Star Wars: The Bad Batch

In Secret

by Gabrielle Lawson

Chapter Eight

Omega didn't have a bed. She slept in Emerie's. Emerie's head was at the head of the bed. Omega's was at the foot. Fortunately, the bed was wide enough they didn't kick each much. Omega didn't so much mind that they went to bed very late, or rather very early in the morning. That meant they slept later and sometimes missed breakfast. Still, Tech had assured her that if her notes were good, breakfast would never be poisoned in Galley One.

Omega didn't have a lot of time to really talk with Emerie. Once their shift was over, Emerie was quick to get ready for bed. So they really only had the time before their shift started. Sometimes they made it to breakfast. Today they didn't. Omega was hungry but she didn't complain. At least not out loud. They'd have lunch at midday when they went to the infirmary. But right now, Emerie was in the gym.

Tech had encouraged Omega to use the gym herself when Emerie was there. She needed to be strong when the time came. The time was coming rather too slowly for Omega. But she understood. If they poisoned the base crew too quickly, it would be noticeable and then Tech might get caught. She didn't want that to happen. He was their key to getting out. But he also simply meant a lot to her. She hadn't felt particularly close to him until the mine. But he allowed her to understand him better then, and she started to really pay attention. He didn't act like he felt things very often. But she noticed when he did things, like when he saved her from the fire from the ship the Zillo Beast came from.

"So Cid told us there was a downed ship we could maybe find something good on," she told Emerie. She'd been telling her tales of their adventures to try and soften her up to thinking maybe it was a good thing to fight the empire. "It didn't look like it though. It was spooky."

"What was spooky about it?" Emerie asked. She was using a weight machine.

Omega just used the loose weights. She wanted her arms to be strong for her bow. She was sure Hunter would bring it when he came. Unless Hemlock had brought it here. "It was all dark and the crew was gone. Tech went to the bridge to try and get power back. But we found a lab with Kaminoan equipment and a really strange beast in there."

"What kind of beast?" At least she sounded interested.

"We didn't know at first. The power wasn't up yet. It ate a power rod and we lost it."

"It ate a power rod?" Emerie let her weights fall.

"Yeah, and nothing we shot at it seemed to make any difference. After Tech got the power up, it headed toward the reactors. It looked like it was eating the power from them. Tech shot the reactors and it blew hole in the hull of the ship. The thing got out. Hunter and Wrecker went to the ship to track it and Tech and I went back to the lab to see if we could find out what it was."

Emerie lifted her weight again. "It was a Zillo Beast," she concluded.

"Yeah, and Tech learned it could get bigger as it ate energy. It was impervious to blaster fire and even light sabers. Then some Imperial ships showed up and started firing on the ship we were in. Tech and I had to run, and the ship blew up right behind us. Tech pulled me to safety behind a tree as the fire blasted past. Then we ran and caught up with our ship. He jumped in and pulled me up."

"It's good he was looking out for you," Emerie said. "The Zillo Beast is at this base. It's the in the lower lab, one floor down. But do not worry, it is secure and sedated."

Omega chalked that up as a win. Emerie hadn't had to share that information. "I miss my brothers," she said. "I know Tech's in Critical Care, but I can't see him or talk to him. And Crosshair can't talk to me when he delivers our food."

"I wasn't aware you were close to Crosshair." Emerie let her weight fall again. "He was loyal to the Empire until rather recently."

"He was with us when we escaped Kamino," Omega told her. "He saved my life. We'll I'd saved his before that, but still. He didn't leave with us, but I'm glad he's had a change of heart."

Emerie wiped her face with a towel. "Why? He's been imprisoned as a traitor. This is not a good result for him."

"It's better to be on the right side," Omega said. "I'd rather be in prison as a good person, than free as a bad one."

"Do you think me a bad person?"

"Not sure yet," Omega admitted. "But you work here and you do what Hemlock wants. Hemlock is definitely a bad person. He hurts the clones you try to heal. He kills them, doesn't he?"

Emerie frowned. She knelt down. "I don't wish for them to die. But Hemlock's work is important to the Emperor. He needs to succeed."

"Why?" Omega asked her. "Do you think the Emperor is a good person?"

Emerie stood. "We should not discuss this here. Come, we need to get cleaned up."

Tech edited the next requisition report the night before it would be sent out. This time, he added 1.5 times more Methysergide as he had before. Once it arrived, and once each day, two galleys would be poisoned each meal. Still never Galley One during breakfast. He'd had Omega write another note for Crosshair. Crosshair looked at the note before turning in and looked up at the camera with a light smile. Good, he wouldn't smile if he didn't feel confident that he could handle two pouches during one meal.

Hemlock's work was done for the day, and Nala Se slowly writing her report. Beyond managing the rate of poisoning, Tech had no more pressing work. He still wasn't tired, and Emerie was checking his vitals and adjusting something. And that got him thinking. If this whole scheme worked, the prisoners would be released, Omega and Nala Se would get out. But he wanted out, too. That was one thing he couldn't control. He couldn't move his body. He wasn't even sure if his lungs would pull in air if the breather was removed.

Nala Se.

I am here, my son.

If I were to show you my medical records, could you determine what I would need to leave this base?

I am confident I can.

He sent her all his medical records. And she spent a few minutes going through them.

"Are you nearly finished, Mistress Se?" one of her guards asked.

"I am not. I need to reference these files in my report. After I review them, I will be able to finish."

The guard stayed at near the door and didn't come forward to hurry her along. Tech also thought he saw one of his gloved hands shaking.

I will provide you a list to work into several supply requisitions.

Then she started listing everything. A mobile surgical suite topped the list. Optional: Bacta Tank, though that would cause immediate notice. Blood, fluids, sedatives, antibacterial agents, immobilizing wraps of various sizes, and several other items. Tech put all of them in his file. The re-edited the medical requisition and added two of the medications from the list, and some of the immobilizing wraps. As she said, the items had to go in several supply requisitions. She was also right about the bacta tank. All these things would need to be in an accessible location on the day the rescue and/or revolt happened, and they would have to leave with him. They had to be quickly mobilized from their storage to a mode of transport. He assumed the Marauder, should he manage to get a message to them—and they were not in Imperial custody, would land too far away to be that mode of transport, as would any ship Captain Rex would bring. It would have to be a ship waiting here at the base.

He thanked Nala Se for the list then scoured the hangar and every storage room near them. There was one on the southern end of the hangar. Presently, it held crates of reserve supplies. He checked the manifest to determine the supplies. Armor, weapons, tools needed for repairing either. There was one other curious item on the manifest. Damaged armor of clone CT-9902. His armor was in that room. Logically, it wouldn't be needed as it was damaged, and he would be unable to put it on himself. But he still felt that it needed to go with him. It was his gear.

And that made him wonder where Crosshair's gear was. Had it been brought to this base when he arrived? First things first, he put in orders to remove everything that wouldn't be needed from that storeroom and moved to another. He forged Hemlock's authorization without too much worry that Hemlock would notice the movement of some crates. Then he checked the inventory of all the other storerooms in the base. It wasn't there. He checked the transport logs and found the one Crosshair was brought in on. It stated that Crosshair's status was "unconscious" and mentioned hypothermia. But it didn't list any armor or equipment. Nor did it list where from which base he'd been transported.

Omega had spent a night with Crosshair after they were brought to see him. Perhaps she had learned more about why he was here.

Omega.

Yes, Tech?

Did Crosshair tell you why he is here?

He killed his commanding officer. The officer deserved it.

If the officer was Imperial, I have no doubt it was a deserved. Did he mention where he was stationed when this occurred?

Let me think. It didn't take her long. Barton IV. Why?

He was glad she had a good memory. Because I want to transfer his armor and weapons to this base.

Do they have yours? Hemlock told Hunter all they found was your goggles. That was obviously not true.

Yes, it is here. It is damaged and I doubt that I will be in a condition to wear it. Crosshair will be in a condition to use his.

I don't suppose they brought my bow.

I will look. But perhaps they left it when they took you. He spent a few minutes going back through the inventory, but he didn't see the bow there. It is not here, Omega.

Well, thank you for checking. What does Emerie do when she's in there with you for hours?

Tech couldn't see, of course, but he listened and he checked the medical records to see if it showed what she was doing. She had been setting some of his bones again. She didn't use immobilizing wraps, but then he was effectively immobilized by the paralytic agent. But he wondered why she continued to bother. If her employer had his way, Tech would spend the rest of his life in this state, helping Hemlock with whatever research he was pursuing. From an Imperial perspective, he'd never need to move again. So why did she bother with his broken limbs?

She was a doctor. The Empire was new, so her training had to have been during the Republic. Perhaps she took her profession very seriously and couldn't not try to fully heal him, despite Hemlock's orders to leave his limbs as they were. Or perhaps she felt sympathy for his state. Or maybe she inexplicably expected that he would someday leave here and need his limbs. It was hard to say.

She continues to try and heal the rest of me in spite of Hemlock. How are your proddings proceeding? he asked Omega.

I'm still trying. I've been telling her stories of the things we did when were out there.

Ah, perhaps those stories will inspire her. I hope you have not told her about Rex's garage or Pabu.

Of course not. I won't tell anyone about Pabu until they're standing on Upper Pabu.

Good. I will not either. Keep working on her, it is probabl she can be swayed. But be careful.

She does seem to enjoy the stories, Omega admitted. But she still thinks we'd have been caught eventually and we are better off here.

I do not feel better off here, he replied. I do feel that if Hemlock succeeds and determines he no longer needs me or Nala Se, we will be terminated, or worse.

What's worse than being terminated?

He didn't want to tell her. I have to watch what happens in the lab, Omega. You do not want to know.

I wish I could talk to Nala Se.

Tech thought about how that might be possible. Perhaps I can arrange that tomorrow evening.

Crosshair's coming. Then he heard Omega's voice coming from Emerie's datapad. "Dinner's here."

Enjoy your dinner. Goodbye for now. He closed and removed the communication.

He was sure he'd get a puree of something pushed down his tube after Emerie finished eating. He didn't feel hungry ever. He couldn't feel anything. Pain would probably be too distracting, so he was afforded pain medicine unlike his first introduction to Hemlock.

He refocused on his work. He needed to requisition Crosshair's armor and weapons from Barton IV. He found the appropriate supply requisition and added the transfer request to it. It was a long shot. Whoever approved the list on the other side may veto that item. But it was worth a try.

He was tired and decided to sleep, but before he closed his eyes, he erased all trace of the treatments Omega had given to alleviate the symptoms of poisoned personnel. He did something similar with the ones the other woman treated. Given that she was poisoned herself, she didn't seem to notice that her records had been changed. He edited them to make sure any semblance of similar symptoms were scattered, so that she wouldn't be likely to notice the trend and try to find the source of the symptoms. That done, he allowed himself to rest.

Hunter tried to focus on Phee and her conversation with the pirate she was negotiating with. She was trying to purchase another item for the Archium and question to see if he knew anything about clones disappearing or where they were disappearing to. He denied the latter and what did she cared about clones for? He was glad the clones were being replaced with conscripts. They weren't as skilled. Had the Empire use the clones, he might have had to change his occupation.

Hunter remembered that Gregor had said that when he trained the conscripts he hadn't taught them everything. Besides even with Regs, the Kaminoans had engineered them to be as skilled as their father, Jango Fett. With Clone Force 99, they exceeded the abilities of Fett.

The payment was made, and the pirate left Phee without trying anything underhanded. "Well, the Ferandas will appreciate this," she told Hunter as she returned to him. They left the cantina and started walking toward the hangar and the Marauder.

Wrecker met them at the door. "Get anything?"

"Just this," Phee answered, holding the artifact. Hunter had never seen anything like it.

"Aw! It's been more than a cycle! Wrecker turned and sulked back to sit.

"A cycle and a half," Echo corrected. "Rex has rescued eight more clones, but they always delete their logs. They manage to get pieces but can't decrypt them. Rex has even got the sisters out there looking."

"No luck with the captains, either, I take it," Hunter added. "I know she's out there. Why is that we still haven't found the slightest clue where they took her?"

"I've tried finding more about the Advanced Science Division myself," Echo told him. "But there's nothing there. Senator Chichu couldn't even dig up more on Hemlock, even from his days in the Republic Science Corps. It's like they went back and wiped him from existence."

Hunter still felt that hole in his chest. The one that started after Tech died and grew after Omega was taken. But his grief and worry had largely turned to anger. When they did find Hemlock's base, he was going to kill everyone in the way of getting her back.

Sev decrypted the requisition and checked it over. It was fairly standard but one thing stood out. There was a request to transfer one clone's armor and weapons from Barton IV. That didn't make a lot of sense. Barton IV was very nearly empty. It had been a holding facility for gear for the new conscripted army. Why bother with one clone's gear?

Still, it wasn't like this clone's gear was restricted. He created a transfer order and put it through to his commanding officer for approval. It could not be transferred directly, as that would introduce a potential security risk. Besides, he didn't know where the base was. He only knew where the base was supplied from. And that was not Barton IV.

He and four other clones were assigned to monitor a subset of requisitions each for a highly sensitive base. They weren't required to know anything about the base to do their jobs. They were not to speak about anything they saw on the requisitions, even though they only saw lists. They were not allowed any recording devices beyond the equipment in the room. And nothing was to go to or from that base unencrypted. Only the lieutenant could reply to the base.

But Captain Rex had asked to be notified of anything out of the ordinary. He looked at the CT number of the owner of the gear to be transferred again to memorize it. CT-9904. That was an odd number. He didn't recall ever meeting another clone with a CT number that started with two nines. He'd share it with Kyl at the bar after shift.

Omega finished checking all the patients. Then she went to the wound station and removed four pouches of Methysergide. She was getting good at slipping them to Crosshair when she handed him the plates from the previous meal. He had to take them back to the kitchens after all.

He'd be there for dinner in an hour or so. She sat down next to Vector's bed and waited for Tech to contact her. He said he'd relay messages between her and Nala Se this evening.

Finally, the light in the upper right corner blinked and the words appeared. Omega.

I'm here, she wrote back.

Hello, child. Are you well?

Nala Se? Yes, I'm all right. I'm learning a lot of medical stuff. I'm even treating some of the base personnel when they come in with symptoms.

Very good. You were always a quick learner.

Hemlock had told her Nala Se was being well looked after, but she made it a personal policy to not believe anything he said. Are you well?

I am as well as I can be under these circumstances. I grieve for my people.

I saw Taun We, Omega admitted. A bounty hunter killed her to get to me.

I did not know she would do that. I hired the bounty hunter to keep you safe.

She did not know 'she' would do that. So she had hired the woman. Who had hired Bane? Who hired the other bounty hunter?

Lama Su. You deserve an explanation. Jango Fett's DNA was degrading with each new batch of clones. As a direct clone, your DNA would be vital in creating new clones of superior quality. That is no longer a need. I did not want that for you.

That fit with what Hunter had told her. Thank you for trying, but I was safe with my squad. We were a family.

You were not safe if you are now here.

We were betrayed. We worked for Cid. She sent us on jobs and then she gave us a cut of the money. That's how we bought our fuel and rations. I thought she cared. I thought she was good. And we'd just lost Tech—we thought. And we were injured. She called in Hemlock. Omega felt tears in her eyes and she rubbed them away quickly.

I am sorry your trust was broken. I understand that feeling. We trusted the Republic. We did not know they would become the Empire.

Yeah, neither did we. Omega heard the door to Critical Care open and stood up. E is coming, she typed quickly and lifted her thumb from the button so everything would be hidden.

Emerie approached her. "Three cells have opened up," she said. "We need to release three, if they are well enough." She checked Vector's machine. "This one here."

Omega didn't want Vector to go. He had nightmares about being in the lab. "Do we have to? Hemlock will hurt them." Vector's eyes pleaded with her.

"It's to the cells, Omega, not the lab," Emerie clarified. "I do not choose who goes to the lab. Who else is ready to be release?"

"No one," Omega tried. Hemlock chose them. And he chose them from the cells.

But Emerie just frowned. "I'll just have to check myself." And she did. She checked each and every bed, and then the guards came and took Vector, Black, and Tack were led away.

"Are they better off here?" Omega asked her after the guards were gone. If three cells had opened up, it meant that three clones had gone to the lab.

Emerie knelt down to be at eye level with her. "Omega, we can't save everyone. We treat those who need treated. We cannot hide them all in the infirmary. The clones are property of the Empire."

"I'm not property," Omega argued. "And neither are you. We're people. We live and love and feel just as much as anyone."

"I don't believe they are property," Emeria admitted. "But in a legal sense, they are. They are not and cannot be citizens. They were used as tools of war and now are considered obsolete, or a security risk. They disobeyed or broke the law and ended up here."

But Omega wasn't done. "The Empire doesn't just arrest people who break the law. I've seen it. They hurt anyone who doesn't let them just take over. They were going to sentence a Twi'lek girl just because she went on a ride with her uncle. She didn't know her uncle was buying weapons. They were going to put her death if her parents hadn't rescued her. Then they arrested her parents."

Emerie stood and Omega realized Crosshair had arrived. "She's telling the truth," he whispered, which got him a jab in the back from one of his guards.

Omega took her plate and set it on the wound station. Then she took the two empty plates from the midday meal and slipped the four pouches between them. She handed the plates to Crosshair. He winked at her then turned his cart away.

"They had us killing children," Cal said from his bed, "in front of their parents."

"Or parents in front of their children," Lyf added. "The people didn't want the Empire there. We were the invaders."

"The Empire wants peace and security," Emerie stated. "Once the people accept it, things will get better."

"Peace and security," Knife sneered. "More like fear and subjugation."

"They destroyed Kamino," Omega told her. "I was there. Tech and Crosshair were there, too. Rampart's Venators fired on the city. We ended up on the ocean floor. We floated up from Nala Se's private lab. Hemlock brought her here, didn't he? He brought me here to make sure she does what he wants. That's not peace."

Emerie didn't say anything else. She took her plate and returned to Critical Care.

Omega looked at her datapad again. That was not being careful. That was Tech. He had watched. Still, I am proud of you.

"You were on Kamino," Emerie asked him, "when it was destroyed?"

Tech allowed his answer to show up on the monitor. Yes. Myself, Hunter, Wrecker, Omega, Echo, Crosshair, and AZI-3.

"We were told it was a storm," Emerie said.

It was not. We secured proof of the destruction from Rampart's own Venator. I copied the data myself, and it was shown in the Senate by Senator Riyo Chuchi. The Emperor blamed Rampart. Rampart was loyal. He was following orders. And now he's sitting in a cell.

She didn't speak again, and it was several moments before he could hear her eating. He let his words remain on the monitor. Emerie was soon going to have to choose a side. He hoped she picked the right one.