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tossawary · 8 days

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Something I found surprising when revisiting the prequel trilogy is how much the clones aren't full characters in the movies. They're props. They're devices. The films give them the same weight and attention as they give the Separatist droids, really. The only two clone troopers I can easily name off the top of my head who get "named" in any way are Oddball and Cody, who are both just barely in "Revenge of the Sith", and interchangeable in their roles with any other background clone.

It's interesting when held up against "The Clone Wars" and other extension material, which had the time and inclination to say more directly, "Hey, these are people and what's happening to them is wrong." Like, obviously what's happening in Ep2&3 is wrong, the audience can draw that conclusion on their own, growing people as cannon fodder is a clear part of the greater tragedy if you take about five seconds to think about the situation here. Even without the element of the entire war being constructed and controlled by the main villain, the clones are a tragedy.

But, oh man, the movies themselves don't really care to focus on that. It's SUCH a background element. I had a "oh, yeah, Order 66 being programmed into a control chip was a later addition to / clarification of canon" moment while watching, because as far as Ep3 actually shows us (as was the initial intention by some, I know), Cody apparently knew the entire time that he might be called to fire on Obi-Wan Kenobi and was just waiting on the call. The "homogenous evil army" trope is... very much present and even more identical than usual here.

By the films alone, you can easily assume that the clone troopers have no love for any of the Jedi (whom we're meant to believe are relatively decent people) for a variety of reasons. Their upbringing and training on Kamino was presumably cold and brutal. They're (possibly enslaved) soldiers in an even more brutal war. This army is offered no development or individuality that makes the appalling Jedi Temple massacre out of character for any of them.

But when the various Clone Wars shows first turned the clones into individual characters and even protagonists, many of whom are shown to be good people and become friendly with the Jedi through years of teamwork in life-or-death situations, Order 66 became weird. "Wait, why would the majority of clones (all the clones we see in the movies, at least) just go along with this? What went wrong here?"

I get why TCW and SW canon settled on the control chips option and I find it interesting enough. The tragedy of it all makes me want to lie facedown on the floor. Darth Sidious is really winning at sheer evilness here.

On the other hand, there are some really fun and interesting "Order 66 was taught, not programmed" AUs to revisit here. Especially when some of the other (Legends canon now) contingency orders include what to do if the Supreme Chancellor is incapacitated or declared unfit, or even getting rid of the Supreme Chancellor and assuming control by lethal force if necessary. Presumably these orders existed as a back-up in case Palpatine wasn't elected to the seat in time for the war or didn't manage to get rid of term limits and was replaced as Chancellor at any point.

That really sounds like Palpatine's evil army of ruthless Jedi-Killers (unchipped) could have easily backfired on him if they'd ever decided all of these non-clones were unfit and organized to take power for themselves. I love any scenario where Palpatine's arrogant and overly complicated plans get him in trouble. The "homogenous evil army" often gets treated as a mindless mob, but while the clones may have some degree of emotional suppression, they're clearly very capable and not unintelligent, and they're not given many (if any) reasons to be loyal to the Republic. And it is FUNNY to imagine any Dark Lord's created army deciding that he fucking sucks at war (there's obviously a leak, why the FUCK are they losing so much ground to fucking droids) and they're overthrowing him for better benefits, so that they can create and run a more efficient Evil Empire themselves.

You could make this angsty as hell or a comedy, or both. I'm imagining the clones at the eleventh hour murdering Chancellor Palpatine with such brutal efficiency that it feels like its own kind of prejudice. And he gets revealed as a Sith Lord in the process (this was taken into account as a potential problem when planning the assassination), so there's an initial moment of: "I can't believe it! He was the Sith Lord in the Senate all along! How did you know?"

Cody: "Didn't."

Obi-Wan: "...Pardon?"

Cody: "This is a coup, sir."

Like, if we're going by what's shown in the movies alone, there's a clear Emperor Cody AU to be had here. Which can be played as a temporary (years long) measure to reinstall a Republic with proper checks and balances, while a bemused Jedi Order and Senate are held hostage, or the First Galactic Empire is established as per canon just with the clones running it and reaping the benefits. I'm currently enjoying thinking about the latter scenario as a dark comedy, in which Future Emperor Cody (or the clone of your choice) has to negotiate in his spare time with the various demands of his fellow clones. (Who are, let us remember due to the horror that is the accelerated aging, a bunch of teenagers at the oldest here.)

Rex: "I want Tatooine."

Cody: "The whole planet?"

Rex: "Yeah."

Cody: "It's a shithole."

Rex: "Yeah, but it'll make Skywalker so kriffing mad, so I'm calling dibs."

Cody: "Noted."

And if you want to write shipfic, there's always the AU of various Evil Army Clones meeting their love interest and then going, "Not evil anymore! Sorry, guys." Which could be angsty or another dark-ish comedy.

Cody @ the clone commander group chat: "WE'RE NOT GIVING UP ON THE 3-YEAR IMPERIAL COUP PLAN JUST BECAUSE YOU HORNY ASSHOLES WANT TO FUCK JEDI!!! STOP TALKING ABOUT THE POWER OF LOVE!!! STOP IT!!!"

#tossawary star wars #fic ideas #commander cody #captain rex #spoilers #character death #palpatine #emperor cody au

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arctrooper69 · 8 months

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As Iron Sharpens Iron

"As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17

Beta-read by @dragonrider9905

Chapter 1:

Previous // Next

Warnings: Jealousy. Brief mention of blood. Canon violence.

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You couldn't even look at her.

That thought alone made you sick to your stomach. The fact that you couldn't bear to look at a woman simply because she was interested in the same man that you were, made you want to cry.

Am I really that shallow? You thought bitterly as you slammed the hydrospanner into the damaged component of the landing gear you’d been trying to dislodge.

I can’t believe I was so stupid! You jammed the point of the tool violently into a crack, trying to pry it out. Of course he’d go for her. She was prettier than you - funnier too.

You closed your eyes, taking a deep breath.

Hunter is his own man. He likes someone else. Not a big deal.

Except for some reason, judging by the heavy ache in your chest, it was a big deal, no matter how much you tried to fool yourself into thinking that everything was fine.

The landing gear piece was still stuck fast. You set down the hydrospanner and picked up the plasma cutter.

This better kriffing work or I’ll have Tech up my ass for a month about it. Not to mention having to tell Hunter that I broke the ship. Again.

You ran your fingers over the healing scar on your cheek and looked at the carbon scoring around the piece that stuck fast, fused in place by laser fire.

A smile made its way across your face as you remembered how it all happened. You were providing cover fire so they'd have time to escape - more exposed than you'd like to be, but it wasn't anything you couldn't handle - until a stray shot hit the ship at just the right angle.

Hunter had tackled you to the ground, shielding you from the blast with his own body.

Despite the chaos around you, being in his arms felt safe.

“Don’t ever do that again!” It was meant to be an order but it felt different than any of the others he’d given over the past year. The way he’d taken your face into his hands, carefully examining the small, insignificant wound on your cheek. His face was unreadable but as you’d looked closer, his eyes were a whirlwind of relief that you hadn’t been hurt worse. There was something else there too - something that fed the hope hidden away in your core that your feelings toward him were reciprocated. He’d kept his hand on your arm as you stood up. They were strong, steady hands that kept you warm and stayed on your arm seconds longer than the moment demanded.

But then you’d found him in a closet with Phee’s sister only hours later at Cid’s parlour.

I’m so stupid. How could I have read him so wrong? What made me think I’d ever have a chance with a man like Hunter? You shook your head, angry at yourself for letting your guard down. For the first time since the beginning of the Clone Wars, you’d felt alive in a way that didn’t involve throwing yourself into violently dangerous situations. You felt at home with this band of misfit clones. You had finally allowed yourself to feel and acknowledge the emotions that came with it. Now you remembered why you hadn’t done that before. It was stupid and you would make sure that it wouldn’t happen again.

Finishing with the plasma cutter, you brought a wrench down hard with a loud clang. The piece barely moved an inch and you threw the tool down with a frustrated groan.

“You okay over there?” Phee poked her head around the corner, eyebrow raised.

“I’m good!” You grinned, hoping the faux smile would keep her from asking anymore questions. “Just trying to get this stubborn kriffing piece out so Tech can replace it when he gets back.”

Phee chuckled as you glared at the offending part. She walked over to the side of the ship, looking up and down at the stripped landing gear.

“Damn… what’d you guys get into this time?”

It was your turn to chuckle, grateful for the distraction from your spiraling negativity.

“That is a very complicated story,” Tech answered for you as he rounded the corner, “However, I do not currently have the time to tell it. We have another mission from Cid and should be leaving as soon as we’ve made our repairs.”

Good, you thought. Another mission might be just what you needed to get out of your head and back into the groove of things. Back to normal.

Tech stopped next to Phee in front of the landing gear, surveying the mess of tools and ship components. He frowned. “Although, it seems as though that may take a bit longer than I originally thought.”

He grabbed the hydrospanner from the ground by your feet and began prying at the piece you’d been working on. “I will fix this. You pick up the tools and get that carbon scoring off of those panels.”

Phee grinned as she began helping you scrape. “I love it when you get all bossy like that, Brown-Eyes.”

Tech’s cheeks darkened, the only indicator that he’d heard her at all.

You smirked. Tech and Phee were so different from each other. Her carefree sense of adventure and aptitude for playing fast and loose with the rules seemed opposite to Tech’s academic personality and rigid structure. But despite their differences, they seemed to bond over an innate sense of curiosity and wonder. They belonged together.

Like Hunter and I should be, you thought bitterly.

The silence that fell on the group as you worked was deafening. Every so often you caught Phee pausing to watch as Tech worked his magic with the repairs.

Tech remained oblivious, but found himself sending subtle glances towards her as she worked. Every glance felt like daggers through your chest. A reminder of what could have been yours.

“How’s it looking, Tech?” Hunter walked around the corner, setting a crate of explosives down for Wrecker to load onto the ship.

The knife you’d been using to scrape the panel suddenly felt heavy and clumsy in your hand. It slipped through your fingers as you frantically tried to catch it but failed as it hit the ground with a dull thud.

You gasped as a thin line of blood blossomed across your pointer finger and the palm of your hand.

“Kriff!” you grumbled under your breath. Hunter stepped forward quickly only to be intercepted by Phee who grabbed your injured hand, inspecting it.

“Eh, you’re fine,” she pulled a bacta patch from her pocket, quickly wrapping the injury as though she’d done it more than her fair share of times. “Be more careful with that next time,” she chided. You looked up expecting to see Hunter but he was gone.

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antianakin · 3 months

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Regarding Codywan; which one of the pair do you think would be more likely to fail at self-care, forcing the other to get them into bed, insist they take a break from the planning table and so on?

Cody. 1000% Cody.

For one, Cody is simply younger than Obi-Wan and so is going to have less experience in general, but he's also led an IMMENSELY sheltered life that was full of lots of strict routines that didn't allow him to do much of anything beyond what the Kaminoans allowed him to do. And there is no indication that one of those things the clones were taught was good mental health practices. In fact, you could argue that we have evidence they were explicitly NOT taught mental health practices since I think they tell us in TCW that the clones were told they'd had regular stress somehow engineered out of them. If the Kaminoans believed that, then presumably they wouldn't have felt the need to teach the clones how to effectively HANDLE stress beyond just... pushing through it to complete the objective/mission.

Cody is an incredibly competent person who seems to be pretty steady in a crisis, for sure, but I think he's primarily steady IN SPECIFIC SITUATIONS, all of which relate to battles and war and dealing with authorities. Take him out of that situation and he's probably going to struggle a little more with understanding the parameters of what's expected of him. He'd pick that kind of thing up VERY quickly, but it seems like something all of the clones would have to learn after leaving Kamino. Basic things like how to go shopping or going out to eat, even going to a club and the expectations for the social interactions in those places is going to have a learning curve.

I also think that the clones are probably going to be fairly good at managing physical health because maintaining their ability to do their jobs in that way would likely be something the Kaminoans would have kept in mind, but managing their emotional and mental health would be something entirely new. Like I said, they have been led to believe they don't experience stress and all of its related problems, so understanding what they feel and the best ways to handle it are going to be completely beyond them.

And this is where the Jedi can come in. They're literally intergalactic therapists, this is their bread and butter. Helping the clones understand what they're feeling and how to best manage what's happening to them would likely be one of the first building blocks of trust between the two groups. But there's obviously one Jedi among potentially THOUSANDS of troopers, so they probably start by passing along advice to a few of the higher ranked troopers and hope that it trickles down through the other men. And this could easily lead to some bonding between Obi-Wan and Cody, with Obi-Wan recognizing when Cody is pushing himself too far for too long and learning his tells for when he's tired but can go a little longer vs when he's basically dead on his feet and SHOULDN'T go any longer, or when he's in a mood to listen to advice from someone about getting rest vs when he's in a mental place where that's just not going to be taken well and might actually cause Cody to push himself even harder.

I'll also point out that, despite popular fandom characterization, Obi-Wan really doesn't show any inclination to push himself beyond what he can handle in canon. In what I think is season one of TCW, there's a moment somewhere between Obi-Wan and Anakin where Obi-Wan asks ANAKIN if he's slept and can tell that Anakin hasn't, implying that Obi-Wan probably HAS slept despite the stress of the situation. And then there's Landing at Point Rain where Obi-Wan gets badly injured and proceeds to sit through the majority of the battle. He only gets up ONCE, when it seems like their defenses are about to be broken and he has absolutely no other choice but to fight, and then as soon as reinforcements arrive he immediately sits back down again and STAYS seated even through Anakin and Ahsoka arriving, their mission debrief, and being treated by a medic. Everyone else literally has to gather around him because he refuses to move from his seated position. He never tries to get up and fight when he doesn't have to nor does he seem to avoid or refuse medical aid once it's available. At the end, he keeps leaning on Anakin and Ki-Adi-Mundi as he is led to a ship that will take him away from the field so he can get MORE medical aid and doesn't seem to be refusing that, either.

Even in the context of the films, during the fight with Dooku where he gets badly injured, he stays DOWN after that and lets Anakin handle the fight instead because he knows that trying to get up and keep fighting would just be a distraction. And it isn't that he CAN'T get up, we see him stand up and limp away later, but that there would be very little point in him trying to do so. And he doesn't seem to be trying to hide his injuries after the battle's over, either, he's very obviously limping and holding his arm.

Which isn't to say that Obi-Wan couldn't occasionally choose to pull all nighters if he felt it necessary for one reason or another, or that he would NEVER push himself through pain or exhaustion in certain situations, but I don't think that the fandom characterization of him as someone who can barely take care of himself and constantly hides injuries and avoids medical attention to the point of literally causing himself further harm is consistent with how he's actually shown in canon. We don't ever get to see Cody react to being injured, but given what we know of the clones' upbringing, it just makes more sense to me that Cody would struggle with pushing himself beyond what he SHOULD and with managing his own emotions.

#star wars #commander cody #obi-wan kenobi #codywan #jedi #clone troopers

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varpusvaras · 5 months

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Fox's position as the scapegoat in fandom is very interesting and something I honestly think the writers kind of made him to be.

The part of the fandom (which is...really large) that doesn't like him always blames him for Order 66, in saying that "if he hadn't killed Fives, then Order 66 wouldn't have happened". Interestingly, they never blame Anakin, who had even more direct power to stop it. Fox had no idea that anything was going on, and did what he had been taught to do from the moment he was created: Followed orders. He didn't shoot Fives because he necessarily wanted to; meaning there were no personal feelings attached to what happened. Anakin, on the other hand, went and voluntarily murdered a lot of people for only personal feelings. But somehow that is not Anakin's fault.

(I've posted about it before, but the same people who blame Fox are always happy to boast about Anakin murdering him. Always happy to bring out Anakin's trauma as a slave, and then be happy about him murdering another slave, someone directly under his power, who had never known anything else than being a slave in his entire life, and who had been indoctrinated from birth to believe that being slave was all that he was, and that he should be proud of it)

Some fics from people who do like Fox also put him in the position of the scapegoat, where they have all the other clones blaming him for everything that had happened, and ostracise him. In some fics I've seen, they continue this even after the war has ended, even in scenarios where Palpatine didn't win, and this feels like the clones, who have been made to believe in the system, cannot make themselves blame said system. No, it's easier to blame one of their own instead, no matter how little power Fox ever had in his entire life.

The writer's also do this, by having Fox mess something up (in the writer's eyes at the very least) almost every single time he is on screen. I think the only time he wasn't positioned to be in the wrong in some capacity was on his first appearance in the movie, where he did a front flip down some stairs and shot at the bad guy of the movie. Almost every single other time he is doing something wrong or messing something up, causing something negative to happen, be it the bombing on Coruscant (not actually his fault, but the fault of the people who wanted to do it and prevent the peace talks from happening; still, Fox is put in the middle of it), or what happened with Ahsoka (from Fox's point of view, there was a dangerous person on the run, who had just killed multiple people in a violent way, and was continuing their rampage, killing his brothers as well). Objectively speaking, Fox is completely in the right with everything he does here, but the writer's still seem to position him to being wrong, because he is against Ahsoka, and Ahsoka is the character the viewer is supposed to be rooting for (no matter how much worse she actively makes her own situation during the arc).

No one ever remembers all the good qualities he had: he was hard-working, capable, brave, and cared for his brothers. No, instead, the fandom is endlessly debating over giving him, a slave who never knew anything else, some shred of dignity, while freely giving the absolution to the fascist who is standing over his still warm corpse.

#then again the canon also works hard to forgive Anakin for everything #which is a can of worms itself #I understand the purpose of that narrative and I understand that in the original trilogy it was more about Luke than it was about Anakin #but the current narrative is never being interesting and truly looking at his character with a critical eye #or even truly portraying him critically #the ahsoka show waved its hand to that direction but missed the actual target by a mile #anyway free Fox from Felony and the narrative he was put in #sw #tcw #commander fox #anakin skywalker #star wars meta

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gffa · 7 months

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Usually, I like to finish reading a fic before recommending it properly, but I've been sucked into about five different STAR WARS fics recently that I've gotten far enough into that I'm willing to trust my heart to them because they're scratching a very specific itch for me--namely, that I want deeper explorations of both the Jedi Order and of Anakin's character. I want fic to punch me in the feelings over both of these aspects of the story. I want fic to sometimes set Obi-Wan and Anakin aside and focus on Ahsoka for awhile, really tell her story. I want Jedi themes woven into a story. I want an exploration of Anakin's mindset that reminds me of just how much I love him and have sympathy for him. And fandom has delivered for me.

DO YOU WANT FIC TO BLACK OUT TO AND LOSE AN ENTIRE WEEKEND OVER? HAVE I GOT SOME RECS FOR YOU:

✦ Out with Lanterns by SkyeBean, ahsoka & mace & jedi & clones & cast, 312.5k In another universe, Jedi Masters Plo Koon and Depa Billaba decide a Padawan could do Mace some good. It takes a while, but he eventually agrees. When he takes Ahsoka Tano as his Padawan, Mace knows that he's broken through a Shatterpoint and changed the course of a life. How, he doesn't know. This fic accomplishes several things that have sent me over the moon: 1) At its heart, it's an Ahsoka fic that shows her growing up as a Padawan, going on missions, learning lessons, and having character growth. 2) It weaves in so many other characters around her, that Mace is there in almost every chapter, serious but warm in the Force, just as beautifully characterized as she is. 3) The other Jedi get their moments of excellents, Shaak taking Ahsoka on her Akul hunt was wonder to read, seeing Obi-Wan show up for a chapter had me over the moon, Adi taking care with Ahsoka was lovely, Depa was a shining star when she took Ahsoka under her wing, Fox growing used to these strange Jedi and growing into himself through Ahsoka's eyes was wonderful. 4) The writing is that kind of solid that I don't mean as mid-tier, but the kind that I feel like can bear weight on it, I can pick it up and read for 30k and barely realize any time has passed, despite that I've gotten through an entire arc of the fic. 5) It does an incredible job of balancing that feel of The Clone Wars show, without directly copying anything, that it's like these are arcs that I could have seen on the show itself, the lessons woven in, but still with enough plot moving forward and action to make it exciting. If you want more Jedi-centric fic in your life (where they don't have to be perfect! sometimes they can be less than perfect and it's okay because they're still good! ohhhh, my heart warmed at that) or you want to read a lovely Ahsoka-centric fic in a different life, but still so recognizably herself, then this is one I want to shove right in your face immediately.

✦ Take it from the top and try again by mauvera, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & padme & mace & dooku & cast, time travel, 116.k wip Five years into his self imposed exile on Tattooine, Obi-Wan Kenobi is gifted the chance to go back and bring hope back to the galaxy. With hindsight on his side, he fully intends to save his master, save his padawan, make some new and old friends again, prepare the Jedi for a war they’ll hopefully never see and begin to pull apart all the many tangled threads of the Sith Lord’s plans. Should be relatively easy. Right? I got sucked into the first fic in this series (which is complete, if you want to read it--it's not the end of the story, but it's a good stopping point and feels like it should have some solid resolution if you don't want to get into a wip) and read the first fic over the course of about three days because I was sucked in so thoroughly. I can never get enough of Obi-Wan time traveling back to the past, where he loves the Jedi and they love him, and I love this one because he has to make genuine plans for changing things--things change and I have no idea how that's going to affect Palpatine's machinations! Exciting! But it's also a lovely look at Obi-Wan's dynamics with multiple characters--I found the Obi-Wan & Padme scenes a hightlight personally, their friendship really blossomed as they both flung themselves into trying to better the galaxy, even if she doesn't know he's from the future, that he's working so hard matched a lot of her energy and I really enjoyed that--from Qui-Gon to Mace to Padme to Anakin and, as the sequel progresses, Dooku as well. It's another Jedi-positive fic, it has me invested in the plot, it's a joy to see competent!Obi-Wan, and I would love to shove it at more people.

✦ Post Order 66 Exile AU by Livsy, obi-wan & anakin, 46k (wip-esque) After a failed order 66, in which many Jedi still died but the Sith were defeated, an exiled warrior and a boy wander a distant planet and attempt to get along. This is probably the shortest fic on this list but I'm including it because it genuinely felt longer than that, for how dense the emotional intensity of it is. It's an AU where the Jedi barely eked out a victory, still on the edge of extinction in many ways, and Anakin deep in the pits of the dark side, so Obi-Wan takes him to a backwater planet in exile for the both of them, traveling through the countryside and just trying to make it from day to day. What punched me right in the feelings place is that this fic doesn't shy away from the hurt and the anger on both sides, that both of them are allowed to be unreliable narrators that have their own points of view on what's transpired and what lays between them. It doesn't back away from the hurt they both feel, the despair they both feel, yet there's hope here. It's ultimately a story about clawing yourself back from the dark side, and it's beautifully characterized for both of them, that unkind things are said on both of their parts, but you understand why the characters are in the place they are. It's wrapped up in a lushly written backdrop, with some lovely Japanese feudal era details woven in, but also with a Star Wars patina spread across all of it. It's not necessarily a kind fic, but if you like fic that bites down on a wound, I enjoyed this series a lot and would love to see it continued--but, honestly, what's here is already enough resolution that, looking back on it after the initial "Noooooo, I need more!" feeling has faded, I'm actually very satisfied with. ✦ Men of Power by AlabasterInk, obi-wan & anakin & mace & yoda & jedi & palpatine & cast, 86.1k wip When an old powerful man suddenly comes in and sweeps your underage Padawan away without so much as a by your leave, that’s the time to start asking questions. I'm only about 20k into this fic, so I can't say what shape it will take later on or how much pairings might come into it, but I still had to come running over to shove this fic at people, because it's scratching the itch I have for Jedi-positive fic that explores the idea of Anakin's trauma from his childhood as a slave, that this is a child who is wound so tight and comes from such a horrible thing having been done to him, having been owned as a person, that I understand why he stays silent on some of the things I desperately wish he could talk about or he doesn't really believe some of the things the Jedi tell him. It's a fic that takes a lot more care with Anakin's character than I think canon ever intended, weaving in a lot of the heartbreaking stuff from Legends' supplementing the canon, and is creating something that punches me right in the feelings place for him, that he's such a bright, brilliant boy, but I see why he struggled and it's not about assigning blame in any direction. It's about deeply caring people who fate has take a few steps to the left and something shifts just a little--and I appreciate that there's something very delicate feeling here, that the Jedi just don't have any real reason to be suspicious of Palpatine, his actions make sense, they genuinely can't feel any ill intention from him in the Force, they discuss why it would make sense that he'd want to support Anakin, all while we the readers can see, in hindsight, where the shadows have been creeping in. If you want Jedi-positive fic that also leaves some teeth marks over Anakin's trauma being explored in a way that is entirely sympathetic to him, then I want to shove this fic at you, too.

#lumi.txt #star wars #obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #mace windu #yoda #ahsoka tano #jedi order #fic recs #star wars fic recs

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captainkirkk · 3 months

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✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩

All the fics I’ve read and really enjoyed in the past week-ish. Reminder: This list features any and all ratings and themes. Please look at tags and warnings on ao3 before reading.

midnight sun by merils

Who would win: four men with guns who just happened to get Red Robin to walk into a trap, or one royally-pissed Kryptonian juggernaut?

Yeah, it's not even a contest.

reasons are better than rules by destiny919

"No one will actually explain Father's rules to me," Damian blurts out. "They tell me we don't kill, and killing is wrong, and Father would never do it, but no one ever actually says why! As if repeating the rule is the same as explaining it! As if I am supposed to just know, when I do not!"

Drake is quiet, eyes on something in the distance that Damian cannot see. "Damian, may I tell you a secret?"

Marvel

Thirty Hours by polaroid15

The sun sets. Peter breaks three toes and hits his head hard against concrete. There’s a steadily bleeding wound in his side that he’s staunched with his webbing and tries not to acknowledge it when it burns. He can still walk in a straight line, which is good. He’s starving and tired and cold. It’s been fifteen hours.

Or, Peter doesn't take any breaks during a lengthy fight with the Avengers. The mind-melting fever that follows really should have been expected.

Clone Wars

An Hourglass In Hand by ecarian

“I thought daemons didn’t eat,” Rex noted once, during a celebration feast, as he and Cody watched Boga devour her meal with some fascination. Varactyl she may be, but she was a tiny one. There wasn't much interior space for the truly momentous amount of meat she was ripping into.

Boga daintily rubbed her beak against a folded serviette that looked kind of like a bird, and said, prim, “I can do anything a human can do.”

“Oh?” Obi-Wan said mildly, from where he’d been tapping at a datapad. “Shall I save you a portion of these reports then?”

Set My Mind at Ease by Eightbitpale

Marshal Commander Cody - clone commanding officer of the 7th Sky Corps, second in command of the 212th attack battalion and, currently, the proud caretaker of one still-warm lightsaber - was having a very long day.

Actually, fuck that. It had been more than a long day. Long days were Cody’s bread and butter, practically his comfort zone. Marshall Commander Cody ate stim shots for breakfast and every shiny this side of Coruscant knew it. Long days were his bitch.

No, this had been more than a long day. Today had been a bad day.

———

The one where Cody and his general try their best to tell each other that they care. At least they’re trying.

Your Smile In Stone by ecarian

Wooley: can we arrest people for yelling this early?

There were two figures standing at the foot of General Kenobi's statue with their backs to Wooley, an adult with a hood, and a child with light hair. The child was pointing at a puddle of Temple tookas who were curled up in General Kenobi’s lap, lounging in the stone folds of his robes, the bend of his knee.

Wooley: belay that. Child nuisance.

The Goblin Emperor

Sweet Hope by baladric

Maia Drazhar arranges a festival, meets his gay aunt, falls in love with his secretary, and misses his mom through it all.

"In the way of true stories, there was no discernible beginning. Perhaps it had begun that first day, in the shabby receiving room at Edonomee; in the cockpit of the Radiance of Cairado; at the mooring mast of the Untheileneise Court, with that first smile.

The pith of the matter was that Maia Drazhar was wildly, tremulously in love, and love had made fools of much wiser men than he."

In All Its Forms by Anonymous

Before his father ruined everything, Nurevis Chavar only thought to introduce the new emperor to all the most beautiful things life could offer.

When he found himself free from relegation again after his father's death, would the emperor whose friendship he had sought so long ago wish his presence at court? And, if he could return to court, would his emperor wish his friendship again?

#i'm down with covid atm #which is why there are multiple longish fics on here considering i only just posted last week #thank you ao3 for your service #weekly fic round up #my posts #fic recs #the goblin emperor recs #tge recs #sw recs #dc recs #marvel recs

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ghost-bxrd · 3 months

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Hi!

Kinda on a 'Jason's Red Hood Return Goes Hilariously Off The Rails' phase.

Read practically everything on AO3 with the trope, now writing my own.

Got two ideas.

Dick gets de-aged to 8 year old feral Robin and is in the Tower instead of Tim, Jason's Titans Tower attack goes waaaaay off what he planned.

Jason commenting on Tim's Batman fanfic, and the resulting comment war (with other Gothamites chiming in) leads to Jason hashing out most of his issues, derailing the whole Red Hood Revenge Run.

What do you think would be other hilarious/cracky/awesome ways for Jason's Red Hood return to go off the rails and have him come back home?

P.S. I'm going with Fanon Good(ish) Dad Bruce, not the Canon version.

First of all I love the second idea! I’ve never read anything like it before ✨

Honestly there are so many ways you can have Jason’s plans go off track somewhere along the way. Personally I’m a fan of having him run into one of the family while he’s grocery shopping or something in civilian gear, and obviously they recognize him. So now Jason has the option of either running and letting them assume stuff on their own, or he can come up with a harebrained excuse (amnesia, clone, etc). ((I also love the trope of Bruce not even checking if it’s really Jason. If this is a clone, he doesn’t want to know. Nobody’s taking Jason from him ever again)).

Another fun way would be for him to have that really hardcore “I want my dad” moment. Could be he’s sick, or concussed, or just otherwise really out of it. And he calls either Dick or Bruce on autopilot because— “I want to go home. Please. I just want to go home.” And whoever is on the other side of the call has several heart attacks while also trying to keep Jason talking, trying to track the location. Because— it could be a hallucination, a trick, anything, but— but what if it isn’t—…

Or, good old “one of the Bats is held hostage by a rogue” but it’s totally a planned thing. And obviously Jason doesn’t know about it so he drops in, pissed as all hell but not willing to let any of them die, and freeing them. Which is… very much not what that Bat had planned, but for whatever reason the murderous crime lord is now fussing over them? Better play along and keep pretending to be drugged…

Those are some things that came to mind :)

#some thoughts #does this count as prompts?#hm I’m tagging it meh #prompts #jason todd #batfamily #Jay my sweet summer child 💚 just go home

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marvelstars · 7 months

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Anakin and Slavers

"His undoing is that he loveth too much"

George Lucas

One thing that I always liked about George´s work in relation to Anakin and slavery is how out of the left field he and Dave Filoni wrote Anakin´s relationship to the people who owned or saw him as a property at one point or another and yet it makes total sense for his character.

For example kid Anakin has no doubt that Slavery is horrible and at 9 he is actually working towards developing technology to help free his Mom, friends and himself from it. He hates with capital H the fact those people have control over the life and death of other people but at the same time he has great compassion and kindness which his mother helped nurture. This along with the fact that Watto was the only adult male figure who was around during his early chilldhood, this complicated his feelings towards slavers in a very tragic way.

Anakin feared Watto´s violence and didn´t for a moment doubt he would have been willing to sell off his mother or him if the customer got to a big enough price but at the same time he listens to his advice when he travels to the dune sea to do his work with the jawas and his pov is almost as important as his Mom´s, in the novelization of TPM Anakin remembers not to talk to strangers or to get close to Tuskens Raiders camps thanks to Watto´s advice.

So in Anakin´s mind, Watto is someone he fears but also someone he takes advice from, respects to a point, sometimes gets sassy to and actually listens to almost as a father figure BUT at the same time he has no doubt he would activate the killing chip if he tried to escape.

Pain/abuse/fear mixed with care/advice(sounds familiar?) Anakin knows slavery is awful but he can´t help but see Watto as a person because of who Anakin is, Annie is a kind and understanding person and to point may justify Watto as a "Man of bussines" and "Not as bad a other masters" "It could be worse" but he definitely doesn´t trust him in the same way he does his mother, she is blood, she is family. He and Mom are a team.They shared their secrets.

The first time Anakin saw Watto again after being freed, he was a Jedi with training, almost a knight and the first thing he does to the guy who beat him and his Mom some years ago is to ask him if he can help with the ship parts Watto is working on because he noticed Watto is struggling and his bussines is falling down compared to how it was when Anakin was a kid. When Watto noticed who Anakin was he didn´t reject him and accepted his congratulations but keep himself appart, hoping to learn about his mother whereabouts.

When Watto told Anakin he sold Shmi, Anakin doesn´t have a reaction, he takes Watto´s justification of "I am sorry Ani but bussines are bussines and anyway the person who bought her freed her and married her" Anakin doubts it´s as good a picture as Watto is talking about but he takes his justification and leaves.

When he meets Owen, Beru and Cliegg he sees they are indeed nice people and the reason for his mothers suffering is something completely different that they were not able to stop so he doesn´t blame them for her fate. When Anakin lost his mother it was only natural for him to seek a family, someone he could share how he really felt and his secrets, he could not be part of the Lars family but Padme was willing to love him so she became his new confirmed family, right along with Obi-Wan and Ahsoka but while he had to show himself different to them, he didn´t had to do that with Padme, just like he did with his mother.

In the clone wars Anakin shows again this complex view of slavers with Queen Miraj Scintel, the cartoon goes out of it´s way to show she looked at him as pretty property and he didn´t let her forget that and actually it was strongly suggested he may have been raped by her at some point to keep safe Obi-Wan, Rex, Ahsoka as well as the people they wanted to save while he got enough soldiers to stage their rescue. Anakin had a plan the whole time just as he did as a kid so he keep his cool even when he saw another slave choose suicide over keep being under the control of Scintel. Yet in the end when the Queen was killed by Count Dooku Anakin felt sorry for her, he could not help it.

So this mix of rejection/anger/hate/disgust towards slavers mixed with pity/understanding which is something that was part of what made Anakin a good person gets used agaisn´t him in his relationship with Palpatine.

He first shows himself as the father figure Anakin thought he could find in Qui-Gon before he died a better father figure than Watto had been, a father figure that didn´t reject this title like ObiWan did, Palpatine did this to get his trust as a young child and later young adult and then he showed himself as the real sith master he actually was, Palpatine knew that Anakin wasn´t a stranger to be treated as property by people who showed themselves as good advicers or somehow not as bad as others despite their actions. So Anakin´s initial compassion, kindness and understanding for people that abused him is played agaisn´t him to make him fall to the darkside and chain himself again to another worse master who didn´t just seek to use his skills and body but who wanted his soul as well.

And the same reasons why Anakin justified Watto at first when he was a young kid also applied to Palpatine, he may be a sith but he ran the Republic better than those corrupt politicians, he isn´t a perfect Emperor but in Padme´s absence he is better than the alternatives. He isn´t as bad as a master and anyway I deserve this because I fell to the darkside and nobody can come back from that, if he abuses me I got this coming because I choose this and he still teaches me the ways of the force, he rescued me from Mustafar when Obi-Wan left me to die and he didn´t have to, he is all I have left.

So once Anakin´s voice died down Vader was left with many reasons to say to Palpatine "What´s your bidding my master?" because in his mind master isn´t a word that contradicts father and Palpatine became his father in all but name, this makes George´s words about Anakin fatal flaw being the fact he loved too much make complete sense and it´s a tragedy.

#anakin skywalker #darth vader #george lucas #shmi skywalker #palpatine #star wars #slavery/rape mention #anakin meta #The tragedy of Anakin Skywalker

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omaano · 3 months

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SW Hades AU June Update

Other monthly updates: May - June - July - August

This month I’ve had some time to organize my notes and plans for my Star Wars meets Hades AU - I have a massive table for all of the characters, which original Hades game character they had been modeled after, and whether they need portraits/tokens/keepsakes/crests/etc. it’s colour coded and everything. (Fennec had to be cut out from the lineup and I’m hopelessly heartbroken about the whole thing* 😭)

Everyone has an icon who needs one (I’m sorry about the Echo and Fives one, okay? But they come as a package deal, and I also wanted to make sure that Echo is easily distinguishable from all the other clone characters and not just the average looking clone guy next to Fives who - by order of elimination - must be Echo), and everyone has a crest who needs one (except for maybe Barriss… I feel like that the Jedi order symbol doesn’t fully fit her, but for now I will keep it as a place holder. I can't come up with anything better for her at the moment T^T. The froggie returned to the “chtonic companions” line (it is exactly the plushie that Echo and Fives would give Grogu), and now there is Batcher too! If you notice any similarities between Batcher and Boba’s old rancor rag doll, it’s mostly because I took that one and modified it to fit the lurca hound, since they have a similar back ridge pattern.

I also think that it could be a cute in-universe thing if the Batcher doll had been modified from the rancor. Timelines are very flexible in this AU anyway, so it could be totally plausible.

Speaking of! I have a character sketch for Omega and Batcher!

It took me a while to settle on which version of Omega I wanted to put into this AU, but I am very happy with what I could come up with in the end. I had some trouble with what to do with her face, since Hades is really lacking in young teenage characters, and even Melinoe and Eris from Hades2 didn’t prove to be of much help, so I allowed a bit more of my own style to slip back in. With everything else I think it hit a nice enough balance. I mixed her s2 and s3 appearance into one outfit and gave her back her hat and old crossbow (I know she got a new one from Echo, but I prefer how this one sticks out over her shoulder).

This seems to be a girls’ update, since the next sketch I want to share concepts Bo-Katan and her Nite Owls! I’ve wanted to add them to this AU for ages, but all that armor and posing had just seemed too much of a hassle up until I had to seriously distract myself from some irl stress. So now I’ve got the trio to stand in for the fury sisters as first bosses. (I'll need to adjust Koska a little, I see it now)

God bless whoever’s decided to make one of those 30 cm action dolls of these guys, they had been so helpful when it came to looking up reference details! (While we are at details: I made Koska left handed (I think? Or opposite handed at the very least) because I had been coming up with their composition under the impression that she had her flame thrower in her right vambrace like Din and Boba do, which, upon further inspection, she does not ^^;)

Some in-universe thoughts regarding them: 1) Din can very much lose the Darksaber to whoever kicks his ass if he runs with is as his weapon of choice, and then has to return to reclaim it from that enemy (he doesn’t want to but they are in his way), and if he loses it either to her or another enemy Bo-Katan will most definitely have an opinion on the matter. 2) Boba is more than happy to swoop in as a “godly call” against Koska. If he has the option to claim the Call boon from Boba, it's a pretty good indicator that it will be Koska waiting for him at the end of the level. 3) After a while and enough encounters Axe starts showing up around and in the arena on this AU’s equivalent of the Elysium level. Paz would do anything not to have to talk about that minor detail. (Din: "Why does Axe Woves keep calling you baby girl?" Paz *steam escaping from the edge of his helmet* "how about we stop talking for a while." <- This meme has been on my mind for months, now you have to suffer it with me XD) After that it’s a boss fight of Din vs Paz and Axe.

This post is getting a bit long, so I will leave my progress with Obi-wan’s background to the next update. I will also make a separate post on the new little portrait icons, but I really liked how cute Rex and Omega looked next to each other in the big lineup Q^Q

*the only thing that made me dedicate myself to this decision with a heavy heart is that Fennec had been in the Bad Batch, and that would give me the ideal excuse to imagine her in a Hades2 inspired AU where she is helping Omega (as a stand in for Melinoe). I’ve thought a lot about this even before the test version of the game came out, and a lot of it would track now that I’ve seen some game play and story and characters but. Let’s not be delusional, I can barely keep up with this project, and the Hades2 art style, while super pretty, has a twist on the first game's art style that makes me want to cry when I think about replicating it ^^; so that just remains a nice little thought experiment.

Ventress went through the same thing, mostly because I think that in a strange way she would fit very well with Hecate's role. Especially after that s3 episode where she had her cameo with her new fancy haircut.

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kitkatt0430 · 2 months

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Star Wars Rebels fanfic idea keeps spinning in the back of my head, so I may wind up writing something for that eventually.

The idea?

After the Seige of Lasan turned into a massacre, in canon Kallus basically doubles down on believing in the Empire because he has to or else his self image of himself as a good, honorable man falls apart. But his feelings of guilt over it were what let Zeb get through to him years later and accidentally knock over the dominoes that directly led to Kallus becoming Fulcrum.

So what if he had his crisis of conscience earlier. In the wake of the massacre of Lasan, Kallus starts asking questions and he learns this is far from the first genocide the Empire had perpetrated since it's inception. It was, arguably, founded on genocide - the Jedi, the Clone Troopers, the Kaminoans, the Caamasi, and several others. All within the first year of the Empire's founding. The more he digs, the more he finds, and while he doesn't trust the Rebellion because a.) it's a bunch of disparate groups at the moment and b.) Saw Gerrera's treatment of his platoon at Onderon was incredibly fucked up... he knows he has to do something.

Fast forward to the start of the Rebels canon. There's significantly more sympathy to the Rebellion and there are more rebel cells out there, some that have already been forming alliances between sectors though the tendency towards insular thinking is still hampering the creation of a wider Rebel Alliance. The increased Rebel sympathies, even within the Imperial Navy itself, is in part due to an enigmatic broadcast that hijacks Imperial frequencies and civilian frequencies alike. Calling itself the Genocide Report, it has inundated the Empire with top secret details of the decisions behind countless genocides. Notable exceptions being some of the ones that happened in the first year of the Empire's rise. Presumably because so many details, and thus actual proof, has been lost.

The Imperial propoganda machine works hard to dismiss the Genocide Watch as nothing more than conspiracy theories and lies, but the more it reports... and the more those reports can be verified, the more people believe in the facts it presents. It is a major thorn in the Empire's side.

Many Imperial Agents have tried to track down the person - or persons, most believe there's a rebel cell or network of cells behind the propaganda - behind the Genocide Watch. Including Agent Kallus. But, of course, none have succeeded and eventually all get reassigned elsewhere.

And of course the reason no one has found the network behind the Genocide Watch is because it's actually two people. Alexsandr Kallus and a hacker he recruited. Alex finds the information and creates the broadcast information. Formats it in a way to make it both easy to understand while still presenting the facts, then passes it on to his hacker contact who then disseminates the information on their own schedule.

He's gotten away with it for so long that he's honestly shocked he hasn't been caught yet and he's still trying to get info on the Jedi massacre as his final report before he gets the hell out of the Empire and either finally joins a rebel cell (if any would take an ex-Imperial like him) or get somewhere far, far out of the way in the Outer Rim.

Which is what's going on with him when he's sent out to the Lothal sector and comes into contact with the Ghost's crew... right as Kanan reveals himself as a Jedi and takes Ezra as his padawan. This brings in the Inquisitors and Darth Vader, giving Kallus the excuse he needs to request access to the old Jedi Temple on Coruscant in order to gather information on Kanan Jarrus' past... and thus putting him in position of identifying both Darth Vader's true identity and answering the biggest unknown of the Clone Wars - who was the Sith Lord behind both sides of the conflict?

It'd weave in and out of canon - I really like the idea of Kanan finding out Kallus isn't exactly a loyal officer when Kallus kills an Inquisitor to stop Kanan from being tortured. Whether that would actually work in the actual fic (if it ever gets written)... who knows? But the main thrust of the story would be Kallus finally getting close to the answers to questions he started asking after Lasan, yet at the same time his position is getting increasingly precarious as his sympathies to the Ghost's crew continues to grow to the point he's taking risks for them he knows he shouldn't. Not if he wants to keep suspicion off himself and protect the hacker half of the Genocide Report.

#star wars rebels #fic ideas #alexsandr kallus #fanfiction #alternate universe

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fanfic-obsessed · 1 year

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We thought you knew

So this idea is both undeniably crack, and an AU of the Rako Hardeen arc.

The first thing to be aware of is that not a single member of the Jedi council is taking the threat against the Chancellor seriously. The analysts of the Jedi Shadows, the intelligence portion of the Jedi, all agree. The only way that this attack against the Chancellor is actually a viable threat is if the Chancellor is a Sith, and the mastermind behind the attempt. And nobody believes that the Chancellor is a Sith.

The council does decide to fake Obi Wan’s death to send him under cover, but it is only because the Chancellor seemed so proud to be contributing a plan. However they do not change Obi Wan’s face, they do not change his voice, they do not even make him give up the Jedi robes. The only attempt to change his appearance is that his hair and his beard were shaved.

They do not tell anyone that they are faking his death because they all thought it would be exceedingly obvious. Like the entire council thought that there was no way that Cad Bane or anyone else would fall for this, so they figured Obi Wan would be brought to the jail and then have to beat up a room full of criminals when he failed to convince them he was Rako Hardeen. Then they could all go back to figuring out how to win a war and try to get Obi Wan to take an actual vacation.

Note: To be fair, it was exceedingly obvious to 99% of the people who knew Obi Wan. Unfortunately Anakin fell into the 1%. So did the mercenaries Obi Wan needed to break out of prison with, and seemingly Count Dooku (Dooku knew who was there the whole time, but was under orders from Palpatine that this plan had to work). Ahsoka and the clones on the other hand, realized even before the funeral-due in part to the extended death scene that happened after Obi Wan was shot that had been written and directed by Mace Windu.

So Anakin is hunting down Obi Wan, in the guise of Hardeen, full of rage and grief. He is being followed at a distance by a troop of clones and Ahsoka. No one realizes until his first earnest attempt at murdering Hardeen that he is not acting. Every attempt to tell him what is going on is rebuffed in the most hilarious way possible. At one point he is fighting ‘Hardeen’ and first Ahsoka, then Cody, then Rex, then an odd assortment of other clones, then Padme (and inexplicably Yoda, who was not even on that planet at the time), each scream at him that ‘Hardeen’ is really Obi Wan, with Obi Wan agreeing each time, getting progressively more out of breath. Anakin cries dramatically to the heavens that Hardeen is not Obi Wan, he killed Obi Wan and everyone else is in denial.

Obi Wan is following through the rough plan of the Chancellors, which was never polished into an ACTUAL plan, because no one thought it would get this far. There is also no good way to tell the enemy that you are undercover, but never thought it would get this far. Also the surreal suspicion that occurs because ‘this should not have worked and this should not be happening’. Both Dooku and Obi Wan spend a fair amount of time pretending this undercover thing worked and the Dooku has not called him Obi Wan the times while not around the mercenaries.

In the end Obi Wan was there to save the Chancellor, though that this attack happened at all is what clued the Jedi in to the Chancellor being the Sith. At some point Anakin pouts/is angry that Obi Wan didn’t tell Anakin that Obi Wan was Hardeen. Padme takes a moment to slap Anakin upside the head, because literally everyone told him that Obi Wan was Hardeen.

#star wars #star wars the clone wars #fanfiction prompt #anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #star wars au #bamf obi wan #crack fic #rako hardeen arc

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vodika-vibes · 6 months

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Could I please get female reader x the clone wars Gregor smut scenario that starts off with him finally making it back after getting his memory back and he's anxious to see his girl again after so long, but she's anxious about seeing him again because she's gained some stress weight and is worried about whether he'll still want her/be attracted to her, but he just goes even more feral for her the moment he sees her? Please and Thank either way ♡

As Beautiful As The Day I Lost You

Summary: Gregor has been gone, missing, for months. Missing, not dead. And when he comes back you can’t help but wonder if he’ll still want you.

Pairing: Captain Gregor x F!Reader

Word Count: 1130

Warnings: Smut (cockwarming)

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni

A/N: So...my smut developed feelings, so there's only a little smut here and a lot of feelings. I'm sorry.

You feel like you’ve been crying for days.

It’s almost as bad as when you found out that Gregor was MIA. Almost.

For the most part these are happy tears. Happy that he’s alive. Happy that he’s alright. Happy that he’s coming home.

But there’s also anxiety tied into those tears.

What if he sees you and doesn’t want you anymore? You don’t look the same as you did when he went missing. You’ve gained some weight, due solely to stress, and you’ve changed a few things about yourself…the way you dress, the way you style your hair-

You nervously push your hand through your hair.

It would help if you had been allowed to talk to Gregor. But you haven’t. No one’s allowed you to speak to him. You were told that he’s okay, that he’s coming back, and that he had severe memory loss, which is why he went missing in the first place.

You were also reassured, by a frantic looking medic who looked terrified when you started crying about the memory loss thing, that Gregor does in fact remember you and that he’s very eager to see you and talk to you.

That had been several weeks ago.

And now you’re just waiting. And you think that might be the worst part.

Dread and excitement war with each other as you hear the door panel beep and the door slide open. Slowly you walk over to the door, your hands wrapped firmly around the hem of your shirt.

And there he is.

Gregor is staring at you. He steps into the apartment and blindly smashes his fist against the door panel. His bag hits the floor at the same time as the door clicks shut. “Mesh’la,”

And then the tears start, “Hi.”

Gregor swallows hard, and he takes several steps closer to you, but he pauses just short of touching you, “Sorry I’m late. I took a wrong turn, you see-”

You release a sobbing laugh and fling your arms around his neck, “It’s okay. You’re here now.”

His arms fold around you, hesitantly at first, and then tighter as he presses his face into your hair, “You cut your hair.”

“Yeah.”

“It looks good. You look amazing.” He exhales slowly, “As beautiful as the last time I saw you.”

You sniffle, “Really? I put on some weight-”

His arms tighten, “I didn’t notice. But if you did, it just means there’s more for me to love.” He pulls away slightly one of his hands coming up to press against your cheek, he lightly wipes a tear off of your cheek, a small smile crossing his face, “Beautiful.”

Gregor leans in and presses his lips against yours in a soft, loving, kiss. And you respond instantly, your arms sliding around his neck as you kiss him back. All of your anxiety fading away to nothing as he clutches your body to him as though no time has passed at all.

And, because you know Gregor, you aren’t surprised in the slightest when he starts walking you backwards. And you’re even less surprised when his hands dip under the hem of the shirt that you’ve been worrying for hours.

In fact, the only thing that surprises you, is that Gregor has the patience to wait until you’re securely in the bedroom before he’s tugging your clothes off and tossing them to the side.

He doesn’t remove his hands from you for longer than it takes for him to remove your clothing, though. He doesn’t even try to remove his own, which you think is kind of unfair.

And then he attaches his lips to that spot on your neck that never fails to make you melt for him, and you stop thinking about it.

Your fingers curl into the material of his shirt as he lowers you to the bed, his body pressed firmly against yours, his lips leaving dark marks on whatever bit of skin he can reach, and then, finally, he pulls back and settles himself between your thighs.

His hands ghost down your sides, skirting over the sensitive skin of your breasts, teasing touches over the plush skin of your hips and thighs, and then they skim back up.

“Beautiful,” Gregor whispers, “As beautiful as the day I lost you. And you’re all mine.” There’s something like awe in his voice.

“I’ve always been yours.” You whisper, a soft noise of pleasure falling from you as his clever fingers trail down your body again and dip between your thighs. “Gregor-” His name falls from your lips in a sigh.

His fingers pause, and his gaze locks on your lips, “Kriff,” He breathes out, “I wanted to take my time with you. But now that I have you here, under me, I want nothing more than to be buried inside you.”

You reach up and lightly tug on his shirt, “We have all the time in the world, Gregor.” You whisper reassuringly, as you tug on his shirt again.

Slowly, without breaking eye contact, Gregor peels his shirt off and tosses it to the side, and he carefully tugs his bottoms off and tosses them with the rest of the clothes to be dealt with later.

It seems to take a moment for him to decide what he wants to do, before his expression clears and he tosses some of the pillows off the bed and settles against the headboard, “Come here, mesh’la.”

You pout at him playfully, but crawl over to him and settle yourself over his cock, which is already hard and leaking. “All this for me?”

“I missed you,” Gregor says with a nervous giggle, before he grimaces, “Sorry.”

You press your hand against his cheek, “I missed you too.” Slowly, with his aid, you slide down his hard cock. It takes you a moment to adjust to him again.

“Slowly, baby. You don’t have to rush.” Gregor whispers, his hands tight on your hips when he sees you wince in discomfort.

“M’okay. It’s just been a while.” You reassure him as you slowly slide down the rest of him and settle right against him. You place your hands on his shoulders, and lean against him, taking a moment to just feel him.

Stars, but you missed him, missed this, so much.

You shift, to start moving on him, but Gregor tightly grips your hips, holding you still. “Let’s stay like this for a bit,” He murmurs, his forehead dropping to your shoulder, “Just for a little bit.”

You lightly trail your fingers through his hair, enjoying the closeness. Though you know you’ll only be able to remain still for so long.

For now, though, you just enjoy that he’s here and he’s back. He’s still your Gregor, even with the changes.

#star wars #tcw #captain gregor x reader #gregor x reader #18+ fic #clone thirsting #nsft #star wars fanfiction #x reader fanfiction #f!reader fic #answered asks

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webslinger-holland · 5 months

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The Sergeant's Senator | Epilogue

Summary: A few years have passed. The Bad Batch finally think about settling down on Pabu.

Warning: fluff, reuniting, mutual pining, kissing

Pairing: Hunter x Fem!Reader Senator

Type: Short Series

Word Count: 3.5k words

Series Masterlist

Over the course of the next three years, Hunter had come across lots of different beaches during their missions. He'd often take a short moment to take in the scenery at the end of a mission, judging the features that in his mind made the beach a good one or a bad one.

No matter how many beaches he came across, Hunter was never fully satisfied with the beach in front of him. There was always something that made it fall short of being a perfect beach. Whether it was much too rocky, the waters weren't the right shade of blue, or a few unfriendly critters littered the place. He came to the conclusion that none of these beaches were up to his specific standards.

That was until Pabu.

During the Bad Batch's first stay on the planet, Hunter found himself walking down to the shoreline on his own one evening. His heavy boots pressed into the soft white sand, thinking slightly under his weight. He searched some of his surroundings, glancing up and down the coastline for anything out of place. But Hunter couldn't really see anything just yet.

The crystal clear blue water created the smallest curved waves, splashing white sea foam along the shore. The sinking orange sun shone through the billowing wispy clouds, kissing his tanned skin and keeping him warm in the sunlight. A handful of colorful seashells littered across the sand, but not too much that it would be difficult to avoid stepping on them. The beach looked like a masterful painting. And it felt like the world seemed to stand still.

This was the place; Hunter was sure of it.

The Pabu port was certainly a hotspot for the remote island. Many fishing boats would travel out into the waters every day to catch fish to bring back. They also transported various goods including resources to rebuild and supplies to distribute. There were always a lot of people hanging around the docks.

Just as a boat was pulling into port, Wrecker was sure to wave from his spot on the perched ledge. He held a fishing pole in one hand, gently tugging the line with the other. The small boat docked and a number of people began carrying the supplies up to the lower level of the city.

Meanwhile, Shep and Hunter were carrying two heavy crates up the stairs to the lower level. They wasted little time in setting the crates down with the rest of them, getting ready to go back down for another trip.

"This friend of yours who's stopping by, he's another clone?" Shep wondered while throwing a glance towards the sergeant.

"Yeah, but don't worry. He's not with the Empire," Hunter reassured him. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

"If you trust him, that's enough for me," Shep smiled.

"The new fishing dock's rebuilt and moored," Wrecker announced. He had just climbed the last few steps whilst carrying a massive purple fish over one shoulder. "And I caught some dinner," Wrecker added proudly.

"You've been busy," Hunter recognized.

"You're got that right," Wrecker smirked. He propped the pole of his fishing rod over his right shoulder. He was quickly called away by some others who were looking for help to fortify the seawall. And he hurried after them.

"He's become an integral part of this community. You all have," Shep praised. His tone changed slightly as his next words came. "Any chance you've reconsidered staying permanently?"

"For soldiers, putting down roots is an occupational hazard." Hunter tried to explain. He knew this from first hand experience that he wasn't meant to form attachments to anyone or any place.

"Is that all you are? A soldier?" Shep asked sadly.

For a brief moment, Hunter pondered his words carefully. It'd been a long time since he questioned his status as a soldier. The times had changed and the war had ended since then. But he didn't have a long time to think about this before he heard the engines of his ship flying overhead.

Looking up, the Marauder flew over the docks and the port. It began flying higher into the sky, growing smaller in the distance. The two of them walked towards the edge of the steps to watch the ship fly away.

"More flying lessons?" Shep chuckled.

"Uh-huh. Tech's got his hands full," Hunter commented with a small smirk on his face.

Meanwhile, Tech and Omega were doing another flying session since she had begged him earlier that morning. She sat happily in the pilot's seat, maneuvering the wheel with two hands. Tech was currently seated beside her, but was holding onto the sides of the seat for dear life.

It was safe to assume that Tech found Omega's flying skills incredibly inexperienced and rather reckless. She'd often pull up at the last minute or use the thrusters way too much. He tried to critic her, but she kinda did her own thing.

After a moment, there was an incoming vessel approaching them that showed up on their scanners. The two of them leaned forward in their seats to look at the blinking red light on the panel.

"Incoming vessel on approach," Tech explained.

"It's him!" Omega exclaimed happily. She pressed the comm channel. "Havoc-4, this is Havoc-5. Do you copy?"

"Affirmative, Havoc-5. I see you've been keeping up with your training," Echo's voice sounded through their channel. A smile was evident in his tone.

"As promised," Omega replied.

"Good. Race you to the landing zone?" Echo challenged.

Before Tech was able to protest the idea, Omega had already accepted the challenge and grabbed onto the thrusters. She pulled a sharp turn in order to head back to the landing zone, following the ship closely behind.

Only a few minutes later, Echo successfully landed his ship near the landing zone. The engines powered down and the ramp lowered slowly. He walked down the ramp to be greeted by a familiar face. Both Hunter and Echo came up to each other and clasped their hands together in a brotherly manner.

"You weren't kidding. This place is remote," Echo told him, having never visiting the desolate planet beforehand.

"That has its advantages," Hunter agreed. The Marauder ship began to slowly descend over the landing platform, coming down a little rougher than expected.

"I'm surprised you're not on Ord Mantell with Cid," Echo pointed out.

"We've been...reevaluating things," Hunter responded.

In the short distance, Omega emerged from the entrance of the ship. She called the clones name, waving her hand wildly in hopes that he would see her. She broke into a run down the ramp, following by a dizzy looking Tech who stumbled down after her with a hand on the side of his head.

Just as Omega drew closer to them, she ended up leaping into his open arms and wrapped her arms around his next. He was a little taken back by the gesture to say the least, but he hugged her back nonetheless. She smiled so brightly.

"We've missed you," Omega said cheerfully.

"It hasn't been that long," Echo chuckled. He was careful to set her back down on her own two feet.

"Feels like it has," Omega shrugged her shoulders at this.

Turning his attention back towards Hunter, Echo's face grew more serious. He had come to them for a reason; this wasn't just a friendly visit. However, Echo did come bearing good news. And he needed to tell the sergeant.

"I've just come from Coruscant," Echo confessed. The sergeant immedielty straightened his back in posture and his breath hitched in the back of his throat at the mere mention.

"Did you happen to--" Hunter stopped his words short.

"Yes," Echo nodded. His lips tugged into a gentle smile. "I saw her. She's doing just fine."

Upon hearing this, Hunter nodded his head understandingly. His gaze fell to the floor as he tried pushing his emotions and reaction down. However, this didn't go unnoticed by Tech or Omega. They studied him carefully.

"Actually," Echo corrected himself. "She's doing more than fine."

Without another word, Echo had turned around in his place and walked right back up the ramp of his ship. The others who had been left behind were confused by his sudden disappearance. But it all seemed to make sense a moment later when he reemerged at the entrance.

This time, Echo wasn't alone though. He gingerly helped escort the former senator down the ramp slowly, being extra mindful of her weakened state. She needed to watch her steps because she didn't want to loose her footing. The two of them descended down the length of the ramp until they reached the bottom. Now they lifted their gaze to look at the others.

In that moment, Hunter felt this stirring tension growing in the pit of his stomach. Everything around seemed irrelevant as he stared directly into those mesmerizing eyes once again. He honestly never thought he'd lay eyes on her again, yet here she was, standing only a few feet away from him. He heard his heart skip a beat. And he swore that he'd just fallen in love with her all over again.

Having been apart for three years, Y/n looked different from when they spent time together and from when the picture of her hologram was taken. She no longer wore extravagant clothing fit for a senator, instead opting to wear bland and boring civvy clothes. Not only that, but she also cut her hair and it now rested in soft waves just below her chin. She looked different; she looked as beautiful as ever.

Feeling overcome with emotions, Hunter took a single shaky step forward. He moved with caution in fear that this was all just some horrible nightmare torturing his mind. But as he drew closer to her, his hesitation didn't waver. He just couldn't believe his eyes.

Very quietly, Echo and Tech silently gestured for the young girl to follow them away. She was going to protest, but they quickly reminded her that they needed a moment together. The three of them began taking strides backwards, giving the couple some space. They watched from a distance instead.

"Is that the senator he likes?" Omega asked with slightly narrowed eyes. She looked up at Tech and Echo for an answer.

"That's her," Echo nodded once in confirmation.

"She doesn't look like a senator," Omega commented on her appearance.

"That's because she's not a senator anymore," Echo replied without taking his eyes off the pair. He crossed his arms over his chest. "She stepped down a few months ago," Echo added.

"So why'd you bring her here?" Omega always seemed to have a million questions on her mind.

"She needed a place to go. She's always had a target on her back. Now more than ever," Echo said with a hint of sorrow in his voice. He didn't want to get too deep into the details, thinking it wouldn't be wise to share that information with a child.

"She'll be safe here," Tech reassured him. "Plus...Hunter's here too."

At this comment, Echo's lips began to tug into a smart smile. He nodded his head in agreement. He looked between the two of them with admiring eyes.

"It's exactly what they both needed," Echo responded. It was almost like it was all apart of his grand plan to get them back together. And it worked perfectly in his favor. "She needed a place to take refuge and he needed a reason to stay."

All the while this conversation was taking place, Hunter and Y/n were still trying to come up with the right words to greet one another. They both simply stood in front of one another with shocked looks on their faces. Each of them unable to find the courage to speak first.

"Hi," Y/n spoke gently. She sent him a nervous smile. She wrung her hands together, realizing that they had become incredibly sweaty.

"Hi," Hunter breathed back, still a bit lost for words. He cleared his throat awkwardly, shaking himself out of his trance. "I--I can't believe you're standing in front of me," Hunter spoke.

"I know," Y/n agreed. "Me neither."

"Cause I never thought I'd see you again," Hunter confessed. There was a strong sense of sorrow in his brown eyes. A heavy heart still kept him stationed, remembering all those lonely nights longing to be able to see her or speak to her.

"Well...I'm here now."

Without saying another word, Hunter took the remaining steps forward to close the distance between the two of them. He wrapped his arms around her body, pulling her into a tight embrace. Dropping his head onto her shoulder, Hunter took a second to bask in the feeling of having her this close to him after all those long years. He closed his eyes shut, sighing in a form of contentment.

For some reason, Hunter was holding onto her so desperately at the beginning. It was almost like he was afraid she'd slip through his fingers so he clung to her as a lifeline. He buried his nose into the waves of her hair, inhaling the sweet familiar scent of fresh lavender. She grounded him back to reality.

"I missed you," Hunter mumbled into her hair quiet enough that she was the only one who heard him.

"I missed you too," Y/n said with a hinted smile in her tone. Her arms remained locked around the space behind his neck, holding him down to her for a while. They swayed ever so gently in their place, feeling an overwhelming sense of happiness taking over them.

Finally, Hunter drew away from her, but he kept his hands on her hips steadily. He held her at an arms length so his eyes were able to scan over her new appearance. He chuckled softly to himself.

"What happened to this?" Hunter prompted with a smile. He had brought a hand up to grab a few strands of her short hair, tugging on it teasingly.

"I cut it," Y/n replied happily. She subconsciously grabbed a few strands as if to fix it for approval. She gazed up at him with sparkling eyes. "Do you like it?"

"It suits you," Hunter agreed with a firm nod. "I like it a lot."

There grew a settled comfortable silence between the two of them. They once again found that they were at a loss for words, choosing to simply bask in one another's presence for the meantime. Eventually, a thought slipped through the sergeant's mind. And he was reminded of the thing he did on every previous mission.

"I have to show you something," Hunter stated as the realization dawned on him suddenly.

"Lead the way," Y/n encouraged. He took hold of her hand gently, glancing down at her for a quick approval. When she sent him a smile, Hunter took that as the 'go ahead.'

They began walking through the various streets of the little island, talking and catching up on the latest development in their lives. She had mentioned what had happened to the senate as of recently, stating that the corruption of this new empire was only creating more problems throughout the galaxy in her opinion. She also had come to realize that there weren't too many others who agreed with her, which became one of the reasons why she stepped down.

After this, Hunter talked about to events that occurred after the end of the war. How Order 66 went down for them, how they met Omega in Kamino, how Crosshair chose the Empire over them, and how they had been on the run ever since. It felt like they talked for hours as they mindlessly walked through the quaint streets.

It wasn't until later in the evening when they made their way to the lowest level of the city. They passed by the now empty ports, heading towards the shoreline in the distance. Stepping off the platform meant that their feet settled on the soft sand of the beach.

When the former senator raised her head, Y/n was greeted by the most magnificent and breathtaking sight she'd ever had the pleasure to witness. As the sun hovered over the horizon, it casted a warm, golden glow across the sky, painting it with a palette of oranges, pinks, and yellows. The ocean waves created the most gentlest of sounds, lapping against the shore in a rhythmically slow manner.

The sand was bathed in the warm light of the settling sun, casting these long deep shadows that stretched down the length of the beach. The air filled with the silly sound of seagulls quacking at each other over the sounds of waves crashing against nearby rocks.

While the sun sank lower, the colors scattered across the skyline began to intensify. The oranges grew richer in ripeness, the pinks changed a shade deeper, and the yellow more pronounced than ever. The fluffy clouds were transformed into a canvas of swirling and mixing colors; each cloud becoming a unique piece of art never seen before. It was the most beautiful sight known to man; a beach bathed in the warm light of a setting sun.

Taking a moment to admire the beauty, Y/n wanted to commit this picture to her memory forever. She closed her eyes temporarily. She inhaled deeply through her nose, smelling the salt of the sea. As the waves crashed near her feet, a spray of seawater kissed her face gently. The gently wind blew the hair out of her face and the sun's warm brought a beautiful glow to her skin. A bright smile overtook her face.

All the while, Hunter was looking down at her like she was the only thing in the world. He didn't care about the view of the beautiful shoreline in front of him; instead choosing to look at the person who he believed could rival the view. He truly thought she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever laid eyes on and he had believed that for years now.

"It's beautiful," Y/n breathed, still taking the time to admire the view.

"Well, I always promised that I'd take you to the beach," Hunter recalled. His thoughts turned wary for a second. A frown fell across his face. "I just hope that it lives up to your expectations."

"It exceeds them," Y/n answered without a moment's hesitation. Her eyes remained trained on the landscape in front of her. "I've never seen a more pure and perfect beauty than this."

"I have," Hunter confessed.

Since getting there, this was the first time that she'd taken the chance to look at him instead of the view. She turned her head to look up at him only to find that he was already looking at her and had been for some time now. Her breath caught in the back of her throat and her heart skipped a beat. She saw the way he smiled at his and she was reminded about his heightened senses.

Feeling slightly embarrassed with herself, Y/n went to avoid his gaze, but he stopped her from doing so. He grasped the tip of her chin between his fingers, lifting her head to meet his gaze once more. The two of themselves discovered that they naturally gravitated towards one another. Their gazes switching between looking at their eyes and glancing down at their lips.

Finally, after three years of being apart from each other, the sergeant and the senator's lips brushed together in a soft delicate kiss. Their eyes fluttered shut beforehand. His hands went from the sides of her head and down to my neck, holding her steadily in his place. Mouths moving in a slow manner to swallow one another's breaths. She tasted as sweet as he recalled from their first kiss and his scruff tickled her face ever so slightly.

They tried to savor this moment together. They held onto each other in fear that they'd lose one another all over again. Their lips fit together like two perfectly matched puzzle pieces, destined to be together from the start. They were reunited.

Pulling away, Hunter already missed the feeling of her lips against his own. He leaned forward to press his head to her own. Their noses bumped together. He kept his hands on the sides of her neck, fighting the urge to simply pull her back into another kiss. She brought her hands up to hold onto the backs of his hands. She gazed up at him with a gentle smile on her face.

"I love you."

No matter what challenges were ahead of them or what was they'd be up against in the future, neither of them feared it. Because they knew that, despite what may come, that they'd always have each other. And they didn't have intend on letting go anytime soon.

It would be the two of them against the rest of the world. And they were okay with that.

Taglist:

@leotatombs @justhavingsomefun1 @totally-not-your-babe @jedipoodoo @gyllord @roam-rs @totallyunidentified @redheadgirl @mrcaptainrex @whore-of-many-hot-men @graciexmarvel @qweenrogerina @arcsimper5 @queenofspades6 @cadihyo @jediknightjana @elthoughtzos @lokigirlszendaya @sleepycreativewriter @moonwrecked-blog @ravenclawbitch426 @waytoooldforthis78 @left-in-the-motel-bar @fic-force-99 @ayyyy-le-simp @swaggykermit

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL WHO FOLLOWED THIS SERIES! I DO HAVE A FEW DELETED SCENES THAT WILL PROBABLY BE POSTED WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK OR SO IF THAT INTERESTS PEOPLE. THANKS AGAIN!

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zahmaddog · 2 months

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Part 2: The Warning

Read Part 1: Making Friends in Pabu Warnings: Fluffy AF, Alcohol, Flirting, Slowest Burn of Burns, Death, Blaster Fire, Explosions, Light Romance (SFW), Comfort.

Crosshair x fem!reader | Word Count: 3704

I decided to keep writing for fun. This one is a bit spicier than the first part as the relationship deepens between the reader and Crosshair. In good Star Wars fashion, I'm hoping this hooks you all in with some twists and action. The reader is a badass woman and I really wanted to fuel the character further with talents and quips. I hope she's a cool character to escape into. Enjoy!

“Come find me tomorrow?” You called to Crosshair as he exited your ship. He turned and waved a little to acknowledge the comment, but didn’t respond with anything endearing. You sighed as your company walked alone under the stars, leaving you feeling a little empty. You bit your lip and closed the door to your ship. You looked at the table where you and Crosshair had enjoyed the evening together and questioned if you should leave the small mess to wake up to; as a reminder that you weren’t completely alone that night. —--

“Did you get any intel on her?” Hunter sat on the steps of the Bad Batch’s well-decorated porch. “You’re still awake?” Crosshair’s words slithered out of his still buzzed mouth. “Are you drunk?” Hunter tried not to laugh. Crosshair ungracefully sat next to his brother and pointed a finger at the sky. “Was drunk.” Crosshair grinned a little. Then he put his head into his hands as his emotions swung back and forth. “Are you okay?” Hunter reached out and touched Crosshair’s shoulder. Crosshair stayed silent for a minute, then shifted to regain some composure. “We can trust her,” he began, “Or, I trust her. She’s no clone, but has also escaped a life of conditioning.”

Hunter let go of Crosshair and folded his arms as he leaned back into the staircase. “So, she’s not going to bring any trouble?” Hunter questioned Crosshair. “I can’t say for sure. I meant to talk about details of what I read in her file, but I didn’t get around to it.” Crosshair looked down at his feet.

“You spent hours over there and you didn’t even ask? What could you possibly have talked about?” Hunter said slowly, but with a hint of frustration.

Crosshair opened and closed his mouth a few times in an attempt to begin an answer. Hunter’s look of concern returned as he knew while Crosshair was a man of few words, he was always one to have words.

“I tried to play her guitar. She plays beautifully,” Crosshair said to the stars. He looked at Hunter, “I think I may have made a friend.”

“Huh,” Hunter smiled. “Well, if you trust her, I’ll trust her.” He stood up and shook his pants from the sand and dirt on the steps. “But, we’ll need to watch out for her too then.”

Crosshair nodded in agreement.

Hunter was careful with his words, but he still felt something wasn’t right. He couldn’t tell if it was his previous run-ins with bounty hunters after Omega clouding his senses, or if there was something new to be concerned about. Hunter sighed and watched his loneliest brother stargaze.

I won’t ruin this for him. Hunter thought to himself. Shaking off the feeling of worry and dread for a moment, Hunter stepped inside, and turned to see Crosshair still sitting on the steps. “Are you coming inside?” Hunter yawned while he held the door open. “In a while, maybe.” Crosshair said unbothered. —-

Crosshair woke late that morning on the porch surrounded by Wrecker’s plush toy Lula, pillows, and a draping sheet to create a tent. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, causing the tent to collapse around him. He heard the front door open. “Oh, sorry, Crosshair!” Omega exclaimed. She set a plate of fresh pancakes in Crosshair’s lap and removed the sheet from his head. “I was hoping we could have breakfast together in a pillowfort?” Omega smiled. “Of course.” Crosshair said while pulling the sheet overhead to fix Omega’s pillowfort. —-

It had been a few weeks since getting to know the family that called themselves “the Bad Batch.” You had been to their home for meals a few times and Crosshair spent nearly every evening with you. In the mornings, you’d see Wrecker, Crosshair, and Omega out fishing, with Hunter in tow sometimes. On occasion, Crosshair would jump to your boat to spend the day with you.

Omega waved as their ship skipped over the choppy water to your vessel. Wrecker cut the engine and as the ships drifted closer, Crosshair jumped into the water and swam towards your boat. You reached down into the water and pulled him aboard.

He grinned, “Hi, beautiful.”

You smiled and threw him a towel. “We could have waited until we were closer for you to jump on.”

“I decided I couldn’t wait any longer,” Crosshair said through the towel as he dried his face.

From the ship, Omega, Wrecker, and Hunter waved.

“Don’t keep him out too late!” Omega yelled as their ship took off towards the island, leaving you and Crosshair alone. He turned to you and sighed a breath of relief.

“I have a surprise for you today,” you smiled as you held up a box of clay birds.

“Target practice?” Crosshair raised an eyebrow. “How touching. You do care about me, don’t you?”

“I could get used to caring, yes,” you replied as you tossed the box at him.

“I didn’t bring my rifle,” Crosshair ran his fingers over the box and opened it to reveal clay birds ready for tossing and shooting.

“No worries, I have a few things stashed,” you vocalized while digging into a storage space beneath the deck. You pulled out a few blasters from below deck, a pistol, and two rifles.

“They’re not much,” you grinned, “But it’s hard to get anything with the Empire running things these days. Will you keep my secret?”

Crosshair picked up one of the rifles and looked down the barrel and shot a look of approval in your direction, “Oh, I’ll keep your secret.”

You put a pair of binoculars to your eyes and scanned the horizon, then asked Crosshair, “Do you think we’re far enough out that nobody will notice?”

“I’m sure you could blame this one on me and nobody will bat an eye,” he chuckled.

“Okay then, you’re up, Mister Sniper,” you laughed as you wound up your arm with a birdie ready to toss.

“No, no.” Crosshair motioned you to come closer to him, “We’re going to judge your marksmanship skills first.”

You took the rifle from Crosshair with a bit of a confused look written across your face. You didn’t argue with him and you lined the rifle up with your shoulder.

“Ready?” Crosshair looked at you and you nodded back. He threw the birdie high into the sky. Pulling the trigger the second it aligned in your sights, you blasted it to pieces.

“Deadeye.” Crosshair looked at you impressed.

“Okay, now it’s your turn.” You tossed the rifle towards Crosshair. He lined the rifle up to his shoulder as a serious expression washed over his face.

“Remember how I said I was a sniper?” He spoke softly as he looked down through the sites. “That’s a big emphasis on was. Throw it.” He instructed.

You tossed the bird into the sky, he followed it with the barrel, pulled the trigger, and blasted the bird to pieces.

“Seems to me like there’s still a sniper in there somewhere,” you said in admiration as the pieces fell into the ocean.

“Hmm.” Crosshair replied with a grunt. He looked at his mechanical hand and placed it back on the trigger. “Again,” he prodded.

You tossed the second bird into the sky, Crosshair followed it, pulled the trigger, and again blasted the bird to pieces. He looked up from his sights with a soft gaze and watched the pieces fall into the water.

“I’m surprised I can hit anything at all anymore,” he snickered to himself while studying his mechanical hand once again. You watched his eyes glaze over, as if he was watching a movie scene play out in his head.

“You okay? We, we don’t have to do this,” you implored.

“No, it’s okay. Throw a few into the air at once, if you could,” Crosshair coaxed.

“Is it cool if I shoot some with you? Want to see who’s faster?” you challenged.

Crosshair looked down the barrel, “You’re on.”

You tossed several birds out at once with precision. None of them floated for long as you and Crosshair blew them to smithereens within seconds. About ten minutes after repeating this routine, you were out of clay birds to throw.

“I don’t think we missed a single bird,” you bantered, throwing the empty box onto the deck.

“I guess you could say we make a good team,” Crosshair blushed and stepped closer to hand the rifle back to you. You let your hand slide down the barrel as you took a step closer to him, gazing up into his eyes for a few seconds too long.

“What is it?” Crosshair swooned a little.

“I don’t mind these little moments with you,” you professed. “You’re different.”

Crosshair responded with a soft smile and small laugh, “I’m defective.”

Completely missing the joke, you respond “You shoot perfectly, even with a mechanical hand. I wouldn’t call that ‘defective.’”

“No, like I’m defective by nature?” His eyes narrowed as he tried to explain, “My family, we’re all defective clones.”

“Oh.” It finally dawned on you why they all looked very alike, “Like defective clone troopers,” you muttered.

“You didn’t see that immediately?” Crosshair was a little stunned.

“No, I just thought you were… Well, take no offense to this, but regular people,” you admitted.

“You thought we were regular?” Crosshair laughed. “And Tech was always the one that said none of us would pass a psychological examination.”

You sat down on the deck, pulling on Crosshair’s hand to join you.

“Who’s Tech?” you asked.

Crosshair sat down on the deck next to you and put the blaster to his side. He pulled his legs close to his chest and crossed his arms in front of them. He was afraid to open up to you and to let you in. He took a deep breath in and exhaled, just as Omega had taught him in meditation, and just as he breathed behind the sniper scope for so many years.

“Tech was my brother.” Crosshair spoke more to the ocean than to you. “We all knew the risks to living a life as a soldier. Tech died protecting Omega and my brothers.” He paused for a moment, then resumed with hesitation, “He died trying to save me. We’re a family, but in a lot of ways, we’ll never be the same without Tech.”

The boat rocked back and forth on the water as the ocean breeze responded to Crosshair’s words. You sat in silence next to him watching the birds fly just above the water. You reached out your arm across his back and leaned your head against his shoulder. It felt forced, this one-sided embrace, but you held him for a moment to share your condolences without breaking the silence.

Surprised by your grasp, Crosshair breaks his tucked position and pulls you in, looping one leg around you and pulling you against his chest. His embrace tightened as his face fell to the nape of your neck. He exhaled slowly into your skin. You too relaxed into his grip.

Your comm rang, ruining the moment. You slid the small circular device out of your pocket and watched it ring.

“Are you going to answer that?” Crosshair inquired. His embrace broke slightly as you sat up a bit higher. The ghostly look on your face as you studied the device answered some of Crosshair’s question. “You’re afraid to answer it.” He muttered, releasing his embrace entirely.

“What are you hiding?” He questioned.

“We’ll answer it together,” you answered the call.

A blue hologram figure appeared, floating above the small device. The figure was wearing a helmet to mask his face. He was unfamiliar to you, so you asked, “Who are you?”

“You don’t remember? Always so impersonal.” The voice was deep in response. “I have a warning for you. Vinn Carvel knows it was you that took the artifact from the compound upon your exit. Turns out, you were doing him a favor.”

“A favor?” You blustered in bewilderment. You felt Crosshair’s eyes shift from the hologram to you. Your heart sank.

“That artifact had an Inquisitor at our door this morning. Looks like you took something— priceless.” The hologramed voice continued, “If you’re on the run, I’d keep running. That’s the last you’ll hear from us.” The hologram switched off.

“What’s he talking about?” Crosshair sounded concerned. You met his gaze with a dissociated look.

“I might be dangerous after all,” you attested.

—

You and Crosshair fled back to the island. The ship chopped roughly along the water as you held the throttle to the max. Crosshair rode on the opposite side of the ship in silence. The water around you began to darken, as if something was blocking out the sun. You look up, only to find your deepest anxieties ignite in the shadow of an Imperial shuttle.

The Imperial ship followed you to the island, appearing larger and larger as its altitude dropped. Crosshair picked up one of your rifles and held it close. You knew there was nowhere to run, but you needed to get Crosshair back to his family before conversing with the Empire.

You docked the boat and yelled to Crosshair, “Run!” He jumped from the boat to the dock and sprinted up the mountain out of sight.

Knowing what the Empire was after, you grabbed the backpack that rarely left your sight and jumped to the dock. You spied the shuttle landing at the spaceport, so you started running towards the Imperial shuttle.

Just throw them the bag and get out of there. You told yourself, but there was an unsettling feeling that it wasn’t going to be as easy as you’d hoped.

Just as you got into the spaceport, you were met by two Imperial officers.

“Get on the ground with your hands up,” they barked. You followed their orders and immediately knelt with your hands up.

From the main entrance of the shuttle, a hooded figure appeared and walked down the ramp. The inquisitor’s lightsaber ignited and they dragged the red blade alongside the ground as they walked towards you.

“Funny how you’re on this side of things now, Tarkin,” the Inquisitor snarled. “Your uncle was most displeased when he learned of your… desertion.”

“Imperial royalty wasn’t my idea of a good life,” you hissed back.

“Where’s the holocron?” The Inquisitor wasted no time.

“Just take the backpack,” you insisted.

The imperial guard behind you unzipped your bag and ruffled through it. He paused for a moment and pulled out a glowing pyramid.

“Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” The Inquisitor smiled and accepted the holocron from the guard. “Lord Vader will be most pleased.”

“Lord–who?” You quipped back.

“Guards, take her into custody and back with us to Mustafar,” the Inquisitor bellowed.

It was seconds after the guards forcefully applied the cuffs to your wrists and yanked you to stand that you heard blaster fire. Both guards fell to your side and the Inquisitor spun their lightsaber blade inches from your throat. You froze.

“I see you’ve made friends,” the Inquisitor deadpanned.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see Crosshair slide down the lookout tower's side and walk closer to the Inquisitor.

“You dare challenge me?” The Inquisitor called out.

Crosshair squeezed the trigger, causing the Inquisitor to block the blaster fire. You fell to the ground and shuffled away from the blade’s reach. Crosshair continued the onslaught of blaster fire, until one shot landed. Then another. The Inquisitor’s blade retreated and they fell to their knees staring up at Crosshair.

“You can’t kill a force wielder,” they managed to utter in a weakened voice.

“Unfortunately for you, I was designed to.” Crosshair said as he pulled the trigger once more, causing the Inquisitor to fall lifeless at his feet.

Crosshair studied his kill, but directed his voice towards you, “Are you okay?”

You nodded in disbelief and responded in a near whisper, “You came back for me?”

He stepped over his kill towards you and ordered, “Turn around.”

You turned and gave him your hands. He took his knife and cut through the restraints and turned you to face him, his hands not leaving your sides. His eyes, broken with mistrust, looked longingly into yours.

“I have to go now,” you rasped. “I have to get this thing off the planet and away… from you. I’m so sorry.”

Crosshair, at a loss for words, moved his hand from your waist to your cheek.

“Go.” He shuddered. You fell into his embrace and pulled away after a few second’s time. Crosshair planted a soft kiss on your lips and let go of you; you broke him.

Detaching yourself from the screaming emotion of unspoken affections, you turned your attention to the mess you and Crosshair had made.

“Help me get these bodies onto this ship,” You began. “I’ll follow their previous flight path, mess with the computer, and make it look like they never got to the planet. I doubt they’re tracking their Inquisitors closely.”

Crosshair nodded and helped you lug the bodies into the shuttle.

“You’re not going to destroy the shuttle with yourself in it, right?” He prodded.

“Unfortunately for you, no,” you gawked.

“How can you joke at a time like this?” Crosshair fretted while heaving the last body into the shuttle.

“I’ll remotely control my ship to come get me. Don’t worry. I’m going to be fine. This plan is our best shot to protect Pabu, then I’ll get rid of this artifact before anyone else comes looking for it,” you explained as you walked up the ramp of the shuttle.

“And who is looking for it?” Crosshair called to you.

“I have more secrets to whisper to you later,” you sighed as you closed the shuttle entrance.

—-

Racing to the pilot seat, you dispatched the landing gear and steered the shuttle to the sky, leaving Crosshair alone on the spaceport’s platform. Retracing the flight path with the computer, you found a nearby star system along the way to ditch the shuttle.

Programming in the path to light speed, you pulled your tablet computer system from your bag and remotely controlled your private ship. Sending the flight coordinates, you programmed the ship to pick you up hours after ditching the shuttle.

Now into space, you prepared the ship for lightspeed and punched it. It would only be a short journey, so you had to act fast if you were to erase the coordinate history of the ship and have enough time to clear your head. You worked your way into the computer, realizing it had been sending transponding coordinates of its position back to the Empire.

The only way the plan would work is if nobody cross-referenced the computer’s data with the coordinates it sent the Empire. If anything, this maneuver would only buy you some time. You reprogrammed the ship’s harddrive, dropped out of hyperspace, ripped the motherboard containing the coordinate harddrive from the ship, and awaited your own ship’s arrival. It was a complex mission, but you were always quick enough on your feet to stay at least one step ahead of your enemy.

The hours moved slowly. You sat in the pilot's seat, feeling your thoughts catch up to your racing anxieties. The Empire found you. You thought to yourself. Crosshair will never trust you again. You sank into the chair. Crosshair. You owed him. He had saved you from Imperial capture; that of which you’d then be tried for treason and likely killed. It didn’t matter that you were a Tarkin or not, once a deserter, you were always an enemy to the Empire and your family.

Your ship exited hyperspace on-schedule. You sigh in relief, then make your way to the escape pod. Launching yourself into space, you pilot the escape pod to your ship and dock it. You seal the cabins together and open your ship remotely. You drop inside your ship and double-check your bag for the artifact and motherboard. You close the seal and release the escape pod back into space.

“What’s the plan from here?” You hear Crosshair call from the cockpit. You had jumped a little as his presence startled you.

You walk up to the front of the ship and take the seat next to Crosshair. You reach out and touch his arm, as if to see if he was real or an apparition of your mind. Realizing your gaze was lost in the disbelief of his arrival, you turn your attention again to the shuttle that floated in space before you.

“Blow it up,” you commanded.

“Roger that,” Crosshair responded as he fired the ship’s cannons on the shuttle.

“Get that escape pod too,” you pointed across the valley of space.

“Is that it?” Crosshair questioned.

“Not quite. One more thing,” you informed as you pulled the motherboard from your backpack. “Think you can do some sniping work from a ship’s cannon?”

Crosshair looked intrigued and raised a single eyebrow looking for further instruction.

“It’s a dumb idea, but I’ll release this into space. If you can graze it with cannon fire, it’ll look like it went down in the blast. I reprogrammed it to look like it never made it to Pabu. I know they’ll likely cross-reference it with the shuttle's transponding coordinates, but this will buy me– or, us, some time. If we’re lucky, they’ll never cross-reference it because the motherboard will still be functional.”

“They’re going to be on us soon. This is a terrible idea.” Crosshair replied worriedly.

“Well, it gets worse.” You stood up from your seat and made your way to the back of the ship. “I sent out a distress call before exiting that ship. They’ll be here sooner than I’d like.”

“You are reckless.” Crosshair mouthed off.

“You’re the one that decided to read my file and thought it was a good idea to follow me out here.”

Throwing the motherboard into the trash chute, you emptied the trash into space. Crosshair aimed next to the motherboard and burned it with cannon fire. Jogging back up to the cockpit, you slid into your seat, and punched the ship back into hyperspace.

—-

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