#Cody laughs until he realizes he is Echo's direct Commander now since Clone Force 99 is his jurisdiction

[ofskysanddragonsandstars]

As many TBB fans, we really missed out on Echo becoming a true member of Clone Force 99. Like yeah, the unresolved trauma, not to mention Fives, but we all known Echo is a little shit, and has been a little shit since his cadets days.

Let's explore this a little more.

Show me Echo finally getting to spar with someone, anyone, and just pulls a nasty move to win. You know, the kind of move that is downright dirty? We all know what i'm talking about. But show me TBB standing there in shock that this twig of a reg just took down someone twice his weight. He does not yet have all his muscle mass back yet! This was supposed to be a warm up for Echo. A way to build up his strength. Instead they get reminded that Echo is an ARC trooper and he has been through a lot.

Show me Echo trying to stop a cafeteria fight by reciting the reg manuals, saying "per regulation, fighting is not allowed in the cafeteria, and if you would have taken the time to read the reg manuals, you would have known that. Can you even read?" and Hunter furiously trying to deescalate the situation and failing. Echo gets sucker punched but the other clone does not get off as easily. Apparently he had to spend the night in the med bay. Echo only feels a little bit guilty.

Show me Echo matching Crosshair's snarkiness with his own. Remember "Bravo for Bravo Squad"? But instead of being angry with each other, it starts a beautiful friendship between the ARC and Snark troopers. The rest of TBB don't get how there friendship works and just have to roll with it.

But overall, let's not forget that ARC training happens on Kamino. Show me Echo being called up by the ARC trainer for demonstration purposes. Afterall, it's not everyday a war hero gets to help train new ARCs (except for Alpha-17, perhaps). Show me a bunch of new ARC recruits looking in astonishment because "holy Prime, that's ARC Echo of the 501st! He withstood the worst torture imaginable! He basically made half the 501st tactics with The Captain Rex of the 501st!" only for Echo to just crush there poor little preconceptions. Because this little shit keeps it real with these recruits, explaining the reality of going on a mission with a zero success rate, of going through torture, of having to build up physical strength to the point that no cyber implants hurt anymore. Echo does not hold back and has no filter, his words are practically as blunt as the dullest blade and it can hurt just as much. But even through that, no recruit can beat him in a spar. Yet. It's become a new challenge within ARC training.

Of course, I am a sucker for Mom Echo during season 1 and 2, but let me see Echo being a little shit before that! Let me see Hunter calling Cody one night after a successful mission asking "what is up with this reg? Are all ARC troopers like this?" And since Cody has known the little shits that make up the Domino Twins he just solemnly nods his head while sniggering on the inside. He calls Rex afterwards. Rex just laughs.

[superhusbands4ever]

The Chain - Chapter 4/15

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Full Work | AO3 Link

Fandom: The Bad Batch (Star Wars)

Characters: Crosshair, Hunter, Howzer, Rex, Wrecker, Tech, Echo, Omega, Various Clones

Relationships: Crosshair & Howzer, Crosshair & Rex, Crosshair & The Bad Batch, Crosshair & Omega, Hunter & Rex, Hunter & Omega

Additional Tags: Redemption, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Humor, Found Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Graphic Violence, Eventual Happy Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending

Summary: One year after the events of The Bad Batch, Crosshair struggles to reconcile his choice with the harsh truth of the world around him. He finds enlightenment in the most unlikely of places and realizes he may have made the wrong decision. But is it too late to do something about it?

Two years after the events of The Bad Batch, Rex reluctantly agrees to allow Hunter and his squad to help him rescue a man who's been captured by the Empire, an Imperial double agent who's cover has been blown. What Hunter thought to be a simple extraction ends up having far greater consequences for their squad than he could have ever anticipated.

Chapter Warnings: None

Right actions in the future are the best apologies for bad actions in the past.

Tryon Edwards

Rex never struck Hunter as the type to let his nerves get the best of him. That one attempted fist fight with Crosshair when rescuing Echo notwithstanding, Rex was always calm and level headed when they worked together in the past. Skako Minor, Anaxes, on Bracca - it was clear why Rex was the Captain of the famously wild Torrent Company and essentially the de facto commander of the infamous 501st Legion. His calm and steady presence along with his cool confidence made him exactly the kind of guy people naturally gravitated to, naturally turned to for leadership.

Which is why it was weird that Rex seemed fidgety in a way he’d never seen from the man before. Anyone who didn’t know him wouldn’t notice, but Hunter could see the way he kept fiddling with the buttons on the controls needlessly. He could hear the leather of Rex’s gloves squeak as he clenched and unclenched his hands periodically. And only Hunter would be able to hear the way Rex kept consciously making an effort to unclench his jaw and stop grinding his teeth.

After the fourth time in as many minutes that Rex flexed his fingers, Hunter finally spoke up.

“Are you alright, Captain?”

Rex glanced at Hunter, hands deliberately stilling in his lap as he sat up straighter.

“Yes,” he said. “Just restless, I suppose.”

Hunter nodded, staring out at the streaking blue and white light of hyperspace through the viewport of the freighter’s cockpit.

“This operative of yours,” Hunter said after a moment, “you two are close?”

Whatever response Hunter was expecting from the other man, it wasn’t for him to laugh. Even Rex seemed startled by the response, looking sheepishly over at the sergeant.

“Sorry,” Rex said, rubbing a hand over his head. “I just- I certainly never expected to be, but… yeah. Yeah. I suppose we are.”

“You don’t get along?”

“We didn’t at first,” Rex said, crossing his arms across his chestplate. “ Manda , I used to hate the guy. But… he’s a good man. The more I worked with him, the more I spoke with the people he helped, I realized that. He’s done a lot for our brothers.”

Hunter nodded slowly. “How did you two meet?”

“Oh, uh—“ Rex twitched again as he went to fiddle with the pilot controls. “We met back during the war.”

“You served together?”

“Ehh,” Rex hedged, “Only a couple of times towards the end.”

Hunter waited for Rex to elaborate but the other man was silent, continuing to mess with the controls. The ship was on autopilot, so he wasn’t actually doing anything. He listened as Rex’s heart rate slowly started gaining speed.

“So… who did he serve under? Maybe I’ve heard of—“

The navicomputer beeped and Rex’s shoulders slumped nearly imperceptively.

“Why don’t you go back and check on the others?” If Hunter didn’t know any better he’d say Rex sounded… relieved? “We should be arriving soon and we still need to rework the plan now that you all are here.”

Hunter frowned. Rex studiously avoided his eyes. He wasn’t ignorant to the fact that Rex was purposefully trying to get rid of him - the man was apparently as good at lying as Wrecker - but he wasn’t sure why.

Finally Hunter nodded. He tapped his bracer against Rex’s pauldron and made his way out of the cockpit.

Rex mumbled something under his breath as the doors slid shut, but the hydraulics were too loud over the man’s voice for Hunter to be able to make out what was said.

He found everyone in the hold, Tech, Wrecker, Boil, Echo, and Omega sitting around the floor in a circle, with Gregor on a bench in the corner cleaning his blaster. He walked in just as Echo laughed at whatever the reg had said.

“Still, I’m glad to see you,” Boil said as Echo’s laughter died down. “Cody mentioned that Rex had found you, but I didn’t get the chance to reach out before… well…”

Echo smiled sadly, resting his flesh hand on Boil’s shoulder.

“It was always entertaining to listen to Rex rant to Cody about all the shenanigans you and Fives got into.”

“Yeah,” Echo agreed, voice gruff. “Though from what I hear, you and Waxer certainly kept Cody on his toes.”

Boil laughed.

“True. Usually it was Waxer making the plans. I somehow always ended up getting dragged along.”

“Yeah, I know how that goes.” Echo sighed. “I’m sorry, by the way. I read about Umbara. I can’t even imagine--”

“Don’t be,” Boil sighed, rubbing at the red scar on the side of his shaved head. “It felt unbearable at the time, but… sometimes I… sometimes I’m almost relieved? Force, that sounds horrible but it’s true. Sometimes I’m relieved he was gone so he wasn’t forced to become monsters like we were. Sometimes I can’t help but wonder if they were the lucky ones.”

“You’re not a monster, Boil,” Gregor piped up from the corner. “Whatever the chip made you do wasn’t you. You had no choice.”

Boil nodded slowly, fingers lingering on his temple.

“I still did it, though.”

“I know what you mean,” Wrecker said quietly, eyes on the ground. “When my chip activated I nearly killed my squad. If Rex hadn’t been there to stop me, I would have.”

Omega scooted closer to Wrecker and grabbed his hand, leaning her head against his shoulder. He smiled down at her.

Boil looked sympathetic. “It’s a good thing Rex was there, then. Rex was the one who picked up my ship when I left Corellia. I wish I could say I was surprised to see he’d made it out, but I don’t think I was, really. Cody always believed Rex would survive all of this.”

“Did you…” Echo trailed off, rubbing his neck awkwardly. “Did you… work with Cody while--”

“No,” Boil said firmly, shaking his head. “The GAR structure reorganized surprisingly quickly after the order went out. The 212th was recalled back to Coruscant and was divided up after that. Ghost Company went to Grand Admiral Tarkin while Cody and the other Marshal Commanders were sent to work directly under Palpatine. I haven’t seen Cody since we arrived on Coruscant after Uptapau.”

They were all quiet after that, heads bowed in remembrance of both their fallen and lost brothers. Besides Omega, everyone in the ship had worked under Cody’s command at some point and respected him for the great leader and big brother to all clones that he was. To imagine the strong willed, compassionate, selfless man under the direct control of someone like Palpatine was almost too much to bear.

It was thanks to Cody that Hunter and the others had even been allowed off Kamino. He’d been able to pull rank and convince Nala Se and the other Kaminoan scientists and trainers that the Unit 99s, of which Hunter, Crosshair, Tech, and Wrecker had been the last of, could be useful in the war. If it weren’t for Cody, they would have spent the rest of their days toiling around in Tipoca City, completing test after test until they were finally deemed too “defective” and decommissioned like the others in their unit, or put on janitorial duty like 99.

“What about you guys?” Boil’s quiet voice sounded overly loud in the solemn silence of the ship's hold. “How did you survive the order? Did the Commander get you guys out too?”

“No,” Tech said, adjusting his goggles. “Our chips were never activated. They malfunctioned due to our deviant nature from the other, regular clones.”

Boil cast Wrecker a sidelong look.

“But I thought—“

“His activated later as an effect of repeated head trauma to the chip’s implantation site.”

“Well, I’m glad you guys didn’t have to experience that. Though, I imagine it must have been a very difficult situation for you surrounded by everyone else.”

“Heh, you could say that again,” Wrecker grumbled under his breath.

“We’ve essentially been on the run from the Empire for the last three years,” Echo said. “The vod’e pretty much attack us on sight.”

“You said the Commander helped you escape recently?” Omega piped up from under Wrecker’s arm.

Boil nodded slowly, gaze trained on the ground.

“I’ve only been on Yavin for about a day and a half,” Boil said. “The Commander got me out just a few days ago”

“And then he was discovered,” Tech said succinctly. Echo smacked his arm.

“Yeah,” Boil said quietly, running his hand over his hair. “Extracting me was a risk, from what Howzer said.”

“It was a different op than the usual extractions,” Gregor said from the corner. “Typically he just gave us foot soldiers that he could say were killed in action on missions. Two or three at a time, buried under flimsiwork and red tape. He’d splice the system and mark them as KIA. Apparently the Empire doesn’t care much if they lose one or two rank and file clones.”

“I was higher up in the command structure, though,” Boil added. “I was a lieutenant on Grand Admiral Tarkin’s security team. He was attending some diplomatic event in Corellia and I was assigned a protection squad. The Commander caught me as I was coming off my shift and took me to some tiny infirmary in the hotel. Stunned me and took my chip out. I barely knew what was going on when he told me that he was getting me out of the Empire and we needed to hurry.”

“A natborn Imperial officer helping clones?”

“No,” Boil shook his head, “he is a clone.”

Everyone was silent and Hunter frowned. A clone commander working from within the Empire?

Gregor paused his cleaning and looked up at the group, eyes flickering from them to Hunter, who still lingered in the doorway.

“A clone spy within the Empire?” Tech asked skeptically. “Without his chip?”

Boil nodded. “I wasn’t sure at first, either. He never took his helmet off and he didn’t sound like any clone I’d ever met. But he understood what it was like when I woke up freaking out, asking questions, getting angry. He talked me down, told me that he knew it was disorienting to wake up suddenly in control of your own body after so long but we didn’t have time for an existential crisis so I needed to get myself together.

“So what has he been doing?” Echo questioned. “Just… pretending his chip is active?”

“I guess so. Howzer confirmed it later. They’re pretty close, I guess  - I thought Howzer was going to lose it when the distress signal went off.”

“How did the Commander get his out?”

Boil shrugged. “I didn’t ask.”

The room fell silent at that.

Something about the situation prickled at the back of Hunter’s mind. Maybe it was just the similarities to their own brother. Crosshair had chosen to stay with the Empire as well, even when out from under the chip’s influence - though there was no denying that Crosshair’s motivations and this Commander’s motivations were extremely different.

Crosshair chose to stay, to leave the team, their family, behind for selfish reasons - ego and power and a place in the new galactic order. This Commander chose to stay not for himself, but to help those who couldn’t help themselves.

The knowledge burned something inside him, but Hunter buried it down.

This is who I am. .

“We all thought he was crazy when he reached out to Rex,” Gregor piped up, his blaster discarded on the bench next to him. “The whole thing was his idea. We warned him it was suicide, but he didn’t care. Rex thought he’d be dead within a month, but he’s been helping clones get out for nearly two years now. Howzer kept telling him it was time to get out before he got caught, but he wouldn’t listen. Now here we are.”

“I tried to get him to come with me. Told him if they found out what he’d done, they’d kill him.” Boil snorted. “You know what he said to me? He said ‘ stop being a noble di’kut and get in the ship before I stun you and put the chip back in. ’”

They all frowned at the threat, Gregor giggling from his place in the corner.

“I’m glad to be going back for the Commander,” Boil said. “Obviously I wish it were in better circumstances. I know it was his decision to stay behind, but it still felt wrong leaving him there, you know? Colt always said we never leave a man behind.”

“Yeah,” Echo said quietly, eyes meeting Hunter’s across the room. “I know the feeling.”

Hunter held Echo’s gaze, same as he always did when the topic came up over the last two years. And same as every other time, in the face of Echo’s admonishment, Hunter said nothing in return. There was nothing to say that hadn’t already been discussed at length.

Repeatedly.

Loudly.

Wrecker and Tech glanced at each other over Echo’s head while Omega averted her eyes to the ground.

The ship shook as it dropped out of hyperspace and Hunter took that as his que to get moving.

“Rex said we’ll be touching down soon,” he said, stepping fully into the room. “We should start getting ready.”

As the others moved over to Gregor to begin gearing up, Echo stood and held Hunter’s gaze a moment longer. Hunter shook his head and Echo sighed before moving to join the others.

He had a feeling they’d be having that discussion once again once this mission was over.

Hunter felt a hand in his and he looked down to meet Omega’s eyes. She smiled sadly at him, squeezing his hand. He squeezed back, but couldn’t quite drudge up the willpower to smile in return.

“C’mon,” he said instead, “let’s gear up.”

She nodded and walked over to the group, helping Echo loop his pack over his scomp arm. Hunter watched them all and tried not to think about the weird feeling lingering in the back of his mind.

~

“Alright,” Rex said as the ramp to the ship lowered. They’d landed in the forest, hidden at the bottom of the mountain the same as they had last time. Gregor helped Tech and Rex navigate the ship to an area below the mountain where there was a hidden entry point similar to the vents they had escaped through last time.

“Echo, Hunter, Tech, Boil, and Gregor - you’re with me. Wrecker, stay with the ship.”

“Wha- oh, come on!” Wrecker said, slipping his helmet up to stare at Rex with wide eyes. “I can help!”

“You will help,” Rex held his hands up placatingly, “we need someone to stay with the ship that can meet us at the exit. I get a feeling we’re going to need to make a quick get away.”

“Aww, why can’t Tech do it?”

“We need Tech to help Gregor and Echo hack the systems,” Rex explained calmly. “This is a stealth mission, Wrecker, and those aren’t your, uh… strong suit.”

Wrecker groaned, pulling his helmet off and slunking off to sit on a crate. Omega patted his hand.

“Sorry, Wrecker. But I just can’t take any risks with this.”

“Nah, I understand,” and to Wrecker’s credit, he did sound like he meant it.

Rex nodded and gestured for the others to follow him off the ship.

Before Omega could get far, Hunter grabbed her elbow.

“Omega.... I want you to stay on the ship with Wrecker.”

Omega frowned.

“Why? I can help!”

Hunter sighed. She stood with arms crossed as she leveled a glare at Hunter and her eyes filled with that stubborn indignation she’d been showing more and more since she’d reached her teenage years.

As she got older, every time she glared at him like that she looked more and more like--

“We’re walking straight into an Imperial base,” Hunter said, trying to keep his tone as even as possible. “You remember what happened last time.”

“It was my idea to help on this mission.”

“It was,” Hunter conceded. “Though, you didn’t exactly talk it through with us before offering.”

She had the grace to look a little chastised at that.

“This is dangerous, Omega. High level stuff, not what we usually do. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

He trailed off and the fire seemed to go out from under Omega with her disappointed sigh.

“Fine,” she said. “But I don’t like it. If you get caught again, we will be having words.”

Hunter chuckled. “Noted.”

Her eyes searched his face a moment longer before she flung her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest.

“Be careful.”

“I will,” he rested his chin on top of her curls. “I promise.”

Hunter’s commlink beeped and Rex’s voice filled the room.

“Hunter, let’s move out.”

Omega pulled back and crossed her arms as Hunter pulled on his helmet. She waved to him as he walked down the ramp, her and Wrecker both watching as the group started making their way toward the base of the mountain.

Hunter stared up at the mountain as they worked their way through the forest, his mind jumping back to the last time they had been on this planet, attempting a rescue from this exact base. Hopefully this time went better than the last. Hopefully no one was captured again. Hopefully they could get in and out without alerting anyone, though his squad was never that lucky.

Hopefully Crosshair isn’t here, Hunter thought as they climbed into the vent shaft. They hadn’t seen nor heard from Crosshair since the day they left Tipoca City. The Empire was large and the Galaxy even larger, so the chances were slim. He hoped. He really wasn’t in the mood to deal with a family reunion today.

[nimsajlove]

As a team!

This fills in what I had left out between Ahsoka and the Bad Batch in Brothers V and Freezing Cold. This takes place in the Episodes of Echo’s rescue.

Brothers-AU  Ao3

Part III (Part II in the reblog)

*~*

"All right, take a couple of men and see what you can find.", Kenobi agreed and Cody and Rex nodded before they both left the meeting hastily. There was silence for a while, then Ahsoka restlessly rubbed her palms together and took a deep breath. Master Windu stood far too close to her for her liking and seemed to be watching her with a keen eye, while Kenobi watched the battle plans tense and exchanged quiet words with Anakin. "I'll see if I can support my men.", Ahsoka muttered to Windu, bowed hastily and fled from the crushing presence of the three Jedi. With a careful look she slid through the organized chaos around her until she spotted Cody. He seemed to be holding a long-distance transmitter and exchanged a few words with the person on the other end until he saw her walking towards him and said goodbye. "General Tano, what can I do for you?", he asked and stored the transmitter again, Ahsoka shrugged a little helplessly. Now that she'd escaped the meeting, she wasn't sure what else to do to help the others. "I was hoping you had a job for me.", she explained and Cody smirked, then he shook his head. “You can't come with us. If the Separatists start another onslaught, we can certainly use every Jedi right here.” Resigned, she nodded, even if she didn't like sending the men off alone, Cody was still right. As is was so often the case. Jesse, Kix and Fives approached them, they seemed ready to move out. "Where's Rex?", Kix asked almost casually while he took off the backpack and checked its contents one last time. Ahsoka saw at first glance that her brother had once again squeezed in as much as he could carry. Her gaze wandered across the square, searching. If the three soldiers were already finished, Rex couldn't be far either! Cody hummed beside her and when she turned her gaze to him he had raised an eyebrow in disapproval. "He wanted to look for Fives.", he replied flat and Ahsoka was a bit startled, that didn't seem like her oldest brother!

After a quick look, they split up and started looking, preferably without attracting any further attention. Kix seemed to be making another detour to the mobile medistation, the others had disappeared too quickly to know where they were going. Ahsoka strolled through the camp without a fixed direction, a faint worry had spread cold in her stomach. It wasn't like Rex at all, just disappearing. She could count the moments in which something similar had happened on one hand. The thought brought back memories, she compared his disappearance with his behavior after the citadel, or after Umbara, and shook her head. No, this was different. The cold subsided a little, this wasn't as bad as it was then. She was looking over a group of shinys who were standing close together when her comlink flashed at her. She gave it a squeeze and Jesse's voice rang out: "Commander Cody found him. We'll wait for you in front of the quarters.”“ Thank you.”, she replied and made her way to the open, quieter place in front of the quarters. Kix and Jesse sat on the ramp of a container, Fives leaned next to the door and when he caught the worried look of the young woman, he shrugged helplessly. Cody she couldn't see there, he had to be inside. When he and Rex were alone in there, she didn't want to disturb. She knew how little time many brothers had to talk openly with one another. So she swung onto the ramp next to Jesse and, after a moment's hesitation, leaned her head on his shoulder. That was better, the cold went away. "How long do you think we will take?", asked Kix, buckling his backpack. Jesse shrugged and shook Ahsoka's head uncomfortably, she grumbled and slapped him on his arm and got a little laugh. That was nice, a few minutes of peace. "With them? Certainly not long.", Fives announced from the door and curiously Ahsoka lifted her head to look over at him, he smirked. If Fives could smile about it since his adventures, then she was interested! "With whom?" "Clone force 99.", Jesse answered her and she looked at him questioningly, she had never heard of these ones before. The name seemed to ring something in everyone else, even to mean something! Kix had cocked his head thoughtfully, Jesse frowned and Fives looked at the floor, he seemed to be thinking something over. Or did he mourn?

The door suddenly slid open, they all sat up hastily in shock and Ahsoka slid off the ramp a little faster than intended, she hastily bit her tongue as the pain briefly shot up her ankle. Didn‘t matter! When they joined Rex and Cody, it didn't hurt anymore. "Who is clone force 99?", she asked to Cody and clasped her hands behind her back, she felt the calluses from the lifelong swing of her lightsabers and thought in the back of her head, maybe to wear gloves after all... "A group of clones, with a couple of useful mutations. They are unstoppable“, the Commander smiled and Jesse snorted softly. "I'm not concerned about the results, it's theire approach.", he muttered and Fives made an approving sound, though he seemed far less concerned than the other ARC. Cody seemed to be about to answer and Ahsoka was curious what his opinion was on such a subject when they heard the engines of a ship. Seconds later, the elegant ship shot down through the clouds and approached too quickly. Ahsoka soberly noted that these pilots had a style similar to that of Anakin. Did they crash land that often too? "So, 99 it is? Nice one.", Rex mumbled to Cody's other side and Ahsoka got the feeling again, as if the number should mean something to her too!

"The cavalry is here!", yelled the first to leave the ship and grinned broadly at her. Ahsoka looked at him and quickly realized what Cody had been talking about. The guy was huge compared to the other clones. He was followed by three other men and she felt Jesse tense behind her. "And those are supposed to be clones?", he mumbled softly and Ahsoka glanced at him, her brother looked torn. As if he didn't quite know what to think of the newcomers. "Hey, different is not bad.", she muttered encouragingly, he shrugged his shoulders. "I just don't like the way they look at us.", he mumbled back and now, at second glance, she understood what he meant. The small group across from them let their gaze wander over them once and some of them not only seemed distant, but almost arrogant. The big man's grin had something dangerous about it, another's sharp look was condescending. Only one of them seemed closed of, but otherwise perfectly calm.

"Commander.", he greeted Cody and Ahsoka had to smile, because there was real joy on Cody's face! "Sorry for our delay, we were held up." Ahsoka saw the face of the big clone light up and had to grin, she knew such a facial expression! This was what Anakin looked like when he found a droid to repair, and here she guessed that a large enemy and a lot of explosives must have been involved. "Oh, I can imagine that.", she grinned and suddenly won the attention of the whole unit. "You can imagine a fight with Yalbecs?", asked the narrowest one, his eyes glowing attentively and although he did not look very strong, Ahsoka did know not to underestimate the wiry figure. But indeed, Yalbecs? She eyed the men and gave the picture in her head a little more color and suppressed a small snort. "Nice, bigger than an Akul, isn't it?" The men were silent, had she said something wrong? Her gaze quickly flicked over to her brothers. Jesse rolled his eyes and Fives and Rex seemed to have the same smile on display. Kix's shoulders were hunched slightly to maintain his poise. "What?" "No need to brag, General.", Cody grinned, aha! So that was what it was all about. Maybe she should have taken her old headdress with her to show off even more... "That wasn't showing off. For the Togruta the Akul- "" They probably already know, Tech.", the leader interrupted the enthusiastic chatter of his brother and he seemed to thaw when he turned to her. “I really didn't mean to show off. My respect, I'm sure an Akul you would have brought down as well.", Ahsoka explained hastily, these were clones and after years with her brothers she knew that mutual respect was essential! These men should know that she was thoroughly impressed. The man across from her nodded and before he could answer, Ahsoka felt the piercing vibration of a gunship powering up in her montrals. That was probably her sign to let the men go... The uncomfortable rumbling in her stomach, wich had started after Cody presented his idea to the other Jedi, increased and she grabbed Cody's forearm. "Come back safe! I don't know what else to tell Master Kenobi.", she tried to joke and her brothers laughed softly, Cody took her arm with a small smile and gave it a squeeze. "Don't worry, I'm sure the General would survive that too." Then he quickly turned away, even if neither his walk or his demeanor betrayed him, she could feel his grin. "That was no answer!", she yelled after them and watched as the gunship took off and disappeared. She stood there for a few seconds and listened to the fading feeling of nausea, instead a slight headache crept in and she sighed, then she turned away. Maybe it would help everyone if she took another look at the current situation...

*~*

Ahsoka felt as if someone had punched her in the face. She looked around hastily, she was still leaning against the holo table, where she had decided to take a nap after all the tension between her and the other Jedi. Someone had squeezed one of the thin, rough blankets between her head and the cold metal so that at least her lekku wouldn't get cold. She strongly suspected Anakin, or even Kenobi? But there was no one in her immediate vicinity, nothing that could wake her up so suddenly. But her hectic pulse did not calm down and she carefully checked every little bond she had built with the others. The one with her former Master was still strong and dominant, even i fit was slightly surpressed. From here she did not receive any violent unrest, it was more like radio silence... She avoided the bond to Kenobi and immediately turned to her brothers. The clones weren't force sensitive, so the connection was weaker than she'd liked it to be. And, to her great regret, this was a one-way thing...

She felt for the others and paused. Something was wrong! She just didn't know what exactly. Perhaps it was the concerned undertone in Rex's presence or the dead silence that only emanated from Kix when he was highly concentrated. Before she could ponder it any further, the holo table above her made a sharp beep. Before she recognized it as a distress signal, her body had already responded. Within a heartbeat she was back on her feet and frantically hit the acceptance button with the flat of her hand, barely registering the hasty steps behind her. When Rex began to speak, Kenobi and Anakin were already at her side. “We need immediate transport. The Commander and Kix are waiting at these coordinates.” Next to her, Kenobi took a breath a little too quickly and seemed to have to suppress a surprised coughing fit. Ahsoka didn't want to think about why. That was Cody, he wouldn‘t just get away from them like that! She was grateful that her head and body immediately acted on their own. "I'll take care of it.", she answered in a firm voice, she was a little surprised herself. Her voice not once wavered and remained firm and stern. As soon as she had interrupted the transmission at the holo table, she reached for her comlink and opened the channel of the 332nd. “I need a transport immediately from the attached coordinates. Take a medic and two more troopers with you for support.", she growled and there was silence for a few seconds, then one of her men answered. “Gut here. We start now, I have Hug, Mad and Burnes on board.", the pilot announced in a calm voice and Ahsoka answered him with a confirmatory sound, which was enough for him as an answer from the young General. Ahsoka interrupted the transmission again and swallowed, her throat tightening a little. Damn it. There was no way she could think about Cody now. Or Hardcase. Or... Oh kriff!

She felt the looks of the other Jedi at her back, as she reached for the comlink again and entered Crick's code, perhaps a little too forcefully, with poorly suppressed nervousness. "Yes Sir?", the clone reported immediately and Ahsoka made her way through the camp with long strides. Her destination? The rest of her brothers who had stayed. "Do you have time to keep me and the Dominos company?", she asked a little pressed and got a hasty another "Yes." from Crick, before she ended the connection.

She didn't get far. Halfway to the quarters, Hevy met her, he was wearing his helmet and the trembling in his shoulders alone gave him away. "Is he okay?", he asked and although his voice wasn't trembling, there was still a little panic in it. Neither of them felt like doing the Citadel again. “It's not Fives. It's Cody."

[archivistofnerddom]

Tech and Echo bond over ridiculous ideas. Just, Echo registers that Tech has a penchant for shenanigans when Rex and the Batch rescued him from Skako Minor . . . and he immediately filed that away for usage after he joined the Bad Batch full-time. Tech’s crazy ideas unleashes Echo’s inner strategic gremlin. The Batch’s plans get more involved and, quite frankly, weirder as a result.

Crosshair thinks that these plans are hilarious, though he doesn’t refrain from snarking on them. (Echo appreciates that commentary.) Wrecker has the most fun whenever they let him blow stuff up with abandon, so he openly encourages Echo (and Tech by extension) to come up with more of those plans.

Hunter realizes he’s going to get even less sleep than he did before because, well, they’ve never actually worked in such close proximity to an ARC trooper for such an extended period of time before. (Cody and Rex find it hilarious every time they connect with the Batch and Hunter just looks so done.)

As many TBB fans, we really missed out on Echo becoming a true member of Clone Force 99. Like yeah, the unresolved trauma, not to mention Fives, but we all known Echo is a little shit, and has been a little shit since his cadets days.

Let's explore this a little more.

Show me Echo finally getting to spar with someone, anyone, and just pulls a nasty move to win. You know, the kind of move that is downright dirty? We all know what i'm talking about. But show me TBB standing there in shock that this twig of a reg just took down someone twice his weight. He does not yet have all his muscle mass back yet! This was supposed to be a warm up for Echo. A way to build up his strength. Instead they get reminded that Echo is an ARC trooper and he has been through a lot.

Show me Echo trying to stop a cafeteria fight by reciting the reg manuals, saying "per regulation, fighting is not allowed in the cafeteria, and if you would have taken the time to read the reg manuals, you would have known that. Can you even read?" and Hunter furiously trying to deescalate the situation and failing. Echo gets sucker punched but the other clone does not get off as easily. Apparently he had to spend the night in the med bay. Echo only feels a little bit guilty.

Show me Echo matching Crosshair's snarkiness with his own. Remember "Bravo for Bravo Squad"? But instead of being angry with each other, it starts a beautiful friendship between the ARC and Snark troopers. The rest of TBB don't get how there friendship works and just have to roll with it.

But overall, let's not forget that ARC training happens on Kamino. Show me Echo being called up by the ARC trainer for demonstration purposes. Afterall, it's not everyday a war hero gets to help train new ARCs (except for Alpha-17, perhaps). Show me a bunch of new ARC recruits looking in astonishment because "holy Prime, that's ARC Echo of the 501st! He withstood the worst torture imaginable! He basically made half the 501st tactics with The Captain Rex of the 501st!" only for Echo to just crush there poor little preconceptions. Because this little shit keeps it real with these recruits, explaining the reality of going on a mission with a zero success rate, of going through torture, of having to build up physical strength to the point that no cyber implants hurt anymore. Echo does not hold back and has no filter, his words are practically as blunt as the dullest blade and it can hurt just as much. But even through that, no recruit can beat him in a spar. Yet. It's become a new challenge within ARC training.

Of course, I am a sucker for Mom Echo during season 1 and 2, but let me see Echo being a little shit before that! Let me see Hunter calling Cody one night after a successful mission asking "what is up with this reg? Are all ARC troopers like this?" And since Cody has known the little shits that make up the Domino Twins he just solemnly nods his head while sniggering on the inside. He calls Rex afterwards. Rex just laughs.