Jedi Fugitive (The Bad Batch)

37

A/N: i'm back :))))

Astera:

The beaches of Aynaboni were among the most beautiful in the galaxy. Crystal clear water, pearly white sand. Sunny, cloudless weather. Even the jungle trees were lush like no other. It would have been the perfect place to relax.

If it wasn't for the enraged pod of aggrocrabs intent on murdering us.

Echo skidded straight into the water, tripping over several sticks in the mud and face planting with a splash. Hunter, right behind him, was already pulling him roughly to his feet, his urgency forgoing all sense of gentleness.

"Go, go, go, go, go, go!" Wrecker screamed, easily overtaking me despite his larger size and the extra weight of the crate he was carrying. Seven of the very large crabs were right behind, stumbling and stomping all over each other as they scuttled after us, angry at having their sleep woken. We had a headstart on them, but the gap was closing fast.

"We went over the plan five times!" Echo yelled at Wrecker, brandishing his only hand at the larger clone. Of course it had been Wrecker to wake the pod, the large clone chronically unable to pull off any sort of stealth mission.

"I got the package, didn't I?" Wrecker protested loudly, holding it up as proof. After crashing into several sleeping crabs while I was supposed to be levitating said package out of the nest.

"Just keep moving!" Hunter urged from behind us, still checking over his shoulder for any crabs that might have closed the distance between us.

"How do you manage to wake an entire island of aggrocrabs, Wrecker?" I panted from his other side, legs pumping hard in an effort to keep up with them. The first real mission I'd been cleared for since my injury - one that didn't include only keeping watch and staying out of anything too taxing - and Wrecker had managed to make a mess of it before I'd even had a chance to levitate the package out. "It has to be a talent, really!"

"Tech, we've got the cargo." Hunter's hand pressed to the side of his helmet, the comm channel activating in the rest of ours. "But we could use some firepower."

"Wrecker woke the pod, didn't he?" Tech's dry response was not really a question at all.

"Yeah, and they're not happy. We need a pickup!"

"Copy that," Omega's voice joined Tech's. "We're on our way."

Another crab shot out from the treeline, claws snapping right for Echo; he dived under its deadly weapons fluidly, Hunter blasting at the offending crab. His shots scorched harmlessly off its bulletproof shells, only serving to enrage it further.

"You might want to hurry it up a bit!" More crabs were pouring out from the trees behind us, adding to the horde screeching for our deaths. They were fast, much faster than us - the distance between us and them was rapidly closing. At this rate, the crabs would get to us before Tech did.

"If you wanna use one of your Jedi tricks, now would be the time!" The power was already gathering in me before Echo had spoken, heels throwing up sprays of sand as I twisted back to face the looming wall of crabs. They looked even larger up close, beady eyes and each ridge on their deadly claws in perfect, sharp detail. Perfect for shredding me apart.

I shoved both hands outwards before I could lose my nerve, channelling the Force in a blast of rippling air that hit the crabs like a solid strike. The front wave was sent flying back into the rest behind them, knocking several on their backs with legs thrashing uselessly in the air. It did nothing to deter the infuriated animals - they merely stampeded over their downed companions, pincers snapping and shrieking louder than ever.