#Imperial Science Division

[calebjorgens2024]

when I fell asleep at 3:00 in the afternoon and awoke at 8:00, I dreamt that Scorch is actually a deep-cover agent for Rex. And being a trained clone commando, he hides his intentions very very well. What I can recall is that Scorch has hidden guilt about taking Omega away but he had no choice but to do his duty and that he was secretly glad she and Crosshair had escaped Weyland and Mount Tantiss. What I can recall is that, as Omega escaped; Scorch would mutter to himself “stay safe sister. Run away and never look back. It’s a dangerous galaxy out there.”

this could be the start of an idea of mine of which Scorch plays his role as a seemingly subservient clone commando very well!

[calebjorgens2024]

This has promptly started me on further continuing on my own Imperial!Tech AU on top of already having an idea where Royce Hemlock coerces Tech to work for the Empire’s Advanced Science Division. To Hemlock in that idea, turning Tech into an assassin would be a waste, as his enhanced intellect is more important; as a result. Tech would be an unwilling Imperial Scientist up until to the time of the Return of the Jedi; This idea would be loaded with tragic angst regarding Tech encountering this fateful position! And so with that idea, Tech becomes an unwilling Scientist for the empire without the need of a chip and is always on guard as to not let any higher ranked imperial know what he plans to do.

Imperial Tech

[starqueensthings]

We need to talk about Echo (and by talk I mean screm). S3 E13 + 14 Spoilers!

FRIENDS, I'M GOING TO EXPLODE. I need to talk about Echo for a minute. We need to talk about Echo for a minute,  because he has spent the last two episodes in the absolute thralls of complete and total danger, and I personally don't feel like there's been enough of a celebratory uproar for me to be satisfied with the level of appreciation and love that man deserves. (Remember when Hunter ran face first into a colossal exhaust pipe and we all collectively lost our minds because it was so impressive and so sexy? Remember when Tech drove a speeder really fast through a tunnel and we all fainted? I'M A TECH GIRLY. IT WAS ME! I FAINTED!!) but, Y'ALL, Echo deserves that right now!! And for all eternity!!! Because he is wholly submurged in the harrowing potential of torture and execution, and he didn't even bat an eye to put himself there. My awe of him is all-consuming, so please forgive me if this rant reads as nothing but incoherent screaming. 

Echo haters (first of all, we can't be friends....) come on this journey with me! Let's back pedal to the beginning of the last episode (13). He stole an imperial shuttle. Let me repeat, he stole an imperial shuttle. And not just an attack shuttle. Not just a lil one-pilot transport. Bro somehow stole a Rho-class medical transport, which is very large, obscenely conspicuous, and very easily tracked. And, to use his own words, it was "the best he could do on short notice." The man stole a shuttle on short notice. ON SHORT NOTICE? HELLO, HOW DID HE DO THAT. WHY AIN'T WE LOSING OUR COOL ABOUT IT. 

Next stop on this I-love-Echo journey through my mind: not only did he provide his brothers transportation in the complete void of their own (RIP havoc bb), but he also came equipped with intel and clearance codes, and, as Rampart stated, those things change DAILY. Echo somehow procured top secret imperial clearance codes, and a fkn SHIP, within hours of the Batch requesting his help. Not to mention, the ship had yet to be reported missing (which means it was only-freshly commandeered), and the clearance codes worked. Of course they did. Echo never fails. Never doubt Echo. "Echo's on it."  

Choochoo, next stop! Once they arrived on that station orbiting Coruscant, and made their way to the control room (lookin sexy as heck in his armour-au-noir), he broke imperial encryption, hacked into the Imperial database, almost instantly found them the location of a ship departing for the prison that holds their daughter Tantiss, AND THEN DIDN'T EVEN HESITATE TO CLIMB ABOARD AND STOW AWAY.  

He didn't even remotely have a plan, or have time to make a plan. He didn't know who or what else would be on board that mysterious vessel. He didn't know where it was going other than the name of the fkn mountain (which has proven to be nothing but unhelpful thus far). He just ARC-troopered his way through that crowded hangar, dodging aggressive astromech's and inconsiderate loader droids, shirking from the perspective eyes of highly trained commandos, and snuck his way onto a heavily guarded, extremely unknown science vessel. Then, of course, he wasted no time, hacking into the ships control system (may I gently remind- there were at least three pilots and an officer prepping the ship for jump and closely watching all aspects of its controls), disabling the proximity sensors without being detected, and then seamlessly covered the troopers absence by pretending to be him (which we all know is what should have happened on Serenno but... hindsight is 20/20.)  

So... SO.... now we're at Episode 14. Here we at fkn terrified station because HULLO ECHO IS ALONE ON A SCIENCE DIVISION TRANSPORT; we have literally seen them carry around Zilo beasts in that shit. What the heck else could be on there that they don't know about? Literally anything. Because THEY KNEW NOTHING before attaching themselves to it. Echo knew NOTHING before sneaking onto that thing and creepin' around. Thank heck he didnt come across a fkn fresh wave of slither vines ok?  

NEXT, Echo shoots (not stuns- lol) a sassy fkn droid (they had it coming, not sorry), then another trooper. AND THEN discovered his only option for departing the ship once it enters atmosphere is going completely undercover, because (in true "we improvise everything" CF99 fashion that gives me heart burn just thinking about it), they had zero fkn plan to get off the ship. I will repeat: completely undercover. On Tantiss. COMPLETELY UNDERCOVER ON TANTISS. NO COMMS, NO BACK UP, NO RECON, NO PLAN, BARELY ANY GEAR, and I would just like to stress... no neuro brace. He left his neurobrace on that ship. Left it. LEFT IT AND TOOK A HAND INSTEAD. PLEASE FKN SEDATE ME.  

We can't leave this station yet... This I-love-Echo train needs to linger at this point for a sec because I think it's lost on some people how wild this is. Echo without his neurobrace is huge. It's a bigger deal than Echo without his armour. Armour is, in the grand scheme of things, inconsequential (one can find more- see Howzer). Echo's neurobrace is not armour, it's a computer and it's so so so crucial to how his mind processes information and events. Don't forget, the Technounion HIJACKED HIS BRAIN. They took every memory from him and manipulated it for their gain. Pruned it, tweaked it, blanched it, poached it, turned it into scrambled eggs, and then fkn ate it up and used it to defeat their enemies (Echo's family- I'm sobbing). They implanted him with an unfathomable amount of information; they changed the way the neurons in his brain fire in relation to stimuli. That neurobrace is so so critical for him. Now, we know he can operate well enough without it, we saw it in the last episode of the TBB arc in season 7 of Clone Wars, but... please.... to what extent? We don't know what an extended time without that neurobrace looks like for him... especially when all other aspects compliing his surroundings foreign, unknown, and dangerous, and that scares me.

AND NOW HE'S ABOUT TO RUN AMOK IN TANTISS with Emerie who, (I'm sorry) is wishy-washy as heck (who are you loyal to!!!!! What is your history!!! Are you trustworthy and what are you looking to gain!!!), trying to adopt a collection of Jedi children whove spent maker-knows how long playing space tetris, WHILST ALSO ATTEMPTING TO LOCATE AND ESCAPE WITH HIS BROTHERS UNDER THE EYE OF THE GALAXY'S SECOND MOST DANGEROUS MAN. 

So yes, short of d-d-d-di... can't say it... short of THE WORST CASE, Echo has made the ultimate sacrifice to save not only Omega who is literally the only person we've seen able to make him truly laugh, but all the clone brothers that he's been desperately trying to locate and rescue. His bravery and determination are literally unrivalled, and he did it while feasting on nothing but humble pie because that man wouldn't know arrogance if it danced naked under his perfect nose.  

Okay so welcome, we've finally pulled into I-Love-Echo station. Before departing the ride, please stand and do a hip hip hurray for the miracle that is Echo, including but not limited to, everything he's done, is doing, and is willing to do for other people. 

[fatehbaz]

Chicago, Illinois is often considered to be on the periphery of the plantation. William Cronon's famous narrative of Chicago's relationships with the "Great West" positions the burgeoning city at the edge of American expansion into plantation agriculture in the Midwest and industrial farming on a national scale. [...] [W]e could also characterize the city as an anticipatory hub between the twin plantation figures of the pre-war American South and America's 20th century colonies [in Central America, the Philippines, and beyond]. During the Reconstruction years, Chicago emerged as a logistical center, channeling America's railroads and telegraph lines into itself. As parts of this communications node, Chicago newspapers and military police served to convert white anxieties about Black migration from the plantation South into new techniques and technologies of prediction that became transportable across a newly imaginable informational plane of US imperialism. [...] [I]n Chicago between 1875 and 1890, [...] white anticipations of African American migration from plantations in the South were translated into new information sciences and policing techniques that made their way to plantations in places like the Philippines. [...]

[S]uch feelings were fundamental to linking plantations which at first seem so spatially and temporally distant. [...]

---

On May 3, 1879 the Chicago Tribune published a greatly anticipated investigatory series entitled, “The Negro Exodus: Causes of the Migration from the Negro’s Point of View” [...] the latest in a long sequence of deeply uneasy reports dating from 1860. From its location at the communicative center of all major US rail and telegraph lines, the Chicago Tribune undertook an imagined responsibility to inform its Midwestern audience of Black peoples’ movements and behaviors. [...] At the climax of the “Negro’s Point of View” series, [...] May 3, the Chicago Tribune presented its showstopping report from its correspondent in Vicksburg, Mississippi entitled “Letters Written by Negroes in Kansas to their Friends South”. In this report, the writer discusses his skepticism of earlier methods of [...] interviews with Black migrants. [...] [The newspaper] conducted its fact-gathering through the mass surveillance of Black peoples' letters [...] [to assess] inner motivations [...] about Black peoples’ “perceptions, enjoyments, and reasons” [...]. Such informational appetites became the anticipatory basis for 20th century enumerative practices. As Colin Koopman argues, informational fastening, or the atomization and separation of facts from Black peoples’ bodies, became commonplace during the Great Migration in the practice of racial statistics, criminology, and health policy directed at Black migrants [...].

---

White Chicagoans’ prolonged concern over predicting Black behaviors and intentions materialized in 1877, when the city became a central hub of militarized response to a nation-wide railroad strike. Adjutant General Richard C. Drum, who commanded the Military Division of the Missouri (Western Frontier) in Chicago from 1873 to 1878, took control of Chicago’s military response to the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. In 1879, after his final year in the city, Drum moved to Washington, DC and proposed the establishment of the Military Information Division (MID) [...]. The MID, which formally established in 1885, maintained close ties to Chicago's local information collection system, adopting a Bertillon identification system of collecting and storing intelligence cards at the time that the National Association of Chiefs of Police established their central bureau of identification in Chicago in 1896 [...]. By the tun of the 20th century, Chicago's police force had expanded tenfold [...], and Drum's MID had amassed over 300,000 intelligence cards [...].

---

The affective atmosphere into which the MID intensified its own predictive techniques later traversed the Pacific Ocean into the Philippines. Alfred McCoy argues that the American introduction of communication technologies and surveillance techniques in governing the Philippines constituted the United States’ first information revolution (McCoy 2009: 18). Colonial police trained in the anxious habits of the MID, rendered the Philippines a laboratory for securitized speculation. McCoy further contends that these informational “capillaries of empire” embedded themselves into the Philippines’ plantocratic-security state as well as US domestic surveillance practices. I add to McCoy’s argument by suggesting that trained feelings of white apprehension translated into imperial mechanisms for governing the Philippines through systems of intelligence cards, telecommunications infrastructure, policing units, and management sciences. Reminiscent of the psychological investigatory projects that saturated Chicago’s public life, the MID and its successors developed techniques for psychological examination and personality typing led by another Chicagoan, Harry Hill Bandholtz. [...] Bandholtz sharpened the MID's informational sciences by training Philippines police forces in the neurotic art of collecting every imaginable fact about Filipino behaviors [...].

---

Ultimately, the US colonial plantocracy in the Philippines built its authority around information infrastructures which had been trained on apprehensive practices and feelings emanating from Chicago’s racialized geography. [...] [T]he informational networks that extended from the image of the American South, through the anticipation of Chicago's public, [...] animated the governance of colonial plantations in the Philippines [...].

---

All text above by: Jolen Martinez. "Plantation Anticipation: Apprehension in Chicago from Reconstruction America to the Plantocratic Philippines" (2024). An essay from an Intervention Symposium titled Plantation Methodologies: Questioning Scale, Space, and Subjecthood. The symposium was introduced and edited by Alyssa Paredes, Sophie Chao, and Andrés León Araya. The symposium was hosted and published by Antipode Online, part of Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography. Published online 4 January 2024, at: antipodeonline.org/2024/01/04/plantation-methodologies/ [In this post, bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Presented here for commentary, teaching, criticism purposes.]

[twinsunstars]

Behind-the-Scenes Shenanigans (Part 20) *while filming episode 3, filming the scene when Hemlock walks Palpatine back to his ship* Hemlock, reciting his lines: If I am appointed the scientific minister, I would strive to bring unleashed glory to all divisions of the Imperial science corps. *Palpatine turns to him and pauses before he says his line, stepping forward to Hemlock and starts pinching his cheek and pats his head* *Hemlock is confused but tries to stay in character (and so do the other cast around)* Palpatine *while patting Hemlock’s head*: All in due time, child. *Hemlock breaks and laughs, and Palpatine starts laughing* BONUS: *during an interview with Palpatine on that scene, mentioning how he played around with the cast on set* Palpatine: I’ve got to have fun while I can whenever I play this character. I had let Omega try on my cloak and she enjoyed pretending to be me before she accidentally tripped on it, and she loved the candy I gave her. I saw the interview where Hemlock said he was secretly terrified while filming with me, and I could notice he was when I played this prank.

bonus based on shenanigan Part 2 and interview Part 4 in this series

part of my Bad Batch Season 3 Actors/Behind The Scenes Incorrect Quotes series!

The Bad Batch Season 3 Actors/Behind the Scenes Incorrect Quotes Masterlist 🎬

[meme-force-99]

Sharing a few Imperial! Batch edits because they deserve a life outside the MemeForce Discord:

You know the drill - please feel free to use these, but reblogs also bring glory to the Imperial Science Division, Demolitions Department, Tracking Unit, Military Strategy, and Elite Squad troopers. 😉

[stars-n-spice]

Oough,, hear me out-

Bad Ending Bad Batch AU.

Bad Ending Batch? Bad² Batch? I swear I had a cooler name before but I forgot it-

Because I was thinking about like a Bad Endings AU for my ocs and then had an idea to make one for the Bad Batch as well.

Essentially,, it'd be like,, Imperial!Bad Batch - but also like,, okay hear me out:

Hunter:

Literally just Imperial!Hunter

Maybe in this AU at the end of S1 when they capture Hunter and bring him back to Kamino they mess with his chip and he becomes an operative

And oh BOY is he a very useful weapon for the Empire with his heightened senses and all of that

Echo:

In this AU Echo never made it out of the stasis chamber (oof)

Ended up stuck in there and at the end of the war, even if they didn't really need his strategies anymore, they decided to keep him

Then he becomes "The Algorithm" or something and they continue to seep information out of him that could help

Eventually they probably take him out of the chamber and use him as an operative as well since he was an ARC Trooper and therefore highly skilled

Like,, Winter Soldier-esque probably because they have to brainwash him or something since his chip probably doesn't work

Wrecker:

I mean,, we got a glimpse of what he'd be like in this AU in canon

And it's basically just that

This AU is "what if they never got Wrecker's chip out?" sort of deal

They pull a "he's too far gone" and for their safety bolt out of there, leaving Wrecker

Eventually he makes his way back to the Empire and starts to do work for them and is a fucking FORCE of nature

Like,, holy shit,,

Tech:

Return of CX-2

He'd be the last of his brothers to fall (lmao literally) into the hands of the Empire

Bad Batch Bad Ending AU is basically just,, Tech Lives AU but as CX-2

Probably gets paired with Crosshair a lot on missions and they are both forces to be reckoned with

Crosshair:

He's basically the same (as in like S1 and half of S2 Crosshair)

MAYBE there's the chance that he "gets better" but this is the Bad Endings AU so like,, psshh that doesn't happen

No they keep messing with his chip and he becomes worse

Loyal to the Empire to a fault would fucking die for them if the time came

Nothing you say or do will sway him

Omega:

Okay so like,, I'm thinking in this AU either she 1) ends up staying on Kamino and eventually starts to work in the science division of the Empire when she's a bit older (like Emerie) and then is subjected to experiments once they realize she's got a compatible M-Count

OR 2) she DOES leave with her brothers but then slowly loses them one by one to their chip/the Empire until she's all alone again and after failed attempts to save them she finds Boba instead and stays with him (and Bossk or Cad Bane or whoever) and becomes a bounty hunter like Boba

You could even have a 3rd option where you mush those two together - she escapes the Imperial facility and THEN finds Bossk and Boba or like,, idk one or the other of the first two

Might make designs for them later idk.

Feel free to add on any other ideas though!!

[madelgard]

IMPERIAL MARCH 2024

Brought to you by the Seswennan Social Club, we have a new Imperial March writing challenge for March 2024! Thanks to @zeldurz @klarionthewizard @alex-dax @pianopadawan and @shakespeareaddict for brainstorming these.

Each week of March has an Imperial-themed writing prompt, with fics (or art) due on the first Saturday of that week. Be sure to add your creations to the Imperial March 2024 collection on ao3. The prompts and due dates are:

March 2: Survey and Science - Obscure divisions of the imperial military March 9: Bugle Call - Inspired by tracks from the movie soundtracks March 16: Public Comm Line - Imperial quotes from movies, books, & comics March 23: Astronavigation - Homeworlds, Shore Leave, and Imperial Locations March 30: War Machines - Imperial ships and vehicles

All characters and ships welcome as long as the focus is on the Star Wars Imperial characters (Thrawn, Pellaeon, Veers, Motti, Jerjerrod, Piett, Needa, etc.). Good luck and happy writing!

[hugmekenobi]

S2: The Bad Batch (15)

Chapter Fifteen: The Summit

Gif by @dreamswithghosts

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Series Summary: Some time has passed since everything that happened at Kamino and you and the Batch are trying to figure out your place in the rapidly changing Imperial galaxy. And you're having to do all this whilst figuring out where your relationship with Hunter fits into it.

Chapter Summary: The mission to find Crosshair doesn't quite go to plan.

Masterlist for S1

<Previous Chapter

Genre: Friends (idiots) to Lovers (we're in the lovers stage now)

Chapter Warnings: Canon-typical violence, swearing, a single kiss, brief fluff and angst, I project my feelings (sorry, I can't help it)

Word Count: 3.4K

Author's notes: Hope you enjoy! Again, keeping it pretty chill because Ch16 is going to be quite emotionally taxing :(

“Echo and I have scoured through Imperial and Republic files, but intel about the Advanced Science Division is limited.” Tech revealed as he tapped through the information.

“Do we know where they’re detaining Crosshair and the other clones?” Hunter asked.

“Negative. Their base of operations is unknown.”

“Well, what about their chief scientist?”

“There’s even less on Dr. Hemlock, and I was very thorough. He is a ghost.”

“Not quite.” Echo interjected as he came down from the cockpit. “According to a contact of mine, Hemlock’s set to attend a high-level Imperial summit in two rotations.” He walked over to the other control panel and inputted the information.

“Where?” You queried as you all stepped across to look at the screen.

“Tarkin’s compound on Eriadu.” He pulled up an image of the location. “If we do a covert infiltration, we can plant a homing beacon on Hemlock’s ship and track him to his base.”

“And to Crosshair.” Omega added.

“Hmmm, it won’t be that simple.” Hunter disputed. “We’d be at a tactical disadvantage, and I’m not sure it’s worth the risk.”

“Hunter, I know why you’re saying that but if what I was sensing was actually Crosshair, he was in a lot of pain, and this is real. He needs us.” You said as gently as you could manage.

“I agree.” Tech concurred with you. “I understand your hesitation. We have not always agreed with Crosshair, but he is still our brother. We do not leave our own behind.”

“If there’s a chance to get him back, we have to take it.” Omega piled on.

“Definitely.” Wrecker said.

In his heart, he agreed with what you all were saying but he had the responsibility of looking at the bigger picture and what he saw worried him. “What about reinforcements?”

“Well, Rex is on a separate mission, so it’s just us.” Echo answered. “A small enough team to get in and out without alerting them. But we’ll need to move quickly.”

Hunter needed a minute to really think about this. This wasn’t a decision that he could make lightly. He walked over to the door and went outside.

“Hold on.” You said to the others before you walked out the ship and sat on the steps.

“This isn’t a good idea.” Hunter said as he paced in front of you. Every survival and leadership instinct he possessed was telling him that this was a bad idea, yet this was his brother. He couldn’t turn his back on him, not when there was a chance that he could’ve changed yet he couldn’t shake that doubt.

“I understand your reluctance, I really do, but-”

“Do you think it’s worth risking everything we’ve built here?”

“It’s not it, Hunter. It’s him. And I know if there was the smallest chance that we could get Crosshair back with us and you didn’t take it, it would haunt you.”

Hunter didn’t reply immediately but he knew you were right.

You spoke into the silence. “That being said, if you truly can’t sanction this, I will walk back in there with you and back you up.”

Hunter paused his pacing and exhaled deeply. He turned to face you. “We’re finally somewhere safe. I don’t want to lose that. But...” He swallowed thickly, “I don’t want to lose him either, not if there’s a possibility that he’s made a different choice.”

You stood and stepped towards him. You took his hands in yours “It’s just one more mission. One more and we can call it.” You whispered.

“One more.” Hunter repeated quietly. “One more to get our brother back.”

You nodded and placed a delicate kiss on his lips. “Come on.” The two of you walked back aboard the Marauder to the awaiting faces of your team.

“Let’s get started.” Hunter said and you all began to get preparation officially underway.

--

Phee watched as you and the others were getting ready to leave. “So, where you all headed?” She asked as you and Omega wandered over to her.

“It’s a covert mission.” Omega said in a hushed tone.

“Oh, I see. Well, I expect details when you get back.” Phee instructed the young girl.

“Bye, Phee.” Omega said cheerily before she ran back to the ship.

“He never said anything.” Phee mused as she looked past you over to Tech.

You followed her stare and rested a friendly hand on her shoulder. He’s the smartest yet sometimes the dumbest person I know. Just be patient with him and you’ll get there eventually.

“Yeah, I guess.” Phee acknowledged with a nod. “Be safe out there.”

See you later. You started to make your way back to the Marauder.

“Hey, wait a minute!” Phee shouted after you. “You never opened your mouth to say all this! Does this mean I’m in?”

“Call it a belated ‘thank you for bringing us here’ gift!” You called back before you hopped up the steps, but you didn’t go all the way in yet, you loitered by the doorway to wait for Tech, and you couldn’t help but be a little bit nosy as you saw Phee now making her way over to him.

Tech glanced up from his datapad and saw that Phee was heading towards him. He quickly focused his eyes back on the screen.

“So, you were just going to leave without saying goodbye.” Phee queried.

“That is correct.” Tech replied bluntly, thinking that would be sufficient but he felt Phee’s gaze become more pointed. He shifted his eyes to look at her. “Did you require a briefing?”

“You know, when two friends are talking, it’s called a conversation.” His lack of response did not surprise her. “Well, don’t go running off with any pirates or smugglers while you’re gone.”

“Yes. This mission should not involve either.”

Phee pushed the datapad down and took a step closer to him. “That’s not exactly what I was getting at.” She couldn’t help but release a soft chuckle at the clueless expression on his face. “See you around, brown eyes.” She gave him one last smile before she turned on her heels and walked away.

You noticed the way Tech watched her go and although you couldn’t see his face, you could sense the deeper feelings that were there even if he couldn’t quite acknowledge them yet. I’m sorry.

“For what?” Tech cocked his head at you as he paused at the bottom of the steps.

If Hunter and I were anything like the way you two are, I understand why you all had so many plans in place and the time you two have been around each other has been far less than what you had to put up with.

“I do not understand what-” Tech darted up the stairs.

You caught his shoulder to stop him from getting past you. “I’m also sorry because I told Hunter I’d leave you to your own devices, but I need to just offer you a little familial advice.”

“Advice?”

“With regards to you and Phee.”

“I hardly think there is a me and Phee. We-”

“I know. I’m not going to dive into all that yet. I’m only going to say when we’re back, maybe take her somewhere quiet, have a nice walk and just talk. Let yourself feel that slightly uncomfortable and awkward but at the same time content and happy feeling that comes from being around her because it could lead to something that nice that you both deserve.”

“I still do not know exactly what you’re referring to.” Tech deflected.

He could say that he all he wanted but you saw the way his eyes drifted downward as he said that. “Just feel. That’s all.” You affectionately squeezed the top of his arm before you let him go and you got the rest of your armour on as the ship powered up and left the island.

--

“I have identified a suitable location to land outside their sensor range.” Tech said as the ship got ready to exit hyperspace.

“How are we bypassing those cruisers?” You questioned as you saw the red warnings on the dash.

“Using a clearance code Rex and I acquired from one of our contacts.” Echo answered.

“Good to have you back, Echo.” Wrecker said merrily. “Just like old times.”

The ship came out of hyperspace.

“Wrecker, man the tail gun. Just in case.” Hunter directed as he saw the cruisers ahead.

“You got it.” Wrecker affirmed as he got up from his seat.

Echo transmitted the clearance codes and you all waited with bated breath.

“If this doesn’t work, be ready to fly out of here.” Hunter said as you all awaited confirmation that you were in the clear.

After a few more seconds of silence, the ship’s commlink beeped and an officer’s voice came through. “Vessel 1143, you are clear for approach.”

You made sure your armour and weapons were secure before you pulled your hood and mask up as the others put on their helmets. You were officially doing it now. You only hoped getting this intel about Crosshair would indeed be worth what was being risked.

--

“Let’s make this quick before they realise we didn’t land at the base.” Echo advised as he stepped off the ship first and the group of you got underway.

--

“What kind of approach are we making? A side-wind breach?” Omega asked inquisitively as you all stealthily made your way through the tree-covered mountain path.

“It worked on Raxus.” Tech said in reply.

“It won’t work here.” Echo corrected him. “The Empire’s protocols have changed since then.”

Wrecker let out a smug scoff. “Thanks to us.”

“No tanks and no explosions this time, Wrecker.” Echo reminded him as he walked past him.

Wrecker let out a disappointed groan. “Fine.”

Having reached the edge of the perimeter, you glanced up to see the sky rail system in place that crossed the abyss below and inwardly groaned. We were supposed to be avoiding heights.

Hunter half turned his helmet in acknowledgement before he looked through his macrobinoculars at the building on top of one of the mountain peaks. “Hmm. The compound is heavily fortified.”

“But there’s a weak point in the rail line that we can exploit.” Echo pointed out as he peered investigated the terrain through his own pair. “We’ll sneak past the sensor and hitch a ride under one of the cars.”

“You mean hang? Over that?” Omega said nervously.

You didn’t blame her attitude. This plan didn’t thrill you either.

“Well, it’s the only way to access the compound unnoticed.” Echo replied simply.

“Tech, disable the sensor.” Hunter ordered.

“That would trigger an alert. I can temporarily disrupt the feed, but I estimate only 30 seconds for us to clear the zone before it reactivates. We must be precise.”

You felt bad but you couldn’t help it, the way you all turned to glance back at Wrecker was pretty instinctual.

Wrecker protested in an affronted fashion. “What? I can handle it!”

Echo handed Tech one of the cable attachments for his blaster whilst Hunter monitored the sensor.

Hunter signalled for Tech to go and for now the only thing the rest of you could do was wait for his word.

“Stand by.” Tech advised into his comm as he got to work.

You heard the screech of metal on metal and looked ahead to see another railcar in the distance. You tapped your comm, “Another railcar is approaching. Are we set?”

“Not… yet.” Tech replied as he waited for official confirmation that the sensor had powered down. When he had that, he spoke into his comm, “The sensor is down. Move in!”

You all ran to the edge of the cliff and fired your cables to the side of the car.

You joined the others in grabbing a hold of whatever structure was available on the outside and eagerly awaited this particular part of the mission to be over.

--

“Halfway there.” Echo called back to the rest of you.

Wrecker calmly chuckled. “This isn’t so bad.” But he then made the mistake of looking down to the empty space below and groaned. “Never mind.” He started counting down the minutes.

--

When the car was arriving at the terminal, you all hopped off onto the outside platform before moved too far in.

Hunter landed a punch to the first trooper and tossed him over the rail before he pressed himself against the side of the building as you fired a shot past him that took care of the second trooper that was getting their blaster ready. He halted Omega from advancing past him as the door to the outside opened to reveal another soldier coming out. Without hesitation, he fired his own shot that sent the trooper flailing over the side and he led the way inside.

--

Your way in had brought you into the main landing bay and you took cover behind one of the many vast storage containers.

Hunter pulled out his macrobinoculars and scanned the various ships.

“Which ship is Hemlock’s?” Omega whispered.

“We need to access the hangar manifest from the control room.” Echo said.

“Echo, Tech, and (Y/N) with me.” Hunter ordered before he spoke to Wrecker and Omega. “You two, plant the homing beacon.”

You split up and got your missions jobs underway.

--

The four of you managed to make it up to the control room and stun the officers inside with little trouble.

“I’ll monitor their security channels.” Echo said whilst you and Hunter moved the unconscious bodies and Tech got to work on getting the manifest.

“Found it. Hemlock’s shuttle is at docking lane four.” Tech informed Wrecker and Omega through his comm.

“Copy that.” Came Omega’s reply.

“Hmm. Something’s not right.” Echo mused as he stared at the screen. “Many of the surveillance systems have had cycled deactivations in various corridors.”

“That is highly irregular considering the number of top-ranking Imperial officers present.” Tech agreed.

Hunter signalled to you and Tech, “The three of us will check in out and Echo, you keep an eye on things.”

The three of you drew your blasters and left the room.

--

You’d heard over the comms that Omega had successfully planted the beacon, but you were dealing with a more urgent matter. Your investigation of the cameras had led you to find a thermal explosive primed for activation.

“Someone is targeting this base.” You said warily as a bad feeling started to settle in your gut and you started to feel into the Force around you.

“One charge will not cause much damage.” Tech theorised.

You and Hunter reacted simultaneously and drew your blasters as you heard footsteps just round the corner of the corridor.

“Good thing we have more.”

You and Hunter kept your arms steady as two people disguised as Stormtroopers stepped in front of you. You were not reassured by their actions of raising their blasters in surrender.

“Didn’t expect to find you three here.”

“Saw Gerrera.” You breathed as the man removed his helmet, but you didn’t relax your stance since you knew his intentions here could not possibly fit in with yours.

“I told you on Onderon you had a choice to make. Looks like you’ve chosen. Keep an eye out.” He instructed his partner before he walked closer. “Did you make yours?” He asked you directly.

You gave a curt nod before you asked, “What exactly is your plan here?” You weren’t quite able to keep the suspicious out of your voice.

“I’m levelling this compound, along with all the Imperials inside it.”

You finally lowered your blaster and scoffed. “You can’t be serious?”

“Can’t let you do that.” Hunter added. “We’re tracking one of the officers. We need to find his base where clones are being imprisoned, including one of our own.”

“You expect me to call this off to save a few prisoners? We are trying to fight an Empire.”

You couldn’t help but take a protective step to the right as he advanced towards Hunter. You held Saw’s pointed glare and matched it.

“Have you considered that by destroying this facility you are wiping out any chance to gather intel that could help your cause?” Tech interjected logically.

“That would require the bigger picture thinking that he’s not all that great at.” You couldn’t help but snap.

Saw’s jaw clenched at your words, but he replied to the clone, “Taking out several of their commanders is a good start.”

“Well, that victory will be short-lived as their ranks will quickly be replenished.” Tech debated.

“Maybe so. But sacrifices have to be made for the greater good.”

As he spoke, you felt a hot wave of rage rise in your veins and it took a considerable moment of effort to tamper it back down. “You’d be destroying any shot we have at-”

“I would’ve thought you would understand. They murdered your people and you’re letting them get away with it. If you truly cared about what happened, you would be doing more. You survived and instead you’re playing happy families and-”

This time, it was Hunter who got protective as he saw the flash of grief and anger behind your eyes and the way Saw had started to crowd your space. “That’s enough.” He said sharply.

Saw glanced between you both with a knowing look in his eyes but before he could say anything else, his companion came back.

“We have to go now. A security team’s been alerted.”

You had to check in with yourself again. Something felt very different. You were usually far more level-headed with your emotions but if Hunter hadn’t interrupted when he had, you knew you would’ve acted in a way that you’d only done once before and had vowed to never repeat. It was like the Force was preparing you for something else, but you didn’t know what.

The doors suddenly opened behind you and a team of troopers walked through the door and it became a shootout as you all retreated to up the corridor. The exit the three of you needed was being occupied by the Imperials so you took cover to deal with them, but Gerrera and his now wounded partner were able to get clear.

Tech rolled a stun grenade down the corridor, and it took out two more troopers and you shot the other exposed soldier which gave you all the chance to advance.

As you rounded the corner, you pushed the remaining trooper’s blaster out the way and let Hunter use his body as a shield from the other soldiers lining the next corridor whilst you and Tech shot at them.

When it was finally clear, Hunter discarded the body and tapped his comm, “We’ve been compromised. Get back to the rail line.” He said urgently as the three of you sprinted down the hall.

--

Navigating the maze of corridors was hard enough but it was only made more difficult with the onslaught of Imperial fire as the many squads of Stormtroopers continued their pursuit. All the three of you could do was provide sporadic rounds of cover fire as you retreated but it wouldn’t be sustainable for long. Thankfully, the others intercepted you and so you all were able to find your way back to the railcar, but you knew the soldiers wouldn’t be far behind.

“We need an access code.” Tech said as he tried to get the car to start.

“I’ll override it.” Echo said as he plugged in.

Whilst Echo worked on that, the rest of you took aim at the troopers that were now making their way into the railcar. Unfortunately, it powered up with some Imperials in the second car, but you had the numbers, you just needed to hold out and get away from the compound.

--

Suddenly, the lights in the car flickered and you could feel the speed start to slow down.  

“We’re losing power!” Echo announced with frustration as he knew there was nothing, he could do to prevent it.

You shot the last trooper before you joined the others in

As you stared out into the clouds and saw the enemy railcar a few metres ahead with a squad to Stormtroopers already setting their sights on you, you found yourself wishing you’d shot Gerrera when you’d had the chance. He’d followed through on his plan, but the Imperials were still standing, and it was the six of you who were going to pay for it instead.

“This is going to be a problem.”

Which you knew was Tech’s way of saying you were absolutely fucked.

Next Chapter>

Tagging: @noeasyisnoisy, @fuckoffthanos, @tpwkcalli, @graciexmarvel, @arctrooper69, @nightmonkeysstuff, @brujaporfavor, @flyingkangaroo, @sunkissedclones, @ladytano420, @keep-calm-and-drink-caf, @yyourmotherr, @xxeiraxx, @dragonrider9905, @starwarsnerd111, @skellymom, @lokigirlszendaya

[calebjorgens2024]

I’ve just had a recent dream regarding Tech, he was wearing a dark grey uniform of an imperial scientist with rank bar denoting his status as Imperial Commander and Science Officer. He was calmly adjusting his glasses as he typed out scientific diagrams regarding contraptions of any kind. This only fuels my plans to expand my Imperial Tech au! Once his chip activates. He’ll be more logically harsh in addition to being practical, cold, calculated, determined, firm, stern, serious, cunning, businesslike, persuasive, brutally honest, reasonable, brutally honest.

as such. The Amaxines, The Drengir are also involved in my Imperial Tech AU as is Phee Genoa. Case Solving is also included!

Not only that, I’ve recently dreamt Tech was giving new recruits for the Imperial Science Division a tour of his massive lab on Mt. Tantiss in addition to the others on Coruscant and Ziost!

[knightprincess]

Wait (Commander Wolffe x Jedi Reader)

Warning: Angst, Mentions of Death, and PTSD. Words: 2.5k Pronouns used: She/Her - No psychically description given Period: Ranges from Clone Wars to Rebels. Mentions Order 66.

Execute Order 66. The three words that ended the war, almost annihilated the Jedi Order and spelled the true doom of the Republic. It was the order that turned millions of clones across the galaxy from free thinkers to robotic killers, human droids. The order forced the clones to turn on their friends in the Jedi and murder them under the guise they were protecting the republic, a republic that no longer existed. It was the order that sealed their fates and traumatized every clone apart of it, far more than anything than being on the front lines of the war could have thrown at them. 

For Wolffe, the worst was yet to come. He'd gotten away from the Empire after breaking free from the inhibitor chip control, he couldn't say for sure what had broken its grasp on his mind, one minute the part of himself created as part of the Sith Lord's plan was in control, he was in the back seat screaming for it to stop, fighting to stop what he was seeing. And the next he was in control, the voice repeating Good Soldiers Follow Orders had ceased, the dream-like state had faded, and the bubble had burst. Reality had hit him far worse than anything he had seen on the battlefield. 

But nothing could have prepared him for the overwhelming feelings of guilt, regret, and the crushing loss that hit him like a ton of bricks, just hours after he had settled with the relief of being free. Even now Wolffe couldn't tell you which of the three feelings was worse. The guilt was overpowering the best of time, but it was what motivated him to help the band of Rebels when they needed help taking Lothal back from Imperial control. He had to make up for his past doings, he had to make those mistakes right, no matter the cost to himself. 

The regret for the things he wished to have done differently were things that constantly plagued him, the little things he should have done differently. Like being kinder to the shinnies when they came off the line, or telling Comet well done after a difficult job being completed. The missed opportunities to tell each of his brothers how much they meant to him, especially the ones who survived the war, but suffered a far worse fate. He truly did regret a lot of things, among them was not telling (Y/N) he loved her one last time, and not being able to truly save her from her broken mind.

By far the loss was the worst part of it all. Waking up from the chip's control to find the Republic was gone and he had helped to bring about its doom. To discover the Jedi Order had been destroyed, and he as well as his brothers had been the reason for it, the unwilling executioners that were forced to turn on and betray their friends and loved ones, only to further the revenge plot the now Emperor had been working from the shadows to see finished. The loss of Plo had hurt, knowing his last thoughts were questioning what was happening as his loyal troopers turned on him and shot him out of the sky, but the loss of his brothers was something else. 

Those who got away from the Empire were met with two fates. Either they were left to fend for themselves in a galaxy that despised them and blamed them for what happened or they were hunted down and recaptured by those working in the Advanced Science Division. Either way, fate had cruelty in store for them. Either way, more trauma awaited. 

Wolffe's fate after abandoning the empire was to be hunted down, as was Gregor's when he got away, and eventually those a part of the enhanced unit Clone Force 99, when their value to the Empire was truly discovered. At first, the battle-worn commander had gone out there alone, with one purpose. Find his beloved Jedi Knight, (Y/N) (Y/L/N). He'd heard the rumors of her survival, the stories on the lower levels of Coruscant of civvies taking pity on an injured Jedi, matching her description, they'd helped her flee the core world, to somewhere in the outer rim, and a few senators had aided in her escape. 

Eventually, he found her, working with Rex to sow the seeds of what would eventually become the rebellion that fought against the Empire. A rebellion built on hope and sacrifice for a better future. A future she'd never get to see. Like with him, fate was cruel to (Y/N). It would answer her question about what truly happened to her best friend Anakin Skywalker in the worst way possible. A fate no one would ask for and was arguably worse than his own. 

"What's wrong with him?" asked Zeb, gesturing towards the old mismatched-eyed Commander. Wolffe appeared to be staring off into space, not paying any attention to what was going on around him. Rex and Gregor had turned to their brother shortly after, Gregor noticing he held on to (Y/N)'s duel-bladed lightsaber, while Rex took notice of the hologram alight in front of Wolffe. The Jedi Knight and once hero of the republic who had stolen his heart. Both men knew Wolffe had lost his way when (Y/N) had been taken from him the first time, but he hadn't been the same since he had lost her for the second and final time. 

"Give him time, he'll be okay" replied Rex, a sigh escaping him as he remembered (Y/N). She'd taken many secrets to her grave, unbeknownst to the Captain of the 501st, one of them she kept to protect him. The truth on who Vader truly was. "Sometimes the past gets to him, what the empire did and took away still haunts him. He's never gotten past losing the woman he loved" he worded, recalling when Clone Force 99, or the Bad Batch as they preferred finally found where Dr. Hemlock was stationed, when they infiltrated the base, hoping to find both Omega and Crosshair. 

What they discovered was terrible, to say the least. Clones that once served the republic strapped down onto tables, tortured, tormented, and forced to suffer all in the name of science. Some were in tanks, others were left to die a slow and likely painful death. Others had been incorporated into Phase 1 of the Death Trooper program, to which the constant torture would have been far kinder. Among those rescued that day were Crosshair, Omega, Tech who had survived his fall, Cody, Wolffe, and Comet. Despite the best efforts, both Cody and Comet passed on shortly after returning to Pabu. 

"That's (Y/N)" whispered Kanan, upon glancing to the hologram. She was one of the few Jedi the people of the Empire hadn't forgotten, remembered along with Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Plo Koon, Yoda, and Mace Windu. She was supposedly killed during Order 66 but eventually reappeared, being captured and taken Nur, nobody truly knows what happened to her there. For months many theorised she'd been killed by Vader or one of the inquisitors after being tortured for information. 

In reality, the constant torment and suffering had done something far worse, it had broken her mind and shattered her will to continue fighting until she found strength in the dark side. Until she had willingly joined the inquisitors as the First Sister, second only to the Grand Inquisitor. She wasn't sent out to hunt very often, but when she was she never failed. More often than not (Y/N) was the one whom Vader called upon when he needed assistance with his mission to destroy what remained of the Jedi. 

"Where is she now?" asked Ezra, not quite putting two and two together, or catching on to what haunted Wolffe every waking moment. Rex and Gregor could only share a common glance, knowing losing her once was bad enough for Wolffe, but twice was nothing less than cruel. Even when he'd spared her more suffering. 

"Gone" grumbled Wolffe, his voice resembling that of a growl upon the memories he tried so hard to bury over the years came back. How his heart sank when he was rescued, learning (Y/N) hadn't been found since both of them had been captured. His refusal to give up hope had paid off, but it hadn't lasted long. When he was reunited with her, her once pretty eyes were the orange/red of the Sith, her mind twisted by the dark side and all she had learned to rely on was constant suffering. Her mind had become so twisted she no longer knew the difference between good and bad, and no longer recognized herself. 

"When she was captured, the empire corrupted her mind via torture. She became an inquisitor" voiced Rex, recalling Wolffe's refusal to believe she couldn't be saved as others stated. Instead, he tracked her wherever she went, and became a thorn in her side even at the risk of his own life. When the opportunity arose to capture her again, he took it. Bringing her aboard the ship, he, Rex, and Gregor shared at the time, determination alight in his mismatched eyes, he was going to save her and help her heal, he wasn't going to fail her again. 

"She's one of them?" accused Zeb, recalling his encounters with the pests known as Inquisitors. Although he'd admit he didn't know who they were before, just that they were out hunting for his friends, his family in Kanan and Ezra. Thrust they were his enemy. 

"Was" corrected Rex, not taking any notice when Zeb fell into silence and Sabine glanced to Kanan and Ezra, seeing their surprise upon hearing one could stop being an inquisitor. "Wolffe refused to give up on (Y/N). When he had the chance to get her away from the Empire he took it, we tried for months to help her, and it worked for a time until it became clear they wouldn't let her go" he added, shivering at the memory of Vader hunting them, of the villages and towns he burnt and the innocents who were slain just to get to her. 

"They killed her" guessed Sabine, not seeing any other fate that could have been waiting for the former Jedi Knight. Although the Mandalorian could only assume her death if it was at the hands of the empire, wouldn't have been quick. They would have seen her as a threat to them, those who rebelled against their iron fist rule would have seen her as a beckon of hope. 

"No, I did" growled Wolffe, standing briefly before slumping back into his chair again. (Y/N)'s lightsaber tightly in his grasp, the only thing he truly had left of her now. A stray tear slid down his cheek upon remembering the day burnt into his memory. The four of them were on the run, looking for a way to lose Vader, and the Inquisitors hunting them, looking for a way to get off the planet. When it became clear they had no way out, when they became cornered, (Y/N) fought Vader and the Inquisitors off for as long as she could, all but ordering Rex, Wolffe, and Gregor to go. 

But Wolffe had refused to leave, he couldn't bear to lose her again, lose another he loved. So he stayed at her side until she used her power to push him away. Speaking the haunting words of I Love You beforehand. The moment the former Commander of the 104th Battalion realized the inquisitors intended to turn her to the dark side again, he made the hardest choice. Once again he aimed his blaster, but this time at (Y/N), he closed mismatched eyes and pulled the trigger. He saved her from further torment, assured she would finally be at peace, but at the cost of shattering his own heart and being forced to live without her. 

"It was the only way to save her" whispered Wolffe, knowing she was still with him. He felt her there during the moments when his PTSD got the better of him. He felt her hand on his shoulder and could swear sometimes he heard her voice willing him to continue his fight. He sensed her there during the toughest moments when he struggled with the past. 

"That's why you went into hiding" commented Ezra, figuring the trio of clones hadn't just decided to "retire" due to their accelerated aging. They were among some of the best battle-tested minds there was. The rebellion needed them to survive, but it was becoming clear at least Wolffe needed a reason to fight. He'd lost his will the day he had to kill (Y/N) to save her from repeating the cruelty of being broken and twisted again until she lost herself once more. 

"We know (Y/N) would have taken the opportunity to stick it to the empire if she was here" laughed Gregor, his golden eyes glued to the hologram of the Jedi Knight in question. To the hologram of the friend waiting for them. "She was a fighter, a shining light of hope we needed during the darkest days of the war. Let's not let her down now by sitting by and doing nothing" 

"So you'll fight with us" questioned Zeb

"Yup" replied Gregor. "It's about time we remembered who we are, right Wolffe?" he added, nudging Wolffe who had since stood, the old Commander didn't pay much attention though, instead looking to the back door of the old walker. Where he could have sworn he'd seen a figure bathed in a blue glow standing. Where he saw (Y/N) standing, nodding with a proud grin, as if she was finally answering his call to see her again. As if she was encouraging them to fight for something they chose to believe in rather than something forced upon them like the Republic and Empire. 

"You see her right?" asked Wolffe, too afraid to look away in case she disappeared again. Rex only offered a small soft smile upon seeing (Y/N), a guiding angel for them to follow, as she had been once before in what felt like a lifetime ago. A life that seemed far less complicated than the one they had now. Back then they were soldiers created to fight a war, to sacrifice. Now they were relics of the same past as the Jedi and the Republic. They survived the horrors the empire threw at them, abandoned and left to fend for themselves, broken and forgotten by the galaxy around them. 

But now, it was time to rise and fight once again. Remind the Emperor why clones were created in the first place and remind him why they were better than the conscripted troopers he relied on to defend the weakening empire. This time they weren't going to be soldiers of the republic, commanders in a war they didn't choose. They would be beacons of hope amidst the shadow the empire cast across the galaxy, they were going to fight and sacrifice for a cause they chose to fight for. 

Knight Princess Masterlist

[purgetrooper77]

Hello there, fellow Bad Batchers (yes that's what I'm calling Bad Batch fans now) since we are gonna be approaching the Season 3 finale soon, I would like to share some of my predictions of how certain episodes are gonna go. I did this when Season 2 of the Bad Batch was still a new thing. With that being said, here are my predictions

Into the breach:

Rampart, Hunter, Wrecker and Crosshair find someone who knows how to get to Tantiss Base.

We see Captain Wolffe again

Omega talks to Eva and becomes close friends with her.

Hemlock terminates an Imperial deserter as a demonstration

Flash Strike:

Rampart dies during a mission

Phee hatches a plan to get to Tantiss

Wrecker Hunter and Crosshair have an encounter with CX-2

CX-2 is revealed to be Dogma

Crosshair finally explains why his hand shakes

Hunter fights Crosshair

Gonky and AZI-3 dies

Dogma/CX-2 dies

Phee falls out of the cliff (presumed death)

Hunter and Wrecker find their way to Mount Tantiss

The Calvary has arrived

Jax and that Pantoran child gets separated from Omega and Eva

Hunter and Wrecker breaks into Tantiss

Hemlock puts his special gas in (like in Tipping Point)

Hunter kills Commander Scorch in a rage

Wrecker rescues the children

Hemlock kills Emerie Karr

Hunter and Crosshair kills Hemlock

Howzer, Rex and other Clones go into Tantiss

Jax, the Pantoran subject, and Eva dies

Howzer gets blown up

Hunter becomes John Rambo and kills everyone

Crosshair meets an Imperial version of Tech

Tech reveals almost kills Crosshair but was stunned by Hunter

Omega learns the truth about Crosshair

Crosshair sacrifices himself to save Hunter Wrecker, and Omega (hopefully that really doesn't happen)

Gregor kills all the Clone Commandos that work for Hemlock

Hunter Wrecker, the Clone Underground members and Omega escape Tantiss

Omega blames Hunter for allowing Crosshair to die

Palpatine learns about what happens to Tantiss and dissolves the Advanced Science Division

Last but not least... a new series will rise that take place after the events of the Bad Batch (basically the final episode leading up to a special event or a new series)

These predictions may change but they may also remain the same. Have a nice day and I'll see you all whenever I do.

This is PurgeTrooper signing out

[just-here-with-my-thoughts]

Day 11: Time Loop / Cabin Fever

@febuwhump prompt: Time Loop @badthingshappenbingo prompt: Cabin Fever

Fandom: The Bad Batch Characters: Hunter, Wrecker Set after Season 2 Word Count: ~770 Click here to read on AO3

Synopsis: Hunter feels trapped in an endless loop after losing Omega.

Wake up. Breakfast. Dress. Follow another lead. Evening meal. Check in with Rex and Echo. Bed. Listen to Wrecker snore.

Wake up. Breakfast. Dress. Follow another lead. Evening meal. Check in with Rex and Echo. Bed. Listen to Wrecker snore.

Wake up. Breakfast. Dress. Follow another lead. Evening meal. Check in with Rex and Echo. Bed. Listen to Wrecker snore.

Nothing was bringing them closer to finding Omega. For all he vaunted his resistance network, Rex’s operation was in its infancy and even with Echo’s assistance the Advanced Science Division was beyond their reach. The tid-bits of information they were able to provide Hunter and Wrecker with were no more than rumours, ghost-stories.

The two clones spent days in each hyperspace jump, travelling to remote locales to chase down any clue that might lead to some concrete bit of evidence they could use. Anywhere the ephemeral ASD was rumoured to have been, Imperial presence was heavy. Every day demanded the utmost caution.

Even trained as they were, it was hard. Tempers frayed.

Evening meal, eaten in sullen silence. Check in with Rex and Echo. Bed; together, crammed into the same bunk, the only comfort in the day. Listen to Wrecker snore.

Wake up. Breakfast. Dress. Follow another lead. Evening meal. Check in with Rex and Echo. Bed. Listen to Wrecker snore.

“I don’t want to sleep on the Marauder,” snarled Hunter, physically digging in his heels and bringing them up short. “I just… I can’t.”

Another day of fruitless searching. Exhausted, bone-weary, lashed by inclement weather. The Marauder, their only home, haunted by the ghosts of their missing vode. Hunter couldn’t bear the thought of lying awake another night, listening to the echoing silence, staring at walls so familiar he wanted to tear them down.

“Give it up, Hunter,” growled Wrecker wearily. “We got nowhere else to stay.”

The big clone shouldered past his brother, heading up the ramp to the ship. Hunter dropped to his haunches, twisting his fingertips into the damp grass and swishing them back and forth.

“Sleep out here,” he called, an uncertain waver of command in his voice. “Wrecker. Come sleep out here with me.”

Wrecker stopped and peered back down at Hunter in the gathering darkness. “It’s rainin’.”

“It’s dry under the belly of the ship.”

For a moment they locked gazes, mutual stubbornness at war. Then Wrecker rolled his eyes.

“I’ll grab blankets from the bunk.”

Hunter whooshed out a sigh of relief and got back to his feet. Steeling himself, he followed Wrecker into the Marauder.

“I’ll fix dinner,” he offered, sounding guilty.

The way Wrecker bumped their shoulders together let him know he needn’t have worried. Hunter made sure to clasp a grateful hand to his brother’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze as he gathered their meagre rations and carried them back outside.

Wrecker had laid out a groundsheet and chucked the blankets and pillows haphazardly on it, as far as he could from the rain that gusted in under the Marauder’s protecting canopy. Hunter settled at his side, offering the larger portion of food without comment. Wrecker accepted. They ate, as usual, in silence.

“Thanks for this,” muttered Hunter after a bit.

“’S okay, vod,” was Wrecker’s reply.

“I just…” Hunter trailed off in thought, pulling his bandana off and running a hand through his hair, then scrubbing it over his face. “I need a break. Just for one night.”

Wrecker wiped up every morsel of food with his fingertips before discarding his bowl. He leaned his weight against Hunter, swaying them both to the side.

“Go to sleep. I’ll take watch.”

Sleeping outside. Not as safe as in the Marauder. Hunter felt a pang of responsibility.

“No. It’s okay, I can take first–”

“Hunter.” Wrecker’s voice was low and serious, but when Hunter looked up at him he was smiling. “I know yer sleep better planet-side. Get some rest. I’ll sleep tomorrow, whils’ you get us in the air again.”

Hunter rubbed a hand over his face again – because of tiredness, surely, not the sudden stinging in his eyes.

“Thanks, Wrecker.”

He settled onto the ground, letting his senses stretch out to sample the sounds and smells of the sodden night. Wind rustled plants, damp earth, the faint aroma of crushed grass. Storm-warmed air tickling over his skin in erratic gusts. The solid, reassuring bulk of his brother.

Hunter looped an arm round Wrecker’s middle, burrowing close into his side. One giant hand settled tenderly on his head, stroking his rain-damp hair.

“Night, Hunter.”

“Night, Wrecker.”

And whispered into the empty chasm of his heart:

“Night, Omega.”

[morethansky]

As promised, my thoughts on Tech's fate.

If you think they changed their minds about revealing Tech to be alive, you might not want to read this. I'm not trying to debate or dissuade anyone; this is just my personal take.

Also, please be forewarned that this is quite Hunter critical. I love to write the man, but god, he’s so bad for my blood pressure.

This is still such a hard thing for me to talk about. To be honest, I ducked out of the TBB fandom between the time when i finished “i keep what i can of you” and S3 started because it felt like I couldn’t say what I thought without either hurting the people who thought Tech was dead and were traumatized or inciting the wrath of those believed he was alive, some of whom got so haughty and/or oddly hostile whenever any other possibilities were stated in their vicinity. It seems that after I left, the opposite started happening too? The hellish fandom ouroboros.

Anyway, so here are my unfiltered thoughts, because I might explode if I don't write them down. After I watched “Plan 99,” I thought Tech was dead, and I was extremely traumatized and hysterical about it. I remember that night I couldn’t sleep, and I stayed up till morning trying to process the sense of betrayal I felt and figure out what to do with the sweet little WIP I had been working on, which was about Tech and Wrecker facing the concept of death for the first time. (I have now rewritten it to be much darker but for Tech to live, and as CX-2, so I hope that proves I mean well with this post.)

Because it’s me and it’s media, I was not only traumatized but also furious. To be frank, I’m not usually this deeply affected by character deaths. I have written a lot of major character death fics and grief/mourning is a component of like 60 percent of my writing. In fact, when character deaths are done well, I think they’re fantastic. The worthy, well-done ones can make the characters shine even more brightly.

That is not the case here. Tech dies for literally nothing. The protagonists don’t achieve anything at all from it besides returning to square one, less a member. They don’t find the coordinates to Tantiss. They don’t find anything about who Hemlock is or what the Advanced Science Division does. They don’t overhear any vital intel from the meeting with all the Imperial bigwigs. They don’t gain any insight from Saw. They don’t even find out whether Crosshair was actually in captivity and whether his saying Plan 88 was him laying a trap for them or not.

And that is some of the worst messaging I’ve ever seen in a Y-7 American action cartoon. And believe me, I’ve watched a lot of them.

Allow me to beat the dead horse one last time. Finally, after two entire seasons of the show, a member of the main cast is like, “Hey, remember how Crosshair used to be one of us? Even if he kind of sucks, shouldn’t we help him? He did just try to warn us.” And I was ECSTATIC. Didn’t expect the autistic character to be the one to be like, no, fuck you, we should do the right thing no matter the risk (autistic characters are so often morally gray and it’s so frustrating), but I loved it so much! That’s me!!

…And then he literally dies because he wanted to do the right thing. Hunter, the character who does not want to help people, who rejects the idea of going to Eriadu and has to be convinced otherwise, IS PROVEN CORRECT. What the ever-loving fuck is that messaging? That’s right, kids—if you selflessly try to help other people, you’ll be killed. So maybe don’t bother, actually. And this show just underlines that message over and over again! The only people who matter are those you consider family. Everyone else can rot. In fact, people who are willing to risk their lives to help people are foolish and idealistic. The things Hunter says to Echo are repeatedly so fucked up ("When will it be enough?" Dude wtf???), and it's nuts that the show doesn't offer Hunter's narrow-minded perspective as a contrast to Echo's determination to do the right thing—it offers Echo as a contrast to Hunter's motivations to retire (which we understand because when the two of them split up, we follow Hunter instead of Echo—and not even in addition to Echo! He only shows up again because he's visiting Hunter's story!).

That’s straight-up American conservative ideology. I will never not be pissed at them for making the fucking deuteragonist—and a clone character at that—like that. And in Star Wars! The franchise that is overwhelmingly and consistently about fighting fascists! Made by the company founded and based in the Bay Area, the most progressive region of the country!!!

To be frank, I almost turned the TV off right then. But I thought, okay…a horrible way to get to it, but…maybe now is the moment? Maybe now they’ll finally join Echo and Rex, and be super determined to find Tantiss and Crosshair and the many other clones whose designations were on the roster—to complete the mission that Tech so passionately insisted on before he sacrificed himself.

BUT NO! Hunter immediately pressures Omega into going to Pabu. And why wouldn’t he? The narrative proved him right! By trying to do the right thing, Tech died. So we’ll just go back to ignoring the suffering of countless beings across the galaxy, including our own kind. Millions of straight-up metaphorical versions of us. Cool.

And then Omega gets captured. So because Tech wants to do the right thing, he dies, and because Omega agrees with him, she gets taken away. And then suddenly Hunter puts away Pabu entirely and becomes super gung-ho about finding her. Which is just…why did they write him like this. Why did they even have the conversation about Pabu?? Leaving it out would have made Hunter's motivations flow so much better. Because by introducing that, they invite the crucial question: Why was that what it took for him to stop running but losing Crosshair and Tech didn’t??? Because he only cares about this one child's well-being and it's his single motivation as a character???

A contingent of Crosshair fans have seemed to vocally dislike Hunter from the start because he left Crosshair, and I’m like no, you don’t understand. It’s not about the character, it’s about the writing. In some cases, it does end up being the character rather than the writing, and you can usually tell because the writing condemns that in the character. Not here though! Hunter's decisions throughout the show are celebrated by it. And Hunter gets his way, as we see now with them retiring on Pabu and ignoring the fight even as "the Rebellion needs pilots now more than ever." Thank god the finale at least posited that Echo was also right, which is kind of like the bare minimum they could've done in that regard.

So Tech’s death hit me particularly hard because it felt like just a waste of two entire episodes, a waste of an enjoyable character they had just given some really poignant depth, and a waste of the chance to give Hunter the character development I was desperate for—and also like a betrayal, a slap in the face, because it was like the show was saying that heroes are stupid, that Tech was foolish for wanting to do the right thing. Which is nuts given the rest of the SW animated oeuvre. And is fucking hurtful. And bad for kids.

So when the theories about Tech’s survival started floating around that night, I thought, okay, yeah, maybe this was such a stupid death and waste of screen time because it’s to set up something really cool. I could get behind that, even if the entire setup would still be faulty and honestly kind of repulsive to me.

I engulfed everyone’s theories in those weeks I spent mourning, desperate to be convinced—but as much as I wanted to believe there was a plan at work, I just couldn’t buy it 100 percent because…would the people who wrote this awful arc, and who made all the oddest choices possible at any given time throughout both seasons thus far, really intend to set up and execute something so well thought out and complex?

Of course not. People kept being like, “We have to trust the writers. They have a grand plan. They wouldn’t just throw away Tech. It would be ableist, and that’s why he’s not dead.” Like??? The show was already ableist! One of the main characters is disabled and his being disabled is specifically relevant to why he’s even in this squad and in this show—and it’s never remotely discussed! The closest is the most oblique reference ever to how Echo doesn't like to be alone. That's it. Just because they actually managed to write this wonderful moment about Tech being autistic doesn’t mean their track record was suddenly irrelevant! Killing off their neurodivergent character is exactly the kind of ableist shit they would do! And see now: Crosshair's hand. Also Echo suddenly having a hand after not having one for so long and it being completely untouched upon. It's par for the course!

So the Tech Lives theories all hinged on the writing being really clever, but I just. Already hated so much of the writing, and it felt way more likely that they were just continuing to be bad writers and continuing to go with the poorer plot choice option every single time they had the opportunity to go a direction that would be thought provoking and emotionally affecting.

I felt very much and very sadly proven right when the season started, and we got no mention of Tech being dead until the FIFTH episode. The Batch never talked about Crosshair and why he tried to kill them, so I guess why would they talk about Tech dying, sigh. And it was so bizarre how people were arguing that Omega and Crosshair's little exchange about Tech was super touching and gave us everything we needed. It absolutely did not! The fact that we couldn't agree on whether Crosshair even knew tells you everything you need to know about the wacky writing choices! Why was it so vague?? They literally could have added one word:

Crosshair: Did they teach you plan 72? Omega: Mm-hmm. Tech had me memorize all the plans, before... Crosshair: Of course he did.

On that note, I began to feel uneasy about the fandom again, because it started feeling like an echo chamber, and I was worried everyone was getting too hyped about something that might not happen, and even if it did, might end up being some kind of poorly done fanservice. I started seeing a lot of defensive posts being like, “Well, the reason they’re not mentioning Tech is because he’s not dead, and you’re an idiot, unlike me, if you’re falling for their sneaky tricks.”

Like??? The prevalence of ride-or-die sentiments like that started making me feel like I was losing my grip on reality and watching a completely different show from everyone else. Wouldn’t the dramatic effect of Tech being alive be strengthened by the characters all mourning him, thus making us mourn him, thus making the plot twist that he’s alive even more effective?? Wouldn't the characters being shown to be affected by his death instead of just ignoring it be the most promising sign of his impending return?

To me, the characters not mourning Tech meant that the writers had put him aside and moved on (which is, again, terrible writing because it doesn’t give the viewers the space to grieve and then move on, and it makes the characters feel terribly heartless, which, well. At least they were consistent). And that blasé moving on made the possibility of him being dead WAY more likely to me. Of course they would kill their neurodivergent character and then just all but pretend it didn't happen. Of course they would act as if he had just been a convenient plot device! Of course they would only bring him up and act like they missed him when he wasn't there to miraculously do the characters' work for them and the writers' work for them! Fuck that so hard.

So then “Infiltration” and “Extraction” were a big surprise! I was like, oh, huh, guess I was totally wrong and they’re really doing it, wow. Okay, let’s see if they can actually pull it off. I liked the writing a lot better this season, so it felt more plausible that they were finally getting down to business. The fact that the clues felt so heavy handed was kind of weird to me, and I complained a lot about there not being red herrings, but I love a good Came Back Wrong story, so I was willing to believe I had been too pessimistic and cynical, as I often am.

After “Bad Territory” and “The Harbinger,” however, I started doubting it again. Fitting both this M-count mystery that had already taken up so much screen time plus a Tech Lives mystery just felt like a lot of ground to cover, and this was the show that couldn’t even seem to fit more than five seconds of the main characters being sad about the death of their squad mate. Did they really have what it would take to pace it?

Of course not!!!

After “Point of No Return,” I started to feel like if they did bring Tech back, it would be at the cost of it being done poorly. And to me, for his purported death AND his resurrection to be badly written would be way worse than just the former. And the draw of the whole Winter Soldier deal is the fallout; the guilt and doubt the characters harbor; the way they have to reckon with the fact that even if their loved one is back, they will never be the same again, because they did die in a way—and the less time allotted after a reveal like that, the fewer of those key things there would be, which would just make it feel so tacked on for cheap shock value and social media chatter. Especially because there had been so little buildup to such a thing at the beginning of the season. These writers' abilities are just not remotely close to Ed Brubaker's, y'all.

Then Rampart being introduced afterward felt like the death knell (oop) because it was a new plot thread they would need to wrap up by the end. But the Clone X thread was still dangling, so I felt like it wasn’t out of the question. But I guess after my complaints about the Tech connections being too obvious and there needing to be more red herrings, it turned out that the Tech connections themselves were the red herrings.

Although I feel like that's probably even giving the writers too much credit. I don't know if I really believe they were trying to mislead us. I feel like they just clumsily ended up doing things that coincided with the Tech Lives theories. Like I honestly wouldn't be surprised if when they used "domicile" it was completely without realizing they had previously had Tech say it and that this would lead to the viewers drawing an erroneous conclusion. They probably just wanted CX-2 to say something fancy and mysterious tbh, and the same words tend to float in writers' minds. Rip us.

I guess now I understand what I could never work out—if CX-2 was Tech, then why did he so specifically use rifles like Crosshair does and so proficiently, i.e. specifically better than Crosshair did? Why wouldn't he dual wield hand blasters?

Also, although I was in some ways relieved that at least they didn't write a bad resurrection for Tech, and there's absolutely no way it wouldn't have been shit if it'd just been shoved anywhere in the last three episodes, all this is not to say the Clone X concept didn't end up being super hamfisted as well. Just the fact that there are other Clone X types with different weapons and uniforms makes the concept even more confusing. Clearly these guys were meant to mirror the Batch, but then why did all the ones we encountered before CX-2 wear the same uniform as him?? Did they sort the clones into categories of which Clone X they would be? It would actually be cool if the point was to sow fear in the galaxy because it would seem like the person in the CX-2 suit was undefeatable, especially because they were completely covered and their build would be the same every time. But that would be too cool and coherent for this show, sigh.

Also, was Hemlock project managing them, or was Scorch? Neither really makes sense, but who was sending them after Rex's rebel cell? Was there a military higher-up giving the Advanced Science Division that directive? Why did CX-2 and the one that Rex's cell captured hate Crosshair so much? Why the fuck did CX-2 cut off his hand???

Anyway. I could go on forever, but I think at the end of the day, we all read too much into it because we are just collectively better writers than the writers are tbh. Sadly, a classic fandom experience. I guess what ultimately saved me the most from heartbreak and allowed me to earnestly enjoy the finale was that I had already spent a year believing Tech had died and suffered through my grief (by, you guessed it, writing a grief/mourning fic), and I just couldn’t shake the feeling that there was no way these writers could pull off something so emotional and complex. I swear I didn’t actually want to be right!

I think if nothing else, one thing we can all agree on is that Tech surviving could’ve been one kickass story, and it was a hell of a missed opportunity.

[seking-922]

Emperor Palpatine: It is imperative that this facility remain hidden and secure. There are many, even within our own ranks, who would consider much of your work an abomination. But they lack the vision that we possess. Your brilliance is a great asset to this Empire.

Dr. Hemlock: If I am appointed the scientific minister, I would strive to bring unleashed glory to all divisions of the Imperial science corps.

Emperor Palpatine: All in due time.

Dr. Hemlock: Yes, Emperor.

Feel free to visit me for more Hemlock pictures and quotes!

[probablyasocialecologist]

Hiring high-ranking Nazis to test new torture methods on prisoners was only the beginning, however. By 1953, CIA scientists like Schreiber and Sidney Gottlieb—the titular character of Stephen Kinzer’s book, Poisoner in Chief—had initiated a sprawling two-decade campaign of reckless human experimentation best known by the codename MK-ULTRA. A quixotic but well-funded hunt for truth serums, brainwashing drugs, and other mind control techniques, MK-ULTRA scientists subjected countless non-consenting and/or otherwise vulnerable people to powerful drugs and interrogation techniques. In spite of being subject to three separate government investigations, only a small fraction of the total program has been publicly disclosed since the CIA shredded nearly all relevant documents. What little we do know, however, is horrifying. With the help of OSS veteran and federal narcotics detective George Hunter White, Gottlieb maintained a network of domestic and international “safe houses” where he would administer LSD to unwitting and “expendable” subjects such as petty criminals and drug users. Sometimes, Gottlieb’s expendable subjects included other scientists, such as bacteriologist Frank Olson, who was dosed with LSD and allegedly murdered by CIA, supposedly because of fears that he would reveal America’s use of chemical and biological weapons (CBW). The Agency has had more than its share of CBW-use allegations beginning in this period, including the open-air testing of aerosolized biological agents in New York City and spreading whooping cough on the coast of Florida in 1955. MK-ULTRA research was also conducted at university laboratories, such as those of Harold Wolff and Louis Jolyon West at Cornell Medical College and the University of Oklahoma, or Donald Ewen Cameron at McGill University in Montreal. Between 1957 and 1963, Cameron used CIA money to develop psychological “depatterning” techniques on approximately one hundred patients. These techniques included placing patients in extended drug-induced comas, LSD dosing for months at a time, electro-shock treatments, and forcing patients to listen to recorded messages such as “my mother hates me” played on a loop. A multi-million dollar class action lawsuit against McGill, the Canadian government, and the Royal Victoria Hospital on behalf of Cameron’s victims and their families is currently underway. MK-ULTRA later found a home in existing networks set up by scientific institutions and universities in the USA and Canada.