THIRD PERSON POV
"Well, this is interesting." Tech hummed to himself. He, Hunter, and Crosshair all gathered in the cockpit. Wrecker was cleaning his weapon. Hunter overheard Tech's muse and asked him to clarify. "It's true. We are wanted by the Empire for treason."
"But, that shouldn't be right." Hunter argued. "We killed that Inquisitor on Florrum for the Empire. Why are they hunting us down like criminals? We are just following orders."
"Perhaps the orders aren't what we think they are." Crosshair suggested, leaning against the wall behind Tech.
"I'm confused..." Hunter groaned, rubbing the left side of his head. "Did we commit a crime?"
"That's a relative statement, nowadays." Tech sighed, tapping away on his datapad. "Anything that goes against the Empire is considered treason and a crime. However, I would agree anniliating the entire Jedi population is also...questionable. The Empire is ingenious: they have set up a database in which one could locate any person and ship in the galaxy. We are in the system, which gives me all the access to the Imperial files. That's why I can locate an Inquisitor almost instantly. With that said, since we are now considered 'traitors', why haven't we been knocked out of the system?"
No one had a response or even a suggestion.
"That squad that was chasing us down on Florrum," Hunter said. "Echo is in that squad..."
"Yes, I believe he is." Tech nodded.
"Can you look up the status of that squad?"
"Yes, it'll only take a moment."
"Wrecker!" Hunter called to the back of the ship. "You're awful quiet back there! Everything okay?"
"Yeah..." A low gruffed voice sounded from the large clone. "Everything's fine."
Hunter wasn't convinced. He rose from the co-pilot's seat to go checked on him, but Crosshair stepped in front of him, a firm hand on his shoulder. The sharpshooter slowly shook his head when Hunter opened his mouth in protest. "Wrecker..." Crosshair started, his mouth tightening in a straight line. "is not himself."
"I know that." Hunter said. The strongest, and typically the loudest, member of the squad has now spoken less words than Crosshair, the non-conversationalist...Wrecker now had less personality than an astromech... Both Hunter and Crosshair didn't realize just how much credits they would pay just to hear Wrecker complain about, well, anything. But neither clone was going to let the other know that.
"Um...Hunter?" Tech called to the sergeant.
"Did you find him?" Hunter turned to the intellectual clone.
"Not exactly..." Tech frowned.
"Spit it out already, Tech." Crosshair rolled his eyes.
"Echo and the rest of the squad, has been comfirmed...dead."
"W-what did you say?" Hunter's eyes widened, utterly shocked by this news. Behind him, Crosshair flinched. "Tell me you're lying."
"I'm afraid, I'm not." Tech sighed, handing his datapad over. "There's more, Hunter...Fern was in that squad as well. She, has also been comfirmed dead..."Hunter snatched it and read it with his own eyes. It was true. Echo...and Fern, have been "Killed in Action"...
"Do you think, Hondo's men killed them when we were on Florrum?" Crosshair questioned quietly.
"There's no way to be sure." Tech replied. "It also seems the Jedi that was with them has also been killed."
Hunter went silent, in amidst of processing all this new information. He had no idea Fern was part of any of this...He hadn't seen her in years, after...He couldn't quite recall when or why. And now, she was dead, just like that? And Echo, as well? "We never should have left Echo on Kamino..." he finally muttered, his head hung to the side. "And Fern—Ack!" A high-pitch ring resonated in Hunter's head, causing him to cringe and squeezed both his head between his hands.
"Hunter? What's going on?" Tech jumped to his feet from the pilot's chair. Suddenly, Crosshair sucked air in through his clenched teeth as he too gripped the left side of his head. "It feels like something is ripping through my skull." he hissed.
"Mine, too." Hunter groaned.
"I don't understand." Tech said. "I don't feel anything. Wrecker! Are you feeling any sort of pain in your cranium?"
"No, I'm not." Wrecker looked over and walked over from the back of the ship.
"That's it." Tech grabbed the datapad back from Hunter and began punching in sequences. "I am finding out once and for all. What is inside our heads? The Empire's got every single file imaginable available in the palm of my hand, right? There is a solution in there somewhere."
The pain resided slowly from Hunter and Crosshair, leaving both of them winded. Then, Hunter's breathing steadied and his mouth tightened. "There's no need, Tech." he said, slowly straigtening his posture. "Forget Echo, and forget Fern. There's nothing we can do for them now. Let's continue tracking down these Inquisitors. You still accessed, right? Let's use it while we do."
"Are you sure, Hunter?" Tech questioned.
"Yes, those are our orders. For the Empire."
"Whatever you say." Tech nodded and resumed his position in the pilot's seat. "The closest location where an Inquisitor has been stationed is on a water planet one sector over."
"Make the jump."
Crosshair watched Hunter give these commands one at a time. If the sergeant had experience the same painful sensation he had just moments ago...Crosshair grimaced. He glanced over at Wrecker, who was staring back. "What are you looking at, Wrecker?"
"I want to fight something." the large clone said bluntly. "I have this urge to, to break something."—he paused—"There's an Inquisitor one sector over?"
"Yeah?"
"Good." Wrecker huffed, and returned to the back of the Marauder, cracking his knuckles anxiously.
Crosshair swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. He no longer recognized the strong, yet caring, clone whom he used to mess with on missions. He looked back at Hunter and flinched. He was beginning to disappear, as well.
It was I who suggested we leave Echo behind... How can he say 'forget him' so easily? And Fern...After all they had been through? We didn't even know she was part of this until now...She's dead...because she got involved...
Crosshair's eyes closed, processing the last few minutes. He knew Clone Force 99 was doing the "right thing" by tracking down and eliminating these threats known as Inquisitors, but it was changing the squad. Crosshair no longer recognized his comrades, his brothers. Wrecker was a silent killing machine. Tech was obsessed with downloading every single secret the Empire had stashed away. Hunter was...relentless...like he had something to prove over everyone.
Who am I? Crosshair pondered, as he observed the three defective clones around him. Echo, and Fern...How did you die? Really.
This question lingered, just as the Marauder was approaching the water planet Tech had said an Inquisitor was stationed on. The sharpshooter went to go prepare his weapons kit. All while, he wondered about the painful episode in his head, how more aware he felt afterward...And what did it all mean?
YOU ARE READING
"Good Soldiers Follow Orders...": A Bad Batch Story
FanfictionWHAT IF...The Bad Batch was affected by Order 66, but not exactly how and what the Sith had in mind... In this story, Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, and Crosshair are brought down, their personalities stolen by the Sith and Order 66. However, because Clone...
