Star Wars The Bad Batch: The Runaway

Chapter 31 - Trust

I hope you guys like the ending of this chapter.

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Jace remained outside for a little bit before heading in, wanting Scar to have her moment without any interruptions. Immediately her walls were put back up and he saw her quickly swipe a finger under her eyes in an attempt to hide that she'd been crying. He pretended to not realize this, knowing she'd only deny it and it would cause an unnecessary argument. 

"Hungry?" Scar asked, her voice slightly hoarse and she cleared her throat while Jace took a seat next to her. He wordlessly took the ration bar held out to him and took a bite, immediately grimacing. 

"I hate these." He muttered after swallowing, and Scar chuckled mirthlessly in agreement, finishing hers before talking. 

"See anything interesting out there?" She asked, referring to the scout mission she - ahem, ordered - him to go on. Jace shook his head. 

"Nothing but jungle for miles. I didn't see any civilizations." Scar sighed and dropped her head back until it hit the wall softly. 

"Great. I tried contacting the others on my comm but all I get is static."

"There's like a storm when you enter the atmosphere, it probably causes interference with the signal." Jace concluded, though he had a sneaking suspicion that there was another reason no one was answering but didn't want to upset her by saying it. 

"I know what you're thinking, and I don't think they're dead. I know they're not." She insisted stubbornly. 

"How can you be so sure?" 

"I just am, ok?" 

"I didn't see the Havoc Marauder anywhere when the ship exploded." Jace tried saying, yet Scar still refused to listen. 

"That doesn't mean they're dead. They could have gotten into an escape pod shortly after we did and crash landed somewhere else. Or they're still out there and trying to contact us." Jace sighed and reached out to set a hand on her shoulder pauldron. Scar looked at the hand then at Jace's serious expression, raising an eyebrow. 

"Scar, I'm just trying to be realistic here." 

"And I am." Scar said firmly, shaking her head while a small smirk appeared on her lips as she thought about her brothers, "You don't know those boys like I do. There's a reason Clone Force 99 has a 100% success rate on missions and that's because it's made up of the smartest, toughest, and most resourceful guys you'll ever meet." Scar then thought about the general and the smirk morphed into a scowl, and the next words left her mouth before she stopped to think about how cruel it would sound. "Can't say the same about your Master though." 

"Don't talk so disrespectfully about him like that!" Jace snapped, taking Scar by surprise and she jumped from the sudden raised voice. "You have no idea how great a Jedi he actually was. Yeah, he didn't really like clones but only because he felt that the Republic was hypocritical for taking on a clone army." Jace chuckled bitterly, recalling the many conversations he and his Master had about the Republic and how the war was changing everything. "They banned slavery, yet allowed an entire army of clones be made and sent into battle with no choice." 

Talking about clones and their purpose was always a touchy subject for Scar, for obvious reasons. Despite making the decision on her own to fight for the greater good, she still occasionally dealt with the self-doubt about her worth, those few weeks she had been experimented on having shattered a bunch of her confidence. Which is why Scar had a problem with General Vyn and anyone else who looked down on clones and prompted her to point it out to Jace.