The Bad Batch: Tech and Vel

9. Interception

Months passed, and Vel found a rhythm in the Coruscant underworld. From Jedi in training to a common thief, she marveled, shrugging it off dismissively. She had made her home in an abandoned hangar, in the levels far below the planet's surface, where only the scum and villainy tended to go. 

She would venture to the higher levels on "picking days", where she would select well-to-do shops and individuals from which to pilfer the various things that she decided she needed more than they did. The deserted hangar she called home also housed an abandoned ship, an old Republic tugboat retired from years of service and thoroughly picked-through by scavengers.

Quieter moments found her in meditation, trying to channel the Force through her as she once had. On one particular day, she managed to lift and turn a wrench, tightening a nut into its socket before the wrench clattered to the ground. A dismal victory, she decided. Right up her alley.

She kept to herself, wanting to avoid attracting any attention to the fact that she had moved in to the hangar. She set up a little target practice range, with a variety of pieces and parts that would move and spin to present challenges for her aim. Between pilfering and practice, the days melted away and the ache in her chest dulled. 

***

"Hey!!" a gravelly voice shouted, and Vel cursed under her breath, launching into a sprint. "Come back here!"

She flew down an alley, clutching a handful of credits, some shilo pins, and a couple capacitor bearings. Casting a glance behind her as she rounded the corner, she saw two angry Weequay in pursuit, waving blasters over their heads and shouting a variety of colorful insults. 

She leapt over a cart, scattering a basket of meilooruns and smacking her head on the vendor's makeshift canopy. This earned her a momentary splatter of bright light across her vision as well as an additional cacophony of vitriol from the merchant as the credits and parts scattered from her hands. 

Regaining her bearings, she heard the Weequay coming dangerously close. She wove through another alley, dodging trash cans and pedestrians, still blinking rapidly to try to clear her vision, now swimming with tears from her solid blow to the temple. She spotted a ladder up ahead and made a beeline for it, doors and windows flying past.

She had almost made it when a pair of arms snatched her mid-run, pulling her into a crevice between buildings that was barely big enough for one person, let alone two. She cursed and struggled, scratching at the walls and squirming in an attempt to free herself. Her captor had fallen behind her against the wall, pulling her in tight. She felt a hot breath on her ear and cringed at the anticipation of the throaty Weequay voice.

But it was an urgent whisper instead: "If you would please be quiet until your pursuers are gone..." The matter-of-fact insistence stopped her cold, and she froze in disbelief. She looked down at the arms across her stomach, registering the gray and red paint.

"Tech?!" she whispered, gasping into silence as she heard the Weequay trundling down the alley outside.

"Where did she go?" one called to the other, sniffing around menacingly.

"Check the ladder!?" the larger one pointed, and the two started off. They hadn't taken more than a single step before bright blue beams sizzled around each of them, and they dropped like stones. A second after that, Wrecker came charging around the corner, determined grin changing to disappointment as he saw their unconscious bodies.

"Aww, come on Crosshair, I almost had em!" he yelled, kicking one of their boots. "You never let me have any fun," he grumbled, sauntering back the way he had come.

Vel felt like pinching herself. She hadn't ever tried spice, but this sounded a lot like the spice dreams she had read about. Yet it felt so real. The arms around her loosened, bringing her back to reality and gently pushing her toward the opening. She stumbled out into the open, whirling around as quickly as she could. This resulted in a smarting pain in her temple, and she winced as she raised a hand to cover it.