--Building a New life --Tech x Reader Bad Batch

Chapter 27 --The big break | You are what you are--

The time in between Senate hearings passes quickly. Those three days, while monotonous and filled with reading, did provide you with plenty of time to prepare.

First order of business was researching the new speaker of the house and his escorts. They hadn't lied that they were from the new Navy training program however it would appear that only Lieutenant Nac had been through a battle. Lieutenant Handsky had gotten into the program from his family's rich connections and from what you read was no doubt despised for that favoritism.

Commodore Daliv however was a mixed bag. He was originally from Ator but had been stationed in a variety of locations during the war. It would appear that he had achieved his rank of Commodore shortly after the Empire came to power, otherwise he had never aspired to a high station. None of these men seemed to have families of their own and Commodore Daliv seemed to have a shaded history or as Tech put it "Someone has gone through and cleaned these files. Even the rich kid did not appear this presentable".

The program all of these men had been a part of was a fairly new adaptation of the Republic's old Navy program and any information on it seemed to have been kept private beyond Senate access. "I can try to get in" Tech had offered "However it may take quite a few days".

"If you've got time to spare, let's see what we can gather from our spy first" Hunter had decided. Tech nodded but already knew he'd look further into it, boredom was his least favorite state of mind.

The second order of business was practicing how you were going to act as an escort. Riyo came over once or twice during the three day break and hung out with you and Omega. You practiced different makeup techniques, walking in heels and working with Omega on manners and customs that would be expected inside the Senate. It was particularly helpful to have Riyo give input since you were a bit rusty on mannerisms, plus she got to fawn over Omega and her new clothes. There was one instance or another that you caught Hunter peeking into the room to check on you all since there had been so much giggling and laughter. He and the others took great enjoyment in hearing Omega laugh and he had no issues allowing her to skip her lessons for these 'etiquette' practices.

Rex also stopped in once or twice, usually coming in through the guys door and speaking with all of them before knocking on the connecting door. You had thought it was just because they were all clones and it was less suspicious for him to enter their room instead of yours from the hallway. However it was also the case that Rex considered you and the guys as two separate groups. The 'Bad Batch' had been a challenge to work with in the clone wars when he had worked with them, mainly crosshair causing most of the fuss but he enjoyed talking to you separately because it reminded him of Ashoka and comforted him. Not all Jedi had such a presence but it was common among force users and it relaxed him in a way that clone brothers never could.

Rex had been working on establishing more networking connections while he was still on coruscant as well as doing his best to sneak off any clones that had defected with the new bill now in place. He explains that large numbers of clones, with the exception of stationed security positions on Coruscant or the Senate, had started to be reassigned without reason to distant parts of the galaxy. Most of them begrudgingly accepted, but many wanted an out before their relocation orders came in.

Lastly, the night before the senate hearing Tech messaged you a list of different senators to observe and some questions you could ask around 'if it was safe'. Seeing his notification had made your heart flutter and you knew a smile had spread across your face the moment you saw it. Tech had not been chatty with you, but he was more receptive to your presence than before. Whatever had been going on with him at the beginning of all this had shifted and seemed like he was now heading back to being sociable with you. You weren't sharing ideas over coffee yet, but you felt better now that he would acknowledge your presence with his eyes and include you in the discussion. In the back of your mind you still remembered Hunter's words, and the plan that Tech was supposedly trying to get you and Hunter together, but you hadn't seen that in action. As far as you knew, besides Tech's weird behavior, nothing had really changed.