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“I can’t hear you,” he growled, the tip of the blunt blade pressing against the skin of Fox’s throat. 

“Yes, sir,” Fox rasped. “I yield.”

The instructor pulled the blade away, looking out to the others. 

“Who’s left?” he called, impatiently, his eyes zoning in on Bly and Cody. “Come on, someone’s gotta disappoint me next. I don’t have all day.”

Bly almost growled a little, his brows scrunching together. He stood, walking towards the training mat at the center of the room.

“Well, well, well,” their instructor chuckled darkly. “And which one are you?”

“Bly,” he answered, picking up his practice blade. He fell easily into a ready position. 

The instructor rolled his eyes. “That is not what I asked, clone,” he spat. 

Bly’s nostrils flared as he looked up at the bounty hunter. “CC-5052, sir.” 

“Ah, so it will be disappointing,” he sneered. “Let’s get this over with, shall we?”

Bly took a deep breath to center himself, just like Cody had shown him. The practice began, the instructor quickly advancing on the attack, forcing Bly to take the defensive. 

He lasted longer than he had the last time, and a tiny bit longer than Fox had, but soon the bounty hunter had him pressed to the wall with his hand around Bly’s throat, blade on the mat. 

“Pathetic,” he sneered, barely looking as he released the young clone. Bly’s knees hit the ground hard as he coughed and gasped for air, making Cody wince. 

“You,” the instructor commanded, pointing his blade at Cody.

“You got this, Codes,” Wolffe whispered as Cody passed him. 

He got to the mat and faced their teacher. He could feel his blood boiling just below the surface of his skin as Fox and Gree helped Bly up and back to the benches on the side of the training room. 

“Begin,” the instructor said, already lunging for his student before the word had fully left his mouth. Either he didn’t notice that his student didn’t have his practice blade out, or perhaps he simply didn’t care. 

Cody ducked the attack, throwing his shoulder into the instructor’s gut and knocking him off balance. They tumbled to the floor, the young clone on top of his teacher as they struggled. 

Distantly, he could hear his brothers’ cheers from the sideline, but he couldn’t let that distract him. No, he had to put everything into this match. He had to show this sleemo that he and his brothers were to be respected.

He could feel the instructor’s knee slam against his back, and he grunted as a sharp pain accompanied the impact. But he ignored it. He fought to get the instructor’s arm under his knee, pinning it to the mat and began to do the same with the other, but the instructor struggled against him. The instructor’s hand landed on Cody’s face, pressing hard against it. Cody growled in frustration, pushing himself even harder. He had to win this match. Par ner vode.

The instructor bucked his shoulders, trying to throw the cadet off, but he stuck through it, grabbing at his wrist and - finally! 

Cody caught the instructor’s arm by the wrist, slamming it hard onto the mat, the practice blade clattering to the floor. Once he’d wrestled the instructor’s arm beneath him, he picked up the practice blade, pointing the tip to the instructor’s neck. 

“Do you yield, sir?” he asked simply, fighting to disguise the fatigue in his voice. 

“Fine,” the instructor snarled. “Now get the kriff off of me.”

He hesitated, but let the man up. 

“All of you get out of my sight,” he growled, brushing the dust from his shirt.

His brothers were all but cheering by the time they left the training room, but Cody felt uneasy. That feeling carried him through the rest of the day, following him wherever he went.

“CC-2224, report to hangar 14D,” the PA system sounded. The rest of his squad gave him a questioning look, but he just shrugged.

“Do you want one of us to come with you?” Fox asked, clearly picking up on his brother’s discomfort.

“Better go alone,” he frowned. “Thanks, though, Fox.”

The eyes of his squad followed him until the door shut behind him.

It wasn’t long of a walk to the hangar, but he couldn’t help the way his nerves bundled in the pit of his stomach. The tension rose into his shoulders and jaw as he walked into the hangar.

There stood his hand-to-hand instructor, but that didn’t surprise him. He figured he’d have to pay for his victory in training earlier.

“CC-2224,” the instructor drawled, not bothering to turn and face him. “Glad you could make it.”

“Yes, sir,” he answered carefully. He didn’t want to earn any more ‘reinforcement’.

“Since you seem to have your hand-to-hand training down, I thought perhaps you might like a bit more of a challenge.”

Cody didn’t like the man’s tone. It sounded too cordial for this particular instructor.

“What did you have in mind, sir?”

The instructor chuckled darkly. “A more… realistic fight,” he murmured, turning and pouncing at Cody.

He caught his wrists, but not before it nicked his uniform. They struggled for a moment, but the instructor used Cody’s hold on his wrists to pull the young clone towards him, slamming a knee into the boy’s gut.

Cody coughed hard, doubling over. The instructor took the advantage, pushing him back, nearly knocking him off balance.

“Today is the day you’ll learn,” the instructor spat, landing a swift uppercut to the same spot. “You’ll learn what it is to respect your betters.” Another hit. “To know your place.” Another. “Your worth.” He gripped the cadet’s arm, twisting it painfully. “That you are utterly disposable.”

With a punch to his cheek, Cody was down. He crumpled to the floor, breathing no longer coming easily to him. His vision felt blurry. His heart was pounding in his ears. There was something warm and wet dripping down his temple- was that blood? There was a metallic taste in his mouth.

“Pathetic,” his instructor huffed out. Laying on the cold durasteel of the hangar, curled in on himself, bleeding, panting, and nearly crying in pain, doubt crept into his mind. Maybe he was pathetic. A let-down. A disappointment to his squad. Maybe he was just a number- 2224.

“You know as well as I do just how much the Kaminoans hate imperfection,” the instructor sneered. The sharp hiss of a vibroblade being unsheathed echoed in his ears. “We’ll see how long you last with this.”

The instructor forced him onto his back, arm pressed across his shoulders. Cody’s vision was blurry, but he could just make out the shape of the knife inching towards him. White hot pain seared through his body, originating at his temple. He was sure he cried out, but he couldn’t hear anything over the rush of his own blood. He was moving, struggling against the sadistic man, trying desperately to break free.

The arm holding him down shifted, moving up his body, until it situated across his throat. He was gasping, his hands clawing at his restraint, but it got harder and harder to fight, and he felt a cold, inky, blackness enveloping him.

“That’s enough!”

Cody opened his eyes. The harsh white lights of the medbay burned as he blinked the blurriness away. His head felt like it was being split into a million pieces.

“Good, you’re awake,” said a woman, who just came into focus. He recognized his heavy weapons instructor, and realized she must have been the one to find him.

“I-I’m sorry,” he breathed, voice hoarse.

“None of that,” she answered. Stern, but kind, as always. “This was not your fault, verd’ika.”

Dinua Atina was a tough Mandalorian warrior, but she seemed to have a bit of a soft spot for the cadets, and the cadets held her in a similar regard.

He sighed. “Is my squad okay?”

“Always worried about ner vode,” she smiled, shaking her head gently.

“W-when-” he stuttered, having trouble pushing the words out of his mouth. “When will I be… decommissioned?”

Alor Atina’s eyes grew wide. “No, verd’ika,” she asserted. “You will not be decommissioned.”

His hand rose to gingerly touch the ruined skin on the left side of face. “But-”

“I have already stopped them from decommissioning you, verd’ika, and the man who did this to you has been removed from Kamino.”

As his eyes shot up to meet her’s, his mind swam as he searched for words that would be enough. “V-vor entye, alor,” he whispered, his Mando’a coming out a little broken.

She smiled widely, her hand grasping his. “No debt is owed, verd’ika. Guide and protect your brothers in the field, and you will bring kote to the Republic.”

She patted his shoulder and began to leave, picking up her helmet from the foot of his cot.

“Alor Atina,” he spoke, stopping her. “What does ‘kote’ mean?”She smiled. “‘Glory’, verd’ika. You will bring glory.”

Thanks for reading! - River

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He was in the middle of a meeting with Commander Cody when his comm pinged.

“Hangar 14, darling” the simple comm from you read.

Maker, he thought as he became more impatient. He hadn’t seen you in over forty rotations and he was getting desperate. Holoimages of your smile just weren’t enough; he needed the real thing. He just missed you, damn it. Your smile, your laugh, those eyes you’d give him when you wanted to get him alone. He missed the way your fingertips were permanently stained with engine grime. He missed the way you interacted with his brothers; playing games with Wrecker, actually listening to Tech, making snarky remarks with Crosshair.

“Sergeant? Are you listening?” Cody questioned, bringing Hunter back to the present.

“Sorry, sir. I’m a little…distracted,” Hunter mumbled.

“That’s alright, vod,” Cody chuckled. “I have some plans with my cyare after this as well. We can pick this back up tomorrow afternoon.”

“You may want to hurry, Hunter, I heard the Wolfpack is docking in 14,” Cody gave Hunter a pat on the shoulder, a smirk and conspiratorial wink on his face as he left.

Hunter scoffed a little before rushing off to see you.

It had been far too long since he saw your beautiful face, and he couldn’t help the butterflies in his stomach. As he approached Hangar 14, he looked around, trying to find the source of your laughter.

And there you were. You looked so kriffing pretty, despite the way your messy hair and the oil and grease that smeared across your body from your repair work. He was so distracted, a blissful expression painting over his face, that he didn’t realize what you were laughing at to begin with.

Slowly, he noticed them, the various members of the Wolfpack standing around you, one of them - Sinker, he thinks - regaling you with some kind of epic tale, his hands flying about wildly. You were laughing, clearly amused by whatever story was being told, and laughing harder as Boost started to bicker with Sinker.

You got along so easily with everyone you met, a skill that Hunter himself was not particularly adept at, and it made his heart happy. But watching as the leader of the pack, Wolffe himself, inching closer to you as you paid attention to his squad, something stirred in him. It was unfamiliar and uncomfortable.

Hunter’s movements stilled as he watched. You didn’t seem upset, and he didn’t want to make a big deal out of nothing. He was probably just being overprotective like Crosshair always says.

But then he saw it. A quick brush against your arm and the way you tensed. The way your smile and laugh suddenly became a facade. It made his blood boil.

He was getting ready to charge the commander, and give him a piece of his mind, but instead your eyes caught his. Your smile widened, no longer polite, but purely, unapologetically joyful. You didn’t bother say a word to the men surrounding you as you began to rush towards the beautiful man waiting for you.

He caught you easily, lifting you by the waist and spinning you around. Your beautiful, wonderful, bewitching laugh bubbled up as you held your man close to you. Eventually, he brought you back down to the ground, smiling widely as you wrapped your arms around his neck.

“Missed you,” you whispered, as he pressed his forehead against yours

A laugh from behind the pair of you caught your attention, and you both noticed an embarrassed looking Wolffe, ordering the rest of the pack to do ten laps around the hangar for laughing at him.

You laughed as well, but Hunter let out a low noise, one you had only heard in…other settings. You followed his line of sight, noticing that Wolffe was suddenly looking very nervous and Hunter’s smile had dropped as he narrowed his eyes and growled at the other man.

“Hunter,” you chided, breaking his concentration away from the commander and back to you.

“Yeah, cyare,” he grumbled. “I know.”

You chuckled, and rolled your eyes a little, pulling your hands back to rest on the sides of his head, pulling him into you, kissing him deeply.

Everything around the two of you faded away and you felt him relax into your arms.

Neither of you even noticed the whistle from Wrecker as the rest of the Batch entered the hangar.

It was only you and Hunter.

Thanks for reading! - Dang 💛🤟

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“You’re goin’ to Vel,” she rasped. “There’s a little village called Tirra where you’ll touch down. Pick up the goods and bring them back here.”

“V-vel?” I stammered, doing everything I could not to look as frazzled as I felt. 

“It is a moon in the outer rim; part of the Regasta system,” Tech informed, barely looking up from his data pad. “It is not the most…advanced society.”

“That’s nice, Goggles, now shut it,” Cid scowled at him. 

The rest of the briefing flew by, and I barely caught anything. We were going to Vel. And worse, we were going to Tirra. 

It had been years since I’d left, and I wanted - no, I needed to keep it that way. I just couldn’t go back. 

“Oh, I forgot,” I mumbled as the Batch and I began making our way to the Marauder. “I have another mission to take care of.” 

The squad stopped in the tracks to look at me. 

“Another mission?” Omega asked, quirking up an eyebrow. I hated that I was lying, especially to her. 

“You didn’t tell us you were taking solos from Cid again,” Echo questioned, obvious concern crossing his face. Kriff, I should’ve known they’d remember that part of my history. 

“Th-that’s because it isn’t for Cid,” I blurted out. Idiot, I thought to myself. 

Hunter stepped toward me now. “You’re going behind Cid’s back?” His voice was full of the skepticism that was shown on his face. “You’re not one to make stupid decisions like that.”

“Tough times,” I said through gritted teeth. 

“Must be,” he replied, stepping away from me, but squinting his eyes a little, the way he usually did while using his other senses. 

He could hear my heart hammering against my ribcage, I know he could. 

“Yours have a deadline?” Hunter asked after what felt like a lifetime. 

“Well, no, but I need to-”

“You need to assist this squad, like you said you would.”

I glanced around at the others, hoping for some hint of support. Most weren’t looking at me, save for Omega, who was showing her usual curious look, only now it was mixed with something unfamiliar. Her family was uncomfortable, and she was certainly picking up on it. 

I could feel the anger rising in my chest, first at the way Hunter was ordering me around, rather than just talking to me, but then it was mainly as a defense mechanism; I was scared but I couldn’t- no, I wouldn’t show that. Not to them. 

“Fine,” I spat, hating the feel of venom on my tongue as I brushed past all of them to board the ship. 

The entire journey through hyperspace would take nearly a week, and about four days in, I had hardly said a word to anyone that wasn’t Omega. I couldn’t deny her my attention; she was simply too sweet. 

“Why don’t you want to go to Vel?” she asked one day, having just entered the gunner's-nest-turned-bedroom, that she liked to let me sit in when I needed to be away from her brothers. 

I didn’t know what to say aside from the truth. Omega was fairly mature for her age, but she was naive and innocent and still a child. I couldn’t lie to her.

“Because I was born there. I was born in Tirra, on Vel.” The words felt like gravel pouring out of my mouth, rough, jagged, difficult, but once they were out, once that fact was fully revealed, I did feel lighter. 

“What?” Omega nearly shouted, causing me to wince. “That’s amazing! You’ll be able to show us around, and we can meet your family and see where you grew up!”

I shuddered at the thought, and Omega, observant to a fault, noticed. 

“Aren’t you excited to go home?” she wondered, the excited smile beginning to fade from her face. 

“I…wouldn’t exactly call it ‘home’,” I started, feeling, but not becoming fully aware of the way my fist clenched, pressing my fingernails into the meat of my palms. 

Omega didn’t respond, just scooted closer to my side. 

I took a deep breath. I’d gotten this far, I might as well tell her the rest. 

“I didn’t have the best childhood,” I explained. “My parents died not too long after I was born, so I was sent to an orphanage - um, that’s a place where they take care of all the kids who don’t have any family anymore.

“It was bad; everything was dirty, the beds, the rooms, the clothes, us. And the food was worse than ration bars, when there was any. The grown-ups in charge claimed to be righteous, holy people, but they didn’t care about us. Some kind-hearted people would give money to try and help us, but it would just go right into his pockets.

“When I was a few years older than you are now, he noticed me. He’d hold me up as this example of a disgusting sinner even though I never did anything wrong. He had this…this power over people, and even though I was just a kid, they believed him.

“18 long years of being beaten and spat upon by the people of that town. I had enough. I told that man that I was leaving and he had the town stone me and he banished me from ever returning. I went to Indus, the capital of the whole moon, because finally I was old enough to book passage off-world for myself.”

Omega was quiet for a long time after my shaky words had tapered off. Silent tears were rolling down both of our faces, something I worried Hunter could sense. 

“Do they know?” she asked, the sorrow evident in her voice. She was such an empathetic child and the weight of the guilt I felt for unloading on her like I had? It was suffocating. 

“No, Omega,” I answered. “I don’t know how to tell them.”

“But they can help,” she scowled at the floor, her belief in her brothers shining through. “They can protect you.”

I took another breath. “I know you trust your brothers, and I trust them too, but I don’t think they trust me. I don’t think they even really like me.” I left out the part of how they probably only tolerated me because of my skill set and Omega’s affection for me.

“They do like you!” Omega protested, having no intention of allowing the idea that her friend and her family weren’t friends as well. 

“Omega-”

“I’m sure they trust you. You should trust them.”

Omega left me on my own, climbing down the ladder. 

“I wish I could,” I whispered to the streaking lights of hyperspace racing past in the window. 

Day six was finally coming to an end. I needed to get off of this ship, even if that meant stepping foot in Tirra again. 

The moments before I’d left for Indus were replaying constantly in my mind. The way the townsfolk had cornered me, hurtling rocks, bricks, insults. What I’d told them, my rage taking over my brain in the moment. 

I shook my head. None of that mattered right now. There was a mission to complete. 

“Entering the atmosphere,” Tech called from the cockpit. 

I could feel my nerves rising again, and I clenched my fists, forcing myself to breathe calmly. 

We touched down without incident, kicking up a few swirls of dust. Some of the townspeople walking around looked towards us, but ultimately decided to mind their own business. 

As we all stepped off the ship, taking in our surroundings, Omega appeared beside me, pulling at my sleeve so I’d bend down towards her. 

“Did you tell them?” she whispered as softly as she could, side eyeing Hunter. 

I shook my head. Hunter was watching us, suspicion across his face. 

Omega scowled at me a little, which despite causing a bubble of guilt to rise into my chest, did little to make me want to talk to her brothers. 

“You should tell them,” she said, walking away from me to go ask Tech questions about the moon. 

“Tell us what?” Echo asked, suddenly right behind me. 

“It’s nothing,” I muttered. I started to walk away, but he grabbed my arm. 

The look on his face was heartbreaking; he was so worried about me. “Taking jobs from someone other than Cid? Keeping secrets? It’s not like you.”

Part of me felt touched. He was right, the lies I’d been telling weren’t like me. I preferred to be somewhat of an open book to those around me, especially those I trusted, like the Bad Batch. 

“I know, and I want to tell you, it’s just…really hard,” I breathed, the tiniest bit of relief dripping into my brain. At least that wasn’t another lie. 

Echo didn’t reply, but his expression of worry didn’t disappear either. 

We set out to the rendezvous point where we’d meet with Cid’s contact, walking the edge of the town. 

Wait, the edge of town?

“We have to stop,” I blurted out before I could stop myself. Four helmeted heads turned back towards me. I could see the confusion on Omega’s face, but I could practically feel it on the rest of them. 

“This is the fastest route to the rendezvous,” Tech explained, lifting his data pad to my view. 

“I know, but if we go this way then we’ll-”

I clamped my mouth shut. Damnit.

“‘We’ll’ what?” Hunter pressed. I could tell he was fed up with my antics. 

I could feel myself shaking and my heart hammering in my chest. I opened my mouth, hoping that more explanation would come tumbling out, but nothing did. 

Omega stepped towards me, taking my hand in hers. She beamed up at me, her smile supportive as she nodded. 

I took a long, deep, shaking breath in and out. “If we go this way, we’ll have to pass the preacher’s house. If he’s there, and he sees us, he will start trouble. That’s not trouble you want. If we double back and take the main road, the townsfolk will alert him to our presence if they didn’t already when we landed. We need to go up into the woods along the northern side of town. The woods are thick, but easy to navigate. It’ll take a little extra time, so we’ll have to pick up the pace.”

There were four sets of eyes on me, and even though I could only see Tech’s, I knew they all reflected the same thing; full confusion. 

They looked between me, Omega - who was smiling kindly at me, hand still in mine - and each other. 

Omega, with a slightly irritated tone I’d rarely heard from her, tugged at my hand. “We have to go quickly, right?”

I nodded.

“Lead the way,” she smiled again. A took a deep breath, eyes scanning her brothers’ helmets again, before putting on what I hoped was a determined expression, and turning to lead the group on the alternative route. 

Omega eventually let go of my hand as we walked, giving it a supportive squeeze before she did. 

As I’d told them, the woods were thick, but I knew them well. 

“You going to tell us how you know so much about this place?” Hunter asked slightly behind me.

“That is simple; this is where they were raised as a child,” Tech called from the back of the group. I froze in my tracks, the rest of the group stopping behind me.

“This is your home?” Wrecker asked, lifting his helmet to look at me. My mouth formed a tight line as I fought the tears threatening to pour down my cheeks.

“This is where they were born,” Tech corrected. “However, given the lengths they have gone to trying to avoid this very conversation, I would say their memories of living here are rather unpleasant.”

Echo stepped towards me, lifting his helmet from his head. “Is that true?” 

He placed a gentle touch on my shoulder and I was done for. A few tears slipped down my cheeks and Echo’s expression softened. 

No. No, we had a mission. I couldn’t do this right now.

I pulled away from Echo, turning my face.

“We’ll be late if we don’t get going,” I explained, beginning to continue our trek, walking briskly.

The rest of the mission blurred by without incident. Wrecker heaved the cargo container up from the ground, and Tech turned to me. “Shall we return the way we came?” 

I nodded, unable to really say anything. My nerves were still keyed up, and I had a terrible feeling in my gut. My fists clenched into tight balls as we began our walk back to the ship.

The walk back was uneventful, Tech occasionally looking over his shoulder at me to confirm that we were still on the right path.

“Stop,” Hunter ordered as the town started to come into view.

He pulled a pair of binocs out, looking over the town square we’d have to pass through.

He grunted, passing the binocs to Tech and Echo. 

“It’s a trap,” Echo concluded.

“Someone’s not happy we’re here,” Hunter agreed.

“Perhaps it is the religious figure you mentioned before,” Tech added, turning to look at me. The rest of the group’s eyes fell on me as well.

“I don’t know your history with this place, or with this preacher, but you need to tell us what we’re walking into,” Hunter said, his voice quiet. There was less bite in it than there had been before.

“He- He’s powerful. He’s got some kind of dark magic.”

“Like the Sith the Jedi would mention during the war?” Echo asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. He’s never had one of those weapons they all have.”

“What’s his problem with ya anyhow? We like ya just fine,” Wrecker told me, warming my heart a little.

I never knew the answer to his question of course, not when I was kid. I could feel myself falling into my memory of that last day.

“You pathetic child,” the preacher spat. “The weight of your sins will follow you all your days, but you are no longer welcome on Vel. Leave Tirra once its people are done with you, and never return.”

That’s when the rocks began flying. Most of them missed me, or only grazed me, at least at first. But then a chunk of brick caught me straight in the gut. I tried to back away, but the alleyway they’d cornered me in had no alternative exit. I was trapped. Insults were hurled in my direction, hitting almost as hard as the rocks and trash that bruised and bloodied my skin.

I had fallen into a heap on the ground, barely able to keep myself conscious, let alone protected.

As I lay there, the people began to grow bored, only the preacher’s inner-circle lackeys remained.

I gathered my strength as they laughed, pulling myself to my knees, wiping the dirt, blood, and tears from my face. 

“You’re going straight to Hell,” said the preacher, rejoining his henchmen.

“I’ll be back,” I warned, my voice shaky. “I’ll come back one day, you’ll never see me coming. You’re gonna regret this, cause I promise you, when I come back, Hell’s coming with me.”

My attention snapped to the present as Echo called my name, his hand and scomp on my shoulders.

A firefight with the locals had broken out, and it wasn’t going well. Wrecker was hit and knocked out on the ground with Omega kneeling over him. Hunter and Tech were behind the cover of the trees, peeking out to fire back on the townsfolk. And Echo was in front of me, holding my shoulders tightly, gently shaking me back to reality.

“You need to get your head back right,” he instructed me, his words coming out more worried than upset. “You almost walked into the line of fire.”

“I- I didn’t- I wasn’t-” I stuttered.

“I know, but we need you,” Echo insisted.

I took a steading breath, wiping away the tears I hadn’t realized were flowing. “Right, right.”

“We need a diversion,” Tech called. 

“We need Wrecker to get back up,” Omega responded.

“Stop firing and stay out of sight,” I ordered over the comms. “Don’t make a sound.”

They hesitated, but ultimately did as I told them. After a few moments, the enemy blasterfire slowed, and then stopped altogether. Wrecker was slowly coming back to consciousness, much to all of our relief.

“Wreck,” I whispered. “I need you to do what you do best; we’re going to need a big boom.”

His face split into the grin of a menace and he nodded, clearly fighting the urge to shout his excitement.

“They’ll be coming up to look for our bodies any minute now; the rest of you need to sneak back to the Marauder. Split up and loop around, Wrecker will meet you there once he’s done helping me.”

“What about you?” Omega worried. 

“I’m the diversion. The townspeople might not have recognized me when we landed, but I know he will.”

“Are you sure?” Hunter asked, and despite his mask I could feel his eyes staring into mine.

“Yes. It’s going to work,” I assured him. Hunter nodded at me, and then again at the rest of the squad. I watched them disperse, as Wrecker began rigging together what he had in his kit.

The end result was a tangle of wires and explosives. “Good work, Wrecker,” I nodded to him. “Set this on the east side of the town - there should hardly be anyone there - I’ll tell you when to set it off. Now get back to the others, tell Tech to get the ship running as soon as I get into the square.”

Wrecker nodded, dashing off into the trees. I unholstered my blaster as I heard a few townies begin to make their way into the thick forest. I spared a glance around the tree I was using for cover. Just two men were stalking up towards me. 

I quickly fired off two shots, hitting each of them square in the center of their chests.

With the coast clear, I moved down the hill towards the town, pausing behind a tree just at the edge. I could hear another man - one of the preacher’s lackeys - shouting after the two who were now laying dead in the middle of the woods. 

I could see him. He was still dressed in her overly-ornate robes. He’d gained weight since I last saw him; unsurprising given how skinny the orphans likely were.

I knew I should have waited just a moment longer, but my anger, my hatred of this man was overpowering, and I ran into the middle of the square.

“They said to start the ship now,” I heard Wrecker breathlessly instruct Tech.

“Well, well, well,” the preacher said, stepping towards me. He dropped my name into the dirt beneath his feet. “I believe I told you all those years ago that you’d overstayed your welcome in this town.”

I said nothing, my jaw clenching and my grip tightening around my blaster. 

“Still a disgusting delinquent I see,” he mused, looking me over. “I’m certain you still haven’t cleansed yourself of your wickedness.”

I began slowly walking sideways towards the large tree that grew in the center of the square, the townspeople watching in repulsion.

“If you think you’re going to make it out of here alive, you’re an even bigger fool than I thought.”

I lowered my blaster, bringing one hand up to my comm device, “Now, Wrecker!” I shouted, and perfectly on cue, a giant ball of flame burst from behind me, smoke, ash, and debris flooding the streets and square. I used the distraction to climb as high as I could into that big old tree.

I felt myself losing my tight grip on my control, and suddenly it was like I was watching my actions from outside of myself.

I attached the grappling extension to my blaster, and held it up, aiming it at that damned preacher. I fired and it hit, plunging half way into his chest. I used the branches of the tree to steady myself as my grappler began to reel itself in. I wrapped the end of my extension to a sturdy branch, ensuring that the corrupt, evil man would hang before the town.

I jumped down from the tree, surveying the town. The people were at their knees, screaming, crying, begging for mercy.

“I promised I’d bring Hell with me,” I snarled. “But I’ll show you the mercy you never gave me.”

I walked towards the Marauder, not followed, simply watched. I could feel my fingernails digging into my palms but I didn’t move them, longing to feel anything but the rage that was coursing through my veins.

From the moment I boarded the ship until the jump into hyperdrive, it was deathly silent. No one uttered a single word, not even Wrecker and Omega were boasting about the successful mission.

I tucked myself away into a corner in the cargo bay. I felt hot tears streaming down my face, cutting through the dust and grime that coated my face, but I did nothing to stop them now. I let my mind wander away a little, only coming back to myself as I heard talking nearby.

“Omega, where are they?” Hunter asked, seemingly again, his voice filled with paternal scolding. 

“I don’t think they want to talk to anyone right now,” Omega replied, her voice firm. 

“We just want to help,” Echo pleaded, his voice a little louder so he knew I could hear him.

“Fine,” Omega relented. “Just…just don’t upset them. Not now.”

I expected Hunter and Echo to come across me now, but was surprised to see the whole Batch before me, waiting patiently.

“Are you okay?” Wrecker asked, his voice softer than I’d ever heard it before. He had his little tooka doll in hand, and was offering her to me.

I accepted Lula, pulling her tight against my body.

“A lot happened back there,” Echo started.

Tech continued “We will fully understand if our presence here makes you uncomfortable.”

“We’ll leave if you tell us to,” Hunter added. “But you’re part of this squad.”

“This family,” Omega corrected, scooting close to you.

“We’re here for you, if you want to talk about it,” Wrecker finished.

They all looked at me, somewhat expectantly, Omega, placing her hand on my arm.

A fresh flood began to pour from my eyes as I gasped and panted. “I-I’m so-sorry,” I managed between sobs.

Before I knew it, Wrecker scooped me up into a tight hug, Omega joining it as well, standing on a crate to reach around my shoulder. I felt her send looks towards her other brothers, who relented, coming into the group hug as well.

The warmth and pure familial love that surrounded me now was overwhelming in the best possible way. Eventually it had to come to an end, but for now, all I could do was let myself be swept up in the fraternal display of outright affection.“You do still have a family,” Omega whispered. “We’ll always be your family.”

Thanks for reading! - Dang

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