𝘚𝘈𝘓𝘜𝘛𝘌→𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩

his Alora.

HUNTER'S MIND WAS begging for silence. On the Havoc Marauder, he was at anything but peace. Everyone's heart rates were too quick, and Alora's was at a worrisome pace. He could hear how upset she was. She was sitting next to Wrecker, who was holding onto her hand gently. The boisterous clone didn't want to harm her. Alora had turned into quite the tenacious soldier, but to him, the girl was tiny and fragile. Especially in this moment, when all she could muster up were soft gasps every so often. She hadn't spoke since they took off. Not one person had.

After a painfully long trip, the clones were approaching their home world. "Well, I know one thing." Wrecker's voice pierced through the silence. The clones were glad someone had finally spoke up, and it had brought Alora out of the small trance she was encased in. "It's good to be home."

"Home.." Alora whispered, sitting up to gaze out of the front window. The planet, of course, had always been gloomy for its outward appearance. With the constant rain and dark clouds, it was not exactly a pretty place to be. However; that is the outward appearance. Alora could sense something more. On the inside, she could feel pain, and dread. . .

"Are you sure that Padawan died?" Crosshair asked Hunter coldly. His eyes were glued to the sergeant, his arms crossed over his chest.

Hunter swallowed, his eyes flicking to Alora before they land on Crosshair. "Yes. The kid's dead."

Crosshair's eyes narrowed, looking between Hunter and Alora. They are lying to me.

Before anything else could be said, sudden beeps and whistles are heard and Alora's attention was brought back to the outside of the ship. V wings were requesting their clearance codes.

"That's odd." Alora whispers.

"It is only a drill." Tech hummed, nonchalantly.

The Marauder landed at landing bay one-tac-one. Suddenly, a terrible gut feeling washed over Alora. I shouldn't be here.

"Let's go, Alora." Hunter nudged the girl ahead. She was dragging her feet almost. She was afraid. Hunter had never seen her like that, and his ears tuned up to the sound of her heart beating rapidly. "Calm down, kid. What's wrong with you all a sudden? Not much goin' on." He nudged her again, slight sarcasm dripping from his voice. It had no affect on her, however.

The clones walked together, with Alora towards the middle of them. They kept her moving as her eyes scanned her surroundings. Overhearing over a shock trooper's comlink, the clones learn that a Level 5 lockdown remains in place. There were orders for the security teams to report to the command center.

"It.. must not be a drill.." Tech observed, pushing his goggles up the bridge of his nose. Even now, Tech was confused.

Alora's mind was swarming. The reg clones are killing Jedi. What if they think I am a Jedi?

"Trooper," Hunter caught the attention of a shock trooper. "What is happening?"

"The end of the war, sir." The trooper happily replied. "General Kenobi killed Grievous, and the Separatists are collapsing. It is only a matter of time before..." His eyes trail down to Alora. She noticed that his gaze was so far away. He never finished his sentence, and everyone's attention was brought to another sight.

Two clones were marching on the other side of the hall, carrying a stretcher between them. The body was obviously human, covered in a grey cover. Suddenly, a hand emerges, and a lightsaber is dropped to the ground.

Alora felt as though she could throw up. She covered her mouth quickly, gasping. She backed up fast, her back clashing into the hard feeling of clone armor. It was Crosshair. Shocked by the sight himself, his hand unknowingly flew to her side as he pulled her back. In that moment, it was her Crosshair. And she, his Alora. All of the Bad Batch quickly turned their bodies in a way to shield the girl from the sight. Her mind was like white noise. She heard hushed voices, of clones talking to Hunter, or maybe Echo. The force was trying to reach her. She was trying so hard to listen, but was allowing her fear of the situation to overthrow her.

The men ushered themselves into their barracks. It had felt like an eternity since they had been there last. Their home, which used to symbolize peace and rest, felt cold and somber.

"That was weird!" Wrecker exclaimed. His eyes were wide as he glanced around his brothers. No one really reacted to him. He sighed, shrugging his shoulders, before walking to his cot and sat down. He rid his body of most of his armor, sighing in relief.

Crosshair's hand was still at Alora's side. His facial expression blank, but his mind was, once again, at a war. Both sides of his mind were brutally fighting with one another. The side that knew Alora was a traitor Jedi, just like that kid Caleb, and then the other side... that loved her.
Love. Crosshair himself never realized he felt so strongly towards her, until a part of him was challenging it. He was fighting as hard as he could to remain on the surface, but the thrashing waters of anger and corruption tempted him so badly to hate. To hate Alora Nero. To hate the Jedi and the separatists, to hate anyone who didn't agree with him, to even hate.. the republic?

Alora pulled away now, briskly walking towards her makeshift bedroom. She pushed past the curtain and quickly rid herself of her chest and arm plates. She pulled the obi that was tightly wrapped around her waist off, along with her belt that displayed both lightsabers. She couldn't get the lightsaber out of her visions that belonged to the deceased Jedi. Alora knelt down, tucking both lightsabers away, underneath her pillow. She stayed in there for a while, trying her hardest to ease her mind. But that was until she heard the sly voice of Crosshair. She knew then the man who was trying to comfort her moments ago, was gone, once again.

"Wrecker, we have not completed every objective." Crosshair glared at Hunter, chewing on a brand new toothpick. "Hunter and Alora let that jedi-kid escape."

Alora quickly came out of her sorrows and back into the room, watching Crosshair.

"Executing our Commander is not a mission objective." Hunter said calmly. His eyes landing on Alora. "What if it was Alora? When she was our Commander..."

"When I was a Jedi." She whispered, tilting her head slightly. Crosshair's reply was shocking.

"An order is an order." He hissed. The second he said it, his eyes glued to the floor. Everyone could feel the blow that his answer inflicted on Alora. She sat down quickly, covering her face to rub her eyes.

"Look, this is all confusing. We don't know what's goin' on, nothing makes sense." Echo said. "Those clones had been working with Master Billaba for years.."

"Why would those regs do that?" Wrecker asked.

Tech was piddling around with things on his table, as he always does when he is nervous. He looked up at Alora and his brothers. "I believe it is because of the regs programming."

"Programming?" Hunter asked.

"Yes. The Kaminoans inhibited the cognitive functions of clones to engineer them to follow orders, without question.."

"Oh, yeah. They didn't engineer me that way!" Wrecker threw his arm around Crosshair, as he always once had.. Crosshair's face displayed true anger and annoyance, as he pushed Wrecker away as hard as he could.

"We are different." Tech explains, "They were manipulating pre-existing aberrations in our DNA. Thus, resulting in Wrecker's brute strength, Crosshair's sharpshooting skills, Hunter's enhances senses, and.." He looked up, "My exceptional mind! We must be immune to the effects of this programming." His eyes flickered to Crosshair, who looked down at the floor again. "But, I am uncertain."

Alora quickly sat up. "This reminds me of a time when some clones were acting unusual. One of Master Skywalker's clones, he.."

"Fives?" Echo asked, sudden pain filling his eyes.

She looked at him, a frown forming on her face. "Y-Yes.. He was certain there was something altered in clones to make them.."

Suddenly, a loud sound signaled that it had now came time for a mandatory meeting for all clones at the staging area. Echo couldn't take his eyes off of Alora, and he was pleading with his eyes for her to continue. However, she didn't.

"You should stay here, kid." Hunter patted Alora's arm. She didn't protest, as she nodded her head slowly. She needed time to meditate.