Bad Batch: Healer's Heart

Rescue On Ryloth

Althea played with the leather cord around her neck, rubbing the pendant between her finger and her thumb. She sat in a console chair, watching quietly as Omega attempted to repair Gonky.

Hunter walked by, offering a kind smile to the medic and ruffling her hair before turning to Omega. Sparks flew from Gonky's control panel.

"What's going on here?" The tracker asked.

"Gonky's prime power source won't fully charge." The girl explained. "I'm fixing it."

"You can't." Hunter told her. "He's a defective unit."

"Hunter," Tech called from the cockpit. The Sergeant walked past to see what he needed as Gonky honked sadly.

"Don't worry," Omega said, patting his side. "We're defective too."

Hunter leaned on one of the chairs, awaiting an explanation from Tech.

"We are receiving a recorded transmission, but I do not recognize the this frequency." The mechanic said.

"Patch it through." Hunter told him. Althea had walked in now too and was leaning on the co-pilot's chair next to Echo.

Tech pressed a button and a holomessage of a green skinned Twi'lek girl came through. She was kneeling and her expression was worrisome. "Omega, it's Hera. You have to come back to Ryloth."

"Isn't she the kid from the weapons drop?" Asked Wrecker. When the dropped of the weapons on the moon orbiting Ryloth, there had been a young girl Omega had shown the ship to. She was the one sending the message.

Omega ran in to the cockpit, her brow furrowed. "Hera?"

"The Empire's taken my parents, and they're after me now too." Hera explained. "I'm sending you coordinates. Please hurry. I need your help." The recording ended, leaving a frozen image of the scared Twi'lek girl.

Hunter sat in a seat, lowering to Omega's height. "You gave her our comm channel?"

The blonde nodded. "For emergencies, and that sounded pretty urgent. We have to go."

"Perhaps the situation is not as dire as described." Tech suggested. "Children often overreact."

"No, we don't." Omega retorted.

Althea nodded. "Did you not hear her say that the Empire has her parents? She needs us."

"Girls," Hunter said, causing Althea to turn to face him. "It's a big galaxy. We can't put ourselves on the line everytime someone's in trouble."

"Why not?" Omega asked. "Isn't that what soldiers do?"

That struck a chord in Hunter. He may have been trying to create a new life for them, but Omega was right. They were soldiers, whether they liked it or not.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Tech landed the Marauder in a ravine alcove, hidden in the walls of Ryloth. When they walked down the ramp, an astromech droid wheeled out, warbling angrily at them.

"What's his problem?" Wrecker asked.

"Thank you for coming." Out from the shadows came Hera, her green eyes laced with worry. "I wasn't sure you would."

"You said you were in trouble." Omega told her, as if it was obvious that they would come.

"Care to tell us why the Empire is after you?" Hunter asked as he took a few steps forward.