Jedi Fugitive (The Bad Batch)

53:

A/N: revamped my profile a bit if you'd like to check it out :)) my username is now mand0jedi in honour of Astera

Astera:

Cid had no mission for us, which was a rare occurrence. Not one anyone was going to complain about though, using the off day as a chance to finally rest and relax. Wrecker slept, Echo made new calibrations to the ship, and Omega meditated in her room, a habit she had picked up from Gungi. One that I would often join her on - with the hectic and often unpredictable schedule Cid kept us on, it was becoming increasingly easier to forget to meditate.

And so I was seated on top of an unfortunate Gonky, the droid's honking noises serving to tune out any other distractions like the noise of air traffic from outside. It also helped to ground me - last time I'd gone so deep into my trance I'd begun to levitate off the floor and pull objects into orbit around me, including a very surprised Omega. Since then, I'd been forbidden to meditate alone - someone would always stay on guard around me, ready to pull me out if I went too deep again.

"Meditating again?" I cracked open an eye at the sound of approaching footsteps, Omega uncrossing her legs above me.

"Trying," she told Echo with a sigh. "Gungi and Astera taught me, but it doesn't work for me the way it does for them."

"We're Jedi." I shrugged, hopping down from Gonky and letting the droid totter away towards the cockpit. "We have a connection to the Force."

"I still like it though." She sighed again, bouncing her heels against the ladder. "You wanna try?" She asked the cyborg clone.

"No." Echo's eyebrows drew together in a stormy expression. "I... don't enjoy solitude. I had enough of that on Skako Minor."

My chest squeezed at the mention of the planet where he'd been imprisoned and turned into an unwitting informant for the Separatists. I'd finally learned how he'd survived the explosion at the Citadel, and it was more horrific than anything I could have imagined. It had taken a lot for him to get through all of that alive.

"If it wasn't for this squad, I'd still be a prisoner there. Or worse," Echo continued, gazing at Tech and Wrecker still in the cockpit. Omega followed his eyes, her expression softening as she beheld her brothers.

"Is that what made you join them?" I asked softly, thinking back to when he'd been part of the 501st. He'd seemed happy enough there, and he'd been close with Fives and Rex. I would have thought he would have returned to his legion after his rescue.

"Hmm." Echo mulled the question over. "This was where I fit. Where I was needed. Like you were needed with the Mandalorians."

Huh. I'd never thought of it that way. The more I learned about him, the more similarities I realised we had between the two of us. Perhaps that was why we'd been so abrasive towards each other in the beginning.

"We have an incoming transmission," Tech reported from the cockpit. "It's Rex."

Echo and I both straightened, exchanging a look and heading into the cockpit together, Omega hopping off her perch to join us. Wrecker was still sleeping, awaking with an ugly snort when Hunter elbowed him in the ribs.

"Hey boys," Rex greeted the men as soon as his hologram popped up in the centre of the cockpit. "Astera. Any chance I could use your squad's expertise for a mission?"

Most of us exchanged looks, wondering what said 'mission' was going to be. The last mission Rex had asked us to go on had ended with both Hunter and I taken by the Empire and almost drowned with Kamino's remains.

Wrecker, on the other hand, was not so apprehensive. Bored with being cooped up on the ship, he was rearing to do something, anything. "Finally," he groaned. "I'm tired of waiting around for Cid."