Jedi Fugitive (The Bad Batch)

19:

A/N: I finally got onto fully writing chapter 19 and 20 with some free time. Chapter 19 is now finished, chapter 20 is on its way. Its not my greatest work, so I'll probably edit it someday if I can be bothered but for now, here it is.

Astera:

"Remind me why we're here again." Echo stared up at the mine's entrance, torch passing over the rusted metal.

"Cause Cid's client is too lazy to do this himself." For once, Echo and I were in some sort of agreement. Cid's constant omission of details was starting to wear on me, this time being no exception. Last mission I'd nearly been eaten alive by giant eels. There were constant threats on us because of our unawareness, and it was getting old.

This time, all we'd been told was that her client owned a recently abandoned thorilide mine on Gorse and we had been sent to retrieve anything of value we could find, with no reason why the client couldn't do it himself. My attempt at questions had been shut down with a challenging glare before Cid had thrown the chip at Tech and demanded we get out of here. There were probably several reasons why the mine had been abandoned, and Cid had left out all of them.

The door to the mine hissed open, Tech straightening from the controls. "I suggest we make this quick. Cid has likely provided misinformation regarding the safety of the mine. I would not be surprised if it were unstable."

The mine was only just brighter than the planet itself - I could dimly make out the edges of the rock walls, see the outlines of the clones around me. My torch clicked on automatically, along with four more, throwing long shadows across the cave wall.

"What does thorilide look like anyway?" Wrecker stared up at the damp walls of the tunnels, searching for any trace of the mineral in the rock face.

"It appears crystalline in its raw form," Tech said matter of factly, "however, once refined, the resulting mineral is much darker, similar to a metal."

"Crystals, Wrecker," I clarified in his silence. "It looks like crystals."

"Well, why didn't you just say?" The larger clone asked petulantly, bumping his brother in the shoulder to accentuate his point.

"What are we looking for anyway?" Omega picked up a rock, bouncing it up and down in her hands. "Cid didn't really tell us much."

"Cid said anything of value," Echo told her. "Mostly mining equipment, by the looks of it."

"She'd probably have us mining thorilide ourselves if she was here," I muttered to myself, pressing a hand to the wall. Something felt off in the walls, unsecured, like the rock walls themselves were unstable. I couldn't pinpoint what it was, but that bad feeling had begun to surface again, warning me of oncoming danger.

As if on cue, the entire structure rumbled, the ground beginning to tremble violently at our feet. Omega stumbled sideways, off balance; the rest of us keeping our footing only through years of military training. Wrecker caught hold of her, tucking her close to his body to protect her from the tremors. My hand shot out to stabilise myself, gripping the cave wall as several rocks dislodged from the ceiling, clattering to the ground and bouncing off my armour with a bang.

No one dared to move even after the shaking stopped, afraid that even the smallest shift in weight would begin it anew. I straightened carefully, testing out the weight of the caves before finally allowing myself to move again.

"Cid didn't mention the mines were unstable." Echo shone his flashlight at the roof of the tunnel, taking in the cracks splintering all the way along it.