6 Only the Beginning

It was a day after the incident with the stormtroopers, and Patriot was walking down the streets of the town. It had been years since he last saw or heard from the Jedi and his youngling, but he was sure they were doing ok; they were Jedi after all. He had also discovered the chip in his head that was trying to force him to kill the Jedi that day, which he promptly had removed so something like that would never happen again.

It was amazing how fast word could get around about incidents like that of yesterday. As Patriot looked, he saw the townspeople noticing him and whispering among themselves, as if they knew what he did yesterday. Patriot pulled his hood tighter over his head: rumor spreading like this tend to get unwanted attention really fast, which was something he couldn't afford. Ducking into an alley, he noticed he was not the only one there; a man in brown hair and a tall purple alien Patriot quickly identified as a Lasat were talking amongst each other. Patriot ducked behind a stack of crates before they noticed him, and then proceeded to listen in on their conversation.

"A special squad of stormtroopers?" the Lasat asked.

"At least that's what Fulcrum says according to Hera." The man replied.

"Ha, they must be really desperate to get rid of us now."

"Probably, we should get back to the Ghost. The others are gonna want to know more about this."

I'm gonna need to more about this too, Patriot thought to himself. Once he was sure the two were out of sight, he turned and followed them, making sure to keep at a distance so as to not be noticed. After a few hours, the two reached a white Corellian model freighter. It was hexagonal in shape, which made it a bit strange to look at. As Patriot watched, the two opened a ramp and went inside, quickly Patriot ran and followed them in just as the ramp began to close. The storage room he had entered was empty, but he could hear multiple voices from another room. Turning on his helmet's listening gear, he climbed up the ladder to the higher ledge and quietly moved farther down the hall towards the sound. Ducking next to a hall entrance, he began to listen in to the conversation.

"So, wait, how are these guys different from all the other stormtroopers we've faced?" asked an older boy.

"They serve under one of the Empire's highest leaders." Replied a woman's voice, "According to Fulcrum, these are some of the most elite troopers the Empire has. They're called Squad 99, or better known as SCAR Squadron. They land here in Lothal tonight."

Patriot's heart froze. 'Squad 99? No, it couldn't be,' he thought to himself. He continued listening.

"This isn't going to be another situation we can just blast our way out of." The woman continued.

"So, what DO we do?" said a younger girl, probably a teenager.

"I'm not sure yet." Then the voice was silent for a few moments, then, "Kanan, what is it?"

"We're not alone." Replied the man from earlier.

'Oh crap! How'd he know I was here!' Patriot thought, 'I gotta get out of here'. He turned to run just as a small orange droid zoomed into the hallway, once it saw Patriot, it let out a series of odd whirring noises, signaling the others. The first to appear was a young teenage boy in and orange outfit.

"Hey! How'd you get in here?" he yelled at Patriot.

Patriot help up is hands: "I don't want any trouble."

"Says the guy who snuck onto my ship." Said the woman, revealing herself to be a green Twi'lek. She was aiming a small pistol at Patriot.

"Please, just hear me out." Patriot continued, "I may know more about this SCAR squadron."

"Is that so? How'd you find us?"

"I followed them," he replied, pointing to the man and the Lasat behind them. The woman turned to them and glared at the man: "Kanan, you didn't know he was following?"

Kanan held up his hand apologetically: "Well, I wasn't exactly paying attention to see if anyone was following us. Why would they?"

Then the Lasat turned to Patriot: "Yeah, why were you following us, anyways?"

"I had overheard a small bit of your conversation in the alleyway and wanted to know more." Patriot replied, "I may or may not have beaten up a few troopers at a fruit stand yesterday."

The boy perked up: "Wait, that was you?!"

"Ezra, you know about this?" Kanan asked.

"Yeah, it's been, like, the talk of the town recently. Apparently, some guy in armor saved one of the vendors from a group of stormtroopers."

"Yeah, I heard about something like that too," said a girl in purple Mandalorian armor, "I say we should trust him."

"I agree with Sabine," the Lasat said, "Anyone who takes down a whole squad of bucketheads singlehandedly has my trust."

"Kanan, what about you?" the Twi'lek asked.

"I don't know Hera; it could be a trick. He's a clone, and you know what they did." Kanan replied.

"I know what you're talking about." Patriot spoke up, "What happened then haunts me even today."

"How so?" Hera asked.

"I saved a Jedi and his youngling, "Patriot replied, "But in doing so I turned on the only ones I called brothers. I even killed a few of them."

Kanan sensed he was telling the truth; he could feel Patriot's pain remembering the incident.

"Ok, I'll trust you this one time. What's your name?"

Patriot removed his hood, exposing his helmet: "My name is Patriot. A former member of the special clone unit 99, also called the Bad Batch."

"99?" Sabine said, "Just like the stormtrooper squad that's coming here."

"And that's what worries me. I fear this SCAR squadron may be the same troopers I used to work with. Luckily for you, I don't work with them anymore, and I know how to fight them."

"That's good enough for me." Ezra said, "What do you know."

A few minutes later, Patriot and the rest of the Ghost crew was sitting around the table in the meeting room as Patriot explained the ins and outs of each team member. Once that was done, the crew was able to strategize their moves on the SCAR squadron. Though Patriot added one last thing.

"I want to face them." He said, "Alone."

"What makes you sure they won't kill you on sight?" Hera asked.

"I know how to talk to them," Patriot replied, "I can keep them distracted long enough for you to make your moves."

Hera sighed: "I don't like it, but I guess we don't have many options. Do what you can."

Patriot nodded, then asked: "So, I noticed a lot of artwork on the way in here, who is that?"

Sabine raised her hand: "Guilty."

"Do you happen to have any dark grey by any chance?"

…

A few moments later, the crew was waiting outside of the ship as the sun was setting. Then, they turned to look as Patriot and Sabine walked out of the ship, Patriot's armor now painted in the dark grey with red markings of the Bad Batch.

"Everyone ready?" Patriot asked. The crew members nodded. Hera looked around: "As ready as we'll ever be, I guess." She answered.

"Good. Alright then," Patriot unholstered and cocked his rifle: "Let's go get these bucketheads."

Nightfall came as an Imperial shuttle landed in one of the ports. Governor Maketh Tua waited at the exit with Agent Kallus by her side. Just then, the door opened as the SCAR squadron walked out. The leader walked in front, an orange pauldron decorating his armor. The trooper on his left wore a hood and carried a sniper rifle, while the one on his right had a glowing blue visor. The trooper behind them was larger than the rest and far more muscular.

"SCAR squadron?" Tua said, "This is quite a surprise."

"Save it," snapped the leader, "We're here on business."

"Alright then," Kallus spoke up, "What brings Lord Vader's personal squad to Lothal? I assure you these rebels we have been dealing with are not worth your attention."

"You're right; they're not." Replied the leader, "We're here for someone else. Tech, show them."

The blue visored trooper stepped forward and shows a hologram recording of the Patriot's brawl at the fruit stand from yesterday.

"This one is important to us. We came to deal with him." The leader continued.

Governor Tua sighed: "I've never seen that one until yesterday, so I'll leave this one to you. Search the city as you see fit. I'll alert you if I get word of anything."

"I'll go with them to help." Said Agent Kallus, stepping forward, only to get shoved back by the SCAR leader.

"No, we can handle this one ourselves. Let's go, men!" and with that the leader led the other SCAR members down the road.

"I fell this is going to get messy, should we deploy some more troopers to assist just in case?" Tua said to Kallus.

Kallus shook his head: "The last thing we want to do is to cause more trouble then I think they already will. I suggest we hold back for now until something actually happens."

…

Meanwhile, the SCAR squad was casually walking down the road, looking around for their target. Tech held a scanning device that he held in front of the different houses, each reading coming back negative, which indicated their target was not hiding there.

"Are you sure that it was him, Hunter?" the hooded trooper asked, "A lot of clones were discharged after the war and they went all kinds of places."

"You saw that footage, Crosshairs." Hunter replied, "Only one clone we know fights like that. I know because we taught him those moves."

"If it's him, then there's no point in finding him. Odds are, he already knows we're here and he's goodness knows where." Tech said.

"I may be closer than you think." Came a voice from behind them. The four troopers spun around to face Patriot in his newly colored armor, his rifle aimed at the four of them.

"I was hoping to see you guys again, but I never wanted it to be like this."

Tech raised his hands: "Listen, we just want to talk."

"Don't give me that crap!" Patriot snapped, "Every stormtrooper I've encountered has never wanted to just talk. Why are you any different?"

"Because we are not ordinary stormtroopers, we're still us."

"Why are you looking for me?"

"Because we want you back," Hunter said, stepping forward, "You obviously still have the skill in you, and we still have a vacant spot in our squad, if you're willing."

Patriot thought for a bit; finally, he could be reunited with the ones he truly called brothers. It was a pretty appealing thought, but then he thought back to what he saw the stormtroopers and officers do to the people here: harassing them, stealing their land and imprisoning them if they protested. He came to the conclusion that he wanted no part of it.

"I'm sorry," he finally replied, "But after the things I've seen the Empire do here, I can't join them. It isn't what I signed up for."

"Don't be a fool, Patriot," Hunter said, "Times have changed, you need to figure out where your loyalties truly lie, with your team, or these people who speak out against us."

"My loyalty was to the Republic…"

"The Republic is gone!"

"…and it also was to what is truly good in this galaxy. I've come to see the Empire as something that opposes that good as well as anyone who resists it. These people are being oppressed by you and these buckethead stormtroopers, and I cannot let that continue anymore. So no, I will not join your team again. Hell, you're not even the team I remember anymore."

"Of course, we are." Hunter continued.

Tech noticed something on his scanner: "Uhhh, commander…?" he started to say.

But Patriot wasn't quite finished: "No. My team defended people when they were oppressed by the Separatists; they would never harm innocent people themselves. I don't join tyrants."

"Then, I'm sorry old friend." Hunter said as he and the SCAR squadron raised their blasters.

"Yeah, I'm sorry too." Patriot said, then, holding up a comlink, he shouted, "NOW!"

Suddenly, the ground around the SCAR squad, which had been carefully well painted by Sabine, exploded, sending the four troopers flying in different directions. Patriot charged at Hunter, ready to go into melee combat. As he looked, the other members were getting up, only to be attacked from behind by the Ghost crew. Wrecker and Zeb were currently locked in a wrestling match, Tech was sparring with Sabine, and Crosshairs was busy fending off Ezra and Kanan. Hera and Chopper were nowhere to be seen.

Hunter recovered fast enough to intercept Patriot and the two locked in a brutal fistfight. Each one throwing a series of jabs and blows, while intercepting that of his opponent's with varying degrees of success.

"It's no use, Patriot. I trained you to use every single one of those moves." Hunter said.

"Maybe so," Patriot replied, "But did you teach this?" Before Hunter could react, Patriot kicked Hunter's legs out from under him, then proceeded to drive both of his fists into Hunter's chest, driving Hunter into the ground. Pinning Hunter with his knee, Patriot whipped out his vibroknife and help to his throat.

"It's over, Hunter. You lost this time." He said.

Hunter looked up; the rest of his team was already dealt with. Tech was knocked out and in cuffs with Sabine standing triumphantly over him. Crosshair was disarmed and pined to the wall by Kanan's lightsaber. Finally, Wrecker was the most recent to be defeated, as Hunter watches him fall unconscious by a blow from Zeb's bo-staff. He turned his head to Patriot.

"Then it's over for both of us." He said. Suddenly, Patriot felt a sharp pain in his side as a shot from Hunter's concealed pistol shoots into his side. He collapses to the ground, clutching his side as Hunter stands up, his pistol aimed at Patriot's head.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this." Hunter said, "Goodbye, old friend."

Just then, Hunter's pistol flies out of his hand. Hunter whips around, surprised and caught off guard long enough for Patriot to raise his own pistol and fire into Hunter's torso. Hunter collapses to the ground in pain as Zeb walks up and stuns him with his bo-staff. Ezra runs up to Patriot.

"Are you ok?" he asks.

Patriot manages to stand up: "Yeah. It's nothing that I haven't taken before." He replied.

"So, what do we do with these guys?" Sabine asks, gesturing to the four unconscious stormtroopers.

Patriot thought for a moment, then got an idea: "I know something we can do," he said, "something that might get a message out for me."

A few hours later, a squad of stormtroopers, led by Agent Kallus ran to the scene of the fight, only to find the four SCAR squadron members tied up together and in cuffs. On Hunter's chest was note bearing the Rebel starbird, courtesy of Sabine, that read the words: You're next, Sidious.

…

Back at the Ghost, Hera was busy patching up Patriot's side wound. The other crew members were sitting nearby, recovering from their own. Zeb even had a few nasty bruises.

"I gotta admit," Hera said, "I wasn't fully sure about your plan. But you actually pulled it off, and you got my team out alive too. You officially have my trust."

"Thanks." Patriot replied. Hera sensed something about the way Patriot said it though.

"What's bothering you?" she asked, "You beat them. You won. You should be somewhat happy."

"Oh, I'm happy to stick it to the Empire any day." Patriot said, "It's just that…they were my closest friends back in the Clone Wars; almost like brothers, in fact. It pains me to lose them like this."

Sabine chuckled: "I know what that feels like."

"You do?" Patriot asked.

"Oh yeah. Back when I lived on Mandalore I had a really close friend. We did almost everything together. It was really great."

"What happened?"

Sabine seemed to deflate entirely: "It's not something I like to talk about."

"I don't like talking about certain things either, yet sometimes we have to in order for others to truly help us."

"He's right, Sabine." Hera said. Sabine sighed, but then continued to speak: "It was a few days before I went to the Imperial Academy. We were on a raiding mission at an imperial facility together. When we realized that we would be caught by the stormtroopers before we got out, he went to go distract them. We made it out successfully; he didn't."

"I'm sorry," Patriot said; she really did know what it was like to lose someone close.

"Wait, if you raided an Imperial facility, then how did you end up at the Academy?" Kanan asked.

"They attacked my home a few days later. Those of us who were captured were forced to go to the Academy."

Patriot though about what she said, remembered his own experiences with the Empire, then continued: "I guess, that's why I'm still fighting even after the Clone Wars. There is always some other form of evil that destroys everything and everyone we care about. Someone's got to be there to fight them."

"You know, we think that same thing. It's why we fight." Hera spoke up, "And not just us either. There's an Alliance being formed against the Empire by multiple groups of people who think the same way you do. In fact, they could use someone like you to help them."

Patriot though about that for a bit: an entire rebel alliance resisting the Empire. So, he wasn't alone in what he thought about the Empire after all; the group he just fought with alone proved that. He decided that, at least for now, this Rebel Alliance would be the ones he would be willing to join.

"Where do I sign up?" he asked.

…

Later, Hera brought up Patriot and his exploits on Lothal to Commander Sato, and Patriot was accepted into Phoenix Squadron as the leader of an elite unit of shock troopers. He taught the team everything he knew in terms of blaster and melee combat. Under Patriot's leadership, Reaper squadron would lead multiple successful campaigns against the Empire. During one of these deployments, they were sent back to Lothal with the promise that they would have backup. They had been waiting almost a day in their camp on the far outskirts of one of the cities, but with no sight of anyone. That evening, the lookout at their camp called in an incoming ship. Patriot and a few other members ran out to see as a large, silver ship with more guns than anyone had ever seen on any modified ship before, flew in and landed near the camp.

As Patriot watched through his macrobinoculars. The exit ramp in the back opened as the most diverse group of people and droids he had ever seen came out to meet the Reaper squad: an orange Togruta in a mechanic's uniform, a Dathomiran Nightsister with her white hair in a braid going over her shoulder, an IG unit, a commando droid(which Patriot though he would never see again), a young man in black armor, and another young man whose face was shrouded by a hood from his cloak. The team was led by a Mandalorian in dark grey armor with the Mando symbol painted in red on his breastplate.

Patriot announced to his team, "Looks like the calvary has finally arrived, boys."