Omega went back to explore Clone Force 99's room. And this time she brought a droid friend. She thought she would just look at their things for a "research project" and then head back to Nala Se. She thought that she could be quiet enough and if anyone came near, she could run away, but then she was caught. And it wasn't like the times before she had been caught near here. Not at all.
And they hurt her droid friend. How could they do that? He didn't deserve that. It hurt her when they hurt him. She wanted to scream for them to stop. And she felt horrible. He was only here because Omega had convinced him to. But that didn't stop him from coming and trying to help her.
Not that he knew the true reason they were here.
Omega was dragged away. At first, she didn't fight, but then she realized that it was stupid not to. She knew this place better than anyone, even Nala Se. She could hide if she had to. She could hide until… she didn't know how long. The Bad Batch probably wouldn't come back to her. They thought she was safe here.
And maybe they didn't want her to be part of their group.
But she could still find a time to… do something. So she fought. She bit and screamed, but they were stronger than her, and when they threatened to stun her, she stopped. Nala Se would never have done something like that. Nala Se… she had always been weird with Omega. It was like she was holding back from her, but she still wasn't mean to her. She would never have stunned her or done anything to hurt her.
But these people might.
This wasn't supposed to happen. Would Nala help her? Or would she be trapped forever? Maybe Nala Se would think she deserved this for not following all her rules. Maybe Omega would never get to leave this planet. Maybe she'd be imprisoned until she died.
Omega was too young to die! And she didn't want to die of boredom either.
The troopers ended up locking her away in a containment unit. At first, Omega screamed and kicked at the door. It didn't make a difference. They didn't seem to even hear that she was trying to get out. She gave up.
She just sat there, waiting. Well not entirely just sat there. She did a few cartwheels and then she went back and sat down. She shouldn't have explored their room. She should have just accepted they were gone. And maybe been happy.
Omega thought she would stay in this cell and die of boredom but then the doors opened. She looked up and was shocked at what she saw. It was them. All of them. Omega couldn't believe it. She thought they would never come back.
It might have been better for them if they didn't.
But here they were and then they told her that they had come back for her of all people. And Omega just knew that things were going to change forever.
-Scene Break-
They had escaped, but not all of them. Crosshair… It wasn't his fault, Omega knew this, but the chip had caused him to turn on the rest of the Bad Batch. And they had left. The others were really upset. They didn't say it, but Omega could see it in their eyes. Even Omega felt horrible about it. She wanted to say something that would make them feel better, but nothing came out.
She didn't know any words that would help. She thought about telling them it wasn't Crosshair's fault what happened. He was controlled by the chip, but she was pretty sure they already knew that.
And it wouldn't change anything. He was still gone.
Still for a long time, it was pretty quiet, but it didn't matter.
Omega couldn't help but think about everything she had left too. Nala Se might not have been exactly like a mother to her, but she had cared about her. And in the end she had helped her escape too. Omega would miss her. She hoped that she wouldn't get in trouble. There was so much for Omega to see. She saw them leave Kamino which was amazing. Maybe she had known that Kamino had so much ocean, but she had never seen it like this.
Everyone was still off, even Wrecker, but then Omega looked down at what she had been holding. The adorable stuffed animal that she loved. It had to belong to him. As soon as she offered it to him, his eyes lit up. It was worth it, even though she would have loved to have her own toy. She wanted her own toy so much. She always had.
But this was Wrecker's even if she wished that he would give it to her. She couldn't take it. Hopefully she would get one soon or Wrecker would let her play with his.
When Wrecker was talking with the others, Omega walked toward the navigation area. It was amazing. There were so many stars, like a million. No! way more than a million. A billion! If Omega tried to count them she wouldn't be able to. They were so beautiful.
"First time in space?" Hunter asked.
"First time anywhere," Omega responded. It wasn't like she had been allowed to leave Kamino. She had always dreamed of and exploring the galaxy, but when she had told Nala Se, she had never responded.
There had been times when Omega thought she might never be able to leave. That she would be stuck there forever.
When Hunter asked her how she had managed to shoot so good, she hadn't said much. Maybe it had been just luck. It wasn't like she had ever used a blaster before. Nala and the others haven't let her use them either.
She hadn't been able to do much at all, but now she was in space. There was so much she might be able to do. So much that she might be able to explore. She could be a new Omega. An Omega who was part of Clone Force 99.
And she would make sure that they didn't regret taking her with them. She would be a good… brother… No, that wasn't the right word for a girl clone. Sister. That was it. Omega would be the best little sister that ever was.
Even though she wasn't quite sure how to do that. She bit her lip and tried to remember the stories of good little sisters.
A few minutes later, Omega saw the most amazing view in the world. They jumped to hyper space and somehow even the stars had looked tiny. Everything had looked different and amazing.
And she hadn't been able to find words.
She really was lucky and she was ready for her life to begin.
-Scene Break-
Omega could have just stared at the stars for hours, but eventually Hunter put his hand on her shoulder.
"One of us should show you around the ship," Hunter said. "That way—"
"I'll do it. She's the one who brought my Lula back," Wrecker said. He grinned at her and Omega couldn't help but grin back. She had always hoped that she and Wrecker would be close, but she wanted to be close with all the Bad Batch.
She wanted to be a good little sister.
"I want to see it all," Omega said, jumping from one foot to another. There was nothing that she didn't want to see. Everything was going to be new to her. Already everything was so much different than Kamino. There it had been so white and… clean… well except for the Bad Batch's room, which had that horrible smell.
Actually the ship sort of had that smell, but not quite as bad.
"It's nothing too fancy," Echo said.
But Omega didn't care. She was sure that it would be amazing.
Wrecker led her out of the room and he first he showed here the room that he and the others had stayed in. There wasn't a bed for Omega, but that was okay. She would find a place to sleep. This room kind of smelled like the one on Kamino, but not quite as bad. Omega still wanted to look around. It looked sort of like that room, but it was different. She wanted to see it all.
But soon they left that room and explored more. All of the ones were amazing and so different than any room that she had seen before. She could have spent a lot longer in each of them, but she could tell that Wrecker was getting bored so she let him take her to different rooms.
Eventually they got to the kitchen.
"Wow, so you get to pick your own food?" Omega asked. Back on Kamino, she never got to do that. She always ate what the other clones did or rather what Nala Se wanted her to eat. She couldn't even imagine getting to pick what she would eat.
"Yeah, sort of," Wrecker said.
"Sort of?" Omega asked.
"I'd like to have things like cake all day long but…"
"But what?" Omega asked. "I've never had cake before."
"You've never had cake before?" Wrecker stared at her as if she had said something that didn't even make sense. Maybe even something that was in a different language.
"No," Omega said. "But I've heard it's good."
In the stories, she had been told and read kids had loved cake. Once she had asked Nala Se about it and she had said that it was unhealthy and gross and that Omega was better off not having something like this.
But the kids in the stories had loved it and so Omega wanted to try it too.
And she could tell that obviously Wrecker liked it too.
"How could you not have cake?" Wrecker asked.
"Nala Se wouldn't let me have it," Omega said with a sigh. "What does it taste like? Does it taste like broccoli?"
Wrecker stared at her. "No! No! It doesn't taste like broccoli."
"Okay," Omega said, trying to think of something else that maybe it could taste like. "Does it taste like caul—"
"No, it's super sweet and good."
"I've… I've never had something like that," Omega said, trying to imagine what it would be like.
Wrecker stared at her as if she had spoken something horrible. Omega felt bad. She must have said something bad. Something offensive.
"I'm sorry. Nala Se—"
"You have to have some!" Wrecker said. And before she could say anything else he pulled out a small piece of cake. "I was saving this."
That meant that Omega couldn't have any. It wouldn't be nice. It was Wrecker's, but she could still smell the cake and it smelled amazing. Like nothing she had ever smelled before. Sweet but also fruity. Nala Se would never have left her have any.
But she wanted to be Wrecker's friend.
"You hafta have some!" Wrecker said and he put the cake in front of her.
"But—"
"You hafta!" Wrecker said. "It's amazing!"
Omega paused, but then she smiled and took a small bite. Wow! She didn't even know how to react. It was so… sweet that it almost hurt her teeth and yet it was amazing. So much different and yet so good.
"You don't like it?" Wrecker said, his face falling.
"I love it!" Omega exclaimed. "It's not like anything. It's so sweet and so good and it…" It gave Omega energy. She wanted to cartwheel around.
So she did just that.
Wrecker laughed and clapped and Omega just knew that despite everything this was going to be a good day. Being with the Bad Batch was going to be wonderful.