Neon Lights illuminated the musty exterior of Cid's parlor on Ord Mantell. Inside the building, Annika steadied Omega's thin arms as the adolescent aimed her newly acquired energy bow. "That's it, keep it steady, Kid." She urged helpfully. Omega released her shot, barely missing an incoming customer, who shrieked and hurried out of the parlor.

"Sorry!" Omega's apologetic wave brought a small smile to the Jedi's face. On Omega's other side was Echo.

"Arms level," He instructed his sister, "And keep your eye on the target." With an uncertain demeanor, the young girl followed his directions, striking the yellow bullseye.

"Got it!" Omega exclaimed, grinning triumphantly. Two spectating strangers cheered at her victory.

"Good. Again." Echo responded simply to which Omega complained, "But I've already hit the target three times."

"Out of 12. That's luck, Omega, not skill." He rested his human hand on her shoulder, "Soldiers need to be consistent." Annkia frowned at his last comment, pondering his words. Omega sighed with downcast eyes but readied her bow anyway. Again, she missed the target and instead hit a holoprojector.

Annika didn't have to be Jedi to sense her frustration, especially toward the loud strangers.

"I was doing better until those two showed up." The female clone grumbled.

"You have to learn to tune out distractions," Annika insisted, "Which comes with practice. Why don't you try again?" Her encouraging voice was enough to motivate Omega to try again. Unfortunately, she missed it.

Wrecker discretely spoke to Hunter, "Not exactly a natural, is she?" To which the sergeant replied with raised brows. Astrid, who had been intently staring into her medical datapad, glanced up to shake her head at Wrecker, disapprovingly.

"She's trying her best -- " The Medic's sentence was cut short by Cid's impatient outburst.

"Okay, playtime's over. We need to talk." She turned to face the strangers looming in the back, "You two, scram!" Once she had ushered them out, she focused on the Batchers. "I assume you boys know what a tactical droid is? They were the operational brains -- "

Tech, appalled by the idea of Cid sharing the knowledge he had memorized, cut in. "The operational brains of the Separatist military"

"Ba-ba-ba-ba!" Cid halted his explanation with annoyance, whereas Astrid smiled lightly at his excitement to inform everybody. "This is my briefing, Goggles," She moved over to the holoprojector displaying the Serparatist droid. "Tactical droid intel has tremendous value, which is why you're gonna break into this decommissioning facility on Corellia and retrieve one before they're all destroyed." The projection shifted, exhibiting the facility.

Hunter briefly glanced at his teammates, "We haven't decided if we're gonna work for you or not."

Cid helpfully responded, "Allow me to decide for you. You're in!" Annika searched Hunter's face and sensed his irritation and uncertainty.

"I'm talking a mutually beneficial arrangement." Cid continued confidently, "You make money, I make money, and I watch your back." Hunter didn't like the way Cid glanced at Annika when she said that last part.

"With the heat on you, it's the best option you've got." The sergeant stole a look at Annika and Omega. As the leader of the squad, it was his duty to keep them all safe. However, they weren't exactly swimming in credits at the moment.

With a defeated sigh, he answered the Trandoshian, "I guess we're in."

✵  ✵  ✵

Thick swirls of indigo blue and pale white veiled the mechanical surface of Corellia. The Marauder cut through the atmosphere to the smoky ground level, landing in the industrial dockyard.

"Alright, let's move." Hunter's orders were obeyed without hesitation, except by Astrid. The Batch and the Jedi were at the bottom of the ship ramp, but Astrid remained standing by the doorframe. Although without confidence, she spoke in her usual velvety voice, "Uh, sergeant. I hope you all don't mind if I stay behind. I-I'm just a Medic," She rubbed one of her elbows, obviously uncomfortable.

Annika immediately felt terrible for being so inconsiderate. How could she have forgotten her sister's expertise was medicinal practices, not mercenary jobs?

Hunter answered, "That's fine. Hopefully, this doesn't take too long." With that, they scurried toward the decommissioning facility, leaving Astrid at the ship.

✵  ✵  ✵

Annika never thought she'd get sentimental about Separatist droids, but as she looked down at their scrapped heaps, she fondly remembered slicing hundreds of them daily with her beloved master.

"Echo, Tech. We'll locate and retrieve the droid," Hunter turned to face the Jedi, "Annika, cover us up top."

"You got it, sarge!"

"Wrecker, you and Omega keep your eyes peeled for the target." They all nodded in assent, moving into action.

Annika gracefully climbed the rungs, two at a time, and positioned herself at the top landing. From her elevated vantage point, she could distinguish each Batcher completing their respective task.

Through her comlink, she heard Omega's accented voice, "Found it! Sort of. The droid's already in pieces."

Tech inquired, "Is the head intact?"

"Affirmative!" Was Omega's response. "Wait! Someone just ran off with the droid head!"

"I see them!" Annika spoke into her comm, "It looks like one of the workers is stealing our target."

"I'm on it!" Omega said.

"Negative." Hunter's deep voice sounded from the com channel. "Stay out of sight."

A sudden hiss from the ceiling had Annika wondering what happened.

"We've got blaster fire!" An unsuspecting worker shouted out. "All eyes on the floor!" The worker noticed the group of clones with their guns drawn, "Security breach! Lock it down!"

Alarms instantly began to wail as the facility closed down, trapping them all inside. From the control area on the second level, emerged a force of police droids. Annika leaped from her high position, landing mere inches beside Hunter.

Behind the control console, Echo warned, "We've got police droids closing in."

"Focus your fire," Upon Hunter's order, the sound of blaster fire echoed through the factory, creating a hazy scene.

Annika reached for her waist, grabbed her hilt, and ignited her saber. The ancient Jedi weapon hummed to life with an aura of lethal energy. Involuntarily, Hunter stepped back slightly. Annika moved in front of the clones, supplying them with cover. Her azure lightsaber sliced through the smoky air and deflected blaster shots with surprising grace.

The sergeant stared in awe at the Jedi before him. It took him a moment before he tore his gaze away from her and spoke into his comm, "Omega, report."

"There's a second person after the tactical droid," Omega said confidently, "Don't worry, I'm in pursuit."

"No, stay put." Hunter commanded, "We already have the droid head."

"No, you don't." An unfamiliar voice said. Annika turned her head to see a woman in a worker's uniform rushing up the stairs, holding the droid's head.

"I'll get the head," Hunter said to Tech and Echo, "You get this lockdown lifted."

Annika held her position in front of the clones as Hunter sprinted after the woman. It felt like hours had passed as Annika's arms grew sore, until Omega said through the com channel, "I have the droid head."

"Nice work," Echo complimented behind the control console, "Now hang tight. Wrecker, get to the control panel."

"I can't reach the platform." Wrecker helplessly said.

"It's the only way to reboot the whole facility. Figure it out!"

"Yeah, that's easy for you to say!"

"I can help you, Wrecker!" Annika elegantly force-jumped beside a grumbling Wrecker. "Just trust me." She said before he could ask any questions. She purposefully moved her hands toward Wrecker, who appeared to have been pushed by an invisible arm, levitating in midair.

"Woah-woah!"

Below, a police droid noticed the Jedi and aimed its blaster at her. In order to deflect the shot, Annika could no longer keep Wrecker steady. The muscular clone roughly landed beside the control panel, hitting his head against the machinery.

Annika continued to block the unceasing blaster fire but called over her shoulder, "Wrecker! Are you alright?" In answer, one final alarm rang, indicating a successful reboot.

Guilt washed over the Jedi when she heard Wrecker groan in pain. The hair on her neck stood on end as she turned her head toward Wrecker, straining to hear his mutterings.

"Good soldiers..." He clutched his throbbing head.

The Jedi sucked in a shape breath at those chilling words. When Wrecker clumsily stood up and began to fire at the droids, she hoped that her theory was wrong. She had probably misheard him...Right?

With full concentration, she deflected blaster fire using all her energy. She focused on the mission at hand and not the dreadful feeling welling up inside her chest. She vaguely heard Tech's plan to restart the Separatist droids to follow his commands. Hunter called out to her from somewhere below snapping her back into reality.

"Let's go!" The sergeant noticed her uncoordinated steps and gently grabbed her elbow, guiding her out of the facility with the others. She entered the Marauder, but Hunter stayed back to discuss something with the two strangers, who were after the same target. Annika seated herself near the Navi-computer and stared at nothing in particular, her thoughts racing frantically. She didn't know how long she was pondering for, but when Hunter cleared his throat, she finally looked up in a daze.

"Are...you alright?" He cautiously asked the Jedi.

"Uh-huh," She mumbled and nodded absentmindedly.

"Well, I'm convinced," He said with a teasing grin, hoping to put her at ease.

"Don't worry," She insisted, giving him a worry-free smile, "Just lost in thought is all."

Her smile seemed to convince him enough, so he walked away, although reluctantly. Annika felt guilty about not voicing her concerns with the group leader, but she didn't want him to think she was being paranoid. Until she figured out what had happened to Wrecker back at the factory, she wouldn't waste anyone's time on it. She was probably overreacting. That was all.

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───⋮✧

Heyyy, so I know this is basically a filler chapter, but I promise things will get more interesting as the story unfolds...

Anyway, I'm so excited to write about Tech catching feelings! I think Tech & Astrid's personalities are a bit similar, so my hope is that the romance feels natural once we get into that :)

Well, bye for now!

- MJ