Issues - The Bad Batch SW

1 - Orders

The usually quiet Kamino was busy, rain hammering down on windows and roofs with clones of all different designations arriving for a meeting Mave knew nothing about.

"Nala Se. What is this meeting about? Why are all of the clones back on Kamino?" Mave asked the significantly taller Kaminoan as they walked through the halls of the medical wing.

Mave had felt off over the last day, as if something wasn't right and everything was tipped on its side. It reminded her of how the Jedi, Obi wan, described to her what a disturbance in the force felt like, what were the signs, how you could tell, how you knew. But of course, Mave wasn't force sensitive. It had to be something else.

"Emperor Palpatine wishes to make an announcement after," the experienced researcher trailed off, "recent events."  Mave looked at her 'superior' with a confused expression.

"Emperor? Nala Se, what happened?" The purple haired girl was now leaning in-front of the Kaminoan awaiting a response. However, Nala Se walked off to go meet another medic. The same PA announcement continued repeating every so often.

Level 5 lockdown remains in effect.

Mave did not like this one bit.

***

Wondering around the halls she looked for a sign of the 501st, but no one was to be found. Mave was so tired from her restless night of sickly feeling that she almost ran into a group of, what she called, Vanillas: clones that didn't have any identifying marks or paint job, just plain white armour. One of the 'vanillas' scolded her, telling her to watch where she was going. The freckled medic rolled her eyes allowing herself to more thoroughly scan the halls for someone she knew.

"Step aside." A vanilla trooper ordered to someone just to the left of where Mave was standing. She looked over to see a group of grey and red armoured clones, a wave of relief washing over her. Taking a deep breath she approached the group. The last time she had seen The Batch was on shako minor rescuing Echo.

"Seems as though you lot are the only sane ones in this place." Mave chuckled looking at the 'defective' squad. All of them seemed happy to see her, all apart from crosshair who was eyeing her in a judgemental manner. Normally she wouldn't be phased, but this time was different, something had changed.

She followed the clones to their barracks, the crude smell filling her nostrils the second she entered the room. Although she had been in there countless times. it was still very noticeable upon entering the quarters. Mave leaned up against the wall close to the door as she watched wrecker add three more tallys to their victory board, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Eleven more successful missions," Wrecker snickered once he was done, "like there was any doubt."

"Kaller wasn't a win." Echoed stated, clearly upset over something.

"Says who? We completed our objective."

"Not every objective." Crosshair chimed in earning stares from everyone in the room.

"Hunter let that Jedi kid escape. Or do you want to keep lying to us?"

"Woah, woah, hang on a minute. What?" Mave asked, baffled, "you executed the Jedi?" She stood waiting anxiously for an answer she wouldn't get right now, especially not from Crosshair.

Hunter looked at her sympathetically. He knew how close she was with the Jedi. They were her family and it pained him he couldn't give an answer to such a crucial question, for he didn't know the answer himself.

"I don't like to think of executing our commanders as a mission objective." Hunter seethed, now facing the window.

"Orders are orders." Crosshair spat, walking towards his bandana wearing brother.

"Since when?" The shorter clone snapped back. The two now sounded like bickering children.

"None of this makes sense." Echo spoke up, "Those clones served alongside General Billaba for years. How could they turn on her like that?"

The reg banged his fist on the table out of frustration. Billaba was dead. Mave felt her head spinning. This is what was wrong. This is what she had sensed.  It was happening. In fact it was already over, And there was nothing she could do.

"Because of the regs programming." Mave and Tech both responded at the same time. The green eyed girl didn't look up. She continued starring at the floor, distraught.

"What programming?" Hunter asked, unaware of what the two were talking about.

"It's been well documented that the Kaminoans inhibited the cognitive functions of clones to engineer them to follow orders without question." Tech answered with confidence.

"Its happened before." Mave added, "About a year back a clone, a close friend of mine, Tup. His chip it malfunctioned, he got it removed and he died. Another clone, the one who removed Tup's chip," The medic looked at Echo before continuing. He knew this story all too well, "Fives, as we knew him. He removed his, said he had discovered a plot. Everyone thought he lost it. He was killed by Commander Fox." Talking about Fives made Mave's mouth go dry. He was dead, and she could have stopped it. She could have saved him. He could be here right now... but he wasn't. Mave blamed herself for that.

Tech continued to explain the chips, how they worked and why it didn't affect them. She wasn't really listening, the room was spinning too much. Sliding down the wall into a sitting position Mave sighed trying to process the fact all friends could be dead. Ahsoka, Anakin, Obi Wan, Plo, all of them. It was too much.

All personnel report to the staging area for a briefing on the state of the republic.

"This is one meeting I don't want to miss." Hunter said plainly.

"I'll second that." Mave contributed, standing back up.

"First time for everything." Tech teased as Mave rolled her eyes, exiting the barracks with the rest.

***

Mave joined Nala Se in the box, along with the young female clone, Omega of whom she adored.

Listening to palpatine's speech made Mave want to throw up. How could he talk about the
Jedi like that? The same Jedi who served him to their brutal death he allowed? Halfway through the briefing, she caught Hunter starring up at Omega who was looking eagerly down and him and the squad. Hunter was special to Mave, in a way she couldn't describe. Sure, she loved the others, but something about Hunter was different and she couldn't put her finger on it. It made her uneasy.

When Mave came back to reality, she realised Omega had run off. Looking down at Hunter it was clear he noticed too. She gave the enhanced clone a sincere smile before leaving to find her fellow medic.

***

The meeting was now over. Clones walked the halls in organised clusters however much to Mave's disappointment she couldn't spot the enhanced group she was searching for or the young blonde. Giving up she headed to the lab until lunch hoping she would have a better chance of seeing them there.

HI everyone! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as i enjoyed writing it. I have big plans for this book and if anyone has any suggestions, feedback, etc let me know :)
See you in a few days maybe a week for the next update. I also post announcements so look out for those
Take care! 😘