The Marauder made berth in Cid's hangar, the atmosphere was unusually quiet. No joyous laughter filled the room, no brotherly bantering, no love. Hunter's unplanned absence was eating away at everyone's minds. 

Omega had chosen to withdraw to her room clearly showing her resurfaced distaste towards the others for leaving Hunter behind. She wanted the others to chase after the Imperial ship that stole their leader. Ryki tried to follow her instincts and sought to provide Omega with motherly comfort but the young female clone is too stubborn to listen to reason, much like the apparent person who was missing from the family. 

"Give her some time. She'll come around," shoulders sagging, Ryki hummed sadly and agreed with Tech. "How long till we get any information about your brother?" her voice stoic but Tech could see through her facade. "Not long. We need to refuel at the hangar, the rear engines need a little fixing and we still need to plan to get our fearless leader back from the Empire," he concluded. The mirialan nodded tiredly. "Ryki, you should get some rest. We had a long day, and I cannot let you continue to function in this condition," Tech said while pointing out his companion's tired form. She managed a small laugh, "You just gestured to all of me, and did you think I'd let you guys do all the heavy lifting? No, I don't think so. I'm not going to mope around and not try to solve our current predicament and-"

The clone sassily rolled his eyes, "Ry, I'm not saying you didn't do anything. You provided Omega with comfort and since we left Daro, you did not stop helping my brothers and me to find Hunter. Not to mention you outright refused to let me check you for injuries and to make matters worse you refused to eat anything!" 

"Look, if you can go without eating for a day, so can I. I'm a woman and I'm not fragile and neither am I weak," she retorted. "I did NOT say that"

Ryki shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not saying you did, I am merely stating a fact." Making her statement clear she tried to walk away from Tech but he caught her upper arm and turned her towards him. "OK, look. I know you're strong, smart, witty, and definitely caring but do you really think this is going to help us get back Hunter any faster?" Ryki swallowed a growing lump forming in her throat and tried to pry herself from Tech, but he didn't let her. "The only way we can achieve our goal is if all of us are in prime condition. We need you in prime condition, Omega needs you in prime condition, and so does Hunter. Do you really think he'd want to see you doing this to yourself? He- He..." 

Tech gently released Ryki bringing his fingers to pinch between his brows. She did not notice the tears slowly filling her eyes but saw the tears filling Tech's. "Look, ", he said pointedly, "Hunter would want any of us to sit and frown. He's done all he can for his family, for you, and Omega. He'd want you both to be safe," Ryki listened carefully, already noticing the gleam of hope in Tech's eyes. "... and he'd better believe that we're all going to risk our lives and get him, and Crosshair back."

The mirialan felt the spark slowly being fanned to a flame. Sure enough, the Empire plans to trap them. Hunter was just one piece of the puzzle, the grand prize is the Bad Batch itself. All seven members of the team. Ryki finally managed a small smile, "Hmm, I like the way you think, though we would need a strong dose of tranquilizer for Crosshair, in case he proves stubborn to join us. As for Hunter, I'll be strong and I won't stop helping all of us get our leader back." 

---

Later that evening, the Batch had received a surprise. "Hunter's comm device? It's a trap," Wrecker said surely. "Indeed, they are trying to lure us in. They'll keep Hunter alive, they know we're coming for him," Tech added. As the adult members of the team began to bicker and plan the ultimate dual-rescue, Omega trotted in unnoticed and saw the blinking lights on Hunter's comm. Her gasp drew the entire attention of the others. "Hunter? He's okay? " the boys and Ryki glanced at one another, the former happy that Omega finally chose to socialize but also slightly comprehensive as to be the one to break the news. "We are getting him back, kid. Don't ya' worry about it," Wrecker smiled reassuringly. 

Without wasting a second, Echo suggested Omega get some food while the rest should continue their planning. As they were exiting, a tiny hand yanked on Ryki's wrist. Omega could not manage to look into Ryki's eyes without getting tears in them. The young clone knew that the mirialan had done nothing but be kind and offered endless comfort, yet Omega blamed Ryki for not saving Hunter then. Omega tried multiple times to muster some words, a word but all that came, in the end, were choked sobs and whimpers. "I-I'm s-s-so sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Immediately the mirialan fell to her knees and enveloped the girl in her arms, gently petting her downy locks and holding her close to her warmth. 

Omega continued to cry and clutched Ryki as if she were to suddenly abandon her. The mirialan sensed the negative shift in her young one, "Shh.. my young one. I understand and I don't blame you an ounce for it," Ryki cupped Omega's face and wiped off the streams of crystal tears that Omega shed. "I don't blame you. Not at all and not one bit. I love you, 'kay?" 

Omega wiped the rest of her tears with her sleeve, nodding slowly, "I-I love you too." A soft smile graced their faces. With their deepened bond, nothing could stand in their way. Right?

---

The Marauder appeared before Kamino and managed to sneak into the planet's surface undetected. Omega directed Tech to a secret landing pad which she and Nala Se used to gain access to the Kaminoan's private lab. Under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, the Bad Batch used the underwater elevator and finally reached Nala Se's lab. 

"Woah... what is this place?" Echo asked as he saw a few empty growth chambers. 

"I'm not sure. It's definitely from the cloning facility." The genius clone replied, taking in the various oddities of the secret lab. Omega shivered and the sight and reached up for Ryki's hand. "Megs?" 

"This is where we were born."

Wrecker shouted in partial excitement, "You mean us? How can I not remember that?" The brothers began to bicker when a startled cry alerted them. "Who's there?" Omega pointed out behind a couple of gas cylinders. Ryki and the others hovered close by in case it was an Imp stormtrooper. 

"Do not shoot," A robotic voice called out in fear. "I'm AZ-"

"A-zey!" Omega cried in relief and ran to hug the droid. "Miss Omega, it is good to see you. I thought the Kaminoans had gotten to you for good." Omega cried joyfully explaining how she was safe in the presence of the newfound family. 

"Hate to cut this reunion short, but we gotta move to get Hunter," The others nodded as Tech lead the way, Ryki pulling Omega's arm with A-zey following in tow.

---

Surrounded by Crosshair's squad, Hunter leaned uncomfortably on a stool, not offered the luxury of sitting, while Crosshair leaned not too far away from him. They'd just sent out the comm signal from Hunter's helmet, Crosshair was determined it would be the surefire way to get the rest of the traitors in his iron fist. The brother's exchanged nothing except for a few words here and there, "Crosshair, you need to listen. The Empire, they are using you. There are control chips, in our heads. In yours," While his hand did briefly skim the side of his burnt head, the sniper said nothing. "Let's talk about you instead Hunter. Betraying the Empire, and now with this woman?" 

Hunter's tensed slightly. "What's she to you? She's a crew. One of us." he simply answered, already hating Crosshair mentioning her name. The sniper remained unbothered, "So, she means nothing to you? Didn't seem that way when I met her. She speaks highly of those traitors."

"Those traitors are your brothers. We did not do anything wrong and she decided to join us willingly. There's nothing to it, Cross."

"You wouldn't mind then if I ordered my men to capture her on sight. Since she clearly means nothing to you, hmm." cornered, Hunter couldn't fester the courage to say anything. Ryki is already in the line of danger. Crosshair saw the worry glint in his brother's eyes and smirked at this. "Don't worry. I'll make sure she isn't hurt too badly. The Emperor does want her alive and I will personally see to it that you'd be alive just enough to see it happen."

An alert came to Crosshair. The sniper listen and then nodded after a while. "Guess they are here to finally get you."

Hunter was led to the Citadel Training Simulation. He remembered this well. Just moments before this nightmare called the Empire loomed over his shoulders like the grim reaper, Admiral Tarkin had put his brothers and himself through a grueling 'show' to demonstrate their skills and prove them useful to the Empire. As if their perfect track record was not proof enough that they are the best. Not that Hunter would work for the Empire anyway. Still, this training facility had been the last time where his family was one. Then, everything fell.

Crosshair's crew formed a perimeter around the two brothers as they lay in wait by the middle entrance for the rest to show up, while the sniper stood at the ready. Crosshair had meticulously laid thought out every move his nerdy tech-obsessed brother would make, knowing full well they'd plan a surprise entrance of sorts. No more than five seconds later burst in the bumbling foursome, Tech, Wrecker, Echo, and Ryki, right in the middle of the rathars den. 

Hunter did not know whether to be impressed or angry, but he sure felt his nerves calm when he met Ryki's passionate emerald eyes. 

Now, it was back to square one.

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*A/n - do forgive the spelling mistakes, errors and what not's. I will edit it. One day, maybe*