Febuwhump Day 11 - Tumblr Posts

Febuwhump Day 11: Time Loop

Fandom: The Bad Batch

Summary: Hunter keeps reliving the day Tech died and Omega was taken, desperately trying to stop it from happening.

    Walking up was something Hunter didn't want to do. When he awoke he would have to face the fact that Tech was dead and Omega was gone. He grabbed his blanket and pulled it closer to him. Hoping that Echo and Wrecker wouldn't notice, he pulled the thin blanket to his face and dried his tears. He didn't have the time to cry or to lie still.

    Getting up, Hunter looked around. Echo must have cleaned up. He swung his legs over the end of his bunk and stood up. Echo's bed had been made and so had Wrecker's, even though he never made it. Tech's bed had also been made. Resting a hand on the medal of his bunk, Hi ter thought that Echo must have made his as well.

    Then he heard it, Tech talking to Echo. Hunter stepped back. That wasn't possible. Had it all been a dream? The pain felt so real.

    Omega walked up to Hunter. "You looked tired so we got you go lay down. How are you feeling?" He didn't say anything. Instead he picked

    But things started to fall into place for those hellish days to happen. When Hunter realized they were going to Eriadu his heart sank. But that couldn't be right. That horrible day had been a dream, right?

    A few hours later Tech was hanging off the side of the rail car. "When have we ever followed orders?" He had sighed before shooting the only piece of metal that connected the cars.

    This time, instead of silents, Hunter called out for him. Almost immediately afterwards, he grabbed a hold of Omega, pulling her close to try to protect her.

    But they still ended up on Ord Mantell. Hunter was the one who required AZ to heal him. He was unconscious, making him unable to tell them about Cid's betrayal. It felt he was defenseless this time. As she was taken away, he still tried to follow her. It didn't matter, she was still gone.

    Then he woke up. Again.

    This time he would do it right. That's what Hunter had told himself at least. Trying to find a way to convince Saw Gerrera and his extremist to stop their attack, to wait just long enough for them to leave. But that didn't work.

    "Tech, we will find another way!" Hunter yelled as he claimed to the top of the rail car.

    "There is no other way, Hunter." Tech continued to follow what seemed to be his destiny.

    "When have we ever followed orders?" Again he shot the metal that connected the two cars. Again Hunter grabbed Omega. He moved to a different place in the car.

    Then he woke up on the Marauder. "Hunter, how are you feeling?" Echo asked.

    "I'm fine. Where's-" Hunter tried to sit up but couldn't. It hurt too much to move. "Where's Omega?"

    Wrecker walked into the room. He looked worried.

    "Hemlock has her." The man said.

    Then he woke up. Hunter didn't move. Maybe if he didn't move, nothing would happen.

    This time, Hunter killed Gerrera. Tech was stunned by his action but didn't say a word about it. However, the explosives still went off. Tech still went to the top of the rail car and he still called plan 99.

    "When have we ever followed orders?" Hunter mouthed along with the words. He knew them all too well. It had been three times he had gone through this after all.

    There had to be a way to stop this. Why else would he be stuck in a time lop like this? Was this a punishment for something he had done, for not saving them?

    Shoving Omega to Wrecker, Hunter turned around. As the rail car hit the wall, Hunter fell unconscious. Unlike every other time, he woke back up on the Marauder at the beginning of the day.

    "Oh" he whispered as he sat up. The man hadn't survived the crash. Hunter looked around. First he went to find the others. Grabbing Omega, he ok pulled her into a hug.

    "Hey Hunter!" She said, excited for the random hug. It didn't happen often. "Are you okay?" Her joy faded in to concern.

    "I'm okay." The man put down his daughter. "We'll be okay" he whispered.

    "I know. I trust you."

    Tears threatened to fall from his eyes. Hunter just smiled, "thank you." The girl didn't know know what he did. Hopefully she would never know that he knew.

    It didn't matter what happened, nothing changed. "There is no time Wrecker" Not again. "Plan 99." Hunter started to tear up. He couldn't do this. The conversation was engraved in the clones head.

    "Don't you do it Tech" Wrecker yelled. Hunter felt his mouth move to say something more.

    "When have we ever followed orders?"

    The rail car fell and Omega pulled in Hunter's arms, "go back, go back!"

    The car crashed and Hunter grabbed Omega quickly. They still had to go to Ord Mantell, that stayed the same. Then she was fine, again.

    Days went by, at least to Hunter. Over and over he watched as Tech sacrificed himself for his family. Then he would watch as Omega was taken from them. He was done.

    "Wrecker, stay here." This was new. This was a plan he hadn't tried yet.

    "What?! Why?" Wrecker droned.

    "In case we need a pickup."

    "Why me?" He winded

    "You are the most likely to get us caught." Tech said as he walked.

     "Okay." Sulking, Wrecker walked back in the ship.

     As the mission went forward, Hunter grew nauseous. What if this didn't work? He would just have to find out.

    When they boarded the rail car, everything seemed to be going as it had before. But this time, Hunter had already contacted their get-away driver. 

    There he was. Tech had gone to restore power to the rail car. Like every other time, he hung from the bottom of the car. "Echo, get Omega on the Marauder!" Hunter demanded.

    Wrecker kept the ship steady as the two made their way on board. Hunter had his gun ready. With the two left in the car, Echo ran to man the guns. He started shooting down the empire's air support.

    As the rail car creaked closer to falling, Hunter jumped on board. The car began to fall, Tech still dangling from below. The Sargent grabbed his gun and shot his brother with his safety line. He didn't expect the scream that would come from the end of the line clamping onto his brother's left arm and shoulder.

    Pulling him up seemed to hurt more. Tech's shoulder was bleeding. It looked painful, the way the clamp dug into his skin. But either way, he was alive. That's all that mattered now.

    Calling for one of his brothers, Hunter pulled Tech aboard. "You're gonna be okay Tech. We've got you."

    "Thank you" Tech said shakily. "I- I can't move my arm right now."

    "I know. We'll get you taken care of."

    "We'll head to Ord Mantell for AZ. He can-" Omega started.

    "No" Hunter interrupted. "There are doctors on Pabu. Someone there can help him. I-" he sighed, "don't trust Cid."

    "We can't just leave Az" the girl protested.

    "We won't. But right now we just need to take care of Tech. We can't do that if something happens on Ord Mantell." Omega looks like she wanted to say more but walked away to get Tech's bunk ready.

    While Tech's recovery would be difficult, it was better than him becoming a memory. Maybe that was a little selfish. Maybe his arm wouldn't heal but he was alive. That was enough

    After twelve attempts, everyone was alive. Tech was in a large amount of pain but he wasn't alone and dead at the bottom of the ravine. Omega may be mad at him but she wasn't taken by the empire. Hunter could fix that when he later sent Phee to pay their debts and to return Az.

    It was over. The painful two weeks were over.