Bad Batch Episode: The Crossing
Another mission from Cid, this one being the first one without Echo and/or Banjo since they became part of the team.
The Marauder came to land on a desert planet, and the Batch exited the ship. But despite being one man and one horse short, they had a sufficient team in the form of two Jedi, a jewel pegasus filly, Tech's fiancé Mila, and young Mona.
The group came up to what looked like an enormous bank vault implanted into a canyon wall. Tech checked his tablet and looked at the door.
"According to Cid's coordinates, this is the mine she purchased." said the brainy clone.
"And we're supposed to do what?" Omega asked.
"Excavate the site for ipsium. It is tremendously valuable when refined."
"But it's also highly combustible in its raw state, like a prime thermal detonator." Myra said. "We learned that in chemistry yesterday."
"Yes, I was just about to say that."
"Face it, Techy-Bear. You aren't the only one with brains." Mila said.
The girls couldn't help giggling at the nickname Mila gave Tech.
"Sounds dangerous." Wrecker said, then he laughed. "I like it."
Tech opened the mine, when Hunter began to sense something, and so did Comedia and Myra. Hunter picked up some bits of dirt.
"Something wrong?" Tech asked.
"Is it gonna rain?" Mona asked, looking at the clouds.
"The storm's moving away from us. We should be fine." Hunter said. "Tech, we'll mine the ipsium. Crosshair, Omega. You're on lookout. At least one Jedi should stay with you too. Cid warned us about poachers in the area."
"I'll stay with Omega." Myra said. "I already got a lightsaber."
"What? I thought you had to pass a bunch of tests for that." Comedia said.
"It's my dad's old one. He never uses it." Even though the guys' faces were covered with helmets, she could tell they were hesitant. "Relax, guys. I'm trained."
"Maybe Maybelle and I should just use magic," said Estrella.
"Keep your eyes peeled and comm us if you see anyone." Hunter instructed.
Wrecker held the heavy supplies and was ready to go.
So, while Crosshair, Omega, Myra, Maybelle, and Estrella kept an eye on things outside, the others went into the mine to work on the ipsium harvesting.
"My scans are not indicating a sizable presence of ipsium." Tech said. "Looks like Cid was deceived into purchasing an already depleted mine."
"That might be the case," said Mila. "Or maybe not. There could be ipsium a little deeper inside."
"That's why it's a good thing ya got us on yer team." Pinto said. "Back home, my grandpappy told me all kinds a stories about how his grandpappy was a gold miner, and taught him everything he knew about digging for all kind of stuff, and later he taught me and my siblings."
"Well, I'm pretty sure ipsium is different from gold," said Comedia. "But if your grandpa's as good as you say, I hope he was also a good teacher."
"Keep scanning," said Hunter. "We'll extract whatever we can."
The group went deeper into the mine, the unicorns using their horns for light. Tech continued scanning, and eventually he got something.
"Wait. I am getting a faint reading." Tech looked around, and then he caught something. "There."
He pointed upward to a bit in the ceiling.
"The ipsium is going to be difficult to reach."
"Have you forgotten you have a bunch of flying horses here?" Teatra said.
"We'll need to carve out a bigger opening in the rock to get it." Hunter said.
"The mineral is too unstable. Even the slightest friction around it can cause a destructive chain reaction."
"Then, what do you suggest?"
Outside the mine, Omega sat and tossed a rock around her hand while Crosshair, Myra, and the two horses were keeping a lookout. Nobody was talking much. This was quiet even for Crosshair.
Omega threw her stone; it was quiet enough to hear it clattering down below.
"Hey, what's with you?" Myra asked her friend.
"I was thinking about Echo. It's weird without him around."
"I hear ya, Partner." Maybelle said. "I feel the same about Banjo."
That was when Omega's comlink went off.
"Omega, we require your assistance." Tech said over the com.
"On my way." Omega sighed.
Omega had a lot on her mind. Even though she wasn't quite as depressed as before, she still missed Echo, but it wasn't just that. Tech and Mila were getting married soon, and she'd overheard them discussing where they would live when they were married. She'd heard them talking about how although the Casita was nice, maybe it would be a good idea for them to look for their own place to be together and raise a family. Omega was happy for Tech when he got engaged, but at the same time now, she was terrified of losing another one of her brothers. All kinds of questions entered her head.
What if Tech didn't come around anymore because he was with his wife? What if he had babies? If he did, would he love them more than he loved Omega?
Omega didn't have time to think about those things now though; her brothers needed her help.
"Why can't I harvest it?" Mona asked, standing down below with Tech and Mila. "I'm little and I can fly."
"You're not going any closer to that mineral." Hunter said, helping Omega up after Indira steadily flew the two humans closer to the ipsium. "I promised your parents I'd keep you safe."
Omega got into position with the proper tool.
"Now what?" she asked.
"Drill into the fossilized quartz until you reach the active ipsium inside." Tech instructed.
"And remember. Slow and steady." Mila added.
"You must be precise. If the mineral becomes compromised during the retrieval…."
"Chain reaction, explosion. Got it." Omega rolled her eyes.
"I'll just take Mona outside." Teatra said, picking the girl up by her shirt with her teeth and carrying her away.
"Hey!" Mona whined.
"Okay…. If there are no more interruptions." Omega sighed. She carefully placed the tool into place and began slowly drilling.
"Be very careful." Hunter said slowly.
"I know." Omega said, mimicking Hunter's tone.
The ipsium drilling went perfectly. Now, Omega had to harvest it into a little canister, which she passed to Hunter, who passed it to Tech.
"Good. Again." Tech said, giving another canister to Hunter.
Meanwhile, the Marauder was sitting in its parked state, but its owners were unaware someone was going after it.
Speaking of the Bad, Crosshair began to notice something in the clouds.
"That storm is changing course." Crosshair said.
"I feel it. My tail's knows when a storm's comin'" Maybelle said, her tail curling up and then popping out again.
"The weather patterns on this planet are most irregular." Tech said.
"Kinda like my Tia Pepa when she was expecting Antonio." Mila added.
"We have what we came for," said Hunter. "Let's get back to Ord Mantell."
"That's it?" Comedia said. "But what about my vision? It said I needed to come with you on a mission. And, there's no one here but us."
"Maybe you were just dreamin'" Pinto said. "The mind does do crazy things sometimes in our sleep."
"No, no." Myra said. "The Force works in mysterious ways, and that vision was a little too weird for us to have had the same vision. There's probably something we're missing."
Just then, the horses could hear the sound of a ship whirring.
"That sounds like the Marauder!" Indira exclaimed.
Hunter and Indira immediately took off.
"I hear it too!" Omega said, running after Hunter.
All the flying horses spread their wings and flew in the direction of the Marauder. They tried to apprehend the ship and the thief, but it was too late. The Marauder already took off.
"You were supposed to be on lookout!" Hunter scolded Crosshair.
"I was. Then someone distracted me." Crosshair said, not subtly bumping Maybelle.
"I backed into you by accident!" Maybelle said.
Omega didn't like the look of this.
"There has to be a way to get it back, right?" Omega looked at Hunter.
"Wait a minute!" Myra said. She looked around at everyone. "Where are Mona and Diamond?"
Hunter's eyes got wide and so did Comedia's.
"Diamond and Mona must've still been on the ship!" Comedia said. "It's all my fault. I never should've left her out here."
"Tell me, Comedia, how exactly did you not think to not leave a little girl at the ship?"
"First, I left her here with Crosshair and Myra, second, if you hadn't docked it out of view, maybe one of us would've seen someone approaching."
"Well, there was no other suitable landing zone, Comedia"
Hunter sighed.
"We can't stay here. Where's the nearest town?"
Tech tapped on his tablet and said, "During our approach, I scanned a spaceport approximately 40 klicks south of here. Perhaps we can acquire transport there."
"You know how long that would take?" said Wrecker.
"Since we do not have access to long-range communications without our ship, it is our only option."
"I think Tech may be right," said Myra, lifting her phone up. "I can't get a dang signal out here!"
"Me neither," said Omega, checking her phone.
Hunter got onto Indira's saddle and said, "Let's move."
So, everyone got on a horse. With Round n' Round back home, Myra rode on Comedia.
The Batch rode for a while on their horses. They came across a canyon that made it feel an awful lot like being in the wild west.
"Hey, Pinto. Do ya remember when Pa brought us to hike through Star Badge Gulch when were foals?" Maybelle said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Do I ever." Pinto chuckled.
Everyone needed some water as a result of the heat too.
"Whoo." Wrecker sighed after drinking some water. "How much further?"
"You will not like the answer." Tech said.
"You're not even the one walking, Wrecker." Mila said.
"Havoc-4, this is Havoc-5. Do you copy?" Omega said into her comlink, trying to contact Echo. "Echo? Are you there?"
"He's too long-range," said Hunter. "Echo won't pick up our signal."
"Especially since he disabled his communication device." said Tech.
"What? Why?"
"I assume he's on a sensitive mission."
"Myra? Any luck contacting any Jedi?" Mila asked.
"Not yet." Myra said.
Hunter then raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet and still. All the horses sensed it too. The ground started to rumble underneath the horses' feet.
"What's that?" Wrecker asked.
"Run!"
Hunter snapped the reins, signaling Indira to run fast as a stampede of Ipsidon bucks came right at them. All the horses began running as quickly as they could to get ahead, those with wings spreading them to get their riders to safety, which meant Maybelle and Pinto needed a little help.
Maybelle quickly found some rocks big enough for her to jump on, and she carried Crosshair to safety. But when Pinto jumped on the last rock, he slipped and fell with Wrecker.
"Wrecker!/Pinto!" Omega and Maybelle exclaimed.
Fortunately, however, Pinto used his magic horn to catch himself and his rider and carry them both to safety.
"Someone must go down and protect the ipsium case." Tech said.
"Well, what about protecting us?" Wrecker said.
"If it explodes, we'll all be dead!"
"Comedia, now might be a good time to use the Force." Myra said.
"Ditto." Comedia said.
Both Comedia and Myra put out a hand or hoof and quickly but carefully lifted the case out of range of the bucks' running. It took a lot of concentration though, as they had to keep it up and keep it as steady as possible until the bucks stopped running.
The bucks eventually stopped running, and it was safe for everyone to fly or climb down again.
"I suggest not dropping it next time." Tech told Wrecker.
"Why don't you carry it, then?" said Wrecker.
"Fine."
Mila looked up and saw something.
"I think the stampede was actually the least of our problems." she said, pointing outward.
Not far from the group was a ton of storm clouds. It didn't look like it would just be a simple drizzle.
"Well, that would certainly explain the stampede." Tech said.
"How's about we stampede outta here?" Pinto said.
Quickly, all the horses began running again, but as fast as they were, they couldn't outrun the clouds, and it became difficult to see.
"I can't see! It's getting too dark!" Teatra exclaimed.
"We need to find shelter!" Hunter shouted.
Fortunately, the clones had their helmets to protect their vision, and Tech found something.
"There is another mine. Thirty meters ahead." Tech shouted.
"I see it!" Omega concurred.
Everyone did their best to stay together, but at one point, Tech fell off his horse, along with the case, and both of them hit the ground.
"Tech!" Mila exclaimed. Quickly, she used her telepathy to get her husband back on.
"The case!" said Tech.
"Forget it!" Mila said.
And everyone rushed inside, which was good because the storm was getting worse! The winds got stronger, and lightning struck. It appeared everyone got inside safely. Wherever Mona and Diamond were now, hopefully the thief at least took them somewhere away from this storm. But Omega noticed something else was missing.
"Where's the ipsium?"
The ipsium case was outside, and unfortunately got caught in the wind and a lightning strike.
"GET DOWN!" Hunter shouted.
And everyone quickly hit the deck as the ipsium blew up just above the mine's entrance, sending tons of rock and dirt down. Eventually though, it was quiet.
The unicorns all lit their horns up, and Hunter took out a lantern.
"Is everyone alright?" Myra asked.
"I think so." Omega said, dusting herself off.
"Ugh! My tail is caught under a rock!" Pinto grunted, trying to get his tail unstuck.
"So, now we are trapped." Tech said. "And we have lost all of our ipsium."
"At least we're alive though." Mila said.
"But if someone had not let our ship get stolen, we would be right on board with the mineral." Tech said, looking at Crosshair.
"Nevermind whose fault it is," said Mila. "The only real question is how do we get out of here?"
"Let's start digging our way outta here." Hunter said.
"Fine." Wrecker said.
In most cases, the unicorns could just use magic to get them out, but given the unpredictability of this planet, they didn't think that would be such a good idea; they could end up apparating somewhere more dangerous. Plus Omega's spell casting practice in terms of aiming were still a work in progress, so it was too risky for her to use a spell to blast the rocks, and Myra's lightsaber wasn't likely to be helpful either; not even anything in Comedia's prank bag. So, everyone got to work moving rocks. While the grownups and all horses except Comedia carefully moved the rocks, the two Jedi lit a lightsaber or horn and began looking a little deeper in the cave for a possible alternate exit, and Omega tried to do something on Tech's tablet.
"Something's not right." Omega said. "The Marauder's transponder isn't relaying a signal."
"It was probably disabled by the thief who commandeered it. Or Diamond could have gotten startled and kicked it." Tech said.
"Well, then how are we gonna track it?"
"The ship's not important now. We need to get outta here first." Hunter said, starting to move another rock.
"Quite right. Besides, it is most unlikely that the Marauder will be recovered." Tech said.
"What? Don't say that. We have to get it back to find Diamond and Mona!" Omega said.
"We can always acquire another ship. It is merely a mode of transportation."
"It's not about the ship! It's about two of our friends! We already lost Echo. We can't lose them too."
Hunter could see that Omega was upset.
"Omega, we didn't lose Echo. He's just on a different mission."
"But, he's not here. He's-He's not with us. We're supposed to be a squad."
"This squad existed before Echo was a part of it, and it will exist after." Tech said. "What is your issue?"
Omega was silent. She just tossed Tech his tablet and started to walk away.
"Omega–" Hunter began to approach, but…
"I want to be alone." Omega said, close to crying.
Everyone else glared at Tech, including Mila.
"I merely stated the truth."
"She already knows the truth." Hunter said. "That's why she's upset."
Mila also looked very disappointed.
"If that's how you give pep talks to your sister, I can't imagine you being very emotionally supportive to our children. This squad existed before the horses came around, Tech. And it existed before I came along too." Mila took out the necklace that held her engagement ring. "If I'd suddenly left the squad, think about how you would feel if it were for a different reason than not wanting to be a soldier."
And with that, Mila went in Omega's direction to look for Myra and Comedia, leaving her boyfriend feeling something he couldn't explain. Tech looked at Wrecker and Crosshair, both of them looking equally disappointed.
Omega walked down a path, kicking a rock across the ground. Suddenly, she noticed her lantern's light shining on another path. She slid down a little ramp to enter and looked around. It was very dark, but Omega kept going.
But throughout her journey, Omega also started sniffling, very close to crying in that moment. She found a place to sit down and shut off her lantern to just sit and cry in the dark for a while. But moments after she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, she caught a glimpse of something unleashing a little glow.
Curious, Omega walked to a little hole in the wall, where she spotted the glow coming from. She looked inside and decided to take out the mining tool she used for the ipsium earlier. The wall crumbled a bit, and Omega was amazed when she looked inside to see…. Ipsium! Lots of it! This had to be the jackpot of ipsium.
Looks like I got some harvesting to do! Omega thought.
Back at the cave-in, the Batch continued to move rocks.
"It'll take days to clear a path at this rate." Wrecker groaned.
"Complaining won't make it go any faster." Hunter said.
"This operation could use a well-placed detonation." Tech grunted, trying to push another rock with his legs, only to fall when it suddenly jumped out from in front of him. "Whoa!"
Tech had a rather rough landing as someone telepathically moved the rock.
"Oops. Was that a little too rough for you?" Mila said.
"A small amount of ipsium would be more than enough."
"Well, we had a small amount, but somebody dropped it." Wrecker said.
"Well, someone didn't think to use her mind tricks to grab it." Tech said.
"Well, excuse me if I was more interested in making it out with my husband than a mineral." Mila said. "And don't you dare blame my gift. I can only concentrate on so much in one second."
"Fine. Since losing the mineral was my mistake, I'll search for any potential extractions within this mine."
"That's not the only mistake you need to fix." Hunter said.
"Mila…"
"Not the quarrel with me, Genius." Mila said. "Your sister."
"Yeah, go check on the kid." Wrecker added.
"But she said she wanted to be alone."
"Tech, when people say they want to be alone, it means they need emotional support." Mila said. "Yes, you should let them be for a little bit, but they also require support from loved ones."
"Look, she's clearly having a hard time adjusting to Echo leaving." Hunter pointed out. "Talk to her."
"Very well." Tech said. He grabbed his pack and went to go find Omega.
Myra, however, was curious.
"You okay, Mila? You and Tech seemed a little on edge." she asked.
Mila sighed. "Tech and I have had disagreements before, but never about anything this serious. Omega looked upset, and Tech didn't do so well with the pep talk. I know he processes thoughts a little differently, but sometimes I can't help my own patience, given my past boy troubles."
"Ah, I know that all too well."
"With Tech, it was always different. I felt like I was with someone I could connect with, and someone who genuinely loves me for me and wants to have a family with me. Sometimes, I feel like he gets concerned with the wrong things or misses the bigger picture."
"Even if Tech weren't neurodivergent, I'm pretty sure a lot of people have those habits."
"Si, you're probably right."
"Either way, I've seen the way Tech looks at you. No guy's ever looked at me that way. At least, none that I've noticed."
Deep down, Mila felt more scared than she'd ever felt. With her wedding a mere two weeks away, she was getting a huge case of the jitters, which was normal for engaged couples, especially when they got closer to the wedding day. She wanted her marriage to Tech to be… perfect. But the truth was, it wasn't going to be perfect. No marriage was; every single one had its ups and downs, and it was going to be another big change not just for her family, but for Tech's too.
Speaking of Tech's family, Omega was about ready to get harvesting some ipsium. Meanwhile, Tech was on the lookout for his sister. Conveniently, the ipsium Omega found led him on the very same path she'd taken to find the ipsium. And Tech found Omega just as she was almost finished with an extraction.
"Omega?" Tech removed his helmet. "Omega?"
"I'm busy." Omega said, not taking her eyes off her work.
"I can see that. Are you aware that you are surrounded by enough ipsium that, if not handled correctly, could take down this entire cavern?"
"Then you better not distract me."
Tech saw a little of Anakin in Omega now; he said the same thing whenever he was working on a new droid, and when he was working on a potion for an assignment from Garrett. Omega might not have been related by blood, but she was definitely Anakin's daughter.
Omega finished extracting some ipsium into a little canister, which she held up to Tech, but he didn't take it because he was busy looking at his tablet.
"Thought we could use this to blow our way through the cavern."
"I came to a similar conclusion myself."
"Little help?" Omega moved her hand slightly to get Tech's attention.
"This vein appears to be much more pure than what we found in Cid's mine." Tech took the little canister this time. He took a look at it and then at Omega. "Perhaps you should extract as much ipsium as you can."
Omega, however, glared at Tech.
"And you trust me to do that? Wouldn't you rather have your wife do that?"
"I am fully aware you are capable of the task. Mila is busy now."
Omega was silent for a moment.
"Grab the empty vials from my satchel." she said.
Tech nodded and did as Omega said.
Omega extracted as much ipsium as she could, filling up the second to last vial.
"How many are left?" Omega asked.
"This is the last one." Tech said, giving Omega one more empty canister, and Omega found a good-looking vein of ipsium to get.
Unfortunately, the vein was a little far to reach, and the rocks were crumbling at the edge. But Omega had an idea. She made her wings appear and carefully flew closer, managing to get the last canister filled. Except, when she made her wings disappear to get back to Tech, she slipped and started to fall over the edge.
"Tech!" Omega called.
"Hang on!"
Tech quickly dropped his pack and rushed in to save his sister. He reached down his hand for her to grab, but Omega couldn't reach him, and her hand slipped and she fell with a scream.
"Omega!" Tech exclaimed.
It was too dark for him to see Omega, so without a second thought…. Tech jumped in after her, and quickly found himself landing in a raging river of cold water! He could see Omega flashing little balls of light while trying to swim back.
Tech quickly swam over to Omega and tried to get her back to safety, but the river was too strong!
Meanwhile, the others were still moving rocks, when Hunter, Comedia, and Myra began to sense something was off. Tech and Omega had both been gone for a long time.
"What is it, Hunter?" Wrecker said.
Hunter activated his comlink.
"Tech, do you copy?" No answer. "Omega, do you copy?"
No answer from Omega either. This got the others worried.
"Something's wrong." Hunter said. "Crosshair, you and Maybelle stay here."
But while Hunter and the others split up to look for them, Tech and Omega were still trapped in the river, desperately trying to keep their heads above the water. But the two found themselves being pulled underwater into some kind of tunnel, and before they knew it, they were spat through some kind of waterfall that sparkled like the moon at night, and so did the lake.
Omega and Tech, both coughing and exhausted, made their way to dry land, laying on their backs to catch their breath, when Hunter came in on the comlink.
"Tech, Omega, do you copy?"
"Affirmative." Tech exhaled. "We took an unforeseen detour, but we are alive."
"Where are you?"
Tech looked in front of him; this area definitely didn't look familiar.
"That is a good question. Stand by."
And then Omega looked behind her and Tech. There was a little light shining through a hole that she peeked through.
"Tech. Look." Omega said.
Tech scanned the wall with his tablet. He was astonished by what Omega found.
"There is a passageway just beyond this wall. We can use the ipsium you mined to access it." Tech immediately contacted Hunter again. "Hunter, we found an alternate way out, but you will need to retrieve our gear."
So, Wrecker and Hunter contacted the others to retrieve Tech and Omega's gear. They split up to look, and Wrecker was the one to find it.
"We've got the gear and the ipsium." Hunter said.
"Good." Tech said over the comlink. "Next you'll need to carefully scale down the narrow crevasse and descend into the aqueduct below. You will come upon us once the rapids eject you over the waterfall. Go only two at a time and have each pair count to twenty before they make the next jump. But you must not compromise the mineral vials or you will perish."
"You got to be kidding me." Wrecker whined.
"Hang tight. We're on our way." Hunter said.
"I hate this planet!" groaned Wrecker.
"You're not the only one, mi hermano-to-be." Mila said.
Tech sat down beside Omega to wait for the others to arrive.
"We will be out of this cavern in short order," said Tech. "once they arrive with the mineral."
"Except we still don't have the Marauder or a way off this planet, and we can't contact Echo for help." Omega said, sounding upset again.
"We do not need help. We will figure out a solution as we always do."
Omega shook her head, looking close to crying again.
"Everything is changing, and you don't even care."
Tech froze for a moment.
"I am not sure how I should care about change. It is a fundamental part of life."
"Echo left. Why doesn't that bother you?" Omega said, sounding a little angrier. "Is it because you're getting married and you're gonna leave too? Is that why it doesn't bother you?"
"I am aware that you miss Echo, but we have to adapt and move on. That is what soldiers do."
"We're more than that. We're a family." Omega looked at Tech. "Aren't we?"
"Well, uh, yes. Yes, of course we are."
Tech was aware that although he hadn't been adopted by parents like Omega and Boba were, he and his brothers in the Batch were still part of the royal family to some extent, and not just because two of their biological siblings were part of it.
"Then why don't you act like it?" Omega asked.
Tech was silent for a bit. He'd gone through various therapies since he was small when the Kaminoans realized he had autism. Crosshair usually defended him if other clones picked on him for it, but after Mila came about, she helped him out a bit with her love and attention, and when Garrett came around, he started having regular talks with Tech too, the former being both a teacher and someone who had plenty of previous experience with neurodivergent children of all ages, and even a couple of fellow teachers who were neurodivergent themselves. He'd gotten better at communicating after a while, but it still took a little time and practice for him to adjust to various situations. In this instance, he had to really think about what he was going to say next in a way that wouldn't hurt Omega's feelings again.
"Echo chose a different path, as I will be doing with Mila soon," sighed Tech. "I have to respect Echo's decision, and I am hoping you may respect mine. It is a path full of many changes I am afraid of as well, as the wedding day approaches closer. Even though it can be difficult to understand, we must carry on. I may process moments and thoughts differently, but it does not mean that I feel any less than you."
Omega looked down for a moment and then looked at Tech. Before either of them could say anything, they heard the sound of a bunch of people screaming and…. Whinnies? Wrecker, Hunter, Mila, and Crosshair were first out from the waterfall, and then the horses joined them and got themselves to dry land.
"See? That wasn't so bad." Omega said to Wrecker.
Wrecker tiredly gave a thumbs up and chose to rest a moment.
"Depends on your definition of bad." Comedia said, using her magic to squeeze the water from her hat.
Mila, on the other hand, overpowered her exhaustion and made her way to Tech and kissed him on the lips, relieved he was okay.
"I know I messed up back there, but I am going to try and do better, starting now." Tech said.
"We'll work it out together, somehow." Mila said. "But, we should get out of this cave before we have to be up at the altar."
That was when all the horses shook themselves dry, only for all their coats and manes to end up all poofed up. Omega took one look at the horses, and started to giggle, and pretty soon everyone was laughing at how crazy the horses looked. Laughter definitely was the best medicine here, because Omega definitely started to feel much better.
According to Tech and Mila's instructions, Omega carefully placed a small capsule of ipsium on a small rock ledge. And everyone got to a safe distance with Crosshair aiming a blaster.
"How come he gets to blow it up?" Wrecker whined.
"If the shot is not precise," said Tech. "it will cause another cave-in."
Crosshair aimed, and on the count of three…. Shoot!
A nice wide opening was made, allowing everyone to step out.
"Freedom!" Comedia shouted, flying and flipping for a bit. "Ah, sunlight! How I missed thee."
Tech looked through his visor and spotted the spaceport.
"There. That is the spaceport, but there does not appear to be much activity." Tech said.
"Well, there better be some chow there, because I'm sick of rations." Wrecker said.
"You and me both." Myra said. "I don't know how Dad spent three years eating those."
"Let's check it out." Hunter said.
Everyone got on the horses again, and made their way to the spaceport.
It was dark by the time they'd arrived, and there didn't appear to be anyone else around.
"Where is everyone?" Omega asked.
"It's abandoned." Hunter confirmed. "For a while, by the look of it."
"We came all this way for nothing!" Wrecker said.
"Not nothing." Tech said. He pointed out some tall antenna towers nearby. "I can send out a long-range transmission with that array."
"Hey, my phone has bars!" Myra said, looking at her phone, having kept it safe from the water in a plastic bag. "You try your plan, I'll see if I can contact the Temple."
So, the group got to work. Myra and Mila worked with the former and Omega's phones, while the others worked on an array to contact Cid. But when they managed to get a hold of Cid….
"No can do, fellas. I'm tied up at the moment." said the Trandoshan. "You'll have to figure it out yourselves."
"Cid, you sent us on this mission." Hunter said.
"Well, I didn't tell you to get your ship stolen, did I?"
"Cid, we need your help." Omega said.
"Just like we helped you regain control of your parlor from Roland Durand, and when we cleared your sizable debt with Millegi–" Tech listed until he was interrupted by Cid.
"I didn't ask for a recap, Goggles." Cid groaned. "All right. Give me a few days, and I'll see what I can do."
And Hunter said, "We don't have enough rations to last a few–"
Cid hung up before he could finish his sentence.
"What do we do now?" Wrecker asked, munching a biscuit of some sort.
"You know you're eating horse chow, right, Wrecker?" Estrella said.
Wrecker's eyes widened at first, but he shrugged it off; they actually weren't bad.
"We'll figure it out, like we always do." Omega said.
She looked at Tech, and he smiled a little bit at her.
Thunder began to rumble in the distance.
"Any luck, Myra?" Crosshair asked.
Myra shushed him.
"Really? Great! Thank you. We will." Myra hung up. "I just talked to my dad. He's gonna send Masters Luminara and Skywalker to come and get us. But, there's no way they'll be here until tomorrow."
"Well, it beats being stuck here for many days." Comedia said. "I just hope Diamond and Mona are okay… wherever they are."
Diamond and Mona were both really scared right now. They hid in the gunner's nest with the curtain closed, both of them trying to be very quiet so the ship jacker wouldn't catch them. Mona had been a prisoner before, but this was the first time she was experiencing being unintentionally kidnapped and trying to remain hidden from a criminal.
"Hunter… Mommy… Daddy… someone please help!" Mona whispered to herself, covering her eyes as she was so close to crying.
I hope you've enjoyed this latest chapter of ROTD. Please review if you did. Since it's been noted that Tech and Mila's wedding is coming soon, I decided I'm going to write a separate short story of another mission Tech has never had to prepare for: planning his wedding.