Jedi Fugitive (The Bad Batch)

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A/N: What do you guys think of the new cover? I, personally, am in love, and the creator, @TheSquareCheese, deserves all the hype she can get for it. Love her work!

Astera:

The heat of the day had only increased the higher the sun rose in the sky, beating mercilessly down on us the farther we trekked through the rocky terrain. It definitely didn't help that we were all wearing full sets of armour, the beskar and plastoid pieces serving to trap heat and further heighten our body temperatures. Even Omega's feet had begun to drag, clear signs of heat exhaustion showing on her face. Wrecker had tried to help, but there was only so much relief his large shadow could provide.

"How much further?" He wheezed now, taking his water container back from the young clone and taking a long gulp from it. Tech unclipped his datapad from the back of his belt to check the distance, eyes narrowing slightly as he read the numbers.

"You will not like the answer."

"Havoc-4, this is Havoc-5. Do you copy?" Omega activated her comm again, a habit she had picked up since Echo's departure. Though her comms went unanswered more often than not, the times he did pick up were enough to keep her clinging to hope and continue the routine, sometimes several times a day. "Echo? Are you there?"

"He's too long range," Hunter finally told her. "Echo won't pick up our signal."

"Especially because he disabled his communication device." It was too late to stop Tech from blurting that information out, the intelligently enhanced clone completely unaware of his blunder, as usual. Dank farrik, Tech. We'd already known Echo had deactivated his comm, for days now. But we'd agreed not to say anything to Omega yet for a reason.

Said reason made itself apparent in her next outburst of disbelieving shock. "What? Why?"

"He's probably on a sensitive mission," I answered before Tech could this time. I would have said more, but Hunter raised his hand to halt us, his brows furrowing in deep concentration as he studied the ground in front of us. Tech glanced at him in confusion, opening his mouth to ask a question, only to be silenced by the ground beginning to tremble beneath our feet. Subtle at first, but quickly increasing in intensity. Like something large was rapidly approaching.

"What's that?" Wrecker demanded, turning back the way we had come and squinting down the ravine as if he could pick out the cause of the rumbling from around the corner.

I sensed it then, the presence of several animal lifeforms fleeing from the oncoming storm still at our backs. Too many to even try to count, and all of them moving together at a panicked pace that would be deadly to anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in the middle. A stampede.

"Run!" I jammed my helmet on and shoved Omega forward, forcing her into a run when the first of the ibisidion bucks rounded the bend, hundreds more following in the span of a second. They were fast, much faster than we were, and they easily overtook us, swallowing us in the midst of their thundering hooves and dusty blue pelts. One ploughed into my shoulder - I stumbled and nearly fell, barely managing to catch myself before I was trampled to death.

"There!" Hunter yelled distantly, pointing up at a narrow beam of rock stretching over the ravine ahead of us. His grappling line was already in hand, neatly arcing over the outcropping and pulling taut. Omega was first to scramble up the cable at his urging, followed close behind by him and Tech.

I was too far away to reach the rope in time; with a cock of my wrist, I fired my own whipcord instead, the hook sinking into the rock and holding fast. The winch jerked tight and pulled me off the ground, sending me sailing for the outcropping above my head.