//------------------------------// // Predator // Story: Star Wars Episode V, Phantoms Of The Past // by FourShadow //------------------------------// Lyra stood on the second platform ledge, arms hanging over the railings. Thankfully she wasn’t pelted by the rain, underneath the tarp that kept her dry. She stared at the forest across from her, hearing the sounds of some nearby critters minding their own business, enjoying their natural habitat. And over near a pond, she saw a small little dock with some baskets and fishing tools. She lightly chuckled, but her smile died in seconds. “Mom?” Lyra broke from her quiet, looking back to see her child having stepped out on the balcony with her. “Yeah kiddo?” “You’ve been quiet ever since we ate dinner. Is something wrong?” Lyra scrunched the bridge of her nose with her hand. “Flurry, I do not feel comfortable being around those troopers.” “Why? They seem like nice guys. I mean they all look the same, but they’re nice,” Flurry asked. “Is it how they’re dressed?” “No.” “Well, what’s wrong with them?” Flurry insisted. “Kiddo, what happened between them and us was a long time ago, and I’m not sure that’s something I will ever get over,” Lyra said, with a bit of animosity in her voice. “You don’t understand. They are dangerous. They could—” “—Derpy trusts them, doesn’t she? And I thought you trusted her,” Flurry interrupted, putting her hands on her hips. “… I do.” “Well then what is wrong with them? I don’t know why you hate them so much, but they seem like good guys to me. And if Derpy trusts them, shouldn’t they be fine? I thought Derpy was your friend…” Flurry pouted and looked away, folding her arms as she just stared out into the forest. She listened to the rain dancing on top of the cover. It was a nice sound to listen to, and she did admittedly enjoy hearing it, much nicer than the sounds of all of the explosions and battle cries. The minty green Jedi’s eyes looked at Flurry, observing her returned cold stance. She looked back out at the forest, and spoke. “It was another day in the Clone Wars…” Flurry perked up, and she turned around to listen to her mom speak. “… at least, for my Jedi friends. A long time ago, I decided to leave the Jedi Order because I could not devote my life to more war and fighting. I left and that was when I chose to stay with your mother, and live with her for the rest of my life. She made me happy, and it made me happier that I had an actual family, I felt like I had real purpose for once. And raising you was something I never regret, not even during the worst days.” The teenager didn't interrupt, as much as she wanted to ask what all this had to do with clones. “Anyways, your mother and I found some means of making money during the final days of the war, and we were doing very well for our own. Unfortunately, we had ourselves some tough luck and got caught between a battle between some Stormies and my former clone comrades. Bon Bon and I chose to stick around to help out a little bit, mainly just to get some of our fighting kicks in and keep the Storm Army off our backs.” Lyra lightly smiled. “I must admit, it felt nice to fight with them again. I had lost my entire battalion when I was trying to protect you from them, and that was when I first met your mother.” Her smile then faded away into a frown. And underneath the doorframe was Gallus, Smolder, and Commander Hurricane who wanted to listen in. “But, something changed that day.” As Lyra thought more and more about it, she swore she heard explosions echo back in her head from that day. Sounds of lightsaber swings, blasters firing, explosions, cries of droids and clone soldiers being killed left and right. “Without warning, I suddenly felt this… disturbance. I felt as if something was wrong, a sharp pain hit my head, and I felt a disturbance in the Force. I couldn’t understand what it was. I didn’t know what happened until your mother said something. To this day, she doesn’t understand how or what, but she heard something inside her helmet. Someone ordering the clones to… ‘Execute Order 66’.” Flurry still wasn’t understanding. But then she saw her mother’s hands start to shake as she leaned on the railing. “The clones… without so much as another word or warning, suddenly primed their blasters and pointed them at me. And one them… oh God…” her voice cracked. “One of them turned on you while you were in your crib. He almost… ohhh…” Lyra’s eyes were now watering and a wave of Force started to shake and rumble around her. “Mom!” Flurry grabbed her mom, pulling her out of her small trance. Lyra’s powers stopped, and the ledge stopped trembling. She wiped her eyes clean, and cleared her voice to try and keep talking. “If it wasn’t for your mother, you would not be alive today. I have not forgotten that day, that day where they almost killed you…” Lyra choked. “We… we ended up fighting our way back to our ship and went on the run. Soon we started to hear a bunch of news reports all over the galaxy; clones turning on their Jedi generals, orders being sent out to hunt down any Jedi survivors, and the Republic was being turned into the first Galactic Empire to ‘unite’ the galaxy as one.” Flurry’s expression softened and she moved in to give her mom a much-needed hug. Lyra sniffled a bit, and she accepted the hug, wrapping her arms around her daughter. “I’m sorry, Mom.” “You have nothing to be sorry about, you did not know any of this happened,” Lyra replied, holding her shoulders and staring at her straight in the eye. “None of us had a choice,” said a new voice; Hurricane had come out onto the platform. He walked out onto the ledge to join them, with Lyra still defensively moving to protect her daughter. Hurricane however did not argue with her. “I know this hard to accept, but none of us had a choice.” “We were all told that one day, we would be free from the war, and when it would be over, we could be free men.... and look at where we are now," Bubbles added with a heavy sigh. Lyra turned her head, not wanting to give the troopers any more attention. Both commanders looked at each other inquisitively, until Derpy stepped out on the ledge. The two troopers silently nodded, and stepped away, allowing their friend to talk to her more privately. “Lyra?” The former Jedi looked up, noting Derpy’s worried expression. “I didn’t mean to make you upset. I’m sorry.” Lyra sighed again, and this time she gave Derpy a brief hug. “Derpy, you have nothing to apologize for. I was expecting people, but I wasn't... I wasn't prepared to see war veterans." After breaking from the hug, Derpy looked back to Flurry. Then back to Gallus, Smolder, Adagio, and then to Bon Bon who all gathered together on the balcony as well. Lastly, she moved her head back to Lyra. “So, why have you come back here?” Bon Bon was the one who spoke up this time. “Derpy, we need your help. Adagio was surprisingly telling the truth about you being alive, and we want your help in our Rebel alliance. Well, you and your clones.” That sentence made Derpy frown, closing her eyes. “No.” The Rebels were shocked. “No?” “Why not?” "I can't go back. I don't have the Force, I'm not strong, and I don't have it in me to fight anymore," Derpy explained. "We've worked with way less," Bon Bon shrugged off. Derpy's sad face turned more into a stern glare. "You aren't hearing me, are you. I said, no. Actually..." she stopped for a moment. "Come with me. I want you all to see something," she said, leading them back inside the house. The group followed Derpy and company down a path behind their house. But she didn't say what specifically she wanted to show them, wishing for their eyes to see first. “Derpy, I don’t understand, what was it you wanted to show… Oh… my… gosh…” Several tree stumps left in the open, with the rest of the tree it was once part of, cut away to create this massive field. A few paths made with stone and cut concrete led into an open clearing, surrounded by benches and several markers. Derpy led them down one of the paths, and everyone started looking at the various stone markers around them. All of them looked polished, made from a shiny rocky material. But what drew their attention to these, were the names that were listed on many of these markers. Lyra, upon looking at just one, felt her heart sank. She recognized these names, and not in the best of ways. Her partner could feel her sadness growing, squeezing her hand and her shoulder, and giving a loving hug from behind, making sure she felt that she wasn’t alone. “Sometime after our escape, I did some research/hacking into every remaining Alliance archive I could, downloading every file on everyone we had lost so I could keep track of them all... and so I didn't have to go chasing after friends who had died. Once I had all the information… that is when I started making these,” Derpy said. The Rebels looked towards one stone beam, eyes lingering down the list of names that were right there, open in front of them. In Memory Of Those Who Fought To Protect The Peace 99-Axe Bel-Buzz Cameron-Charger Colt-Cutup Denal-Droidbait Fil-Fives Flash-Gearshift Gree-Hardcase Havoc-Hawkeye Hevy-Jesse Keeli-Killer Kosmos-Longshot Lucky-Mack Matchstick-Mixer Niner-Nub O’Niner-Oz Ponds-Redeye Ridge-Ringo Slammer-Sterling Tag-Thorn Trap-Trauma Tucker-Tup Vaughn-Waxer “Clones, Jedi, senators, civilians, anyone that we called a friend… I made sure their names were placed. The Alliance may not exist anymore… but as long as these markers stay, so do their memory, and the tragedy of everything they fought for.” Flurry and her moms felt a wince of pain in Derpy’s words as she continued. Then her eyes looked at another wall, with a smaller list than the others. “Ace. Bolt. Bounce. Coil. Fuse. Knight. Mohawk. Patch. Stinger. Stretch. Tap. They weren’t just any soldiers to me… they were family. Even during the hardest of times, I felt as if they were always there for me to make me smile. And I was there for them when they needed it too. And when Order 66 came… they were gone. Just like that.” Bubbles, Mix, and Vargas all shared equal frowns as they looked at that same column, that same list. Good soldiers who always followed orders without question… now nothing more than more bodies added to the expendable troopers that the clones were thought to be. Flurry Heart stared at another marker, looking at more names. Derpy came back around, standing next to her. “We may have been trying to be peacekeepers… but in the end, it was for nothing. Everyone who just wanted to defend innocent people, everyone who just wanted to do what was right... they’re gone.” Lyra walked up next to Derpy, noticing a small tear leaking down her face. Her hand gently hesitated, but she slowly moved and wiped it from her face, with Derpy’s artificial eye whirring to look at her. The Jedi looked over to the married Force-user, still carrying that same look. Lyra softly nudged Derpy, and pulled her in for a hug, longer than the one she gave upon realizing she was still alive. “Derpy…” Derpy pulled out of the hug, and looked back at the markers, gazing at them with an emotionless stare; sadness and anger melding together. “I’m happy you’re still alive, Lyra. I really am. But I’m done fighting. I’m tired of fighting, I’m tired of killing, I… I just don’t want to do this anymore. And if something happens to my best friends, if something happened to any of the last loved ones I have left in my life, I… I don’t know what I’d do.” Lyra wiped another tear from her face, hearing her softly whimper, trying not to cry. “Oh, Derpy… Hey, hey, look at me,” Lyra said, lifting her chin to look at her. “I understand you don’t want to fight. And if you don’t want to, you don’t have to. But you should know that we are still alive, and we’re not alone. There are others who survived the Order 66 ambush. The Rebels that we are now serving alongside, we’re all fighting to put an end to the Empire, to stop Darth Midnight, and put an end to everything she started. We’re fighting so that the lives of everyone who died in the Clone Wars are not in vein. We are not alone, and you are not alone. You are never alone.” The survivor hadn’t heard those words in a long time. Truth be told, after hiding for fifteen years, and only freeing the Clones several months ago, she had felt like she was alone. No one to talk to, no one who understood her pain, aside from her brothers. However… “I’m sorry. I’m not going back,” Derpy answered, still standing her ground. “… Are you kidding me!?” Smolder snapped. “We come all the way out here to look for you, and you don’t even want to come back? You seriously don’t want to bring them down?" That last remark made the poor girl snap. Derpy gave the Draconoid a heavy glare, and she breathed heavily, trying to keep herself contained. “You think I didn’t try to stop them? Do you honestly think I didn’t try to fight them?” She marched towards the Draconoid, towering over her. “I tried to fight. I almost died, more times than fighting Stormtroopers, Umbarans, and battle droids. I fought them, only to try and escape and survive, and to make sure that the clones who had no choice could survive to the next day! And you know what happened? We LOST!” Smolder was now regretting making that comment towards the veteran. “We lost, all of us. The entire war amounted to NOTHING. And you know what happened to all the clones? After being forced to kill the Jedi? They lost Kamino!” Derpy looked at the brothers who didn’t look as saddened by her, but the pain was still visibly there. “They just… lost their home. After the Empire thought they outlived their purpose; they just… destroyed it. Sure, some clones made one last stand to try and fight back, but do you know how well that went?” Derpy was almost on the verge of breaking down. A single tear went down her face as she thought back. “They had to kill their own brothers. They had to watch as their own brothers killed each other,” Derpy gestured to the five brothers near her. “And not only did they have to watch as their own brothers killed each other, they had to watch as the very Republic they swore to fight for, turn into an empire that we didn’t want to become… and then that very empire destroyed their home. Their bloodline is gone. Their brothers, are just… gone.” Smolder's nostrils puffed more smoke, shaking her head. "Well then that's all the more reason to not stay here and come help us so this doesn't happen again. Wouldn't all of the cl..." Gallus stopped himself. "Wouldn't all of your brothers want you to avenge them for everything they fought for? So they didn't just die for nothing?" Derpy wanted to argue. She couldn't. Instead she just looked away, shamefully. Gallus was right; and she knew it. But she couldn't bring herself to agree. "Enough," Lyra decided. "If Derpy and the... boys," she said, with hesitation, "don't want to come back, they don't have to. We're not going to drag them into this again." She looked at Derpy with a wistful frown. "I... I guess this is goodbye." Derpy was frozen. She looked down, in shame, still clutching her exposed left arm. Bubbles patted her shoulder, giving a little bit of comfort, at least what he could provide. Lyra still wanted to try and push, but she realized it was going to be futile. Her friend had suffered enough, and she didn't want to make her feel worse. She cared for her friend, and if she had to move their separate ways, then so be it. "Eleven, Cheep, G-G," Lyra spoke into the coms. "Is the ship still safe?" "Chirp chirp churp churp. Churp chirp choop churp." "Okay. We're on our way back, stand by for us when we come back. And if you detect any proximity that isn't us, let us know." "Chirp chirp!" Lyra set her arm down, gesturing for her crew to come with. One by one, they turned around to get ready to leave, not looking back at the fallen Jedi or the retired clones. All except for Smolder and Gallus. The two of them still stayed there, looking at them with disappointment. "Just so you know; we thought the Empire would leave us alone because our planets was out of their way. But they came for us too. How long do you really think you and your family will have before Midnight's forces decide to put their mark on your world?" Smolder asked before rejoining Flurry and company. Gallus didn't say anything else, just moving quickly to come back to the others. Once the group was far gone, Derpy and the boys were left there, just standing. Most of them were unsure of what to do, or what to say. Some were hesitant to the idea of coming back, they didn't want the Clone Wars final days to repeat and make it all for naught. Others were considering going back. But Derpy was the most conflicted of all, still standing there as shy as ever. Bubbles stayed with her, looking out at the vast jungle as far as they could see. "If you want to go back, I'd be more than happy to join you again. I followed you into battle before, I'd be willing to join you again," Bubbles offered with a friendly smiled. "I... But you all deserve a life away from war. I don't want that being all you know. They didn't even give you skills or anything to prepare you to retire! Just remembering poor Fireball and Nemec," Derpy whimpered. "--Derpy," Rex decided to interrupt. The 501st captain turned to her, getting both her and Bubbles attention. "We were made for war; it's what we were bred to do. I know you want us to make our choices, and I respect that. But right now... I want to make a choice; I want to go back. The Empire's done enough; and I'm not just going to stay here and let them continue to reign. Whether you join me or not, I'm going." Derpy looked back at the jungle. Then she looked back at the home she had crafted together with the friends she had made here on Ajan. She didn't want to leave it... but so many people were going to suffer if she didn't help. Lyra needed her help. With a slow sigh, she rubbed her face with her fingerless gloved hand. She looked forward, and her eyes narrowed. The walk through the jungle was quiet again, aside from the chirping of birds and bugs around the group. Lyra sulked throughout their walk, with Bon Bon trying to keep up with her and provide some comfort, even if it was just by holding her hand. Adagio was slipped back into cuffs again, with Gallus and Smolder making sure she kept moving. Flurry just walked in the middle of the group of six, feeling awkward about the situation. “I’m sorry Mom,” Flurry said, trying to break the silence. “Hmm?” Flurry quickly skipped a few feet closer, walking side by side with her mother. “I’m sorry. I know you wanted her back. I’m sorry she’s not coming.” Lyra patted her shoulder and pulled her close for a small squeeze. “You have nothing to be sorry about, kiddo. It’s her choice, if she wants to live here, then she deserves that freedom. She’s suffered enough. Still shocked how the clones aren’t making her suffer but… it is what it is.” “At least with the Republic, she had something of a purpose. But I suppose trying to find purpose again in a post-Republic time is rather… difficult,” Adagio said, rather passive-aggressively. “I’m normally restrained, but frankly Adagio, you’re being a bitch,” Bon Bon sneered, not looking back. “Am I wrong? You saw how she looked, even I don’t need to be a narcissist to see that,” Adagio protested, rolling her eyes. “War does things to you.” “We get it, Adagio,” Lyra said. “Now do us a favor and shut up.” “Just like back at her house. I admire the fire,” Adagio clicked her tongue. “Adagio, if you don’t shut up—” “—Oh no. I guess I’m being a little naughty, aren’t I? Why don’t you just—ack!” And without warning or even hesitating, Adagio’s entire body was lifted in the air and she was slammed against a tree, body pressed against it like she was strapped down despite her hands being all that was cuffed. Adagio tried to break out, but couldn’t. Lyra’s gaze had turned from mildly annoyed to deadly furious. “I have had it up to here with your antics, Adagio. The only reason I took you along was to show me where she was, and guess what? Even if you were right about where she was, our entire trip meant nothing!” Lyra barked. Adagio still didn’t back down. “I’m still a woman of my word! And I thought anger wasn’t the Jedi way.” Lyra growled. “So that’s how we’re going to behave? Okay. Let me show you my way.” She lowered her closer to the ground and pulled out her lightsaber, igniting the blade and pointing it towards her face. Adagio pulled her head back as far as she could, no longer laughing. That anger was genuine, and she was on the bad side of this situation. “If I had my choice, I would have just ended you the moment you arrived. And judging by your massive background and role you played in the Clone Wars, I wouldn’t have hesitated. What was that you had said earlier? You have nothing.” Even Bon Bon took a stand with her. “And for the record Adagio; my wife is not a Jedi. So all those little rules and wisdom that you read from a single piece of text, means nothing to her anymore.” Adagio was quiet, slowly nodding in understanding. “Oh, I’m sorry, what’s that? No more wisecracks, no more funny jabs at my history or perhaps the most horrible thing that’s ever happened to the galaxy? I didn’t think I heard them all! I’m just dying to hear more!” Lyra deadpanned. “You’ve made your point!” Adagio yelled. “I’m sorry!” “Yeah, I don’t think you are—” “MOM, PLEASE!” Flurry begged. “—Guys, stop!” Gallus pleaded, trying to break their silence. “What are you doing!?” And to attract their attention, Smolder let out a breath of fire that caught Lyra and Bon Bon’s attention, just from the light. “Look, I know you’re pissed, but guess what! It’s her choice, you wanna be mad, be upset at Derpy for wasting your time and coming here! I haven’t been around this woman long enough to have a hate-scale for her, but all she did was show us where we were supposed to go; even in spite of her annoying comments.” Lyra and Bon Bon halted their actions. The Draconoid had them beat. “Now let’s stop with the death threats, and get out of here. I don’t wanna be here any more than you do,” Smolder suggested. Lyra let out a sigh, slowly breathing in and out. She didn’t say anything, but she did turn off her lightsaber and softly let Adagio back onto her feet. Lyra gave her another glare, and then moved forward again. “Oh and if I hear one more word out of you; I’m slapping a gag on your mouth,” Lyra glared. “And don’t even think about adding any suggestive or lewd comments on that, there’s a not-legal child around you!” And despite the awkwardness of the situation, the group begrudgingly pressed forward. Flurry truthfully was scared of how that situation had gone down, fear paralyzing her voice the moment Lyra behaved more aggressively. She didn’t need to look at her mom’s face to feel the anger and sheer power that had emanated through her body. However, as they walked through the forest some more, they failed to notice a pair of floating but transparent blue lenses flashing on one of the tree arms behind them, watching them march through the path. The eyes watched them for a few more seconds, softly clicking from their spot. The noise was enough to make Adagio suddenly stop in her tracks and look behind her. Gallus and Smolder stopped as well, but didn’t remove their weapons from being aimed at her. The family in front of them stopped as well, noting Adagio’s sudden freeze. “Hey. Let’s go,” Lyra said, starting to lose her patience. “Are you deaf?” “Stop,” Adagio quietly said. Her head turned left and right, looking around in the trees. Nothing. Nothing in sight. “What’s got you so jumpy all of the sudden?” “We’re not alone,” Adagio said, taking a few steps backwards. “I know your trust in me is lacking, but I would recommend freeing my hands right now.” “Fat chance, Siren,” Bon Bon sneered. “I don’t think we’re… Lyra?” Now Lyra was getting stiff too. She looked around, moving at the same speed Adagio was. Her eyes bounced all around, trying to look for something. She felt a disturbance in the Force, feeling something unnatural and off. Slowly she backed up, trying to look around her. “Someone’s here. She’s not wrong,” Lyra whispered. Everyone instinctively pulled out their weapons, trying to look around. They could hear some more silence around them, but the words of Adagio and Lyra combined had them scared. Who or what was this thing that supposedly is here? A monster? An animal? A person? What? “We need to just—ag-gagagagagagaahhhh!” Lyra shrieked, feeling several jolts of electricity running through her body, and collapsing onto the ground. “Lyra!” Gallus shouted. Bon Bon was about to shriek as well when she saw a laser blast fire into a bushel near a tree, and instinctively she pulled out her guns to fight. Knowing how much of a risk it was, Bon Bon fired a shot at Adagio’s cuffs to give her a fighting chance. Smolder and Gallus got into fighting positions, and Adagio whipped out her knives. Even Flurry as she pulled out her lightsaber. That shot came from somewhere, and they were going to fight. Everyone listened carefully, looking all around them for something, anything that could have shown a hint of where the source was. And as they listened, they heard a strange clicking noise - almost like the pincers of a massive insect. Everyone spun around, looking for the source of the noise, it had to have been from somewhere. The clicking continued yet again, and this time another bolt came flying out, this time zapping Adagio, sending powerful jolts through her body. She screamed as the electricity was pulsating through her skin, until she dropped to the ground. Not dead, but the shock was powerful enough to render her unconscious. Scared for their lives, Smolder, Gallus, and Bon Bon started blasting at the source of the blast, taking note of where it had come from. But blasting the branches and the arms of the trees didn’t do a thing, as nothing visible came into view. That is until an unknown force out of nowhere pummeled Bon Bon to the ground, sending the same jolt of electricity through her body again. This time however, Gallus and Smolder could see something translucent in front of them, and opened fire, seeing a few sparks bounce off of whatever they shot. Suddenly, lights flashed in front of them as a figure finally emerged from a cloaking device. A hulking creature covered in armor and a metal mask, with the skull of some unidentified species on his left shoulder. A cannon sat on his right shoulder, and they could see long tendrils flowing out of his back, dark silver ones at that. Skulls of his victims dangled like trophies, and badges of random factions stitched into his kama. “Get him!” Gallus charged first to fight, but the masked hunter was prepared. He got out of the way as Gallus lunged, but was tackled to the ground when the Griffon came running back. Gallus tried to pin him down, but it was no use as the hunter kicked him off of his body, and fired several shots out of his shoulder cannon. "What the hell are we fighting!?" Flurry asked as the monster attacked. "Wait a minute! Multiple tendrils..." she noticed a few spots over the man's body as he whipped around. "Genetic spots... this guy's a Nautolan!" Flurry identified. The identified species could only growl at them, refusing to use real sentences to talk to his prey. His shoulder cannon primed and fired a stun blast at Gallus, subduing him for the count, leaving only Smolder and Flurry left. "Okay, well that narrows that, but who exactly is he?" Smolder yelled, spitting fire out of her breath, hoping to burn some of that armor off his body. Flurry deflected some of the shots from the predator's shoulder cannon, but she couldn’t deflect the shots back at the hunter’s body. At the most, she deflected them towards some empty patches in the ground, away from her friends but that was it. Smolder took her chance with the hunter distracted and flew straight towards him. Sadly her effort was for nothing. The hunter held his feet into the ground and grabbed Smolder’s charging arms, clutching them tightly as he threw her to the side, slamming her against a tree. She hit the ground with a thud, the wind knocked out of her. Flurry felt her heart racing when she saw Smolder was knocked down as well. Even more when the hunter turned its head towards her, clicking underneath the mask. Realizing the odds were against her, Flurry ran as fast as she could as the Nautolan stood there, creepily watching her run. With a button press, the hunter activated the cloaking device and leapt up into the trees, ready to continue the chase. Gallus, still not knocked out but in severe pain, pulled himself up as best as he could, watching as an invisible force leapt through the trees, fearful of what would happen if he got closer to his friend. -- Flurry panted and heaved as she ran through the forest, desperately trying to run. Her friends and family were all knocked out, at least she hoped, and she was all alone. There was no escaping, and she didn’t remember where they parked the ship. She couldn’t even contact IG-11, no way he could reach her in time. In the midst of her running, she threw herself into a hollow space beneath a log to hide. She tried to be as quiet as she could, hearing the clicking coming from the hunter. She listened as the hunter’s feet leapt on top of her cover, fighting the urge to scream. She cupped her mouth and listened to the sound of the creaking above her, praying that her cover would collapse from his weight and crush her. The log moaned from the feet grinding into it, until it finally stopped making noise. She was shaking, and she still kept her hands covering her mouth to silence any breathing or loud hyperventilating. She could see a glimpse of the Nautolan's bare feet stomping away, before running off into the jungle to continue his search. While he did run, she didn’t remove herself from her cover. There was no way she was going to run out in the open and attract more noise towards her. She looked down at her wrists, and stopped. Only now did she realize she still had a com device attached, and slowly turned it on, whispering in a hoarse voice. “Please… someone… anyone, please help me…!” But that was soon proven to be a terrible decision. The Nautolan stopped running, hearing the faint sound of a transmission device clicking. He turned his head around, softly growling underneath as he turned around and slowly walked back towards the direction of the sound, looking for the source of the call. Unbeknownst to the hunter, he was being watched. A few eyes were seeing him from multiple spots in plain sight, spying on his movements. Hiding behind a fallen tree, a Phase I clone helmet with a baby blue pattern on the top peaked up, staring at the hunter. Her disheveled armor was dangling off her shoulder, but she quickly pushed it back up, before it slipped off a little more. A small antenna stuck out from the side of the helmet, as it was extended down over where the eye would be peaking out. The bounty hunter’s body was detected with the eye-finder, watching his every moment. The figure raised their wrist to speak into the com device. “Vargas, Mix, take the left side, hide behind the cargo crates. Bubbles, Hurricane, take positions from the awnings. Rex, can you flank him from behind? Use the flash bombs.” “Right away, ma’am. Nice touch on the flash bombs,” Rex complimented. “They were a gift from an old Jedi, I think they’ll be useful here,” the masked trooper replied. The hunter kept getting closer to the source of that transmission, looking for any tech or radio waves of any kind through his helmet. He clicked some more under the helmet, snarling and looking all around. The helmet’s infrared vision kept scanning, but there was nothing in sight. But all the while, Flurry stayed put, still cupping her jaw to keep herself from screaming or panicking. Her heart raced for what felt like 100 miles a minute, she felt like it was about to pop out of her stomach. Her chance to escape came very soon, as without noise or any kind of warning, the hunter turned around and was met with explosion of smoke hitting his face. Now under the mask, his face was protected, but he couldn’t see thanks to the bomb. And it did not help that more smoke bombs were being thrown at him, clouding a good chunk of his vision. “Showtime boys!” Rex hollered. Now with the hunter distracted, Mix and Vargas popped out and held their guns on the crates, firing several shots towards the hunter, hitting him in the shoulders and chest. The hunter growled as he tried to clear away the smoke, and even firing several blasts from his shoulder cannon at random directions, but the clones weren’t hit. “Get down!” Mix and Vargas ducked, watching as a blast flew right over their heads. “That was a close one!” Vargas stated. “Now how about we make him mad?” Hurricane cracked a grin under the mask. The smoke was clear, and the hunter growled in anger, looking around for all the targets. His shoulder cannon fired at where Hurricane and Bubbles were, who got out of the way from the blast. “Remember boys, we can’t let him near Flurry Heart, keep him distracted,” a voice yelled from their coms. “Why spoil the fun? We haven’t been shot at in years!” Hurricane grinned, blasting at the bounty hunter again. Vargas snuck up behind the hunter while he was distracted, thwacking him at the back of the head with a massive bat. The hunter growled and swung his claw around to try and slice the clone’s skin open, but failed as Vargas dropped to the ground to duck. The distraction worked again, as Rex and Bubbles shot at the hunter with their pistols, charging forward and standing together in attack positions. “Argh!!” The hunter growled. Hitting a button on his wrist, he raised a shield up to block as many shots as he could. And despite how many shots he blocked, the Nautolan hunter still got hit in a few vulnerable areas which made him cry out in pain and anger. Realizing how enraged he became and the shoulder cannon visibly charging, Vargas tossed a smoke bomb to create a distraction. Out of anger, the hunter’s shoulder cannon started to fire like mad towards the group, but thanks to the bomb, his shots went at random directions, unable to track where the heat sources came from that weren’t his own. But the distraction was perfect timing, as Derpy reached into the log, grabbing Flurry's attention. "Flurry, it's me, Derpy! Come on, I'm gonna help you get out of here!" Recognizing the disheveled uniform, Flurry crawled out of hiding to join up with Derpy. "Go! We'll keep him distracted, get her to where the ship is!" Rex ordered. "Okay, thank you! All of you!" Flurry graciously shouted. She took Derpy with her and the two of them escaped into the jungle, turning their hops into urgent running, hoping to get far away from the hunter's scopes. Once the smoke cleared, the hunter looked around with quick haste, trying to find his target. All he saw were the clone troopers who were surrounding him again. Bubbles swatted him in the back of the head with the butt of his blaster, before Rex punched his helmet with a rock, making a sizable dent. He dropped to his hands and knees from the attack, giving all of them the chance to kick him down even more. All five of them kicked and punched him, working to overpower him and keep him down. Hurricane pulled out his blaster, setting it to stun, but the hunter was quick to respond. He swatted at his hand, kicking the weapon away, before punching Mix and Vargas out of his vision. The troopers weren't knocked down, and were soon rejoined by Smolder who soared above, breathing fire on an empty patch behid him to block him off from escape. Gallus hovered next to her, aiming his blaster rifle at the predatory intruder, set to kill. Lyra, Bon Bon, and Adagio joined not long after, moving in between the clones as they locked on target. Weapons were primed and ready to go to unleash all kinds of pain on this monster. "Who is this guy!?" Lyra and Bon Bon screamed. "That's what we want to know!" Gallus and Smolder yelled simultaneously. "All we know is he's some freaky Nautolan," Smolder continued, snorting smoke from her nose. "Seriously, I thought Trandoshans were bad, this guy's in a competition with them!" "Alright, where is she!?" The hunter didn't say anything, at least not with his own voice. He stood there, claws out in a pose that screamed 'come at me'. One voice did come through, echoing Lyra's. "Where is she? Where is she?" "Errgh! Where's my daughter, you freak!?" The hunter still didn't change his position. Bon Bon twirled her blasters forward, aiming at him. "If you don't tell us where Flurry Heart is, I swear to Celestia's spirit, I will put a bolt through your brain and your hunting days will be over, tail head." The hunter's pose hadn't changed. But then, as everyone was ready for another fight, the hunter loosened his stance, standing up straight. His helmeted head looked to the right, clocking in on two heat signatures running to the edge of the cliff that this section of the jungle was sitting on. Ignoring the group, he leapt up to the trees and began to jump across them, running from the Rebels. The combined team of Rebels and clones pursued him without question, running as a group as they tried to lock onto the hunter and not lose him. Across the jungle was Flurry Heart and Derpy, still trying to run from the predator as he lunged across the trees. "Okay, Flurry I need you to listen to me. I have an idea, but it's very risky! We're going to go further, and slide down that path just up ahead!" "What!?" "It'll drop us into a riverbank, we can hide from him there, the cold will block out his heat signatures, I'm sure of it!" Derpy theorized. "Well... okay, I got no other idea!" Without seeing where she was going, Flurry tripped and started to slide down the hill as Derpy said. Not too long after, Derpy threw herself forward, sliding down on her belly like a penguin from the northern regions of Equestria. Her speed accelerated as she caught up with Flurry, who was trying not to freak out at how fast they were going. "I forgot how fun this was! Wheeeeee!" Derpy squeed with excitement, all the while Flurry just looked at her with worry for her sanity. I'm about to die with a 42-year-old woman who doesn't want to fight. Both Flurry and Derpy fell off the paved ‘slide’, right off the edge of the waterfall. No longer at an angle, they were falling straight down, going right down into the riverbank below. “Put this on!” Derpy warned, giving her the scuba mask she had taken with her. “What!?” “Just do it!” Flurry, realizing she had no choice slipped on the scuba mask just in time as she and Derpy splashed into the riverbank. But it wasn’t going to be over for long. Once the masks were applied, both Flurry and Derpy swam towards the bottom of the riverbank (despite it not being deep enough for them to take a deep dive), and pressed themselves behind some rocks for cover. Despite the bright light, they had enough cover to hide. Another force came splashing down in the riverbank and descended towards the deeper part of the bank; the hunter. Both Derpy and Flurry softly breathed in the masks, praying and hoping that the hunter wouldn’t see them. The Nautolan swam around, slowly gazing and searching. Derpy peaked her helmeted face through a crack in the rock to gaze, and saw him floating there, looking around. He didn’t don the mask right now, and he didn’t need it anyway. His tendrils floated and waved as he gazed all around him. No sign of where the target had hidden. It didn’t matter. He had done what he needed. Slowly, he swam back up, emerging from the riverbank, sinking his feet into some of the mud and stone, and getting back up on dry land again. He picked up his helmet which he had set on a rock, putting it back on his head. Slowly he hissed as he looked back at the riverbank, applying a scanning vision with the mask. They were in there after all. It still didn’t matter to him. Knowing his mission was done, he marched into the jungle, leaving only his nasty footsteps behind as he made his way back to his ship. -- Some time after he had vanished, the recovered Rebels and the Clones ran down to where they last saw Flurry, standing at the edge of the riverbank. “Are they in there?” Lyra asked. “I’ll take a look,” Vargas said, placing a scuba-trooper helmet on his head. He slowly walked into the river-bank and dove right in, kicking the water behind him with his flippers. Everyone backed up, feeling the big splashes the clone had kicked back at them, and so they waited. They waited for a moment or two, until finally faces emerged from the water. Vargas was first, and then Flurry who took a big breath of air once she took off the scuba mask. “Flurry!” Lyra didn’t hesitate running into the water, she was just happy to see she was okay. She yanked her daughter up and held her in a big hug. “Thank God, you’re okay…” “Mom, I’m okay, I promise,” Flurry said softly, hugging and shivering. “How did you even get away?” Gallus asked. “I wouldn’t have gotten away. Honestly, thanks to the clones,” Flurry said with a smile, getting a few smiles out of the troopers, “and Derpy, I would have been skinned alive if it wasn't for them. I thought I was dead! Vargas took his mask off. “If he wanted you dead, he would have just shot you.” “You think so?” Flurry asked. “I know so. If you want someone dead and you have that chance, you take it. Whoever that Nautolan was, he didn’t want you dead,” Vargas concluded. "I have a feeling he was contracted to come find you." “But if he didn’t want to kill her, then what did he want?” Bon Bon questioned. Just at that moment, Derpy finally emerged from the water, hair now completely sopping wet and laying limp against her armor. She took the helmet off, also taking a big breath of air as she slowly pulled herself out of the water. Everyone’s attention turned over to her as she slowly walked up, shivering just like Flurry. “Uh.. anyone have some t-t-towels? I think I should have taken one of the scuba-trooper suits,” Derpy squeaked, shivering as she stood. -- After some time, everyone finally loaded onto the Sweetie Drop to head back to Yavin IV. The ship took off from the jungle grounds, and the clones took one last look at the jungles. Their new home was going to be left. But maybe when this was over, they could finally return to it again. Maybe… The ship took off into the atmosphere until it finally made it into space. Once the appropriate distance had been made, the ship took off into hyperspace to go back home. Inside, everyone was settling in once again. The clones along with Derpy had brought a few trunks to take with them, stuff they considered necessary to bring along; some extra guns, ammunition, medical kits, stuff that would be beneficial to not just themselves, but even the Rebel Alliance. They even brought a few blank clone trooper suits for them to customize however they pleased. After all, they were Rebels now. They could do whatever they wanted with those suits; and some of them wanted to have brand new suits for battle. And for every possible contingency, they brought scuba, scout, and space suits as well. The only rule Derpy insisted on was that the clones stuck with Phase I helmets, to remind everyone of the good old days before the fall of the Republic, and the faces of the troopers who would then descend to the Midnight troopers. Outside of that, the clones had free range to do whatever. Currently inside the ship, the clones were just hanging out. Vargas and Mix were playing the chess game, while the other clones took seats in the booth area with Flurry. Adagio had been ordered to keep her distance, courtesy of Lyra, and while she didn’t sit with them, she did smirk and stare at them like a creepy stalker. “Can you stop staring at us?” Bubbles asked, sounding a little impatient. “Sorry, I couldn’t help but stare at the bubbles painted on your helmet,” Adagio joked, walking away from the room to go somewhere else. “… Is she always like this?” Bubbles questioned. “I don’t know, I only met her this morning,” Flurry shook her head. “Oh do any of you want something to eat or drink? I do have cookies and blue milk.” The men exchanged a few grins. That sounded great to them. “Sure, kid. Yes please,” Rex asked. “Coming right up,” Flurry smiled, getting up from the booth to go to the kitchen. As the clones sat, Hurricane turned his blank Phase I helmet to face him, having placed it on the table. He stared at it momentarily, thinking back to all of the battles from the past. He would be happy to give it a fresh paint job, matching his old battalion's colors from long ago. But he still couldn't help but wonder how a particular someone would think upon seeing him back... “What are you thinking about?” Rex asked. “I don’t know… I guess I hadn’t considered what to really say to General Dash,” Hurricane commented. “The last time I saw her, I was…” he sighed. “Wasn’t in the right state of mind.” “It wasn’t your fault, Hurricane. You need to stop blaming yourself for something that wasn’t in your control,” Rex said, sternly but calmly. “I know I should. But I just have this feeling she’s probably going to shank a lightsaber through my heart if I come anywhere close to her,” the commander stated. “Think of it this way,” Rex started. “Out of all of the clone commanders and captains that used to fight alongside the Main Council, you’re still alive. You survived and escaped, the other commanders and captains aren’t here. And unlike them, you have a chance to make amends and start things over with her again. I don’t.” Hurricane glanced over to Rex, and gave him a soft but sincere smile. “I understand. I’ll see if I can make things right with her." He looked at the lenses of the helmet, frowning softly. "I hope." After her shower, Derpy got back in her modified spandex and clone armor, and sat in the gunner’s seat to stare off into space. There wasn’t much to look at aside from the utter blackness, but it was calming to see no starships or cruisers outside. It had been so long since she had fought in the war, and it was rare to see space so empty. Bubbles, Mix, and Vargas came around the corner, seeing Derpy sitting at the end of that hall. They joined her in the small but still spacious corner of the gunner’s area, standing beside her as they looked around. “How was your shower?” Bubbles asked. “It was good. I needed it,” Derpy confirmed. “Are Lyra and Bon Bon being nice?” “They… we’ll work on that,” Mix said, not giving a straight answer. Derpy sighed with disappointment. “Oh, hey. Look up there,” Bubbles pointed. “See that nebula up there?” Outside the gunner window, the ship was passing by a massive nebula that glowed brightly like the morning dawn's light. The sight made Derpy smile, remembering a time when she and a pilot squadron had to fly through a nebula to make it to another destination. “Oooh! Look! That nebula, I think I know that one! It’s the uh, the uh, b-b—” “—Balmorra Run,” Vargas realized. “That’s the Balmorra Run!” “That’s the nesting ground for the giant Nebray Mantas, isn’t it?” Derpy continued, getting equally excited. “I flew through that!” Vargas said. “You flew through that?” Derpy asked. “Yeah! Well, okay, a long time ago. I was assigned to a gunner’s position to help General Skywalker in destroying the Malevolence. We had to fly through there as a shortcut,” Vargas explained. His eyes then saw something else. “Wait! Look!” Something large was emerging from the nebula. Several tendrils floated behind the objects as they emerged from the bright yellow and orange anomaly. Wailing noises echoed in space as they flew out, and the Baker’s Batch could see a big blue body with small eyes. “Are those… purrgil?” Derpy gasped like a little girl. “I think so. I only heard about these things, they’re massive!” Mix said, moving closer to the glass to get a closer look. The animals sung in the open space, swimming right past them despite not being in water. “Karabast! Everyone, brace yourselves!” Lyra shouted from the cabin. “Wait! Don’t shoot!” Derpy insisted. “They won’t attack!” “These things wreck starships!” Bon Bon argued. “Not intentionally! Just let them pass us, they’re harmless,” Derpy insisted. “Are you sure?” “Positive! I think? Master Fluttershy said these things don’t intend to cause trouble, just move with them,” Derpy pleaded. “Please!” Lyra let out a sigh through the internal coms. “Okay, we’ll move with them.” “Thank you!” Derpy squeaked. The purrgil didn’t surround the ship or try and get in their way. They were just swimming in their own little school right by the ship. Derpy and the Baker’s Batch looked at them with awe and wonder, watching as they sung together, flowing gracefully in space. “They’re so… what’s the word I’m looking for?” Derpy asked. “I think one would use ‘majestic’,” Bubbles answered. “Yeah! That. I can’t believe I never saw them in any of our missions,” Derpy pressed her face against the glass, trying to get a better look. “It’s hard to believe that for such a cruel universe, there’s always something beautiful beyond the horizon,” Bubbles said, watching a smaller, possibly younger purrgil swim close with its mother. For the next half hour, the four of them just stood there, watching the pod of purrgil swimming past them. Mix even swore one of them was staring right at them the entire time they passed by the ship. The sight was calming to all of them, and for once that day, they all felt at ease. The cockpit's status however was very different. With Lyra and Bon Bon back in the pilot controls, both of them were looking to each other with worry and concern. Deep down they knew they should have been happy they received more allies to be a part of the cause; having more soldiers as the Empire cracked down harder was a good sign. But having clone troopers back? Lyra could only imagine how the rest of the Rebellion was going to act once they saw them. Or worse, what would happen when the former Jedi Council saw them...?