To Heal Poignancy ■ TECH - The Bad Batch ■

The Woman Who Knew Too Much

The issue with TC-6O was that Adla had become reliant on the droid. The youngest Naberrie had originally brought the droid on so she could take a break doing everything all of the time, every day. She had learned how much she relied on the droid when she remembered TC-6O was the one with the datastick that contained private Imperial secrets, such as the scientific research happening on Tantiss. If the Empire found out she had been in possession of such information, Naboo would burn.

Retrieving TC-6O was a task she herself could not do, she realized. If the Empire still hovered around the planet, then she would be right back to where she started. The Bad Batch couldn't help either since they were clones, but luckily, Phee had volunteered.

After Adla and Tech had dropped off Garm on Dantooine, Tech contacted Echo to meet them on Pabu. Echo had been in the middle of a mission, but he said he'd meet them when he was available.

Adla held a hand up to her eyebrows to shield the sun as she watched Phee's ship descend. She stepped back to stabilize herself, as the wind from the ship's landing felt overpowering. She grinned when Phee descended the ramp, as TC-6O shuffled behind her.

The Bad Batch stood carefully behind Adla.

"Everything go alright?" Adla called to Phee as a greeting.

Phee smiled and made her way over. "Yup, couldn't have gone better, actually. The Empire is definitely still crawling around Naboo, but they didn't have any care for the droid."

TC-6O finally spotted Adla, "Mistress! How wonderful it is to see you again! I had done as you asked and hid myself until a known ally appeared. It was most fortunate that you updated my memory banks before we departed for Naboo!"

Adla bowed her head slightly, "Indeed it was. Do you still have the information?"

"I do!" TC-6O exclaimed, "I kept it safe for you. No one asked me about it."

Adla nodded her head, "That's great!" A ship flew overhead before it circled back around and began to lower itself onto the cobblestone. "This should be Echo now. Perfect timing!"

The ship landed and took a few minutes to power down. Clouds of excess exhaust released during the cooling stage. The ramp lowered to reveal a clone trooper with bionic legs and a scomplink for a hand.

"Echo!" Omega excitedly screamed as she ran over to her brother.

Echo managed to take a few steps off the ship before Omega reached him and threw her arms out for a hug. He knelt down just in time for Omega to wrap her arms around his neck. They exchanged words of greeting before she let go of him.

Echo stood and approached the group. He nodded curtly, "Boys."

Hunter held out a hand for Echo to grasp: Hunter's version of a handshake.

Wrecker pushed Hunter out of the way and let out a large laugh. Wrecker scooped up Echo and pulled Hunter, who was closest to the giant clone, into him. "Ha! Look at this! The whole squad is together for the first time!"

Tech was sucked into the hug as well, while Omega joined willingly. Crosshair leaned away to avoid the hug, but was managed to be dragged in by Omega.

When the group detangled themselves from one another, Echo and Crosshair stared at one another. Echo nodded to the clone and spoke his name. Crosshair grunted back in greeting, a toothpick in his mouth and arms crossed.

Adla smiled fondly as she watched with Phee, Mel, and TC-6O off to the side.

"Alright, boys, let's wrap this up. I hadn't flown to Naboo for no reason," Phee called out to them. The group parted and Adla gave a small wave, feeling embarrassed of Phee's callout.