Jedi Fugitive (The Bad Batch)

15

Astera:

Eventually Hunter took over flying the ship, Wrecker and Echo falling asleep in two of the ship's bunks. Tech had passed out in one of the seats in the cockpit, Omega sent off to sleep off her ordeal in her room after telling us the full story on Bora Vio. I sat in the chair opposite Tech, wiping down a blaster. Exhaustion was wearing away at me too, but I had no desire to sleep, not when I had to keep my helmet on. I would wait until I could return to my ship.

I spun the now clean pistol in my hands, feeling the familiar weight in my palm before slotting it back into my holster. My gaze turned upwards, towards Hunter in the cockpit, alone. Tech's snoring was getting louder; it was starting to get on my nerves. Maybe it would be good to talk with him. If I was going to be working with them for the next however long, maybe it would be good to be more amicable with them. At least, I could be less openly hostile.

He didn't even look over when I sat down in the seat next to him, the silent tension almost thick enough to cut with a lightsaber. I stayed quiet though, unsure of what to say.

"You really care about the kid." The sudden comment had me jerking up my head.

"I do."

"Why?"

I could only shrug in response, mind flailing for something that wouldn't compromise me. "Kid needs as much protection as she can get."

He didn't answer me, keeping his eyes trained on the view in front of us. We had left Bora Vio far behind, but he was still on the lookout for Bane or Fennec Shand. Paranoid they would attack us for Omega again.

A shadow fell across my lap, Omega's troubled expression the first thing I registered looking up. Her bottom lip stuck out tremulously, eyes shining bright. She looked close to tears. And before I knew it, she had stuck out her arms and crawled into my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck again.

She was too comfortable with me, I thought. I was someone she had known all of a few months, after all. But after learning more of her history with Shand, about their encounter on Pantora with her, it seemed clear that she was the trusting type. Omega had told me she'd gone with the bounty hunter willingly, despite not even knowing her, and even inviting her to go with the Batch. She had a lot to learn about the galaxy, but knowing her sheltered life, no one was going to hold it against her.

"Can't sleep?" Hunter asked her softly, the feedback from the comms cutting out as he flipped a switch on the dashboard.

"I keep thinking about the Kaminoans," she mumbled, her words muffled against my shoulder. "Seeing that place. I don't want to end up an experiment in a tube."

"That's not gonna happen," he replied immediately. I put my own arms around her, holding her to me tightly as though I could squeeze her problems away. She was so young, and she was already worrying about problems so big. Even growing up a Jedi in the middle of the Clone Wars was easier than what she had to deal with.

"If I'm as valuable as you say, Lama Su is gonna keep sending bounty hunters after me."

"Look at me, kid." I pulled her back a little, making sure her eyes were on me. "You have a whole squad of brothers to rely on. Everyone on this ship is going to make sure that doesn't happen. Myself included."

"He can send everyone in the galaxy," Hunter affirmed. "You have us."

Her head ducked back down into my shoulder. "You can't fight them all."

"Omega." I pulled her head back again as Hunter crossed the short distance between us, forcing her to look at him. "You don't have to worry. You are never going back to Kamino."

"Promise?" The single word was shaky, unsure. Almost like she didn't believe him.

"I promise." And only then did she smile, a small one, but the furrow between her eyebrows eased, softening the worried expression. I set her back on the floor, standing up with her.

"Come on, kid. Get some sleep." I kept hold of her hand, leading her back to the small gunner's seat furnished as her bedroom.