Z slid into the medical bay a few moments after her brothers, reaching where they were by Echo. A medical droid flew past her, and she turned to watch it fly for a moment. That droid was a strange one.
"We have a problem." Echo said when Z finally reached the group.
"Not really, we're more deviant than defective." Tech shrugged.
"Not that. Admiral Tarkin's here. He's the one evaluating the clones." Echo shook his head.
"The same Tarkin from the Citadel where you, uh...how shall I put this?" Tech hesitated as he tried to find the right words.
"Blew up." Wrecker offered.
"Went boom." Z said.
"And turned into that." Crosshair added bluntly.
"Yes, and he's not a big supporter of clones." Echo sighed, dropping his head.
"Goody." Z muttered under her breath, getting her an elbow in the ribs from Hunter.
"We'll soon find out. We've been summoned by the Prime Minister." Hunter said with a bit of disappointment in his voice. Oh, he was not scolding them, no way.
"Guess he didn't find the mess hall fight amusing. But I sure did!" Wrecker chuckled proudly.
"Come on. Let's get this over with." Hunter said with a sigh, leading the way to the door. Omega (who seemingly appeared out of nowhere) stepped in front of him.
"Wait, the fight was my fault. I'm going too." She said determinedly.
"Not happening. We'll handle this." Hunter ordered, shaking his head.
"But I-"
"Listen kid, our squad's nothing but trouble. For your sake, keep your distance." Hunter said sternly, "Got it?"
"Dad vibes." Z mumbled under her breath as she followed her squad out the door into the hallway. Unfortunately for them, they didn't make it far down the hallway before they were interrupted by a reg.
"The training facility is that way." The clone said harshly, pointing in the opposite direction of where they were headed.
"Training facility?" Hunter asked in confusion.
"For a battle simulation. Admiral Tarkin has requested to see more of your squad in action." Z turned to give Crosshair a look, only to remember they were fighting, and gave the look to Echo instead. Echo gave her a look in return, one that said 'we're totally screwed'.
"Then...we are not being reprimanded?" Tech asked slowly.
"No, you're being tested. Now gear up."
---
Z slid her training blasters away, then did a quick count of her Vibroblades. She sat on one of the benches underneath the training room, clasping her hands together and bouncing her leg.
She didn't like Tarkin.
She never had.
Tarkin didn't like her.
He never had.
There was a grudge against her that was a few years old at this point. The letter of reprimand in her file was cruel, at best. She had saved the man's life, not to mention the lives of four senators, and had gotten punished. She was glad to have avoided him after that, and now she had to face his judgment again. Great.
"...the chances of us failing are extremely low." Tech said to Echo as he walked past Z.
"I'll be sure to remind you of that when Tarkin has us decommissioned." Z called back to Tech. The intelligently enhanced clone scoffed.
YOU ARE READING
The Shadow
Fanfiction"She's one clone, she can't be that much trouble." The recruit said harshly, and Crosshair pinned him with a stern look. "I trained her. Wherever you are, you are not safe. You stay behind cover, and you might just survive." --- CT-9900, the firs...
