Jedi Fugitive (The Bad Batch)

40

Astera:

Hauling open the hatch of one of the Separatist tanks, all I could remember was how many of these I had destroyed in my days as a Jedi. For tanks, they had been remarkably flimsy, though I supposed many things would be when one had lightsabers and the power of the Force at their disposal.

Wrecker reached in to grab the rusted droid still inside the cockpit, tossing it to the side without a second glance. "Thanks for the ride."

I kept watch on top of the tank as Wrecker dropped into it, pressing at random buttons on the numerous displays in front of them. Other than soft clicking, there was no sound from the Separatist vehicle.

"Working?" I peered into the cockpit, watching him work the controls with no success.

"No good." Wrecker popped his head out of the open hatch, shaking his head. Across from us, Hunter was having just as good luck with his own tank. "How about yours?"

"This one's down too." Hunter climbed out of the other tank with a quiet sigh. All three of us dropped back to the ground, flashlights flickering on as we went around the side of Hunter's tank. If we could fix at least one of them, our plan would still work. Thankfully Wrecker's tank was mostly free of rubble; we darted around the side of it, searching for anything that would help us boost the tank to life.

"There." Wrecker's torch landed on the problem, a torn out panel with a broken battery sitting in its depths, frayed wires ripped from its connections. "That one."

I frowned at the missing part of the Separatist tank. Whatever was missing from that battery looked vital. Even if we had what we needed to fix it, without Tech, it would take too long. The clones would find us before we could.

"Forget it, Wrecker." Hunter stepped up on his other side, looking at the mutilated workings of the vehicle. "That tank's not going anywhere."

I went rigid as electricity snapped down my spine, a warning I knew all too well. Something was coming.

"Get down!" Both clones dived for cover the instant the first blaster bolt fired, the sapphire energy whipping through the air where Hunter's head had just been. More live rounds were already following, sparking off the bits of metal around us. The troopers had found us.

"Don't need it to!" Wrecker shouted in response to Hunter, ducking away as a shot flew past his helmet. "Grab the battery pack!"

"For what?"

"Leave it to me!" He was scrambling up the side of the tank before Hunter could yell any more questions, leaving the two of us to fire at the clones from behind the body of the tank. Bright yellow pinpricks flew from the bolts skimming off the metal, bouncing off my vambrace as I hurriedly threw up an arm to protect against the burning sparks. I could barely make out the clones at the distance they were at in the dark, catching only the occasional flash of white armour and sapphire bolts from several hundred metres away as they popped up to fire at us. Moving too quickly to get a good shot on them.

Hunter ducked under cover again, an armed smoke grenade suddenly in one hand. He threw it, the device clattering to the ground a short distance away and promptly exploding a dense cloud of grey in the space in front of us, obscuring our actions from the troopers. It did nothing to stop their firing, in fact, the number of bolts doubled in frequency, scorch marks burning into the tank we used as cover.

Behind me, Wrecker shoved boulders off the broken Separatist tank, taking hold of the cannon and tearing it off with a laboured grunt. Hunter's knife was already in the broken panel, prying the battery out of its slot in the tank and tossing it up to Wrecker on top of the tank, who plugged the cannon into it without a moment's hesitation. I kept firing stuns into the blanket of smoke, dimly hearing the occasional cry as my blind shots made contact. At least I had the advantage of using the Force to guide my aim.