The Bad Batch: Tech and Vel

1. Interference

"Steady, Wrecker..." Crosshair said smoothly, lifting his left elbow to bring his sniper to his shoulder plate, "We will be finished in a moment."

"We either do it now, or I go down there and do it myself," Wrecker replied, "This has taken... three times too long! I'm starving!"

"Well, select your next meal, then. Here he is," came the silken retort. The target came into view, a short, fat little politician flanked by two guards. His chin quivered as he walked, bent over his datapad, engaged in an intense discussion on a comlink in his hand. A taxi whizzed by, causing people to hustle to the side. A few choice words came flying after him from the left guard, but there was nothing more to it.

Except that it was the precise gap Crosshair had been waiting for. His finger tightened on the trigger, and he shifted the toothpick to the other side of his mouth.

"Your call, Hunter," he said, in a tone that bordered on boredom, keeping an eye on the target and confirming his sniper set to stun. 

"Take it," came the order.

ZAP! A red beam of light sizzled into the wall next to the politician's head. Both guards immediately leapt into action, activating handheld ray shields that glowed around them and the diplomat. The shimmering ovals flew up from the ground to form a perfect bubble as the right guard called for backup, poised at the ready, eyes flitting to and fro. In one smooth movement, the group disappeared into a nearby building.

"How did you miss? You never miss!" Wrecker shouted, pushing his helmet up to rest atop his head.

"That wasn't me, nitwit," Crosshair hissed, scanning the rooftops with his scope, "That was a live round. Someone else is after our target."

"Crosshair is correct," came Tech's matter-of-fact voice from behind the two, "The shot originated from a rooftop at an approximate angle of--"

"Just tell us where!" Wrecker interrupted.

"There," Tech replied, angling his hand toward a tall building behind them. Before the word had fully left his mouth, Hunter was on the move. He ran swiftly toward the side of the building, taking a flying leap onto a parked speeder bike, launching off the handlebars, and catching hold of the tail end of a ladder dangling off the side of a second-story balcony. He scrambled to the top of the ladder without virtually no effort, disappearing over the side of the railing.

The rest of the team wasn't far behind. Wrecker stopped at the base of the ladder, giving Crosshair a leg up. He was nearly as lithe as Hunter, gliding up the ladder and leaping onto the balcony without a sound. He whipped his sniper from his back and brought it to his eye, adjusting the scope with his middle finger and thumb.

Tech was running toward them as well, typing furiously into his wrist. "I'll fetch the ship to get eyes in the sky; Wrecker can man the rear gun if we need any backup."

"Meet me at the top of the building; I just sent the coordinates to you," Hunter affirmed, "Crosshair and I will flush out this little interruption."

"Affirmative," Tech replied, and was joined by Wrecker as they sprinted back to the Marauder.

***

A pebble slipped from beneath her foot as Vel let fly a word that would have made her father smirk. She shuffled along the balcony, reaching the corner and rounding it swiftly. Finding the ladder down the side, she slid down as quickly as she could, hopping off two stories below to creep along the backside of the building. 

She saw movement up ahead, the flash of a figure crawling up the ladder on the other side and caught a hint of grey and red armor. Figuring it better to stun her pursuer than risk being caught, she pulled her blaster from her hip and furtively approached the ladder. 

Suddenly, a flash of blue light enveloped her, and her ears rang with a deafening high-pitched sound. She dropped to the ground and remembered no more. 

***

"You make good bait, Hunter," Crosshair crooned, stowing his sniper on his back as he smirked at the perfectly-placed stun. 

"Meet me on the roof," came the only reply. 

The Marauder lowered smoothly as the remainder of the team boarded, the passed-out figure thrown over Hunter's shoulder. He dropped her onto the floor under the control panel before continuing up to the bridge. 

"Let's report in and we'll see what to do with her," Hunter said.

With a nod, Tech moved a lever and the stars around them turned into solid blue lines as they disappeared into hyperspace.