A/N: Heh, look at what I decided to continue! The second chapter ended up pretty long, so I actually cut it into two parts. And I'm still writing, so you might even end up with a third chapter! :D Barring any disasters, I should be able to post without problem for the next couple Mondays.
I've also got tons of little theories in this story, so I'm not going to bore you with mentioning them all. :D
Whap!
Echo jerked out of sleep, limbs flailing. His eyes snapped open, but something covered his face. He flung it away, and familiar surroundings flooded his vision.
Echo stilled, blinking owlishly. His eyes found Hunter, who stood out of accidental scomp link stabbing range. He looked down, at the glove now laying on his chest, then tossed the glove at Hunter, who caught it with a chuckle.
"My turn for watch?" Echo asked, sitting up stiffly. Strange, he'd thought he was after Tech…
Hunter shook his head. "It's morning."
Echo narrowed his eyes, but Hunter turned away before he could see it. Or, more likely, he did see it and was just ignoring Echo.
It hadn't been long after joining the Bad Batch that Echo had noticed the inconsistency with Hunter's watch. It wasn't that he fell asleep or woke up the wrong person… no, it was that he "forgot" to wake up anyone else, period.
A bit of digging had revealed to Echo that Hunter was severely insomniac. He pretty much ran on caf and sheer determination, somehow not crashing every other day. Echo might have been impressed if he thought Hunter got more than two hours' sleep a night.
Now, Hunter moved back to the cockpit and Echo's eye roll was entirely missed. Echo slid his feet off the bed and arched his back, resulting in an interesting combination of popping joints and clicking metal. Echo grunted in relief as the stiffness loosened in his back.
"Hey, Wrecker," Echo said, twisting his arms to pop his shoulders, "Wake up!"
Luckily, Wrecker was already rousing himself, because he tended to sleep deeply. Sometimes, it took the rest of the team rolling Wrecker out of bed, and even that didn't always work.
"It's morning," Echo said when Wrecker looked at him.
Wrecker blinked, then shot Echo a grin that was pure evil. Echo sighed, knowing what was coming.
Wrecker curled his legs up -an impressive feat considering how close Tech's bunk was to his- then kicked. Tech was thrown a quarter-meter in the air, then slammed back on his bunk.
Tech sat straight up, stating, "-but if I calibrate the cannon trajectory to mark nine-"
Whatever Tech was saying broke off as he leaned to the side in an apparent effort to grab some tool he thought to be there, and tumbled right off his bunk. Wrecker roared with laughter, and Echo couldn't help but snort at Tech's baffled stare.
"What are you doing in there?" came Hunter's voice from the cockpit.
"Just waking Tech up!" Wrecker called back.
Hunter's only response was an exasperated sigh.
"What time is it?" Tech asked, blinking blankly in the direction of Wrecker's laughter.
"Oh-five hundred."
Taking pity on Tech, Echo stepped over to Tech's bunk. He pushed aside four random devices -which Echo knew hadn't been there when he'd fallen asleep- to locate Tech's goggles, which he handed over to Tech.
Tech slid on his goggles, blinked a few times, then scooped his data-pad off the floor and moved off. Echo sighed and gathered Tech's gadgets, dumping them onto a shelf so he could raise Tech's bunk.
Once everyone's bunks were cleared and folded, Echo looked at the blanket across the gunner's nest. Normally, the commotion of the Batch getting up would wake Omega, but she hadn't made an appearance yet. Echo went to the ladder and pushed the blanket aside.
All of Omega's blankets and pillows had been pushed together into a big, puffy nest. Omega was almost entirely encased, with only a hand poking out from the bottom indicating the girl's presence.
Echo was about to say Omega's name when Wrecker popped up beside him. With a huge grin, Wrecker leaned into the gunner's nest and tickled Omega's palm.
The hand curled into a fist, and a muffled giggle came from the blankets. Wrecker poked Omega's hand again, and it pulled out of sight. The blankets wriggled, then Omega's head popped out of the top, cheeks flushed and a blanket draped over her head like a hood.
"Wrecker!" Omega cried, then coughed.
Echo, about to get some breakfast, paused. Omega's voice sounded a bit raspy. He leaned back to check Omega again, wondering if her cheeks were just red because she'd been under so many blankets.
Echo changed direction and went to the cargo hold. He plucked Omega's clothes off the cable, then returned to drop the clothes into the gunner's nest. He closed the blanket divider and shooed Wrecker away.
Omega joined them in the galley a few minutes later, in her own clothes but still with a blanket wrapped around her. Hunter stopped chewing his ration bar, then gave a slight shrug and kept eating. Wrecker didn't care, scooping Omega onto the bench next to him and giving Omega a ration bar. Tech probably didn't notice, as he had yet to look away from his data-pad.
Curious, Echo leaned back to see Tech over Hunter's shoulder and found he was scrolling through the holo-net at lightning speed. Every now and then, he clicked an article and speed-read it, then moved on.
A small cough from Omega drew Echo's attention back. Wrecker didn't notice -Omega was sitting on the side of his bad ear- but Hunter stopped chewing again.
"You okay, kid?" Echo asked.
Omega blinked at him. "Yep," she said hoarsely.
Hunter slid a water pouch across the table. Omega smiled at him and practically inhaled the water. Without comment, Hunter gave her another.
"Eat your breakfast," Hunter ordered quietly.
Omega picked up the bar, but only picked at the wrapping.
Echo and Hunter were distracted when Tech stood halfway up, hit his knees on the table, and fell back on his butt. He lifted his head and blinked a couple times.
Hunter poked Tech's shoulder. "Eat your breakfast."
Tech made a startled noise and opened his ration bar. He'd probably forgotten he was at the table to eat.
Actually, Echo knew he'd forgotten. There was a reason Tech always had to sit between the wall and someone else when it came to sit-down meals.
"What are we doing today?" Omega asked, sounding slightly more normal.
"We'll need to find a better place to lay low for a bit," Hunter said.
Echo leaned back, nodding. Except for Omega, they were all used to being on the move, but even they needed a break every now and then. The Marauder could get very small after a week of non-stop flying.
"We're in smuggler territory now," Echo said. "Which could be either really good or really bad."
"How come?" Omega asked.
"There's plenty of places to hide, but some smugglers can be territorial," Echo explained.
"So, we claim our own place," Wrecker suggested, punching his fist into his other hand.
"We can't draw attention to ourselves," Hunter said.
Wrecker pouted. "You keep saying that."
"I'll stop saying it when it doesn't matter anymore," Hunter said. He stood and left the galley, saying over his shoulder, "Omega, finish eating."
Echo looked at Omega. Her hands were empty and the bar was gone.
Then, with a sheepish grin, Omega pulled the ration bar from her pocket.
Wrecker snickered. "Can't trick Hunter with breakfast."
"I'm not hungry," Omega huffed, dropping the ration bar on the table.
"Eat it anyway," Hunter called back.
Omega frowned at the door and didn't make a move to eat. She was still flushed and a bit hoarse.
Echo guiltily remembered Omega's day in the rain. Did Omega have an enhanced immune system as well, or had the Kaminoans left out even that?
"Omega…" Hunter said warningly.
"Hu-unter," Omega dragged out the name.
There was a beat of silence, then Hunter leaned around the doorway. His flat expression made Echo suspect he was hiding a smile.
Omega ducked her head, probably not realizing Hunter was amused instead of annoyed. She opened the bar and started eating, visibly wincing when she swallowed.
Echo frowned. "Omega, does your throat hurt?"
"No."
Omega shoved the rest of the bar into her mouth and darted out of the galley before Echo could argue. Wrecker followed her with a worried frown. Echo stood stiffly, poked Tech's shoulder to get his attention, then left the galley.
Omega and Wrecker were in the hold, sorting and folding everyone's clothes. Hunter was watching them, though he turned when Echo approached with a bit of a limp.
"Your back?" Hunter asked.
Echo shrugged a shoulder. "You know how it can get during damp mornings; I'll be fine."
Hunter rolled his eyes. "I wonder where Omega could have learned to hide that she's not feeling good."
"Oh, hush."
The morning routine went smoothly, even if it was interspersed with coughs. Omega insisted she was fine, though. Echo gave up asking, feeling a bit annoyed that none of the others would speak up as well.
Late in the morning, Hunter gave the order to prepare the Marauder to take off. The squad quickly started the engines and ran through the preflight checks. Hunter took the steering yoke, pulled back, and… they didn't move.
"It appears we are stuck," Tech said, checking a screen.
"No kidding," Hunter said, giving up trying to raise the ship when the engines whined in protest. "Does anyone see what's got us?"
"I have a theory," Echo said with a groan.
Echo led the way to the boarding ramp and opened the door. Outside, the raid had stopped, but the ground was all mud. The Marauder sat noticeably lower to the ground than it had the previous night.
"So, who feels like playing in the mud?" Echo asked tiredly.
"I've got this," Wrecker said confidently.
Wrecker jumped to the ground, and promptly sank up to his ankles in the mud. Undeterred, Wrecker slogged to the front of the ship and grabbed the landing gear.
"That will not work," Tech predicted.
Hunter shushed him.
Wrecker braced himself and lifted, only for his feet to slip out from under him. Wrecker fell to his knees, but jumped back up. He tried positioning his feet differently, but they still slipped sideways. He threw his hands in the air, flinging mud in every direction.
"It's too slick!" Wrecker complained.
"Guess we're digging the Marauder out," Hunter said in resignation. "Wrecker, start cutting branches to put under the landing gear. Everyone else, let's grab shovels."
Before going outside, Echo put on his armor from the waist down. He knew from experience that cleaning his armor was much easier than his cybernetic joints. Joining the others at the door, Echo took a shovel from Tech while blocking Omega from going outside with his scomp link.
"Stay inside," Hunter said.
"I want to help," Omega protested.
"That's an order," Hunter said firmly, then jumped into the mud.
Echo tried to not roll his eyes. Like Omega was going to follow that order without a reason. Not that he had a reason to give her besides she was sick...
"Let us know if the Marauder shifts suddenly," Tech said before stepping outside.
Omega perked up a bit at the opportunity to be useful, and didn't try to follow Echo and Tech. Echo eyed Tech, wondering if he'd made up an excuse for Omega's benefit.
There wasn't time for Echo to wonder, though. Walking through the mud was harder than Echo had expected. He slipped and fell on his way to the trees, and he could feel the chill of the mud through his glove.
It was cold outside, so they tried to work fast. The Batch cut down branches from the long, whippy trees with gray needles and tossed them into a pile.
Once it was time to dig, Echo had to stand back since he couldn't shovel. Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker got down to work, plunging their shovels into the goopy mud around the front landing gear. They scooped mud out of the way as quickly as they could, but it wasn't easy. The thick mud made it hard to stand steady, and mud oozed into the hole while they dug.
Watching the mud, Echo got an idea. He ducked under Hunter's shovel and pressed some of the branches into the mud. Sure enough, the mud stuck to the branches, holding them in place, which in turn blocked more mud from sliding.
Hunter nodded at the idea, then told Tech to help Echo. Between all their efforts, they were able to uncover the bottom of the landing gear.
"Tech, it moved!" Omega abruptly yelped.
Wrecker tossed his shovel aside. He stepped onto an extra pile of branches, giving him the stability he needed to grab the landing gear and lift so it wouldn't sink again. Echo jumped into the hole and used his hand to quickly clear the mud a bit, then jammed a handful of branches into the gap.
Echo scrambled out of the hole. "Okay, drop it."
Echo realized his mistake a second later, but it was too late. Wrecker pulled his hands back and jumped out of the way.
The Marauder dropped with a wet thunk. Nobody moved for a second, but their makeshift platform for the landing gear held.
"Okay, just two more, let's…" Hunter trailed off.
Wrecker burst out laughing. Echo turned to see the sergeant staring down with an annoyed expression. Tech was standing beside him with a bemused grin, seeming taller than normal…
Echo blinked, then snorted. Hunter had been too focused on digging to pay attention to his feet. Or, more notably, the fact that his feet were sinking in the mud, leaving Hunter currently in mud to his knees.
"It isn't funny," Hunter said tightly.
"Yes, it is!" Wrecker proclaimed.
Hunter sighed and jerked like he wanted to step out of the mud. Unsurprisingly, he didn't budge. He tried to shove the mud away from his body, but being in the mud up to his knees made this awkward.
"I think you're sinking further," Echo observed.
Hunter paused in his attempts at digging and watched the mud ooze a hand-width above his knees. He leaned awkwardly forward and planted his hands in the mud to try pulling himself free. His hands only slipped sideways, leaving Hunter in an uncomfortable-looking half folded position.
Wrecker roared in laughter at Hunter's misfortune. Hunter attempted to glare up at Wrecker, but it wasn't overly impressive since he had mud on his face and in his hair and he was much shorter than normal.
Echo regarded him, trying to determine if they should be concerned. Theoretically, if Hunter kept struggling, he'd keep sinking. How deep was the mud, anyway?
"Hunter!"
Omega decided for him.
Omega ran up to Hunter with an armload of branches and dropped them in front of Hunter. Standing on the branches, Omega wrapped her arms under Hunter's and pulled with all her strength.
Hunter barely budged, but Omega's efforts convinced Wrecker to finally help. He tried to nudge Omega out of the way, but she just gave him an annoyed glare and kept pulling.
"Omega, Omega," Hunter said, laughter in his voice. "Wrecker can get me out easier."
Omega huffed and released Hunter to step back. She watched Wrecker step forward with a suspicious frown.
"Okay, Wrecker," Hunter said as Wrecker grabbed him under his arms. "Don't pull too fast or-"
Wrecker straightened abruptly. The mud gave a loud, wet slurp as Hunter was yanked right out. Hunter gave a startled and annoyed shout.
"Wrecker!"
"Oops, what were you saying?" Wrecker asked with a grin.
"Never mind," Hunter huffed. "Just put me down."
Wrecker laughed and complied. Hunter calmly thanked him and tried to brush the mud off his body, only succeeding in smearing it around.
"Are you alright?" Omega asked worriedly.
"I'm fine." Hunter gave up and flicked mud off his fingers. "You left the ship."
Omega looked guiltily at her mud-smeared clothes. "Sorry. I wanted to help."
Hunter smiled and crouched. Omega shifted without lifting her gaze. Hunter poked her nose, leaving a dot of mud. Omega laughed and crossed her eyes to see the mud.
"At least someone cares about me," Hunter said with a smirk. "Now, let's get back to work."
A/N: Everything's alright so far, but how long can it last?
Okay, so before I decided to divide the chapters, there was actually a scene where everyone has to dig Hunter's shoes out of the mud, but there wasn't space for it after the chapter divisions. XD