#WHAT ABOUT THE LAWQUANES

[laughhardrunfastbekindsblog]

I've come across the sentiment before - sometimes joking, sometimes not - that if Hunter were actually a good parent he would have made Omega get on that shuttle with Cut and Suu.

I feel the need to put out there that, while the squad might not have realized it at the time, they literally saved Omega's life when they let her make the choice to stay with them instead of insisting that she remain with the Lawquanes.

Of course, Hunter was still learning how to be a parent, and I'm sure that if it wasn't only his second day on the job, he very well might have put his foot down. (Though I will also say, I think it's poignant that in a show about an entire group of millions of people who have never been given a choice of where they want to go, what they want to do, and who they want to be, the adolescent clone who is old enough to make decisions for herself is granted the chance to do so.)

Anyway, let's say Hunter did force Omega to leave. Lama Su would still be after her. For all their skill, I highly doubt the Lawquanes would have been able to fight off Fennec Shand, definitely not Cad Bane. So Omega would have ended up back on Kamino with an increasingly desperate Lama Su. Even if Nala Se had managed to keep Omega alive at that point, the facility would still have been decommissioned, the clones would have been sent off-world to Hemlock's first lab and Omega likely would have been killed there when it was decommissioned, or she would have been immediately sent to Tantiss with Nala Se and been imprisoned there, with no training on fighting tactics or how to escape.

And while this is one of those situations where the rightness of the choice is made clear only in hindsight, it was still the right choice to let Omega stay with the squad.

(That's not even getting into the sheer lengths Hunter went to just to try to keep Omega away from the missions while simultaneously trying to protect her... But that's a topic for another time that deserves its own post!)

[miss-musings]

TBB Fic Rec: "The Bad Batch Chooses A Family Name"

RATING: G (General Audiences) | No Archive Warnings Apply

SUMMARY: Set about four months after "The Bad Batch" series finale, Omega and her brothers finally move into their new house in Lower Pabu, and we get a brief account of their new routine.

Phee gives them a housewarming gift that sparks a discussion on whether the four clones should adopt a family name, and if so, what it should be. Eventually, Omega comes up with an idea...

Will the Bad Batch pick a name we know like Hazard, Genoa or Lawquane? Or will they choose one that reflects their own paths and their own legacies?

All five chapters combined is ~30 min read

Lots of family fluff with some heavier moments too. And a cameo from another "Star Wars" TV show character!

[warsamongthestars]

One of the most interesting things about TCWs Rex's character arc struggles is that, he's constantly put into contrasts.

Rex, as we know him, stands to be the main representation of a Clone Trooper. He's the first major named CT Character, that isn't Commander Cody, who doesn't have any ties to the films (Unlike Commander Cody), and thus can act and be written with far more freedom to explore.

[ You can't write Commander Cody too much by the end of the day, because one, years of expectations weigh, and two, he still has to shoot Kenobi at the end of everything. ]

Rex has two major conflicts in his arc, that represent the three defining points of clone troopers:

Loyalty to their Brothers

Loyalty to the System

Loyalty to themselves

Let's have some examples.

Our first major touch up with this, is the exact Opposite of all three: Sergeant Slick.

He is not loyal to his brothers (And gets a lot of them killed, whilst blaming the Jedi), he is not loyal to the system (He's a traitor), and he's not loyal to himself (He will make a lot of claims... which are unsubstantiated, because he gets a lot of people killed for purposes of greed and perceived slights).

This one is your easy Villain. Its easy to see, via Slick, that Loyalty to Brothers, Systems and Self is very simple.

But TCWs takes it a step further into complication.

Cut Lawquane, a deserter, is not loyal to the system (because it certainly isn't loyal to him), is loyal to himself, but is neutral when comes to brotherly loyalty.

( I say neutral, because he was willing to slay Rex if it meant staying free and his family safe. He did stop, because he's true to himself, and the self he wants to be isn't someone who kills people... Its just that sometimes, what is wanted, and what it is needed, isn't always the same thing. )

This is the first major bang up to Rex's Character Arc, because now we have a decent enough brother who is absolutely Not Loyal To the System that Rex is. And eventually, Rex lets him go, showing that while Rex is Lawful Good--he leans more towards good, whilst still retaining lawful plausibility.

This step slapped Rex, but it was a surprise he could easily, just simply, file away and not think about too hard. Deserting is going to happen when you're in an army of millions, and if they're off to be farmers instead of soldiers, well that's okay and a very nice thought.

The real kicker was Umbara.

One could argue that the Lola Sayu Mission should've hit Rex, but instead of Rex, it hit Fives the hardest (And with good reason). It's probably why there was an implication of a fallout between Lola Sayu and Umbara ("Just like Old times, Rex.")

And Fives becomes a contrasting challenge:

Loyal to Self

Loyal To Brothers

Neutral to Disloyal to System

Fives would bend the system until it breaks if it meant saving his brothers and more. He's the Chaotic Good to Rex's Lawful Good.

Rex is painfully upright and loyal to the system, so when one of his best and closest brothers decides "fuck this", it shakes him up.

Especially when Rex is finally confronted with how rotten the System gets: by General Pong Krell.

To contrast the contrast, on other side of Rex is Dogma, who is Fives' opposite. The Lawful Neutral.

Loyal to the System above all Else.

Neutral to Disloyal to Brothers.

( It does not help that Anakin Skywalker only recognizes Lawful as being Obedient rather than "adherence and or comfort to a code or set of rules" and thus draws more parallels between Rex and Dogma, than Rex and Fives. )

The Umbara Arc throws Rex through the whole loop, with all its conflicts. Especially the challenges it would make to Rex's whole character and showing him how far things can go.

Until finally, Rex finding what lines to draw in the dirt when it comes to "Loyalty to the End".

... But not enough to save anyone.

Then comes the Conspiracy arc, and while we don't know Rex's side, we do have implication of the aftermath.

The coverup of Fives' death (Because it would've had to been), by brother no less (Another big thing), and with the chip arc, which Rex did look into--would've put Rex up against someone he could not and would not possibly be capable of working through or against: Anakin Skywalker.

( Obviously for narrative purposes, Skywalker can't be stopped less TCWs became an AU instead )

Rex finds that his closest and brightest was labeled traitor and terrorist for his attack on the chancellor, via the very same bulletin points that Rex's character lives by, and it would immediately put him up against Skywalker.

The reason being, is that Skywalker is close to the Chancellor, and likely told Rex to drop any investigation.

And through speculation based on aftermath episodes... and What we know by this point...

I bet that Rex did not want to lump Anakin with Krell as a "System Problem". Because Rex worked with Anakin, and Rex's character falls in line with Anakin, and to consider Anakin to be part of the problem would go against Rex's character--thus, it is "unthinkable" and much easier to simply... Believe that Anakin has the best intentions.

( Even if that came at the cost of Fives. )

( Even though it would come at the cost of the 501st in the future--Rex only did enough that it would save his Life, and Ahsoka's, but nobody else's. He pays dearly for that comfort in Anakin at the cost of Fives, and the cost of Everyone. )

Moving to S7... and the Bad Batch.

Rex comes up against his absolute Opposite once more--in Sergeant Hunter, and the various Bad Batchers.

We've hit full circle.

Hunter commands a small squad that he pretty much lets do whatever, whilst Rex hangs on commands and commanding. Hunter is Evasive, Rex is Honest; Hunter gets stressed by Command, Rex does not.

Hunter is endlessly snarky, whilst Rex is straightforward. Hunter loses his faith midway through Mission, and Rex does not. Hunter's appearance is against all regulations, whilst Rex is clean shaven.

Hunter wasn't made for command, he just wasn't the stronger personality in the Batch to cause problems, whilst Rex is trained and made to command.

The one thing they do have in common, is loyalty to brothers, and the difference is--Rex doesn't hang on to anyone in lieu of the bigger picture, but Hunter does, existing in the smaller pictures.

( That's the TCWs implication-- If I went into the TBBshow, Hunter would not be coming out nearly as good. )

With the other batchers, Rex comes up against each one being individually against an aspect of his character.

Tech is disloyal to the system, he's as far from any sort of clone soldier you can get, and he's not even dressed for it. Tech comes in as a research first.

Wrecker is disloyal to self, bolstering about his skills and making light of the situation before it crashes on him. His disloyalty isn't a case of selling out--its a case of simply not considering himself in any measure. He puts others above him.

Crosshair is disloyal to brothers. He makes it a point to start shit in the middle of a mission, question authority, making disparaging remarks, and attacking a sense of self. The difference here is that, instead of accumulating falsehoods (like Slick), or physically attacking--he attacks the comforting falsehoods that a clone trooper would take on out of loyalty to brothers, system and self. If you're a brother, why don't you act it. If you cared so much for this one guy, why did you leave him behind. If you were that good in your little system, why did the specialists get called in. ( Crosshair is also a dick, but one can understand why he does things. )

Each Bad Batcher serves as a challenge to Rex's character. They are as far from Lawful as possible--but they are Good.

And then there was Echo.

But Echo doesn't serve as a challenge to Rex's character. If anything, Echo might serve as the "reward" for Rex's character arc. He saved at least one Brother, and one of his closest.

...

Unfortunately, Rex's full character arc wasn't ever really fully realized, because he is, fundamentally, a satellite character for other characters to bounce off of, even if those characters are other Clone Troopers.

( hell, Rex serves to contrast Cody, and neither of those too really had full Arcs )

Its why Fives took more attention in Umbara than Rex. Its why Ahsoka gets off scott free at the end of the day but Rex doesn't.

Its why when certain points of Jedi pop up, particularly that even our main character Jedi aren't really all that Lawful Good and do fuck up and waste a lot of brothers' lives for it, that Rex does not intervene.

Because, his character was never given that development to step in and tell someone to "Hey, stop, you are going to get people Killed."

A full Arc would've allowed that, and he wasn't afforded one.

A post TCWs Arc for Rex to get that Development, to fully understand all he went through and implement it into a new character arc, was implied with Rebel's Rex... but is currently unfulfilled.

( Don't be shocked that I don't consider TBBshow to count. )

But there ya go, a nice sum Analysis on Rex.

[welcometo79s]

[repost because I got shadow-banned and I'm back now]

@clonemmunism got me thinking with their post about the war ending and the clones just making very bad fashion choices so here's my thought on what everyone would wear and my rating:

Hunter [4/10]:

Hunter doesn't really care about being fashionable. We got a glimpse of what he would wear in The Bad Batch and I don't think it's very good. He owns a couple of cute scarves but usually he just dresses like a less fashionable Cut Lawquane. And Cut is already pushing it. It's nothing too bad, he just looks like some farmer on Dantooine. No, the bad thing about Hunter is that he literally does not differentiate between clothes he wears going out and clothes he wears practicing knife throwing and juggling with. So most of his stuff has little cuts and tears in it. He also sticks to the type of clothes that Cut gave him, which is the only thing saving him from being a fashion nightmare. He did however try to pick absolutely atrocious clothes for Omega until Echo stepped in. Like he'd attempt to get her a pink shirt with a porg vomiting a rainbow on it and military khakis.

Echo [10/10]:

His outfits are top-notch, he just doesn't dress properly for the seasons. But hey, that's not what we're ranking here. Echo is a crop top guy. Crop tops in summer. Crop tops in winter. And he looks good in them. He wears regular black pants and a variety of casual jackets on top of the crop tops. Sometimes leather jackets, sometimes bomber jackets, sometimes parkas, sometimes open shirts loosely hanging over the tops. Gets matching accessories and high quality boots for his outfits too. Ends up getting himself a belly button piercing. Fashion icon.

Tech [6/10]:

He only has one outfit and it's beige suit pants and a white shirt that's stuffed into the pants. He owns multiple duplicates of the pants and the shirt. Leather shoes. The only thing he switches out about the outfit is that he wears a variety of funky bow ties.

Wrecker [4/10]:

I'm sure there's people on here who found Wrecker's beekeeper outfit from the Saleucami episode cute but it's not very fashionable, nor are the rest of his clothes. Fisherman hats. Crocs. The "my 50 year old dad on the balcony" shoes (those cork sandals). Ponchos and pants that don't fit together color-wise. Sooo many tie dye shirts. Those jeans fabric shorts with lots of cuts in them. The very short ones. Very rarely an elegant evening gown he looks really good in. That gets him an extra point.

Crosshair [5/10]:

He's the Hot Topic Brigade. He has a style and he sticks to it. Some people like it and some don't. Almost always wears a leather jacket. Buys all his clothes at the Star Wars equivalent of Hot Topic.

Fives [7/10]:

Usually wears black jeans and some black t-shirt with printed words on it. Sneakers. Jeans jackets, sometimes with fur. His outfits are good but he wears some of the most atrocious shirts known to mankind. On a good day you get "Viva la Clonevolution", "I'm a Republic War Crime" or "Enemy of the State". On worse days he might wear something that says "Sparkle on you crazy doggo!", "I eat cement", "I can't fucking do be do be do it anymore" (all real shirts by the way) or "Call me the Uwunator". The otherwise completely normal, nice looking outfit adds to the insanity. Sometimes Echo pretends he doesn't know him. It's the fact that Fives does this on purpose that really gets Echo.

Rex [1/10]:

Listen. The Bad Batch and Fives have the privilege of having Echo to be the damage control for their fashion choices. Now we're getting into the bad territory. Rex has so many of these white tank tops that you can see his nipples through. Sometimes there's hot sauce stains on them. He also has a fuzzy jacket that Fives got him as a joke. Rex does not know it was supposed to be a joke. At this point Fives is too intimidated to correct him. He wears light shorts that some rich kid would wear to the golf course under the tank tops. And cowboy boots. Also huge elegant statement necklaces on top of this. And that one stupid fisher hat that says "rexcellent" on it.

Hardcase [2/10]:

Listen the only reason Hardcase has more points than Rex is that Hardcase doesn't want to look fashionable, Hardcase wants to look fun and that he does. He joins Fives in the cringe t-shirt extravaganza. Would wear the ugly pink porg shirt that Hunter wanted to get for Omega. See-through jackets. Glittery heart sunglasses. Glittery silver disco pants that get wider at the bottom. Rainbow bracelets that work like rattles. He annoys everyone around him by shaking his hands to his "improv gospel". Red leather boots that go up to his thighs. Sometimes he wears them under the disco pants, sometimes over them. Fives loves his outfits. He's the only one. Sometimes Hardcase tries out a variety of colorful wigs.

Tup [9/10]:

He looks so cute. So many people hit on him. Lets his hair grow a little longer and starts wearing half-buns. Also a crop top guy, just a little shy about it at first. Wears earrings and looks really nice with them. Has delicate wrist tattoos, maybe some branches with flowers wrapping around his arms. Otherwise simple, normal pants and sneakers.

Jesse [3/10]:

Tup and Fives are carrying the 501st in terms of fashion. The rest are all fashion don'ts. Jesse is no exception. He also wears crop tops but his don't have sleeves or straps. It's just a strapless bandeau top hanging over his pecs. On top of that? Baggy oversized jacket with a comical amount of pockets that he always stuffs full of things. He's been stopped multiple times by the Coruscant Guard and searched as a suspect for being a spice dealer. He just has his pockets stuffed full of candy though. Baggy pants with equally as many pockets fading from blue into purple into red. The jacket is a dark green. Sparkly golden dance slippers.

Dogma [1/10]:

Big sun hats. Very tight leather pants that end just below his crotch area and then restart at the knee. The pants have two parts basically. The two parts are not connected. See-through sneakers. Frilly white shirts that some 18th century vampire would wear. Tie with little loth cats on it. All of this in combination btw.

Fox [10/10]:

I can do this in one sentence, look up "dark academia outfit men" on Pinterest and you get Fox's style.

Mayday [0/10]:

His isn't even an outfit, it's just a bunch of fabrics he bought just like that in the market and somehow wrapped himself in them. There's no shirt, pants, jacket or anything like that, they're just pieces of fabric wrapped around his body like towels. One of them he wears as a scarf. On a good day he looks like some type of monk. On a bad day he just looks like a mess.

Howzer [3/10]:

You know that outfit Sportacus wears in LazyTown? That's his style. He wears things looking similar to that.

[stellanslashgeode]

There’s a lot of story concepts that are exactly my freak but I haven’t yet. What do you want to see?

[disasteracesstuff]

Hunter Protecting Omega

During my most recent rewatch of The Bad Batch, I paid closer attention to Hunter and noticed all of the ways he protected Omega.

This will be in multiple parts because there are a lot of moments.

From Season 1 Episode 1: Aftermath

Standing between Omega and an angry clone.

Maybe a bit of a stretch, but I'm counting this scene. Hunter knows the kind of danger his squad frequently finds themselves in and doesn't want to involve Omega in any of that.

Pulling her from the line of Crosshair's fire just in time.

From Season 1 Episode 2: Cut and Run

Fending off the creature trying to attack her. Suu did most of the work, but it's the thought that counts.

Wanting Omega to go with the Lawquanes because he thinks it is safer and "what she needs".

I want to note the brief look of worry that crosses Hunter's face before he springs into action in the second gif.

From Season 1 Episode 3: Replacements

Perhaps another "stretch", but I think this counts. Protection isn't always about physical safety.

From Season 1 Episode 4: Cornered

Protecting her from Fennec Shand.

From Season 1 Episode 5: Rampage

As I've said in this post, these rules were undoubtedly established because of the encounter with Fennec Shand on Pantora.

Sending her to wait on the ship because he deems the mission too dangerous.

From Season 1 Episode 7: Battle Scars

This isn't the only time Hunter dives for cover with Omega, but it is the only time his face is uncovered.

From Season 1 Episode 8: Reunion

Moves her behind him when Crosshair and the other troopers close in.

Shielding her as the the ion engine explodes.

Catching her as they fall.

Hard to see, but he is holding on to her as the roll through the ion engine.

Protecting her from Cad Bane. Or at least trying to. It still counts!

Part 2

[talesfrommedinastation]

Redneck Doug on ALL the other Clones in Star Wars!

As promised, for reaching a new number of followers, here's Doug's list when I asked him to name off all the clones in 'The Clone Wars' and 'The Bad Batch'!

Some are obviously repeats of other posts, and some are brand spanking new.

I'm using my autoethnography skills to their fullest extent, here, people.

This is LONG but hey! 7 seasons of The Clone Wars and 3 seasons of The Bad Batch means animated Star Wars in the Days of our Lives of animation.

If I'm missing someone, let me know! I'll reach out to Doug!

Enjoy, everyone!

CW: Redneck Doug just rambles needlessly about people.

And Clermont Lounge is one of the scariest and yet, most fun places in the ATL and I could 100% see one of the 501st working there.

-----------------------

Bly: That’s a boy, his name’s Miguel. Got his friends, they drink Pabst, shoot the empty cans behind the garage when they done, and hit on every woman that walks by. But Miguel’s got his eyes on Babe-the-Blue-Jedi and steals flowers from people’s yard and gives them to her. Babe-the-Blue-Jedi knows the man’s not that bright but his heart’s in the right place and that’s all that matters, right? 

Rex: That's Rex. He's a king. Respect him. 

Cody: That’s Obi-Wan’s Boyfriend, he’s sad all the time. We know why. (Confirmed that Doug is a Codywan shipper and I don’t know what to do about that)

Howzer: That’s my niece’s boyfriend, Jorge. We all love Jorge, nice guy, owns an auto repair shop and always remembers plates and napkins for the cookouts after church.

Gregor: Jorge’s cousin, Manny. Met him once at Christmas in Miami, nice guy, only drinks brown liquor and insists everyone arm wrestle him. But he’s got a good job as a PE teacher, we respect education, come on now. 

Hardcase: Wiggles. He laughs at everything and never wears a helmet both on his big head and his lil head and that explains everything about the man.

Kix: Nurse Mark. He's tired and sick of your shit, sick of the creeps trying to get the Fentanyl, that's a crime now, ain't it.

Echo: "Eh, Toaster Strudel. Homeboy looks like his daddy had an affair with a convection oven on shore leave and forgot to pay child support."

Mayday: Aw, I liked this guy so much! That’s Sassy Park Ranger, he’s the type that gives you your camping permits, warns you about the bears, and then is all disappointed when you don’t properly stow your food and the bears destroy the campsite. I need to go back to Little River Canyon, that place was pretty. 

Scorch: The Son of Robocop. His daddy told him to get off his lazy Robo-son ass and go get a job, so he works for the Empire now, because no one can get a job in Detroit. That’s why he’s a bad person. (Because he works for the Empire? “No, because he’s a Lions fan and that ain’t a good look for anyone.”)  

Fives: Alex-from-Manitoba. He reminds me so much of this awesome guy I knew, Alex, was from Winnipeg, we worked in oil together. Smart, knew his shit, loved guns and getting his hair did. No one listens to him, management hates him, and he gets fired. Man I was so pissed off when that happened with that damn alien that ran the ocean on the mall! He deserved better, damn it!

(Fives or Alex-from-Manitoba?

“BOTH!!!”)

99: 99!  

(You actually remember his name?  

“Hell yeah! He’s one of the most important characters! Why would I not?” 

::cue me, quietly staring at all the weird-ass names over texts and saying NOTHING in response::) 

Wolffe: Bernando. I dunno, man, he got that Bernardo energy. I’ve met three and they all looked like they wanna run off into the woods and come out when they got a deer they need to process and take a shower and find a lady before running back into the woods. Also Bernardo never has a girlfriend that lasts more than 6 months with him. Don’t know why. Just trust me. 

Gree: Carnie Joe. Man, he looks like the type of guy who drives an ice cream truck but there ain’t no Bomb Pops inside if you know what I mean. 

Cut Lawquane: Not-Wolverine. He ran away from the Empire, grew out his muttonchops, wanted to join the X-Men, Charles Xavier said ‘Nah son you need super powers for that’, and then Not-Wolverine stomped off into Tremors-land and started a pot-and-chicken farm like every other hillbilly in Kentucky. But he got a hot wife out of the deal and some nice kids and lots of guns, and ya know, that ain’t a bad ending for the man. 

Commander Fox: Red-Chief-of-Police. He’s absolutely on them Ticky-Tack videos my nieces and nephews watch where the cops are doing bad things but they ain’t gonna get fired over it. Man. It ain’t right. 

Tup: Alex’s-Friend-Matt. Aw, Matt, good guy, but too much brain damage after that time he fell off the roof while laying down tar. He grew out his ponytail to hide the dent in his head and talked funny afterwards, but he real good at roughneck work and I can’t fault the man, nope. 

Hevy: That’s Ross. He’s always mad because he’s insecure. He’s got a lot of Nerf guns and only eats stuff you can find at 7-11. 

Jesse: That’s Jesse, he’s a trucker, was a bouncer at Clermont Lounge in Atlanta, and has three ex-wives who all hate him. He shaves his head because his hair hates him too. 

Crosshair: So that there's Daddy Warcrimes. All you need to know is he lives on beer and Slim Jims, has more guns then Jesus got faith, and that he does your mom on the weekends, and then you thank him for his service.

Hunter: Aw man, we got Rambo up in this place. Daddy Rambo. He looks like he's got some hot wife with a huge butt who makes amazing biscuits, but he only showers on the weekends for reasons he won't tell you.

Wrecker: I know, I KNOW, he's got some cool Star Wars name, but in my head, he's Julio. He looks like a Julio, ya know? Every Julio's been the nicest guy with a truck and a million friends. I swear. I bet he's a contractor and lays pipe like you wouldn't believe. ::winks::

Tech: Hm, yeah, I know him. That's Ryan-from-Accounting, somebody's hipster dad. You know, everyone knows a Ryan who works in accounting, he's quiet, only drinks IPAs, and has a bitch wife named Laura who drives a Kia and is always yelling at him. Poor man. I hope Julio saves him from his bitch wife Laura.*

Omega: Little Orphan Blondie. I hope she gets real parents or something besides those freaky alien things running the mall on the ocean.

Emerie Karr: Stepsister-Beth. She’s got a stick up her rear, was in a sorority known for bitchy Daddy’s Girls who wouldn’t touch below the belt but are all about using other places for their date’s hoses to put out the fire, and only drinks almond milk lattes. She’s a bitch to waiters and drives a Prius. 

(“Doug I drive a Prius.”

“Yeah, but you ain’t a southern sorority girl so y’all forgiven.”)

Nemec and Fireball: Trigger and Nutsy. They’ve been in a survival militia in the Florida Everglades and that’s all you need to know. 

CX-2: The Guy from Tron. He’s a guy, and he was in the movie Tron. That’s it. 

[rexxdjarin]

Sorry, but I saw the tags in your reblogs and I have to vent about one of my fandom pet peeves.

Forget not knowing what a period is, some people think that there is no mental and emotional difference between typically-developing 10-13 year old and a Star Wars clone trooper. Even though there is no suggestion that this is true in canon, and in fact there’s plenty of setting details and plots that contradict it. Like why is Omega letting the Bad Batch act as her parents when she’s their older sister? How come no one told Suu Lawquane her husband is a tween? Why do the Jedi allow kids in their custody to go to bars and get drunk and flirt with adults? Are they stupid?!

I mean….I can’t really tell what you’re trying to say here but like not to burst your bubble..

The clone troopers are physically intended to be 21-24 years old during the clone wars. You have to treat them like they’re in their early 20s. Yes, by simple year calculations, they are 10-14, but they are to be viewed, seen and treated as fully functioning adult men.

Obviously there is no real life comparison to this because cloning and accelerated aging to the degree used in SW is impossible in real life…

But I find treating them like they’re 10-14 very reductive too. They are already limited in life experience by virtue of being forcibly conscripted soldiers. I don’t like the idea of viewing or treating them like they’re little kids. I don’t think anywhere in canon is suggesting we should. Hence why I was saying it’s stupid for anyone to assume or joke that they don’t know what sex or periods or virtually anything actually adult is. They’re soldiers, not fucking puritans lmao.

This is different for Omega, obviously, because she actually functionally IS a child-teenager when we see her in canon. She was not age-accelerated and that is why she is “parented” so to speak by older clones. They have simply seen more of the world than her. They feel responsible for her survival.

Idk I can’t tell if this is just worded funny but like I don’t get what you were going for here haha

[clonebrainrot]

You know I wonder if anyone has done the math to see what the chances are of a named clone dying or not.

If you think about it let’s go down the list and I am going to do some quick math

TLDR with the bad batch included clones have a probability to survive at 68% without them included they have a probability of just 54%

This is done by using characters who appeared in multiple episodes or appeared once in TCW and then in ROTS Math below.

Warning this includes spoilers up to episode 7 of the bad batch season 3

If you can think of enough clones who appeared in multiple episodes or projects I will include them in another revised version.

Kix (alive)1

Jessie (dead)1

Hardcase (dead) 2

Rex (Alive) 2

Wolffe (alive) 3

Fives (dead) 3

Waxer (dead) 4

Boil (alive) 4

Fox (dead) 5

Nemec (dead) 6

Fireball (Dead) 7

Sinker (alive) 7

Boost (alive) 8

Ridge (dead) 8

Vaughn (dead) 9

Cut Lawquane (alive) 9

Hawk (alive) 10

Bly (alive) 11

Gree (Dead) 10

Cody (alive) 12

Howzer (alive) 13

Tech (Dead/alive he’s schrodinger’s clone)

Crosshair (alive) 14

Echo (alive) 15

Hunter (alive) 16

Wrecker (alive) 17

CX1 (dead) 11

Dogma (alive) 18

Tup (Dead) 12

Oddball (alive) 19

99 (Dead) 13

Havoc (dead) 14

Colt (dead) 15

Blitz (alive) 20

Hammer (alive) 21

Boba (alive) 22

Not counting CX 2 just in case it’s someone on this list

Not including the clone cadets or Omega as there is a 0% chance any of them die so they screw with results (children aren’t going to die in a Star Wars TV-PG show)

Okay I have gone through as many clones as I can think of that appeared in more than one episode of TCW and revenge of the Sith and the bad batch

A clone has a 68% chance of survival as of episode 7 of TBB

However if you remove the bad batch itself a clones survival chances drop to just 54%

Also I just realized I forgot to calculate Scorch being alive (weirdly enough now with the bad batch he has appeared more than almost any clone lol)

[genericficerblog]

Omega's friends in Season 1 and younger siblings in Season 3.

@cc-cobalt-1043 Posted about headcanons involving the Tantiss kids. I decided it was about time I posted something I thought about recently. These involve the friends Omega made in Season 1 and the Tantiss kids Omega adopted in Season 3. All of what I’m about to say is my opinion.

I’m returning to Season 1, Episode 2, Cut and Run. Omega meets and becomes friends with Jek and Shaeeah Lawquane, the children of Suu Lawquane and the adopted kids of Cut Lawquane.

In 19 BBY, when this happens, Jek is 6, and Shaeeah is 7. The two became friends with Omega, and they played outside until a predator ambushed Omega while trying to retrieve the ball.

Later in Season 1, Omega meets Hera Syndulla, 10 (Developmentally 11) in the timeline.

A short first meeting between Omega and Hera blossomed into friendship, further solidified when the Batch saved the Syndullas in the subsequent episode.

In Season 3, while imprisoned in the vault, Omega meets and adopts Eva, Sami, and Jax. According to Doctor Hemlock, the trio is the other puzzle piece. The events of Season 3 take place in 18 BBY, a year after Omega meets Jek, Shaeeah, and Hera.

The key question. Do these characters resemble each other? I think the answer is yes. Before I start, I will only talk about Eva, Sami, and Jax.

I’ll start with this. None of them are the same species. All three of the friends Omega made in Season 1 are at least part Twi’lek, while the younger siblings Omega adopts in Season 3 are all different species. Eva is an Iktochi, Sami is a Pantoran, and Jax is a Mirialan.

However, in the following photos, notice that there are similar in colour patterns between each of them.

Specifically, Jek and Eva (I know Jek is Orange and Eva is Red, but hear me out)

Shaeeah and Sami

And Hera and Jax.

I wonder if the colour coordination was a callback to Season 1 with Jek, Shaeeah, and Hera. If that is true, it’s a cool callback. However, I believe it is more than just a colour scheme. The three pairs are of equal age, given the one-year time jump.

Jek, Eva, Shaeeah, Sami, Hera, and Jax are seven, eight, and eleven years old, respectively.

Omega is 12 years old in Season 1 and 13 in Season 3.

Did Omega’s relationships with Jek, Shaeeah, and Hera in Season 1 impact her decision to adopt Eva, Sami, and Jax in Season 3?

Does Omega see her friends from Season 1 in them?

What do you think?

[heyclickadee]

It’s only been a month-and-a-half, but I finally got a chance to watch another episode of The Bad Batch for my rewatch. So! Long, rambling, mildly nonsensical thoughts on TBB, Season 1, Episode 2: “Cut and Run:”

1. This is one of the episodes my brother has seen—he’s seen up through episode 8—and he doesn’t like it. He told me that this is one of the “bad” episodes, but rewatching it I just…I can’t agree with that. It’s not a big action packed set piece, sure, but it doesn't have to be. It's a good little episode that succeeds at what it’s trying to do, and sets the stage for the story moving forward.

2. The FONDNESS on Echo’s face as he’s looking at Omega all tired out after going through the ship I CAN’T. Also, I love how the discussion Echo and Hunter have about Omega, and Echo asking what in the world they’re going to do with her, is the first bit we see of the way Hunter and Echo are going to bounce off of each other. Hunter makes decisions, Echo asks questions and prods at whether they’re the right decisions, Hunter bounces more ideas off of Echo, and so on. It’s a dynamic I adore and I’m excited to revisit more of it.

3. This is a random background thing, but clouds in the background as the Marauder lands near the Lawquane farm are stylistically different than the clouds are going to be later on in the series. They’re very painterly here, but later on they’re going to be a little more realistic. I think it’s just one of those things that developed over time. Maybe. I kind of want to keep my eye on it.

4. Speaking of clouds, it is kind of interesting that there is that thunderstorm that’s building a few minutes after they land, which Hunter notices, and then Cut mentions the storm that’s coming (referring to the Empire) later on, and then the storm thing doesn’t come up again later in the episode. It might just be one of those things where there was a scene that got cut after the boarding process, but they didn’t revise the earlier parts of the episode script, but I also want to keep my eye on the storm motif through the rest of the series to see if and when it comes up again, and if there’s any kind of pattern. There probably isn’t, buuuut this hiatus is going to go on for a while, so. Ya know.

5. JUST FEEL THE GRASS, THE DIRT, JUST LIKE SHE DREAMED THEY’D BEEEEEEEEEE

6. Okay, but, I genuinely love Omega’s reaction to stepping out of the ship onto Saleucami, and how it contrasts with the rest of the batch. They’re all on alert, business as usual, and Omega’s so, so excited to be there. She’s wowed by dirt. She’s never seen anything like it. I love the little detail of her taking a deep breath of the air on this new planet. She’s probably never smelled air that didn’t smell like salt and antiseptic (this is just me, but I sort of imagine Kamino smelling a little like a hospital). She’s never stood on ground that wasn’t plastoid or durasteel or whatever Kaminoan floors are made of. She’s probably never seen so much color in one place or had a chance to run after a space butterfly or do much of anything. She’s so small and everything is new and she’s so excited for this big new adventure and nothing bad had better ever happen to her (and now I'm crying in Star Wars).

7. Another background thing, but what are these?

What are these crops? Is this space corn? Corn that’s just one giant kernel? Orb corn? Corb? Wookieepedia doesn’t say (as far as I can tell) and I know this is silly, but I want to knooooooow.

8. Tech’s little smirk as he says, “Why not? We’re all deserters now,” to Echo gets me every single time. Man just does not care about breaking the rules.

9. Regarding the Lawquane’s booby trap: One, the way that Wrecker immediately starts blasting is just…I don’t know. There’s something sad about how jumpy he is. Second, is the booby trap to keep local wildlife away, like the nexu, or unwanted visitors who might be looking for Cut?

10. Suu looks AMAZING in her new outfit (I'll admit I didn't love the monokini and chaps look for her), and Cut. Cut. Why? Is your facial hair like this?

11. I love Cut and Suu. I love Cut and Suu so much. Healthiest couple in the entire galaxy far far away, I swear. And I love their silly matching pun names.

12. Wrecker is SO DANG HAPPY to see Jek and Shaeeah and they are so happy to see him I can't. Wrecker is so soft with kids. It kills me.

13. Jumping off of that, though, there's a wonderful little untold story here with the CF99 and the Lawquanes. Because they don't just know Cut, who they could have theoretically met before Cut deserted or before the war even started, they know the entire family. And they know the entire family well enough that Wrecker's "Uncle Wrecker" and that Cut immediately asks about Crosshair and why he's not there, knowing that the most logical answer is that he died; Hunter's one-on-one conversation with Suu is just as casual and familiar as his one-on-one conversations with Cut. I don't think it was Rex who introduced them, because Echo didn't know about Cut until this episode, and Echo's got a much longer and closer history with Rex than the rest of the batch have; if Rex didn't tell Echo about Cut, he probably didn't tell CF99 either, meaning that Hunter and the rest probably met the Lawquanes independently.

And, on the one hand, I neeeeeeeeeeeed to know how they all met. Did they meet Cut when they were cadets and then Suu later on and then both of them and their kids all together later on? Did they just wander across the Lawquane farm while stationed on Saleucami? Did Suu help train clones on Kamino (she's a really good shot, after all), and is that how she met Cut? Did she meet CF99 that way? Did they all collectively help Cut desert? But, on the other hand, I don't actually want to know the story. I like that these people have history to which we're not privy. It helps them exist outside the bounds of the story and feel a little more real.

14. It's nice that Echo practically jumps to ask about Rex after Cut brings him up. It sets up the way Echo's going to go off with Rex's group later on, sure, but I think the reason Echo gets so excited here is because this is the first indication he has that ANY of the other clones he knows escaped the programming they talked about last episode and left the Empire. And the fact that it's Rex specifically…. It's a little bit of hope and normalcy he can cling to in a pretty awful situation.

15. "Where's Crosshair?" "It's…complicated." Yeah, I'll say. (Exhibit A of Hunter having to be dragged kicking and screaming before he will talk about a n y t h i n g I am putting him in a salad spinner)

16. The way this first conversation in the Lawquane home goes from Crosshair, to Rex and the "behavioral implant" he brought up to Cut, and then directly to the inhibitor chips is interesting, because it kind reinforces what we already know about Crosshair's situation from episode one--that he has a chip, that it activated, that his chip was turned up to eleven--while also emphasizing the fact that the rest of the batch doesn't really know or understand what that means. Even Tech, who just kinda sussed out that the chips exist because obviously the Kaminoans modified clone behavior and obviously that's how they did it, and who absolutely suspected that Crosshair's behaviour in "Aftermath" had something to do with the programming (the way he looks up at Crosshair when he says he "can't be certain" that they're immune), doesn't seem to one-hundred percent get what it means and how little choice a clone with an active chip has.

17. Omega knows about the chips because she grew up in Nala Se's lab. I want to know what else she knows (because she knows a lot she doesn't talk about).

18. The writers/animators/board artists/showrunners absolutely nailed the way a kid who hasn't been around other kids much hesitates around them with Omega here.

19. Hunter smiling after Omega as she goes out to join the other kids and then being surprised to see Cut and Suu watching him be all fatherly gets me every time. I love how pretty much half the conversations they have with him are basically just, "You're a dad now! Congratulations!" "What? No, I'm not." "Sure. Keep telling yourself that."

20. Jumping off of that, this episode is absolutely crucial for Hunter's development. Half of the reason Hunter is the way he is through the rest of the series is because he spends this episode watching Cut and Suu (especially Cut) and everything Cut does, and then, when Omega stays with the bad batch at the end of the episode, spends the rest of the series desperately trying to be like Cut. And, in some ways, that's good. He's gentler with Omega, more understanding of the fact that she's a kid, trying to keep her out of danger and allow her to have a childhood, putting the family he still has first, trying to leave their old lives as soldiers behind as much as possible, etc. But when he inevitably fails to be Cut, or to be a parent the exact same way Cut is, because he's a different person and his situation is completely different than Cut's is, he starts shutting down, because he can't cope with the failure. And that runs headlong into the way he feels he's failed as a brother AND as a leader, and so by the time we get a few episodes into season two Hunter is deeply depressed and visibly unwell. (Hey, another parallel between Crosshair and Omega--Hunter probably feels like he's failed both of them.)

21. Another reason I'm going to take the word filler and put it on a shelf where people can't reach it as far as this episode is concerned is because this episode is the first time we get a hint of how the rise of the Empire is affecting regular people. Not clones, not jedi, not former republic officers, not Kaminoan politicians, not freedom fighters--just regular people trying to live their lives. The way that the Empire is setting up the chain code system, regulating travel, clamping down hard on remote planets and former separatist worlds (Saleucami changed hands several times over the course of the war), all told through the story of CF99 helping this one family escape and get to safety, is an important story to have early on.

22. Aaaaand jumping off of that, I love how Hunter's focus over the course of this episode shifts from laying low and learning how to hide to, "Okay fellas, we are getting Cut and Suu and the kids out of here even if we have to blast our way out." And I know Hunter's going to hesitate to help people out more and more as the series goes on, but this is a pattern we're going to continue to see. The bad batchers aren't really heroes in a traditional Star Wars sense; with the exception of Echo, who has to leave the group to do it, they're not fighting the empire head on or trying to overthrow tyranny, not directly. But they do help out in small ways, usually a person or a family at a time, usually helping them escape a bad situation, and that's not nothing in a galaxy where the empire exists. I sort of wonder if this isn't pointing to where the batch is ultimately going to end up. They might not be freedom fighters or rebels in the end the way Rex and Saw are. Maybe they'll just be focused on getting people--clones, families, maybe even surviving jedi--to safety. Maybe they help organize something like The Path. Maybe. I guess we'll see, eventually.

23. Oh gosh this is getting long. Are you surprised, though? (Still sorry, though. Not sorry enough to pare it down, but still sorry.)

24. The kids immediately go to Suu for help when the nexu attacks, and it's great. Also ECHO'S AND TECH'S FACES when Omega almost gets hurt and Wrecker asking if she's okay I love how much they already care about her 😭

25. The way Echo goes from being completely flabbergasted by Tech's plan to get the ship impounded on purpose, to being completely for it, to being real snarky about it once things start going wrong sends me every time. I mean. I know, I know we all joked about how Echo would disapprove of the riot race in "Faster" if he'd been there, but you know what? No. Hunter would have shut it down if he'd been there, but Echo? It would have gone like:

Tech: I will be the racer.

Echo: GOOD. FUCK 'EM UP, TECH.

Later on, during the race

Echo: This is suicide! I can't believe you thought this was a good idea, Tech!

Tech, calmly going 200 mph: You also thought it was a good idea, as I recall.

Echo: I think it would be a good idea for you to shut up!

Anyway, I love their banter.

26. So…Tech made enough counterfeit chain codes that there was one for Omega, meaning he knew Hunter planned for Omega to leave Saleucami with Cut and Suu, and that Echo may have known as well (even though Hunter clearly didn't include Wrecker in the conversation), and that he planned on taking the chain codes to Cut and Suu himself. Meaning that he was probably also planning on taking Omega with him when he took the chain codes over so that she could leave with them. And Omega ran off and took the chain codes to Cut and Suu before Tech could, of course, meaning that that didn't happen, but I really want to know how the conversation would have gone if Tech had had to tell Omega to come with him on the code run. I mean.

Tech: I will need Omega to accompany me to the departure site.

Omega: Me? Why? Do you need me to get into a crawl space on a super secret mission.

Tech: No. You need to be at the transport because you are leaving Saleucami with Cut and Suu.

Omega: Aaaaaand all of you, right?

Tech, who mentally signed the sibling adoption papers the second Omega said she wanted to sit with them in the cafeteria scene in "Aftermath" (I will die on this hill, he does not stop smiling at her after that): Nnooo….

Omega: ….

Tech: I assume Hunter told you.

Omega: starting to cry

Tech, on the comms: Hunter. Omega is crying, Hunter. She is upset about leaving. Hunter. What do I do? Hunter?

(This is probably, in retrospect, why Tech apparently didn't tell her, either.)

27. The poncho and the floppy hat was such a good look for Wrecker. (Also, the audacity of having Wrecker bonk his head on that pipe in the background. I know it's a funny reference to Jango doing it in AotC which is a funny reference to that one stormtrooper in A New Hope, but it still fills me with dread.)

28. Shout out to Cut and Suu. Cut's technically a wanted man, they're escaping Saleucami by the skin of their teeth, they're about to be refugees, they've got two kids to look out for already, they have an uncertain future, and when Hunter asks them to take Omega they're instantly okay with it. They're ready to take in another kid simply because that kid needs to be taken care of. And THEN they talk to that kid and ask what she wants (we don't see this happen, but it's heavily implied), take what that kid actually wants into account, and let her go back to where she wants to be. They are the best and I love them.

29. The character animation on Hunter during the scene where he tells Omega that she's going with the Lawquanes is so, so good. Just. The way he can hardly look at her, the surprise when Omega says she wants to stay with the batch, the way his face hardens when Omega looks back because he's trying to hold everything in and the way Omega interprets that as Hunter wanting her gone even though he absolutely wants her to stay and just thinks he's doing the best thing for her--I want to bake the character animators cinnamon rolls and give them all a million dollars each. (Also an aside--this fits into a pattern of Hunter often doing what he thinks is best for his family rather than doing what he wants, and what he thinks is best often being different than what might actually be best.)

30. Another silly aside, and I didn't notice this until this watch through as I was looking at Cut stand next to Mr. Dorito, but Cut kinda has a little bit of a tummy. He's not fat, but he's definitely a little thicker around the middle than, say, Rex or Howzer. He's got a bit of a dad bod and it's honestly really nice to see a person gain a little weight while living a life they chose and clearly love.

31. I'm. I'm feeling a certain kind of way about Omega immediately assuming that she did something wrong and that the rest of the batchers don't want her around because of it (it's not just Hunter--when Tech and Echo react a little tersely to her being on the Marauder when it gets impounded she seems to assume that they're angry with her even though they're not), and Hunter getting rid of her (from her perspective) is some kind of reaction to that or a punishment for it, and it's not a good sort of feeling. Especially in light of the theories that Nala Se sent Emerie to Hemlock for some reason. I'm also feeling a certain kind of way about Omega losing her brothers once already as a very small child and losing them again at the end of season two and almost losing them in this episode because Hunter tries to send her away and. Just. Let this kid have her family, please. (This is another narrative reason why Tech has to be alive, btw.) (Also, I love the way that Hunter apologizes back and says he's got a lot to learn when Omega tries to apologize for "messing up.") (Also also the way Omega looks at her headpiece after she takes it off, complicated emotions are happening and I am really interested in her relationship with Kamino.)

32. "If this is where you want to be, then this is where you'll stay." 😭😭😭 I'm screaming because. I mean. What Hunter tries to do in this episode is exactly what Crosshair tells him to do with Omega in "Return to Kamino." And, on paper, Crosshair's right; living with fugitives in constant danger isn't a good life for a child. But being with her brothers no matter what is what Omega wants, and, after "Cut and Run," Hunter never stops taking Omega's choice here into account.

[weyrwolfen]

Eidola: Chapter 20 - CT-22-1981 Snap

Rating: T

Characters: Gen, Clone Trooper OCs, Captain Rex, Ahsoka Tano, and other canon members of the 501st/332nd and the Bad Batch

Warnings: canon-typical violence; references to self-harm, injuries, and substance abuse; PTSD; it’s post-Order 66 and nobody is having a good time (but they’re all working on it)

Summary: The mission was never to bring down the Empire. Not really. The mission was to save every single one of their chipped brothers. But if doing do helped break the Empire’s stranglehold on the galaxy? Well, that was just a bonus.

“The kriff are those?” Snap asked without thinking. He almost flinched at his own language, half-expecting somebody to call him on the profanity. But there weren’t any kids around anymore, so he could say kriff again, all he wanted.

Osik’la consolation prize. He missed Gida and the other Lawquane kids already.

Fuse set down the odd carrier full of vials, each containing slips of some kind of plant, suspended in a hydrating nutrient gel. The leaves were dark green with rusty orange veins, but Snap didn’t recognize them. Cut had made sure they knew everything there was to know about the plants they’d been keeping on base, and whatever these ones were, they were new.

“A soporific, hopefully,” the medic said, leaning against the work bench. Snap pulled a sour expression, to which Fuse elaborated. “A sleep aid. Apparently you can dry out the leaves and make a tea with them.”

Right.

“A tea, huh?” Snap asked, not really expecting an answer. Kriffing everybody on base seemed to have sleep issues, at least some of the time. Insomnia. Nightmares. Whatever. Snap definitely had, especially at first. He’d kind of evened out over the last several months, but he still had his moments.

“It’s not as strong as the tabs, but at least it’s not habit forming,” Fuse answered anyway. “If we can get a decent crop of our own going, then we won’t have to worry about spotty supply issues either.”

Well, alright then. Half of their hydroponics units had been emptied out and the plants shipped off to Wadj, so it wasn’t like they didn’t have the room to experiment.

“What’s it’s chem-profile?” Snap nudging aside the box of scraps he’d been about to take to the reptavian colony and leaning closer to the mystery plants. He pulled one of the vials out of the carrier and gave it a closer look. At least it had been grown in something similar to the matrix their own machines used. If they’d been in actual kirffing dirt, like those pop-peas Rasp had brought back… what? Two missions ago? Kriffing nightmare, prepping those for the frames, and half of them had died anyway.

“Uh, no idea,” Fuse admitted, fishing a small datastick out of one of his belt pouches. “But they came with this?”

Snap took the stick and scowled. “Came from where?” he asked.

Fuse shrugged. “It was in the latest delivery of supplies the Mandalorians unloaded.”

That might be good news. Their grow units were Mando-design, maybe they’d luck out and whatever data was on this stick would have the correct chem codes up front and center. If not, Snap would have to figure out how to manually program one of the units again. He was pretty certain he remembered how to do that.

He was a heavy gunner, not a kriffing farmer. This hadn’t been part of his training.

But Cut and Suu had worked hard to teach Snap and his brothers before they’d shipped out, and Snap wasn’t going to let them down.

He grumbled a thanks to Fuse, who took that as his cue to beat a retreat back out of the workroom door.

There was a stack of datapads tossed on the end of the long workbench. Snap picked one up at random and plugged in the datastick. It took a second, but the file did eventually open.

Snap glanced through the text. Apparently the plant was called maara vine, chem profile 3, light level 1. Easy enough.

“Hat Trick!” Snap yelled, pretty certain that his brothers wouldn’t have worked their way so far down the halls as to be out of easy earshot.

The reptavians screeched in response from the neighboring room.

“Yeah?” Hat Trick said a few moments later, leaning over into the doorway.

“Can you handle this?” Snap asked, nodding vaguely in the direction of the crate of scraps. “The medics just dropped a project on me.”

Hat Trick grumbled something, no doubt uncomplimentary, under his breath, but he did pick up the crate and hit the door panel with his elbow. The demanding edge to the reptavians’ shrieks intensified when the door slid open.

Snap scrolled through the text, eyes catching on the pertinent sections. He traded the pad off to one hand and picked up the cradle of slips in the other. There was an isolated growing rack in the room Suu had set aside for the cadets’ science modules. It would probably be a good idea to keep these things separate from the food crops. Accidentally dosing the entire base’s meals with a sleep aid didn’t seem like a smart plan.

A group of Mandalorians had taken over the training mats in the back of the base’s gym, which was setting Snap on edge. It wasn’t like he’d been planning on sparring this shift, but he tended to get his hackles up around unfamiliar natborns.

Usually, this was a peak time for the gym facilities on base, but so many brothers had shipped out that the space felt weirdly empty, even with the addition of five Mandalorians. Not that Snap was entirely alone with them, there were a few other brothers in the room. Ajax was on one of the inclined benches, doing sit ups with a weight held against his chest. Whelk was guiding Feral through a few exercises.

Snap stacked his armor against one of the walls and took a few minutes to stretch out. Then he picked out a weight machine which would let him keep an eye on the rest of the room. The scavenged and improvised training equipment relied on actual, metal weights instead of grav-resistance generators, but Snap found he didn’t mind the clank of the objectively more primitive gear. He set the weight a notch higher than he had last time, settled into the chair, and curled his hands around the grips.

Counting reps wasn’t nearly enough to keep his mind fully occupied, but the Mandalorians were providing more than enough of a distraction. He didn’t know any of their names, but their armor was distinct enough that he was starting to recognize at least some of them on sight.

Black Cuirass with the Red Chevrons was currently kicking Orange Spaulders with the Weird Spikes around the informal ring. One of the ones he’d heard called a Nite Owl was acting as a referee or a spotter. Her armor was painted in the same colors as Kryze’s, mostly blues and grays, but it was far simpler in design. Two others, Three Shades of Green and Gold and Gray Stripes were standing off to one side, helmets angled towards one another, clearly talking about something, even if Snap was far too far away to overhear.

He couldn’t see any of their faces, but if he had to guess, Snap would have said that Orange Spaulders was younger than Black and Red, even if he was the taller and broader of the two by quite a bit. He was fast, but uncoordinated to a degree that would have gotten a sixth-year cadet sent to remedial training. Or worse. Black and Red, by comparison, moved like she knew what she was doing. The two of them were sparring with blades, and every point Not-Kryze had called so far had been in Black and Red’s favor.

The longer the fight went on, the more one-sided it became. Orange Spaulders was obviously letting his frustration get the better of him, getting more aggressive and less controlled with each successive attack. Black and Red wasn’t having any of it, dancing just outside of her opponent’s range and adding some well-placed kicks whenever he tried to charge her.

Not-Kryze called the match, right after Snap had finished adjusting his machine’s grips to their next configuration and started on his second set of reps.

Kark, that kid was skimming for trouble. He stomped out of the ring, body language all but shouting his anger and embarrassment. Snap snorted to himself, thinking of all of the karking awful osik that would have happened to him or any one of his brothers if they’d dared to act like that with one of their trainers.

And then, the puffed up di’kut turned and said something to Feral and Whelk, who were the closest two clones to the sparring ring. Whelk’s head snapped up at whatever had been said, but Feral?

Feral froze.

And then he bared his teeth in a way that couldn’t have ever been misinterpreted as a smile.

The weights slammed down with a sharp clang of abused metal when Snap released his grips mid-rep and rose.

Given his name, Snap would lay good credits on Feral always having been a little bit off, but anymore he came across as brittle, in a dangerous kind of way. He reacted oddly to things. Unpredictably. And maybe Snap had been in the 437th during the war, not the 501st, but Feral had been assigned to hydroponics, and that meant he was Snap’s responsibility.

And Snap was going to tear a strip out of that puffed up natborn, for whatever the kark he’d said to his little brother to get such a reaction.

Whelk had already moved to put himself between the Mandalorians and his brother. Snap didn’t hear what the medic was saying. Truthfully, he didn’t hear much of anything, except for a distant ringing in his ears. His vision had tunneled down dangerously as he crossed the room.

Snap was maybe six steps away from introducing himself to Orange Pauldrons, fist first, when someone intercepted him, fingers driving inward against the inside of Snap’s left bicep and down toward the bone, which sent a jolt of burning pain shooting along Snap’s nerves and made his arm involuntarily jerk back in a pained, defensive curl.

Kark, that really kriffing hurt.

Karking Corries.

Because of course it was Ajax. Of course it was. Whatever the kriff those painful ‘grab-and-squeeze’ techniques were, they weren’t part of the standard training regimen back on Kamino. And Ajax liked to feign complete ignorance whenever any of his brothers tried to ask him about them.

At least the moment Snap’s forward momentum stopped, Ajax loosened his grip enough for Snap to catch his breath. Kriffing ow.

“… Still recovering from a head injury,” Ajax was saying, when Snap got his head on straight enough to actually listen. Ajax was also giving Feral a hard side eye. “So, no. CT-37-4148 will not be cleared for sparring any time soon. However, CT-22-1981 or I would be happy to spar with any of you.”

Snap wasn’t sure if the use of their designation numbers was intentional, or if Ajax was also slipping into old habits around unfamiliar natborns.

He also didn’t exactly care all that much, just then.

Movement on the periphery of his vision drew Snap’s attention, and he tensed when he noticed Three Greens easing his hand off his holstered blaster.

Ajax’s hand went slightly tighter again, in obvious warning.

Snap didn’t relax, but he also kept his mouth shut. Kriff.

Apparently even Orange Pauldrons had realized he’d stepped in osik, if the tense, defensive set of his shoulders was any indication. He did manage to mumble a very half-hearted, awkward, “Uh, sure.” And then, when Not-Kryze shifted her stance pointedly, he amended, “I mean, I would be honored to.”

Ajax gave Whelk a very pointed look, and the 501st medic nodded minutely. Feral didn’t look very happy with being herded up off his bench and away from the situation, but he went along with it anyway. No one sane crossed a medic, and even if Feral wasn’t always on the right side of that line, even fewer of the clones on base would cross any of the Corries.

“I’ll suit up,” Snap said, eyes sliding back to Orange Pauldrons. The kriff had that overly-tall shebs said?

Ajax nodded, but he didn’t move to do the same. “You prefer blades?” he asked casually.

Too casually.

Snap refrained from snorting. So it was going to be like that?

By the time he’d strapped on his lower plate and rose to start in on his upper armor, Ajax was already in the ring, completely unarmored, holding two blunted practice knives against Orange Pauldrons’ full plate and powered down vibroblades.

Snap knew where he would place his wagers though.

“First to ten points,” Not-Kryze was saying, when Snap walked back within easy hearing distance, bucket in hand. She had her arms crossed over her cuirass, but her helmet was canted at an angle Snap would have called ‘dubious,’ or maybe even ‘concerned.’

But Ajax, unarmored and functionally unarmed as he was, just nodded and said, “Understood.”

Not-Kryze simply stepped back out of the ring, dropping her arms and making a brief gesture of invitation with one hand. Under her breath, Snap could just hear her mutter under her breath, “Your funeral.”

Ajax didn’t look terribly concerned. He simply widened his stance and raised both practice daggers in a reverse grip, dulled edges facing forward and down.

Orange Pauldrons looked conflicted. He was tense, obviously knowing he’d stuck his foot in it, but his pride was also stung. He took an uneasy stance of his own, single vibroblade leading, balled fist back and ready to punch.

Ajax just waited, expression so blank he almost looked bored.

Orange Pauldrons stepped forward, making a small feint with his blade.

Ajax stepped smoothly to the side, squaring back up with his opponent.

One more cautious jab, then another, slightly more emphatic. Then Orange Pauldrons lunged forward, fully committing to a powerful, backhanded slash with his blade.

The Corrie dropped low under the attack, left arm raised, knife angled up to catch or block any retaliatory swipe, and slammed his other fist, gripped around the hilt of his other practice blade, into the inside of Orange Pauldron’s right knee, in the gap between the man’s cuisse and greave.

The leg buckled.

Ajax rose even as his opponent staggered, catching Orange Pauldron’s arm in the hook made between the back of his blade and his left vambrace, right hand reversing, then diverting at the last second so that the side of his forearm, and not the tip of the practice knife, struck the side of the Mando’s neck, up close to the juncture where his helmet just covered his jaw line.

Orange Pauldrons dropped like a stone.

The other Mandos shifted there own stances at that, clearly adjusting their assessment of the fight unfolding in the ring between them.

Snap probably should have put his bucket on. He was having a hard time not smirking, because he clearly knew something Not-Kryze and the other Mandalorians were only starting to suspect.

Ajax was pulling his punches.

That knee-strike could have been debilitating if Ajax had wanted it to be, tearing up cartilage and tendons to the point that only bacta could have really fixed it.

Ajax wasn’t an ARC, or an RC, or any of the other named designations for special forces within the GAR. The Corries weren’t exactly sharing whatever hierarchies and training specializations the Guard had built for itself, but the three of them had been on a hand-picked team which had been sent to Mandalore and help subdue a rogue Sith. None of them were pushovers, the rare times their brothers could entice any of them into the ring, but of the three Guards, Ajax was indisputably the best.

Orange Pauldrons rolled on his side with a muted groan and pushed himself unsteadily to his feet.

Not-Kryze cleared her throat, but her voice was cool and steady when she said, “One, zero.”

Orange Pauldrons took a more defensive stance and waited, right leg visibly wobbling, clearly meaning to approach the rest of this fight with a little more caution.

Ajax obliged him, leaping forward with a quick series of punches and kicks. The Mando did manage to successfully block them, but he was also back on his heels, fully on the defensive.

And that was clearly what Ajax wanted, because the second Orange Pauldrons misjudged, staggering on his injured leg, Ajax was on him, deflecting his left arm high and directing an upwardly angled punch into his unarmored armpit.

Snap, having never actually been punched in the armpit before, didn’t know what the kriff Ajax had hit with that move, but Orange Pauldrons made a noise that sounded like the worst parts of a wheeze and a squawk.

Kriffing Corries.

Snap broke down and decided to put his helmet on, because he was dying here, and he didn’t trust in his ability to keep a straight face for much longer.

Not-Kryze looked at Orange Pauldrons, who was bent double, left arm tucked against his chest, clearly trying to catch his breath. “Two, zero,” she said, and then asked, tone flat, “Zane, are you out?”

“No,” Orange Pauldrons, Zane, managed to say as he straightened into a defensive stance once more, bristling angrily.

A very small, Snap would call it mean, smile curled up one side of Ajax’s mouth.

He took a ready stance very close to Zane, almost daring the Mando to reach out and grab his unarmored opponent.

And because the only thing keeping Zane on his feet was pride, and because Ajax was intentionally stinging it, the di’kut lunged forward and tried to do just that.

Except Ajax threw one of his knives at the man’s visor and followed through with the unexpected distraction by driving his heel onto the top of Orange Pauldron’s booted foot. His synthleather, not beskar, covered foot.

Caught thoroughly off guard from yet another unexpected burst of pain and flailing to regain his compromised balance, Orange Pauldrons barely seemed to notice when Ajax dropped low to sweep his other foot out from under him.

He hit the ground hard, helmeted head clanging loudly against the floor.

Ajax, retrieved his knife and rose, dropping into a ready stance again.

Zane looked up at him briefly and then let his head drop back down on the floor again. “Yeah, no. I’m done,” he admitted, sounding hoarse through his helmet’s vocoder.

Ajax nodded and offered the Mandalorian a hand up.

Snap wasn’t particularly discrete about the fist bump he offered Ajax when the Guard walked past him, but when Ajax returned the congratulatory gesture with an otherwise blank, composed face, Snap also leaned over and whispered just loud enough for his bucket’s mic to engage, “What the kriff did he say to Feral and Whelk?”

“He asked if they had ever fought a Force user,” Ajax said quietly. “I suspect he meant Maul, but Feral and Whelk took it about like you’d expect.”

Force. They were lucky Feral hadn’t dove on the di’kut, right then and there. Everybody knew, but nobody talked about what had happened on Coruscant, when the Order had gone out. That had been true, even before the eight 501st survivors had been brought back from Hadros.

Something of Snap’s scowl must have shown through his bucket, because Ajax said, “Weaver and I will handle any explanations, but I suspect it won’t be necessary.” He glanced pointedly over his shoulder, and Snap turned to follow the pointed look. Not-Kryze and Gold and Gray were hovering over Orange Pauldrons, who had slumped back down against the wall. It looked like the two of them were giving the shiny, and with his helmet off he looked barely old enough to even be a shiny, what looked to be a very quiet, but very thorough dressing down.

Good.

They did not need a bunch of Mandos accidentally dumping salt into those particular wounds. Not if they wanted to maintain the uneasy peace on base.

Ajax gave Snap a pointed look, and then continued off in the direction of his own armor, point apparently made.

“So,” Snap drawled, catching the Mandalorians’ attention. “Any takers for another spar?”

Three Shades of Green crossed his arms across his cuirass and snorted. “Depends,” he said in a deep, oddly accented voice. “Do you fight as well as him?”

Snap grinned under his bucket, and even though he knew he wasn’t in Ajax’s league, he still answered with, “Only one way to find out.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” Snap grumbled, hitting the control pad with his elbow. “Calm the kriff down.”

The reptavians, if they understood him at all, did not calm the kriff down. In fact, they only got louder. The ear-splitting screeching did settle down into slightly more tolerable hissing when he opened the cover on the food chute and poured in the day’s allotment of kitchen and gardening waste.

They were pretty little things, mean as osik and vicious, but brightly colored. Snap and his brothers collected the feathers, whenever they cleaned out the enclosure, but it was more out of force of habit than anything else. Ris wasn’t using them in lessons for the cadets anymore, and Ferin wasn’t popping in at off hours to request stuffing for the bedding and soft tubie toys Suu had asked him to make for Gida.

It felt wrong to just incinerate them though. Wasteful. Maybe they’d figure out something else to do with them.

One of the bigger females took a flying leap over her sisters and hit the grate in front of Snap’s face and clung, sharp talons catching on the heavy metal wires which twisted together to make the walls of the cage. He jerked, spilling some of the food waste on the floor for his troubles.

“Duchess, you shebs,” he said, shaking the last few scraps into the chute and then setting the empty crate aside. He bent down to pick up the scattered fruit peels and other, less identifiable bits of organic debris. When he rose and moved to drop them into the chute, the reptavian, Duchess, hissed and rattled at the walls of her cage indignantly.

Snap sighed, but shifted the pile of scraps into one hand so he could poke one of the larger pieces of peel through the study, metal grate.

The violent little ingrate snapped the orange sliver of rind and threw her head back, swallowing the food in one go.

He offered her another piece.

He really shouldn’t get attached to any of the reptavians, they were here to be food after all, but he couldn’t really help himself. Duchess was a little shabuir, but she had an unusually bright, blue-green crest of feathers down her back, and he’d named her, so that was apparently that.

Honestly, it was a safe enough choice. The brothers assigned to the kitchens had gotten into a habit of taking the males for meat, once their red-ruffed manes came in, but leaving the females behind to keep laying more eggs. It wasn’t like she was going to end up in his rations any time soon.

Not that he’d been eating the reptavian meat dishes lately anyway. But that was just because he didn’t like the flavor. Really.

Snap poked the last bit of food through the cage and then showed his hands, back and front, like a sabacc dealer. “No more,” he said, and the little osik hissed at him anyway. As if there wasn’t a giant pile of additional scraps in the bin on the floor. “You can karking well fight your sisters for the rest.”

The reptavian cocked her head to one side and gave him the most scathing glare out of her bright, red eye, before seemingly taking his words at face value, leaping down off of the wall of the cage and landing on two of her siblings, who screeched in indignation.

While the flock was thoroughly distracted, he walked around the corner of the cage and started unlatching and sliding open the nesting drawers.

Cut had walked Snap through the process of sorting eggs before he’d shipped out. The trick was, they changed colors when they were fertilized. The off-white eggs went straight into the freshly emptied crate, while the darker tan ones stayed in the drawers to hatch the next round of voracious little monsters. Any eggs with a more ambiguous color could be held up to the room’s overhead lights. The fertilized ones usually had an opaque band of shell around the middle.

There were enough unfertilized eggs this time to fill the bottom of the crate, carefully stacked three deep.

Maybe they could get the Mandos who’d signed on to take shifts in the mess to make more of that spicy egg casserole.

He’d left his helmet in the workroom while he’d dealt with the reptavians. After he punched a message into his vambrace alerting Spoons that the eggs were ready for pickup, he picked it up and noticed an alert flashing inside. Pulling it on, he found a message from Weaver waiting.

Apparently the Guard wanted to know if Snap would be interested in the additional help, which, kriff yes! Especially since they were expecting a bunch of returning Mandos as soon as the mission to Abainya was settled. Reading further, he found the catch.

The whole list of volunteers was made up of unfamiliar, Mandalorian names.

He’d have to ask if Delta, Link, and the other 501st brothers would be willing to put up with them though. That might be a hard sell. As for Snap himself, he found he didn’t mind the idea that much.

“New toy?” Snap asked, grabbing the seat next to Tenor. Somebody had shoved the exercise equipment into even closer quarters to make room for two rows of metal-composite benches scrounged up from kark even knew where. He could have stayed upstairs to eat his lunch, but why do that when he could take in a show instead?

Tenor looked up from the small knife he’d been rolling over and over in his hands. It was a simple-looking thing, barely longer than his hand, with a straight spine, a curved edge, and a handle wrapped in some kind of braided cordage. Definitely non-regulation, but the edge looked sharp enough.

“I guess so,” Tenor finally replied. He sounded weirdly conflicted. “Woves showed me how to make it.”

Snap speared one of the cubed, red chunks out of his bowl – a Difranian helituber [chem profile 2a, light level 6], unless he missed his mark – and stuck it in his mouth, chewing slowly and considering. He’d really thought he’d learned all of their newest brothers’ names at this point, but he didn’t know anybody on base named Woves.

“Who’s Woves?” he finally asked, stabbing at another tuber chunk.

Tenor eyed Snap for a second before his gaze pointedly slid across the still-empty sparring ring, to the Mandalorians clustered on their own set of benches. There was a wide gulf of empty space between them, but Tenor’s voice still dropped low when he answered, “See the pale one in the gray and green armor?”

Wait, Woves wasn’t a brother?

It didn’t take long for Snap to find his target. Tenor hadn’t been kidding about the man being pale. Pale hair, pale skin, pale shades of green and gray over a pale gray bodysuit. He was speaking to two other men whose armor Snap did not recognize. “The one who looks like he fell in a vat of bleaching agent?” he asked, also speaking in a quiet tone of voice.

“Uh huh,” Tenor said, carefully testing the edge of the blade with his thumb. “I don’t know. He says he owes Buckler for something, but Buckler shipped out, so I guess I’m the next best thing.”

Snap’s eyes widened suddenly, looking down at the odd blade in a new light. “That’s not…” he trailed off.

“Beskar?” Tenor asked with a snort. “No. Just some spare alloy the recycler kicked out.”

Oh. That was a little disappointing. But still… “Think he’ll teach you how to make armor too?”

Tenor’s expression twisted weirdly again. “Maybe?”

That had a lot of potential. It wasn’t exactly a secret that while plastoid was cheap and easy to work with, it wasn’t the strongest material out there. Snap wore his armor like a second skin and poured his soul into maintaining his paint, but at the end of the day, his plate was mass-produced gear for a mass-produced army. “Let me know when you start taking orders for durasteel,” he said, only half joking. He was sure the Reaper and Raider teams would get first dibs, but just because he wasn’t on the front lines anymore didn’t mean he’d turn down a sizable upgrade in his equipment.

“Who’s taking durasteel orders?” Ding asked, sitting down on the bench behind Snap and Tenor. Some of the remaining brothers from engineering and the deck crew were filing in after him.

“Nobody,” Tenor grumbled.

“Tenor,” Snap said, at the exact same time.

Ding looked back and forth between the two of them, one eyebrow inching upwards.

Tenor just heaved a very put-upon sigh and said, “One of the Mandos taught me how to make this.” He held up the cord-wrapped blade. “And Snap’s reading way too far into it.”

“Let me see,” Ding said, sticking out a hand, palm up, for the knife.

Tenor handed it over, and Ding eyed it appreciatively.

Snap didn’t comment, even if he was sorely tempted to. He didn’t actually think he was reading too far into anything. Mandalorians took their weapons and armor very seriously, and they had this whole cultural thing about making them. Instead, he just speared a spike shoot [chem profile 2, light level 2], popped it in his mouth, and chewed on it.

“They’re certainly trying awfully hard to win us over,” Ding said, flipping the knife around and handing it back to Tenor hilt first.

Snap pointed his empty fork at Ding. “Right?” he said, thinking of the first batch of maara vine leaves he’d passed along to the medics.

Tenor just glowered.

Snap didn’t know what the kriff his problem was.

“But we’re still under orders to conceal the location of our other bases,” Tenor finally said.

Arches leaned around Ding, joining the conversation with, “You think they’ve told us about all of theirs?”

“No,” Tenor replied, sharp and obviously annoyed. “But I also think Lady Kryze hand-picked people who were the most likely to keep the peace.”

“And then threatened them if they didn’t,” Arches agreed.

This was all starting to sound an awful lot like politics, which was firmly Corrie business and not Snap’s.

But at the same time, he wasn’t sure he agreed with the political conclusions his brothers had reached, so he asked Tenor, “Think she asked Woves to teach you how to make knives?”

Tenor didn’t have a quick answer for that, cynical or otherwise.

Neither did any of the others.

“So, speaking of Corrie business,” Ding finally said, clearly dropping the subject. “Ajax is fighting…” he scanned the board some enterprising brother had hung up on the wall. “Ergan Vayn. Who the kriff is Ergan Vayn?”

“Red helmet,” Cutter volunteered, from his seat a few spots down from Ding. “And the cuirass painted to look like a ribcage.”

Right. Snap actually did recognize him.

And after that would be Zipps, who’d joined a few other brothers in erasing his number from the bracket and replaced it with his actual name, and Black and Red, whose name Snap had finally learned was Lytra Krest.

She’d knocked Snap out of the competition yesterday, and while his back still smarted from the bout, he couldn’t exactly argue with the way it had ended. Krest was kriffing quick and fierce. Zipps was going to have a time with her.

“The Abainya mission went well, so Captain Rex should be getting back soon,” Snap said, leaning back to grin at Cutter. “Rumor is, he’s going to fight whoever wins this bracket.”

That got some very interested looks.

“And does the Captain know about that?” Ocher asked dryly.

Snap grinned.

“Weaver’s supposed to tell him.”

The mess was packed, with third shift cycling off for their late meal and sleep cycle, first shift grabbing caff before rotating on duty, and several newly arrived Mandalorians, fresh from Abainya. Half of them were missing pieces of armor, exposing bacta bandages and a variety of medical braces underneath. The smell of burn cream filled the room, even over the sharp scent of heavily spiced food.

Snap tried to make his way through the room without bumping into anybody, assuming for every injury he could see, there were probably three more hidden under body suits and armor plates.

He found Ocher and Nails already at the caff station. Ocher was adding sweetener to his caff, but Nails was filling his own mug out of a smaller carafe containing hot water. Snap wouldn’t have pegged Nails for a tea-drinker, but whatever.

Except the little fabric pouch he dropped in the cup had a medical tag hanging off of it, and Snap’s sleep-fuzzy brain finally made the connection.

“How’s that working?” he asked Nails, nodding at the mug in his brother’s hands.

Nails looked up sharply, as if expecting some kind of a trap, but after only a moment’s pause, he just shrugged. “Well enough,” he admitted, but then he grimaced a little. “It’s bitter as all kriff.”

“Ask Fuse if you can add some sweetener or something,” Snap suggested, reaching for a cup of his own. “Gotta be something that can mask the flavor without mucking with the effects.”

Nails scrunched up his nose, but he didn’t outright reject the suggestion.

The caff sloshed into Snap’s mug, near to overflowing. He bent awkwardly to sip some of the excess off, so he wouldn’t spill more.

“Let me know when you’re headed out to-,” Snap paused, eyes landing on the closest Mandalorians, and rapidly adjusted what he’d been about to say. “Your old corps, and I’ll pack up a couple of the plants for you.”

He probably should have run that past Fuse or one of the other medics first, but whatever. If the tea was working, it was working, and Snap knew perfectly kriffing well that their brothers on Wadj were having at least as many sleep issues as the ones stationed on the Draboon VIII base.

If anything, Nails’ expression got even more sour. “I’ll probably kill it.”

And now it was Snap’s turn to shrug. “So give it to somebody with a clue,” he said, picking up his cup and stepping a little to the side, so he wasn’t blocking access to the caff anymore. “I’ll send instructions. They’re kriffing hard to kill.”

Truthfully, the vines were growing like weeds. Snap was going to have to start cutting them back one way or the other, and he knew perfectly kriffing well how many grow racks they’d packed up to send with the Lawquanes.

Nails nodded, coming to some conclusion that made him square his shoulders a little. “I’m on the next ship out,” he said.

“Good,” Snap replied, because it was good news, even if it didn’t leave him much time to prep the plants for transport. “I’ll get some cuttings ready to go.”

The Captain turned to eye Weaver flatly. “This is the ‘diplomatic effort’ you needed my assistance to pull off?” he asked, tone very dry.

A wave of badly suppressed snickers rippled through the crowd, clone and Mandalorian alike. The gym was packed, standing room only, even with extra chairs dragged in from all over base. Snap had given his entire team the shift off to attend, and he was pretty certain the other teams on base had done the same. No kriffing way was he going to miss this, but hopefully somebody was off minding the comms and life support systems.

Weaver, to his credit, didn’t quail under the Captain’s thinly veiled accusation. “It has been remarkably good for morale and inter-faction cooperation in your absence, Sir,” he said mildly.

Captain Rex sighed like his soul was leaving his body, and he eyed Ajax critically.

Ajax, who was already in the ring with his bucket tucked under one arm, just smiled placidly.

Kriff.

Never let it be said that the Corries lacked stones.

“I’m guessing Commander Fox gave you some pointers?” the Captain asked, sounding more than a little resigned.

Ajax’s smile got just a little sharper. “No more than Commander Cody gave you, Sir.”

The Captain pulled on his bucket and asked, “Rules of engagement?”

“First to ten points,” Panz said. And wasn’t that saying something, that they’d tagged a medic to referee this fight?

“First to submission,” Ajax countered blandly, tugging on his own helmet.

The Captain tipped his head to one side, then the other, obviously making a show of stretching out the muscles along his shoulders. “First to submission,” he agreed.

Panz looked like he wanted to murder both of them.

Weaver held out a hand expectantly, and Captain Rex’s shoulders moved like he’d just huffed a laugh which was too quiet to be picked up by his helmet’s internal mic system. He drew both of his blasters and handed them off, but he didn’t stop there. His charge packs followed, then a pair of thermal detonators, and then he unsnapped his pauldron and draped it over Weaver’s arm before loosening his utility belt to access the fasteners for his kamas.

Ajax’s smile widened into a grin that showed off most of his teeth.

Snap figured he knew where the Captain was coming from. He wouldn’t want to offer up the Corrie any free hand holds either.

Manx elbowed Snap in the ribs and tipped a bowl of fried, spiced legumes [chem profile 7, light level 3] in offering.

Kriff, yeah. Snap took a handful and popped one in his mouth.

“You got any bets riding on this?” Manx asked.

Di’kutla question. Everybody had bets riding on this fight. Maybe not in credits, but in favors and intel, shift assignments and bragging rights. Snap had overheard three Mandalorians joking about proposing marriage to the winner. At least, he thought they’d been joking.

“Captain Rex, of course,” Snap said, with only the smallest flicker of doubt. Betting against the Captain was generally a losing proposition, but Ajax was really kriffing good. One way or the other, it was going to be one haran of a show.

By the time Captain Rex stepped into the ring, he’d pretty well stripped down to his bare plate, with only a single vibroblade hanging off of his belt, which seemed only fair, because Ajax had also kept his two knives in the custom sheath he kept in the small of his back. Neither one of them drew their weapons though, they just fell in on either side of the wide ring, watching one another.

“I will call the match, if I think it’s medically necessary to do so,” Panz said darkly and then stepped back, out of the ring.

How the kriff the medic managed to make being a total wet blanket so threatening was a complete mystery to Snap.

But apparently that was all the signal either man needed, because both of them were moving, Ajax in a wide circle and Captain Rex in a smaller pivot, tracking his opponent without giving ground, letting the Guard close distance, if that was what he really wanted.

Apparently Ajax did want that exact thing, because he was abruptly spinning, directing a kick towards the outside of Captain Rex’s leading knee.

Kriff, he was fast, but Captain Rex was a gen one, amongst the oldest CTs in the GAR, and that experience showed. He drew back, just enough to shift out of immediate range.

If Snap had been in the ring, he’d have surged forward, trying to take advantage of Ajax’s exposed back when the initial kick missed, except the Guard wasn’t stopping, continuing his rotation even as he dropped lower, pivoting to the opposite foot and then following through with sweeping reverse kick at the Captain’s ankle.

But it looked like the Captain had anticipated that move as well, because he shifted his stance one more time, lifting his foot just high enough to pass over Ajax’s lightning-quick kick. Then he planted his foot and followed through with a kick of his own, with the full weight of his body twisting to add force to the blow.

Ajax managed to roll away, tumbling with the force of the kick and darting back up to his feet, seemingly unscathed, with an unnecessary, almost playful bounce in his stance.

One of the Mandos whooped, breaking the breathless silence of the crowd.

“Get him!” one of Snap’s brothers, probably Boar, shouted.

Snap had no idea which ‘him’ that was directed at, but it probably didn’t matter.

He kind of felt like he should have been taking notes: Ajax’s speed and precision against Captain Rex’s economy of movement and punishingly powerful blows.

When Snap would have tried for a block or a dodge, the Captain accepted the hit, shifting just enough that Ajax’s strike glanced off of his armor instead of the more vulnerable spots exposed between the plates. That gave him a fraction of a second more time to close distance with the Guard and slam a knee into Ajax’s side with enough force to make the plastoid creak in protest.

Instead of retreating out of the range of one of Captain Rex’s incoming punches, which was definitely what Snap would have tried, Ajax actually twisted to the side, reaching up and grabbing the outside of the Captain’s wrist with his right hand and then snapping an open palm against the back of Rex’s elbow. And maybe the hit didn’t land exactly dead on, because the Captain was already shifting his trajectory to minimize the damage, but it certainly got his entire attention.

Snap normally would have been yelling out suggestions and making additional side bets, but he found himself utterly riveted. Sure he barked out a laugh or cheered when one of them managed to pull off some ridiculous move, but he didn’t exactly have the words. This was ARC osik, or whatever version of that training the Guard had put together for itself. The kind of half-mad druk that would have had them digging latrines for the duration of the war if their commanding officers had ever caught them pulling such dini’la stunts mid-battle.

Except this wasn’t a battle, which was kind of the whole point. It was fun.

Ajax had somehow managed to rip off the Captain’s belt, for some karking reason. It had ended up tossed into the crowd and picked up by Weaver for safe keeping.

Snap wasn’t sure what the kriff Ajax’s plan had been, because that stunt had been both intentional and the source of his current limp. Seemed pretty stupid, just highly, uncharacteristically di’kutla to Snap, but whatever. All it had managed to do was made the Captain’s plackart hang a little awkwardly low. It wasn’t even affecting his movement noticeably.

Of course, the Captain had picked up a slight limp of his own from one of Ajax’s sharp punches which had actually managed to land more or less on target, and that was affecting his mobility at least a little.

Which was a kriff-ton more than Snap probably could have managed against either of them, so maybe he should withhold judgment.

Except then Ajax tried to tackle Captain Rex head on, which ended up earning him one haran of a slam to the mat, followed by a swift kick across the bucket, hard enough to break its magnetic seal and spinning it dangerously to the side, no doubt utterly karking his vision. So maybe Snap had seriously overestimated Ajax’s previous displays of intelligence and strategy.

But then Manx sucked in a sharp breath, drawing Snap’s attention back to the Captain, and holy kriffing kark! Was that a vibroblade hilt sticking out of the Captain’s ribs?

Kark. It was!

Granted, it wasn’t in all that deep, just kind of jammed in between the Captain’s hanging plackart and his cuirass. For just a moment, Captain Rex stood perfectly still, his arms frozen at his side like a statue. Then, one hand inched upward and grabbed the hilt, easing the powered down blade out from his side. The Captain gave the blade a brief inspection before dropping it on the floor. A thin trail of red ran down the Captain’s plackart, enough to make Snap wince, but the Captain’s visor remained unreadable. That is, until it snapped up towards Ajax, who had managed to roll further away and get up on one knee, but was still scrambling to either straighten up his helmet or tear it off.

Captain Rex took one step towards Ajax, but Panz stepped in front of him and stopped him with a hand in the middle of his cuirass, scowling fit to strip armor paint. “Armor off, you’re both done.”

Snap booed.

He wasn’t the only one.

Except then one of the Mandalorians, a tall one in orange and midnight blue armor, took it one step further and walked into the ring, complaining loudly. The second, the absolute moment his hand touched Panz’s shoulder, the medic whipped around and drove a fist into the man’s throat, sending him staggering backwards with a rasping gasp.

“You’re done too,” Panz said, pointing a finger at the wheezing Mandalorian.

Captain Rex collared Cutter, who was in the process of taking violent offense with anyone laying a hand on a brother medic.

Not-Kryze and Krest ended up stopping a few of their people from doing something equally incendiary. Between the three of them, and Weaver, who’d helped a clearly concussed Ajax to his feet before laying into the closest troopers, they eventually got most everybody calmed down and chased out of the gym.

Maybe it was the promise that once the gym was fit for use again, they’d start a new bracket. And whoever won that could have another go at the Captain, assuming he wasn’t deployed somewhere off-base by then. And if he was, then Ajax would be around to do the honors instead.

Assuming the medics signed off on whatever additional injuries the two of them were clearly hiding under their armor.

Snap wasn’t too worried, there hadn’t been that much blood to mop up. And he would know, he’d ended up sticking around with Cutter, Boar, and two of the Mandalorians to put the room back into something resembling order. They’d all five been there to see when Ajax and Captain Rex finally had been escorted off to the infirmary by Panz and Fuse. They’d both been smiling.

Snap knew perfectly karking well that he didn’t stand a chance of making it to the finals, but after he erased the names from the board and redrew a blank bracket, he went ahead and added his name, not his number, to one of the empty slots.

AN: Previous chapters are available here.

Dividers by @freesia-writes using helmets by @lornaka. More designs available here.

I've been mentally restructuring a few things about this fic, so I have a question for you all if you're game. Do you prefer one long fic with distinct parts within it or multiple separate fics linked together as a series? I'm leaning towards option 2, but I thought I'd poll the audience. Thanks in advance.

[ashes-2-ashes57cba]

The Bad Batch: Specter

Episode 2: Cut and Run

Edited by @ryleeeeeenn *numa: Twi'leki translation for "sister"

Episode 2: Cut and Run 

“Well, this is a first,” Hunter said, coming up behind Echo and Specter, who stood smiling at a sleeping Omega and Wrecker.

“Inspecting every corner of the ship finally tired her out,” Echo explained. Hunter chuckled.

“Yeah, she’s curious. I’ll give her that,” he said before Echo turned to join Tech in the cockpit. Specter felt Hunter’s eyes on her. She smiled still, hoping to cover the exhaustion and anxiety that continued to weigh her down. Crosshair’s betrayal had taken a drastic toll on her, though she’d continue to pretend it wasn’t the hardest thing she’d ever experienced.  

“Hey, you okay?” he asked just loud enough for her to hear. She turned her gaze to him, her smile faltering ever so slightly before she looked back at the girl and shrugged.  

“I’ll be fine. Can’t really afford to think about it,” she said, still looking at Omega sleeping peacefully. “Hunter, she’s a child. What are we gonna do with her?”

Specter doubted Hunter had an answer, and even if he did, whatever he might have said was cut off as the Marauder lurched out of hyperspace. 

“We are coming up on Saleucami,” Tech announced. Specter sighed, tightening her ponytail.

“I’ll wake these two up.” Hunter nodded and clapped a hand on her shoulder before entering the cockpit. She went to kneel down in front of Omega, gently shaking her. “Omega,” she whispered until the girl’s eyes opened, “it’s time to wake up hun. We’re about to land.” The girl rubbed her eyes and slowly stood up, stretching her arms. “Did you have a good rest?”

“Yeah… oh, it looks like Wrecker fell asleep too,” she noticed.

“Looks like he did,” Specter smiled, “You two needed the rest.” Specter shook her brother until he stirred, “C’mon sleepyhead, we’re landing!”

“Couple more minutes…”

“I’ll steal Lula.” The larger clone bolted upright. 

“You wouldn’t dare!” 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Specter followed Hunter out of the Marauder, thankful to have the warm sunlight on her face. She hummed and took in the fresh air, thick with the floral scent of the surrounding plants. They hadn’t made it a few yards before Hunter paused, turning back to Omega, who lingered at the entrance of the ship. 

“What’s with her?” Wrecker wondered aloud. The girl took a deep breath of the fresh air and exhaled with a smile, slowly stepping down and kneeling on the ground, feeling the surface with her hand.

“Woah,” she said in awe, picking up a handful of the dust and letting it fall between her fingers. “What is this?” Omega wondered.

“That would be dirt,” Tech answered.

“It’s amazing,” she giggled, standing up and kicking it around. Specter sniffed.

“Yeah, and it’s getting everywhere,” she managed before sneezing into her elbow. 

“We didn’t have dirt on Kamino. Nala Se’s lab was always so–”

“Clean?” Specter offered. 

“Yeah,” the girl said with a shrug, “I think I like the dirt.” Hunter smiled a little at the girl before the rumbling clouds above caught his attention.

“Come on. Let’s get moving.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They walked through the tall brush, Omega loosely following behind, exploring the flora and fauna. Specter couldn’t remember the last time she saw the Lawquanes, but all her memories of them were bountiful in joy and warmth.

“So this friend of yours, what’s he doing all the way out here?” Echo asked.

“Hiding,” Tech answered, “That’s what deserters do.”

“Staying off the radar’s not our specialty, but he’s been doing it for years,” Hunter added.

“And you trust a deserter?” Echo was still unsure.

“Why not? We’re all deserters now. Might as well take notes from the expert,” Specter said with a humorous tone. They came to the edge of the property before Hunter signaled them to stop, holding back Omega as well.

“What are we looking at?” she asked.

“A booby trap,” Hunter said. 

“Single trip wire,” Wrecker chuckled, pushing his way to the front and stepping over it before anyone could stop him. “That’s cute.” In his gloating, he walked right into another laser sensor, springing the trap; dummy battle droids surrounded the clone, who yelped and opened fire.

“Easy, Wrecker!” Hunter stopped him.

“W-was that me?” he sheepishly asked.

“No, Wrecker, it was the giant Womp Rat with sparkly purple fur and the face of a Gungan,” Specter replied with deadpan sarcasm. 

“What do we have here?” a fuschia Twi’lek appeared behind the rigging of the trap, rifle drawn, “More clones who have lost their way,” she said with a smile, lowering her weapon. A clone appeared beside her. He smiled upon recognizing the group.

“It’s been a while, fellas.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The group made their way into the couple’s home. It was small and warm, and smelled of whatever meal the pair had prepared on the stove. Tech sat at the dining table, fully immersed in whatever he read on his datapad. Omega, on the other hand, explored the space in wonder, seemingly starstruck by the woodgrain of the table or the dust under the furniture, or the glow of the warm sun in the windows.  

“I see a few new faces,” the Twi’lek observed. 

“Echo and Omega, Cut and Suu,” Hunter introduced. Suu waved at the girl and clone as they said their hellos. 

“Where’s Crosshair?” Cut asked, sitting down with his cup and looking at Specter. She lowered her eyes and looked away, holding herself; his betrayal was still fresh in her mind.

“It’s… complicated,” Hunter answered slowly.

“Sounds familiar. Rex told us about the clone troopers turning against the Jedi,” Cut shrugged. Specter perked up at the mention of his name.

“You talked to Rex? When?” Echo asked excitedly. 

“Well he passed through yesterday.”

“Where’d he go?”

“Didn’t ask. He was going on about some behavioral implant.”

“He must mean the inhibitor chip,” Omega interjected. 

“The what?” Hunter asked the girl.

“Inhibitor chips. The Kaminoans implanted them in the clones to modify their behavior,” she explained nonchalantly. The Sergeant looked over her shoulder.

“Tech, you said the regs were programmed, but you never mentioned a chip,” he growled.

“How else did you think it worked?” Tech shrugged, looking up from his data pad. Specter nudged him.

“You and I are going to have a serious conversation about ‘need-to-know knowledge’, understood?” she mumbled with a scowl. The trooper adjusted his goggles and rolled his eyes. 

Suddenly, the door burst open, and two adolescent Twi’leks came running in, calling for their mother and father. 

“There’s a ship outside!” one of them exclaimed. 

“Shaeeah, Jek!” Wrecker cried excitedly, “Remember me?”

“Uncle Wrecker!” they cheered, running into his arms. 

“And what about me? Your favorite aunty?” Specter announced, stepping towards the children with her arms outstretched. The children gasped.

“Aunty Specter!” Shaeeah cheered, leaving Wrecker with her brother. The clone pouted at the lack of attention. 

“You’re here,” Jek happily lept into her arms. She laughed as she hugged them tight, kissing the top of their heads and winking at Wrecker. 

“Who are you?” Shaeeah asked, noticing Omega, who was hiding behind Hunter.

“I’m… Omega,” she shyly introduced.

“We never see kids around here,” the Twi’lek said before taking Omega’s hand. “Come with us.” The blonde girl looked at Hunter for permission, who smiled and nodded his approval. The children made their way outside. Hunter and Specter watched them go, only turning when they felt they were being watched. Suu gave a knowing smile. 

“Ah, parenthood,” Suu mused, “It suits you both.” 

“What? That’s not– we’re not–” Hunter fumbled, “The kid’s stuck with us until we can find somewhere safe for her.” 

“Aww, c’mon Hunter, you know you wanna keep her,” Specter teased.

 “Clones have been said to have very paternal and nurturing instincts,” Tech muttered, not looking up from his datapad.

“Shut up, Tech.” the pair said in unison. He simply shrugged and muttered something under his breath before once again tuning the group out. Specter rolled her eyes and approached the Twi’lek.

“Suu, can you help me with something?” Specter asked, leading her away from the others. The Twi’lek frowned, concerned. 

“Of course, anything, are you alright?” “Yeah, I just need a bit of change and I had an idea.” 

“You want me to do what?” Suu asked incredulously. The girls had secluded themselves in what Specter assumed was Cut and Suu’s bedroom. She sat before a small mirror, now dressed in civvies that Suu had graciously loaned to her, running her hands through her now unbraided and wavy hair. 

“Please?” Specter begged, “I know it’s a lot to ask and-”

“It’s not that it is a big ask,” Suu stopped her. “Are you sure you want to do this? It will look very different, and I’m not sure I’m the best person to give you what you want.” Specter brought her hair forward, brushing her hand over it.

“I’m sure. With all that’s happening, I guess I just want… something I can control.” The Twi’lek sighed.

“Alright. Although I will admit, I will miss this look for you.”

She knew it was merely cosmetic, but something in Specter hoped the visual change would be enough for her to get a grip on this new and unknown situation and allow her to let go. She was hurt and tired. Nothing made sense anymore, and the first person she would go to who would usually help her had been the one to break her heart. 

Crosshair had always braided her hair when they were young cadets. She had kept her hair long for most of her life, but now, it served as a reminder of the past, the burden weighed her down. 

The first snip of the scissors sent shivers down her spine. Suu had insisted Specter close her eyes, and she obeyed, allowing the rhythm of the snipping to soothe her. Suu finished her work, brushing stray hairs off of Specter’s shoulders.

“You can open your eyes now. Take a look,” she said softly. Specter’s eyes slowly fluttered open, almost flinching at the sight in the mirror. She felt better, yes, lighter, more free. She turned her head from side to side, tousling her hair that now fell just above her shoulders. The girl in the mirror was still her, of course, there was no denying that. She looked drastically different, as did her perspective.

This was her choice, even if it was a simple one. Her self-agency remained intact and would stay that way, even in the unknown future. Yet Specter couldn’t help but glance at the lost inches of hair on the floor, recalling old conversations with her twin as he had helped her style it. Tears began to well in her eyes as the euphoria of letting go rushed through her. She tried to blink them back.

“Was it too short? I’m so sorry, Specter, I did the best I could. You must hate it-”

“No!” she quickly wiped her tears away, smiling. “No, it’s perfect. It’s exactly what I wanted,” the girl whispered, admitting her reflection. “Thank you, Suu. I really mean it.” The Twi’lek smiled and wrapped her arms around Specter’s shoulders from behind. 

“Of course, numa,” she said.

Their embrace was interrupted by a commotion in the common room. “Mom! Mom!” Shaeeah cried, rushing inside as the women stepped out of the bedroom, “It’s Omega! She went out past the fence!”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Specter took off after Hunter, who rushed to the girl’s aid with his knife drawn. Her enhanced speed carried her forward, and she tackled the Nexu away from Omega as Hunter stood between the beast and the girl. The animal roared and swiped at her, but she dodged and remained out of reach. While the Nexu was distracted, Suu got a few shots in and managed to scare it away. Hunter recovered Omega and carried her back to safety.

“What were you doing out there? Do you realize you could’ve been killed?” Hunter scolded. Omega shied away, head down. Specter made her way back to the group and placed a hand on Hunter’s shoulder.

“Easy, Sarge, she’s not a soldier,” she knelt before the girl, “Omega, are you hurt? Hey, look at me. Did it hurt you?” The little girl sniffed, burying her face in Specter’s shoulder. Specter rubbed her back gently to sooth her, “We’re not mad at you, hun; you just scared us is all. We were worried.”  

“I’m sorry. I was trying to get the ball. I didn’t know,” she apologized. Cut, who also kneeled beside her, brought Omega in for a comforting hug. 

“You’re safe. That’s all that matters.” Cut lifted her up and carried her back inside, “Come on.” Specter stood up and watched them go.

“And you think parenthood doesn’t suit you,” Suu teased from the doorway with a smile. 

She smiled and rolled her eyes as Suu followed Cut inside, turning back to her team, finding they were already staring at her. “What?”

“A couple inches longer would have better suited your face shape, but even so, I think it looks rather good,” Tech commented, blunt as ever.

“Wait, what are we looking at?” Wrecker asked, still oblivious. Echo palmed his forehead with frustration.

“Her haircut, Wrecker. Which looks really nice?” he hinted.

“Woah! It’s shorter!”

“That’s kind of the point, Wrecker. I just figured since we had a bit of time and it needed to be cut…” she trailed off, smiling and running a hand through her shorter locks. Her eyes met Hunter’s as he stood, still staring at her new appearance; his eyes flickered away and he cleared his throat. “So, what’s the plan, Sarge?”

“Tech, you think you could forge some chain codes?” Hunter asked.

“I only learned of them moments ago, but yes,” Tech assured.

“Moments ago? How come I’m just learning about them now?” Specter said,

“Between your time with Suu and the Nexu attack, when were we supposed to tell you?” Hunter shrugged. 

“Fine, fine. What are they then?”

“Imperial issued identification, and what we need to leave this planet” Tech explained. 

“And you can forge them?” Specter asked. 

“I believe so.” 

“Do it. Echo can help you,” Hunter ordered. “And Wrecker? Help the family start packing. We’re getting Cut, Suu, and the kids on that shuttle.”

“Yes, sir,” they replied, already setting themselves to their task, leaving Specter and Hunter alone together. 

“So…” Specter began.

“The hair looks good,” Hunter said, awkwardly. 

“Oh. Thank you. I just needed the change and with everything else that’s going on-”

“I actually wanted to talk to you about that.” Specter raised a brow, waiting for him to continue. “It’s about Omega. I think we should leave her with Cut and Suu.”

“Oh.” Specter wasn’t sure how to react. Part of her agreed wholeheartedly that the girl deserved better than a life on the run. She deserved a home and a family, the chance to be a child.

Yet, another part of Specter insisted there had to be another option. In such a short amount of time, she had grown attached to Omega. Her spirit was the spark the Batch needed, whether they wanted to admit it or not.

“You don’t agree, do you?” Hunter asked, meeting Specter’s eyes. 

“I don’t not agree; I’m just concerned about how Omega is going to take it. I think her heart is set on staying with us. Especially after all the trouble we went through to get back to her.

“You’re right, but I don’t think we’re fit to raise her.” 

Specter pressed her lips into a line; she honestly thought they were capable enough to at least try, but if Hunter thought the opposite… she would need to reevaluate her mindset. 

“Did you talk to Cut and Suu?”

“They’d be willing.”

Specter nodded. Neither decision—whether the girl stays or goes—seemed like the right one. Hurting Omega was the only guarantee.

“Well, both options suck,” Specter sighed.

“I agree. But it’s why I’m leaning towards the safest one for her.”

“You’re right,” Specter said after a long pause, “but why tell me if you’ve already made up your mind?” Now Hunter paused to think, now avoiding her scrutinous gaze.

“I just need to know I’m not making a mistake.”

“Hey,” she put a hand on his shoulder, “you’re not. I trust that you’re making the right decision. And no matter the outcome, we’re doing the right thing, and we can bounce back. Alright?” Hunter took a breath and nodded. “We’re doing what’s best for Omega… regardless of how we feel.”

“Now we just have to hope we can get everyone on that shuttle in time. Now I'm sure we can manage that.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You did what?” Hunter shouted over the comm, banging his fist on the table and running outside where Wrecker and Specter were helping to load the Lawquane’s belongings onto the carrier. Last she knew, Tech and Echo were back at the ship, trying to figure out how to forge the chain codes. Now, she watched and gaped as an Imperial ship carried away the Marauder.

“Tech, are you insane? What did you do?” she practically screamed into the comm, fuming. 

“This was the simplest solution,” he replied calmly. Specter frustratedly tangled her hands in her hair and paced around. 

“Getting our ship impounded is not my idea of a solution,” Hunter scolded.

“We’ll meet you at the spaceport with the chain codes. I have this under control,” Tech affirmed, “Don’t worry, it’s all part of the plan.” 

“It better be,” Specter scolded. 

“There’s one big problem. Omega’s on the ship,” Hunter growled into the comm. 

“Oh, Maker, give me the patience,” Specter mumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose, now pacing back and forth with her hands in her hair. 

Hunter was right, this is no life for a little girl.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun had just set over the horizon by the time Hunter, Wrecker, Specter, and the Lawquanes made it to the town. Specter did her best to act casual but kept her head on a swivel. 

“Tech, we’re in the spaceport. What is your status?” Hunter reported. 

“In progress. The encryption shouldn’t be a problem,” Tech said. The group continued their way down the street, trying to ignore the heavy clone trooper presence.

“Mom, I don’t like this,” Jek whimpered, clutching his mother’s hand.

“Everything will be okay,” Suu assured him with a gentle smile. Specter watched the interaction, her heart breaking a little.

“Could you hurry up? We either get those chain codes to get them on the shuttle, or we blast our way out of here,” she urged Tech. 

“Don’t worry. I can slip through security unnoticed and deliver the disks to you momentarily.” 

“Great, now I’m more worried,” Specter sighed, following her team as they took their place in a long line. They waited anxiously for Tech as time seemed to slow to a near halt. Specter fidgeted, mindful to avoid the gaze of passing troopers. 

The chime of the comm startled Specter as Tech finally reported in, “The chain codes are en route… er… with Omega.” 

Maker, help us all.

“By herself?” Hunter hissed. “You let her go by herself?”

“Well, we didn’t let her go.”

Specter has already taken off in Omega’s direction with Wrecker close on her tail. They seemed to find her just in time. A droid had cornered the girl, but before it could alert anyone of her presence, Wrecker had smashed its head in. 

“That hit the spot!” he said with a grin. Specter helped the girl to her feet and gently dusted the girl off. 

“What were you thinking going off on your own?! You could’ve been caught or hurt— are you hurt?” Omega shook her head with a smile, holding up the chain codes, “You are very lucky we’re in a rush right now, or I would scold you for going off on your own,” Specter grumbled, ruffling Omega’s hair. She would truly miss the little girl.

“Better get going,” Wrecker nodded toward the shuttle. “They’re waiting for you at the dock.” Specter helped Omega over the barrier before regrouping with Wrecker. 

“Specter, I need an assist,” Tech said over the comm.

“Of course you do,” she teased, running towards the Marauder, counting on Wrecker to stall the troops that arrived at the commotion. She leaped onto a crate and split-kicked the heads of two soldiers who were firing at Tech and Echo. The troopers collapsed, allowing her brothers the chance to regroup. “What do you need?”

“Do you think you can manage running a shipwide diagnostic and maintain a defensive position?” Tech asked.

“I’ve done much harder, Tech, you know this,” she rolled her eyes, hopping into the ship. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hunter, get over here. We’ve overstayed our welcome, and we need to leave now,” Specter ordered over the comm, finishing the last of the diagnostics. Fortunately, the Empire hadn’t added any tracking signals or malware. Over the years, Tech had taught Specter what he could, trusting her to learn some of his skills should he ever be unable to fulfill the task. Hearing blaster fire intensify, she grabbed her rifle and stood at the ship's entrance, firing relentlessly at the troopers to stave them off. Hunter came into view, hopping over the barrier and wrestling with a few soldiers, knocking them down.

“Glad you could make it,” Tech commented as the Sergeant took cover next to him. 

“What are we waiting for?” Hunter asked towards Echo.

“The clamp’s still magnetized. The system’s not responding.” Hunter looked at Specter next.

“Don’t look at me! That’s all external,” Specter yelled before shooting again. Hunter then nodded at Wrecker, who went to remove the clamp by his own force. 

“It responded to that,” he cheered. 

“Get in!” Specter shouted before ducking back inside toward the rear gun, firing a few warning shots. The boys began to enter the Marauder, but Wrecker hesitated outside.

“Wait. Omega’s not back,” he said.

“Wrecker,” Hunter began to explain, “she’s not-”

“Wait for me!” a little voice yelled from across the lot. Omega ran forward, but a trooper caught her leg. Hunter rushed forward to retrieve the girl, providing cover fire so she could get back to the ship.

“Omega? I thought you…” Specter said, surprised at the girl’s presence as she took a seat in the main hold. “Nevermind. Strap in,” she waved it off, turning to fire again. The Lawquane’s shuttle took off and flew away, allowing Hunter and Wrecker to make their way inside. Tech took off as soon as they were secured, escaping the range of blasters. Specter sat back and released a breath, massaging her temples.

“I know I made a mistake, and I have a lot to learn, but you don’t have to get rid of me,” she heard Omega plead with Hunter, who was at the computer. “I left Kamino with you. This is where I wanna be,” she insisted.

“Tell you the truth, kid, I guess I’ve got a lot to learn too,” Hunter admitted. “If this is where you want to be, then this is where you’ll stay.” She smiled to herself.

I was a little girl once… maybe this life isn’t so bad. Better to have her with us than alone on Kamino.

Specter watched from the rear gun as Saleucami grew more distant. For a moment, she allowed herself to breathe and reminisce, savoring the peaceful and joyful moments her time on the planet had brought her. Deep down, she knew those quiet moments would now be a rare luxury. But as she had turned in her seat and peered into the common area, quietly observing the small moments of life from her crew, she was overcome with a sense of peace. 

Their future—Omega’s future—was uncertain, yes, but Specter knew that as long as they stuck together, they would always end up alright.

[seeking-elsewhither]

those silly analyses I was talking about @margindoodles2407

most of these are from way back when I first began watching tbb

(okay I went through all of this - there is more - and most of it is commentary and notes and reactions, but here you are all the same)

Gotta love how sensitive they made Hunter as a leader. He’s very careful with everyone and their emotions. Might be because he just lost Crosshair and wants to do better. Might be a parallel to his enhancements. He’s just…very sensitive. They could’ve made him a cold, war-hardened leader. But noooo they made him dad material.

Something something Hunter and Crosshair having tattoos on the opposite sides of their faces, having the best eyesight of the batch, being the best at close quarters and long range combat, being each other's mirrors and the two sides of the same coin.

Omega is just…this girl I swear. First episode of S3 and she’s so focused on getting the morale up, on spreading hope, joy, love, kindness. She’s so Christ-like honestly, I love her so.

Ohhh so the hound is tamed and now you think she can’t protect herself?? (uhh actually that sounds about right realistically) But what about the Fox and the Little Prince. Being tame meant loving, meant being vulnerable. You are objectively leaving a crack in your armour. And that was Hemlock’s first loss, when a little girl full of love stepped into a loveless prison.

(Gosh, Love really is the answer, huh?)

Watching the deleted scenes from the bad batch arc in tcw s7, and there’s soooo much lore to unpack:

“Not the most luxurious ride in the galaxy, but it doesn’t exactly scream ‘Republic’, like the rest of these.” — Hunter to Anakin and Rex. About the Havoc Marauder, obvio. That goes to show just how much they’ve modified it (I mean, when they get it impounded in tbb cut and run, the regs notice right off the bat how different it is). Is it possible all the hardship they were raised under made them quite cynical and filled with hatred to the Republic to the point where they are unwilling to associate it? This is a theory I’ve been turning over and over in my head because all their choices point to it. The Marauder, their looks (at least in Hunter’s case), their armor, the ‘And for what? The Republic?’ ‘We’re loyal to each other, not some Empire.’, their tight-lipped behavior concerning J-19 and the Lawquanes, Tech’s smile when he says ‘We’re all deserters now’. It was only Echo — a reg — who showed any qualms about no longer serving the Republic. Hunter and co never once claim this allegiance. Crosshair claims it to the Empire (I am a soldier of the Empire), but when he says it, it sounds too idealistic for one as cynical as him to say it, so you know something’s wrong. TLDR: the og batch had no love for the Republic and only fought because they had no other choice (the threat of desertion and being labelled a deserter was too high; they had already been ostracized so far, they can only take so much) and this life is all they knew. They’d learned to survive in this hostile environment, they had each other and it was enough (not really, but they made do). So when they got the first morally legit reason to up and leave this place, they grabbed it eagerly with both hands.

“Umm, I’m gonna be on the ship with the team if you need me.” — Hunter to Anakin, Rex and Obi-Wan. Giggling, because this man just straight up walked out of the situation without a care if he was dismissed or not. He was just as avoidant then. Plus, walking away from a Captain?? Much less two Jedi Generals?? Without being dismissed?

THE PADME NOSE DECAL IS SOMETHING I REFUSE TO ACCEPT AS CANON IT IS DISGURSTANG MY BOYS WOULD NEVER

“Trouble just seems to find us.” — Hunter (asdfghjkl please he sounds so tired and resigned). “Unless we find it first.” — Crosshair (the kark??? why does he sound so determined about it??? or am I reading him wrong and does he sound just as tired??). I have been searching for

“Or, maybe they sent the signal to lure us into a trap, and they’re just using Echo as bait. Well, I can’t be the only one thinking that.” — Hunter to Rex (and Anakin offscreen?). Hunter being the grounding voice of reason and playing devil's advocate per usual, uh huh, uh huh. And he looks to Crosshair when he says that last line.

“We don’t even know if this ‘Echo’ is still alive. And if he is, he might be a traitor.” (“Echo’s not a traitor, you hear me?!”) “If I was left for dead, I would not be so loyal.” — Crosshair (and Rex). Okay, but one way to read this is as Crosshair’s version of coming to support Hunter, his brother and Sergeant. There’s also the annoying capability of his to start osik with regs. Not sure why though. But Cross is a complex lil sniper, so there’s bound to be layers of reasons and excuses as to why he spat those words. Maybe it was to garner and gauge Rex’s reaction, see how much he cared. Maybe it was to hurt Rex because he heard what happened, and he was empathetic about it (putting himself in Echo’s shoes and he could probably feel his blood boil because Crosshair would never just up and leave his brothers for dead or tolerate being left behind. This is a man who can and will hold a grudge for decades. He just won’t be severely vocal about it unless he wants to and depending on the circumstance). Maybe it was foreshadowing. Maybe it was Cross just being a little osik. Maybe it was defending and supporting Hunter.

(“How’s it going, Tech?” — Anakin while Tech is hacking) Cue long pause, so long Anakin exchanges a glance with Hunter on his left, then Rex on his right. Then: “What was the question?” — Tech to Hunter (mainly, I think, y’know the way you ask a classmate or friend instead of the teacher who asked you?), Anakin, Rex and Crosshair. “Ha ha! Tech, you gotta love him.” — Hunter to Anakin. Sorry but I am utterly convinced Hunter and Tech are the closest after the eldest-youngest bonding fashion. The Sergeant literally tells Cody, Rex and co, how Tech can ‘fill you with useless info for hours’ and Tech legit smiles when he says that. Like, that’s his equivalent of beaming. And here we see Hunter quickly diffusing the situation between a higher authority and his baby brother with a short proud laugh and a claim that one can’t help but love him like !!!! THIS MAN LOVES HIS BABY BROTHER AND CAN AND WILL SAY IT. gives boromir-faramir vibes, honestly.

Cross snorting in his sleep my beloved <333

Fav thing about the bad batch is how they're collectively trash at stealth missions. Bracca, Serenno, every time Hunter thinks he's stealthy, they get caught.

This show is so relatable sometimes. Omega’s anguish and sorrow she forces down and away when Echo leaves, the nervous looks on her face when she watches Wrecker and Tech argue. Crosshair’s silence as he goes about his day in the Empire and tamps down his emotions when he hears about Cody going AWOL, his suicidal ideation to end his life trying to save Omega instead of taking it himself, believing he deserves death. Hunter not asking questions despite not understanding something, waiting for someone else to ask them instead, his quiet yet desperate attempts at muscling through the galaxy and earning credits while looking after his brothers and daughter. Tech catching sight of Phee and immediately glancing away as she approaches because he doesn’t know what to do in such a social situation.

Honestly? Hunter does have a greater potential of turning on his squad than Crosshair does. A. He’s the most like a reg. B. He’s the Sergeant, therefore closer to command than the rest. I mean, imagine if he’d been the one to turn on them, they would’ve collapsed and got caught the exact next time they cross paths (which is, what? Ryloth? Bracca? It’s Bracca). It also would’ve hit them much harder, their leader turning on them in the flash of an eye. Also, feral Hunter?? Hello???

Hunter’s the Sergeant, the leader of Clone Force 99 and the ori’vod, bar Echo, who’s a relatively recent addition. There are many ideas about the 99s childhood, none of them impressive, some with them growing up together since decanting, others with them meeting up later as cadets. Whatever the case, he’s still the firstborn (firstdecant?) and eldest brother, making him the responsible one. He’s supposed to look out for his squad, he’s supposed to keep them safe, protect them and lead them right. With the Empire popping up, and him quickly discovering they can’t work under it without crossing the moral line, they’ve run away and now have to fend for themselves. I honestly see it as a kid suddenly being thrust out of his parent’s home and having to survive in the real world, and in a way? That’s exactly what it is. Only this time, the kid’s got all his little brothers and a baby sister to support and take care of. So Hunter’s under some severe pressure, if I were him, I’d have just had a minor panic in the refresher and a good cry, then popped out and melted down. His situation is hard, like really very hard. These soldiers have had everything provided to them just like that. They’ve never had to earn credits or figure out the world and its ways, because home was Kamino, home from the stars. Even if it was a kriffed up hole of eugenics, murder and abuse. CF99 especially couldn’t have lived a happy child—uhh, cadet-hood, but it was still their base to fall back to.

Speaking of Kamino, when they turn to watch Tipoca City fall, only Omega and Echo seem actually heartbroken. Omega’s face looks kinda conflicted, though it leans more towards sorrow and grief and pain, it does have a hint of confusion as to how she should feel. Echo’s face actually morphs from stubborn resilience to a sorrow that you can see even from far away. But the Batch? There is no remorse in their faces, if anything it borders a ‘good riddance’. They do show some slight concern when Omega comments, but that’s reserved for her alone.

No, but it’s the way Crosshair closes his eyes and leans into the hug with Omega and Hunter in the finale that has me convinced the Batch are all equally tactile.

No, because the first time the Bad Batch are seen on screen, Hunter steps out doing his bad boy pose and cracking his joints all cool like, but then he’s the only one to turn his head to check for the rest of his squad. Like, he’s so proud of them, you can see it in his eyes and smile, even his insults are just pride twisted to seem like teasing.

Watching the Batch in tcw, and wow man.

Hunter nods at Crosshair (you have to really pay attention to see it) after his fight with Rex.

Tech is so much more mouthy and sarcastic and such a little osik-head. He's also a lot more flamboyant, not to mention outright distrustful.

Forget all the stuff people say about Crosshair and Echo. Wrecker was the first one to actually warm up to him, right after they unplugged him on Skako Minor. Bet he planted all those bombs for revenge.

Love Echo’s strength and perseverance, despite all obstacles, be it from an enemy or an ally.

Hunter and Tech side-eyeing each other.

Tech actively mouthing off to Echo, who snarks right back. Bet that was the moment Tech actually decided they were gonna be bffs.

Hunter decided that was the moment he was adopting Echo.

Until destroying the Admiral whatever, the Batch are mostly suspicious of Echo, having once belonged to the seppies.

I didn't like the way it ended. “Your path is different.” Sorry, if I'd just been rescued and I’d just recaptured a planet while severely traumatized, and somebody said that to my face, telling me to leave everyone familiar for them because they know I won't fit in, I would've decked then. Because there's still a chance, Hunter, there's still a chance for things to go back. Or maybe Echo's a lot more emotionally and mentally mature than I am and realized the truth behind the statement.

But there's such a lot of Tech in tcw. And he’s a lot more carefree and charismatic, not to mention arrogant and confident. He’s very certain in the split-second decisions he makes on his own. Also, his colloquialism is adorable, ‘clankers’ ‘yup’ ‘cap’ ‘sarge’.

Hunter’s abilities are seen often here. He stares in the direction of lightning before it flashes. When Echo’s signal reappears, he heads straight for that direction and points at the doorway (though his helmet is off. I wonder if his helmet helps to filter the frequencies and such so that he can’t detect it, because only he had his helmet off in that scene).

Also, Crosshair and Anakin totally became bffs or something on the way to Skako Minor, because he heads off in Anakin’s direction and saves him.

Hunter’s such a goofball, though. He sends Crosshair to check it out, and he snarks, ‘Yeah. It’s a lift.’ ‘Well I already knew that.’ And then Wrecker says something about the lift and he goes, ‘Don’t worry Wrecker, I’ll hold your hand.’ ‘Hey cut it out, Sarge.’

The ‘I want that thing of my ship!’ Hunter sounds genuinely pissed off here. Tech sounds pissed in nearly all his scenes on Anaxes, especially in relation to Echo.

Crosshair shaking his head when Anakin hands Wrecker the detonator. Hunter shaking his head when Tech butts in with a technically.

Hunter telling Rex he hopes he finds what he’s searching for before he follows after Tech to Echo.

Love that moment where Crosshair’s rescued by Howzer and Hunter’s immediately at his other side, one hand at his back and the other supporting his elbow.

I bet Echo saw so much of himself in Emerie. Her eagerness to do the right thing after discovering she’s been used against her brothers this entire time. The fact that she’s willing to spill everything now that she knows the truth.

Looking at a pin of the scene where Rampart mentions Crosshair following orders in the past, and Crosshair reply it depending on who gives the orders. Staring at the comment that says it’s funny how he didn’t say it depends on the orders. Everything that felt strange about the moment makes sense now. I realize why exactly I wanted to see Hunter’s face in this scene.

Because Crosshair is so fiercely loyal so long as that loyalty is returned. So long as there’s a chance for the loyalty to be returned. And something tells me Hunter’s much the same. It’s why Hunter was so brash and abrasive and why he lashed out on Crosshair the moment he got the excuse to: He feels just as betrayed by Crosshair.

They’re so much like each other, such mirrors of each other, it’s what makes the betrayal that each feels the other to blame so much more painful.

And it’s just like them, isn’t it? To point the finger outwards, shoving the blame towards the other if only in word, even when deep down they’re wallowing in their own guilt.

No, no, but it’s the way Crosshair always bows his head when he’s arguing with Hunter. It’s the way he hunches his shoulders and bares his teeth just as Hunter does the same. It’s the way he holds his gaze by lowering his head.

Hunter listens so much. He takes advice, practically gulps it down like a parched man in a desert, when it’s given out to him. He listens so much to Cut especially, watches him so closely to imitate the reg as well as he can (he’s just like me fr). Values and respects the man more than anyone I’ve seen him interact with.

And he’s so earnest with Cut, so ready to offer his services. Same thing with Rex. When Hunter decides he loves you, he will go all out.

Maybe that’s why Crosshair was so put off and affected by the squad ‘leaving him behind’.

Also, saw this pin of Wrecker under the chip glowering up at Tech, the words “It is not something you can control.” over the picture (Rex’s words). And if that just doesn’t tear me up? Because the scene in the mess hall? “Ha! Nothing controls me!” The yelling at Tech? Whom he strangles under the chip’s influence? Wrecker being something you can’t control? The inhibitor chip being something you can’t control? I’m going crazy feral.

Tech and Hunter, the more passive members of the Batch, did not have their chips activate. Yet Crosshair and Wrecker, the ones more likely to throw the first punch/insult, did.

Wrecker and Tech try a decent amount to actually get along with the regs. I’m pretty sure they had more friends amongst the regs than Hunter and Crosshair. They’re just pretty blunt about it, don’t realize or get social cues very well. But they are endearing in their efforts at being themselves and showing off their abilities. It all just gets translated wrongly along the way.

Hunter and Crosshair are openly wary and hostile towards the regs. They seem to be trying far harder to keep their squad closed off and unapproachable than the younger two. Hyper-focused and hyper-aware to body language, posture, tells, all sorts of analyzing, they keep a close eye on anyone who is everyone, because everyone could be a threat. They don’t trust too easily.

Makes me wanna know more about Cody.

No no, it’s the way Cross turns to Hunter when he emphasizes the ‘now’ in “We need to leave. Now.” when he meets the clone assassin. Hunter’s probably the only one in the room he trusts to take him seriously, based off past experience. And it’s all raised eyebrows and wide insistent eyes.

Also this being after Hunter tells Howzer to back down — pretty sure whatever respect he had for the reg went down the drain (or got shoved in a box at least) the moment Howzer kept coming back to jab at Cross. Probably reminded Hunter of their cadet-hood where they were always targeted, so Hunter’s just falling back on his instincts when his temper flares to irritation and anger at Cross’ accusations (only he gets to pick on Cross).

Hunter and Crosshair worry too much about their appearances — the former wants to give an accurate portrayal of himself while the latter wants to give himself away as little as possible. Wrecker and Tech couldn’t care any less about whether they’re bald or not.

We don’t talk enough about that scene on Onderon where Hunter just whips out his blaster and downs the probe droid, aiming right beside Crosshair’s head, and neither of them seem phased by it. Like the amount of trust? The lack of blinking eyes or flinching muscles? Crosshair’s face only slackening and eyes widening as if in slow and lazy surprise and confusion? Beautiful you guys.

Watching these edits and wHAT THE KRIFF ECHO HAD A KNIFE LODGED IN THE BACK OF HIS ARM WHILE HE WAS FIGHTING IN THE TANTISS TRAINING ROOM?!

Fives’ foil being Fox and Hunter’s foil being Crosshair

Ohhhh you wanna know why Cross gave Jesse osik? Because a. He was the one reg in his line of sight (presumably) and b. The Lieutenant’s got a massive karking cog tattooed on his bald head. Y’know, the emblem of the Republic? And what does Crosshair hate the most? That’s right, the kriffing Republic that made their lives shit (in his eyes at least).

Haha Hunter’s main skill being tracking but he still can’t track hIS OWN KRIFFING DAUGHTER I’M GOING INSANE—

Wow does Hunter fight horrifically well :/ like, how did Crosshair ever expect to top that mate?

I bet Hunter was holding back when he and Crosshair were pummeling each other in the training room

[masterjedilenawrites]

Clone Force Omega story prompt: Omega gets a boyfriend or girlfriend and her little brothers suddenly become very protective of her and live up to their nickname "the Bad Batch".

Clone Force Omega: Part 3

Love this prompt! Gave me just the boost of motivation I needed to keep going with the AU.

Now, this chapter won't quite get to the boyfriend/girlfriend part, but you'll see how I'm setting it up. I also decided that Omega wouldn't go to the Lawquane's right away like Hunter had in the show. I'm not cutting their part out of the AU completely, just reordering things a bit.

< Last Part | Series Masterlist | Next Part >

Omega & The Bad Batch | 4.2k words

Content: Canon-typical violence/fighting/peril, some flirty banter,

The one blessing of having four young kids to look out for, was never having a moment quiet enough to think about the demons you were running from.

Omega recognized this blessing immediately, knowing if she had been alone on this ship, she'd likely have started falling apart by now. The Republic was gone, changed into something cold and ugly. Her life as a lone soldier was done, her sense of purpose and identity now floating nebulous in the wind like the smoky remnants of a fire. And Echo...

"Omega, what does this do?" a little voice called out, just before bunks started sliding out of the wall with a harsh grating sound, revealing that they'd clearly never been used in all the time the ship had been in commission.

She was about to scold Tech for being nosy, knowing there were worse buttons to push without knowing what they'd do first, but then decided the bunk beds gave an opportunity to redirect their attentions.

"Oh good, just in time for bed," she said with feigned cheer.

There was a chorus of whines from around the ship. None of them thought they'd still have a bedtime while on an adventure. How lame.

But in spite of the protests, she still managed to get them to comply with the promise that sleep would make them even stronger and smarter than they already were. And they'd need a lot of strength and brain power if they were going to visit their first planet outside of Kamino.

"What's it going to be like?" Hunter asked eagerly as she tucked each of them in. "Are there going to be trees?"

"Ooh, what about mountains?" asked Wrecker with an equally excited lilt to his voice. "Or volcanoes?"

"I want to see a bird," chimed in Tech. "I read that sometimes they are really small, and sometimes they are really big."

"Go to sleep," Omega repeated, crossing over to the other set of bunks. "You'll see soon enough."

She finished her round of tuck-ins with Crosshair, who was usually the quietest of the bunch, but Omega knew that didn't always mean he had nothing to say. She leaned in close as she pulled the blanket up to his chin.

"What do you want to see?" she whispered so the others wouldn't hear her special treatment. She wasn't sure why she had such a soft spot for the little grump; he really could be a brat sometimes. But truthfully, she could be one, too. Maybe that was why.

Crosshair blinked up at her with eyes she knew had been enhanced even more than hers had. There'd be a lot for those eyes to take in, wherever they ended up going. But his response didn't answer her question.

"What's going to happen to us?" he asked, also, thankfully, in a whisper.

She could already hear Wrecker snoring behind them. Hunter was the only one who could probably hear at this point. She'd have to choose her words carefully so neither would panic.

"I don't know," she decided to go with the truth. A simple version of it, anyway. "But I promise, no matter what happens, I will take care of you. We're family. We stick together."

That seemed to satisfy Crosshair, at least enough for him to close his eyes when she repeated the instruction to go to sleep.

Omega returned to the cockpit and sat down in her seat heavily. A stray wisp of hair tickled her cheek so she started undoing her braid, running her fingers through her curls as they bounced free. Every pass of her hand from her scalp the ends of her hair, a new troublesome thought seemed to enter her mind. What was going to happen to them? Where were they even going? What was this new Empire really all about? How could Echo have...

She stopped that thought as a sudden lump pushed its way in her throat. She knew she couldn't explain Echo's behavior, just as she couldn't answer any of those other pesky questions. Not without all the facts. The logical side of her brain, a trait she shared with Tech, insisted she investigate before coming to any wild conclusions.

So she swept her unruly hair behind her shoulder and leaned forward in her seat, tapping around on the holomap and doing some quick mental-calculations. She didn't know where to get information, but she knew someone who might. Unfortunately, the Empire's crews hadn't refueled her ship, or even restocked on rations, since she'd returned from her last mission. She could picture the stomachs of four growing boys growling as soon as they woke up, and knew that wouldn't do. And all that was in addition to the fact that it wouldn't take long for the ship's signature to be put on a wanted list, if it hadn't been already.

They'd need to make a supply run first. And get the ship's code scrambled before it drew unwanted attention. Omega swiped at the map and saw Pantora was the closest planet. That would have to do.

* * *

Omega had once dreamed about taking the boys off Kamino. Just for a day. Most clones, including herself, had to wait until they were fully grown and fully trained before they were mobilized off planet for the first time. Occasionally groups of young cadets were taken on field trips, but it was almost always within the confines of a spacecraft, never on ground. Omega wanted different for her brothers. They were special, a secret project. Why shouldn't they be given special privileges as well?

She would've taken them somewhere warm, green, and full of wildlife. Somewhere like Naboo or Alderaan. She'd let them run around in nature, feel the tactile sensations of dirt beneath their toes and sunshine on their faces. They could climb a tree that wasn't holographic, swim in water what wasn't dark and cold, run as fast and as long as they wanted without the danger of reaching the end of a platform. For one day, they could just be kids.

Pantora certainly had its fair share of luscious landscapes that would've suited such a day perfectly. Unfortunately, there were no supplies out in the Pantoran wilderness. So the boys' first experience stepping foot on another planet was within a city. And though she kept it to herself, Omega was not happy about it.

Cities were not her thing. Too many people, too many dark alleyways. It was difficult enough to process the amount of sensory input and keep watch of her own back, but now she'd have to do it with four young boys in tow. And not only that, but there was simply too much to do in such a short time frame. What a nightmare.

"Tech, have you ever had to scramble a ship's signature before?" she asked, already knowing the answer but needing to humor her need for hope anyway.

"No, but I know how to look up ships by their signatures when looking through the archives!" he grinned, very proud of himself despite the fact that was not the same thing. Not even close.

The Marauder had just touched down but she held back on lowering the ramp for a few minutes while she chewed on her lip in thought. She hated the idea of splitting them up but she couldn't see any way around it. Not unless they had the luxury of staying here all week, which they most certainly did not.

"Okay, here's the plan," she finally said, spinning around.

"Is this a mission plan?" asked Hunter as they crowded around her in a surprising show of obedience.

"Yep. Our first mission. You boys ready?"

They all nodded eagerly. If this was the only way to keep their attentions, so be it.

"Tech, you're going to stay with the ship and scramble it. I'll be talking you through everything on comms. Don't do anything until I give you the instruction. Copy?"

"Copy that," Tech nodded and pushed up his goggles.

"Wrecker, you're also going to stay and keep watch. If anyone comes poking around asking questions, let them know your parents are exchanging credits and will be back soon."

"Parents?" Wrecker's nose scrunched in confusion.

"Yes, it's a cover story."

"Ohh," he said, still looking confused.

Omega decided to not waste time trying to explain more. She also wasn't going to tell him that she thought he was the best chance at defending himself and Tech should, gods-forbid, anyone try to harm or capture them.

"Hunter, Crosshair, you two are going to follow me into town for supplies. You're going to keep an eye on things and let me know if you sense any danger."

Both boys gave nods and salutes of their own. 

Omega breathed deeply through her nose. "Okay. That's the plan. Let's go."

Thankfully the boys had already been wearing fairly casual clothes, though she'd had to carefully rip off the old Republic logos from the sleeves while they'd slept. She had been in her blacks upon leaving, but she always kept a spare change of civvy clothes on board for her undercover missions, so she'd changed into those earlier as well. After quickly buying off the shipyard foreman to not ask questions for the next half cycle, they set off on their respective tasks.

"Okay, Tech, you're going to start by locating the rear parallax inverters..." she began listing off instructions into the comms link as soon as they hit the main street of the city.

Walking Tech through the procedure, looking for market stalls with deals on rations and fuel, keeping an eye on two boys who were in awe at every little thing around them, and steering clear of the parade of Imperial soldiers marching about proved to be quite the challenge. Though one of Omega's strong suits was multitasking, she still had her hands full.

"Crosshair, keep up!" she shouted back at the boy, who had stopped to pet a friendly Tooka on the side of the road.

"Why is everyone cheering?" Hunter asked, tugging at her sleeve for an answer to the dozenth question he'd asked in the past two minutes.

"End of the war," Omega quickly responded before pressing the button on the comm link and answered a different question from a different brother. "Yes, Tech, the one with the blinking light. Have Wrecker help you pull it out. Gently."

She then turned into a stall and saddled up to the counter, plopping an old pyro denton grenade between her and the merchant. "I'd like to do a trade."

She spent the next ten minutes continuing to bounce between the various demands for her attention, haggling with the merchant, walking Tech through the complicated procedure of rewiring the key, making sure Wrecker was being useful by putting all the other parts back into the ship. But at some point, she'd decided Hunter and Crosshair didn't need as much of her focus as they both amused themselves playing with the lost Tooka. It wasn't until she'd finally sold the merchant on the value of her grenade did she then turn around and notice they were gone.

"Hunter? Cross?" she called out, rushing to the street and looking both ways.

"They went that way," the merchant told her, pointing toward her left. "Chased that poor creature away."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

Omega was more frustrated than frantic. She half-walked, half-jogged down the road, careful to look down alleys and within stalls, just in case her brothers were hiding there.

She paused at an intersection, glancing at the three options before her for only a second each. Somehow, she felt that she had to go down the one on the right. Her instincts never steered her wrong.

No sooner had she turned the corner did Crosshair come rushing up to her. She was relieved, but fully prepared to start scolding the boy for running off in a strange place like that. But the panic in Crosshair's eyes stopped her.

"Where's Hunter?" she asked instead.

Crosshair pointed down the road. "There's this lady. She said she'd help us find you but took us the wrong way. Hunter wouldn't listen to me."

Omega started running, making sure Cross was just a step behind her. Soon the road twisted and she saw a little head of messy brown hair through the crowd ahead.

"Hunter!" she called out. The little boy stopped and turned with a big grin on his face. He was holding some kind of fruit.

"There she is!" he said to the person standing next to him. "That's my sister, Omega!"

Sure enough, someone was accompanying him, though Omega could see right away that she was less of a lady and more like a bounty hunter.

"Hunter, get over here right now," Omega barked. She could hear the garbled voice of Tech coming from the comm link in her hand, asking for his next instructions, but she shoved it into her pocket. She kept her hand hovering by her hip, where her trusty blaster hung at the ready.

"It's okay, Omega," Hunter called back, taking a bite out of the fruit he held. "She was helping us look for you."

Crosshair clutched at the back of Omega's shirt and shook his head at his brother. At least one of them had a healthy sense of stranger danger, Omega thought.

"Yes, Hunter and I were getting to know each other," the girl said. Her tone was friendly enough, but Omega could see the threat in her eyes. They looked even more dangerous as soon as the girl put her helmet on, big brown eyes that squinted confidently through a slat in the helmet. Omega now wished she'd brought her own, but it would've drawn too much unwanted attention.

Instead, Omega crouched with her hand now resting firmly on the hilt of her blaster. Her opponent did the same. A good old fashioned stand off that would've been a lot more fun had Hunter not been in between them.

"Cowering behind a kid, very brave," she called to the girl, hoping some banter might buy her some time to get a plan together.

"What can I say," the girl responded, "I'm an opportunist."

That drew Hunter's attention to what was really going on. Now his eyes were as wide and scared as Crosshair's had been.

"Omega?" he whined as he dropped his fruit.

"How much is the bounty?" Omega spoke over him and asked the girl.

"More than you can afford to buy me out of."

"Maybe I have something worth more than credits to you."

The girl laughed. "A defective clone on the run from the Empire? With four little boys hanging on her back? That practically pays for my retirement. There's nothing I want more."

"Pft, retirement's overrated," Omega egged on. "You'd get bored. Hitch a ride with me, though, and I'll show you the adventure of a lifetime."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were flirting with me."

"Well... Is it working?"

"Hmm, not really."

The girl didn't give Omega a chance to come up with any further quips. She whipped out her blaster and started firing, giving Omega no choice but to duck for cover. Crosshair jumped with her, though somehow he had pulled out one of her vibroblades from behind her back.

"Hey, let's switch," she said, pulling out her blaster to give to the boy and taking the blade instead. "I have an idea."

Meanwhile, Hunter had thrown himself at the girl, trying to wrestle the blaster out of her hands. Omega scowled as she looked around the crate they'd hidden behind to see him so brazenly fight a bounty hunter ten times as skilled. Once they got out of this mess and away from Pantora, she'd have to find some time to train the boys on safer tactics.

Even so, she didn't immediately rush out. Hunter was distracting the girl's attention just enough for Omega to slip behind a different crate that was a little closer. She motioned for Crosshair to stay where he was. And then, as soon as the girl had twisted around in an attempt to push Hunter to the ground, Omega jumped out and hurled the vibroblade.

The girl was too fast. She grabbed at a wicker basket lid from a nearby stall and used it as a shield. The blade lodged itself in it.

Omega was a little faster. She rushed out from the crate while the blade had still been circling in the air. The girl flipped the lid around to try and dislodge the blade, but Omega was already upon her, shoving her knee right into the girl's abdomen.

"Hunter, run!" Omega barked as she tried to wrestle the lid away. She didn't look to see if the boy listened, putting all her might into the hand-to-hand combat she was now locked in with this bounty hunter.

"You fight dirty, clone," the girl gritted through her teeth, parrying one of Omega's punches with the but of her blaster.

Omega let go of the lid so she could roundhouse kick the blaster out of the girl's hands. It went clattering down the street, causing several people to shriek as they realized a serious fight was breaking loose. Great. No doubt those Imperial soldiers would soon be showing up.

The girl didn't mourn the loss of her blaster, instead taking advantage of the blade having fallen out of the lid as Omega dropped it. She somersaulted over the thing, grasping the hilt and kicking out at Omega's legs in one smooth swoop. Omega would've been impressed had she not had the wind knocked out of her.

Then the bounty hunter was on top of her, the hum of the vibroblade reaching Omega's ears before the blade itself got too close. She gasped for air as she threw up her wrists, criss-crossing them underneath the girl's hand and pushing back. The girl's other hand came around and grasped at Omega's throat.

"Hell of a way to flirt back," Omega rasped, still pushing with all her might to get the blade away from her face.

Surprisingly, the bounty hunter grinned. Or at least, Omega assumed she did, given the wrinkles around her eyes.

"Honey, these aren't even my best moves."

Sudden blaster fire came from above, clipping the bounty hunter in the shoulder. She cried out and jerked back just enough for Omega to grab the blade and pull. A sharp, electrical pain radiated up to her elbow as the thing pierced through her palm, but she didn't care. She kicked upward, making contact with the girl's rear end and sending her sprawling.

"Omega!" Hunter called out to her. Crosshair was next to him holding a smoking blaster in shaky hands.

Omega flipped herself onto her feet and immediately started sprinting before the bounty hunter could recover herself. Hunter and Crosshair followed, running as fast as their little legs could carry them.

Blaster fire followed as well. The bounty hunter had found her gun again. They kept running.

"Citizens! Halt!" A few of the local police had arrived at the scene, but Omega and her brothers went barreling past them.

She turned them down an alleyway to escape both of the threats that were now close behind. Her mind was frantic, unsure how they could make it back to the ship before someone caught up to them. Even if they managed to get off planet, they were still screwed. With little fuel and a bounty on their heads, they were essentially trapped.

"Omega!"

The voice that called her faint and distorted, so much so she almost didn't hear it over her racing heartbeat. She turned back to see Hunter and Crosshair were keeping pace, but neither looked like they had been trying to say anything.

"Omega!" it came again. And then she remembered the comm link in her pocket.

"Tech!" she huffed into the mic. "Get the ship running, now!"

"I already did!" he responded proudly. "You left the comm on and we heard shooting. We're coming to your rescue!"

Omega stopped running at the end of the alley, peering out to see people milling about with no clue of the chaos she brought with her. Hunter and Crosshair pulled up next to her, huffing and puffing.

She brought a hand to her temple and tried to think. Tech couldn't fly a ship, no matter how badly he believed he could. But, if she could talk him through the basics like she had with the signature key, and if her and the boys could find higher ground, they just may have a shot at escape.

"Tech," she whispered into the comm link. "There's a satellite tower just north of the docking bay. You're going to pick us up at the top. Now, listen very carefully. You're only going to push the buttons I tell you to."

"And what do I do?" came Wrecker's voice.

"Help him navigate."

Omega silently motioned for Hunter and Cross to follow her lead again. As calmly but as quickly as possible, they went out into the street and hurried down the lane toward the satellite tower, and all the while Omega talked Tech through the controls of the ship. She heard some concerning sounds in return, both through the comm feed as well as out in the real world. The bay was close enough to their current location that ever scrape of the ship's wings against the walls let out a harsh shriek into the surrounding area. Omega tried not to cringe.

They reached the tower and she sent the boys up the ladder first. There was no time for a pep talk, but they seemed to understand the seriousness of the situation and started climbing without a fuss. If Wrecker had been here instead, different story.

"Leaving so soon?"

The bounty hunter's voice rang out across the street from behind her. Omega looked over her shoulder, her foot resting on the first rung of the ladder.

"Just when we were getting to know each other," the girl sauntered forward. The police, or any Imperials, didn't seem to have made it yet. But Omega could sense they weren't far behind.

"The offer still stands," Omega called back, looking up briefly to see her brothers were making good progress on the ladder. "I can give you more than the Empire ever could."

She was trying to be cheeky, buy some time for Tech to get off the ground. But in a strange way, she also meant it. The future was so uncertain, it was appealing to think there could be one person out there that didn't want to kill them.

"Oh, I'm not working for the Empire," the girl responded.

Omega didn't have time to process that odd statement. The police had just rounded the corner behind the bounty hunter, and Tech had just breached the top of the landing bay wall.

Omega jumped and caught the tenth rung on the ladder and began climbing from there. There were a few blaster shots that ricocheted off the side of the tower, but the police quickly converged on the bounty hunter and put a stop to it. Omega quickly caught up to the boys, who were just reaching the top platform. She all but pushed them onto it.

"Alright Tech, nice and easy," she encouraged the young boy to move the ship forward. "The button above the thrusters lowers the ramp."

The side of the ship opened up and the ramp promptly slid out from there. Omega jumped as soon as it was close enough, and then turned to reach a hand out to the others.

Whatever confidence they'd had before was gone. Hunter looked down the gap between the platform and the ramp and Crosshair bit his lip nervously.

"It's okay, boys. You're so brave. You got this. I've got you."

Hunter swallowed and nodded his head. He was the first to try the jump. He flung his little body onto the ramp and Omega caught him square on. Seeing it was possible, Crosshair soon followed.

Omega shooed Tech out of the pilot's seat, giving him just a small high-five before she narrowed in on the task at hand. As the Marauder zipped out of the Pantoran city and back toward the darkness of space, everyone stayed silent. Today had been a lot. Too much, probably.

Omega wanted so desperately to cry, a feeling she hadn't ever been eager to indulge in. The reality of their situation was settling in deeper and deeper with each passing moment. Try as she might, she could not guarantee the safety of these boys, not with everyone in the galaxy out to get them. And for what? Why? This target on their heads was strange given the other matters the Empire seemed to need to focus on. And that bounty hunter had said she wasn't even working for the Empire. Who else could be looking for them?

She shook her head and sent them back into hyperspace. She knew where she needed to go. Looking for answers was tempting, but no longer the priority. She needed to get the boys to safety, first.

Clone Force Omega Tag: @kaijusplotch, @flowered-bicycles

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[fictionkinfessions]

for canon family, i remember my squad from before i deserted. there were five of us originally, but six of us in total (both counting me).

blast was our big brother. he was our heavy arms guy, and he was outgoing and loud and funny as hell. he was always protective of the rest of us, and he died on a training mission before the battle of geonosis to save our lives.

lock took over as our leader after blast died, and was eventually made our sergeant. blast’s death hit him hard, since they were twins. he was really stoic and serious most of the time. he had a tattoo on the left side of his face, but i don’t remember exactly what it looked like.

curio got his name ‘cause he collected anything he could get his hands on. shells, cool rocks, nuts and bolts, busted droid parts, trivia, you name it. he was the baby of the bunch, but technically not the youngest, if you went by our numbers.

doubletime was our recon guy. he had a mutation that made him a couple of inches shorter than the rest of us, and he was a fucking spitfire. always taking the piss out of the rest of us. i’m pretty sure he was the one who insisted on calling me cut, since i cut myself shaving a lot when we were younger.

feedback was transferred in after blast died. kinda a mechanic/tech guy. he was quiet and anxious and preferred to be in the rear with the gear, since he’d lost his original squad. he never talked about exactly what happened. but he was a good guy. we were just as protective over him as we were over each other, and he eventually started to warm up to us.

…then we got shipped off to geonosis to kick off the clone war properly, and… well. the rest is history.

-cut lawquane (unsure if i’m a kin or a fictive, sorry)

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