Keeping Score

Dantooine, in Hunter's opinion, was quite the backwater place to be. The planet was mostly overgrown forest. Not much room to even walk along the ground with how thick the foliage was. It was hard for him to believe that there might be some relic Cid wanted from here, but here he was, tromping through the mud beneath a dense canopy.

Although, in the grand scheme of things, Dantooine being remote might not be a bad thing. It meant that the newest member of his squad, the Bad Batch, could join them on this mission. He considered it a trial run for her. And, while he expected her to more than exceed expectations, it was always good to test a working relationship like this. Especially with how delicate the Bad Batch's situation was in terms of living and legality.

And adding a Jedi to that mix makes us public enemy number one. Hunter moved over a fallen tree, his armor sliding along the moss, not making a sound.

The Jedi in question, Aniviel Rendell, followed him. Her footfalls were lighter than air, making her movements less cautious. At the same time though, she was not careless. Before the mission started, she tied her auburn hair up to keep it out of the way. She chose her equipment meticulously, opting for light clothing that was perfect for the humid conditions on Dantooine; and, perhaps most important, she grabbed a blaster, and kept her lightsaber hidden on her belt. While she never went without her trusty blade, she knew that in the age of the Empire, a lightsaber was a death sentence. Best to keep it sheathed.

It was a stark contrast to how she was when he first met her, so many years ago during the War. Back then, she was a spunky padawan learner, driving her Jedi Master up the wall with her sassy demeanor and reckless antics. She never hesitated to draw her lightsaber back then or get into trouble with it. Hunter chuckled. One time, she decided to sneak out with the Batch and get some drinks in a nearby city. First time she had ever been drunk. She used her lightsaber to cut a fruit tray for them, much to the bartender's dismay. That's when Hunter decided to call it a night for all of them. Wrecker ended up carrying her back to base that night. The General gave them latrine duty for the entire week for allowing it.

Worth it, though.

"How much further do you think?"

Hunter glanced over his shoulder at his Jedi companion. Her sharp eyes studied the forest. She sensed something with those powers of hers, the Force. Hunter never quite understood how it worked. A bunch of mystical mumbo-jumbo, but it was very real. He had seen it first-hand many times. That doesn't mean he could understand it.

"Not much farther. Something the matter?" He replied, pausing their march. The comm in his helmet crackled. The others were trying to reach him, but they were failing to get through. A pang of concern went through him, but it was tempered with caution. For all he knew, the dense foliage could be interfering with communications. After all, the Bad Batch did not have the best equipment anymore, unlike their former brothers serving the Empire.

Aniviel flicked her eyes back and forth, taking a step in front of Hunter. Her slender hand drifted to the blaster pistol strapped to her hip. Hunter's hand twitched towards one of the vibroblades hidden in his gauntlet. The other hand grasped his blaster rifle tight. Now he was on high alert. In his experience, if a Jedi was acting like this, something was about to happen. Never something good either.

His heightened senses kicked into overdrive. Whatever the Jedi was detecting, he wanted to know about it. And, while he liked Aniviel- she had proved an invaluable member to the Bad Batch so far- she was still set in her Jedi ways. Those ways are mystical and confusing, choosing to speak in riddles rather than plain Basic. Hunter wished she would just be straightforward about things. It'd make deciphering her so much easier.

His eyes closed. Sometimes, sight was the least reliable sense. He strained his ears, listening intently through his helmet's audio sensors. He opened his ventilators a little more, allowing the musty air to filter to his face more easily. It smelled damp. Moist soil sloshed beneath his feet. That moisture rose into the air. It was going to rain soon.

A twig crunched to the west. Hunter's eyes shot open.

On instinct, he leveled his blaster rifle and fired one, blue bolt. It screamed through the jungle, smacking into a nearby tree and scorching it.

Aniviel hissed at him. "Don't start panicking now."

"That was not a panic shot."

"It looked like a panic shot to me."

Before Hunter could reply, he heard a scream in the wind. A very familiar shriek, which made his hair stand on end.

"Down!"

Hunter tackled Aniviel to the ground right as a scarlet bolt shrieked through the air, smacking against a tree she had been standing beside. No more blaster fire followed, making Hunter narrow his eyes. He then froze as Aniviel cleared his throat beneath him.

"I'll be a bit more effective if you're not on top of me," She said.

Hunter gulped. "R-right, just-" He drew in a deep breath as he crawled off of her, keeping low and hiding in the dense foliage- "keep low."

Aniviel snorted. "You act like I haven't done this before."

"When was the last time you were on a mission like this again?" Hunter countered.

"Hmm..." Aniviel put a finger to her chin, seemingly unconcerned now that their adversary made themselves known. "I don't recall, because I'm pretty sure you all helped me get blackout drunk that night."

Hunter chuckled. "Oh, right, that-"

Another blaster bolt shrieked over their heads, followed by two more. Multiple shooters. Any amusement Hunter had evaporated. They were being tracked. The enemy was here, trying to pin them down.

Was it some unassuming Imperial patrol? Was it bounty hunters trying to find Aniviel and Omega? Or, was it Crosshair?

"This way!"

Aniviel darted into the jungle. Hunter raced after her. Blaster bolts screamed through the air around them, pelting into tree trunks with sharp thunks and whines. Hunter could smell the smoke they left in their wake. An all too familiar scent.

Briefly, he twisted and returned fire, sending several blue bolts shrieking into the jungle. With his heightened senses, he could hear several contacts moving after them, giving chase. Four… maybe five total? He wasn't sure, which concerned him. The noise of the forest, combined with the overwhelming sensory overload that came with a place teeming with life, made figuring out how many enemies he faced difficult.

"There it is!" Aniviel shouted ahead of him.

Hunter jerked his gaze forward. His jaw dropped.

He thought Dantooine was some uninhabited backwater world. An inhospitable forest, unwilling to be tamed. Yet, before him towered a massive stone temple, covered in moss. Thick blankets of green dangled from the pyramidal structure as it stood tall in the dense jungle.

"What Cid wants is in there?" He shouted over the screaming blaster fire.

"Not sure," Aniviel replied. "But in there is better cover than out here."

They sprinted for the temple door. Once by it, Aniviel pressed her hands against the durasteel, slick with moisture and moss. She frowned and shot to the side, right as a blaster bolt pelted the spot she had been standing. Hunter took cover behind a fallen stone block, returning fire when he could.

He glanced towards Aniviel, watching as she located a control panel hidden behind a thick blanket of muck and dirt. The Jedi squeezed herself against the control panel, using a small outcropping of stone to shield her as best as she could. It did not give her a lot of room to work.

When a puff of smoke emerged from her fingertips, she bellowed out a curse in Huttese. Hunter snorted.

"Your master would not like those words!"

"My master is not here right now, Clone!" Aniviel retorted, a smirk twitching on her lips. She studied the control panel and sighed as any life within died. "Blast!"

"We're gonna need Wrecker, I'm guessing?" Hunter asked, his voice casual as he returned fire.

Aniviel darted to his position, taking cover behind the same boulder as him. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure you and I can think of something."

Aniviel drew her blaster pistol, peaked over the boulder, and fired. A muffled scream sounded. She ducked beneath the returning fire and nudged Hunter with her elbow.

"One to nothing."

"I didn't know we were keeping score," Hunter remarked, his voice crackling through his helmet.

Aniviel let out a haughty laugh. "I am always keeping score. Makes these situations a bit less stressful, don't you think?"

"The Jedi is stressed?"

"Hush up and shoot, Clone."

Hunter snickered to himself, then did as he was told. After all, shooting was what he was good at. He was bred to fight. To know a blaster inside and out and use it for maximum effect. However, he found himself firing less as the moments dragged. The enemy blaster fire was getting thicker. There were more than he expected, forcing him to stay behind cover rather than retaliate.

One hand patted the side of his helmet.

"Echo, Wrecker, can anyone hear me?"

His comm crackled. Someone was trying to talk to him, but they weren't getting through.

"Comms are jammed," He informed Aniviel.

"Two to nothing!"

"Now's not the time to count!" Hunter poked his rifle over the boulder and fired, scoring a hit. "Two to one!"

"You were saying?" Aniviel remarked.

Hunter rolled his eyes behind his helmet. Before he could retort, Aniviel's smirk evaporated. Her brow furrowed and she frowned.

"Something big is coming," She warned.

True to her word, Hunter could hear something large and heavy tromping through the jungle. Hesitantly, he glanced out from their spot. His eyes widened as he spotted an old, Clone walker marching through the jungle, its blaster cannons trained on their spot.

"I hate it when you Jedi are vague about threats," Hunter growled.

"I hate it when you Clones question your betters," Aniviel countered. She pulled a lock of auburn hair out of her face as she holstered her pistol. "Leave it to me."

Hunter froze. "Aniviel, if you do what I think you're about to-"

"No one will report a thing because no one is going to be able to."

Aniviel drew in a deep breath, flashed him a wink, then leaped over the boulder. Mid-air, her blue blade hissed to life. When she landed, she went to work.

All Hunter could do was watch with awe as her blue lightsaber sang through the air. It buzzed, flickered, and snarled; deflecting away blaster bolts as if they were nothing. All the while, Aniviel moved like a dancer. Sweeping movements carried her closer to their enemy, hidden in the jungle foliage. Half of the time, her eyes were not on where the blaster fire was coming from and instead focused simply on completing her movements.

She was graceful, but powerful; moving with speed and dexterity that Hunter could only dream of achieving. That was the power of the Force. That was the true power of a Jedi.

Aniviel reached the walker. When she did, her saber slashed through its legs, turning the joints to slag. The construct sagged and collapsed, pinning its driver beneath its heavy frame. The enormous bam the walker made when it hit the ground did not stop her, though. She kept moving, sweeping through the jungle with precision and deadly intent.

Screams rang out. She found more enemies. As she handled them, Hunter spotted one imperial peek out from behind a rotting tree trunk. He was too well nestled behind cover for Hunter to tag him with a blaster bolt. Aniviel was moving around enough to make the enemy soldier hesitate, but it would only be a matter of time before they lined up a shot.

Hunter moved, darting out from behind cover. He shouldered his blaster rifle, reached into his gauntlet, and drew a vibroblade.

The Imperial had no idea what hit him. The vibroblade hummed as it cut through the enemy's armor with ease. A shocked cry left the enemy's helmet, only to be cut short as he was lifted into the air then sent flying into the nearest tree. A harsh crack rang out, then he fell to the ground, limp.

Hunter sighed and turned around. Aniviel looked a little ragged now. She was breathing hard, and her hair was frayed. Her hand remained outstretched as she caught her breath.

"I knew he was there," She huffed.

Hunter snorted as he gestured at her with his vibroblade. "Only because I stuck him with my knife."

"Yeah- well- you-" Aniviel frowned, drew her pistol, and fired off to the side. A sharp cry sounded, and one last imperial slumped to the ground. "Ten to two."

"Ten!?"

Hunter's comms crackled. Echo's chirpy voice finally came through.

"Hunter! Hunter, are you there? Damn it, say something!"

"We're fine Echo. Ran into some friends. They're taken care of." Hunter tapped his gauntlet, patching his coordinates through to the others. "We've located the possible location of Cid's artifact. Get down here, and tell Wrecker to bring his explosives."

In the background, Hunter heard Wrecker cheer. Echo sighed, then chuckled.

"Yes sir."

"Do you admit defeat, Clone?" Aniviel smirked, deactivating her lightsaber and stepping up to him. A sparkle danced in her eyes as she stood close, staring into his tinted visor without any fear. At that moment, Hunter couldn't really see her as a padawan, being trained by his Jedi General. She was a strong warrior in her own right, a companion, and a friend.

"Not on your life," Hunter replied.

Aniviel threw back her head, laughed, and pushed Hunter's chest. "Good. You've still got some fun in you then."

A ship roared overhead. Echo was bringing the others in for a landing. There must've been a clearing nearby.

Aniviel sauntered towards the closed temple door. Echo informed Hunter that they landed and were moving toward him. A smile cracked on the Clone's lips.

"Ready to figure out what's in this place?" Aniviel asked, glancing over her shoulder at him.

Hunter reached up, removed his helmet, and smiled.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Hello everyone! This is story is a collection of loosely connected one-shots commissioned on Fiverr by a wonderful customer of mine: onojavakarian. If you are interested in having your own one-shot, chapter, or story written, contact me on Fiverr! Username is: thebobcat18

By the way, I had an absolute blast writing these little one-shots. The Bad Batch is such a fun cast of characters to work with. I hope you all enjoyed this as much as me!

Come join the Fanfiction Treehouse discord server! Discord code is: 9XG3U7a

Also, come check out the Fanfiction Treehouse Podcast! Myself, Stormtide Leviathan, RedXEagl3, GrandPaladinTyrux, and Rozey_Pozey are the hosts! We talk about writing, share writing tips and tricks, discuss fiction and fanfiction, and chat about whatever else comes to mind. You can find all our podcast episodes on Spotify and Soundcloud, as well as our video episodes on Youtube! You can also find the entire crew over on our Twitch channel, where we play games, do editing breakdowns, and continue our DnD campaign in 5e: Curse of Strahd. Hope to see you all there!