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xxxix.
prison break
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"Rex, we have a sort of uh, situation here," Rex heard Hunter say over the comm link. His transmission was broken, which wasn't a good sign.
Rex grabbed his comm link "What is it?"
There wasn't an answer. Rex sighed and glanced over at Omega, then proceeded to try and contact the rest of their team again.
"Please don't tell me you guys got caught," Rex said.
There wasn't an answer.
"Hunter?" Rex continued. "Do you copy?"
"We're in a cell right now. Does that answer your question?"
•••
Trapped within the confines of the Daro prison, the Bad Batch found themselves facing an uphill battle for freedom. Their escape would need a different strategy, one based on cunning resourcefulness, since they lacked Tech's smarts and Wrecker's strength. They couldn't rely on Rex and Omega, because they needed them to guard the ship.
"We'll be right there," Rex said through the comm. "Stay where you are."
"We're breaking out ourselves," Hunter replied. "Guard the ship."
He put his comm link that he managed to sneak into the cell back into his pocket, and looked at Echo, then Gregor.
"What did I say about not messing up?" Hunter said, rolling his eyes.
"Ah, shut up. You know we're going to get out of here anyway," Gregor replied.
"How?" Hunter asked. "How, Gregor? You're plan fucked us up already once. I'm not trusting you again."
"Then you figure it out," Gregor said, sitting at the corner of the cell, picking at something on the floor.
"Why don't we use similar tactics we did last time we were here?" Echo asked Hunter. "The ones Tech used."
To Hunter, even just hearing Tech's name was like a stab in the heart where the knife was pulled out immediately. The blood kept pouring and pouring, the grief seemingly never ending. If the knife had stayed inside there would be something to fill the void. Not the same as before, but something. This way, there was nothing. He was losing himself.
He could feel the time passing, from Tech's death but especially from Wrecker's death. A visceral ache, missing a part of himself he didn't know he could miss until they were gone. A loss of a brother. Not just any brother, but the loss of two members of their squad. Though what their breed may suggest to the empire, clones were never replaceable.
"I can order a Code-16, redirecting the imperial troop forces to where we won't be," Echo continued. "It's our best shot. I'll just need to find a network terminal."
"We don't even know if Howzer is still here, or even still alive. The empire is trying to eliminate the clones as we speak," Hunter said. "When we leave this cell, we're going into this mission blind and have no reinforcements. This is practically a suicide mission."
"Everything we've done up until now has been a suicide mission," Gregor said.
"Hunter, I'm going to remind you of what I told you the last time we were in here, rescuing Gregor," Echo said. "We had no reinforcements then either, and we went in blind. So this is a similar situation. If you hadn't taken the risk to rescue me off of Skako Minor without any reinforcements and going in blind, I wouldn't be standing here today. I would most likely be dead, or left abandoned, but nonetheless dead. If there's a chance that one of our brothers is being held here against his will, we have to try and get him out."
Hunter sighed. "You're right."
"Remember," Gregor said. "We can't get out of here unless we get to the lifts. Direct them to the hangars at the center of the base."
"Copy that," Echo said.
They embarked on a daring plan to outsmart their captors and break free from their imprisonment. Hunter took out the vibroknife from his pocket, and managed to cut through the bars of their cell. They each stepped out, one by one, into the empty imperial hallway. Hunter led the way with his strategic smarts. Echo followed, finding the nearest network terminal. Once he did, he was able to hack and decode it, even though the data stored in the information banks of the empire was heavily encrypted. Drawing upon his experience as a tactician, analyzed the layout of the prison and identified potential weaknesses in its security systems. As Echo was hacking their systems, the klaxons began to ring.
"That's not for us, right?" Hunter asked Echo.
"No," Echo responded. "I gathered some authorization codes to give us access to the security systems. And I ordered a Code-16 like we discussed. The troopers are on their way to the hangar, but it won't be long until they notice it was for nothing. Let's move."
"That's great, but where the hell is Howzer's cell?" Hunter asked.
"Cell block 31."
"I know how to get there," Gregor said. "Echo's right, we better move. It's two floors down."
"Let me contact Rex to tell him we made it out of our cell alive," Hunter said, taking his comm link out of his pocket.
"Rex? Rex, come in."
There was no answer, just a static noise that barely made it through the speaker of the comm.
"They're jamming our comms," Hunter said, putting his comm back in his pocket. "They know we're here. We have to hurry."
Using their combined skills in infiltration and combat, the Bad Batch stealthily navigated the corridors of the prison, evading patrols and surveillance cameras with silent precision. They each provided cover for one another when necessary as they made their way through the endless hallways of the facility.
They took a lift two floors down, like Gregor said, having to stun the occupants within the elevator so they wouldn't give away their position. Echo used one of the authorization codes he got at the terminal to gain access to the elevator.
Gregor led them to the additional maze of halls like the ones that they had navigated two floors above. Once they reached the cell, Echo used yet another access code to hack the keypad enclosing Howzer in his cell. The doors slid open, indicating the codes worked.
"Good, you're here," Howzer said almost sarcastically after they broke into his cell.
"How'd you know?" Hunter asked.
"You don't leave your own behind, ever," he replied.
"Then why did you sound mad to see us?" Echo asked.
"Wherever you guys go, you either bring trouble or trouble follows you."
"Can you quit being so philosophical and can we all leave?"
Howzer rolled his eyes, following clone force 99, and Gregor, outside the cell and into the halls. They retraced their steps, using the same codes as earlier to keep the imperial forces stalled as they escaped. However, instead of going up only two floors, they went up all the floors, planning their escape.
Once they reached the top floor, Gregor almost turned the corner, but saw a squad of troops coming their way. He pivoted clockwise on his left foot, hiding behind the wall.
"There goes the real defective clones. Following orders like their clankers," Gregor muttered, gesturing his head towards the imperial troopers. One trooper stopped for a second, turned their way, but left.
"That trooper definitely saw us," Hunter said. "Somethings going on here. I don't like it."
"Well, let's take advantage of the fact that they didn't see us and get the hell out of here," Gregor said.
"They barely saw us before we got thrown into the cell and managed to sound all the alarms," Hunter replied. "There's something off at this facility. They're letting us go."
"Stop overthinking it and let's go!" Gregor said, starting to run towards the elevator.
They rushed towards the different elevator that would take them to the very top of the base, their distraction drawing the attention of the guards away from their true objective. They seized their opportunity, slipping through the gaps in the defenses and making a break for freedom.
As they neared the outer perimeter of the prison, they encountered something they didn't see on the way in when it was dark out. There was a series of heavily guarded checkpoints manned by Imperial soldiers. They relied on their agility and guile to slip past undetected, with Echo's help to destroy security systems from the inside out.
"Thanks," Howzer said to the group once they made it out and back to the ship. "For you know, breaking me out of prison."
"It's because we need your help," Hunter said. "Would you be willing to help us?"
"If it includes taking down Crosshair and the empire, count me in."
Hunter nodded. "Welcome to clone force 99, Howzer."
•••
━━━ completed reading ━━━
act three: but keep your enemies closer