Bad Batch Episode: Paths Unknown

___________________________

In a palace somewhere far away, a devaronian man in black and red armor stood on a platform made of pure energy. A ray-shielded floor, if you will.

"Who dares summon me here and question my loyalty?" said the soldier. "The charges against me are false!"

"Stop wasting our time, Captain," said another Devaronian. None other than Rolan Durand.

Roland stood close beside a throne in which sat a well-dressed devaronian woman, his mother, Isa Durand. "Confess to your crimes, and we may show mercy."

"What proof do you have?" said the captain.

"Your accomplices have been captured and told us everything." Roland continued. "There is no need for further deception."

Isa tapped her heavy staff onto the floor and declared...

"You are guilty of conspiracy against this family. Any last words?"

The Captain did have some final words, but not very wise ones, by the look of the results.

"This syndicate has grown weak under your rule, Lady Durand."

"Weak, you say?" said Isa. She looked at others in the room. "Who here agrees?"

No one said a word.

"Cowards!" the captain shook his fist at the others.

"You're dismissed, Captain."

That was the last thing Isa said before pressing the button, deactivating the ray shield floor, and sending the captain into a dark hole, never to be seen again.

Isa showed no mercy whatsoever for the captain. She then look to her son and asked him who was next to come before her.

The next appointment/victim was summoned. First a pyke entered. Not willingly though. He was pushed by Hunter, and then knocked down by Pinto and pulled back up by the lasso he was tied up in.

"Move it, ya varmint!" Pinto said with the rope between his teeth.

Wrecker joined in and stood on the floor with the others.

"The mercenaries we discussed," said Roland to his mother.

Pinto gave a polite bow, which Isa seemed impressed by.

"Such courage to demand an audience with me," said Lady Durand. "You'd be dead if my son hadn't convinced me to consider your offer."

"And we're here to deliver," said Hunter, tossing something to Roland.

That something turned out to be Roland's horn, the one that was cut off by none other than the pyke tied up in Pinto's lasso.

"You asked for the Pyke who disgraced your family."

"He's all yours." Wrecker said.

"It won't be traced back to you. We made sure of it."

"He's good and secure." Pinto said.

Pinto yanked the lasso, causing the Pyke to spin like a top until he fell flat on his face, his hands cuffed underneath. By now, the poor Pyke was seeing birds.

Isa chuckled, humored by the horse's antics, but she turned serious and ordered her guards to take the prisoner below.

"This isn't over, Durand." the Pyke called, having regained his composure.

Isa Durand was impressed.

"Your willingness to cross the Pykes shows how desperate you are." she said. "Tell me. Why is the intel you've requested of such value to you?"

"Dr. Hemlock stole someone from us," said Hunter.

"More than one 'someone,'" said Pinto. "And he's in league with Mariverde, the evil gypsy who wants to take over this galaxy, and somehow she wants to use a bunch of victims she's had kidnapped, includin' my sister, to do it. If she's successful with them, who knows when yer family could be her next target?"

Isa Durand did see a point when Pinto put it like that.

"We heard your syndicate had the connections needed to find the base since clearly she's magic-proofed it," said Hunter. "And since we've upheld our end of the bargain, now it's your turn."

Isa was silent for a moment, then she pressed a button to extend a platform towards the three guys, and she motioned for her son to approach them.

Roland approached the three visitors and explained to them that Mariverde's soldiers had guarded Hemlock's whereabouts very well. He took out a small device to give to them.

"But one of our sources came across these coordinates linked to his laboratory."

"And they've been verified?" Hunter asked.

"Take what you came for and go," said Isa. "Before my generosity runs out."

Not wanting to risk the same fate as the captain, Hunter took the device.

"I hope you find what you're looking for," said Roland.

And so, Hunter, Wrecker, and Pinto left the palace to return to their ship and set out to find the lab.

___________________________

As the ship flew through hyperspace, Mona helped Hunter out at the computer. Hunter knew how to work a computer, but he wasn't exactly programmed with Tech's brain.

Hunter found himself looking up at Omega's space, where Little Star, her unicorn plushie sat. Estrella had wanted to come along too, Omega being her girl, but the others said she was too close to this case. And she only responded by stomping out and shouting angrily in Spanish.

Mona saw that Hunter was sad, and she hugged him. It seemed to help a little, but Hunter still felt down.

"Echo and Rex need two rotations before they can meet us at the coordinates," said Wrecker.

Hunter pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"That's not good enough."

"Don't worry, Hunter." Kara said. "We're all going to work together to find Omega, Crosshair, and the others. But, we may need more backup."

"Maybe you oughta be like Goldie and take some time to rest," said Buttercup, who was carrying a sleeping Goldie.

"There's no time to rest. We're going now." Hunter said.

Wrecker held Hunter's shoulder and said, "Hunter, the last time we stormed an enemy base without backup," the biggest clone looked down for a moment. "Not all of us made it out."

Teatra sniffled as tears came to her eyes thanks to that reminder of the team's loss.

Hunter said nothing, and he arrived at the control panel where Indira was sitting at the wheel.

"Omega's been waiting for us a long time, Wrecker." Hunter said. "So have Crosshair, and Maybelle, and the other kids."

"And Aunt Rory too." Mona said.

"Not to mention Mila." Teatra said. "I may have lost Tech, but if I can save his wife and make sure she's not left alone, I'm doing it... for my rider."

Hunter commended the girls' additions.

"I'm not making any of them wait another day."

Hunter brought the ship out of hyperspace, and the group found themselves outside the atmosphere of a very green planet.

___________________________

The Marauder was steered into what appeared to be a forest covered planet. It was almost impossible to find a clearing, but thanks to the coordinates, the team landed their ship in a safe place.

Buttercup woke Goldie as she exited with everyone else, except Indira, who stayed to watch the ship.

However, all the horses and the human girls were immediately snorting or holding their noses in disgust, and so was Wrecker.

"It smells like rancid Jotaz out here." Wrecker said.

"Be glad you don't have a werewolf's nose!" Goldie said, holding her nose.

"I ain't smelled nothin' this bad since Banjo got sprayed by a skunk!" Pinto said.

Hunter checked the scanners, only to find nothing on them.

"Mariverde could be jamming our scanners."

"Everyone, stay close together and keep your eyes and ears peeled." Kara instructed. "Holler at the first sign of trouble."

___________________________

Hunter led the way, the others following close behind until they came to what appeared to be a base, except...

"Oh no." said Hunter.

Kara gasped, and so did Wrecker.

"That's Hemlock's lab?" said Wrecker.

The entire lab was a mess! There were plants growing all over it, and there didn't appear to be activity of any kind. Maybe that was why nothing appeared on the scanners; there was nothing to be found but an abandoned wasteland.

"They destroyed it," Kara concluded. "Another orbital bombardment."

"But Omega. I-I-If she was here–" Wrecker sounded scared.

"We don't know if she was." Hunter interrupted. "The Durands' intel could be wrong. Let's get down there and check it out."

The group immediately turned around and began heading in the direction they believed would bring them closer to at least a clue of Omega and/or the others' whereabouts. Suddenly, there was the sound of branches rustling.

"We're not alone." Hunter said.

Kara ignited her lightsaber, the clones raised their blasters, and the unicorns lit up their horns.

Suddenly, out from behind a tree popped a young boy who appeared around Boba's age.

"Freeze!" exclaimed the boy, who held a spear.

A second one appeared on the other side of the group; he also held a spear.

"Drop your weapons," said the second cadet.

Wrecker laughed and said," Blaster beats stick, kid."

"Unless the stick happens to be a lightsaber." Kara said, pointing her weapon at the boys.

The boys seemed to back down a little when they saw one of the strangers was a Jedi.

"They're regs," said Hunter.

"And who are you?" asked one of the cadets.

"We're clones. Same as you."

"And we're their buddies." Pinto said.

"And I am Kara, Jedi Knight." Kara deactivated her weapon and placed it back on her belt."

"You don't look like clones," said the first cadet, referring to Wrecker and Hunter.

"They must be 99s," said the second cadet. "Defectives."

"Defective and effective." Wrecker said.

"What are you kids doing out here?" Kara asked, using a handkerchief to clean a smudge of dirt off one of the boys' faces.

"What's it look like? Surviving." said Cadet 1. "Or trying to. No thanks to Mariverde."

"Did she send all of you to finish us off?" Cadet 2 asked.

"Of course not!" Mona said. "We'd never be in league with her. Right, Goldie?"

But Goldie was asleep on Buttercup's back again.

"How can she sleep at a time like this?" Emeraldi said.

"What do you want?" asked Cadet 2.

"We're looking for a young girl." Hunter said. "She's a clone. We think she was sent to the lab here."

"Never saw anyone like that," said Cadet 1. "But Mox might know about her."

"He won't talk to them," said Cadet 2.

"Please, we have to find her." Hunter begged. "She's... part of our squad."

"And part of our family." Kara added.

Cadet 2 thought for a moment, and he said, "Stick to the trail. Follow our steps. And don't touch the vines."

___________________________

The cadets led the group through the jungle; it was quiet for the most part. So far, the only noise anyone could hear was a light breeze through the trees or one of the cadets talking.

"When the Republic soldiers... well, we thought they were Republic soldiers... we thought we were getting more training." said one of the cadets. "Instead, they made us prisoners. Took samples of our blood."

"That has been a pattern among many clones who've gone missing." Kara said. "Were any of these soldiers in black and green, by any chance?"

"Yeah, all of them hid their faces and we saw a bunch of butterflies too."

"Why?" Hunter asked. "What were Mariverde's minions doing here?"

"Whatever they wanted," said the same cadet.

"I've said it before, but I'll say it again. I've heard of ant queens, and I've heard of queen bees... but I ain't never seen a moth be queen." Pinto said.

"At least we escaped before they destroyed the facility," said the other cadet.

"And all of you survived alone out here ever since?" said Mona.

"We're soldiers. Or we were supposed to be."

Mona felt for these clones; they were definitely much stronger than she used to be. To be fair though, they'd had training for tough experiences, whereas Mona was thrown straight into the fight without any knowledge except how to run.

"Trust me, when it comes to Mariverde, you have to be a soldier to survive her, and I should know."

The group eventually came upon some bushes to pass through, and Wrecker pushed a vine out of the way.

Cadet 2 saw what Wrecker did and ordered him to stop.

"Wrecker, behind you." Hunter said as calmly as he could.

Everyone looked up and saw as the vine was moving by itself.

"I sense it's not Anakin doing that!" Kara said.

The vine started to attack the two Batchers and the others. Hunter and Wrecker immediately began shooting at it, and Kara swung her lightsaber.

"Don't fire!" shouted Cadet 1. "It gets hostile when you shoot."

"You mean it's not already hostile?"

The vines started to growl and one wrapped around Wrecker and another around Goldie, which snapped her awake with a scream.

"Oh, sure. Now she's awake." Mona groaned, flashing her wings at another vine that almost nabbed her.

Kara quickly jumped up and used her lightsaber to slice the vines, Pinto catching Wrecker on his back, and Buttercup on hers.

"Come on!" shouted Cadet 2.

And quickly, everyone ran as fast as they could to get away from the crazy vines, until the cadets stopped running, once they were sure it was safe.

___________________________

Kara did a quick headcount to make sure no one was left behind. Everyone was safe and accounted for.

"That was even crazier than the last time Anakin caught a cold." Buttercup said.

"At least they didn't spit sticky nectar this time." Emeraldi said, shaking some leaves off her wings.

"What was that stuff?" Wrecker asked.

"Slither vines," panted one cadet. "The scientists working for Mariverde made it. It's some kind of experimental weapon, until they lost control of it."

"Probably why they ordered a Base Delta Zero on their own facility." said the other cadet.

"We'll be safe on the crag. The slither vines haven't spread there."

"Yet."

"And this time, don't touch anything."

Everyone looked at Wrecker then.

"Yeah, yeah." Wrecker rolled his eyes underneath his helmet.

___________________________

Everyone soon arrived at a small campsite inside a cave, where a third cadet was watching over a little campfire. His name was Mox.

Mox was surprised to see a group of strange people and horses enter.

"Who are they?" Mox asked.

"Clones, a Jedi, and some kids and horses." said Cadet 1. "We found them by the overlook.

Hunter and Wrecker removed their helmets, while Goldie made herself comfortable, curling up by the campfire for another nap.

"It's quite a place you got here." Wrecker said.

"What do you want?" Mox asked.

"We're looking for a young girl."

"Actually, we're looking for a few young girls. A few young boys and a couple of young mares too." Pinto corrected. "One of them bein' my sister."

"All of them were taken by an accomplice of Mariverde's named Hemlock." Kara explained. "The one Hunter is talking about is my niece Omega."

Mox sat down in thought, and he said...

"Never saw a girl or any mares around the lab. But I know Hemlock. He was in charge until things changed."

"Changed how?" Buttercup asked.

"One day, the doreshos started packing up and shipped out. So we made our move and escaped."

"We were the only ones who made it out before the orbital bombardment," said Cadet 1.

"Even the clone troopers left us to die," said Cadet 2.

"I don't think that's true." Kara said. "It's more likely they were abducted much like you were."

"Either way, we weren't safe there anymore."

"We've lost people too." Wrecker said.

Hunter stepped in and said, "We can take you to someplace safe, but we need to find out if our friends were here or where Hemlock took them."

"There's gotta be some intel in that base," said Mona.

One of the cadets was reluctant to speak at first, but the thought of being someplace safer than here was too good to pass up.

"One of the control room panels was still intact during our last scout." He said. "I tried to use it to send a signal, but there was no power."

"Can you take us there?" Hunter asked.

"No way." Cadet 2 said. "That area is covered in slither vines."
"Stak's right," said Mox, standing up. "Going near those ruins is a suicide mission. You're on your own."

Cadet 2 stood up and told Mox they couldn't turn down people in need.

"I'll go with them," said the former.

Hunter and Wrecker placed their helmets back on, but Stak stood up and said, "You know the risks of going down there."

But Cadet 1 said nothing else and left with the others, except for Buttercup and Goldie.

"If you two boys don't want to come," said Kara. "Then you can stay and watch Goldie."

Stak looked at Mox and said, "And I thought he was the smart one."

"I say he is." Buttercup said. "He's smart enough to know a team is only as strong as the fight in the players."

___________________________

Cadet 1 led Hunter, Wrecker, Kara, and the others through the jungle once again, this time alone.

"I can get you inside the ruins, but you won't be able to get anything from the console without a power source."

"We got that covered," said Wrecker. "Just need to grab something from our ship."

Cadet 1 thought for a moment.
"This clone you're looking for..."

"Omega..." said Kara.

"How long has she been gone?"

"Too long," said Hunter. "But we're not giving up."

"I wish someone felt that way about us," said Cadet 2, looking down. "You may be defective CR's, but at least you're loyal."
"That's a quality to learn and treasure when you're part of a family." Emeraldi said. "Trust me, not all civilians drop everything for family, as my parents are proof of that."

___________________________

Indira continued to keep watch on the ship, but she was feeling rather tired, much like Goldie was now, only it was likely for an entirely different reason than the latter. At this point, Indira was hoping that her baby would be ready to come out sooner than later because he or she was getting to be very heavy.

Without a doubt, Indira was happy to see the others had returned, and she hoped they returned with good news. Sadly, that wasn't so, but the good news was they may have a lead.

"Whoa..." Cadet 1 gasped. "Your ship has seen some action."

"Mostly during the war. And some after." Hunter said.

"Let me help, Wrecker." Indira said, trying to help Wrecker with Gonky.

"Indy, don't try to lift anything, please!" Hunter panicked.

"Hunter, I'm fine." Indira said.

Cadet 1 gave Hunter a look, but Hunter answered before he could ask.

"My wife, Indira. She's with child at the moment."

"My husband, Hunter. He's got new daddy jitters at the moment."

Hunter rolled his eyes at his wife's remark.

Cadet 1 looked at the ship again and said,

"I thought, one day, I'd be flying one of these on a mission. A lot's changed."

And then, Wrecker came out with Gonky strapped to his back.

"Well, I've got the gear and the power. Lead the way kid."

Indira went back into the ship to continue to keep watch, and to rest a bit, knowing Hunter may have a heart attack if she stepped foot out of it. Cadet 1 put on a special breathing mask before starting to lead the way.

___________________________

Indira felt another kick, and then another one, and then she reverted to pegasus form.

"Whoo! You're just a persistent little one, aren't you?" she chuckled. She gently moved a wing across her stomach. "There now, beta. Mommy's looking forward to meeting you too."

___________________________

The sound of slither vines filled the air. It was dark as the group got closer and closer to the lab. Getting past the vines proved easy for those who could fly and carry one of the humans, but Pinto had to go on foot, being the only horse here without wings. It was another story once they reached the entrance.

"There's slither vines everywhere in there," said Cadet 1. "Be careful where you step."

"Whoa!" Wrecker exclaimed, bumping into Emeraldi's rear.

"Hey, watch it!" Emeraldi snorted.

"Sorry. Saw green and thought it meant go."

Emeraldi smacked Wrecker's helmet with her tail, causing it to spin backwards.

"Very funny."

Wrecker adjusted his helmet and just continued walking.

It was even darker and scarier in there. Mona started to shake a little with fear; this place reminded her a little of one of the torture sessions Mariverde used to put her through to toughen her up when she was smaller.

"How much farther is the console?" Mona squeaked.

"Hard to tell," said Cadet 1. "More vines have spread down here. We had to stop scavenging here because of it."

Kara, however, concentrated, using the Force to sense when and if there were more vines up ahead.

"What other experiments were going on in this place?" Hunter asked.

"Nothing good." said Cadet 1. "They didn't exactly tell us what was going on. But, I think I remember someone saying 'Operation,' 'Metamorphosis' and 'new specimens' all in the same sentence."

Kara and the others thought that sounded strange.

"Any idea what all that could mean?" asked Teatra.

"Not in the slightest."

The group continued to venture farther and farther into the cave. Then Kara thought of something.

"I wonder if it's anything like how Mona was born. Mona? Didn't you say you were born out of a tube like the clones were?"

"That's what I was told. Obviously, I wasn't old enough to remember. Then again, I didn't know my own real age or when my birthday was. So, I don't really anymore what's real about my past."

It seemed to get even darker, and there was the sound of hissing in the cave.

"What was that?!"

Suddenly, there was the sound of roaring! And that roaring turned out to be from a slither vine that grabbed the cadets legs and had him pulled up toward the ceiling! It reminded some of the others of the tripod's tentacles from Comedia's nightmare a few fights back. Only, they weren't going to be able to just turn these vines into a harmless pile of spaghetti.

Hunter and Kara quickly grabbed the cadet's arms while Emeraldi and Teatra used their teeth to hold the vine in place, and Wrecker sliced the vines until the boy was free. But, that vine was just the beginning.

Mona screamed as she saw something else. That thing that scared her? It was some kind of little running creature that appeared to have come from the slither vines, and there wasn't just one. Two of them ran off when the Batchers shined their flashlights onto them.

"Keep moving!" Hunter exclaimed.

Another runner nearly attacked the others, but Hunter shot it just in time! The horses, however, were spooked by the runners, and soon they were the ones running with the humans on their backs.

___________________________

Back at the cadets' camp, Goldie was still resting, Buttercup close beside her. The fire kept the space nice and warm. Mox and Stak stood or sat by. Mox, he was doing more pacing than anything.

"What are we waiting for?" asked Stak. "Let's take their ship and get out of here."

"What about Deke?" asked Mox, referring to Cadet 1.

"He made his choice."

"If we leave him behind, then we're no better than Mariverde's soldiers willing to do the same to us."

Stak stood up and said,

"Mox."

"Those two clones seem different. And the Jedi..." Mox looked at Stak with a stern look. "They're risking their lives to find a member of their squad. I respect that."

"They won't make it back from the ruins. You know that. If we wait and the slither vines reach their ship, our chance to escape is gone."

Mox looked over where Buttercup was still asleep. Maybe she wouldn't notice them leave.

"Where's their ship?" asked Mox.

"Northern ridge," said Stak.

Mox thought for a moment, and he said...

"Show me."

___________________________

Deke continued to walk with the group. This time, though, he was strongly advised to remain on Pinto's back since he was one of the fastest escapers, and accustomed to wild settings, being a country stallion.

Hunter shined his light higher up; there was a big hole in the roof where you could clearly see some stars up above. But this was no time for stargazing; the sound of creatures chittering could be heard not too far away, and the sound of liquid gurgling down below.

Emerald snorted in disgust and covered her nose with her wing.

"What smells like old sewage and dirty diapers put together?"

"Pee yew!" Mona groaned. "I can smell it through my mask."

"I didn't think it could smell any worse," said Wrecker. "But I was wrong."

"We're all in agreement on that." Hunter said.

"You said it," Kara agreed.

Deke shined his light on something a short distance across from where the group stood.

"There's the console. Come on."

The humans all rode on the horses towards the console, Pinto and Kara pushing some large hunks of metal out of the way either by kicking it or using the Force. Wrecker got down and placed Gonky where he could supply power to the console, while Hunter connected his tablet, which soon had the console working. But as the humans were making the connections, the horses' ears all shot up and then they all folded sideways slightly like they were entering defense mode.

"Something's coming," said Hunter. "We need to make this quick."

"Say no more." Kara said, taking over.

"Is it more of those things?" asked Wrecker.

"No. Something else." Hunter answered.

"I'm familiar with the system. Give me some time." Deke pleaded. "I'll see what data I can pull up."

"I know lots of systems. I'll help too." Mona said, getting down from Emeraldi.

Deke and the girls got to work salvaging data while the men and the horses stood guard. The strange liquid below started to gurgle and bubble, when suddenly...

WHOOSH! Out from the liquid popped the biggest slither vine yet! It looked about the size of a baby kraken's tentacle! Hunter and Wrecker managed to shoot it down, but that vine was just the beginning.

More vines soon rose out from the water(?) and proceeded to attack. The unicorns all fought using magic, Teatra flying to get a better angle.

Meanwhile, Stak and Mox made their way to the Marauder, the former hotwiring the ship to open the door. The two boys entered the ship and looked around, not knowing that they weren't alone.

"You really think you can fly this thing?" said Mox.

"I was top of my class in flight training back on Kamino." Stak insisted.

The two boys started to walk farther back into the ship.

"Where will we go?" Mox asked.

"Anywhere is better than here." Stak said. "Check this out. A DC-17."

That was when Mox spotted something else in the back of the ship. Little Star, the plush that looked like Estrella.

"Stop right there!" A new voice said, making both boys freeze.

And out from another part of the ship came Indira in her pegasus form, her wings spread out to make her look bigger. She didn't look happy to see invaders.

"Who are you and how did you get into this ship?" snorted the pegasus.

"Nice horsie..." Stak said. "We're not gonna hurt you."

"I'd be more worried about me hurting you."

Indira took on human form and held Stak against the wall, Mox still frozen. Indira was pregnant, a shapeshifter, and trained in combat by a royal guard; if that wasn't a lethal combo, it's a mystery what is.

Stak looked at Indira's stomach and said, "Maybe you should also worry about your diet?"

"I'm pregnant!"

Suddenly, a voice came over on Mox's comlink.

"Mox, Mox! Stak! The vines, they're everywhere! Help! We need help!"

Indira could hear blaster fire over the comm as well as recognize Deke's voice. She asked the two boys how they knew him.

___________________________

Everyone continued to fight the vines, but there were just too many of them, even with everyone's magic, the Force, and weapons combined.

"Time's up. Get the datapad!" Hunter exclaimed.

Deke grabbed the datapad, Wrecker grabbed Gonky, and Kara grabbed Mona. Everyone jumped onto the horses and rode off as fast as they could to escape the vines, only to miss several that attempted to grab them along the way.

The vines were spreading like wildfire. They even began to start attacking the flying horses.

"They're everywhere!" Deke screamed.

Pinto whinnied as another one barely missed him. There wasn't even enough room for the horses to take off by flying. But it turned out the horses weren't the only winged thing around here. Hunter looked up and saw... The Marauder!

___________________________

Indira instructed Stak and Mox as they flew the Marauder to rescue the others; she was not about to let her husband die before he even got to meet their baby.

"Keep it steady!" Indira instructed Stak, who steered the ship.

Mox lowered some cables to help those who couldn't fly board the ship. Teatra and Kara kept the vines distracted while the others flew or held onto the cables to get onto the Marauder. Some of the vines started to grab the Marauder, and down below there was a huge mouth with tons of sharp teeth! Mona screamed again.

"Shoot for the mouth!" Mox shouted.

And everyone with a blaster or magic did shoot for the mouth. But it still wasn't enough. Wrecker dropped an explosive into the mouth, but it didn't do much. To the slither plant mouth, it was more like just taking a bite of a spicy burrito... if you have a high enough spice tolerance.

"Drop the case of explosives!" Hunter shouted.

So, Mox and Stak grabbed the case of explosives, and together, they dropped it down all at once, except for one grenade, which Mox activated and dropped in. The explosion was powerful enough to incapacitate the beast into releasing the Marauder, allowing everyone to get inside safely.

"Go, go, go!" Hunter exclaimed.

And off they went.

___________________________

The Marauder was once again in hyperspace, and Hunter was quick to hug Indira and kiss her again; he was extremely relieved to see she was okay, and even more so to feel that the baby was alright as well. He sighed with relief that all the excitement hadn't caused her to go into labor already; that could've been disastrous.

Hunter started to do some research on the datapad, with Mona assisting him. Meanwhile, the three cadets were laughing with Wrecker about something, and they were a bit curious too about Indira, and she shared her story about her escape from a forced marriage and how she and Hunter fell in love. Of course, they kind of gagged at a love story, but they couldn't say they weren't curious. Having been born out of tubes, seeing pregnancy was fascinating to them.

Indira let the boys take turns placing their ears to her stomach to hear the baby's heartbeat.

"So, this is how regular babies are born?" Deke said, taking his turn to listen.

"Mainly mammals, yes." Indira said.

Just then, Hunter walked in.

"I've been going over the data," said Hunter. "Looks like Hemlock transferred his entire base of operations to another location. His experiments too."

Did the intel say where he went?" asked Mox.

Hunter looked at the datapad again and said...

"There was a mention of a sector but nothing more. It's a lead, but we've got a lot of space to cover."

"Well, if that's where Omega is, then that's where we're going."

But first, the team had to take care of something else.

"We'll drop you three off someplace safe." Hunter promised the cadets.

"Where?" Mox asked.

"An island. There are good people there. They'll take care of you there."

"We're cadets without an army. I don't know where we fit anymore."

"Trust me, I know how that feels." Indira said. She knew all too well how hard it was to be unsure where one fit in. "But, you three are still children. You have time to figure it out. Everyone has a family somewhere, and a family that truly loves you is always worth waiting for."

Hunter smiled at his wife and told the cadets, "Make your own path. Be something other than a soldier."

"What about you?" asked Deke.

"Our mission is not over yet." Hunter said. He gently caressed Indira's stomach. "And I, personally, am still preparing for another mission."

___________________________

Since it would be some time before the Marauder arrived at Pabu, Indira decided to go and rest for a little bit again. Except, she found that her back hurt a little, so she tried changing her position, but no matter what she tried, the pain didn't seem to go away. And then, she felt a strange feeling in her gut, and then, she started to feel something wet.

Indira gasped.... Was this it? Could it be? Was she...?

"HUNTER!"

Hunter heard Indira scream and rushed right to her. He checked her out and asked what was wrong.

"Is it another craving? Are you hurt?"

"No, it's time!"

"What?! Now?!" Hunter said.

Indira nodded.

Hunter panicked! He began running frantically, back and forth around the Marauder trying to piece what to do next until Kara slapped him on the face.

"Get a grip, Hunter!" Kara exclaimed. "Deke, find the medical kit. Mox, get some blankets. Mona, Stak, make a comfortable space for Indira.

"Why do I get the feeling we forgot something?" Pinto said.

"I wonder if Goldie's gonna be able to sleep through..." Mona began, and then her eyes went wide... and so did everyone else's.

"GOLDIE/BUTTERCUP!"