Hunter showed Ahsoka around the Marauder when they got back from Cid's and sent her up to sleep in the gunnar's mount. It wasn't spacious by any means but with Omega curled up in the corner, cuddling some ragged stuffed tooka, the two girls fit perfectly, almost like two pieces of a puzzle.
Ahsoka crawled up into the chair and twisted around to observe Omega's small space. Wrecker had apparently set it up for her, and Ahsoka decided that he did spectacularly. The room was a bit tight but comfortable, a few old but clean cushions littering the floor and recycled string lights across the ceiling illuminating the space. There was a trooper doll in the corner, and upon further inspection, she found it to be a crudely-painted Storm Trooper doll.
She smiled softly.
Ahsoka was exhausted but didn't feel like sleeping– didn't know if she could even if she wanted to. But for now, she could at least meditate. She would find a bit of refreshment in the Force, clear her mind, and go without nightmares.
Wiggling in her seat, she managed to cross her legs and sighed, closing her eyes. She slipped into meditation easily enough but didn't let herself go too deep. She was still on guard, attentive in a frightened and practiced way.
The Force brought her comfort in the form of a warm hug, a soft blanket wrapping around her. She knew of everything that was happening; the sleeping presences of the clones on their bunks, dreaming peacefully under her careful watch; the stirring one beside her chair, waking slowly and–
The light of the signature flashed suddenly in a surge of excitement and a sharp squeal broke the air. Ahsoka jumped, startled into nearly crashing from the seat.
"Ahsoka!" Omega burst. She was wide-awake, cheeks dusted pink with pure glee. "You stayed!"
"Yeah, for now," Ahsoka slipped out of the chair and patted down on both Omega's shoulders. "Hush, Omega, you'll wake everyone."
Hunter was awake, Ahsoka could feel it in her haze of the Force which she was still clinging to as if she could avoid letting go– she couldn't.
"Sorry, I'm just really happy ," Omega whispered, much in the way Wrecker would when he got excited.
"I know, I know–" she could feel that, too– "but that doesn't mean you should wake the whole ship. They need their beauty sleep. Trust me, Echo is not fun to be around when he's tired and grumpy."
Omega giggled. "Tell me a story about Echo?"
"Not now, you need to sleep, too. I bet you turn into a grouch when you're tired," Ahsoka teased, and Omega pouted a little.
"I'll sleep if you tell me a story."
Ahsoka didn't want to. It hurt enough to reminisce earlier. "I need sleep, too."
Thankfully, Omega relented, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
The morning snuck up on Ahsoka when she sunk herself into meditation and time became irrelevant. It wasn't always that way, but she lost track of time that night, and it unnerved her. She couldn't let her guard down, couldn't trust anyone .
Hunter poked his head into the gunner's mount and Ahsoka jerked herself out of meditation before he could startle her or notice.
"Morning, kids," Hunter said, nodding to Ahsoka while he reached out to shake Omega's shoulder. "Wake up, 'Mega. Come get something to eat before the mission. You too, Master Jedi."
"You don't have to call me that," Ahsoka said with a partially-forced smile.
Hunter patted Omega's shoulder one more time and dropped off the ladder. Omega sat up, and Ahsoka expected her to be wiping the sleep out of her eyes, but she was miraculously wide awake and grinning.
"I'm so excited!" Omega said, grabbing Ahsoka's hand to drag her down the ladder. "Missions are so fun, and you'll be there with us!"
Omega bounced down the hall, Ahsoka stumbling as the younger girl dragged her along. They ended up in the galley kitchen, the smell of caf and breakfast meat assaulting Ahsoka and turning her stomach.
Omega plopped down on the bench at the eating booth and slid all the way down while Ahsoka stepped aside to lean on the counter. Tech presented Omega with a plate filled with breakfast foods that looked better than 90 percent of the things she was served in the temple as a child. But still, the thought of eating it made her feel like puking.
Tech, as if knowing exactly how she felt, tapped her on the shoulder with a ration bar and handed it to her, sharing a curt nod. The exchange was silent but may as well have been a thousand words.
Ahsoka stepped out of the galley– the tight space wasn't meant for so many people at once– and nearly crashed into Hunter.
"Sorry, kid," he said, even though it wasn't his fault, and then offered to take her to the cockpit and brief her on the mission.
She followed him down the hallway, nibbling at the end of her ration bar.
The mission was to break into a sort of prison, find some guy, and bust him out. There were guards everywhere, and they would have to scale a wall to get inside, slip through the door, and sneak down the winding hallways. If all went well, they'd sneak in, beat up only the guards holding (and possibly torturing) their guy, and sneak out again.
But since when did anything ever go as planned?
They managed to land and tuck the Marauder away where no one would find it and climb halfway up the cliff without incident. It was a sheer drop, a rocky wall leading up to the prison, and Wrecker kept grumbling quietly about the height. Omega was shaking, but she said nothing.
But halfway up, Omega's hand slipped, losing hold of her rope and falling just out of Hunter's reach. Omega shrieked, an ear-splitting scream, and it muffled Hunter's panicked cry of her name.
Ahsoka acted fast, whipping back a hand and letting the Force flow through her. Omega stilled in mid-air. One of Omega's squeezed-shut eyes peeked open and she couldn't seem to understand that she was still alive.
Ahsoka dragged Omega over slowly enough and pressed the younger girl up against the wall next to herself. She set a hand on Omega's back and flattened the both of them against the wall as best as she could, staring upward.
A guard appeared at the now-visible doorway and looked around, but thankfully didn't look down enough to spot their grapples and ropes or the intruders themselves. The guard marched back inside, but shut the door behind him this time.
"He shut the door, that wasn't part of the plan," Echo hissed.
Ahsoka breathed uneasily and bit her lip. "I think I see another little entrance point up there."
"We know. They're ventilation ducts. But they're too small for us to gain access," said an annoyed voice, and Ahsoka bit her lip a little harder because she knew it was only in her mind.
"I bet I could fit through," Ahsoka said.
"Good thinking," Echo said with a curt nod, and they all kept climbing.
Except this time Hunter had Omega cling to his back and she didn't protest. Before she'd been bold and insisted on climbing but now she trembled and looked pale.
They made it to the top and Ahsoka puffed out a breath, glancing up at the entrance point. It was definitely a ventilation duct, but it was high up. Thankfully, she had the Force on her side.
Ahsoka leaped up and clung to the edge, heaving herself over, and diving through. She crawled to the nearest grate, dropped to the floor, and soundlessly pounded the control panel so the door swished open.
The others jogged in and Ahsoka shut the door behind them to avoid raising any suspicions.
Through the halls they crept, encountering more guards than they wanted to. Ahsoka hung back and let the boys take care of all the guards. She was without her lightsabers, but even with them, she'd only be helpful as a shield. The Bad Batch wasn't keen on killing, rather using the stun setting to take out everyone in their way.
They reached the room where their guy was held at the same time a squad of guards came storming around the corner. While the boys were busy holding them off, Ahsoka slipped back into the room, knocked the guards out with a wave of her hand and a strong sleep suggestion, and scurried over to the control panel to release the guy.
She'd seen way too many of these in her life and knew exactly how to work it all and her hand came down on the button that sent the guy tumbling gracelessly to the floor.
"You're a Jedi," the guy breathed when she rushed over to help him up. He looked between the sleeping guards and Ahsoka. His mop of pale blonde hair fell into his eyes.
"Not exactly," Ahsoka said softly. "But it's complicated, and we have to go."
Supporting a lot of his weight, Ahsoka led him to the door.
"Is there something I can call you?" Ahsoka asked, thinking it would be convenient to know his name in case he got stupid and she had to scream it.
"Ethan," he said, and she palmed the door open.
"Took you long enough," Wrecker boomed, irritated.
"I was in there for one minute," Ahsoka scoffed.
"But I'm hungry and I wanna get back to the ship so I can eat."
"Let's move out," Hunter shouted over the ruckus of the never-ending waves of guards joining the firefight.
They backed along the hallway, Ahsoka in the middle with Ethan in case some guards came from the other end. They made hasty enough progress for the predicament
When they got outside, Ahsoka shut the door with the Force and did her best to crunch the heavy metal into place, not that she did much at all.
The group raced along the outside of the prison, searching for a good place to tie ropes and get back down. Hunter spotted a place that would work well enough, he, Tech, and Echo attaching the three grapples and sliding down. Omega followed closely and Wrecker, whining, inched his way down the rope.
"After you," Ahsoka gestured to the last empty rope and Ethan hobbled over with a groan.
"Master Jedi, I may need some assistance," Ethan said, huffing as his weak hands refused to clutch the rope tightly enough.
Ahsoka sighed and gripped the rope with one hand and with the other, secured Ethan on her shoulder. She slid down, Ethan screeching with fear the whole way.
"Took you long enough!" Wrecker barked when they got down, and Ahsoka glared at him.
Grabbing the ropes, the group ran alongside the cliff on their way back to the Marauder . Eight hundred meters. Then six hundred. Then Four hundred. And a sudden whistling howl split the air, Ahsoka freezing in her tracks.
"What was that?" Omega asked.
"Anoobas," Ahsoka said. They were coming. "Run."
They picked up their pace. Three hundred meters, then two hundred, and Ahsoka could hear the animals' feet pounding the ground. She whirled just in time to kick one in the face and shove two more with the Force. One didn't get up but the others did, snarling with anger.
"Run!" she screamed at the others, who had stopped, and she kicked another anooba in the face. The Batch broke into a full sprint but Ethan tumbled onto the ground. Ahsoka skidded past him and watched in horror as she scrambled to redirect her momentum.
An anooba hurled itself at Ethan, who kicked and screamed. Ahsoka flung herself around and raced back.
"Master Piell!" she screamed without thinking and tackled the anooba off of him, whacking it in the face until it stopped moving. She kicked it aside and scrambled over to Master Piell's huffing form.
"I'm dying!" he cried dramatically, in one of the most un-Master-Piell ways.
"No, no you're not." Ahsoka said, throwing him over her shoulder. "Not this time!"
"What do you mean by this ti– Aaaaahhh!"
Ahsoka took off, sprinting the last hundred meters and barrelling into the Marauder .
"Master Piell," Ahsoka dropped him on the ground to assess the damage, only to find that his cuts weren't even deep enough for concern.
"Commander?" Echo gasped in disbelief.
"What?" Ahsoka whipped around, new concern flittering through her. Had she missed an injury?
"What did you just call him?" Echo said.
"I called him— Oh kriff ," Ahsoka realized. She looked up at Echo and tears welled up in her eyes. "Echo– oh, oh kriff I'm sorry, I– I don't know– you almost– you almost died and I'm sorry ."
"Hey, hey, it's not your fault. Everything's okay," Echo said, trying to wrap his hands around her.
But Ahsoka took one look at his emotion-pooled eyes and shoved him back so he stumbled out of the way. "I don't want your pity," she bit out, storming past him and locking herself into the bunk room.
She stared at the door and the lock for a long moment and felt a tear steak down her face. Ahsoka sank down into Echo's bed and sobbed silently into his pillow.
