Star Wars The Bad Batch: The Runaway

Chapter 8 - Shooting Contest

The first night was uneventful and Callista found herself almost nodding off from boredom a few times.

Now it was morning and Callista had a big mug of caf for breakfast. The Senator had a meeting to attend that morning and it was decided that Callista and Ashoka would stay behind while the rest went with Senator Robb as bodyguards.

Hunter was reluctant to leave Callista. He'd rather have her in his sights where he could make sure she didn't cause any trouble, but Anakin assured him everything would be fine and Ashoka would watch her.

Hunter was forced to tell the General who Callista really was after being questioned and he knew he couldn't keep it a secret anymore. The two jedi agreed to keep it a secret, much to Hunter's relief. The less people who knew the better.

Hunter did pull Callista aside before he left to have a quick word, reminding her to not do anything stupid and to be on her best behavior. Callista would roll her eyes and act offended that Hunter didn't trust her, which led to more furious whisper-shouting that Anakin- along with the other three members of the bad batch - had watched with amusement, the scene looking similar to a father and daughter arguing. While enjoying the show, Anakin had to cut it short due to the time and because it looked like the pair was two seconds away from strangling each other.

Once it was just Callista and Ashoka left in the dining hall, neither one knew what to say. But Callista was fine if they didn't talk, since the last time they did it ended with an argument. She wasn't going to stick around anyways. After some research, Callista found out that there was a room in the basement of this large building that acted as an indoor shooting range where the guards practiced. And Callista wanted to take advantage of being able to practice her sharpshooting without the grumpy sniper breathing down her neck.

Ashoka gave Callista a curious look when she started heading for the exit. "Where are you going?"

"To the shooting range." Callista answered shortly before hurrying out of the dining hall before Ashoka could ask if she could come. For two seconds she thought she'd finally get to be alone but the sound of a door opening and Ashoka calling her name made the girl sigh. So close.

"Mind if I join you?" Ashoka asked after catching up to Callista and matching her pace.

"Yes." Callista replied, and Ashoka sighed.

"Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot." Callista stopped walking and turned to glare at the togruta.

"Hold on, we? I'm not the one who accused someone of being a Separatist spy."

"Ok, maybe I was wrong to say that. But I knew you were hiding something."

"Well now you know the truth. So can you just leave me alone now?"

"My Master said I can't let you out of my sight." Callista's jaw clenched and she sighed.

Ten minutes later they reached the shooting room and much to Callista's relief, it was empty.

She took a seat on an empty bench against the far left wall and reached over her shoulder to grab the rifle strapped to her back to look it over once more before using it.

The calibration had been fixed last night during those long hours of boredom and every part was cleaned to the point where the gun looked good as new. Callista checked the ammo pack and saw that it had fifty shots left. That plus another full ammo pack should be enough for a practice session. Callista didn't plan on leaving until she could hit at least five or more targets in a row dead center.

Callista went over to a control panel that gave options on what kind of targets there were and if you wanted them to move around. She opted for the standard bullseye target over the one that looked like a human that would move but at a slow pace. Once the correct buttons were pressed, Callista watched as several targets lowered from the ceiling and began moving in random directions, making it hard to predict where it would go next.