The bad batch members got into position around the Cyber Center. Crosshair was set up on a hill with his sniper while the others moved in on the back of the base, Rex, Jesse and I ready to take on the front.

"Do you know what's going on?" One droid asked the other.

"Maybe it's another drill—" they were cut off by Rex and Jesse tackling them and shooting them quietly.

"Is everyone in position?" I asked through comms, walking out calmly to join the others.

"Affirmative." Hunter replied.

"Affirmative." Crosshair replied next.

"General, you wanted to know when those Separatist forces breached the outpost. Well, they're getting there just about now." Tech reported to me.

"Good, thanks for letting me know" I nodded, moving to take cover again with Rex who was urging me to follow him and Jesse while I was speaking. "I'm coming, I'm coming" I told him in a hushed tone, rushing after them.

"Put all droids on alert. An attack is coming." We overheard Admiral trench warn over holotransmission.

"An attack is coming? When—" the droid started to ask when his head was shot off suddenly. Rex threw a droid popper under the group of battle droids, electrocuting them while Crosshair sniped down some more to help us all out. We ran forward to where we had just taken out the group of droids and took cover behind the crates. I jumped up and began deflecting blasts as Jesse and Rex shot back.

"What the—"

I watched as a droid was crushed by Wrecker who had opened the front door for us, Hunter right beside him.

"Hey, where did you come from—"

We took this distraction as our chance to move out quickly and get into the base.

"What took you so long, Wrecker?" Rex jokingly asked, running towards the bad batch members who were giving us cover.

"Hey, this is a 'delicate operation.'" Wrecker reminded us of our words to describe the mission. "Better get in there, Cap." Wrecker told him as we looked to see tanks incoming.

"General, are you coming in?" Rex looked back at me before he raced inside.

"No, I have to help the men out here" I claimed strongly with determination. Rex knew not to argue with me once I had my mind made up.

"Go! We can handle this" Hunter told me sternly.

"Alright" I followed Rex inside as we found Tech hacking the systems.

"Okay, I'm in. What am I looking for?" Tech looked to us for answers as we ran in to meet him, Rex pulling off his helmet.

"Here's the algorithm. You're looking for a program using this sequence." Rex handed him a data chip. Tech plugged it into the computer and pressed a few buttons.

"Found it. This is strange. It's not a program. It's a live signal from another planet... Skako Minor." Tech explained with a sort of confusion.

"A live signal?" I looked to Rex with a similar confusion, wondering how that was possible.

"Here it is. This is audible."

"Patch me in. I want to hear it." Rex ordered eagerly.

"What is that? That sounds almost... almost human." Tech asked with confusion as we heard a sound playing from the data before us.

"It can't be." Rex gasped in realization. "Tech, find out who's sending that signal. Ask who that is." He ordered out as the base around us shook with explosions.

"CT-1409." The wobbly voice spoke. "CT-1409." It repeated.

"I... I don't believe it." Rex gasped again as I looked to him with hope and a smile.

"CT-1409." It continued.

"We're gone. Rex, let's go." Hunter ordered from the hall as they were being pushed back by the incoming forces. Tech had grabbed his things while the voice continued to repeat the same CT number.

"CT-1409."

"Rex, now!" Hunter urged. Rex put his helmet back on and readied his blasters as we fell back into the hallway. Running outside the droids had us surrounded until a speeder being driven by Crosshair had pulled up beside us.

"Everybody in!" I ordered, using the force to push back all of the droids to give us a chance to escape.

"Lyra!" Rex held out his hand and pulled me into the speeder before we flew off towards our own base again. We all relaxed with our few moments of silence, all of their helmets had been taken off to reveal their faces, some similar others different.

"That number, Cap, what did it mean?" Tech broke the silence with his question.

"CT-1409... that was Echo's number. He's alive." Rex had a look of determination to get his fallen brother back.

~~~

"You should take it easy, we can handle this mission" Rex told me as I sat on the cot in the med bay after Kix had checked out the wound on my leg again with proper equipment. Anakin and Hunter waited along for us just outside the door.

"Captain, she's fine. All healed up actually" Kix stepped in and I gave Rex a proud 'told you so' look while jumping off the cot.

"She all good to go?" Anakin asked his medic upon us exiting the room to find him in the hallway chatting with Hunter.

"Yeah, she is all good" Kix reported. With a nod Anakin lead us out of the med bay and out onto the landing platform.

"Word is the general staff isn't completely behind this mission." Hunter started as we all walked alongside each other.

"I admit the idea that Echo is still alive is a long shot." Rex agreed.

"I'm sure the Council will approve the mission. Just remember the primary goal is to learn how the Separatists are predicting our strategy, whether it's Echo behind it or not." Anakin looked to his Captain with sternness as he spoke.

"Well, if you want my opinion, sounds like a trap, but me and the boys will tag along anyway, if only to say 'I told you so.'" Hunter claimed calmly.

"Just make sure you're ready if we get the go-ahead from General Kenobi." I reminded them all that we needed permission for the mission first.

"If you're certain he'll approve the mission, why wait? Let's get going." Rex was eager which put a smile on my face until Anakin nudged him.

"First, we have that thing to do." Anakin reminded suspiciously as Hunter watched with confusion and I smirked at the pair.

"Uh, what thing?" Rex asked back, equally confused as Hunter.

"You know." Anakin sent him an urging look which Rex thought about for a moment before remembering.

"We don't have time for that, sir." Rex sent us a quick glance as he protested.

"Yes, we do." Anakin urged again, nodding away.

"Well, I'll just let you two sort this out. I'll be waiting on the ship with the rest of the team." Hunter nodded, walking off.

"You two are not good at keeping this secret." I told them with a shake of my head and a slight laugh. Rex only rolled his eyes in response, annoyed with Anakin. "I'll go talk to Kenobi about the mission" I waved them off, walking away to find my former master.

"Come on, Rex. I'm late as it is." I heard Anakin tell Rex with a pat to his shoulder.

~~~

I was walking around the base, trying to find Obi Wan when I spotted Rex waiting outside of his barracks, eyes darting a round nervously. He suddenly paused, staring towards Obi Wan who happily walked towards him. My eyes widened, knowing that I needed to find a way to distract him before he reached Rex because the Captain would not do good at keeping Anakins secret.

"Hey Master!" I jogged over to him. "I was just coming it check if we got the councils approval for the mission?" I stood in front of him, blocking his path from the barracks.

"Ah yes, I was going to talk to Anakin about that" he simply moved past me. "Look, there's Rex" he nudged me gently before happily waving to the Captain, my master wearing a large smile. "Did something happen between you two on your last mission?"

"What? No, no, no" I quickly disagreed with him. "There's nothing going on between us"

"Okay" Obi Wan smirked, sarcastically. "So you won't mind if we go talk to him?" I only sighed, looking up at Rex with a sorry expression as I couldn't stop Kenobi and it was now up to him to protect Anakin's secret.

"Oh, great." Rex sighed upon realization that I couldn't stop my former master. He gave me a small smile, grateful for my attempt at help. Pounding on the door behind him he prepared for us to join him.

"Rex, where's Anakin? I need to speak to him about this mission." Obi Wan crossed his arms as we walked up the platform and stood in front of Rex now.

"Well, General, he's, um..." Rex started nervously as he stood at attention.

"Well, he's inside your barracks, isn't he?" Obi Wan gave the obvious answer while I silently prayed for Rex and Anakin.

"Yes, sir."

"What's going on here?" Kenobi looked between Rex and I with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing, sir. I was just waiting for the General... uh, General." Rex tried to lie but failed miserably as I winced for him.

"You'll have to do better than that, Captain." Kenobi told him simply. "So what is Anakin doing in there?" He proposed the next question.

"Ah, he's spot-checking my gear, sir." Rex seemed to be unsure of his answer.

"Really? Without you?"

"Well..." Rex was out of lies to tell.

"Here you go, Rex." The door suddenly opened and Anakin tossed Rex his helmet casually. "And try not to break it again." He warned as Rex almost dropped it after catching it. Anakin walked off, ignoring Obi Wan with us in follow, me letting out a deep sigh.

"Anakin. About this mission, the Council thinks--" Kenobi started.

"That it's a good idea? I agree. Let's get moving, Lyra, Rex." Anakin finished for him, continuing to walk away.

"No, wait. That's not--"

"No time." Anakin called back.

"I hope you at least told Padmé I said hello." Obi Wan called over as we all paused, Rex and I with worried looks as Anakin calmly looked back before continuing on.

"Ready to go boys!" I cheered, walking onto the Havoc Marauder.

"Prepare for take off" Tech warned everyone as we all took a seat. Rex in between Anakin and I while the other bad batch members sat across from us. After we were safely off ground we all stood up and made small talk while looking around the ship. Wrecker was lifting a Gonk droid like it was a weight while Anakin was inspecting Crosshairs sniper, Rex and I watching from the side.

"So, how many missions has your team been on, Sergeant?" Anakin asked Hunter, handing over the sniper to its owner.

"Honestly, sir, I've lost count. All the action sort of blurs together." Hunter replied.

"I know you work with Cody sometimes, but who do you guys report to?" Rex voiced up his question to the team.

"Hmm... good question. Can't say I've got an answer." Hunter shrugged calmly.

"Yeah!" Wreaker cheered before the ship was rocked and we all looked around for an answer as to why.

"We are approaching Skako Minor. It looks to be a difficult landing." Tech called back to us. Everyone moved to buckle in swiftly, but as I was moving to my seat another rock hit the ship, throwing me into Anakin.

"Here" he had helped me steady my feet, handing me over to Rex who held out a hand to help me safely get to my seat. The ship roughly landed on the surface and everyone moved to stand again after a minute. Moving to the cockpit where Tech was seated I looked out to see what appeared to be similar to a sandstorm.

"Lyra, what do we know about this place?" Anakin turned to me.

"On this part of Skako, there's a race of locals, the Poletecs. All we know is they're very primitive." I told him the facts I had read about the planet earlier.

"'Primitive' is being kind." Tech started as Rex sent him a quick glare for opposing my knowledge. "My intel says the Poletecs worship flying reptiles." Tech continued before a creature had landed on the window, making us all flinch back at the jump scare.

"Oh! What the heck was that?" Wreaker panicked, looking out again towards it.

"It's one of those reptiles." Tech proudly exclaimed.

"I want that thing off my ship. Hold on! Hold on! Don't just run out there." Hunter warned us. The bad batch rushed to grab their gear before we moved out and faced the natives on a flying creature, standing on top of the ship.

"Hey! Get off of there!" Wrecker shouted at them.

"Hey, calm down. We need to talk to them." I warned calmly.

"Why?" Hunter seemed annoyed with my orders.

"The General's right." Rex backed me up.

"Look out, Rex!" Anakin had tackled his captain to the ground as two more flew in over us. They stood again for the one on the ship to swoop down and pick up Anakin. Rex and picked up the lightsaber Anakin had dropped and started to shoot at the creature, but it was out of range.

"General Skywalker dropped this" he handed over the lightsaber hilt.

"Thank you, I'll hold onto it for now" I clipped it onto my belt beside one of mine.

"I have a thermal reading. Point-two-five east, elevation 175." Tech explained.

"Relax. I'll handle this." Crosshair switched up his gun and used Techs shoulder as a stand to keep a still shot.

"What are you doing?" Rex asked as they grappled onto the creature instead of shooting it down.

"Going for a ride." Hunter stated before he was pulled off the ground.

..................................................

Question of the day: what do you think of the bad batches methods for battles?