Bad Batch episode: Retrieval
Stranded. Perhaps the worst kind of disaster anyone could face. You've probably heard stories of being stranded in the desert, the jungle, or even an uninhabited island. But this was a little different.
After a failed mission to mine ipsium for Cid, the Bad Batch, Myra, Mila, Comedia, and the other horses were all stranded at an abandoned space port thanks to some criminal who stole their ship, the Marauder. And to make matters worse, the ship was stolen with Mona and Diamond still on it.
Myra contacted her dad, Mace Windu, for help, and luckily for her and her friends, they were sending two Jedi to help out.
But, the Batch were getting a little impatient. Knowing they had no clue how long Diamond and Mona could hold out on their own, they picked up what materials they could salvage.
Of course, Wrecker was far from happy about all this extra work. Even with the horses as a ride, they still needed as much ammunition as possible.
Wrecker groaned as it seemed to get hotter outside.
"I'm bored, I'm hot, and I'm starving." Wrecker groaned.
"I told you to preserve your rations." Hunter said.
"Well…" Wrecker sighed. "I got hungry. Hey, Pinto-"
"No more horse biscuits for you, Wrecker." Pinto interrupted. "We gotta eat too, ya know."
"That's the first time I've seen someone be told they were eating pet food and didn't spit it out." Mila chuckled, remembering her cousin Camilo's reaction to being told he accidentally ate dog food.
Wrecker groaned again.
"This is a waste of time. This skiff's a heap of junk."
"Yes, but with a few repairs, it'll be a slightly operational heap of junk."
"Thank you, Mom, for convincing me to take mechanical classes." Myra said, picking out some tools to use.
"The energy cells have just enough power to get us to the town on the other half of the hemisphere."
"Power?" said Omega. Then she had an idea. "We forgot about Gonky. He's still on the Marauder."
"I'm afraid since the thief disabled the ship's transponder, we will not be able to locate him." Tech said.
"Not the ship. I mean we can track Gonky."
"Like the Find My Star-Phone app!" Comedia smiled.
"Oh, Ingenious idea." Tech said. "Try doing a trace on his binary reference code.
"On it."
"Don't get your hopes up, kid." Wrecker chuckled.
Omega plugged her tablet into a power box and started to track Gonky.
Meanwhile, the Marauder was still being flown through the air, the masked thief steering it far away. Mona and Diamond kept quiet and stayed in the gunner's nest. Gonky, on the other hand, kept honking and moving about.
"Shut it, already. I'm getting annoyed." said the thief.
The thief eventually took his mask off as he steered the ship to a town of some sort. Underneath was a teenage human boy. He took out a comlink and contacted someone on it.
"Mokko, it's Benni." said the boy.
"You're late, kid." said an older man's, apparently Mokko, voice on the comlink.
"My scouting run took longer than expected, but I found something you're gonna like. Lower the shield.
Benni landed the Marauder at a platform attached to a gigantic open door, which was closed as soon as he landed. And as the boy was preparing to leave the ship, he saw something he was eager to find. He began to laugh as he picked it up. A ration bar. He dusted it off and chowed it down like he hadn't eaten in a long time.
Gonky honked and chattered for a bit, and Benni eventually made his way out of the Marauder as some odd-looking being with a robot arm and a cane walked in with a posse of droids. His name was Mokko.
Mokko took a good look at the ship as Benni exited with his bike.
"You said you had something for me, Benni. Didn't expect this."
"I swiped it from some amateurs poking around the old mines in the northern territory" Benni explained.
Mokko stepped on the stairs a little bit.
"Miners don't travel in ships like this." Mokko said. "Looks specially modified."
Mokko stepped down and looked at Benni.
"This could draw the wrong kind of attention. Are you trying to cause problems for me, after I've been so good to you?"
"No, Mokko, honest. I-I thought you could make some money off of it. That's all. I-I swear."
"Yeah. All right. I believe you. But I'll have to sell it off piece by piece just to be safe."
"This'll still put me in contention for top earner this round, right?"
Mokko held Benni's chin in his mechanical arm and said, "We'll have to see, Benni. We'll have to see. But you did good."
Gonky honked again, Mokko quickly noticing him.
"As a show of my gratitude, you can keep the droid."
Mokko was about to walk away, when Benni spoke up.
"What about water rations?" asked Benni. "I was scouting out there for four rotations."
"Right you are."
Mokko opened a bottle of water, but took a huge gulp for himself and only left barely enough for Benni.
"Mokko always takes care of his crew." Mokko looked at the droids and other humans who came into the room. "Strip the ship of anything useful."
The other boys excitedly boarded the Marauder to look for anything useful. Benni, on the other hand, was relieved for at least a little hydration.
"Thanks, Mokko." Benni sighed with relief.
"Of course, Benni. Of course." Mokko said, and then he left.
But while the boys were scouting the ship for anything useful, one of them made the foolish choice of opening the gunner's nest, and getting smacked in the face with a plush duck.
"Ow! What the-"
Before the boy could speak again, he got whacked again until he fell to the floor, and the other boys were quick to notice.
"Hey, there's a kid on this ship!" said one boy.
"Uh oh. You don't think…?"
Mona took that as her cue to jump and start attacking the boys, and Diamond jumped in too, kicking the boys and biting them when they fought back, which Benni eventually noticed.
"What the-?" Benni said. "How'd she get here?"
But when he saw Diamond… he noticed the little diamond on her head and thought she had to be very valuable.
"Ooh! This'll get me top earner for sure. Here, horsie, horsie." Benni tried to get closer and grab Diamond, but she bit his hand. "YOWCH!"
Meanwhile, Omega continued her tinkering with the tablet, when she got a reading.
"I think I found Gonky!" Omega gasped.
"Yeah- You-" Wrecker chuckled, then realized what Omega just said. "Wait, you what?" You found him?"
"His signal is 100 kilometers east." Omega showed Tech the tablet. "If Gonky's still on the planet, the Marauder must be too."
"Let's get this thing running and find out," said Hunter.
"We might not need to." Myra said, pointing out a ship that was landing.
"Someone call for a ride?" Anakin said, being first to exit the ship.
"Daddy!" Omega exclaimed happily, running into a hug with him.
And Anakin wasn't alone. Master Luminara, Boba, Remix, Sapphire, Round n' Round, as well as Garrett and Goldie were with him.
"Is everyone alright?" Luminara said.
"Where's Mona?" Garrett said. When he heard Mona was kidnapped, he refused to stay behind.
"At the moment, we're all okay." Mila said. "And we've managed to locate Gonky, and possibly the Marauder, where we should find Mona and Diamond too."
"Any clue who stole the Marauder?" Anakin said.
"Nope. We didn't get a good look at el bandito's face." Estrella said.
"But at least we know where he went." Omega added.
While everyone else rode on the horses, Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker rode the modified piece of junk east, following Gonky's signal. It eventually led them to what looked like a town of some kind.
"Gonky's signal is pinging from down there." Tech confirmed. "I'm reading minimal life-forms in his proximity, but an unknown number in the subterranean level."
"This place looks worse than the abandoned spaceport." Wrecker whined.
"Gentlemen, if you're quite finished." Luminara said. "I believe we have a rescue mission at hand. Our priority is getting the children out."
"We'll do a split approach." Hunter said. "Stay alert."
Garrett and Goldie decided to split up too. Each of them being at least part werewolf, their keen sense of smell would come in handy here.
"This is an opportunity to see how well your wolf training has gone, my pup." Garrett ruffled Goldie's hair, nearly messing up her pigtails.
Meanwhile, Benni was working on Gonky, trying to figure out what to do with him.
"Guess I'll have to sell you for parts." said Benni.
Gonky honked almost as if to ask why.
"Because you're useless to me." Benni said. "What am I gonna do with a defective power droid?"
"That's our defective power droid." a new voice said.
That voice turned out to be Hunter, as he and Tech towered above Benni.
"Now where's our ship?"
"Oh. You see the thing is-"
Benni started to run away and tried to take off on his bike, only for Hunter to run him off, and then he was Force pulled up by Anakin, and then grabbed by the front of his shirt by Myra, who banged him against the wall, scaring the poor boy into nearly wetting himself.
"I'm gonna ask you again, Buster." Myra said menacingly. "We want the ship back, and we want it now!"
Wrecker also stood menacingly in front of the boy as Myra threw him to the ground, and Garrett got over him, growling and snarling like a wolf about to eat its prey. His eyes changed, and his hair seemed to grow as he started to grow fangs and claws.
Benni began to breathe heavily. Had he known there was a werewolf among those he stole from, he would've been smarter about it.
"W-what do you care how that thing's doing?" Benni whimpered. "It's just a beat-up old battery."
"Not to us." Omega said.
"Let's try this again." Garrett said. "Watch and learn, Goldie. This is how werewolves interrogate." He got closer to Benni, their noses practically touching. "Where's the ship?"
"Can you be more specific, and stop drooling on me?!"
"Daddy!" Goldie scolded in disgust. "Eww!"
"What my friend means is the ship you stole yesterday." Anakin said.
"Oh, right. That ship?" Benni chuckled. "Well, Mokko has it, and some little horse and little girl, I guess, were on it. He gave me the droid as a gift."
"What did this little girl and the horse look like?" Anakin asked.
"Uh, the girl was…. Kinda blonde like this girl," Benni pointed at Omega. "But with blue eyes, and the horse, kinda white and silvery, diamond on her head. Why?"
"That human girl is my daughter." Garrett said.
"And who is this Mokko?" Tech asked.
"Who's Mokko?" Benni gasped like someone who learned someone else had never heard of Count Crescendo. "He runs this whole town. He's the boss. Your ship's his now, and so are your friends."
"Yeah, we'll see about that." Wrecker said.
Anakin looked especially angry and ended up crushing Benni's scooter with the Force.
"So, you're saying this Mokko is a slaver?" Anakin grabbed Benni by his shirt and held him to his face. "Take us to the Marauder."
"I can't help you go against Mokko." Benni said. "You don't know what he's done for me."
"And you don't know how many enemies I've struck with my lightsaber."
"You're a Jedi?" Benni gasped.
"Yes, he is. And so am I." Myra said.
"So am I." Comedia repeated. "And we can have a bunch more out here if you don't cooperate."
"All right. All right. I can show you where your ship is." Benni said. "But if you get caught, you don't know me."
Benni guided the group toward an area they could enter inconspicuously.
Most of the horses were advised to stay behind in case they needed to get help. So, only Sapphire, Comedia, Maybelle, and Indira came in.
"Techno Union ran this mine during the war," said Benni. "But Mokko took over when they were forced out. He's kept this operation running ever since."
"So, you're an ipsium miner and a ship thief?" said Omega.
"Mokko says they're useful skills."
"Stealing's not a skill.
"It is when you're good at it."
"Then the only stealing you're good at must be from the cookie jar," said Comedia. "Because swiping 101, know who you're stealing from."
"Since when are you a thieving expert?" Myra asked.
"How do you think I got my confiscated stuff from my parents' room?"
Tech pulled up a holographic map of the area.
"The central portal is ray-shielded, and all subterranean entrances appear to be guarded in shifts." He explained.
"Ah, we've stormed tougher strongholds than that." Wrecker said.
"You can't use blasters inside an ipsium mine." Benni said. "You'll destroy everything and everyone in there." Benni pointed out. "Cut your losses now."
Garret and Wrecker growled at Benni, scaring him into nearly wetting his pants.
"There is one covert infiltration point." Tech said. "From there."
Tech pointed to a tower where steam popped out like smoke from an active volcano.
"The stack has a lower access hatch inside."
"If we time it correctly, we can rappel down between exhaust cycles." Mila said.
"Precisely."
"How big of a window is there?" Hunter said.
Tech calculated… "Sixty seconds."
"I hope all of you kept up with your workouts then." Garrett said.
"Plenty of time." Omega said.
"Glad you're all so confident, but getting cooked alive wasn't on my agenda." Benni said. "Good luck. I'm rooting for you."
But Boba grabbed Benni by the back of his shirt before he could leave.
"You wanna root? Join a cheer squad." Boba said. "You can go after we have my brothers' ship back."
Soon, everyone made their way up the tower, Wrecker getting nervous as he saw how high up they were.
"Oh, boy."
"Settle down, Wrecker." Luminara said, taking Wrecker's hand to calm him down. But then she noticed Benni trying to escape again. "Oh no you don't."
Luminara Force pulled Benni back and let Anakin and Crosshair take care of holding onto him. Meanwhile, Hunter and Tech tied a strong rope and grappling hook to part of the tower so everyone could quickly and safely get through.
"Ready?" Hunter said.
"On my mark." Tech said.
The tower let out a new burst of steam.
"This is a very bad idea." Benni cried nervously.
Tech's tablet beeped then, signaling it was safe to go in.
"Now."
Hunter ran down the rope first, Indira flying close behind, the two of them remaining quiet as a droid popped in.
"I thought you said it was unguarded," said Wrecker quietly, but loudly enough for Tech to hear.
"It was at the time."
"Silencio!" Mila hissed.
"Uh oh!" Myra gasped when she checked the timer.
"Thirty seconds." Omega gasped.
"They're not gonna make it." Benni said. "I'm telling you. You gotta bail before it's too late."
"We don't do that." Omega said.
"This is not good. This is not good."
Inconveniently, Benni accidentally knocked Omega's comlink out of her hand, and it fell into the tower. Luckily, though, Indira caught sight of it and caught it in her mouth.
"Hunter, you have to move." Tech called over Hunter's comm.
But instead of moving, Hunter jumped down and attacked the droid, and Indira swooped in to assist him, just as they only had five seconds left. Quickly, Hunter and Indira made it to a door, and everyone who was outside ducked for cover as the steam popped out again.
Hunter and Indira made it into the next room where they found a control panel, and gave everyone the all clear to come down again.
Benni had to admit, he was impressed.
"You definitely aren't ipsium miners." Benni said.
"Nope. We're Jedi and friends." Comedia said, patting Benni on the shoulder, shocking the poor boy.
"Aah! What was that?" Benni gasped.
"Just my new joy buzzer." Comedia laughed.
"You stole the wrong ship." Omega said.
Everyone else soon made their way down either by rope or flying horse, and met Hunter and Indira.
"Let's move," said Hunter.
Benni brought everyone to another door, and motioned for them all to be quiet as they made their way into a place filled with bridges over a pit of some red steam. There were people walking across those bridges pushing carts and other machines full of rocks. Everyone was dressed to work, but no one there looked very happy, and no one could see Mona or Diamond anywhere.
"The conditions of this mine are less than ideal."
"It's because the ipsium's become degraded." Benni said. "Mokko had to lower wages just to keep this mine up and running. And, probably to feed his collection too."
"What collection?" Anakin said.
"He's had this collection of horses down in the lower levels. We never really see them though until a new one arrives. No one's allowed down there but the droids and rocks. But, he's said he has a real taste for horses like the one you lost."
"Horses like Diamond? What do you mean exactly?" Anakin asked. "Horses with wings, or jewel pegasi specifically?"
"What's that?"
"We're a special kind of pegasus that can turn anything into gemstones. We all have gems on our foreheads like this one." Sapphire said, motioning to the jewel in her forehead. "But we are an endangered species. So, Mokko, by collecting them, is committing a serious felony."
"At least we're working." Benni shrugged it off. "Your ship's in the upper garage bay across from the central tower."
Benni looked as some droids were making sure the workers got across with the rocks.
"Come on. I know a shortcut."
Hunter grabbed Benni by his shoulder.
"No tricks." He warned the boy.
"Hey, I'm not trying to get caught either." Benni said.
So, the clones, Master Luminara, and Mila, followed Benni into another door.
Anakin, Myra, Comedia, and Sapphire, however, decided to take a different route. If there were more jewel pegasi here, chances were that might be where they would find Diamond, or at the very least free those horses.
The team followed Benni to where he said the ship was, except it didn't look the same.
"Well, there's your ship." Benni pointed out. "I held up my end of the bargain, so I'll be off."
"Hang on." said Tech. He went to inspect the ship. "The hyperdrive has been removed."
Everyone glared at Benni.
"You didn't ask me what condition it'd be in."
"You also didn't ask if the ship belonged to someone who worked for royalty who doesn't take kindly to thieves, yet here we are." Boba said.
"Still, how's it my fault?"
Wrecker growled.
"Relax. It's not a complicated fix."
"It better not be." Wrecker threatened.
"At least be glad Skywalker didn't stay. He would not hesitate to, as the children say, let you have it." said Luminara.
"Grab the hyperdrive," said Hunter. "Let's make this quick."
"What about the ray shield?" Omega pointed out. "We still need to shut it down."
"And we still need to find Mona and Diamond."
"You can only take down the ray shield from the central tower." Benni said.
"Let's go." Hunter said.
"No way. You stick out too much." Benni said. He then motioned to the twins. "If you don't trust me to go alone, one of these two will blend in easily enough."
Omega and Boba both looked at Hunter.
Hunter didn't see any better ideas. "Well, don't let him out of your sight. Both of you."
Then Tech walked up with a small device.
"Transfer the data onto this, and I can access the shield remotely."
Omega took the device and said, "Let's go."
"Not looking like that, Princess." Benni said, eyeing Omega's outfit.
Meanwhile, Anakin, Myra, and Comedia meditated together, feeling the Force surrounding them. Myra and Comedia being two later starting Padawans, it was convenient they had a fresh Jedi Master helping them out.
"Okay, girls. Concentrate. Let the Force around you speak to you." Anakin said calmly.
The two girls concentrated, keeping their breath steady. They began to hear things. People talking, machines clanking…. Horses whinnying? Soon, they could see a way too. As luck would have it, there was a lift not too far from their position that led to the lower levels. They just needed to get down there in order to find what was down there.
Meanwhile, Mokko was sitting and having a feast for himself, when one of his droids entered the room.
"They can wait 'til I'm good and ready." Mokko said.
But he wasn't aware that one of his workers was on a traitorous mission.
Benni, Boba, and Omega climbed down a ladder, the twins dressed in a couple of jackets to help them blend in.
"You said the control room's on the top level." Omega said.
"We can't just walk right in," said Benni. "Only Mokko's inner circle has access cards. We'll need to swipe one."
"You're not part of his inner circle?" Boba asked.
"Not yet. But I will be. If the new guy doesn't get it first. I'm on my way up."
"New guy?" Omega said.
"Yeah, some big tough kid, older than us, I think. Mokko found him roaming somewhere he shouldn't be, but apparently he was the one who punched Mokko and lived."
"That sounds brave." Omega said.
"Trust me, he either has more guts than anyone here, or he's not well in the head." Benni said. "Somehow, that got him on Mokko's good side, but if Mokko finds out I helped you, I'll be sent to the mines, so act natural."
The three teens slid down the ladder into a room where some other workers were playing a card game of some kind.
"We were just talking about you, Benni. Where you been?" asked one boy, whose name was Drake.
"Here and there." Benni answered.
"Bet you think that ship and the two little monsters you scored for Mokko will make you the top earner this round?"
Benni eyed a card that sat in the boy's pocket.
"Why not? You can expect to win every time."
Drake chuckled and said, "Can't I?"
Just then, Mokko came in, and the workers all got a bit excited.
"That's Mokko." Benni whispered to the twins.
"About time. I'm starving!" said the guy.
Benni got up and bumped the guy, who bumped him back.
"Not cool, man!" Boba said.
But it turned out, Benni took a little something from that other guy. An access card.
"See? It's a skill." Benni smirked.
"Great. Can we go now?" Omega said a little impatiently.
"Not yet. I wanna hear the tally."
And before either of the twins could say anything, Benni took off. The twins started to follow Benny, when Boba tripped on something and fell down.
"Are you okay?" Omega asked, helping her brother up.
"Yeah, I just tripped on this backpack." Boba said, picking up the backpack.
It was an orange backpack with an orange checkered pattern and some sports balls embroidered onto it. Boba realized it looked familiar, and so did Omega. She thought about it, and remembered where she'd seen it.
"That looks like Vince's backpack." Omega said.
"You're right. It does look like his backpack." Boba said. "But, it's probably not his."
"Let's see."
Omega checked a little tag that was attached to the side of the bag, and saw it had a name written on it. Vince Hall. It was Vince's bag. But why was it here? And where was Vince? Could Mokko have something to do with his disappearance?
Boba looked inside to see if it might hold a clue.
"Haha! Look at that!" Boba laughed, taking a Cookie Monster plush out from the bag. "Vince carries Cookie Monster around."
"You still sleep with a lion." Omega crossed her arms. "Lots of people have stuffed animals."
Boba coughed and regained his composure.
"Wherever Vince is, he's probably gonna want this back."
Boba put on Vince's backpack and walked with his sister into the next room, where a bunch of miners were making a commotion, while Mokko tried to quiet everyone down.
"All right. All right." Mokko said. "Stand sharp."
And everyone settled down.
"I know it's been a lean season. We've all had to make sacrifices and go without. Including me."
However, while Mokko was making his speech, the twins noticed one of the miners had dirty blonde hair that looked familiar. But, he had his back turned to them, so they couldn't tell who it was.
"While some of you have been working hard this quarter, others continue to fall short. But Mokko always takes care of those who earn." Mokko continued. "And so far, this round's top earner is….Drake!"
The miners cheered their congrats to Drake, but Benni looked far from pleased.
"You've gotta be kidding me." Benni said.
Drake was given what looked like a bowl of soup, which he was quick to gobble up.
"As for the rest of you, rations are low." Mokko said. "Which means you need to work harder and longer if we're going to survive. But I won't let my crew starve."
One of Mokko's droids placed down a single bowl of soup, and all the miners raced for it.
"Hey! Watch it!" a couple miners shouted.
"Incoming!" a new voice exclaimed, and all the minders ran askew as someone bigger and stronger jumped in and snatched the bowl and started to slurp from it. "Ah! I needed that."
"Is that…?" Omega's eyes went wide.
"No way!" Boba exclaimed.
Vince finished the soup with a loud burp, but groaned as he still felt hungry. The boy sighed, but then walked over and noticed his bag was missing.
"All right, who's the wise guy who took my backpack?" Vince said. He punched the palm of his hand, threatening to get tough if someone didn't talk. "If someone touched my stuff…"
"That would be me." Boba said, holding up the very bag. "Hello, Vince."
But, now Vince looked scared, and he started to run off.
"Hey, wait! Wait!" Boba said, running after the former football captain.
Meanwhile, the grownups were still working on the Marauder.
"How's it looking?" Hunter asked.
"I can get most of the systems back online easily enough," said Tech. 'But we are not going anywhere until we get the hyperdrive connected."
"I'm working on it!" said Wrecker.
As for Skywalker and his team, they managed to get to the lower levels, where they walked down a hall to a bridge that oversaw a sight that was not pleasing to the eyes. Comedia and Sapphire gasped at it especially.
Down below, there were what looked like at least a hundred jewel pegasi of all different colors, all of them in chains, being whipped by some droids, and forced to touch many rocks that had been gathered from the mines, changing them into all kinds of gemstones. Emeralds, rubies, garnets, topazes, amethysts, pearls, quartz, you name it. The poor things were all getting battered and bruised very badly. Some even collapsed from exhaustion. The lack of sufficient sunlight, food, and water probably didn't help either.
This was just like what Comedia saw in her vision! The chains, the jewel pegasi, the factory! Everything!
"No wonder there are so few jewel pegasi left." Myra said. "This could be just one of many places poachers have taken them."
"It's not just these guys we've found," said Anakin. "Look!"
Sapphire looked down and spotted, "Diamond!"
Diamond was standing beside a white pegasus stallion with a quartz crystal in his forehead. He was picking up Diamond with his mouth each time she fell and started licking her too, like a mother pegasus would do with its foals. Sapphire quickly recognized him too! She and her sister Ruby thought he was long gone, but he wasn't. It was Diamond's father and Ruby's husband thought long gone Quartz Crystal.
"Aunt Sapphire!" Diamond cried happily.
And Comedia also saw a horse she recognized from her vision. She wasn't a jewel pegasus, but she was being forced to pull a heavy cart full of rocks and dump it for more to be turned into gems. She looked just like Emeraldi, except she had her mane tied to the side with an orange ribbon that look old and worn out, and her mane also colored as yellow as a…
"Marigold!" Comedia said. "We found her too!"
Comedia took that as her cue to fly down and use her magic horn on her cousin's restraints, only for the droids to be alerted. But, Comedia wasn't alone for long.
Sapphire and the other two Jedi jumped down, Myra and Anakin igniting their lightsabers, ready to jump into action!
"Time these slavers see we're not horsing around." Myra said, ready to fight.
And so began the epic battle of the Jedi vs the droids.
"Remember me, Marigold?" said Comedia.
"Cousin Comedia?" Marigold said. "You're so big now!"
But the reunion would have to wait.
"Incoming on your right!" Comedia said.
And Marigold quickly Force pushed the droid into Anakin's lightsaber.
"Wow, you really are strong in the Force." Comedia said.
"How do you think I helped keep so many of these guys alive for so long?" Marigold said, her Force specialty being healing. "The only reason I haven't escaped was spending all this time trying to keep as many alive as I could long enough to get someone to rescue all of them."
Omega was concerned as she walked across a bridge with Benni.
"Uh, you all right?" said Omega.
"No. I stole the ship, a little girl, and a pegasus that can apparently turn things into diamonds, and it still didn't make me the top earner." Benni groaned.
"You shouldn't have to compete for food." Omega said.
"That's how it works here. We have to earn our share. But I'll impress Mokko. Just wait."
Benni placed the key card into a panel, punched in a code, and the door opened for him and Omega to go in.
The two kids climbed another ladder that led up to another door where Benni repeated the key code process, and inside they found the control room. But that wasn't all they found.
"Mona!" Omega gasped.
Mona struggled, crying as she'd been tied to a chair, her mouth muzzled with a scarf so she couldn't scream. Quickly, Omega rushed to the chair and untied Mona, who immediately hugged the older girl.
"Are you okay, Mona?" Omega sighed with relief, seeing her friend alive.
Mona only responded with crying.
"Shh. It's okay, Mona. We're gonna get you out of here."
Omega took out her comlink and contacted Hunter.
"We've reached the control room. And we've found Mona."
"Copy that," said Hunter on the comlink. "Get the shield code and get back here."
So, Omega plugged a tablet in, while Benni pressed a button that turned green.
All they had to do was wait now.
"They really treat you and your brother like you're one of them." Benni said. "I wish Mokko did that."
"Doesn't seem like he cares. About any of you." said Omega.
"I coulda told you that by the way he tied me to a chair, and said I would fetch a nice price or something." Mona said. "Guess he thinks I'm too little to work the mines."
"Why don't you leave?"
Benni scoffed. "You're wrong. Mokko's kept us in business. He said with more time and more digging, we're bound to reach better ipsium soon. Besides, I can't leave. This is my home. It's what I know."
"I get it. Our ship is part of our home." Omega said. "Our family is a lot bigger than the ones you've met."
Benni felt a little awkward now.
"I'm, uh, sorry I stole it. And put your friends in danger. I swear, I didn't know Mokko would do this to Mona. He only said he was gonna take care of her when he found out about her. I thought that meant he was gonna try to feed her more because she's so little."
"Here, you can have my rations." Omega gave Benni what rations she had left.
"I– Why would you give this to me?"
"For helping us."
Benni was silent for a moment as he took the bar. This was the nicest thing anyone had done for him in a long time.
"Thanks." he finally said.
Meanwhile, Boba continued to chase after Vince through a lot of parts of the town. Vince was a really fast runner! All those years of playing sports clearly gave him a very strong body, judging by how he jumped over stuff or parkoured to try and slow Boba down. But eventually, Vince was cornered in another hallway. But before he could find another way out, Boba appeared.
"Vince, wait!" Boba said.
"Look, if this is about your sister, I'm sorry, okay?" Vince said. "I don't hit on women like that anymore. At least, I don't want to. Just please don't feed me to sharks."
"Relax, Vince. I just want to talk to you. And return your bag." Boba approached Vince and gave him his backpack.
Vince sat on the ground, looking depressed.
"Crazy, huh? Never thought my family would be looking for you after running away from home, did you?" Boba said, sitting beside his schoolmate. "I haven't been here that long, but it doesn't seem very homey. Once we get our ship back though, we can get you home."
"What's the use? I can't go back." Vince said. "I can never go back. Everyone's probably happy that I'm gone. I'm nothing but a menace to them, and that's all I'm ever gonna be!"
Boba recognized this tone all too well. When Gabby first met him, he'd been on his way to becoming a very ruthless killer. But, somehow that didn't stop Gabby from approaching him or showing him the kindness that awoke a sleeping part of Boba he didn't even realize he'd needed to see. If it worked for him then, maybe it could work for Vince now.
"Vince, I know we're not exactly friends. I won't sugarcoat it, you didn't exactly make a great impression on any of us. None of the guys on the cheer squad, including me, like being told we're weak, and most women don't like being hit on and teased."
"I know that. And I've been ashamed of it for a long time. I'm sorry for how I treated you before. And I know, I'm supposed to be this big strong football captain, but there's a lot you don't know about me. I know it's not an excuse, but I wasn't always messed up like this."
Boba could see something was eating at Vince. He acted like a jerk, but now he claimed felt bad about it, and it seemed he thought running away was the best answer. At some point, he got used to being a jerk and it just became a bad habit and a bad lifestyle he couldn't pull himself out of or wouldn't let himself stop.
"You know, I don't get you, Vince. You're rich, you're captain of the football team, you're a good-looking guy, and your family is famous in the music industry. Why would you run away from all that?"
"You don't know what it's really like! My dad is the one who's rich, not me. I may live in a mansion, but believe it or not, even that can feel like prison if you're stuck with my family. And I don't want to be playing football."
"You don't? But you're so good at it."
"Maybe, but I still would rather be playing something else. I only play football because my dad makes me do it. I do like sports, just not football so much. It's not exactly fun getting trampled. But, that's not even the real reason I ran off. I just can't go back to a family where I don't belong. In school, I'm known as the jock rich boy who's a big player, but at home I'm just a nobody. I don't matter to anyone."
"That's not true, Vince. You matter to your dad." Boba said. "It's all over the news! He's looking for you as we speak. I'd say you matter to him."
"Yeah, if only to avoid another scandal like my disgrace of a half-brother."
According to Vince, Derek had been a primary source of a lot of his emotional problems. Derek wasn't just a bully at Melody Academy. When he was away at that school, it was the little time Vince got at least a little bit of peace. Derek was very cruel to his little brother. He would beat him, verbally attack him, take his stuff and break it, all that stuff. It had been like that all of Vince's life. But the worst thing Derek did was tell Vince he wasn't his real brother because they didn't have the same mom.
"Derek's mom took off when he was only three, and my mom died when I was six."
"From what you've written, it seems like she meant a lot to you."
"You read my journal?!" Vince stood up angrily. "You little thief!"
"No, I didn't take it. Comedia and Myra did." Boba said. "But that's not the point."
"Then you know why I can't go back." Vince started to walk away. "Dad never believed me when I told him that bitch Tatiana was just a gold digger, and I've seen more proof than all the bags and stuff she makes him buy for her. Besides, no one at school likes me, and no one ever will. I'm better off alone."
Boba continued to follow Vince, hoping he could convince the boy to come back.
"Vince, wait! You know, I used to be like you in some ways." Boba said. "I know what it's like to feel like you don't belong anywhere."
"You know nothing, Prince Charming. You've got everything! You're not just rich or famous, or live in a palace. You've got a family that loves you and takes care of you! You have a mom and a dad who love you, and siblings who all love you! Well guess what? Not all of us have those luxuries! Ugh!"
And Vince ran off again. Boba sighed. This was going to be harder than he thought. He realized he was going to need help.
Meanwhile, the Batch continued to work on the Marauder.
"The motivator is installed." Tech confirmed. "But I still have to connect the primaries to the guidance system and adjust the navi-computer."
"The weapons system's online," said Wrecker.
"We're not engaging." Hunter said. "The situation for these kids is bad enough."
"Master Luminara, do you copy?" Boba said over the comm.
"What is it, Boba?" Luminara asked.
"You won't believe this. I found Vince! But he keeps running away!"
"Keep him occupied as long as you can. I'm on my way." Luminara said. "Everyone, keep working."
While Master Luminara went to help Boba, the others couldn't help voicing their concerns.
"This whole deal with the miners really doesn't sit well with me," said Mila. "Have you noticed it, amor?"
"Mokko appears to be using his power and means as leverage over his workers." Tech added. "It is a similar tactic used by many slave owners in the Outer Rim. Although, this operation is doing it closer to a jurisdiction where it is illegal."
While Hunter stood on the roof of the Marauder, he noticed someone climbing the ladder into the garage, but it wasn't any of their friends. It was two teenage boys.
"Didn't Bryce and Hugh say they removed the hyperdrive?" said one of them. And then he noticed the Batch, as well as Indira and Maybelle. "Hey, who are you?"
"Uh, Mokko sent us." Wrecker said.
Crosshair facepalmed. There was no way this would work.
Hunter jumped down and held up his hands.
"Easy." Hunter approached the two miners. "We're just here for our ship."
"And our two friends." Maybelle said.
But the two miners quickly made their way down the ladder, Hunter going after them while ordering the others to get the engines online.
Vince kept on running and running until he bumped into someone he didn't see, and he fell to the floor. And that person he bumped into turned out to be none other than Master Luminara.
"Oh! You must be Vince." Luminara said.
Vince tried to run away again, but Luminara grabbed him with the Force.
"Hold it, young man. Don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you."
But Vince struggled to get away.
"Let me go! You can't make me go back!"
Luminara could sense that Vince was scared. As big and strong as he looked, he was no exception to the rule that everyone got afraid. The Mirialan Jedi got him to look at her, and she noticed he looked like he had makeup on his face that had been fading away. Athletes didn't tend to wear makeup, at least to Luminara's knowledge. So, she carefully wiped it off to reveal Vince had a large bruise on his left cheek. Then, she began to take off his jacket. To her great surprise, Vince had bruises all over his arms, just like Comedia had said, and he probably had more in places she couldn't see.
"Who did this to you?" Luminara asked.
But Vince looked away and said nothing.
"Vince. Did someone at your home do this to you?"
Vince was still silent. But that was all Luminara needed.
"Vince, listen to me. You clearly have been hurt, and running away from your problem won't do any good. I want to help you, but I can't do that if you don't let me. If you come with me, we won't force you to go back to your house if you don't want to. We can help you with whatever your problem is."
Vince still didn't say anything. He just hugged his legs closer to him and looked like he wanted to cry, but didn't want to do it in front of the Jedi.
"Look at me, Vince." Luminara said, kneeling down to him. "Is this really any better than where you were before?"
Vince looked up at Luminara and shook his head.
"Whatever the situation is, I am a peacekeeper, and that includes seemingly smaller problems like this if I have the opportunity to help. If someone has hurt you, we can help make sure they are taken care of."
Luminara offered her hand to the boy. Vince was hesitant at first. But, he looked at Luminara's eyes. She had this kind of motherly tone in her voice that somehow just seemed to calm him down a little. If what she was saying was true, maybe there was hope for him yet. At least, he would probably get more to eat than he did here. So, he took the Jedi's hand.
"Any luck with the shield code?" Benni asked.
"Not yet," said Omega. "Most of the data is just Mokko's profit reports."
That was when Omega found something rather interesting.
"I thought you said the ipsium here's degraded."
"It is."
"Not according to this."
"Let me see that."
Omega showed Benni what she found, and the boy was shocked by what he found. But then, Benni heard something. The door opened, and in came Mokko with two droids.
"Hmm." Mokko chuckled. "My thief caught another thief."
Omega looked at Benni with a glare. Did he really just betray her?
"Well done, Benni. I'm impressed. Where are the others?"
"Garage bay." Benni sighed, amid Mona and Omega glaring. "Sorry. I had to."
"That's my boy." Mokko tapped Benni with his cane. "The title of top earner is definitely in your future."
The two droids then took the two girls and threatened to use their blasters if they didn't cooperate.
Hunter made his way to where he thought he would find the spies, only to be back where Benni first brought them, when Tech called him to let him know the hyperdrive was nearly online.
"I lost our spies." Hunter sighed. Then he noticed more droids on the bridge. "And they've called in backup."
"It appears we have uninvited guests," said Mokko. "Care to show yourselves?"
That was when Wrecker, Tech, Mila, and the Jedi all entered with their blasters and lightsabers.
"So, you think you can come here and steal from me?" Mokko said.
"Technically, this ship and the two children inside it belong to us."
"Not anymore." Mokko said. "And I'd rethink the blasters. One stray shot, and we're all done for."
"You wanna bet?" Crosshair smirked under his helmet. He aimed his rifle. "I never miss."
But Mokko just laughed and said, "I believe you, but I think you'll reconsider."
That was when two droids came in with two screaming young blonde girls. None other than…
"Omega!/Mona!" Anakin and Garrett exclaimed.
The two girls demanded to be let go, but the droids just held the two girls close to the edge of an unfinished bridge, preparing to drop them into the deadly chasm below.
"Lower your weapons, or they go over." Mokko said.
So, everyone did lower their weapons, but whether Mokko threw the girls over or not, Garrett was going to tear Mokko to shreds for daring to mess with his little ones.
But what Mokko didn't know then, was that Benni found something that everyone needed to see.
"Trespassing and attempted theft." Mokko listed. "Ten years in the mines seems like a reasonable punishment, if you survive that long. Take them below."
But just as the teens were about to approach the group, Garrett got on all fours and went on full wolf! Growling and snarling, the teens got scared. One even jumped into the arms of the one next to him.
"Stop!" shouted a familiar voice.
"Not now, kid." Mokko said. "I'm busy."
"You lied to us, Mokko." Benni said angrily. "The ipsium's not degrading. You've been cutting us out and keeping the profits for yourself!"
"And it's not just ipsium he's lied about." Marigold stepped in. "He's been buying several kidnapped jewel pegasus ponies, an endangered species, and enslaving them to increase his profits by turning all the rocks you collect in the mines to valuable stones. And he captured me when he realized I was a Jedi and kept me imprisoned here too."
"That's a lie. Don't listen to them!" Mokko said.
"You never cared about us at all." Benni said. "And I have the proof right here."
"Let me see that," said Drake. He took the tablet Benni was holding and took a look for himself.
The proof was in the pudding; the profits were very high, and ipsium was just one of many transactions made by Mokko. Several sales of poached jewel pegasi he purchased and sales he made of the jewels he forced them to make. A ton of it for him and nothing for the workers.
"What's going on Mokko?" scoffed Drake. He began to approach Mokko. "We toil down in the mines while you enjoy the spoils?"
"Not to mention he's a kidnapper too!" Vince said, walking in with Luminara.
Soon, all the miners began to look really angry at Mokko as he was being exposed for his crimes.
"I was taking my share." Mokko defended, albeit terribly. "None of you would've survived without me! Don't forget that!" he looked at the droids holding the girls and shouted, "Throw them over!"
One droid first started to throw Mona, leaving the child to see only one way out!
Mona ripped her jacket off, allowing her wings to spread, and carry her up in the air.
"She can fly?!" Mokko said.
It was then Omega also used magic and made her own wings appear and then cast more spells at the droids, tossing them over the bridge and into the hot liquid down below before making her way back to Anakin, who hugged her tightly.
"No one's going to take what belongs to me!" Mokko said as more droids came in… until someone began Force-choking him.
"You are going to spend a long time rotting in jail, Mokko." Anakin said. "You didn't just kidnap and attempt to murder a princess, imprison an endangered species, or enslave children, but you messed with my daughter!" And he Force pushed Mokko into more of his droids.
"Take care of all of them!" Mokko ordered two more droids once he caught his breath. But, Crosshair shot both of them perfectly.
"Told you I never miss." Crosshair smirked.
Mokko got up, raised his staff and his robot arm.
"I'll deal with you myself!"
But the miners didn't back off. They all came together; even Mokko could see he was outnumbered. And, Mokko found himself falling over the edge of the bridge, his cane being what prevented him from falling down to his doom.
Quickly, Benni came over and offered his hand.
"Grab my hand!"
Mokko grabbed Benni with his robot arm.
"You never should've crossed me, kid." Mokko said, and he attempted to fall and take Benni with him, but Vince and Drake both held onto Benni and pulled him back up, but Mokko wasn't so lucky.
It looked like it was over now. Mokko was dead, the jewel pegasi were found and freed, Diamond found her long-lost father, the Batch got the Marauder back, Comedia found her long-lost cousin, and Vince was found.
Quartz was beyond grateful when Anakin gave him some carrots and water. The authorities also arrived soon to aid in the healing and rescue of the jewel pegasi to bring them back to Equinaro where they belonged.
"Emeraldi is going to be so happy to see you again." Comedia said.
"I can't believe it after all these years. We're finally back together." Marigold said.
"Come on. Let's go home."
Everyone started to board their respective ships. The Batch was very happy to have their ship back.
Benni came along with a cart for the Batch too.
"Here's your stuff," said Benni.
"All of it?" Hunter had his hands on his hips suspiciously, Mona mimicking his actions.
"Yeah, don't you trust me?" Benni bit into a fruit, amid Hunter and Omega's silence. "Okay, that's fair. But it's all there."
"Squishy!" Mona exclaimed happily when she found her duck among the stuff.
"So, what will all of you do now?" asked Omega.
"I guess we'll keep mining ipsium." Benni shrugged. "It's what we know."
"You can be whatever you want. It's a big galaxy."
"It's not as easy as you think, Princess." Vince said.
Omega rolled her eyes. "Same surly attitude." she looked at Benni again. "You don't have to stay here forever."
"It's not so bad. And with Mokko gone, we'll all be getting an equal share of the profits now."
"Benni, chow time!" Drake called from another room.
"Thanks for showing me the truth," Benni told Omega. "Hey, if you ever need a thief, I owe you."
Omega looked at Benni as he left, and then at Vince as Master Luminara escorted him onto the ship and looked like she was comforting him. She started to think for a moment.
"What is it?" Tech asked his sister.
"Mariverde isn't the only threat." Omega said. She turned to her brother. "We've seen so many in the galaxy like Mokko."
"Unfortunately, yes." Tech adjusted his glasses. "However, there are many like us out there as well. And that is something."
Omega started to think more. Mokko was the way he was out of greed. It was clear that that monster was beyond fixing. But Vince…. It seemed from what he'd written in his journal that he acted like a bully because he was hurt, he was afraid, angry, sad, and he didn't know how to get out of it for a long time. But, he was still young. Maybe, just maybe, with a little help and a little compassion, maybe he could turn into a better person.
And so, everyone boarded their ships and left the planet to head home.
I might make a separate story featuring this particular story. Let me know what you think in the reviews.