Traitors To The Heart

Chapter 17: Endurance

"Again." Lyra couldn't bear the pain of standing anymore. She was pretty sure her feet were bleeding thirty minutes ago, now she was positive. It was embarrassing enough having to do all of this in the busy hangar at the center of the Republic base with Jedi Generals and clone troopers giving her odd looks every ten seconds, but on top of that the rest of her squad sat up top of their ships ramp, watching and laughing at her. Mostly Crosshair.

"I have to run it again? Why? I almost made it that time." Lyra almost died on the spot after Hunter's words registered with her. The desperate plea of exhaustion wasn't enough to sway him.

"So when you're running for your life from a stampede of gundarks, how do you think almost making it to safety will help you?" Lyra could hear Tech go off on a tangent about how no humanoid species has a fast enough recorded speed to even survive thirty seconds of running away from a gundark in an open space. She rolled her eyes from one batcher over to the other standing in front of her as she panted.

"At least they'd put me out of my misery so I wouldn't have to run anymore." Hunter wasn't phased in the slightest by her dark humor.

"Again." Lyra groaned, letting her head fall all the way backwards. Hunter walked away from her back towards the finish line which was Tech's shin guards set across from each other. Lyra narrowly missed it as she jogged to a stop only a few meters before hitting it. She picked her head up and decided to start another fight, hoping Hunter would get distracted with winning and she could sneak away from the physical exhausting task.

"And who's to say the safety point will be exactly 500 meters? Why not 600?"

"If you're asking me to move the line back even further, then you got it." That is indeed not what she was asking, and Hunter knew it.

"What!? No! I was making a—"

"Wrecker, move it way back, will ya?" Wrecker did as ordered and grabbed Tech's shin guards, running far away with them. With each giant step of Wrecker's a little piece of Lyra died. Hunter's smirk grew wider each passing second her grimace grew deeper the farther Wrecker got. Finally taking pity on her, Hunter screamed;

"That's good!" Lyra wasn't a crier, but good lord did she feel the tears coming. She would bask like a baby if it could get her out of this, but it couldn't. Nothing could except a mission, and she knew that.

"I can't do this anymore. At least let me get a drink of water?" So Lyra could leave to get a drink and never come back.

"So you could use your training to run away from this? Not a chance. Drink your sweat and keep moving, soldier." She rolled her eyes at the term. It ticked her off being called that, and Hunter knew it.

"Kriff you." Hunter's eyes widened at the sudden disappearance of tiredness and its replacement with hostility.

"That's some strong language against someone trying to save your life from angry gundarks here." She but her lip, preparing herself for what she was ready to do.

"Mhm. I stand by my original statement. KRIFF YOU!!" She absolutely screamed at the top of her lungs. It echoed across the hangar as she took off in a mad sprint past Hunter through the course again. Wrecker laughed joyously, giving her an energizing high five as she passed the finish line he was at.

"Hunter!" Tech called for him from the ramp. Hunter and Wrecker saw Tech waving them over, so they walked together back to the ship.

"What is it, Tech?" The clone squinted at the message on his datapad.

"Oh, nothing of great importance." He stared blankly at Hunter who stood there with questioning words on his lips, too baffled by the face he was called over for nothing.