Jedi Fugitive (The Bad Batch)

68:

Astera:

What Phee had called 'general merrymaking' lasted for hours longer, the sun having almost completely disappeared over the horizon when she finally stretched out and set her cup back on the table. "It's almost time."

"For what?" Tech asked without looking up from his screen. Phee snorted out a laugh and pushed her chair back, moving for the short wall and looking out at the view.

"See for yourself."

I half expected him to return to whatever was so engrossing on his datapad, but he actually got up and went with Phee to the wall, peering over the edge with an almost disparaging look.

"I am not seeing anything." He made to go back to his datapad, but Phee pushed it back down insistently.

"Just wait," she told him with veiled amusement. "It'll be worth it."

As if on cue, soft yellow lights at the dock blinked on, as did the houses around it, and the houses around those, until lights were turning on in a smooth wave that swept across the entire island as the sun began to disappear completely over the horizon. I sucked in a breath at the sight, hearing Wrecker and Hunter do the same on either side of me. I'd never seen anything like this before.

"Pretty spectacular, right?" Phee glanced sideways at Tech, as if looking for his approval. He hesitated, as utterly transfixed by the sight as the rest of us were.

"I suppose that is one way to quantify it."

His voice had suddenly taken on a note of awkwardness, readjusting his goggles and clearing his throat. Wrecker's snickers turned into full blown silent laughter, his shoulders shaking with the effort of holding it in. I cast my eyes upwards - the man may be intelligently enhanced, but he had no idea how to talk to girls.

I felt it when the air shifted suddenly, the wind changing directions and subtly dropping in temperature. A pair of moon-yos immediately dropped the fruit they were sharing and raised their heads to sniff the air before darting off, chittering nervously to each other. Beside me, Hunter set down his drink and got up, his troubled expression mirroring the familiar feeling that had begun to stir in my gut.

"What's wrong?" Phee asked him when he pushed between her and Tech, staring down into the village with both his eyebrows drawing together in a deep frown. More moon-yos ran past us on the stairs, and I stood too, my own forehead creasing as I moved towards the gate to watch them.

My eyes darted up to meet Hunter's, silent understanding passing between us. The look did not go unnoticed by Wrecker and Shep, who finally registered the silence in the absence of the moon-yos chatter, and the both of them straightened, turning towards the sea.

"Something's coming," Hunter said grimly, glancing at me again almost like he was looking for confirmation. I nodded quickly - I didn't even need to extend my senses to know there'd been a change in the planet. "We need to-"

The whole island rumbled before he could finish the sentence, the ground jerking beneath me and sending everyone staggering backwards several steps. I was nearly knocked off my feet, platters and cups shattering on the ground as they were rattled off the table. Screams erupted from below, the inhabitants of the island rocked off balance and several of them sent sprawling to the ground from the sheer force of the shaking. Wrecker was one of them, only narrowly avoiding hitting his head on the corner of the table.

"Omega, come in." Hunter had his comm out before the tremors had properly stilled, activating it and calling urgently for Omega. "Are you two okay?

"We're fine," she responded instantly. "We're headed back to the shore now."