—-
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Boba Fett awoke the following morning to the sound of his squadmates talking. It was already hot inside the ship, and as Boba rolled over to check the temperature outside, he saw it was mildly colder outside the craft. Knowing it was Summertime, Boba could see that light from the star flooded light into Slave 1. The scent of metal and his blankets wafted through, and the bed he was in was soft but unsupportive.
Boba got up and changed for the day, wondering what Arla and her friends had planned as he shook the memories of the nightmare he revisited last night. The day he lost his father. What hurt even more was that Jango suspected the existence of Omega but died before confirming it.
Once ready, he grabbed some breakfast. Boba then headed to the entrance and felt the cooler breeze, carrying the scent of trees and flowers into the craft. Bossk and Latts greeted Boba when he reached them. It sounded like they were talking about The Empire.
"What's up?" Boba asked.
"The Empire, that's what's up," Bossk hissed.
"Why? Do they know we're here?" Boba asked.
"Possibly," Bossk replied, "I got a look at the uniforms they were wearing, and they look suspiciously like those you'd see in the Empire,"
"And that concerns us how?" Boba asked.
"You, Arla, and Clone Force 99," Latts replied grimly.
"So the whole thing about Clone Supersoldiers is a thing after all," Boba looked out over the landscape.
"That's what Embo reckons. Something called the Dark Trooper program. He thinks that the two are connected," Bossk explained.
"It would explain a lot," Boba admitted. Suddenly, in his peripheral vision, he noticed three individuals exit the house. Watching, he saw Arla, Hera, and Alejandro walking down the patio.
"What are you guys doing?" Boba exited Slave 1 and stood on the pathway they were walking along.
"Hey Boba, what's up?" Omega asked as the two siblings embraced gently.
"I was wondering what you three are doing," Boba replied.
"We're going to spend a day at the festival. Just the three of us," Alejandro explained, eyeing Boba.
"Four if you want to join us," Omega replied.
"Are you sure about this, Omega?" Hera asked, slightly nervous.
Boba turned to Hera, "It's OK. You don't have to worry about me,"
A series of buzzes and noises heralded the arrival of Chopper, Hera's droid.
"What are you doing here? Cham sent you?" Hera asked. Chopper buzzed affirmatively.
"Who's this?" Boba asked, pointing to Chopper, who buzzed indignantly.
"Boba, this is Chopper. Chopper is the Syndulla family droid," Hera replied.
"Interesting. I didn't know you had a droid," Boba replied.
"We've had him since we recovered him from a crashed fighter a few years ago," Hera replied, soothingly patting Chopper.
"So long as he doesn't interfere," Boba replied before turning to Omega, "I notice you're all unsupervised, except for Chopper. Why?"
"We'll tell you on the way," Omega replied, "If you want to join us,"
"I'm not sure about this," Hera admitted.
"Look, the only reason I stayed away last night is because there was enough going on as it was, and I didn't want Cid and Bossk to start arguing again," Boba replied, "But you're going to need me for backup in case anything goes awry,"
"Do we need you? Truly?" Hera asked sceptically.
"We do. Omega isn't wielding anything at the moment, and Boba has his weapons on him at all times, judging by what I can see," Alejandro replied.
"And maybe I can clear some things up with you," Omega added.
"Right," Boba replied before turning to Bossk and Latts.
"I'm going with the other teenagers. We'll be at the festival if you need us," Boba said.
"OK. Take care of each other. The Empire's out there," Bossk replied.
"We'll be careful," Alejandro replied before the quintet departed.
By evening, the teenage trio of Omega, Hera and Alejandro were still not home. It had been a scorching day, and everyone was sitting around the tables in the Kitchen. The air conditioner worked overtime in the crowded Kitchen, Living Room and Passage to keep the house cool. Suu Lawquane was worried. Sundown was when the teenagers were supposed to be home, but they weren't. It was past sunset, and only a minor part of Dantooine's star was present on the horizon.
"They'll have to trek back in the dark if they're not home soon. What's taking them so long?" Suu wondered.
"What's up?" Aurora asked.
"Omega, Hera, and Alejandro. They've been gone all day, and it's getting late. They'll have to trek back in the dark if they're not home soon, and from recent reports, the Empire might be operating in the area, looking for them," Suu explained.
"Slave 1 is still out the front. Boba's with them, right?" Aurora asked. Latts, overhearing this, called, "Yeah, Boba's with them. He said he'll call when they're ready to be picked up. He sent that message to me an hour ago. They want to stay back to see the fireworks,"
"We sent Chopper with them just in case they struck trouble," Eleni replied, "Though it's almost the younger kids bedtimes,"
"I know," Suu began, "But you know what the younger kids are like. Without knowing their older siblings are OK, we'll struggle to get them to settle enough to sleep,"
"We all understand that issue," Aurora sighed, "Al's five years older than Alexis, and yet they're as close as siblings could be with that age gap,"
"Boba wants to have a similar bond with Arla. I can sense it," Latts replied, "Also, it's the holidays. I think the kids can stay up a little later,"
"I was planning to take Jek, Shaeeah and Omega to the fireworks tomorrow," Suu replied.
"I think Numa and Alexis would like fireworks, too," Cham replied.
"Remember, we're not going to be able to get Alexis to sleep easily without Alejandro here, right?" Astro reminded Aurora.
"I know," Aurora sighed, "They're so influential on each other,"
"And if Alexis is awake worried about Alejandro, then the other kids will be worried about their older siblings, too," Suu replied, "After a Night Terror, it took Cut and I ages to get Jek and Shaeeah back to sleep, they were so worried about Omega,"
"Yeah. And if the others are stressed, Numa's going to be too. We had better hope they get home safely," Astro replied, giving his wife a significant look.
Meanwhile, with Boba, Omega, Hera and Alejandro
It had been a smooth day at the festival. Upon arrival, the quintet had acknowledged that they had differing interests, so there would be times they'd break into smaller groups. It was a hot summer's day, and despite the day being mid-morning, the heat was building quickly. Omega ensured everyone had bathers to swap into when they wanted to cool off. The sun shined everywhere as it beat down on the teenagers. The sounds of crowds briefly stressed Omega's senses, and the scents were so mixed that Omega couldn't differentiate them.
After agreeing to meet at the food hall at lunchtime, Omega and Hera went into the right-hand pavilion, which was full of displays of various knitting, crochet and other arts. Boba and Alejandro, meanwhile, entered the left-hand pavilion. The exhibits here were of handmade metalwork, which fascinated Alejandro. Despite not being a metalworker, Boba admired the quality of the sculptures. These metalworkers were very talented.
After the quarter reunited at the food court for lunch, everyone agreed they needed to cool off. It was getting hotter, and as Omega quickly checked her datapad, she saw that today was the hottest day on Dantooine in over three decades.
"That's a pretty impressive record," Alejandro said when he saw the record.
"We'll need to find the water attractions this afternoon," Omega replied, turning to Hera, concerned.
"Can you swim? And if so, how well?" Omega asked.
"I've got basic swimming skills, but that's about it. If I stick to the shallow water, I'll be fine," Hera replied.
"You can keep me company. Due to my back, I can't go on waterslides, so I stay in the water out of the way," Alejandro replied.
"Sounds like a plan," Hera smiled.
The afternoon was a good time, too. Although there was evident tension between the teenagers, the enjoyment everyone was having was too much to miss. During their time in the water, Boba learned about a fireworks display set to take place at 8 pm that evening, with more tomorrow at the same time.
"We've got to see that Omega," Alejandro suggested, "I hope you'll be OK with that,"
"I should be," Omega replied, not convinced.
However, as the sun set, Boba and Omega noticed trouble brewing.
"Imperial Scouts?" Omega asked as she pointed to the edge of the forest. Grabbing his macrobinoculars, Boba was quick enough to see the tail of speeder bikes driving off into the trees.
"Uh oh. Those were speeder bikes. Looks like the Empire's decided to crash the party," Boba replied sardonically.
Omega ran back to the aqua part of the festival, looking for Alejandro and Hera.
"Hera, Al, we've got trouble," Omega called.
"What is it?" Hera asked as she and Chopper reached Omega and Boba.
"Boba spotted what looked like Imperial speeders. I think the Empire has found us," Omega replied.
Hera's eyes went wide with fear, "No. Why now?"
"I don't know. The Mercenaries might have got a message out to the Empire that Arla and I were here before they were stunned," Boba replied, gritting his teeth.
"What's up?" Alejandro asked as he reached them.
"The Empire," Boba replied.
"Just great. What is it about you two that the Empire wants?" Alejandro asked.
"I've got my father's unaltered DNA for the entire Clone Program, while Arla and Clone Force 99 have advantageous mutations for creating an army of SuperSoldiers," Boba replied.
"We're unable to hold off a group of stormtroopers, especially with my back," Alejandro replied fearfully.
"Chopper, get back to the house and inform everyone. We'll need all the backup we can get," Hera told Chopper, who called and raced away from the festival.
"What's up?" a middle-aged man wearing a helmet, though the plastic across the face is transparent to show his face, with brown hair and eyes, wearing a blue suit of plastid armour, said as he approached them.
"The Empire," Boba replied.
"Right. Why are the Empire here?" the officer asked.
"Kidnapping for use in a Supersoldier program," Boba replied.
"Right," the officer replied, grabbing a map, "Follow the blue path. We'll protect you,"
"OK," Omega replied, and the quartet started following the path as two Officers escorted them.
We now return to the Bad Batch household for updates.
Suddenly, they heard the sounds of repulsorlifts overhead.
"Is that them?" came Hunter's voice from the Living Room.
"That came from above, not outside," Suu replied as she opened the door and ran outside. Sure enough, two LAAT Gunships flew overhead, moving very quickly.
Suu's heart skipped a beat. It was the Empire. What were they doing out here?
Hunter and Eleni had joined her on the porch just as Chopper raced into view, buzzing animatedly.
"Chopper. Calm down, what's up?" Eleni asked. Chopper explained everything, and Eleni's eyes went wide.
"They're after Omega and Boba," Eleni said.
"Then we'd better get to them quickly," Hunter stated.
"What's happening?" Cham asked as he joined them, Astro, already in his police gear, and Bossk at their sides a minute later.
"The Empire's here, and they're after the teenagers," Eleni replied. She turned to Cham, "This is your fault, Cham. Hera wouldn't have decided to run out on us if you hadn't made Hera feel like not belonging here. And she wouldn't have convinced the others to do the same. Either you join the rescue mission, or you're leaving Dantooine in a Bacta Tank,"
Cham was taken aback. While her passion and determination were something he admired in Eleni. That passion and determination were a big part of why he married her. But what Eleni had just said sent a shiver up his spine.
"Eleni, that's out of line," Suu said quietly.
"Hunter, you go get Crosshair. He's part of the mission, too. Now is his chance to redeem himself," Eleni said. And the look on Eleni's face told Hunter to obey.
"Crosshair, come in," Hunter spoke into his communicator.
"What is it?" Crosshair sneered.
"You've been assigned to a rescue mission of Omega and the others. The Empire is after them. Orders from Eleni," Hunter stated.
"Fine. Who else is on the team?" Crosshair asked. Before Hunter could respond, Crosshair was out the front with his Sniper Rifle.
"Cham, Astro and Bossk are the others involved," Eleni replied.
"Good," Crosshair replied.
"Get onto the craft. I'll take us to Boba's last known location. Hopefully, all of them are close together. I'll take the controls," Bossk stated as he sprinted for the Slave 1's controls. Crosshair, Cham and Astro scrambled onto the craft, and it took off, heading north after the Gunships.
The Summer evening air was still warm inside the security facility, despite the air conditioner working overtime in the far wall, Boba noticed. The lights in the off-white roof lit the room, and Boba could hear the conversation and the hum of the computer showing incident reports on the wall. Boba took in the scent of electricity powering the computer combined with the plaster of the dull grey walls and the fabric of the navy blue carpet, which was rough but soft on his boots.
"This is all new stuff. Am I the only one who noticed that?" Boba turned to the other teenagers, who all shook their heads.
"It's specialised equipment for the festival. This facility is effectively a trial run before we roll it out more generally," the officer explained as he led them towards the back.
"Where are we going?" Omega asked.
"Meeting room. It's the safest part of the facility. The Empire won't expect you there," the officer replied as he led them down a brightly lit corridor with floor, ceiling, and walls identical in colour to the foyer out the front. Once the quintet reached the entrance room, the officer knocked on the door.
"You got the teens?" came a female voice from inside.
"Yes," the officer replied.
"Bring them in," the female voice replied. The officer opened the door and let the quartet inside.
The voice belonged to a middle-aged, blue-skinned Pantoran woman with gold eyes, long Mauve hair, a faded yellow square mark under her eyes, wearing a maroon officer suit who was sitting on a dark grey, wooden chair resting a blue hand on the off-white table. The carpet was the same shade of blue as everywhere else, though the painted walls were a dull grey. The ceiling was tiled off-white, with several lamps dangling off them to provide light. On the back wall was a large monitor, which was currently showing where the Empire was moving through the festival. The scent of electricity and wood hit the teenagers' senses.
"These four seats, please," the officer pointed to the empty seats on the other side of the table from her. After a moment, the teenagers walked over and sat at the indicated seats.
"The Empire is using a typical entrapment formation. I don't doubt they'll come here before too long, but there'll be plenty to sweep beforehand," the officer explained before turning to Hera.
"I hope, for all of your sakes, that your droid returns to your place before the Empire gets to this area," she said grimly.
"I hope so," Hera replied.
"What does the Empire want with any of you?" the officer wondered.
"Boba, because he's got original Clone DNA. They're after me for my mutations," Omega replied.
"So you two are Clones. That explains a lot," the officer replied, comprehension dawning on her.
"I can contact Bossk and the others to see how close they are," Bobna suggested.
"You do that, and the Empire will track you right here," the officer warned.
"Right. It was just a suggestion," Boba replied.
Back to the adults
"Here we are," Bossk stated as he brought Slave 1 into a landing just outside the eastern entrance.
"What's the Empire doing?" Cham asked. Astro checked his scans and replied, "Looks like an entrapment manoeuvre. Must be zeroing in on all the likely locations they'll be hiding,"
"Can you contact your other officers and see if they're there?" Crosshair asked.
"Have you got encryption that the Empire can't break in 10 seconds?" Astro replied.
"We do," Bossk replied, handing a black-and-red datapad to Astro, "See if you can get a signal to Boba's com. We should be able to determine where they are before the Empire does,"
"On it," Astro replied. After a minute, they got a brief ping from the other side of the festival.
"Good news, bad news time," Astro said.
"What is it?" Crosshair asked.
"Good news, we've located at least Boba. I hope the others were smart enough to stick close to him. The bad news is they're on the other side of the festival. We're fighting our way there,"
"I'll provide cover fire while you guys pass," Crosshair stated, grabbing his sniper rifle.
"Keep everything to stun, OK? Anything odd we find on the armour, document it. Right?" Cham replied.
"Got it," the others reply as they exit the craft and take up positions.
"On my signal," Astro said, holding his hand up, "Now!"
Cham and Bossk led Astro down the hill towards the festival entrance. Crosshir found a ledge nearby and started using cover fire to drive the nearby stormtroopers away from Cham, Bossk and Astro.
Back with the teenagers
Boba heard his communicator ping and immediately knew it was Bossk.
"The adults are here, and they know where we are," Boba said as four white circles joined the twenty-five red circles around the festival map and the fifteen blue circles of security. The security forces engaged the two clusters on either side of the security depot path, both sides scoring hits equally.
"Both sides are using stuns," Omega observed.
"I know our officers are told only to use stun, but why are the Stormtroopers using stun? That doesn't make any sense," the female officer replied.
"I'm guessing they don't want local casualties. Not a good look when you're trying to win favour with the populace," Omega replied, her hands clenched into fists.
"How long do you think your security guys can hold out?" Alejandro asked.
"About as long as it'll take for your parents to get here," the female officer replied.
"Then I, at least, had better get ready to fight. Omega, you've got skills with weapons. Do you want to join me should the need arise?" Boba asked, standing up.
"Of course. I'm not going to get captured without a fight," Omega stood up.
Worried, the female officer begged, "Please, don't. You two haven't undergone the required training,"
"Boba and I have," Omega replied, "It's how we've been able to survive to this point,"
"Even so," the female officer replied.
"We won't unless we have to. OK?" Boba reassured, sitting back down.
"OK," the female officer conceded.
Back to the adults
Crosshair's strategy of laying down cover fire while the others charged through and stunned whatever got in the way worked for about half the journey. But when they reached the central square, they had to use nearby buildings and stands as cover. Two speeder bikes were there, and they fired rapidly towards them. Bossk peaked out long enough to get a look at the speeder bikes and recognised floating gurneys behind them.
"So that's how they're going to move Arla and Boba if they were to capture them," Bossk hissed.
"Arla?" Astro turned to Bossk with a confused expression.
"You know her as Omega. Boba calls her by Arla because that's the name his father would've given her if he had raised her instead of Nala Se," Bossk hissed back.
"How are we going to take them out? They're starting to move towards us," Crosshair enquired.
"Booby traps," Bossk replied, "I'll set them up on either side of the stands. Start pulling back at my word. Once they're in position, I'll set them off,"
"Sounds like a plan," Astro replied. He waited until the shots from the two speeder bikes had crossed the middle before he jumped from his cover and ran back. He made it to the stand behind him with a second to spare, hiding behind it just as another volley of laser fire crossed his position, the booth sparking from the plasma. Crosshair shot two distraction shots at the speeder bikes before falling back. It worked for one, who fired way to the right of where Crosshair had been, not fooling the other, and Crosshair had to jump behind the stands to avoid getting hit.
Finally, Bossk was ready. He threw the improvised explosive device across the ground to the other side, then retreated further down the corridor to the left of the nearest building.
"Steady," Bossk stated, "Steady," as the speeder bikes approached the trap. The bikes reached the trap zone just as the stand Crosshair was hiding behind was destroyed by laser fire, forcing Crosshair to run for his life.
"NOW!" Bossk yelled as he activated the IEDs, which erupted on either side of the speeder bikes, damaging them and knocking the pilots to the ground. Astro, Crosshair, and Cham all took advantage, raining stuns on the bikes and the pilots before they could find their feet or call for help. After a minute, the battle was over.
"Let's go. We're not far from the security depot," Astro said. Bossk, Crosshair and Cham nodded, and they continued eastwards. With sunlight now non-existent, Cham, Bossk and Astro had to get their night vision goggles out to continue to see where they were going. Crosshair's mutations allowed him to see in the dark, so he didn't need that equipment.
Meanwhile, with the Empire
They had staked out two-thirds of the festival complex. The troopers had night vision activated to see in the dark. The stormtroopers had confirmed that the quartet they were after weren't in the Western half of the festival complex, and now they were steadily making their way through the eastern half.
Suddenly, a Commander got a brief, garbled message from the speeder bike patrol near the centre of the complex.
"What is it, boss?" came a female stormtrooper voice from nearby.
"Something's happened to the speeder bike patrol. The patrols were stationed near the centre of the complex to stop anyone crossing from one side to the other. But I just lost contact with them," the Commander stated.
"Should I go and investigate?" the female stormtrooper asked.
"Take a few troopers with you and find out. I feel this operation has just gotten more complex," the Commander replied.
"On it," the female stormtrooper replied, and she grabbed a few allies and headed for the central area.
"Commander, we've decrypted the ping sent thirty minutes ago," another stormtrooper, this one male, called.
"Good. Where was it sent to?" the Commander asked.
"The security barracks near the eastern edge of the complex," the trooper replied.
"That's awkward," the Commander admitted, "That complex has a backdoor exit. If they know we're coming, they'll funnel the teenagers out that way. Have the stormtroopers nearest to the barracks go around and block any escape routes. Then we'll head there ourselves,"
"On it," the male stormtrooper replied, relaying the message.
Back to the teenagers
"What's your name?" Omega asked the female officer.
"Zeria," she replied.
"Nice name," Hera replied. Zeria turned to the tactical display and frowned.
"They know where you are. It looks like they're moving troopers to trap us inside the barracks," Zeria said.
"What do we do?" Omega asked.
Zeria studied the map. The Empire was winning the battle against the security forces. Fifteen red dots remained, while only five blue dots were visible. The white dots that signalled the adults were now in the same alleyway as the security barracks.
"They're almost here," Omega said.
"So is the Empire," Hera pointed out as the display showed five red dots approaching the barracks.
"And they're coming from the south. They must know we're here," Zeria said grimly.
"They must have decoded the ping," Boba growled as he jumped up. Omega followed, and they watched through the keyhole, waiting to see which side reached them first.
With the adults
Crosshair was the first to spot the approaching stormtroopers about twenty feet from the security barracks. The stormtroopers were about the same distance from the barracks but on the other side. Both sides open fire, forcing everyone behind cover.
"Keep an eye on our back. I'm sure they'll try something like that," Astro called to Bossk, who nodded in agreement and started watching around him while continuing to fire on the stormtroopers.
"If I can get a few clear shots, I can bring them all down!" Crosshair stated.
"Right. Cham, Bossk, try to lay down suppressive fire," Astro called. Cham and Bossk nodded and slightly adjusted their firing to keep the stormtroopers back.
Crosshair jumped out from behind his cover and started firing on the stormtroopers. Two were stunned before they realised what had happened, and a third was down before they could return fire. Crosshair took cover on the other side from where he was and managed to stun the fourth stormtrooper. The fifth stormtrooper called for a retreat as suddenly, a hundred security personnel descended from all directions, firing stun blasts everywhere. Such was the sheer number of stuns that the quarter had to stay behind cover to avoid being stunned. After another minute, the stormtroopers were in full retreat. Ten minutes later, the LAAT Gunships were flying away.
In the barracks
"What did you do?" Alejandro asked as the map showed a hundred blue dots suddenly descending on the festival complex.
"I sent a distress signal out," Zeria replied. Ten minutes after the blue dots descended, the last red dots of the Empire vanished from the display.
"Victory," Boba let out a sigh of relief. That was too close. He looked to Omega, who seemed similarly relieved.
Another three minutes passed before the door opened again, and Astro, Cham, Crosshair and Bossk entered.
"Thanks for the rescue," Alejandro said as he embraced his father.
"I'm so sorry for making you feel excluded," Cham sighed as he and Hera embraced.
"I'm just glad you're OK," Crosshair said, patting Omega on the head as she embraced him.
"You four gave us all quite the scare," Bossk stated.
"Thank you for watching over them," Astro called to Zeria.
"No problem. Now you'd best get home," Zeria replied.
"We will. We're getting back on Slave 1," Bossk said.
"Let's get going. I bet Alexis will be nervously waiting for her big brother to get home," Alejandro said.
"All the kids are waiting for their teenage siblings," Astro pointed out as everyone returned the way they came. As they did, Boba leaned into Omega.
"Arla, do you think Jek and Shaeeah will be worried about me?" Boba asked. Omega thought momentarily, then shrugged.
"I don't know. I think Jek and Shaeeah will, as you are family," Omega smirked.
"OK," Boba replied. Before long, the group had reached Slave 1 and were on their way home.