It had been months since the war had ended, almost a year. In that time, so much had changed. Worlds that had once been part of the separatist movement had undergone merciless imperial occupations; others had suffered through devastating massacres at the hands of the Empire and its many officials. The senators hadn't gotten off lightly either. Some had been forced to run for various reasons, some from rebelling against the empire, others for their acts during the war. Most, if not all, of them had stood up for what was right, both for their people and morally.

Time, however, hadn't been kind to Clones. Not only had the new Trooper Kore been brought in to replace them, but their home on Kamino had been decommissioned and destroyed as well. In the time since Order 66, many clones had broken free of the Inhibitor chip control, whether that be from sheer willpower or the chip not being as effective as it once had been. Many clones had fled the empire, and others had disappeared entirely. Those who had previously been imprisoned for treason or other unfounded accusations had been transferred elsewhere, never to be seen again.

Wolffe and (Y/N) had been on the run for most of the year. Both knew they were being hunter, or at least (Y/N) was. Over time, they had developed a small system that helped them survive. They only stopped off for fuel and supplies when needed, normally on an outer rim planet where the empire had yet to suppress or had little power. They'd do odd jobs for credits, Snap would use her skills as a medic to help those in need, and Wolffe became a mercenary for hire, using the skills from the battlefield to his advantage.

Regarding communication, the two used old Republic devices, using code words to ensure they were protected should someone undesirable stumble across the com channel they used. When landing on new planets for supplies, Wolffe always ensured the coast was clear before giving (Y/N) the signal to leave the ship. If they were hailed, on the other hand, Wolffe would be the one to answer, with Snap remaining quiet until it was determined if the caller was friendly or Empire-bound.

The pair had long since replaced the small two-person attack shuttle, suspecting they could be tracked via it. Instead, they had gotten a much larger and more comfortable ship, a VXC-100 light freighter. The ship had enough space for the pair to move around and comfortably have their own personal area. It worked as both a means of transport and a home until the time came when they found a planet to stow away on safely or the empire stopped pursuing Snap.

"Your eye playing up again?" softly asked (Y/N), taking up her normal spot in the cockpit. Wolffe grunted in response while continuing to push the ball of his hand into the mechanical eye in an effort to either stop the searing pain or silence the sound emanating from it. The sound that had been a constant since the close call with the empire the previous week. (Y/N) soon stood, intending to return to her quarters to retrieve the medical equipment she'd been collecting over the months. All things she'd need to take care of Wolffe's cybernetic, as well as properly tend to any injuries that may occur.

"My eye can wait," called Wolffe with a sigh, noticing the blinking red light on the dashboard, indicating someone was trying to contact them. "We're being hailed again," he added, waiting for Snap to return to the co-pilot chair before all but whacking the blinking button as if it was a deadly insect that needed to be squashed quickly. From the force of the whack and the groaning of the dashboard, (Y/N) was almost certain Wolffe had broken the button. His anger at their situation was likely getting the better of him again.

As normal, Snap remained quiet, listening intently as if to determine if the caller was trying to deceive them, as had happened a few times before, back when they were still finding their feet as fugitives and before they worked out their little system. Wolffe, as normal, kept his voice even but gruff, asking the caller to identify themselves in a way that few would dare refuse.

"CT-7567," answered the familiar voice of Jango Fett, a voice millions of Clones across the galaxy shared. "Rex, former Captain of the 501st, served under General Anakin Skywalker," added the voice. Wolffe allowed a relieved grin to pass over his lips before forcing it back again and regaining his rigid seriousness. He'd allowed himself to be fooled by an old friend weeks ago with Cody, only to find out the former commander of the 212th was serving the empire. Although Wolffe was sure he could have trusted Cody, he didn't take the risk of revealing (Y/N) was with him, although safely stowed away on the ship.

"State your purpose," almost growled Wolffe, trying not to show he was hoping for the best. That Rex was there as an ali rather than to help the Empire get hold of Snap.

"CC-5576 here. Lighten up, you gruffly old bugger. Rexy's been looking for you since the war ended," spoke a second voice, one that managed to draw an eye roll from Wolffe and quiet laughter from Snap. The medic was quick to slap her hands over her mouth in an effort to stop any sound from escaping and alert Rex and Gregor she was there. "He thought you were under imperial control until I told him otherwise. Didn't believe when I said you were too stubborn to listen to Order 66."

"I'm sending you coordinates, rendezvous with us. We'll talk Snap there," voiced Rex as Wolffe glanced toward (Y/N), noticing her attention was on the vast void of space stretching as far as the eye could see. He soon followed her line of sight, seeing a larger freighter in the distance. It looked like those piloting it had a close call with someone or something. Sure enough, mere seconds after the beeping sounded to signal something received, the ship jumped into hyperspace.

"Jedha," whispered Snap, her voice uneven and flooded with all the emotions she tried to suppress. "Midrim, but a good place to disappear for a little while," she added with a sigh, escaping her lips shortly after. If she was honest, she liked the idea of leaving the ship for a little bit; as much as she was thankful for the safety it offered, the durasteel walls had started to feel like a prison. The void of space made it feel like happiness and freedom could never be achieved. "Penny, for your thoughts?" asked Snap, briefly turning away from Wolffe to program the hyperdrive, preparing for the journey through hyperspace to reach their new destination.

"Mixed feelings," replied Wolffe, submitting to (Y/N) attending to his eye. He at least had faith she could fix the damage done to it and had hoped she could once again ease the pain as she'd done many times before. "For almost a year, it's been a constant struggle to survive, always looking over our shoulder and coming to terms with being unable to trust old friends or seemingly harmless civvies. It's just been me and you. My heart is telling me to trust Rex and the mad buffoon, but my instincts are screaming there is something off," admitted the battle-tested commander. He knew better than most to listen to his gut when it told him something was off. He'd paid the price for ignoring those very instincts during the war; now he had Snap to protect as well; he had the weight of knowing his choices affected her as much as himself.

"Do you trust Rex and Gregor?" asked Snap once she'd removed Wolffe's cybernetic. From the prevailing vision, she noticed Wolffe put a black eye back over the empty socket, preventing anything from getting into it. "Can you describe the noise said cybernetic makes?" she added, her attention remaining on the small device in her gloved hand, turning it gently as if searching for the course of the sound Wolffe had unknowingly yelled about during his sleep. "You talk in your sleep," she commented after seeing Wolffe throwing a confused look in her direction.

"It's difficult to describe," replied the battle-worn commander, rubbing the back of his neck to buff away the embarrassment creeping up from the collar of his shirt. "A combination of scraping, drilling, scratching, and vibrating. It sometimes squeaks when it gets stuck," he answered, finding it tougher than expected to describe the sound he kept hearing from the eye properly. "Been playing up since the last close call with the imps."

"What about you? How are you handling your demons?" asked the former Commander of the 104th, recalling the many sleepless nights he'd comforted Snap after she'd woken up terrified by nightmares, covered in a thin layer of a cold sweat. She was always shivering, tears staining her cheeks, frightened of every little shadow for days after. The nights the past plagued her were the ones she asked Wolffe to stay with her; the safety and comfort he brought her just about enough to settle her, even if it was just for a short snap.

"It's hard," replied Snap, debating if she should open up about what plagued her every time she tried to sleep. Sometimes, it was as simple as the faces of all those she failed to save during the war, both troopers and civilians caught in the crossfire. The friends she was forced to leave behind after the war ended, most of the time, her imagination conjured up the worst scenes. What remained of her family was that her parents had to bury at least one daughter; force only knows what they thought regarding Devika and herself. She worried for Devika, always wondering what happened to her bright little sister, hoping she was safe and didn't share the same fate as Isolde.

Questions haunted her too, most of the time of things that couldn't be changed. What would have happened if the Jedi listened to Fives when he'd tried so hard to warn them? What happened to Kix? He'd suddenly disappeared mere days after the mission to the information center on Anaxes. What about Echo and the Bad Batch? Did they enact Order 66? Were they somewhere with the empire, helping to force the galaxy into the mold the emperor wanted, helping to sow fear and hate?

She thought about the empire, too, what they wanted with her and why they were so insistent on her capture. She questioned why she was so valuable to them; after all, she was nothing more than a civilian medic during the war, one of the thousands to apply for the role, and one of the thousands of civil personnel a part of the GAR. It didn't make sense to her why they wanted her so much. Nor did the original transfer, the advanced science division, make sense to her. She was no scientist, just a simple medic with a passion for helping people.

"There's so many unanswered questions, so much fear and distrust, so much loss. It feels like I'm being pulled in so many directions that I'm being torn apart. I'm scared for Devika, always wondering if she survived the end of the war or shared Isolde's fate. I'm terrified to think about what happened to friends, to loved ones both of us were forced to leave behind. I'm afraid of what the future will hold, of the unknown, of losing someone else I care for. It's like I'm in a tug of war of what the future will be like if the empire finds us and the person I could have been if things ended differently," worded Snap, unaware of the tears staining her cheeks again until Wolffe reached out to wipe them away, sympathy painting his features, although it was clear he'd suspected she struggled with everything.

"Listen to me, Ad'ika. You are not alone. Things may get tough, but you are a fighter, a survivor. You'll get through this. We'll get through it. Remember what Cody said: you have an army of brothers. Right now, you're stuck with me, and I'll be damned if I let the empire take away someone else. They took away my brothers and played a game with our lives. You're not going to suffer more; neither of us are," spoke Wolffe, trying to inspire confidence and give (Y/N) a little hope things would eventually get better. Both of them would be stronger once they got through the trials placed before them.

(Y/N) could only whisper a quiet thank you before continuing on with her previous task. Feeling a little bit of the weight lift of her shoulders but she still worried for Wolffe. Even now, he refused to open up to her, always carrying the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders, determined to carry the burden without help, even when it was getting to him too. Snap was no fool; she knew it was more than the damaged cybernetic getting to the former commander. She knew his past was getting to him, too; the unanswered questions plagued his mind. What happened to the rest of the Wolffe Pack? Guilt over being unable to save more or General Plo, the man who had been a father figure to many. She knew the nightmares he suffered, the day he lost his eye on repeat as the sound of the lightsaber haunted him. The brothers he lost to Grievous and the Malevolence, watching as the escape pods were cracked open, the survivor's guilt and PTSD.

"I know you won't talk about it. But if you feel like everything is getting too much to handle. Please say something. You're not alone either," softly spoke Snap, fiddling with the small cybernetic, a small smile painting itself across her lips upon finding the damaged area. She got to work on fixing it with her, the limited knowledge she had, determined to bring her close friend some comfort. "As for Gregor and Rex, there's nothing wrong with hoping. Whatever you decide, you've got my support," she added before nodding and turning her attention back to Wolffe fully, indicating she was done fiddling for now or needed his opinion regarding the silver-colored cybernetic.

Quietly, Wolffe removed the eye patch, closing his good eye while waiting for the expected cold ball to be placed back in his empty socket. The process was always uncomfortable, but at least (Y/N) was gentle, her touch always as light as feathers, healing even. The moment the cybernetic was in place, Snap tapped his shoulder, giving Wolffe a little time to readjust. As expected, he shook his head a little and tapped the side of his temple a few times as if trying to will the silver eye back into place.

"The noise is gone," commented Wolffe, noticing the vision was much clearer now. Before (Y/N) fiddled with the tiny device, the edges of the vision had been blurry and colorless, almost fading into black. Now, it was sharp and clear, perhaps better than when he'd first received it. "Where'd you learn to do that?" he asked, curiosity getting the better of him. He knew Snap was a good medic; she was friendly and always put others before herself, and she was caring and a good listener. But her talent for fixing things was new, or at least not one he'd noticed before. The former commander was aware others had taught her things; he, Gregor, and Rex had taught her to use blasters during the war, if only so she could protect herself. Fives had taught her hand-to-hand combat as well with Jesse's help.

"General Skywalker, mainly he was always fiddling with something when stressed," replied Snap, a soft smile coming to her lips as her shoulders relaxed from their previous rigid position. "Probably picked things up from Tech as well," she added, recalling the many times Tech had told her about his side projects scattered around the barracks on Kamino and aboard the Marauder.

A low rumble of laughter soon escaped Wolffe as he shook his head again. Soon after, a smirk appeared across his lips, one he didn't try to fight off this time. Instead, he wondered what else she had picked up over the years of service to the Republic and GAR.

"Definitely not made of glass," commented Wolffe, recalling her comment from their first meeting aboard the triumph. "More of a verd'ika now, stronger than you know," he complimented, as the beeping signaling they were close to their destination echoed around the cockpit. A rainbow of colors soon replaced the once blue and white swirls of hyperspace, and then a large desert planet appeared; from their position, the sandy dunes looked similar in color to that of Geonsis, the sandy planet where the clone wars had begun all those years ago.

Mando'a Phrases used: Verdika (little warrior), Ad'ika (little one)