BAD BATCH SEASON TWO OUT TODAY
"Let's get this over with." Wrecker said, squinting his eyes in pain. He was having another headache. He groans.
Echo takes Wrecker's helmet off while Tech removes his backpack so he can lay flat in the surgical pod.
Tech places the scanning headpiece on Wrecker, then presses a few buttons on his device. Wrecker's brain scan begins to load onto the device.
Alona leaned up against the wall with Hunter, staying out of Tech and Echo's way.
Omega comes over with a scared look on her face. She was nervously picking at her fingers. "Hunter, just because the surgery worked on Rex, doesn't mean it's safe. This is dangerous."
Rex came over, taking his helmet off and holding it in one hand. "It's more dangerous to leave their inhibitor chips in."
Hunter took his helmet and backpack off, placing it in the pile with Tech, Wrecker, and Echo's gear. "We have to do this. It's worth the risk."
"And what if something goes wrong? Alona and I would be left here...with no one."
Alona's face dropped. She hadn't thought of that. It wouldn't be the first time her nor Omega would be left alone, but for some reason this time felt worse. The girls needed them.
Hunter kneeled down in front of Omega, placing his hands on her shoulders. "We're not going anywhere, Omega. You're stuck with us for the long run. Got it?" He asked. Omega nodded with tears in her eyes.
"I think I found something." Tech announces.
Alona takes a deep breath and walks over with the others.
Tech shows everyone the scan. "Ninety degrees from his right orbital floor, below the parietal and temporal intersection-" He gets cut off.
"Get that away from me." Wrecker seethes, pushing the device away and removing the head piece. He started groaning profusely. Alona frowned at him.
Omega turned from her place beside Wrecker. "Something's not right." She warns.
"We need to speed this up." Rex says urgently. Was it happening? Echo powers up the surgical pod. "You boys got lucky. Very few clones were immune to the effects of Order 66. It's...rare."
Hunter nodded. "When the regs attacked the Jedi on Kaller, we didn't understand why. We couldn't save General Billaba, but at least we helped the padawan and Alona escape." He said quietly, placing a hand on Alona's shoulder.
Alona wondered where Caleb was now. If he found somewhere safe to go. She missed having him around.
"Relax, this won't hurt a bit." Tech tells Wrecker, moving onto the next step of the process. He reaches for Wrecker, but the larger clone grabs his wrist tightly, stopping him from going through with it.
Alona moves protectively in front of Omega. "Hunter, Rex." She warns. Wrecker wraps his other hand around Tech's throat, squeezing hard.
"Wrecker-" Tech chokes.
"You're in direct violation of Order 66." Wrecker says in a low tone, throwing Tech.
He hits the wall, falling unconscious. Alona gasps, picking Omega up and placing her into Hunter's arms, He turns his back to shield the child.
Rex reaches for his blaster, pointing it at Wrecker and switching it to stun. He presses the trigger the same time Wrecker knocks it out of his hand.
"Alona, run!" Hunter yells.
Alona slowly starts backing up, glancing over at Tech. He was still out.
"He'll destroy the equipment if we don't get him out of here." Rex warns, blocking Wrecker's attack. Alona knew what to do.
"You're all traitors!" Wrecker shouted, pulling out his blaster and firing at Rex, Hunter, and Omega. They duck behind the counter.
Alona couldn't run. She pulled out her lightsabers and ignited them, catching Wrecker's attention. "Over here, Muscles. I'm the one you want." She announced, starting down the hall of the cruiser. She could hear Wrecker's loud footsteps. He was following her. Good.
Hunter and Rex came into the hall, calling after Wrecker. They began running the opposite way. Wrecker stopped to think about which way to go, which Alona took as her chance to slip away and buy everyone else time to come up with a plan.
She heard Wrecker run after Rex and Hunter. Alona wove through the old rusted halls, finding a shortcut to Hunter. She hid behind the wall with him and Rex, switching off her sabers again.
"What the hell are you doing? I told you to run." Hunter whispered, giving Alona a scolding look.
Alona shook her head. "I'm not leaving you with him. As much as you'd like to think you can take him, you can't." She retorted, grabbing a pipe and throwing it down the hall. Wrecker runs in the direction of the clank.
Rex pulled out his other blaster and stepped out into the hall, firing a shot at Wrecker. It misses. Wrecker fires actual shots back at him.
Hunter grabbed his knife and threw it, knocking it out of Wrecker's hand. "Stay hidden. That's an order." He said before running after Wrecker. Alona rolled her eyes and ran in the other direction.
She headed back into the medical bay where Omega was hiding, sitting beside Tech. Alona bent down and placed two fingers onto Tech's neck. There was still a heartbeat. "Knocked him out good." She muttered, turning to Omega. "We need to get you out of here." She declared, grabbing Omega's arm and pulling her to her feet.
"But what about Tech?" Omega asked as they ran down the hall.
Alona breathed out. "He'll be okay. They'll all be okay." But it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself of that too.
The girls stop when they come across Wrecker choking Hunter. Omega bent down and grabbed a blaster, firing it inches from the clone's head. Alona turned to her with wide eyes. And Hunter thought Alona was nuts.
"Time to go." Alona declared, watching Wrecker knock Hunter unconscious before starting towards them. "Omega, hide. I'll distract him." She ordered, pushing Omega along. "Don't follow, whatever you do."
Alona ran down the opposite hall before Omega could say anything about the plan. The only thing Alona needed to do was keep Wrecker away from the kid. That was all that mattered.
"Come on, buddy. You can do better than that!" Alona shouted after a blaster shot whipped past her head. She held her hand out behind her and called the blaster to her. She placed it on her belt with her sabers.
"All Jedi must be terminated!" Wrecker shouted, gaining on her. Alona turned to a dead end, turning around only to be blocked in by Wrecker.
She panted, her mind searching for a way out of this. "I won't hurt you, Wrecker. Snap out of it." She pleaded, backing up as he slowly approached her. Alona tried to run past him but he grabbed her arm and threw her against the wall.
Alona yelped, hitting the wall and then the floor. She jumped back to her feet, ducking to avoid a hit to the head. Wrecker grabbed her and slammed her against the wall, his expression looking nothing like his own.
"You're fighting with yourself." Alona said, but got thrown to the ground in response. He bent over and wrapped his hands around her throat. She felt the pressure, the crushing in her throat. Air couldn't reach or escape her lungs. "Wrecker, come back-" She choked, black starting to fill her vision.
Wrecker was trying to fight against his actions. She could see it in his eyes. His heart, his head, was trying its best to fight against the chip. He didn't want to do this. But he couldn't stop it.
Alona clawed at his arms, his hands, but she found it hard to think past that. Alona struggled, her feet thrashing around. His hands tightened around her throat. It burned.
She started to lose feeling in her body. "He-h-help."
The grip disappeared and Alona rolled to her side, clawing at her own throat as she tried to get air in. Wrecker was unconscious on the ground, his body limp beside her. Omega was there, pulling Alona to sit up.
Omega had stunned Wrecker.
Alona coughed, rubbing at her throat aggressively. "Stop, don't do that!" Omega scolded, grabbing onto Alona's hands. She held onto them tightly. "Deep breaths, slowly."
Alona smiled, finally starting to catch her breath. "Th-thanks, kid. Even though you...you defied orders." She replied. Omega smiled, wrapping her arms around Alona's waist. Alona returned the hug, placing her chin on Omega's blonde hair.
Hunter and Rex turned the corner at a fast rate, stopping when they came across the girls and Wrecker.
Omega and Alona pulled apart. Omega stood up, handing the blaster back to Rex. Hunter kneeled down in front of Alona with a concerned look on his face. "Are you okay, Alona?" He asked urgently, looking her over.
Alona nodded, rubbing her neck with her hand. "Thanks to Omega, yeah." She said quietly. Hunter sighed in relief and helped Alona up to her feet, his eyes on her throat.
That was going to leave some pretty nasty bruises.
The grownups looked down at the unconscious Wrecker. They had to carry him back to the medical bay. "Why did it have to be the biggest one of you to snap first?" Alona asked, her voice cracking. It burned to talk, but that wasn't important. Wrecker and the others are.
Rex ended up grabbing Wrecker's feet while Alona and Hunter each grabbed an arm. They may have dropped him a few times, but in the end they managed to get him back to the med bay around the same time Echo and Tech had recovered.
Omega sat beside Wrecker's feet, his top half inside of the surgical pod. She had her arms crossed on the bed, her head resting on them like a pillow. Alona could sense her worry.
Alona sat in the back of the room with Hunter. Rex was leaning against the doorframe, staring at the markings on his helmet. Everyone else was surrounding Wrecker.
"I can't imagine." Alona whispers, staring blankly at the floor. She bounced her leg nervously. "I saw him fighting against the chip. I can't imagine how many others tried so hard to stop themselves...but couldn't. They didn't want to kill the Jedi, but the chip forced them to."
Hunter placed his hand over hers, nodding in agreement. "The way the war ended was the last thing anyone expected. It was like neither the Republic nor the Seperatists won. The Empire came out of nowhere and created an even bigger problem."
"This was Palpatine's plan all along. He had been playing the war from both sides like a game of dejarik." Alona scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. "I got put with you guys so I wouldn't get in his way when he convinced Anakin to join the Sith. He wanted Anakin to become his apprentice. It all makes sense now."
Hunter stared at her in shock. It all made sense. It had been Palpatine's plan for a while now to bring Anakin to the dark side. Alona and Ahsoka were the only ones getting in his way. When Anakin turned, those two were on Kaller and Mandalore. Far off planets where they would suspect nothing.
Echo turned to Rex and Tech. "Is it supposed to take this long?" He asked.
Rex shrugged. "I'm not sure. I've never been on the receiving end of it." He sighed. Omega's lip quivered in fear. She grabbed Wrecker's hand and squeezed it tightly.
Tech looked up from the surgical panel. "The procedure's complete." He reports. The bed slides the rest of the way out. Echo placed a patch over the incision on Wrecker's head.
Alona and Hunter stood up, walking over to the group. Wrecker was still unconscious.
"Wrecker." Omega said, giving the clone a soft shake. He didn't wake up. She shook him again, but a little more aggressively. "Wrecker!" Nothing. She turned to the others. "He should be awake by now." She says, looking alarmed.
Tech rescanned Wrecker's brain and checked his vitals. "He is alive, but his vitals have not stabilized. We won't know more until he regains consciousness."
Rex gave Alona and Hunter a look. The three of them huddled together to talk. "This could be a while. Why don't the two of you take Omega topside and get some air?" Rex suggested.
"No." Omega says sternly. She crosses her arms and gives the three of them a look. "I'm staying until he wakes up."
Alona's eyes softened. "Okay." She whispers, understanding how worried Omega was for Wrecker.
Ten minutes later Wrecker made a sound. "Hey, kid. Why the long face?" He asked Omega, placing a hand over hers. Omega smiles and wraps him in a tight hug.
"He's awake!" She exclaims.
Tech stood from his seat. "Oh. You made it."
Alona snorted. "Don't sound too excited." She said sarcastically.
Rex held up Wrecker's chip that was inside his head not too long ago. "One chip down, three to go. Who's next?" He asked.
Tech ended up going, but not before he trusted Echo enough to go through the procedure without killing him.
Wrecker had apologized to Omega, giving her a tight hug and promising lots of Mantell Mix. Then he came over to Alona. "Look Alona, I-I tried to fight it. I didn't want to hurt you. I almost...I almost killed you." He rubbed his neck.
Alona waved it off. "I know, Wrecker. It's nothing. I'm okay." She smiled.
Wrecker shook his head. "No, you could have died. I-I should have tried harder to stop it." He rambled, his face plastered with guilt. "I'm sorry."
Alona shook her head. "No, don't do that. It wasn't your fault." She placed a hand over her throat, healing the bruises. She drops her hand. "See? All better. It never happened. We're all good." She said sternly.
Wrecker raised his eyebrows in shock. "You're not mad?" He asked.
"About what? Nothing happened." She smiled. He still looked guilty. Alona sighed and dropped her head. "I'm left with no choice." She tells herself, holding out her hands. Wrecker made a noise and picked her up, giving her one of those bone crushing hugs. "Yeah, okay. There ya go, buddy. Love you too." She laughed, patting his back.