"Harmless" Adventures with the Bad Batch

The Aftermath

"What?" Wrecker puzzled, his face scrunching up in confusion.

"The muscles that help your arm move," Echo explained simply as he passed Tech some bacta patches.

Meanwhile Abby removed the upper-half of her own armor. She didn't know how she found the motivation to do so; it felt like her muscles were moving on their own as if they were put on autopilot too. Although the removal of the plastoid plates did nothing to relieve the tightness of her chest. Every part of her felt cold and numb but she forced herself to stay focused on the tasks at hand.

"There, done now," Tech announced after covering Wrecker's wound. "We should meet Hunter and Omega in the cockpit. We will likely be entering hyperspace soon, once we formulate a plan."

Abby didn't reply, but stood up to follow the others to the other room. She and Echo helped Wrecker to his feet then to the cockpit, where Hunter and Omega were in playful conversation when they arrived.

"I don't know; I've never fired a blaster before. I guess I got lucky," Omega was saying with a noncommittal shrug, though her expression was bright, grinning at the Sergeant.

"She's not the only one," Tech chimed in as he, Wrecker, Echo, and Abby entered the cockpit.

"I'm fine. It'll take more than a blaster shot to take me down!" Wrecker declared.

"You were down," Echo pointed out with a sigh.

"Yeah well not for long!" Wrecker laughed.

"What's the plan, Hunter?" Tech asked as he took the pilot's seat.

"I thought we could go off on our own for a while; lay low. But with Crosshair gunning for us, I'm not so sure," the Sergeant sighed.

"What about your friends? Could any of them help us?" Omega suggested.

"That would be a short list," Tech replied.

"I can think of one," Hunter announced after a moment. "Plot a course for J-19."

At that, Tech nodded and began prepping the systems for the journey through hyperspace.

"J-19?" Echo puzzled.

"We know a guy," Hunter smirked.

"Ha, ha, ha, yeah!" Wrecker cheered, but rubbed his shoulder in pain.

"Strap in, kid. You're not going to want to miss this view," Hunter instructed, gesturing to the co-pilot's seat.

Omega happily slid into the chair, staring intently at the stars, which glistened brightly all around them. Tech finally typed the coordinates to Salucami into the ship's navigation then pushed forward the lever to initiate the jump to lightspeed. The clusters of stars ahead of them turned to blue blurs as the Havoc Marauder entered hyperspace, with Omega staring in wonder at it all. She grinned in fascination since the sight was so new to her, like everything that had happened that day.

Abby suspected that they had many days full of new surprises ahead of them. It would be a fresh start, a new beginning, for all of them.  And maybe that was for the best. Walking away from the Republic and the Empire, starting over somewhere new. Perhaps that's what they needed.

But for better or for worse, that wasn't the end.

As the minutes ticked by, Abby didn't move from her place in her chair behind Tech and Omega, blankly staring at the one beside her, where Crosshair would usually sit. The shock hadn't really worn off yet, making it hard to comprehend anything that had happened. The adrenaline was fading though, and the realization was taking its place. Crosshair should be there, he just wasn't.