The Marauder touched ground in the jungle regions of Onderon for the Bad Batch's first assignment as soldiers of the Galactic Empire. A desire to prove themselves hung in the air. With the necessity of clone troopers in the new Empire being questioned, the squad felt extra motivated to succeed.

It was night. They stepped onto the soil one by one and checked their surroundings, listening to the distant growls of native creatures prowling about which Tech declined to give information on.

Hunter knelt to the ground and felt the earth, "The Separatist encampment's two klicks south," he said, rising back to his feet. "We'll continue on foot and do a full perimeter scan."

Wrecker charged forward until Hunter held a hand in front of him.

"Covertly."

Wrecker groaned at a volume that made Crosshair and Tech share an annoyed look.

"I saw that!" Wrecker said and shoved the pair of them forward with a grumble.

They trekked through the trees, their forms bathed in the moonlight filtering through the leaves above. Tech lead the way, the beeping of his scanner out of place among the chirps and chitters coming from the jungle.

"How many droids are we talking about, Tech?" Hunter asked.

"I can't tell from this distance," Tech said,  smacking his device. "Something's blocking my scan."

"Let's get a closer look."

Hunter walked ahead, passing in and out of shadow. They arrived at an overlook. The small encampment lay below enclosed by thick trees.

Crosshair laid his rifle on a fallen tree trunk and lay flat on his stomach. He lowered his rangefinder as Tech crouched next to him. An assortment of people stood gathered near a fire, laughing and talking. The elders watched the children play and guided them away from the boundaries.

"Tell me what you see, Tech," Hunter said.

"I'm clocking 25 heat signatures, but zero droids."

"What?" Crosshair said unnerved and checked his scope again to make sense of the scene before him.

"Tarkin never said droids, only insurgents," Hunter said.

Echo looked into his scopes, "I'm not sure they're either." He paused for a moment and exclaimed, "There are children down there!"

"I can confirm," Crosshair said dryly.

"Well in that case, Wrecker-" Hunter started giving everyone their orders, but Crosshair was deaf to them.

"Crosshair," Hunter said, bringing the sniper out of his thoughts. "It's time for Strategy TO-12."

"Strategy TO-12?" Crosshair spat out the words like they were poison.

"I know our position makes your job difficult. There're too many trees in the way," Hunter said, lowering his scopes from his eyes. "But if you employ the tactic, the insurgents will cluster in the middle. The rest of us can finish the job."

Crosshair glared at Hunter who noticed the marksman's apprehension. Hunter knew how much Crosshair hated that tactic. It was a misuse of his skill. It was taught to Crosshair on Kamino as an essential part of his brutal sniper training, but Hunter never ordered him to use it on a mission before. Crosshair never wanted to, and Hunter respected that.

"Problem?"

Crosshair felt Hunter's hard gaze on him. A tense silence passed before he responded.

"No," Crosshair said quietly. "No problem."

He adjusted his rifle until he had a clear line of sight of a boy with brown hair sitting on a log by the fire. The others either hung closer to the edges of the campsite or were covered by foliage. Crosshair knew that once he shot to injure the boy, the others would scatter into their range and be shot down by his batch mates. Some would come help the wounded kid and be right in Crosshair's view. His real victims. The boy was only bait.

"Fire," whispered Hunter.

Crosshair's finger hovered over the trigger. His breath paused. The targets moved in and out of his scope. It would only take one shot to change everything. One shot to take away any agency he had left in him. One shot to destroy whatever faith he had in himself, but it would be the shot that restored Hunter's faith in him.

"Crosshair, what are you waiting for?" Hunter hissed.

"I'm not doing it," Crosshair exhaled and took his rifle off the branch.

"What?"

Crosshair returned Hunter's look of disbelief with a challenging glare.

"Crosshair's made the right call," Echo said, coming near them. "There are civilians down there, Hunter. How can we carry out this mission?"

"You carry it out by following my orders."

"You may be sergeant of this squad, but you're crossing a line," Echo said, crossing his arms. "Now call off the mission."

"Hey, Hunter's in charge here," Wrecker said, shifting his grip on his blaster. He looked over at the camp below. "I can get them just fine from here, sarge."

"No, we stick to the plan," Hunter hissed and glared at Crosshair, pointing at the campsite. "Crosshair, fire at them!"

Crosshair didn't move and stared at Hunter defiantly. His look matched the ferocity burning in Hunter's eyes.

"Tech, remind me to write a report against Crosshair when we get back to the Marauder," Hunter said without taking his eyes off him. "Wrecker, open fire."

"No!" Echo said and looked over at Tech who stood by, ready to fire as well. "Hunter, call it off!"

They ran out of time. The leaves surrounding them rustled and the barrels of guns peaked through the dense foliage. The insurgents stepped into view, pointing their weapons at the Bad Batch who raised their blasters in defense.

"You heard him," said one of the men. "Stand down."

Echo looked over at Hunter, "Let's hear them out."

Echo surrendered his blaster and raised his hands. Crosshair did the same and was followed by Wrecker and Tech. With a disappointed shake of his head, Hunter placed his blasters on the ground and held up his hands.

The Bad Batch was lead into the encampment after being forced to remove their helmets and gear. They saw their targets up close. A mix of weary families and war-torn individuals stood before them. Crosshair met the gaze of the boy he had locked his sights on earlier.

"These aren't Separatists," Echo said to Hunter, unsurprised. "They're Republic fighters."

"You are correct," Tech agreed. "Why would Tarkin send us to attack our own forces?"

A tall man with a deeply scarred face pushed through the crowd to get a look at them, "Because we refuse to fight for an Empire."

"You're Saw Gerrera," Tech deduced. "Trained by Captain Rex and General Skywalker to fight for the Republic. Why have you turned your back on the Empire?"

Gerrera ignored him and examined Hunter's blaster, "So, the newly declared Empire sent you to wipe us out?"

"We were sent here to take out a group of Separatists," Echo explained, taking a step forward. "We didn't realize..." he trailed off.

"That the Empire wouldn't send you to kill civilians?" Gerrera said. "Well, here we are. What are you going to do? Strike us down like you did the Jedi?"

"Is that an invitation?" Hunter asked, scowling.

"Enough!" Echo commanded and looked at Gerrera. "We expected to find battle droids here, not-"

"Innocents?" Gerrera suggested. "Times change, targets change. Why don't you take a look at the insurgents you were sent to destroy? Makes you wonder what else they're lying about."

Crosshair listened carefully to what Gerrera said and looked between him and Hunter. There were things happening on Kamino and among the clones that he couldn't begin to explain, but there was one person there who could.

Gerrera turned around and told his people to pack up camp. Crosshair walked up to him.

"Who are these people?"

Gerrera faced him, "Villagers, croppers, former Republic fighters," he said. "All now displaced refugees since Palpatine unjustly appointed himself Emperor."

"Well, according to reports," Tech joined in. "The Jedi made an attempt on the Supreme Chancellor's life. His actions and order to execute the Jedi were a justifiable and a defensive measure."

"And I took you for the smart one," Gerrera said, and Tech was taken aback. "With the Jedi decimated and the clone army under his command, Palpatine will have control over the entire galaxy. Unless we stop him."

He went on about the futility of it all if they stopped fighting now. Gerrera had an ambitious look in his eyes and showed confidence that another war was in the horizon. He seemed to have every intention to be a part of it.

"You don't stand a chance against the Empire," Hunter said to Gerrera.

"Not alone we don't."

One of Gerrera's fighters informed him that they needed to leave. Gerrera let the Bad Batch go on account of the clones helping them liberate his world during the war. They took their gear and headed back to the Marauder. Crosshair saw something move in the trees, but he lost it just as quickly. He carried on after his brothers.

"The Republic never asked anything like this of us," Echo grumbled. "This mission was wrong from the start."

"We're soldiers, Echo," Hunter replied. "We do what we're told."

Crosshair narrowed his eyes at him, "Then what do you propose we do, Hunter?"

"We finish the mission."

"Finish the mission?" Echo repeated. "Hunter, have you lost your mind? They sent us to eliminate innocent civilians."

"It's not too late. We can take out those insurgents and show the Empire what we're capable of."

"Hunter, open your eyes," Crosshair said. "The Empire doesn't trust you. Why else do you think they sent the probe droid?"

"Probe droid?" Tech perked up.

Crosshair fired a shot behind Hunter. He didn't flinch as the droid quivered and drowned in its own sparks. It crashed onto the forest floor and erupted in flames. They walked towards it and Tech investigated the wreckage.

"They sent it because of disloyal soldiers like you," Hunter scowled at Crosshair.

"So the Empire was spying on us this whole time," Echo realized.

"Why shouldn't they?" Hunter scoffed.

Crosshair turned on Hunter, "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm following orders."

"You've been saying that," Crosshair said impatiently. His thoughts went back to his last conversation on Kamino. "The girl, Omega, she warned us about this mission and the Empire. She said it's not safe on Kamino anymore."

Hunter began walking back to the Marauder and they all followed.

"I'm starting to agree with her," Echo mumbled.

"You're listening to a child now?" Hunter crossed his arms.

The stairway on the side of the ship unfolded and Tech made his way up, stopping at the top to lean against the ship.

"I would not discount Omega's insight," Tech said, tapping away at his datapad. "A state of heightened awareness is not unusual for an enhanced clone such as herself."

Wrecker laughed. "Good one, Tech. You almost had us."

"When Nala Se spoke of five clones, Tarkin assumed that meant us, but Echo's a reg," Tech explained. "The fifth is Omega. I confirmed my suspicions after analyzing her DNA while we were in the infirmary."

Echo walked up to Tech agitated, "And you waited until now to mention it?"

"Well, I thought it was obvious."

"How is it obvious?" Wrecker shouted.

Crosshair didn't react to the news. He felt the same way Tech did. It came as no surprise, yet Crosshair never placed she was a clone. Had he given it more thought, he would've come to the same conclusion. Only, he wouldn't have had Tech's attitude about it.

Hunter didn't show much reaction to the news either.

"You should've told us, Tech," Crosshair pointed a finger at him. "We could've-"

"Who cares if she's a clone?" Hunter interrupted with a nasty scowl on his face. "Now I say we go back and finish off those insurgents."

"You cannot be serious, Hunter," Crosshair said.

"I would not advise this course of action anymore," Tech said. "We have already lost the element of surprise and our position is compromised. Gerrera and his forces will be ready should decide to attack."

A furious look came over Hunter as pushed past them all in defeat and disappeared into the ship without another word.

_______
A/n:
We're almost done with episode one, guys, I promise.