Brynter: Quality Time
Prompt #2 of @clonexocweek! Another already published excerpt and brand new Bryneir and Hunter character art (above) for this chapter that I drew on a whim overnight. What is a sleep schedule anyway? Though I do see now that her torso is not aligned properly, but that's a problem to fix another day.
We're rewinding to their first real quality time together. The morning after they met, they had a conversation. Unbeknownst to them, a string was tied between their souls that would yank them back together again and again across the seas and stars.
Word Count: 5350
Content Warnings: signs of PTSD
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Chapter 11: Horizon
The bitter sting of caf burned Hunter’s throat, but he persisted. Their morning simulations had been canceled to allow the squad time to sleep, but his body had woken him at his usual early hour. He’d been restless, frustrated as he’d tossed and turned until he gave up, pulled on his fatigues, and creeped out of their barracks so as not to wake his brothers.
He now sat in the mess hall, alone at the table they usually occupied. He ignored the whispers from the regs around him, circulating cheap theories to explain the absence of the rest of Havoc squad. Some of them knew he could hear their hushed mocking, others didn’t. He downed his second caf, knowing he’d probably regret the crash that would come later, but didn’t really care. It was already relieving the pain brewing behind his brow, and he just needed enough energy to get through the afternoon.
He rose from his seat, shoving his tray and half-eaten meal onto the disposal racks on his way out. With several hours to kill, he walked aimlessly, needing to move his body in an effort to fully wake himself.
More auxiliary training was now on the afternoon’s schedule, added in lieu of their morning sims. They’d have to fly to the maintenance depot on Kamino’s closest moon for a couple of days to continue their lessons on repairing and operating speeders and similar modes of transport. Commandos were expected to be able to pick up just about any old hunk of junk and use it, Kal had told them. He enjoyed the speeder bikes, at least, so he had that to look forward to. Pretty soon they’d be working on starships, after they’d mastered ground transports.
Tech in particular had been itching to move on to starship maintenance and engineering, having already researched the subject to a dizzying extent. The usual rants ensued, of course, but Hunter and the others made a point to pay closer attention to this particular special interest of Tech’s. They’d already been informed that they would be getting a small ship of their own so they could travel about the galaxy from mission to mission without relying on the cruisers.
Tech had already narrowed down the pros and cons for each starship model. The Nu-class was stealthy and the most widely used, but slower and very small. The fastest attack shuttle currently in active production was the Theta-class model, but it was even smaller than the Nu-class. They didn’t mind being a bit cramped, but the reality was that they’d have to live on their ship for months on end and not kill each other.
The right fit, they had agreed, seemed to be the Omicron-class attack shuttle, a new design Tech had come across deep in the manufacturer’s reports. They weren’t in production yet, but were large enough to house them, their weapons, and consumables for extended periods, while still being compact enough to be fast and maneuverable. Tech had already drawn up plans for dozens of modifications he wanted to make to the ship’s design, should they succeed in their request for that ship in particular.
The sun stunned Hunter’s vision for a moment as he stepped outside of the metallic dome, a rare sight on Kamino that he hadn’t expected. The storm must have broken while he was in the mess. He strode over to the railing overlooking the landing platforms ahead, spotting several attack shuttles and gunships ferrying troopers from the planet to the cruisers hovering high above, barely visible through the gaps of the undulating clouds. A single Venator-class star destroyer was on the furthest platform, there only being one landing-zone in the whole complex that could accommodate it’s massive size, hence the need for shuttles when more than one cruiser was on Kamino at a time. Dive troopers were coming and going, trailing water behind them as they made their way to the planetside cruiser, seemingly having been here for practice drills.
He shuffled his feet as he leaned on the railing, rolling his neck as he mulled over how to occupy himself for a few hours. He wasn’t much in the mood for the training rooms or the firing range, and he certainly didn’t have the mental fortitude to study with his brain fueled by almost nothing but shitty caf.
Undecided on what to do, he scanned the platforms again, mentally checking off the class of each ship that came and left. Hunter wondered what far off part of the galaxy they were heading to, what kind of fight the regs on board would end up facing, and how many of them would never return. Part of him wished he was on board one of them. He was eager to prove the regs wrong about his squad, hungry to jump into the fight they’d been training for their entire lives.
He noticed something, or rather someone, out of place. A lone trooper in plain white armor leaning against the railing and watching the ships just as he was, only they were a few levels below him. As he looked down he considered the possibility that the squad-less trooper was likely her, that’s if she was still on Kamino. His feet moved before he made the conscious decision to find out, taking him down a series of ramps to the lower viewing decks.
Every individual Hunter had ever met had a distinct scent that only he could distinguish thanks to his enhancements, some more tolerable than others. The moment his boots hit the lowest level, he caught the newly familiar but pleasant nutty scent, confirming that it was indeed her.
“Bryn?”
Her helmet turned to face him before she quickly glanced around, ensuring they were alone before she responded. “Hi. Wasn’t expecting to see you out here.”
Hunter joined her at the railing, leaning on it as he had above. “Just… wanted some fresh air.”
“Same,” she replied. Even through the modulator of her helmet, he could hear the tiredness in her voice. “Would be better without this thing,” she chuckled, pointing to her helmet.
“Still not allowed to take it off, hey?” he asked in a hushed tone.
Bryn replied quietly in turn. “Not out in the open. The records aren’t fixed yet.”
“Ah. Understood.” Her situation still perplexed him, the strange circumstances and tight-knit secrets, but he never pressed her on it, knowing she couldn’t tell him anything anyway. It was a war, he supposed. Secrets were something he’d have to get used to.
They looked out over the landing platforms in a silence that was simultaneously tense and comfortable. At least her heart rate was steady this time, unlike the sudden harsh thudding he’d heard from her after they’d completed the last sim overnight.
“I’m assuming one of those Venators is your ride out of here?” Hunter asked, breaking their stalemate.
Bryn’s helmet bobbed as she pointed towards the landed cruiser. “We leave in a few hours.”
“That’s not the 501st though.”
“No, they’re 227th. They’re giving me a covert ride back to the fleet.”
“So when you’re back with the 501st, then you’re clear?”
She nodded again. “Free to serve like any other trooper, as if I’ve been serving the whole time.”
Hunter did his best to stifle his intrigue, but couldn’t help wondering what exactly about her warranted the extreme covertness. How many people had to be sworn to secrecy to protect whatever operation she was involved in?
“So you’re just… watching the ships go by until then?”
“Pretty much,” she shrugged with a sigh. “At least the sun finally came out.”
He wished he could see her face, get a read on her thoughts as her flat tone masked her emotion. Whatever she was — content, sad, or maybe just plain tired — the rhythm of her heart remained steady. Commander Colt had said she’d run the solo tests prior to last night, meaning she’d probably spent the last several nights running tests and sims at all hours. He concluded that she was likely even more exhausted than himself.
A cool breeze rushed upwards from the ocean far below, soothing his aching eyes. She couldn’t have felt that relief herself, of course, not with her helmet still on.
“Well, if you have the time, I know somewhere you can still watch the ships, but it’s hidden enough that you could take that bucket off. Only, uh… only if you wanted to… of course.”
Hunter silently cursed himself for stammering, blaming his lack of sleep and the overabundance of caf in his system.
Bryn hesitated for a moment, looking between him and the Venator in the distance.
“It’s not far,” he reassured her. “You can get back up here within a few minutes, when you’re due to leave.”
“Okay,” she answered plainly. “Yeah, would be nice to feel that breeze before heading back into space for who knows how long.”
Hunter felt a tug in his cheek as he motioned for her to follow him. He took her to a maintenance lift inside the nearest dome, accessing it with a code he wasn’t supposed to have. 99 had given it to him years ago, updating him whenever the codes changed, so he’d have a quiet place to go when he needed a break from everything. He loved his brothers, without a doubt, but sometimes he simply needed to be alone to clear his head properly.
He checked both ways outside the lift before ushering Bryn down a short narrow hallway, much smaller than the wide open spaces in the city above. They were inside one of the giant stilts that supported the dome structures of the complex, now passing by the doors to the living quarters of the maintenance clones. He couldn’t hear a soul down there with them. All of the maintenance clones would have been on duty at this time of day.
Sunlight spilled around their feet as he opened one of the doors, leading to an open-air storage area full of maintenance and repair equipment. Metal sheets were stacked against the walls near racks of large tools and repelling equipment for servicing the stilt itself. Hunter continued on straight to the grated platform outside, no bigger than a few meters wide, with a series of rusted metal ladders at one end.
“I hope you’re not afraid of heights,” he said as he stepped out onto the platform, the massive ocean waves visible through the grates nearly a kilometer below.
Bryn popped her head out and looked down. “Oh,” she chuckled as she stepped out. “Good thing I’m not.”
Despite that claim, he noticed that she stuck back by the walls cautiously, rather than approaching the railing beside him, so he took a step back and slid down the wall to a sitting position. She did the same, mirroring his action to sit beside him, before finally removing her helmet and placing it gently to the side.
He watched through his periphery as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her heart rate slowed into an especially calm tempo as the breeze rustled the curls atop her head. She looked so content, like she was completely at peace.
“There’s nothing quite like salted air,” she stated, smiling as she opened her eyes to look out over the horizon. He followed her gaze upwards to where the shuttles continued to fly back and forth through the clouds.
“Does that remind you of somewhere?”
“I grew up on the coast,” she replied. “Being around saltwater reminds me of home.”
That struck him as odd, for a Corellian at least. “Only thought of Corellia as shipyards, that’s all we’ve been taught about it.”
“Ship-building is its main business. That’s inland, far from the ocean’s storms. But there’s still pockets of people along the coasts, mostly fishing villages.”
Hunter felt himself gawk a little at that, raising his forearms to rest on a bent knee. “A remote fishing village? Can’t say that’s what I’d have guessed for you.”
“My village wasn’t that remote compared to some,” she replied, turning to look at him. “I spent plenty of time in the cities too.”
“I see.” He paused, looking back at her. Her demeanor was different here than in the barracks the night prior. No anxious fidgeting or darting glances, just a subtly happy expression that was only further highlighted by the sunlight glowing on her skin. He’d remembered her almost colorless eyes looking greenish before, but now they had a blue tinge, reflecting the color of the sky.
They both watched the shuttles again for some time as the clouds moved, blocking and revealing the sunbeams in streaks that made the water shimmer far below. Hunter had never brought anyone here before, but was glad that it seemed to have a positive effect on her. He appreciated that she felt comfortable in the silence, rather than forcing conversation just for conversation’s sake. He revelled in the quiet, feeling so at peace for a moment that Bryn’s voice almost startled him.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Shoot.”
“My friends… er, the troopers with the 501st explained how you all get your names, that you either choose one yourselves or your brothers give you one. Wrecker, Crosshair, and Tech are obvious. I don’t really get how Hunter correlates with enhanced senses. I mean, assuming it’s supposed to correlate.”
The way she pronounced each of their names made her unfamiliar rhythmic accent stand out to him more. She placed heavier emphasis on the consonants, rather than the vowels as most clones did.
“Wrecker and Crosshair, well, they're self explanatory. Tech isn’t as obvious as you think. You’re thinking technology, right, or technician? It’s kind of a double meaning, but that’s not where his name came from.”
“Where did it come from then?”
“Tech is for Technically,” he smirked before raising the pitch of his voice to put on his best impression of Tech’s posh vernacular. “Because he corrects us constantly and thinks that opening with the word technically makes him sound smart.”
Bryn’s face lit up with a wide smile as she laughed. “That’s a pretty good impression.”
“Heh, thanks. We called him Technically for a while,” he chuckled. “Eventually just Tech stuck.”
“So what’s the story behind Hunter, then?”
“Well, tracking is my enhanced skill. The senses all play into that.”
Hunter took the time to explain it to her, garnering her full attention. The mutations and enhancements of his five senses, the addition of his sixth sense for electromagnetic waves, and his specialized training. He chose to forego any talk of the experiments, deeming their brutality unnecessary for answering her question.
“Early on, as a kid, one of the trainers who taught me how to track said ‘we’ll make a hunter of you yet’. I liked it, kept it as my name.”
“It suits you. It’s always interesting to me, how you choose your names. They’re either very fitting or downright random.”
“Heh, you’re right about that.”
The flapping of wings could be heard nearby, at least to Hunter’s ears. He paid it no mind.
“It’s certainly more interesting than most nat-borns’ naming stories, most of us are— SHIT!”
Bryn nearly jumped out of her skin, pressing her back stiff against the wall and sliding closer to Hunter as a reflex. Large flying creatures encircled the stilt, coming within a few meters of where they were sitting, a common occurrence familiar to Hunter. He hadn’t reacted in the slightest, aside from the wide grin now plastered on his face.
“Relax, they’re harmless.”
“What the fuck are those things?” Her heart raced now, eyes wide with a blend of fear and shock as they watched the smooth-winged amphibians soar through the air before diving down into the water again.
“They’re just aiwhas. Come on, you said you grew up by an ocean, there had to have been creatures bigger than that,” he teased.
“Not that could also FLY,” she said aghast as she leaned forward where she sat, staring down through the grates to watch the pod jumping playfully through the waves.
The look on her face nearly killed him as he felt his hard exterior crack into a hearty laugh. He couldn’t blame her, he supposed, the aiwhas were comparable to the size of an gunship, but were far more graceful.
“Shit they’re coming back,” she gasped as she again sat back tight against the wall, obliviously pressing her spaulder into Hunter’s arm as if trying to get away from the edge of the platform.
“They’re not gonna hurt you,” he laughed, his shoulders shaking as his hand covered half his face in a vain attempt to hide his broken façade.
The pod flew up around them again, spinning around at an impressive speed as they sang their high-pitched whistles before diving back into the sea. Bryn’s eyes shot even wider, if that was even possible. Her shock remained, but her look of fear was slowly being replaced with one of awe and wonder.
“How are they so big and still able to fly…”
“Would you believe me if I told you the Kaminoans ride them?”
She dramatically turned to look at him as his face strained to hold back the unyielding urge to laugh again. Her eyes locked with his for only half a second before she broke.
“Excuse me!?” she sputtered with a breathy laugh of her own as she squeezed her eyes shut and turned away from him. Her reaction alone was enough to break him entirely.
“It’s the truth!”
“HOW?!” she wheezed, planting her face in her hands as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. “So, wait, wait, wait. You’re telling me—”
“I’m telling you that—”
“Shut up. Hold on!” she exclaimed, flapping her hand in front of him, making him laugh harder. “You’re telling me that those creepily calm and eerily tall people upstairs ride those things over this deathtrap of an ocean?!”
“Mostly under the water, actually…”
“UNDER?!”
“Well they’re both amphibious.”
“What in the blasted fuck…” she muttered. “I’m sorry I need a minute.” She was practically choking when she buried her face into her knees, wrapping her arms around her legs as she composed herself.
Hunter wasn’t sure what was so funny about the image of a Kaminoan riding an aiwha, he was so used to the sight that he never thought twice about it. It was strange, he figured, for the fastidious scientists to use such a potentially dangerous mode of transportation. But he didn’t need to fully understand, it was funny to Bryn and her unrestrained candor was priceless to him.
They both eventually recovered and their continued conversation flowed effortlessly as the minutes turned into hours. Hunter’s heart felt lighter and he stopped thinking too hard about what to say next. They swapped stories and questions, sharing more chuckles along the way, although none as eruptive as with the damn aiwhas. He hadn’t known it beforehand, but it turned out he’d really needed that laugh.
•••
His hands made small movements in front of his chest, accentuating the talking points of Hunter’s latest story as Bryn listened in earnest. The ocean breeze kissed her skin, the comforting smell of salt filled her sinuses, and his low raspy voice tolled in her ears. She was enjoying herself more than she’d expected.
“So we got to the training base on Faa, the next planet over in this system,” Hunter continued, recounting his story. “Nobody knows how they got there, but there’s a tooka colony near the base.”
“Alright, surprise tooka colony. Got it.”
“Well, while scouting out the practice enemy holdout, the damned cats would not leave me alone. I was lying in the dirt to stay low, and they were on my back, under my arms, just picking at me constantly. One even sat right up on my helmet.”
“Did they bother anyone else?” she asked with a smirk.
“Nobody. I had no idea why, until I caught the kriffing shits Wrecker and Crosshair putting a bundle of dried grass in my pack. Turns out the stuff is like a drug to the things, they can’t get enough of it. Crosshair figured it out while hanging out with the colony, apparently, so he and Wrecker gathered some up and planted it on me.”
“How long did it take you to figure it out?”
“Three days. Three days of being followed around by nearly a dozen grass-drunk tookas.”
“And your super sense of smell didn’t notice?”
He sighed and shook his head. “See, I did notice it. But the smell went everywhere I went so I assumed it was just the planet itself or something.”
“The image of a tooka perched on your helmet is pretty amusing.”
“Well I’m glad you think so. Damn thing nearly gave away my position.”
Spending this much time in close proximity to Hunter gave Bryn the opportunity to register what exactly was different about him from the other clones, especially since he was out of his armor. He and the rest of Havoc Squad piqued her curiosity, they were the first clones she’d met that weren’t exact copies of each other. She sat beside him on his non-tattooed side, giving her ample time to study him as he shared funny stories from his squad’s training.
He looked a hell of a lot like the regular clones, who his squad called regs, but there were still subtle differences. She’d noticed before that his expressive eyes were a slightly lighter shade of brown, but they were also a little bigger. He was broader in the shoulders, but leaner through the body, and his face still had the typical chiseled clone features, strong jaw, and tawny brown skin.
His hair was different too, but not just in length. Rather than the black coily hair of the regs, his was dark brown wavy curls tied back from his face with the red bandana as it had been the previous night. Aside from the skull tattoo covering half his face, his most prominent permanent feature, she’d realized, was his nose. It was far more pronounced than a typical clone’s, wider with a hump at the bridge where it met his brow, making his side profile quite striking.
“I suppose I’m not allowed to ask you for your war stories just yet,” he said, his statement pulling her back to the present as she snapped her eyes away from his face.
“Not really, no… sorry. Ask me again in a few months.”
He chuckled. “No need to apologize, I get it.”
Aiwhas once again interrupted their conversation as they sang and danced around the stilts supporting the domes high above them. She still felt her heart race a little when they came close to the platform, but she had to admit that they were beautiful.
Bryn was grateful, really, to get a proper glimpse of Kamino without the dark thunderstorms before she left the planet. The roaring waves below were awe inspiring to listen to, their thundering crashes audible even from the extreme height of the platform. She did her best to pay no mind to the rusting of the structure, trusting that the platform was strong as she’d trusted Hunter when he insisted that the aiwhas were harmless.
For no particular reason she could pinpoint, she felt she could trust him. Even so, her hand had been on her com the entire time she followed him down to this place, a subconscious act of safety. She’d known him less than a day, after all, but she hoped he hadn’t noticed.
More transports came and went, buzzing through the air high above them. She was about to comment on the gunships’ nose art designs when Hunter suddenly turned his head and raised his hand, bringing a single finger to his lips to silence her.
“Someone’s coming.”
He rose to his feet and waved his hand for her to follow, and she complied, stepping back inside the storage area. His footsteps didn’t make a sound as he approached the doors to the hallway, listening intently. Bryn couldn’t hear a thing.
“They’re heading this way, I can talk us out of… where’s your helmet?”
“Shit,” she whispered as she whipped her head around. Footsteps approached the door, slowly but steadily, loud enough now that she could hear them too. “It’s on the platform.”
“No time.” Hunter grabbed her elbow and yanked her behind a stack of metal sheeting just as the doors opened.
Bryn controlled her breathing as well as she could, mostly in an attempt to hide, but also so she wouldn’t breath directly in Hunter’s face. The small nook he’d pulled her into barely hid them both. She pressed her back into the metal sheets to try and give him some space, and he kept his hands on the stack to either side of her arms without actually touching her.
The shuffling footsteps moved across the room to the platform outside, which seemed to pique Hunter’s interest as he carefully tilted his head out of their hiding place, watching.
Hunter made a quiet whistle with his teeth to get the person’s attention. “Hey, is it just you down here, brother?”
“Hunter, just who I came looking for. Yes, it’s just me.”
Bryn caught Hunter’s eyes for a moment before he carefully backed up from her, stepping out from their hiding place as she remained frozen and silent.
“Sorry, uh… wasn’t sure who I heard coming… wouldn’t have hidden, if I knew it was you.”
“Not to worry. I stopped by your barracks and Tech said you’d been gone all morning. Thought I might find you here.”
That voice. Bryn knew the voice from somewhere. A clone voice, slightly strained, older… She turned on her heel silently, carefully peeking around the corner of the stack to confirm her suspicion.
“Hello again.”
Hunter’s head swung around to face her, clearly surprised to hear her speak as his eyes flicked between her and his brother. “Ah… 99, this is, uh…”
“This is your mysterious one-night squadmate,” 99 chuckled, shooting a suspicious look at Hunter.
Bryn finally breathed in relief and stepped out from the hiding spot. Hunter looked absolutely addled, the flush on his face barely perceptible.
“It’s okay, we’ve met,” she reassured him as she retrieved her helmet from the platform, clipping it to her belt for quick access, just in case.
“You’ve met?”
“While watching your Plan 76 sim yesterday. 99 clocked me as a nat-born.”
“And Kal swore me to secrecy like the rest of you,” the old man explained. “I take it you passed your sims?”
“Thanks to his squad, I did,” she replied, nodding her head in Hunter’s direction.
“Ah, you didn’t need their ugly mugs, I’m sure,” 99 joked with a sly grin. “I’m assuming you still have to hide your face? Or is there another reason you two were tucked back there?”
The skin of her cheeks burned instantly as Hunter rolled his eyes. She silently cursed her pale complexion, knowing there’s no way she could hide her reaction to 99’s insinuation. Fuck, how she wished she’d had her helmet on already.
“I… I still have to hide my face. Until I’m back on the frontline.”
“Understood,” 99 chuckled, clearly enjoying himself.
Hunter stepped towards the door. “You’re due to leave soon, right? Should probably head back up anyway.”
“Right…” she joined him by the door as the old man followed before passing them into the hallway.
“Come along then. I’m going back up too.” 99 shot another quick glance at each of them with a smile, then started to slowly shuffle down the hall.
Bryn looked up at Hunter for half a second, only to find him already looking at her. She quickly averted her gaze and put her helmet back on before the heat of embarrassment returned to her face again. The three of them walked through the narrow hall before cramming into the lift in silence.
“Am I still not allowed to know your name?” 99 asked her.
“Honestly, I don’t see why not anymore,” she replied, reaching her hand out to shake his. “Bryneir Q’ade. You can call me Bryn.”
99 instead took her hand in both of his, squeezing gently. “Good luck out there, Bryn. Give ‘em hell.”
The floor lurched slightly as they started to rise back into the dome structure above.
“I’ll do my best.”
The old man smiled again as the doors of the lift opened, bringing them back to the busier wide-open halls of the city’s main levels.
“Did you… need me for something, 99?” Hunter asked.
“Nothing pressing. I’ll find you later, brother.” 99 smiled at them both before he quietly shuffled away.
Hunter accompanied her to the lower viewing platform where he’d found her hours ago, still not saying a word to her since they’d left that storage area. They stood together and watched as the landed Venator’s engines glowed blue with fire, beginning its preparation for takeoff.
“Thank you, Hunter. I needed that break.” Her vision was slightly obscured by her helmet, a change she was still getting used to. But she had seen him turn to face her, looking at her visor.
“Don’t mention it.”
“Trooper Q’ade, come in.”
Bryn raised her wrist com to reply. “This is Trooper Q’ade.”
“Report to General Fisto in hangar 12-014 onboard the Resilient.”
“Will do, sir.”
Bryn shifted her feet as Hunter sauntered beside her in the direction of the ramps. He was quieter than earlier, his eyes lacking the same spark they had while he’d told her his stories. As they reached the ramps, he broke his silence.
“Well, whatever fight you have coming your way, good luck.” He reached to shake her hand as she reciprocated the gesture.
“Good luck with the rest of your training,” she smiled under her helmet, forgetting he couldn’t see it. “And with your deployment, when that day comes.”
He didn’t let go of her. Instead, he cupped his other hand over the back of hers, much like 99 had on the lift. “Stay safe out there.”
“You too.” She squeezed gently before slipping from his grip and stepping down the ramp to head to the Venator.
Something tugged in her chest as her feet carried her further away, like a string laced through her rib cage pulling backwards against her stride. She ignored it. Now having reached halfway across the landing platforms, the heat from the Resilient’s engines was palpable through her blacks.
The string wrenched harder and she gave into its temptation, stopping for a moment to look back over her shoulder. He was still there at the top of the ramp, watching her leave. He saluted her, and she saluted him in return. She knew that, among an army of millions, she’d probably never see him again.
Bryn recommitted to her duty, continuing her trek on board the Resilient, wandering deep into its hangar without looking back again.
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