Jedi Fugitive (The Bad Batch)

54:

A/N: Wasn't planning on updating but Bad Batch Season 3 Trailer just dropped and I needed to do something about it. No spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen it yet (go watch it if you haven't trust me) but it's seriously so good and I had so many emotions watching just the trailer. The actual series is going to make me cry I think. ARGH I'm so excited. Gonna be so fun to write :,). 

Astera:

Our entry point into Rampart's Venator was the maintenance tunnel behind the first generator. One that required a long climb up an even longer ladder. Hunter had insisted I go before him, and even then I could still hear Wrecker's groans at the bottom of the group, increasing in frequency the higher we got. It only stopped when we hopped up into the empty control room, Tech immediately going for the table in the centre of the room with the rest of us fanning out to check the tunnels.

"Wrecker, get to work on the hatch." The larger clone obeyed Hunter's order, climbing up the second ladder and thumping the hatch experimentally before engaging the small laser attached to his pack.

Rex glanced around the tunnels briefly, watching Wrecker cut through the hatch. "Haven't been in these maintenance tunnels since the war," he remarked offhandedly to no one in particular. For the first time, I noticed he wasn't dressed in his usual clone armour, but in a standard brown shirt and blue vest. Unremarkable civilian clothing. All the better to blend into a crowd with, I realised. His clone trooper brothers would not recognise him at first glance in anything but his armour.

"Gotta say Rex," Echo began, "Coruscant's the last place I'd expect you to be."

I had to agree with him on that one. I myself hadn't imagined ever returning here after Order 66 had been issued.

"It's worth the risk." Rex shrugged as though it was obvious. "More and more of our brothers have been waking up to what's been done to them. I can't turn my back on them."

I saw the effect those words had on Echo, his shoulders squaring slightly and his back straightening. "How many have you reached?" He asked, suddenly more invested than before.

"Not enough," Rex responded grimly, arms folding across his chest. "Troopers who know too much are a liability to the Empire. I'm working with a few contacts I trust, but we're spread pretty thin. Help's hard to come by these days."

Echo's gaze shifted contemplatively to the floor. I didn't need to see into his mind to know what he was thinking, especially after all the times he'd tried to pressure Hunter into helping old allies. I just wondered if he would actually follow through with it when all this was done.

"Got it." Wrecker grunted from above us, wrenching the broken hatch open and starting to climb again, only to halt and groan. "Great. Ray shields."

"Leave it to me," Tech said without hesitation, turning back to the control table and his fingers flying across the controls. Hunter, meanwhile, turned to Rex, suddenly realising we were missing a very crucial part of the plan.

"And how are we getting onto Rampart's Venator?"

"I'm taking a lesson from your squad." Rex grinned. "We improvise."

I rolled my eyes, stifling another groan. "I had a feeling you were going to say something like that."

Soft chiming sounded from Tech's datapad. All of us turned to look up at the hatch, seeing the bright red ray shields power off simultaneously and the second hatch at the top flash green. Our way was clear.

Wrecker hauled himself topside first, followed by Rex, then me again before Hunter. The Venator loomed above us, as huge and intimidating as it had been poised above Kamino, raining hellfire down on the cities.