Unofficial Commander

Chapter 3: Fifth Member

Crosshair put Macawi down on a crate in the ship, his hands lingering for a moment before moving away. Tech gave her a Bacto injection once he did. They were all staring at her like she was going to break. She laughed, coughing from the pain.

"I'll be fine. I'm not that fragile."

"We're just not used to..regular people." Wrecker said, looking the most worried about her.

"Trust me, I've been through worse. Let's just get back to Coruscant."

After they got into hyperspace Macawi went and laid down on one of the bunks, leaving the other four in the cockpit.

"Do you think she'll stay part of the team?" Hunter asked, to no one in particular.

"It is helpful to have a fifth member, especially a Jedi," Tech replied, "Though, given her track record with other squads she may think she's endangering us."

"What record?" Wrecker asked.

"According to the reports, she has a hundred percent fatality rate. But in hindsight, there was only a slim margin that her missions would have succeeded, given that she only ever had a max of ten clones in her squad. In essence, they were suicide missions."

Hunter came to a realization. "That's why she was at the cantina getting blasted."

"There's a high chance that she will ask to be removed as our CO once we get back to Coruscant."

Crosshair scoffed, getting up to leave.

"What, you don't think she will?"

"Doesn't matter to me if she does. She can do what she wants. The four of us do just fine." He had some animosity in his voice. He would rather she not leave, but he wasn't going to say that.

On Coruscant Macawi reported back to the Jedi Council. Recounting her encounter with Grievous.

"It's worrying that Grevious would be at such an out-of-the-way outpost." Mace Windu leaned back in his chair, and Macawi side-eyed him.

"I don't think it was anything out of the ordinary. Do you not check on your troops every once and a while, Master Windu." She spat out the word "Master".

Ki-Adi Mundi responded, "Yes, but droids do not need food, and supplies, like the clones, young one."

"Why don't you leave the reasoning to us. You're relieved of command of Clone Force 99. You did what you were sent for."

She turned towards Windu, fuming.

"You don't get to tell me what I can and can't do, Windu."

"Macawi, calm down."

"Don't fucking tell me to "calm down" Kenobi," she snaps at him. "You send me on suicide missions, trying to get me killed. Trying to get rid of me. You almost succeeded a few times, I'll grant you that." She turns around, addressing the entire Council.

"Angry, you are."

"Oh, Master Yoda, What? Are you going to tell me where that road leads? I'm already on it, I have been since Dooku left the order. You try to pretend that the Sith and Jedi are on two different paths when it's the same path, only with different approaches. I came back because Obi-Wan needed help. I didn't come back to rejoin the light. You claim the Sith are evil when you know full well you work with one. Well, sure. Relieve my command of the Bad Batch, but you have no way to control what I do. I'm done. I'll join a squad that you don't have your fingers in."

She looked around at them. She could tell she hit a nerve. They all looked pissed, but Obi-Wan just looked hurt. She left before they could say anything to her. She had already planned no joining the Bad Batch if they wanted her to anyway. Spending more time with Crosshair was one of the main reasons, but she felt a connection to them. They were out of place in the world, just like her.