FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

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

THIRD PERSON POV

"My enhanced skill is Foresight." Athena rested her chin on her folded hands that propped on her bent knees. "But, you already know this since I've now bested you in combat three times, but you know what, who's counting?"

"Get on with it." Crosshair rolled his eyes. "Why did you leave Kamino and the Republic to become a bounty hunter?"

Athena's snickering filled the small cavity they now reside in. The storm had at last passed on. The sun's rays speckled through the dense forest's canopy in the high afternoon. Because the two clones had no immediate plan on how to resolve their desertion problem, they decided to remain in the cave, and Athena could finally deliver the telltale of her condition.

"That's not how you word that question." Athena ceased her laughing. "You make it sound like I left on my own terms. The Kaminoans wanted to decommission me after I committed one of the most vicious acts of treason in my first official battle on Genonsis."

"You killed someone?"

"I've killed many clones." Athena sighed, leaning her head back into the curved, jagged wall. Her syntax implied her crime was recurrent after she escaped. "My barbarity activated the moment I saw thousands of droids marching towards us. I wanted nothing more but to demolish every single one. At the time, I was handling a smaller version of a Z-6 rotary gun and...long story short, I went — for the lack of a better word — berserk. I destroyed dozens of droids within seconds, but there were several clones who were caught in the crossfire."

"Let me guess," Crosshair said in a low voice. "they got in your way."

Athena nodded slowly, then shrugged. "I was tackled to the ground by a couple of soldiers and detained until I could be sent back to Kamino. There, the Kaminoans were furious at me for my actions. I defended myself. They made me, after all. I blamed them for their misfortunes. Next thing I knew, I was strapped to a medical table. I figured, I was going to be punished for my actions and receive harsher training from then forward. There was a Kaminoan doctor and a clone in the room..."

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FLASHBACK - 4 Years Ago

ATHENA'S POV

"CT-9900, you are in violation of the highest degree of treason: the murder of clone comrades on the offensive line." The captain declared, his hands folded in attention. "You killed good men who had potential to fight another day, and you engaged the enemy without authorization."

"I thought the endgame was destroy droids at all costs." I rolled my eyes, lazily twisting my sore wrists in their leather restraints. A chuckle purled in my throat as I shook my head. There was some wiggle room; if I stretched my fingers parallel with my wrist just right, I could possibly slip free. "Those soldiers got in my line of fire. I destroyed a tank with a mere rotary gun while the rest of you cowered behind lines. So a few clones died by my hand — I also saved lives that day."

"It's a shame you never managed to gain control of your condition." Lama Su tsked behind the ranked clone. "Since you refuse to condone for your actions on Genonsis, you have left us no choice."

"CT-9900," Nala Se's soothing voice was tainted with her agitated words. She hovered over me on my right. The cloudy-white irises swimming in her obsidian orbs glared at me with discontent. "I am disappointed in you. You had exhibited great promise in your ability to subject your violent condition during your training exercises. Your unforgiving actions on Genonsis have condemned you. We can no longer commit further ontogeny without risking our research and partnership with the Republic. Your destructive nature will only be detrimental to all we have accomplished. It is beneficial for everyone that you do not exist."