Jedi Fugitive (The Bad Batch)

48: (18 BBY)

Astera:

Something was amiss here. The presence in the Force seemed too vibrant, too prominent, especially for a space station where the crew was entirely made up of droids. I frowned almost as soon as the ship entered the station's docking bay, something in my gut stirring to life as though in answer to the strong presence in the Force. Almost like...

No. I dismissed the idea as soon as it crossed my mind. There were few, if any, remaining survivors of Order 66 and I doubted that it would be any of them. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan were smart enough to lay low somewhere far in the Outer Rim, if they were even still alive and though I hadn't known Caleb very well, it was more than unlikely a child like him would be residing on Vanguard Axis of all places. The strange presence had to be something else - non sentient cargo maybe, something with a strong connection to the Force/

"Cid said the Vanguard Axis is notorious for illegal smuggling," Hunter warned as the ship's ramp came down, starting down it with the rest of us close behind. "So be ready for anything. We'll make the delivery. Echo, Omega, guard the ship."

She nodded once sharply in affirmation and we moved forward, heading for the door opening for us at the end of the docking bay.

We were met in front of the drop point by another droid, sparing us only the briefest of glances before scrolling through the datapad gripped in its metal digits.

"Proceed," it warbled in a deep, heavily modulated voice, gesturing to another door at the end of the corridor to our right. It hissed open before we had even gotten halfway there, the head droid known as Axis Leader already waiting for us on the other side of it.

"You have the forgeries?" It rumbled by way of greeting, its own voice box as heavily modulated as the first one. At Hunter's signal, Wrecker presented the case that seemed too small for such a high profile mission, opening it to reveal the chain code forgeries the Axis Leader had requested of Cid. Incredibly difficult to create successfully, and very dangerous for those who were caught with them. Tech was probably one of only a handful in the galaxy that could replicate chain codes so well it was impossible to distinguish them from the real thing. Though somehow the Axis Leader was still dissatisfied, refusing to even look at the perfect copies laid out before him. "We need to ascertain their viability."

"That will not be necessary." Tech attempted to dissuade the droid leader. "I created these chain codes myself. They will fool the Empire."

"Your assurance is meaningless." Axis Leader directed its subordinates towards the case Wrecker still held open, the large clone only snapping it shut and handing it over at another nod from Hunter.

There were only twelve codes in the box, yet the droid scanning them seemed content to take its time verifying each one, the scanner taking agonisingly long to flash green and prove what we already knew. It took most of my concentration not to keep my foot from tapping irritably against the floor with impatience. A few minutes more and we would be done.

My body went taut as the fluttering in my gut started up again, this time accompanied with an almost painful twisting. I had to bite down hard on my lip to muffle my gasp, my involuntary twitch forward noticed only by the clones around me. The strange presence in the Force. Something was wrong with it.

"I'm getting a bad feeling," I muttered lowly to Hunter, eyeing the droids around us to ensure none of my words reached them. "Something's not right here."

"Just hold on a bit longer," he muttered just as quietly back to me. "We'll be out of here soon enough."

"That's not what I mean. It's something on the station. I'm gonna go and check it out."