-Uninhabited asteroid, Ryloth System-

"So who are we delivering to exactly?" Ryki squeezed between the boys, peering out at the vessel that stood just opposite them. "It must have slipped Cid's mind, again" Tech quipped. Three twileks waited patiently for the Bad Batch to deliver their supplies.

"Are you Gobi? Cid sent us." Hunter asked, Ryki gasped.

"Wait, Gobi?!"

Peeking out from behind Hunter she found an equally surprised blue male twilek looking back at her. "Well, if it isn't Miss Taala. I thought I recognized your voice." Ryki laughed wholeheartedly and quickly ran forwards to shake the male's hand, "Gobi Glie, I thought my last visit to Ryloth would be the last I ever saw of you."

Gobi chuckled, "I think the Rylothian gods decided on keeping our friendship intact." Ryki nodded and turned towards the female beside him, who she quickly found out was named Serin. Two were reminiscing of old times when a cough suddenly interrupted them.

Hunter walked closer to the two, leaning closer to Ryki's side, "You two know each other?" Ryki hummed and nodded, "Oh yeah. We met long ago on Ryloth because of some political issues I had to settle. Between the senator and the freedom fighters, right?" Gobi nodded, "Your friend here has a way with words." Ryki snickered.

"Uncle Gobi! I got the credits! I got the- Woah, RYKI?"

Said mirialan perked at the high pitched squeal, "HERA!" The younger twilek leapt into Ryki's arms. Giggling, the mirialan spun them around. "Look at you. You were a lot younger and smaller since the last time I saw you, and you look so pretty." Hera beamed and smiled proudly.

"She's is a lot more reckless too," Serin added with a smile. Sadly, Gobi requested for the transaction to be completed as fast as possible, cutting short the reunion between the girls. Hera looked past Ryki's shoulder and saw the Havoc marauder in all its glory, "Woah. That is the most amazing ship I have ever seen,"

Ryki pressed herself closer to Hunter while the latter watched Hera's eyes fill with wonder, "May I?" Hera pointed towards the ship and hopefully turned back to meet Ryki's eyes. Shrugging, she turned towards Hunter with a smile, "Your call, Sargeant." With a nod of approval, Hera tugged on Ryki's hand and dragged her towards the shuttle, where another young girl stood.

The mirialan hopped behind the young clone, giving her a side hug. "Omega, Hera. Hera, Omega." thus a new friendship was born.

---

Within the confines of her small room, Ryki continued her tinkering on new medicine after Tech generously provided her with a list of new herbal combinations to try out. Eyebrows furrowed when two knocks landed on her door. "Come in,"

Peeping into her room, Hunter quietly came in with a packet of rations and a cup of caff. "You missed dinner, again" He gently chided. Hesitantly, the woman put her work aside and softly apologized. She patted her bed and gestured for Hunter to sit then took the rations and the caff, nodding in thanks, "You and the others eaten yet?"

Hunter nodded then smiled knowingly, "Don't worry. Omega ate too."

"Have you been sleeping much?" Hunter asked, already knowing the truth. Since Coruscant, Ryki had been getting nightmares, probably because of the dark memories caused by the Umbaran slaver. On top of that, she hadn't been eating much. Dark circles slowly appeared around her eyes giving the skin there a darker green tone compared to the rest of her face. Lazily sipping on the drink, Ryki provided a pitiful smile in return, "You know why. The dreams, they don't go away."

The sergeant huddled closer to her, "Want to talk about it?". Ryki nodded, "I see Ve- I don't even want to say his name but I keep seeing him torturing me. Sometimes I see Omega in chains..." Drifting off, she contemplated on what to say next, "There is something new, though."

Hunter gently met her eyes, urging her to speak her mind. "I can't explain it, but I recently I have been seeing a hooded figure in those dreams. Whenever he appears it's always him and I in a black empty space and we're always alone. Oddly, when he appears I feel like he's calling out to me and I can't resist it."

Her hands began to tremble and Hunter quickly reached to steady them, cooing to soothe her, "Hey, hey. He can't hurt you, alright. Neither of them can." Ryki leaned in more to Hunter's warmth, "No, Hunter, you don't understand. It's like I'm under his control like he has strings attached to me. I am aware that I'm dreaming and I can't wake up from it."

Hunter removed the shaking cup off her hands and pulled Ryki in for a hug. Sighing in relief she melted into his embrace as his hands cradled her body close to his. "Do you think it has something to do with the... Force?" She asked after a while. At this point, Hunter wished he could provide all the answers to her questions, but he was no Jedi and had no idea of how to Force worked. "I'm... not sure, Ry."

'Ry', the new nickname that the Bad Batch adopted for her. It was endearing, but it sounded way better passing over Hunter's lips. Like honey to her ears.

She tucked herself closer to Hunter's chest, wanting her dreams to just disappear. "Whatever it is, we'll figure it out, together."

'Together'

Ryki's cheeks turned a little dark green with the sudden surge of welcoming warmth raced through her body. With his heightened senses, Hunter noticed the sudden change in her heartbeat, then he realized what he said.

'Together'

Flustered both individuals shyly let go of each other, "I mean, uhm... you know, Tech too, a-and Wrecker, and Echo." Wincing, Hunter dopily grinned, heart equally racing in his chest. Ryki hid a growing smile, giggling quietly, "-and Omega too"

"RIGHT. Right. Omega too." Their eyes slowly met with a rare spark in them. They held their gazes in silence as their faces flushed embarrassingly. Ryki was the first to laugh at their blushing state, also allowing Hunter to relax and laugh as well. "I-You know what I mean," he shyly shuffled on his feet. Ryki hummed and rocked on the balls of her feet, "Yeah. Thank you."

Honestly, Force willing the mirialan and Sargeant might have had a lovey-dovey, never-ending staring contest at the rate they were going but their moment was cut short by Tech summoning Hunter to the cockpit. The Sargeant tiredly sighed and walked towards Ryki's room door, only to do a full 180 and quickly sneak a short peck on the mirialan cheek. Ryki gasped as rapidly blinked. Satisfied with her growing blush, Hunter smirked "I'll see you in the cockpit cyar'ika."

'What's cyar'ika?' she thought.

---

"Omega, it's Hera. You have to come back to Ryloth."

Wrecker swivelled on his seat to fully face the holo vid of a young green twilek "Isn't she the kid from the weapons drop?"

"Weapons drop?" Ryki whispered, eyes quizzically switching between Hunter and the caller.

"Hera?" Omega and her called out at the same time.

"The Empire's taken my parents, and they're after me now too. I'm sending coordinates. Please hurry. I need your help."

Worry spread through Omega after hearing the urgency in her new friend's voice.

"You gave her our comm channel?" Hunter turned to face the girl. "For emergencies, and that sounded pretty urgent," Omega replied confidently. Seeing her brother's not reacting much to Hera's call for help, she begged them to turn back to Ryloth.

"Perhaps the situation is not as dire as described. Children often overreact Tech voiced his opinion bluntly.

Omega scoffed and stomped her foot, "No, we don't. You heard her. She needs us." The boys exchanged glances, each asking a silent question about their next move. Ryki decided best to let the boys handle this.

Hunter placed a hand on Omega's shoulder, "Omega, it's a big galaxy. We can't put ourselves on the line every time someone's in trouble." He said as gently as possible, hoping Omega would understand. Like her brothers, Omega could just as stubborn as them. Puffing her chest out with determination, Omega bravely reminded them that even if her brothers were deserters of the Empire, they were still soldiers. Helping good people is what they do.

Ryki watched the exchange silently. Finally, Hunter's shoulders slumped. Raising his hands he gave in to his younger sister's plea. "Alright. Tech, let's head back to Ryloth."

Echo and Tech exchanged a knowing smirk, further irking the sergeant because once again he was managed to be swayed by his sister. "Omega's got him wrapped around her fingers, eh?" Wrecker joked good-heartedly and nudged Ryki. Hunter caught their warm gazes and muttered under his breath shyly. "Yes. Yes, she does," Ryki chuckled.

---

Tech and Echo landed the shuttle far from Ryloth's main city. An old orange coloured droid rudely greeted them with a series of harsh beeps. "What's his problem?" Wrecker glared at the droid.

"Ryki! Omega!" Hera came barrelling into Ryki's arms. "Thank you for coming. I wasn't sure you would," Hera smiled more when she spotted her friend.

Omega joined them, one hand holding Ryki's, "You said you were in trouble." Hera nodded, her facial features turning sour.

"Care to tell us why the Empire is after you?" Hunter drew closer to the girl and was very curious about what the Empire would want from a small twilek child. Hera was about to answer when the answer itself came to Ryki and slapped her on the face like a bag of bricks. "Of course, " she exclaimed "Hunter, her father is Cham Syndulla. This is his daughter, Hera Syndulla."

Tech, ever being the smart one identified Cham Syndulla as Ryloth's freedom fighter. Ryki nodded and smiled. "He and his wife Eleni Syndulla are very respectable people. I was fortunate enough to meet them. They are very good people." She directed the last sentence to the young green-skinned twilek. Hera beamed, "Yes. This was his old command outpost. It's where I've been hiding."

Hera told the Batchers that the Empire has begun to target anyone loyal to her father. Ryki's breath hitched, "Did they arrest Howzer too?" she asked, remembering the close comradery between the clone captain and the freedom fighter. The young twilek sadly shook her head, "I'm, not sure."

The sergeant noticed how Ryki's face fell at the unconfirmed person name 'Howzer'. As bitter as he felt of not knowing about this 'Howzer' in Ryki's life, he focused more on the current matters at hand.

"What do you want us to do?" Echo asked on behalf of the group.

Stepping forward bravely, Hera asked that the Bad Batch free her parents from the Capitol. "They can pay if you get them out." Omega exchanged glances with Ryki, the latter squeezed the other's hand reassuringly.

"Please. I don't have anyone else to ask." Hera's voice grew smaller. Ryki's heart clenched. Somewhere deep within her, a natural instinct to protect rose from the depths, "We could take a look at the situation," she gently urged Hunter with her eyes. Meeting her's, he silently agreed, "Let's see what we're up against first, but no guarantees."

Hope rose in Hera, even if it was a little smidge. "Come on!" Omega took Hera's hand and led her into the ship, Wrecker, Echo and Tech followed behind. "We, are going to free Hera's parents, right?" Ryki asked hopefully.

The sergeant frowned to himself, quietly reaching for Ryki's hands. She let him hold on to her because it seemed to comfort the worry he felt. "As I said, no guarantees. If this planet is crawling with Imps, I am not willing to risk your and Omega's safety." Hunter also worried for his brothers but they could handle more heat from the Imperials compared to the two girls. They are relatively new to this rugged lifestyle. Even though they proved to be capable on their own, Ryki understood Hunter's reasoning.

"Alright," She squeezed his hand comfortingly, Hunter leaned in and gently rested his forehead on hers. Ryki would have flushed at this new form of contact, but now was not the time. "We could still get Hera safely of planet ?"

Hunter nodded, "Yes, cyar'ika."