The Shadow

CHAPTER 12 - ADAPT AND SURVIVE

The hangar was up to building codes. All of the Kaminoan cities were. Z stood at the edge of the hangar, looking out over the raging seas. Rain sprayed her face, and lightning struck somewhere far off in the distance. Wind whipped her loose hair around her face. She wasn't armed. She wasn't battle-ready. She wasn't going to make it out of here unharmed. Between Tarkin and the Empire as a whole, she wasn't sure what was going to happen to her. Following orders was always hard for her. She wasn't sure why.

(Maybe it had something to do with the final order she followed in her training.)

(Maybe it had something to do with her batchmate dying at her hand.)

(Maybe it was because she was plain defective.)

(Maybe she was as useless as Tarkin thought.)

The salty air blew into her face, the smell stinging her nose. She closed her eyes for a moment, listening to the ocean crash against the pillars that held Kamino above the waves. For a moment she wondered what it would be like to be there. Swimming against the current, fighting to stay afloat. She couldn't imagine it would be much different from their current predicament.

She heard the engines of the Marauder power up, and she turned, sprinting across the hangar. She jumped onto the steps and was through the door just as it shut. Z walked into the cockpit, taking one of the empty seats and watching as Tech piloted them into hyperspace.

"Do you believe that Tarkin intends to kill you?" Tech asked, not turning away from the viewport.

"Yeah." Z admitted with a shrug.

"And yet you make no moves to distance yourself from him." Tech turned his chair towards her.

"I'm not scared of him."

"You should be."

"Probably."

She had to play by Tarkin's rules now. Whatever they may be.

---

Onderon was dark. The forest was intimidating as she stared out over it from the doorway of the Marauder. Hunter led the way, and the rest of his squad dutifully followed him into the forest. A loud roar came from deeper within the forest, and Z hoped that they wouldn't interact with the creature who made it.

"What was that?" Echo asked, looking through the trees carefully.

"You don't want to know." Tech replied.

"Well, at least it's not a swamp." Wrecker shrugged.

"Close enough." Crosshair hissed.

"The Separatist Encampment is two clicks south," Hunter announced as he faced his squad. "We'll continue on foot and do a full perimeter scan."

"Stealthily." Z cut in, watching as Wrecker deflated in defeat.

"Oh come on! It's been days since I've blown something up!" Wrecker complained, resulting in a small look of amusement passing between Z and Crosshair. It had been involuntary. She didn't mean to seek him out. She just did it. It was so ingrained into her mind at this point to look for him. She wasn't sure what she would do if he wasn't there when she looked.

"Easy Wrecker, your programming's kicking in." Tech said, and Z snickered quietly.

"Hey! Don't start with that!" Wrecker gave Tech a playful shove, as he brought up the rear of the group. Onderon was full of life. There were noises coming from all around them, Z hated that she could tell exactly what was making them. It wasn't long before Tech made his way to the front of the group, leading them with his scanner which he held up higher to get a better signal. It had a static sound.