The Bad Batch Short Stories

8. Accidental Stowaway

Part 1

It had been six grueling hours since "Sunny" had clocked in this morning for her shift in the mechanic's bay. Despite all the funding the Grand Army of the Republic received, not enough of it was allocated to the infrastructure and maintenance of the fighter jets, gun ships, and troop transports. Wiping her forehead with a damp rag, she took a swig from her water canteen, and proceeded to eat a snack. It really was lunch time, but management was cutting corners and everyone got three ten minute breaks.
"I'm not paying you to be sitting on your ass! Now get moving!" Her boss Leo shouted at her as he waved his hands at her.

Four hours later she was still working on the same engine, almost completely done. She heard someone clanging on the side of the ship to get her attention. "Sunny! Sunny! Get down here," Leo called to her. "You're needed in hangar twelve to work on an Omicron Shuttle."
Setting her tools down, she protested,"But I'm almost done here!"
"Hey, I don't make the orders around here. Something about an elite group that needs a few repairs right away." He shrugged his shoulders.
"Am I getting overtime for this?" Sunny asked, already knowing the answer.
"Sure, you'll get time and half and I'm gettin' a raise!" Leo laughed as he walked away.

Sunny tiredly packed up her tools and left a note on the work order for the engine repair. It was a fairly simple job, but knowing some of the other mechanics, it probably wouldn't get done in time. Letting out a long sigh she hopped on a cart and made her way down to Hangar 12. She knew she couldn't be upset about her "friend" and work partner, Silas. She knew he was calling in sick today because he wanted a day off to blow off some steam.
She pulled up next to the Omicron shuttle, noting the modifications made to it. She waved down the floor manager and he gave her a list of repairs to be made on the outside and the inside of the ship. She had never seen one so heavily modified for battle.
"Hello to the ship!" she called as she walked up the ramp with her tool bag. Not seeing anyone she made her way to the navigation table to make her first repair on a long list of many. She put on her headphones to listen to some music while she worked and to keep her awake. She was nearing a twelve hour day and was tired to the bone. Making her way to the back, she hammered out some dents in the metal doors, added some dry lube to the sliding door of the fresher, and fixed some creaky hinges. Looking around, she found herself in the bunk area with extra boots, blankets, and a few datapads on the floor. She had to move some of the items to work on a conduit and soon found herself reading one of the data pads. It was a collection of files on fauna from various planets she had never heard of and found it completely fascinating. Pretty soon, her eyes began to drop and she shuffled back a little further onto one of the bunks, and a little more... and soon, she was wrapped in a blanket and fast asleep.

"Just load the crates, Wrecker. We already ate and we restocked all the ration bars, so no, you will not die of starvation," Tech said as he walked towards the ship.
"Aw, come on! How can it be an "all you can eat buffet" if I didn't eat all I could?! That's false advising!" Wrecker protested.
Tech just sighed as he walked onto the ship and Crosshair, Hunter, and Echo all followed suit.
"Ah, I see some of the repairs have been made on the ship, but the mechanic left their tools onboard." Tech noted this to no one in particular and proceeded to move the tools to the outside of the ship.
"Let's just get going," Hunter said as he sat in the co-pilot's seat.
Tech started the flight sequence and Hunter assisted while Echo, Crosshair, Wrecker, settled in the back.
"We're headed to Onderon to take out a major stronghold of droids. They have been oppressing the locals and they already have a rebel cell in place, ready to take over," Hunter said to Tech.
"We should arrive in a few hours so you can take a rest if you require it," Tech told everyone.
Wrecker patted his stomach as he made his way bunk. He noticed the pile of blankets in the corner, but just shoved them a little more into the corner. He was usually warm and didn't feel like he would need a blanket for this nap. Taking off his upper armor, he settled in with Lula and soon was fast asleep.