The Plans We Made • TBB

23.Adolescent Rancor

    "It's impossible to get information without doing someone else's dirty work." Sunset grumbled as they boarded the Marauder. Cid would only help them out if they did something for her first. Well, that job was to rescue a kid from some Zygerrian slavers on the other side of the planet. Obviously the Batch agreed, but they weren't happy about it. "We're not mercenaries."

    "Hey, this is gonna be a piece of cake." Wrecker responded, dropping into the seat behind Echo's. Suddenly he's squeezing his eyes shut and wincing. His head was bothering him again.

    Hunter gave his brother a concerned look. "You alright?"

    Wrecker nodded, brows furrowed tensely. "Yeah, yeah. It's nothing." He says, rubbing a particular spot on the side of his head. When the pain started to ease, he got up and left the cockpit to grab a drink of water.

    Tech glances up from his datapad, not bothering to fix his slouched posture. "According to Cid's intel, the Zygerrian slave traders are hiding in the ruins of Old Ord Mantell city."

    Omega hopped into the seat that Wrecker previously sat in. She cradled the clone trooper doll that Sunset had taken for her. "What's a slave trader?" The blonde asks, making the doll stand on its feet.

    "Someone who buys and sells people for credits." Tech answers, resting his device in his lap. He stretches his fingers with a few soft pops.

    "People can be sold?" Omega said in shock, leaning forward in her seat.

    Sunset shrugged, leaning against the wall. "Technically it's illegal, but yes. However, the people being sold don't have any choice."

    "They're captives treated like property." Echo adds on, spinning around in his seat to face the others. Sunset met his eyes and slowly shrank into herself. She felt insecure, but she couldn't quite figure out why. It definitely had something to do with what happened on Pantora. Echo wouldn't judge her for being pregnant, right? Was he holding it against her? The promise she made to tell the others soon?

    "That doesn't seem right." Omega frowns, pulling her doll against her chest.

    And then it clicked. Every time Echo looked at her, Sunset felt as though he was seeing her differently after being informed of the human growing inside of her. Does he think she's growing weak because of this? That she's less capable than she was before? What if that's what her other brothers will think once they find out? Would she be able to live with herself after seeing their judgmental looks?

    "It's not." Echo nods. "And we are going to stop it from happening to that kid." When he moves his gaze from Omega over to Sunset, he frowns in concern at the anxiousness woven into her face. He knew that look. She was stuck up in her head. It happened to him too, ever since the Citadel.
   
    "As well as earn a decent amount of credits once the job is complete." Tech chimes, glancing at his sister and surprisingly noticing her anxious look too. He gives Sunset a gentle nudge, pulling her back to the conversation at hand.

    Echo rolls his eyes at Tech's words. "Yeah, that too."

    Omega looks down at her trooper doll, talking to it as if it's the kid they were about to rescue. "Don't worry, Muchi. We'll save you."

    Sunset crosses her arms, hands cradling her elbows. Her feet carried her to the hull of the ship, where she took a seat next to Wrecker. Letting out a long sigh, Sunset stretches her legs out and closes her eyes as she waits for the Marauder to land in Old Ord Mantell.

    Moments later the squad was filing out of the ship and making their way over to the ledge that overlooked the Zygerrians' camp. Sunset used her binoculars to get a closer look, seeing the slaves chained up around a cracked fountain that was no longer in use.