The Bad Batch: One Shot Collection

To Touch A Dream - Part 1: Haunted

Author's Note: Warnings: Blood, not really graphic, but still definitely present. Creepy ghosts?

~ Rivana Rita

PS. This is for the square "Bodyswap" on the Bad Batch Bingo. ;) And it's also for Day 6 of Haunted Clone Week. :D

The second part will be out in a week.

~ Amina Gila

Hunter had a bad feeling about the mission from the start. It only gets worse when they stumble upon a part of the planet that looks very familiar, and then... strange things start happening. It only gets worse when they enter an old building and get trapped inside. There's something dark inside. Something familiar but impossibly elusive.

Hunter knew he had a funny feeling about the mission in the first place. The name seemed familiar, though he could swear he's never heard it before. Then... when they came, they went after the Separatist base the way they always do, and everything was fine.

They were tracking the Separatist base from one part of the planet to try finding them, searching for their main on-planet base when something... else catches his attention.

It's the feeling of déjà vu crashing over him that takes away all rational thought, and he pauses, turning to look towards the towering cliffside nearby. It's standing out against the darkness, through the faint fog blanketing the planet's surface.

"We've been here before," Crosshair says, pausing. He sounds numb, or maybe it's the sudden frantic beating of Hunter's own heart that drowns out whatever he's trying to say.

"Yeah," Wrecker agrees, shuffling closer towards the cliffside.

Hunter's eyes find the top edge of it far above their heads. It would be a very, very long fall. He doesn't know why that's the first thought that comes to mind.

They need to focus. They're on a mission – there's not time to get distracted.

But something about the orangish brown shade of these rocks screams of such sharp familiarity he can't just ignore.

Yes, he has had moments before, but it's never like this. It never has been.

Even Tech has stopped walking, glancing up at the hillside before typing something into his datapad. "I... believe there is something... important about this place," he offers finally.

No doubt there.

"Yeah," Hunter agrees, turning away and approaching it.

The electric fields are flowing the same as the rest of the planet, though there's something not quite... right about this place. Something beyond the cliff, he thinks. Like there's some kind of energy source back there he can't distinguish, and isn't familiar with.

But there is something... something –

It feels like there should be something around here.

Hunter doesn't feel it until he approaches. There is something right around here. It's nearby – a small energy source, and he instantly raises a hand to tell them to stop approaching.

It doesn't feel like a mine, though it's underground, and it could be.

"What is it?" Tech inquires.

"I'm... not sure." Hunter approaches slowly, crouching next to it and digging his hands into the sandy dirt to find it. It's important, familiar, and there's something about it...