Jedi Fugitive (The Bad Batch)

12

"Wrecker, Omega, Ashe, pack it in." Echo appeared over the ridge, interrupting us. There was a discernible reluctance as he said my name; he was the only one that had maintained a frigid attitude, still distrustful of my evasiveness. He had noticed the familiarity between Rex and I, and that, naturally, had come with more confrontation, and yet more refusal to properly answer his questions. The former ARC trooper may very well have punched me if Hunter hadn't stepped in. "Hunter wants us back in the Jedi cruiser."

He jumped down from the ridge, removing his helmet. "How'd the test go?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Omega muttered grumpily.

"Oh, cheer up, kid." Wrecker handed her back her bow. "I failed my first disarming test too. With my help, you'll be a pro in no time."

We started walking back to the cruiser, Echo taking the lead. Light flashed on a strip of broken metal; Wrecker, Echo and I all noticed, shoulders tensing, but we continued, trying our best to remain normal.

"We've got eyes on us," Echo told us in a low voice.

"Yeah, I see 'em."

"How many?" Omega whispered, hurrying ahead to hear Echo better.

"At least three. Stay casual." I kept my gaze forward, giving no indication that I was speaking to her.

"You ready?" Echo asked, his head also kept rigidly forward. Speaking only to Wrecker, I noticed.

"Waiting on you," Wrecker answered. Echo slammed on his helmet and started to run, the rest of us following suit moments later. I pulled out my blasters as I ran, flicking them to stun as we circled back to the hover barge the Scrapper Guild workers would be running back to.

We caught them just as they were trying to climb onto their barge. The first two went down immediately, stunned by Echo and I. The third managed to get up to the control panel and start up the barge before Wrecker grabbed hold of it, physically keeping it down.

"I've got this under control!" The last word was stretched out into a shout as the hoverbarge took off, taking a yelling Wrecker with it, dangling by one hand. Echo activated his wrist comm, holding it up to his helmet.

"Hunter, Tech, we were spotted by scrappers."

"Wrecker's in pursuit," Omega added over her own comm. "He says he has it under control."

"Echo, get a visual," came Hunter's reply. I was already climbing over the heaps of scrap metal, leaping from place to place to catch up to the barge. Echo took up position high on a metal beam, his blaster already out and aiming.

The hover barge appeared again, Wrecker screaming as the Scrapper Guild worker jerked it to the side. His grip on the barge slipped, and he fell, rolling and fetching up hard against another pile of metal.

Echo and I both hit the worker at the same time; he collapsed, unconscious, onto the barge's controls. It spiralled out of control, skidding across the ground and crashing hard, throwing the worker clear off the ridge it had landed on.

"Are you okay?" Omega exclaimed to Wrecker, clutching his blaster tightly to her chest.

"I-I was just waiting to make my move," he bluffed, getting back to his feet with a grunt. I dropped down next to them seamlessly, peering over the edge to see where the worker had gone. He had landed on a small outcropping just underneath the main ridge. Still alive, by the looks of it.

"We should head back to Hunter and Tech." Echo landed by Omega. "Get him and the other two. We can't have them waking up before we leave."