Rising From Ashes

Chapter 4 - The Bad Batch

Author's Note: Yes, this is heart-breaking. :')

~ Amina Gila

Alema Syndulla

Heart pounding, I jump from the gunner's mount instantly, sprinting towards the exit. "Lower the ramp!" I yell to Tech.

"Take us down!" Hunter calls, already at the exit.

I jump down the moment the ramp lowers, rolling when I land, the Force gathered around me, and making a dash towards the wreckage.

Another very well-aimed blaster shot nearly takes off my head. If I wasn't a Jedi, I'd never have dodged on time.

I don't stop running, though, terror gnawing at me the whole way. The fire could spread momentarily, and if the fuel tank is ruptured, that'll be the end of them both. We have to get Hera and Omega out before what's left of the ship explodes.

I pause only when I see someone else approaching, practically silhouetted against the darkness and fire. He's in black, and that's... I don't know but seeing him sends a shiver down my spine. He's too tall and big to be human, but I'm pretty sure he is, and there's something about him that's just... dead. Empty. His mind feels vacant.

I skid to a stop, eyes narrowed and calculating, only to have to dodge another blaster shot.

I realize it almost too late – I have no cover, and neither does Hunter who just joined me, and whoever is shooting at us is pointedly cutting us off from reaching the shuttle. Which leaves me with only one choice. Not that it matters anymore, because whoever the tall figure is, he's heading for the shuttle himself, and I have to get there before he does.

"No, wait!" Hunter calls, but it's too late – I raise my hand, throwing the figure back with the Force. Hard. I skid to a stop, reaching down, yanking my lightsaber from my boot and igniting it to deflect the shots.

"I'll cover you!" I tell him over the blaster fire. I can actually see a bunch of the clones now, slowly closing in on us.

Hunter nods sharply, sprinting past me towards the shuttle. It's not far off now, not with me covering. He's just reemerging when the firing stops.

I don't lower my lightsaber though. I know better than to let my guard down.

And finally, from the shadows, I see someone else emerging, holding a rifle. My anger flares instantly. That's the one who shot down the shuttle, isn't it?

"Crosshair," Hunter greets him, voice level, but I can feel the crushing, strangling pain and emptiness and guilt. It feels like he's drowning in an ocean wave of nearly hopeless grief.

"You're surrounded," he replies shortly. Across from him, I see the other approaching again, and Omega gasps quietly. She draws her bow – I've seen those on Zygerria, and I'd like to know how she got it – aiming it loosely towards the many people surrounding us. Hera and Chopper are here, too, practically hiding behind me. Not like they have anywhere else to go.

"No, we're not," I snark back before Crosshair can keep talking. I can feel how Omega is at the edge of her control, so close to shattering entirely, and if any of us break down, it'll be bad. Best if I step in and end this now – none of them have an emotional attachment to me. "Unless you can fly."

"Hiding a Jedi now?" he continues, blaster aimed anyway, "Bad call, Hunter."

"Crosshair, wake up," Hunter says, stepping forwards, but he makes no move to lower his blaster. "You're being controlled by an inhibitor chip."

Omega, of course, takes that moment to dart forwards, relaxing the tightness of her grip on her weapon, though she doesn't let it go. "He's telling the truth," she adds, "The Kaminoans put chips in all the clones. Remember what I told you in the brig? You can't help it."