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Episode 8 of Bad Batch Season 1

Moments Chapter 43: Toothpick by klcutting

With Krayt Force 99

Hunter noticed a lot of things. Firstly, it was colder than when they had entered the building, which fit for later in the day. The back alleys were cramped with lots of tall buildings around. Light came from dusty lamps and the sunbeams filtering around the buildings. It was too quiet for Hunter's liking, every step seemingly echoing. He can smell and taste the concrete ground and apartments. And the dust everywhere. The floor was hot and solid on his boots. Everyone knew this was a kill zone, but only Hunter sensed the electrical appliances in the buildings.

"This is the perfect place for an ambush. On both sides," Hunter stated.

Tech replied, "I can track what's coming through my goggles. We'll be fine,"

"Wouldn't hurt to have sssssssome sssssssupport from above, would it?" Bossk turned to Fennec, Crosshair and Embo.

The latter stated, "I'll keep watch from here,"

"Then I recommend Crosshair and Fennec cover us from above," Hunter suggested. Crosshair and Fennec nodded and started climbing the apartments towards the roof, where they would have the best coverage. Once they were in position, Boba stated, "Let's go. The sooner we make it to the palace, the better,"

Everyone else nodded and started making their way towards the palace.

With Derrown

Derrown is the first to spot Krayt Force 99. Getting in contact with others and stated, "It looks like Clone Force 99 and Krayt's Claw have teamed up to protect Omega. We're going to have to team up to even try and win,"

"I'm on my way to help out," Shahan stated while Cad Bane sneered, "Separate them. I'll handle the Fetts,"

"I'll scout ahead to see where Crosshair and Fennec are," Derrown stated.

Cad Bane replied, "Go for it," and the communications were cut.

The two squads stay reasonably close. Crosshair and Fennec Shand covered them from above while Embo watched from behind. Suddenly, all hell breaks loose as Derrown's electric tentacles strike out, briefly catching Latts and Echo.

Bossk and C21 both open fire on him, but Derrown manages, barely, to escape.

"He's going after Crosshair and Fennec. Inform them," Hunter stated.

Bossk stated, "On it," and sent a warning sign to both.

With Crosshair and Fennec

"Looks like we've got company," Crosshair sneered as he got the message. Fennec briefly puts her sniper rifle away, then gets her blasters out.

"Then let's give this company a welcome," Fennec stated, and at that moment, Derrown tried to grab Fennec with his tentacles. Crosshair beat him back, but Derrown tried again, this time going for Crosshair.

"Get lost," Fennec stated as she kicked Derrown, briefly shocking herself in the process, resulting in him losing his footing and dropping several floors.

"Let's move before he recovers," Fennec stated.

Crosshair nodded, and they made their way away from the Parwan while continuing to support their allies on the ground.

With Cad Bane

Cad Bane is kinda bored. He hasn't seen any indication of where the Fetts were or their squad. What were they doing? Where were they?

A thought then hit him. What if they were using back alleys to skirt around them? Getting up, he sent another message to Todo.

"Todo, scan the area between the city centre and the palace. And pay particular attention to the back alleys. Let's see if they're using them," Cad Bane stated.

Todo replied, "Will do,"

Cad Bane then waited. He didn't have to wait long before Todo called back, "I've done it, master Bane. I've detected a dozen figures moving along the alleyways about halfway between you and the city edge,"

"Good work Todo," Bane sneered before he got up. Fong Do, Shahan and Derrown had heard this, and Derrown stated, "They're using the back alleys?"

"The locals are taking sides in this," Cad Bane sneered before he and Derrown made their way towards the maze of the residential apartment complex that takes up that section of the city.

Fong Do, meanwhile, surmises that these complexes don't go all the way to the palace, meaning they'd have to travel an open gap to reach it. Knowing this, he reactivated his prototype suit and headed for the mansion.

It wasn't too long before Cad Bane caught up to the squads. But then he noticed that Fennec Shand and Crosshair weren't with them. He moved carefully, looking around to see where they were.

Back to Krayt Force 99

C21 Highsinger saw Derrown change his target and fired on him. Derrown fired back, and C21 had his weapon shot out of his hand.

The other members took cover as they engaged with the Parwan while Shahan headed towards the group.

"Ambush," Hunter called. Suddenly, a wall collapsed nearby, splitting Boba and Omega off from the rest of the squad and separating Latts, Tech, Wrecker and Bossk from Hunter, Echo, Embo and C21. At this point, Derrown continued to target the latter group while Shahan engaged the former.

Boba immediately knew that he had to get Arla away from the Bounty Hunters, thinking, "I can't let them get their hands on Arla,"

"This way," Boba called, grabbing Omega by the arm and dragging her towards a nearby shelter. Omega tried to fire on the Weequay attacking Latts' group but had her blaster shot out of her hand by him.

Immediately Boba shot back at Shahan, and the Weequay was quickly forced to pull back. Once they got to the shelter, Boba asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. My blaster took most of the shot," Omega replied as she checked her hand, surprised at how little it had hurt and that there barely was a mark on her hand.

"This is commando clone Armour". Omega stated as she got a bacta bandage from her bag and strapped her hand with it. She then went to rejoin the fight but was pulled back by Boba just as Cad Bane fired at her, and Omega felt her knee plate heat up rapidly as it was grazed by the shot.

"Thanks," Omega stated.

Boba, who briefly seemed quite angry, "Save it. Keep watch of your surroundings. Remember that. And if Cad Bane is onto us, then we've got to find a way to get him off our asses,"

"I can help with that," Omega replied, and she sent a message to Crosshair and Fennec Shand.

"It's amazing how far you've come," Boba stated in surprise, hardly believing that less than two years ago, his vod was a lab assistant being abused by Nala Se with no combat experience. And yet here she was, knowing all sorts of things related to being a mercenary/Bounty Hunter.

"Once the shooting starts, let's run for it, OK? Is your knee going to be alright?" Boba enquired.

Omega stated, "Yeah, it'll be OK. And that sounds like a plan. So long as everyone else distracts the others, we could make a run for the palace,"

"That's what I was thinking," Boba sneered, and as soon as Crosshair and Fennec engaged Cad Bane, Boba and Omega legged it, managing to put significant distance between them and the Duros. Cad Bane attempted to take a shot but missed miserably.

Meanwhile, back at the skirmish

Hunter, C21, Echo and Embo were stuck in a dusty, abandoned room on the bottom floor of an apartment complex. It was hotter inside than outside, with one dusty lamp providing light. Hunter can hear Derrown jumping around and avoiding their blaster fire, and he can smell and taste the dust and blaster residue. The ground is solid and caked with dust.

"Anyone here have ways to disrupt Parwan's electrical Abilities?" Hunter asked.

C21 stated, "Let me get my special sticks, and we'll be able to" he grabbed, seemingly from nowhere, four electrical sticks and threw the other three to the others.

"When he goes to grab you, ensure you snare his tentacles with these. Not only will they absorb the electricity, but they'll shock him right back," C21 stated, and he demonstrated this a moment later by blocking Derrown's fresh attempt to grab Hunter. Not only did the electricity pouring from Derrown get absorbed, but pulses were sent back at him, forcing him to quickly retreat. But not before getting several shots in, one striking Echo's mechanical arm and the other knocking Embo's blaster out of his hand, forcing everyone to hide.

"How do we drive him off?" Embo enquired.

Hunter stated, "Isn't there something we can use?"

"If we time our charges correctly, we may be able to subdue him," C21 stated.

Echo replied, "It's the best we can do". At that moment, Derrown almost grabbed Hunter. Taking his chance, C21 unloaded several shots into Derrown's tentacles, causing him a ton of pain and forcing him back. Both sides fired shot after shot as they went from cover point to cover point, trying to secure a hit without getting hit themselves. Finally, Embo nails another shot at Derrown, knocking out his blaster.

Desperate, Derrown unleashed a major electrical blast from his body, which all four had to duck in cover from, which allowed the Parwan to escape.

"Well, at least he's no longer a bother, for now at least. Let's go help the others," Hunter suggested.

The other three nodded, and they went to assist.

When they got outside, Hunter saw that Cad Bane had engaged Crosshair and Fennec Shand. Hunter took his chance when the Duros fired on Crosshair and, retaliating for Bracca, managed to shoot the blaster out of Cad Bane's hand.

Meanwhile, Cad Bane

As Cad Bane lined up more shots on Omega and Boba, he noticed Fennec Shand aiming at him.

"No, you don't," Cad Bane snarled as he hid behind the wall to avoid her shot before firing back. However, before he could, he had to duck back behind cover as a second sniper shot whizzed past him, this one coming from Crosshair.

"That's unfortunate," Cad Bane stated as he moved from clearing to clearing, firing shots at Fennec Shand and Crosshair, but they kept moving to avoid his blasts and returning fire to keep him moving.

After the fourth or fifth time this happened, Cad Bane got an idea. He attempted to get out of the building he was pinned down in by throwing a smoke bomb to obscure the sight of Fennec and Crosshair.

"Bet you didn't know I can see through smoke, Bane," Crosshair sneered as he quickly saw where Cad Bane was moving and shot, catching the edge of Bane's hat.

"How is he doing that?" Cad Bane sneered as he tried to take several shots at Crosshair. However, as soon as he went to blast, Hunter shot his blaster out of his hand.

"Damn you, Clone!" Bane snarled as he tried to get a shot at Hunter but had to hide behind the wall again due to more blasts from Crosshair.

"Let's try this," Cad Bane snarled, and he grabbed a flashbang and threw it. When it went off, this time Crosshair had to shield his eyes.

Fennec Shand, meanwhile, turned on the glare protection on her helmet so that the Flashbang didn't blind her totally, so she still knew where Bane was. Which came in handy, and she forced him back with more shots.

"This is getting ridiculous," Bane stated as he tried to get another shot on Fennec. This time both Crosshair and Fennec had to move to avoid his blasts. Spotting another tripwire, Cad Bane uses the devices on his feet to sever the wire without triggering it.

"This is no longer worth it. I won't wind up dead trying to capture some Clone brat. You can have her," Cad Bane finally snarled, recognising that he couldn't complete his mission with several people pinning him down. He decided at that point to just leg it, get back to his ship, and go back to his other missions.

"Cad Bane is out of the fight. About time" Crosshair sneered.

Fennec stated, "It's about time. I didn't think he was ever going to give up,"

"It's not something he normally does. But whatever he would have gotten for capturing Omega wasn't enough for him to justify this anymore," Crosshair replied.

"We'd better catch up to the rest of the squad and provide more cover," Fennec suggested.

Crosshair replied, "Fine," and they made their way across the roofs of buildings in the direction where their squad had been going when they got distracted by Cad Bane.

Meanwhile, with Latts, Tech, Wrecker, Bossk and Shahan

Shahan's manoeuvrability has forced the second group back into a nearby apartment building, with Latts using her snakes to try and get strikes on Shahan.

This apartment building was inhabited, with a foyer on the bottom floor. There were many lifts off to each side that took you to higher floors, a laminate floor and golden wallpaper walls and a white ceiling. It was colder than outside and more comfortable for the patrons. Many lights on the roof provided light to the foyer. Tech can hear Shahan moving around and the blaster fire of everyone trying to stop him. He can smell and taste the laminate floor, the wallpaper, and the blaster residue. Finally, the laminate floor is solid but supportive.

"Try to box him in," Tech suggested.

Bossk stated, "How do you plan to do that?"

"Do whatever you can to restrict his movements," Tech replied, a note of annoyance at how obvious it sounded to him in his voice. Bossk picked this up, waved Tech down and stated, "Fine. We'll go with that,"

Tech guided the others on where to shoot to restrict the movements of the Weequay, and soon, they had him trapped. Opening fire, the quartet failed to hit Shahan but did get close enough to force him into a retreat.

"That worked. Good planning Tech" Bossk stated as they made their way out of the apartment block. It was here that they saw Cad Bane retreat into an apartment.

"Looks like Cad Bane is our next focus," Latts sighed, but Crosshair stated, "We've got him under control. Go and find the others,"

They nodded and continued heading towards the palace, hoping to run into Boba and Omega.

Back to Boba and Omega

Boba noticed that the apartments, at least from the outside, looked almost identical. Running behind the buildings was colder, but between buildings, the sun was hot on his armour. While there was no light behind buildings except for the occasional glow of a foyer, the sun's glare was almost blinding between buildings. Boba can hear his breathing and Omega's and their footsteps on the concrete. He can smell and taste the concrete, their sweat and the dust that clung to the lamps. The concrete is solid and rough.

Both now knew where all of the Bounty Hunters were, except one. And this nagged at both as they continued to make their way towards the palace. Where did the hell Fong Do get to?

"Where's the Nautolian bastard?" Boba briefly snarled to himself as they continued to make their way towards the palace.

A couple more shots rang out, and Boba and Omega hid behind the apartment. Boba ducked out briefly to scan and saw the outline of a Parwan closing in on them.

"Derrown. Watch out for his electrical abilities. This way," Boba stated, recognising him, and he led Omega down a side alley. They found a small indent in the walls, where a fire escape was, and hid behind that.

Derrown looked around when he got to the side alley the Fetts were in. He looked around but didn't see them, so after a few minutes, he moved on.

"That was close. You don't want to fight Derrown unless you've got ways to redirect his electricity," Boba stated.

Omega replied, "Have you got something like that on you?"

"Yes. Though not that it matters, I'd have to get lucky for Derrown to catch me on the part of my armour to even counter it," Boba admitted.

Omega nodded. After another minute or two, Boba was sure Derrown had moved on. However, he wouldn't return the way they came, lest they're ambushed. So instead, he guides Omega down a nearby path that would still take them towards the palace.

With Derrown

He waited a while nearby, expecting the Fetts to retrace their steps to return to the main path. However, he soon realised they had probably gotten past him using a different passage.

"Damnit," Derrown stated as he started to return towards the palace. However, suddenly, he was knocked out.

From a high spot in one of the nearby apartments, Rako Hardeen pulled his sniper rifle back. Watching Boba and Omega as they made their way towards the palace, he stated, "One down, one to go. Wonder where Shahan's gotten to?" before he remotely recalibrated his droid to hunt for the Weequay.

With Rako Hardeen

It didn't take long for Rako Hardeen to find Shahan.

"I suggest you split town, Shahan. You're too far away from the Fetts to even attempt to claim the prize, and I don't have any qualms about ending you," Rako stated.

Shahan sneered, "Are you sure about that?"

"Very sure. Plus, Fong Do's around here somewhere too. You'd have to get through him as well," Rako stated.

Shahan sighed, "Guess it's for the best," before he returned the way he came.

"Well, that was easy. Now for Fong Do," Rako thought as he headed for the palace.

Back with the Fetts

"Almost there," Boba stated before a figure stepped out. It turns out to be Fong Do.

"There you two are. I was wondering where you went," Fong sneered.

Boba stated, "This is enough, you Cad Bane wannabe,"

"Wannabe? I was Bounty Hunting since before you exited your growing tube, boy," Fong bragged, annoyed by Boba's jab at him.

"Arla isn't going anywhere. She's staying with me," Boba stated as Fong's, Boba's and Omega's hands reached for their blasters. Fong Do sneers, "So you've given her a fancy name. How cute. And We'll see about that. Once a Clone, always a Clone. Predictable,"

"You're in for a surprise," Boba stated, remembering that he had tied with Cad Bane over a year ago and had only grown more skilled since then. Fong Do, meanwhile, was a pretender.

"That's unfortunate. For both of you," Fong sneered. It was a standoff, Fong, Boba and Omega all with their hands close to their blasters. After a few moments, the shootout started and ended just as quickly.

Fong Do pull out his blasters, shooting one at Boba and the other at Omega. Instantly, Boba and Omega pulled their blasters and shot at Fong Do. The slight differences in reaction times meant that while both of Boba's shots hit Fong Do, only one of Omega's shots hit. Fong almost missed Boba, only grazing his side, while he nailed Omega in the shoulder. All three hit the deck, though Boba was able to bounce back up pretty quickly and raced over to check on Omega.

It was then that Boba noticed someone else had nailed Fong Do. Looking around, he spotted Rako Hardeen descending from a nearby apartment.

"Get her inside. Now. I'll guide the others in," Rako stated and working together, they got Omega onto Boba's back.

"She's heavy with her armour on," Boba admitted as he struggled towards the entrance. Rako went over to ensure Fong Do was dead before keeping a close watch on whoever approached.

Meanwhile, with the Fetts

Boba collapsed as soon as he got to the other side of the door, unable to carry Omega any longer. The palace was grand in design and scope, with stairs leading to more than a dozen doors off the entrance hall. It was colder inside than outside and had lights everywhere. Boba could hear talking from the palace exterior, combined with his heavy breathing. He can smell and taste the marzipan carpet, the glistening, off-white walls, and the bronze ceiling. He could also smell and taste the gold from the statues dotting the palace. Other exotic materials that Boba could only assume mined from the planet were also detected. The carpet was soft and smooth. Boba struggled but managed to get Omega off his back.

"Let's look at your shoulder," Boba stated, noticing the blaster mark where Fong Do have hit her. Removing her armour, he pulled Omega's arm out of the sleeve of her top to check. The wound was bleeding, but not heavily.

"What have they reinforced your armour with, sis?" Boba asked, surprised at how much her armour took as he strapped her shoulder. Once that was done, Boba refitted her armour.

At that moment, Omega awakens as her visor reactivates.

"What happened?" came a voice from nearby, and soon she spotted everyone crowded around her and Boba.

"She's been shot in between the shoulder and chest plates. We must get her on board," Tech stated, checking her over.

"My ship's almost here, and I've got a bacta pod at the back of my ship. The sooner we get Omega in, the better. She's been shot multiple times and was bashed by Fong Do," came a rough voice from nearby.

"Boba, you go on and collect the reward. The elitesssssss have ssssssseen that you got Omega to the goal," Bossk stated.

Boba nodded, turned to Rako, and stated, "Take care of Arla, alright? And pick me up once I'm done,"

"Will do," Rako replied, and Wrecker scooped Omega up and carried her to Rako's ship, which had just landed out the front.

Once everyone was on board, the Batch helped remove Omega's armour before Rako helped her into the Bacta Pod and helped her settle down for the treatment.

"You'll be fine. I'm sorry about what happened in Rugosa. Consider this my apology," Rako stated as he closed the pod.

Omega nodded and tried to rest. Rako then turned to the rest of both squads.

"I'm sorry about what happened in Rugosa. I didn't know a child was the target. I was planning to keep her away from Do and Bane," Rako admitted to the Batch, who nodded, and Hunter replied, "We understand. You made up for it today. Getting Omega to us, even if that wasn't your intention, distracting Bane, allowing us to escape,"

"Helping to kill Fong Do," Latts stated.

"Thanks, guys. So, after all of this. What's our status?" Rako nodded.

Crosshair sneered, "Neutral. You don't go after Omega or us, and we won't come after you,"

"Sounds good. Maybe we could go for some targets practice sometime, Crosshair," Rako suggested.

Crosshair replied, "Don't push it. But certainly a possibility,"

"Alright," Rako replied. He then got the message from Boba, and went to the cockpit, activated a few buttons so Omega and the Bacta Pod she was in wouldn't be impacted by takeoff or Hyperspace jumping before going to pick up Boba.

"Where should I drop you off once Omega's done in the Pod?" Rako asked.

Hunter stated, "The hangars at the edge of the city. That's where our ship is,"

"Alright," Rako replied, and he made his way there.

When they picked up Boba, he placed the credit reward against the wall, then went straight for the back of the ship. Rako Hardeen's craft wasn't what you would call cozy, Boba reckoned. A converted freighter, it had few creature comforts. It was temperate inside, though ceiling lights dimly lit the ship. He could hear the hum of the craft and the Bacta Pod that housed Arla. He could smell and taste the ship's metal and the bacta used in the pod. The ground was hard and unsupportive. It was a far cry from his ship, Slave 1.

Spotting Omega in the Bacta Pod, he stated, "At least Arla's getting proper treatment. Hopefully, she'll be OK,"

"She'll be alright. She's a Fett. She's tough," Hunter stated.

He then went to one of the cupboards and found a medical kit. Pulling his armour off and shirt up, he stated, "Hunter, can you please help me with this? Fong Do manage to graze my side, and I can't quite reach it like this,"

"Sure," Hunter replied, and together, they got a bacta patch onto the wound and strapped it. Letting his shirt fall, he got the armour back on, "Thanks,"

"No problem," Hunter replied as Boba returned the medical basket to its cupboard.

He looked between Omega's armour and Hunter's, "What's different about your armour VS the regs?"

"We managed to recover some Commando Armour after the Battle of Geonosis. Unfortunately, the armour had been stripped down for parts, so it was just fancy reinforced armour. But it was good enough for us, and we can take multiple blasters rounds and survive," Hunter explained. Boba nodded, "Well, it's worked. Arla tanked those shots like a champ,"

"Shots?" Hunter asked, shocked.

Boba stated, "She had a blaster shot out of her hand by Shahan, and her knee was grazed by Cad Bane. So, she's been hit three times,"

"Didn't know she'd been hit that many times. Lucky, we got her the armour," Hunter admitted.

Hunter then asked, "Why do you keep calling her Arla?"

"If Jango adopted her, he would have named her Arla. And I refuse to call her by the name given to her by those long-necked Demagolkas," Boba stated coolly.

Boba then remembered something and said, "I've got to go see Crosshair quickly,"

"Alright," Hunter replied, and Boba got up and headed for Crosshair and Fennec.

When Boba arrived, Crosshair and Fennec explained how they'd been able to almost single-handedly drive off Cad Bane.

"That must have been a hell of a fight. I'm certainly glad you two were able to defeat him," Boba admitted as he heard the last part of the conversation.

Fennec stated, "We had a mission, keep you two safe. Seems like it worked, partially,"

"What happened after you two got separated from us?" Crosshair enquired.

Boba responded by recounting how they'd hidden in a couple of buildings to escape Shahan and Cad Bane, how they'd used both the fights involving the other hunters and the maze-like structure of the area to flee Derrown, how they'd been ambushed by Fong Do, and how they'd managed to kill him.

"Dodging other hunters, having a shootout with a Cad Bane wannabe, using cover, great work," Fennec stated.

Boba replied, "Makes it sound cooler than it is,"

"Isn't that the case with most things, though?" Crosshair sneered.

Eventually, they got back to the starport. Clone Force 99 had to wait for a little while until Omega's bacta treatment had finished.

Boba, Fennec and Hunter stayed nearby, while Rako Hardeen remained near the ship's controls. The rest, however, exited the craft. Many of them headed for theirs.

"I'm going, to be honest. I wasn't entirely sure if you'd care for Omega if you knew about her, having heard about your opinions of the regs and your superiority complex," Hunter admitted.

Boba replied, "Arla's different. She's mostly unaltered. She's much closer to my dad's template than any of you. I could count her as my true sister, unlike the others who I don't think count,"

"What about us?" Hunter asked.

Boba stated, "You've earned my respect. I may not like or dislike your squad, but I do respect you guys,"

"Good," Hunter replied. The pod then beeped, and Rako Hardeen came down with a big towel and a mat. Opening the pod, Omega climbed out.

"How are you?" Hunter and Boba both asked at the same time.

Omega replied, "Tired, but OK," as she accepted the towel and rubbed herself down. Once she was done, Hunter hugged her closely.

"Thanks," Omega replied as she returned it. Once they broke apart, Omega went over and hugged Boba. Boba didn't fully embrace her, but he placed his hands against her back like Cid does.

"Thank you for helping to keep me safe," Omega said.

Boba stated, "You're my sister. That sort of thing comes with being a big brother". Omega smiled, "We'd better get going. Cid will be wondering where we've gone, and I don't want to spend any more time on this world than I must"

"Sounds good," Hunter replied. As the trio exited, Hunter stated, "Well, this is goodbye for now. Stay safe, and try to keep in touch, alright, Boba?" Hunter stated.

Boba responded, "I will," before they headed to their respective ships and departed.

As the Batch made their way back towards Ord Mantell, Tech stated, "Cid isn't going to be happy that we've taken so long to get the information,"

"I know. Cid may let it slide if she knows about the Bounty Hunter Battle Royale," Hunter replied.

Echo stated, "We've already caused enough trouble for her. This won't help that,"

"Even so. Cid wouldn't fire us, would she?" Wrecker enquired.

Hunter stated, "Cid said several months ago that she wants us to take over from her when she's no longer around. I don't think she will,"

"When did she say that to you?" Tech stated, surprised.

Hunter replied, "About a month after we restarted working for her after Omega got injured. She gave me a pep talk after a rough mission. That's the time she took the dad batch photo,"

"Right," Tech stated before he returned to the controls. Wrecker looked around, "Where's Omega?"

"Back in her room. She looked dead tired, so I recommended she go and get some sleep," Hunter said.

Wrecker stated, "You'd better go check on her. Make sure she's asleep",

Hunter nodded and went to check.

He didn't need to worry, though. Omega was fast asleep, with Lula held against her while she rested against Echo.

"We talked a bit more. Omega just needed a bit of reassurance," Echo said. Hunter gently ruffled Omega's hair, then returned to the cockpit.

When they returned to Ord Mantell, they saw Cid waiting for them.

"So I'm going to assume that the Bounty Hunter Battle Royale distracted you?" Cid sneered.

"Alright. You got the data?" Cid asked.

Tech stated, "We managed to get it before we got tangled up in it," and he gave the stick to Cid.

"Very good. Follow me," Cid stated as she took it, and they followed her towards her office.

Once inside, Cid set the data to stick down, then stated, "Does the name Saw Gerrera ring a bell?"

"We encountered him during our very brief service with the Empire, but that was about it," Hunter admitted, while Crosshair added, "I encountered him a second time while I was still brainwashed by the Empire. But I haven't encountered him since. Why?"

"Well, this information was for him. And he's got something for you guys once you finish the mission," Cid stated as she sent the data to Saw. After a few moments, the communication line was established. Not only did Saw Gerrera and his partisans show up, but so did Rex and his Clones.

"Been some white boys. How are we?" Rex asked.

Hunter stated, "Just finished fighting in a Bounty Hunter war, but fine otherwise. What's up?"

"I'll fill you in on the details. There's an Imperial base being constructed in my home world of Onderon. I want to lead an operation to take out the base. But I'll need as much help as possible," Saw stated.

Rex added, "Onderon isn't hard to get into. The base should be fine too. Saw's partisans will attack first, taking out any air defences that may be present. Then we'll all go in and take out the base from the inside,"

"Sounds dangerous. What's our role?" Hunter enquired.

Saw stated, "Typical Clone Commando role. You six will sneak into the barracks at the back of the base and cause as much havoc as possible. Try to knock the power systems out first and remove their security systems. That will make things much easier for all of us,"

"Alright. We'll consider it," Hunter stated.

Rex and Saw replied, "Get back to us once your decision is made," before the communications were cut.

"Looks like you've got a big assignment coming up. You'd all better prepare," Cid sneered.

Hunter nodded and replied, "We will,"

"You all look dead on your feet. I recommend you get some rest then, if you want, you can review the conversation and the information to refresh your memories," Cid stated, and the Batch knew this was an opportunity to get some much-needed rest. Once they were dismissed by Cid, the Batch went to the side rooms and were soon asleep.