Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry about the long wait! I just wasn't as focused on the Shaniverse lately and time skipped by much faster than I realized. I've come to an important decision about how I'm going to continue with writing stories, which I'll share in the next chapter of V5. But don't worry about me quitting! The only way I'll ever quit permanently is if I finish up the entirety of the Shaniverse within the next few years, or if I suddenly drop dead.

Coronavirus better stay away from me... 'O_o'

Anyways, onto the chapter! Spoiler warning for S7 if you don't yet have access to it!


Anaxes - Azure System

Jarik POV...

For several weeks now, Obi-Wan and I have been stationed on Anaxes with Anakin and Master Windu… terrific. The reason for this is that our shipyards are being assaulted by the Separatists, led by Admiral Trench. How that bug guy didn't die after Anakin blew him up, I don't know, but he's still around and causing trouble, and unfortunately he's being very effective. And if we lose Anaxes, then the Republic's navy will be completely messed up.

Obi-Wan and I have been fighting on the ground with Master Windu while Anakin and Admiral Yularen dealt with the sky battle, but with every battle we win, the Separatists seem to win several more right afterwards. At the moment, Cody, Boil and I are meeting up with Anakin and Master Windu to discuss the problem. Rex has a theory he explained to us, so Obi-Wan sent the three of us to go with him while he continued his part of the battle.

Up in front of us, Anakin and Master WIndu are standing around a holotable that displays a map of the battle sites, talking over the situation.

"The droids have overrun our main production facility. It won't be long before the Separatists take Anaxes, compromising our entire reserve fleet," Master Windu was saying.

"Pardon the interruption, General, but Rex here has a good theory on why we keep, uh…" Cody says, hesitating with an awkward cough.

"Why we keep losing," Boil finished with a grumble.

"Please, Captain," Master Windu says, gesturing for him to begin.

I don't fail to notice how Master Windu never meets eye contact with me, as if I wasn't there, but I try not to let it bother me very much. Rex brings up a few diagrams and maps on the holoprojector as he begins to explain.

"The droid army uses analytics to predict our strategy. The first time we use a tactic, it's very effective. The next, less so. In fact, the more we use a certain tactic, the less effective it becomes," Rex explains. "They learn our tendencies and use that data against us. To counter them, we're constantly working out ways to vary our attack. But the losses we are experiencing on Anaxes-"

"-are not commonplace," Windu finishes grimly.

"Exactly. The counter attacks are so specific, it's my strategy the droids know, my playbook," Rex states.

"They also seem to be getting better at protecting their data. It's becoming a lot harder to crack intercepted transmission… if we even get any," I add in frustration, crossing my arms.

"Huh. That's odd," Anakin remarks.

"My concern is that Rex is one of our best tacticians, and Commander Shan an irreplaceable slicer," Cody states with a frown. "If the droids can learn to defeat them, we may all be vulnerable."

"Where do Padawan Shan's abilities come into play?" Windu asks with a frown. "Analytics wouldn't count towards slicing. It might simply be they're better prepped for cyber attacks."

He still doesn't address me directly. And the doubt he's displaying in regards to my slicing ability being hampered is annoying obvious to me. Anakin also has a slight grimace of annoyance on his face, but he doesn't show it.

"With all due respect, General," Boil says, standing at attention. "Commander Shan one of the Republic's best when it comes to cyber security. If they've figured out a way to beat him, then that's extremely irregular."

I let out a sigh and glance at Boil appreciatively, and he nods back. He, Cody and Rex are all aware that tensions between me and Master Windu are thin.

"That does seem a bit concerning," Anakin nods in agreement with Boil's statement. "What's your plan to handle it?"

"Let Commander Shan, Rex and I take a small squad behind enemy lines," Cody suggests. "There's a Separatist Cyber Center which relays all battlefield intel to their command ship. If we're going to find anything, it will be there."

Windu seems to frown in slight disagreement, but thankfully he nods his head in acceptance.

"If you think it will help turn this fight around, get going," he says.

"Thank you, General," Cody replies.

There's a brief moment of silence, and I glance over at Rex curiously upon sensing a thought rising in him, as if he wants to say something.

"Rex, is there anything else?" Anakin asks, also picking up on it.

"No, General," Rex replies, standing at attention.

I raise an eyebrow at the odd behavior and share a glance with Anakin, shrugging it off. Turning around with the clones we head off to prepare for our new assignment, leaving Anakin and Master Windu to continue battle plans.


Using the damp cloth, I carefully scrub off any residue dirt still left on my lightsaber, ensuring that the slightly curved hilt is bright and shiny. Satisfied, I return my lightsaber to its position back on my belt and then reach for my second lightsaber... Ahsoka's lightsaber. I slowly lift her hilt up in front of me and pause, staring longingly at her weapon.

It's already been several months since she left, most of that time for me having been spent doing archive duty in the Jedi Temple as punishment for not breaking my Force bond with her. While not much time has passed in reality, it still feels like a lifetime ago. Her presence across our bond is really faint right now, separated across the vast galaxy as we are. Sometimes when I'm back at the Temple I can feel her more closely, trying my best to keep watch over her through the Force, wherever she was living in the city.

Sighing, I carefully clean up her lightsaber with my cloth, keeping it in pristine shape. Sensing someone approaching, I look up as the door to my quarters opens and Boil walks through, suited up and ready for battle with his helmet in hand.

"We're all ready Commander. Cody and Rex are just outside," he tells me.

"Thanks Boil. I'll be out in a second," I reply with a small smile.

I look back down at Ahsoka's lightsaber once more, wiping it with my cloth one last time before setting the saber back on my belt, putting the cloth away. I stand up and join Boil as we exit the room, taking a moment to observe him.

"So, ARC trooper huh?" I ask him with a small grin.

"Yes sir," Boil replies, a bit sheepish.

"About time you were promoted. You've more than earned it," I say, casually nudging his shoulder with a fist.

Just last week, Cody promoted Boil to the rank of ARC trooper due to all of his successes and skill in battle. It's been a long awaited achievement, too long in my opinion. Boil is trying to stay casual and formal about the whole thing, but I know he's boasting with excitement and smug gratification inside.

"Thank you sir," he replies, smiling, before letting out a sad sigh. "I just wish Waxer was here to see it."

I glance at him sadly, remembering Waxer's death. It's already been at least a year since the siege of Umbara, where Pong Krell turned to the dark side and got countless troopers killed, Waxer among them because of his deception. Ever since he died our group just felt… incomplete; it was missing something. And now that Ahsoka is gone and Fives killed too, our team of six is now down to just me and Boil.

"I'm sure he knows," I tell Boil gently. "He'd be proud of you."

Boil glances at me with a grateful nod, and we continue on our way out to meet up with the rest of the team.


"So, what squad are we taking in?" Rex asks.

"Clone Force 99," Cody answers.

I raise my eyebrows and share an uneasy glance with Boil, who's expression falls to glum irritation. Cody has worked with these guys before on several occasions, typically only when things get extremely dire. I don't think Obi-Wan has met them yet, but Boil and I have on just one occasion, and it was brief.

I still don't know what to think about them.

Jesse and Kix were waiting for us out on the airfield, chatting with each other, and standing up on our arrival. They walk with us as we move down the airfield, where I could see a shuttle fast approaching.

"I've heard mixed things about these guys," Rex says with a frown.

"They have a 100% success rate," Cody reassures him.

"It's really that Cody, more so it's that they seem a little…" I trail off, making a cuckoo gesture. "...off."

"You might say that," Boil mutters sarcastically.

"Yeah. It's not that they win, it's how they win that worries me," Rex nods in agreement.

"Repeat, coming in hot on platform TT-3-9-7," the voice of a clone announces over the intercom.

I recognize it as Tech, their squad's technician and cyber security expert. Not as good as me if I'm being honest, but I try to stay humble over it. Their shuttle comes down from the air at extremely high speeds, rather recklessly in fact, causing a brief burst of panic among the clones.

"Clear the airfield! Clear the airfield!" Tech exclaims.

Their shuttle shoots over the airfield only a few feet above the ground, causing crates and machinery to scatter from the exhaust. Clones duck out of the way or get down to cover themselves in alarm, but thankfully the shuttle slows down to a stop and carefully lands on the platform. I share another doubtful look with Boil, who rolls his eyes in exasperation.

"So why haven't I heard of this squad?" Rex asks us.

"They don't operate on the frontlines like most, and they're only called in if the situation gets bad," I explain, nodding to Cody. "Cody's worked with them before."

Cody nods in confirmation, continuing with the explanation.

"Experimental unit Clone Force 99," he tells Rex. "They're defective clones with, uh, desirable mutations."

"99, eh? Nice touch," Rex comments.

"They call themselves 'The Bad Batch,'" he finishes.

The ship vents a bit of steam from its exhaust, and then the ramp opens. Walking out of the ship were four clones, each of them as unique and distinct as their mutation. The sergeant, Hunter, walks out first, cracking his knuckles together and stretching his neck. Crosshairs comes out next, looking around and moving quietly, with Tech right beside him fiddling around on a datapad. Wrecker walks down last, lumbering down the ramp with heavy steps.

I cross my arms with a small frown on my face as they walk out of their shuttle, not seeing much different about them from our last encounter. While they are all as different as they could possibly be, the one thing that does put them together is the color scheme of their armor, which is all exactly the same: charcoal gray, a dark wine red, and light gray highlights. Wrecker pulls his helmet off to reveal a maniacal grin on his face, one of his eyes blinded similarly to Commander Wolffe.

"The cavalry has arrived!" he roars eagerly.

Marching up to us, Hunter, Crosshairs and Tech all remove their helmets as well, revealing their faces. Hunter has a shaggy 'mullet' hairstyle with a red band around his forehead, Crosshairs has a thin head shape with angular features set in a permanent scowl, and Tech looks the most nerdy and non-warrior like out of them, his brown hair short and balding, with goggles covering his eyes. Unfamiliar with the Bad Batch, Rex, Jesse and Kix all blink their eyes in surprise and bewilderment, the latter two glancing at each other incredulously.

"These guys are clones? They don't look like clones to me," Kix says.

"Look like a bunch of dweezers to me," Boil scoffs.

"Hey, be nice," I chide him quietly.

"Sergeant, good to see you again," Cody greets Hunter.

"You too, sir," Hunter replies, gripping his arm in a soldier's greeting before noticing me. "You as well Commander."

I nod my head in greeting, and Cody turns to the rest of the group.

"This is Hunter," he explains, and Rex gives him a formal nod of acknowledgement.

"Sorry we're late, Commander. We were putting down an insurrection on Yalbec Prime when your comm came in. Had a few unforeseen complications," Hunter says.

"Ever fought a male Yalbec?" Wrecker suddenly interjects, pointing at Jesse.

"Um, no. Can't say I have," Jesse replies awkwardly.

"You're lucky. Only way to kill 'em is with one of these," he states, whipping out a large vibroblade.

"That's right. Wrecker here cut off the Queen's stinger while she was still alive," Hunter nods in confirmation, before giving him a dull look. "That's why all those Yalbec males tried to eat us."

"Uh, technically, they were trying to mate with us," Tech interrupts, and Hunter brings a hand to his forehead in exasperation. "And, for your information, the stinger of a Yalbec Queen is a delicacy on some planets."

"That's Tech. Their computer guy," I say with a gesture.

"Yeah, he can fill your head with useless info for hours," Hunter scoffs in amusement, lightly punching his shoulder. "Crosshair, on the other hand, he's not much of a conversationalist, but when you have to hit a precise target from ten klicks, Crosshair's your man. "So, Commander, what kind of 'suicide mission' do you have for us this time?"

A gunship sets down beside us, and Cody waves them along.

"Let's get going. We'll brief you on the way," he says.

We all pile into the gunship, although before Boil could get on Wrecker casually slugs him in the shoulder with a laugh, grinning at him. Boil looks on in surprise before shaking his head with an irritated groan, stepping into the gunship. Wrecker doesn't get in fully though, opting to sit on the side of the floor with his feet dangling out the door as we take off.


As we traveled through the air in the direction of the Separatist Cyber Center, the flight was mostly in relative silence. Boil didn't look like he wanted anything to do with the Bad Batch, which comes as no surprise, but I am a bit curious about why he seems to dislike them so much. I just think they're a bit wacko, but Boil's annoyance seems to stem further than that.

Probably the attitude.

"So, Tech," I say casually, trying to start some conversation. "How often do you find any difficulties cracking Separatist data?"

Tech looks up from his datapad with a glance of curiosity and some excitement. Probably has never had anyone else to discuss his field of expertise with so willingly.

"Very little! Most operations are relatively easy, droids aren't very good at programming, but there is the odd discrepancy at times in their hardware, making it more of a challenge," he says eagerly. "I must say Commander, your configurations and augmented codes are quite fascinating. I'm very curious to know how you came up with an algorithm that acquires data without being connected directly to the central computer."

"Well, it's not completely foolproof yet, I'm still working on it," I shrug in reply. "But if you know where a computer connects across the power grid, then it's possible to establish a connection from alternate locations."

Tech nods his head in understanding and types quickly on his datapad, likely taking notes. I shake my head with a small grin of amusement at his enthusiasm, before noticing the tense staredown between Jesse and Crosshairs.

"What are you looking at?" Jesse asks with a frown.

"We don't usually work with 'regs,'" Crosshairs sneers, flicking his toothpick at him.

"Regs?" he demands, moving in his direction.

"You got a problem with us, stickface?" Boil interjects with a glare.

Hunter gets in between them placatingly, placing a hand on Jesse's shoulder and looking between him and Boil.

"He's talking about regular clones," he explains. "But don't take it personal."

"We're all on the same team, so cut the attitude and listen up," Cody interrupts firmly, bringing out a hologram of the Cyber Center. "Here's the mission. Our target is this Cyber Center. It's the 'brains' of the entire Separatist campaign here on Anaxes."

"I could demolish that with one hand! Yeah!" Wrecker shouts eagerly.

"This isn't a demo job, Wrecker. It's strictly a retrieval operation," Cody corrects him.

"Stealth missions," Boil murmurs sarcastically.

Suddenly, the gunship starts to shake violently as something slams against the side of it, generating an explosion. We stumble around in the cabin and grip onto the handles, receiving a call from the pilot.

"Incoming fire!" he warns us.

I grip the handle tightly, the familiar environment of battle instantly warping my demeanor. There's nothing for us to do aside from wait and hope that the pilot can get us through enemy fire. Unfortunately the gunship takes a rather huge hit, and the alarms start to beep urgently as the gunship loses altitude.

"We're going down!" Wrecker yells excitedly.

The gunship spins around uncontrollably, and we all brace ourselves for the fast approaching impact, having been through gunship crashes before. We hit the ground hard, the gunship skidding on it's side across the rocky glass surface. I'm thrown around by the impact, just barely hanging onto the handle while the others all face the same issues. A sudden jolt dislodges next from the handle, and I slam into a wall with a grunt of pain, thrusting my left arm out and using the prosthetic to brace myself further. It doesn't take much longer before the gunship comes to a halt on the ground.

I slowly push myself up to my feet with a groan, holding a hand to my head with a pained grimace. For as much as I've gotten in a gunship crash, it's never fun. And it always hurts: I've definitely got bruises somewhere.

"Everybody alright?" I call out, using the Force to provide some relief.

"Never better Commander," Boil grunts.

I reach down and help him up to his feet, and the wide doors are shoved open by Wrecker. Dim light filters into the cabin as Wrecker climbs out, the rest of his squad following. He starts helping Rex, Jesse, Kix, and Boil up one at a time while I jump outside effortlessly, standing on top of the gunship and observing to make sure everyone got out.

I rush over to the cockpit to check on the pilot, ripping the busted viewport off with my prosthetic arm. Looking inside, I pull his helmet off upon seeing he's not moving and put my fingers against his neck to check his pulse, also looking through the Force. I let out a bitter sigh of regret when I realize he's dead, having likely been killed by the impact. I pull back from the dead pilot with some regret, hearing conversation from the other clones.

"We always get shot down when we travel with regs," Crosshairs grumbles.

"Oh yeah? Considering the way you flew in to base I'd say you're the issue," Boil retorts.

"Cody!" Kix suddenly exclaims, calling out to us in alarm. "Help! He's trapped! We have to do something!"

I turn around in his direction to see Kix pointing down into the gunship, and sprint back over to him. Looking inside I also spotted Cody lying on his stomach within the ship, only his upper body free from the large plate of metal pinning him to the ground.

"Get your med pack ready Kix," I tell him.

Jumping back into the gunship, I crouch down beside Cody in concern and check his status. He's still fully conscious, but clearly in a lot of pain from the weight pressing down on him, which I quickly notice to be nearly the entirety of the gunship.

"Cody, you hear me?" I ask worriedly.

"...just fine, sir," he manages to say, wincing with every word.

"Get back!" I hear Wrecker say confidently.

"Commander Shan, get out of there! Wrecker's got it handled!" Hunter shouts.

I look up and make a face, suspicious about what they're about to try and do, but the only other option I see to getting Cody out is using the Force to lift the tank up. But Wrecker is engineered for extreme strength.

"Hang on Cody. You'll be out in no time," I reassure him.

Reluctantly, I leave him by jumping back out of the gunship to get out of the way. When I land beside the rest of the group I watch as Wrecker strides casually up to the gunship, preparing himself.

"This is ridiculous! He's gonna need help to get Cody out of there!" Kix shouts incredulously.

"He's gonna get the gunship out of there," Crosshairs corrects him. "Not Cody."

"Commander," Boil starts to protest, but I hold him back.

"He can handle it. Part of his mutation," I say in reply.

They're all confused, but nevertheless listen to me and stay back, watching anxiously. Wrecker comes to a stop in front of the tank and then crouches down, gripping the underside of it with both hands. He lets out a few grunts and then starts to pull, lifting the entire gunship. We watch in amazement as Wrecker lifts it with strength that not even a wookiee could ever come close to match and, with a roar, he throws the gunship up and out of the way. He then strides forward towards the now uncovered Cody and picks him up, holding him over one shoulder and then turning back around to walk in our direction.

"Boom," he says.

As if on cue, the gunship explodes in a massive fireball, catching us off guard. I raise my arms to cover my face from the initial blast, and look back to see that Wrecker didn't even flinch from the explosion. Although not the brightest guy, he certainly doesn't carry much fear.

Wrecker carefully sets Cody down on the ground, and we all snap out of our amazement in favor of tending to him. Cody groans, a deep pain filled scowl on his face while Kix scans him anxiously.

"He has internal damage," Kix explains, pulling off his pack. "I can cut the pain. But he needs help fast."

Through the Force I receive a bit of a tingling feeling, warning me of something, and turn to look in the direction I felt it. Crosshair was already gazing out across the field where I turned to look, having spotted the problem: an entire platoon of battle droids were sprinting out in our direction, armed and ready to fire.

"Sorry to cut it short Kix, but we've got a bigger problem on our hands," I say, entering my battle hardened mindset. "We've got droids inbound."

"That blast gave away our position," Crosshair says with a scowl, looking accusingly at Wrecker.

"I thought getting shot down gave away our position," Hunter scoffs in reply.

"Kix, you get Cody to cover and tend to him however you can," I order, and he nods in acknowledgement. "The rest of us should take positions. We'll let them come to us and pick them off."

"I don't think so, Commander Shan," Hunter interrupts, shaking his head. "That's not our style. We prefer going to them."

I raise an eyebrow at him, a bit perplexed and curious at what he has in mind.

"The Commander gave an order," Rex says, frowning.

"With all due respect Captain, it's nothing personal. But we can handle this no problem," he replies firmly.

"Sir?" Boil asks me.

I consider the idea for a second and then give Hunter a nod.

"Alright. Go for it," I tell him. "We'll keep Cody covered."

Hunter grins eagerly in reply and pulls his helmet on, turning to his squad.

"Bad Batch, Plan 82, 'shockwave!'" he orders.

They move right into action, getting their gear ready and helmets on. Wrecker grabs a piece of the destroyed gunship's door and holds it up effortlessly. They form a line, looking out at the approaching droids before charging forward without any hesitation.

"Sir, is this really a good idea?" Boil asks incredulously.

"We don't have the time to prolong a battle with that many droids. If they're that confident they can handle it, then I'm willing to trust them," I explain to the others, glancing back. "Just try and not let your feelings get in the way."

Boil makes a face, sharing doubtful looks with Rex and Jesse, but they all relent. We look on as the droids open fire on the Bad Batch, who swiftly return it with their blasters. Wrecker held the door in front of them all as they ran, providing portable cover while the other three fired back.

They come to a stop as Wrecker slams the door down, and Tech leans out to stare at the droids. He then turns and says something to Hunter, who throws a droid popper into the air. Instead of letting it fall amongst the droids however, Crosshair shoots the grenade with a well aimed sniper bolt, allowing the electrical discharge to blow up across a wider range, taking out an entire squad of droids.

We look on in surprise at the unique tactic, having never thought of using droid poppers like that before. It seemed to work though.

"Huh. Not bad," Rex remarks thoughtfully.

Hunter throws another droid popper after receiving another nod from Tech, and this time one of the droids catches it in his hand, seemingly surprised. I stifle a laugh at the ridiculousness of it, and another sniper bolt from Crosshair blows up the grenade, effectively taking out more droids again.

"You gotta hand it to the droid. That was a nice catch," I say jokingly.

Boil snicker in spite of his annoyance, nodding in agreement while Jesse and Rex join in.

Wrecker then starts moving with his shield again, prompting the rest of the Bad Batch to follow. They repeat the process, shooting from the cover of their portable shield and then stopping to lob more droid poppers. When most of the droids are taken out, spider droids move forward into the battle, and the clones scatter. They plow through the droids, taking them out in their own individual ways, Hunter even using an electrified vibroblade to cut through several before hopping onto a spider droid and stabbing it in the eye.

Wrecker charges right up to the last spider droid with his shield and shoves its nose cannon up with his shield, bending the barrel. The spider droid tries to fire, but the bent metal barrel causes the shot to implode on itself, obliterating the droid. With the droids all defeated, Wrecker throws his makeshift shield away and cheers triumphantly. The entire fight barely lasted a minute.

"Any more? Come on!" Wrecker yells.

Glancing at the others, I shrug my shoulders and start walking over to them. They follow after me, and Kix helps Cody along with an arm around him. We soon meet up with the Bad Batch and Hunter walks up to us, pulling his helmet off.

"That was some show you put on just now," Rex comments, clearly impressed.

"Just doing our job, Captain," Hunter replies casually.

"Gotta admit, you lot fought pretty good out there," Boil says begrudgingly.

"The droid poppers were a nice touch," I add in agreement.

"Thank you sir," he nods to me, glancing at Boil. "That's good to hear too, Boil. I know you have some issues with us but, I'd like to move past it."

"Not with you really..." Boil replies with a shake of his head, turning to look at the other three. "...more with him."

"Hey, look, Crosshair, this little clanker likes you," Wrecker jokes, waving a droid head around.

"Grow up, Wrecker," Crosshair scowls irritably, moving away from him and checking his sniper.

I pick up a little on the thoughts dwelling in Boil's mind, realizing his frustrations are more with Crosshair than anyone else. Hunter seems to already know this, a slightly apologetic but resigned expression on his face. I frown suspiciously, but turn the focus away from that and more on our current situation.

"Well in any case, we need to get moving," I advise. "It's only a matter of time before Trench gets word of this, and we need to get to that Cyber Center."

Hunter nods in acknowledgement and moves off to the rest of his squad. I go back and help Kix assisting Cody along as Rex and Boil lead the way to the Cyber Center, the rest of our group following along.


3rd person POV...

Hovering above the remains of the skirmish and crashed gunship some time later, a C-9979 landing craft vessel released a small shuttle down to land on the surface, allowing a tactical droid to get off. He marches forward through the remains of destroyed battle droids to join a small squad of commando droid scouts, holding up an imagecaster. A hologram of Admiral Trench is displayed from the device, and he looks at the droids demandingly.

"We wanted to speak to you directly, sir. This infiltration is irregular," the commando droid captain reports.

"Were there Jedi with this squad?" Trench demands.

"Just a Padawan, but he was not involved in the conflict," it explains dismissively. "The clones of his squad, however, were using tactics like we have never seen before."

Trench clicks his mandibles and stroked his chelicerae in thought.

"Interesting," he murmurs. "They're on foot now, in the middle of nowhere."

He looks back up at the droid with a hard gaze.

"The only Padawan currently present in the system is Commander Jarik Shan. His technical skills are not to be underestimated. If he is aware of the key to our success, then our operation is at risk," Trench hisses, clicking once more. "Sweep the area, locate Shan and these clones, and notify me if the incursion escalates."

The transmission ends, and the droids all separate to carry out their new orders, the tactical droid returning to its shuttle.


Jarik POV...

After walking through the forest for nearly an hour, we stopped in a small grove under the protection of some trees for much needed rest, mainly in Cody's case. With the camp set up, Cody was set up against a rock for support, a bit of pain reliever having been administered to him. Even so the damage done to him was internally severe, and without the proper facilities we can't risk taking his armor off to help him without making the damage worse.

While the others sat around the fire, Rex and I stayed beside Cody to help him however we can, although there wasn't much for us to do. I had Rex call in an evac for him, since there's no way he can continue on with our mission. I look over to see Hunter crouch on top of the incline, investigating the dirt and the air, using a sense that the rest of us couldn't detect.

"How long do you think Rex?" I ask him.

"Help should arrive in no less than an hour. I'd recommend having Kix stay behind to look after him while we continue on," he tells me.

"I'd hate to leave him like this," I say worriedly.

"You don't... need to worry about me… sir," Cody says quietly, wincing in pain. "I'll be fine."

"Just take it easy Cody. Don't talk anymore than you have to," I advise him regretfully.

Rex sighs, just as frustrated as I am about Cody's injury. The man has great skill in both battle and strategy, arguably the best in the entire GAR. A good number of the 212th's battle strategies aren't even mine or Obi-Wan's, but rather him, because he's a much better tactician than the two of us; we're more the improvisers when it comes to complications. It's why Cody holds the rank he does, because he's an absolute genius. Not to mention he is much more familiar with the Bad Batch, and would be better able to keep us all on track.

"So, I get what makes the other Batchers unique, but what's so special about Hunter?" I hear Kix asks.

"He can put up with the other three," Jesse replies jokingly.

"Hah! That's a real super power," Boil laughs in agreement.

"Hunter was engineered with heightened senses," Tech explains, not at all offended. "A place like the Cyber Center, Hunter can feel the electromagnetic frequencies from anywhere on the planet."

I look back over to see Hunter still using his ability to track the Cyber Center's location; he's been our guide in its direction so far.

"And here I thought we were smart just using a holomap," Kix mutters sarcastically.

"Well, maps can be wrong," Tech shrugs. "Hunter never is."

Cody lets out another groan of pain, holding his arms around himself in an attempt to stem the sensation, and Rex gently pats him on the shoulder.

"Hang in there, Cody," he says encouragingly.

I pat his other shoulder as well before standing up, walking with Rex over to join the others.

"I'd hate to interrupt story time, but we need to press on. The clock is ticking," I inform the clones.

"Commander Cody's in no position to move, Commander," Crosshair says with a scowl.

"I've already called in evac. Kix will stay with Cody until it arrives," Rex explains. "With Cody out of the picture, Commander Shan is in charge now."

I nod my head in acknowledgement.

"There's nothing more we can do for Cody without help, so our only choice is to move forward," I tell them. "I've got a plan to get us into the Cyber Center."

"If your plans are so good, Commander," Crosshair says with a bit of a sneer, pulling out his toothpick with a mocking grin. "Then why did you and Commander Cody have to call us in?"

"Oh shut up Crosshair!" Boil snaps angrily, jumping to his feet. "You have no right to talk to Commander Shan like that!"

Kix, Rex and Jesse all tense up, all irritated and desiring to spring to my defense. I let out a frustrated sigh, shaking my head irritably. It's not that I don't appreciate their support, a lot of which comes through mutual association with Ahsoka, but the last thing we need right now is an argument.

"Oh really? And who are you to say what I can or can't do?" he replies dismissively. "You're a loose cannon without your other half."

I blink my eyes in disbelief at the insult, quickly becoming angered as well. The nerve of him to disrespect a fallen trooper like that, particularly Waxer of all clones... I narrow my eyes coldly at Crosshair, starting to understand why Boil doesn't like him so much.

"You're gonna regret more than saying that when I'm through with you," Boil growls furiously, moving forward.

Before I could get between him and Crosshair however, Wrecker lunges an arm out and grabs Boil around the neck, lifting him up into the air.

"Wanna bet little man?" he taunts gleefully.

Boil yelps in surprise and alarm while the rest of the clones react indignantly, moving forward.

"Hey! Put him down!" Rex orders fiercely.

"Stay out of it, 'Captain,'" Crosshair says, shoving him away.

An argument and a shoving match starts erupting amongst the clones, Tech being the only one trying to reason with everyone. Boil pounds his fists on Wrecker's arm, but he was in no way a match for the brute's immense strength.

"Hey! Watch it pinhead!" Jesse snaps at Crosshair.

"Uh, guys, come on," Tech protests.

Fed up with everyone, I lunge forward and slam my left arm down onto Wrecker's wrist, gripping him tightly. Using the strength behind my prosthetic I tighten my grip and pull it down with all of the strength I could muster. Wrecker whips his head to look at me in bafflement, wincing slightly at the painful grip of my hand, his arm slowly being forced downwards a few inches while I glare at him.

"You're strong, but you do not want to test me," I threaten quietly.

"Wrecker!" Hunter yells angrily. "Drop him. Now!"

Wrecker wanted to protest, but a flash of unease and fear flickers through him at the cold intensity of my glare, and he releases his hold on Boil. I linger for a moment longer before releasing his arm as well, stepping back while Boil gets to his feet, a frustrated scowl on his face.

"Fellas, come on! We're all fighting for the same thing, right?" Hunter scolds his team.

Tech nods in agreement while Wrecker and Crosshair mutter in reply with reluctant acknowledgement. I meet the latter's gaze and glare at him as well, making sure he noticed. He glares right back with a deep scowl on his face, not as intimidated as Wrecker.

"You may think poorly of me Crosshair, but just know that I can and will make you regret an insult like that the next time you try it," I say softly, so that only he could hear.

Crosshair narrows his eyes at me in contempt, but I maintain my hard gaze, never faltering. I've got plenty of pent of frustration and anger right now that I'm more than happy to release... a light tug from my Force bond suddenly breaks me out of the moment, and I realize I was projecting my emotions strongly enough that Ahsoka could feel it even across the distance. I send a reassuring nudge back to her, hoping that she could feel it, and Rex taps my shoulder.

"Sir?" he murmurs.

Only a second passed in the exchange, but it always feels longer. Giving Crosshair one final look of warning I turn away from him and nod at Hunter, crossing my arms.

"All right then. Let's cut the chatter and finish what we started," Hunter proclaims, nodding at me. "We'll do it your way, Commander. For Commander Cody."

"Thank you Hunter," I reply gratefully. "Get your stuff together guys. We're heading out in a minute."


Following the trail that Hunter was tracking, we trekked quietly through the forest in the direction of the Cyber Center. Pretty soon we came across a small outpost not far from it, and analyzed it from the cover of the trees.

"Not our primary target. It's an outpost," Hunter states. "Should we take it?"

"Probably easier than going around," I decide, shrugging. "Faster too."

"All right, what are your orders?" he asks. "We pick them off from the tree line one-by-one?"

I glance back and share a look with Boil and then Rex, raising a questioning eyebrow at them. Rex and I then look at Boil who, noticing our gaze on him, grumbles sarcastically.

"Yeah, that'll work just fine," he scoffs in amusement. "How about we take a page from your 'Batchers' book" Rush them head-on."

Hunter scoffs in pleasant surprise, nodding along eagerly in agreement.

"I like your style man," he comments.

Watching the droids for a moment longer I give a silent nod and then spring out from cover, whipping out my blue lightsaber. The rest of the clones are just as fast into launching the attack, shooting blue blaster bolts every which way. Caught off guard, the droids try to retaliate with their own fire but we surge forward, effortlessly taking them out.

I cut through three battle droids with my lightsaber while Boil shoots another in the head. He, Rex and Jesse quickly make their way up to the outpost entrance, shooting down the droids inside the structure while I and the others follow after them, with Wrecker bringing up the rear by shooting down the droids attempting to follow. The rest of us get onto the lift and Rex powers it up, raising us up into the tower.

"Hey! You're not authorized-" a battle droid says accusingly.

I respond by chucking my lightsaber and impaling him in the chest lunging forward and blowing another out the window with the Force.

"We are now," I chirp casually.

The droids had no chance, having not been armed at all for their work up here in this outpost. It barely takes us ten seconds to destroy them all with a mix of blaster fire, lightsaber strikes, and even a vibroblade from Hunter. As soon as the last droid is shot down, Wrecker appears from the lift, looking around in bewilderment.

"Is it over already? Aw, man!" he groans in frustration.

"Not bad. For a reg," Hunter scoffs, punching Boil's shoulder lightly.

"Hmph. Give the Captain some credit, he's the better leader," Boil scoffs, jabbing a thumb at him.

Rex sighs but accepts the compliment nonetheless, before refocusing on the objective. He walks up to the window and looks out, waving me over.

"All right, there it is. The Cyber Center," he says.

"Ripe and ready for a break in," I comment.

Tech sits himself down at a chair and starts working on the computers, accessing their data networks. He's got plenty of gadgets to help him out from what I notice, and he works quite fast. So far I'm impressed.

"It looks like the Cyber Center itself has minimal guards, about 30 droids," he reports, pausing for a moment. "Oh Wait. Wait! I got a massive signal coming in. A whole platoon of droids is headed this way.

"Someone's noticed our handiwork back at the crash site," Hunter says with narrowed eyes.

"Admiral Trench is smart. It's likely he's figured out what we're after, especially since I'm involved," I tell them, looking at Tech. "Keep an eye on the Separatist reinforcements, and let us know when they reach this outpost."

"You got it, Commander," he replies.

"We've gotta move swiftly if we want to beat those clankers," Boil states.

"Any ideas Rex?" I ask, looking at him.

"Yeah, I've got an idea on how to get us up there. We'll grab some speeder bikes and flank them from the back," he suggests.


While Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker took three speeder bikes around to the back of the outpost, Rex, Boil, Jesse and I all snuck through the brush towards the front of the building, with Crosshair in a sniper's position up on the hill behind us.

The plan is for Hunter's team to get Tech into the facility while we cause enough of a distraction out here to keep them occupied. Normally I'd be the one doing the computer work, but since Tech is more than competent in that field I'd be more efficient out here in a firefight.

Leading my team forwards, I come to a stop behind a tree and look out to see two droids standing nearby, chatting with each other. I gesture at Rex and Jesse, and they quietly move forward.

"Do you know what's going on?" the first droid asks.

"Maybe it's another drill-" the other suggests.

They both let out startled cries as Rex and Jesse suddenly spring out and grapple both droids, tackling them onto the ground. They swiftly silence them with quick shots to the head, and we continue on our way.

"Is everyone in position?" I ask through the comlink.

"Affirmative," Hunter reports.

"Affirmative," Crosshair replies.

"Commander, you wanted to know when those Separatist forces breached the outpost?" Tech says. "Well, they're getting there just about now."


3rd person POV...

A pair of MTT's rolled through the forest, accompanied by several platoons of battle droids, coming to a stop in front of the outpost. The droid army waits quietly as the tactical droid commander enters the outpost and moves up into the tower, where the commando droid scouts are waiting. The tactical droid pulls out his imagecaster and displays a hologram of Admiral Trench once more.

"Sir, we tracked the Clone Strike team here, they seem to have captured this location and deserted it," the tactical droid reports. "I cannot calculate the logic of this assault."

"There is no tactical advantage to taking the outpost. Their target will be the nearby Cyber Center," Trench deduces with narrowed eyes. "Commander Shan must've uncovered intel about the algorithm, despite it's defensive programming. Get me in contact with the Cyber Center at once!"


Jarik POV...

A droid commander standing out in front of the Cyber Center brings up an imagecaster in his hand, displaying a blue hologram. I narrow my eyes upon recognizing the form of Admiral Trench, and gesture for the clones to move forward. Jesse immediately shoots his blaster at the commander, interrupting their conversation with a headshot. The droid stumbles around, desperately seeking its head, and the rest of us move in.

I whip out my blue lightsaber and run forward, deflecting red blaster bolts sent my way. Boil moves up with me, using the cover I'm providing to shoot unhindered while Rex chucks a droid popper, taking out four battle droids. We duck ahead to the pile of crates and use them as cover, and the rest of the droids finally seem to notice our presence. I deflect blaster fire with my lightsaber before crouching behind a few crates, holding my wrist com while Rex, Boil and Jesse continue fighting. I display a small hologram and check the data, nodding in satisfaction.

"Well, looks like our distraction is working. The rest are on their way," I inform them.

"Just what we want," Rex remarks.

Lowering my cim, I stand back up and jump out from cover, blocking blaster fire as I sprint forward. While the droids focus on me in a panic, the other three take the opportunity to move forward as well, getting up to a few large trees. I cut through a droid and then duck behind one of the trees while the clones keep firing, taking out several more droids. throughout the fight, several droids would drop from random shots curtesy of Crosshair, providing us with some ease.

Boil took several swift shots that efficiently wiped out a line of three droids, Jesse and Rex also doing their fair share of takedowns. I look out from behind the tree to see the door opening, Wrecker and Hunter both appearing on the other side. They immediately go on the offensive, wiping out the unsuspecting droids without any hinderance. Before long the droids are all destroyed, and we move up to join them at the front of the Cyber Center.

"What took you so long, Wrecker?" Rex asks.

"Hey, this is a 'delicate operation,'" Wrecker replies sarcastically, laughing.

The sound of an large repulsor humming gets my attention, and I look behind us to see a pair of MTT's plowing through the glassy forest, obliterating one of the trees effortlessly.

"Better get in there, Rex, we'll hold them here," I tell him.

Rex nods and runs inside the Cyber Center, while we turn and face the transports. They open up to reveal dozens of super battle droids, which drop down onto the ground. I steel my nerves and whip out Ahsoka's green lightsaber to join my blue one, getting into a battle ready stance. The super battle droids open fire, their heavier blasters shooting two bolts with each shot instead of the regular one. I swing my lightsabers around to block their fire while the clones take cover, firing back with their blasters.

Flipping Ahsoka's lightsaber in my hand, I bring my arm back and then toss it at the droids, the green blade cutting through an entire column. However as I call the lightsaber back to me, more super battle droids show up, this time more spread out. They resume their steady march in our direction, and I work to deflect blaster fire once more. Hunter takes cover behind a wall and brings up his comlink.

"Crosshair, we're gonna need a lift," he says.

"Not gonna be a problem," Crosshair replies.

With that problem apparently taken care of, Hunter refocuses on the droids. I swing my lightsaber back and forth, scoring several re-deflections, but most of the bolts are shrugged off by the droid's tougher armor.

"Boil! Got anymore tricks?" I ask.

"One more sir," he replies.

Pausing in his shooting, he pulls a thermal detonator out of his belt and then rolls into the open, tossing it at a cluster of droids. Four droids are caught in the blast and get blown to pieces, but there are still more to worry about. I hold my lightsaber out to deflect a shot aimed at Boil, narrowly keeping it from hitting him.

"We gotta go! Now!" Hunter exclaims.

"Go! I'll cover you!" I tell them.

Hunter nods, leading the team inside while Wrecker takes a few more shots at them with his heavy blaster, ducking behind the doorway. Bringing my hands up I thrust them forward, blowing the closest droids away with a Force push. However a new group of droids come flipping over the supers that I pushed, their white optics glowing brightly. I scowl in frustration at the commando droids and block their blaster fire, jumping back through the doorway. I then swing my blue lightsaber to cut through the console, locking the door shut just before the commando droids could follow.

"That won't hold them for long," I warn the others.

"Understood sir," Hunter nods.

"We have to get the others," Jesse says.

The door begins to spark as the commando droids begin cutting through, and we take off down the hallways into the Cyber Center. Reaching the main control room we see Rex and Tech still working at the computer, a disembodied voice projecting from it.

"We're gone. Rex, let's go!" Hunter exclaims.

An explosion echoes throughout the hallways, and moments later the squad of commando droids come sprinting through, firing their blasters. The clones fire back, but they flip out of the way of their shots and off the walls, nimbly avoiding them. Wrecker roars in challenge and swings his arm out, bashing one commando droid with his heavy gun when it tries lunging at him.

"CT-1409," I vaguely hear from the holoprojector.

I widen my eyes in shock and whip around to look at it, noticing Rex is still unmoved from his position, disbelief the most prevalent emotion in his mind.

"Rex, now!" Boil shouts.

"CT-1409," the voice continues to say.

Shaken, Rex slowly puts his helmet back on, and a warning from the Force pulls me back into the present. I whip around to see and commando droid lunging at me with a vibrosword, and I bring up both lightsabers just in time to stab it through the chest mid jump, pulling the sabers apart to cut it in half. Although the commando droids are now defeated, the super battle droids show up right behind them, continuing their unrelenting assault.

With Rex having joined us, we back away from the control room and make for the back entrance of the facility. We rush outside and are immediately greeted by blaster fire from several regular droids, which we effortlessly take care of. However, a good portion of the B2's had gone around the outside of the Cyber Center instead of following us, and are now cutting off our escape. I swing my lightsabers to block incoming fire, doing my best to shield the clones while they take them out.

Our saving grace comes from Crosshair, who flies down beside us on a small transport. We pile onto it, and Crosshair takes off, flying us into the sky and back inn the direction of friendly space.


3rd person POV...

"We have chased the Jedi and the clones out of the center, sir. They are retreating back toward Republic lines," the tactical droid reports.

"Did they download anything from the central computer?" Trench asks suspiciously.

"There seems to be no intel missing," the droid responds, accepting a datapad from a droid and reading the information off of it. "But there appears to have been a connection made with Skako Minor."

Trench stands up straighter, his eyes going as wide as they could go in both surprise and alarm.

"What?!" he exclaims angrily.


Jarik POV...

We continued back in the direction of the Republic base in relative silence. Rex was thinking hard about what he discovered in the Cyber Center, and I was just as baffled. CT-1409... that was the id number for Echo. He was supposed to have died at the Citadel...

"That number, Cap, what did it mean?" Tech asks him.

"CT-1409, that was Echo's number," he replies grimly, looking up into the sky. "He's alive."

I share an uneasy look with Boil, who's just as perplexed and shaken up as I am about that revelation. Frowning uncertainly, I try to think about how the Separatists could have recovered Echo and used him for their plans.