Spending every minute of his downtime searching for the torture chamber he'd seen in the videos he'd watched, Hunter was starting to doubt he would ever find these horrible places. The cruiser was so big and he was just one man, there was no way he could search the entire ship on his own. But he wasn't about to ask the victims what they remembered of those times, he was trying to heal the men not dredge up more painful memories. But without a clue on where to start looking, he wasn't sure if he would ever have the chance to rip out the last reminders of Demolish's evil and cast them aside.
But as much as he wanted to keep searching, Hunter knew he had to focus on his lads and try to put them back together at the same time. So with a heavy sigh, he climbed out of the ventilation shaft he'd been using to speed his search and landing lightly in the corridor. Straightening his tunic and settling his garrison cap in place, he tugged on his gloves and patted the pouch at his hip. He had so much to keep on top of, so many of his lads had been tainted by evil and now Hunter had to try and fix it.
Looking every inch the competent leader he was meant to be, Hunter returned to the main crew area and relaxed a little. He was still separated from them by rank but he felt more secure in his own skin when he was surrounded by the burble of voices and the bustle of his lads moving about in their own daily routines.
'good morning, Sir.' Aquila called, striding over to join Hunter outside the mess.
'good morning, Aquila.' Hunter replied, still finding it a challenge to deal with Aquila's uniqueness but he was learning. 'I hope I didn't keep you waiting long.'
'not at all, Sir. I only arrived a couple of minutes ago.' Aquila offered, glancing at his chrono quickly. 'shall we, Sir?'
'of course, no doubt the General has another busy day for us.' Hunter nodded, entering the mess and heading for the servery. 'there was actually something I wanted to discuss with you, Aquila.'
'of course, Sir. What did you want to discuss?' Aquila replied, collecting his tray and following Hunter to one of the tables.
'there are a few things but specifically, I want to know more about you.' Hunter shrugged, taking a seat at one of the tables. 'you're not like anyone else I've ever encountered.'
'in what way, Sir?' Aquila asked, settling and starting to eat.
'I've never know anyone to be so particular with the way they eat or stick so rigidly to routines.' Hunter offered, sipping his kaf contentedly. 'I'm not bothered by it, I just want to understand.'
'there was a fault with my vat, depriving me of vital nutrients at a young age. As a result, I was hatched with a brain deficiency. Nothing severe enough to warrant termination but it does make my life a little harder.' Aquila explained, eyes down turned as he scraped his scrambled eggs off his toast and set the damp toast aside. 'one of the medics in my last company explained that it's called autism.'
'and this autism is the main reason why you cling to routines and regulations?' Hunter asked, fascinated by the way Aquila made sure all his foods were separate before he started on his eggs.
'that's right, Sir. I find it easier to cope with a strict routine and clear direction in everything. I used to struggle with daily life but now that I have my routines firmly in place, it's easier to cope.' Aquila confirmed, looking up from his plate.
'I can see how that might be beneficial.' Hunter acknowledged, bracing for the hardest part of this conversation. 'would I be correct in thinking that Demolish turned your autism into a weapon to force your compliance?'
Almost instantly, Hunter regretted his words. Aquila tensed up and dropped his fork, a full body shudder taking over as he sat there. Making a rapid choice, Hunter stood and came around to sit beside Aquila, pulling him close and trying to help him through whatever was going on in his head. All Hunter had done in his life and he still felt totally unprepared for this.
'I thought I was doing the right thing, never questioning orders and giving my all to my role. I didn't know any different, I trusted my Commander as I was trained to do. I wasn't trained to deal with the curse of Demolish. I didn't know what to do, we're trained to never question our seniors.' Aquila uttered, leaning into Hunter's chest. 'I thought it was all normal behaviour away from Kamino.'
'it's not your fault, Aquila. You're another victim of that monster. He took advantage of your unique mental state and turned you into his puppet. You are not to blame, for any of what you were pushed into.' Hunter soothed, once again wondering if he would ever succeed with pulling the 796h back together.
'I wish there was some way to help the men understand that I'm not like that. I'm not the monster they think I am, I just don't know how to prove it.' Aquila sighed, drawing back slowly.
'there might be a way, but it will take time.' Hunter offered, releasing his grip slowly. 'a two step process that should get you back onside with the lads.'
'I'd like that Sir.' Aquila nodded, picking up his fork again.
Shuffling over a little and dragging his meal over to him, Hunter settled back in to finish breakfast as he contemplated how best to help Aquila get back in with the rest of his lads. There were a few ideas that might work but only two struck Hunter as being most likely to work.
'I know Demolish had some sort of torture chamber somewhere onboard but I can't find it. Do you know where it is?' Hunter asked, reaching out to lightly squeeze Aquila's shoulder.
'he had more than one and I know where they all are.' Aquila nodded, taking another bite and turning his gaze back to Hunter. 'he had six of them scattered through the lowest levels.'
'tonight, after the lads have all gone to bed, can you show me where they are?' Hunter requested, aiming for a conversational tome instead of an order.
'of course, Sir.' Aquila confirmed, finishing off his eggs and starting on his meat. 'I still have the map I made so I would never get lost again. I didn't want to be beaten again.'
'you don't have to worry about that anymore, Aquila. I won't allow any violence among the lads outside training.' Hunter insisted, scraping up the last scraps of his eggs. 'would it be helpful if you were given a new regs manual, one aimed to help you avoid anymore poisonous influences?'
'I believe so, Sir, but until I had such a manual, I couldn't be sure.' Aquila shrugged, looking around the mess slowly.
'I see.' Hunter grinned, his plans coming together. 'now, just what has the General got in store for me today?'
'it's all right here for you Sir.' Aquila replied, setting his datapad on the table and bringing up the document. 'another busy day, Sir.'
