Dark... miserable... cold... damp

Humming to the buzz of the rain-soaked jungle, Ryki Taala closed her eyes and laid under the night sky The pale moonlight reflected as silver streaks on her wet skin while her hair splayed on the ground. She could not be bothered by the mud and grass that began to cake up in her hair. Straining her body she forced herself up to a seated position. The jumpsuit she'd been wearing clung on her skin, slightly torn in certain areas after running through the woods in a panic. 

The commander...

The commander was after her. Fingers rapidly tapped on a broken comlink. "Hello? Guys? Hunter?" Sparks flew out of the communication device spelling out hopelessness for the mirialan. Just as her breaths finally calmed, a snakey voice threaded itself through the light taps of raindrops. The commander found her. His own form was drenched in rain and the armour seemed to be weighing him down, dragging him into the mud. Ryki took a full sweep of his form, tiredly greeting him in her original tongue, "Tovnit " (Hello). 

Laboured breaths came out scrambled from the modulator of the commander's helmet. "You're under arrest" 

Ryki squinted, craning her neck to properly survey her surroundings, "Where are your people?" She referred to his new squad of TK troopers. A little surge of Force sensitivity told her that the commander was ticked off. She smirked knowingly, "Did I give you a run, Mr Crosshair?" 

Crosshair, the commander, could be heard growling from where he stood. It would have been quite a threatening sight to the mirialan if not for the sticks and leaves and mud that poked out from the joints in his armour. Sludge dripped down his helmet, covering his lenses so he ripped the bucket off and attached it to his hip, then delivered his famous scowl. "Yes. Yes, I did give you a run," She replied her own question, allowing a string of laughs to escape her tired body. Said sniper, aimed his rifle at the woman.

Click, the weapon now readied.  

Ryki cocked a brow, "I know I'm wanted alive, else you would have killed me by now, yes?" she gestured between the two of them. Thunder and lightning struck above the two, casting scary shadows upon Crosshair's face. The night had just fallen

"Look look. We're both tired, yes?" 

Crosshair still stood firm in his place and did not move his rifle off the mirialan. "I take your silence as a yes, so, why not we stop this cat and mouse game and rest," she suggested tiredly. 

"So you can escape? I don't think so"

"Clearly there is nowhere else for me to run. I run, you track me down, the story repeats over and over. We've both lost our people during the run, they can't find us. WE. ARE. LOST." 

Crosshair eyed her warily. It's true what she said. His elite team lost contact with their commander hours ago. He and Ryki were how deep in Felucia's uncharted territories, in other words really lost in the jungle. Their comms were destroyed by the rain and countless times they wrestled each other to the ground, trying to bash each other with sticks and stones. Not to mention the 

His eyes strained through the helmet, blurred by mud. Finally, the rifle lowered and the marksman ripped the helmet off his face. Scowling, Ryki watched the man limp up to her. A pair of binders hit the sloshy ground.

"Cuff yourself." 

"Kriff off" The mirialan shoved the muddy binders into Crosshair's armoured chest and began to track into the fungi jungle. "Where are you going?" The sniper calmly demanded. 

"Find shelter. This jungle is full of bugs that would like to hunt us down for dinner." She could not explain if it was the cold getting to her, or if she accidentally inhaled some wild mushroom spore, "Are you coming, sniper man?"

---

-Several hours earlier, Felucia, Thanium Sector, Outer Rim-

1845 hours

Everyone clung to their seats as the Havoc Marauder burst into the jungle planets atmosphere. Alarms and blinking lights went off wildly in the cockpit. Tech and Echo wrangled with the controls, trying to balance the ship out while the others clung to dear life at their seats.

Behind them, several enemy fighters, (Imperial Fighters) joined in descent and shot at the escaping Omicron class attack shuttle. "Ground them!" Crosshair commanded his elite squad to fire on the target. One luckily bullet hit the Marauder's main engine, creating sparks and a smoke trail to come out of the attack shuttle. 

The Marauder began to spin out of control. "Brace yourselves" Tech shouted. Within seconds, the ship hit the surface of the planet. The ground tore up leaving uprooted trees in its wake. Smoke and fire singed the delicate planets around it. Impacting the ground at the speed they were travelling only forced the ship deeper into Felucia's uncharted jungles and finally, it came to a rest. 

Groaning echoed all around the cockpit. "Is.. it over?" Ryki leaned back into her seat and slightly released her hold on Omega's hand, "Yes. Maggie. It's over." She said over heavy breaths. 

"Ugh... system's compromised. We're leaking fumes and fuel." Echo looked through the damage manifest of the ship. "Everyone out now" 

The Bad Batch shuffled out in a line, moaning in pain from aching bones. Hunter quietly took a look at his surroundings. Nothing but fungus-like plants for miles. The sergeant turned to quickly look over his team. "Everyone alright?" 

Nothing but nods and muffled replies came back to him. Thankfully no one was injured. "How did the Empire find us all the way out here?" He turned to the skies, watching five black dots slowly making decent on Felucia. "The Empire's got us again. I bet that Crosshair's hunting us." Wrecker said, before approaching the two females of his team and helped them to their feet. 

"Hmm. This ship is not going anywhere by its current state. Comm systems are down." Tech began to list the many damages sustained by the shuttle. "Fuel tanks busted. Echo grumbled out to the others. Hunter sighed, "Either way, we can't do much. Tech, try to find a place where we can rep-"

Blaster fire missed Hunter's head by an inch. "Everyone, guns out now!" The boys huddled around Omega protectively and began to shoot back as Imperial forces began to emerge from the forest. Hunter internally cursed himself for not being able to sense the enemy approaching. Must be the rush of the situation. Ryki wedged herself between Hunter and Wrecker, shooting back as well. 

"GET THE WOMAN!" the Batchers froze when a familiar man in black armour approached. The Imps began to close in, boxing the Bad Batch. Hunter signalled to his team and like clockwork, the group spread backed off into the jungle. Tech armed a bomb and threw it back to the Imp. The explosion only slowed them down but the chase continued. 

Rain began to pour down, drenching the Felucian ground. The mud began to slosh at their feet. Imps and the Batch alike struggled through the rain. They ventured deeper and deeper into the thick vegetation. A smoke bomb suddenly flew ahead, thrown by the Imps and exploded mid-flight just above the Bad Batch. Losing focus and suddenly hyper-aware of more blaster fire, the entire group began to defend their ground. 

Crosshair shouted over to his squad, "Get the woman, alive!" 

Hunter fisted his hand, signalling his brothers to form a defensive barrier around the mirialan and the younger female. For the boys, finding the enemy through the smoke was nothing but to the mirialan, it stung her eyes. 

Thanks to the built-in scopes of his helmet, Crosshair located the woman through the smoke. Without hesitating he ran headfirst, charging right into the defensive circle and jammed his rifle into Wrecker's helmet. Echo and Tech were too shocked to process the sudden attack.

Everything else happened so fast. Ryki felt pressure hit her side, frantic shouts filled the air. Time froze, Ryki's green eyes widened when she came face to face with the dreaded sniper. Omega fell to the ground as Ryki pushed her out of harm's way. The mirialan woman and Crosshair fell to the ground. Neither side knew the terrain of the jungle.  "RYKI! CROSS, NO!" Hunter's voice filled the air. The last the boys and Omega saw of Ryki, was her and Crosshair falling over a steep slope. 

Two bodies tumbled the green hill. Crosshair had the woman in his grips, partially using his armoured body as a shield to protect her from the ground. A tall mushroom-like plant broke their descent and the two individuals separated from each other. Ryki groaned, gripping her head as the dizziness began to settle in. Miraculously, Crosshair's sniper managed to tumble down with him. Eyeing the man's movements, the mirialan scrambled for his rifle. 

The commander got onto his feet only to receive a blow to his stomach as Ryki jabbed the rifle to his abdomen. Cross tried to reach for his blaster to stun her, but Ryki quickly swung the rifle with more force and hit the blaster off the clone's hand, landing it somewhere in the thick bushes. Crosshair groaned in pain but quickly pushed himself to kick Ryki's legs, pulling out his blaster to stun her. 

She stumbled to the ground and Crosshair scrambled onto her, yanking the rifle from her hands and continued to wrestle her into the mud. The rain had picked up, Crosshair's helmet providing him perfect visions while practically blinding Ryki. His strong grip now around her throat nearly made her faint. Ryki searched the ground with a free hand and found a rock. 

Spotting the gap between his arm guard and hand, she bit into his flesh. Crosshair shouted in pain. Using that as a distraction she hit the side of the helmet with the rock, managing to stun him a little. Using much strength Ryki pushed Crosshair off her and began to run away into the Felucian jungle, Crosshair trailing behind her not long after.

---

-1920 hours-

Commander Crosshair and Ryki Taala eventually found a small clearing where their legs finally decided to give out. Both hunter and prey now sat quietly opposite one another, neither wanting to break their glares even for a second. The rain still poured down from the heavens so creating a fire was no option. It got colder as the night grew on. Ryki shivered, pulling her legs to herself to conserve whatever heat her body could give off. Crosshair seemed unaffected, probably thanks to his thermo-regulated undersuit. 

The rifle was still in Crosshair's iron grip and mostly pointed to the mirialan. Luckily he forgot to pick his blaster before chasing her. It was no use to ask him to put the gun down, so to pass the time she attempted some small talks with the clone. 

"So... commander, right?" 

The man in question only glared, biting down harder on his toothpick. Ryki squinted, "We fell down a slope and I hit you in the head with a rock. You still have that toothpick." Crosshair hardened his glare to only receive a long groan from the woman he was supposed to capture. 

"Do you carry a small supply of toothpick's wherever you go?" The mirialan suddenly gasped in amusement when Crosshair decided to avert his eyes anywhere except her. "No way. You actually carry a supply of toothpicks?" 

She began to laugh only for the commander to shut her down and Ryki rolled her eyes. She actually wanted to sleep but with Crosshair in front of her, she'd rather watch him all night in case she decided to bash her with a rock, as she did him. Still, Ryki had no form of weapon on her, neither will her training from her boys help her fight an experienced commander like Crosshair. 

Quiet grumbles came from the man. The mirialan female watched slyly as he toyed with his broken comm unit, damaged from their roll downhill. It sparked and trailed some smoke. 

It was just a seconds mistake. Crosshair laid his rifle on the ground to rip the comm off his arm guard. Seizing the tiny moment, Ryki lunged forwards and grabbed the only weapon that laid between them, quickly turning the barrel to point it at Crosshair. He on the other hand jerked back in shock at the woman's sudden advance. Scowling, Crosshair hesitantly raised his hands in surrender. 

Ryki smirked, "Now. I don't want to hurt you so, don't even think of trying to attack me else I'll gun you down here." 

"Hmm, go ahead." 

Ryki flinched, "I-I will!". Crosshair gave her a daring look in return. The mirialan felt his judgemental glare. Her muscles in her arms began to ache just by carrying the weight of the weapon, let alone the sudden tenseness of the situation. The lean sniper noticed the nervousness course through her and grinned darkly, "Don't make promises you cannot full fill, little lady." 

Clenching her jaw in anger she jabbed the nuzzle of the rifle into his face. Crosshair growled and gripped the barrel with his hands, pushing her back with sudden force as he stood up. Crosshair towered over the mirialan, intimidating her by his height alone. Ryki faltered as the rifle was ripped off her hands then used it to push the woman against a tree. A puff of air left Ryki's lips while she struggled to push Crosshair off her. 

"You will surrender to the Empire," he said in his snakey voice sending chills through the woman in an unpleasant way.  Ryki tried to claw at his face with her free hands only for the commander to catch them and pin them forcefully above her head. "Don't make me hurt you" his eyes darkened with danger and purpose.

Just as the green-skinned woman was about to bark back her eyes fixed to a pair of glowing red lights just behind Crosshair's shoulders. Flight instincts kicked in and Ryki began to violently fight against Crosshair's hold. The clone growled and tried to force the woman to be still. Cross released her hands to use his rifle, then she shouted, "Behind you!" 

Then he noticed where her line of sight landed. "No sudden movements. Look behind you," Ryki whispered to him and shrunk behind his form. The sniper cautiously turned with his rifle at the ready, only to have some colour fade off his already pale face.

"Oh, kriff..."