Chapter Text
Footsteps echoed through the cave as the Bad Batch carefully made their way through, Hunter and Tech leading while Wrecker and Crosshair watched their backs. Tech’s scanner beeped as he held it up, guiding their way through the branching tunnels. They were sent to identify a rebel faction who had been literally chased underground by the Separatists, and who could help turn the tide for the struggling Republic forces in their siege of the planet’s capital.
The tunnels themselves twisted and branched in a complex web, making relying on Tech’s scanner and Hunter’s senses vital to keeping them on track. The rebels were known to favour the Republic, however, the Separatists had taken a keen interest in destroying them since the siege began. An ambush or trap was almost inevitable.
Wrecker’s headlight swept across the tunnel openings they passed. They were all various sizes, and twisted and stretched, leaving him unable so see very far into any of them. His grip on his blaster tightened.
Despite orders to stay quiet, he opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off when Hunter looked up sharply towards the ceiling. “Move it!” He shouted, pushing Tech to run in front of him.
There wasn’t time to react before multiple blasts filled the cave. Wrecker dove backwards as the ceiling and walls began to crumble around him, catching a glimpse of Crosshair doing the same. He hit the ground heavily, tucking his head into his arms as debris rained down around him, bracing himself as large chunks of rock bounced off his armour. More than a few of those would leave some nasty bruises.
When the cave was quiet once again, he lifted his head. The thick cloud of dust now filling the space left him disoriented, reflecting the light from his helmet back at him as it danced across his vision. He coughed, waving away the dust as he sat up, more dust and rocks tumbling off him as he shifted. Where the tunnel ahead of them once was, now stood an unstable wall of rock, loose dirt and small rocks still falling and settling within it.
“Cross?” He called, pushing himself to his feet. He felt jittery from the sudden adrenaline rush, catching himself on a large rock as he rose and scanned the area. The light swept over rocks, settling dust, and his blaster which had been knocked from his grip. He scooped it up and quickly inspected it, finding no major damage before returning it to its holster.
A quiet groan had his head snapping to the opposite side of the cave, a little closer to the new wall. Carefully picking his way over, he called out for Crosshair again. He sagged in relief when he spotted movement, crouching next to his brother to help him sit up.
Crosshair let out a low groan as he was settled against a rock. Wrecker couldn’t see anything wrong, but watched as his brother’s hand drifted to his side, his head hanging low.
“You alright, Cross?”
Crosshair lifted his head slowly to look at him. “Landed hard on a rock of the way down, but I’m fine.” He sounded a little breathless.
“Can you walk?”
Crosshair huffed a laugh that quickly turned into a groan. “How far?”
Wrecker’s heart sunk a little at that answer. They needed to move out of the unstable part of the tunnel at least, but after that, there was no way Crosshair was walking all the way back out, not that Wrecker even remembered the way. There was even less chance of him helping move the rubble to try to reach their brothers, who Wrecker still hadn’t heard from. He wanted to try to comm them, but he needed to get Crosshair somewhere safe first.
He rose and looked back the way they’d come. Now that the dust had mostly settled, he could see much further back. The blast must have been pretty localised, the tunnel a few meters back seeming stable enough. He looked back down at Crosshair and nodded in that direction.
“Just back where it’s stable. Then we’ll try to comm Hunter and Tech and see what the next move is.”
Crosshair grunted in response and let Wrecker help him slowly stand. On his feet, he remained curled over, his arm wrapped protectively over his side. He tried to straighten more, only to double back over with a pained grunt. Wrecker frowned, but didn’t say anything as he guided him down the tunnel. It was slow going, but he got Crosshair settled against the wall.
He crouched down in front of him with a groan, pain starting up in his back. He could only imagine how bruised it was from the larger pieces of debris after the blast, and now that the adrenaline was wearing off, his body was feeling it.
“You good?” He asked when Crosshair seemed to slump a little, earning an irritated grumble.
“I’m fine, just comm the others.”
Wrecker settled down, sitting next to Crosshair against the wall, and activated his comm. “Hunter? Tech? You guys okay?”
The response he got was crackly, either someone’s comm was damaged, or the cave in was causing interference. Probably both. But he could understand Tech well enough when he answered.
“We are alive, though, Hunter is down, and won’t be moving very far any time soon. I hope you had better luck.”
Wrecker glanced over at Crosshair. “Crosshair’s down too. What’s the plan?”
The static rose when Tech hummed. “Can you move any of the debris from the blast? Get through the wall to reach us?”
Wrecker eyed the collapse warily. “Uh, I don’t know about that, Tech. It’s real unstable, I’ll probably just make it worse.”
“What about the side tunnels?” Crosshair asked, his comm coming in much clearer from right beside him. “Surely there’s an intersection somewhere that connects them.”
Wrecker could hear Tech’s frown through the comm. “The chances of us finding a safe one nearby are unlikely, and that would require leaving you and Hunter alone.”
Crosshair scoffed. “I’m hurt, not useless. I can keep hold of a blaster just in case while Wrecker searches.”
“How is Hunter?” Wrecker asked.
There was some quiet chatter amongst the static on Tech’s end. “Hunter is conscious and feels much the same. Very well, Wrecker and I will find a way while you two stay put. Check in regularly, and if neither of you see or hear from us in an hour, well, I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”
Tech’s comm cut off, and Wrecker let out a long sigh before he pushed himself up to crouch in front of Crosshair again. He earned annoyed grumbles when he tried to look him over. “Can I check it out?”
Crosshair levelled him with a look. “You’re just wasting time. I’ll be fine, there’s not much you can do anyway. And I’m not sitting here with half my armour off.”
He gave him a once over anyway. There didn’t seem to be any blood, and Wrecker’s medical knowledge was pretty limited for much else. Finally, he relented, making sure Crosshair had his Firepuncher and that the area he sat in was definitely stable, before heading over to the branching tunnels closer to the cave in.
“Uh, Tech? Which tunnel?”
The comm crackled for a moment before Tech responded, a little clearer now that he was closer. “I believe if you take the one to your right, it should turn left almost immediately. It appears to cross paths with one from this side the quickest.”
He gave an affirmative, shot one last look to where Crosshair sat, and went in.
Tech blinked back into focus as the dust settled around him. A large piece of rubble had clipped his back as he ran, knocking him to the ground. He’d blacked out momentarily, but aside from a throbbing pain in his head and a bruised back, he felt fine as he pushed himself up.
He immediately began searching the cave for his brothers. Wrecker and Crosshair had been too far back to make it with them, but were hopefully relatively safe on the other side of the blast. Hunter, on the other hand, had been right behind him, and if Tech had blacked out from the blast, the lack of any sign of Hunter had him concerned.
His headlight flickered briefly when he turned it on after the blast had evidently knocked it off. Swirling dust obscured his view, but he didn’t have to look far to find what he was looking for. Hunter was still right behind him, lying prone amongst the rubble. As Tech approached, he realised that Hunter was pinned, his leg trapped under a rock that leaned against the base of the new cave wall.
He flicked down his visor to scan the wall, red lights flashing to highlight the most unstable points, which was, admittedly, most of it. There were one, or potentially two if it came to it, ways to create a stable path through the wall, however Tech was not strong enough to move all the rubble himself. Looking at the rock pinning Hunter, he knew moving just that one would be a challenge.
He crouched down by Hunter, checking for a pulse. He let out a sigh of relief when he found one, and began inspecting the rock closer. It was fairly round, and he was almost certain he could roll it off, however the way it rolled would be unpredictable if he wasn’t careful, and it would be painful for Hunter.
He shuffled around his brother to tuck his arm close against his side before approaching the rock. He pushed against it experimentally, frowning when it didn’t budge. He really wished Wrecker had ended up on this side.
With a silent apology to Hunter, he braced and pressed his shoulder against the rock, using his legs to push his entire body weight into it. His muscles screamed at him, but the rock slowly budged, then shifted, then rolled off Hunter’s leg. He ignored his brother’s pained cry as he did his best to guide the rock so that it didn’t crush him again. It quickly outpaced him, and he cringed when it slammed into the nearby wall, knocking some dirt and small rocks loose.
He let out a breath and turned back to Hunter, who was now awake and trying to push himself up. Tech quickly crouched at his side, putting a hand on his back to keep him down. “I would not recommend moving until I look you over.”
Hunter sagged at his voice and tried to relax as Tech inspected him for injuries. He seemed fine, if a little disoriented, until he reached the leg that had been crushed. The angle it bent at was unnatural, and as he looked over it closely, he found that the bone stuck out to the left of his shin. Blood caused the settling dust to stick to the leg, and he cringed internally at the near certainty of infection if they didn’t get out of there soon.
“How’s it looking?” Hunter asked breathlessly, still catching his breath after the alarming wake up call.
“You have a compound fracture in your tibia. I will need to stabilise the leg and it will not be comfortable.”
Hunter let out a wheezing huff. “Can I at least sit up first?”
Tech took in the area around them once again. The tunnel this close to the collapse was very unstable, but just a few meters back seemed fine. “Very well.”
Getting Hunter up was an arduous process. He could tell that he tried not to, but he couldn’t help crying out as his leg was moved, especially when he automatically went to put his weight on it as he stabilised once he was on his feet. Tech was quick to catch him before he fell, giving him a moment as the pain left him swaying, then helped guide him further back into the tunnel.
Hunter groaned as he was set down against the wall, his leg sticking out in front of him. He looked away when he caught sight of it. “Gah! Tech, you weren’t kidding!”
“I rarely am.” Tech opened his medkit and pulled out some bacta and bandages. It wasn’t ideal, but their first priority then and there was getting the bone stable, cleaning and treating the wound would come when they weren’t in immediate danger, and had the supplies for it.
He was about to begin wrapping the break when a staticky voice came through his comm. “Hunter? Tech? You guys okay?”
He glanced up at Hunter before raising his hand to his comm and answering. “We are alive, though, Hunter is down, and won’t be moving very far any time soon. I hope you had better luck.” Hunter made no move to reach for his own comm. It was clearly not working, but he was listening to the conversation through Tech’s.
“Crosshair’s down too. What’s the plan?” Wrecker’s voice crackled.
Tech hummed thoughtfully and looked back down the tunnel to the wall of rubble. “Can you move any of the debris from the blast? Get through the wall to reach us?”
“Uh, I don’t know about that, Tech. It’s real unstable, I’ll probably just make it worse.”
“What about the side tunnels?” Crosshair asked. Tech didn’t miss how Hunter sagged in relief at hearing his voice, proof that all three of them were alive. “Surely there’s an intersection somewhere that connects them.”
Tech frowned. ““The chances of us finding a safe one nearby are unlikely, and that would require leaving you and Hunter alone.”
Crosshair scoffed. “I’m hurt, not useless. I can keep hold of a blaster just in case while Wrecker searches.”
“How is Hunter?” Wrecker asked.
Hunter was watching Tech intently. “I’ll be fine, Tech. It’s just my leg, I can hold my own.”
“If you’re sure. You will not be able to move if anything comes along.”
“I’m sure, go find a way out of here.”
Tech addressed the comm again. “Hunter is conscious and feels much the same. Very well, Wrecker and I will find a way while you two stay put. Check in regularly, and if neither of you see or hear from us in an hour, well, I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”
He lowered his hand form the comm, and turned his full attention back to Hunter. He still had his helmet on, but Tech could imagine how pale he was underneath. These types of injuries were never fun. He raised the bandages again.
“You need to stay as still as possible. Do you want to bite down on something?”
Hunter shook his head and braced himself. Tech began to work, carefully moving Hunter’s leg and wrapping it firmly. Groans and quiet cries escaped his brother even as he tried to hold them back, but he didn’t pull his leg away, letting him work quickly and carefully. He sagged against the wall when Tech finally lowered it back to the ground.
It wasn’t perfect. Without anything to splint it with, the bandages could only do so much, but as long as Hunter stayed where he was, it would be fine. The bacta was doing its work, fending off too serious an infection until they could get to a med centre.
After a moment to catch his breath, Hunter looked up at Tech. “I, uh, might need to borrow a blaster. Lost mine in the blast.” He nodded towards the cave in.
Tech easily donated a blaster, checking that he didn’t need anything else. Neither of them liked leaving Hunter without a comm, but they didn’t have much choice. With a final nod from his brother, Tech got up and approached the side tunnels, right as his comm crackled to life again.
“Uh, Tech? Which tunnel?”
The comm sounded a little clearer now that he was standing closer to the others. He checked his datapad map of the tunnels. “I believe if you take the one to your right, it should turn left almost immediately. It appears to cross paths with one from this side the quickest.”
He got an affirmative. After a quick gear check, and a thumbs up from Hunter, he entered the tunnels.
Wrecker wound his way through the tunnel. For a long time, the narrow passage bent and curved, but never split off. He passed no side tunnels. There were a few moments where he had to duck his head under a particularly low section, and others where he almost had to squeeze sideways when the walls began brushing his shoulders. He hoped whichever of their brothers they had to bring through here was mobile enough for it, though whether they were or not, the journey would be difficult.
After a long stretch where the tunnel continued at a downward slope, it began to level out. As it did, branching paths began to appear. Wrecker slowed as they did, looking each over for any sign of Tech. He’d said they’d meet at an intersection, but he didn’t say which one.
The light froze with him when he heard a sound echoing from one of the side tunnels. It sounded like shuffling feet, but he knew Tech would approach this place carefully, not go kicking rocks. Reaching for his blaster, he swept his gaze across the tunnels around him. There were three, two to his right and one to his left a little behind him, and because of the echo, it was hard to tell where exactly the sound came from.
As his light was sweeping past the second one on the right, the sound came again, this time much closer. He spun towards the tunnel further back, only to be met with a dark blur that rushed towards him, knocking him back a step when it collided with him.
Shoving it back to regain his balance, Wrecker swore when he realised he was faced with two commando droids that had clearly been waiting to ambush whoever passed. He raised his blaster and fired on the one that he’d shoved away before it could lunge at him again. The blade in its hand glinted blue as the light of the blaster bolts lit the space. Its entire body jerked as it was riddled with bolts, before collapsing to the ground.
In the time that took, the other had proceeded to slink around the side of the tunnel, and now lunged at Wrecker from the side. Still stiff and aching from the cave in, Wrecker was too slow to face it, and the blade scraped across his armour. He bit back a cry when the tip caught in a gap in the plastoid just under his arm, digging deep.
With a shout, he spun, grabbing the droid’s arm and using the momentum to fling it further down the tunnel where it bounced off a wall before collapsing to the ground. It didn’t stay there for long, rising unnervingly to its feet once again. It lunged towards him, but this time Wrecker was ready, and facing the right direction. He brought his blaster up, lighting up the commando’s torso until it was nothing more than scrap metal. It collapsed once again and, after a shot to the head for insurance, something he’d learned to do the hard way, it didn’t rise again.
He took a moment to breathe, doing another careful sweep of the side tunnels. The grip on his blaster remained tight, his body tense, just waiting for another ambush. Slowly, he continued his journey to find Tech, carefully checking every branching path he passed.
After another ten minutes of this, his attention shot to a tunnel on his right. A familiar cry echoed down it, and he rushed in. If he’d been ambushed on this side, it was safe to assume there were more waiting on the other side of the blast. Ignoring his aching body, he ran up the sharply curving tunnel to find his brother.
The datapad in his hand beeped quietly as Tech made his way through the tunnels. They were narrow and claustrophobic, but he paid it no mind, focused on what his scans picked up. There were many branching paths and winding tunnels as he walked, careful not to accidentally wander into one. Many were collapsed or otherwise blocked, while others split from the main path in a way that made it difficult to tell which was the original tunnel. He’d been walking upwards for some time, his legs beginning to burn as he kept up a swift pace. He was almost at the rendezvous.
He glanced up from his datapad when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He paused, looking down a dark tunnel to his left, keeping his datapad in one hand as he raised his blaster in the other. He frowned when his datapad beeped and he glanced down to see two droid signals coming from the tunnel. He carefully slid it into his belt and took a proper battle stance, ready for whatever was going to come at him.
He didn’t have to wait long before a dark blur raced out of the tunnel. He was quick to step to the side, turning a devastating thrust that would have gutted him on the spot into a glancing blow across his armour. Keeping an eye on that shape as it stilled, revealing itself to be a commando droid, Tech couldn’t hold back the startled yelp when another slammed bodily into him.
He hit the wall hard, helmeted head bounding off it hard enough to make his head spin and bring back his headache with a vengeance. He quickly recovered as the droid moved to strike with its own blade. Ducking low, he dove to the side, rolling into a crouch, blaster level with the droid’s head as it turned to track him.
He pulled the trigger before it could lunge again, leaving a smoking hole in its head as it collapsed to the ground. The other was already moving before he could adjust his aim. He tried diving to the side again as it approached, but was too slow. The commando caught his ankle, sending him crashing to the ground. It raised its blade to strike, but jolted, then collapsed.
Tech looked past it, frowning when he realised the blast did not come from the direction Wrecker was meant to be coming from. Instead, a much smaller figure stepped out, smoking blaster in hand, shadowed by two others. Tech slowly moved to get to his feet, keeping his hands where they could see them.
“Ah, ah.” The lead person said, causing Tech to freeze. “Stay right there. Who are you?”
“I am part of the clone commando squad sent by the Republic to locate the local rebel cell to assist in the current siege of the capital.” Tech explained evenly.
He could now see that the person speaking appeared to be a zabrak woman, though her two companions remained concealed. She tilted her head, eyeing him with a scrutinising gaze, blaster still level with him. “Don’t look much like a clone to me.”
“Ah, that is because I am part of an experimental-”
Tech was cut off by heavy footsteps rapidly approaching. Ones he would recognise anywhere. He raised his hands as the three others turned sharply at the potential threat. “Do not shoot! That is simply one of my teammates. We were caught in a cave in and separated. We were trying to find a way to regroup.”
The zabrak woman held up a hand to her companions and they stood down, though her blaster remained ready as Wrecker came bursting into the tunnel. He quickly spotted Tech on the ground. “Tech!”
“That’s far enough, big guy.” The woman announced, blocking Wrecker from passing. “You don’t look much like a clone, either.”
Tech huffed. “Well, I don’t suppose we look much like droids, either. Nor are we particularly friendly with them.” He motioned to the fallen commandos.
The woman eyed the two of them, considering the situation. Finally, she lowered her blaster. “Fine, what do you want with rebels?”
Tech relaxed a little, motioning for Wrecker to put away his blaster too. He frowned when he noticed how stiffly Wrecker moved to holster it, spotting something staining the side of his armour. He brought his attention back to the woman. “We are part of Clone Force 99. As I said, we were sent to find the local rebel cell and ask for aid in the current siege. The Republic cannot provide the necessary reinforcements required at the current time. We had heard the rebels had gone underground a few weeks ago.”
The woman nodded. “That’s all true enough. Well, mission success, soldier. I’m Sae, leader of your local rebel cell. We’ve been taking the time to regroup, and were just considering what our next move should be.”
“We would be glad to get you into contact with the Jedi General leading the siege, however we are in need of some assistance. Medical, if possible.”
Sae eyed them closely again, crossing her arms. “We’ve got some supplies. We’re running a little low, but you don’t seem too bad.” She said the last part while watching Wrecker closely. Clearly, Tech wasn’t the only one to spot something off with him.
Wrecker shifted uncomfortably. “Well, yeah, I guess I could use a little patching up, commando nicked me real good. But it’s for our squad mates, they got hurt in the cave in.”
Sae glanced between them at that, concern clear. “And you left them on their own?”
“They are perfectly capable of-”
“We’re not hiding down here for the fun of it, the Separatists have been at our heels for weeks. We may have bought ourselves time down here, but they’re very much still after us! Or did you think that cave in was our fault?”
Tech paused. He didn’t want to admit that the thought had crossed his mind, but they had also had many other things to worry about at the time. Hunter and Crosshair are elite commando troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic, they could look after themselves. But they were also hurt and alone in unknown territory.
Wrecker spoke up as those thoughts swirled in his head. “Alright, that might not have been our best call. But they’re hurt bad. If you help us get them help, we’ll get you back in the fight.”
Sae scrutinised them both for a long moment. “Alright, we’ll help you and your squad, and you’ll get us in contact with the Republic forces. We’ve been getting a little stir crazy down here.” She gave hand signals to the rebels behind her. One disappeared briefly back into the tunnel before returning. Sae nodded down the tunnel past Tech. “Lead the way.”