Chapter 10 – Whispers in the Silence

Author's Note: All the boys are going through a rough time. :P

~ Amina Gila

Rampart promotes Hunter to the rank of commander and puts him in charge of the Elite Squad before giving him his new orders. "There are rumors of a Jedi on Onderon," Rampart tells him, "And we have pinpointed a group of rebels working with Saw and Steela Gerrera. Wipe them out, and perhaps that will be enough to lure the Jedi out of hiding."

"Yes, sir," Hunter answers, as is expected.

"What? You're gonna kill kids now, Hunter?"

Good soldiers follow orders. The Jedi are traitors, threats, and he dreads to think of what might happen to his brothers if they happen upon a rogue Jedi. He can't let them be hurt, for all that he's angry at them. They might have disobeyed him, but it's still his duty to protect them. Protecting them supersedes everything else.

Or at least it did.

He… doesn't know anymore what the right choice is. They left. They're traitors – like the Jedi are. By all rights, he ought to kill them, but… but –

Good soldiers follow orders.

Hunter knows that, but he has a duty to his brothers, too, and he doesn't know what will happen if his orders conflict with his duty.

The natborn troopers aren't happy that he's in charge, but Hunter doesn't care. He's experienced, skilled, and he's a good leader. At least Rampart respects that. He doesn't know how well he'd be able to work for natborns who so obviously look down on clones. Or at least one of them does.

"Why would they put him in charge?" grumbles one of the troopers as their shuttle comes out of hyperspace over Onderon.

Hunter doesn't want to react, but he has to make it clear that he's in charge and they're expected to listen to him. He can't let insubordination fester. "You got a problem?" he asks, narrowing his eyes as he glances toward the talkative trooper. The warning shut up is obvious, but the natborn ignores it, huffing as he looks back at him, unphased.

"Tell me this, clone. If you all are so efficient, how come the Empire's scouting soldiers like us?" he challenges. Hunter doesn't miss the way the other troopers look away. He doesn't know – or care – if they agree, but at least they're respecting protocol if nothing else. "Sounds to me like it's time for a change."

Well, the truthful answer is one that the natborn won't want to hear, but Hunter isn't Crosshair. He's not one to dish out harsh truths bluntly. "Good soldiers follow orders." He knows his voice is just shy of mocking with the way he's so carefully enunciating each word, but he can't help it. He's angry. Taking it out on these natborns won't help, isn't ideal, and it doesn't make him the best leader, but… yeah.

Right now, he's too angry to care.

They arrive on Onderon before long, and all internal conflicts are forgotten in the face of the mission. Hunter doesn't trust them, can't trust them, but he can trust that they want to impress Rampart with their skills. That means he can trust they'll follow his orders since he's the one in charge. They might not like him, but they must understand the importance of following orders when in the field.

He draws his blaster and his knife, and then gestures for the squad to move in. The insurgents are taken by surprise, overwhelmed almost instantly by the blaster fire through the trees and the smoke bomb thrown to disorient them. Hunter picks them off one by one, the ones who are fighting back. There are civilians down there, too, but they're panicking, not fighting. He doesn't see any children.

"What? You're gonna kill kids now, Hunter?"

It ends when they try fleeing in the shuttle, and Hunter reaches out with his senses, locating the weak point and hitting the engine. It doesn't explode entirely, but it takes the shuttle out of commission. The troopers round up the survivors, holding them at blaster point. Hunter scans the faces, and he feels a flare of surprise when he recognizes Steela Gerrera. She's here. Her brother isn't, though. "Where's Saw?" Hunter demands, hand tight on the blaster he's aiming at her.

She doesn't look surprised to see him. More regretful than anything else. "It looks like you chose a side," she says to him. "I didn't want to hurt the clones."

Hunter takes a step closer. "Where is he?!" he half-snarls.

Her expression is steely, and she's not scowling, but it's close. "Why would I tell you that?" Her heartbeat is steady, firm. She's afraid, but she's also steadfast. She won't break. But the Gerreras aren't the real targets here, anyway.

"Anyone have something to share?" Hunter asks, looking between them. They're civilians from the looks of it.

A middle-aged man shifts in front of a female Twi'lek protectively. "We don't know anything. We were promised transport off world, that's all," he says, almost beseeches.

Hunter gestures to his squad. "Round 'em up," he orders. "We're taking them to the Imperial base on planet for questioning." They're trying to lure out the Jedi, after all, and what better way of doing so is there than this?

His orders aren't questioned, and the insurgents or civilians or whatever they want to call themselves are taken to the capital city of Iziz. Hunter doesn't like this planet any more than he did the first time they came here. Even less so if he's being honest, since it reminds him of his brothers, his true squad. They should be here. They should be helping him. Don't they realize how important this is? If they don't finish the mission, wipe out the traitors, the galaxy will never be safe. They will never be safe.

No Jedi comes, and when Hunter comms Rampart to report on their progress, he tells him that they should stay there until Steela has been executed publicly. Apparently, the Jedi might risk exposure to rescue Steela.

He doesn't know what happens to the civilians. He never asks, and Rampart – or anyone – tells him, either. The attack comes in the middle of the night, towards dawn. He feels the vibrations moments before an explosion detonates in the courtyard of the prison. "Get eyes on the explosion," Hunter orders. "The rest of you, stay with me. They're coming for Gerrera."

He can feel the anticipation burning under his skin as he waits, blaster out and aimed, ready and waiting for the inevitable attack. He hears blaster fire next, and he knows that the troopers want to leave to engage but that's the point. It's a diversion. They're coming for Gerrera, and they can't get to her unless they go through them. … Right? Hunter's not fully certain. He's never worked closely with any Jedi, but from what he knows of General Skywalker – oh. Right. He wasn't even a Jedi, but the tactics must be similar, right?

Something buzzes on the edge of his senses, and he tightens his grip on his blaster as the door opens. A teenage Togruta is standing there, silhouetted by the flames from outside. The Jedi. No, not just the Jedi. Hunter feels his blood run cold as he recognizes her. Ahsoka Tano. General Skywalker's padawan. Though how he was training a Jedi when he himself was not a Jedi isn't something Hunter really understands. She's Echo's commander.

If – if he kills her, Echo will never forgive him. He might even kill him for it. He's so fiercely protective of her.

But she's a traitor.

Hunter saw her, once, on Anaxes. She didn't come with them, but she was there when they brought Echo back, and Hunter never forgot the way she touched him so gently, looking gutted at the sight of his injuries.

But she's a traitor.

"What? You're gonna kill kids now, Hunter?"

She's a traitor, and Hunter would rather face his brothers' hatred and anger than see them die at the hands of the Jedi, any Jedi. He could never forgive himself if he let her go and that led to something happening to his brothers.

He fires, and his troopers follow.

Ahsoka ducks, and there's a snap-hiss as a lightsaber ignites in each hand. One is green and the other is more of a yellow-green. She deflects the blaster bolts away, and one of the troopers is hit. Hunter hears the body hit the floor, and he draws his vibroknife. An unseen force slams into him, throwing him and the others into the wall. The others drop, moving slowly as if stunned, and Hunter scrambles for his knife as Ahsoka opens the prison cell, ushering Steela out. Gerrera grabs a blaster from the fallen trooper and ducks through the door as Hunter lunges at Ahsoka.

It's stupid to attack a Jedi with only a knife because a mere vibroknife will never be enough to stop a lightsaber. It'll give him an advantage, though – he's good at close combat. He prefers being up-close and personal if he can be.

"What? You're gonna kill kids now, Hunter?"

Ahsoka swipes at him, and he blocks her blow, catching her wrist and ducking the second blade, trying to stab his knife into her gut or somewhere. She yanks away, and she's fast and agile, not staying still long enough for him to hit her. He swings a punch at her side, catching her in the ribs which only knocks her slightly off-balance, and she backflips before he can hit anything vital. Stars, but she's good. If he wasn't so angry, he might actually be impressed by her abilities. As it is, he rather is anyway.

Her wrist-comm beeps, obviously a signal, and she lifts a hand, sending him flying backward into the wall before he can think to drop and roll to duck it. Ahsoka's leaping through the doorway, jumping downward before Hunter can get to her. The most he can do is retrieve his blaster and fire ineffectively after her. She leaps onto a speeder which is gone before he can get the chance to shoot out an engine. He's not a sniper like Crosshair.

Breathing heavily, Hunter watches the speeder disappear from sight. Slowly, he slides his knife back into its sheath. She got away, but he fought her. If nothing else, they've confirmed that Ahsoka Tano survived Order 66. He's still angry, though, because had his brothers been here, he would have won this mission. She wouldn't have gotten away. Nor would Gerrera.

She might be a child, but she's dangerous. She could have killed him easily if she'd been here for that instead to distract him long enough for Gerrera to escape. He's probably lucky to still be alive, and that knowledge only makes him angrier. His brothers were supposed to be here. They promised they'd stay together no matter what, that they'd never leave their own behind, and for the first time, his anger at Echo for leading them astray expands to them as well. Did they really not care that they were abandoning him to fend for himself?

They won't be safe out there on their own, but what about him? He could have died, and yeah, he knows that it's always been a possibility, but it's never seemed real to him before. If he died, would his brothers even care? Or would they realize too late that he was right about the Jedi?

It doesn't matter anyway. They're gone. They're traitors, and he has to keep moving. He's a good soldier, and he has to follow orders. Orders are all that he has left anymore.

**w**

With Tech out, that means Crosshair's in charge, and he's never been so terrified in his life, if he's being honest. It's just him and Wrecker and the kid now, and they need to get the capacitor back from a dangerous wild animal. Splendid. If it so much as looks in their direction, Crosshair will put a blaster bolt through its skull. He might do that anyway just because it put them through so much trouble.

Wrecker and Omega shadow him as he follows the path of the creature dragon whatever to the entrance of one of the caverns that goes down into the ground. Crosshair leans over the edge, shining his flashlight down. He might be able to fit if he crawls on his stomach, but that would severely limit his maneuverability, and if the dragon decides he's a tasty snack, it'll be over.

"What's wrong?" asks Omega, standing on her tiptoes next to him, peering down into the darkness.

"The tunnel's narrow," he answers, eyeing her. She might fit. Of course, that would give rise to the same little clone as a tasty snack problem, but… It didn't seem terribly interested in eating them, only the capacitor, and they need it, or they'll all be dead.

"I can go!" Omega volunteers immediately. "I'll fit easily."

"… Do you know how to use a blaster?" he queries.

"Uh – no, but it's not hard, right?"

Crosshair throws a look at Wrecker. He has no idea what the right choice is in this situation. If Hunter was here –

Nope.

Not going there.

He's not here, so it doesn't matter what he would have done.

"Yeah, the kid can do it," Wrecker agrees.

Crosshair detaches his flashlight from the rifle, handing it to Omega, unholstering his hand blaster and passing that to her as well. "Here, kid. Shoot it if you have to, but try to avoid it if you can," he tells her. Hunter would kill him if he let her get mauled and eaten, but she does have a better chance of slipping in and out than he does. Even if he took his backpack off, it would be a tight squeeze with no easy retreat.

Wrecker lifts Omega up, lowering her down into the tunnel. "Ya can do this, kid!" he says, and she gives him a worried, but grateful smile. She's afraid, but she's hiding it well, Crosshair has to hand it to her. Kind of reminds him of what he was like when he was little and just starting training. He was so afraid that he'd mess up and not be the sniper they wanted him to be, and then, he'd be decommissioned. He didn't want that. He didn't want to leave his brothers. He was so afraid at first, and he remembers Hunter holding his hands and telling him with firm conviction you can do this I believe in you.

And he'd gone into training and done it, because Hunter believed in him, and that was enough.

He leans on the edge of the tunnel, staring down into the darkness as Omega crawls away. Maybe he shouldn't've sent her, but –

Wrecker touches his shoulder, and Crosshair leans into it, waiting and watching. The kid isn't one of his brothers. She doesn't have the same training that they do, so Crosshair can't trust her to succeed the way he could them. The wait is agonizing, and he can see the light flashing down there, casting shadows. He thinks he hears Omega gasp, more startled than afraid, and the snarling of the dragon, but there's no screaming, so he doesn't jump down after her.

It's a few minutes before Omega comes back into view, sans flashlight, but she has the capacitor, and Crosshair breathes out a sigh of relief as Wrecker lifts her from the tunnel, setting her on the ground. "I got the part!" she says brightly, holding it up, "I didn't have to use the blaster, either."

Crosshair takes it from her, sliding it into its holster. "Good job, kid," he says, touching her shoulder the way Wrecker does for him, and she beams.

A distance away, Tech is sitting up, groaning and rubbing his head.

"We got the part," Crosshair drawls as Wrecker yanks Tech back to his feet. "You're welcome."

Tech's look is equal parts flustered and annoyed. "We had best finish up our repairs then," he says, "And you should clean your cut, so the blood doesn't attract anything else."

Crosshair touches the scrape on his head. It's still bleeding, and he can feel the sticky, warm, wetness dripping down the side of his face. Head injuries always have a tendency to bleed a lot. "Will do," he answers with a two-fingered salute.

And together, they head back to the Marauder.

It's time to get off this planet once and for all.

**w**

Hunter and the survivors of his squad – one of them was killed by Ahsoka during the attack, and ironically, it was the one who was questioning his leadership – return to Kamino as per instructions. Admiral Tarkin and Rampart are there to greet them on their return, and Hunter can hear them conversing about the effectiveness of the new enlisted troopers.

"We captured Steela Gerrera," he reports, stopping in front of them, "But she escaped with the help of the Jedi padawan, Ahsoka Tano. The rest of the insurgents were dealt with."

Tarkin nods to him, a silent dismissal, and Hunter can hear him talking as they leave. He doesn't take note of it until he hears Rampart's reply. "– Clone Trooper program is a cost prohibitive relic of the past, but until the time is right, it will continue to serve a purpose –"

It unsettles him for reasons he can't even begin to put into words. Perhaps because it means the future for him is unknown. He doesn't know what it'll mean for him, for any of the clones, if – or rather when – the Empire decides to replace them. What then?

But it doesn't really matter, does it? He's a good soldier, and he follows his orders. He, and the rest of his former squad, were special because of how different they are. They're enhanced. Maybe the rest of the regular clones will be placed, but them? They're experimental units with an unparalleled success rate. Would it make sense for them to be replaced?

He's the only one left, though, the only one who isn't a traitor.

But he's still useful. Skilled. He fought a Jedi and survived. Surely, that will mean something,

Their squad was assigned to stay in the Batch's old barracks and stepping through the door sends a jolt of white-hot pain through Hunter, scrapping along the edges of the wound inside him that may never heal. His brothers walked away, and this was their home, and it's all – different. It's empty. Their quarters have been stripped of everything and scrubbed clean for the new occupants. It hurts to see, and it makes him sick, too, because the room might be the same – the designs scribbled on the walls of their bunks are still there – but it's empty. Stripped of life. Stripped of them.

Hunter stands there for a long moment as the other squad members go to take their respective bunks before he goes to his own. He sits on the edge, keeping his helmet on so he doesn't have to breathe in the harsh chemicals and so he can pretend, for a moment, that he's home again.

It's all wrong.

They're supposed to be here.

But they abandoned him.

They left him to deal with the seizure on his own. They left him to fight a Jedi alone. They left him to this.

Hunter is angry at them, so angry. He doesn't know if he can forgive them for walking away when he needed them. They always used to be there. Crosshair always used to be there. Crosshair saw him, understood him in a way even Tech or Wrecker couldn't, and losing that is more off-balancing than even losing a limb would be. Hunter doesn't know what to do without them. He's always had them there – they're his purpose. If he doesn't have them to protect, what does he have?

Why didn't they stay with him?

**w**

Crosshair tosses the multipurpose tool he was using onto the floor. It lands with a clatter, and Tech frowns at him in disapproval, but it's not enough to lower his mood. "Done," he announces, striding to the computer and double-checking that everything is functioning. It is. Finally. "We're ready to go!"

Omega all but skips after him into the cockpit. She's been at his side since they came back to the Marauder, following him around and trying to help him and Tech make repairs. Wrecker disappeared after, and Crosshair has a pretty good idea of what he's been doing, given all the rummaging around in the back of the ship, but he won't spoil the surprise.

Tech slides into the pilot's seat, and Crosshair lets Omega take the co-pilot's seat to watch the take-off, while he stands slightly behind them, watching. It's where Hunter usually stands, and – no, not going there.

He can't think about Hunter because if he thinks about Hunter, he'll remember the scream.

The take-off is smooth, and Crosshair breathes out a sigh of relief when he sees the blackness of space and the pinpricks of stars in the front viewport. Now they can finally complete their trip to Raada and the life that awaits them there. Yay. He's so excited. Not.

"Where have you been?" Tech demands when Wrecker's heavy footsteps enter the cockpit. "We could have used your help."

Wrecker hesitates visibly, almost hurt, and Crosshair glares at Tech. "We did fine on our own," he snaps, regretting it a moment later, not only because Tech glares at him. Actually glares at him.

But Wrecker is too used to Tech's moods to let it phase him for long. "Hey, kid, I got somethin' to show ya. Cover your eyes."

Omega's curiosity visibly spikes as she perks up, following Wrecker's instructions and covering her eyes. He lays a big hand on her shoulder, steering her toward the back of the Marauder, to the gunner's mount. Wrecker lets go of her to pull the curtain fully closed, turning back. "Okay. Open 'em."

She lowers her hand, staring up at the yellow curtain covering the entrance to the gunner's mount with wide, curious eyes.

"Check it out!" Wrecker says, laughing. "It's your own room."

She climbs the ladder, pulling the curtain aside to reveal a completely redecorated place. Golden lights have been strung up, and there's some blankets carefully laid on the floor along with Lula. Crosshair feels a sharp twist of affection in his chest at the sight of it. He made the stupid doll for Wrecker a long time ago and seeing it there, for the kid, makes him happy for reasons he can't even explain. Maybe because Wrecker included him.

"Well, what do you think?" Wrecker asks, a little anxious. "I know we're gonna go to Raada and settle down there, but I thought ya could have your own space here, too."

Omega turns, gratitude shining in her eyes. "It's perfect! Thank you, Wrecker!" She climbs fully into the gunner's mount, settling on the floor, picking up Lula, and hugging the doll to her chest.

Wrecker chuckles, rubbing his head and looking away. "Oh, uh, it was nothin'."

Crosshair nudges his arm in silent support and approval, and he can hear Tech approaching them from the cockpit, obviously curious as well. "You did good," he murmurs, and he can see the slight blush on Wrecker's face. Praise and thanks aren't things they often get, not from anyone other than each other and Hunter, especially.

"I never had my own room before," Omega admits shyly.

"You will have that and more when we reach Raada," Tech tells her. "It will be an entirely different life from anything to which you, and us, are accustomed."

Crosshair looks away. Settling down is what they need to do, he knows, but he – it's not the life they were created for. He doesn't know how to live as a civilian, but they have no other choice, not with Omega, especially. Doesn't mean he has to like it – and he doesn't. He doesn't like it at all, but at least they're together.

Mostly.

He refuses to think about Hunter. It would be pointless, and it would change nothing. He has to focus on the squad. He had to focus on Omega. They're the only ones he can protect.

But Hunter's scream still haunts him.

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