Under a Blood Red Sky: The Bad Batch, Part 3

=0=On a silent ship fleeing

Hunter mulled the information for a moment, turning it over and over in his head. A sense of relief filled him surprisingly. They weren't defective. They were made this way on purpose. The Kaminoans were planning their own defense on the backs of their squad. "We were the first then?"

Omega glanced at him, then nodded. "I asked her a few questions, mostly what I could think of then. I thought it seemed important. You were the first clones I got to really know. I was small then or I would know more."

"What did she say?" Tech asked. His mind was racing through a dozen scenarios as he tried to make sense of what Omega was telling them. It was a game changer for him. He wasn't a freak of nature. All that he was indicated purpose. It appealed to the scientist inside.

"They called the plan 'Experimental Clone Force 99' and it was listed on the index as '1.01'. Nala Se's data system always put the first experiment in a project down as 1.01. That makes you the first. But you weren't the only one. There were many. A lot," Omega said. "When I got older she let me help her and I got to read more. It was in her personal code though. She did that so no one else could read her notes. I think she hid something she wanted to do on her own, even from Lama Su. I sort of remember some things but not very much. She was very secretive."

'They all were," Echo said. "To their detriment. And ours."

It was silent a moment, then Hunter glanced at Crosshair. "What do you think happened at Tipoca City? What do you remember?"

Crosshair stared at him coldly. "I remember someone who was supposed to be my brother shooting me."

"You were going to shoot Hunter. What was he supposed to do?" Wrecker said angrily.

Crosshair slowly uncoiled his body, relaxing against the wall behind him. He didn't say anything in reply. Oddly, even though he was angry at all of them, it didn't feel right to inflict the pain he thought he wanted when he caught up to them. It was a strange conflict in his mind.

"We came there to get Hunter," Echo said. "What did you expect us to do?"

Crosshair glanced at Echo, a man he admired secretly for a lot of reasons but would never tell that he did. Very little was disclosed by Crosshair. The only one who could make that happen even the small amount that it did was Hunter. "I won't presume to counsel you," he said in his soft acid voice.

"The droids came and we fought together. It felt good," Hunter said as the others nodded.

Omega leaned into Wrecker who had his arm around her as she clutched her little Bad Batch dollie anxiously. She wanted to go to Crosshair to give him what they all never got and craved, the warmth of a human touch. This simple human impulse was missing in their mass produced lives which culminated in the chaos and murder of war. It was the thing that was missing and which manifested itself into the intense sense of brotherhood and loyalty that was the dominant trait of the Kaminoan clones. It almost seemed a self defensive reflex that it was.

Crosshair stared at Hunter, at the brother that led them, the one who called the shots and the one he related to the most in spite of their clashes. Hunter could be as coldly pragmatic as he was but he also was something Crosshair wasn't. Hunter had impulses toward warmth and decency that often informed his decisions. That wasn't a scruple that Crosshair bothered with. At least, not lately.

"When the fighting was over, when you drew on me and I shot you we had to go," Hunter continued.

"Three Venetar-Class ships were in orbit over Tipoca City. They began to open fire," Tech said. "We had to run for our lives."

It was silent in the room as Crosshair took it in. "You brought me along. How touching."

"You're our brother. What did you expect us to do?" Wrecker said angrily.

"They opened fire knowing you weren't evacuated, Crosshair," Tech said as Hunter nodded. "They didn't care that you weren't accounted for. They abandoned you along with the rest of us."

Crosshair stared at Tech, the quiet one who retreated into his mind when things got tense but was a wizard in battle and no one to under estimate. It would be to your own peril that you did. "So you say."

"They destroyed Tipoca City, Crosshair. I was there. I didn't think we could get out. The underwater tube system took us back to the ship and we got away. Everything was burning and falling into the sea. It was awful," Omega said with emotion. She stepped closer to him and put her hand on his knee. "They left you, too."

For a moment the sensation of relaxation and well being flooded him, an odd thing considering everything, then it was gone as Wrecker pulled her back to his side. "What do you want me to say to that?"

"Maybe an acknowledgment? Maybe you can consider that the Empire doesn't need you anymore than it needed us. None of us count anymore to them than we did to the Kaminoans beyond our utility. We're creations to be sold to fight and little else. Whatever we had beyond that we made for ourselves … family, loyalty and purpose. Why would you serve an Empire that won't give back to you what you give to them so freely?" Hunter said.

Before he could answer, Tech glanced back at Hunter. "We have a message incoming. Its from Rex."

"Put it on," Hunter said as he rose to walk to the flight deck.

A holographic image arose. "Hello, boys. What's the status on the mission?" he asked, his figure as cloaked and mysterious as ever.

"We retrieved Gregor but he got shot. He's recuperating at Cid's," Hunter replied. "I was captured in the retrieval and the squad had to come get me. Have you heard the news?"

"What news?" Rex asked.

"The Empire decommissioned Tipoca City, then blew it up. We barely got out with our lives," Hunter said.

It was silent as Rex took that news in. Really deeply silent. "I hadn't heard. I've been off line for a while. Gregor is at Ord Mantell?" Rex asked. His voice sounded thick, like someone with emotions welling up that were being painfully suppressed.

"He is," Hunter replied.

"Meet me there. I want to know all you can give to me. This changes everything," Rex said. "Thanks, boys. I knew I could count on you." The holographic image disappeared.

Hunter stared at the spot, now empty, then turned to Crosshair. "We have to get this right, Crosshair. We have to know if you really lost your chip or if they lied to you about it. We need to know if you're being played. I'd think being left behind would be enough to drag you to your senses but I don't know you anymore."

Crosshair stared at him, then pulled a toothpick from his pocket. He put it in his mouth, mulling it over for a moment. "Too bad. I know you too well, Hunter."

"I would doubt that highly," Tech said with a slight tone of indignation.

No one would say much on the way to Ord Mantell.

=0=Some time later flying into an urban center with tall spires

They flew in over the city, then Tech angled the ship and landed it in the enclosed pad that was their tie down. The engines died down and the powerful ship became silent. Tech turned to Hunter. "What about Crosshair? We can't leave him alone and we can't take him."

"Wrecker, you and Tech stay here. Echo, come with me," Hunter said as he turned toward Crosshair. He was sitting on his former bunk cross legged and enigmatic as ever. "You stay. If you make trouble, then you're going to get shot. We'll be right back."

"Can I come with you?" Omega asked with a hopeful expression.

Hunter glanced at her, warmed by her presence and sweetness, something that was still new and unaccustomed to both him and the others. "Stay with us."

"And bring back some Mantell Mix. Traditions," Wrecker said with a big grin and a wink.

Omega hugged him, then smiled at the huge mech who was the one closest to her in emotional age and sense of fun. "I will." Grabbing her weapon and slinging it on her back, clutching her dollie, she waited for Hunter and Echo to leave. Staring at Crosshair, she wished he could change and they could be the family she wanted and craved all her life.

"Come on, Omega," Hunter said as he walked to the hatch and the ramp outside. Echo followed, then she followed Echo. They were gone in seconds.

The warmth and light of late afternoon spilled inside as the sounds of the city beyond and the rush and shouts of any number of individuals filtered in. Tech sat in the pilot's seat running post flight diagnostics, ever the professional.

Crosshair considered the skill that Tech brought to everything he did. Quiet and unassuming, he was always overlooked by those who they faced. He wasn't as strong as Wrecker but he was strong enough to win most fights he entered. Adding that he picked up techniques even after the training on Kamino, then anyone who thought he'd be an easy target now would usually regret that assessment.

At least, now …

It was short and brutish before CT-9902 was flat on his face. The usual bullshit had transpired and he'd been overwhelmed by the same two bullies that liked to plague him when his brothers weren't around. As a force, the four of them were powerful and seldom over powered in the oddly free-for-all of their educational process. Singularly, Tech was the one who always landed in the infirmary to get his 'clumsiness' repaired.

He wasn't a snitch.

A furious conversation always transpired later when the four of them met up for the few free minutes they were allowed in their packed day. It was always the same story.

"Was it them again?" CT-9901 aka 'Hunter' would ask, his handsome face darkened with outrage.

"Who else?" Tech would reply as around him the others burned with righteous fury.

CT-9904 aka 'Crosshair' would say nothing but the coldness of his personality would become even more glacial. He wasn't as lit as CT-9903 aka 'Wrecker' but he was even more scary given his silent smoldering rage.

'Them' were CT-5521 and CT-5534, older cadets who had a real hard on about 'defectives'. It was from them that the 'Sad Batch' moniker was born and it was the two of them that knew how to isolate the 'weak one' with precision.

Tech always got the slagging worst end of it. He was tall and thin, yet to come into the compact but powerful musculature that would carry him though nearly every brawl he entered to the other side.

It would take a long time but they would get their paybacks in the end. Of course, Tech would bear the brunt of it until then …

It was strange and exhilarating that he was back among them again. It wasn't the way he wanted it but here they were, his brothers who were created with him at the same time. They were paired up, the four of them, created to be a squad. They knew they were different from early on. That much was apparent to everyone …

He stood on the scale getting weighed again. Kaminoans and the few aliens that were contracted to do some of the lesser important work were running them again. Hunter stood docilely, something that wasn't a part of his nature even though it was a clone trait as he suffered through the examination.

He had to give blood and tissue samples. The scrape on the inside of his arm where the tissue sample was taken stung as he watched his red blood fill a tube. The needle was withdrawn and he was told to step down. Following Nala Se to a table, he sat down and stared at the data pad. It was more simulation games to see how his mind was developing.

Earlier in their life together, he'd been pulled from the group and sent to a center where he'd undergone gene therapy. He hated that as did the others given that it came with regularity. First of all, it set him apart from the mob. Secondly, it made him sick. He would lie on the berth and feel nausea until it passed.

He wouldn't know that they were enhancing his senses, something they'd done after Nala Se decided they would be the prototype group for this highly classified experiment. He would be able to do extraordinary things, this small boy who would be the first of many according to the plans and machinations of Nala Se and Lama Su.

Dark eyed, bearing a mop of curly dark hair, CT-9901 was taller than most of the cadets his age and coming into his strength. He would be a tough and powerful young man some fine day, Nala Se had concluded.

All of them would be. A strong man without a sense of fear, a mental giant with resourceful ways and enough strength and ingenuity to win fights he should lose, a darkly sullen sniper with supernatural optics and hand/eye coordination and this boy, a natural leader and tracker. All of them were coming along ahead of schedule.

What the Kaminoans didn't take into account was that there was someone else even more ruthless, cold and predatory than they were and it would cost them everything in the end …

=0=Ord Mantell a long time later

The streets were brimming with activity, all of it hustling toward the sun setting and the streets becoming less safe for anyone short of thugs, bounty hunters and soldiers. Cid's place came into view so they entered, the cool darkness inside a welcome change from the heat outside.

Pausing by the door, they heard activity nearby. Walking toward what was the kitchen, they stopped in the doorway in surprise.

Standing at the sink, his chest still bearing the compression bandages that sped healing for his wound, Gregor was washing dishes in the sink. He glanced up, then grinned. "Hello, boys. I see you made it back. What happened on the mission?"

=0=TBC 08-10-2021