STEALTH and TRACK: BOOK ONE

C H A P T E R T H I R T Y-T H R E E

THIRD PERSON POV

Everyone rendezvoused at the top of the compound which overlooked the streets outside the barrier. They realized how quickly the Imperial clone troopers were falling in line, with infantry and artillery combined. There were walkers on all sides, which was ironically perfect for their escape plan.

"There," Hunter pointed over the ledge on the east side, where a lone walker was approaching directly under their position. "we'll seize that tank and blow our way out of here."

"Sounds exhilarating." Fern beamed. "Best plan you've had since I joined the squad."

"How do you intend to gain control of the armored vehicle from up here?" GS-8 pondered.

"Watch and learn." Fern winked at the droid as Wrecker marched forward with a grappling blaster. Firing it, he snagged the cascable of the cannon, and Tech and Fern descended down with stun weapons ready. Within ten seconds, they seized the walker. Hunter, Wrecker, GS-8, and Senator Avi Singh zipped down into the belly of the tank, with the exuberant droid exclaiming how impressed she was.

"Get this thing moving, Tech." The sergeant jumped the controls where the intellectual clone had already began the process of rebooting the systems. The walker began to hunker down the street, but the disguise didn't last long as cannon fire exploded behind it.

"Hunter, we got company." Fern stated the obvious. And on that cue, the rear left hindquarter of the walker was struck, immobilizing the tank. Fern was flung back by its buckling. Luckily, Hunter caught her. 

"No kidding." he retorted sarcastically before setting her down. "Tech, status report."

"The rear axle stabilizer is offline." the spectacled clone calculated. "We will need to recalibrate it manually."

"Get this bucket up and running. Wrecker, Fern, and I will hold them off." Hunter pulled Fern along and the three of them unloaded from the cargo exit. They were immediately greeted with a massive tank and the Imperial infantry reinforcing it. The female clone deduced there was most likely another walker on its way, so they needed to decommission the one in front of them before it arrived. She and the sergeant glided in action (literally), stunning the guards while Wrecker dashed straight for the tank's main controls. Once he was topside, he rammed the cannon's barrel off course with pure strength. Hunter hoisted Fern up on the tank, who sabotaged it and brought it to a complete halt.

"Oh yeah!" the muscular clone celebrated, stomping down on flat ground from the front. Hunter nodded next to him and then gazed up at the female clone, who was admiring their good work with her hands on her hips.

BOOM!

The whistling of a cannon shell torpedoed past Fern's head. She whipped around so quickly, she slipped to her hands and knees on the walker's metal surface. As her ears rang, she picked up her chin and her dark eyes bulged when she spotted another one volleying right towards her...

"Fern! GET OUT OF---" Hunter hollered, but the cannister made contact with the dead walker's backside, denotating and crippling it. The aftershock hurled Fern straight into the bushes lining the sidewalk twenty yards across the wide courtyard. Her body then rolled and skidded through the shaded grass. The sergeant sprinted to her aid with Wrecker covering him. There wasn't time to examine her condition. However, upon first sight, Hunter lost his breath after what he saw... Fern was sprawled out in the trimmed sod on her back, her head angled awkwardly and her seared chest exposed...smoke wisped off the charred skin that reached from the top of her right shoulder and slanted down to the top left side of her ribcage. Puncturing the outside of the same shoulder and dangerously close to her collar bone, was a piece of metal shrapnel. Blood slowly oozed from the wound. Viscerally scooping her limp body into his arms, he raced back to their hijacked walker with Wrecker at his heels. Once they reached the wide open hatch, Tech consequently announced systems were back online.