#echo teaches omega to shoot a bow
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From the most recent chapter of my Bad Batch x Red Dead Redemption 2 crossover fic
Most crossovers are about teaming up, this one is about the opposite 😆
#making all of my favorite fictional characters fight each other is insanely fun#echo teaches omega to shoot a bow#and 2.5 seconds later she intentionally shoots a grown man in the leg#my art#tbb x rdr2 au#tbb omega#tbb echo#western au#rdr2 Arthur#rdr2 sean#the bad batch#red dead redemption 2
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When Fears Are Faced
By KyberCrystals94
Read here on Ao3!
Bad Things Happen Bingo | Prompt: Facing their phobia
Rating: G
Words: 721
Summary: Hunter faces his greatest fear… [[this story might make more sense if you’ve read Where Fears Are Born (by me!) & Phobia (by @just-here-with-my-thoughts) first!]]
(This story takes place mid season 1)
TW: Arachnophobia (you might wanna skip this little story if you have issues with spiders…)
It isn’t fair.
None of this is fair.
Tech is the one who suggested swim lessons in the first place, so, really, he should be the one standing here compromising. That would be fair. That would be reasonable. But instead, somehow, someway, Tech is standing a dozen meters away and half a step behind Wrecker’s bulking, trembling form. At least the cowards have the decency to look sympathetic.
“Are you sure this is safe?” Hunter asks, forcing a gruffness into his voice to hide the way it wants to pitch an octave.
“Yes, Hunter, it’s perfectly harmless,” Echo says. Hunter isn’t looking at the cyborg’s face, but he can practically hear the eye roll.
“It’s true,” Tech calls from his safe distance, “I double checked the data myself.”
Shut up, Tech, Hunter wants to retort, but he bites his tongue. You’re doing this for the kid. If she can handle it…you can handle it.
“And look how cute it is!” Omega croons, holding her cupped hands up for Hunter’s horrified inspection, “It’s fuzzy!” Hunter does not look at it, averting his eyes. Omega pulls her hands back, and gently strokes the demon with her pinky. “Do you think it likes this, Echo? Me petting it?”
“Arachnids do not register affectionate gestures in the same way that traditionally domesticated creatures do,” Tech offers, voice carrying on the gentle breeze that has picked up.
Hunter grits his teeth. “If you know so much about them, why don’t you come over here and do this?” he asks.
“That was not the agreement.”
Omega smiles up at Hunter with the sweetest, most affectionate show of teeth he’s ever seen. “I promise it won’t hurt you,” she says.
Hunter wants to crawl out of his skin. He wants to call this whole thing off. He wants to knock Tech and Wrecker’s heads together for getting him into this mess. Instead, he tries so hard to smile back at his little sister. “Okay,” he says, “if I hold the spider—”
“—for thirty seconds—” Echo puts in quickly.
Hunter shoots him a look but turns his focus back to Omega. “If I hold the spider for thirty seconds,” he emphasizes for Echo’s benefit, “then you’ll let us teach you how to swim, right?”
Omega nods eagerly. “If you face your fear, I’ll face mine!” She bounces on her toes, so excited.
This isn’t fair!
Hunter wrings his hands together nervously. This is one of the worst moments of my life.
“Are you ready?” Omega asks.
No! Hunter holds out his hand. “As I’ll ever be.”
Wrecker and Tech lean in from their safe distance.
Omega drops the spider in Hunter’s hand.
Hunter can’t ever hope to try and deny the pathetic creak of his voice when the eight-legged monster scrambles confusedly across his palm. It finally settles near the base of his fingers, perching with its legs drawn up. He might as well be holding literal flame.
“Awww,” Omega lilts joyfully, “it likes you, Hunter!”
“How much longer?” he asks Echo.
Echo is watching his chrono. “It’s only been five seconds.”
“No it hasn’t!” Hunter protests.
“Now ten.”
Hunter’s muscles feel taut as Omega’s bow string. He might be shaking a little, but he isn’t sure if he actually is, or if it’s just his vision going a little foggy.
“You are doing so good, Hunter!” Omega says encouragingly, touching his arm. “I am so proud of you!”
This is kriffing humiliating. A little kid is telling a full-grown man that she’s proud of him for holding a karking bug!
“Twenty seconds.”
“You’re over halfway there, Hunter! Just a few more seconds.”
“Five, four, three, two, one…Done!”
Omega snatches the spider out of Hunter’s hand before he can hurl it across the meadow (and maybe directly in Tech and Wrecker’s direction). “You did it!”
Hunter has to lock his knees to keep himself upright. He can feel the cool beading of sweat across his brow. He wipes his hand harshly against his pant leg, trying to get the feeling of spider legs off his skin.
Omega trots over to a nearby tree and lets the spider crawl off her hand and onto the bark. She watches it until it climbs out of her reach before she skips back to Hunter. “I’m ready for my swim lesson!”
END
I dedicate this story to @just-here-with-my-thoughts! Thanks for the fun idea…I hope it lives up to your expectations 😂
Tag List: @isthereanechoinhere96 @followthepurrgil @amorfista @mooncommlink @arctrooper69
✨Let me know if you’d like to be added to the Tag List!✨
#Bad Things Happen Bingo#Prompt: Facing Their Phobia#Star Wars The Bad Batch#Star Wars#The Bad Batch#arachnophobia#Spiders#TBB Hunter#TBB Omega#TBB Echo#TBB Tech#TBB Wrecker#Humor#Facing their fears#Tech and Wrecker don’t face their fears…but they support Hunter while he does#Omega is totally sweet about the whole thing
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I love the bow that Omega has, and I enjoyed Space Dad Echo trying to teach her to shoot 😂
#the bad batch#star wars#star wars bad batch#dad batch#space dads#space dad#Hunter#echo#tech#wrecker
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Louk's Bad Batch rewatch part 12 !!!
buckle up batchers we're in for it 😬
The Bad Batch 1x08
CROSSHAIR BACK FINALLY !!! I missed you grumpy toothpick man 💕
idk why but Rampart gives me the vibe that he can't swim and I just wanna gently shove him off a platform on kamino and just see what happens
Wrecker teaching Omega about bombs 🥺 then he just goes 'lmao now you try' 💀
"OBVIOUSLY NOT THAT ONE" brooo 🤣
his laughhhh I love you Wrecker
"I failed my first disarming test too" ~ Wrecker bby... is that how he got his scars? 🥲
Omega: "Wrecker says he's got it under control" Tech: "that's not comforting" PLS- 💀
ECHO HOW DID YOU GET UP THERE ??
oop well his chip has been removed but I'll keep counting I guess, just for funsies, Wrecker hits his head count: 9?
mom and dad are arguing again
Hunter 🤔 face
wait why did I never notice that they all still have their lil bandages on 🥺
Tech: "the power's back on" Wrecker: "yeah we can see that" lmao me yesterday @anonymous-galager 😅
"Come here beautiful" ~ Wrecker kissing bombs
mom and dad are arguing again
Omega is Tech's little helper 💕 it's giving handing your dad tools and holding the torch as a kid
idk why but I like that you can see Tech's chin under his helmet when he looks up
I wanna sit in a glowy kamino chair
Tech: "Crosshair won't be able to detect us, I'm blocking their scanners" Hunter: "that won't stop him" Crosshair: 'we won't be able to detect them they're blocking our scanners' 💀
REGS 💕
Tech and Echo scheming in plain sight hehe
Omega trying to be Crosshairs voice of reason too 😭
Crosshair steps forward the slightest bit and Hunter steps fully in front of her asjfoapaldue
"aim for the kid" CROSSHAIR NO 😡 *squirts with water bottle*
I find it interesting that when Crosshair says that, Hunter pushes Omega behind him, but he also turns around, almost as if he's not expecting Crosshair to shoot Omega first, he turns back to look at the regs first before moving again to face Crosshair
and still none of them fire...
Hunter picking Omega up again and diving on her 🥲
lol I love that Wreckers first instinct to being shot at with fire is to throw an explosive at the dude
Tech helping Omega into the engine chamber 🥺
Omega: "I've never been inside an ion engine before" Wrecker: "it'd be weirder if you had" 💀
Wrecker shoving Tech BRO
I think it's interesting that when Crosshair shoots at them, he only shoots AT them. we all know he doesn't miss and he is nowhere close to actually getting Tech or Hunter with that shot 👀 just thinking out loud
"try again Hunter" he is just taunting them
Wrecker: "what about plan 7?" Echo: "plan 7 has nothing to do with this situation whatsoever!" he is so done 💀💀
absolutely adore the shot of all their hands grabbing explosives 💕
Hunter bent down to give Omega a boost up and Tech caught her and held her up !!! = Hunter just threw Omega to Tech 😂
Hunter covers Omega with his body again 😭
Crosshair's scream when he realised what was happening I- 🙃🔫
Wrecker catches Echo 🥺
Hunter bodily catches Omega 😭 "I've got you" ~ Hunter 😭😭😭😭
HUNTER WAS HOLDING ONTO HER THE WHOLE TIME THEY WERE FALLING
Crosshair immediately collapsing 😫😭
rip CT-8508 ily
oh look it's my favourite blue bounty hunter toothpick cowboy twink
lmao Cad Bane calling Hunter "son"
Omega reading Hunters hand signals 🥺
"That's unfortunate ... for you" ~ Cad Bane (s2 Tawni Ames 👀)
I can feel the hatred in Hunters eyes through his visor ooooo he mad
I can't deal with Omega's scared scream sobs 😫
Todo you're fine hush
"Little lady" hehehe
CROSSHAIR BROKE HIS LEG AND HIS ARM AND BURNED HIS FACE (and probably his lungs) I hate it here 😭
are we gonna talk about the Hunter POV groggy wake up visor cam scene??? *sigh* no, next time
Wrecker grabbing Omega's bow 🥲
Wrecker getting defensive immediately thinking Crosshair took Omega 😭
NO TBB OUTRO MUSIC
welp I am getting increasingly more stressed for s3 creeping up on us and me running out of time for my rewatch lol
I'm gonna do a few episodes a day now so these posts might start getting boring if they're not already lmao
thanks for joining friendsss 💕💕💕
#louk’s bad batch rewatch#star wars#the bad batch#the bad batch hunter#hunter bad batch#tbb wrecker#tech bad batch#bad batch hunter#bad batch tech#wrecker bad batch#tbb tech#hunter tbb#hunter the bad batch#tbb echo#echo tbb#echo bad batch#wrecker tbb#bad batch wrecker#clone trooper wrecker#the bad batch tech#tech the bad batch#tech tbb#omega tbb#omega bad batch#tbb omega#crosshair the bad batch#crosshair bad batch#the bad batch crosshair#cad bane#bounty hunter
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Who Taught Omega That?!
Summary: I love all the head canons about Omega learning bad words from her brothers, so here's a short little Drabble!
Notes: I'm attempting to do homework and it is literally so boring I hate it so much so here's this instead. Idk what this is.
WC: 2653
Omega has learned a lot in her time in squad 99. Her brothers have taught her almost everything she knows.
Tech taught her all about the Muarder and how to fly her. Wrecker taught her how to fight for herself and her brothers. Hunter taught her what it means to be a soldier, and how to follow orders-and when not to. Echo taught her how to explain her strategic abilities, and how to turn them into plans. She’s learned how to shoot her bow, and Crosshair taught her how to aim it better.
She’s learned what it means to have a family.
One thing her brothers hadn’t meant to teach her, however, was one thing she gleefully holds onto and holds close to her chest. Until the moment she can innocently look at one of them and repeat her secret knowledge to cause the most amount of chaos.
~
Echo was the first one to teach her a bad word.
The oldest clone used to be an ARC trooper, after all. Every other word out of an ARC trooper's mouth was foul, foul enough to turn a jedi’s ears red with embarrassment. Ah, how Echo and Fives used to love torturing their own jedi, general Skywalker, with their back-and-forth conversations.
However, after joining his new squad–squad 99–he tamed it down. Although his new squad are commandos, they don’t seem to have the same affinity to cursing as the ARC troopers do. They’ll let one slip every once in a while, usually without meaning to and followed by an embarrassed apology to Echo; it doesn’t happen very often, though.
He had even more reason to not cuss when they got a child on board. Echo had, surprisingly, taken to her immediately. He simply was overwhelmed with the need to protect her, keep her innocence at least somewhat intact in a way he and his brothers never got.
Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s good at it.
To be fair to Echo, he had been under the assumption that Omega was sound asleep in her makeshift room.
But Omega was sneaky when she wanted to be, and knew how to be quiet.
Echo had been piloting the ship while Tech took his turn to sleep, and he thought the rest of the ship was asleep as well.
He had hardly been paying attention to the ship at all, actually; he was reading a reg manual for the umpteenth time. It was one of the only things left that brought Echo a sense of calm, and feel normal again. He’s been reading these manuals since…well, since even before he graduated.
However, it’s never a good idea to pilot distractedly.
A loud beeping startles Echo (and Omega, but Echo doesn’t know she’s there). He gasps, looking at what’s making the noise. “Shh!” he aims at it, flipping off the noise. He reads which alert was going off, and his eyes widen. “Oh, fuck,” he whispers, turning on manual piloting and carefully taking them out of hyperspace. He lets it go smooth enough the ship doesn’t jostle; he doesn’t want to wake anyone up.
He groans to himself as the ship almost collides with an asteroid due to his need to go slow. He quickly swerves out of its way, and expertly manuevers around the rest of them without jerking the ship too much, “Fuck, fuck!” he gasps, having to turn the ship almost on its side to avoid a particularly large one.
He sighs in relief as the ship clears the asteroid field, and he settles back into the hyperspace lane. He rubs at his eyebrows with shaky hands, putting them back in hyperspace and reengaging autopilot. “Oh, thank the force,” he mumbles to himself.
He turns around so he can check he didn’t wake anyone, and freezes when Omega is staring at him with wide eyes. “Oh… H-hi Omega,” he says. “Did I wake you?”
“What does fuck mean?” she asks, big round eyes staring directly into his soul. Her head is cocked slightly to the side, and she’s holding Lula to her chest.
Echo winces, looking over her shoulder as if Hunter will be standing there demonically with red eyes and a snarl. He doesn’t, thankfully. “Uh…”
Omega blinks slowly, holding Lula tighter. “Does it have to do with flying?” she encourages.
Echo internally groans. “N-no. It’s a…well, it’s a bad word. I shouldn’t have said it, and neither should you.” He knows how smart she is; if he lets her know he’s scared of Hunter finding out, Hunter will find out within the rotation.
“Bad…word? There are bad words?” She loosens her grip on Lula, curiosity taking over.
Echo nods, standing up and walking over to her. He kneels down so he’s face to face with her. “Yeah. Bad words are just words you aren’t really supposed to say, because they’re rude.”
Omega nods, seeming to understand. “But what does it mean? The bad word you said?”
Echo winces, opening his mouth to answer and closing it several times as he thinks of an answer. “Well, what I was saying was that…I was…well…” Echo clears his throat, scratching the back of his head with his scomp hand. “Well, I was um…something undesirable happened, so I was expressing that I didn’t want that to happen.”
“Oh,” Omega says, nodding. She rubs at her eye with a sleepy hand, and her face breaks out into a yawn. “That makes sense.”
Echo nods, sighing in relief. He kisses her forehead and stands up, gently pushing her so she’d walk back towards her room. “Come on, let’s get you back to bed.”
~
The next time she learned a bad word was, unsurprisingly, from Tech.
Tech tends to get lost in his own head, not paying too much attention to his surroundings when he isn’t on a mission.
It’s one of those times when Tech is walking around the ship with his face buried in his datapad.
“Tech?” Omega asks, kicking her feet as she sits in one of the chairs in the cockpit.
“Hmm?” Tech asks, not looking up.
“When are you going to teach me how to fly?” she asks, pout on her lips.
“When you finish your memorizations,” Tech answers, voice monotone. He turns back around to start walking towards her again.
Omega whines. “But Tech, Hera said flying is more than just knowing what the buttons do! She says it’s about a feeling.”
Tech rolls his eyes, getting his screen closer to his face as he walks towards her. “Hera is not a real pilot. On the other hand, I have passed every single flying exam I have taken.” He passes the threshold into the cockpit, heading towards the control panels.
Omega whines again. “Tech!” she complains.
Tech turns around again, starting to pace back towards the hull of the ship. “The faster you memorize everything I have instructed you to memorize, the faster you will be allowed to fly.”
Omega huffs and crosses her arms over her chest, watching him with a scowl on her face. “But it’s so boring!”
Tech shakes his head fondly, turning back around and pacing towards her again. “It is very important to-shit!” Tech gasps in pain as his toe stubs the entryway to the cockpit.
Omega’s eyes go wide, and she curls her knees to her chest. “What does shit mean?”
Tech sighs in annoyance, rubbing at his toe. “It literally means a waste product created by most animals; however, within the context I said the word, it is an exclamation which indicates annoyance or, in my case, pain.”
“Oh,” Omega says. “Is it rude to say that word? Like a bad word?”
Tech hesitates, and then he mentally says shit once more. “Yes, actually. It is rude. Don’t say it in front of the others, they will not approve.”
Omega grins sneakily at him as he buries his face in his datapad again. “Maybe you should…let me fly. Just a little bit. So I forget about the word shit.”
Tech scrunches his nose, taking in a deep, annoyed breath. “I’m more concerned with who taught you about blackmail than I am about the rude word.”
Omega pouts again, resting her chin on her knees. “Hunter!” She calls, eyes twinkling.
Tech narrows his eyes, glaring at her. “Fine,” he says quickly, placing his datapad down. “Do not tell Hunter.”
“Don’t tell Hunter what?” Hunter asks, entering the cockpit.
Tech sighs again, rubbing at his forehead above his goggles. “I’m going to let Omega fly for a few minutes. I’ll take off and land, and it will only be a brief time, but…I think she’s ready.”
Hunter raises a brow. “Oh. That wasn’t difficult to convince you,” he says, with a small chuckle. “Have fun,” he says, winking at Omega. “I’ll take Echo and Wrecker to Cid’s.”
~
Wrecker and Crosshair were the next ones to teach her a bad word, and it was just after they got Crosshair back.
She really shouldn’t have been listening. She knew it was a private conversation between Crosshair and Wrecker. But everything has been so tense since the sniper came back to her little family, and all she wants to do is help.
“Wrecker, just leave me alone,” Crosshair groans, and there’s shifting behind the door.
“No!” Wrecker yells, and Omega can practically see the way he crosses his arms. “You have to talk to me, you can’t keep pushing me away.”
“Why not?” Crosshair drawls, and there’s a few steps as one of them paces.
“Because you’re my brother, and I missed you!” Wrecker says loudly. His voice breaks just a bit, and Omega just wants to run in and hug him.
Crosshair scoffs, and she hears something rattling in a container. “No you didn’t. I shot you, Wrecker, how could you-”
“Stop being a dick for no reason!” Wrecker says, and there’s a shove. “I don’t care that you shot me, it wasn’t you and it only hurt a little bit.”
Omega almost opens the door, but Crosshair snarls angrily. “Bitch!” he yells back, and there’s more shoving.
Wrecker laughs, and Omega is almost certain the larger clone shoves Crosshair into a wall. “You missed me too! Admit it!” Wrecker yells.
There’s more shuffling, and then Crosshair huffs in what can almost be called a laugh. “Get off me, Wrecker, you’re gonna squish me.”
Omega stifles her own giggle and opens the door, looking in. Just as he thought, Wrecker is holding Crosshair hostage in a bear hug. “Can I have a hug too?”
Wrecker looks over and laughs, accidentally swinging Crosshair with him. “Sure! Always room for you, kid!”
Crosshair looks uncomfortable for a beat, but then Wrecker is opening one of his arms and Omega jumps into the hug, one arm around Wrecker’s shoulder and the other around Crosshair’s. “I thought you were fighting,” she admits.
“We were,” Crosshair huffs, but slowly his arm comes up to help support her back. It’s as close to a hug as she’s gotten from him yet. “This is fighting.”
Wrecker’s booming laugh shakes Omega, but she can’t help but giggle back to him. “No, Crosshair, this is making up.”
Crosshair doesn’t argue any further, which is really a win in Wrecker’s opinion. They stay there, silence comfortable, for several long moments. Then Crosshair starts to squirm, so Omega leans back and smiles innocently at them. “Wrecker, what’s a dick?”
Crosshair chokes on his spit, and Wrecker lets the man go before gently putting Omega down. “Um…why are you…I uh…”
“You told Crosshair not to be a dick. Is it a bad thing?”
Crosshair makes another choking sound, and this time Omega is almost certain he’s hiding a laugh. Omega widens her eyes and tries to make herself look more innocent, so she doesn’t give her plan away.
“Well…uh…you see,” Wrecker starts, scratching the back of his neck. “It’s kind of a bad word, so you aren’t s’poussa say it.”
“Then…why did you say it?” Omega cocks her head to the side.
“Uh…because I was frustrated, and I wanted Crosshair to stop being so stubborn,” Wrecker says. He stutters over his words, and Omega nods along. “It means…when someone is being mean, they’re being that word.”
“Oh, okay,” Omega says. She waits for Crosshair to be lulled into a false sense of security, before turning her wide eyes on him. “What’s a bitch?”
Crosshair’s smirk is wiped off his face, and it’s Wrecker’s turn to watch his brother flounder. “Don’t say that word either,” he quickly gets out, looking over her shoulder at the open door. “It’s also a bad word.”
“What does it mean?” Omega stares at him, blinking slowly.
Crosshair shifts uncomfortably, and Wrecker starts to giggle behind his hands. “It means…a not nice person. Someone who did something rude. Wrecker shoved me, so I called him that. I shouldn’t have, though,” Crosshair adds the last part quickly.
Omega nods, pretending to ponder it. “Okay,” she says. “Can we hug again?” She fights back a smile as her distraction works, and Crosshair is just too eager to get her to move on from the conversation.
~
They almost thought they had gotten away with it. It had been several weeks, and Omega hadn’t said any bad words in front of Hunter even once.
They should have known it was too good to be true.
Hunter was arguing with Omega about staying behind for this mission; it wasn’t a complicated mission, but Hunter just wanted to get it over with quickly. “No, Omega, you’re staying here with Echo, Cross, and Wrecker. Me and Tech won’t take even an entire rotation, you won’t even notice we’re gone. That’s final,” his voice is gentle but firm, something he’s gotten good at in the last few months.
Omega stamps her foot, fists clenched at her side. “Stop being a dick!” she yells.
Hunter freezes, his eyes going wide. “Where did you- I- what did you-you-don’t say that w-” He doesn’t look over his shoulder, but he can feel Wrecker tensing up and start to fidget nervously.
“You’re being a bitch!” Omega cuts him off, and her arms cross over her chest. Crosshair, who was standing behind Omega winces, and Hunter swears he heard the toothpick crack in his mouth.
Hunter stutters, kneeling down to her level and looking into her eyes. “Those are bad words, Omega, you can’t say them. Okay?”
“Shit,” Omega snarls, her nose scrunching up.
Tech sticks his nose more firmly into the datapad, which he had lowered after hearing her first outbursts.
“Stop-Omega, stop!” Hunter stands up again, glaring at his brothers. “Who taught Omega that?!” he asks, voice deep with anger and a conscious effort to keep himself from yelling.
All four of his brothers are refusing to look at him, in one way or another. Echo is staring at Omega in horror, Wrecker is whistling and twiddling his thumbs and looking straight up at the ceiling, Crosshair is staring straight at the ground as he tries to fight back laughter, and Tech’s flaming face is buried in his datapad.
“Well?” Hunter hisses, looking between each of them. “Who kriffing taught Omega bad words?” he asks.
It’s silent for several long seconds, his brothers slowly looking up at him in unison and staring with wide eyes. Crosshair wasn’t even aware Hunter knew that word.
Hunter pinches the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath. “This isn’t over,” he promises them. “Let’s go, Tech. Omega-go to the room upstairs.”
Omega groans in defiance but stomps up the stairs, making Cid yell out at them to cool it. “Fuck!” She yells over her shoulder and slams the door.
Hunter turns on his brothers so fast they almost miss it, nostrils flared and eyes wide with anger. “Which one of you taught Omega that word?!”
“You just taught her kriffing!” Wrecker says loudly, trying to deflect the blame.
Hunter’s eye twitches, and Wrecker gulps.
#the bad batch#hunter the bad batch#omega bad batch#clone trooper wrecker#clone trooper tech#clone trooper crosshair#my writing
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tbb finale predictions/thoughts
sadly i do not have a drawing for bad batch eve (but will probably do something afterwards depending on who dies and how)
anyways i hope echo gets to personally free the prisoners and shoot hemlock in the face as a reversal of skako minor
(thoughts on possible deaths below)
I hope echo gets to confront hemlock before he dies - it's implied that echo's situation inspired a lot of the experimental empire projects (like the one with tseebo) and it would be so fitting to force hemlock to face what he's actually doing - he seems to keep himself very distanced from the actual subjects of his experiments (refusing to acknowledge the "specimens" of the vault, "overseeing" the lab work but leaving the prisoner-interacting mostly to emerie/nala se). also this would work really well with how weirdly corpsey echo still looks - although he does look healthier than when he was first rescued, the effects of the techno union's torture & experimentation are clearly evident just by looking at him (scomp hand and head outlets being the most obvious).
and then for echo to die after leading omega/jedi kids/the prisoners to freedom would be such a cool parallel to his citadel death! he's dying for a greater cause (clone rebellion vs gar) but this time it's the one he chose himself. this also ties into his whole arc in s1 (or s2? idk) about him wanting to do more than the scope the batch was operating at, and how that led to him separating from the batch.
and the shadow clones!! tantiss is literally corrupting clones into working against their brothers, same as echo's whole situation in the techno union. so for him to confront hemlock about the prisoners would be so powerful! and then he gets to die saving the not-fully-corrupted clones, like he's paying forward his own survival and rescue and granting that same relief to so many other clones.
it would also be really fitting for his name and the rest of domino - the last Domino falls while setting in motion a grander plan for the future with the liberation of the prisoners and the destruction of tantiss, and the echoes of his legacy would be felt for decades. and if he blows the base up himself - Hevy made the first conscious sacrifice of Domino, and Echo might make the last.
I think the rest of the batch would be more fitting for a sadder death - something contrasting hope/hopelessness themes nirnaeth-style. maybe they all die in an explosion, and as they see it heading their way (like in rogue one) they know their time is up - they were created as CF99 to serve a very specific function in the gar, and now that that structure's gone they've spent 3 episodes drifting. tipoca city was destroyed. they almost settled on ord mantell, but then cid sold them out. then they tried to settle on pabu, but the empire showed up and burned the place down. the Marauder, the first and last of their homes, was destroyed. it's clear they have no place in the imperial-era galaxy, and i'm guessing they'll come to realize this pretty soon.
but! there's still hope. not for them, but the destruction of tantiss (even if it means their deaths) would herald a slightly brighter future. rex and the proto-rebellion are still alive. they've served their place well, and galaxy will go on without them. omega will take their training (crosshair's sniper lesson, echo's marksmanship training when she first got the bow, wrecker teaching her explosives, tech's driving lessons, hunter's role model figure) and the emotional development she's gotten with each of them and use it to serve her own role in the new galaxy, presumably as a fighter in the fledgling rebellion. there's no hope for them now, but there's hope for the future.
#star wars#redbean talks#tbb#the bad batch#tbb s3#predictions#bad batch eve#tbb echo#cf99#hoping echo gets a good death#i watch on fridays/saturdays because Life but i will be cheering for them in my head wednesday night#anyways. silm people.#imagine if the batch gets nirnaethed.#the combo of hopeless present/hopeful future makes such a great tragedy#echo v hemlock in the style of fingolfin's duel at angband!!!#AAAAAAA
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Song of the Sea: Chapter 29: Teach Me How to Fight, I'll Show You How to Win
Chapter Warning: Child endangerment, giant spiders, questionable dietary habits, a possibly poor understanding of the Force on the writer's part Series Warning: explicit smut, alien anatomy (it's a monsterfucker fic, guys), major character injury, grief, canon typical violence, autistic meltdowns, and my terrible attempts at Mando'a
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Vanguard Axis was a droid controlled space station best known for its illegal smuggling operations. It had been setting off Shiani’s inner alarms since before the Batch had docked, though she couldn’t put her finger on why.
“This place is a smuggler’s paradise. Stay alert.” Hunter said firmly. “Echo, you stay with the girls on board while we make the drop, and guard the ship.”
Echo nodded, looking at Omega and Shiani. The siren was fidgeting, hanging upside down from the ceiling. Omega stayed by the ramp, saluting with absolutely adorable intensity at her assignment. “We got it.”
Once the others were gone, Omega looked at Echo. “This place gives me the creeps.”
He nodded. “Me too. I’m going to start the checklist so we can go as soon as they get back. I’m in no hurry to get stuck here… maybe keep your eye on Shiani. She looks as anxious as you do.”
When the corporal vanished into the cockpit, Omega went over to her favorite siren. “Shiani?”
“Yes, Baby Mega?” Shiani looked up from where her fingers were working rapidly on a small chain-code generator Tech had made. He’d left her specs to upgrade it, since selling forged chain codes had turned out to be very profitable.
“You okay? Echo said you look nervous.”
Shiani scrunched her face. “This station is uncomfortable. Like being too hot and too cold at the same time.” She flipped rightside up and rubbed the back of her neck. “Feels like it’s squishing right here, makes my eyes feel like they’re gonna pop out.”
Omega patted her hands. “Me too.”
Both of them froze when they heard a faint roaring sound. Shiani set her little project on the work table and stood upright. “What was that?”
“I dunno. Sounds like the recordings of wookiees Tech had us watch for lessons.” Omega reached for her bow.
“Wookiees were friends of the Republic. We should check.” Shiani nodded. “This station is a bad place, someone could be in trouble.”
Omega nodded, grateful Shiani was always willing to get in trouble with her instead of advising her against it like her brothers did. She loved that they wanted to keep her safe, but sometimes she needed a partner in crime. They slipped off the ramp without further ado, heading deeper into the station where the cry had come from. When they turned a corner, they found a duo of droids with electrostaffs laying into a young reddish-colored wookiee who was trying to cover his head to protect himself.
“Hey! Leave him alone!” Omega shouted, horrified.
“Do not interfere with Vanguard Axis business.” One droid said, raising its staff to hit the young one again. Omega drew her bow and shot the staff out of its hand, Shiani’s blaster rising at the same time and shooting it in the head. The distraction let the wookiee grab the staff from the second one and smash the droid to scrap. As soon as it stopped moving, he gave a quick little bow.
Shiani poked Omega gently. “Quick, hide. More droid are coming.”
The three of them tucked themselves behind a group of crates and the wookiee started digging through them hurriedly. “What are you doing?” Omega blinked.
He made a quiet roaring noise, still shuffling through the box. He was startled when another voice addressed Omega. “I could ask you two the same question.” Shiani and Omega both poked their heads around the crates.
“Echo.” Omega sighed with relief.
“We rescued a baby wookiee.” Shiani explained. “Droids were hurting him.”
The young wookiee peeked around Shiani at Echo and immediately got hostile, snarling at the older clone. Echo held his hand and scomp up. “Easy, kid. Easy. I’m with them.”
Omega nodded. “He’s my brother, you’re safe.”
Shiani looked at the wookiee thoughtfully. “You’re very afraid, baby wookiee. It’s okay, I’ll protect you too. Promise.”
His paw wrapped around her hand, nodding as more droids came around the corner and Echo got behind the crates with them. Shiani half-closed her eyes, listening to the bolt of fear that snaked around her from him, and squeezed his paw gently. While Omega watched in fascination, the siren and wookiee seemed to be having a silent conversation in glances and nods.
“The others will have heard the blaster fire.” Echo muttered. “They’ll come looking.”
Shiani nodded, pushing Omega’s head down as the droids crowded them. Her eyes locked on the belt of one of them, pointing him out to the wookiee. He nodded, growling softly as the rest of the Batch came in the opposite door.
“I suggest you take your team and leave.” The lead droid said, flat affect but with an unmistakable threat implied.
“No! They’ll hurt him, Hunter.” Omega yelled, head popping up into the sergeant’s sight line. “They were hurting him when we found him.”
“The wookiee is worth more to our buyer alive.” The droid’s head swiveled back towards the boy, who scrunched down nervously next to Shiani. Her hand moved to his back and she bared her fangs in a hiss, instantly protective.
“People aren’t cargo.” She snarled, skin populating with blue rings.
“On the contrary, anything can be smuggled for sufficient credits.”
She brought her blaster up faster than Tech remembered teaching her, slamming three shots into the droid’s chest and another in the head. The silver cylinder she’d been eying, tucked into the droid’s belt, came flying off and into the young wookiee’s paw. She pushed him forward, pushing him and Omega together. “To the ship. Go!”
Omega grabbed the other child by the paw and took off, the batch moving to flank them and run for the Marauder as the cylinder ignited into a column of green light that deflected blaster shots. The clones all did a double take but kept running, bailing into the ship and taking off before the droids of the station could close the hangar doors on them or mobilize fighters to pursue.
The young wookiee moved to a corner and curled into a furry ball, watching the clones suspiciously. Omega looked curiously as Shiani crouched beside him, holding out her hand for him to touch. “Is he okay?” She whispered to Hunter.
“He’s a Jedi, if that laser sword is anything to go by. He must have been through a lot, and he’s probably scared.” Hunter explained. The wookiee was just a kid, after all, and every day since Order 66 he had probably been hunted and running for his life. Hunter had been on the receiving end of a scared Jedi kid once, when Crosshair had been trying to kill General Billaba’s padawan on Kaller. He always felt guilty he couldn’t do more than let the kid run and lie that he was already dead… but if he’d tried to rescue the boy, Crosshair would have finished him off.
Shiani sang a few notes to the wookiee child before smiling. “Don’t be afraid. These clones don’t work for the Empire. They don’t hurt babies.” She gestured to Omega. “See?”
He nodded nervously, glancing at Omega as she brought him a tray of rations. “Are you hungry? Here.” She smiled kindly, and he decided to trust her after a moment and quickly shoved the food in his mouth.
Shiani scooted over so she was sitting beside him, and Omega climbed into her lap. “I don’t speak wookiee, you have to tell me in the Song what happened.” The siren cooed. “Why were you on that station, Gungi?”
The young one poured out his story in rapid Shyriiwook, Omega listening intently while Shiani listened beyond the roars and growls. The men listened as well, though it had been a while since any of them had spoken the language. Still, it was a sad but predictable story. Gungi had survived the massacre of the Jedi, and had hoped to try to make it back to his birth planet of Kashyyyk when he’d been captured by the smugglers and held on the station. He was terrified, alone, and distrustful of clones after seeing so many Jedi killed by their hands.
Shiani smoothed his fluffy head gently and looked at Hunter. “Can we take him home?”
Hunter smiled faintly, that glaring soft spot he had for children widening to include someone other than Omega. “I don’t see why not.”
“It’s been a while since we’ve been to Kashyyyk.” Wrecker beamed.
“The Empire could have set up outposts by now. It’s not safe.” Echo frowned.
“He’s a Jedi. Nowhere is safe.” Hunter shook his head. “But this is the best thing we can do for him. It gives him a fighting chance if he’s back with his people.”
Tech glanced over at Shiani, who had laid her head on top of Gungi’s and was humming to him as he and Omega snuggled with her. She looked peaceful among the young ones, but the irony of the situation was not lost on the man that loved her. A queen with no people of her own, escorting possibly one of the last survivors of a genocide back to his birthplace, with the help of clones who’s own brothers had carried out that very slaughter. It was a lot to take in, but he knew she’d only tell him it was the right thing to do.
Who was he to tell his queen no?
“The village is in the sector.” Hunter had his holomap up as Tech brought them into sight of Kashyyyk. Even from her seat on the floor further back, Shiani could see how beautifully green and lush the planet looked from orbit. She wondered if there would be time to explore it, even just for a little while. So often their missions were hurried, and the worlds she’d dreamed of seeing when she was stuck on Kamino passed by in a blur of necessity. She tried not to complain about it, but she wanted so badly to be able to extend her hands and touch some part of this green planet. There were things she’d never seen here, and just once she wanted to know how it felt to climb a tree or pick flowers. There was never time in the race for survival for little things like living.
“I’m picking up heavy smoke and deforestation in that area.” Echo cut into her thoughts, his brow furrowed around his implants. “Be careful of Imperial outposts.”
Tech nodded. “I will proceed with caution, I assure you.” He moved to the landing zone as Shiani got up from her impromptu cuddle puddle with the kids. She stepped up to his side, watching his descent carefully. “Everything alright, cyar’ika?”
“Just watching. I need to pay more attention about flying.” She smiled fondly. “It’s almost time for you to teach Baby Mega to fly, so I should make sure I know what I’m talking about. She always has questions.”
Tech smiled fondly. “Fair enough.”
Hunter lightly patted Gungi on the shoulder as he came to watch the landing as well. “Hide that laser sword, kid. It might draw attention.”
It was a reasonable request and the kid nodded, tucking it away and letting out a polite little roar at Shiani, who smiled fondly. “No, I don’t have one. Not a Jedi.”
Gungi looked a little confused at that, but patted her arm as the ship touched down.
When they stepped out, both Omega and Shiani were wide eyed at the massive trees and rugged beauty of the planet around them. “It’s amazing here.” Omega whispered. “I see why you wanted to come home.”
Gungi nodded, waving his paws. Shiani smiled brightly. “Just as pretty as your dreams?”
“Dreams?” Omega frowned. “What do you mean, dreams?”
Tech listened to Gungi’s explanation and nodded. “He was brought to the temple very young. He has no recollection of his life here, but he remembers through his dreams. A sort of vision, if you will.”
“Tidedreamer.” Shiani said confidently. “A better one than most, too.”
Omega slipped her hand around one of Shiani’s tentacles as they followed Tech towards the village the Batch knew. “How come you know what he’s saying when you said you don’t speak his language?”
Shiani patted her hair. “Did some research about Jedi after Skara Nal. The powers they have come from something called the Force. It’s all around the galaxy, and holds it together. Everyone is a part of it, not everyone can interact with it.” Shiani explained. “You have to be… sensitive, to feel it and make it do things. The more about Force I read, the more it sounds like what my people call the Song. Their light and dark sides are my Melody and Harmony. The difference is all sirens can feel it. We use it to sing and scream, to find love, or sense danger. I can’t understand his words, but I feel his hearts.”
“So you’re like a Jedi?” Omega peeped.
“No. Jedi think entirely differently about it than sirens do. Nothing wrong with that.” Shiani chuckled. “I feel the Song all over this planet, though. Trees are so old, so alive here… no trees underwater on Kamino, and young ones aren’t strong enough to sing like these. Sirens perception, on a flooded planet like Kamino, might be diminished.”
“How’s it different?” Omega frowned, scooting closer. Gungi did too, looking at her curiously.
“Jedi thinking is… linear.” Shiani said politely. “In everything I read, there’s a lot of talk about Light side and Dark side. Jedi and Sith. Sirens don’t have those things. All Song is Song. There is Melody and Harmony, but neither is better or worse than the other. No… morality to it. It all just is, like day and night are.” She explained. “Not saying Jedi are wrong or right. Just different. For sirens, it’s as much a part of us as our voices. Scream and song.”
Omega nodded, brow furrowed as she tried to understand. Gungi patted Shiani’s arm again, pleased with the respectful way she’d tried to approach the differences. They stopped just short of walking into Hunter’s back, the clones looking up at a series of thick webs in the trees. “Spiders?” Omega frowned.
“Too big to be spiders.” Shiani blinked. “Much too big to eat.”
“Probably kinraths.” Hunter waved Omega closer to keep an eye on her. She was small enough to be a kinrath snack, and not carrying a lightsaber.
Wrecker pulled his large knife and started cutting them a path through the webbing, everyone falling into line behind him. Shiani nudged Tech lightly as she felt something circling above them. “Kinraths watching. Six of them.”
He looked up, spotting the massive arachnids coming down on silk threads with their mandibles clicking. Shiani wrapped herself around his arm before he could draw his blaster, while Gungi held his paws up and roared for the clones to keep their weapons holstered. “He says they will not attack if we do not provoke them.” Tech translated, glancing at his wife. She was looking up at the creatures curiously, humming to herself. Five of the kinraths seemed to accept Gungi’s truce through the Force, though one scuttled over and patted at Shiani’s head with its front legs for a moment. She cooed a note at it, and it retreated after its kin without further fanfare. “What was that, cyar’ika?” He asked
“Just wanted to see. It thinks I’m funny looking.” Shiani chuckled.
Tech sighed, putting an arm around her. “The mountain ridge is this way. According to my telemetry, the village is close by.”
Echo looked uncomfortable. “You mean where all the smoke is coming from?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Tech sighed. “This does not bode well for what we will find.”
Gungi jogged ahead to where Tech had pointed, cresting the hill a moment before the clones and siren. When they got to him, he’d dropped to his knees. The village the Batch had been familiar with was razed to the ground, leaving behind only smoldering ashes and what remained of a few huts. Hunter sighed, crouching to examine the dirt. “Tanks came through here. This was deliberate.”
Shiani winced at the memory of Tipoca City, belching smoke into the Kaminoan sky before collapsing under the waves. “The Empire did this.”
Omega put a hand on Gungi’s shoulder and he turned to look at her with a hopeless expression. “The Empire destroyed our home too. We’ll help you find your people, I promise.”
The rest of the Batch nodded, unable to deny her endless kindness. They helped Gungi to his feet and walked towards the village, searching for any sign of survivors and where they might have gone. Shiani found herself face to face with a set of carved stones, fingers outstretched and brushing the engravings. There was something sacred and beautiful about the monument that reminded her of the Temple beneath the waves and how she’d always pray there for a route to the stars…
“Tanks.” Hunter hissed, and the Batch plus Gungi ducked into the undergrowth. Shiani simply turned around, facing the repurposed Separatist Incinerator tanks coming towards her. They were operated by a gang of trandoshans, dragging a cuffed wookiee prisoner.
Tech’s stomach dropped when he realized his wife wasn’t hiding, just staring at the approaching enemy with her eyes narrowed. She had armor, but she wasn’t fireproof. He couldn’t get to her fast enough, and she’d already been spotted.
“What the hell are you?” One of the trandoshans, the leader, asked as the tank stopped a few feet from Shiani’s boots.
“You go away now. Leave Kashyyyk.” She ignored his question, arms outstretched to protect the monument behind her. “Let the wookiee go and leave.”
“You’re a gutsy little thing. But I’ve got orders to destroy the carved stones, and I’ll roast you too if you don’t move. If you do, you’ll probably fetch a decent price.” He reached for a blaster, flicking it to stun and leveling it at the siren. “Whatever the hell you are will make a nice chase, at the very least.”
When Shiani jumped, so did Gungi. He went straight for the driver of one tank, Shiani running for the captive. She tore the binding around his wrists with her teeth, handed him her blaster, and slid under the nearest tank with a wrench from her gear bag in her hand faster than anyone had seen her pull it out. Gungi put his saber through one tank’s repulsarlift, and the fuel pump came flying out from under the other with Shiani right behind it.
Tech caught her by the hand and helped her up, the last of the trandoshans scattered or dead. “Are you alright?”
She nodded, putting her wrench back in her bag. “I couldn’t let them break the holy place.”
Before Tech could either complain she’d scared him half to death or praise her bravery, a pair of furry arms wrapped around her and she was dangling off the ground in a fierce wookiee hug. The freed hostage was roaring in her ear, thanking her.
She smiled and patted his arm. “Hello. Let’s put out the fire, then make friends?”
He nodded and set her down, the group scrabbling for makeshift shovels to put out the lingering flames before the forest could catch. Just as they finished up, three more wookiees on brightly colored mylylas arrived. The former hostage explained what they’d done, and they were waved to follow.
“Where are they taking us?” Echo whispered.
“Their village.” Tech translated. “They want us to speak with their leader.”
The wookiee village was built into the living trees, a part of nature without harming any of the surrounding life. It was a series of treehouses, and the clones were invited to climb up by the warriors who’d escorted them. An elderly female was waiting for them, and looked delighted to see Gungi the minute he appeared. The wookiee they’d rescued ran to her, explaining and pointing at them until she waved them over.
“She says her name is Yanna, and she is their chieftain. She wants to know why we helped her people, and if we are soldiers of the Empire.” Tech explained.
Hunter shook his head and took his helmet off. “No ma’am. We were a part of the Republic, but not the Empire.”
“We helped because it was right.” Shiani peeped, bowing her head and giving her siren salute. “We brought Gungi home because it was right. We don’t know what village he’s from, but he wanted to come home.”
Yanna nodded and waved the young one to come to her, putting her hands on his shoulders to take a long look. Then she waved for the group to come inside and the other wookiees happily offered them food and drink to share while making friends. Shiani was a curiosity for the littlest ones, and let them play with her tentacles and examine her claws while she sat on the floor. She and Wrecker both were delighted to try wookiee food as well, while Echo tried to politely as possible decline the drink he was offered. Gungi and Omega seemed to have made fast friends and were sitting together and giggling as the rest of the group tried to socialize.
Shiani was surprised when Yanna waved her over, getting up from the pile of furry babies to sit at the older Wookiee’s knee. They looked at each other, Yanna speaking and Shiani singing back in little chirps and coos until they had come to an understanding. Then she got up and bowed her head before scuttling back to the Batch. “The Empire is destroying Kashyyyk. They sent the trandoshans to strip resources and enslave people. Many villagers fled into deep parts of the forest, but the Empire keeps coming.” She murmured, slipping her hand into Tech’s. “Scouts already say a convoy is coming. Wookiees need help.”
“They’ve been our allies for years.” Echo nodded. “We should give them any aid we can.”
Hunter nodded, eyes drifting over to Omega and Gungi again. “Taking out that convoy might be the only way to protect the kid.”
Shiani smiled. “The want us to come out and pray to the tree.”
“The tree?” Tech raised an eyebrow.
“Yanna says Kashyyyk belongs to the Wroshyr trees. Trees are alive, I can feel it. If Wookiee’s are our allies, the trees are theirs. Making friends with all allies is a tactical decision.” She beamed, getting up and waving them to follow her as a group of wookiees went outside. Omega joined them, next to Gungi, and put her hand on the bark beside his paw. She wasn’t sure what she was doing, but it felt right. Shiani knelt too, closing her eyes. The clones watched, Tech the most curious, as the group prayed together.
When Gungi looked up, he roared happily back at them and Shiani made a high, joyful note that echoed over the forest. “Did you talk to the tree?” Omega asked.
“Yes. Trees sing to us, and they have a plan.”
The forest was dark as the group waited, watching the Imperial convoy marching on the village. There were clones with the trandoshans, and it was a heartbreaking reality for Shiani that some of these men would die. Men with chips in their heads, who had no choice and no one to come find them when they needed help. She had to swallow that bitter truth, hanging high in a tree and waiting.
At Yanna’s signal, the Batch rolled detonators under the tanks. She watched the lead trandoshan, one she’d heard called Venomor, giving orders. His heart was beyond selfish, it was vicious, and he was telling someone that in exchange for capturing Gungi alive he’d give a hundred Wookiee pelts. A hundred lives he’d be willing to snuff out for a chance to torment a child… Shiani had never been a mother and wasn’t even sure if it was something she’d ever want, but she felt a visceral need to protect Gungi has much as she did Omega. Every child needed someone to protect them, and those two had been given one sharp-fanged siren with everything reason to aim for Venamor’s throat.
When the detonator went off, the tank listed over and he ordered his men to press on, giving chase to the Wookiees on their mylaylas. Other Wookiees, and Wrecker who’d been adopted into the warband, were pounding on trees and luring the Imperials the way they wanted. The way the trees wanted, towards the kinrath nests deeper in the woods.
When Gungi dropped onto a tank and cut the barrel of its main weapon off with his saber, Venomor spotted him. Gungi took off, luring the vicious commander into the forest. Venomor had a flamethrower, and set one of his own men ablaze in his haste to go after the Jedi child. Before Shinani could drop in and tear his throat out, both Omega and Gungi ran off together into the darkness with the monster on their heels.
Shiani swore softly and followed from the tree tops, chasing after the licking flames until she was in the middle of a kinrath nest and her little charges were getting further away. The giant arachnids clicked and chittered at her, so she held her hands out the way Gungi had, and tried to make herself understood.
The little ones are in danger. Help me help them. Help me help Kashyyyk.
The kinraths dipped and patted at her with their front legs before getting behind her, expectant sets of eight eyes waiting for her to lead the way. She nodded, taking the forward position and finding a ring of flame with Omega and Gungi trapped and Venomor circling. Shiani whistled sharply as Gungi took a leap, slicing the flamethrower’s nozzle and rendering it useless. Then he jumped back, extinguishing the blade. Shiani dropped down, wrapping her tentacles around both children, and shot back up into the trees as the kinraths descended, wrapping Venomor in silk and dragging him upwards into the foliage. She turned their faces inwards, to her chest. “Don’t look.” She said softly. “Will only upset you.”
Omega clung to her and looked at Gungi, who made a faint roaring noise to cover the crackling static sound of the kinrath legs until it stopped. When all was quiet, Shiani plopped the three of them on the ground. “The fire.” Omega tugged at her arm and pointed. The raging flames were licking up the trees, heading for the thick foliage that would go up like tallow.
“Cover your ears.” Shiani nodded and pushed the young ones behind her.
Both Gungi and Omega slammed hands over their ears as the siren screamed, turning in a circle and letting the force of the blast put the creeping flames back out. When the Batch followed the shriek and found them, they were stomping out the little bits the scream had missed.
“Shiani!” Tech called, and she turned around with a grin. “Are you all alright?”
“We're okay. Venomor, not so much.” She giggled.
“What happened to him?” Hunter frowned.
“Remember what I wanted to do with the irling? Well… kinraths don’t have Tech telling them no!” She pointed up, where the trandoshan had vanished into the silken canopy.
“Is it bad that I’m hungry now?” Wrecker asked.
“You are always hungry.” Tech sighed, but pulled Shiani’s hands into his. “You did very well, cyar’ika.”
She leaned up and put her forehead against his, beaming.
Shiani sat on the porch of the Wookiee tree house, watching the morning winds clear the smoke from burning trees away. Yanna had given her a drink and behind her she could hear Wrecker and Echo sharing drinks with the Wookiee warriors. She kicked her feet, admiring the view despite the evidence of last night’s battle.
She’d wanted to see Kashyyyk up close, and she’d gotten to.
“You seem to be in a thoughtful mood.” Tech said mildly, sitting down beside her. “How are you feeling this morning? You inhaled quite a bit of smoke.”
“Coughed some. I’m okay.” She smiled, looking at him. “It’s pretty here.”
“It is.” He nodded. “Wroshyr trees are picturesque, I believe… I had hoped to bring you to worlds like this when the war was over.”
“War never really ends, does it?” She leaned her head on his arm. “Doesn’t mean there’s no time for good things. Look at the babies down by the roots. Baby Gungi is teaching Baby Mega to meditate. He’s finally home with his people, and they protect him like we protect her.”
Tech considered her face. “I was concerned about the toll bringing Gungi back to his people would take on you. Are you sure you are alright?”
She lifted her head again and looked at him, cocked to the side. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Gungi was able to return to the people he had been estranged from. He missed them, despite having few memories of living here among them. You, however, grew up among your people. You cannot return to them… I was concerned it may be bittersweet for you.”
She nodded. “Maybe a little. Sometimes I think about home… the temples and the singing. The good parts I miss. But Kamino isn’t home anymore. It wouldn’t be home even if I had stayed and been queen. Home is where family is. My family is the Bad Batch, and my home is the Marauder. That’s all I need.”
He put an arm around her. “Even if you would be a queen and out of exile?”
She snorted. “What’s the point of being queen if your kingdom would drown the king? I’d rather be on the run forever with you than on the throne without you.”
Tech smiled. “I am relieved to hear you say that… I cannot imagine my life the way it was before you any longer.”
Shiani turned her head and kissed him softly, cuddling into his chest. “Melody and Harmony made me just for you.” She whispered.
“You were born before I was, so I believe if there was divine intervention then I would have been made for you.” He chuckled. “I would be more skeptical of such things, if I had not seen a plan concocted by trees come to fruition last night.”
She giggled, holding her hands out in front of her. “Trees of Kashyyyk will remember our names forever now. Shiani and Tech Illumai. Queen that never wanted a crown, and a king who can’t ever see the palace.”
“Those are terrible and excessively long titles…” He began, then paused. “Do I… have a surname now?”
Shiani nodded. “I earned my name back when I beat Kashae. As my mate, you get it too. Tech Illumai.”
Tech smiled faintly, listening to her sweet voice on the syllables. Names were so important to clones, after a rushed childhood of only numbers. CT-9902 would never sound as real or as personal as this name, spoken by the woman who had turned his entire life upside down in the best possible way.
“I think I like it. Tech Illumai.”
#explict#original character#clone force 99#the bad batch#star wars#fanfic#tbb tech#song of the sea#oc shiani illumai
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Anonymous asked: “📂“ -> For Omega <3
⚔️ Random Headcanon // ACCEPTING ⚔️
// oh boy i have a couple bc i love her so much <3
OMEGA FETT
Like Boba, Omega's DNA was virtually unchanged. She wasn't engineered to be docile and obedient like the other clones. She's every bit as intelligent, adaptable, and headstrong as her father and her brother. Or at least, she's capable of being as much. With the right training anyway. And she has plenty of training to follow with so many brothers to guide her. Omega picks up a variety of traits from all of her brothers - not just the Bad Batch. In my personal canon, Omega has some degree of Force sensitivity. Without proper training from someone who does have actual experience wielding the Force, the closest she gets to honing and utilizing it is training with Hunter. She picks up on his ability to detect things with his hyper-developed senses and learns to be very keenly aware of surroundings and anything within them. This eventually culminates in her being a master tracker of all things interesting. From Echo and Tech, Omega gets a strong understanding of hardware and software technology respectively. She learns how to safely, quickly, and effectively analyze parts and information and utilize them in a way that suits her purpose. Whether that's reverse-tracking a signal, masking her own, quickly reprogramming a droid to benefit her purpose, or just make a weird trinket that she thinks will help make life easier, she can do it all. She can even handle weapons and ship repairs. With practice of course. From Wrecker, one might expect Omega to learn how to disarm or arm bombs, or build muscle via lifting exercises. And she does, to some extent. She masters the bomb part. The weight-lifting, not so much. But what she really gets from Wrecker is kindness and empathy, especially towards animals. Wrecker teaches her how to approach other creatures in a tactful, gentle way that builds bonds with them and creates connections to ensure that wherever she goes, wildlife will never be problem. He also teaches Omega the value of humility. He isn't always the best with his words, but he is honest. He teaches Omega that there's no shame in being wrong and that apologizing when you hurt someone is the right thing to do. From Crosshair, Omega eventually learns the blaster skills she needs to survive in the galaxy. She'll never be quite as fantastic as Crosshair when it comes to shooting - but she will be as good as Jango. And with a bow no less. She also learns from Crosshair the value of loyalty and what it means to do what's right. She learns from him that it's never too late to do the right thing, and it's never too late to forgive someone else's mistakes. Crosshair might be cold and more distant than the others, and he doesn't really talk much. But still, he has things that Omega can learn. And she's thankful to have him there with them. Of course, Omega also learns skills from the other remaining clones. From Rex, she learns the importance of resilience and anticipation of the enemy's moves, just like Ahsoka did. From Cody, she learns that being a good soldier is about more than just following orders. From Gregor, she learns that life can't always be serious. You have to live a little an have fun where you can find it. From Wolffe, she learns that you are stronger when you stand together with your allies. Suffice to say, Omega has a lot to learn being so young. But she has a very strong and close-knit family to help teach her and guide her through the danger and chaos of the galaxy. Most importantly, they give her something that they didn't always have being bred for war. They give her endless hope. They nuture her sense of wonder in the galaxy and the reality that she can have good, long, fulfilling life that is more than just the horrors of war. And I think that's beautiful.
#ask : is this what you wanted#anonymous : bury me face down#// nonnie really got me out here turning my love for her up to 11 <3#// she deserves the galaxy!#muse headcanon : i know how people like you end up#( cm : omega fett )
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Hunter is protect at all costs, Echo is teach her how to protect herself
And I wouldn't necessarily say that one is better than the other... but how many times does Omega end up in trouble/captured (bc Hunter was unable to protect her) and she has to get herself out of it? Just saying
I always loved that Echo is the one teaching her how to shoot here. I can see Hunter probably being hesitant and worried about her using a dangerous weapon, whereas Echo knows they just have to teach her how to use it safely. And I love that he encourages her, rather than being like 'maybe she should start with a simple blaster' he's like 'no she found this cool bow and she wants to use it so I'll help her.' (And then he gives her the energy crossbow later ❤❤❤)
Echo trusts her capabilities and helps her when she needs it, the same way he would with anyone else. And the "Hunter, you have to tell her" when they find out why the bounty hunters are after her, bc she deserves to know and it's safer for her to know.
Hunter gives her reassurance and the big promises of protection ("you don't have to worry" "you're stuck with us" etc). He's also constantly trying to keep her off missions and telling her to stay back. Which is fair, especially when there are dangerous people after her all the time, but even by season 3 she's still arguing "I'm a part of this squad too!" long after she's proven herself.
I think the difference is especially evident in "The Crossing" after Echo leaves. Omega is all upset and missing him, but she gets testy with Hunter specifically when tells her to be careful. Like maybe his protectiveness tips over into frustrating and patronizing when she doesn't have Echo there to balance it out
And yeah, I love that in the finale Echo has no doubts or hesitation about bringing her to to rescue the batch when you KNOW Hunter would have told her to get on the ship with Emerie
Side note: from a writing stand point, this is exactly how you handle middle grade age characters (for a middle grade audience at least, idk what they were going for with this show exactly since we all watch it lol but it is rated TV-PG so?). I know a lot of people think it's weird or unrealistic that they bring a kid along on all these dangerous missions and stuff, but the main thing with writing middle grade is that the kids solve their own problems, the adults don't just swoop in and do it for them (think Percy Jackson, Series of Unfortunate Events, Atla, etc).
I think the show actually did a really good job of balancing when Omega takes care of herself vs when she gets help (like how she escapes Cade Bane on her own up until the batch gets her from the escape pod, and how she doesn't sit around and wait to be rescued from Tantiss but she is using skills and training that came from her brothers). And by having these two 'parenting' approaches maybe we achieve that while also voicing the logical side of wanting to keep the kids safe
There are two types of parents (broadly speaking).
Allow me to illustrate.
Scenario: Omega finds her brothers have been captured by slavers in "Rampage"
Hunter: silently shakes his head at her, waves her away, wants her to keep out of sight
Echo: "YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL RIGHT NOW? OUR GEAR. HINT HINT."
#me as a kid reading percy jackson: heck yeah lets go fight monsters and save the world#me now as an adult: umm cHiLd EnDaNgErMeNt!!?!#lets not even mention gregor the freaking overlander#suzanne collins: i can fit so much trauma into this 12 year old#source: my writing for children and adolescents class#which i took right before i starting watching the show so i was paying attention to this stuff throughout and i really like what they did#what's this? another post about mama echo and his amazing adorable relationship with omega?#on my feed?#is my echo bias showing? maybe#but also i love him for a reason#maybe it's also just good parenting#he's always getting down to her level but he never talks down to her#he's such a good mom#the bad batch#tbb echo#tbb omega#arc trooper echo#tbb hunter#mama echo
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Pictured: Crosshair
Not pictured: Wrecker dangling him ❤️
(Source)
#TBB Crosshair#the bad batch crosshair#tell me I’m wrong lmao#and it’s totally canon that he helps Omega get better with her bow 😅#he has more experience with it than Echo#who is like ok you pull it back and shoot now I will teach the cadet I mean child
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I’m thinking about the Bad Batch arc in Clone Wars, and how Crosshair used Tech’s shoulder to stabilize his gun, and how Tech didn’t even flinch and just adjusted his posture so his brother’s aim wouldn’t be compromised, because he’s so used to it that it’s now second nature for the two of them, and Crosshair’s smirk and how he says “miss me?” after setting up the mirror targets in the hallway, and Crosshair teasing Wrecker about the fact that his kill count is now higher, and Hunter joining in on the reading while Wrecker pouts, and I just think Crosshair deserves to have that again.
#the amount of sarcasm between cross and echo???#they’d be the best friends who just insult each other all the time#and who have all kinds of inside jokes#and who absolutely love each other but will never admit it#cross also being a reluctant soft dad to omega#AND HIM TEACHING HER HOW TO SHOOT HER BOW 😭😭#the bad batch#the bad batch crosshair#the bad batch hunter#the bad batch tech
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DAVE FCKING FILONI IM COMING FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!
I never said you could keep Crosshair, AND WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO MY SWEET BOI WRECKER?!?!!?
Also on the Crosshair subject…
I STILL WANT HIM BACK!!!!! AND I STILL MISS HIM!!!! What the kriff are you doing to him Dave?!
#bad batch spoilers#bad batch decommissioned#how cute was tech in this episode 😍😍#and badass mom echo teaching omega how to shoot her bow 😍😍😍
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Muchi is back safe and sound! Poor Wrecker, the man has been going some rounds and still has to carry the brunt of the weight hahaha.
It is good to see how Echo gently chides his bestie but also makes sure she is ok and the way he later on is teaching Omega to shoot the bow? I loved it so much in the series and reading it here again is precious still.
KORIENA FORCEEEEEEE ! I love those ladies! And having them back again this soon is awesome!
“My family called it the Paramount, but we felt that didn’t fit for us,” Kida explained, “so we’ve re-christened it the Aurora.”
Rina chuckled and added a bit sarcastically, “Because we’re such a bright and colorful group.” Rina, I love ya gal! There is so much fun and humor with this group and the entire respect, love and fun that these ladies have is so clear here. Ofcourse we know that there is going to be some fun trouble with them now.
The way Wrecker and Omega reacted to little Kori! And poor Hunter being thrown to the wolves here having to explain where babies comes from while on route to Corellia? LOL!
Now what happened to Lex and Rina?!?! Ladies! Don`t fight !!!!
"Sun and Rain Part 2: Age of the Empire"
Chapter 14
"Trust Issues"
A "Bad Batch" fanfic!
Pairing: Hunter x fem OC, Echo (more best friend pairing)
A/N: So this is where things with the story are gonna deviate just a little. First of all, I'm skipping episode 6 for reasons that do coincide with the story, but also I can't stand the Martez sisters and I just know my strong dislike would manifest itself into the story lol plus I couldn't think of anything involving Kimber that would change things enough, so I'm just bypassing it. Plus, after that, there's gonna be original mission shenanigans soon to ensue, so that's gonna be fun! 😁
Until then, enjoy this chapter! 💜
Taglist: @the-sad-batch , @nimata-beroya , @intrepidmare , @cole-kenxbi , @tech-aficionado , @ladykatakuri , @d1n0-dan , @sammi9498 , @darthzero22 , @scarlettrose9901 , @tech-deck , @thebadbatchscyare , @chxpsi , @ilikemymendarkandfictional , @4pplecider , @locitapurplepink , @l-lend , @nekotaetae , @eternalwaffle , @merkitty49 , @avathebestx
《 Chapter 13
》 Coming soon!
All chapters (Part 2) (Part 1)
Explanation: The Bad Batch get their promised info from Cid and call upon old friends to help them out.
Together, Hunter and Kimber made their way around to where they could hear Muchi roaring, Hunter holding tightly onto Kimber’s hand to help ease her discomfort and offer her a sense of security after what she’d just endured. They came around a corner to find Tech standing off to the side, watching Wrecker going at with Muchi and throwing punches.
“Kimber, you are all right,” said Tech upon seeing them, a touch of relief in his voice. After she nodded in reply, he stated, “That was a foolhardy and bold decision you made…yet I cannot discount the mettle you displayed in the face of the situation. That was indeed admirable.”
“Thanks, Tech,” Kimber replied.
Right then, they heard the sound of an engine approaching and saw Echo pulling up next to them on a speederbike with Omega sitting behind him, a Zygerrian energy bow on her arm. Omega jumped off first, wandering closer to where Wrecker and Muchi were brawling and getting curious about the fight.
As Echo dismounted the bike, Hunter called to him, gesturing to the slave collar still on Kimber’s neck, “Echo, get her out of this thing.”
Right away, Echo came over and started drilling into the back of the collar with his scomp. “Kim, what were you thinking back there? Have you forgotten the promise you made me about not making such reckless decisions with your life anymore?” he chided her as he worked the collar.
“Apparently, I about broke two promises,” she thought to herself. Then she said back, “I was more concerned with you boys getting freed. Omega needs her brothers and you can’t help her when you’re prisoners.”
“She needs you, too, and so do we,” he countered just as the collar came undone and he removed it from her neck, prompting her to face him as he did so. “Your intentions were good, but you promised you wouldn’t take unnecessary risks with your life like that again. I never want to see you willingly put yourself back into slavery, okay? We didn’t save you from captivity just for you to go back for any reason.”
She lowered her eyes guiltily.
Then he added, "Besides, did you really think he would've honored his word after he was done torturing you? He's a slaver and they don't give up what they deem their property for anything. Despite what you intended to happen, there's no way he would've given us up. Not even for you."
Kimber's eyes squeezed tightly shut and she inhaled sharply. Echo was right. How could she have overlooked that and thought her plan would work? It would've only made things worse, especially for Omega if all of them had been taken. Then she definitely would've never forgiven herself for what she'd done.
“I hadn't thought of that…I’m so sorry. Can you guys forgive me?” she asked, looking to Echo, Hunter and Tech.
“Of course, we can,” answered Echo, laying his hand on her shoulder.
“I thought that was obvious,” Tech added.
That brought a smile of relief to Kimber’s face.
Echo then looked at Wrecker, who was starting to falter and get slower in his punches with the Rancor, who was also getting tired. “How long’s he been at this?” Echo asked, turning back to Tech.
Tech simply answered, “Too long. He’s losing his touch.”
They all continued to watch as Wrecker and Muchi kept swinging and missing each other, both of them getting fatigued and tired from the fight. Finally, Muchi caved in first and collapsed to the ground shortly before Wrecker, who fell on top of the Rancor.
“Go to sleep…there we go,” Wrecker groaned, patting the Rancor who was drifting off to sleep.
“Aw, she’s kind of cute up close,” Omega pointed out.
Kimber chuckled. “If you say so,” she commented.
"Nicely handled, Wrecker," Hunter praised him, who just gave the Sergeant a tired thumbs up in return.
"All right, the real question now is: how are we going to get a sleeping Rancor back to Cid's?” Kimber then asked.
Tapping things out on his datapad, Tech suggested, “We could get her back into her cage and then secure it magnetically to the underside of our ship.”
“She’s asleep. How are we supposed to put her back into her cage?” asked Echo.
“We shall carry her, with Wrecker bearing the brunt of the weight,” answered Tech.
Wrecker groaned as he stood back up, “Oh goody….”
The task of getting Muchi into her cage and then secured to the Marauder was no easy task by any means, but the Bad Batch managed to do it nonetheless. Once the cargo was ready, they returned to Cid’s bar, where a male Twi’lek was waiting outside with some Gammorean guards to collect Muchi. He seemed pleased to see the Rancor, gave Cid a case with the payment and wasted no time in leaving with Muchi.
Once they were gone, Cid commented to the group, “Gotta say, fellas: I wasn’t sure you could pull this job off.”
“You could have told us we were going after a Rancor,” Echo chided her.
“Hmm…must’ve slipped my mind,” she casually answered. Then she pointed at Hunter. “You, dark and broody. My office.” Then she turned around and made her way towards the stairs to her parlor.
Hunter, while perplexed at what Cid had called him, gave a nod to the others.
Then they heard Cid call over her shoulder, “And bring the Missus with you!”
Kimber immediately felt all eyes on her. “Excuse me?” she thought.
“I think she means you,” Echo said to her, grinning from ear to ear and lightly elbowing her in the arm.
Now she felt even more conflicted at being nicknamed “the Missus”, especially since she and Hunter weren’t married yet. Cid must’ve assumed they were, for some reason. Nevertheless, she took Hunter’s hand and the two of them followed behind Cid to the parlor and then to her office in the back.
Cid pulled up on her holotable a hologram once again of the bounty hunter from Pantora and informed Hunter and Kimber, “Your bounty hunter is Fennec Shand. She's new to the scene but has already proven herself to be cunning and ruthless.”
“Who hired her?” Hunter asked, his eyes narrowing at the image.
“Unknown,” said Cid.
“Wasn’t that the entire point of this?” Kimber questioned her, irritated. “We did a job for you and you find out who hired the bounty hunter.”
Cid leered at her and snapped back, “Hey, if this information was easy to get, you wouldn’t need me in the first place, Dollface.”
Kimber just glared at the Trandoshan and Hunter gave Kimber a look that warned her to be careful.
Then Cid went on, “Now, before I was so rudely interrupted, my sources in the Guild say she's working on a direct commission. With someone like her nipping at your heels, you're going to need two things: friends and money. Mostly money.”
“Well, we're not swimming in either at the moment,” Hunter responded.
“I guess it's a good thing ya met me then, isn't it?” said Cid.
When Cid turned her back to pick up the case she’d gotten from the Twi’lek, Kimber whispered to Hunter, “We have the Koriena Force. Maybe they can help us.”
“We’ll comm them when we get back to the ship,” he said quietly back.
Cid put the case up onto her desk and opened it, revealing it to be full of credits. “Here's your cut. There's more where that came from... if you're looking for work,” she offered them.
Hunter stole a look at Kimber first and then simply replied, “I'll think about it.”
The two of them turned to leave the room, but then stopped when they heard Cid speak cunningly behind them, “It's interesting…a bounty hunter of Fennec's caliber being after you. You fellas must be pretty valuable.”
They exchanged apprehensive looks. Cid’s statement sounded on the verge of threatening and they both flipped back around, their eyes narrowing at Cid suspiciously.
However, Cid just gave them a conniving grin and said, “Don't worry. I'm good with secrets.”
Kimber, however, wasn’t convinced and she didn’t trust Cid at all, especially after her comment on how “valuable” they must be. With her eyes still carefully trained on Cid, she fired back, “You had better be…or else your parlor’s going to need a new proprietor.”
“No need to get your blacks in a twist. As long as you guys help bring in some good money, your secret’s safe with me,” Cid said.
“And what if we don’t?” inquired Kimber.
“Well…better hope we don’t find out, then,” Cid replied, sitting down at her desk. “Now get out, I’ve got things to do.”
Without hesitating, Kimber whipped around, her braid almost hitting Hunter, and stormed from the room, Hunter right on her heels. Once the door was shut and they were back out in the empty parlor, she stopped, turned to Hunter and stated in a hushed voice, “I do not trust her, Hunter. We got what we needed, let’s just leave and go elsewhere before she has the chance to sell us out. We can meet up with the Koriena Force somewhere and figure things out on our own, but we don’t need her.”
“I told her I would think about it,” Hunter said.
“What’s there to think about?” she asked back. “She basically insinuated she’d sell us out for money without outright saying it and she’s going to hold our secret over our heads to get what she wants from us. People like that can’t be trusted.”
“We don’t have much of a choice right now, love,” he replied.
She stepped closer to him. “Yes, we do. We can find someone else. The girls may even have connections.”
“Their connections would be just as questionable,” he refuted. He brought his hands up to her arms and softly caressed them. “I understand your suspicion, I do…but we’re in a bind right now and we’re going to have to make hard choices.”
“But at what cost? Our own safety? Omega’s safety?”
“Kimber, listen to me.” Hunter gripped her shoulders a little tighter. “You know I would never endanger my squad like that. I want to run this option by the boys first before making a final decision. If they feel it’s what we should do, then that’ll be it.”
Kimber’s expression hardened. “What about me? What about what I think?” she questioned.
“You’ve made it pretty clear what you think,” he said, “but I still want input from the others and we’ll see what the majority rules.”
She wanted to say more, but just felt too fatigued and defeated to find the right words, so instead she just exhaled loudly and put a hand up to her forehead.
Then she felt Hunter’s hand smooth her hair on her head and he said to her, “We don’t have to worry about this now. You went through a lot today. Let’s get back to the ship so you can rest and I’ll reach out to the girls to see if they can come help us.”
In reply, she just tiredly nodded.
He pulled her into his arms and her head fell into the crook of his neck, her body slumping against him. “I’m not discounting your opinion, you know,” he said softly. “I care very much what you think, sweetheart. You know that.”
“I know, darling,” she sighed. “I’m just afraid of this drastic of a change and what it might mean for us.”
“Do you remember what I said to you when we left Saleucami?” he went on to ask her. “As long as I’m by your side and you're at mine, we can weather any storm together. I believe that…do you?”
She raised her head to meet his gaze. “You know I do.”
“Then there’s no need to be afraid,” he reassured her, running his hand along her cheek, his loving gaze filling her with the sense of calm she needed before he kissed her sweetly on the lips.
The moment, however, was then broken by the sound of Cid’s voice crying out, “For crying out loud, in the middle of my parlor? Really?”
Hunter and Kimber came apart, flinching slightly in surprise, and Kimber responded, “There’s no one even in here!”
“I’m in here,” Cid retaliated. “Now go smooch somewhere else.”
Kimber groaned with exasperation and Hunter just rolled his eyes as the two of them turned away and made their way out of the parlor and back outside. They first relayed the information Cid had given them about Fennec Shand and then they all walked back to the ship, needing some rest. Hunter stayed with Kimber until she was fast asleep and then asked Echo to keep his eyes and ears open in case she started having nightmares while he went to call the girls, which Echo gladly obliged to. Hunter took the encrypted comm Kimber had, went outside, put in Rina’s frequency and waited for her to answer.
It didn’t take long for Rina’s holographic form to appear. “Hey there, boss la--oh! Well, you weren’t who I was expecting, Sarge,” she greeted him.
“Sorry to disappoint you,” he replied.
“I’d make a comment about seeing your pretty face, but I’m pretty sure Boss Lady would skin me if I did,” she said back, eliciting a snicker from Hunter. “Where is she, by the way? She okay?”
“Kimber’s fine. She’s just resting right now, but she wanted me to reach out to you,” he told her.
“Mmm figured you were calling on her behalf and not just for a friendly chat.” Rina lifted her vape mod up to her mouth for a second and then went on to ask, “Well, to what do I owe the pleasure of a call from you, lover boy?”
Hunter shook his head slightly at hearing her nickname for him again, but then proceeded to inform her about Fennec Shand. “Our contact says, with someone like her after us, we need friends and money,” he explained.
“And for which reason are you calling me?” asked Rina, flourishing her mod.
He half-smirked and responded, “Friends, of course.”
“Hey, for all I know, you could be asking for money. Doesn’t hurt to check,” she said back. “Where did you guys land?”
“Ord Mantell.”
“Yeah, that’s about as seedy as they come. If your contact is telling you ‘friends and money’, I’d imagine she’s in some shady business, especially on Ord Mantell. Sadly, any contacts we’ve got won’t be any better and much less reliable, especially for money. If you’ve got this one offering you a chance to make money, I would suggest you take it. It’s better than nothing, even if it is questionable.”
“I’m going to run the option by everyone. We don’t have very many people we can rely on, but you ladies are the few we can. Anyone else, we don’t know where they are. Will you help us?”
Rina took another inhale of sweetblossom, her arms folded and a contemplative look on her face. “To tell you the truth, Sarge, we’re gonna need some help, too,” she relayed to him, “so maybe we can all help each other.”
That concerned him to hear. “What happened?” he asked.
“Some things went down on Pantora shortly after you guys split,” she said. “We were having to hide from the police after chasing that bounty hunter and then more Empire troops showed up. Things got…pretty ugly.” Her voice sounded on the verge of sad as she said the last sentence and her gaze averted to the ground.
Something about that didn’t sit well with Hunter. Something seemed off about her, he could somehow sense it. Now even more concerned, he inquired of her, “Rina…is everything okay? Did something else happen?”
She blinked, lifted her head and was back in better spirits as she answered, “Well, we’re not dead. That’s the important thing. To sum up, we weren’t safe and didn’t want to stick around, so we’ve just been drifting since then.” She inhaled on her mod one more time. “If you guys are in a bind, then we’ll help you, Sarge. I’m sure the girls won’t have any objections. It’ll take us a day or two to get to Ord Mantell, but we’ll be there. Tell the boss lady her Koriena ladies are coming.”
With a pleased grin, he responded, “I knew we could count on you. I’ll send you our coordinates.”
“Catch you soon, Sarge,” she said back, giving him a salute, before the hologram disappeared.
A couple days had passed and Kimber found that her condition since suffering a slew of shocks and whippings was actually getting worse. The day after, she’d been a bit sore and felt she just needed to relax while the Batch took time to figure things out and discuss working for Cid, but by the second day, her pain hadn’t lessened. If anything, she almost felt worse. Having acclimated to not being whipped and tortured like she used to, the consequences of it felt pretty painful and it seemed to last longer than she thought. It seemed what she’d suffered at the hands of the Zygerrians took more of a toll on her than she thought and she wondered if she’d be able to handle another mission right away. It was times like these that reminded her that her physical endurance and pain tolerance was different than the Clones’ because they all were completely fine.
She woke up that second day, feeling miserable, and found that she was alone. Hunter wasn’t in the room and instead, she found a datapad on the side where he usually slept. Sleepily, she picked it up, rubbed at her eyes so she could see what was on it and saw there was a note typed out on the screen.
I didn’t want to wake you and, after how difficult things were for you yesterday, I thought I’d give you the chance to rest as much as possible. When you wake up, we’re back at Cid’s. Omega wanted to try out her new bow. I’m sure she’d love for you to come watch.
Counting down the seconds until I see you.
H
Kimber smiled to herself, realizing it had been a while since Hunter had said that last phrase to her. He really was such a romantic. Unfortunately, it was a bit painful even getting out of the bed and she had a feeling it was going to be quite a trek for her over to Cid’s. Feeling the way she did, she knew getting her armor on was going to be a chore and it probably wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing it. For the time being, she was just going to put on some civvie clothes that were more comfortable and simpler to wear, so she slipped on the red and dark gray dress Hunter had gotten her on Kuat and the leggings that came with it. Once she was dressed and her hair re-braided, she made her way back to Cid’s.
She walked in just in time to get narrowly missed by an energy arrow in the doorway, which startled her. She saw the wide-eyed looks of Omega and the boys all looking her way just as the arrow made contact with the wall next to the door.
“Sorry!” Omega cried out.
“Goodness, if I wasn’t awake already, I certainly am now,” Kimber commented through a nervous chuckle.
As she made her way into the parlor, she noticed there was a makeshift target on the other side of the room that Omega was shooting at as well as several holes in the wall around it while there were only a couple on the actual target. It seemed like target practice was going…interestingly. Echo was standing behind Omega, instructing her on how to use the bow, while Hunter, Wrecker and Tech watched.
She walked past Wrecker, who was sitting atop a holotable, as well as the Weequay and Ithorian--whose names they’d found out were Bolo and Ketch--who were enjoying watching and taunting Omega. They paid her no mind, but Wrecker gave her a pat on the back and a smile as she walked by him. Then she moved next to Hunter who immediately put his arm around her shoulders.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, giving her a gentle squeeze.
She groaned, “In a lot of pain, actually.”
“Still? Aw, man,” said Wrecker.
Right at that moment, Omega fired her bow and the shot landed just to the right of the bullseye, hitting the target. She was excited and cheered that she’d made the hit.
“Well done, Omega,” said Kimber, putting on a smile for the kid.
That made Omega’s eyes light up even more, but then Echo told her to fire again. “But I’ve already hit the target three times,” she argued.
“Out of twelve,” Echo corrected her. “That’s luck, Omega, not skill. Soldiers need to be consistent.”
She then proceeded to take two more shots, missing widely each time. One of the shots even went so sideways, it hit one of the holotables. Bolo and Ketch were still taunting her and taking bets on whether or not she’d hit the target, which irritated her a lot. Echo tried his best to reassure her, but it wasn’t really working.
“Not exactly a natural, is she?” commented Wrecker to Hunter, who just shrugged indifferently.
Right after that, however, Cid came in and declared she wanted to talk business, shooing Bolo and Ketch out of the parlor in the process. First, she asked if the Clones knew what a tactical Droid was and Tech tried superseding her explanation, despite the fact everyone else indicated they knew what she was talking about. Though, she hushed his explanation, calling him “Goggles” in the process. Then she shoved Wrecker off the holotable he was sitting on and pulled up a hologram first of a tactical Droid and then a decommissioning facility that she said was on the planet, Corellia, saying she wanted them to get one of these Droids for her before they were all destroyed.
“We haven’t decided if we’re gonna work for you or not,” Hunter countered with.
“Allow me to decide for you. You’re in!” Cid declared.
Kimber’s hands clenched tightly into fists at her sides. “That’s not how this works,” she said to Cid, shooting her a glare.
“It is when you’re in my house, Dollface,” Cid shot back. Then she looked to Hunter as well as the others, telling them, “I'm talking a mutually beneficial arrangement. You make money, I make money, and I watch your back. With the heat on you, it's the best option you've got.”
Still suspicious of the Trandoshan, Kimber cast a look to Hunter, silently showing him she didn’t like the idea. The others, however, just appeared indifferent.
Hunter released a sigh and said back, “I guess we’re in.”
Kimber had to grit her teeth together to keep from saying something. She didn’t feel good about their arrangement at all, but it seemed Hunter had made up his mind, despite it really being forced by Cid.
“I know you’re in. I just told you you’re in,” said Cid, only making Kimber even more irritated.
Seeing her getting agitated, Hunter gently pulled her aside away from the others and he said quietly to her, “Look, sweetheart, I know you’re not happy about this.”
“You’re right, I’m not,” she snapped. “This is a bad idea.”
“Cid is right: she’s the best option we’ve got and we might not find anything else this easily,” he argued.
“We won’t know unless we try,” she said.
“Kimber, even Rina told me this is the best move,” he reminded her. “Any contacts she or the girls would have would be less reliable than what we need.” He held her arms gingerly and told her, “I know you don’t trust Cid; believe me, I really don’t either…but trust me, all right? This wasn’t a choice I made lightly.”
She sighed loudly in defeat, knowing him asking her to trust him got her every time. “All right,” she conceded.
He rubbed her arms consolingly. “On that same subject, I think you should sit this mission out,” he stated.
“What?” she asked, taken aback.
All of a sudden, Tech appeared beside them, having heard the last thing Hunter said and declared, “Hunter is right, Kimber. Your physical state is still not at peak condition, given what you suffered at the hands of the slavers. If you go on this mission, you will not regain the strength you need to get better and you run the risk of potentially compromising the mission.”
Kimber wanted to argue, but she also knew immediately that Tech and Hunter were right. She was in too much pain to properly function on any mission right now. Even though she hated the idea of the boys going off without her and being separated from them, she knew it was for the best.
“You’re right. I’ll stay,” she said, not attempting to hide the disappointment in her voice.
Just then, her commlink beeped and she heard a familiar female voice come through, “The Koriena Force is approaching Ord Mantell…and by the way, we got a new ride. You’ll know it when you see it. We’d better see you guys at the spaceport, boss lady.”
Taking out her comm, she replied with a pleased smile, “Well, the boys are heading out on a mission, so you’ll get to see them briefly before they take off. We’ll see you soon.” Then she announced to everyone else, “The girls are almost here!”
“Oh yeah! Let’s go!” exclaimed Wrecker, pumping his fist as he almost skipped over to the door. Of everyone there, he was the most excited for the girls to arrive, to no one’s surprise.
The others followed after him, but Hunter and Kimber lingered behind for a moment. “I’m sorry,” Hunter said.
Kimber shook her head. “No, I understand and you’re both right. I’m in no condition to go with you.”
He laid a hand on her shoulder. “At least the girls are here now. That should help keep you occupied.”
“I’m sure,” she replied.
“Hey, dark and broody! Will you and the Missus get a move on already?” cried out Cid from behind the bar.
They both rolled their eyes in annoyance at Cid’s pushiness and left the bar, jogging to catch up with the rest of the squad.
A few minutes passed after the Batch all made it to the spaceport when they saw a ship entering the atmosphere and they were astonished to see a shiny, platinum-colored starship come flying in towards the spaceport.
“If that’s them…they completely missed the point of ‘lying low’,” Echo commented.
Tech tapped some things out on his datapad and then stated aloud, “That is an H-type Nubian yacht, a leisure transport.”
“Hmm curious,” Hunter muttered.
Sure enough, the Nubian starship landed in a port nearby and when they moved closer, they saw the ramp to the ship open up and Rina was standing inside along with Irys.
Upon seeing Kimber, Rina called out, “Told you you hadn’t seen the last of us, boss lady!”
A smile immediately overtook Kimber’s whole expression as the two ladies descended the ramp. “I never doubted you for a second,” she replied, grasping Rina’s outstretched hand.
Right after that, Rina was suddenly swept up off the ground by Wrecker, making her cry out in surprise, and spun in a circle. “Welcome back, Rina!” he exclaimed.
As he set her back down on the ground, Rina grinned and said in return, “Boy, am I glad to see you, Wrecker.”
Irys gave a nod to the other Clones. “A pleasure seeing you all again,” she said. Then she smirked at Tech and added, knowing it was going to get under his skin, “Especially you, hotshot.”
He grimaced slightly. “I wish I could say the feeling was mutual,” he grumbled.
“Where’s Kida and Lex?” Kimber asked.
“Lex is finishing something,” answered Irys.
Then Rina added, “Kida is getting the smol, so she should be out any moment.”
“Smol?” Hunter repeated, confused.
Before anyone could answer, they heard Kida’s voice cry out from inside the ship, “I heard my name, you better not wear it out!”
Then Kimber saw her coming down with little Kori swaddled up in a wrap that she wore around her torso. The fun contrast about her was the fact that she was wearing a leather combat suit underneath the baby wrap and had blasters holstered on her hips. Clearly, being a mother wasn’t going to stop her from being a fighter.
“That’s quite a look for you, Kida. I like it,” Kimber complimented her.
“You know me: everything I do, I do in style,” she said, flourishing her hand.
“Hence why you have one of the shiniest ships in the galaxy, apparently,” Kimber commented.
Kida looked back at the ship and grinned. “Yeah, my dad bought this ship from some higher-ups on Naboo years ago. We had to steal it so we could escape Pantora, so he’s probably going to be mad, but I don’t care.”
“It’s our ship now,” Irys put in.
“My family called it the Paramount, but we felt that didn’t fit for us,” Kida explained, “so we’ve re-christened it the Aurora.”
Rina chuckled and added a bit sarcastically, “Because we’re such a bright and colorful group.”
“I love it. It’s perfect,” Kimber replied proudly. She then looked down at the little baby nestled up against Kida’s chest, his golden-brown eyes looking up at her with curiosity. “Hello again, little one,” she said, caressing the blonde fuzz on his head as light as a feather.
When she turned to look at the Clones, she had to suppress a laugh at the looks of absolute stunned shock she saw on their faces, their widened eyes looking like they were about to pop from their sockets.
“Um…why does Kida have a baby?” inquired Wrecker.
Nonchalantly, Kida answered with a grin, “This is my son.”
“Your son?” Echo repeated in astonishment.
Omega eagerly ran up right away and to get a peek at the baby and Tech immediately went to typing things out on his datapad.
Rina stepped up and proclaimed, “Don’t worry, guys. Unless you’ve seen Kida naked, the smol’s not yours to worry about.” Then she gestured to the other women and said, “We don’t count either.”
The Clones all furrowed their brows in confusion.
“What? We live together. It happens,” Rina simply said with a shrug. “You’re all brothers. Haven’t you guys seen each other naked?”
Immediately, the others all looked incredibly awkward and refused to look at each other. Kimber once again had to put a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh at how timid the boys were at Rina’s question.
“Well…guess Clones do things differently,” Rina commented.
Hunter was the first of the boys to step forward to see the baby and Kimber noticed his eyes subtly light up at seeing him, the corner of his mouth twitching upward. “What’s his name?” he asked Kida.
“Kori. From the word ‘Koriena’,” she told him.
His expression softened hearing the meaning behind the child’s name. “A very strong and fitting name,” he said.
Then Tech spoke up, “Kida, if I may inquire: how old is the child?”
She took a second to think before answering, “A few weeks…almost a month old.”
“And you carried him to full term?” he then asked.
“Yes…,” she replied, wondering where he was going with these questions.
He tapped one last thing on his datapad before declaring with certainty, “Just as I suspected. I know who the boy’s father is.”
Everyone’s heads whipped around in his direction, perplexed. Kida simply folded her arms, interested to see if Tech would correctly deduce the answer, and Kimber was just as curious.
“How could you possibly know that, Tech?” Hunter asked.
Returning his attention to his datapad, Tech explained, “If my calculations are correct, with the child being born nearly a month ago and having been carried the full gestation period of nine months, that would place his conception ten months prior…around the time when we were rescued by the Eradicators.” Then his astute eyes returned to Kida. “And during that timeframe, there was only one male who was ever with Kida alone whose phenotypes are already clearly visible in the baby’s appearance.”
Echo was the first to pick up on Tech’s facts and he was almost struck dumb with shock.
“Rex…!” he gasped out, remembering he had asked Kimber after they had been rescued if there was anything between Kida and Rex after observing their behavior with each other. Then he took notice of the baby’s blonde hair and that confirmed everything. One of his closest brothers was the father of Kida’s child!
“Well, I thought it was obvious,” Tech responded, seeing Echo's astonishment.
The others all turned and looked wide-eyed at Kida, waiting for her to confirm or deny Tech's hypothesis.
She smirked deviously, lifting up a hand and placing a fingertip on her chin. “You certainly live up to your reputation as the exceptionally-minded one, Tech. You’re right,” she confirmed.
“It really is Rex?” Hunter questioned.
“Yes,” she said, “and he doesn’t know yet.”
Then Wrecker, after standing there dumbfounded and speechless, finally spoke, “Wait…so Rex has seen you naked?”
Just as everyone began to realize he didn’t quite understand, Omega only made things worse by saying, “But what does that have to do with the baby? Aren’t all babies grown in tubes?”
Everyone all groaned sheepishly, wondering how they were going to get through this awkward situation.
Irys put a hand to her forehead and muttered, “I forgot she grew up on Kamino.”
Rina leaned over and whispered to Kimber, “You wanna take the lead on this one, boss lady?”
“Not really,” Kimber replied nervously, even though she knew someone had to do it. She stepped forward and went on to say, “Omega, Wrecker…regular humanoid children are created differently than Clones are.”
“They’re made by just seeing someone naked?” Omega inquired, her eyes narrowed in confusion.
Then Wrecker asked along with her, “It’s that easy?”
“N--no, it’s uh…more than that,” said Kimber, scrambling to find the words to help them understand, even though she was desperately not wanting to have this conversation at the moment.
Then Hunter stepped in and said, “A woman isn’t going to get pregnant because you walk in on her naked.”
With a slight amused snicker, Echo then folded his arms across his chest and made the comment, “If that were the case, we would’ve needed a bigger ship by now.”
In response to that, knowing exactly what Echo was implying, a strangled cry emitted from Hunter’s throat that he tried to stifle and Kimber pursed her lips and cast Echo a threatening look that said “I’m going to kill you!”
“Wait, what does that mean?” Wrecker questioned.
To speed things along, Kimber just stated, “Hunter will explain it to you on the way to Corellia, won’t you, darling?” As he stuttered in reply, flabbergasted at her throwing the heat on him, she immediately went on, gesturing towards the Marauder, “Speaking of which, you guys should be going right now, so you’d best be on your way before Cid finds out you’re still here.”
As Echo and Tech simply gave waves to the three Koriena Force ladies, Echo happened to look up at the ship and saw Lex was actually standing at the top of the ramp, leaning up against the wall inside and twirling her vibroblade in her hand, much like what Hunter did on occasion. She was in her usual red tank top, leather corset, black trousers and boots, but he noticed that she now had a full arm glove on her left arm. It was a curious fashion choice, but he thought it was intriguing. Her eyes caught his for a moment and she ceased playing with her knife. There was no emotion in her face; it was just a simple stare as if she was trying to read him for some reason. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, wondering if something was wrong. However, a few seconds later, she just raised up two fingers and gave him a salute. Brushing that off as nothing, Echo returned the gesture with a nod and proceeded to follow Tech towards the ship.
Wrecker directed his attention to Rina, waved at her and said, “I’ll see you later, Rina!”
Rina called back, “At least this time, I’ll be here when you get back.”
“I know! I’m excited!” he shouted over his shoulder, making Rina blush.
Hunter sauntered over to Kimber, a faint displeased look on his face mixed with a devious smirk. “You owe me big time for this, sweetheart,” he said, pointing a finger at her.
She chuckled, knowing he was referring to the earlier topic. “Sorry about that,” she said as he approached. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.” He placed his hands on her arms and she laid her hands on his chestpiece. “Please be careful.”
“We will,” he said.
“I just…I don’t like the thought of you boys going on a mission without me,” she admitted sadly. “What if something happens to you that could’ve been prevented had I been there? What if something happens to Omega?”
He lessened the distance between them, bringing her close to him and touching his forehead to hers comfortingly. “Don’t think like that, love,” he assured her. “We’ll be okay. Worrying won’t make you feel any better.”
“I know,” she replied, leaning into him a little more. “I can’t help but worry over you just as you worry over me. That and it’s been a long time since I sat out on a mission."
"You're gonna be okay. You've got the girls here now." He lightly nuzzled her. "I'll come back to you."
"You always do."
She leaned in and captured his lips in a sweet parting kiss, savoring the feel of his lips to carry with her through his absence.
After which, Hunter gave Kimber one last loving smile before turning away and jogging after the rest of the Bad Batch. Her hand came up to his credit necklace and clutched it tightly against her chest.
"You two are so dramatic," she heard the voice of Lex speak behind her. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw Lex coming down the ramp to join her and the other girls, a smirk on her face.
"There you are, Lex!" she cried. Then she took notice of the full arm glove Lex was wearing. "That's new," she pointed out.
Lex side-eyed the glove and just shrugged. "A new fashion statement I'm trying out," she said.
"It looks good," said Kimber.
Rina muttered something under her breath and Kimber saw her turn away, lifting her mod up to her mouth. When Kimber watched her, it seemed like something was bothering Rina. Then she looked back at Lex and Lex, too, seemed off and irritated.
"Is everything okay?" Kimber asked hesitantly.
"Yeah, I'm just tired," Lex answered. "I haven't been sleeping well the last few nights."
"If that's true, then you should go rest," Kimber said to her. "We'll have plenty of time to catch up."
Lex simply nodded and obliged without any second thoughts, turning on her heel and going back up the ramp to the ship.
After she left, Rina stated, gesturing with her thumb at the ship, "Well, boss lady, come on up and we'll show you our new digs in the Aurora." Without waiting, she too proceeded up the ramp of the ship.
Waiting until Rina was out of earshot, Kimber asked Kida and Irys, "Are those two all right? They seem…different."
Irys answered her, "They've been fighting recently, to put it simply."
"I wouldn't bring it up to them, though," said Kida. "It's a bit of a touchy subject right now, but they'll be okay eventually."
Kimber didn't like that answer and it made her worried and concerned for her friends. She wanted to talk to Rina or Lex about what was going on with them and find a way to help them. Though, if Kida said they'd get things figured out eventually and not to say anything, then she just had to trust that things would all work themselves out.
Just then, Kori started to get a little fussy and squirmed in his wrap. Kida bent her head down and placed a kiss on top of his head.
"I think it's about time for this little guy to eat," Kida observed. "Let's go in and we can all take time to relax."
"I definitely could use that. My whole body is in a lot of pain, hence why I'm still here," said Kimber as they all made their way up into the ship.
Kida's head whipped over to her. "My dear, if you're hurting, I've got some things that can help. You leave your pain relief to me." Then she said to Irys, "Would you mind feeding Kori for me while I tend to our fearless leader?"
"As long as Rina is the one to put him down for his nap," Irys replied.
"I'll be sure to pass along the message," said Kida.
Kimber giggled to herself. It was good to have her Koriena Force back and it was going to be even better now that they were going to be on Ord Mantell for the foreseeable future.
#hunter x f oc#hunter x oc fic#sun and rain fanfic#bad batch fanfic#bad batch hunter#the bad batch#star wars the bad batch
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Catching the Jitterbug
Tech x Reader Fluff
Summary: Being put into the Bad Batch was something good for you, a turning point in your life. And it was certainly a crazier one when you had found feelings for the technician of the team. Was there anything that could stop you from staring at him?
Warnings: shy!reader, fluffffffff, mentions of Crosshair, the awkwardness of my brain
A/n: I write Tech really poorly, I'm very sorry. :(
GIF NOT MINE!!
•--•
He'd almost caught you once again. As you splashed water on your face, you exhaled with a soft breath. Hunter surely felt your heart rate increase, heard the heavy exhale you had made when you first introduced yourself to the refresher after Tech had looked over at you. Hunter heard everything. Stupid stupid stupid.
You had caught yourself accidentally looking at Tech quite a bit in the past few months. It was a habit you had attempted to throw out the window, to completely remove from your life, but it never seemed to disappear. You'd never tell him that you felt this striking interest whenever you looked over in his general direction, but you did. And if anyone knew at all, it was Hunter. The stupid sergeant and his stupid little senses that made you feel insecure to be in the same room as Tech because if Tech couldn't tell that you were so infatuated in him, then Hunter could. And Tech had absolutely clueless for once in his life.
Tech was smart, smarter than many living creatures for that fact. Though he wasn't smart enough to catch the hint that everytime he caught or almost caught you staring, it wasn't because you were waiting to ask him a question. It was because everytime you looked at him, he was always so in his element. He was downright adorable while working, so focused. And when he spoke to you, he tended to ramble. Fuck it made your heart swell - he was so cute when he got into one of his lectures.
You had dreamt of being next to him, allowing yourself to cuddle into his side as he worked on whatever he was doing. He was good at working while being pushed around by the boys. It made you think about how easy it would be to slip into his arms while he tinkered with whatever project he had going on or while he was reading something on his datapad.
You finally came out of the small, clustered refresher, seeing that Tech's eyes were focused back on his datapad (like always) and Hunter's were looking at you. Wrecker and Echo were outside with training targets set up, teaching Omega how to shoot her bow. You missed the kid and her big hugs even if she was just outside.
"Everything.. alright, Y/n?" Hunter asked, leaning a bit forward from his sitting position. He knew that he knew, faker. You hummed an approving noise as you back down next to the sergeant. You wanted to punch him square in the jaw, but you put that off for another day. Hunter gave you a bit more room, pulling his legs together from when he was man-spreading.
You cleared your throat, gaining the partial attention from Tech as well, "Has Cid called us back yet?"
Hunter only shrugged, "No, said she'll have a mission soon."
The silence clouded the room once again. They really didn't do that much when there was no repairs, this had been the first time in forever that the ship had been cleared for being okay. We'd all almost thought it was one of Tech's dry jokes, that's how much of a tendency we had for repairs. And it absolutely sucked to have nothing to do all day. You should've offered to help train Omega. Or just went back to bed when the Marauder landed on Ord Mantell. Those were both better alternatives than sitting in silence with a man you had a crush on and the only man that knew. Crosshair knew too. But you didn't like talking, or even thinking, about Crosshair.
You made a popping noise with your lips to clear the whole "awkward silence" thing, "I think I'm gonna visit her for a little and get a drink, I miss her attitude."
"That's a first," Tech muttered. As you stood up, you realized he was also on his feet. You didn't want to ask what he was doing, he could stand whenever he wanted to, it was just a coincidence that he also stood up when you had.
"Would you mind if I joined you?"
You looked at him with something between shock and nervousness. You hadn't been so nervous with anyone in your life before you had met the nerdy Tech, was this what a genuine crush felt like? You nodded frantically, realizing you'd stood there for a second too long just looking at him. You didn't that a lot, it became a sort of habit that everyone got used to.
"Sorry, I just.. zoned out I guess," you apologized, leaving your helmet on the table you were sitting at and starting your way down the gangplank.
Tech seemed to follow after you quickly, attempting to catch up. It wasn't odd for him to do that, he most likely had something on his mind that he wanted to share. And you were all there for it. You looked over at him, taking in his features - handsome with these soft caramel eyes, hidden by his goggles. You wanted to take them off for once, just to see what they actually looked like without the lens and all. They didn't seem to come off ever, though Crosshair used to always- never mind.
You thought of what the say to him, fuck you were staring again. Say something. What's new, Boo? No, that's too much for anyone of the boys to hear. Whaddup Tech! No, he's weird with your "civvi words."
"Hi."
Tech looked down at you with a soft expression. "Hello," he replied. He met your gaze for longer than you would have liked and you looked away again, face darkening. "Is there something you have to say?"
"I-uh no, I just thought I'd say hi since you're, y'know, walking next to me and all."
Gah! You felt your heart rate go through the roof. Why was he so intimidating? Well, he wasn't intimidating but he was Tech and Tech made you nervous and-
He pressed the back of his hand to your forehead, "Your forehead is steaming, Y/n, are you feeling unwell? Maybe we shouldn't visit Cid, it would be ideal that you get some rest."
He stopped, making you also stop as well. He was peering down at you now, hunched over to force eye contact. "If you would like, I have been researching a few home remedies in case a situation like such were to occur with your body."
"No, I'm fine Tech, I just need a drink is all," you spoke, looking back to the path in front of you. You started to walk away, but Tech grabbed your arm, pulling you back into a stumble and putting both of his hands on your shoulders. It kept you in place, letting him look down at you with knitted brows.
"I think that drinking will be the last thing that you do. I will not let you drink under your condition," you heard a slight waver in his voice as he lectured you. Tech? Worried? No, that didn't happen, and on the off chance it did, he had enough confidence in himself to distribute to the entirety of the clone army (they obviously don't need anymore though).
"Tech, I'm not sick. You never pestered Wrecker like this when he was sick."
Tech pushed his goggles further into the bridge of his nose, "Well, Wrecker usually sleeps off his illness fairly quick. You, on the other hand, are small and do not sleep as deeply as Wrecker sleeps."
You tilted your head, nose slightly scrunched as you glared up at him. You were slightly annoyed, not even hot in the face anymore. You forgot that Tech's hands were still on you, letting up from how tense they once were. "What about when Echo caught that bug from Nal Hutta?"
Tech cleared his throat, staring at me while he shuffled through answers to that question in his head. He had an answer to everything, but this - maybe not. Nal Hutta was a disgusting place that you never wanted to visit again, infested with disease and gunk everywhere. It was no surprise Echo got sick. He was upset the whole time and Tech cared about him physically of course but never ordered him to bedrest unless it was to keep him at a healthy amount of sleep.
"Simply because I knew he would be alright. I monitored his temperature, electrolyte intake and I made sure that he was eating exactly the right amount. Did I not?" Tech was always in matter-of-fact mode, so much so that you had almost thought maybe he won this small feud between you two. Being able to use such big words with certainty of what they meant, he could say the most random nonsense and you would have absolutely no clue if it was correct or not. You always assumed it was 100%, he was never wrong.
"You never ordered him to bedrest, you never made him a home remedy."
Tech stopped, his brain was working overtime - how would he get himself out of this? You stared up at him with a competitive glint in your eye, the one you had on the battlefield, always pushing back at him; he was the brains but you were the "brawn". You always had a comeback up your sleeve, you always knew what to say in an emotional aspect. He envied that in a way, wanting to know what it was like to follow your heart, not a logical conclusion set up by a droid - or better yet, the excellence of Tech's brain.
He choked up slightly and you placed both of your hands on his wrists as he let them fall from your shoulders. Maker, you were so soft.
Your face was on fire. Was the temperature rising? If it was, Tech didn't say anything. Gosh this was the worst you had ever been. Now that you were touching him, interacting with him without a wire or tool in your hand. You didn't remember the last time you had been alone with the man if it wasn't for work purposes. If there ever was a time.
"What's going on in that head of yours?" you asked, looking up at him with endearing eyes. His heart wretched at your face, wanting to just... he wanted to touch you. To hold you in his arms. Why did he feel hot all over? Was he also sick?
"I think that the sickness you are having, I have also contracted," he stated. He hoped you had understood. If it really was a sickness, then you could both go back to the ship and bunker down. That would be a simple explanation that would make this situation easy to diffuse. But if it was... something more, he didn't know how to tell you that in words. If he had to though, there was always to trying.
You smiled, shaking your head, "Tech, I don't have a sickness." As soon as you finished your sentence, your smile faded. Wait, he just said-
"Then, if my data is showing functionality, I do indeed harbor feelings for you."
You stared up at him, your lips parted. Your heart felt like it would beat out of your chest, into your throat and spit out of your mouth. Tech? Liked you? You thought you were absolutely out of his league. He never even seemed like he took interest in love, or even people in general. He always put his research and beloved datapad first that it almost escaped you that Tech could have secrets that he never shared, such as being interested in you.
"Tech, I-," you paused, swallowing and looking away from him. Your skin itched like you didn't belong in it, "I like you too."
It was like waiting for fireworks to go off, the anticipation scary. That's what he meant, right? Maker, he looked so adorable at that moment, face tinted pink, his fingers fiddling with something on his utility belt. Such as he had with his own hands earlier, you forgot you were touching him. Your hands no longer kept his wrists still, just flowed with the movement of his hands.
"May I... kiss you?" he asked, his hands already reaching up towards your face. You smiled, guiding his hands up to cup your cheeks. You then lowered your own, pressing them against his chest plate. He leaned down, pressing his lips against yours.
You never expected them to be so soft. Maker, you were lucky that he liked you out of so many sentient beings in the universe - you could kiss him for hours, days, weeks, years. You could have stood there and wasted the daylight away while kissing and never regretted a thing. When he pulled away, he kept his face only inches from yours. His forehead was softly laying on your own, goggles nudging at your brows but you didn't have a care in the world for that. You had just released so much weight off your shoulders from a simple kiss. You felt so alive, and free.
"You are certainly a perfect specimen," he stated, looking into your eyes with a crooked smile. Maybe that wasn't true if he wanted to try running experiments. Though, his statement didn't seem like a hypothesis, it seemed like a resolution.
"And you are the biggest nerd I have ever met. I love it more than I have ever loved anything."
•--•
Masterlist
#star wars#star wars x reader#star wars fluff#star wars x reader fluff#the bad batch#the bad batch x reader#the bad batch fluff#bad batch x reader#bad batch fluff#bad batch#clone trooper tech#tech x reader#tech fluff#tech x reader fluff#clone trooper tech x reader#clone trooper tech fluff#dexthtoyounglings: the archive#dexthtoyounglings
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Time for me to scream about Bad Batch again!!
I’ve been seeing a lot of posts saying that Tech shows little to no attachment to Omega, but still didn’t hesitate to raise his blaster on the Pykes (and I’m sure he knew full well how dangerous they are). Which yes, this is true; he’s not openly affectionate with her in usual ways. But Tech in and of himself is not usual!! And he ABSOLUTELY has shown affection her her in his own ways!!
Hunter shows affection mostly by being protective; he’d do anything for her and he already has done everything for her, just like he would the rest of his squad. He makes the hard calls and even when it makes her unhappy he’s constantly being The Dad. He throws himself in front of her at literally every opportunity, he straight up scooped her off her feet and shielded her from Wrecker in an instant when his chip activated. It’s not hard to see how much he loves her. Wrecker of course is obvious in his affection; he carries her around on his shoulders, he takes her out for Mantell Mix after every mission, he stays back on missions and plays checkers with her, they probably have a plethora of inside jokes and generally it’s just very easy to see how much this big tough teddy bear loves her. Echo is less open; he’s not the leader of the squad so he doesn’t have the same burden of making sure everyone is fine at all times that Hunter keeps for himself. He’s an ARC trooper. He’s practical. He’s gotten blown up and survived so he’s a hardened and a tad grumpy. But he’s a softie I mean he really was out here in a bar teaching her how to shoot her bow, pushing her hard so that she can defend herself. You can see how much he cares in how he coaches her and the stern little pep talks. In episode 9, he insists that Hunter needs to tell her the truth about what made her a target to the Kaminoans, because it’s important to him that she knows the threat and isn’t treated like a child, because even though she is a child, the time has passed for her to be able to be one, and he knows this. In episode 14, he wrapped his arms around her and yanked her back onto the ship when she absolutely would have fallen off lurching forward after Hunter fell.
Now Tech.
Tech I think we can safely assume is somewhat of a perfectionist. Maybe not about everything (*looks directly at episode 3 where he insists life support is all they need to fly the ship*) but I get the feeling that he likes things done a certain way and he likes them done his way. Looking at Unfinished Business in The Clone Wars when he’s yelling at Echo to unplug from Admiral Trench’s ship and getting feisty when he doesn’t listen, I’m inclined to think that I’m right. Point being, he doesn’t let just anyone help him with things.
Now we go to episode 7!! He doesn’t even have to tell her what he needs she just gives it to him!! And he gives her a little appreciative look!!
and in episode 8 who does he call to come help him on the bridge?? Not Echo (who is usually his Nerdy Buddy™️ that he trusts to do to things right) but Omega. The one who listens to all his info dumping and asks him questions and is just as curious and tenacious as he is.
Episode 14 she goes skipping off into the woods to find the beacon and who does she give it to immediately?? TECH. And AGAIN with the appreciative glance?? She is his little helper!!! That is not an easy position to get!!
“That is sufficient, I’ll take it from here.”
Oh I could go on about this scene for 8 years and still not be done. Do you KNOW HOW HIGH OF PRAISE THIS IS FOR HER he knows how stressful this is and he knows how easily she could feel like what’s going wrong is her fault and he so gently?? Tells her?? That she DID GOOD AND HE’S GOT IT NOW AND SHE’S OKAY. HE CARES ABOUT HER SO MUCH AND I AM NOT OKAY I WILL NEVER BE OKAY
#star wars#i’ll never get over it#animated star wars#the bad batch#the clone wars#clone troopers#clone force 99#tbb tech#tbb hunter#tbb echo#tbb wrecker#the dad batch#tbb#tbb crosshair#Dave Filoni#captain rex
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If you’re still looking for fluff ideas, what about y/n and omega getting along while hunter watches?
-T
LOVE THIS! So wholesome! <3 Thank you!!!
Get Used to This
It had been two weeks since the downfall of Kamino when you and the Batch had gone and saved Hunter and all of you had almost gotten killed in the process, thanks to Crosshair, who everyone has suddenly forgiven. The brotherly clones all just shrugged it off as Crosshair being Crosshair. They blamed it on the inhibitor chip. Now, he has it out and is back with the batch, but you’re just not quite ready to forgive him yet.
Meanwhile, you’ve all decided to take a vacation camping trip to a far off planet away from Empire eyes. Hunter watches you teaching Omega how to spar as he drinks a cup of caf, sitting on the steps of the Marauder early in the morning. You were almost positive that by the end of this lesson, Omega would be able to take you down. She was scrappy in a good way and had a lot of “oomf”. She never gave up.
She goes in between your legs and kicks you in the rear, making you stagger. Hunter cheers her on and distracts you in the process. You look up at him, smiling kindly. He grins and tells Omega you need a time out. She shrugs it off and picks up her bow and starts shooting at the makeshift targets that Echo had hung from the tree branches in their camp.
“Don’t tell me you’re already tired. It’s not even noon yet.” He teases you.
You take his cup of caf and take a sip. “No. Not tired. Just a bit sore still, I guess.”
“Want me to check you out?” He asks you.
You give him a funny look and he rolls his eyes and bumps your shoulder with his.
“Not what I meant and you know it.” He laughs.
You grin at him, widely, unable to help yourself. “Well, what I heard is you want me to hike my shirt up so you can check me out.”
You had been fantasizing about this man since joining them six months ago. Every time he came near you, your breath would catch in your throat and you knew that he could sense your change in heartbeat. He knew what he did to you and still teased you relentlessly. But he never did anything about it, so you assumed he didn’t feel the same way.
“I enjoy watching you with Omega. She really looks up to you.” He rubs his neck.
You watch her hitting every target in the branches. “She’s great. I’m glad she’s officially a Batcher.”
He smiles again, glancing at your lips.
“Maker, I wish you two would kiss already.” Omega rolls her eyes, amused.
“I wish that, too.” You mumble.
He pulls your face to his, kissing you finally.
“It’s about time!” You hear Wrecker behind you, in the ship.
“I’ll say.” You agree with him.
Hunter bumps your shoulder again and you rest your head on it.
“Then, get used to it.” Hunter whispers in your ear, planting a kiss to your head.
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