Hunted or hunter

Year: 19 BBY

Location: Kaller

At another campfire, the Bad Batch are camping and spending the night, away from all the 'regs, ' as they call the regular clones. Tech is typing away on his device, Echo is checking his gear, Wrecker is eating some more of the food they cooked, and Crosshair is chewing on a toothpick. 

"So, do you think we'll get another mission soon? This one was rather boring. There were far too many regs around to get enough of the action!" Wrecker complains between bites. 

"There was indeed a surprising amount of regs present for a unit that is supposed to be a battalion," Tech says. 

"I'm sure you'll get another chance to blow something up, Wrecker. There always is," Crosshair says. 

"While I agree the battle was easier due to the increased number of clones, the Jedi were very effective as well," Echo says. 

"True, that Padawan was unlike any other kid I have seen to date. So poised and focused," Hunter agrees. 

The five of them are alerted by blaster shots coming from the back. They see the regs running past them, towards the action. The comm channel starts to repeat one directive: Execute Order 66. 

Hunter and the others stand up and start running towards the fight. They hear the blaster fire and the swinging of lightsabers, as if a battle were going on. The screams of pain coming from the clones are also heard. They arrive at a slightly higher platform and see hundreds of clones surrounding the Jedi Padawan. And then... they see the impossible. The Padawan jumps into the air and roars out, sending an invisible wave of energy off of him, and causing all the clones present to disintegrate. 

"What... was... that?"

"..."

"..."

The Bad Batch was far enough away not to be affected, lucky for them. Their eyes widen in shock and surprise. They have never seen a Jedi do something like this. Hunter is the first to react and runs forward. 

.

Caleb is kneeling on the ground and breathing hard. He acted instinctively and let out the pressure he was feeling. But now, he feels exhausted. He hears the clones approach and ignites both of his lightsabers again. 

"Stay back!" he says. 

He recognises the clones as the defective ones, who call themselves the Bad Batch, but he doesn't care. He is too exhausted to fight right away again, so he chooses the other option. He runs away. He turns off his lightsabers, so as not to give himself away and runs into the forest. 

"Kid, wait!" Hunter shouts. 

...

"What-- What just happened?" Echo asks. 

"The comm channel is repeating one directive: Execute Order 66," Tech says. 

"Yeah, I heard that too. What's Order 66?" Wrecker asks. 

"I am not certain," Tech says. 

"Echo. Tech. Talk to the reg Captain. I'm sure they'll arrive here shortly, given the recent developments. Find out what you can," Hunter says. 

Echo and Tech nod and run off to make contact with any of the still remaining reg Captains, who are already on their way, arriving on gunships. Not all of the clones who were in Billaba's battalion were at the campsite, where the two Jedi were located. Some were further out, protecting the perimeter. 

"Crosshair, you and I will track down the kid and make sure nothing happens to him."

"Didn't seem like he needed any help to me," Wrecker says. 

"True, but considering the situation, we'd better make sure. Wrecker, stay here and stall anyone who tries to follow us," Hunter says. 

"Sure."

Then Hunter and Crosshair run off into the woods, following the trail that Caleb left. Hunter is not called that for nothing. His senses are impressive, and he can already tell where Caleb went. Under normal circumstances, that wouldn't be possible, since a Jedi could jump large distances or hide their tracks in other ways. But Caleb is still recovering right now, meaning Hunter gets the trail. 

"He's close," Hunter says. 

Crosshair looks through the canopy and spots Caleb up there. 

"There," he says. 

"Come on down, kid. We're here to help," Hunter says. 

Crosshair, though, aims his sniper rifle at Caleb and fires. 

"No!" Hunter shouts. 

Caleb dodges the attack by moving his head to the side slightly. He is currently in energy-sparing mode and does everything he can to return to 100% as quickly as possible. His limitless vitality and immense regenerative prowess enable this process to occur very quickly. Having dodged the attack, Caleb jumps away. 

"What are you doing?" Hunter asks. 

"Following orders," Crosshair responds. 

"We don't even know what the order is," Hunter argues and walks to Crosshair. "Stand down until we know what's going on."

Crosshair looks after Hunter, a bit confused. 

"Good soldiers follow orders," he mutters. 

.

At Wrecker's position, dozens of gunships arrive carrying clones. They exit and run towards Wrecker. 

"What happened here?" one of the clones asks. 

"Uhh, there was a fight and uhh... the regs died," Wrecker tries to explain and come up with an excuse. 

"Where's the Padawan?" 

"The Padawan? Well, not here, so he must be dead," Wrecker says. 

"We didn't hear about a confirmed kill. Master Billaba's death was confirmed through the comms, but not the Padawan's. So where is he?"

"Don't worry about it. Hunter's handling it," Wrecker tells them. 

"We have orders from the Supreme Chancellor himself," the clone Captain says. 

"That's great, but like I said, Hunter's handling it."

"Step aside, Trooper," the Captain says. "Group delta moves up north, gamma moves to the south. Alpha and beta, with me."

The troopers leave and also run into the forest. 

"Sure thing, boss. Hunter, you've got regs inbound. A lot of them, too," Wrecker says through the comm. 

[Copy that.]

.

Hunter and Crosshair are still running through the forest, following the trails, which are getting fewer and fewer. Hunter, however, can still feel Caleb around. They hear Tech's voice through the comms. 

[We've got a situation.]

"Tell me something I don't know, Tech."

[It appears the regs have been ordered to execute the Jedi.]

"What? Which Jedi?" 

[All of them. They are saying the Jedi have committed treason.]

"That would explain things," Crosshair says. 

"It doesn't begin to explain things."

[I suggest you get back here. The rest of the battalion is arriving, and they are not looking to leave until both Jedi's deaths are confirmed. And so far, they only have a confirmed kill for General Billaba.]

"We can't. We haven't found the kid yet," Hunter says. 

"Wrong."

Both of them turn around and see Caleb descending from a tree branch above. He stands in front of them. Hunter is surprised how he managed to get this close without him being aware of it. He was too absorbed by the news that Tech gave them. Crosshair aims his sniper rifle at Caleb and fires. Caleb blocks the attack with his lightsaber and takes a deep breath. 

He looks at them and walks forward. Crosshair moves back and keeps firing at Caleb, trying to hit him and complete the order they were all given. But Caleb blocks the attacks and slowly increases his speed. Crosshair keeps firing and ignores Hunter's order to stand down. With a final burst of speed, Caleb arrives in front of Crosshair and cuts through his sniper rifle. Crosshair grabs a blaster pistol and continues shooting. Caleb finally reflects the blaster shot back at him, hitting the clone in the shoulder. 

"ARGH!"

Caleb reaches out and uses the Force to choke Crosshair, lifting him in the air. 

This is considered a Dark Side technique, and while Caleb is angry right now, it is possible to use most Force techniques without being a Sith or falling to the Dark Side. Force Choke is a variation of telekinesis. How no one knows that is beyond Caleb. He looks at Hunter challengingly, waiting for him to do something. 

"Take it easy, kid," Hunter says. 

He slowly grabs his blaster and throws it away, holding his hands out for Caleb to see. 

"Easy. I'm on your side."

"Is that so? You're the first one who hasn't attacked me yet, and I can tell that you hold no ill intention towards me. Talk, what was that? Why did my friends attack me?" Caleb asks. 

Hunter lifts his helmet and shows Caleb his face. He looks at Crosshair worriedly. 

"Listen, I-- I don't know what happened. But could you please let Crosshair down? He'll die."

Caleb doesn't answer and thinks. After a few seconds, he nods and smashes Crosshair into a tree, knocking him out, just before he suffocates or his neck breaks. 

"Why did you try to kill us?" Caleb asks. 

"The regs did. I'm just as confused as you are."

"You speak the truth. Then the question remains: What is Order 66? Styles and Grey spoke about it just as they started attacking us."

"According to what Tech just told me, it's an order that forces the regs to kill all Jedi. They have apparently committed treason," Hunter tells Caleb what Tech told him. 

"Treason? In what way? And how does that warrant the execution of all Jedi?" Caleb asks. 

"I-- I don't know."

"Who gave the order?" Caleb narrows his eyes. 

"I don't know that either."

...

"I can help you, kid. Come with me."

Caleb turns off his lightsaber and looks at Hunter. They hear the voices of troopers approaching. 

"Our battalion was supported with more clones. They won't stop until I'm dead. What's your name?" Caleb asks. 

"Hunter."

"I'm Caleb. Get off Kaller, Hunter. You shouldn't be around when I get going. If you are serious about helping me, I will find you."

"Get going with what?"

"Hunting."

"Huh?"

.

"Swift to Muzzle: We lost him."

[Keep searching. Billaba's dead. I'll put the entire remaining battalion on the hunt for the kid.]

"Roger that, Commander."

The clones have started to spread out and search for Caleb in the forest. Their numbers had grown since Palpatine redistributed so many to join Billaba's command. A battalion usually has about 677 clones, but they were closer to 1'500 before the battle on Kaller. They haven't heard from the clones who were engaging Caleb and Billaba, but that wasn't any of their concern. They were dead anyway, so it didn't matter. All that mattered was finding the Padawan and killing him. 

They moved in squads, lighting their way as they moved through the forest. 

"Sir, there's something on the ground," a trooper says. 

The others move forward and turn their lights towards the front. 

"Are those...?"

"Troopers!"

*VROOOOM*

"AAHHH!"

*PEW PEW*

*VROOOOM*

"Kaackk..."

A blue and green lightsaber flashes through the darkness and kills three clones. Then they turn off again, plunging the area into darkness. The troopers turn around and fire their blasters in the direction where they saw Caleb a moment before. Several of them are choked and their necks broken. A minute later, the squad of 10 troopers lie dead on the ground and the Sergeant holds his blaster, which has been cut in half. 

Before he can contact anyone, Caleb removes his helmet. He holds his hand in front of the clone's face and uses one of many variations of the Mind Trick: Force persuasion. Ever since learning about it and the other variations from Master Baas, Caleb was unable to practice, since no one in the Order would agree to such a thing. But now, Caleb had hundreds and thousands of 'willing' participants. 

"You have successfully wounded Caleb Dume," he says. 

"I have successfully wounded Caleb Dume," the clone Sergeant repeats. 

"You suffered a wound, but saw him leave north."

"I suffered a wound, but saw him leave north," the Sergeant repeats. 

Caleb takes the commlink of the Sergeant and his helmet. 

Caleb is still wearing his clone armour, but takes the commlinks of those he eliminates to obtain the current active connection and listen in. He has been hunting clones for hours now and has turned into a true hunter. The time in between he uses to meditate and get to terms with what happened, the death of his master and the thousands of other Jedi throughout the galaxy. They were betrayed. 

[Swift, report. What happened?]

"We were hit... urgh... he's wounded, thought, moving... north..." the Sergeant reports.

[Understood. We'll send a team to your location, and the rest will move north.]

Caleb then moves south, running through the forest, using Force sight. He has been training himself despite the reality he finds himself in, whether it is Force Persuasion or Force Sight, all of it would prove helpful. Force sight, also known as Force seeing, is a basic Force ability and a variation of Force sense. It enhances Caleb's visual and spatial perception, even in dark or confined spaces behind walls. Caleb has been using it for hours now, and it has become easy for him to use. It was due to Force Sight that he could move around so swiftly and take out the clone squads sent after him. 

He breaks through the tree line and sees Plateau City in the distance. Plateau City is a cosmopolitan city and the primary spaceport for Kaller. It will be swarmed with clones, but his little crusade and the misdirection will have reduced the number, even if only slightly. 

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