Call It Freedom

Chapter 17 - Tumbled Like It Was Stone

Author's Note: If you're enjoying this fic, you'll probably enjoy Out of Time, too, where the entire Bad Batch time travels from post-S2 and get dumped back in the CW all across the galaxy. :)

Also - *evil cackling*

~ Amina Gila

Unfortunately, there's little they can do for Tech to make him more comfortable except sit with him and wait for their chance to escape to get him to safety. Still, it kills Hunter a little to see his brother in pain. It's been a while, possibly a couple hours, and its torture to sit next to Tech, the others grouped around them, especially once he started stirring again, flickering in and out of consciousness. The pain must be excruciating to affect him so badly, and hearing his quiet whimper-moans as he shifts on the durasteel floor, trying to find a comfortable position is – it's horrible when they can do nothing to help him.

Wrecker settles for lightly stroking Tech's hair, and the rest of them just sit there waiting, wishing they could do something to help, even though they can't. It's awful. Tech's in pain from whatever the Empire did to him, and they can only hit here and watch.

There's a certain helplessness to it that's driving Hunter to insanity. He hates feeling helpless, especially after how helpless he often felt in the future he lived.

Hunter presses a hand onto Tech's side, just touching him, and hoping that it'll help, at least a little. They all tense when the door opens again, ready to spring into action, and Hunter turns from Tech's body, standing and shifting defensively in front of his brothers. It's the guards, three of them, blasters raised, and they approach. Behind Hunter, the other three stand, moving to block Tech's prone form from sight.

It's now or never.

The ray shield deactivates, and two of the shock troopers step forward. "CT-9901, you are coming with us," states one of them.

Obviously, they expect the pointed blasters to cow him. Ha. As if. He lunges forward, tackling the first trooper to the ground while Wrecker takes out the second with a punch. The third raises his blaster with a cry of alarm, but Wrecker is there before he can shoot, punching him as well while Hunter knocks out the first. Wrecker goes back to pick up Tech, slinging him over his shoulder, while Hunter, Crosshair, and Echo each grab a blaster.

"We gotta hurry," says Hunter, gesturing them all forward. Adrenaline is rushing through him, heightening his senses further, and he can hear the approaching footsteps from outside. Two more troopers are coming in right as they're about to leave. They stun them, but not before one of them has activated an alarm.

It starts blaring, signaling all troopers to the escape attempt that's currently in progress. Hunter swears, switching to his backup plan. "Echo, find your gear and get out. We'll cause a diversion. Distract them. Get Omega out of here." She's his biggest priority because she's the one who will suffer the most if she's found. He lost her once, and he can't lose her again, not to Hemlock and the Empire. The rest of them will find a way to survive as they always have, even if that means pretending to be beaten into subservience.

Echo is visibly reluctant, but he nods, racing down the hall, while the rest of them go the other way to lead their pursuers away from Echo and Omega. If they screw this up, they may never find her, and that's not an outcome Hunter is willing to accept.

The first wave of regs comes at them, and Hunter and Crosshair fall in side-by-side, fighting back-to-back, alternating between stunning them – there's no point in killing them when they know they're never going to make it out – and taking them out in hand-to-hand. Wrecker is elsewhere in the chaos, having deposited a still mostly unconscious Tech off to the side, plowing through the regs who come at them.