Ooooh! Tore Is A Jedi? Well, I Guess That Makes Sense.

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."