#its domino squad time!!

[crashlanding-skywalker]

[on kamino, at 300 am]

Echo: We dream of the summertime during winter. We yearn for the winter during summer. What fatal flaw has god injected the human psyche with? Why must we always strive for the things furthest away from us?

Hevy, half asleep: Are you okay?

Echo: …

Echo: My feet are cold :(.

[somestorythoughts]

I actually know fics about this! Not about her being Domino's general though I would HAPPILY read that fic, but Jocasta Jones and the Librarian Clones turns out to have been partially inspired by this post (she ends up with a squad and they are on their way to becoming excellent librarians!!) and General Jocasta is in a similar vein where basically Obi-Wan gets put in charge of organizing the war and goes to the people who spend their lives organizing things aka the librarians for help (this one is complete!). So on the off-chance there's librarians/archivists/museum folks who like Star Wars following me, check them out they're fun!

But in terms of Domino Squad becoming Librarians/Archivists/their favorite assistants:

The Commanders have a Chat populate SOLELY by Commanders and the Captains they invite in and it is as secure as they can make it. Which is pretty damn secure.

And they're well into an informational conversation read gossip session about their latest Jedi shenanigans.

Cody: I found Obi-Wan stress baking. It wouldn't be that wierd if I knew where he got the ingreditates we haven't gone shopping in months?

Bly: that's nothing General Kolar joined us a few days ago and he and Aalya have been competeing over who can flip the most tanks in a battle

Rex: Hah that's nothing!

CT-1409: it really is.

Wolffe: whom the fuck?

CT-1409: It was Crafts' Day yesterday. 25 Jedi cadets who are still working on their Force levetating.

Rex: Who are you and how did you get into this chat?

CT-1409: With paint. Apparently glitter has been banned from the Archives for the past 147 years due to The Glitter Incident, its use by jedi cadets is restricted to particular rooms in the temple. It was wonderful. It was also Very Messy.

COdy: Rex, Keelie, who is this?

Rex: You think all CTs know each other Commander? Really??

CT-1409: Truely sir

Fox: Echo.

CT-1409: yes sir!

Fox: Echo what are you doing in our chat?

CT-1409: SIr Sargent Byte said I should work on the offensive side of cyber security sir.

Wolffe: Fox who the fuck is this

Fox: hush. So you decided to do this?

CT1409: I have been told to hush sir

Fox: Do I need to come over there you little shit?

CT-1409: Commander Thorn dared me sir.

Fox: I'm beginning to understand why Byte laughed when someone said you're the one with impulse control

CT-1409: That would be Cutup and Hevy sir

Fox: guys this is Echo. He's part of Domino squad they got assigned to the archives a while back, we've run into each other a couple times

Bly: and you decided, on a dare, to hack into our hyper-secured chat to test your slicing skills

CT-2010: He did sir

several people are typing...

What if Shaak Ti, in stopping the Kaminoans from decommissioning clones, asks around if anybody has place and purpose for some non-combatant clones. And Jocasta Nu goes "A bunch of keen young men with eidetic memories? Don't mind if I do" and that is how the Jedi temple library has the most amazing librarians in the galaxy

Okay but - 

Domino fails their final test, but Shaak manages to stop them from being decommissioned or sent to work sanitation by roping Jocasta into snatching them up for that reason. All the members of Domino kind of collectively groan and complain but ship out anyway, and they’re pretty sure it’s all going to be this terrible, boring slog through ancient books with some stuffy librarian Jedi - 

Right up until Jocasta gets word of a cache of Jedi holocrons on a frontline planet, packs up her five new assistants and her lightsaber, and leads them on the most greuling, dangerous, ridiculous mission through active battlefields and Separatist camps that absolutely no one believes happened when they tell their vode later. Which is absolutely fine, because Domino now knows they have the most badass general in the whole galaxy, bar none. 

[thephoenixcave]

FF6 Artober Day 19: Hope

We all know the scene where Celes finds the bird on the beach, it is carrying Locke’s bandana. But how did the bandana get ON the bird? I like to think that Locke found it, saw it’s wing was injured, healed it with magic, then wrapped his bandana around its wing to set it in place.

It’s already canon that Locke is kind to animals. After the disaster at Thamasa with Kefka, when the squad is gathered around Leo’s grave, Interceptor walks in and is limping. Locke kneels next to him then says “this’ll have to do”, implying that he bandaged him up.

So now it’s the World of Ruin and everyone everywhere is suffering, and one little bird is lying broken on a street corner and no one cares. He’s all puffed up and looking for a quiet place to die. But Locke cares. He takes the time and effort to nurse Bird back to health, even using his bandana to keep that wing steady. And that little act of kindness creates a domino effect— it is what leads Celes to believe that Locke is still alive, and maybe others too, and maybe hope is not lost after all.

Moral of the story! Be kind to birds!

(Unrelated but this exact thing happened to me and my husband, we found an injured bird etc, and now that bird is our sigil, very special deep meaning)

[s-sputnik-k]

So I just saw a post saying that Wrecker listens to metal but doesn't know what it is (think Star Trek Jaylah's "I like the beats and shouting!"), meanwhile Hunter listens to metal but DOES know what it is. And I, a heavy music enthusiast, just HAD to expand on this

Wrecker listens to thrash metal, it's big and loud and sounds like explosions. He also likes Viking metal and folk metal (I can imagine him loudly chanting along to "DIGGY DIGGY HOLE! DIGGY DIGGY HOLE! I AM A DWARF AND IM DIGGING A HOLE!" with Omega giggling on his shoulders). But he doesn't only like metal, it's just one of many things he finds fun and exciting

Hunter, on the other hand, is into alt rock and a bit of metalcore and deathcore. He has a deep understanding of harsh vocals and can probably do some of it himself (he would be FASCINATED by the types of screams that impersonate animals, like pigsqueals and growls), he has a lot of strong opinions but prefers to just go to the woods and scream than to participate in fanbase discourse

Tech is a math rock and prog metal nerd. He would listen to jazz, but he got kicked out of all the local jazz bars for commentating the music too loudly ("Interesting polyrhythm, though I don't believe it adds to the composition so much as subtract from the previous syncopation- Ah! Genius use of the chromatic scale! In fact-" *gets decked*)

Crosshair is a post-punk gatekeeper and hates people who wear joy division shirts without knowing the band. He (obviously) had an emo phase in his teens and instead of growing out of it he just moved on to gothic rock. He sticks to his subculture and, like him, feels it is deeply misunderstood

Echo is into 80s pop and rock because its REAL music that makes you MOVE and BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER, he says as he turns everyone else's competing radios down. But secretly, just maybe his preference is partially because it reminds him of belting out classics with domino squad when they had access to radio for the first time on rishi...

Omega, of course, loves all of it. Oh, but she's also a K-pop stan. Also, Hunter managed to get her into Babymetal some time ago and is starting to regret it because she is certified OBSESSED

[water-lemon-alex]

excuse my half-baked menu squad essay but. notice how all the duos in the menu squad are all closely tied to its parallel.

for example payjay and paco are parallels , english breakfast and picklepaper are parallels same goes for picklejuice and tacowrap

again please excuse me if there are some stuff here that doesn’t make sense just a disclaimer

paper + oj / pickle + taco

now paper and oj became friends in the first place because of how oj can’t stand to be betrayed by anyone again. paper has also been betrayed before by s1 knife, so they kinda share the similarity. so they decided to stick together and be together no matter what. no wonder they’re the first canon couple.

pickle and taco STOPPED being friends because of betrayal. taco never thought of pickle cutting ties with her because she didn’t expect to lose. (she mentions she was built to win and she was confident in winning so losing (and how it went from there) never crossed her mind)

the payjay paco parallels revolve around trust and betrayal. paper and oj trusted each other and they both know how it feels to be betrayed. pickle and taco trusted each other but pickle lost his trust after taco’s betrayal. payjay has both been betrayed before but not from each other. in paco’s case only pickle got betrayed

taco has tried apologizing to pickle so many times via letters but pickle burned all those letters because of the pain she’s caused him. taco couldn’t move on at the time, even if pickle eventually did. and that breaks me so much.

oj + taco / paper + pickle

my personal favorite because of how their alliances played a huge part in oj and taco getting in the finale. but here’s the thing. both taco and oj have been so dependent (ish) on pickle and paper respectively (but especially on taco’s case.) in oj’s case it’s because he hasn’t won many challenges himself? one of the only times he has ever won a challenge was with paper’s help (the tile divide)

it was the middle of the night when i made this so this might not make sense later. but do you see me. pickle could not move on from taco back then, while paper feels like he “doesn’t exist” (see: ii16) because of oj’s ego getting to himself

the prize money (and literally everything that followed after) has broke taco and oj so hard it’s so obvious. because of oj’s victory, taco “unraveled” and told pickle the truth about her plan. and then domino effect.

despite oj winning the prize and building a hotel for everyone’s sake, it has taken quite a toll on him. and because of the stress that oj goes through (all those responsibilities, many of the contestants cause chaos at the hotel so oj never really takes a break much) he wanted to make himself more recognized for the things he do around the hotel. he BOUGHT this hotel for a reason. so he eventually becomes egotistical in some way, due to how the others don’t give him enough credit for giving them a place to stay post-s1 finale.

taco wanted to become more recognized too. because of her regrets with pickle, she wanted to get that recognition from someone for the hard work she does to get what she wants. for once. that someone is mic. but due to microphone leaving her because of taco taking her plans to extremes, she didn’t care about the prize anymore.

“If I can’t win the prize, I’ll play this last reprisal just to bring their lies all to an end…”

more on pickle and paper, they haven’t interacted much outside of “seas the day” (go watch seas the day btw they’re so silly), paper and pickle have both played a big part in getting taco and oj to the finale because they were their closest allies

in “the penultimate poll”, pickle only voted paper out because oj has apologized for his previous actions (the part where he resents paper for helping taco with her lemon problem) and also because oj has been around for the whole season, making him more deserving to stay than a rejoiner like paper

(it’s pretty funny because two seasons later a rejoiner (cabby) won the season. paper didn’t have too much development because he rejoined kinda late ://)

and of course, taco was never an option for pickle to vote out because he rooted for taco all the way. so taco’s betrayal hurt him even more because of that

the tacojay picklepaper parallels revolves around the attention from others, and each other! taco and oj really needed some attention after the effects of the finale to their mental health. they needed validation for everything they do. paper and pickle felt like they can’t see themselves outside the previously mentioned s1 finalists. well, from post-s1 up to ii16 at least. both have now moved on from that pain, with paper understanding oj’s feelings while pickle tries to forget about taco and move on with his life.

(do you also notice how oj and taco are the only contestants to have hosted a challenge (in the canon universe, salt and pepper were also hosts in an alternate universe). they’re not even contestants in that season. being put back into the game in a different way even though the game has already broken them enough lmao)

oj + pickle / paper + taco

this is the parallel that i can’t really explain in detail because of the very little interactions they have. this kinda has to do something with change and how they work around with each other mayhaps?

now with picklejuice, they don’t interact much at all but do you remember how they were the first two characters to get ❌’d in ii16? and tacowrap / tacopaper were so sad after their deletions? the closest friend you’ve ever had got deleted in front of your eyes! how wonderful!

i can’t bring this much in depth because they literally do not interact. well paper was still afraid of taco during ii17 because of their bumpy past post-s1 however pickle and oj eventually become cool with each other. definitely friends

paper has tried helping taco before but now they’re not as close as before. meanwhile pickle and oj used to be on pretty bad terms ever since oj left the alliance between them, taco and bomb. but they eventually became cool with each other. pretty much on the neutral side but you saw how they were hanging out at s2e7 lmao

in conclusion: the season 1 final four have so many things in common! and also they are arguably the best final four in the show DON’T COME AT ME /silly

menu squad <33 🧡💛🤍💚

[comicsandconstellations]

Have really been in the mood to keep drawing my designs for the “they survived” Domino Squad AU (designs here )

So have my full armour breakdowns for them. I thought I should properly sit down and get those sorted. I think it’s phase two armour? But I’m not great with those differences. Also, first sketches of the squad in colour.

Also, thought I’d give Cutup a hint of a beard since his cannon design had one. I haven’t really been drawing him with one because in my version he’s chilled out a lot in recovery from almost being eaten alive, and he’s grown his hair out. And, clones with long hair and beards are just arguably the hottest clones and I don’t think Fives would ever let him be the hot one of the group. (Edit: oh, i completely ignored this and he fully has a beard in all my other designs now.)

A few notes on armour designs I didn’t elaborate much on in the notes (and some character traits linked to it) :

Hevy’s armour is pretty basic for an ARC, but he definitely responds to anyone asking why with something about not needing elaborate armour to beat a lot of droids. He has taken on a lot of leadership roles in the company, and Rex has even made several comments about him taking over as Captain if anything was to happen to him.

Fives on the other hand got ARC armour and decided he was going to tick every single design detail he could (including the Eel helmet which probably should have been Cut’s, but he wanted his scar on his so Fives was allowed it.) Unlike the other two ARC’s, he doesn’t get an official role, but he doesn’t mind, it leaves him open to get into more trouble and not be responsible for anyone else.

Echo is still very regulation oriented, but the only known regulation he has publicly broken is modifying his armour to be mirrored so he could keep Rex’s hand print in its original position. The others tease him about this constantly. He is an exceptional strategist and is Rex’s right hand man when it comes to any sort of planning or attack strategy. He’s the most modest of the squad, and constantly talks down his abilities whenever others hype him up about his skills. He’s one of the top strategists in the GAR, but it would be a miracle if you could get him to admit that.

Cutup is ecstatic about the fact he is now covered in scars (although much bigger and less idealised than the designs on his armour) because it matches his name. He has no intention of becoming an ARC. The Rishi outpost and his long recovery changed him a lot, and left more than just physical scars, he prefers to step back from the intensity of what his brothers do, even if he was offered the promotion. The damage to one of his legs is so extensive he has very little mobility out of armour, but he and his brothers have modified his armour to have an inbuilt brace to support his injury and give him back some movement to avoid him being decommissioned. He and Kix are very close, and he sometimes works as a support person in the med tent if he needs an extra set of hands.

Droidbait is the opposite. He desperately wants to be an ARC like the other three, but has never been very fit for the position. He is the least confident of the squad, and his time separated from them on Rishi didn’t help. The commemoration bands on his leg are for those who they lost on the Rishi moon, and he won’t tell anyone the significance of there being two. He was the only person who survived the droid attack (after the other four escaped) and refuses to say how he managed to, but whatever happened made him much more anxious. The others don’t pressure him into saying anything. His opinion on the Republic has changed and he worries his brothers no longer understand.

[the-bi-space-ace]

A Quick Cuddle - Part 1 - Wrecker

Hi all! Since I really needed some comfort (and it seems like many others need it right now too) this will be my first post for Echo-vember. I've decided to post one Echo-focused fic each week of November revolving around the first time Echo hugs each of the batch. If you want to be tagged when I post these fics let me know <3

Thank you @renton6echo for coming up with the concept of Echo-vember. I'm excited for it <3

Ao3 Link

Part 2 - Tech - Tumblr Link & Ao3 Link

Part 3 - Hunter - Tumblr Link & Ao3 Link

Part 4 - Crosshair - Tumblr Link & Ao3 Link

Summary: The first time Echo hugs Wrecker

Word Count: 1,021

Their mission had gone off without a hitch. It was the first of many, Echo hoped, as they boarded the Marauder to embark on whatever was next for the group. He could barely keep up with how fast everything was moving. One mission after another, no planet longer than a few days, so much to learn he was racing just not to fall behind. Rest days were far and few between. He slept even less with Clones Force 99 than he did when he was a 501st ARC. Even when he did it was always surrounded by people just as he liked it, constantly listening to the sounds of snores and chatter and even breathing. That was okay with Echo. He didn’t have too much time to think in between rushing into battle and his new squad was about as chaotic as he expected. They were nearly yelling over each other in the excited rush that followed their mission. It was swift, simple, but they’d run into the need for an explosion and that got all of their blood pumping. Who would’ve thought, the squad of excitable commandos liked when things went boom. He was busy smiling at them, ignoring the need to make a plan, set a path, move on, while they pushed each other around and chattered. 

“That was awesome!” Wrecker whooped as he whipped his helmet off, letting it clatter to the floor. A wide smile stretched across his face, skin flushed with excitement. He shoved Echo’s shoulder. “Who knew you could do something like that?!” Right. Echo tried to bite back the grin but he was fighting a losing battle. He’d been on top of a walker, helping plant explosives while the rest of them distracted enemies for him and the big guy. Apparently using his grappling hook to swing off the side of it, wrapping its legs together, and tucking into a roll as he dismounted wasn’t just a common method everyone used. When he’d knocked the walker over he yelled at Wrecker to run, close enough that their backs heated while the explosion went off behind them. Echo wasn’t sure why it was particularly exciting but it may have been the domino effect of explosions that detonated throughout the battlefield that made them all so giddy. 

Something about fire. It just really made all of them bouncier. 

Echo shrugged, attempting nonchalance. “Had to learn something from all of that ARC training.��� It was the first time he’d truly felt confident with the batch. They’d only known each other for a few weeks, spent even less time in the field, and he’d fumbled a few plays - understandable - but he’d let it hurt his ego a bit too much. All those racing thoughts and unease had wriggled its way into his mind. A win was nice. It reminded him who he was. A time when they thought he fit in was even better. The batch was so tight he started to think infiltrating their ranks was impossible. 

Maybe he just hadn’t given them enough time. 

Wrecker laughed - bright and jovial - nudging Echo again, this time hard enough that he bumped into Hunter who steadied him with a grin. “You can say that again! We make a great team.” In a move that almost knocked all the air out of his lungs Wrecker swept his arms around Echo’s waist, lifting him up into the air. The shock came first along with a surprised noise from the back of his throat - not a squeak, thank you very much - as the big guy hugged him. His feet dangled in the air while Wrecker swayed him back and forth. 

This was the first time any of them had hugged him. For a brief moment it was like being doused in freezing cold water but the warmth radiating off of Wrecker made every bone in his body relax. Hugs certainly hadn’t been at the top of his list of priorities - he hadn’t really thought about it - but he found himself smiling regardless. Wrecker was a tactile guy, mostly shoving and throwing his arm around the others, but hugs weren’t out of the question. Echo just hadn’t realized that Wrecker would ever want to hug him with his metal and attitude and newness to the squad so he’d not yet attempted to get physically closer to any of them yet. At least Wrecker was the easiest to befriend, so quick to invite Echo to join him in their down time and offer him space. It felt nice to be treated like a part of things. He couldn’t really hug him back, not with his arms pinned to the side as they were, but he did chuckle, awkwardly patting Wrecker’s side.

“Any time, big guy. Maybe next time we can make it a few more yards away from the explosion before it goes off.” The light scold was taken lightheartedly with a laugh. Wrecker squeezed him tight one last time then put him down, holding onto his shoulder to keep him steady while he regained his footing. The smile stuck to his face so bad he almost had to hide it behind his hand. Something as simple as a hug and he was taken down, reduced to silence, watching dutifully as the rest of them kept getting under each other's skin. Lucky was a word he would use, he supposed. It may seem simple but the worry that his new squad wouldn’t feel comfortable enough to be tactile with him was slowly ebbing away, flickering to the back of his mind even for the moment. His hand itched to do the same things the rest of them seemed so comfortable with - shoving, ruffling hair, hugs - but he wasn’t quite there yet. Wasn’t ready to be the initiator for tactile forms of affection. Wrecker had opened the door, allowed in some form of familiarity he hadn’t quite realized he missed so much. There was still learning, sure, but hope bloomed in his chest at the thought that this could be more than a squad, more than a team, but something closer to his heart altogether.

[kybercrystals94]

I Miss You

By KyberCrystals94

Read on Ao3 here!

Whumptober 2023|Day 5|Alternative Prompt: Playing Cards

Bad Things Happen Bingo|Prompt: Crying Themselves to Sleep

Rating: G

Words: 785

Summary: Echo discovers a message from a brother.

“Those look so old!” Wrecker declares, leaning on the upper bunk to scrutinize the playing cards Echo is sorting through.

Echo smiles. “That’s because they are old. I pilfered them off a graduated trooper when I was a cadet.”

“You stole them?” Wrecker sounds as impressed as he is surprised. “I thought you never broke a rule in your life.”

“With the right motivation, I’ve been persuaded to bend a few.” Echo chuckles. “Technically, they were contraband for the guy I stole them from. So, really, I was doing him a favor.”

Wrecker grins. “That’s neat you still have them even after they thought you were blown up.”

Echo’s smile falls slightly as he continues to set the cards out, dividing them into suits. “Yeah, when they thought I died, they went to my old batch mate, Fives. After Fives, they went to Rex, and then Rex gave them back to me when I-"

"Came back to life?” Wrecker offers.

“Sure,” Echo says. “When that happened.”

“I don’t think you could even shuffle them if you tried.” Wrecker laughs.

“They’ve definitely seen better days.”

The cards are dogeared, and every one of them has been folded into quarters because of the time Cutup tried to cheat at Sabaac. He folded a few of them so he could identify them in someone’s hand. When the other Dominos found out, they had painstakingly copied the folds on every single card so they all matched. Echo had been so angry at his squad mate, but he desperately wishes he could take back the harsh words that came out of his mouth. After all, they were just cards. A toy. Nowhere near as important as the individuals that played with them.

Echo finds the card he is looking for, the one that had made this deck obsolete. He had accidentally dropped the card in his cup of caf, discoloring it. Fives had suggested they stain all the cards in caf to match; however, Echo decided to retire the deck and get a new one. The old deck was tucked away in his storage bin in the barracks on Kamino, carrying too many memories in its deteriorated fibers to throw away.

Echo holds up the stained card for Wrecker's inspection. “I dropped it in my caf. It’s the reason we didn’t play with this deck anymore,” he explains.

“What does it say?” Wrecker asks.

“What does what say?”

Wrecker points to the back of the card. “On the back. There’s writing.”

Echo flips the card around, squinting to make out the ink of a pen on the intricately designed backing.

I miss you.

Echo feels like the air has been stolen from his lungs.

Fives wrote those words. There is no doubt in Echo’s mind. Not before the Citadel mission. After. After Echo died. After Fives went back to Kamino. Echo can see him. Sitting in their barracks, sorting through Echo’s meager collection of personal effects. He’s searching for a playing card stained in caf. He writes the three words, handwriting ragged by a trembling hand. A note for the brother he lost. That he'd never get back. I miss you.

“Echo!”

Echo blinks and finds that Wrecker has half climbed into the bunk with him, a hand on each of his shoulders. “You with me, buddy?” Wrecker asks.

“Yeah,” Echo croaks. He clears his throat. “Yeah. Sorry.”

Wrecker’s good eye searches Echo’s face, trying to understand. “You scared me there for a second. You sorta zoned out, and then your breathing got weird.”

“Sorry,” Echo says again. Emotions bubble up, threaten to burst out of him, card still gripped in his flesh hand. Dark, inky, familiar script carving into his mind. I miss you. I miss you. I miss you.

“Did I do something?” Wrecker asks, climbing down from his precarious perch.

Echo shakes his head and tries to reassure the man with a thin smile. “No, you didn’t do anything. It’s just…” Echo holds up the card. “The writing. It’s a note from my batch mate, Fives.”

He leaves it at that, and Wrecker doesn’t ask for more. Instead, he offers Echo a kind smile. “I'm gonna go start my watch but let me know if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Wreck, I will,” Echo says, and he means it.

Wrecker leaves the bunk room, and Echo gathers up the cards, tucking them in their tin. He keeps the caf stained card out. He lies down, back to the room, facing the wall, and holds the note in front of him. The last words his oldest brother ever gave him blurs in his watery vision.

“I miss you too,” Echo whispers, and silently cries until sleep claims him.

END

Read the prequel, You Promised, here!

[zentriii]

i was thinking about tobirama's death [as one does] in the first war compared to how hiruzen led konoha during the third war and had to sit with the cultural change in warfare in which clan leaders [during the warring clans]/kages take a backseat to lead their men. and i was like okay well tobirama grew up and spent his life on the battlefield of course he dies in war. and with hiruzen only being selected right before he dies, clearly it wasn't a smooth transition to power, likely leading hiruzen to not fight in the next wars, knowing just how turbulent a change in power in the middle of the war can be [which adds to more reasons beyond age and increased manpower in the war for why he holds onto the hat until the end of the third war. it seems to be a choice the other kages either choose not to follow or can't by the time of the fourth war but anyways–].

tobirama. dying in the war. back to that.

hey why the fuck is the hokage even running missions during the war with only his escort unit anyways?? Clearly it must be something important, right?? i mean u got the leader of a whole ass village during the first ever war since peace was made, tobirama's presence had to be vital. yes you could explain increased risk taking behaviour coupled with apathy towards his life by grief but he's not kakashi. fun parallel but i think circumstances are different enough to explore the route that no one else could have taken this sort of mission. as in top secret. as in hush hush.

while i think the idea of a leak is great fuel for danzo's seal [beyond the obvious reasons], i think it's just standard shinobi luck that eventually got them. apologies for the brief powerscaling but i do NOT think tobirama couldn't have taken out the kinkaku unit by himself if he was in peak condition. like yea there were at least 20 of them, two of which were like. mini jinchurikis. so it wouldn't have been an easy, decisive win, but at no point do any of them suggest taking them head on. which i think is interesting because your options are that konoha's presence cannot be known due to the delicacy of the mission or something OR they're injured and know there's no chance of victory. i mean come on, it's 7:20, not the greatest odds but not impossible either, especially with a hokage in the mix. which given the plan they went with, it can't be a complete secrecy thing.

so yea. you got a weakened squad of seven, likely on their way back from a mission since there's no line about abandoning it after running something of importance. and like. not to pin everything on danzo [whom i find interesting and complex and want to squash like a bug], but building on the fanon that he played a role in the destruction of uzushio? i think running an errand or message or wtv to them of great importance bc of konoha's alliance with them but then losing their hokage for it?? oh it would be so easy for him to look the other way, to not quite consider sending help as an urgent matter. according to this analysis, konoha already had its hands full of their own matters anyways.

if danzo learns how easy it is to look away, mayb even how beneficial it is to konoha in the long run without powerful yet unreliable allies, well. the uchiha massacre is just another domino in this series of events, isn't it? [danzo my beloved unreliable narrator ur descent into madness captivates me babygirl]

[i referenced this timeline when my memory was a bit spotty bc kishimoto's timeline is a horrendous mess btw but i might have missed a few things. if you'll excuse me i have to go scream into a pillow or something]

[levi-venn]

Accolades - Part Two

Timeline: A Year after the final escape from Mount Tantiss.

Summary: Hunter wants to make an Accolades Box for Omega, too, but he needs his brothers' help. Part One | Part Two | Part Three Available on AO3

Note: A special thank you to @dragonrider9905 @yeehawgeek and @cw80831 for requesting a sequel.

A lot of changed after the war ended.

And the carefully decorated boxes Hunter had made for each of his brothers stopped collecting accolades and started collecting dust. 

He couldn’t bear to look at them when Crosshair joined the Empire. 

He thought about throwing them away when Tech fell.

In the end, he hid the lovingly painted boxes in his armor tote. Out of sight…but never quite out of mind.

A year went by.

Pabu was beginning to feel like home. Crosshair had returned to them. Omega was finally safe. Echo visited often. 

For the first time in Hunter’s life, he could think of those five boxes and not feel his heart cave in on itself.

It was time to add a sixth.

Omega and Phee left that morning for a treasure hunting trip and would be gone for the next week. A week longer than Hunter would like, but it was just enough time for four brothers to get together and figure out this whole...arts and crafts thing.

Hunter sent a message to his squad: [We got a Mission, boys . Come on over at 1300]

He quickly added: [A Fun Mission]

Then...he clarified: [It’s for Omega]

Echo replied first: [Roger that]

Wrecker next: [A mission for Omega? I’m in!]

Crosshair gave a thumbs up.

By 1302, the brothers sat in the middle of Hunter’s home, sitting in a circle on the floor, a box in front of each of them. 

Hunter placed Tech’s box in the center of the circle. They had all agreed to keep it closed.

For a long while, no one spoke, quietly looking at each medal and ribbon and the messages Hunter had etched into each.

Surprisingly, Crosshair was the first to speak. “I can’t believe you kept them. You kept mine.” He turned a medal over in his hand, reading the inscription Hunter had carved over the original accolade.

[The most WIZARD precision shot through a tank’s barrel while spitting a toothpick in a clanker’s eye]

“Heh, I remember this mission. I short circuited the droid’s OS with that toothpick.”

“Oh yeah! I remember that! ” Wrecker laughed, punching Crosshair’s arm, earning a quiet, amused hiss.

“I can’t believe you etched over these medals,” Echo said, looking through his pile of medals.

“Hope it's not too sacrilegious for you,” Hunter said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Not at all," Echo replied. "I think this is more appropriate than any awards we received on our missions. As an ARC trooper the more devastating our losses, the more medals we received. Really sours the award when its attached to so much death. Trust me, this is better.” Echo read one of his medals aloud.  "'[The most regulation codes recited in an hour]'" He laughed. "I would’ve had hundreds of these medals in Domino Squad.  Thank you for doing this, Hunter.”

“What’s in there?” Crosshair asked, nodding to the box with half a skull painted on top.

“...Nothin’.” Hunter said, scooting it closer to him.

“Doesn’t seem like nothing,” Crosshair sneered, pointing a toothpick at Hunter.

“C’mon, show us!” Wrecker said, and reached for the box.

Hunter snatched it from the circle and hugged it to his chest. “It’s none of your business.”

“Guys, he doesn’t want to-” Echo started, but Crosshair pushed past him to lunge at the box. He bumped Hunter’s arm instead and it slipped out of his hands into Wrecker’s lap.

Hunter dove forward! Wrecker rolled backwards! Crosshair slithered into the fray.

“Boys…” Echo sighed and collected the other boxes before they could get crushed by three grown men wrestling and giggling like shiny cadets.

When the dust settled, Wrecker had Hunter in a headlock while Crosshair perched on Wrecker’s back, gazing thoughtfully at the collection of medals.

“What’s in it?” Wrecker asked, ruffling Hunter’s hair as he kept him pinned.

Crosshair frowned and reached for another medal. And another. And another…

“I told you, it’s nothing,” Hunter grumbled, wriggling futilely in Wrecker’s iron grip.

“You…put the same message on each medal,” Crosshair said.

He didn’t read the inscription aloud.

[This medal is awarded to Hunter for being the proudest oldest brother in this Badass Batch. I love you guys.]

“Wrecker, let him go.” He hopped off his brother’s back and handed a medal to Echo and Wrecker to read. 

“It's the same message on each medal because I felt the same way after every mission," Hunter sighed. "So, go ahead and laugh.”

“You should’ve told us you were doing this,” Crosshair said, handing the box back to Hunter. 

“Yeah! We could’ve made you a medal, too!” Wrecker said, handing a medal back.

"Yeah...well..." Hunter shrugged and looked away. “I didn’t ask you here to make medals for me. I asked you here because I’d like to make some medals for Omega too.”

Wrecker gasped. “Ooh, that's a good idea!”

“So we write anything we want?” Crosshair asked.

“Anything you want,” Hunter said. “We’ll make them together, a daily project, as many medals as we can think of before she gets back. It ain’t a competition, but I’d like to fill it up.” He showed them the latest box with an energy crossbow and white skull painted on top.

“Let's hear our orders then, Sarge,” Echo said. 

“Right,” Hunter puffed up. “Alright, boys, here’s the plan. Wrecker, secure us some bundt cakes from Shep for this week’s end. Lemon for Omega, red velvet for me n’ you, dark chocolate for Crosshair, and confetti for Echo.”

“Roger that!” Wrecker said, and headed off to his solo mission.

“Echo, gather up some construction flimsy and ribbons from Feilo’s shoppe. Yellow and gray color scheme preferred. And we need adhesives, markers, paints, and a few rotary precision tools.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” Echo said, and was next to leave.

“Crosshair, you and I are on a scavenger hunt to the junkyard for any materials that look like our old medals. Metal plates, golden chains-”

“Those magnetic rectangular medals that never stuck on our plates quite right?”

Hunter laughed. “Heh, exactly.”

Crosshair got to his feet and extended his hand. “Let's go.”

Hunter clasped Crosshair's hand.

He expected to be pulled up…

…but he didn’t expect to be pulled into a hug.

It was a brief hug. It was a tight hug. And it was exactly what he needed. 

“Thank you,” Crosshair mumbled, releasing him and not looking his brother in the eye. “For keeping my medals, too.”

Hunter put a hand on Crosshair’s shoulder. “Thank you for coming back to us.”

[sadiecoocoo]

Hoth - tcw fanfiction

Relationships - CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo & CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives, CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo & CT-7567 | Rex, CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives & CT-7567 | Rex, CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives & Clone Trooper Hardcase, CT-7567 | Rex & Anakin Skywalker

Tags - Whump, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Blood and Injury, CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo Whump, CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo Needs a Hug, Hurt CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo, CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo & CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives are Twins, Hurt CT-27-5555 | Fives, CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives Whump, CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives is a Good Bro, Protective CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives, Humor, Blizzards & Snowstorms, Planet Hoth (Star Wars), CT-7567 | Rex is a Good Bro, Protective CT-7567 | Rex, Concussions, Avalanches

Summary - A small group of Torrent Company, including Fives, Echo, Hardcase, Rex, and Anakin, are sent down to the icy planet, Hoth, to distribute supplies for the new research facility there. Their stay is extended as they are informed that a scouting patrol went missing, likely from the cold and lack of supplies. The group splits up to scout out the area surrounding the base. The Domino Twins survey the mountain range alone, and of course, run into trouble as an avalanche is triggered. Echo is badly injured in the aftermath, and Fives is turned around with no idea of which way the base is. They must try to survive the icy plains until they are rescued.

Word Count - 3,913

Read on AO3

Notes: This is for the 2024 Star Wars Prequels Big Bang! @swprequels-big-bang I worked with @thingskorokhasdrawn for the art and @battlekilt as my beta! tysm to both of you, I had sm fun working on this <3 anyways, I promised a while ago on my Tumblr that I'd make some Echo and Fives centric whump, so here it is! please enjoy <3

Echo loaded another crate onto the shuttle. He dropped it with a huff, then went back into the hangar to grab another. A few paces away, Fives chatted with Hardcase.

“Hey, you two mind helping at all?” Echo asked snarkily, though it held no malice. The two other clones turned to him, Fives sticking out his tongue at his twin. Echo mimicked the action.

“Only because you asked so nicely,” Hardcase quipped as he leaned down to grab a crate of supplies.

Fives, being outvoted, did the same. With their combined efforts, they finished the task fairly quickly, just in time for when Rex and the General arrived.

“Alright, boys,” General Skywalker started. “This is a quick in-and-out. We drop off supplies to help get the set-up of a new facility, then we get back to where it’s warm,” he explained. Echo was grateful to know that the group wouldn’t have to spend a night on the ice-flats of Hoth.

“Let’s load up,” Rex ordered, causing the group to board the shuttle and the pilot to get in the cockpit. 

“Thank the force we won’t have to be there long,” Echo murmured to his ori’vod .

“I’m sure something will go wrong,” Fives said with a grin as he punched Echo playfully.

“Have a little optimism, vod ,” Echo continued their banter, wrapping an arm around his vod’s shoulder.

The group dissolved into silence, save for the occasional remark from Hardcase, as the ship descended into the atmosphere of the ice planet. They all could hear the harsh wind whipping against the ship’s hull. Echo shuddered at the thought of having to feel the blunt force of that wind.

Soon enough, the shuttle touched down and opened its doors to the harsh cold. Echo frowned as snow flew into the ship. He shook his head and followed the rest of the squad. The ARC trooper rubbed his hands together before grabbing one of the crates.

“Are we sure this is the best place to have a facility?” Fives yelled over the wind.

Echo shrugged in response before Rex answered, “There already is a facility.” The Captain started, “It was a Separatist base, but a squad took out the clankers, and now some scientists in the Republic want to use it.” He explained. 

“If this is just a supply drop-off,” Echo said as he carefully put down the crate he had been holding. “Why is the General here?” He asked.

The aforementioned General had gone off to speak with one of the scientists that had taken residence at the base.

“To get a chance to spend some time with his lover,” Fives muttered to him with a nudge. Echo chuckled as he glanced at the Captain, wondering if he may have heard Fives’ remark.

“Or to get away from his other one.” Hardcase joined in with a loud guffaw.

“I can’t take you boys anywhere,” Rex mumbled with a shake of his head, though there was humor evident in his tone.

The troublemakers laughed as they continued to work for several more minutes. Not too long later, they had unloaded all the supplies and were resting.

Echo shivered as a particularly cold gust of wind assaulted him. Flakes of snow had stuck to his armor and melted, leaving small stains on the durasteel.

“When do you think the General will be done?” Fives asked, leaning back against a crate.

“Dunno,” Echo answered with a shrug. “But I doubt there’s much a scientist would need to tell a Jedi,” he guessed. Fives mumbled something about being cold and this taking too long. Echo patted his vod’s shoulder. 

“Change of plans!” Echo jumped at the General’s voice. He stood at attention, waiting for whatever miserable news Skywalker had to share. “We’re gonna have to scout out the area around the facility,” he explained. The entire squad’s mood seemed to sink at that; the cold was bad enough already, and there were heaters all around the base. It’d be ten times worse out there.

“What happened?” Rex asked.

“Some troops already stationed here had sent out a scouting party, but they never returned,” he answered with a shake of his head. “It might have just been the cold, or it might have been hostiles. They don’t have enough people to send another scout party, so they left that up to us,” he finished with a frown.

Fives and Echo exchanged a glance.

“Well,” Rex said with a sigh, “Let’s get moving.”

Fives dismounted the tauntaun he had been given and walked over to the edge of the snowy cliff. Over the snowy plains, he searched for some kind of threat; there was nothing; the planet was desolate and empty. “See anything?” Echo called, still mounted. Fives didn’t blame him; the tauntauns gave them a little bit of warmth.

“Just more snow,” Fives replied miserably. He mounted back onto his tauntaun and continued up the mountain. Echo followed. 

The squad had split up: Rex with Hardcase and General Skywalker, and Fives with Echo. Echo and Fives were tasked with searching the mountain, then the plains surrounding it. The other group would venture in the opposite direction and search the snow plains there.

Fives rubbed his hands together as he urged his tauntaun to move a bit faster. The sooner they got this done, the better.

“What do you say we take a rest up there?” Echo yelled over the wind, pointing to a ledge not too far from them. Fives gave him a thumbs up, then rode his tauntaun over to said ledge before dismounting. 

Echo did the same, then grabbed a metal spike from the satchel on his tauntaun. He plunged it into the ground, then tied the reins around it. Fives got his own and did similarly to his vod .

Fives grabbed a ration bar from his pack and sat down in the snow with it. He took off his helmet and started eating the flavorless meal. Echo sat down next to him, a bit closer to the ledge.

“This sucks,” Fives mumbled between bites. Echo grunted in agreement before looking out over the plains below.

“It’s kind of pretty though, if you ignore the cold.” He said optimistically. Fives rolled his eyes in response.

“Only you could call an empty snow plain pretty.” He muttered snarkily. Echo mimicked him in a high-pitched voice, causing the twins to laugh.

Suddenly, the tauntauns seemed to get anxious. They both started struggling from the spikes, trying to jump away. Fives got up to try to calm his.

“Whoah,” He said soothingly, “Easy girl.” He rubbed the tauntaun’s neck fur, though it did little to calm it. He was about to turn to ask his vod what he thought might be wrong. It seemed like some of the obscure information that he might know, but then he heard a deep rumbling in the ground, followed by the cracking of ice.

“Echo,” He started before the sound got louder. His brother stumbled on the ledge, eyes growing wide as large cracks formed in the ice. Fives jumped towards his brother just as the ledge crumbled, causing both clones to fall down the cliffside.

Fives awoke with a painful cough, followed by a groan of pain. There was pressure on him, like he was buried in something. He kicked out on the small layer of snow that covered half his body, then dragged himself a few feet away.

He curled in on himself, shivering violently. Snow had gotten in his armor, making the insulation useless in keeping him warm. He had no idea where his bucket was, so there was no way to keep his face warm either.

“Echo,” He mumbled, half aware of why he felt the urge to call out for his brother. Then, he seemed to wake up a bit more, and he jolted upright. He didn’t have many injuries, but he felt sore, and the abrupt action sent a jolt of pain through his body.

“Echo!” he yelled, trying to crawl back to the pile of snow he had emerged from. He started clawing at the snow, moving large junks out of the way. “Echo, where are you!” He yelled desperately. 

Fives scanned the area around him, hoping to see a hint of durasteel glinting in the snow. He caught a glimpse of something dark a little ways away, and he quickly stumbled towards it.

There was a red stain in the snow, and right next to it, he saw a bit of durasteel armor that hadn’t been covered by the blizzard. “Echo,” he called, digging into the snow until he could feel his brother and drag him out.

He pulled him out by the armpits. His brother was limp in his arms. Echo’s head lulled to the side, eyes closed. Fives feared the worst as he dragged his brother away from the aftermath of the avalanche.

He laid Echo down in the snow. Fives tried to wipe some of the blood off of Echo’s face, but he had a head injury. He shakily felt for his vod’s pulse. It felt weak, but it was there.

Fives shook his vod’ika to try to rouse him awake. He wouldn’t move. He placed pressure on the head injury, trying his best to stop the bleeding.

“ Eyayah , wake up,” He begged, moving to try chest compressions. He didn’t know if that would help, and after a few minutes of it not doing anything, he went back to trying to shake him awake. He fumbled to try and find a stim in his pack, but most of its contents had fallen out during the avalanche.

“ Eyayah… ” Fives’ voice shook as he leaned down and rested his head on his vod’ika’s chest. He felt the rise and fall of his cuirass, which at least meant he was breathing.

Fives sat back up, solidifying his resolve as he decided that if he couldn’t resuscitate his vod , then he would get him back to the base. He whistled for his tauntaun, but got nothing in return. He hadn’t really been expecting anything either.

He looked around through the blizzard. Fives didn’t know which way was to the base, he didn’t even know which side of the mountain they had fallen off of. Finally remembering that he had it, he tried his com-link.

He was only answered by static; the blizzard wouldn’t let the signal through. He tried Echo’s as well but got the same result.

“Kriff,” He muttered, then to Echo, “I’ll get us out of this, vod’ika . Ni oritsir. ” Fives vowed.

He carefully stood, the wind trying to force him back into the snow. He leaned back down and put a hand under Echo’s back, making him sit up. Fives grabbed Echo’s middle and hoisted him onto his shoulder, stumbling slightly from the added weight. He tried not to think about Echo being completely limp in his hold.

Making a guess from the little amount of sunlight he could see through the blizzard, Fives picked a direction, then started trekking through the snow.

It didn’t take long for him to not be able to feel his fingers anymore. He was stumbling through the snow, almost falling several times. The wind did little to help, making it impossible to walk in a straight line.

“I-I’m sure we’re almost there, Eyayah .” He said to his unconscious brother. He had tried talking to him at different intervals, hoping that something would wake him up, or at least comfort him. He was starting to think that he was doing it more for himself than for Echo. It had started to feel like a lifeline.

Fives’ legs buckled from underneath him. He fell face first into the snow, dropping his vod. He just barely heard the sharp intake of a breath as Echo hit the ground. Fives sprung up at the noise.

“Echo?” He asked, trying to shake his brother awake again. The ARC trooper’s face was scrunched up in pain, and he let out a tight groan. “Oh, thank the Force!” Fives said with relief. He knew that a groan of pain wasn’t too reassuring, but it was another confirmation that Echo was alive.

“...Fives?” Echo mumbled with a hoarse voice. Fives laughed hysterically in relief. He was cut short when he noticed the red on Echo’s teeth. He frowned as he remembered their situation.

“I’m right here, Eyayah ,” he said, gently grabbing his brother’s face. He rubbed his thumbs over Echo’s cheeks. His vod leaned into the touch.

“Wha… happened?” He forced out. He was slurring his words, and his eyes were unfocused; it looked like Echo wasn’t even seeing fives.

“Th-there was an avalanche,” He explained, getting up to try and carry Echo again. “I’m trying to get us back to base.” He made the same movements as before to hoist him over his shoulder, but this time, Echo let out a pained sound.

Fives immediately rested his brother back into the snow. He quickly looked over his pained expression, holding his hands up, not sure of what to do.

“What’s wrong, vod ?” He said quickly. Fives ghosted his hands over Echo’s chest after too long without an answer. Echo took in a sharp inhale as Fives touched his side.

“Sith spit.” He muttered. He put pressure on Echo’s side, stopping immediately as Echo let out a pained sound. Echo tried to push him away, his arms flailing weakly.

Fives cooed at him softly, trying to calm his half-conscious brother. “It’s alright, Eyayah , we’re gonna get you back to base.” He promised.

The ARC likely had a broken rib. Fives cursed their luck. How did he end up unscathed while Echo was littered with injuries?

He gently grabbed his brother’s hand and squeezed it. Echo’s eyes were shut tightly in a grimace.

Fives looked around, his vision blocked by the snowy winds. He could just barely make out the outline of a ridge. Fives turned back to Echo.

“This is gon-gonna hurt a lot.” He warned as he grabbed his brother’s arms. He started dragging Echo behind him, leaving a scar in the snow as they went.

His legs gave out again when he made it to the ridge. He fell against it, leaning his head back for a moment. He shivered and hugged his stomach as he curled up.

After he had recovered enough to move again, he pulled Echo close to him. Fives wrapped his arms around his vod , providing as much warmth as he could.

He tucked Echo’s head under his chin, pressing down on his dark curls. He watched as Echo’s breath came out in white puffs. He was still breathing. He was still alive.

“W-we’ll be okay-okay, Eyayah .” He mumbled weakly as he closed his eyes. The two of them were shivering wildly, their bodies trying to warm them up.

He hugged Echo tighter, as tight as his strength allowed. Echo’s head lolled onto Fives’ chest.

“We’ll be okay.”

Fives stumbled again, almost falling. He carried Echo piggy-back style, his arms under his legs to support him. Echo’s head rested on his shoulder.

The sun had broken through the tormenting storm. Fives had found the strength to climb up the ridge they took shelter against and tried to scout out where the base was.

It was far, but he could see it in the distance. Fives cursed himself as he realized he had been going the complete opposite way. He had started the long trek as soon as he felt strong enough to carry his vod’ika .

The cold seeped into his bones, making him shaky and weak. He couldn’t feel his hands when he didn’t move them, and when he did, it was extremely painful. Pins and needles assaulted him with every step he took. His legs were beginning to cramp.

Fives fell again into the snow. Flakes of it shook off of his hair and joined the white desert. Echo was on top of him, and Fives didn’t feel like he had the strength to push him off and get up.

He tried, placing his hands under him and pushing against the ground. He fell back down, his face becoming buried in the snow. He heard Echo’s faint breathing next to his ear.

Fives suppressed a sob. Everything either hurt or he couldn’t feel it. He was impossibly cold. Snow covered his armor and face, freezing on his skin.

Fives reached back and grabbed Echo’s hand. He squeezed it tightly. Fives let his face fall into the snow. He let out a shaky breath. He closed his eyes; he didn’t have the strength to keep going.

“M’sorry,” he said, barely audible even to him.

Rex kicked at his tauntaun, urging it to go faster. His heart was beating a mile a minute. His breathing was shallow and quick.

When they had returned from their own patrol, Fives and Echo hadn’t checked in. He had hoped that maybe they just weren’t at a good place or that their signal was interrupted by the storm.

Then it got dark as the combination of night and the storm blocked out the light of the stars. Rex had worried a bit more, but he trusted his ARCs.

Then, one of their tauntauns came back. Alone. One tauntaun and no rider returning from a patrol of two. Anakin had to physically hold him back from going out into the blizzard to find his ARCs.

He didn’t sleep last night, worry and fear making him too nauseous to keep his eyes closed. He left as soon as the blizzard stopped a bit before sunrise. He guessed the General would be pissed, but there were bigger things to worry about at the moment.

His tauntaun made a noise of protest as he once again urged it to go faster. He thought he saw something out in the distance. He wouldn’t risk being too late because his tauntaun was complaining. 

“Fives! Echo!” He tried. His voice was hoarse from yelling out into the snowy planes. He clicked the tauntaun’s side again, whipping the reins.

Rex saw it again. A glint of something blue in the snow. He jumped off his tauntaun, not bothering to bring the creature to a full stop. He stumbled through the snow before regaining his balance, then ran towards that bit of blue he saw.

He fell to his knees as he slid to a stop. He clawed through the snow until he revealed Echo’s face, blood drying on his forehead. He pulled the obviously injured ARC out, then continued to dig for his brother.

Both of them were unconscious. Fives didn’t seem injured, but the cold had exhausted him.

“General!” Rex yelled into his comm, “I found them- I need a medic!” He said frantically. He searched for both of their pulses, Echo’s first. There was a light thumping under his fingers, far too slow.

“ We’ll bring a transport, ” Skywalker said through the comms. Rex didn’t bother answering, too busy making sure his ad’ike were still alive. He moved over to Fives. The ARC looked fairly uninjured, but with the cold, that wouldn't really matter.

Fives mumbled something that Rex couldn’t hear. He turned his attention to him as he cupped his cheek. His eyes were half-lidded, looking vacant.

“Fives-“ Rex’s voice broke, “Fives can you hear me?” He tried. Fives groaned. His eyes fluttered shut as he leaned his head into Rex’s hand.

“ Buir… ” he mumbled weakly, barely above a whisper.

“I’m here, it’s gonna be okay.” Rex assured. He grabbed Fives’ bicep and squeezed it comfortingly, doing similarly to Echo.

“You’re both gonna be okay.” He promised, praying to the Force that it’d be true. Where is that damned transport?

There was a constant beeping in the background. Echo’s sleep-addled brain barely comprehended it. He scrunched up his nose and groaned at the noise, turning over in the sheets so his face was pushed into the pillow.

The beeping persisted, and he begrudgingly opened his eyes. Bright fluorescent lighting made him push further into the pillow, though this time he took his annoyance quietly. He tried again, this time opening his eyes much more slowly.

He was on a medical bed, and there were several blankets piled on top of him. He blinked in confusion, trying to wash away the last of the sleep. It wasn’t standard for any trooper to have so many blankets in the medbay; surely there was someone else who needed them.

He looked around the room. When he tried to sit up, he only collapsed once again as a wave of dizziness made black spots dance across his vision. He shivered, feeling a wave of cold.

He lay facing the ceiling for what felt like an eternity, waiting for this dizzy spell to leave him alone. Once he felt confident enough to sit up again, he fully took in the medbay. No one but him was in the room, though he thought he could hear muffled talking from behind the door.

There was a shuffling next to him; then someone grabbed his bandaged hand. He jumped as he looked down at the surprise person. His face relaxed into a relieved smile at the sight of his brother.

“Go back to sleep, Eyayah .” Fives muttered softly. Echo obliged, laying back down comfortably. However, he only looked over his brother, searching for any injuries he may have had in whatever mission that got Echo sent to the medbay.

“What-” He coughed several times, his dry throat scraping. “What happened?” He asked once he had regained his voice. The ARC slumped into the pillow, content to let the massing heap of blankets weigh him down.

“There was an avalanche when we were scouting.” Fives said, he sounded sad. Echo wished he could squeeze his hand, but the bandaging held his fingers in place. “You got knocked out, I got all turned around. We spent a night out in the cold.” He was starting to sound distant, nothing at all like his chipper self.

“You get hurt?” Echo asked, his voice coming out in a hoarse whisper. Fives only shrugged, turning his face to cover his nose and mouth with one of the wool covers. Echo moved his free hand to rest on top of Five’s head.

“‘M okay now, vod ,” Echo said softly. He tried to fight the urge to sleep again, trying to blink less often once he noticed each blink lasted longer and felt heavier.

“Rex said the General would let us name the base,” Fives cut in, trying to fill the silence. Echo let out a soft hum, having lost the battle of keeping his eyes open. He still felt cold, and just wanted to snuggle up under all the covers. Though, he wished the beeping would stop, even if it was just a heart monitor.

“I was thinking we could name it Echo Base.” Fives said, utilizing a teasing tone. Echo frowned, peeking one eye open as he gave Fives an unimpressed look.

“There’re way cooler names than just calling it Echo Base .” Echo grumbled, scrunching up his nose. Fives snorted as he lightly bumped Echo’s elbow.

“Too late, I already told them.” Echo didn’t need to open his eyes to see the shit-eating grin on his brother’s face. He let out a huff.

“Can’t wait to get a transfer away from you.” He drawled sarcastically. It elicited a mock-offended gasp from his brother. He smiled softly as he let himself sink further into the pillow.

End Notes: Mando'a Translations Vod - sibling/brother vod'ika/vod'ike - little brother/little brothers ori'vod - older brother eyayah - Echo Ni oritsir - I promise (not exact translation) buir - parent/father again, I really enjoyed working on the big bang, it was my first ever event! I hoped everyone enjoyed and that you all have a lovely day <3

[crosshairlovebot]

in the dreaming comes the warmth / the domino twins

characters: echo & fives (NOT CLONEC*ST)

description: the ache of missing fives leaves a hole in echo's chest that only his brother's warmth can fill.

warnings: angst. loss. grief. mourning. echo is still grieving despite being part of clone force 99. it's not mentioned, but i imagine this particular moment of pain is triggered by crosshair's chip activation and leaving him behind on kamino.

this was a request from a lovely twitter mutual who wanted a hug between echo and fives <3 i haven't written for echo before so i hope i did him justice. also posted this on ao3. feedback is welcomed, reblogs are appreciated <3

Echo knew he was dreaming when he recognised the bright white hallways of Tipoca City, which in the waking world sat submerged in the Kaminoan oceans to fade into rust forever. The hallways were as familiar to him as the curves of his face, memorised and so burned into his memory it was no real shock that he could navigate them as he did now in his sleep.

Echo walked through the corridors, passing what he knew were squads of his fellow troopers with faces identical to his, except his dreaming made them blurry, not fully formed. He passed the gangly Kaminoan’s, their large eyes prominent in the haze of their figures, which seemed to blend with the clinical white of the walls. He didn’t exactly know where he was walking until his feet took him to the junior cadet barracks, the ones he and his brothers shared in their brief childhood.

It was surreal seeing it now, as he walked in, the shapes of the beds and the curves of the walls more defined than the hallways, more distinct in his mind. He took it all in, breathing in the scentless air. The last time he was here, he didn’t even have his name yet – none of them did.

The beds were so much smaller than he remembered. He smiled and sat down on one. He ran a hand he shouldn’t have over the cloth blanket, its fibers feeling as familiar as his own skin. An ache formed in his chest for all he had lost.

The door whooshed open, and his head shot in the direction of the noise. It was then he saw himself run in and climb onto the nearest bed, pulling his knees to his chest and burying his face in his arms.

Echo blinked in surprise.

His child self was curled into a ball, as tight as he could manage, and Echo could only see the curly dark hair of his head. He remembered he used to do that when he got overwhelmed, but he couldn’t remember when he stopped. He watched his child self grip onto the sleeves of his standard issue cadet uniform tightly, the knuckles on his little hands white.

His child self didn’t see him and made no moves to show that he knew Echo was there at all. It was strange to see himself like this. To see a snapshot of the person he was for a short amount of time.

Echo slowly stood up, the urge to know what it was that made his child self cry when the door opened again, and his breath got caught in his throat and his eyes stung when he saw who it was that stepped in the door.

This was not just a dream, but a memory.

Fives’s tiny face was the same as his had been, except his brother’s seemed to be perpetually twisted into a smirk, and if it wasn’t, it itched at the corners of his mouth, ready to bloom at a moment’s notice. But his face now held no impishness, instead, his small brows were furrowed as his gaze landed on his brother’s curled-up body on the bed.

“Hey, 21-0408, why the long face?”

Echo had to sit down and cover his mouth with a hand to stop the sob that dared to escape his throat. His brother’s voice, albeit that of his child self, felt so incredibly comforting. He thought he’d never hear it again, even if it was that little boy’s voice that all clones had as young cadets. To Echo, it just sounded like him; like Fives; like it did in his fuzzy memories.

His childhood had been a fleeting blur of training programs and accelerated growth, so he didn’t remember much of it. But he didn’t forget moments like this, where his brother’s love had engulfed him.  

Echo watched his child self slowly peek his eyes out from his arms at his older brother.

“Go away,” Little Echo mumbled.

“Come on, 21-0408,” Little Fives said and climbed up onto the bed next to him, trying to pry open his arms. “What’s wrong?”

Little Echo ripped his arm away and wiped his tear-stained face and nose with his sleeve. Echo grimaced as he saw the dark line that now appeared on the red fabric. He forgot kids could be gross sometimes, even himself.

“I said, go away, 27-5555,” Little Echo grumbled. “I want to be alone.”

Little Echo had no idea just how much time he would spend alone.

“Why?” Of course, Fives never let up about anything, even as a child.

Little Echo scowled at his shoes on the bed. “I…I keep messing up…”

“This module is hard, vod’ika,” Little Fives placed a hand on Little Echo’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Fives was barely older than Echo, but his older brother never let him forget it. With the Mando’a nickname ‘little brother’ sticking to Echo for practically as long as he’d known Fives. He pretended to hate it, and he’d give anything to hear it again. So, hearing it now, Echo’s heart seized. He wanted to grab his younger self by the shoulders and tell him to treasure the nickname; to never roll his eyes and pretend to hate it; to call Fives ori’vod in return because he knew he’d get a kick out of it.

“But everyone’s good at this module except me…” Little Echo voiced quietly, not entirely convinced.

Echo tried to wrack his brain for what module his younger self was talking about, but his dreaming made it too hazy to pinpoint; like if his subconscious ventured too far away from the scene in front of him it would fizzle away, and his dream would move onto something else. And he wanted to stay in this for as long as he could.

“You’ll get it eventually; it just takes practice,” Little Fives reassured.

“I’m going to fail…and never be a soldier…” his younger self sniffled. Echo saw his eyes gloss over again with unshed tears.

“Don’t talk like that,” Little Fives chastised, punching him lightly in the shoulder, a furious look on his face. “You’ll be fine. I’ll help you.”

Little Echo’s face lit up with hope. “You will?”

Little Fives nodded. “That’s what brothers do. We look out for each other; have each other’s backs.”

Echo watched his younger self sniffle as he looked at his older brother, who gave him a reassuring smile.

“Promise?” he said.

“Promise,” Little Fives said with so much conviction, that it made Echo’s heart squeeze again. He was always so sure of everything, never faltering – not even for a second. Once Fives believed in something, he didn’t waver. Ever.

Little Echo smiled, and wrapped his arms around his brother, who hugged him tightly. Echo watched them embrace, anchoring themselves to each other. He didn’t realise he was crying until he felt a tear fall on his hands in his lap. He reached up to wipe them away, scoffing lightly at himself.

“Hey, Echo, why the long face?”

Echo’s heart seemed to expand and stop as he turned around, seeing Fives standing there behind him several metres away. He turned back to where their younger selves sat on the bed and saw they had vanished, that the room had melted away into a long bright endless plane.

“Fives?” Echo wiped his face again and he saw Fives grin at him, before walking over. Echo blinked around the tears to take the sight of him. His figure was much clearer than anything else he’d seen so far in his dreams. Fives was adorned in his ARC trooper armour; helmet tucked under his arm with a proud smile stretched across his face. He willed his subconscious to stay in this moment, that it would be cruel to rip him from it with no warning. He needed time with him.

“Don’t look so happy to see me,” Fives joked when he came closer, his mouth quirked in that smirk that was so incredibly familiar seeing it felt like coming home.

Echo laughed tearfully. “Your ugly face is just so scary, I can’t help but cry.”

Fives threw his head back in a loud guffaw before punching Echo lightly on the arm. “It’s good to see you, vod’ika.”

Echo’s heart filled with so much warmth at the affection. “Good to see you too, Fives.”

Fives smiled at him before Echo asked, “What are you doing here?”

Fives didn’t respond, he just looked at Echo thoughtfully. Echo cleared his throat and shook his head. “When they found me on Skako Minor and you weren’t with them…”

He felt Fives’s heavy hand land on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. “I know. But I’m here now.”

Echo felt his lip tremble and he willed himself to take a breath. “I missed so much time with you.”

Fives shook his head. “Don’t think about that.”

“How can I not? I missed everything. I missed…”

“I wouldn’t have wanted you to see that anyway.”

He didn’t need to say the words for Echo to know what he was referring to.

“I…I would’ve believed you.”

“Then you would be dead too.”

Clones were conditioned not to linger on the losses of their fellow brothers. It was the nature of what they were bred for. Born knowing they would die. They were taught to take a moment to mourn, then to keep going. There was no time to let the grief linger in war.

But this was much harder than Echo had been conditioned to think.

Echo’s grief for losing Fives was too complicated for that. Echo lost Fives after the fact. He was mourning him outside of the mourning period, outside of the war. And it was something he didn’t know how to handle. The grief could sit for longer, dawdle almost now that there wasn’t another mission to focus on instead. And it was painful. A never-ending agony that oscillated between a dull ache to suffocating sharpness in the hole of his chest.

Fives had been a constant in his life, from cadets to losing their squad on Rishi Moon, to joining Rex in the 501st, all the way until the fateful night of the Citadel rescue. Fives had been there for all of it. Even thereafter, in the brief lucid moments in cryostasis on Skako, his thoughts would drift to his ori’vod. So, to be released into that mourning, to realise he was free, but without his beloved brother by his side was lonelier than stasis had been.

And hearing how exactly Fives met his end had not made it any easier. It was the unfairest of deaths, and that knowledge almost hurt more. That he wasn’t there. How if he had been, it may have gone differently.

There were so many moments where Echo would think of something he wanted to tell Fives, only to realise a moment later that he couldn’t. It was a cycle of remembering he was gone. Those milliseconds of bliss, before he remembered, were bookended by the searing hurt. And there was no one to share that hurt with.

Rex was elusive in his hiding and had gone through his mourning period. And though Clone Force 99 had provided him with a home, a comradery, that he was grateful for, they had not lost anyone the way Echo had lost Fives. They didn’t fully understand.

Echo just wanted the one person who understood him, who knew him inside and out.

In other, much less complicated words, Echo missed Fives so, so much.

And at those lowest moments when he missed him; when the aching felt never-ending and moving forward felt futile, Echo imagined what it would’ve been like had they both found their ends together. How much easier it would’ve been on his heart, to know that his brother was with him even in death. That if there was an afterlife, it would be spent together. That their hearts had stopped at the same time, one not forced to go on without the other helping keep it in rhythm.

The galaxy had not been so kind to grant him that.

“I…I know,” Echo replied quietly, his throat thick.

He watched Fives’ face study him for a moment before his brow settled into a crease, and his hand tightened on Echo’s shoulder. “Echo…don’t be sad.”

Echo looked at him with disbelief. He could see all the texture in his face and feel the puff of breath against his nose. It was as if he wasn’t dreaming at all. “How…how can I not be sad? You’re not here.”

“No, but you are. You have a second chance, Echo. A second chance to live.”

Echo shook his head. “You should be here too.”

“Maybe. But my path was different to yours. You finally get a chance to choose what you do with your life. Nobody else; you, vod’ika. That freedom I was fighting for? You have it now. You have for both of us. Do something good with it. Something we’d both be proud of.”

Echo looked at his brother searching his face for something he couldn’t name. Maybe he wasn’t searching at all, but memorising. Memorising the look Fives was giving him now; the pride, the unwavering belief he had in him. He hadn’t seen it in such a long time. No one had expected anything of him in just as long.

“Promise me you will, Echo.”

He didn’t even need to think about it. “I promise.”

Echo could feel the waking world calling him, so before Fives faded away, he wrapped his arms around his brother. Fives dropped his helmet and didn’t hesitate to embrace Echo back. Arms tightly holding each other, hearts pressed together and beating in time. Echo could feel Fives’s solid chest and his warmth as if he were awake. Everything felt right in the brief, brief moment. That anchor had returned. That pain in his heart had dulled in his dreaming and been replaced with the warmth of his brother he’d been wishing for. He gripped the edges of his brother’s armour, afraid to let go, to leave this moment. But knew he had to. He’d made a promise.

“I love you, Fives,” he choked out.

He felt Fives’s palm run over his hair as he spoke against his ear. “I know. I love you too. Remember, I’m looking out for you.”

Echo jolted awake. His chest heaved as he tried to remember where he was, and his body ached like it just run a marathon. Across the small corridor, Wrecker slept, soft snores sounding. The nightlight in Omega’s space glowed softly through the curtains, and Hunter had fallen asleep on the floor, his back leaning on the wall next to the ladder, no doubt guarding their sister’s bad dreams. He could hear Tech tinkering away in the cockpit, on watch as they flew through hyperspace. Where was Crosshair?

Oh. Right.

Echo ran a hand over his face and turned towards the wall, his eyes stinging with tears. He curled in on himself, wrapping his arms around his middle, ignoring the bulk of his scomp. He tried to preserve the warmth he felt from his dreams which threatened to evaporate in the chill of hyperspace. He pressed his eyes shut, willing himself to go back into that dream, to return to Fives and get one last look at him, but it was no use. He was here. And Fives was there, or somewhere.

It could’ve been a few minutes or an hour when he heard a voice. “Echo?”

He turned to see Tech looking down at him in his bunk, adjusting his goggles. “What is it, Tech?”

“I’m afraid it’s your turn on watch.”

“Great. Thanks,” Echo grumbled.

He tried to inconspicuously wipe his eyes as he swung his metal legs out of the bunk and stood up, stretching his neck. He watched Tech remove his goggles and rub his eyes and sat down on the edge of Echo’s bunk. They had limited space, and Echo didn’t mind sharing.

“Sweet dreams,” Echo told him as Tech lay down, falling asleep almost immediately, as he tended to do.

Echo walked to the cockpit and shut the door so the light from their travels wouldn’t disturb the others. He sat in the pilot’s seat and sighed, putting his head in his hand, no hair on his head to clasp as he tried to recentre himself. He took in some steady breaths, focusing on a screw in the floor panelling. He did everything he could to quell the turning of his stomach and the throbbing in his chest. Just as quickly as it had filled in his dream, the waking world had returned that giant hole in his chest, seemingly aware that something had filled it again briefly, and now it felt the absence more.

When would this feeling of emptiness end?

The Marauder shifted in its hyperspace travels, tilting off course slightly, triggering some alarms. Echo immediately sprang into action, and his hand and scomp grabbed the controls to steady the ship. With a frown, he checked the stabilisers and saw they needed recalibrating. Didn’t Tech just deal with this after they’d left Ordo Moon mere hours ago? He tried and failed not to get annoyed – he just needed to fix this, and quickly so they didn’t veer off course and fall into a star. He sighed, knowing they’d have to come out of hyperspace for these repairs. Maybe the ship had been more damaged than he thought.

Echo slowly pulled back the hyperdrive lever and the ship came to a halt in open space. He hoped no one woke up with the disturbance and that this wouldn’t take long. They didn’t have time to waste. He placed the Marauder in idle whilst he scomped in and started recalibrating. It was a lot easier now that Tech had upgraded his cerebral interface, so there was less strain on him. He was able to scomp in and load up the commands without much effort. As the commands processed through the system, he watched the stabilisers respond and recalibrate in his mind’s eye.

It was then he felt a shiver run up his spine.

A monitor beeped, interrupting his realignment, and Echo looked at a screen searching for the alert among the pop-ups when he noticed the time.

05:55. Echo’s breath hitched.

He heard the door behind him slide open but didn’t look away from the monitor. He couldn’t.

“Everything okay in here? I felt something,” Hunter’s voice thick with sleep asked.

Echo kept his gaze on the numerals, and he allowed himself to smile, that warmth he’d been longing for slowly filling the hole in his chest.

“It will be,” he told Hunter.

Fives was keeping his promise, so Echo would too.

banner art by @vimse thank you for reading! <3

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TAGLIST FORM

[warsamongthestars]

BAD BATCH (CHARACTERS) + ECHO HEADCANONS-- WITH STORIED BITS!

Because I was inspired by tags, why not a round of BB HCs?

Not TBB, just BBs. The characters, and I'm coming out the Clone Wars primarily, with only bits taken from TBB. ( Like a good fanfic, Let's steal back the small good things )

I know, I analyze--so let's see how far I can stretch it, yeah?

Today we are HCing...

99 AND THE 99 PROJECT

THE BAD BATCH'S MUTATIONS (Thus their abilities)

DOMINO SQUAD

( I would label it as Mature (Because I have a general idea of labelling), but Tumblr decided to be fucking hilarious about it--so I'm going ask you to be Mature. There's nothing explicit here, its about as snarky as a Discworld novel. So Guess that means its Teens and Up, PG-13, or whatever. )

99 INSPIRED THE 99's PROJECT

"Old man 99!? THE JANITOR FROM KAMINO!?"

Whether 99 was an alphagen or a first-gen, the idea here is based on small TCWs comments. Stuff about "Growth" tubes.

Its probably in the capitalist-eugenics aliens' (kaminonians) interest to skip the uncomfortable bits in natural human growth. After all the uncomfortable bits of human growth aren't Profitable.

So, have an age to load a clone into a growth tube, and just, rapidly grow them until they're the stage you want (to be profitable). This means skipping teenage years. It means skipping the small childhood years.

So, given that 99 is mature and capable, he was likely loaded into a growth tube about where his "teen years" would start... and it went horribly wrong. Aging him by decades instead of a few years.

And the 99 project, would be Nala Se's little project, to find out why it went so wrong--and then to fix it for future clones. Because after all, you can't have an army of old men.

And judging by the fact that 99 is the only Old Man Clone we've seen in TCWs, I imagine the project worked as intended--and like any greedy eugenic science-capitalist, Nala Se decided:

"Y'know, I could do something more with this. I could find the most common 'bugs' in our clone genome, and I could stretch them, and modify them, and make benefits out of these flaws."

And the 99s were created

ADDENDUM - on Growth Tubes

Growth Tubes would only be successful if the human brain was stimulated rapidly as the body grew, or you risk compromising the human brain. Its a very delicate organ and rapid growth would be very bad. So flash-training, basically rapidly dumping organized information and sensory input, would occur over the course of the rapid-growth. This is to ensure you have a nice healthy human brain afterwards. There are clones who did end up with a "leaky growth tube" (rumors about Hardcase), where the only issue hat ended up happening is a deficit in attention spans and impulsiveness.

What's significant about First-Gen clones, is that they mostly went the old fashioned way of growing--as in slow (but accelerated) growing. After First-Gen, Kaminonians decided: "No, this is not fast enough... and its too stressful, Teenage clones complaining about growing pains and having attitudes--its just too much. What do they think this is, a Human Domicile?"

Fast-Tracked clones are those who ended up in a growth tube the majority of their time, and even then, skipped steps once they were out. Domino Squad, being fast-tracked, maintained the "attitude" flaws characteristic of those who didn't spend a whole lotta time working with brothers out of the tube.

This is also why all "standard" clones look older than their early twenties. Many were grown out, biologically hitting the fast-forward on growing years to be fully grown. Chronologically, they are official "10". They only have 10 years of life, by the start of the war. Accelerated Aging measurement? 20. Because they are made to age twice as fast a normal humans. Biologically? Mid-20 to early 30s. It helps the resemblance to their prime, and avoids any possibilities of "late growth spurts". Luckily, clones are made to stay in their prime far longer than a normal human.

2. THE MUTATIONS OF THE BAD BATCH "They're non-standard but with abilities not seen in even normal humans."

The problem with finding a 'flaw' in a genome is that you have to ask...

a). Who is saying there is a Flaw? Are they someone you want saying that there is a flaw?

b). Why is it a flaw? ... But is it really?

c). what are they going to do to "remedy" the "flaw"? Is it an actual remedy, or are they just saying it is.

And being capitalist-eugenic scientists, who study the science of profiting from genes and geneing from profits, certain "flaws" are going to be the non-profitable kind.

They probably think its a terrible terrible sin, that the human genome is not naturally made to make capital.

But through this list of Flaws, Nala Se decided--"we can gene splice can't we? Yes, why shouldn't I gene splice. I can make much better clones through splicing."

After all, if you're going to make money from genes, in order to do more geneing, adding more Genes should surely add more Money.

FOR WRECKER...

(Shift from "canon"--for thematic reasons, this Wrecker is 9901)

Kaminonians are baffled by how strong and yet delicate humans are. They can lift 300 pounds, and yet can still get crushed to death by 300 pounds.

Its ridiculous, really.

So Nala Se took notes and samples from the beauty and gracefulness that is the Rancor.

And for her designated 9901, gave him near instantaneously recovering muscle, that could lift 3x the normal 300 pounds of health humans, and indestructible bones.

Why if an explosion were to hit 9901's face head on fro the left side--it would not, in fact, pulverize his skull or any the soft tissues the skull protects. The eye would absolutely be kriffed though.

Sure, the increased metabolism might be a bit too grand for the rations...

But the Kaminonians were assured--they are specially crafted rations, and the clone will just have to adapt. Humans can just, not be hungry after all, why it takes a month for an average human to starve! If the clone complains, well he is getting fed so he wont' starve. It's a bargain, after all. He's lucky the Kaminonians are even bothering.

FOR HUNTER...

( Shift from "canon"--for thematic reasons, Hunter is now 9903 )

The various pores of the human face always seemed to... leak to the Kaminoinans. Why do humans have to do so much leaking? Ought to make all those "face pores" that do their "poring", do actual useful work for once.

So for 9903, he got an ampullae. Plenty of the predators on the planet of Kamino had ampullae, and they seem to get along just fine.

Because of the odd small organ network that encompassed his face and down his neck, connecting various natural human senses such as scent, taste, sight, and hearing, 9903 proved to be passively sensitive towards electromagnetic fields. He would always know where North is on a planet. He would always know where he was at, and what was around him.

Why, the Kaminonians though, that would be PERFECT for droids! Droids have electric-magnetic fields!

... The unfortunate fact, that the Kamionians neglected to add, is that Everything produced an electromagnetic field, and super imposing upon natural humans senses of "being sensitive to particles" and "being naturally sensitive to atomic wavelengths"...

is that it would be a sensory nightmare. A cacophony of hell from the very world around him, to consume him utterly.

Well... The clone will just have to adapt, as the Kaminonains say. By the very coral reefs of Kamino, the clones are just not grateful for the work we do over their petty little lives.

FOR CROSSHAIR...

( For thematic purposes--we're keeping 9904 )

Humans have such tiny eyes, the Kaminonians think, how do they see so much if they're so tiny? and sensitive. By the whale song of the sea, Human eyes are just Too Sensitive.

So for 9904, they gave him super sight. But not just super sight, but super duper protected sight. They decided that the vestigial "third eyelid" had no business being vestigial anymore, the lazy little thing, and regave it life in 9904's eyes.

Why it could protect from Water, and Dust, and Bright Lights.

And they, the Kaminonians, were really reeving up now. Why just stop there? Give him reflectors. Let him see in the dark!

Why didn't we think to do this for all the clones?

Because sudden lights and sudden darkness, would mess up his eyes immediately. Because long term lights would cause a sensory overload. And long term darkness would cause (temporary) color blindness.

And no amount of protection stops a blaster to the face.

Well, thinks the Kaminonains, Its not as bad as the last ones.

FOR TECH...

( For thematic purposes... he is 9906. Yes, I like "Baby Tech", shush you. )

We know exactly what to do with this one, thinks the Kaminonians. Humans are just so... Dull. We load their brains nice and healthy, and they're still so dull.

We want at least one to have an intelligent conversation with.

I KNOW, LET'S MODEL THIS ONE AFTER US--THE KAMINONIANS! And we're geniuses you know, why shouldn't at least... one clone, be a genius like us.

For 9906, they attempted the daunting task of Modifying the Brain. Increasing memory retention and synapses flexibility. Awareness and understanding--a living computational organ.

And 9906 was Perfect.

... Save that he did not like Kaminonians, because healthy human brains, by any standard, tend to develop things like "Understanding" and "Feelings for and about other People", and tend to greatly dislike those who want to treat other people monstrously.

Why, 9906 even argued against the treatment of Clones. Clones are capable of thought and creation, they are a people and thus their own culture.

And the Kaminonians mourned. Clearly, all the work they put into this brain was for Nothing!

It only wants to learn about the galaxy and discover the beauties and wonders behind technology and space and peoples--why, it doesn't think of Profit or Genes at all!

It even argued that it wasn't a Product to be Sold, but a person to be talked to. The Kaminonians found this scoffful.

It would learn, the Kaminonians decided, oh it would learn.

ADDENDUM

What about 9902 and 9905? Well... Heheheh.

DOMINO SQUAD "A real domino effect, this one."

There are birth batches, and there are batch-squads. Birth-batches separate to all become batch-squads... but not all batch-squads are from the same birth-batch.

Such is the case of the fast-tracked "Domino Squad". Because they were fast-tracked, these clones spent an unpresidented time in the growth-tube. And worse, each one had a falling out with their original batch-squad.

The one that would be known as "Hevy" was overly confrontational, and prone to starting fights. He failed out of his original batch-squad for his attitude and physical violence.

He mellowed out, once he found that his aggression lead to serious consequence, but it didn't completely stop the fights or the lone wolfing. (Until after graduation).

The one that would be known as "Cutup" never took anything seriously, and his old trainers (and old squad) had enough. The trooper didn't even take regulations seriously, and was caught with contraband (Cutup couldn't believe that simple playing cards were "contraband", haven't they ever heard of a game before?)

The one that would be known as "Droidbait", tended to give up too easily, in a total reverse to "Hevy's" situation. Surrender is not acceptable, and he'll have to relearn the hard way.

The one that would be known as "Fives", ironically, did not have a poor record following him for anything he did. Half of his birth-batch-squad were found deceased after a training exercise. The survivors were sent elsewhere. For this, Fives was a quiet, serious but very anxious cadet and rookie until he hit arc-trooper. He kept even his name close. Just in case. Fives got to watch one of the survivors graduate with Bravo Squad. He never found out what happened to him after that.. but he doesn't assume its good.

Always have to adapt on the fly, because if you don't, the situation might just kill you. No matter how "Safe" everyone says it is. In fact, especially if its "Safe".

The one that would be known as "Echo" was the most devious.

By all accounts, Echo was a stand up trooper--he read the regulations and followed them to the letter. He took pleasure in buffing his armor and uniform. He could recite exact rules, was perfect in inspections. He knew exactly where everything is and how to act as expected. A true "By the Book" trooper. Why, what could ever be wrong with Echo?

Because if you look like you belong, and if you know the rules, you can do Anything. And Echo, he knew that people knew that the Way Things Act were often considered more important than What Things Actually Are, but you still have to Play Expectations if you want to get what you want.

And Echo, he tended to learn how play expectations. The fact is, while it was considered an accident and misunderstanding--Echo put himself in a position to get transferred away from his old birth-squad.

( He had nothing against his old birth-batch. They were fine lads. But Echo refused to be canon-fodder. If he was going to go out into the galaxy and make a difference, he was going to do it his way--if he was going to get blown up, it was because he damn well decided he was going to get blown up, not because a general told him to. )

Yes it would mean being held back. But such is the price of prep work (He certainly didn't feel like he was ready--and he wanted to test the waters a bit longer), and well, there had to be brothers on Kamino, who actually think about what they're being told--not just blinding follow without consideration.

And you can only work the rules to your liking, if you know what the rules are. Good thing Echo likes to read.

ADDENDUM

Reason Birth-batch and Batch-Squad are separate, is because the general idea is that they birth clones enmass, but since we only ever see cadets in squads, they aren't necessarily trained enmass.

There had to be a reason why Echo had the Balls to jump Rank and talk to a General, as a cadet, as request transfer.

None of the numbers of Domino Squad match up to indicate that they're apart of the "Birth-Batch". So this sugested to me that they might be from different batches--and thusly, are probably a "throw them together" squad.

[noperopesaredope]

Do the Star Wars Clones Age at 2x Speed? Yes, and Here’s the Math

I recently decided to look up the canonical developmental ages of the clones while working on an AU concept, and while most sources said they age at twice the speed of humans, I saw a few others debating this notion. So I decided to do some research based on the time when each of the events happened and the realistic developmental age the clones could be during these periods when we see them.

Has someone probably already done this? Yes. Do I care? No. I’m autistic and can do what I want. Also, I spent a weird amount of time on this and want to share it to confirm once and for all.

So, the Kaminoans began creating the clone troopers about 10 years before the Clone Wars began. This means that by the start of the war, the oldest clones would be developmentally about 20, which makes a certain amount of sense. We also see the relative age clones are deployed, what with the Domino Squad, and they both look and act like people in their early 20s.

The war lasts for about three years, meaning the oldest clones were developmentally around 26 or so when the war ended, something that makes a certain degree of sense based on how the older clones act. They do seem a bit older than 26, acting and looking more like they are entering their 30s, but that could be due to the experiences of war drastically aging them in terms of maturity.

Rebels takes place 14 years after the war ends, but we only see the clones again in Season 2, 16 years after the war. If the clones do develop at twice the speed of humans, then the clones would have aged 32 years. Adding that by how old they were when the war ended, they would be developmentally 58.

The reason the clones appear to be older than this is likely due to their white hair. However, white/gray hair usually starts to appear during your mid-thirties, and many go full gray around 50. The clones would be developmentally almost 60, which is when plenty of people are fully gray. So it wouldn’t actually be all that unrealistic for them to be 58, and becomes more obvious when you actually take a good look at them and take into consideration their health and fitness levels.

While this isn’t actually any proof, I would also like to quickly mention how old the clones would be for the rest of the overall movie series. A New Hope takes place 19 years after the end of the Clone Wars, so the clones would have developed 38 years. Adding that by 26, it would have been 64 years for the clones. So the oldest clones would likely be developmentally 64 by the start of A New Hope. A New Hope takes place over the course of either a week or 3, which won’t affect my calculations that much.

According to a couple sources, The Empire Strikes Back takes place 3 years after A New Hope, so 22 years after the Clone Wars ended. The clones would have aged by 44 years, so they would be developmentally 70. The Empire Strikes Back likely takes place over the course of about a few months (mainly due to the Yoda training), so again, it still doesn’t affect my calculations that much.

Return of the Jedi takes place roughly a year after The Empire Strikes Back, and over the course of a week or so. The clones would have aged 2 years, so they would be developmentally 72 by the end of the 2nd trilogy. This means that a clone could have lived through both the Clone Wars and the reign of the Empire. They could have seen the Empire’s rise and its fall, depending on whether or not they died of old age. And chronologically speaking, they would only be 37.

Sadly (or perhaps luckily), they would not live to see the rise of the First Order, as that rose to power 30 years after the fall of the Empire, which would be 60 years for the clones. And that would make them developmentally 133, which is not likely.

But it’s still fascinating to me how the lifespan of a clone trooper works in the Star Wars universe. I’m currently writing up the outline of an AU about clone troopers, and I was thinking about this and how it affects them and their lives. IDK, just wanted to get all this math out of my system after doing Star Wars math for a couple of hours (for the AU).

[blackkatmagic]

im just here to say its really delightful to see you having such a blast writing the dead tree, i genuinely can hardly keep up 🥰. the way you write granta kind of reminds me of maul in how they deeply desire personal relationships (if to destructive point) but in opposite directions in that maul canonically offers apprenticeships and blood vendettas to all six people he can offer whereas granta can hardly imagine anyone putting up with him without even a tenuous familial tie, and its really sweet that he was so wholehearted in wanting to take in domino and jax (and tup). granta's fondness for all of the clones like, as a people, was very touching given their shared circumstances and the kindness offered by the ones he met. im also glad he may have spent his time as a lab rat reassessing his priorities in life but he absolutely spent none of it in reflection of his parents and how they. might not have been great to him. he came out with a fresh view on life but it clearly was not at all a theraputive retreat for him and he still has baggage and biases that give him blind spots to other peoples behaviors and the miscommunication between him and domino squad comes out really believable and compelling!

Anon I want you to know this ask threw me into a manic spiral of trying to piece together a Maul/Granta plot that wouldn't end with seven trillion dead and 1000+ worlds on fire and now I have ANOTHER wip that's lodged itself firmly in my brain. :')

[archivistofnerddom]

How the Batch responds to someone who denigrates the color pink in front of them

And God forbid if this happens when Omega is figuring out her personal style, preferences, and fashion sense.

The Batch would certainly not ascribe to the belief that pink is for girls and blue is for boys. They make it their personal mission to prove that that’s nonsense.

Hunter

Guess who found pink-handled knives? And guess who will always at least two strapped to his belt at all times?

Rambo Barbie over here has traded out his usual bandana for a bright pink one. He’s wearing it with absolute and complete unfazed confidence. Giggle about it at your own risk and peril.

Just in case the knives and bandana were a little too subtle, he makes a point of wearing pink (possibly flannel) shirts regularly. Said shirts run the full spectrum of pink, but that’s fine. He thinks he looks good in the color.

He will absolutely look anyone who goes off about the pink/blue gendered thing dead in the eye and just go, “No.” That usually stops the BS in its tracks.

Crosshair

This man knows he looks good in black. That doesn’t stop him from having pink be his new go-to highlight color. All of the little accessories and details on his armor and helmet are now a lovely share of pink.

When his hair starts coming back in, he starts coloring to a nice light pink (blush) color. Just don’t mistake the pink hair for friendliness though. He’s still a snarky bastard.

His Firepuncher gets a makeover too. Crosshair enjoys taking people out with a neon pink sniper rifle. (It sets a very specific, very petty tone — and he’s here for it.)

He will also intentionally be a little shit and set people up to get verbally knocked down a peg or three. Tech has roughly five versions of the same speech about how assigned gendering colors is an outdated concept. Crosshair is going to do his twin a solid and let him loose on idiots. (He enjoys watching the chaos and panic that unfolds.)

Tech

Like I said, he will give a full lecture about the fallacy of “Pink is for girls, and blue is for boys.” Oh, did you want to see slides to go along with that? Here, he’s got those too.

Tech shows up with pink-framed goggles, a pink-cased data pad, and pink embroidery on all his pockets and pouches within 24 hours. For him, fashion is functional first, but it can also be fun and make a statement.

Did you say give the Marauder a new paint job? Why yes, it is time that it got a new look. Thank you so much for suggesting that. (And yes, Wrecker helped with the paint job and redesign. They both did such a good job.)

Tech also knows how to recalibrate his blasters so that his blaster bolts and stun rays are pink. He can show you how he did, if you ask him nicely.

Wrecker

This man comes in one setting — loud and enthusiastic support. And the best way to do that? Head-to-toe neon pink At All Times. (Seriously, this man shows up with completely pink armor and a helmet and just continues to do his normal job without commenting on his new paint job.)

Lula gets a wardrobe upgrade too. She’s now for a very cool pink jacket that Wrecker made for her himself.

Wrecker will loudly and eagerly proclaim that pink is his absolute favorite color anytime he hears a person talking shit about the color. He isn’t putting on a front either. He does love the color pink.

Guess who has pink smoke grenades and pink glitter bombs in his pack at all time? Wrecker. Why? Well, why not!?!?!

Echo

Bright pink kama for life! No, he will accept no questions or suggestions to the otherwise. His kama is pink, and he looks fabulous.

Echo may be a part of the Bad Batch now, but he was part of the 501st and Domino Squad before that. If you give him just the slightest scrap of an idea, he’ll run with it in a way that would make Fives proud . . . which is why so many people wind up covered in a violently pink glitter-and-glue mixture when they say stupid shit. (Wrecker may have helped.)

He gets Tech to upgrade his scomp to be metallic pink.

Grumpy Disappointed Mom Face gets deployed with great effect. Echo isn’t mad that you’re spouting nonsense. He had just hoped you didn’t buy into the nonsense that only girls can like pink.

Omega

Omega colors the tips of her hair to be bright pink. It’s actually a whole family project, especially in deciding which shade of pink would look best on her. She also used this as an opportunity to try some new hair styles to show off her color makeover.

She also got Tech to readjust her bow so that it too fires pink bolts. (They’re gleeful menaces on the battlefield together.)

Leaning into pink helps Omega connect with her femininity. For as much as she loves her brothers, that’s one area where they aren’t the best role models (even if they fully support her during this journey). She is the one who helped her brothers incorporate pink into their current wardrobe.

Omega also learns how to give manicures. The only polish choice anyone she gives one to gets to make is whether or not they want glitter. Everyone is going to be rocking pink nails when she gives them a manicure. (The Batch are very diligent and serious about maintaining their manicures.)