Jedi Fugitive (The Bad Batch)

93:

"Ten? For that?" It flinched at the second warning and tapped away at its datapad, showing her the screen with an inquisitive chirp. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

She dropped a few credits into its palm and the pit droid waved to its companion on the other side of the docks, who plugged a scomp into the wall and promptly opened the gates of the docking port, squealing loudly in protest as it went. Fennec was firing up the skiff before they'd even fully shuddered open, boosting it as fast as it would go and sending it screaming down the swamps.

At the speed she'd pushed it to, we were soon bumping into the mouth of a river, the docking port had soon faded into the hazy horizons, replaced by unhealthy looking trees and sparse vegetation. The water here was as murky as the swamp, filthy, the surface covered in a thick layer of silt, and impossible to see into.

"Hey, tracker. Keep eyes on the current," Fennec told Hunter, the sergeant jerking his chin down in a nod. "Sylar's got a safehouse upriver somewhere. Find it. You, backup, cover us. The area we're headed is extremely hostile, so always keep an eye on the water. And you, whatever your name is, help her."

"Why?" Wrecker asked nervously, leaning over the edge to peer into its sludgy depths. "Wh-What's in the water?"

"Let's just say I'd never go in it." That was even less reassuring than asking us to keep an eye on the river, and Wrecker glanced nervously at me, his hands drifting for the huge blaster at his side.

"You got back?"

"I've got back," I confirmed, getting up to stand by the edge of the boat, blasters pulled out and pointing towards the water. If they hadn't been before, my senses were now on high alert, tingling with the energy of the Force and probing beneath the surface for any kind of hostile presence.

We travelled for several klicks in silence like this, Fennec steering the boat, Hunter and Wrecker seated at the front and me at the back with my barrels levelled at the water. Nothing happened - I couldn't detect so much as a tiny fish below the surface. Though the way Fennec herself was eyeing the water told me that just because the threat wasn't close by, it didn't mean it wasn't there.

I was just beginning to relax a little when Hunter stood suddenly, visor intently fixed on the water and apprehension radiating off him in waves. "Cut the engine."

Fennec didn't hesitate to comply and the boat drifted to a stop in the middle of the river, the noises of the jungle suddenly deafening loud in the absence of the engines. Hunter knelt by the prow of the boat and I abandoned my post to come up at his shoulder, following the direction of his visor to some dark silhouette just visible in the break of the muck.

"There's some type of mine up ahead."

Now that he'd mentioned it and I could see it, I was aware of the faint but steady beeping from underneath the water, disturbances in the otherwise empty river. I'd been so busy scanning for live presences that I'd totally missed the mine- several mines, if my sixth sense was to be relied on.

"How many?" Fennec asked, and I almost opened my mouth to respond before remembering she wasn't supposed to know I could sense them too. At least thirty, though most of them were hidden under the silt.

"I can't tell from here," Hunter answered instead, peering a little closer at the surface.

"Better get in there and check it out." She was suddenly beside me, rifle in hand and staring at the one mine we could actually see. Wrecker jerked around to stare at her in disbelief - I was sure his mouth was gaping open under the helmet.

"But you said you'd never go in the water."

"And I'm not. You are."

Of course she'd say something like that. Wrecker groaned, but made no further protest as Hunter climbed over the railing and landed in the water with a splash. It was a lot shallower than I thought, coming up only to his chest