Do They Come In Different Colors?

Oh! Um... never thought of tech like that

@summer-of-bad-batch

Prompt: Water Gun Fight

Everybody watch out ⚠️

Ohh! Is this going to be a cadet story?

WIP Wednesday

Phew, I'm getting somewhere with this one, finally!

The landing angle of the shuttle is just a bit too steep, and the nose scrapes the tarmac. Tech corrects it at the last moment, but the shuttle still skids, its rear hits the hangar wall with a deafening bang. Hunter is jostled harder than he expected and yelps as he hits his elbow at the edge of the control panel. The shuttle stops, finally.

There is a moment of shocked silence. Wrecker is the first to jump up. It is a miracle that the ramp manual release lever does not break under his panicked push, and Wrecker storms out.

“I'm never flying with you piloting! Ever again, you, karking di’kut!” They hear from the outside of the ship.

“At least you're going to have someone, who knows—”

Tech is brutally interrupted by Crosshair, who swoops down on him, full of fury and hard-set intention to strangle his brother.

“Now you get the crash-landing protocol right,” Hunter mostly shares the sentiment as he rubs his hurt elbow. “Strap in first. Kill the pilot later.”

Ooooh! Tore is a Jedi? Well, I guess that makes sense.

Bad Batch Fanfiction

Plot: an alternate route if Crosshair went with them after Tapoca City was destroyed. The Batch has to navigate with their estranged brother and his ideology of the Galactic Empire, while helping a few seemingly hidden Jedi and their dragon friend rid a planet of a pirate that has taken over a small colony of refugees that fled from the Empire. The Jedi have a plan to get rid of the pirate and his gang, but it involves putting on a performance of singing and dancing, and they have the Batch perform along with them, much the guys embarrassment.

Warnings: hurt, comfort, sibling fighting, canon violence, mentions of blood, gore, death, and injuries, some mention of religion, some flirting, sibling affection, family bonding, in later chapters there will be mentions of abuse(those will have warnings in the beginning of the chapter and in tags(to the best of my ability)), and lots of singing. The boys will be singing.

Word count: 3,057

Chapter 3

"Oi! Mate!" Tore called back. "I still need you up here!" 

"Coming!" Hunter called out to him. Then he commed Tech. "Tech, are you there?"

"Loud and clear, Hunter." Tech replied. "What's the situation?"

"I need you to look up everything that you can on Hondo Ohnaka." Hunter started walking up the path, wary of his surroundings. "Also, I want you two to be on watch for anything suspicious or out of place. That weird energy I felt just turned off and I don't want to find out too late if it's actually a monster."

"Copy that." Tech commed off and began his search on Hondo, which wasn't hard to pull up, though filtering through the information was going to be a challenge. "Echo, I may need your help on this."

"Oh! Tech needs some assistance?" Echo teased as he came from the front.

Tech rolled his eyes. "With your ability to sort through information quickly, I need you to do some cross references on Hondo Ohnaka's files to see which lines up as true, plausible and false."

"Hondo?" A flash of familiarity crossed Echo's face. “I haven’t heard that name in a while. What’s he doing over here?” He plugged in his scomp and began his filing.

“Unsure, but he must have perceived something of value on this planet in order for him to subjugate the colony of people.” After a brief moment of research, Tech had his answer and shuddered after a quick read. “I found the items he sought to control the operations of.” His voice was pitched low in disgust.

“Well, what was he after?” Echo asked over his shoulder.

“‘The Harvesting of the Idaflor Drakears’.” 

It was then Echo’s turn to shudder. “You seriously need to work on your phrasing.”

“That’s not me explaining, this is me reading.” Tech explained dryly.

Echo unplugged and turned around in his chair to read what was displayed on Tech’s screen. “‘The Harvesting of Idaflor Drakears. Drakear hide, knives made from their claws, their scales, scales in fireproof armor form, their horns, horn knives, swords, their glands that produce the fire-’” Echo stopped reading out loud as the list went into more detail of the different listed parts of the Drakears that were for sale on the black market. Then the trade value for slaves. At that he stopped reading. "Kriff! This makes me sick!" He turned back to his computer to restart his sorting, with his stomach churning horribly inside of him.

“I agree with that statement.” Tech nodded.

Hunter's voice came through again. "Tech, have you found anything yet?"

"I found information about the Drakears on the black market with their listings and trade values. Hondo is certainly growing an empire of his own." Tech frowned in his chair.

"That's what Tore has been telling us." Hunter replied.

"Tore?" Both Tech and Echo asked.

"Ah, right, I forgot to mention him." Hunter shook his head. "Tore was the one who sent out the distress call. He was the one who started the settlement by accident and taught the people how to defeat the Drakears. Somehow Hondo caught wind of their operations and took over by force."

"Who is this Tore?" Tech asked, already looking him up.

"A human male, a bit on the short side, jolly personality, likes to wear brown, and he's a craftsman by trade."

"Is that all?" Tech raised an eyebrow.

Hunter stared at the man chatting away with Omega and Wrecker. There were not that many distinguishable features about this man other than his clothes that he couldn't quite place. He also wasn’t sure of one thing. "Honestly Tech, there's not much to say about him other than he reminds me of our military leaders." He tried to quietly emphasize.

"Hold a moment, Hunter." Tech called from his chair. "I think I got something on him."

"What is it?" He wondered if Tech heard his hint. 

"Hondo has him listed on the bounty hunters list of Targets, along with a human woman named Nara, a human boy named Russell, and a red monster."

"Really?" Hunter felt the presence of some people up ahead in front of the wall that led to the town of the settlement. "Hang on. We've got company." He quickly pulled out his blaster which prompted the others to do the same.

"You sense them, ey?" Tore glanced behind at Hunter with a sly smile. 

Hunter nodded. Then the others looked back at him. "Plan 7" was all he would say. Wrecker nodded and pulled his helmet back down over his face and moved to one side of Tore, while Crosshair made a noise of annoyance and moved to the other side, and Omega looked slightly confused as Hunter pulled her back towards himself. Now knowing Tore was on the bounty hunters list, it gave him an idea. He pressed his blaster into Tore's back and shoved him a bit.

"Hunter," Omega asked, "what's going on?"

"Hondo's men are right ahead." Hunter spoke low enough for her to hear, then spoke louder. "Our friend Tore here has a price on his head from Hondo."

"Bounty hunters." Tore chuckled darkly. "I should've known." He stood straighter and walked stiffly as his grip on the box tightened. "I know the price on my head is high, but if you help me, I can double it!" He almost sounded desperate, and the wind seemed to taunt him as a gust nearly blew his cap off, prompting him to catch it and nearly dropping the box of knives in the process.

"Trying to negotiate again, eh Tore?" Spoke a weequay that emerged from a tree, followed by fifteen more, all armed and ready to fire.

"I'm sorry, what was your name again mate?" Tore asked playfully as he readjusted his cap.

The weequay spat on the ground in front of Tore's boots. "You're late, Tore. Hondo doesn't tolerate lateness."

"Well you can blame these guys for slowin me down." Tore gestured at the bad batch. "I thought they were here to help. But I fell into their trap of fake friendship!" His voice sounded overly hurt.

"We're just making sure that he doesn't escape from you guys this time." Hunter added while adding an additional shove into Tore's back. Hunter hoped that Tore could perceive that this was a fake set up.

"Hand the knives over Tore." The weequay leader commanded the man. Tore dramatically held out the box in front of himself and dropped it with a thud on the ground, then kicked it over. "All of the knives." 

Tore snickered. "You want to repeat last time, mate?" He took out the Drakear knife and dropped it to the ground while leaving the small one in its sheath.

“All. Of. Them.” The weequay restated.

Tore’s brow came down and his smile twisted. "You should know by now the small one doesn't leave my side." The gleam of light that flashed in Tore's eyes made the weequay men stiffen.

The leader scoffed. "Do you really want to do that in front of the girl?" He pointed to Omega.

Tore shrugged. "Not really, seeing how she's a child, but I'm no stranger to fighting in front of slaves." Omega stiffened with a look of surprise on her face. What was Tore doing?

"A slave?!" Wrecker shouted at Tore, though was quickly punched by Hunter to keep quiet. "Ow!" 

"Oh, was that supposed to be a secret?" Tore glanced up at Wrecker with a raised brow. "Sure she may be armed, but you can always arm a slave if you've broken their will." Tore looked back at Hunter and Crosshair with a knowing look. "I say she has a case of Stockholm syndrome. Why else would they bring a child to a dangerous place?"

Crosshair had to bite his tongue in order not to laugh. Told ya so Hunter!  So he wasn't the only one who saw how dumb it was to bring a kid? 

Hunter, on the other hand, could still hear Crosshair's "told ya so" and dared not to look at his brother. Tore your helpfulness is not helping. "Shut up!" Hunter shoved Tore to the ground roughly, then whispered to Omega, "it's going to be okay." She nodded slightly as he placed a hand on her shoulder to convey ownership. "Yes she is a slave, but that's not why our business is here. We have Tore and want our reward." He made his voice even more gravelly to sell how serious he was.

The weequay leader studied the group for a moment and eyed Omega greedily. The ideas that swirled in his head. He could buy her for Hondo to be his little assassin once she was trained by him personally. Amongst other things. No one would suspect a cute little girl to suddenly attack. "I'll double the reward if you sell the girl to me." 

"No." Both Wrecker's and Hunter's answers were short. "She's irreplaceable."

"You would have to quadruple it at that point." Crosshair interjected. He could tell what the weequay man was thinking just with his eyes. How he wished he didn't have to restrain himself from ending this nerfherder.

"No slave is worth THAT much." The leader shook his head. "I'll triple it, plus a replacement slave, yeah?"

"What is going on here?!" Cried a male voice. "And where is Tore with my knives?!" The weequay men parted to let none other than Hondo Ohnaka through, with his hands behind his back and looking rather annoyed. He stopped and stared at the bad batch and then to the ground, his head tilted with confusion. "What's up with him?" He pointed both index fingers at Tore who was now laying on the ground spread eagle style with his eyes crossed. The bad batch stared at the man with great confusion while the weequay only shook their heads.

"There's an inch worm on the box!" Tore replied with a high pitched voice in wonder. 

There was a pause where no one moved or said anything. Not even the wind seemed to blow.

Omega didn't know that "awkward" could have a taste in the air, but it did and it was thick and dusty at the same time.

Hondo sniffed. "Oh well. Classic Tore, always distracted by the little things!" He suddenly clapped his hands. "Anyway, Have you rethought my proposal?"

"Yes." Tore replied normally while slowly pushing himself off the ground and dusted himself off. "We will be playing for you tomorrow night. Provided I don't die before then." He waved his arms at the two groups with a sly look on his face.

"Well that is provided if your red friend shows up also! Now with that out of the way, back to my current business!" Hondo rubbed his hands together as he strode over to the box and picked it up and shook it, knocking the inchworm off. He frowned slightly. "Is this all of them?"

"Yes." Tore nodded while crossing his arms. "You can double check, but you should know that I make good on my orders."

The batch looked at each other with more confusion as the exchange was happening. "Um Scuse us!" Wrecker bellowed. "Don't we get some sort of reward for his capture?"

Hondo looked up at Wrecker with surprise, as if he didn't notice him before. Then he sniffed as if he smelled something rotten. "I do believe the reward I have put up is for all four individuals and not just one. Though I seriously need to change that." He handed the box to one of his men. "It's risky business to give a reward for each one, as that could drain me of my wealth. For Tore here has a habit of sneaking away after his capture," Hondo walked over to Tore and patted his head. "And trust me my friend, you will be doing me a great service if you can catch all of them alive. But every bounty hunter that comes and tries, dies!"

"Why not just kill him?" Crosshair asked.

Hondo scoffed. "You don't think we've tried?" Then he laughed. "Oh no my friend, he is slimier than me, which is rather impressive, for I, the great Hondo Ohnaka have escaped worse situations than he has!" Hondo turned back to Tore and hoisted him up roughly before tossing him to his men. They quickly restrained him and had almost all of their blasters pointed at him. "But, I will consider giving you the full reward if you can capture or kill the boy, and bring me the red monster and the woman in his keeping. Only then!” He raised a finger to the sky, “will you have your reward." He picked up Tore's Drakear knife and studied it a bit. "It's amazing to see such craftsmanship, dedication, and honor from a man. Makes me almost wish I wasn't a pirate.” He chuckled. “Almost."

"Where would we find these other three?" Hunter asked.

Hondo pointed the knife back from where they came. "They're somewhere outside the Ring of Fire, almost due East of here. From what my men have gathered and the few that returned, there are traps all around their base of operations. Most impressive if I do say so myself."

"Why Thank you!" Tore called from being restrained.

"You're welcome Tore!" Hondo turned back to the man. "It's too bad you're not a pirate. We would've made a great team!"

"Too bad indeed." Tore chuckled. "I'll see ya tomorrow night." There was a bright flash of light that blinded the eyes followed by a deep throated roar that shook the ground and defended the ears. The men that held Tore yelled and shot their blasters wildly while the bad batch ducted and tried to find cover. Crosshair jumped to hide behind a nearby boulder while throwing off his helmet from the pain that seared into his eyes from the explosive light, wondering what in the world was ambushing them. Wrecker was knocked away by what felt like a tree trunk body slamming into him and nearly rendering him out of breath, and Hunter kept hold of Omega from behind a tree as best as he could while trying to fight the migraine that almost overwhelmed him from the flash of light and noise of the roar and of the weequay screaming.

"Catch it!" Hondo yelled at his men. "Catch it!!" Then he shouted, "Remember Tore! That every man I lose, you lose another villager!!"

"Hahaha! That will change soon Hondo!" Tore laughed from somewhere. "You’ll pay for what you've done here!" The batch heard running feet going past them and something large flew through the trees while producing a hot, swirling breeze. Hunter and Crosshair painfully opened their eyes and could vaguely see something large and red in the trees and saw Tore jumping from limb to limb from tree to tree with relative ease. The only time they saw someone jumping like that was during the war. Was Tore a Jedi? Crosshair wanted to test that theory and brought up his sniper and took a shot at Tore, who managed to deflect it with his smaller knife back at him. Crosshair dodged just in time as his bolt hit the boulder where his head was. This only made his suspicions more solid. He looked up to face Hunter and they both came to the same conclusion. This was a Jedi they were dealing with. One who had survived Order 66. 

"Aaaaand that is why I don't offer rewards for Tore's capture!" Hondo spoke up from behind them, waving Tore's knife at the escaping duo. Crosshair quickly retrieved his helmet and replaced it on his head before any of the weequay could see his face.

"What was that?!" Omega asked, still clutching Hunter as they stood up, though Hunter had to lean on her to keep himself steady.

"That my dear child, was the dragon Inferno!" Hondo looked down at her with an annoyed smile. "That is the real prize I am after. Without him, this entire operation of Drakear harvesting is non profitable." He looked over to where Wrecker was struggling to get up from the ground. "You might want to have your friend looked at. Armor or no, he took a strong hit from that beast."

"I'm okay!" Wrecker raised a hand with a thumbs up, still struggling to stand.

"He's had harder hits," Hunter spoke coldly as the migraine was nearly blinding him with pain. "Why is this dragon so important?"

Hondo's own eyes had a glint in them, a glint of greed. "He can tame the Drakears with ease and kill them just as easily. Didn't you wonder how this area was cleared of the beasts?"

"Yeah, we did." Omega answered quietly.

Hondo bowed slightly to be at Omega's height. "It's because the beasts are afraid of the dragon. He cleared them out and made this lot livable for all aliens. With that kind of beast under my control, I'll be richer than Dooku ever was! Hahaha!" Hondo laughed, making Omega grimace. At this moment Wrecker joined back up with Hunter and Omega while rubbing his sides, not exactly liking the situation anymore.

Crosshair stepped up to the laughing pirate. "Why didn't you list Tore as a Jedi?" His voice was low and hissy with annoyance.

"And have the Empire come here to my operations?" Hondo swung out his arms. "No my friend, that would be very bad for business. For all of us." He then turned back to his crew. "I'd rather not risk my men to that… That." He flung out a hand dramatically, not really sure which insult to call the Empire.

"Then tell us everything we need to know about what we're up against!" Hunter also stepped closer to Hondo, his hand squeezing a little too hard on Omega, at which she squeaked. He immediately released the pressure but resisted the instinct to withdraw his hand off of her, still trying to play the role of a slave owner. This whole trip was becoming more complicated with every second that passed.

Hondo looked between the two, sensing that there was some sort of power Hunter had over the girl. "Come back with me to my base of operations and I'll tell you what I know."

Have... Have they ever called you Toothpick?

Leaves

Sorry!

Hey Crossy! I asked the rest of your brothers so I’d figure I’d save the grumpiest for last, What’s the most annoying thing each of your brothers do or have done to you?

Would be hard to compete with calling me "Crossy"

I’m literally such a dumbass. HUGE (mini?) CROSSHAIR INSIGHT (This is spoiler safe 💕)

I’ve always glazed over the extra little piece over Crosshair’s chest plate on his Bad Batch armor. Always just thought "oh, his armor design is cool and unique."

IT'S LITERALLY A CUSHION FOR THE STOCK OF HIS RIFLE FOR THE RECOIL.

I've shot some rifles here and there and GD your shoulder gets sore from getting punched with the recoil, no matter how good you are at compensating/bracing. Even with his katarn-class armor, I'm sure it wouldn't be comfy. Because Crosshair is the only clone we really see with something like this, I'm going to assume it's not standard-issue. Which then means he went to Space-JoAnn's or raided the GAR supply closet for some scraps and arts-and-crafts-ed it himself.

Then I noticed his Empire armor doesn’t have that cushion. Yes de-individualization, but it’s also an indication that the Empire doesn’t care about any discomfort/pain that Crosshair may suffer from his rifle recoil. I can’t with this 😭

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk 😭🫠

also tagging some friends who witnessed this epiphany/may be interested since I added a few things lmao

@arctrooper69 @photogirl894 @probadbatch @moonstrider9904 @freesia-writes @totallyunidentified @starrylothcat @griffedeloup @nahoney22 @dragonrider9905 @starqueensthings @nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius

I will never get over the fact that he swam all that way in armor and didn't collapse

I think wet Hunter is our consolation prize after the writers tried to kill us with the rest of these episodes

A Bad Batch Fanfiction

Plot: An attempt at writing a story about The Bad Batch and an alternate route if Crosshair went with them after Tapoca City was destroyed.

This is more of an adventure/action story with hurt/comfort and how the Batch has to navigate with their estranged brother and his ideology of the Galactic Empire, while helping a few seemingly hidden Jedi and their dragon friend rid a planet of a pirate that has taken over a small colony of refugees that fled from the Empire. The Jedi have a plan to get rid of the pirate and his gang, but it involves putting on a performance of singing and dancing, and they have the Batch perform along with them, much the guys embarrassment.

Warnings: sibling fighting, canon violence, mentions of blood, gore, death, and injuries, some mention of religion, some flirting, sibling affection, family bonding, in later chapters there will be mentions of abuse(those will have warnings in the beginning of the chapter and in tags(to the best of my ability)), and lots of singing. The boys will be singing.

Word count: 3,544

Chapter 2

The trip to Idaflor took several days through hyperspace, and in that time no one really spoke since the near fight in the bar, and tensions were still high. Omega watched Tech, Echo, Wrecker, and Hunter switch places with each other from in the cockpit to the monitors while conversing quietly with each other and with her, and businging themselves with catalogs, inventory, and updates from the holonet regarding the Empire. And Crosshair kept to himself on his bunk most of the time, polishing his rifle, mirrors, and his armor or napping. She had tried to approach him a few times but was met with a growl and a glare from the sniper and quickly, yet sadly, stopped trying for the time being. She had hoped that he would have changed by now, but unfortunately he was still stuck with his Empire ideology. Wrecker had a bit more success than she did by getting a few words out of their estranged brother, but nothing more. It wasn't until they were about to exit hyperspace when a full conversation with all of them took place.

"Why was there no one inhabiting Idaflor before?" Omega asked her brothers. She realized that she didn't know the exact reason for this planet’s lack of people, other than it was just uninhabited.

Hunter answered from the doorway leading into the cockpit. "Idaflor has been ruled largely by a species of animals called Drakears that are extremely dangerous and nearly impossible to kill."

“Not only that," Tech jumped in the conversation from the pilot's chair, a little excited that an actual conversation was happening. "They travel in pacts close to twenty in numbers and one swipe from their claws will shatter anyone's ribs. They can breathe fire that can shoot out thirty meters, their skin is completely covered in impenetrable scales and can grow over twenty feet in height if standing on their hind legs."

Echo brought up a picture of one on the data pad and showed Omega whose eyes grew big at the sight. To her it looked like a bear was covered in scales of a dragon, but had a longer torso with a long, spiked tail. There were four horns on its bear-like head that curved slightly back before heading up, its legs were stocky and strong with bear claws, and the overall color was a muddied purple. "Whoa!" She exclaimed quietly, taking in the picture with wonder. "That’s so cool! But terrifying."

"Exactly why no one lived there for so long." Echo said. "You can't kill one with a blaster because of their scales, but a lightsaber from a Jedi could cut through them just fine.” He immediately thought back to his generals and wished they were still alive.

“Those traitors should've done more to make that place more livable.” Crosshair sneered.

 Of course when he spoke it was about the “traitorous Jedi”. He earned a glare from Echo, who had fought alongside some of the best in the galaxy.

"But, how are there people living there now?" Omega asked, trying to stop another fight from happening before it started.

"Unsure." Tech said. "The settlers don't seem to have the technology or weaponry to deal with the beasts if they have been taken over by pirates, for there isn't a lot in that particular area where the settlement is to hide from the Drakears."

"And who are the pirates again?" Wrecker asked behind Crosshair's chair.

Hunter took out the device. "Unknown at the moment, the puck didn't say." The information on it was, to put it bluntly, strange. The way the Drakears were described as "the weird purple dragon bears" instead of their official name was unusual and the pirates themselves were described as "weird brown aliens with horns that took over by shooting up the place, killed a few people and other aliens and took others hostage to make them slaves, demanded tribute for protection against the dragon bears and wanted all the goods to be stored at their new base." It almost felt like a trap. A weird trap.

"I still think we can get this over with before dinner!" Wrecker proclaimed while hoisting up Gonky, who made a noise of protest. “Get rid of the pirates, save the village, and get paid!”

"We need to know who we're dealing with first, Wrecker." Crosshair said coldly, annoyed with his brother's enthusiasm.

"Hey, I'm just being optimistic." Wrecker said. "Plus, I wanna see if they have Drakear meat. That sounds good!"

"We're about to find out now." Tech called back. "We're approaching Idaflor." Echo hopped back up to the copilot's seat with Omega tailing him as Tech brought the ship out of hyperspace in front of the planet Idaflor. She let out a quiet “whoa” and was once again amazed how each planet could look so different. The forests of trees and foliage were different shades of purple with a clear blue sky as a background as it had been unsoiled by space ships.

Upon approaching their destination they could see through the windows a large cannon ring surrounding the settlement, some ten miles in diameter with the cannon itself spanning a quarter of a mile wide and sixty meters deep, and on the inside of the ring going all the way around was a large hill. "Well," Hunter whistled with surprise. "That could keep the Drakears out."

"This only gives us more questions than answers though." Echo said with a gesture of his scomp arm. "Was this always here? And if not, who dug that and how did they do it? And how did they clear out this area of the Drakears?"

"And where’d all that dirt go?" Wrecker asked.

"Why do you care about the dirt?" Crosshair asked impatiently.

"Well from what Tech said the other day, matter cannot be created or destroyed-"

"Don't try to sound smart." Crosshair interrupted him, which prompted a kick to his seat that nearly bounced him out.

"Wrecker does have a point, Crosshair." Tech jumped in. "Enough ground has been dug up to create another hill, however, the surrounding hills are not fresh mounds of dirt."

"Then where did it all go?" Omega asked.

"It could be a natural formation," Tech thought, "and nothing extraordinary. Stranger things have happened on other planets."

“That's an understatement.” Echo drolled.

The lower they flew, Hunter felt something strong. It may have been some sort of powercenter that was running, but it also didn't feel like one, and the closer they got to the settlement it grew weaker. Why would they place something like that far away from the settlement? He thought. He suddenly felt it focus on their ship, almost prodding it like a curious creature. He tensed up as he felt it prodded him, then he felt it move about the cabin as it searched each and every one of them, but the others didn't seem to be bothered by it or even notice it. That's not a power center. He thought breaking out into a sweat, almost ready to fight the invisible intruder. It's alive!

"Hunter?" Tech called back.

Hunter shook his head. "What is it?"

"I asked where you wanted us to land?"

Hunter tried to sense the weird energy inside the ship, but it had gone out again. That was unsettling. "Land two clicks away from the settlement." He answered quickly. "And let's stay away from the east side of the ring. There's something out there."

"Like what?" Omega asked, very curious.

"I don't know. But I think it's best that we don't find out." He noticed Crosshair eyeing him suspiciously, figuring that he knew that he held back information. No one would believe it. 

Thus they landed in a small clearing amongst the purple trees, with Hunter making sure that what he felt was far away from them and not moving in their direction, and thankfully it was just outside the ring, waiting. He also didn't sense any Drakears in the ring, which was good for them, but it was puzzleling. They split into two groups with Hunter, Wrecker, Omega, and Crosshair were to scope out the settlement while Tech and Echo stayed with the ship, much to Crosshair's protest of course. He didn't want a kid going with them.

Omega found the trek thankfully uneventful and somewhat quiet, though the local birds and insects made merry sounds of chirps and rustling, while the cool breeze brought the smells of the local flowers and plants to her nose and danced in the trees, making the leaves rustle and the bark creek. It was very peaceful and serene, though it did seem to penetrate her clothes and bring a chill to her spine, making her shake. 

There were some signs that Drakears once did live in this area, but it had been some time since the beasts had dwelled there. And the closer they got to the center of the settlement, they came upon abandoned homes that were ransacked and burned, with the contents of the home being tossed outside and destroyed.

"Definitely pirates." Wrecker said with a nod. A familiar sight at this point to him, but not a good familiar. And that's why we're here, to kick these nerfherders off this planet!

Omega clutched the sleeve of her shirt, feeling a little bit anxious. The planet had looked friendly and sounded pleasant thus far with the friendly animal chatter and wind, but the reminder of their mission was a dark contrast, with the burnt homes showing uprooted lives that once lived there. It reminded her of how Tapoca City was destroyed. "That's not a good sign." 

Hunter picked up on her nerves and placed a hand on her shoulder. He looked down at her, and even though she couldn't see it, she could tell he was smiling underneath his helmet. "It's going to be okay, Omega. Just remember to stick with us." She grinned back up at him and walked a little bit closer to his side. Hunter then heard Crosshair make a noise of disgust, just barely audible behind him.

"Still a bad idea to bring her along, Hunter." 

"We've been over this Crosshair!" Hunter snapped. This had been an ongoing argument since Crosshair had come back with them, and Hunter had had enough of it.

"You could've at least left her on the ship." Crosshair's voice remained leveled and low, irritating his brother. "That way she wouldn't be in danger. Or in the way."

Hunter suddenly turned on his heel and faced the sniper. "If you want to, you can go back to the ship!" He pointed back down the road. "This is a scouting mission anyway and we can do it without you!" As soon as he said it, he was immediately filled with regret.

Crosshair scoffed, both at the fact that he knew from their stories how they were when he wasn't there before, and that Hunter didn't want him back now. It was hilarious and hurtful. So someone finally said it. He thought. They don't really want me back. They took me out of pity and spite. He was about to say something witty when some movement caught his eyes beyond Hunter's left shoulder. Time seemed to freeze as he did his quick analysis of the target. Fifteen meters away, 12:02, barely behind a tree, a human male has a blaster at the ready, no armor, wind barely blowing, waiting and watching. Warning shot. In a blink of an eye, he pulled up his weapon and shot the blaster out of the man's hand. Hunter, Wrecker, and Omega turned with weapons drawn and saw the man with his hands up in surprise.

Then the man called out, "What a shot, mate!" He stepped lightly out onto the path with his hands still raised. "I do have knives on me, and more in a box, but I will not go for them." 

"Let's be sure of that." Hunter spoke.

"Down on your knees." Crosshair commanded the man. Hunter turned back to him.

"Alright mate." The man obliged. "I hope you're not trigger happy!" He smiled.

Crosshair started to walk up the path, and on passing Hunter he whispered, "I won't forget what you said." 

Wrecker came up behind Crosshair with his helmet up and glared down at the sergeant. "That wasn't called for, Sarge." 

"Wrecker-" Hunter stammered. Omega grabbed his hand, causing him to look down. "Don't listen to him, kid. He doesn't know what he's saying."

"He thinks no one really wants him around." She looked up at him.

Hunter shook his head. He hadn't exactly been warm or trusting of Crosshair, and Crosshair wasn't exactly making it easy either, especially since they still were butting heads over everything and his beliefs of the Empire, but Hunter was glad to have his brother back, he just wished they could get over this Empire hurdle. "Let's go and see who this guy is." Hunter directed themselves up the path behind his brothers. He'll have to apologize later to Crosshair, but not now. First things first, this new guy.

The human male sat on his knees while he waited for the batch to move in closer. His hands were on his capped head with his dark hair escaping underneath its edges, with his brown eyes smiling as he gently sang a tune, seemingly in no hurry. 

“And a-begging I will go,

 a-begging I will go. 

And a-begging I will go, 

a-begging I will go.” 

He wore a brown shoulder cape with crisscrossing bright lines and white tassels hanging on the bottom edge, a red and brown tunic that was crisscrossed from his belt down with more tassels hanging off the hem of the tunic, brown pants and brown boots. If he wanted to hide in the dirt, Hunter thought, no one would see him. The man did have two knives on his person like he said, a large one and a small one, two satchels and a canteen. Definitely a traveler.

"Who are you?" Crosshair asked the man when he was close enough.

"You may call me Tore, mate!" The man chirped. "And who are you lot?"

"Just travelers." Crosshair answered. 

"Travelers, ey?" Tore peeked around Crosshair with a raised brow to see the other members of the squad. "Very well armed for travelers. Though I guess that's expected nowadays." He sniffed and scrunched his nose slightly. “Smell like it too.”

"What are you doing out here?" Hunter asked before Crosshair could say anything about the comment.

"Deliverin Drakear knives to the Great Hondo Ohnaka." Tore laughed sarcastically. "As tribute for his, ahem, 'protection'." Tore air quoted.

"Hondo Ohnaka?" Hunter repeated.

"Yes sir." 

 Hunter took a step forward, now understanding the situation better. "Are you from the settlement?" Tore nodded. "Stand down Crosshair." Hunter ordered.

Crosshair slowly lowered his weapon, still not trusting this man Tore, but the name Hondo rang some bells.

"Whoa!" Wrecker said slowly. "We're up against that guy?"

"Who's Hondo Ohnaka?" Omega asked.

"He's a famous pirate lord in the Outer Rim," Hunter answered. "I've heard many stories of this pirate, but it's said that half of them are false."

Tore's eye's seemed to widen a bit. "You know this pirate?"

"Only stories." Hunter reiterated. "I would need to contact the rest of my squad to dig up more information on him."

"How about I just take you to him!?" Tore looked excited and relieved to meet someone who might know how to stop this pirate.

"How do we know you won't just hand us over?" Crosshair asked.

"Sir," Tore locked eyes with Crosshair through his helmet, unsettling him a bit. "I've been stuck tryin to figure out how to rid this guy and his gang for a month now while makin these dang knives so that he doesn't kill anyone else." Tore narrowed his eyes. "Why would I betray you like that when I'm desperate for help?"

"He's got a point, Crosshair." Wrecker said. Crosshair finally begrudgingly put his weapon away with a growl.

Hunter thought about what Tore said, spending a month trying to figure out how to be free of Hondo, and that the message for help was only a few rotations old. “Were you the one then who sent out the distress call?” Tore nodded. “So you’re the Mayor of this settlement?”

Tore shrugged. “Eh, kind of? I came to this world with my partner lookin for a friend about four months ago and we made a way of life here. Then more people and aliens started to show up and we taught them the way of life here and I guess that got Hondo’s attention.” He tapped his long knife with his hand and chuckled awkwardly. “Who knew that these knives were so rare?”

"What are the knives made of?" Asked Wrecker, full of curiosity.

"May I show you?" Tore asked, looking more like an excited puppy that found a new friend.

Hunter nodded. "Go ahead." He was also very curious about this knife.

Tore pulled out the long semi curved knife. It was purple on one side and ivory on the other. "This is a Drakear knife. It is a talon from a young Drakear that is dangerously sharpened on both sides with the ivory side having two edges." Tore carefully spun the knife to showcase the edges with Hunter and Omega moving in to get a closer look and Wrecker standing over them. Crosshair couldn't care less about its looks. "These knives can cut through wood and armor alike as if they were bread, and with unprotected flesh, like butter." Crosshair shuddered. There was a reason why he preferred to be a sniper, and not just because he was an expert at it. Knives required one to get up close and personal with the target who would struggle against the wielder. Making it messy. He didn't understand how Hunter could stomach such an approach. "The hilt is made from the trees here on the planet, and polished with a black varnish to make the blade pop out.” Then Tore chuckled lightly. “Didn't know that a hunting knife was so valuable."

Crosshair sputtered, “A hunting knife?! This planet has been uninhabited by people for who knows how long because of the Drakears, and you just casually come along and kill them for hunting knives?!” Crosshair nearly took his weapon back out, only to be stopped by Hunter. “Didn't you know that these monsters were dangerous and nearly impossible to kill?” Crosshair grew incredibly suspicious of this man. What are you hiding?

“That’s what everyone said,” Tore answered with a bored smile while replacing the knife in its sheath. “But I don’t see why. You just need to find a material that’s sharper than their scales and bam!” he clapped his hands which caused them to jump. “You take it out!” 

"And what material do you have to kill the Drakears?" Hunter asked, also growing suspicious. He thought back to what Echo said on the ship.  "You can't kill one with a blaster because of their scales, but a lightsaber from a Jedi could cut through them just fine.”

Tore's knowing smile widened and his own eyes became slitted with suspicion. "As a tradesman, I can't reveal all my secrets."

“But what about their firebreath?” Omega asked, not really understanding why they were all becoming suspicious of each other.

“Don’t you all have fireproof armor or somethin like that?” Tore looked at each of them and their silence spoke volumes. For the first time, he frowned. “Seriously?”

“That’s a tad bit expensive.” Wrecker shuffled his feet.

Tore hung his head for a moment and mumbled something under his breath, then lifted his head with resolve in his features and with his hands on his hips. “Alright. Dragon bears aside, y’all are here to do business with Hondo, so you lot better come up with a story quick. His men are just ahead.” Tore promptly sprang up, again startling them. "Alrighty then!" He went back to the tree line humming and picked up a large wooden box that rustled a bit. "Off we go to see the pirate king, to deliver Drakear knives!" He sang as he walked off in the direction of the settlement. He didn’t really give them a chance to speak before taking off.

Omega chuckled at Tore's enthusiasm. He was weird, but it was a good kind of weird. "I like him!" She skipped forward and picked up his blaster and quickly caught up with him to ask him questions.

“Omega wait!” Hunter took off after her.

"Well let's not stand around here!" Wrecker laughed himself. "Let's kick some pirate butt!" He pushed past both of his brothers as he charged after the duo and was quickly followed by Crosshair.

"This is a scouting mission Wrecker!" Crosshair reminded him, fast on his heels. He definitely didn't trust Tore. Something was up with him.

 Well, this man Tore was certainly enthusiastic. Hunter thought. But is he one of them? The weird energy that Hunter had been monitoring suddenly disappeared, as if someone had turned it off. He stopped and checked the air quickly; the wind still blew, chill yet refreshing, and found nothing. Did it die?

Underling: Standing Watch

Word count: ~1,200

Blithe has been out of communication with Commander Echo for nearly a standard galactic year.

Read the back story on this post by @imperial-strategist

Blithe stood sentry duty on the fourth moon of the third planet from the center of nowhere.

She adjusted the breather on her face, trying yet again to fit it snugly enough to keep out the sulfurous stench of the surrounding swamp. The breather had been designed for a near-human species, so it almost—but didn't quite—fit.  No matter how much she fiddled with it, it was going to leak. She knew this from experience, but the impulse to try to block out the nauseating smell was like an itch you can't resist scratching. Still, breathing the fumes wouldn't kill her, so an ill-fitting breather was better than nothing.

As she scanned the trees for anything out of place, Blithe ran through some simple practice motions with her electrostaff, working the stiffness out of the old injury to her right arm. They were alone on this mud ball, other than the local non-sentient life forms, the most common of which was the tooka-sized amphibians that hooted in the trees from dawn to dusk. So, security was light. Just one sentry at a time by day, and two by night when the larger of the planet's carnivorous fauna were out and about. Standing watch was more about deterring the wildlife from wandering into the cave system that hid their base than fear of detection. This planet was so far off the beaten path, it took a standard day at sublight to reach the nearest hyperspace lane. And the mineral makeup of the caves blocked all traces of what took place within from scanners, should anyone actually think to look here.

Why they were here, rather than closer to, well, anything at all was above Blithe's pay grade. Story of an underling's life, she thought.

A scurrying sound to her left snapped Blithe’s attention into focus. She cocked her head, her brows furrowing as she strained to focus past the ambient swamp noises. The source of the disturbance was behind an oversized cargo container a dozen paces away. Too big to fit through the cave entrance, it had been left under the canopy of an especially gnarly, vine-draped tree. You could fit a half dozen stormtroopers inside that crate with enough room left over for a small dewback, if you had a mind to. So it could easily hide any of this world's predators. If this had been a night watch, Blithe would have called for reinforcements before investigating further. But it would be some time yet before the scary things woke up.

The scurrying changed to a rhythmic scraping, giving Blithe the clue she needed to identify the visitor. She crept toward the crate, hefting her staff in both hands. It sparked fitfully when she switched it on, taking longer than it should to light with the blue glow that showed it was working. Blithe had bodged it together from spare parts, and it was anything but reliable. But she was much more skilled with a staff than the blaster on her hip. And, besides, if she was right about what her target was, the blaster would make a disgusting and dangerous mess.

"Come on. Come on. Stay with me,” Blithe whispered encouragement to the weapon. Then, pausing for only a moment to check for signs she had been detected, she stepped quickly around the crate, electrostaff at the ready.

The source of the noise wasn't on the ground, where Blithe expected it to be. It had climbed halfway up the crate, stuck to it by its many sucker feet, a pair of which sprouted from each of its gelatinous body segments. Alerted to her presence now, it swung its carapaced, eyeless head toward her. Caustic saliva dripped from its mouth-parts as it loomed above Blithe, the drops narrowly missing her arm. The beast was a good two meters long and as thick as Blithe's thigh, with hooked, orange mandibles as long as a human hand. It chittered menacingly in her general direction before returning to munching on the crate's welded seams. 

"Oh, no you don't,” Blithe waved one of the staff’s electrified ends at it, trying to distract it from its meal without actually touching it. “Get the fierfek down from there!”  These creatures - they called them “raspers” for lack of an official name - could wear away solid durasteel remarkably quickly. But they also dropped off bits of themselves that melted into a noxious goo when injured. That was no fun to clean up.

"No, no, no, no,” she dodged as it waved its head toward her again, "Go that way. Don't make me hurt you, kark it.” She blocked its path, repeatedly, herding it toward the ground, all the while cursing and cajoling. While it could clearly sense the humming energy of the staff, Blithe didn't know if these critters could actually hear. Regardless, a bit of cussing was good for her morale. 

As it scrambled back up the metal wall of the crate, the creature's movement became increasingly erratic and Blithe imagined the rasper was getting as frustrated as she was with their game. With an abrupt lurch, it reared a third of it's body away from the crate and nailed the staff's glowing end with a glob of acid spit that sizzled on impact. Energy arced wildly from the power nodes as they failed, shorting the whole staff out.

"That's karked it!” Blithe shouted at the rasper, which tried again to ascend the crate now that the electric foe no longer threatened it, only to be blocked as Blithe clocked it on its armored head with the dead electrostaff. "E chu ta! I just got this fixed.” Blithe smacked it again, pulling each strike just enough to avoid actually injuring it. She really didn't want to be this close if it dropped one of its segments.

"Now,” she deflected a lunge from the rasper and shook it free as it tried to latch on to the weaving staff with its mandibles. "Move, you kriffing blob of bantha snot, with your too karking many legs!” 

Blithe swung the staff behind the beast as it curled back on itself, preparing to strike at her. Then, with a heave, she swept the weapon up and away from the crate with all of her strength, launching the rasper off the durasteel surface, toward the base of the cliff. A jolt of pain shot up her bad arm with the effort required to dislodge the creature, but Blithe felt a victorious rush as the suckers lost their purchase with a dozen wet pops.

The hindmost of the rasper's segments broke free with a squelch as it hit, splattering slime harmlessly on the rocks. Defeated, the creature skittered up the sheer cliff face, acidic brown goo dripping behind it.

"Ugh! So. Many. Legs.“ Blithe panted as she watched the rasper retreat to be certain it was actually leaving. 

A rapid, sharp clapping behind her made Blithe spin around, staff raised for another fight. Two armed rebels - a human man and a twi'lek female - stood between her and the cave's entrance, applauding her performance.

Biting off a final curse, Blithe stared them down and said through gritted teeth, “Couldn't be bothered to lend a hand?”

The twi'lek rebel gave Blithe’s back a companionable slap as Blithe stalked past her, inert staff over one shoulder. 

Her watch was over and her relief had arrived. 

Shit like this never happened back on Coruscant, she thought sourly, adjusting the breather mask again, pointlessly. Well, ok, it sometimes did, she allowed. But at least there, she knew Commander Echo had her back.