To Heal Poignancy ■ TECH - The Bad Batch ■

A Run In

For a moment, Adla was fully convinced she would projectile vomit within her helmet. Hunter and Omega raised their flashlights to better see the engine.

"Crosshair wouldn't do that, would he?" Adla gently grabbed Omega's shoulder when she heard the slight terror in the young girl's voice.

"How much time do we have?" Echo asked as he pressed his hands against the chamber walls.

Tech quickly glanced down at his datapad, "I estimate less than two minutes."

Adla clutched her stomach with the hand that wasn't holding Omega. Fuel and light began to omit from the center of the engine. Huh, well when she died there at least she'd join her sister. The pain and sorrow would finally end. The act would cease to exist. For a moment, Adla stared directly at the engine. Her hand slipped off of Omega's shoulder as the young clone turned to her brothers for a plan. Both of Adla's arms rested limply at her sides. She lightly swayed. For a moment, Adla wished to be incinerated by the sheer power and rage of fuel and light. There would be pain but only for a moment, right? Then, everything would cease to exist. Her world would cease to exist. She would cease to exist. Sorrow and pain would be nothing more than a small wrinkle in time, like a dying star. One moment it's there, and the next nothing stands in its place.

If only she was alone. She would've allowed it to happen. But that wouldn't really be fair to the others, would it?

"Everyone take an explosive. Tech? Omega? Up top with me," Hunter's voice distantly rang through Adla's ears, but she couldn't grasp the meaning behind them.

"Senator Klenn," Tech called to her, he unknowingly snapped her out of her daze. "This is no time to remain idle. We must hurry."

Guilt clawed at Adla as she watched everyone grab an explosive and realized she had no idea what the plan was. She watched Wrecker and Echo place the charges around the cone of the engine. Understanding the idea, Adla moved to help.

"Everybody, get down!" Wrecker called as he pressed the button to the explosives just as the engine was about to fire up. Hunter laid himself on top of Omega. Echo threw himself down along with Wrecker and they both placed their hands over their head as if to protect themselves. Tech pulled Adla down to help her avoid any heat or broken debris from the explosion.

"Hold on!" Tech shouted as part of the engine began to collapse.

Adla glanced up to the night sky as the engine rose to power. She couldn't see them, but she had a feeling Crosshair and his troopers were being hit with the power of the engine, which worried her immensely. That would leave a terrible burn.

They all grasped on to the edge, but as the cone made its descent not everyone could hold on. Wrecker caught Echo, while Tech, Hunter, and Omega fell. Hunter grabbed Omega and the two slipped further until Hunter grabbed a bar. Adla gritted her teeth as she white knuckled the ledge.

As the broken piece of the cruiser landed and settled onto the planet, everyone rolled off. Echo, Wrecker, Tech, and Adla rolled to one side; while Hunter and Omega rolled the other way. Echo, Wrecker, and Tech recovered quickly as Adla struggled to keep her breathing under control and the contents in her stomach in the same spot.

"Hunter, we landed on the port side. What's your status?" Echo rushed through his comm.

"We're by the engine, and we've got company," Hunter's voice echoed through Echo's comm. The sound of distant blasting could be heard. "Meet back at the Marauder."

Tech and Wrecker made their way over to Adla to help her up. She groaned as she clutched her stomach.

"I'm fine," she waved the two off, "just nauseous."

"I can help you get back to your shuttle but we must be quick. I need to make it back in time to power up the ship," Tech rushed.

"Hey! Just as he promised, right?" Wrecker excitedly said to Adla as he punched her in the shoulder.

Together, the two headed for the opposite direction of her ship. Wrecker and Echo said their farewells and began their trek to the Marauder.

"I can make it back perfectly fine myself, Tech. You go with your brothers," Adla encouraged him as they carefully yet quickly maneuvered their way around the heaps of garbage.

"I promised to return you unharmed and unseen. I have failed at one. As of right now, you are unharmed but that does not mean that will not change. The Empire is looking for us, they could potentially find you as well. I will not risk it. Plus, your heartbeat has dangerously risen. All of this stress and running exerts you and you could potentially collapse on the way back to your ship."

"My heartbeat? How have you managed to know that?"

"Since you relayed to me your condition with your lungs, I figured you would require a check up for long uses of adrenaline," Tech held up his scanner as they continued to run. "I scanned you when Wrecker and I helped you up."

"Oh." She had not even noticed.

They made it back to her ship without any trouble. Frankly, it wasn't too far from the Marauder. Tech could more than likely intercept Echo and Wrecker before they got back.

"Oh, Tech!" Adla called as the ramp lowered on her ship. "Here," she snatched his datapad from his hands and quickly typed in her comm number in the notes. "This is my own comm channel. Please message it when you fellas and Omega are back and safe. If not, I will worry and then hunt you down to make sure you're alright."

She placed the datapad back into his hand as he stared down at the empty, now not-so-empty hand in something that resembled shock. She placed her left hand on the side of his helmet. "Stay safe. Thank you for fulfilling your promise. And you did keep both. The Empire doesn't seem concerned to know who I am." She kissed the right side of his cheek, over his helmet.

Tech blinked once, shock radiating in his exposed eyes. He nodded once at her before he silently turned away and headed towards the Marauder. Adla watched him go before she quickly climbed up the ramp and set a course for Alderran. She passed by the Empire undetected before she jumped into hyperspace.