Jedi Fugitive (The Bad Batch)

10

"Follow me," was all he said, making his way to the edge of the ship. We followed, the Bad Batch settling their own helmets into place.

"Bracca might not be much to look at," Rex began, stopping at the summit of the ship. "But it has exactly what we need. I had my inhibitor chip taken out on a Jedi Cruiser just like that."

It had been a while since I had seen one of them. Even broken in half and rusted in large patches, the cruiser was impossible to mistake, a shape forever ingrained into my memory.

"That's where we're heading."

"So why did we land all the way over here?!" Wrecker demanded, looking nervously down. It was a long way to the ground, and his fear of heights was not agreeing with him.

Hunter saw the reason why a second before everyone else did.

"Everyone down!"

I dropped low obediently, just as the hover barge passed by over us, heading for another ship in the distance.

"That's why." Rex indicated the barge, answering Wrecker's question. Tech lowered his visor, scanning the platform before it flew out of range.

"It's the Scrapper Guild," he informed us.

"They control this entire planet," Rex said gravely. "We need to keep out of sight from their patrols." He watched the barge, waiting until it had passed out of sight before pushing himself back into his feet. "Let's move."

He directed us towards a small opening in the side of the ship next to us. Light still filtered in on the inside, huge panels of metal having rusted away in the time it had been here. Omega's eyes lit up as she passed through the doorway, her inquisitive curiosity getting the better of her as she ran forward to explore. Echo had caught up to Rex at the front, wanting to talk with his old captain.

"Fives tried to warn me about the chips," Rex half-sighed at the mention of Echo's old squadmate. "But I didn't understand at the time."

"It's still hard to believe now," Echo said in an attempt to console the captain.

"How did you boys find out about them?"

"Omega," Hunter interjected from behind them.

"The kid?" Rex was taken aback by that.

The cruiser above us rumbled, metal creaking as its weight shifted and settled once again on the planet's surface. Even the insignificant weight of seven humans could change the balance on this entire thing.

"Woah." Omega's tone was filled with wonder. "It's much bigger up close."

"This is an original Venator class ship from the first batch off the line," Rex told her, taking the opportunity to teach her. Wrecker laughed, punching his arm.

"First of the line, huh? Just like you, Rex." He guffawed again, Omega looking up at him with an unsure grin on her face. The corner of my mouth tilted up in my own sideways smile, practically able to see Rex's unimpressed expression behind the helmet. He said nothing in response, only leading us up to the gaping hole in the side of the cruiser and the beam that was its only access.

Wrecker blanched at the sight of the beam, peering nervously down to the water below. Prompting from Hunter propelled him forward, albeit at a slow crawl on his hands and knees. Rex, Omega and I watched him from the other side,

The inside of the cruiser was dark, so dark that I couldn't see my hand stretched out in front of me without a flashlight. Three of them clicked on around me; after a moment, I powered on my own, the thin white beam projecting from the torch in my helmet.