The Path of a Jedi (The Bad Batch x Reader)

Chapter 12

Tech had finally finished forging a few chain codes for Cut, Sue and the kids and you watched them board the transport shuttle safely. You watched the shuttle take off and turned to walk back to your ship where the others were waiting.

When you arrived at the clearing, Hunter was sitting on a stump outside waiting for you to arrive. You smiled and took a seat next to him, "brooding outside is new," you teased him.

He stopped sharpening his knife and looked at you, "I am not brooding," he replied defensively.

You chuckled, "why else would you be dark and mysteriously sitting outside the ship?"

He smiled at you, "I was just waiting for you."

"And to what do I owe that pleasure?" you asked.

His smile faded, "actually it's not happy news."

You settled in on the stump next to him, "what's on your mind?"

He sighed, "I think we should have sent Omega with Cut and Sue," he explained, "she's a fugitive now too and she is too easily recognized, they can give her a life that we cannot."

"I thought that would have been a good idea too, but she wanted to stay with us Hunter, how can we force her to go somewhere she does not want to go?" you responded.

He threw his hands up angrily, "we should have made her go, she is not safe with us."

You grabbed his hand trying to calm him down, "She's not truly safe anywhere," you explained, "at least with us we can protect her."

He settled back down and slumped his shoulders, but he kept a tight hold of your hand, "We're not safe anywhere either, where do we go now?"

"I don't know," you replied honestly. You and Hunter sat outside the ship for a few minutes in comfortable silence.

Once you boarded the ship you were both bombarded by Wrecker carrying Omega on his shoulders and running around the cabin. You laughed a little and sidestepped them making your way to the cockpit and sitting down. Echo and Tech were already there having a friendly argument about some kind of gadget.

They stopped arguing upon your arrival, "general, there is something we must discuss."

You slumped in your chair a little and put up your feet, when Tech and Echo need to talk it usually takes a while and they very rarely get to the point within the hour. Hunter chuckled and sat opposite you in the other chair. "Go on," you said once you had both settled in.

Tech startled rattling off things that were wrong with the ship and how much it would cost to repair them while Echo droned on about the most important repairs to complete. Throughout the explanation they would get distracted arguing with one another about a specific repair or a certain part making it hard to follow yet entertaining. "In short, we need to find a way to make money, or make a friend that is willing to supply us everything we need for free," Tech finished.

"Well no one is going to help us for free," Hunter responded.

"Certainly not," Tech answered, "it was a joke."

"Well they probably didn't get it because you're not funny," Echo interjected.

"I find myself funny," Tech muttered under his breath.

They seemed to have noticed that you were deep in thought and they all turned to you. "What's on your mind, general?" Echo asked.

You uncrossed your legs and leaned forward resting your elbows on your knees. "The jedi order had many contacts in the outer rim, we found out it was easier to pay certain spies for information that it was to try and spy for ourselves, especially as the war got uglier," you explained. "There is one whom I have dealt with before, he is a swindler but he has helped me out on many occasions," you finished.

"Do you think they would help us?" Hunter asked.

"I think he would do anything for a decent profit," you replied.

"But we have little to offer him," Tech interjected.

You smiled at him, "during the war, we had quite an interesting relationship, long story short, he owes me a favor," you mused, "I think it is time I collect on it."

Echo nodded and plugged into the hyperdrive, "where to?"

You rested your hand on your chin for a moment, "I am not sure of his exact whereabouts these days, but last I knew, his stronghold was on Florum."

Echo nodded and made the changes to the hyperdrive. Tech got up and walked out of the cockpit typing away on his datapad, presumably looking up statistics on the planet.

You decided to go sit in the small front turret to take a look at the space around you. You allowed yourself to be lost in thought as you watched the stars pass by at lightspeed, reminiscing about the life you lived during the war, the good and the bad times.

There was a slight cough behind you that ripped you from your fantasy, you turned to see Hunter leaning over the turret behind you.

"Sorry," he said leaning a little closer, "I did not mean to disturb you."

"It's alright," you said, motioning for him to join you within the turret so he could see out the window too, "I was just reminiscing about the past."

"Do you miss it?" He asked.

You chuckled although there was no humor in it, "the war? No, but the simplicity of the life we all lived? A little," you admitted, "we had a place, a purpose, and now we are struggling to find a place."

He nodded, "but we found a purpose," he said, nodding to Omega who had fallen asleep next to Wrecker in the middle of the common area.

You smiled, "yes, we have."

You both sat in silence for a little while longer before Hunter broke it again, "so who are we going to see?" he asked, "you said you had an interesting relationship." You smiled at the hint of jealousy in his voice.

"He is a complicated man," you explained, "he would betray anyone for whoever had the greatest profit, but he helped us out a lot when we were stranded or in need of supplies."

"Sounds like a pirate," Hunter responded.

You smiled recalling some fond memories, "yes, he is."

Hunter could not shake the jealousy that he felt, "you trust him?"

You laughed out loud, "of course not," you responded, which seemed to allow Hunter to relax a little, "but I know that he pays his debts, I believe he will help us."

Hunter nodded, he felt more relaxed now, "what's this pirate's name?"

"Hondo Onaka."