"Harmless" Adventures with the Bad Batch

A Rise in Power (Order 66-Part 2)

A/N, So...I decided to break this chapter into 2 parts because it was literally almost 8,000 words so now Order 66 arc is going to be 4 parts long.  Part 3 is out now as well so I hope you enjoy these next two chapters!  

Abby woke to the sound of numerous voices. She yawned as she stretched her legs, still half asleep. Tiredly she cracked open an eye to see what the ruckus around her was about. The other Bad Batchers were bouncing a squishy rubber ball between the five of them, deep in playful conversation.

"I'm just saying that it would be really cool and useful to have flamethrowers that double as explosives," Hunter was saying with a faint smirk.

"Hell yeah!" Wrecker agreed enthusiastically.

"And I'm saying that it's not scientifically possible to do that safely! They would explode unexpectedly and kill us all!" Tech protested.

"Oh come on! That would've been the coolest thing ever!" Wrecker grumbled, now completely crestfallen.

"Getting exploded?" Echo scoffed.

"No! Having that kind of firepower!" Wrecker explained.

"I'll stick with my rifle," Crosshair shrugged as he caught the ball and bounced it to Echo.

"Mourning, boys," Abby mumbled, rubbing a hand across her face tiredly.

"Evening actually," Tech corrected.

Abby glanced out the bedroom's large window. It was still raining heavily, making the sky dark and dreary.

"How long was I asleep?" she asked.

It had been late afternoon (4 p.m to be exact) when the Bad Batch had arrived at the barracks before.

"A few hours. I was the first to wake up and that was about half an hour ago," Hunter explained.

"You boys want to get dinner then? I'm starving," Abby suggested.

"Yeah, me too!" Wrecker agreed.

"Alright, let's get our armor on and we can head to the mess," Hunter nodded.

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After a short while longer in the barracks, the Bad Batch had made their way to the mess hall, which was still packed with regs much to Crosshair's dismay.

"We'll sit at our own table, Cross," Abby assured him. "You won't even have to talk to them."

"They stare," he grumbled while he snatched a food tray from the counter.

"I know," Abby sympathized as she did the same. "Not much we can do though, huh?"

"I suppose," Crosshair grimaced sullenly.

The two filled their trays with food from the long line. The two probably stuck out like sour thumbs in the sea of white-armored, black-haired regs, but that made it all the more easier to find the table where Echo, Wrecker, and Tech had already seated themselves. The latter two were already deep in argument by the time Crosshair and Abby arrived.

"Clones being programmed. Nothing controls me!" Wrecker declared resolutely as the two sat down.

"Wrecker," Tech sighed. "It is a logical conclusion that your affinity for destruction would stem from your conditioning."

"You take that back!" Wrecker demanded insistently.

"I am merely stating a scientific hypothesis based on factual data," Tech countered stiffly.