Star Wars The Bad Batch: The Runaway

Chapter 21 - A New Friend and an Old Foe

A/N: I made an edit to this chapter since posting, having added a part near the beginning that I accidentally left out.

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Hunter awoke and upon seeing Calli not in his bunk went to look for her and he was amused to see her passed out on a chair in the cockpit. Tech sat in the pilot seat while doing stuff on his datapad and looked up when he heard Hunter come in.

"How much longer until we reach Coruscant?" Hunter asked and Tech checked the navicomputer.

"We should be arriving any minute." Tech informed Hunter and the latter decided he should wake Calli up so she could get ready for when they land. Then he remembered the last time someone tried waking her up and wondered what the best way to do so would be that wouldn't end with him getting punched or kicked.

Thankfully, his and Tech's brief conversation had already woken Calli up and when she sensed Hunter walk closer to her chair she opened her eyes while straightening up.

"Oh good. I thought I'd have to brave a punch in the face to get you up." Hunter said, attempting to make a joke, but Calli only stared at him blankly. One thing the Bad Batch would soon realize was that Calli was not a morning person.

"Have we reached Coruscant yet?" Calli asked, her voice groggy.

"We'll be coming out of hyperspace soon." Tech said and Calli nodded before deciding she should change out of the hospital robe she was still in. Getting up from her seat, Callista made her way to the main part of the ship but Tech stopped her before she left the cockpit.

"I noticed the Kaminoan had removed your hand and foot and I had already been creating a prosthetic hand as a personal project. It doesn't have synthflesh but should be practical and work just as well as the ones the Kaminoans gave you, if not better." Callista could tell that Tech was rather proud of his creation and she was eager to be able to have a second hand again so allowed him to attach it to the part of the prosthetic that the Kaminoans hadn't removed since it was attached to her nerves. Once he was finished he stepped back while Callista flexed the fingers and she silently cheers when they did so.

"Thank you." She told Tech, who shrugged like it was no big deal, though to someone who's had her whole life fall apart, this simple act of kindness made Callista feel not so broken.

She'd found her bag by Wreckers seat and thankfully had a clean black tank top and leggings of the same color to put on. The only downside was that a tank top exposed her arms and one could clearly see the scars from the explosion and more recent ones from the Kaminoan's experiments. Calli stared at the scars visible to her through the small mirror, hating how they'd never fade away and be a permanent reminder of how the Kaminoans thought of her as less than human.

She didn't want to leave the refresher and see the other four's reactions to the scars. Callista could keep the hospital robe on that covered her arms but that article of clothing also harbored bad memories and had been extremely itchy and uncomfortable to wear. Then she reasoned that this Commander Cody they were meeting would have to see the scars as proof of what the Kaminoans had done and might as well not try to hide them.

Despite that fact, when Calli exited the refresher she kept her eyes on the ground and couldn't look at any of the boys as she wrapped her arms around herself, becoming more self conscious with each passing second.

The four brothers shared looks upon seeing the scars and Crosshair immediately went over to the crate that held their civilian clothes and pulled out a jacket that belonged to Tech. It would be big on her, but he knew she wouldn't mind. He was self conscious of his own scars and it's the main reason he wore long sleeve shirts.