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ashes-2-ashes57cba · 4 months

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The Bad Batch: Specter

Episode 4: Cornered

edited by @ryleeeeeenn *kriff: strong expletive warnings: there's an innuendo, if you want to call that a warning

“Idaflor,” Hunter pointed on the display, “that’s where we’ll go.”

“But Idaflor’s not even inhabited,” Wrecker complained.

“That’s the point, vod. It makes it the perfect place to hide out,” Specter said, draping her arm across his shoulders.

“‘Hide’?” Omega repeated, “but I’ve been stuck on Kamino my whole life. Can’t we explore?” The girl slumped in her seat.

“Not right now,” Hunter sighed. “We have to wait for things to settle down.”

“We can explore on Idaflor,” Specter said, ruffling Omega’s hair.

“Well, we won’t be doing either,” Tech spoke up. Specter groaned, knowing the news was not going to be good. “We don’t have enough fuel, and we are also entirely out of rations. Without the Republic to provide us supplies, we’ll have to acquire these necessities on our own.”

“Well, we got a bigger problem,” Echo announced as he entered from the cockpit, “Comm chatter has our ship’s signature on a wanted list.”

“Aw, it’s nice to be wanted,” Specter mused. Hunter shook his head at her remark.

“So we scramble it,” Tech shrugged.

“You can do that?” Wrecker asked, amazed.

“Of course I can do it. But I need to land in order to perform those modifications. By my calculations, the closest planet is… Pantora.” The planet and its basic information appeared on the display.

During the war, the Batch had only visited Pantora for brief moments while they were on leave. Those experiences had been hardly memorable, other than the planet’s dense population and Republic allegiance. It wasn’t the worst option by a long shot.

“Well, Pantora it is,” Hunter confirmed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pantora was a risky stop. At this point, any inhabited planet in the galaxy was a risky stop, but luckily the Batch touched down on Pantora undetected. The port was small and busy, and Specter hoped they could keep a low profile long enough to get out of there. More importantly, she hoped Tech was right that he could scramble the Marauder’s code.

Specter had changed into civvies before they landed. Though she wasn’t too happy to be without her armor, the simple clothes worked as a disguise. The plan was to stay with Wrecker and Tech while they worked on the ship, but she had a feeling Hunter and Echo would need reinforcements as they went to trade in the city, and given her experience with blending in with local populations from previous missions, she was the obvious choice.

“Why’d you have to tell me we’re out of rations? Now I’m starving!” Wrecker whined as he followed Tech out of the Marauder.

“Our priority is scrambling the ship’s signature key,” Tech reminded.

“No, that’s your priority,” Wrecker grumbled as the two walked out of earshot to haggle their way out of checking in while they restocked and refueled. Specter giggled, pulling out a case of supplies and spare parts, rummaging through it and searching for anything that might afford the Batch a few credits.

“Woah, what’re you wearing?” Specter eyed Echo as he came into view.

“Tech has a bunch of spare droid parts lying around. Pretty convincing, right?” Echo saluted. Specter smiled and shook her head, stretching her arms over her head before grabbing another case to sort through.

“Specter, you have tattoos?” Omega asked, coming down from her new room.

“Hmm? Oh, I sure do!” Specter smiled, pulling up her sleeve and flexing her right arm, which was covered fully in ink.

A knife wrapped around her wrist with a wing extending up her outer forearm. On her upper arm, CT across and 9904/5 down, the Batch’s half skull insignia beside 99. Specter turned her arm, each of the Batchers’ helmets ran up and down her arm, Crosshair’s was beside hers.

“Echo’s was a more recent addition,” she explained. Omega carefully brushed her fingers over the woman's skin, tracing the lines of ink and turning her arm back around.

“What's this one?” she asked, pointing at a circular symbol on her shoulder. “It looks like a moon!”

“I actually don't know. Some sort of runes I guess. The locals said it was a symbol for divine strength and I said ‘sure, why not?’” said Specter. Omega giggled.

“Do all of you have tattoos?” the girl asked.

“Wrecker is the only one who doesn’t; he’s not a big fan of needles. But even so, I like to think of our tattoos as just another thing that connects us, even if it’s just ink under our skin…” she trailed off, her mind drifting to Crosshair’s absence. Omega gently put her hand on Specter’s.

“I’m sure he misses you too,” she said, seeming to read her mind. Specter smiled, patting the girl’s head and nodding towards the main hold where Hunter was scavenging parts to sell in a bag. He handed the bag to Omega before grabbing hold of an explosive; Specter grimaced.

“Wrecker won’t be happy,” she commented.

“Well, he’ll have to choose: explosives or food,” he chuckled before leaving the ship after Echo and Omega.

Wrecker and Tech were already working outside, unloading and clearing things out of the way so Tech could make the modifications he needed.

“You can’t sell that explosive. It’s our last one,” Wrecker protested as Hunter put the explosive in the bag.

“And it’s the only thing we have worth any money,” Hunter reminded him.

“You wanna eat, don’t you?” Specter said, patting his shoulder as she walked past him to where Tech was. Wrecker groaned in complaint.

“Why do Spec, Tech, and I have to do all the repairs while you get to go sightseeing?”

“‘Sightseeing’?” Omega echoed with excitement.

“No, no. This is a supply run,” Hunter insisted, fixing a glare at Wrecker for exciting Omega. “In and out, quickly and quietly.”

“Yeah. And you stick out too much,” Echo commented.

“Oh, and you don’t?” Wrecker argued.

“Not dressed like this.” Echo lowered his mask, looking more like a droid.

“Then why is Specter dressed in civvies?”

“She’s backup,” Hunter answered as she gave a two-fingered salute, “now if you’re done complaining, let’s get moving. Omega, you’re with us.” The girl cheered and followed Echo and Hunter out of the hangar.

“Be careful!” Specter shouted after them.

“And bring back something good to eat!” Wrecker added. Tech looked up from his scanner after they had gone.

“Specter, I’ll need you up at the neck to recalibrate the system’s output feed as well as the code matrix,” he instructed.

“Alright, get me up there,” Specter nodded, rolling her shoulders. She stepped into Wrecker’s interlaced hands and was boosted up onto the upper hull of the Marauder, Tech tossed her the necessary tools. She pulled off the panel that covered the neck, peering through the hardware. “You said the code matrix too?”

“Correct. It will synthesize the new signature throughout the ship,” Tech affirmed.

“Right!” Specter set to work.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Specter swung her legs as she watched Tech and Wrecker work on the ship’s signature. Her work had finished only a while ago, and as the afternoon sun beat down on them, she began to worry about Hunter, Echo, and Omega. She groaned loudly in complaint.

“Are you done yet? My back hurts.”

“Well, an easy remedy would be to stop slouching,” Tech replied. Specter slowly straightened her back. “And as for our repairs… best find something to do in the meantime.”

“Specter, come in,” Hunter’s voice startled her over the comm.

“If you’re getting food, make sure whatever you get me is medium spicy,” she replied.

“Not that. I’ll need you here. Echo is going to be… preoccupied, and I’ll need someone here,” he said.

“He’s going to sell me for cheap,” Echo protested. Specter burst out laughing, holding her stomach. “2000 credits is not funny!” She only laughed harder, struggling to catch her breath.

“Echo, honey, Cross would have sold me for a meiloorun. Be grateful they thought you were worth that much.” She hopped down from the Marauder and waved a farewell to Tech and Wrecker. “If you can scrape a little more, make the deal, Hunter. I’ll meet you guys shortly. Have fun, Echo,” she teased, making her way out of the hangar and towards Hunter.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hunter’s comm signal was sporadic at best, and with the city teeming with diverse life, interfering frequencies could have been the answer. Specter blended in easily enough, but she still made sure to avoid the ever-present Imperial soldiers while trying to navigate the bazaar of vendors, all while somehow finding her teammate.

She continued to wander the market, heading in the direction of Hunter’s last signal. More than once, she paused to sample various commodities from eager vendors before scolding herself to stay on task. The sky began to darken. She hoped Hunter and Omega weren’t too far off. The sooner they found each other, the better.

Worry formed a knot in her stomach as she roamed the dimming streets. Of course she trusted Hunter to keep an eye on Omega… but she didn’t trust that Omega wouldn’t wander off. The girl was still too young and naive to realize how dangerous the galaxy was, which was adorable but stressful at the same time. She whacked her comm against her hand, hoping that would somehow strengthen Hunter’s signal. When it inevitably didn’t, Specter let out a frustrated hiss.

“We really need to modify these things if the coverage is gonna be so spotty,” she mumbled to herself. She ducked into an alleyway just as Imperial troops marched by; sighing with relief when her comm finally beeped again.

“Wrecker, Tech, Specter, Echo. Come in,” Hunter reported in urgently.

“Finally! I read you loud and clear–”

“I lost Omega. Somebody attacked us,” he cut her off, sounding out of breath and frantic. Specter’s heart skipped a beat, dreading every possibility and worst case scenario.

“You lost her?” she cried, reeling. As generally friendly as the locals were, Pantora was not the place to get lost in as a young girl.

“Somebody who?” Wrecker asked.

“A woman. Highly trained. She’s after the kid,” Hunter panted.

“‘Kriff,” Specter swore under her breath; being a target made things worse. “I’m on my way,” Specter huffed as she scanned through the crowd; she knew she didn’t have Hunter’s tracking skills, but what she did have was speed and stamina, so she could at least try and cover as much ground as possible.

“I’ll tap into the central security network. There should be enough cameras in this city to find her,” Tech chimed in.

Specter ran through the city, passing through alleyways and peering behind vendor stalls for any sign of Omega or a suspicious woman.

“I have eyes on Omega. She is heading towards the maintenance tunnels, northwest at 155. Specter you are closest to intercept,” Tech reported into the comm.

“On it,” she relayed, changing course, “just tell me who I’m— oof!” Specter and whoever she bumped into fell back onto the ground. “I am so sorry! I wasn’t watching where I was going,” she apologized, reorienting herself and looking over the stranger as they both stood up and brushed themselves off. A woman dressed in armor-lined clothing, sporting a blaster and helmet concealing her face, except for her eyes… which were intently tracking something over Specter’s shoulder. The clone slowly turned her head, seeing the maintenance tunnel a short distance away. “Though it looks like you were watching exactly where you were going,” she muttered.

The woman threw a punch that Specter easily saw coming; she caught her fist with her opposite hand and brought it over her shoulders, lifting her up with her other hand and throwing her down onto the ground. The woman grunted but quickly got up, eyeing her opponent. Specter stood in front of her, blocking her path.

“I like your tats,” she said, nodding. “Got those anywhere else?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Specter said with a smirk.

“Well, I’m sure under different circumstances, we could have been great friends.”

“We still can if you would just leave the kid alone,” Specter offered. The woman seemed to consider it.

“One night with you… or more money than you can imagine,” the woman seemed to ponder her options. “Sorry to say, as tempting as you are, it’s not enough to buy me out,” the woman shrugged before trying to rush past Specter. But the clone extended her leg just as fast, kicking the woman in her stomach back a few feet.

“Nice try, but you’ll have to be faster than that,” Specter warned before stepping forward and moving to strike. This time, the woman blocked her punch too, initiating an exchange of fists, blocks, and dodges. The woman was indeed highly trained, enough so that Specter was both surprised and irritated that she hadn’t given in yet. The woman struck Specter’s lower ribs with her fists, causing her to double over, just as the woman brought up her armored knee. Specter grunted, tasting metal in her mouth. She grunted, quickly turning her head and spitting out blood. “Now I really don’t like you,” she growled.

Specter tried her best to center herself, landing a few more blows to the woman’s side. Exhaustion was creeping into the corners of her vision. She was tired, hungry and disoriented, but giving Omega time to escape motivated her to keep going.

One of her punches failed to land, and in that moment of weakness, with her stance just off, her attacker managed to strike the pressure points in her shoulders, neck, and back. Specter gasped, crying out as her muscles stiffened and she fell to the ground.

It was a dirty move, one that left her momentarily paralyzed and helpless as she watched the woman slink down the maintenance tunnels toward Omega.

Specter scolded herself for not seeing it sooner, for being so caught up in the fight she forgot to look for her opponent’s tells… or when her own tells were being analyzed. If only she’d realized a second sooner.

“Tech,” Specter strained into her comm.

“Are you alright?” he replied.

“Yeah,” she groaned, her muscles had already started to relax, allowing her to move again. “Hunter wasn’t kidding when he said she was highly trained… she took me out with a nerve strike, but it's wearing off. Just a bruised or broken rib, I think. I only hope I bought Omega some time.” She grunted as she pushed herself off the ground, wobbling on unsteady legs and holding onto nearby crates for support.

“I don’t have eyes in the tunnels, but two sensors just went off in the western sector” Tech chimed in.

“Dank ferrick,” Specter hissed. That would mean the woman was still hot on Omega’s trail. She looked around, searching for anything that might be of use, smirking when she spotted a local pull up to a nearby shop on a speeder bike. She ran up to the vehicle, powering it up and revving the engine.

“Hey! My bike!” its owner shouted as she mounted the bike.

“Sorry, my kid’s in trouble!” she said before speeding off out of sight.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hunter, Specter just encountered the attacker, and lost,” Tech reported. Hunter stumbled in his tracks; Specter was more proficient in hand-to-hand combat, but if she was beaten in a fight… his worry for Omega increased.

“Where’s Omega now?”

“She is hanging from a maintenance tower skyway,” Tech told Hunter as he ran through the streets.

“Hanging?” he hissed incredulously.

“For now. I suggest you hurry,” Tech urged.

“I’m en route,” Specter chimed in. She practically flew past Hunter on the bike, skidding to a stop in front of him. Specter tossed her hair back and revved its engine.

“Get on, pretty boy!” she called. He wasted no time hopping on the bike, holding onto her as she sped off.

“‘Pretty boy’?” he questioned.

“Don’t question it,” Specter said, waving off his incredulous tone. They wove through the sky-lanes, keeping their eyes up in hopes of spotting Omega.

“There she is!” Hunter shouted over the roaring engines of the speedway, pointing over her shoulder.

Specter spotted her a second later, and her heart immediately sank. Omega was indeed dangling from the top of the maintenance tower, held up by her pursuer. Specter accelerated, helpless as Omega fell from the tower into the cargo bed of a speeder. The woman immediately followed. Their bike was in fast pursuit, coming closer to the speeder when the woman opened fire.

Specter swerved, then expertly maneuvered the bike to avoid the blasts. As she did so, Omega crawled over to the side and raised the cargo bed, causing the woman, as well as a few crates, to fall toward the ground; the girl held on tightly, hoping not to slip while reaching out towards the two.

“Hunter! Specter!” she whimpered nervously. Specter carefully approached while Hunter reached out towards her. “Look out!” she cried suddenly. They turned to see the woman rapidly approaching them in a stolen speeder with the intent to ram into them. Specter pulled up hard, twisting through the air as she struggled to get situated back on the bike and back into the lanes.

“I fly, you shoot,” Specter instructed before accelerating again. Hunter grabbed his pistol and started shooting at the woman, careful not to hit Omega. He adjusted his aim, firing at the speeder’s engine instead; as it slowed down, Specter took the chance to dive toward the girl. Hunter reached out and grabbed Omega just as she lost her grip and fell, pulling her up to sit between him and Specter.

“Hold on, kid. We’re not out of this yet,” he said, readying the grenade he’d apparently failed to sell, Omega tightening her hold around Specter’s waist. “Spec, get behind her.” Specter smirked at his plan. She put the bike in reverse, allowing the woman’s speeder to pass them, then, as Specter drifted the bike to change its direction, Hunter tossed the grenade onto the speeder. It exploded just as the trio made their escape back to the Marauder with no sign of the woman following them.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Revving the bike’s engine, Specter sped the trio back towards the port, screeching to a stop as she landed just in front of the Marauder. A team of droids scurried out of the way as Tech and Echo emerged from the inside of the ship, Wrecker had only a couple more panels to replace on the ship’s exterior.

“Aww I missed all the action,” Wrecker whined.

“Scrambling the ship’s signature wasn’t fun, Wrecker?” Specter teased as he replaced the final panel. “What’s with all the droids?” she questioned, watching the little parade of droids leave the hangar.

“Echo made some friends to help with the repairs,” Wrecker explained with a laugh.

“Were the theatrics really necessary? You almost hit my ship,” Tech said, seemingly disinterested in the group’s return.

“Tech, we have to go now!” Hunter insisted, helping Omega off the bike. The two rushed into the ship with Wrecker close behind them. Specter hesitated, running her hand over the vehicle.

“Specter,” Echo warned, with the same tone he might’ve used to scold a misbehaving Loth-cat, “we can’t keep the bike.” The woman groaned, trudging over.

“Wishful thinking, I know,” she grumbled. He merely shook his head, trying to hide a smile as he stepped to the side and allowed her to enter. “Are we clear to fly?”

“Technically, yes,” Tech answered, “though I still would have liked to-”

“Later, please.” Specter grabbed his shoulder and shoved him into the pilot’s chair, then flopped into her seat beside him. She started takeoff procedures without a second to waste while Tech grumbled about how he would have preferred to run a diagnostic of the ship before takeoff. He got over it soon enough, manning the controls and flying them off of Pantora and into the safe isolation of space.

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“She has to be a bounty hunter,” Hunter sighed, putting down his bag and sitting behind Tech. Specter stood up and let Echo take her seat, standing next to Hunter while Omega stood in the middle of them all.

“That’s what I was thinking,” Specter added. “She said something about Omega being worth ‘more money than I could imagine,’ and I can imagine quite a lot. We need to be careful, I doubt she’s the only one.”

“What’s a ‘bounty hunter?” the girl asked.

“Someone hired to retrieve targets,” Echo explained.

“And you appear to be the target,” Tech added.

“Me?” Omega cried.

“Hey, don’t scare the kid,” Wrecker scolded.

“We have to find out who she is and who hired her,” Hunter said.

“And why they’re after her…” Specter said. She turned to see Omega’s brow furrowed with worry, a frown on her face. “Hey, Meg, look at me, don’t worry,” she said gently, kneeling to the girl’s level. She put her hands on her shoulders, “We’ll protect you. You’re safe with us, I promise.” Omega rushed forward to hug Specter, who returned the girl’s warm embrace and rubbed her back soothingly. “Wrecker, why don’t you get Omega settled in her room so she can rest up for our trip?”

“Sure thing, boss,” nodded Wrecker. Specter let Omega go and watched as the two left the cockpit.

Hunter was the first to break the silence. “I don’t like this… if Omega’s a target of the Empire, laying low is going to be more difficult than we anticipated.”

“We have to figure out who hired that bounty hunter,” Specter agreed. “But it’s not going to be easy now that we’re no longer on the Republic’s orders.” “About that,” Echo said, “I might have a connection on Ord Mantell that might get us the information we need. It’s risky, but during the war he was a trusted source by the Jedi.”

“You had me worried at ‘might’, ‘risky’, and ‘was’,” Specter quipped.

“I’m open to other ideas,” Echo looked to the other members of the Batch. When they remained silent, he continued, “look, I don’t like it either but the sooner we find out what the Empire wants with Omega, or who wants her in the first place, the better.”

“So, Ord Mantell it is,” Hunter mused.

“Charting our course,” Tech said from the pilot's seat. “I only hope your so called ‘contact’ is still friendly.”

The ship lurched into hyperspace, Specter found herself beside Hunter, sitting in comfortable silence as she gazed out the viewport of the Marauder.

So much had changed in so little time, she only hoped their family would be quick enough to adapt. She glanced back towards Omega’s makeshift room. The girl had fallen asleep in Wrecker’s lap, clearly exhausted from the chase. Specter couldn’t help but smile at the pair, thanking every star that Omega had made it back to them safely, and hoping that Ord Mantell would give them the answers and sanctuary they needed.

In case you were wondering from that little moment between Fennec and Specter: Specter is bisexual!

#Star wars #Star wars oc #the Bad batch #the Bad batch hunter #tbb hunter x oc #tbb hunter #tbb crosshair #tbb tech #tbb wrecker #tbb echo #clone force 99 #the Bad batch oc #tbb oc #sw tbb #f!oc #fennec shand

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notgonnaedit · 5 months

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Healer's Heart

Cornered

Summary: When Order 66 ushers in a new era, Althea and the Batch must find their place

Pairing: Bad Batch x Teen!OFC (clones being good brothers/dads)

Chapter summary: Low on supplies, the Batch stop on a planet, but a mysterious woman has plans to take Omega

Warnings: Canon-typical violence, implied rape but nothing happens, protective Hunter, scared Althea, scared Omega, big brother Wrecker, Echo getting sold, Fennec being mysterious, Hunter comforts Althea (If I miss a tag LMK)

Master list

"Idaflor, that's where we'll go." Hunter pointed to the monitor, singling out a planet in the Outer Rim.

"But Idaflor's not even inhabited." Wrecker complained as he leaned on Omega's chair.

"Which makes it the perfect place to hide out." Hunter reasoned.

"Hide?" Omega asked, obvious displeasure in her voice. "But I've been stuck on Kamino my whole life. Can't we explore?"

Hunter shook his head. "Not right now. We have to wait for things to settle down."

"Feels like it never will." Althea muttered.

"Well, we won't be doing either." Said Tech. "We don't have enough fuel, and we are also entirely out of rations. Without the Republic to provide us with supplies, we'll have to acquire these necessities on our own."

Echo walked in from the cockpit. "Well, we've got a bigger problem." He held up his datapad. "Comm chatter has our ships signature on a wanted list."

"So we scramble it." Tech shrugged.

"You can do that?" Althea asked.

"Of course I can do it, but I need to land in order to perform those modifications." Tech pressed a few buttons on the controls. "By my calculations, the closest planet is... Pantora."

The star map changed to the mention planet, blinking with blue light.

"Well, Pantora it is." Hunter said. Everyone walked away to get ready to go, but Omega stayed behind. She rested her head on her arms, gazing up at the screen.

"Pantora is is." She sighed, a smile on her face.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

After Tech landed the ship, he and Wrecker went out to start repairs. "Why'd you tell me we're out of rations?" The demo man asked. "Now I'm starving."

"Our priority is scrambling the ship's signature key." Tech reminded him.

Wrecker grunted in frustration. "Your priority."

A coughing turned their attention to the building. A Sullustan stood in the door. "Are you fellas here for repairs?"

"Just a minor calibration and fuel." Tech said as the alien walked over.

"Have at it." He said. "Just need to scan your ship in."

The brothers shared a look. Wrecked rose to his full height, towering even more over the Sullustan. "Are you sure about that?"

"I suppose I could skip that step." He conceded.

Wrecker and Tech turned around to go about their business. "Ah, that was easy." The demo said with a grin.

"Aren't you, uh, forgetting something?" The Sullustan asked.

The two turned around. "You...you said you'd skip the step." Wrecker said.

"I could."

"Great!" Wrecker's grin returned, but it faded once the man held out his hand.

"If I had some incentive...of the financial variety." He rubbed his fingers together greedily.

Wrecker leaned over to Tech. "I think he means credits." He whispered.

Tech rolled his eyes as he reached into his pouch, placing the credits in the Sullustan's hand. "Is that sufficient incentive?"

The alien stared at him, prompting Tech to add more. Once he finished, the Sullustan chuckled. "Pleasure doing business with you."

As he walked away, Wrecker punched Tech in the chest. "We're getting the hang of this civilian thing."

Tech rolled his eyes once again. He and Wrecker began to unload the ship with all the tools they would need for the scrambling. It wasn't long before, Echo, Hunter, Althea, and Omega came out, the soldiers dressed in the clothes Cut and Suu and lent them. Echo wore a mismatched outfit with lots of buttons and blinking lights.

(Here's Althea's civilian clothes in case anyone forgot)

Hunter held a detonator in his hand and a backpack in the other. Wrecker groaned when he saw it. "You can't sell that explosive. It's our last one."

"And it's the only thing we have worth any money." Hunter shoved it into his backpack before slipping it over his shoulders. "You wanna eat, don't you?"

"Why do Tech and I have to do all the repairs while you get to go sightseeing?" The demo man asked.

Omega perked up. "Sightseeing?"

"No, no, no." Hunter said quickly. "This is a supply run. In and out, quickly and quietly."

Althea bit her lip to keep from laughing. Hunter had never shut down an idea that fast. Not even when Tech and Wrecker made a bomb out of a box.

"Yeah." Echo added. "And you stick out too much."

"Oh, and you don't?" Wrecker snapped back.

Echo pulled down his mask. "Not dressed like this." It was true. The ARC passed convincingly as a droid with his costume.

"Alright. Let's get moving." Hunter ordered. "Omega, you're with us."

The blonde fist pumped. "Yes!"

As the four left the port, Wrecker shouted after them. "Hey! Bring back something good to eat."

"We will!" Althea called back. She turned back to the others and picked up her pace to keep up.

•°•°•°•

Walking through the city, Althea saw the people of Pantora were very lively. Speeder bikes zoomed over head, people traded in the markets. Omega was fascinated as well. She turned her head every which way, not having enough time to soak everything up. Hunter glanced down at her and Althea, a ghost of a smile appearing when he saw their interest. But he frowned when he saw a parade of clone troopers marching through the streets. People cheered as they walked by.

"What are they celebrating?" Omega asked.

"The end of the war." Echo told her.

Althea turned her head at a familiar voice. Not far from them was a hologram of an Imperial Admiral repeating a message. "Look. Chain code post like on Saleucami."

Hunter held his elbow in his hand, rubbing his chin with the other. "Things are changing quicker than I thought. Let's get what we came for and get out of here."

"But the war is over." Voiced Omega. "Isn't that good?"

"Depends on which side you're on." Echo remarked.

The four moved on to find a stall to sell to.

•°•°•°•°•

Meanwhile, Tech looked inside the Marauder with a flashlight. "The signature spiral key should be embedded below the rear parallax inverters."

Wrecker made incoherent grumbling noises. "Just tell me what to rip out."

Tech resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. He was sure if Althea was there she would remark, "If you roll your eyes any harder they're gonna roll outta your head." As she always did when he or Crosshair did such an action.

"Well, start with that." Tech pointed to a large part of the engine that Wrecker removed with ease.

•°•°•°•°•

The merchant inspected Hunter's explosive with interest. His many eyes large under his glasses. The Sergeant glanced behind him. Omega was looking at the various wares and Althea was examining them as well. "Hmm. No sale." The merchant decided.

Hunter took the detonater. "Look, this is a pyro denton worth at least 1,800 credits."

"Maybe in the black market, but I'm trying to run a reputable business here."

Black market? Althea was the one who told Hunter how much it was worth. How had she... The Sergeant's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of clattering. Behind him, Omega had knocked over a cup.

"Hey, kid!" The merchant said harshly. "You break it, you buy it."

"Sorry." The blonde said as she began to pick up the wares. Among them was a doll. Echo looked at it with her, quietly telling the girl about how it looked like one of his old friends.

The merchant looked at him with interest. "Of you're looking to sell something, how about your droid?"

Echo's head snapped up. "Droid?"

Hunter fumbled for an excuse. "Uh, he's a....he's a military prototype."

The merchant rubbed his chin. "Military, eh? Hmm. I'll give you 2,000."

Hunter looked back at Echo. "Hmm. Give me a minute."

Echo shook his head. He could practically hear the gears turning in Hunter's head. "No, no, no. You can't be serious."

The Sergeant rested his arm over Echo's shoulder. "We need the credits. Once we get the supplies, I'll give you the signal and you can leave."

Echo folded his arm and a half. "Fine, but not at that price. I am worth more than 2,000."

Hunter nodded. "Right." He turned back to the merchant. "Make it 4,000."

"Three."

"Deal."

As Hunter led Echo over, Althea tried her best to keep from laughing. How, in a matter of seconds, had Hunter just sold him? He would never hear the end of it. The medic turned to talk to Omega about it, but the girl wasn't there. Althea's instincts kicked in. She needed to find the girl. The street couldn't go too far. Deciding she could handle herself, Althea ran down the street, weaving through the crowd to find Omega.

Hunter took the credits from the merchant. "Echo, go to your new owner."

The merchant pulled the ARC away. "Yes, whatever you require." He said robotically.

Hunter smiled to himself. He didn't need enhanced senses to catch the sarcasm Echo emitted. He counted the money in his hand before putting it away in his pouch. He turned back, but something was wrong. The girls were gone.

"Omega?" Hunter looked around the stall. "Althea?" Panic began to settle in. Where were they?! The Sergeant found their scent, but they went in separate directions. He clenched his fists. He wanted to find them both now, but he knew Althea would have a better chance than Omega on her own. The younger girl had literally been stuck on Kamino her whole life, at least Althea had some training.

No longer hesitating, Hunter took off down the street, following Omega's scent. He ran as fast as he could. How had she gotten so far so fast? He laid eyes on a doll, cast aside in the gutter. He ran to it and picked it up. It was Omega's. What had caused her to drop it? And someone else's scent mixed in with hers here. Clutching the doll, Hunter ran faster than ever, determined to find Omega.

•°•°•°•

Hunter ran until he saw the blonde girl in the crowd. She was next to a woman with concealed armor and long, twisted hair with orange ribbons through it. "Omega!"

The two turned. "Oh, there's one of my friends now." Omega said brightly. She waved to Hunter, but the Sergeant was put on guard.

"Omega, step away from her." Hunter reached for his knife, eyeing the woman.

"Why?" The girl asked. "She was helping me look for you."

The woman slipped her helmet on. "Yes, Omega and I were getting to know each other." She reached for her blaster.

Hunter gripped his blade, ready to use it. The woman shot first, but Hunter was able to roll over to some crates as Omega screamed. "Hunter!" She grabbed onto the woman in an attempt to stop her, but she was thrown aside.

The Sergeant whipped his blade, throwing it at the woman. She grabbed a top of a barrel and blocked the knife. The blade reverberated as it punctured the lid. The woman grabbed it and threw the lid away in one fluid motion, running to attack Hunter. The Sergeant stopped her, grabbing her wrists. He forced the weapons out if her hands, but she struck with a quick headbutt, and everything went dark.

•°•°•°•°•°•

Althea wandered the streets of Pantora. She looked around, trying to find her bearings. But every street looked the same. All lined with colorful stalls. Welp, she was lost. She figured she should contact Hunter, surely he was looking for her and Omega by now.

The medic brought up her comm device and tapped it. "Hunter? Are you there?"

No response.

"Hunter? Tech? Wrecker? Echo?" Still, nothing.

"No, no, no, no!" Althea tapped her comm again, banging it against her palm. It beeped once before going silent. It was dead. Althea remembered how she had asked Tech to repair it, since it was damaged on Saleucami. But of course, they had to repair the ship instead.

Althea put her comm back in her pocket. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. She was alone, on a strange planet with no one to help her. Despite all the possible dangers that could've happened, only one sprouted in the medic's mind.

Hunter was going to kill her.

She shook her head, pushing it to the back of her worries. Right now, she needed to find her way back to the hangar.

•°•°•°•°•°•

When Hunter awoke, his hands immediately went to his head. It throbbed, pounding with the rhythm of his pulse. What had happened? He was looking for Omega, and then there was a woman. Omega! A sharp gasped escaped him as he stood, mostly from pain. He took his comm. "Wrecker, Tech, Echo. I lost the girls. Somebody attacked us."

"Somebody who?" Asked Wrecker.

Hunter sighed in pain as he gripped a crate for support. "A woman. Highly trained. She's after Omega."

"Yeah, we'll see about that. I'll get the kid." Said Wrecker before clicking off.

"I'll tap into the central security network." Tech said. "There should be enough cameras in this city to find them."

"Listen," Hunter said. "I made a bit of noise out here. I'll find Althea, you get the ship ready to go."

"Well, it's not technically a ship at the moment. And unless you have a team of maintenance droids, it's going to be a while."

"I can help with that." Said Echo. He turned to all the other droids in the storage room. "Gear up, fellas, we're going into the field."

All the astromechs beeped in excitement, but the protocol droid huffed in protest. "I am afraid that is impossible. We are prohibited from leaving this post."

Echo was so sick of this. "Look, the sooner we do this, the sooner you're back in charge."

"Even so," She continued. "I'm no capable of removing our restraining bolts."

Echo spun his scomp. "That's why I'm the supervisor." He undid the bolts on each droid, then led them outside.

The merchant watched in confusion. "Hey! Where do you think you're all going? Get back inside." He faltered when he saw Echo without his mask. "Y-you're not a droid."

"You got me for a bargain." Was all Echo said before leaving.

•°•°•°•°•

Althea walked the streets quickly, her anxiety growing by the minute. It was starting to get dark, but it didn't seem to be because of the sun setting. The streets were less lit where she was, causing her to believe she had entered the underworld of Pantora. Shady figures darted into the shadows as she walked by.

Althea checked her knife in her boot. The last thing she needed was to be unarmed in the sketchy block. As she walked, the hairs on the back on her neck stood on end. She felt eyes on her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure begin to follow her.

(Okay, this is where it gets iffy)

The medic continued to walk, pretending not to notice an additional figure joining the first. Something was wrong. She didn't have any money, or even any food. Althea choked done a gasp when she realized what was happening. She quickened her pace.

But in her speed, she neglected to look far enough ahead. A third man came out in front of her. The girl slammed right into him, knocking herself on to the ground. She stood up as quickly as she could, reaching for her knife.

"Stay back!" She shouted, brandishing her blade.

One of the men chuckled. "Little girl thinks she tough."

Althea felt hand begin to shake. No, stop it, you stupid appendage! One of the men grabbed her wrist, but she twisted her blade into her other hand and sliced him in the chest. The second grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides.

"Aargh!" Althea grunted in defiance, kicking her legs aimlessly. The third man approached her, grabbing her by the neck. He wore a cruel smile, and for the first time since her home was destroyed, Althea felt true fear.

She closed her eyes, bracing for what was to come. But a low voice stopped her attackers.

"Hey!"

(Okay, it's safe now, just a fight scene)

Hunter wasted no time in punching one man in the face. That knocked him to the ground in one hit. A small trickle of blood ran down his temple. He was unconscious if he wasn't dead.

The man Althea had sliced moved to attack, along with the one holding her. Althea didn't get a good look, but Hunter fought with a force she had never seen before.

In no time, the three men were slumped on the ground, beaten within an inch of their lives. Althea picked herself up off the ground, running to the Sergeant.

Hunter didn't hesitate to wrap his arms and her, holding her to him protectively. "Are you okay?"

Althea didn't know how to respond. A soft whimper escaped her, prompting Hunter to hold her tighter. "Why didn't you contact me?" He asked. There was a hint of anger in his voice, but it was drowned by worry.

"I forgot it was broken when I brought it." She whimpered. Tears threatened to fall from her yellow eyes. She closed them shut, but one managed to escape in a hot streak down her cheek.

"I've got you now." Hunter said softly. Deep down, he knew he needed to help Wrecker find Omega. But Althea needed him. He pulled away, keeping his hands on her shoulders. "Wrecker's looking for Omega. Are you up for it?"

Althea sniffed, wiping her nose. "Yeah, I'm okay now." Her eyes said otherwise, but neither of them pressed it.

Hunter kept his arm around her shoulders as they made their way back to the main square. Althea stared at her boots the entire time, not daring to make eye contact.

It wasn't until Tech's voice clicked over Hunter's comms that the duo sped up. "I have eyes on Omega. She went down into the maintenance tunnels. Head northwest, at 155."

"I'm with Omega." Wrecker said a few moments later. "We're on our way."

Hunter breathed a sigh of relief, but he couldn't stop now. "Come on, kiddo." Him and Althea began to run, the older (not technically) of the two trying to contact Wrecker. "Wrecker, where are you?" Hunter asked into his comm. "Wrecker. Do you copy?"

"I do not see Wrecker," Said Tech. "But Omega is hanging from a maintenance tower in the skyway."

Hunter and Althea stopped in their tracks. "Hanging?!" They synced.

"For now, I suggest you hurry."

A speeder hit Althea in the shoulder. She glared at the man who hit her as he dismounted his bike. She looked up at Hunter and saw he was looking at it too.

They ran for it, Hunter driving it while Althea sat behind him. It was a bit difficult, since the Sergeant still wore his backpack, but she managed to hang on.

They zipped through the skyway until they found Omega. The woman was already there, catching her. But they dropped on to the bed of a transport speeder. Hunter tensed and sped up.

Althea couldn't see much from behind Hunter, but she could see Omega manage to dump the bed, right before the woman used her blaster to hit their speeder. They were flung away. Althea let out a scream as Hunter struggled to right the speeder. When he did, he went was fast as possible, grabbing his blaster.

He shot at the woman, who was now riding in her own two seated speeder. Omega was barely hanging on to a strap used to hold down cargo.

Hunter flew the speeder close just as she slipped, catching her just in time. He pulled her up in front of him. "Hold on, kid. We're not put out of this yet. Thea?"

"On it." Althea reached into his backpack and pulled out the pyro denton. She chucked it at the woman and Hunter flew them away as the explosion rang out behind them.

•°•°•°•

Hunter skidded the speeder to a halt in the hangar. "We need to go. Now."

Echo was already in the ship. Tech grabbed his comm. "Wrecker, pick up the pace. We don't have all day." He said nonchalantly.

Just then, Wrecker ran into the hangar, his hands on his knees. "I'm here." He panted.

With everyone together and the ship repaired, the Bad Batch left Pantora.

Hunter let out a sigh as he set his backpack down. "She has to be a bounty hunter." He sat in a rear chair across from Omega.

"A what?" The girl asked.

"Someone hired to retrieve targets." Echo explained.

"And you appear to be the target." Tech added.

Omega's eyes widened. "Me?"

"Hey, don't scare the kid." Wrecker said.

"We have to find out who she's is and who who hired her." Hunter decided. It didn't matter whether Omega was new or not. She was one of them, and nobody messed with her without dealing with them.

Hunter's attention was brought back to Althea. She sat by herself on the floor by one of the consoles, staring blankly at her boots. It had been an overwhelming day, so he decided to give her some space.

•°•°•°•°•°•

Hunter sat by one of the consoles, checking the Republic's old database for bounty hunters. So far, none of them matched the was description. He let out a sigh. How was he supposed to do this?

A soft shuffling noise turned his attention to behind him. Althea stood there, her elbows in her hands. "Sorry." She mumbled. "I should've known better than to sneak past you."

Hunter's gaze softened. "It's okay, kiddo." He knew what she was feeling from her nervous stance. "Do you want to talk about it?" He offered.

"No. Yes?" She slid on to the floor, hiding her face in her knees. "I don't know."

Without a second thought, Hunter sat down next to her. He rested his hand on her shoulder, saying nothing, but speaking volumes.

Althea leaned into his embrace, a soft sniffle only Hunter could hear escaping her. The Sergeant squeezed her shoulder gently, pulling her as close as he could. "You're safe."

"I was so scared." She said tearfully. "If you hadn't shown up–"

"I know." Hunter didn't want to think about what would have happened if he hadn't save her.

"I just wanted to find Omega." The medic sniffled.

"I know." Hunter spoke softly. "Your heart was in the right place. Just don't run off on me again, okay?"

"I'm sorry I worried you." She said.

"It's alright. It's my job to worry." As the leader of their squad, Hunter was constantly responsible for his brothers. It was because of this that Crosshair's.... betrayal hit him so much harder. He shoved those thoughts away. Althea needed him now. "You girls are going to be the death of me."

Althea hummed lightly. Her head was leaning on Hunter's chest. He could feel her heartbeat softly. Probably because they were still both in their civilian clothes. Hunter wondered if she could hear his. Sometimes when he focused, he could hear the heartbeats of his squad.

"I've never seen Echo so surprised." Althea said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Hunter asked.

Her lips curled up in a smile. "The way he spoke when you sold him."

Hunter felt himself smile. "Yeah, I doubt I'll ever hear the end of that."

"What do you think he did while he was a "droid"?" She asked.

"I dunno." Hunter said. He heaved a sigh. "But I bet he..."

The two of them went into a long discussion of Echo's time as a droid. Occasionally, Althea would do her best impression of the ARC, earning a chuckle from both of them.

Hunter stayed with her for a long time, waiting until she fell asleep. Her face was relaxed and she was completely still. The only tell that she was alive was her soft breathing. She had a funny way of doing it too. In through the mouth and out through the nose.

Hunter managed to shift her so he could carry her to her bunk. He set her down on the blanket, the only thing separating her from the cold metal. The Marauder wasn't very cold in temperature, but it's beds could have been better.

Althea hummed softly in her sleep, earning a soft smile from Hunter. He brushed a stray strand of hair off her face. "Goodnight, kiddo."

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#tbb #bad batch #star wars #the bad batch #oc #fanfiction #tbb fanfiction #tbb hunter #tbb omega #tbb tech #tbb wrecker #tbb echo #Healer's Family series

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eriexplosion · 8 months

Text

Moving right along to Cornered

Listen the fact that Hunter was just going to take them to an uninhabited planet to hide out forever. The community themes of season 2 make much more sense as part of the overall plot when you look at that ORIGINAL plan. What if they just go to Idaflor and never see anyone ever again? A great plan!

"Can't we explore?" No Omega you will go to your empty ass planet and you will LIKE IT.

Genuinely the way that Omega is going to influence them is so clear in these early episodes. She wants to go out and engage with the world while Hunter especially wants to withdraw and put up barriers to avoid getting hurt. Omega trusts people and reaches out and it does put her at risk of getting hurt, but it's also one of her biggest strengths, because it's what lets her connect with people, and I think a lot of those connections are going to come into play for season 3.

Just squealing over this, Omega is the reason they all start to branch out with Hunter being the slowest (other than Crosshair of course who has a good excuse for not being ready given the whole Imperial Brainwashing followed by intense torture thing) and I think that the best ending isn't one where he sacrifices himself for them (he would have done that from day one, it's not an ARC) but one where he finally, finally lets himself open up to the world beyond just them, when Hunter lets himself and his family actually thrive instead of survive.

"Without the republic to provide us supplies we'll have to acquire these necessities on our own." Spoken like a man that is aware of the concept of credits but has never had to actually use them before.

The scene with the repairman is great, they are so unfamiliar with the concept of a bribe. Wrecker is so genuinely confused and just to make it clear this is not a Wrecker thing, Tech takes so long to fully grasp that this is what he's asking for too. He heard about this once but has never encountered it in the wild. And Tech tries to be SO SMOOTH about the fact that he doesn't know how much a bribe is supposed to cost.

Obsessed with this face he makes. Boggled! At The Shipyard!

AND IT WASN'T EVEN ENOUGH THE GUY CALLS FENNEC INSTANTLY.

Hunter has found the one (1) item they have that is worth money and it is a SINGULAR EXPLOSIVE. Everything else they own is presumably absolute garbage.

Echo's SUPER confident "NOT DRESSED LIKE THIS!" gets me every time. So proud of this droid disguise.

Do not be alarmed it is I, a harmless protocol droid that happens to talk like a drill sergeant.

Your explosive might be worth 1800 in the black market, and Hunter is still catching up to the fact that there are different markets to begin with.

Love the glimpse of Hunter's college bro self we get with the Selling Echo scene. Come on, it'll be fine, it's just a minor scam!

I AM WORTH MORE THAN 2000. Know ur worth Echo.

What does this look like from the outside that he's discussing the price of the 'droid' with said 'droid'?

Did they ever pay for that trooper doll or did Omega just commit theft with more steps?

I'm sorry I can't breathe looking at this picture. Hunter is so fucking pleased with himself, he did so good with this scam, and in the distance you just have Echo flailing their scomp arm like BROTHER... HELP ME....

The droid supervisor is so funny to me, they really just invented a whole series of protocol droids and made them want nothing more in life than to be a middle manager. And Echo just fucking pulls a blaster on her. She was NOT programmed for this.

Fennec introducing Omega to the wild world of theft with the least subtle fruit stealing I've ever seen.

Cannot get past how attractive the knife kept in the small of Hunter's back is.

Echo has unionized this droid workplace, time to stage a walkout.

I will say Wrecker should not have gone down to Fennec so easily. I blame his likely ongoing migraine from his desperately trying to activate chip.

Hunter stealing the speeder to get Omega, he's really in his crimes era this episode. And I still can't get over how funny his HanGiNG? line is. Please he's SO TIRED.

RIP to this guy that Fennec straight up murders.

Also shout out to this guy who is the most blissfully in his lane person in this episode. Flourishing.

Forgot Fennec also shot a traffic cop following up on the likely violation of multiple people hanging off a vehicle.

Replacements was tense and you know this because the high speed speeder chase is the breather episode.

My crime wife Cid is gonna be here soon and I'm so disappointed that I have to go to bed instead of going onto Rampage DAMN IT.

#the bad batch rewatch

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noblelightfighter · 4 days

Text

Caging the Songbird

Word count: 2376

Prompts: "It's just a scratch." "Forget I asked."

Warnings: breaking an entering, cardiac arrest, CPR, kidnapping. This is how Novali ended up with the bad batch. Fun times.

I figured I might as a well posts these now seeing how some of them are a little more heavy and people are not exactly looking for this anymore. Or reading what I write, so might as well😁 (the freedom is amazing)

They didn't have enough time.

The batch didn't have enough time.

Crosshair didn't have much time. I need to move faster! He thought as he scaled the apartment building.

This next mission from Cid was too important to mess up.

It was too important to not take.

Stopping a former Sepperast’s trade deal of illegal weapons was too important.

The only problem was it was happening at a party. A singing contest of all things.

And the favorite singer gets to serenade the Seppies while the trade takes place.

The Batch can sing though, thanks to the boy Russell and the dragon Inferno, they can all sing very well. But the problem was, the favorite singers were female, and they were NOT going to risk Omega again. Not after Idaflor.

He checked his tracker and saw that he needed to go up one more floor. Almost there.

On their way to the planet that was hosting the event, they made a stop on a moon to refuel and gather supply's, and since they had extra credits to spare, they decided to eat at a restaurant. And there they found good food, good customer service, and the perfect singer(according to Crosshair). A local nobody named Novali Penske.

He reached the floor and quietly crept down the hall to her door, noting the med kit on the wall for some reason.

She served them their food in a cheerful way that put them at ease as she seemed to be oozing peace, and when she wasn't attending them she was singing to the music in the store and acting rather silly when there was nothing else to do. She would put on a performance with some coworkers by re-enacting a Holo show or movie and it was entertaining to some of the Batch, and gave three of them the same idea.

He came to her door and counted a few seconds to center himself.

Hunter asked her if she would be interested in signing up for the singing contest, but she refused, claiming she was not interested. Then Tech asked if she would be willing to do it for credits and she still refused. At that point she noticeably became more wary of them. When Crosshair asked why she was being so stubborn, only making her more on edge, she confessed it was because she was leaving the moon that day after her shift was over. She and her family of thirteen brothers and three sets of parents were moving to a different planet because the Empire was taking over their home by the end of the week and they wanted off before then.

Echo apologized for their behavior and wished her and her family luck with fleeing, earning a side glare from Crosshair.

Crosshair readjusted his hold on his blaster, setting it to stun.

When they all left the restaurant, Crosshair went back to Novali and gave her a tip as an apology for his tone. She took it hesitantly but quickly pocketed it without looking at the credits, and if she had looked more carefully, she would have seen the tracker. He nodded at her and then left, and when he came back to the Havoc Marauder, he changed into his imperial armor and hid in the shadows of the city. He stalked around until Novali left her job and went back to her apartment, and that was when Tech commend him to ask him where he was. He gave a vague answer and that was when Hunter joined in on the conversation and said he was going to hunt Crosshair down if the sniper didn't show back up in ten minutes.

That was thirty minutes ago.

Novali moved fast, he observed, but he was faster.

He knocked on the door and he heard her. “Hang on a sec, Vic! I'm grabbin Biggen!”

Biggen? What was that? A Tooka?

Novali placed her duffel bag on the floor and picked up her rather big jade plant named Biggen, then she cracked open the door and saw the armor.

Her blood froze.

Time froze.

She only saw that kind of armor once. When the Empire first showed up, it wasn't exactly peaceful and there was a small skirmish where many of the people she knew died, but the troopers were wiped out. And it was an experience she never wanted to relive.

Her adrenaline shot up.

They came early?! Why?! What do they want with me? Was it those guys from earlier?!

She slammed the door and tried to lock it, but Crosshair kicked it open and knocked her back. She screamed in fright and threw her potted plant at him, hitting him in the chest and knocking him off as he fired at her and missed. She ran down the hall to a bedroom and locked the door there, panting and shaking violently. She skimmed the room and realized that her only way of escaping was the front door or her windows in the living room, as the windows in her room were barred. This isn't going to be like the fights with the boys. This is life or death!

Crosshair snarled as he brushed the dirt off of his armor and stalked into her apartment. “Come on out, little Songbird. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

Novali grabbed her comm and a bat and called Victor. He answered quickly. “Hey Nova-”

“VICTOR THEY'RE HERE! AT MY APARTMENT! PLEASE HURRY! PLEASE!!” She screamed into her comm. Her fear was now overwhelming her to the point of tears. She knew she didn't have the strength to take this invader on by herself, and if she lost, she would lose her family. Not now! Oh Maker NOT NOW!!

“Who are you calling?” Crosshair called to her as he jiggled the door handle.

“Nova! Take deep breaths!” Victor’s voice turned deadly serious and she knew she needed to listen, but she didn't have time. “I'm almost there! Get down to the lower levels and jump into my vehicle!”

“He’s Outside My Bedroom Door!” She backed up more away from the entrance.

“It's going to be okay, Nova! Keep the comm on and fight dirty! You've fought before!” Novali pocketed her comm and grabbed the large mirror against her wall and braced herself behind it. She didn't know what she was doing, but hoping that the mirror would scare him enough for her to get away.

Crosshair knocked down the door and was met with himself charging at himself. Novali slammed the mirror into him and it slammed him against the wall, scattering glass everywhere and on themselves, earning herself a few cuts before making a mad dash to the front door, only to be greeted by the mercenary with the scarf, except this time he had his helmet on. She tripped over her feet in the middle of the room, but skipped to a squatting position to catch herself.

No… they were working with the Empire. I just gave away our plans to the enemy!

Hunter saw the fear increase as her eyes widened at the sight of him and saw the despair enter in her. This shouldn't be happening. This shouldn't be happening! He thought. “Havoc 4 What-”

Crosshair came around the corner covered in glass, with his blaster up pointing at the girl. She turned around to face him and the pure horror on her face was something he was never going to forget as she sat frozen on the floor staring down the barrel of the blaster.

“DON'T!” Hunter yelled.

“PLEASE!” Novali begged as she lifted up her arms.

Crosshair pulled the trigger and stunned her.

Novali let out a strangled gasp before collapsing to the ground and as she laid there, she took in a few more shaky breaths before she inevitably stopped moving.

Crosshair was smirking triumphantly beneath his helmet. They didn't need to go looking for a singer anymore. They could do the mission now. They had their Songbird. Her wings temporarily clipped from the stun, and laid still on the floor.

Too still.

Oh no.

“NOVA! ARE YOU THERE?! FORGET I ASKED! I'M COMING UP!” Victor's voice rang loud and clear through the comm.

Before Hunter could grasp what just unfolded in front of him, Crosshair quickly rolled the girl over onto her back, pulled out her comm, and blasted it. That snapped Hunter awake. “Crosshair. What have you done?!” His voice was low, almost a whisper.

Crosshair didn't answer his brother as he was checking for vitals. No breath, no pulse. No no no nononono! He removed his helmet and began performing CPR on her. “Hunter! Grab the med kit in the hall!”

Hunter’s blood also went cold. He remembered hearing stories that some of the regs who would go into cardiac arrest when being stunned, but it was so ridiculous sounding that he thought that it was made up, until Tech did some digging and found that it was possible but it was extremely rare. About less than one percent of the universe's population could die from being stunned. “It was an overload of the nervous system after all.”

Hunter ran down the hall and grabbed the med kit off the wall, and thankfully it had a defibrillator. He ran back into the apartment and while Crosshair performed mouth to mouth, he regretfully cut open her shirt and rolled up her tank top to apply the stickers. Before he could activate the machine he heard the sound of a speeder and someone calling for Novali. This wasn't good. They couldn't be caught like this. He removed his helmet. “Crosshair, look for a way out of here! I'll take care of her!” He shoved Crosshair's hands off of Novali and continued the chest compressions.

“It's her boss.” Crosshair said robotically. There was more than one person on the stairs though.

Hunter looked at his brother and saw that Crosshair's face was very neutral. He was hiding something. “Just go!” Hunter ordered as he turned the machine on and the whirring noise only added to the chaos.

Crosshair replaced his bucket and carefully checked his surroundings and heard the many feet ascending the stairs, then the lift started to ping. He quickly shot at it and disengaged it, then he checked outside. They could scale down the outside of the building. They could steal a speeder, and get back to their ship with Novali in tow, if she lives. He heard the “clear!” coming from Hunter followed by the machine jumping her heart. He listened carefully.

Nothing yet.

The feet and yelling were getting closer.

Back into the apartment he went and replaced the door and barred it with a large bookshelf. “We can go through the windows and take a speeder back to the ship.”

Hunter performed mouth to mouth before going back to chest compressions. “And what about her?” He asked, anger clear in his voice.

Crosshair scoffed, but it wasn't genuine. “We take her with us or course.”

“Crosshair if she dies, I'm going to make you sing in a dress for that contest!” Hunter threatened him. He tried the defibrillator again. “Clear!” The machine sent the jolt and it thankfully restarted her heart.

Novali gasped for air and began coughing up fluid from her stomach, so Hunter turned her on her side until she was breathing normally again. Both he and Crosshair let go of the breath they were holding in a collective sigh of relief. Hunter couldn't tell if she was fully awake or not from the way she was moving; reaching out a hand here, legs folding and unfolding, but he was glad she was alive. Then he saw the blood on her arm and pulled down her jacket sleeve and saw the cuts. “What are these?”

Crosshair shrugged. Those cuts were the least of his worries. “It's just a scratch.”

Hunter was going to press further, but the voices were really close now. Hunter replaced his helmet and looked up at Crosshair. “I’m carrying her down. You grab her luggage right there.” He pointed at the duffle bag that was by the door.

Novali felt herself being lifted up by someone…

Maybe dangling or flying outside her apartment building…

Was she dreaming…?

She was definitely flying through the streets with someone… They were warm.

So definitely dreaming.

She was cold?

Why was she cold?

Must scooch closer to warmth!

Novali felt strong arms encircle her.

Warm hands…

Warm hugs…

She missed those touches from her mom and dad…

Divorce sucks…

Who was yelling?

They sounded like her brothers… but not her brothers…

Maybe she should be afraid…?

Hello bed…

🎶Hello Darkness my old friend~🎶

“Is she singing?” Crosshair asked as he watched Tech and Omega stabilize Novali's vitals and cover up her cuts.

“I believe she is.” Tech said.

“I guess nothing can stop her from signing?” Omega awkwardly chuckled.

“Not even death itself, so it seems.” Tech commentated. “However, the question is will she now sing for us, given that we are now fleeing her homeworld for our next mission. For if not, I highly doubt we'll be able to return her home without her fighting us or taking a bribe to keep her quiet.” He looked back up at Crosshair with his brow dipping a bit. “She may endanger our lives if she is left by herself, and that is a high risk. She is now a liability.”

Crosshair didn't think about that…. He just wanted to stop this Separatist at all costs, and in turn help his family earn money. He returned his attention back to the girl on the bunk, who was singing in her stunned state. He felt her peace roll off of her once again, soothing his anxiety and guilt, calming him down from the rush of escaping her moon. “I'll handle it.” He replied.

He took out a toothpick as he moved to sit in a monitor chair and started to clean his weapons. He was confident that he could convince Novali to take a bribe of silence, one way or another. And if not, then she'll just be stuck with them. His squad's safety was more important than hers after all.

#Summerofthebadbatch2024postcredits #“It's just a scratch.”#“Forget I asked.”#the bad batch #tbb #The bad batch Hunter #Tbb Hunter #the bad batch crosshair #Tbb Crosshair #OC Novali #The bad batch tech #Tbb tech #the bad batch omega #Tbb Omega

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walls-actual-ly · 11 months

Text

Wip game bc who is going to stop me, huh?!

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

But because i usually have all the fics for a specific event in one file with the prompts as titles i ll just post the individual titles here if they have some!

They had been the only ones left,

Version I

Let the be our tomb / version II

Star Wars Trash post idaflor

Apocalypse / corrie bingo 1

5 times thire questioned reality and the one time he didn't

Erotic Photography

Banana for Thire II

Febuwhump "forced to hurt a loved one"

Nichts mit Silas

Merlin

Aaand i m tagging @supremechancellorrex @mamuzzy

@the-bees-patella

#and at this point i started to find german fics i wrote last year???#i dont even remember writing them #and they were actually original stuff #wild #and then i found a much longer original story i worked on in 2022?#not even that long ago??#i miss my ocs but fox has a solid grip on me

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photogirl894 · 2 years

Text

"Sun and Rain Part 2: Age of the Empire"

Chapter 11

"Shocks on Pantora"

Pairing: Hunter x fem OC, Echo (more best friend pairing)

A/N: A Christmas/holiday gift for all my lovely readers!! I can guarantee you all will be quite happy with this one and I mean that seriously 😊 Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!! 💜

Taglist: @the-sad-batch , @nimata-beroya , @intrepidmare , @cole-kenxbi , @tech-aficionado , @ladykatakuri , @d1n0-dan , @sammi9498 , @darthzero22 , @scarlettroseog , @tech-deck , @thebadbatchscyare , @chxpsi , @ilikemymendarkandfictional , @4pplecider , @locitapurplepink , @l-lend , @nekotaetae , @eternalwaffle , @merkitty49

《 Chapter 10

》 Chapter 12

All chapters (Part 2) (Part 1)

Explanation: A few unexpected surprises await Kimber and the Bad Batch on the planet of Pantora.

A couple more days had passed without incident. The Bad Batch continued to hover and fly through space as they continued taking time to determine where they should go next to wait out the Empire. Finally, Hunter had decided on a place.

Gathering the squad by their navicomputer, he had Tech pull up a map of the galaxy and pointed to a particular planet. “Idaflor,” he stated. “That’s where we’ll go.”

“But Idaflor’s not even inhabited,” Wrecker countered.

“Which makes it the perfect place to hide out,” said Kimber.

Omega, who was sitting in one of the chairs, fell against the back of it and sighed, “Hide? But I’ve been stuck on Kamino my whole life. Can’t we explore?”

Kimber laid a hand on her shoulder and Hunter answered, “Not right now. We have to wait for things to settle down.”

Though, after that, Tech then informed everyone that Idaflor would have to wait because they were almost out of both fuel and rations and they would need to re-supply on their own without the aid of the Republic. Then Echo came out and told them that comm chatter had their ship’s signature on a wanted list, which Tech was confident he could scramble, but they would need to land in order to do it.

“By my calculations, the closest planet is...Pantora,” stated Tech, pointing to the planet on the map.

“Well, Pantora, it is,” Hunter agreed.

With that in mind, they all dispersed to different parts of the ship while Tech charted a course to Pantora.

Kimber and Hunter sat in the chairs in the cockpit. “Pantora…that’s Kida’s home planet,” she said. Then she fell back against the chair with a sigh. “I really hope she and the other ladies are doing okay. I really want to comm them and check in, but I’m afraid of putting them in danger.”

“Given their skills and aptitude for survival, I’m sure the Koriena Force are managing adequately wherever they are,” Tech answered.

“I agree. You worry too much, sweetheart,” said Hunter.

She shrugged and said back, “I can’t help it. They’re my girls and I miss them.”

“I know you do,” Hunter replied, reaching across the aisle and taking her hand. “We’ll get in touch with them soon.”

Grateful for his support, Kimber just gave him a smile in return.

Before long, they reached the planet of Pantora, a reddish-brown and white planet from their view out in space. They located the nearest spaceport that they could land in and refuel and docked as quickly as they could so they could get things taken care of.

Tech and Wrecker stepped off the ship and Wrecker exclaimed, “Why’d you tell me we’re out of rations? Now I’m starving!”

“Our priority is scrambling the ship’s signature key,” Tech stated back.

“Your priority,” Wrecker grumbled.

Kimber, who was leaning against the doorframe to the ship with her arms crossed, now in the civilian clothes Suu had given her, chuckled and shook her head as she then proceeded to watch the two of them attempt to get the attendant to skip scanning their ship in. They didn’t quite know how bargaining worked and it was quite amusing to watch. These boys had no grip on being civilians; she supposed she could’ve helped them, but it was just too fun to watch them be so awkward with the attendant.

As she was waiting, she saw movement up by the exit tunnel that led into the city and she saw someone standing by the wall with a hooded cloak on. They were just enough in the shadows that Kimber couldn’t see their face, but she could tell the person was looking in her direction. Her eyes narrowed curiously. What was this person doing? It was highly suspicious. Then the hooded figure started to slowly turn away, keeping their face looking towards Kimber as if they were hesitant to take their eyes off her. The person was watching her and the other two Clones and they weren’t being subtle about it either. It was as if they wanted her to see them. Then finally, the person looked away and gradually started walking out into the city.

Kimber was about ready to follow them, but as she got to the bottom of the ramp, she stopped herself. The last time she went to investigate something suspicious on her own, she had gotten captured by pirates. She didn’t want to put her boys through the worry of wondering what happened to her and finding her again. That and she didn’t want to risk getting captured again either.

Just as the attendant was walking away from Wrecker and Tech and back into his little office, Kimber went over to Wrecker and said, “Wrecker, before you help Tech, I need you to come with me.”

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“We were being watched just now,” she informed him as well as Tech. “I want to go follow them, but I don’t dare go alone. I got snatched the last time I did.”

“We most certainly don’t want a repeat of that,” said Tech.

Kimber acknowledged his statement with a nod and then looked back to Wrecker. “Will you come with me?” she asked.

“Sure, you got it,” he answered.

“Try not to be too long,” Tech told them.

With that, both Kimber and Wrecker walked through the tunnel into the city with Kimber in the front and keeping her eye out for the hooded figure. They rounded a corner and just up ahead, she spotted the figure again before they ducked around a corner that appeared to lead into an alleyway.

“I think they went into an alley. Best be careful,” she told Wrecker.

With a crack of his neck, Wrecker responded, “No problem. Let them try and come at us.”

Treading with caution, the two of them kept going until they got to the spot Kimber had last seen the stranger. Sure enough, it was indeed an alley and the hooded person, once they saw Kimber and Wrecker, ducked around another corner at the far end, leading deeper into the alley. Kimber continued to tiptoe down the alley, feeling on edge about what was going on. What was this person? Where were they leading them? Who were they? These were only a few of the questions running through her mind. Kimber withdrew her blaster that she’d kept on her belt, holding it at the ready in case she needed to use it.

They turned the corner where the stranger had gone and were surprised to see no one there. It was a dark and empty alley with only a few lights every few feet. Though, they suddenly heard a deep female voice speak up, echoing around them, “Well, well, well...look what we have here: a human woman in the company of Clones…defective Clones, even.”

Both Wrecker and Kimber stopped, exchanging apprehensive glances between the two of them.

“How do you know that? Who are you?” Kimber demanded aloud, looking around to see where the source of the voice was coming from, but the alleyway was dark, so she couldn’t see anything very well.

“Oh, Kimber…,” the woman’s voice replied, making Kimber more nervous, “we know a lot more than that.”

All of a sudden, two more cloaked and hooded figures emerged from the shadows on either side of Kimber and Wrecker, aiming blasters at them. Neither Kimber nor Wrecker could see their faces either, but judging from their slim forms, it was easy to determine they were women, too. Though, seeing that they were cornered, both Kimber and Wrecker held their hands and their blasters up in the air in surrender. Suddenly, a third figure dropped down from a higher level and landed in a crouched position just a few feet away from, the shadows of their hood still hiding their identity. This seemed to be the one who followed them initially.

“I’ve waited a long time for this,” the woman spoke.

“What do you want?” asked Wrecker.

“What do I want? What do I want?” the figure in front of them repeated, seemingly frustrated and slowly making their way towards them. “I’ll tell you what I want.”

As the figure made their way closer, Kimber realized the person was a little shorter in height and there was also a certain scent in the air as they drew nearer…a sweet one...that seemed familiar.

“Wait a minute…,” she muttered.

Just then, the figure came under one of the lights, threw her hood back and cried out, her voice losing its deeper timbre, “A blasted comm letting us know you were on Pantora would’ve been nice, for starters!”

Standing before Kimber and Wrecker, giving them an incredulous look and now sporting a head of violet-colored hair instead of gray, was their good friend, Rina Caska.

“Rina?” Kimber asked.

A pleased smirk crossed her face. “Good to see you, boss lady,” Rina replied.

“Rina!” Wrecker exclaimed with excitement.

Rina was unable to hide the shy delight on her face at Wrecker being so happy to see her as she responded, “Hey, big guy.”

The hooded woman closest to Rina lowered her blaster, turned to Rina and said, “To be fair, Rina, we never told them we’d even left Balmorra, so there was no way for them to know we were even here.”

Kimber recognized the thick accent of the voice. “Irys?”

The hood was pulled back, her bright pink eyes almost illuminated by the alley lights, and the gold Togruta face of Irys Montari grinned back at her. “Hello, Kimber,” Irys said back.

“You’re certainly a sight for sore eyes, princess,” said the other person, lifting their hood to reveal the Zabrak with dark, navy blue braids, Lex Valen.

“Lex!” Kimber exclaimed.

She couldn’t believe it. The Koriena Force was there on Pantora!

“How did you guys know we were here?” she asked.

In answer, Rina said, “Irys kept your ship’s signature key on record--mostly just to mess with Tech in the future--and got alerted that you guys had entered Pantora’s orbit. She figured out which port you’d landed in and we thought we’d have a little fun surprising you.”

Now realizing that they weren’t in any danger, Wrecker moved around Kimber over to Rina and scooped up the smaller woman up into his giant embrace. “Come here, my little explosive!” he declared.

Rina felt her face go hot at the sudden hug yet smiled to herself nonetheless as her arms came around his neck for support, remembering the cute endearment he’d given her months ago since she’d made the comment to him that she was going to explode from embarrassment from all the sweet attention he’d given her. Normally, she wasn’t one for hugs a lot of the time, but Wrecker was definitely one of the few exceptions. How she’d missed this gentle giant of a Clone.

“It’s been too long, Wrecker. I’m glad you’re okay,” she admitted to him.

“I’ve missed you like crazy,” said Wrecker, a bit softer this time, as he set her back down to the ground. Though, just as she was about to reply, he cut her short by surprisingly leaning down, cupping her face in his hands and placing a quick yet firm kiss on her lips, pulling away with an enthusiastic “Mwah!”

In reaction to the sudden kiss, Rina’s eyes went wide, her body locked and she was certain her brain short-circuited in that moment. She was shocked and wanted to feel embarrassed…but she also couldn’t deny that she was incredibly happy about it, so it seemed both emotions were canceling each other out and rendering her motionless and speechless.

Almost as if she could read Rina’s mind, Lex spoke up, “I think you just short-circuited her brain, Wrecker.”

Snapping out of her stupor, Rina shook her head and stated, “Wow…wasn’t expecting that,” which made Wrecker grin proudly.

“What are you all doing here? And where’s Kida?” Kimber asked, just now realizing that the final member of the group wasn’t there.

“Kida is the reason we’re here,” answered Irys.

Then Rina explained, “We had some things go down, needed a new place to lie low for a while and Kida suggested coming here. We’re using her family home for the time being while they’re off planet.” Then she pulled out her vape mod and took a short inhale of it. “We also got ourselves a new recruit since coming here. Kida’s back at base with them right now, helping them out. You should come meet them since you’re the boss.”

“Sure, I’d like that,” said Kimber. Right then, she realized the sweet scent she had smelled prior was just what she thought it was and it was coming from the vape mod. “The sweetblossom seems to be working for you,” she observed.

With a nod and a flourish of the mod, Rina replied, “Yeah, I gotta tell you: this stuff is doing wonders for me. I still use the vape mod, but I put the sweetblossom in it instead. I haven’t used the other stuff hardly at all.”

“That’s great!” Wrecker exclaimed with gladness.

“Before we take you to the Firestar estate, shall we venture back to the port so the rest of your squad knows you’re both all right?” suggested Irys.

“And so we can say hi, too, of course,” added Lex.

“Yeah, let’s go!” stated Wrecker loudly, gesturing with his arm for everyone to follow him.

As they all tailed behind the burly Clone, Kimber lingered back next to Rina and commented to her friend, “You changed your hair.”

Fingering the ends of her hair, which was now just about an inch past her shoulders, Rina said back, “Yeah, felt it was time for something different. I haven’t done purple in a while, so I just went with it.”

“It suits you,” said Kimber.

"Thanks," Rina said, blushing again.

Then Kimber grinned and said, slightly teasing her, "Wrecker was quite happy to see you."

Rina elbowed Kimber in the arm. “Don’t you go making me all mushy, too, boss lady,” she warned, trying to hide her face.

“I would never,” Kimber said sarcastically. She couldn’t believe the incredible coincidence of running into her girls here on Pantora, especially after talking about them with Tech and Hunter not too long before they’d reached the planet. It filled her with joy and excitement seeing them again after so many months.

They walked around the corner back into the spaceport where the Marauder was docked. Outside, Kimber spotted Tech with Gonky, Hunter--who was also in his civilian clothes from Saleucami--with Omega and…a Droid? Why was there a Droid she didn’t recognize? It had a dark, rectangular head with a square-shaped visor, tubes running from the center of its chest over its shoulders, a padded vest and a scomp arm.

“Wait…scomp arm?” Kimber thought to herself.

Then Wrecker shouted to the others, “Hey, look who we found, guys!”

Tech, Hunter, Omega and the Droid all looked in their direction and Hunter’s and Tech’s eyes widened at seeing the Koriena Force ladies.

“Well, this is quite fortuitous running into you ladies here,” said Tech. Then he spotted Irys and he frowned. “Irys,” he greeted her flatly.

Irys just smirked. “Tech,” she greeted back, leaning onto her hip.

Kimber pointed at the Droid beside Hunter and asked, confused, “Uh, where did the Droid come from?”

To her astonishment, the Droid reached up to its face and pulled it upwards with a swish, revealing it was a mask and Echo’s face appeared underneath it. Kimber let out a startled cry, Irys looked slightly impressed and both Lex and Rina started laughing.

Though her laughs, Rina asked, “Echo, what---wh--what is--what is this getup you’re wearing?”

“And why are you wearing it now?” Kimber inquired, trying not to snicker at him herself.

“Oh yeah, I forgot you weren’t with us when I got this,” he stated. Then he bobbed his head back and forth and explained, “I’ll have to tell you the story later, but I’m wearing this so I don’t attract unwanted attention when we go into town. It’s easy for me to pass as a Droid.”

Omega came around from behind Hunter and declared, “I think he looks great!”

To say Rina, Lex and Irys were shocked to see a child there would’ve been an understatement. The way their eyes all widened, it seemed as though their eyeballs would pop out of their heads.

Then Rina spoke up, looking between Omega and then Hunter and Kimber, “Um…I know it’s been a while…but I’m pretty sure it hasn’t been long enough for you guys to have a kid…and I know you haven’t known each other long enough for her to be this old.”

Realizing Rina was inferring Omega was her and Hunter’s child, Kimber immediately refuted, her cheeks turning a light shade of red, “Oh no, no, no, no! She’s not our kid! This is Omega. She’s a female Clone we brought with us from Kamino.”

Omega waved a hand at them and said sweetly, “Hello!”

Pointing at Omega, Lex stated, “Okay, you are adorable.”

Rina went up to Hunter, punched him lightly in the arm and said, “Hey Sarge. Did you do what I told you?”

Hunter sighed quietly yet still kept a small grin on his face. “I did,” he answered.

“And…?” prompted Rina, raising her eyebrows. “Can I actually call you ‘lover boy’ now?”

Glancing over at Kimber, Hunter just smiled, which brought a smile to her face, too.

Kimber then dug under her shirt and withdrew his credit necklace that she wore. “You can,” she told Rina.

The three ladies knew immediately what it meant seeing the necklace, having been told about it by Kimber in the past. Lex pumped her fist and cheered, “Yes!” while Irys gave them a small applause.

“Good,” said Rina. “I was about to club you over the head again if you hadn’t after all these months.”

“Yeah, I’d rather you didn’t,” replied Hunter, rubbing the back of his head and remembering the last time they had sparred together.

“That does remind me: I’m sorry we haven’t sent word to you guys these past few months,” Kimber then said to the other three women. “After we saw you last, we were just on the go with constant missions, one right after the other. Then recently, things have been…complicated and we didn't want to put you in any danger.”

Lex said in response. “We know. We heard about Order 66 and the Clones turning on the Jedi. Irys found reports on that happening all over the galaxy.”

Looking at the Clones, Rina then stated, “Though…you guys all seem fine somehow."

"By the way, where’s Crosshair?" Irys inquired.

Kimber shifted uncomfortably and answered, “That’s a long story…but basically, the boys disobeyed the order and now, we’re on the run from the Empire, As for Crosshair…he’s just not with us right now.”

However, Rina could sense through the Force that there was immense conflict within Kimber, especially at the last part of her statement. Something was wrong; something had happened with Crosshair. Rina wasn’t sure what it could be, but it involved Crosshair. That much, she was certain of. Though, it seemed that, whatever it was, Kimber didn’t want to talk about it yet so Rina was going to respect that for the time being.

All she said in response was, “I see,” as she took another inhale of sweetblossom.

To quickly change the subject, Kimber directed her attention to Hunter and told him, “The ladies apparently have a new recruit they want me to meet, so I’m going to go with them for now to Kida’s home where they’re staying. Go get what we need and when you’re all done with the supplies and scrambling the signature key, I’ll send you the coordinates to the Firestar estate. You guys can meet up with us there.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Hunter.

“Have fun!” exclaimed Omega.

Kimber bent over and said, “You too, kiddo,” before ruffling Omega’s hair, making her giggle.

As she straightened back up, Hunter came up beside her, grasped the back of her head and brought his lips to her temple in a sweet kiss. “Enjoy your time with the girls. I'm sure we won’t be long,” he told her as he let her go and slowly walked backwards away from her with Echo and Omega.

She simply bowed her head in understanding.

“Come on, we parked our speeder nearby,” stated Lex, gesturing with her head for Kimber to follow.

As the ladies began to leave, they heard Wrecker call out to the others, “Hey, bring back something good to eat!”

Rina sighed loudly. “I’ve missed my big guy,” she said.

Kimber smiled to herself. Rina had said “my big guy”, which she found incredibly endearing. Wrecker really had left more of a lasting impression on Rina than Kimber had originally suspected. It was sweet and heartwarming to see Rina’s normally stoic outer shell beginning to crack little by little.

“I can’t wait to meet the new member of the force…and see Kida, too, of course,” Kimber commented.

They all grinned, pleased, and Rina said back, “Kida’s gonna be thrilled to see you, too. And trust me…you’re gonna love who we got.”

Before she knew it, Kimber found herself in front of a vast, beautiful mansion with multiple floors and grounds that spread out wide for yards. This wasn't quite what she had been anticipating.

"Wow…I had no idea Kida came from a rich family," she commented as she came out of the speeder.

"Neither did we," said Irys.

The four ladies made their way up the walkway, Lex put in a code on a keypad by the front door and the doors slid open. They stepped inside into a large foyer with dark green and gray walls and a stairway leading up in the center of the foyer. There were doorways on both sides of the room leading to adjacent rooms and then a hallway that went past the stairway.

"We've got some things to finish up, but Kida should be upstairs," stated Lex, pointing upwards.

"We'll come up and join you in a bit," Rina added as she, Lex and Irys went into one of the adjoining rooms, leaving Kimber by herself.

With that, Kimber gradually walked up the stairs, taking in the large house around her. It was certainly much bigger than the house she'd grown up in on Tatooine. She didn't think she'd ever been in any house that was as big as this one. On the walls were holographic photos of different Pantoran men and women. At the end of one of them, she noticed a hologram of Kida in a refined, noble-looking dress yet she still had the same devious smirk on her face. It was nice to know that Kida had always been a mischievous one.

At the top of the stairs, she saw a few other doorways, but spotted Kida through the open door of a room directly in front of her, looking at a datapad and pressing buttons on a machine that was putting together pieces of fabric.

"Making more strategic alterations, are you, Kida?" she asked as she came into the doorway.

Kida's head shot up at hearing another voice and her expression lit up upon seeing Kimber, the datapad falling onto the table in front of her.

"Kimber! It’s wonderful to see you!" she exclaimed, rushing over to Kimber and pulling her into a tight, excited embrace.

"Thank you. As are you," said Kida. "The girls told me you and your boys were on Pantora. I'm glad you came here."

"It’s great to see you, too, Kida," said Kimber as they came apart. She looked over Kida quickly, noticing that she still appeared as lovely and youthful as ever, though now with longer hair that fell past her shoulders and her straight bangs were parted in the middle. Though, there seemed to be something slightly different about Kida; something about her demeanor that Kimber couldn't quite put her finger on at the moment. "You’re looking well," she commented.

"I’m so sorry I never reached out to any of you," said Kimber guiltily. "I was worried any communication would put you in danger with the Empire and I couldn’t put any of you in that position."

With a nod, Kida responded, "We understand. It’s been a busy few months for us, too." Then she smirked deviously. "Though, at the same time, we could take on the Empire if we wanted to."

Kimber snickered with amusement. The gesturing to the room, she stated, "You failed to tell me that you’re rich."

Shrugging indifferently, Kida just said back, "How else do you think I’ve been able to create all my strategic alterations? Can’t do that without money."

Kimber bobbed her head back and forth, seeing Kida's point. Then she asked her, "What brought you back here?"

"We needed a place to hold up for a while and, just our luck, we happened to be not far from Pantora, so we came here," answered Kida.

"Rina tells me that you ladies picked up a new member," Kimber then stated.

"Oh yes!" Kida replied excitedly. Then she grinned almost timidly, which seemed slightly strange to Kimber, as she then asked, "Would you like to meet them?"

Nodding, Kimber said, "Very much, yes."

"All right, wait here," Kida told her. Then she went over to another door on the other side of the room that opened into yet another adjoining bedroom.

Kimber waited there for a minute or two before Kida returned. With her was another Pantoran with blonde fuzz on their head, small yellow marks on their cheeks and golden-brown eyes. They also had a blanket wrapped around them.

However, this person with her was very small and was being carried in Kida’s arms.

The Pantoran…was a baby.

Looking at a wide-eyed, slack-jawed Kimber with a smile, Kida said to her in a softer voice than normal, "Kimber, I’d like you to meet...my son."

Kimber's hands flew up to her mouth in complete and utter shock. It had already been astonishing enough to find out Kida came from money, but this…this was the last thing she had expected. Her friend was now standing before her with a newborn child in her arms…she was a mother. She had a son. These thoughts kept running through Kimber's mind as she stood there speechless. Then slowly, she approached Kida, keeping her eyes on the tiny baby. He truly was adorable; the most darling thing she'd ever seen and a sensation of warmth arose within her at seeing the little boy. She was about to ask who the father was when she caught sight of the baby's hair again...and her heart about stopped.

Her eyes lifted to meet Kida's as she stammered, "Is…is he…is…Rex his father?"

With another uncharacteristically shy smile, Kida answered, "He is."

"Oh my stars…!" Kimber gasped, astonished. Then she reached out and tenderly ran her fingertips over the boy's fuzzy head. "He really is a handsome boy, Kida, I’m so happy for you."

"Thank you. My life has truly changed since he became a part of it," said Kida as she looked lovingly down at her son. "I never imagined being a mother, but now…now, I can’t see my life without my precious little boy."

It surprised Kimber to see this maternal side of Kida that she had never before imagined. She was usually so flippant, reckless or casual in her behavior, while still being a loyal friend, but this genuine love Kimber could see in her eyes as she looked at her baby was so different. It was heartwarming to witness such a change.

Then Kimber asked the lingering question on her mind: "What is his name?"

Kida looked back up and her smile widened. "Kori," she said. "For Koriena."

A startled yet deeply moved cry released itself from Kimber's mouth, her hands coming over her heart at hearing the baby's name.

"Because without the Koriena Force," Kida continued, "I wouldn’t have met his father and my son wouldn’t be here."

"Oh, Kida, that is a perfect name," Kimber replied, touched at her friend's explanation. "Does Rex know?"

At that question, however, Kida's smile wavered and then disappeared. "You don’t know, do you?" she asked. When Kimber gave her a confused look, she told her, "Kimber, I'm terribly sorry…but Rex is dead."

Kimber froze up. "What?"

"We heard about Order 66 and all the Clones turning on the Jedi," Kida told her, her face then falling as she went on, "Irys dug into some Imperial files and found that Rex was...killed in action. The cruiser he was on crashed onto one of the moons of Bogden and there were no survivors."

"Wait…that isn't right…because Cut said he'd seen Rex only days ago," Kimber remembered. Then she said aloud, "No, Kida, that isn’t true."

"I really am sorry," Kida simply said.

Realizing Kida thought she was in denial, Kimber informed her with urgency, "No, I’m being serious! That isn’t true. We saw a friend of my squad’s very recently and he said he had seen Rex shortly before we arrived; Rex had been to his home, warning him about things going on with the Empire." She went up to Kida and gently grasped her arms. "Kida…Rex is alive," she stated with assurance.

For a moment, Kida just stared at her blankly as if lost in a trance. She had accepted that Rex was dead, but now…could this really be? Was it actually true? The steadfast look in Kimber's eyes gave her that answer immediately.

Her dear Captain Rex, the father of her son, was still alive.

She smiled, blinking back joyful tears. "That truly makes me happy to hear," she replied, looking back down at Kori, who was stirring in her arms. His eyes blinked sleepily and for a brief moment, she saw Rex's eyes. Her son reminded her a lot of Rex, which had helped her through the sorrow of thinking he was gone, knowing there was still something of him that he'd--albeit unknowingly--left with her. Now she had hope that maybe she'd see him again one day. Instinctively, she leaned down and lightly kissed the top of her baby's head.

Her train of thought was broken by Kimber's voice saying, "I would imagine, given he’s listed as dead under Imperial files and he’s yet to make contact with any of us, he’s keeping a low profile under the Empire’s radar."

"As well, he should. He needs to stay safe, if he’s on the run like we are," Kida agreed. Then she told Kimber she was going to put the baby back in his crib to sleep and retreated back into the other room.

When Kida returned, Kimber went on to ask her, sitting on the edge of the bed in the room, "While I can tell you love your son immensely, were you ever mad at Rex for...well, accidentally getting you pregnant and…being an absent father?"

What sparked her curiosity further was the fact that Kida initially grinned with amusement in response to the question. "Once the initial shock of finding out I was pregnant wore off…no, I wasn’t," Kida answered, placing herself next to Kimber on the bed. "Normally, when I’ve fooled around with men before, I made sure there was protection involved so I didn’t end up carrying the child of a man I couldn’t care less about, but I knew the risk when I let myself be selfish for once in my life and shared that time with Rex in the cruiser med bay." The look in her eyes grew distant and reminiscent as her gaze drifted aside. "The one time I threw caution to the wind and slept with someone unprotected, I ended up with child…but in knowing it was Rex’s, I was happy. He was someone I did care about and, as far as I could tell, he cared about me, too." Then she turned back to Kimber, resolute in everything she followed up with. "I knew what I was potentially signing up for, which was a distanced relationship and single parenting for a good while, regardless of whether or not Rex found out about Kori. I knew it wasn’t his fault that he was a soldier specifically bred to fight in a war he didn’t choose, so I expected I would raise my son alone for a good amount of time. I especially assumed that would be my life when I thought Rex was dead. It broke my heart to hear that news. I felt as though I had lost something special before I really even had it."

"Now, you no longer have to feel that way. Rex is alive and out in the galaxy somewhere. Someday, you two will be reunited again, I know it," Kimber reassured her.

"How do you think he’ll react? To the baby?" Kida inquired, a bit nervous.

Kimber took a few seconds to think it over. "It’s hard to say…but from what I know of Rex, he is loyal to a fault to those he cares about. I’m certain he still cares for you, but he may not be able to offer you much right now."

"I have no expectations of him…I only hope that he won’t shun me after finding out he made me a mother."

"I honestly think he’ll love Kori. I’m sure the initial shock of finding out he accidentally became a father may be a lot at first, but I think he’ll come around and I doubt he’ll forsake you." Kimber's eyes wandered over to the doorway of Kori's room briefly before looking back at Kida. "I noticed he has his father’s hair…and his eyes."

Kida smiled once again with fondness and there was even the hint of a blush on her cheeks as she looked down. "Yeah…even though we’ve been apart for months, I now always have a part of Rex with me through my boy," she said. Then she looked back up and said, a hint of gladness in her voice, "You know, if things had gone differently…I really do think I could’ve possibly grown to love Rex…which is strange because I always thought love just wasn’t meant for me. I always believed I’d spend my life flirting with every man I came across and having meaningless flings all the time. I wasn't interested in love; that was just the way of life I’d chosen…but then you brought Rex into my life and, while things with him started off as just shameless flirting on my part like normal, I came to find I didn’t want that kind of lifestyle anymore. I wanted something real for once, especially when he risked himself to protect me when I got shot or when we kissed for the first time. I could see myself with him, which is something I’d never thought about with any other men. He’s just…one of a kind."

With a good-natured chuckle, Kimber said back, "One in a million, more like. He is a Clone, after all."

Kida snickered back. "That’s fair."

"Though, your boy is certainly one of a kind," said Kimber. "Part Pantoran, part Clone…I’m fairly certain such a person doesn’t exist apart from him. He’ll be a special boy, indeed." She inched over a bit closer to Kida and laid a hand on her back. "I never thought I’d say this, but motherhood suits you."

"Thank you, dear. I think so, too," Kida replied. Rubbing her hands together in her lap, she went on to say, "Kori is actually the real reason we came to Pantora. I wanted my parents to know about him and to have them with me when he was born. They told me to come home, so the girls and I came here. My parents had to go off-world shortly after the birth, but they’re letting us stay here for as long as we need."

"And luckily, she’s had us to help her out," suddenly spoke the voice of Rina as she, Lex and Irys came sauntering into the room.

Seeing the girls and hearing Rina's comment, Kida snickered and said, "Oh yeah, the girls have been an incredible help to me all this time: making sure I was well and taken care of during my pregnancy, helping watch Kori if I needed a break or had to leave for any reason and ensuring he’s growing big and strong."

Rina pulled up the chair Kida had been sitting in earlier and propped her feet up on the desk. "We enjoy helping out with the smol," she said, a wide grin on her face.

Irys groaned, leaning against the doorframe. "How many times do I have to say it? He’s a baby, not a ‘smol’, Rina," she stated, irritated.

"Hey, if Kida hasn’t said anything against it, then I’ll call him whatever I like," Rina casually countered.

"You're hopeless," said Irys, rolling her eyes.

Lex came up behind the chair and ruffled Rina's violet hair. "That's just how we like her," Lex said, earning a slap on the hand from Rina that made her chuckle.

Kimber also laughed at the ladies' camaraderie. Then she directed her attention back to Kida. "I’m grateful they’ve been here for you. Kori has great people watching over him," she said pleasantly.

"He sure does," Kida agreed. She then turned her body to face Kimber fully and grasped her hands tightly. "Though, enough about me! Tell us about you. How have you been holding up? Did you and the Sergeant ever patch things up?"

For a second, Kimber had almost forgotten that Kida hadn't been with the other ladies when she and Hunter had told them they were now back together, so Kida still didn't know. Realizing this, she just did the same thing she'd done before and simply withdrew her credit necklace from underneath her shirt, a knowing smirk on her face.

Just like the other girls, Kida knew what the credit symbolized and she clapped her hands together with a squeal. "Oh, this is wonderful news! I knew it would happen!" she exclaimed gleefully.

"Wonderful, indeed," added Irys.

"It’s about time," said Lex.

Kimber scoffed playfully. "Believe me, that was my thoughts exactly." Then she narrowed her eyes ever so slightly at Rina. "I heard you played a part in that."

With a shrug, Rina simply said, "I just gave him a little hard nudge, is all."

"A hard nudge to the head, more like it," Irys muttered.

Kida giggled. "We all know he liked it," she stated with a sly grin.

The other ladies all rolled their eyes and groaned, but Kimber just laughed and shook her head. It was reassuring to see that, despite everything, Kida was still her usual flirty, teasing self.

"Well…thank you, Rina," Kimber told Rina, bowing her head.

Rina winked back at her. "Don’t mention it, Kimber."

"And you’re happy, right?" Lex inquired, her voice mixed with curiosity as well as concern.

"I am," answered Kimber.

"Still ever the armor chaser, huh?" asked Rina.

Kimber smirked again. "Always," she stated.

"You're still happy with the boys?" then asked Kida.

That, though, was a complicated answer for Kimber to give. Her expression fell, turning sad, as she responded, "Well…yes and no. While I got Hunter back and I’m immensely happy about that and the rest of my boys still make me happy…we lost Crosshair. He left us for the Empire."

"Say what?" Rina cried, taking her feet off the desk and straightening up in shock.

Lex and Kida exchanged bewildered glances before turning back to Kimber.

"What? Why would he do that?" asked Irys.

Kimber sighed with resignation, the heel of her hand coming up to her forehead. "We’ve been asking ourselves that question ever since it happened and we’re trying to figure out the answer. His loss in our squad has greatly affected me, I’m sorry to say."

Right then, she felt Kida's hand on her bicep and one of her arms come around her shoulders, bringing her in close for comfort.

Lex clenched her fists with a growl. "That piece of bantha scum…how dare he do that to you guys!" she declared angrily. "If I ever see that silver-haired snake again, I'll--"

She was cut off by Kimber's commlink going off and Hunter's voice coming through with heavy breath, "Lads, Kimber. I lost Omega. Somebody attacked us."

Panic set in as Kimber lifted the commlink and spoke into it, "Somebody who?"

"A woman. Highly trained. She's after the kid," Hunter answered.

"Yeah, we'll see about that!" declared Wrecker's voice.

"Who's Omega? And what kid?" inquired Kida.

Rina answered for Kimber, standing up from the chair, "Omega is a Clone kid they picked up back on the Clones' home planet and it sounds like she just got snatched."

Tech's voice then came through, "I'll tap into the central security network. There should be enough cameras in this city to find her."

Irys suddenly went up to Kimber, took Kimber's hand with the comm and said into it, tauntingly, "Not if I find her first."

"Don’t start with me, Montari," Tech warned back.

Irys chuckled, amused.

They heard Hunter again: "Listen, I made a bit of noise out here. Get the ship ready to go."

Then Tech answered back, "Well, it's not technically a ship at the moment…and unless you have a team of maintenance droids, it's going to be a while."

"I can help with that," Echo said.

Kimber put her comm unit into her pouch and exclaimed, "I have to go! I have to help find Omega!" Then she moved to get up from the bed.

Although, Irys moved in front of her, putting a hand on her shoulder, and stated, "You haven't the faintest idea where she is and whoever took her could get away in the time you take wandering the city. I'll check into the security system to help find her from here."

"And you aren't going anywhere, boss lady," said Rina, moving beside Kimber, "because we are going to help you find the kid."

"No, I can't ask that of you," refuted Kimber. "You all have to stay out of danger for Kori's sake."

"Kori will have me and Irys here," Kida countered. "Besides, we now better understand how important children are. A kid in your squad has been taken and we wouldn't forgive ourselves if we didn't do something."

Then Lex stated determinedly, "You're our leader and our friend, Kimber, and we're gonna help you whether you like it or not."

Kimber couldn't help but grin with gratitude at them. "Stars, am I glad you ladies are here!" she exclaimed.

"As are we," said Irys. "Now come, we have to hurry. We need to find Omega so I can beat Tech to the punch."

"Okay, now who's the hopeless one?" muttered Rina as they all followed after Irys to the stairs.

Kimber moved as fast as she could down the stairs with the Koriena Force, hoping that either they or the Bad Batch would be able to locate Omega and get her back before it was too late.

#star wars the bad batch #the bad batch #bad batch hunter #bad batch fanfic #hunter x oc fic #sun and rain fanfic

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jedipoodoo · 3 years

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Get This Right (Hunter x Pregnant!Reader)

Word Count: 1090

Warnings: None

Notes: This has been in my brain all day and I'm writing this as I f a l l a s l e e p so I may not be the happiest with it in the morning. I was just tired of the Hunter tag not updating. You know what they say, be the change you want to see in the world.

PART ONE | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

Hunter had to know something was up. He could read you like a book.

There was hardly a time or place to talk about it, being tossed from mission to mission by Cid and unable to find space or privacy above the ship in their precious downtime. Something always needed attention, from the budget, to repairs, to training Omega, to Wrecker’s affinity for Mantell Mix, the two of you barely had time to fall into bed before you collapsed from Exhaustion

It wasn’t until Cid announced drinks on her in honor of your latest success that the two of you were able to catch up.

“Count me out. I’ve got some research I’ve been working on,” You nodded to Echo, and ducked back inside the Marauder before settling in front of the navicomputer. You could hear Hunter on the ramp.

“Take Omega with you?” He asked Echo. Echo must have grunted an affirmative, because Omega cheered and her tiny boots pattered on the dust of the hangar as she ran after Tech and Wrecker.

Soon enough, you felt Hunter’s arms around you, pinning you to the back of the chair as he leaned around to kiss your cheek.

“How are you, love?” He asked.

“Exhausted,” You entered your query before reaching up to thread your fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.

“You?”

“Better, now that I’m with you.” His hand slid down your shoulder to your hand as he collapsed into the other chair in front of the console.

“What’re you looking at?” He asked, glancing at the screens.

You bit your lip nervously. “Do you remember Idaflor?”

“Idaflor?” He ran a hand through his hair. “Was that with the lizard that stole our power coupling?”

“Just before,” You giggled, manipulating the image onscreen to show the details of the planet. It was semi-arid, mostly uninhabited with the exception of several farming communities.

“We didn’t actually go there, just talked about it. But that was-”

“Just before Pantora, when we ran into Shand for the first time,” Hunter leaned forward.

You nodded. “I know why we didn’t head there afterward, but I was just curious, as to what it might be like there.”

Hunter glanced at the holo of a farmer showing off his hard-earned produce, “You interested in a farmer’s life?”

You failed to hide a snort, “Well, the image of you in overalls and a straw hat is tempting.”

“Is it now?” His chest puffed out as he folded his arms and smirked at you.

You flipped through several more holos to show him. “Tech would have a field day developing irrigation systems, and Wrecker would love raising farm animals. Omega could run around without worrying about getting into trouble, and Echo wouldn’t have to worry about hiding his prosthetics.”

Hunter gazed at you, his eyes soft, “You’ve put a lot of thought into this, haven’t you?”

“Yeah,” You admitted sheepishly. It was now or never, you had to tell him.

“It just seems like a nice place to raise a family.”

Hunter nodded, and his eyes flicked back to the screen for a moment.

Then he paused.

He turned you to face him, staring deep into your eyes.

You breathed deeply. Did he get it? Did he understand?

Hunter stared at you for a moment longer. Looking, listening. Slowly, what had seemed so off about you for the past few weeks clicked into place for him.

“You’re pregnant?”

You had talked about children before, back when the war raged around you and the idea of peace and settling down seemed so far away.

It still did, you realized. Even with the confirmation from the medical droid and the instinct you felt deep in your soul. How could you bring a child into this world? The world where a tyrannical Empire reigned in terror over innocent minorities and you, your husband, and his vode were dragged all over the galaxy to make even the slightest scrap of credits. That wasn’t the kind of life a child deserved.

But hearing Hunter say it made it sound so much more real.

You nodded.

“I’m pregnant.”

Hunter took a deep breath as you confirmed the truth. He gently took your face in his hands, pressing your foreheads together.

“You’re scared,” He whispered as you trembled beneath his touch.

“Terrified,” you gulped. “You?”

“Terrified,” He agreed. His forehead was still pressed against yours, a soothing, steady presence as you forced your heartbeat to calm.

“What are we gonna do?” You asked, timid and quiet.

“First question, do you want the baby?” Hunter asked, he backed away only a bit, just enough that he could meet your eyes again.

“Yes,” You told him, “More than anything.”

He nodded. You knew him well enough to know his answer to the same question. You could see it in every question Omega asked, in every energetic shove from Wrecker, in quiet nights with his head resting on your lap while Echo and Tech talked nonsense.

“Then this is a happy moment,” He murmured, his thumb coming up to wipe away the single tear that trickled down your cheek.

“The happiest moment of my life,” he kissed your forehead.

“But Hunter-” The words caught in your throat even as he waited patiently for you to continue.

“Is this the kind of life we can give a child?” You asked.

He slid his fingers into place between yours. “Then we’ll make a new one.”

“And what about Cid? Your brothers, the Empire-”

“One thing at a time, my love,” He said. “We can do this.”

You nodded, leaning in to kiss him on the lips.

“I love you,” You gasped, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” He said immediately. He couldn’t hold it back anymore, and a smile quirked up in the corner of his mouth, half-hidden by the shadow of his tattoo.

“We’re going to have a baby.”

The joy is contagious, and you let it bubble up in your chest like a hot spring. “We’re going to have a baby,” You giggled.

He pulled you to your feet, wrapping his arms around you tightly.

“I love you,” He said, unable to say anything else, “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

It’s the song he sang in your ear as you pressed your face into his chest.

You could do this. You could do this.

Clone Force Ninety-Nine had a one hundred percent success rate under their sergeant.

Now to see how they fared against an infant.

#tbb x reader #tbb hunter #tbb hunter x reader #sergeant hunter #sergeant hunter x reader #lizart writes #the bad batch x reader #the bad batch #hunter x pregnant!reader #get this right fic #pregnant reader

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fanfic-cave · 3 years

Text

Foul Play

Fem!Jedi Reader x Hunter

Rating: PG-13

Word Count: 1.5k

Pairing: Hunter x Fem!Jedi Reader

Warnings: Swearing, hand to hand combat, kiss, angsty Jedi, (only proof read it once) nothing else I can really think of

Summary: Kinda fluffy. Hunter decides you need combat training in order to stay hidden from the empire. What happens when you decide you don’t want to play by the rules?

This is also my first fic to post publicly on tumblr, critique is welcome just don’t be super rude about it

—————————————

You groaned as you shielded your eyes from the bright sun peeking over the horizon. It was a nice morning on Idaflor, or it would have been, if you got sleep for another hour or two.

“Hunter is this really necessary?” You started.

He was dressed for combat, donning his clone uniform. He was facing away from you, staring at the same horizon you were just avoiding. “Don’t start with me again Y/N. You know you’re a target for the empire.”

“Yes, last I remembered we all are. I’m capable though, combat training is one of the last things I need-“

“Wrong.” Hunter interjected. “It’s the first thing you need to learn starting now.” He turned to face you as he said this, a hard expression set on his face.

“I trained as a Jedi.” You added, with a sour tone too. Your time as a Jedi was an unpleasant topic for you, and you preferred to avoid it when possible.

“Exactly,” Hunter started. You looked confused and he took the opportunity to continue. “You fight like a Jedi. And if you keep it up, other people will notice too and you’ll be easy to spot. You’ve got to learn to fight differently if you want to stay hidden.”

You considered his argument and tried to find a flaw in his logic. “But I use a blaster too…” you tried countering weakly.

“Let’s get started.” He ignored your gripe, and you decided there was no getting out of it. He was right, you needed to learn a new fighting style, and who better to learn from than the Sergeant of the most successful clone force in the GAR.

He’s not a Sergeant anymore. You reminded yourself. Just like you’re no longer a Jedi.

You started with basic form. That you picked up on quickly, easily mimicking his stance. Soon he started showing you simple techniques. You thought you already knew how to kick and punch, but you soon learned you hardly knew anything compared to a real soldier, a good one at that.

After another hour had past, you thought you had some of it down. He had pointed out to you that normal people weren’t that agile, or that they couldn’t jump that high when you made your normal moves to avoid attacks. And you learned the little things that you could get away with. Sweat clung to your shirt and you wiped some off of your brow. “Okay, I think I got it.”

“Ready to put it to the test?” He smirked. You raised your eyebrows questioningly as you saw him take a stance a few yards away. “You want me to spar you?”

“You’re not scared are you?” He teased, trying to goad you. You scoffed at him. “More surprised if anything.” You walked a few paces back and turned to face him, dropping into a stance you had been practicing.

You decided not to make the first move, and waited for him to come to you. He noticed this and sprung to action quickly. He ran this short distance toward you in a matter of seconds, and you prepared to take evasive action. You saw his right fist coming toward you. You deftly side stepped it. He threw a quick left uppercut that you blocked. You were caught off guard for a moment when you realized his foot was moving in, possibly to sweep your leg or land a kick. You dove to the side and rolled, attempting to catch his raised leg. You came up and realized you weren’t quick enough, and suddenly his foot hit you square in the chest. You felt the air in your lungs escape and your back hit the ground hard.

“You can’t avoid me forever, find an opening and counterattack.” You sucked in a breath and saw his hand extended towards you when you opened your eyes. You almost thought you saw an apologetic look on his face. You considered his hand, and an idea came to you.

Counterattack.

You took his hand, then in a flash pulled him in and landed a decent kick in his abdomen.

You came up fast and took his moment of confusion to get yourself up and ready, it was very possible he would be pissed that you pulled a move like that. He straightened up after a quick moment of doubling over from the kick you landed. “Oh so we’re playing dirty now?” He said, his tone was amused which surprised you.

“You said find an opening and counterattack. It’s not my fault you gave me one.” You shrugged after you spoke.

He laughed at that and said “We’ll see if you can find another one.” He came toward you, fists up, without warning, but you were ready.

The attacks came more quickly now. Fists coming, you blocking or dodging deftly. He was stronger, you gave him that, but you were faster, even if it was only a marginal difference. He brought his left fist up, and you saw your opening. You swung hard and managed to land two punches into his side, but it wasn’t enough to bring him down. You took a glance at his legs. You didn’t have enough weight on you to sweep his legs, but maybe if you put enough pressure behind his knee, you could bring him down. You dove down, preparing to circle around him and give your idea a try, but his hand caught you and brought you back up. After a quick moment of struggle he had both your wrists crossed across your chest, and pinned you to his chest, your back to him. You tried to struggle but it was no use.

“Not bad, but you broadcasted your move.” He got it out between breaths as you struggled against him. You could feel his breathing against your back, and tried not to focus too much on the thought of how close the two of you were right now, and how you could feel his broad chest against your back. “If you want to make a move, don’t stare and make it obvious.” You knew he was referring to you glancing to his legs. You swore under your breath, frustrated that your plan had been foiled.

I need to break his grip, you thought to yourself. You remember Hunter showing you how to break a grip similar to this. You took a moment to breathe in and relax. You brought your hands in towards each other, then you thrust down hard, using gravity to break his grip. He was prepared for this though. After you took an unbalanced step forward and turned, he tackled you round the midsection to the ground.

You felt yourself land on the ground, but it should’ve had a harder impact. You opened your eyes to searched for a reason why, and quickly saw Hunters face inches from yours. He had grabbed your arms just below your shoulders, holding you up to keep you from hitting the ground hard. He was straddling you to keep your legs from kicking or struggling. He let you come down and easily pinned your arms, and let his weight settle. There was no moving him.

“Well, how would you get out of this one?” He asked, clearly trying to test you. You huffed, and he became amused again as he saw your frustration in defeat.

Then you had a thought.

You almost looked, then remembered what Hunter said about broadcasting. You closed your eyes and gave yourself a moment to breath, pretending you were giving up. Hunter began to say “You were better that time,” and started to dive into giving critiques.

Then your eyes flung open, you lifted your head up, and your lips found his. Your eyes were closed again, so you couldn’t see his expression. Based on the shudder that travelled through his whole body, you knew you surprised him. His lips were surprising cool, and you could taste the salt of his sweat mingled with yours. His grip relaxed, and you felt one of his hands release your arm, traveling up to your face.

Before he could finish his movement you took your opportunity. You quickly bent your legs, and pushed up with your hips. You effectively unseated him, and you broke away from the kiss. You twisted forcefully and he fell off to your left, he hit the ground now flat on his back. You stood up and took a step back, allowing him his moment of shock.

His expression was confused, looking around and then looking back to you. You smiled and laughed, a real laugh, full and bright. “Alright I think we’re done here.”

“H-hold on-“ Hunter seemed to come back to life. “You can’t seriously do that in an actual battle.”

“I just did.” You turned your face over your shoulder to address him as you spoke since you already started walking away, looking forward to using the fresher. Echo exited from the doors of the Havoc Marauder, looking confused at the two of you.

“What happened? Aren’t you two supposed to be doing combat training?”

“I just kicked Hunters ass.” You spoke without stopping and walked past him.

#the bad batch #star wars #the clone wars #Hunter #Jedi #echo #hunter x reader #fanfic #tbb

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ladykagewaki · 2 years

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I was rewatching Andor with a friend last night (she's not a big sw fan) and it struck me that they were using the Echo call sign. Then in ESB they're in Echo base. Echo Echo Echo. I really hope it's just a common military call sign and not because a certain favorite clone of mine will give his life for one of the rebel cells that birth the rebellion. 😳... please no. Please, if he must leave the earthly plain, please just send him to Idaflor for a nice retirement 😭 A retirement on a space farm upstate 😭😭😭

#i can't i just can't i love him so much #star wars #the bad batch #the clone wars #ct 1409 #tbb echo #arc trooper echo #tcw #echo the clone wars #Echo tbb #Echo The Bad Batch

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eclec-tech · 2 years

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When Tech and his brothers finally get to lay low on Idaflor

#the bad batch #tbb tech #clone force 99 #tech bad batch #nature tech #scouting tech #Idaflor #black series #toy photography #star wars toys #minnesota state parks #nature photography

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simplysummers · 3 years

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Breaking down Hunter and Omega’s relationship: pt 4.

Hi everybody. My biggest apologies for the delay on this series over the past two weeks, I’ve had a lot of medical issues going on, alongside a big decision in my life I had to make before the end of September taking precedence. However, with a little more time on my hands and a new team of proof readers behind me, I’m hoping to be back on track soon enough! I hope you enjoy my analysis of ‘Cornered’, and please always feel free to reply/reblog/send an ask with your opinions and discussions! I love to hear and reply to them! 💛

(Pasted paragraphs: I would just like to add a disclaimer here. I am, in no way whatsoever, slating the other batchers for having differing relationships with Omega. I absolutely adore everything single one of the boys, and I think they all have wonderful and unique interrelations with her. Although I may point out these different approaches in comparison to Hunter’s, I am not stating these engages are wrong, just different is all!

I’m going to separate this into a little series- covering each episode in a separate post, which I’ll have tagged as the series progresses. Once I’ve tackled these two, as they’re my favourites, I’m going to move on to each individual Batcher and perhaps a few other dynamics such and Hunter and Crosshair, or Wrecker and Omega! Let me know what you guys would like to see!)

(Thank you to this weeks proof-reader: @very-depressing-waffel 💛)

Cornered: S1/E4

Although minimal, I absolutely love the small interaction between these two in the opening scene of this episode. While it would make sense for Hunter to take the chair, as he is navigating co-ordinates, instead he allows Omega to sit down and rest, the pure affection between them is particularly radiant in these moments. I’d also like to note that it is Hunter’s order to originally send them to Idaflor, where we can only assume he is heeding Cut’s previous advice given on the subject of ‘disappearing to start a new life’. By connotation, this essentially means Hunter was extremely ready to settle down with his brothers and both raise and protect his newly found little one. However this clearly becomes an evident concern of Hunter’s as Omega begins to whine, claiming she desperately wants to explore the galaxy instead of hiding away on an uninhabited planet. Although appreciating her enthusiasm, he insists they cannot risk it, not right now, showing he has all further plans to take her to see the universe whenever it may be safe to do so. Her safety has become his priority.

Also, another little mimic on Omega’s part is mentioned after Tech’s evaluates their situation- “Well, Pantora it is.” “Pantora it is :)”. This angel, she steals my heart.

Moving on slightly to the arrival of Pantora, Hunter’s civvies and Omega carrying his backpack for him, which is as big as her little torso might I add, makes the world spin. Notice too how her eyes never leave him for a moment, it’s a typical child trait when wanting to catch an adult’s attention for good behaviour. After Wrecker mentions the implications of sightseeing, which ultimately peaks Omega’s interest, Hunter is quick to diffuse the situation by insisting this is only a quick supply run. I strongly believe this is because although he intends to take Omega into the city with him, most likely recognising her desperation to explore, his main intention is to keep her safe and protected, I personally spy a compromise here. Finally, regarding this little interaction, when inviting Omega to join them, he calls her ‘Mega, ‘MEGA!!! Hunter is the first member of the batch to nickname her affectionately, and her little excited cheer in response says it all!

When strolling through the busy marketplace, I noticed that alongside drinking up all sights she can set her eyes on, Omega continues to perform the aforementioned ‘smile at parent because I am both well behaved and very excited’ technique, breaking away from her awestruck staring to give Hunter a cute grin, which he affectionately returns under the realisation that her purity and innocence has erupted through something as simple as a marketplace, another endearing trait his charge has displayed. I’d also like to shed light on the protective hand-on-shoulder movement Hunter uses after the squad of troopers pass by him, Omega, and Echo. His wary stare and protectiveness is an extreme diversion from his usual headstrong attitude, which we know is correlated to his need to protect his charge. (Hand-on-shoulder, AGAIN. Comforting Dad alert!!)

When offering to trade with the Gran merchant, I noticed that whenever Omega picked up a new item to inspect or show off to Echo, Hunter glances over his shoulder to observe her. I have reason to believe he might not only be watching her explore, but keeping an eye on her after the incident on Cut’s farm. I can practically see Suu’s words of advice ringing in his ears, and he wants to make sure she stays out of trouble. And after she does inevitably knock something over, although he scowls a little in her direction (as any parent would), Hunter swiftly turns his look of annoyance towards the Gran as he begins to scold Omega, once again showing his protectiveness in her regard, and in all honesty, he has every right to respond this way, we’ve already established this salesman is stubborn and conceited.

The entire plot of this episode is centred around Omega’s inevitable separation from Hunter and Echo as she ends up running off to chase a voorpak, who has stolen her new doll. We cannot fault Omega for her behaviour, it was a little juvenile at most, but we must take into account this would be her first time in such a situation, and she has never been taught otherwise. Hunter’s immediate faltering smile as he realises Omega is missing is honestly gut wrenching. He has just received 3,000 credits, a hefty sum for what they’re in need of, and now he’s lost his ward, and the pain and concern is fully mirrored through his halting eyes.

I’m moving ahead slightly to add a little character-action comparison! Now, this may just be me nitpicking, and I mean no hate to Fennec Shand (I actually ADORE her), but did anybody else notice the difference between her hold on Omega and how Hunter holds her? Fennec’s fingers lay beneath the nape of Omega’s neck, almost curling into her tunic’s collar, and so while it may seem protective, it actually holds very possessive and controlling connotations. Whereas when Hunter places a hand to Omega’s shoulder, his fingers are quite loose, and it only ever rests up her upper shoulder, allowing the girl freedom if she so much as wishes it. It’s extremely docile. Furthermore, I wanted to briefly comment on Hunter’s tenderness when retrieving Omega’s new doll, most likely using it to track her recent movement. His hold is very gentle, considering he is now clinging to the last piece of Omega he has contact with, and a noticeable shred of panic holds his upper body rigid for good measure. It’s very nicely animated.

Coming ahead swiftly to the brief ‘positive’ interaction between Omega and Fennec, I haven’t seen this mentioned before but I personally see the discussion concerning the need for protection when travelling the galaxy as a small nod to Omega’s newly found connection to the boys, and Hunter specifically. Omega insists it’s a good thing she has her ‘friends’. Noticeably, she is still very hesitant to label them as her brothers, as she most likely feels excluded to an extent (bearing in mind the boys were raised together with the exclusion of Echo, no matter her previous ties to them, Omega was always going to feel isolated to some extent), but not enough to deny she has an attachment to them, and vice versa. Hunter has already shown on multiple occasions (Kamino, Saleucami, the moon from episode 3) that he would do whatever it takes to protect her, but it’s nice to see Omega’s perspective on the newly found emotions too.

Finally, Hunter is able to catch up to both Omega and Fennec, and the sudden change in his demeanour and her aura of innocence is extremely present here. Hunter drops the worrisome parental act fairly quickly, and it’s replaced with the familiar soldier we all know and recognise, he needs to exhibit such strengths to assert the extent he is willing to go to protect Omega. Equally, upon realising Fennec doesn’t quite have her best interest at heart, Omega wastes no time jumping (recklessly) into action to save both herself and Hunter anymore trouble. Of course, being a weightless little girl, she isn’t able to do much, and Hunter ends up in a physical altercation with Shand, where he actually ends up taking his eyes off the assassin to address Omega directly, insisting she run. This not only shows just how much he cares about her, but how desperate he was to ensure her safety by putting himself at risk by not only getting into a fight, but exposing a vulnerability by taking his eyes off of her. (Her worried little face as she flees too, poor girl 😔)

(This point doesn’t have much to do with the relationship between these two, so feel free to skip over it if you want, but I did want to briefly comment on Omega’s timid exterior as she runs to Wrecker in the maintenance tunnels. It truly helps to perceive her genuine age and immaturity, the way she cowers into his neck and sits in his arms especially.)

After Tech informs Hunter of Omega’s current predicament involving the maintenance tower, it’s easily noticeable that when questioning Tech’s information, his voice mirrors the exact tone and edge it held when berating both the former and Echo after their ship was impounded in Saleucami. To me, this shows a clear connotation between the dire situations, and how quickly Hunter has taken to his new role in Omega’s life, and his job as her primary carer. Not to mention, she is literally hanging mid-traffic lane, and in desperate need of assistance. Alongside this, we see previously in this episode that not only was Hunter worried about attracting unwanted attention, after receiving such a thing and accidentally allowing Omega to hang in the balance (pun unintended), he actually steals somebody’s hoverbike in an attempt to rescue the little one, seeming to not care he is attracting even more unwanted attention. There is no hesitation on his end.

The look of absolutely HORROR that crosses this man’s face as Omega drops from the tower and just about hits the hovertruck below. We haven’t seen a look like that cross Hunter’s features since Crosshair’s ‘betrayal’, another indication to his immense worry for the newest member of his family. Equally, this is mirrored by Omega’s wide eyed, petrified stare as she momentarily watches Fennec shoot straight for Hunter’s bike, realising both she and the closest thing she has to a parent are still in serious peril. We need to take into account that this little girl has never experienced something this grim before, and the internal panic is evident for both herself, and Hunter especially.

This brings us down to the “HUNTER!!” comment from Omega as she dangles from the hovertruck. I personally believe her first initial thoughts were not to warn Hunter of the oncoming Shand, but instead a desperation to cry out for help from her guardian. This escalated as she notices Fennec approaching, and her eyes even widen as she calls out for Hunter to watch out, giving further evidence that her first thoughts might not have correlated to her eventual dialogue. It’s also important to note that despite her incredibly tragic situation, Omega is still much more worried about Hunter’s predicament than her own.

(Slightly unimportant, but I love the way Hunter leans in to take Omega in his arm before Shand knocks him out of the way. It’s very parental.)

I never noticed this before, but as Hunter catches Omega’s hand and hauls her onto the bike, he actually scans her over briefly to check for any injuries, before insisting she hold on tight. Notice how his voice isn’t scolding or harsh, he’s very calm despite the dire situation, doing his best to remain neutral for Omega’s sake, especially considering the day she’s had. It’s also important to note that this is further improvement from the situation on Saleucami, another example of their ever-growing relationship.

The WAVE of relief that rolls from Hunter’s entire demeanour as he places the backpack down in the Marauder cockpit, knowing he can finally rest now that Omega is safe, while simultaneously anticipating the flurry of issues about to storm their already hectic lives with a bounty hunter after the kid. His eyes are exhausted, his shoulders are only slightly slacked to insinuate his rough exterior, and yet he still does his absolute best to comfort Omega as she begins to get upset over the prior events and the unknown future.

And, finally, a small action but important nonetheless. I noticed that Omega’s eyes quiver slightly as she begins to get upset, and in her final moments on screen, they direct towards Hunter. This may seem unimportant, but it provides further evidence to the notion that she seeks him out for protection specifically. She’s upset and frightened, so she looks to him because he protects her. It is set up as if she’s about to toss herself into his arms, because she needs him right now.

I hope you liked my analysis of Hunter and Omega’s relationship in episode four of The Bad Batch! Of course, I’d love to discuss these two with anybody who might be interested, so please feel free to drop me an ask or a DM, and if you’re captivated enough I’d totally recommend looking out for my future posts on the topic!

As always, much love to our ‘Megs and Hunter, thank you for reading! 💛

Part One: Aftermath

Part Two: Cut and Run

Part Three: Replacements

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chibi-beaver · 3 years

Text

I'm in a bad batch kinda mood today and decided to write some Hunter & Omega fluff/angst!

Rating: General

Warnings: none (this is pretty wholesome)

Summary: After Hunter loses his cool with Omega, he remembers what Cut and Suu told him and tries to make things right

Tags: hurt/comfort, fluff, angst, domestic fluff, parenting, father daughter relationship

There will be Bad Batch spoilers in this so don't read if you haven't watched the latest episode (episode 4)

Honestly, I'm pretty proud of this rn 😁

Story is also attached under the cut if you wanna read it here, if you like it I'd appreciate the notes here and/or kudos on ao3 😁

Edit: I forgot to add some fic tags 😳

Omega had gotten herself into yet another jam. All they had to do was get supplies on Tatooine. It certainly wasn't the nicest planet but it was in the outer rim and for the most part, off the radar of the Empire.

All Omega had to do was stay close to Hunter as they went into Mos Espa. It was supposed to be an in and out supply run but when was any supply run in and out? He should've known that something had to happen but why did it have to happen to Omega?

She had gotten herself into the hands of yet another bounty hunter. Hadn't she learned her lesson after the encounter on Pantora? Hunter thought to himself as he ran through the sandy "streets" of Mos Espa in search of Omega.

"Wrecker, Tech, Echo! I need help finding Omega!" Hunter yelled into his comm.

"I'm on it!" Wrecker replied.

"I'm finishing the ship's repairs but I've sent Echo," Tech said.

"I thought Echo was repairing the ship with you," Hunter said.

"He was, but we're almost done," Tech replied.

Hunter was relieved that he got two of his men helping him find Omega.

Hunter tripped over his feet. The grains of sand were making his feet slide everywhere. Just when things couldn't get any worse, Hunter noticed a Tusken Raider running off with something. Upon closer look, it was his blaster.

Hunter was conflicted on what to do but he eventually ran after the Tusken Raider and tackled it to the ground before ripping the gun out of his tiny hands. Some more Tusken Raiders surrounded Hunter, weapons pointed at him. Probably stolen weapons, he thought. He looked around, looking for an out. He knew if he shot one, he'd subsequently get shot by another, which could incapacitate him, but he couldn't waste any time. If their encounter with the bounty hunter on Pantora taught him anything, he knew that they were cunning and fearless. They would do anything to keep their hands on Omega and would harm anyone who got in their way. Almost like what he would do for Omega. He just wished that she would stop getting into trouble.

Suddenly, they all ran off at the sound of something. Hunter was unsure of the source of the sound until his comm went off.

"You can thank me later, Tuskens hate Krayt Dragons," Tech said.

"How did you know I was-"

"I got my repairs done and I started watching the camera feeds around Mos Espa and noticed some Tuskens bothering you in the background of one," Tech replied.

"Now I'm glad you record the sound of every animal you've heard of," Hunter said, relief permeating his voice.

"I can see the bounty hunter!" Wrecker said into the comm.

"Transmit me your coordinates!" Hunter said.

"How do I do that!?" Wrecker asked.

"I got this, you focus on finding Omega," Tech said as he transmitted Wrecker's coordinates to Hunter and Echo.

Hunter immediately ran to them, meeting up with Echo on the way. Just as they got there, Wrecker got knocked out by Bounty Hunter who seemed to use the weapon he knocked Wrecker out with as a hat.

"I got Wrecker, go find Omega!" Echo said as he tried to help Wrecker.

Hunter obliged to what Echo said as he continued running after the bounty hunter. He was led to a dead-end street where he saw an anooba cornering Omega. Hunter took out his blaster and shot the anooba in the leg, causing him to yelp. Omega was distressed by the sound, as was the bounty hunter who retaliated by throwing his hat like a frisbee at Hunter. Hunter ducked just in time and avoided being hit by the hat. The bounty hunter then took out a weapon of his own and began shooting at Hunter with it. Hunter continued running towards the bounty hunter, to tackle him. It was successful until the anooba came back to tackle Hunter, causing him to drop his blaster.

Omega slowly made her way towards the blaster, but the anooba must have smelt her because he got off of Hunter and jumped on Omega. Hunter took the opportunity to pick up his blaster and pointed it at the bounty hunter's head, just as Echo and Wrecker arrived at the scene. Cornering the bounty hunter. He called his anooba off of Omega as he searched for a way out.

"What do you want with Omega?" Hunter asked, keeping the blaster pointed at the bounty hunter's head. He started speaking in an unknown language.

"Where's Tech when you need him?" Echo muttered as he turned on his comm but didn't say anything.

Hunter repeated the question as Omega approached Wrecker and stood behind his leg, she was trembling.

"He's trying to say that he was put off to it by an unknown client, it's just a job to him, a good-paying job at that," Tech whispered as he listened in.

The bounty hunter didn't answer the question as the anooba brought back his hat. The bounty hunter took the hat and hit Hunter with it before running to make his escape, pushing Echo and Wrecker out of the way.

"What were you thinking?!" Hunter said frustratedly to Omega.

"I-I'm sorry," Omega said.

"I thought you would've learned not to talk to strangers or touch strange animals after Pantora!" Hunter continued.

Omega said nothing in return as she stayed at Wrecker's side.

"You could've gotten yourself killed again! These situations are why I wanted to send you with Cut and Suu! So that you could be safe!" Hunter said. He saw the sad expression on Omega's face immediately after he said that. She looked like she was going to cry.

"Lay off her!" Wrecker said as he took Omega's hand and started back to the ship with Echo.

Hunter quickly began to regret what he had said. The regret kept itself on his mind as he walked back to the ship.

When he got back to the ship, Omega was in her room with the curtain closed.

"Let's get off this desert world," Tech said as he plotted a course for Idaflor. Maybe this time they would actually make it there without needing to repair the ship or to get supplies.

Hunter began to grow concerned as hours passed and Omega had still not left her room. Usually, she wouldn't stay in her room long. Her curious mind always kept her on the go, even though she had seen the inside of the ship countless times. Even if she wasn't feeling curious, she would usually leave to use the fresher. Tech looked back from the pilot's seat at Hunter

"What's wrong?" Tech asked.

"Nothing that you can fix," Hunter said, glancing at Omega's room.

"Well, that's a lie because I know a way to fix most things," Tech said.

"Yea, you can fix ships but you know about as much as I do about parenting," Hunter replied.

"Ah, it's about Omega. Hmmm, well maybe you should talk to her, perhaps discussing whatever happened might help things," Tech said.

Hunter didn't reply. Rather he sat back into his chair while Tech turned back to whatever device he was building. He remembered Tech telling him what it was but he had forgotten. As Hunter thought about what he could do, his mind went back to Cut and Suu.

"Easy, she's not a soldier."

Cut said that to him the first time he lashed out at Omega.

"You're safe, that's all that matters."

Hunter reminded himself that Omega was on the ship with them and not in the hands of that bounty hunter but at the same time, she shouldn't have touched that anooba. They didn't know the animal, it could've been diseased, or as it was in this case, connected to someone dangerous.

"Children will always find ways of getting into trouble, Hunter. It's what they do. Protecting them is what we do".

Hunter thought more about what he had said on Tatooine. Even if some of it was warranted, he shouldn't have brought up Cut and Suu. It was a bit of a sore spot for Omega, knowing that Hunter was going to pawn her off on Cut and Suu, even if he thought it was for her own good.

Hunter decided to approach Omega's room. He climbed up a couple steps of the ladder.

"Omega?" Hunter said.

"Go away!" Omega said.

"I just want to talk," Hunter said. "No yelling this time. I'm not mad." Hunter continued in a gentler tone.

"Fine," Omega said.

Hunter pulled the curtain to side slightly. She was sitting in her room with Lula held in one of her arms as she looked out the window at the whizzing of hyperspace.

Hunter sat in the small face, doing his best to fit. Wrecker clearly designed this space for someone of Omega's size. He eventually sat horizontally in the room, with one leg hanging outside of the space for his own comfort.

"You're gonna get rid of me again, aren't you?" Omega said.

"What? No. You said you wanted to be with us, I promised you that if you wanted to be with us then you will be with us."

"But I screwed up again," Omega said.

"You said it yourself once, you have a lot to learn. But so do I and I realize I was a bit too harsh today. I'm sorry."

"I can't help that I'm curious sometimes," Omega said, thinking back on how it was her who wanted to pet the anooba.

"I know, but sometimes it's better to watch from afar," Hunter said.

Omega didn't say anything in response. Rather she clutched the Lula.

"I'm not going to get rid of you. We want you here just as much as you want to be here. I'm sorry for bringing up Cut and Suu and I'm just glad you're okay," Hunter said.

To Hunter's surprise, Omega moved closer to him and put her arms around his shoulders, hugging him. Hunter was initially taken aback but he soon returned the hug. When they eventually pulled away from one another, Omega smiled.

"Now let's agree to put what happened today behind us," Hunter said.

"Ok," Omega replied.

Hunter made his way back down the ladder and extended a hand out to Omega,

"wanna come down and hang out with us or explore the ship or do whatever you want?" Hunter asked.

"Sure!" Omega said as she came out of her room and started asked Tech various questions about the ship and the controls. Hunter watched and smiled at seeing Omega feeling a bit better.

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