Mother of The Bad Batch-a Bad Batch story (ON HOLD)

Chapter six

It had been four years since Riley left Kamino. Four years since she had last seen Hunter, Crosshair, Tech, or Wrecker.

As soon as she landed on Cato Neimoidia Riley knew she'd never be allowed to leave. Mandy and Anna tried their best to lift her spirits, but failed miserably.

For the first few months, Riley would only leave her room for food or water or if there was mail for her. Before she had left for Kamino, Riley had thought she was going to miss her room. But now she wanted nothing more then to go back.

Riley's legs had healed well—however she did need a brace for the leg that sustained the most damage.

Everything reminded Riley of her sons. Her sisters, her jewelry supplies, her stuffed animals—yes she has some—the rain, her hair dye, the color red, her art, her weapons.

Riley was so upset she stopped dying her hair. She lost sleep. She even started cutting herself, however stopped a little while after when she realized the cadets wouldn't approve.

After she was in a better state, both physically and emotionally, Riley helped her parents with the family business—caring for the inn and its customers.

She absolutely hated it, mostly because she had to deal with her parents every day. Lissa and Blin had restricted Riley from even leaving their property.

Everyday Riley would welcome guests into the inn and give them a room. Most of the guests were on the planet for the trade business. Some were smugglers trying to lay low for a day or two. Others were small families trying to start a new life away from war.

Every so often a Jedi and their clone troops would come by. They helped once with the Separatists, defending Cato Neimoidia from the enemy.

Every clone that would stop by would remind her of the cadets. Her heart sank when she seen the troopers get injured or even worse, killed.

She wondered if the boys remembered her, if they had survived the war so far. She wondered who their Jedi general was—if they even had one.

There wasn't a day that went by that Riley wouldn't think of her boys. She often had dreams of seeing them again, only to be woken up and realize they're not there.

The boys didn't do that well either. Wrecker cried himself to sleep every night—it was so bad that Crosshair gave him Lula. Tech would stare at pictures of Riley and them for hours upon ends. Hunter had stopped cutting his hair, now it was past his shoulders. Crosshair blamed himself for Riley's leave. He became more distant with his brothers and even stopped talking—unless it was necessary.

As they got older due to their enhanced aging, they joined the war as Clone Force 99. They called themselves The Bad Batch. All of them painted their armor black, grey, and red in remembrance of their mother.

They still had the bracelets Riley had made for them, however they didn't wear them due to the amount of growth.

After Echo joined, they quickly hid their pain. After a few months the boys had forgotten they were even sad.

After order 66, Crosshair had become even more distant. Especially when his brothers chose some kid over him. Crosshair ended up joining the empire, even after his brothers and sister were willing to give him a second chance he still refused to go with them.

Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, and Echo knew they had to find somewhere safe for Omega. Cid's bar wouldn't cut it anymore with the Empire's eyes everywhere.

"We could go to Naboo?" Wrecker suggested. "Too many people." Hunter told him. "How about Dathomir?" Wrecker asked. "Yeah, let's go get killed by some witches and savage warriors!" Echo remarked.

"The Kaminoans told me something about a place called Cato Neimoidia. It's not that busy right?" Omega interjected. The bad batch looked at her. "Maybe she's onto something." Hunter said.

"Cato Neimoidia it is." Tech mumbled as he punched in the coordinates. Omega buckled her seatbelt as they flew into hyperspace.

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Word count: 688