When Luck Changes Sides

2 - kamino

Things were no less strange on Kamino than on Kaller. Crosshair's confusion grew, but he never got a chance clear any of it. With the way his own batch mates reacted to him not following the order, Crosshair found it best to do what he normally did. Keep quiet.

They walked down the white, pristine halls of Tipoca City. It was not a stroll Crosshair missed. The lights pierced his eyes from every angle. He squinted as they walked, fighting the urge to put on his helmet like the regs who marched by.

The Bad Batch arrived at their barracks, now with more memories since the last time they came through the door.

"Ah, good to be back!" Wrecker said.

"The smell's getting worse," Echo remarked.

"You're still new," Hunter patted Echo on the shoulder. "You'll get used to it."

"Speak for yourself," Crosshair muttered and broke through the pair. He moved across the room and placed his helmet on the box by his bunk.

Wrecker took out his oversized knife.

"11 more successful missions!" Wrecker said, cutting tallies into the wall. "Like there was any doubt."

Crosshair scoffed at the statement.

"I don't know if I'd call Kaller a win," Echo said.

"Says who?" Wrecker said, taking a seat on his bunk while the rest deliberated.

It was not a conversation Crosshair wanted to join. He moved to the middle of the room and perched himself on the clutter-filled table where the light in the dim room was strongest. He used his foot to pull a chair close to him and planted his feet on it. He brought his rifle around and sat it on his lap. Crosshair began his routine maintenance on the gun while the others continued their discussion about the recent mission.

Wrecker came upon Crosshair without warning, shoving the Lula doll repeatedly in his face. Crosshair took the beating with a grimace. He knew it would be over sooner if he didn't react. Then Crosshair felt a hard push land on his chest and he flew off the table. He hit the floor on his back. A sharp pain throbbed in the side of his head.

"That's it," Crosshair growled and got to his feet. He glared at Wrecker, who, to Crosshair's surprise, stared back with an expression he couldn't place, but it made Crosshair severely uncomfortable. Wrecker's good eye lost its playful twinkle and was replaced with a dark pool of anger. His hands were clenched into fists so tight, it was sure to leave marks in his palms. It looked like Wrecker wanted to do much worse than tease him with a doll.

"Wrecker?" Crosshair asked with a tone of  caution.

Wrecker blinked and his shoulders fell as his body relaxed. The light returned to his eyes and he let out a boisterous laugh.

"You should see your face, Crosshair!" he launched Lula straight into Crosshair's mouth.

He slapped the doll away and fell into a chair. Echo, Tech, and Hunter's debate about the success of Kaller raged on.

"We didn't complete every objective. Crosshair let that Jedi kid escape," Hunter said, ripping his knife out of the table he was picking at. He gestured to Crosshair who resumed working on his rifle. "Or, will you tell us the truth?"

"We went over this," Wrecker said. "Crosshair didn't know what the order was, so he tried to take the tiny Jedi prisoner."

"So he says," Hunter didn't take his eyes off Crosshair. "But an order is an order."

"Since when?" Echo interjected. "For as long as I've known you lot, it's always a race to see whose going to challenge orders first."

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