#but i do know ~enough~ about him and delta squad to know that this TBB Scorch was like.....not rly Scorch at all

[robotsandramblings]

(TBB finale spoilers below!) just curious on people's thoughts...

[gars-weaponeer]

Today in: Clones that deserved better!

Issue #1

-SCORCH-

Scorch belonged to the clone commando Delta Squad from the beloved videogame "Republic Commando", which came before the Clone wars series aired.

Along with his companions: Sev, Fixer and Boss. Scorch was the demolition expert of the Squad and the one with the most heart and sense of humor, arguably the one with the most personality. You could easily compare him to Hardcase or Wrecker, having a similar archetype. He, along with Sev, became a fan favorite thanks to his charismatic writing.

If you have NOT played Republic commando, I totally recommend it. You can currently find it on steam or switch and it's a very fun game to play if you are a Clone wars fan.

Delta squad appears in the Clone wars series only for a short cameo and only Boss got a short speaking line. So it was more than obvious that RC fans would want to see more representation of the beloved characters.

Then we got the Bad Batch...

I don't know who this guy is... but this is not Scorch.

I do understand they needed a face for the commando leader of Tantiss and they did not want to miss the opportunity to gain some nostalgia points with a beloved Republic Commando character. (I could rant hours about how The Bad Batch did all commando clones dirty by reducing them to novelty storm troopers, but that's a rant for another day.) But did it HAVE to be Scorch? Considering the "personality" this TBB-Scorch has, I think Fixer or even Boss could have been an arguably better pick. But since Scorch was a fan favorite he was the one chosen, and he was also the one BUTCHERED for it.

TBB-Scorch has little to no personality and what little we manage to see it drastically different from the Scorch in the video game and that's very disheartening to see for a fan of the character.

Having a model with the painted armor is not enough to give fans the representation they deserve. Specially when it comes to a character with a recognizable personality.

It would be like having Fives suddenly be a cold and loyal trooper that will do anything Pon Krell did without questioning. Or have Wrecker suddenly be the background character that had no speaking lines and was only there to guard the door.

Or have Echo disappear for an amount of episodes when he could-- oh wait....

This "character" could easily be replaced by any other commando with a cool looking armor and it wouldn't change a thing other that fans pointing and saying "OMG I KNOW THAT GUY!"

(I'm not even sure his name is even mentioned... but take that with a grain of salt, I might be wrong. I need to re-watch the third season of The Bad Batch for the third time. )

Sure, we could argue that there is a reason to why Scorch is the way he is in TBB. Maybe he was brainwashed like the CX Clones or Maybe the trauma of loosing his companions, his brothers he was born and raised with since a pod and with whom he experienced a lot of things together, made him a cold, empty husk... but if that was the case, SHOW US THAT!

Scorch could have easily been a good counterpart to Crosshair. They are both Commandos (in a sense) and they both lost their brothers in traumatic ways (allegedly). But while Scorch gave up and became a mindless follower of the Empire, Cross woke up and refused to be brainwashed like the rest.

I know I'm being too harsh.

After all, it's somehow noticiable that TBB was left unfinished. My theory is that Disney decided to pull the plug and was "nice" enough to give the project one last season. But all the ideas and all the stories they clearly wanted to tell were not going to fit on one last season, so a lot of it was cut and rushed.

It is sad, and I would have loved to see what plans they originally had. Maybe they had more plans for the commandos, maybe Scorch had a bigger role or an explanation to his loyalty towards Hemlock and the empire.

Or Maybe he was just painted in to get Republic commando fans to watch The Bad Batch.

We might never know...

Overall...

It's kind of sad that was all the representation we got of these beloved characters.

I know their stories are in "Legends" and many Legends characters have been changed for the sake of canon.

But there is Changing, and then there is Butchering.

And I think Scorch, and the Delta Squad, deserved way better.

[nerdiqueen]

hang on I have to rant

if you're not already aware, the five-man band is a literary device used to classify teams of 5 characters. it's what I call an external trope, meaning that you fit the trope to the characters, they don't innately have it.

a:tla has a pretty solid one, and it's well known enough, so I'm gonna use it to show you what I mean

it is comprised of:

the Leader, who directs the group and is usually the main character (aang)

the Lancer, who serves as character foil to the Leader and is often a bad-guy-turned-good or rogue element (zuko)

the Big Guy, who solves physical problems for the team and is frequently a goofball (toph)

the Smart Guy, who solves technical/logistical problems for the team and typically serves as an "idea guy" (sokka)

and the Heart, who solves emotional problems for the team- if there's only one girl, she's probably the Heart (katara)

there are three star wars groups I want to look at: delta squad, domino squad, and clone force 99.

first is domino squad, as they fit this trope the easiest.

fives is the Leader, the most strategizing one in the group

droidbait is the Lancer, far less cautious and more prone to injury than the others (the foil to fives' effectiveness)

hevy is the Big Guy, serving the oh-so-common "big gun demolitions expert" variant

echo is the Smart Guy, in the "guys, come on, stick to the PLAN" variant

cutup is the Heart, lightening the mood with jokes (hence the name)

the first to die is droidbait, leaving echo to serve as fives' foil, which allows us to see that fives is probably the most prototypical clone of the bunch. then hevy sacrifices himself, and cutup gets eaten, leaving only fives and echo until the Citadel arc which I haven't yet seen.

then we have delta squad. the thing about delta squad is that there are four of them, and while the four-man band is a thing, they make this perfect incomplete five-man band that I think is really really tasty.

boss (player character) is the Leader, guiding the team

sev is the Lancer, playing the "snarky rogue" archetype

scorch is the Big Guy, again the "big gun demolitions" variant- but with the added flavor of being very by-the-book (which we see the consequences of when he aligns with not only the empire but doctor hemlock himself in tbb)

fixer is the Smart Guy, tech expert

notice anything?

there's no Heart.

and that works. these are clone commandos- meant to be the most effective troops the republic has. they almost never interact socially outside of their squad, and when they do it's kept pretty professional.

we see that again in clone force 99, or as they call themselves, the bad batch

hunter is the Leader, his enhanced senses leaving him the most generalist of the batch (and also he's technically their sergeant)

crosshair is the Lancer, a "silent, ruthless efficiency" type

wrecker is the Big Guy, "big gun demolitions" variant yet again (I told you it was common) in the goofball flavor

tech is the Smart Guy, btw he's really well done and it never feels like he just "knows because he's smart" you can always tell how he figures things out

again, there's no Heart. but wait.

in the Bad Batch arc in clone wars, they pick up another member- echo. we don't see much of echo's interaction with the batch in that arc, but when we come back, echo is solidly in a sort of almost-but-not-quite Heart role. and then.

omega shows up in the "sixth ranger" role, there to shake up the group dynamic. throughout season one, we see omega slowly take over echo's role as Heart- and as this happens, it becomes clear that that was the role he was playing, as he talks hunter through how to best take care of omega. but omega, tagalong kid as she is, is much, much more suited to the Heart role than echo, and she takes his place- which allows echo to run off and have his own adventures with rex throughout seasons two and three, WHICH WORKS because echo is a regular clone who joined the batch later in life and thus isn't quite the same as the others, but omega is a deviant clone just like them!

[vodika-vibes]

Here Comes The General

Summary: Scorch is not having a good time. Sev is missing and presumed dead. Boss is on Coruscant. Fixer is on Naboo. And he’s here, playing flying monkey for a man he’s been planning on killing since the day they met. Unfortunately for Scorch, Hemlock has well and truly bound his hands.

Pairing: Clone Commando Scorch x General Rynn (OFC), mentions of Delta Squad x OFC

Word Count: 1218

Warnings: None

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni @imabeautifulbutterfly @kimiheartblade @mire-draws-things

A/N: I have Rynn on the mind, so you get a Rynn and Scorch story. Wherein I fix what happened to Scorch at the end of TBB. Yes, I have requests, but I need a break from requests for a little bit. Sorry.

Scorch slams his fist against the panel next to the stark metal door separating him from Rynn. He only gets an hour each week to spend time with her, and he knows he should be grateful, but he’s not.

Every time he comes to see his Rynn, he leaves angrier.

The door slides open, and she looks up, a small smile crossing her pretty face, though it does little to draw his attention away from the stark bruises marring her face and arms.

“Scorch,” She still smiles when she sees him, and his heart swoops affectionately. 

“Rynn,” He steps into the room, and the door slams shut behind him, not that he minds in the slightest. Scorch tugs off his gloves and tosses them to the side, along with his helmet, as Rynn stands and steps towards him.

His hands immediately move to cup her face, gently tilting her head so that he’s able to examine the dark brown bruises better, “I’m okay,” She reassures.

“They hit you.”

“Hemlock hit me,” She corrects, her own hands coming up to press against his cheeks, “You’ve lost weight.”

“Yeah, well—” Scorch scoffs, “It’s not like anyone here cares about the health of a clone.”

“Oh, Scorch,” She sounds so heartbroken that Scorch wants to cry.

He smiles at her, and leans in to press his forehead against hers, “There’s no need to say my name like that.”

“You deserve better,”

“We both deserve better,” He corrects quietly. Scorch moves his hand so that it’s brushing through her short hair, “I tried to talk Emerie into letting you have a headscarf, cyare. But they won’t allow it.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not.” He brushes his lips against a bruise, gently enough that she doesn’t even flinch, “Your religion is a huge part of who you are.”

“My religion is more than a headscarf, Scorch.” Her voice is soft, “My religion is just as strong here in prison as it was on the Nightwing. Stronger, even.”

He sighs softly, “I know that. I do. It just feels wrong.”

“Well, they don’t exactly have the moral high ground here, no.” She replies with a small smile.

Scorch’s fingers move to the collar around her neck, thick and clunky, with a flashing red light on the front, indicating that the bomb is active. “I wish…”

“I know, Scorch. It’s going to be okay.”

“How do you know?”

“Because,” She stands on her toes and glides her lips against his, “I have faith. Faith enough for the both of us.”

“But…Sev—”

“Is alive. I know. And Boss and Fixer are just playing by the rules until we can be together again. This bomb,” She taps the collar with a short fingernail, “ensures the cooperation not only of you, my love.”

Scorch makes a face, “When we reunite, I’m not going to be allowed to touch you for days.” He bitches quietly, “I can already hear Fixer saying ‘Well, you had her all to yourself for months, so deal with it’.”

She laughs softly and presses her forehead against his chest.

Slowly, he smoothes his hand down her back, but before he can say anything, the cell door slams open, and he sighs quietly, “Times up.”

“Just for now, Scorch.” She lightly pulls herself from his embrace, and she walks over to pick up his gloves and helmet, “Back to work.”

“Back to slavery, you mean.” Still, Scorch slowly pulls his gear back on, until he’s fully kitted out again. 

Rynn smiles at him. Soft, warm, and loving, and he rolls his shoulders. It’s all for her. He will do anything to keep her safe and alive, even if it means working with the enemy. 

“Love you, Rynn.”

“Love you too, Scorch. I’ll see you in a week.”

He turns on his heel and heads out the open cell door. “Yeah.” It’s not enough. It will never be enough. But he’ll make do. He has to.

Scorch watches, amused, as his younger brothers from Clone Force 99 raid Mount Taniss. He watches as Hemlock confronts them, and he watches the oldest of them…Hunter, he believes his name is, punches Hemlock.

And then something interesting happens.

A small device, roughly the size of his palm, falls out of Hemlock’s pocket and slides across the floor.

Hemlock scrambles for the device, but Scorch gets there first. He picks up the device and examines it, uncaring of the blasters aimed at him from his younger brothers.

“Scorch!” Hemlock shouts, “Return that at once!”

He knows what this device is. This is the device that controls the bomb around Rynn’s neck. He’s seen it enough times to recognize it on sight.

Scorch meets Hemlock’s gaze, and quickly destroys the device before dropping the pieces on the floor.

“You—”

Scorch doesn’t allow him to finish as he curls his hand into a fist and slams all of his weight into the punch. Hemlock staggers back, his hand flying to his face. Scorch doesn’t think twice before shooting Hemlock twice in the head.

Execution style, Rynn used to call it.

His younger brothers hesitate and lower their weapons, “I thought you were working with him,” One of them, the one with goggles, says accusingly.

“Believe it or not, vod’ika, there are many ways to force someone to do something,” Scorch absently examines his blaster, “ways that have nothing to do with the damn chip they put in our heads.”

“So nothing has forced you to work for him?” The biggest member of the squad demands.

“Did I say that?” Scorch turns his head when there’s a rumble and the ground splits open on the other side of the room. He straightens and pulls his helmet off, hooking it to his belt, as Rynn lifts herself out of the hole she made.

She lowers herself to the ground and looks around for a moment, a bright smile crossing her face as she sees Scorch, “Have you seen my lightsaber?”

“Fraid they destroyed it, cyare.”

“Well, that’s rude of them. I guess I’ll have to make do with my spare.” She steps around some broken pieces of metal and allows Scorch to swing her into his arms, and press a light kiss against her lips.

“The Empire and rudeness go hand in hand, cyare. You should do something about that.”

Her smile is vibrant, “Oh, I intend to. As soon as I have all of my boys back. I assume the Nightwing is here somewhere?”

“Hidden. Safe and sound. Just like you ordered.”

She beams at him and presses her hands against his cheeks, “You follow my orders so well!”

“When I want to.”

“Of course.” Her smile softens, “Let’s get out of here, hm? We need to get to Sev.”

“Yes ma’am,” Scorch sets her down and motions towards the exit, allowing Rynn to take the lead. He pauses before he leaves and sends a comm code to Tech, “Here. It’ll connect you to the Nightwing. If you should need it for any reason.”

And then he’s gone too, following Rynn out the hanger door.

Scorch has no idea what comes next. Though, based on the small smile on Rynn’s face, she not only has an idea, she even knows how to pull it off. They just need the rest of their family back.

[masterjedilenawrites]

Hi! so i um read your “happily ever after” for the delta squad and i was wondering if you could do that for tbb and the bois? you’re such a good writer <3333

I haven't challenged myself to write individual headcanons in a while, and this sounded like the perfect prompt to do it with! Who doesn't want these precious boys to live happily ever after in their own special ways? 🥰 psst, I also threw in Gregor and Howzer as a little treat 🤭

Cody would actually fancy himself as some sort of a political advisor or ambassador. He imagines the clones will need some representation after the war, a place in the galaxy, and to have their voices heard. He could picture himself stepping up to that challenge and being happy with it. It would sure beat having to sit around with nothing to do...

Rex also wants to be involved with supporting his clone brothers, but he has a much more domestic picture in mind. A partner, for starters. Someone to share life with who can be his best friend. And a house, any size, any location, with a door that's constantly opening for any weary or lost brother who needs a place to crash.

Wolffe has a very specific image in his mind. It may sound silly, but he wants to find a settlement somewhere for all of his brothers to live in. Like a little clone village, where they each play a part in keeping things humming. They can bring in partners if they'd like, procreate, that sort of thing... but for the most part it'd just be them, all living together until the end of their days.

Fox just wants a nap. A true, honest to goodness nap. Uninterrupted, no guilt or piling to-dos in the meantime. Free to fall asleep at his own pace and wake up naturally. Cushy pillows and all. If he got just one good sleep in, he'd be content with literally anything in his life. Heck, he'll dig holes in Tattooine forever. Just please give him this one little thing.

Fives absolutely wants kids. A whole brood of them. He can hold any kind of job, live anywhere in the galaxy, so long as he gets to be called dad. He'll embrace the dad jokes, read all the parenting books, tear up at every milestone. And if the fates allow, perhaps he'll live long enough to even be called a grandad, too.

Jesse would want to stay in the army as long as he can. He can't imagine what else he could do with his life outside of it. He'd be one of those clones crashing on Rex's sofa, needing his brother's help to get back on his feet and find meaning in his life. Eventually it would come as a handyman, keeping his hands busy with repairs in homes or ships, and of course flirting with the owners.

Kix would say he never wants to see another cut or broken bone again, but realistically, he would go out of his mind if he wasn't needed in that way. He wouldn't be able to help himself from volunteering at a hospital, or just starting his own medical practice in order to do things right. He'd especially love teaching his medical knowledge to an apprentice.

Tup wants a farm full of animals and crops. He currently knows little to nothing about how to run a farm, or how to keep things alive, but for him, happiness will be in the discovery. He'll start small, with a window ledge garden and a tooka in Coruscant. Over time, as he saves up enough money for some real land, he'll learn all the ins and outs of irrigation, breeding, and then like.

Hardcase wants to travel and experience all he can. Skydiving, snorkeling, white water rafting, pottery... you name it. His bucket list will grow as he goes; he'll cross one item off only to add two more ideas on. The galaxy is just so vast and full of so much. He knows he has a short life to live, so he intends to utilize every second of it doing something outrageously fun.

Dogma wants to remain a soldier, but not during an active war. He'd rather use his knowledge and skills to help keep the peace. He likes the feeling of being needed, of providing protection to others, but he knows wartime takes its tolls, so being a peacekeeper is a good compromise in his mind.

Echo would want to help his brothers, from a therapy standpoint. He believes there can be purpose for the clones outside of war, but that it will take a lifetime of support, encouragement, and restructuring to get them there. Whatever ear he can lend or advice he can impart to help as many clones find their happy ending, you can bet he'll do it.

Hunter pictures himself in a peaceful cabin in the woods. Living off the grid, hunting for his own food, building his own furniture, just really embracing that holistic, hippy lifestyle. He'd also prefer if the rest of the Batch was around, too. He really can't stand the thought of being alone, and while he does want a partner and kids, he'd be lying if he said his brothers weren't part of the picture also.

Wrecker wants to travel, specifically to discover and try as much food as possible. How is he affording this fantasy? Who cares. It's his dream, leave him alone. Yes, he wants the feeling of a full belly every day, but exploring different flavors and cuisines and how to prepare food is genuinely exciting to him. Maybe he'll even get a food vlog going along the way.

Crosshair isn't really concerned with whatever "happily ever after" means. So long as he can be useful, do the things he was created to do. If the war ended and he couldn't be a soldier, he'd become some kind of bounty hunter or gun for hire. True happiness would only come if he also had a partner by his side. He won't know that, though, until it happens.

Tech doesn't think about the future. Or happiness. He will go along with whatever options are available to him, so long as he gets to be himself. The easiest, and most logical in his opinion, choice is to keep the Batch together, utilizing their talents for the betterment of the galaxy. But perhaps pod racing wouldn't be such a bad gig, either.

Gregor would be happy as a teacher or coach. Anything where he could mentor the youth of whatever community he finds himself in. It wouldn't even matter much to him what he was teaching; he'd find a way to become an expert in it just to uphold his duty of education. Though physical activity, of course, ends up being his forte.

Howzer truly wants to fall in love and be married. "Happily ever after" for him looks like two old souls, holding hands as they rock on a porch swing and gaze off into the sunset. He knows relationships are work, but he's had some good examples to look up to so far in his life, so he's determined to put in the effort with the right person.

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+Clone & Bad Batch Tags: @marvel-starwars-nerd, @pandora-the-halfling, @darkangel4121, @sobstea, @rintheemolion, @bowtiesandsandshoes, @dionysuskid21, @jesseeka, @hanbetired, @thatmultifandomdumbass, @sarahtanmarvel, @call-me-a-fool, @lackofhonor, @theclonesdeservebetter, @hannahhearttcw, @kaijusplotch, @salaminus, @arctrooper69, @katzs-current-obsession, @501st-rexster, @rebel-finn, @not-a-big-slay, @writing-positivelyexisting, @nekotaetae, @the-mom-friend-dot-com, @pickle-rick-y, @flowered-bicycles, @lucyysthings, @severalseashellsbytheseashore, @the-royal-petals, @droids-you-are-looking-for, @moon-wrecked

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[ladyanidala]

Wanna add my two cents here (bc obviously everyone wants to listen to me talk, lololol):

I really don't think Tech is dead. I really don't. I keep trying to think, "ya know, maybe he is really dead and we all got played," but it just doesn't sit right with me. Tech is too smart to have not figured out a way to survive the impossible. I can live with a quadriplegic/amputated Tech, and I know he could live with that too. What I don't think possible is for him to just... give up and die. That's not in his nature - that's not in any of their natures.

Now, I don't necessarily think that TBB had bad writing (and I know that my opinion is a subjective one, so hear me out), I just think the pacing was too fast for what needed to happen in the show. Both season 2 & 3 had this problem, but in different ways. Season 2 had character development after character development episode and then packed a whole bunch of plot into the last four episodes. Season 3 had good pacing with its plot, but I don't think there were enough episodes to adequately capture everything - character development, plot development - that it needed to.

I really want 22 episode seasons to come back for this reason. It gives writers and actors and everyone else enough time to develop and grow. Too many episodes? Make one a fluffier one where nothing bad happens and we get to see a glimpse of daily life! I would rather have too much content (not that you could ever have that with TBB) than not enough. There were soooo many plot points in this season that were introduced and then never got developed, like-

how did Crosshair find out about Tech's disappearance? who told him?

where did Emerie Karr come from?

why does Hemlock only wear one glove?

who were all the CX troopers under the mask?

how does the CX program work?

did Hunter and Crosshair ever talk after the wyrm?

why bring back Ventress?

how did Ventress survive?

what was the point of testing Omega's m-count (either by Ventress or Hemlock)?

how much progress had Project Necromancer made before it was blown up?

where's Cody?

where's Wolffe?

when does Wolffe escape the Empire?

when does Wolffe join up with Rex and Gregor?

where's Howzer?

where's Rex?

where did Rex and his cell go after Teth?

where did Lama Su go? is he still alive, or did I miss his death?

how did Scorch get sucked into being under Hemlock's control?

where's Delta squad?

who in the world thought to build a Little Kamino on the side of Tantiss?

Maybe I'm being too picky, but I'd like to think that if there are TWENTY-ONE QUESTIONS that are unanswered after the end of the show, then there might be some stuff that still needed to be developed or resolved.

Again, I think the writing of the show this season was fantastic, I really do. Crosshair's character development was peak, and I loved every bit of it (except losing his hand, but that's a personal peeve of mine, lol). Showing the team talking about Tech was great too.

BUT!!!

All that to say, I really don't think Tech's dead. With how much the show left unanswered, AND with the obvious baiting and pushing Tech's "death" by mentioning him every chance they got, I think that he's still alive. Maybe he's in stasis like Kix was. Maybe he somehow survived the spear in his gut if it was him under the CX-2 mask.

I don't know. All I know is that he acted waaay too familiarly with the Batch when he was hunting them down. He knew how to bypass Phee's security protocols on her ship. He knew how to fight them most spectacularly.

The only explanation is that it's Tech. I won't accept anything else.

I keep trying to tell myself that the writers didn't intentionally bait us. Then I remember things like 'domicile' and babes, I'm holding onto the benefit of the doubt by my fucking fingernails over here.