The Bodyguard | The Bad Batch

I stand in line with ten other girls standing in attention. When an rough voice calls my name;

"Cassalyn Reves." I step out of line making my way to the voice, a tall muscled man in all black looks down at me, a look of concern flashes on his face, then it's gone, replaced by a blank face. He motions for me to follow him, I hesitate and look back at the line of girls, their faces emotionless, I turn and follow him down a hallway I have walked thousands of times before, the dark wood makes the hallway seem smaller then it is making feel like the walls are pressing down on me. We turn left down another hallway, here the dark wood is covered with pictures. Fake. This is not a home, it never has been. The pictures show young girls and boys together smiling, happy, but if you look closely enough you see the fear in their eyes. The man suddenly stops, making almost run into him, but him stopping means one thing, we have arrived.

He steps to the side and I walk forward, I take a deep breath and twist the old brass knob.

"Cassalyn, my dear, sit down." An old woman says with a voice that's not welcoming at all. Her hair is pulled back into a flawless bun, she wears a dress that's almost the colour of blood, and a smile that's so fake it makes me sick. I look at her and her eyes show grief. Strange.

I look around no one else seems to be in her office, which means I'm here to face something, most likely punishment. I move forward and sit down in the uncomfortable dark wood chairs that sit in front of a huge deep rich brown desk.

"Do you know why you are here? she asks

"No, Madame." I say looking down at my feet, like I have been taught to. I hear her stand up and move towards the giant fireplace that covers the right side of the room. She sighs and starts to speak,

"Cassalyn, I have some terrible news." She turns to face me. I feel my heart drop down in my chest and a twisted feeling in my gut. No, no, no.

"Your brother... he... never returned back here." She says with sadness in her voice which I know is faked. I feel tears form in my eyes but I blink away not wanting her to see me more broken than she already has.

"Is... he" I start but can't bring myself to finish.

"Dead. Yes he's dead my dear, I am so sorry." She says, no empathy in her tone at all.

"They found his body yesterday in the forest." No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

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I wake up drenched in sweat with tears pouring down my face, I sit up in bed feeling around to find the light on the table beside my bed. I finally turn the light on and try to calm down.

It was a dream, I remind myself.

I gulp down air, in an effort to calm myself down. It doesn't work, I sigh and rub my head, taking in my small bedroom, my bed takes up most of the space, a small armour stands to the left beside it is a small desk and chair. I slowly get up out of my bed, which is drenched in sweat, and pad my way over to the bathroom. For living on a ship my bathroom is big, complete with a toilet and shower. I flick on the light and see my sad looking face looking back at me, my golden brown hair messy, my teal eyes tired, and my stark white scar running down my left cheek bone. I turn on the sink and splash my face with cold water, letting myself be reminded of where I am. I dry my face and head back to my room and see my clock staring back at me.

Great I'm up before the sun again, I sigh walking over to the door knowing I will not be falling back asleep. The door slides open with a swish and I step out into the pitch black hull of my ship, I blink letting my eyes adjust to the little lighting. An annoyed beep comes from the corner, drawing my attention, R7, my spunky astromech.

"Good morning to you too, R7." I grumble to my smart mouth droid

The black and navy blue droid rolls out of the corner over to me and runs over my toes.

"Ow" I hiss

R7 beeps his triumph, in seeing my pain, I lightly kick the sassy droid in the wheels and snap

"What did I say about running my toes over"

He beeps angrily and I laugh a little, I walk off over to the cockpit and flick on the main lights of the ship. I sit down in one of my comfy pilot chairs and look over my dashboard to make sure everything is in check. Something in the corner of my eye draws my gaze. A red light flickers on the dashboard, which catches my attention. I press the button and a hologram appears before me. The blue hologram shows a tall woman with long limbs and neck, a Kaminoan I realise. I hear R7 roll in when it starts to play.

"I hope the message reaches you in time, for I fear I don't have much time. I am Nala Se, a head scientist at the clone labs on Kamino. I need to hire you for a very important job, which I can pay you handsomely for..."

After the message plays R7 beeps as if he's shocked. I nod in agreement after hearing what the Kaminoan had to say. Then I whistle remembering the amount of credits the woman offered.

"Ready for our next mission R7?" I ask playfully, while nudging R7 with my knee.