#hardcase lives

[leenathegreengirl]

Who doesn’t love a blushy boy? ☺️💜💕

💚Tag List💚

@legacygirlingreen @thora-sniper @thecoffeelorian @neyswxrld @somewhere-on-kamino @clonethirstingisreal @royallykt @morerandombullshit @burningfieldof-clover @tbnrpotato @keantha @returnofthepineapple @justanotherdikutsimp @antisocial-mariposa @techs-stitches @resistantecho @kimiheartblade @dezgate @sunshinesdaydream @hardcase-ct-yolo

[eclec-tech]

Now free of their inhibitor chips and cured of their rapid aging, Clone Force 99 and Captain Rex, accompanied by Ahsoka Tano and Echo's suddenly Force-wielding fiancée, Cayna, travel to Alderaan following a lead they hope will bring them to Tech's fiancée, Dr. Miran Threst. Unaware of their intentions and believing the approaching  Marauder is filled with a chip-controlled Bad Batch, Miran prepares a defense alongside Luvari Tulren, Crosshair's very pregnant wife, whose whereabouts and pregnancy are unknown to all of them, including the sniper himself.

[tup-ika-5385]

Knockout Chapter 8:

Chapter Summary:

Assessments are done and plans are made, but one thing becomes clear- they have to get off Kamino.

Fic Summary:

Six months after the trials of Umbara, Tup and Dogma are growing into themselves as well-established members of the 501st. Tup's been training more with Fives and Jesse, set on an ARC trooper promotion, and even Dogma has found a place in medical, where his intense focus and organization are both needed and appreciated.

While practicing for his medic exams, Dogma find some worrying abnormalities in Tup's numbers, making some worrying discoveries. As Tup's condition worsens, help comes from unlikely sources as Dogma, Kix, Fives, and Hardcase fight to discover the truth and save their brother.

Chapter 8:

After another hour in the Bad Batch’s barracks, Dogma had almost acclimated to the smell. Wrecker was doing a lot better, and Crosshair had settled in an uneasy truce, still not trusting this many regs in their barracks, but much less likely to be a threat. Dogma guessed that neither of them liked feeling useless when their brothers were in pain. 

Fives had finally briefed Dogma, Hardcase, and Patch on their current situation after Patch had done a few assessments on Tup, and Dogma’s head was still reeling. Technological components– inside his brother’s head?! Suddenly, the Kaminoan’s response was starting to make a lot more sense, except… when did it get there? 

As batchmates, Dogma and Tup had probably never been separated for more than a day, before their deployment, and even then, something like brain surgery would be pretty hard to hide, even if Tup were trying. And it still didn’t explain the other medics’ reactions, so eager to hunt down a brother without explanation– and an injured one, at that.

Dogma shook his head; he’d go crazy trying to figure it out on his own, especially with his current sleep deficit. Fives had already conked out, sprawled out on the ground like he was still in the middle of a campaign. He’d definitely slept in worse, and Tup hadn’t been far behind him, but Dogma knew any efforts to sleep right now would be wasted, so instead he settled in next to patch and Kix, listening to them go through the assessment results. 

“So, after having Tup do a modified version of the WCPA, and a couple physical assessments, I’d say that physically, he’s well on the mend, and will probably be fully recovered in about a week. He might have some residual balance issues and need more sleep than usual, but he’ll be alright. Mentally, there’s a couple things we’ll have to keep a close eye on.”

He paused, looking towards Dogma, “You remember what we talked about with executive functioning, right?”

“Yeah, it’s starting tasks, planning, and follow-through, right?” Dogma confirmed, relieved to know that his training was already coming in handy.

Patch nodded, “That’s right, and it’s something that Tup’s having some trouble with, right now. The assessment I used had him practice scheduling appointments, training, the like. I asked him certain questions about two and five minutes in, which he’s supposed to ignore, according to the instructions at the beginning, and he was told to let me know when seven minutes had passed, according to the chrono I set up. During the assessment, he scheduled everything correctly, just a bit longer than average, which could’ve easily been exhaustion, but was easily distracted when I asked him questions, and forgot the seven-minute marker entirely.”

He paused before continuing. “There were also a few times, outside of the regular assessment where I noticed he’d have more emotional responses than normal. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Tup never struck me as someone with a hair-trigger anger response.” At that, he looked at Dogma, who shrugged sheepishly. 

Tup had overheard one of Crosshair’s more caustic comments, asking, “What kind of a name is Dogma, anyways?” and hadn’t thought twice about jumping to Dogma’s defense almost aggressively, at least until his eyes started tearing up, and he’d flushed in humiliation. No harm had been done; Dogma could handle a blunt question or two, but seeing the distress on his batchmate’s face had worried him more than a little.

“He’s always been protective of me, but… his restraint is usually a little better, and the tears are unusual.” Dogma commented quietly, eyes trailing down to find his batchmate still fast asleep, taking comfort in watching his chest rise and fall. Sure, Tup used to cry a lot as a cadet, but Dogma hadn’t seen this many tears in a while– not since they were still in their cadet blues, rather than the reds given out to older cadets.

Patch nodded in understanding, rubbing his face tiredly as he talked. “With the brain, there’s a lot of stuff we just don’t know, but it’s likely that he’ll keep having difficulties.”

“For how long?” Dogma asked before he could stop himself.

“Could be a week, could be a month… could be a lot longer than that. It is something we can help with– there’s lots of mindfulness strategies and coping strategies he can learn to use, to give him a little more time to process his emotions. And for the other stuff, he’ll probably need reminders, check-ins, probably not too different from what you’ve already got set up for a couple other vode in the 501st.” 

Patch smiled, looking back to where Hardcase and Wrecker had settled after wearing themselves out. Even before Umbara, Rex and the other commanding officers had already made a habit of sending short written mission briefings to a couple vode mid-mission, Hardcase included, for those who needed a little more help remembering the specifics, and it wouldn’t be too hard to add Tup to that list. 

“He’s got a good support system, and I’ll always be available over comm to make suggestions about what might help, but it’ll be a while ‘till we know more about what he needs.”

Glancing back at Kix, Patch asked, “Do you still have that, uh, tumor? I didn’t get a good look at it earlier.”

Kix nodded, reaching into his utility belt and handing it over with a grimace. “Still can’t believe this was inside of him– makes you wonder what the Kaminoans had planned for it, after Dogma’s unplanned adventure in medbay.”

At that, the group sat in still silence, at least until they were interrupted by Tech. “Is that an inhibitor chip?”

Kix’s eyes widened, “What?”

“An inhibitor chip– they’re utilized by the Kaminoans for behavioral modification. We all have one.” Tech replied, looking bored. “Or, at least, I assume we all have one, but given our deviant nature–”

“That must be why the other medics were acting strange!” Dogma exclaimed before glancing back at Tup to make sure he didn’t wake him. “Nothing else would make sense– medic’s don’t just–”

“Perhaps not in your experience, but I would hesitate to insist that these troopers were not just… following orders.” Tech responded, all-too-familiar with regs responding less-than-kindly to those deemed different; a descriptor that now included Tup, apparently.

His words stirred another memory of Tup, half-conscious and mumbling, “good soldiers follow orders,” prompting another question. “Exactly what behaviors do these chips modify, then?” ‘And why didn’t it work on me?’ Dogma wondered to himself.

“Yeah, I’d like to know that too,” Fives chimed in, having woken up from his lothcat-nap, carefully sliding out from under Tup. “Cuz when I looked for information on this so-called ‘inhibitor chip,’ I got nothing– not even a mention or a scanned image, ‘cept the one we pulled from Tup.”

Tech frowned, rocking a bit as he thought. “I am not sure. I did not pursue that line of thought when I first learned of the chip, but I believe I have the data saved somewhere.” He said, before beginning to search through his mountain of datachits and detritus for the second time that night. Hunter looked like he was about to argue for a moment– he was probably the only reason there was a walkable path in their barracks at all– before relenting, just as curious as the rest of them.

“Here it is!” Tech called, pulling out a datachit that looked identical to the others, but with the numbers 02-157 written on the side; it wasn’t an organizational scheme Dogma recognized.

“The file itself was encrypted, which is why I didn’t choose to open it before– doing so would likely alert the Kaminoans, and it’s possible that it would display the datapad’s location as well, so I would wait until you were off-planet to do so.” He cautioned them with a warning look before handing the file over to Fives. 

“We’ll keep that in mind, thanks vod.” Fives gave him a grateful nod, glad to be doing something. 

“That brings us back to our current predicament, though. We can’t stay here, as grateful as we are for your hospitality,” Fives paused, addressing Hunter, who nodded. “But with Tup’s current condition, stealth’s definitely the better option. Even if we get to a hangar, I’d be shocked if they hadn’t already locked down everything with hyperspace capabilities.” He put a hand on his chin, thinking.

“Actually, we might not need one– a ship with hyperspace, I mean.” Patch offered with a grin. “The 104th should still be in-orbit… it wouldn’t be hard to rendezvous with them and get a different ship– maybe even learn more about this chip while we’re at it.”

“Good plan,” Fives grinned in return. “Speaking of which, I should check back with AZ– last I heard, he was looking into potential insertion dates for the, uh, chips.”

With that, he got out his comm and called the droid. “AZ! What’s the status on those scans you were taking?”

“Oh, hello ARC Trooper Five-s!” A cheery metallic voice called, and Crosshair rolled his eyes from where he’d been listening in. “I have been ordered to report to the maintenance bay for a system wipe, but I shall transmit the data to you at once. One moment please.”

“What?!”

“It appears that the Kaminoans do not recognize the social-emotional benefits of doctor-patient confidentiality, and took offense when I did not share the identity of Patient Tup.”

Fives sighed, “Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me. I don’t get how you can be so chipper about it– if I was being reconned, I’d be furious.” After all, it was nearly the same thing, and the little med-droid had started to grow on Fives, like some kind of invasive fungus.

AZ-3 hummed. “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have human emotions– but I do not!” He replied cheerily before something beeped. “The data is now transmitted.”

Kix’s datapad buzzed, and the medic nodded that the data had been received. “It confirms what we knew; that all troopers past tubies have one of these chips. But I still wanna know who has control of them. Nala Se, obviously, but who else?”

“Can’t be anyone good, if they’re trying this hard to keep them a secret. This is starting to smell like a Separatist plot to me.” Fives frowned, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. Sure, call him paranoid, but since Umbara, it didn’t take much to make him doubt other’s motives, and he’d never trusted the Kaminoans much in the first place.

Turning to Tech, he asked, “Tech, could you– is there any way to change AZ’s–”

Tech hummed an affirmative, tapping away at his datapad. “Already done. The system will register the droid as already having been wiped– assuming its number is the same one registered to that comm device, and it should be free to return to its duties.” He said, adjusting his goggles. Hunter might not like it when he intervened, worrying he’d get in trouble with the Kaminoans, but Tech found great satisfaction in disrupting the Kaminoan’s plans, even just a little.

“Hear that, AZ? You should be good to go. Take care of yourself, yeah?”

“Care is not required, as I am a droid. Goodbye!” AZ-3 replied, cutting off the comm channel abruptly, earning a weary chuckle from Fives. “Yeah, he’ll be fine.”

He turned towards Hunter and the rest of the Bad Batch, who had already done so much to help clones who were practically strangers to them. “I know I have no right to ask this of you– you’ve already done so much to help us, to help Tup, and we couldn’t be more grateful. I know us ‘regs’ haven’t treated you well in the past, but you and your squad have treated us with kindness we haven’t earned. If you ever need anything, you are welcome with the 501st anytime.” 

He drew himself up into a firm salute, which was mirrored by the other conscious troopers– Hardcase and Tup were still fast asleep. Hunter nodded his head in acceptance, giving them a rare smile. “I’ve gotta say, it’s been nice spending time with regs who aren’t about to throw down with one of my brothers.” 

He glanced at Crosshair for approval, knowing if he didn’t, he’d be hearing about it for the next month. Thankfully Crosshair shrugged, glancing at the regs as if to say, ‘Whatever gets out of my space soonest,’ so Hunter turned back to Fives.

Despite a few bumps in the road, this was probably the most peaceful interaction his squad had ever had with the regs– and these ones actually saw them as vode, which was parsecs above what he could say for most of the shinies still on Kamino. “Now, what did you say you need?” Unfortunately, the Marauder was still undergoing repairs after their latest mission, so they couldn’t just give them a ride.

Fives grinned. “We could use a distraction…”

___________________

Turns out, the Bad Batch had a plan for exactly that, and within ten minutes, their squad was heading towards the nearest hangar completely unobstructed. With the combination of Tech’s computer skills, Crosshair’s pinpoint accuracy when it came to identifying and shutting down cameras, and of course, Wrecker’s ability to draw attention wherever he went, it wasn’t long before they were in possession of a small ship that wouldn’t be missed for 24 hours. 

They were home free– assuming they didn’t crash along the way.

“I thought you said you knew how to fly!” Patch yelped, his face a ghastly shade of green as he tried to keep his breaths even as he resolutely refused to look out the viewscreen. His aviophobia had gotten a lot better since his posting with the 501st, but this– he cursed as Hardcase made another loop and a muffled “Oops,” could be heard in the cockpit– was not flying.

“I’ve flown before!” Hardcase shouted back, dodging the last of the sensor arrays as they made their way up into the atmosphere. He twisted the ship around a few more times for good measure, hoping to keep the Kaminoans off their scent, and Patch’s heart stuttered with every jerking movement.

“Umbara categorically does not count!” Dogma griped, inclined to agree with Patch. The sooner they were back on firm ground, the better.

“I mean I’ve practiced some with the General, he’s been helping me to–”

“Watch the controls!!!” Kix cried in despair as Hardcase pulled up on the brakes and they definitely left a mark on the 104th’s hangar floor.

“I’ve got it, I’ve got it!” Hardcase called as the ship came to a full and complete stop, probably smoking a little bit, but otherwise in one piece. “There!”

Kix let out a relieved sigh, clutching his chest. “Remind me to never fly with you again, vod.” He said before walking out the exit ramp, giving a hand to Patch when his legs shook, still looking more than a little green.

“You good, vod?”

Patch let out a slow breath, only just managing to hold down his rations while he nodded. He wasn’t usually one prone to space-sickness, but at least he had an excuse for not noticing their audience until he nearly ran into Commander Wolffe. “Easy there, Patch.” 

“Wolffe!” Patch brightened immediately, leaning in to clasp his brother’s wrist, receiving a hearty thump on the back.

“It’s good to see you, vod. Welcome home.” Wolffe rumbled softly, drawing him in.

Patch choked up a little bit, responding just as quietly. “It’s good to be home.”

It’s been more than a year since he was back with the 104th, and even with everything else going on, it meant so much to be here– and to be with his brothers again, so he took a moment to settle in Wolffe's firm grip before pulling away. 

He glanced around, noticing their little welcoming party included most of the Wolfpack, as well as General Koon.

“Thanks for letting us crash here, General.” Hardcase joked, watching as the landing crew gave the ship one last spray with a fire-extinguisher. “We’ve heard a lot of good things about you, sir.”

“You are most welcome, young Hardcase. It is an honor to meet Patch's brothers from the 501st.” General Plo offered, smiling under his mask as he greeted the group. “Come, I hear we have much to discuss.” He said, beckoning them forward so they could share what they learned.

____________

AO3 Link:

[kitcat22]

The 212th enjoy making the other battalions jealous of how much better their wifi is ( it pays to have a Commander with an antenna ) by posting videos of themselves in downtime, enjoying tv shows in high quality.

This works on everyone except the 501st because they have their very own version of Grey’s Anatomy going on in Torrent Company’s medbay with original story lines and endless drama .

Bored troopers often end up lurking around the medics, who are so preoccupied with themselves they hardly notice. No tv show could ever live up to this clusterfuck of chaos hidden under feigned professionalism.

[leenathegreengirl]

HARDCASE LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh sweet, sensible Tech…. 😂

(Ya girl would love to hear everyone’s crazy theories about how our boy ‘Case survived!)

💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚

(Also, a VERY special thank you to @mythical-illustrator for inspiring this drawing of Hardcase with THIS beautiful post!)

(And as always thank you to my friend and creative partner @legacygirlingreen for all that she does!!)

💚Tag List💚

@legacygirlingreen @thora-sniper @sukithebean @thecoffeelorian @neyswxrld @somewhere-on-kamino @clonethirstingisreal @royallykt @morerandombullshit @burningfieldof-clover @tbnrpotato @keantha @returnofthepineapple @justanotherdikutsimp @antisocial-mariposa @techs-stitches @resistantecho @kimiheartblade @dezgate

[leenathegreengirl]

Hardcase needs more love! 😤💚💕

Please, I love him.

(credit to Zuris for the art)

[kayberrie]

Cute clone thoughts

When the 501st first meet their new Commander, they're annoyed. Why should they have to deal with a youngligh, especially in the middle of a war? Ahsoka's just a liability.

But eventually their Mandalorian instincts kick in, and they can't just watch this child bounce around the walls unsupervised. So I present you with these thoughts;

Rex, making sure that she eats before every battle. If she hasn't, he'll pull out a ration bar from some secret pocket. He's the reason she's so healthy.

Echo, helping her study for her Jedi tests, even though he doesn't quite understand all the material. He's the reason she never fails a test.

Fives, showing her the best ways to prank their brothers. The first time that shaving cream shows up in their food, he's incredibly proud. He's the reason she's banned from ordering suspicious supplies.

Hardcase, sneaking her midnight snacks and gossiping with her until 3 in the morning. He's the reason she can eat three tubs of ice cream in as many minutes.

Jesse, teaching her the secrets of the ships and weapons even though he's not technically supposed to do that. He's the reason she can sneak through the Venator without anyone noticing.

And Ahoska is the reason they all smile a little brighter, the reason that their dreams aren't quite as bad, the reason the 501st is so damn protective of their commander. Because that's their little sister, and they're her big brothers.

BONUS

Kix, handing her a cute sticker and gently wiping away her tears after giving her shots because she's scared of needles. He's the reason she's not anymore.

[ghostymarni]

some profile practice with hardcase

[paperfrog1987]

Fives, calling Anakin on Umbara: Mom can you pick me up I’m scared.

Anakin: Fives-

Fives: All our men keep dying.

Anakin: I-

Fives: And Krell is being mean to Rex.

Anakin:

Anakin: Guess I’m starting my villain arc early.

[eclec-tech]

This is some really great art! I've been saying it since the moment I first "met" Wrecker--he and Hardcase would be the most hilarious and destructive pair of besties ever!

They're like twins from different tubes!

fuck u Filoni, my canon now 😤

Everybody is happy, Hardcase lives and becomes besties with Wrecker <3 😌

It’s that time of the year again, my Star Wars hyperfixation is back in full force! Most likely will continue to draw more of them boys, I just love them very very much 💛✨

Thanks to @wrenkenstein for Tech’s helmet, it’s been such a big help!

[mwolf0epsilon]

Rex, arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently on the floor as he scolds Tup and Dogma: I'm very disappointed in you boys, I'd expect literally anyone else to start a fight in the mess...

Dogma, looking just about ready to cry because Rex is mad at them: We're sorry sir... A disagreement got out of hand. It won't happen again.

Tup, in disbelief: Disagreement? Last I checked, having your bucket taken from you and dumped in the trash by some di'kut isn't a disagreement! It's bullying!

Dogma: Tup!

Rex: While I agree that the other troopers behaved poorly, you shouldn't have started a fight. It disrupted early meal and damaged one of the cafeteria droids.

Tup: Yeah, well sir have you ever heard the old saying 'He who never sinned cast the first stone'?

Rex, confused: Yeah...?

Tup: Well I've never bullied another brother, so I threw an entire chair at the motherfucker.

Rex, shocked: TUPPERWARE.

Dogma, jaw dropping at both Tup's crass statement and Rex's startled exclamation: ...

Tup: I'm right and you both know it!

[zealfruity]

I've been thinking about this. Nonstop. For days.

[singsofecho]

Having trouble adapting to new tablet, you're getting sketchbook page and sticky notes

[eclec-tech]

A purple palm and a box full of HARDCaAaAaAaAaSE! Merry Christmas, indeed!

(You've got me wanting to cut out some paper eyes to have my very own SantaCross lurking in my tree!) 😃

An Early Christmas Gift for the Domino Twins

@zaya-mo @the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond @ladykatakuri @marierg @thecoffeelorian @salubriousbean @bring-backup-99 @99tech99 @clonethirstingisreal @sunshinesdaydream @jane8675

[sailorkamino]

ice breakers with torrent company

you: lets play a game called smash or pass

hardcase: we get to break stuff?

you: no dear, smash refers to fuck

rex, choking on rations: what!?

you: lets start with droids! what about an astromech?

fives, with no hesitation: smash

torrent company: [stunned silence]

fives: why didn't you guys answer?

echo: i think you should stay away from r2 from now on

fives: IM NOT SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO R2D2, ITS JUST A GAME

obi-wan:

[sev-on-kamino]

Hardcase: *in the med bay for another stupid stunt*

Reader: *looking at Kix* I’ll be court martialed, if I kick his ass, right? Like straight to jail. I’m done for?

Hardcase: *looking concerned*

Kix: Yeah, it’s pretty much an automatic guilty verdict…

Hardcase: Thank the Maker.

Reader: *sighs heavily*

Kix: But only if there are witnesses. Clear the med bay please!

Hardcase: What the kriff, Kix?!