this hellhole," Boba said.
"With the number of troopers around, that's going to be difficult," Crosshair replied.
"They don't want to kill us, so they'll be using Stun blasts," Omega said.
"My armour is being stored on the lower floor. I found that out from Scorch," Boba said as he turned to Crosshair, "I assume that's where we need to go to get our armour back,"
"And get armour for Omega," Crosshair pointed out.
"We'll need to lay low until our rescuers get here, or else we could be used as bargaining chips," Boba pointed out.
"That is true," Nala Se replied, "If you two could hide inside your alcove until the time comes, you may able to avoid that,"
"What about the remote?" Omega asked.
"I'll go down to the Zillo beast section and unleash it," Boba replied, "From what I can tell, it takes time to power up the Zillo beast to the point it can cause damage. I'm thinking if I can get in and start everything, I can get out before the Zillo beast awakens,"
"That's risky," Omega replied, "Please be careful,"
"I will, don't worry," Boba replied before turning to Nala Se.
"What about you, Aunty Nala? What are you going to do?"
"Take at least Lama Su out of commission," Nala Se replied, "I'll see if I can take down Dr Hemlock, too. Though I cannot guarantee success regarding him,"
"Even some kind of injury to him would be an accomplishment," Omega replied.
"Agreed," Boba replied.
"I don't know my role," Omega admitted.
"Your role is keeping yourself alive until you escape," Crosshair stated.
"Alright," Omega replied, "I just want to help any way I can. I'm not defenceless, I have commando training,"
"And we understand that," Boba replied, "But let us be clear about something. You're going to be the target. You are the most crucial person to Dr Hemlock. The original reason why everyone went searching for Wayland's coordinates was because of you. Dr Hemlock came after me because of something Nala Se did to you in the tube to mess with the plans of other Kaminoans and Hemlock. You're a lynchpin, Omega. Everyone will be careful regarding you because you're so important to everyone. And that is why your role in this is to escape. Leave us to destroy the facility, kill Dr Hemlock, and ensure that nobody will be coming after you,"
Omega took several seconds to process what Boba said. She finally gave an annoyed sigh, then said, "Fine. Just don't die or get hurt on my watch, alright?"
"We'll do our best," Crosshair replied.
"Do we have our plan formulated?" Nala Se asked.
"We do," Crosshair replied, "Omega escapes, Boba releases the Zillo beast, Nala Se silences Lama Su and attempts to do the same to Dr Hemlock, Crosshair covers Boba and assists the others to help as many Clones as possible off the facility,"
"Sounds like a plan," Omega replied.