Jedi Fugitive (The Bad Batch)

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A/N: I've decided to start to dropping some more stuff on my profile (personal updates, chapter announcements and maybe even some early drops of covers and art for The Mandalorian Jedi series), so consider following if you don't want to miss out on that stuff. I'll reply to all comments and messages so if you wanna chat just go ahead!

As a side bar, I'm back from vacation so I will be returning to our regularly scheduled Wednesday-Sunday chapter drops starting next week. Enjoy!

Astera:

"According to Cid's coordinates, this is the mine she purchased," Tech informed us, gesturing to the giant metal door set into the rock face. I resisted the urge to scowl at it, remembering my argument with Cid regarding our last disastrous mine mission. The one where I'd been forced to reveal my identity to Hunter to save him from certain death, not to mention nearly buried alive twice. Not that she'd heed my complaints though. She never did.

"And we're supposed to do what?" Omega asked, more bite to her words than normal. Despite Hunter's reassurances that she'd readjust to Echo's absence, the young clone had remained worrisomely dejected, all the cheer having gone out of her whenever she spoke. I'd tried to keep her spirits up by taking her out to Ord Mantell's markets, playing game after game of dejarik with her, performing little tricks with the Force here and there. I'd even gone as far as to actually teach her how to hold one on my lightsabers correctly, but nothing had lasted so far. Whatever little light would appear in her eyes was gone again by the time our activities were over.

Tech, however, seemed as oblivious to the change as he normally was. "Excavate the site for ipsium," he told her in his de facto matter-of-fact attitude. "It is tremendously valuable when refined. However, in its raw state, the mineral is highly combustible, like a primed thermal detonator."

Wrecker visibly perked up at the words 'thermal detonator'. "Sounds dangerous," he laughed, mostly to himself. "I like it."

"This is the baradium bisulfate all over again," I muttered with a shake of my head and reached up to rap the side of his helmet with my knuckles. "You heard the words 'highly combustible', right?"

Whatever snarky response he might have come up with was interrupted by the beeping from the sensors at the door as the thick locks holding it in place slowly retracted, allowing the door to the mine to swing open with a mechanical creak.

Thunder boomed in the distance, dragging our attention away from the dimly lit entrance, save for Tech, who had returned to his datapad and was blissfully ignorant of the dark grey thunderclouds unfurling over the horizon as far as the naked eye could track. White flashed in its depths, heralding the lightning that inevitably came with the loud cracks of thunder.

Hunter dropped to one knee and scooped up a handful of dirt, analysing the red dust as it spilled through his fingers. I didn't quite understand how the storm would relate to the electromagnetic frequencies that his enhancements supposedly allowed him to perceive, but I knew better than to ask Tech. A query like that would leave him talking for hours.

"Problem?" The clone in question asked, finally noticing our distractedness. Hunter didn't answer him, instead glancing up at me beside me, also watching the storm carefully.

"You can feel it too, right?"

I nodded and extended a hand towards the storm, stretching out my mind to feel its current, the direction it was heading. "It's moving away from us."

"That's what I was thinking. We should be fine." He got back to his feet, sparing one last glance at the storm. "Tech, Wrecker, we'll mine the ipsium. Astera, Omega, you're on lookout."