Eeeeeeeehh! This Is Fantastic!

by nuqui_herping

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

@summer-of-bad-batch

Prompt: Water Gun Fight

Everybody watch out ⚠️

I sort of stumbled into this but this is well done! Sergeant Friendly? 😆 He sounds fun!

Part Ten

Words: 2,362

Summary: Senna is forced to enlist the help of an old friend when Crosshair contacts her from Barton-IV.

(This chapter has been up on Ao3 for a while, but I didn't realize I never shared it here!)

Missing

Imperial City

Unfamiliar beeping woke Senna from a restless sleep. Groaning, she rolled over to hit her chrono, blinking blearily when the sound didn’t stop. What? Finally registering the location of the noise, the doctor opened the drawer of her nightstand and pulled out her private datapad, cursing when it blinded her in the dark room. 

A tap had her lamp on as she squinted down at the alert on the pad, uncomprehending. Then she understood. The message was telling her that a beacon connected to the network had been activated, a distress call beaming through space to wake her here on Coruscant. 

Senna stumbled to her closet, clumsy with adrenaline as she dressed. She needed to get back to base. She needed to talk to Swoop.

Clone Commander Swoop was an old friend of the doctor’s from Kamino. When his squad had been caught in a terrorist bombing on Corellia, she had been the one to save his best friend and lieutenant, Instinct. The rest of his men had perished, but Swoop had felt indebted to Senna, promising her his help if she ever needed it. Well, today she did.

Senna tried to steady her breathing as she boarded the train that would take her back to base. She’d need a good excuse for coming back this late on her day off. She’d need a good excuse for visiting Swoop down at his office in Intelligence, where a doctor had no reason to be. But the panic that jumped in every muscle wouldn’t let her think about anything but him. Please. Please be alright.

In her agitated state, Senna hadn’t even considered that the commander might be sleeping, but he answered the door to his office on the first knock. 

“Doctor?” Swoop raised a scarred eyebrow at her look of anxiety as he let her in. “What’s the matter?”

“I’m so sorry, Swoop. I know it’s the middle of the night, it’s just—” Senna cut herself off with a nervous look around the room. Swoop snorted.

“It’s safe.” He motioned for her to sit. “You look like you need caf.”

Senna nodded, surprised to see that the machine was already brewing. She looked at him quizzically when he handed her a mug. “I saw you coming,” the grizzled commander smirked, pointing to one of the many monitors on his desk. “Now tell me what’s got you so upset.”

“Do you remember Crosshair? CT—”

“Nine-Nine-Zero-Four. Of course.” He nodded for her to go on. 

Senna twisted the mug in her hands. “Something’s wrong. He’s activated a distress beacon. Do you know—can you find out what’s going on?”

“A distress beacon?” The commander sat down behind his desk with a frown and pulled up a file on his console. “Says here that he arrived at a supply depot on Barton-IV this afternoon with a squad to deal with a cargo transfer. They’ve been having problems with raiders. Nothing about a beacon though.”

“Because it’s one I gave him.” Senna cringed as the spy raised an eyebrow at her. “After Kamino…”

Swoop grunted. “I heard about that. I’m sorry about the others.”

“If he’s in danger—”

The commander snorted again. “That’s kind of his job.”

“I know, but he wouldn’t have used that beacon if it wasn’t something really bad. Please, can you find out what’s going on?”

Swoop softened a bit at the desperate look on the doctor’s face. “Let me make a call.”

It turned out to be many calls. As Swoop investigated the source of Crosshair’s distress, Senna sat in the hard chair on the other side of his desk and waited, legs clamped tightly together to force herself not to get up and pace. Not that there was really room for it. The spy’s office felt more like a lair, piled high with electronic equipment and monitors that linked him to parts of the planet Senna didn’t even recognize. Clone Intelligence had been absorbed into the Empire's new intelligence bureau, the IIS, but apparently Swoop had been too valuable, too good at his job, to replace. At least not yet. 

Unable to glean anything useful from Swoop’s side of the conversations, Senna sipped distractedly at her caf and let her eyes wander over the room, stopping to smile when they found a framed holopic propped on a low shelf in the corner. She didn’t notice the commander had ended his call and was watching her as she stood to retrieve it, setting down her mug so she could wipe away the dust and examine the small faces within. 

“You ever think about that day?”

The doctor turned to see her friend’s sad smile. “Yes, of course.”

“Lot’s happened since then. Having them would’ve made it easier.”

Senna looked down at the men in the holo. Swoop’s old squad, before he’d gotten those twisted scars on his face, before Instinct had lost his arms, before the rest of them had been taken. “You wish you were still out in the field?”

“At least it felt like I was doing something worthwhile back then. These days…”

“I know.” Senna set the picture back and returned to the desk. “Did you find anything?”

Her stomach plunged at the grim expression on the spy’s face. 

“Finally got in contact with someone who could talk to his CO. Apparently, Crosshair and the clone commander of the squad that was stationed there have gone missing.”

Senna gripped the edge of the desk, suddenly off balance. “Missing?”

Swoop nodded. “They went after some raiders, ordered to retrieve stolen cargo from the shipment he was escorting. That was twelve hours ago.”

No, no, no— “Why haven’t they sent anyone after them?”

“Apparently there’s a blizzard. No one’s leaving the base. They can’t get short range comms through either, although it doesn’t sound like they were really trying.”

Senna stared at Swoop in horror. “You mean they’re out there? In the storm?”

The commander grimaced. “Sounds like it.”

She fell into the chair, stunned. This couldn’t be how she lost him. Not after everything they’d survived. 

Swoop stood and came around his crowded desk to kneel beside the doctor. “I’m sorry, Doc. They could still make it.”

Senna felt like she couldn’t breathe. “Y-you don’t—he wouldn’t have activated the beacon if he didn’t need help. He’s so stubborn. I made him promise—” As Swoop took her hand, Senna lifted the other to cover her mouth, squeezing her eyes tight against the tears. “I can’t—”

She didn’t see the way her friend’s face shifted from sympathy to resolve, but when his hand came up to grip her arm, the doctor opened her eyes to his gruff smile.

“Three years ago, I told you I owed you. And all I’ve been doing since then is sitting around here rotting. You want to see if we can get Crosshair back?”

An hour and a half later, Senna slipped into the shuttle hangar she knew Swoop would be leaving from, off to Barton-IV to find Crosshair and the other missing trooper. For years, the intelligence officer had directed other agents in the field from the safety of his office. Now, there was no one he could send but himself. Senna had seen the spark in his eye when the decision had been made, unsurprised at his pleasure in seeing action again. She trusted Swoop with her life, but Crosshair’s… He had been her responsibility for too long. If Swoop couldn’t bring him home, Senna knew she would only blame herself. 

Sticking to the edge of the room, she followed the sound of voices until they led her to the right ship. When she rounded the Lambda’s wedge-shaped nose, Senna saw the commander had traded his Intelligence uniform for armor. She wondered when he’d last had a reason to wear it. 

At her movement, Swoop swung to face her, taking in the pack and bag she was carrying with a look of disbelief. “Doc, what are you—you shouldn’t be here.”

“I know.” The doctor joined him and the two troopers with him, her smile serious as she set down her pack. “But I need to come too. This is all because of me. I can’t stay here while you risk everything for us.”

She watched the commander trade a look with the helmeted trooper to his right. “This isn’t the time to pull rank.”

“I’m not, I promise.” Senna unzipped her bag and began to remove a set of cold weather gear, shedding her uniform jacket to reveal a black, thermal layer underneath. “I’m begging you, Swoop. I have to go. I can’t stay here and wait again.”

“She thinks I’m not good enough at my job. I need supervision.”

The doctor turned to see the clone with the field medic patch lift his helmet to grin at her. 

“Notch!”

“C’mon, Doc. Don’t even have faith in your own training?” 

Senna shook her head at his teasing. Notch had been one of the medics she’d taught back on Kamino, easily recognizable by the tattoo of a scalpel blade over his carotid artery. “It’s not that…”

“Doc,” Swoop interrupted, voice low, “I understand how you feel, but it’s not safe, for multiple reasons. This mission is unsanctioned, off the record, if you get caught with us—”

“You think they couldn’t trace this back to me anyway?”

“At least if you’re not with us, you’ll have plausible deniability.”

“Plausible deniability is meaningless these days, you know that as well as I do.”

Swoop clenched his jaw, looking over to his second. Senna recognized Instinct by the metal hand prosthetics at the ends of his crossed arms and smiled tiredly into his visor, relieved when a sigh filtered through the lieutenant’s vocoder. She could tell that he, at least, was bending. “We’ll just have to worry about you too, Doc.”

“I know my survival training,” she insisted as she traded her uniform slacks for a set of insulated pants. “I’m good with a blaster, and I’ll do anything you tell me to.”

“Short of staying behind, huh?” Swoop watched the doctor pull on her parka and stuff her discarded uniform into the now empty bag, taking in the rugged boots she’d managed to cram in there as well, before he shook his head. “I see you came prepared. This means I’m gonna have to cover your tracks too, you know.”

“Can you do it?”

The commander rolled his eyes. “Don’t have a choice now, do I?” As she shouldered her med kit, he sighed and replaced his helmet. “Alright, everyone on the ship.”

When the squad was secured in their crash seats and the shuttle had entered hyperspace, Swoop turned to Senna in the seat beside him. “Doc, this is your squad for this mission. We’ve all worked together in some capacity before. You can trust ‘em.”

 Senna nodded as the commander pointed to each man in turn. 

"That’s Sergeant Friendly, Aadi, Koda, and Landslide, and Grav’s our pilot. You know Notch, our medic, and, of course, Instinct.”

The doctor leaned past Swoop to see the clone lieutenant had removed his white helmet and was smiling at her. “Good to see you again, Doc.”

“Let’s try to keep this simple,” the commander continued. “The mission objective is the rescue and extraction of two missing troopers, Commander Mayday and CT-Nine-Nine-Zero-Four Crosshair. Weather conditions are bad, visibility will be limited until the storm passes, and there are reports of raiders, dangerous animal activity, and avalanches. We’ll be splitting into two squads. The doctor, Grav, Notch, and Aadi are with me. Instinct will take Friendly, Koda, and Landslide.”

Senna and the men leaned in as Swoop activated a holo puck. “This is the best map we’ve got of the area surrounding the Imperial depot. The latest raid came from the northeast, so that’s where we’re checking first. Reports say there are caves in the mountains. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ve found one, but I wouldn’t count on it. More likely those caves are full of raiders.”

“Sounds fun,” Aadi offered.

Swoop ignored him. “Any tracks they’ve left will have been buried, but the commando’s in black armor, so keep an eye out for that.” He deactivated the puck. “Questions?”

“Where are we taking them after?” 

The commander looked past Senna to Notch. “Well, since the Lieutenant in command of this supply depot seems patently disinterested in rescuing his own men, we don’t have a way to bring them back to base without alerting him to our interference. The commander might be able to blend back in with a bit of adjustment to his records, but Crosshair is a ninety-nine.”

Senna saw the troopers trading glances beneath their buckets. When Swoop nodded to her, the doctor cleared her throat. “We’re taking them to a safe house on Coruscant. When they don’t return to base, their CO will mark them MIA.”

“This is all assuming we find them,” Sergeant Friendly muttered, accepting his commander’s glare with a shrug.

“We’ll find them. I didn’t go to all the trouble of digging you lot up for nothing.”

Notch prodded the doctor with his elbow. “We’d just better hope the commander isn’t too rusty after sitting behind a desk gathering dust for so long. I can smell the mothballs through my filters.” 

“How would you like to be left at the depot?” Swoop grumbled as the other men laughed. 

Senna smiled with them, but her thoughts were elsewhere. She knew Bern was working the late shift back at the hospital. Should she have said something to him when she’d gone to get her kit? No, it was better if he didn’t know. But if something happened… I’ll come back. Don’t worry. Senna could only imagine how it would hurt him if she disappeared, and what might happen to her friend without her limited ability to protect him, especially as Rampart’s replacement didn’t seem quite as amenable as his predecessor.  

The trip between Coruscant and Barton-IV took a little over two hours, and Senna was left to sit with her own thoughts as the clones caught up with each other. It was good to be surrounded by those voices again, a comfort she’d barely realized she’d been missing. Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine the rest of them there beside her. Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, and Echo. They would know what to do.

I'll bring him home. I promise I won't let you down. And I won't let go. 

Taglist: @lightwise, @kybercrystals94, @just-here-with-my-thoughts, @clonethirstingisreal, @freesia-writes

Super tiny Mycena Roseoflava.

Photographed by cyanesense

🥺

they finally hugged ʕ´•̥̥̥ ᴥ•̥̥̥`ʔ

Now I'm just hungry. I need to go to bed🤤

North Atlantic Ocean

Nooooo! No goodbyes!

saying goodbye

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?

Little babies 😊

More minibatch adventure I need a full show maybe too XD