Unexpected

chapter forty-eight: situation

As soon as the Havoc Marauder touches down on Anaxes, Echo is led to the rehabilitation center by Rex. Elara grabs her blaster as she follows them off of the shuttle but a hand around her arm pulls her back.

"If you step off of this ship, there's nothing I can do to protect you from the consequences that will follow." Anakin states, looking down at the girl.

She looks up at him as she weighs her options. She could turn back now and meet Fives on Raydonia, disappearing without a peep. Or she could stay here a little longer to help Echo adjust to his new life. "I understand."

The General nods at her and walks off of the ship to meet the other Jedi in the command center. The Bad Batch files off of the shuttle next, leaving Elara at the top of the ramp with her thoughts running laps around her head.

Hunter turns back to look at her and pulls his helmet off. "You comin'?"

Elara takes a deep breath as she looks down at the soldier. She's already here, she might as well help. Hunter smiles as she joins him and they make their way to the munitions bunker behind the other three.

They step through the open blast doors to find troops replenishing their utility belts and cleaning their blasters. Tech and Crosshair head straight for the electric detonators, seeing how useful they were in disabling droids on Skako Minor, while Wrecker heads for the heavy artillery.

"So what's your story?" Hunter asks as he leans against the wall to sharpen his knives. "What dragged you into this war?"

Elara sighs as she sits atop a crate. "I didn't have a choice." She admits, explaining how her home planet was ravaged by Separatists. "Back then I thought that by going to Coruscant, I could help end the war through diplomacy."

"And now?" Hunter glances over at her.

"Now I'm not so sure that either side wants the war to end." She admits, earning a confused look from Hunter. "There's something much bigger going on." She points. "All I want now is to disappear, far away from any of this chaos."

Before Hunter can raise any other questions, someone calls Elara's name. Both of them turn in the sound's direction to find an ARC Trooper with the Galactic Republic's symbol on his helmet.

"Jesse?" Elara asks, jumping off of the crate.

"Kriffing hell, Ellie. What are you doing here?" Jesse asks through his helmet as he embraces the girl.

"I'm here to help." She says.

Jesse sighs as he looks down at her. "C'mon, Kix is around here somewhere."

Elara nods and follows Jesse but glances back at Hunter, gesturing for him to follow as well. They find Kix in the medical bunker, as usual, and his eyes widen when he sees Elara.

"I'm not even gonna ask." Kix sighs, making her chuckle.

"How's Echo?" She asks, peering around the room in search of him.

"He's handling his.. Situation." Kix speaks vaguely. "He was asking for Fives when Rex brought him in... It wasn't pretty seeing a brother break down like that." He admits, breaking Elara's heart with his news. "Listen, Ellie, I know getting Echo back means a lot to you. I can't imagine how hard it was losing Fives, but you can't force the job of filling that entire void on Echo. He's still recovering from his own trauma."

Elara's eyes soften at the mention of Fives—who only she knows is still alive, and probably worried sick about her. The glossy layer over her eyes does not go unnoticed by Hunter, who's standing beside her.

Just then, Hunter's comlink goes off. "Sarge, Captain Rex has a new mission for us. Meet back at the Marauder." Tech's voice says through the device.

"Copy that." Hunter responds before looking up at Elara. "What do you say to one last mission?"