To Heal Poignancy ■ TECH - The Bad Batch ■

Adla Tries Gambling

The air fused with oil, sweets, and sweat. All of them fought for dominance as they made their way up the young senator's nostrils. When she first exited her ship, she had to refrain from gagging at the pungent smells when she took in her first deep breath from her routine of what she typically did when she first landed on a planet. While the three were common combinations to say the least, it did not mean that the mixture was a pleasant one.

Right now though, Adla was not playing the part of a senator, but rather a normal civilian. She let her hair fall in its natural wavy form. Although, with the amount of people around and the humidity, her hair stuck to her neck and forehead, which framed her face. She had on civvy clothes; a tangerine orange tunic where the sleeves reached her elbows, with a garnet red vest, and soft forest green pants. She resembled nothing of what a senator should look like. She looked relaxed and unassuming in some of her home planet's colors.

This was her first time off of Coruscant in a while. Crosshair made a full recovery, although he seemed miserable and Adla assumed there had been a demotion for Crosshair. She was uncertain if it was because Rampart found Adla annoying so he demoted Crosshair as punishment, or because he had to go search for Crosshair on Kamino in the first place. All she can say for certain was that Crosshair had not been frequently called away to missions. He was actually given time to rest and recover. Boy, did Adla hear Crosshair's thoughts on that. Spoiler alert, they were not pleasant. He also had not brought up the stealth suit again, which she hoped was kept that way.

It was also quite obvious that the conversation with his brothers did not go well. They were still hiding from the Empire, although Rampart and everyone else thought they were dead. Adla believed that Crosshair confirmed to Rampart about Clone Force 99's demise on Kamino. Crosshair did not relay his time on Kamino when it fell. The young senator thought the effect of the Bad Batch's absence truly began to show in Crosshair. He looked miserable. The confrontation seemed to have taken a lot out of Crosshair, and only Adla noticed.

Recently, though, Crosshair was called upon for a mission on a once Separatist planet with Commander Cody. Adla was there to see Crosshair off this time. From a distance, she made eye contact with Cody. Her heart pounded in her chest as the two stared at one another. He was the last person she spoke to before the order was given. The guilt and shame that radiated in his face was noticeable. Cody believed he killed his General.

"Senator," the Commander's voice drifted out to her. "Congratulations."

Adla bowed her head. "Thank you, Cody."

He saluted her before he turned to enter the ship. Adla had called out to him again. He faced her once more.

Adla ran her tongue over her teeth. She wanted to tell him. She wanted the sad stare to wipe away from the Commander's eyes. She wanted Cody to know that he didn't kill Obi-Wan Kenobi.

But the timing was not right. They were too out in the open, there were too many witnesses.

"Good luck. Stay safe."

She would tell him when they both got back from their own missions.

Cody nodded to her for a final time.

It was a shame that Cody and Crosshair would return before she could. Her heart would ache when Crosshair told her that Cody went AWOL, according to Rampart. She didn't know that moment in the hangar would be the last time she saw him.

It would be for the best. No one was supposed to know that Obi-Wan was alive, anyway.

On top of that, Sola stayed to help plan the charity event. By help, she really meant by hovering over Adla's shoulder and complaining about anything she didn't like. Adla wanted to rip her hair out most days as Sola was difficult to work with, to say the least. She disapproved of Adla's first draft of the charity event, which made Adla want to kick Sola out afterward. It honestly felt as though she was planning the funeral all over again. The only true say Adla had to the event is where the donated money would go. Naboo was still in desperate need of medical supplies, and she could use the rest of the money towards relief for majorly affected planets from the war to help them rebuild, instead of waiting for the Senate to approve such things. Which they never would.