Jedi Fugitive (The Bad Batch)

21

Astera:

This mission was going to be an easy one. Finally. Just a simple weapons drop on one of the moons of Ryloth. The planet had apparently become an Imperial protectorate, though we all knew what it really meant - the Empire had occupied the planet and were taking control. Cham and Gobi couldn't be happy with that, I thought grimly to myself. I wouldn't be surprised if either one of them were the ones who were collecting the weapons.

The only problem with an easy mission - it would be a boring one too. There weren't even any schematics to look over. Omega slumped in one of the chairs in the cockpit, heels bouncing off its leg and eyes half slitted in boredom. Maybe now would be the best time to show her what I'd bought.

"Hey, kid." She finally looked up as I called her over, setting up the board over the top of Gonky's head. "How about a game?"

Her face instantly lit up with delight. Since learning her strategy skills in dejarik, each and every one of the Batch had insisted on playing against her. Thus far, she was undefeated; Echo was a surprisingly poor player, Wrecker surprisingly decent, though not good enough to win against her. Tech was the only one she had any real challenge playing against, but she had secured a victory anyway, much to the chagrin of the intelligently enhanced clone. It had consumed many of the squad's free hours in the cantina, though they had yet to find a way to bring it onto the ship. So when I'd chanced upon a rare physical game in the markets of Ord Mantell, I'd bought it without a second thought. It had cost me precious credits, though it was more than worth it, seeing Omega smile again. Despite her insistence that she was alright, the stress of the life she lived, the life we all lived, was beginning to wear on her. She laughed less often, took less wonder in exploring a galaxy she had never seen before. Everyone had noticed.

Fifteen moves later, Omega's bulbous monster had taken out my Kintan strider and Houjix in one move. Both monsters were promptly swept off the board, knocked out of commission.

She offered me a sheepish smile, toying with one of the other pieces. "Don't worry. You did better than everyone else."

"Almost everyone else," Tech corrected from the cockpit, determined to hang onto the title of second-best.

I chuckled, patting her on the shoulder. "Good job, kid. Could really put that talent of yours to good use someday."

The bashful smile turned into a real grin at my praise, and she reset the table, the eight monsters rearranged on the board on different sides. "Let's go again."

Three more losses to Omega and Wrecker decided he wanted a turn. Despite his unexpected prowess at the game, his skills could not match up to Omega's natural talent. He insisted on playing game after game, despite the loss he took every time, as if he could change the inevitable outcome.

"Give it a rest, Wrecker." Hunter had to cut in eventually. "The kid's not gonna lose anytime soon."

Wrecker squinted hard at the board for a few more seconds, attempting to find any open move that would delay his inevitable defeat. Seeing none, he collapsed backwards in his chair with a loud groan.

"I don't understand," he groused. "How is she this good?"

"We are approaching Ryloth's moon," Tech announced from the cockpit, interrupting Wrecker. "I suggest we begin loading the weapons."

With a final complaint, Wrecker got up and moved to the back room, helmet settled onto his head with both hands. Omega obediently began to pack up the game, carefully slotting each piece back into its carved out spot.

"Thanks, Ashe." She pushed the board back towards me, a faint smile still lifting her cheeks. "That was fun."

I reached out to push the game back to her. "You keep it, kid. Play on the ship whenever you like."