#okay hear me out tbb edition

[tomoeakatsuki]

Okay hear me out, part 11.

15th episode, season three of TBB.

It's funny how the end of the Bad Batch is totally different from how fans had predicted it.

Like, no Winter Soldier arc for Tech, no Echo sacrificing himself to destroy the base on Tantiss, no Hunter dying to give a chance to live free to Omega, no Empire winning and killing all the Clone Force 99.

Not at all. Instead, we have a happy ending, without an older Hunter and a bigger Omega. And the possibility to, maybe, see the Bad Batch again.

[heyclickadee]

Okay, one last thing about the TBB finale and then I’ll stop complaining about it for a bit: I know that there’s an open letter to address a lot of the fandom’s concerns about how badly Tech was fumbled in season three that someone on instagram is putting together, and I know at least some of you are participating, but I’m also sending my own letter because I feel like this is important, and figured I’d pass along the address in case anyone else was interested in sending their own as well. I’m (ironically) just sending it via email and snail mail to Lucasfilm’s fan mail inbox, which is:

Email: publicrelations@lucasfilm.com (with the subject line “Fan Mail”

Physical address: Attn: Fan Mail, P.O. Box 29901, San Francisco, CA 94129-0901

I do have a lot of hope that we’ll be getting Tech back in canon at some point, and hopefully sooner than later, but I think this is still something they need to hear about and understand. Or, at least, that we need to try to get them to hear about, if they (somehow) don’t already know. And maybe no one will ever read these, but we can at least say that we did try to reach out.

Also, if anyone else does feel like doing this, a couple of suggestions:

1. Please try to be polite, if you can. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. (Edit: I’ll admit that, yes, I get what the expression is saying, I just don’t really understand why it’s using catching flies as a way to say it. Why flies? Why do I want those?)

2. Try to not be accusatory. Whatever’s going on behind the scenes and whoever’s fault this is, because it is someone’s I’ve found that laying into people and going full, “This thing you did sucked, and here’s why,” is a one way ticket to getting someone on the defense and shutting down any dialogue—even if the thing did, in fact, suck.

3. Explain your point of view as best you can.

4. Do it with the understanding that this won’t change the show, as the show is already out and done.

5. Also do it with the understanding that there probably won’t be a response.

Anyway, that’s my two cents—everyone can, of course, do whatever they want. I’m also going to be talking about what I like about the series because I do, in all honesty, like basically everything about it but the last half-hour, aaaaannnd because I don’t want to come across as one of the fandom menace dudebros who have hated everything Star Wars since the Ewoks popped up. But that’s just me.

[cadybear420]

Cadybear's Reviews- The Billionaire's Baby

As of the day I’m posting this, this is the last series on the list of Choices stories that I’ve actually fully completed. So what does this mean for Cadybear’s Choices Reviews?

First of all, I can now upload a review (or re-review, for already-reviewed series) of a series sooner after actually completing it. While taking some time to complete a review does let me think about it more, I would prefer my reviews to be more fresh. And like I said, all reviews are subject to more updated re-reviews if necessary.

Second, there are still quite a handful of series on my tierlist where they consist of multiple books, but I haven’t played all of them– TRR, BOLAS, COP, ID, etc. Some of which are still waiting for more books. While I’d generally prefer to review by series rather than by book, I do still have these books ranked on my tierlist with all the rest, and sharing a review for them will at least provide insight to my thoughts on the books and why I gave them the ranking that I did.

So I may or may not plan to write up reviews for those kinds of books. But if I do, I’ll probably title them differently from the usual “Cadybear’s Reviews” or “Cadybear’s Brief Thoughts”. I’ll probably make them as less formally set up reviews, like a more casual text posts. We’ll see. 

Third of all, as much as I love to share my thoughts on certain books, I also love to hear what other people think. So I may plan a little something bonus for the books where I’ve provided very extensive thoughts on them… stay tuned. 

Welcome to the forty-first official Cadybear's Reviews! Today I'll be talking about The Billionaire's Baby, which I have ranked on the "PooPoo Tier" at 1 star out of a possible 10.

Bruhhhh. This is literally just a TNA clone but with a surrogate instead of a nanny. This is literally the pregnancy plot that PB clearly wanted to have with TNA. Yeah, I stand by my statement that if TNA wasn’t GOC LI, they’d have had Sam accidentally knock up MC at the company gala in Book 1 (hence the Jenny and Aditya subplot in Book 3, to make up for being unable to do that with MC and her LI). And I’m gonna hazard a guess that if TBB wasn’t GOC LI, they’d have had Cole accidentally knock up MC in a one-night stand in the first chapter. Granted they already did the whole “MC gets accidentally knocked up by billionaire LI” thing with BaBu Book 1 Chapter 1, but clearly that wasn’t good enough for PB since there wasn’t an affair involved, just Cassandra acting like she was supposed to be Clint’s future wife. 

Okay, maybe what I’m saying might be a bit far-fetched. But I really do mean what I said about this being “TNA: Pregnancy Edition”. 

Right from her very first appearance, they make LI’s current partner Daphne very irritable and callous and disagreeable, obviously so she can be a straw loser villain and make the MC seem like the “better woman” for the LI. Y’know, just like Sofia and Addison in TNA. 

And of course, said LI’s current partner turns out to have been cheating on the LI all this time. Y’know, just like what happened with Sofia in TNA. 

They even have Joss, a LI-gender-determinant character that MC can be flirty with a little to make the actual LI jealous. Y’know, just like Robin and Jordan in TNA. 

Demi is the MC’s best friend who solely exists to churn out “le girly girl talk” exclusively about how MC totally deserves to be with the LI and to give MC the premium outfits that will totally turn on the LI. Y’know, just like Jenny in TNA. 

Honestly, the only thing that’s surprised me about this book is that Joss wasn’t the one Daphne was cheating on our LI with. Which just makes it worse because now there’s just no point to Joss’s character other than to be Windows Vista Robin. Like, at least actual Robin had some actual character and point to existing in the story.

This book is just so unserious. A lot of Choices smut books try to force “true romantic feelings of love” onto couples that are clearly purely lust-based, TNA included. But this one is the motherfucking GOD of that. It puts TNA to shame in that regard. 

Though, I’m gonna be honest, I think TNA as a whole was leagues better than TBB. 

For one thing, TNA is at least honest about being an affair story. But I guess “The Surrogate Affair” doesn’t sound as marketable, huh? Sure, let’s instead just bait people into thinking the affair story is something actually compelling like FCL did. 

For second, TNA at least had memorable characters like the Twins and Carter, and most of the other supporting characters did at least feel like actual characters. Characters like Robin, Sofia, Addison, Carter, Aditya, Paolo, even smaller ones like Sam’s parents, do genuinely stick with me. Characters like Carmen, Harrison, Joss, Collie’s parents, that one guy that Demi was crushing on… yeah you’ll probably forget they even exist barely an hour after you finish the story. 

Thirdly, I can at least somewhat buy Sam admiring MC for how good she is with the twins. And their attraction to each other was more tolerable too because, as awful as MC was for pursuing Sam, I never got the feeling that she felt entitled to them. Whereas IDK what else Collie sees in MC other than “hee hoo sexy woman”, and it’s worsened by how much MC acts entitled to them, how much she goes on and on about how she should be with them instead of Daphne. 

And last, the first TNA book at least plays up the affair aspect by having Sam and MC anticipate the trouble they’ll be in at the end. Books 2 and 3 were unnecessary garbage for sure, but at least during the first book, they had some sense of humility and self-awareness. TBB not only has none of that, but it thinks it has the fucking balls to throw in this end message about “remember to follow your heart”. If that isn’t just outright stating you want people to take your affair story seriously as being about true love rather than the lust-based affair it actually is, then IDK what is. 

Like… overall, TNA may be pretty derivative and melodramatic too, but it’s at least fun and engaging to some degree? It has its own “so bad it’s good” charm to it. Like the writers actually cared about giving us a somewhat enjoyable affair story, even if it wasn’t very high-quality. 

TBB is just… empty. The only thing it does better than TNA is that it ended after one book.

 Now, this story gets a lot of understandable and deserved hate, but despite that I myself am ranking this on PooPoo Tier, I’m not even sure I can hate it because it’s just… so derivative in every way. Cheating, pregnancy, and billionaire romance is a combination that has probably been done countless times by literally every other VN app like Chapters and Episode that tries to pander to the “Facebook Moms” stereotype. I don’t even play those apps, I never have, but I’m pretty sure they’ve done this whole “OhEhmGee you’re pregnant with the baby of a sexy powerful billionaire isn’t that sooo hotttt???” thing already like a million times now. If MTFL is the equivalent to a dog eating another dog’s shit and then shitting it back out again, TBB is the equivalent to a dog eating its OWN shit, probably mixed with some other dogs’ shit too, and then shitting it all out into a great big steaming mess much worse than its predecessors.  

And one of the worst things about it all is… how tragic this whole story’s existence is. The moment I heard this was about MC being a surrogate for a billionaire couple and you “uncover their scandals”, there was a small period of time when I was hopeful that this story wouldn’t be as cliched and formulaic as the title made it seem. (Of course, that short period of time ended when I learned that the LI was gonna be one of the members of the billionaire couple). Like, this could have been a story where MC doesn’t romance Collie (or even better, has both Daphne and Collie as LI options) and is a surrogate for them, but it turns into a sort of mystery story where you uncover a history of dirty scandalous secrets behind the couple, and your MC starts to feel conflicted about giving them this child and leaving said child in the hands of this couple while knowing all the shit they’ve done. 

But no, we had to go with an affair story and the only “scandal” is that the billionaire couple doesn’t love each other. Oh wow, so spicy amirite? (Haha no)

So, why do I have this one in the “PooPoo Tier”? Seeing as I reserve that tier for books that actively anger me. TBB was originally ranked in the Stone Tier because of how little substance it had and how little emotion it evoked from me. 

But as soulless and substanceless as it was, I eventually figured that it really did deserve to be in the worst list. Because it just does… everything wrong, from the very beginning. It baits us into thinking it’s a good story, only to give us a cheap affair story. It’s a rehash of previous, more mediocre Choices stories. It forces us to take it more seriously than it actually deserves. All of the characters are lackluster and empty. 

Seriously, name me one thing that this story does right. I originally had this book on Stone Tier with books like Ms. Match, Slow Burn, Roommates With Benefits, and the whole TNA trilogy, but at least those books had some redeeming qualities. Heck, even all of the other books on PooPoo tier have some redeeming qualities. Surrender at least explored BDSM acts a bit and tried to normalize kink. FCL at least had some good energy with the road trip setting and all the different places the group explored. Untameable at least didn’t have toxic behaviors glorified as acceptable, heroic, or passable. Granted I still consider those books worse for how badly they fucked things up when they easily couldn’t have– they anger me because there are multiple points where they could have taken their story in a better direction but didn’t, and instead chose to make their story worse. 

But TBB was pretty much doomed from the moment it confirmed we’d be romancing one of the members of the billionaire couple we’re a surrogate for. There’s no point of this story where it could have been even somewhat decent if they changed it, unless they just threw the whole thing out and started over from scratch. 

And that’s why I think I can safely say, it’s among the worst.

[neyswxrld]

touching souls

Echo x reader (gn)

summary: Taking a walk in the winter wonderland with Echo!

warnings: just some kisses

word count: ~740

advent calendar masterlist

a/n: this is the twenty-first fic for my advent calendar! i think this might be the one i like the most, lol. and, if you wanna see a tbb era echo as a winter prince in a winter wonderland, you should look at this edit by @isthereanechoinhere96!

You breathe in the fresh air of the snowy white afternoon. White snowflakes make their way toward the earth, almost like feathers. Peaceful and quiet.

It is cold, and your breath comes out in small, white clouds. You are clothed in your warmest clothes, hiding your ears beneath a beanie and your face in a huge scarf.

Nevertheless, the weather is refreshing and stimulating, forming a contrast to your warm and cozy home.

You take another deep breath, looking at the pine woods. Green and black patches shine through the white coat, and your steps crunch as you slowly walk through the snow. In the distance, you can hear some burbling of a restless stream, trying to fight the freezing temperatures.

You come to a halt and almost relieved, you exhale again, following your breath with your eyes. All the stress fades away and a weight you didn't know of, seems to be lifted off your shoulders.

Suddenly, you feel how strong arms wrap around your body from behind. A warm body presses against your back and a head settles on your shoulders.

Happily, you sigh and lean back into Echo's arms.

"Are you okay?" he asks quietly, breaking the silence of the nature, but not in a disturbing way.

"Yeah," you nod, closing your gloved hands above his. "Thanks for bringing me out here, Echo. I didn't notice how much I needed that," you almost whisper, turning your head a little. He is already looking at you. His brown eyes look into yours and for a short moment, you feel like he's touching your soul with his.

There builds a sweet tension between you, and while you're looking at each other, you feel like you're frozen in the moment, but find yourself not wanting to break it.

Nonetheless, you pull your scarf down and give him a small thankful kiss on his lips. Echo smiles and kisses you back lovingly. He always knows what you need the most, and a small trip to the woods on a snowy day is more than you could have ever imagined.

"You're very welcome. I'd do anything to make you feel happy and relaxed," he tells you after you separate again, a look of pure love in his eyes. Your heart stutters for a second.

"Everything?" you ask, teasing.

"Everything," he hums, rearranging his body, so he is standing next to you. He drapes an arm across your shoulders and together, you start walking again. Wanting more of his closeness, you throw your arm around his waist and pull him close, so there isn't any space left between you.

"Even bringing me that delicious cherry pie from Mrs. Brown?" you want to know. Your neighbor and Echo absolutely disliked each other. It started when he first came to your apartment. You don't even know the reasons for their heated relationship because every time you ask Echo, he just shrugs it off, not wanting to talk about it.

"When it makes you happy," he nods. "She likes you. Wouldn't be that bad if I said it's for you. Besides, you would have to give me a piece of cake, too."

You start to giggle quietly and nod before continuing with your ridiculous questions about what he'd do for you.

Together, you straggle across the path, swaying from left to right, smiling and laughing, pulling small promises from each other's lips.

"Hm... So you would also go and buy me a dog?" you ask, smiling, asking another silly question of what he'll do for you, to see how far he would take it, hypothetically. Echo chuckled lightly and shook his head.

"We first would have to have a talk about that a little bit more, and then I would take you with me to buy a dog," he murmurs, shaking his head. "But I wouldn't be disappointed if that won't happen in the next year or two," he adds.

"What? You would wait that long before getting a dog with me?" you ask, looking at him curiously.

"Well, it's a huge responsibility," he explains to you, looking back. You think about it a little bit before shrugging.

"I guess you're right. Besides, you didn't say no, so that counts. And I will remember that for the next two years," you agree, grinning at him mischievously.

Echo shakes his head, smiling.

He didn't lie. He'd do anything to make you happy.

TAGLIST:

@isthereanechoinhere96 @trixie2023 @freesia-writes

[fanfic-cave]

Okay. Here’s an idea. Blind s/o or friend (whatever you want) with the bad batch. Maybe they and hunter bond over their heightened senses. They show Omega how to navigate the world without sight. Tell wrecker or echo that they look great (pun intended). Or maybe tech helps them learn to maintain things without sight, something no one has really done.

Didn't See That Coming Pt 1.

Rating: PG

Word Count: 1.0k (just barely)

Pairing: Tech x Blind Reader (platonic or romantic up to you)

Warnings: None

Summary: You've been blind for a good chunk of your life, and haven't been able to read or write for years, an activity you used to really love. Tech decides to find a way for you to read again, hoping that it will help you grow more confident too.

Authors note: I rewrote this thing like a million times sorry for taking so long! I'm gonna make a couple chapters/parts for this because I thought the idea of blind reader with TBB was adorable and contained soo many possibilities. Please enjoy part 1 of "Didn't See That Coming" !!! (thanks @gokyacetakal for the request)

tags: @mangoberry99

edit: part 2 is up! link

“Are you ready Y/N?”

Tech shuffled through his pack as he spoke to you. You listened closely, trying to figure out what he was doing.

“Ready for what, exactly?” You asked him, leaning forward in your seat with curiosity.

“Do you not remember?” You really couldn’t remember at all. You shrugged apologetically.

“I had previously explained to you that I discovered something that would help with your… condition.” He paused towards the end, trying to avoid saying the word. It was clear that he felt awkward talking about your disability.

You smiled in his direction. “It’s okay Tech, you can say it. Blind isn’t a dirty word.”

You hadn’t always been blind, but it’s been this way for so long now that it just felt normal to you.

Tech nodded, then realized you couldn’t see him nodding, and he shook his head at himself. “Yes I understand,” he was ready to move past it and get to the topic he had prepared for.

Tech dropped a stack of books in front of you, and you jumped at the sudden loud noise. He hasn’t seemed to notice.

“Have you heard of the miralukans?”

You reached out to the books as you spoke. “No, why?” Tech took your hand in an effort to guide it towards the stack. It wasn’t uncommon for each of the squad members to do small things like this to help you. You were still appreciative at his efforts nonetheless.

“They are a very unique species. They look almost identical to the human species, save for the fact that they have no eyes.”

You froze. Tech found himself smirking, seeing that he finally caught your interest.

“So they’re blind? Like me?” You found yourself getting excited, and you were speaking quickly. Questions starting to bubble in your head.

“Yes, and no.”

Your eagerness began to diminish. “You’ve lost me. Are they or aren’t they?” You pressed Tech for more details.

“They do not see the way an average species does.”

“What does that mean?” You questioned him.

Tech scrolled through his notes on his data pad as he continued. “The Miralukans are considered force sensitive individuals, and they see using the force.”

Your face fell a bit as he spoke. You weren’t a force user, how was this supposed to help you? Tech noticed this, and he tried to keep explaining.

“But that is besides the point,” he placed a book in your hands and opened the page. “Put your hand on the pages.” He instructed. You felt your curiosity return again, questioning how touching a blank page would do anything.

As your fingers skimmed the pages, you felt an odd texture on the page. There were almost what felt like bumps in it. “What is this?” You raised your head to his direction, showing your confused expression.

“You’ll find out, keep tracing the texture.” Tech turned his attention to the rest of the books, and started organizing the pile.

You felt yourself get a little exasperated. Why could he just get to the point already? You knew he liked to teach, but now you knew he really liked having you apply yourself before he jumped in.

As you traced the texture, you began to recognize something. There were… symbols? No, letters. The language wasn’t galactic basic, but they were definitely words. “Oh-“ the noise escaped you as the realization came upon you.

“Interesting, is it not?” Tech smiled, pleased that you had figured it out.

“What language is this?” You inquired, scanning the raised lettering more quickly, now that you had recognized it.

“Miralukese.” Tech replied. “And you are going to learn it.” Tech placed another book in front of you, getting his curriculum ready.

“Me?” You sputtered.

“Yes.” Tech replied matter of factly. Of course this didn’t bother him, you thought. The genius sitting across from you knew several languages, this must seem easy to him.

You had stopped tracing the raised lettering, and froze.

“Tech…” you sighed out. A frown began to form on your face. This was a lot. Learning a whole other language, just so you could maybe read again? You didn’t feel like you would be able to do it. You had resigned yourself to never being able to read again a long time ago, when you had started losing your sight. Why put yourself through more disappointment by getting your hopes up here, just to fail?

“Y/N.” Techs voice brought you back to reality. You turned your face up in his direction. “You are more intelligent than you are giving yourself credit for. Also, I will be helping you. With both of us applying our efforts to the task, you should be reading and writing very soon.”

A painful smile grew on your face. “I’m not sure that you're right, Tech.”

Tech felt a pang of sympathy. Hearing you doubt yourself like this, made him feel all the more determined to teach you.

“Have I ever been wrong?” He countered your previous statement.

You thought for a second on what he said. “Yes, if my memory serves me right.” You let a soft giggle escape as memories filled your head.

“I know I’m not wrong about this.” Tech spoke with conviction. If you weren’t confident, he wanted to give you a vote of confidence. Tech thought of you as a good friend, at the very least. He knew you were more shy, and he thought teaching you a useful skill would help you grow more. Plus, you had told him before how you missed reading and writing.

You hadn’t witnessed Tech talk to you like this before. He was a person who relied on logic and data, however, you weren’t so sure he was relying on logic when he spoke to you just now.

“You’re sure?” You inquired again. Tech let a sigh escape him.

He reached out and put a hand on your shoulder, both for comfort and encouragement. “Yes, Y/N.”

You smiled to yourself, feeling the excitement return.

“Okay, let’s do it.”

[murdertoothpick]

Oooh, I wanted to double check first as I would not have wanted to request something you weren't open to writing at the time.

If so, I would be curious on what your take on the relationship between Tech and Crosshair is? Evidence gathered from Tech in the latest episode, when he gives Omega Cross' comm cuff, makes it seem like he misses Cross a lot... and I rarely ever see much between these two and what they think/feel about each other? (Obviously only platonically, though....)

Do you think they get along? Just curious, and I'm fine with headcanons or a prompt or anything of the like... I just find their relationship one that is unknown... but... suggested? Tech loves his brothers and he sounded and looked quite sad about the fact Cross wasn't with them in Rampage.

Sorry for rambling, I get carried away thinking about these brothers!

crosshair and tech- a mini analysis

did i take this as an opportunity to rewatch the clone war's bb arc and the available episodes of tbb? yes.

here are some moments i picked out that i really thought about. i agree its evident that tech misses crosshair even if its in fleeting moments- and he probably feels guilty for not picking up the signs.

below the cut I've written about some of my thoughts about the relationship with accompanying drabbles, 4 of them, with 100 words each, that i imagine communicates how i view their relationship.

this is where me doing two english subjects in year 12 paid off, enjoy and let me know your thoughts! a/n at the end.

tech and crosshair's introduction: cw s07e01 at 00:06:05

i always loved how this scene was written; it flowed naturally and communicated their team dynamic really well without any action. tech is especially talkative as pointed out by hunter, who then goes to say that crosshair is 'not much of a conversationalist.' on the surface, it seems that tech and crosshair are incompatible, and probably don't get along. id argue that crosshair gets along most with wrecker, who even then, he dismisses or derides at times; 'grow up, wrecker' or the snarky 'well, im convinced' in the cafeteria scene...

so yeah, i imagine that crosshair has the least amount of patience with tech's incessant rambling, but when hunter introduces the batch, and crosshair is off to the side while the other three talk to cody and rex, we can see crosshair likes to observe. he's not one to talk to tech, but that doesn't mean he doesn't listen. also i really like the idea of tech's talking lulling crosshair to sleep, especially since snipers are taught to be emotionally distant (from what I've heard) and young crosshair must have felt so alone :(((((...

drabble:

'you're holding it wrong'

crosshair, struggling to sleep, turns to glare at tech through the dark room, his brother's face illuminated as he reviews training footage.

'your rifle, you-'

'what do you know about using a rifle?'

'more than the kaminoans, who do not know how to use rifles. they only know how to use blasters.' when crosshair doesn't answer, tech continues, 'its the way you pick it up and carry it. if you hold it against your arm...' he rambles on, only stopping once he hears his brother begin to snore.

he smiles, switching off the datapad, 'goodnight crosshair.'

'relax, i've got this': cw s07e02 at 00:07:47

okay who didn't love this crosshair moment, it was so unbelievably badass and hot, and him resting the rifle on tech made me so soft. not to mention the fact that he didn't need to use tech as support (HAHA LMAO TECH SUPPORT) as he's seen using the protruding red thingy from his left shoulder for that. though there may be some advantage to that, i.e crosshair and tech both being 6'4 (aka my tall husbands).

for me this scene just spoke VOLUMES about tech's trust for crosshair. no doubt tech trusts the others, but crosshair being...crosshair, i wouldn't blame someone if they had jumped or flinched if a calculating sniper placed a rifle on their shoulder. [edit: also the little tilt of tech's head as crosshair does it abevksbvkjasbjcbKJas its so cute]

but i cant help but imagine how this played out the first time...

drabble:

'stand up.'

crosshair is looming over tech, pulling his focus from his brother's training. 'what?'

'stand up, i wanna see something.'

tech reluctantly stands up, facing crosshair.

crosshair looks him up and down, eyes filled with the same cynicism they always carried. 'turn around'

tech huffs, proceeding to do so, 'i do not understand what you w-'

and then he feels a weight on his shoulder, eyes bulging out of his goggles as they meet the barrel of crosshairs rifle.

'trust me?'

tech slowly nods.

he feels the jolt of the rifle and sees the hole in the target. bullseye.

i think crosshair has a thing for shoulders: cw s07e03 at 00:14:34

c'mon first tech's shoulder and now echo's??? idk its so fucking soft. the way crosshair shows his care for his brothers is really subtle and a little hard to detect, but this moMENT was everything. not only that, but echo's a reg, and i think here, when crosshair places his hand on echo's shoulder, it is out of respect but also a protective instinct.

echo's been through some shit but keeps fighting, he's now 'more machine than man' but still so in tune with his humanity-- in the same way that tech may not be as brutally strong but he keeps fighting anyways, that is his true strength. and that's what crosshair admires the most about tech (at least in my head), not his intelligence, but his willingness to fight alongside his brothers even where he doesn't have the same physical capabilities. (he could 100% top me though and id let him).

drabble:

tech slows down to a stop in front of the bad batch. he had been the one to collect the intel, the only one with knowledge to get past the system's mainframe.

'clankers, a whole group of them are headed our way.'

hunter nods at his brothers, giving orders, 'crosshair, watch our backs, wrecker, with me' before running to face the oncoming droids.

crosshair looks to his brother, 'tech, start the ship'

'but-'

'don't worry about us, we'll be fine'

trusting crosshair's words, he turns to head towards the marauder.

'oh and tech,' crosshair calls out, 'you did good today.'

tech's looks of concern™: bb s01e01 at 00:17:10 and 00:18:11

my oh my the way tech looked at crosshair in these scenes had me so close to rushing to dave filoni's door to demand he tell me what his plans were for my murder toothpick husband.

in contrast to hunter who outwardly questions 'what's wrong with you' and echo saying 'wake up' or 'stow it, crosshair', tech is much more subtle in his reactions to noticing crosshair's strange behaviour.

tech is unafraid of telling harsh truths, i.e telling echo he's 'more machine than man' or telling wrecker that his 'affinity for destruction...stems from [his] conditioning' but he doesn't point out his suspicions or concerns for crosshair, which is definitely something he should've done. but here, tech just observes crosshair--and that seems to be the basis of their relationship. **definitely related to the first point i made. and i think the dynamic works, crosshair doesn't really speak, aside from snide remarks here and there, and tech tries to figure him out like a puzzle.

i think tech can read crosshair better than any one of the bad batchers, and can probably identify when crosshair is on edge or anxious. that being said, when crosshair goes all order 66, the reason tech doesn't fully anticipate whats going on with his brother is because it's not his brother.

drabble:

'what are you looking at?' crosshair sneers, flitting his toothpick to the other side of his mouth.

'why do you chew on toothpicks?'

the sniper turns to walk away, ignoring the question. tech follows him.

'it is because of your anxiety, no?' he persists, taking advantage of their current privacy.

crosshair stops in his tracks, turning his head to the side.

'my what?'

'your anxiety. you are jittery before missions—though that does not affect your marksmanship—you get constant headaches, struggle to fall asleep...'

crosshair looks at tech, a sad smile on his face, 'maybe it is my anxiety.'

a/n: i really hope we get some bb talking about their feelings + crosshair, it would make me cry in a good waycbkswwbcke,,,

and ill be honest, it took me a while to fulfil this request because i wasn't quite sure how i wanted to tackle it. i didn't really want to do headcanons since i felt i had a lot to say, but a one shot wouldn't have done it justice. i hope this was okay to read <3 i know its wordy but thanks for all your support!!

[bimormondisaster]

Four times Crosshair helped his brothers and one time he did the best he could.

Hello! This is my first time doing something like this so I hope you enjoy it. I'm still very new to writing and I suck at editing so I'm sorry for any mistakes.

Word count: 2,781

Warnings:

Wrecker- Mentions of blood, violence, Hurt character.

Hunter- Mentions of overstimulation and migraines

Echo- Nightmares

CT-9904- That scene from s1 e1 tbb

Wrecker (Cadets, age around 16)

The feeling of the clone’s face against Crosshair’s fist was satisfying. Even after the blood started to cover his knuckles, he kept punching. It wasn’t until the cadet’s eyes closed that he stopped. He let the boy’s tunic go, and he hit the ground with a dull thud. He would wake up eventually and Crosshair would inevitably get punished but right now he didn’t care.

He was alone when he got the com. He was getting cleaned up after some private training., about to meet his brothers in the cafeteria but when Hunter told him that kriffen reg had landed Wrecker in the med bay he changed course.

He made his way to the medbay. Stopping only to wash the blood off his hands. Looking in the mirror he noticed his hair was getting grayer. He wasn’t sure why his hair was graying so early but he didn’t mind it. Wrecker always teased him about it but he thought it made him look more mature.

The med bay door slid open revealing Hunter sitting beside a bed as Tech paced. A droid was hovering over the bed occupied by Wrecker.

Hunter stood as he walked over. “What took you so long?”

“I was busy.” He forced himself to look away from Wrecker’s bloody and bruised form and to Hunter. “How is he?”

Tech answered first. “Under these conditions, there is a 15 percent chance that he will wake up in the next hour, Every hour after that the chance goes up by 7.5 percent until hour five where if he’s not awake by then the chances lower by-”

“He’s going to be fine.” Hunter supplied, sending a comforting smile to Tech. The droid left without a word and the boys settled down. Wrecker’s face was swollen. The left side of his face was covered in bandages, including his eye. Every moment that he watched, that he saw his brother in this state, his fury grew.

“What happened?” He asked through clenched teeth.

Hunter and Tech shared a look and Tech adjusted his goggles.

“No one knows yet,” Hunter said.

His hands tensed into fists. The quickly bruising knuckles protested but he didn’t care. That’s when he saw it. Lula, tucked in beside Wrecker, was looking almost as bad as its owner. One of the ears was hanging on by a thread and a leg was missing.

Without saying anything Crosshair stood up and grabbed the stuffed toy.

“I found the leg in the hall.” He pulled it out and offered it to Crosshair who took it without a word.

Crosshair didn’t know how to sew but he tried his best with the supplies he could find in the med bay. They all waited. Hunter as still as possible, trying to keep the squad as calm as possible. Tech buried himself in his padd and tried to distract himself. Although every hour Crosshair could hear him whisper the new odds of Wrecker waking up.

Crosshair folded in on himself completely focused on fixing Lula. His long legs protested being forced into the chair, his back ached from being slouched, but he didn’t mind. After two hours Lula was all fixed up. It wasn’t what Crosshair would call a good job, but it was the best he could do. He just hoped it was enough.

Tech

If Tech wasn’t dead at the end of this Crosshair was going to kill him. Not surprisingly the job went bad and now they were in a shootout. His scope allowed him to see the chaos in the warehouse from the hill he was nested on. Amongst it all was Tech. Who disobeyed orders and abandoned his cover; running like a kriffin idiot trying to get to the computer.

“Tech get under cover!” Hunter’s voice came through the comm.

“No can do Hunter. If I can just-” Tech was cut off as more droids entered the warehouse, open firing.

Crosshair cursed under his breath and started to pick them off. There was little chance of this mission succeeding but that’s where they worked best. In the midst of the blaster fire, yelling, orders being called, and explosions he noticed something. Another blaster was shooting into the warehouse at Tech who had, so far, dodged the fire purely by dumb luck. He watched carefully, tuning out the bickering in his ear.

A streak of a blaster shot through the air heading for the very clueless Tech who was pinned down. Without thinking he aimed. Time slowed as he watched the bullet fly through the air. His finger tightened on the trigger and in the time of a heartbeat he fired. The bullets collided and went wide, missing Tech who was quickly getting surrounded.

He aimed again, this time at the chains holding up the large doors. He shot. The first chain broke. Reaming at the other chain he fired again. His brothers could handle the droids, He’d handle the sniper. He shot again. The chain rattled but stayed in place. Another shot and the door dropped crushing the few droids underneath.

“Cross what’s happening? Was that you?” Hunter’s voice broke through the wall of concentration he put up.

“Little busy” He replied, moving positions to aim where the other nest would be and waited. One breath, two, three, there. Movement caught his eye as someone poked their head up. His finger tightened and he felt the familiar kick of his gun. The figure dropped and He stood.

By the time grabbed a speeder and made his way to the warehouse the fight was over and other than a few burns and cuts his brothers were safe.

Hunter

Hunter was having another bad day. He didn’t have them as often as he did when they were cadets. He had learned how to suppress it better. Or, Crosshair suspected, how to hide them better.

However, he still had days where he was easily overwhelmed. They all knew the signs. Talking quieter, flinching more, headaches, tensing at the smallest sound, not wanting people to talk or touch him, sitting further away from the group. Crosshair had had migraines before and remembered how awful those were, he was glad that he would never have to deal with increased senses.

Hunter was in the cockpit looking out the window. Everyone had tried to give him as much space as possible so they were making themselves busy elsewhere. He set a steaming cup of the tea he always drank when he had bad days down as gently as possible in front of Hunter and sat across from him. They sat in silence for a time. He watched Hunter slowly sip the tea.

“Thank you,” Hunter whispered

“You should go lay down. I’ll keep the others quiet.” Although he had lowered his voice Hunter still winced.

“I’m okay, We’re almost to the mission anyway.”

Stubborn as always. Wordlessly Crosshair checked the computers, there was an uninhabited planet not far from them. He entered the coordinates and the ship changed course.

Hunter raised a questioning eyebrow and he just gave him a smile.

“Where are we going?”

“Jargon. It’s quiet.”

“Cross I-” He glared at the dash that beeped and sighed. “Thank you”

He hummed in acknowledgment. The mission could wait a few hours, or even a few days, as long as his brothers were okay.

Echo

Crosshair couldn’t sleep. He and Echo had just gotten back to the ship after a week away. Tech, Hunter, and Wrecker were still away and weren’t expected until at least the next day. Why Hunter decided to make him go alone with the new guy was beyond him. He wasn’t interested in making friends. He had his brothers and that was more than enough.

He laid in his bunk staring up at the ceiling. The ship was eerily quiet with everyone being away. As much as he wanted to enjoy it, it filled him with dread. He had grown to love the noise and chaos that came with the bad batch and missed it when it was gone.

He heard movement and was pulled from his thoughts.

“No… No” Echo was murmuring. He sat up and got out of bed to see what was going on. Quietly making his way over he could see Echo tossing in his bunk. His first instinct was to call for Hunter. This was more of his thing. However, that wasn’t an option.

Kneeling beside the bed he put a hand on the clone’s shoulder. “Echo,” Echo responded by getting louder.

“No! Please!”

“Echo!” He shook him. “Wake up.”

The tossing stopped and his eyes opened with a deep breath. He tried to sit up but the hand stopped him. “Rex will come back for me!”

“He already has.” He removed his hand and leaned back to give the man some space. Dealing with nightmares wasn’t anything new. They all had them.

Clarity came into Echos eyes. “Crosshair?” He sat up, still breathing heavily.

“You had a nightmare.” It was a fact and yet Echo looked down ashamed. Crosshair watched carefully as Echo looked everywhere but him. “I’m sorry I woke you.” With that, he laid back down. Crosshair internally cursed both the regs and Hunter.

Nightmares were a part of life for the clones however the regs had something against talking about them. They preferred to keep the pain a secret, pretend it wasn’t there. Why they were taboo to talk about was beyond him. He had spent many nights listening to his brothers talk about theirs and he had spent almost as much time sitting up with at least one of his brothers because of his own nightmares.

While he understood why and even accepted bringing Echo aboard he still wasn’t that close to him and didn’t plan on getting close. He was, after all a reg. A reg who had special abilities now, but a reg nonetheless. He knew that Hunter wanted him to let Echo in the way he had let in his brothers. He also knew that he didn’t care what Hunter wanted. However, as he watched Echo close his eyes and pretend to fall back asleep his heart twisted.

He stood. “Come with me.” Without waiting he walked out of the ship. On his way out he grabbed a blanket.

A few moments after he walked out onto the ship’s ramp, Echo joined him.

“Crosshair? Is there a problem?” He still looked scared. Like any minute he’d be sucked back into his dreams never to return.

“Sit.” Echo did as was ordered. Sitting on the ramp. The black sky was filled with twinkling stars. Cross put the blanket over Echo’s shoulders and sat next to him.

Crosshair was looking straight ahead. “If you are going to be a part of the bad batch you need to learn to accept help.”

“I don’t know what you-”

“Fresh air is the best remedy for nightmares.” He turned to look at Echo. “There is no use in keeping them bottled up.”

They sat there most of the night. Echo told him about his time before being taken, his brothers, his commanders. He told him about Fives and Rex. He told him about his time as an unwilling traitor to the republic he loved.

They both silently promised to not talk about that night again. Echo didn’t want to be embarrassed and Crosshair didn’t want this responsibility any more than he needed to take it. Or at least that’s what he would say if pressed.

The next morning Crosshair was woken up by his brother’s arrival. Their part of the mission was a success. And as the five of them walked into the ship and Crosshair figured that maybe four brothers wouldn’t be so bad.

CT-9904

Good soldiers follow orders.

The rest of the bad batch was in the hanger. Predictable. They always thought they were a step ahead. Now he would show them how flawed their thinking really was. They were cowards trying to run away.

Hunter walked out from behind the crates. Reckless a small part of him thought. He ignored it. He had eyes on Wrecker, Echo, and Omega. All behind the crates. Tech was most likely in the ship.

“Best stand down Sargent,” He said. They were in a standoff and Crosshair knew who would win when the time came. The traitors wouldn’t hurt him. “Make it easy on yourself.”

“Have you lost your mind?” Hunter replied.

Yes

‘Quiet’

“We should’ve killed that Jedi. You disobeyed orders” Why didn’t Hunter follow the orders? If he had just been a good soldier, a good leader, then none of this would be happening.

“I did what I thought was right.” Hunters snapped, stepping forward.

“You never could see the bigger picture.” He shrugged. “Now surrender.”

Let them go.

Hunter glanced back at the group as they prepared for a firefight. Wrecker put his helmet on.

These are your brothers.

“Is that an order?” Hunter looked back at him.

He let out a chuckle. “I guess it is.”

Don’t do this.

“Well, I guess I’m disobeying that one too.”

They stayed staring at each other. Waiting to see who would make the first move. He spat out the toothpick.

Stop, please, no.

‘Quiet,’

His finger tightened as the thunder rumbled. He wanted Hunter to come peacefully. Why did Hunter never listen? He didn’t want to hurt them.

But he would do what he must.

In one motion he lifted his arm, set the blaster on it and fired. Hunter ducked and it hit the ramp of the ship. A part of him was screaming that this was wrong but he continued. The clones he was with open fired. Clone force 99 returned fire and two smoke bombs were thrown. They moved in.

He took aim again. This time using a heat sensor. He let off a few shots then waited. They needed to clear the smoke and when they did…

The sound of metal hitting metal rang through the air as the smoke cleared. Wrecker was in the middle of it and through one of the container lids, knocking some clones down.

Taking aim all he could see was the second one coming for him. He rolled out of the way as the containers fell where he was moments ago.

He aimed.

NO!

He shot, hitting Wrecker’s armour. He’d survive.

This time Wrecker fell. His brothers wouldn’t fall for it but the girl might and if he got a clear shot on the girl Hunter would soon follow.

Sure enough, a blonde head poked out from behind the crates and he fired again. He missed as she was pulled back undercover.

The ship started up. They couldn’t go. They needed to stay, needed to see that this was the right thing.

“Seal the bay doors!” He ordered. The clone to his right. He ran for the panel on the wall.

A light started flashing and a warning alarm beep. The door didn’t shut.

“Sir! Someone is overriding the controls.”

Tech.

He took aim once again. Hunter was giving Omega orders. She would be his target as they tried to leave.

“Only one way out Hunter. Your move.” He said.

Traitor.

The voice was loud and annoying. He shook it off.

He put his finger on the trigger.

“Go!”

Hunter and Echo stood and fired. Moving into the walkway, towards Wrecker. Towards the ship. Moving forward to cover he fired. He made it behind the crates and mentally kicked himself. Why wasn’t he aiming properly? This should be over already.

The last clone fell, hit by the oncoming fire. He turned his head to try and see where they were but couldn’t see them. Only the blaster bolts. He stood and took aim. Hunter was in his sights. This time he wouldn’t miss and he wouldn’t have mercy.

Stop!

His finger tightened on the trigger when suddenly electricity ran through the gun. He watched it drop and looked to where the shot was fired. Standing on the ramp was Omega. Blaster in hand.

He could swear he heard laughing from somewhere inside of him.

He pulled the blaster off of his hip and aimed. Omega shot first. Both the shots missing as he ran for cover.

You’ve lost. Let them go.

The ship lifted off and he ran towards it. Firing. None of his shots hit and soon the door was shut.

He stopped running once they were in space. He put the blaster away and took off his helmet. He looked into space as the mix of emotions bubbled inside of him. They left him. He failed his first mission. He knew Wrecker would live and his brothers would be okay. That’s all that matters.

[starilicious]

der lagi lekin (hunter x force-user!gn! reader + ep. 8 fix-it)

》 summary: tbb episode 8 fix-it featuring a force-user reader who used to be a jedi. reader is a part of tbb and in a relationship with hunter, but the squad–nor hunter–knows that reader is a force-user. (disclaimer: all of this was written before episode 9 was released! see a/n for an explanation ^_^) (another disclaimer: if you want just the hunter x reader comfort, please let me know and i'll finish it up and post it!)

》 word count: ~8k (yeah, it's a lot LOL)

click here to read on AO3

》 warnings: in-universe swearing, mental breakdown, some slight sensory overloads, pretty mild panic attack, light canon-typical violence, angst + some comfort, survivor's guilt from surviving order 66, no use of y/n, slightly plot heavy because i got way too carried away in writing (whoops?) [if i should add more warnings, please let me know!]

》 spoilers: major ones for tbb episode 8 "reunion"

》 a/n: okay look, i gotta confess: this wasn’t supposed to be an episode 8 fix-it. really. i’m actually glad cad bane won because we get to see that the clones don’t always win every fight... i think it makes for a better and more complex story. anyway, i started out writing just reader and hunter comfort after episode 8 ended. but i’m weak for omega because she reminds me so much of my younger siblings and i ended up writing a wholeass fix-it to save her (even tho cad bane is a downright badass). i kind of liked what i did with building up the plot so much that i might continue this story of force-user!reader with tbb. but that’s a tangent we can deal with later. if you would like a part two with the hunter x reader comfort this was originally intended to be, let me know!

as i said in the summary, i wrote all of this before episode 9 came out–just be aware of that. because it’s so long, it took me a while to edit, which is why i’m posting after ep. 9 was released. but without further ado, i hope you like it! <33

》 misc. notes:

• title of the fic is from the hindi song "der lagi lekin" from the film zindagi na milegi dobara. i linked the song in blue and linked the english translations in green in case you're curious! it's not necessary to listen or understand the song, but i thought it went well with the fic :)

“Everybody get down!” Wrecker yells. You and the squad immediately do as he instructs, diving towards the ground and covering your head. Stars, I hope this works.

The charges the six of you placed around the gigantic cone that surrounds the core cylinder explodes in a deafening blast. You curl into the tightest ball you can manage, breathing so hard that the HUD inside your helmet temporarily fogs up. Metal shards of the explosion rain down on you hard.

For a moment, it seems like nothing happened. But then you hear the telltale, ear-grinding creak of the durasteel and the squad is roughly catapulted forward from the force of the cone beginning to fall down.

You struggle to stand up as you lurch this way and that, trying to regain your balance and stabilize as Tech calls out, “Hold on!”

You quickly glance at the rest of the Bad Batch, trying to see if any of them were hurt. Other than the absolutely terrified look on Omega’s face, all is well considering the circumstances. The metal groans and begins its descent, taking your feeling of being grounded with it. The weightlessness is uncomfortably familiar to say the least, but you ignore it as the six of you scramble to hold on to the side of the cone. You certainly did your fair share of acrobatics back in the war, but feeling it hum around you...it’s too much. It’s too much. You elect to push it back into the depths of your brain. But it doesn’t leave.

It never really does.

Omega’s anxious whimpers come in faintly through your thick helmet and you whip around, frantically trying to find where she is. But before you can find her, the cone lands vertically on its head and the force is so violent that your stable hold on the durasteel is broken. Panicked, you quickly fire a grappling hook towards the ledge where you were previously hanging on. The hook catches and you stop abruptly, the jerky movement almost wrenching your arm out of its socket.

You look down to see Omega falling from someone’s grip and into Hunter’s arms. You can barely tell where anyone is thanks to the lack of light and the incessant motion.

The cone begins to topple onto its side and suddenly, your wire snaps from the tension. You let out a scream of surprise as you plummet downwards, wind rushing past your helmet. ForceIdon’twanttodieohmyMakerohno–

But you never hit the ground, instead being flung sideways as the cone tears into two. On trained instinct, you tuck yourself into a ball to try and roll in order to break your fall instead of using it. That time is long gone.

You land with a sickening thud and hiss in pain as your back hits the metal hard. You hear something crack, but whether it is your armor or something internal, you have absolutely no idea, and don’t have time to check before you black out.

✧✦✧

You jolt awake, a sound making its way into your consciousness. Finally, the damn place stopped moving. You take a few minutes to try and relieve the painful pressure in your chest, reaching up to rip your helmet off because you can’t breathe, you can’t breathe.

You tilt your head back as you struggle to take in air and let the adrenaline subside. You hear voices in the distance and you strain your ears to pick up on the sound as you quickly check yourself over. As far as you can tell, nothing major is broken, and at this point, that is all that matters. Though, your head is pounding, and for more reasons than one

“–nter.. port side... what… status?”

You can’t tell who is speaking, the message too far away for you to hear. But the bits and pieces are enough for you to know that it’s someone from the Bad Batch and that you weren’t unconscious for long. You stand up and dust yourself off before slowly walking to where you believe the origin of the sound is.

“–engine… got company.” A blaster sound and then an explosion rings through the quiet.

Your eyes widen and you quickly pick up the pace, getting your blaster ready as you pick your way through the sharp metal that is jutting out from the ground.

You click on your wrist comm. “Echo, you there?” A faint crackle before his voice comes through, but the signal is scratchy. You frown in frustration.

“–are you? Hunter is... port side,” Echo says and you smack your commlink to try and get the electronics to work, but it’s no use. The device is broken, most likely from the fall, you deduce.

“Meet… Marauder.”

You don’t bother to answer, knowing Echo would probably not even be able to hear what you had to say anyway. Without a signal booster or repeater, there’s no way you can get your transmission across the channel frequency.

It takes a few minutes, but you eventually find the night sky of Bracca blinking down at you at the end of the ripped off cone. You run out to find that you’re in the middle of where the cone broke in half. Okay, new plan. I need to find Hunter. Hunter will know what to do.

You scan your surroundings. The HUD isn’t picking up on any lifeforms near you, and you realize with sinking dread that you have no more options. Whichever piece you climbed through to get to your squadmates, it would take too long for you to search for them since you don’t know their coordinates and your comm isn’t working. Frankly, the Empire–Crosshair–would find you first. You have to use it.

You have to use the Force.

A wave of nausea overcomes you at the mere thought of it and you sway. In an attempt to ground yourself, you tear off your helmet to breathe some fresh air and end up keeling over as the bile rises in your throat. Nothing comes out. You can’t tell if that’s a positive or not.

You could have saved them. Someone. Anyone.

It itches at you in the back of your head, wishing to be let out of its cage. But you can’t. You can’t do it. What’s the use anyway? All you would be doing is saving yourself. The choice of surviving it all has haunted you ever since. Your head pounds in agony.

You saw it happen. You could have helped them. And you ran like a coward. Only ever concerned about yourself.

You inhale sharply as the scene flashes before your eyes, clones shooting at you and the other Jedi. The blaster fire. The confusion. The screams.

How pathetic.

The last statement, an echo of Crosshair’s words, bounces around in your brain. You clutch your head as you let out a heartbroken sob, knee deep in the dirt and metal and grief. Tears create clean tracks down your face as you finally break down, the flood of emotions bursting the dam open. At this point, you don’t know if the emotions are yours or the ones you previously felt through the Force, all of them swirling and blending into one. The bottled up anguish merged together when you attempted to cut yourself off from the Force after the clones–your friends–attacked.

The pain of their death is perhaps the worst of all. Horror courses through you as you finally process your friends and mentors dying around the galaxy, their deaths, their distress, their fear reverberating heavily throughout the Force. Each one cripples you further as you once again struggle to breathe.

It feels like light years pass when you finally calm down to a practically numb state of being. The scenes stop replaying behind your closed eyelids and the echoing shrieks die down to a faint, hollow whisper. You’re suddenly exhausted, limbs heavy and energy sapped. It was almost relieving to finally let the Force once again flow through your body, your nerves lightly tingling with potential despite how tired you feel. You collapse onto the ground and try to recenter yourself.

But despite finally acknowledging the loss, it doesn’t feel right. You didn’t get to say goodbye. You hadn’t been able to even think about them, much less honor them, too focused on going on the run to concentrate on anything beyond the next day’s survival. Even once you joined the Bad Batch, you were paranoid about their chips, about your friends turning on you at any moment. You were always extremely reluctant to engage in the Force, even at the worst of times.

With a start, you realize that you don’t need to worry about your squadmates. Their inhibitor chips are now gone. You… you are safe.

You let out a shocked laugh as it sinks in. A glimmer of hope, of peace. I’m safe.

You sit up then, criss-crossing your legs as you survey the broken landscape of Bracca. Despite the planet being a graveyard, you feel lucidly alive. Perhaps something died in you, that wretched day. But something else, slowly but surely, began growing in its place. It’s meek, but it’s there.

You let out a breath and close your eyes, reaching for the Force like it’s an old friend. It accepts your invitation with hesitation, joining hands with you as if you did not try beating it to death for days on end. You sink into the gentle lapping waves of the Force, extending into it and widening your scope.

There’s something that lurks beneath the surface, in the deep. Dark and sinister and so utterly painful. It calls to you, quiet and low. Enticing. Tempting. And something in you knows that it’s the reason for your previous life’s demise.

But you can feel Hunter’s–and Omega’s, you realize–presence near you in the Force. Even with your relatively damaged connection to the Force after Order 66, the Bad Batch’s Force auras were something you could always hone in on. You let yourself direct your focus to the duo, letting their emotions be your beacon to the acceptance of the Light side of the Force.

In a split second, you decide to not dive deeper into the Force. This isn’t the place nor the time to discover what is prowling in the endless yawning of the Force, to discover why everything happened. So you direct your concentration to the beings on the planet, feeling and breathing your way through the Life Force.

You freeze. There’s something here. No… someone. Your eyebrows furrow as you divert your attention away from your friends and other organisms to the peculiar source. Something about this person strikes you as familiar.

Your eyes snap open and you gasp. I’m not alone. A Force-sensitive. Someone survived. Giddy beyond belief, you snatch up your helmet and begin trekking your way across the wreckage in the opposite direction of Hunter and Omega before pausing. Whoever this person is doesn’t know about your presence on the planet.

And despite the fear you felt emanating off of them in the Force, you somehow knew they were safe, at least for now. And they would remain so if you have anything to say about it. Maker forbid anything that jeopardizes this person’s fragile safety. After all, you know best what it’s like to constantly flee scene after scene.

Staying away is the best thing to do. I’ll come back for you, whoever you are.

You double back and make quick work of getting across the debris as you focus your concentration on Hunter’s and Omega’s Force signatures. As you get closer to the port side, you hear Omega’s high voice. Through your HUD, you can see her small form. You grin. She disappears then, and on closer inspection, you figure she jumped through some broken cargo doors.

The entrance she and Hunter took is too high for you to jump up to, even with the aid of the Force. Combined with your wariness of probe droids, you decide to take a different route from the right side, climbing up the broken ship. The slick oil mixed with the water still present on the metal makes for a difficult trek, and you slip more times than you would like to admit.

Hunter’s gruff voice floats up towards you and you scramble the last few meters to the edge of a hole in the ceiling before pausing. The Force is itching at the back of your head. Something’s wrong.

You peek over the edge of the giant slab of durasteel that created the hole to see bodies in white armor littered everywhere–clones, you realize. Your heart pangs in sadness at the sight.

Slightly to your right, a blue figure and a techno-service droid stand in front of a ship and a frightened Omega stands behind a defensive Hunter. Your mouth drops open. Kriff.

Cad Bane.

A memory from near the beginning of the war hits you in full force. You and Anakin had taken some time on Coruscant to catch up with each other after you passed your trials and were promoted to Jedi Knight. He told you about a mission where he had to stop a bounty hunter who successfully stole a Jedi holocron. You remember how surprised you were when you heard the bitter disgust in Anakin’s voice. The ruthlessly cunning bounty hunter not only threatened to kill Ahsoka, but he murdered Master Ropal.

Judging by the looks of it, Hunter doesn’t know who he is. If the Anakin Skywalker had a difficult time with Cad Bane, there is no way in sithhell Hunter can take him on, even with his enhanced senses. Frankly, you seriously doubt you can either, especially with how rusty your Force skills are now. And that means this isn’t going to end well.

You watch carefully as you tune into the conversation.

“Ain’t you smart?” Bane smirks. “The kid’s got it all figured it out.”

“You’re in trouble now!” the droid exclaims, pointing at Hunter and Omega. You grit your teeth in annoyance.

“Who hired you?” Hunter asks. Stalling. Not a bad move, Hunter.

“Son,” Bane sighs, already done with the brief conversation. “That’s confidential information. Now hand her over.”

Omega stays behind Hunter, taking a knee as Hunter walks forward protectively. You bristle. How am I supposed to help from up here?

“She’s not going anywhere.”

Your eyes drift over the scene in a panic and you take in the fallen clones again. An idea pops into your head. It is desperate, but at this point, you don’t have much of a choice.

Bane mimics Hunter’s movement, walking forward and putting a hand near his belt. The tension is as thick as duracrete.

“That’s unfortunate… for you.”

You grab the long barrel piece from your belt, fitting it over your blaster hurriedly as the showdown begins. Out of the corner of your eye, you see them staring each other down and you can’t help but roll your eyes. Men.

During the war, Crosshair helped you re-engineer your weapon so you could put together various pieces in the field to make a blaster gun that loosely resembled his own sniper. Seeing the clones reminded you of him. A wave of sadness washes over you, but you shake your head. Now is not the time.

You screw on the telescopic sight and set up your makeshift sniper. You peer through the viewfinder and find Bane’s chest. Your finger tenses over the trigger.

You let yourself sink deep into the Force, let it guide your actions. Inhale. Exhale. I can do this. As you relax, the mellow warmth you missed so dearly washes over you, gently eroding the torment in your mind and heart, guiding your focus to the here and now. Trust in the Force.

Wait.

Wait.

Now.

You fire two bolts straight into your target the same exact moment Bane and Hunter shoot each other. Hunter’s shot hits the droid, breaking off its leg. Bane’s shot hits directly in Hunter’s chest, as yours did Bane. Both men immediately fall backwards and slam into the ground.

“My booster!” Oh. So not a leg. Got it.

“Hunter!”

Kriff kriff kriff. You jump down nimbly from your hiding spot in the ceiling and immediately sprint towards the duo. Is he dead? You would unapologetically release sithhell on Bane if he killed the man you love.

Omega panics as she tries to wake Hunter up, continuously calling his name before taking a glimpse of her surroundings. Before you can react, she grabs her bow and pulls it taut, aiming at you. She looks petrified.

“Whoa! Omega, it’s me!” you exclaim, holding your hands up in surrender. She takes a moment to actually look at you before sagging in relief. Suddenly, the droid comes speeding out of nowhere and Omega shoots, the energy bolt whizzing past your waist and straight into the droid before it can attack you from behind.

The shot rings true and the grumpy robot falls. You turn around to grab at its exposed parts under its head and yank them out to make sure it can’t power on again.

“Thanks, Omega. I owe you one,” you say and Omega gives you a proud smile.

You place a comforting hand on her shoulder before kneeling down to shake Hunter awake, but it doesn’t work. You take a moment to analyse Hunter’s Life Force. It’s a bit dimmer, but it’s constant, meaning he’s out cold and doesn’t have the life draining out of him. You let out a sigh of relief. He’s alive. You glance back to see Bane still not moving. Good.

“What’re we gonna do?” Omega whispers as you both peer down at Hunter. His armor is smoking from Bane’s blaster shot and you exhale through your teeth, trying to come up with a plan. You slip off a glove to check Hunter’s pulse–it’s strong. You don’t want to leave Omega alone, even if Bane is unconscious, but you aren’t sure you have a choice.

“Well we can’t carry him to safety, neither of us are strong enough for that,” you think aloud, gears churning in your head. You would have to wait for help, even if you were sitting ducks.

Briefly, you entertain the thought of taking Bane’s ship. The only problem is you don’t know what trackers or other gadgets are in there–it’s too costly of a risk and a price you weren’t willing to pay. You sigh, resigned.

“Omega, you try to comm the others and see if you can wake Hunter up. I’m going to go inside this guy’s ship and see if I can find something that can help us. We have to get out of here before the bounty hunter wakes up,” you instruct and Omega nods, youthful determination flooding back into her eyes.

You leave her to it, walking cautiously towards Bane’s ship. You look down at him. His armor is smoking in two places from the shots you fired. Based on what you see, he’s still unconscious, and his Life Force reflects the same conclusion. How long that would remain, you don’t know. Which means you need to work fast.

You board the ship while you remove the sniper attachments from your blaster and clip them back onto your belt. You keep your guard up as you look around. No droids. Guess that techno-service droid is his one and only.

In an effort to slowly re-familiarize yourself with the Force, you send out a quick pulse through it to see if there are any lifeforms aboard the ship, relaxing when you find none. You rummage through all the cabinets that you discover, looking high and low as you try to locate something of use. The secret compartment in the cockpit proves to be the fruitful reward to your search. With a wave of your hand, you unlock it with ease. Bingo.

Credits. Bags of them. And they’re unmarked creds, which make your score even better. Hopefully, it would be enough to pay off your debt to Cid and give the Havoc Marauder some much-needed upgrades.

Usually, you would feel bad about stealing from someone, but considering this was a bounty hunter – Cad Bane, no less – you figure you can risk treading the grey area of your moral code.

You grab as many bags as you’re able, stuffing them inside your backpack and clipping the rest onto your belt. At this moment, you’re incredibly grateful to Tech and Echo for designing a sturdy utility belt that fits you well. The standard ones were for clones and you definitely were not a clone.

You exit the cockpit and head to the second level of the ship to see if there’s anything else you can find. A stack of crates sits in the corner across from what you assume to be a prison. You scrunch your nose in disgust as you open one to find medical supplies. Bacta patches and gel, vitapaste, rations, water, gloves, sanitary napkins–it was all there. Delighted, you close the crate and click the repulsor to make it levitate. Oh how you love technology.

You turn around and walk back up the stairs to leave the ship. You freeze at the exit ramp. You have got to be karking kidding me.

“Sorry lil’ lady.”

Cad Bane stuns Omega in front of your eyes before rounding on you and immediately fires. In a desperate attempt to save yourself, you throw your hands up and the honeyed power of the Force rushes through every fibre of your being. The blaster bolts slow down to a snail-like crawl and your eyes widen. How did I…?

Never mind how you argue with yourself. Time to get out of here!

You tiptoe around each bolt, the effort of keeping them in stasis becoming more difficult with each passing moment. You grit your teeth as your arms shake, but you keep going until you are finally off the ramp. You lower your arms and the energy hits the inside of the ship, spazzing out the blinking controls inside.

Bane turns to you in surprise, astonished at how you’re suddenly in front of him. You don’t give him the luxury of processing the event and immediately punch him in the face with as much strength as you can muster. Bane pitches backwards and collapses onto the ground, just as he did the first time. You grab your stun blaster and shoot him as extra assurance. You really did not want this to repeat again. Hopefully he never wakes up with a memory of what I just did...

“Now stay down,” you mutter to a knocked out Bane, cradling your now injured hand. You have no idea how Wrecker ever does this because wow your hand is killing you.

You have to say, you’re pretty proud of yourself for being able to render him unconscious not once, but two times. You wish you could tell Anakin–the thought saddens you. He’s probably dead too.

With that vividly cheery thought, you stagger back from the ramp in exhaustion, weary from the sudden surge of the Force still ebbing and coursing through your body.

None of the Bad Batch knew you used to be a Jedi–not even Hunter. It was something only a few of your closest Jedi friends and the Jedi Council knew about.

But after what happened today, with Rex helping your squadmates get their inhibitor chips out, with you finally letting the Force in… maybe it is time to tell them. The secrecy wouldn’t be needed anymore now that you were sure you were safe around your friends. But clearly, the universe wanted to throw a nasty vibroblade in your plans by knocking Hunter and Omega unconscious and having the best kriffing bounty hunter in the galaxy be hot on your heels.

You take a few seconds to get your breath back and regain your mental energy. You aren’t out of the woods yet. You run inside Bane’s ship to grab the crate of medical supplies before sprinting back out towards Hunter and Omega.

You lean down and pat Omega’s cheek gently, trying to wake her up, but she’s out cold. Why is everyone around me unconscious? Frankly, you’re equally amused and terrified by the situation laid out in front of you.

You sigh, looking around to see if you can find some cover. There’s a giant sheet of durasteel to your left, big enough to act as a barrier in case trouble comes knocking. You bend down and pick Omega up before placing her down cautiously, leaning her small body against the metal. You repeat the action with the crate you found.

The third time proves to be much more difficult. Hunter certainly isn’t as muscular as Wrecker, but he sure as sithhell isn’t as light as Omega. You tap your foot nervously, trying to figure out a way for you to lift him. Yes, you could use the Force, but you don’t want to alert the other Force-sensitive on the planet. If they knew about your existence, it could put them in danger, and that was the last thing you wanted.

Giving up, you place your hands underneath Hunter’s armpits and effectively drag him all the way over, propping him up as you did Omega. You cringe at the sound of his armor grating the floor. There are sure to be dirty scuff marks on it now. Sorry Hunter.

Just as you’re about to sit down next to him, heaving deep breaths from the exertion, you pause. A warning is practically blaring in the Force and you tense, urgently trying to figure out the cause.

“Not again,” you mumble under your breath. You can’t handle any more action today. With Hunter and Omega both down, and your extreme fatigue from engaging in the Force, you don’t know how much of a fight you can put up. Not to mention you never trained as a soldier. There was a reason why you left the military planning strategies to the Bad Batch.

You hold your blaster close to your chest as you scan the environment. Bane is immobile and so is the dismantled techno-service droid. So what’s wrong?

Ten nerve-wracking seconds pass before you get your answer. Clone voices waft up to your hiding spot and you bite your cheek in frustration as your head continues to pound. Your headache still hasn’t stopped.

There is no way you can fight them all off, especially if Crosshair is with them. They are too far away for you to get a read on how many there are, and frankly, you’re much too scared to even peek around the durasteel to count.

One of Tech’s previous statements floats through your mind. About three attack shuttles worth.

You can feel your heart thumping wildly in your chest, blood rushing through your ears as anxiety ties your stomach into knots. I can’t do this, I can’t do this, Ican’tdothis.

You take deep breaths, doing your best to clear your mind and focus. You had to do this. There is no other option other than surrendering or dying. No, damnit, you would go down fighting until the Life Force left you.

You peer just past the edge of the metal to see at least twenty clones heading your way. Certainly not ideal, but you bide your time. If you started shooting now, you couldn’t use the element of surprise to your advantage and they would easily overwhelm you. But once they’re close enough, you hope you can at least take a couple out before having to resort to using the Force. It isn’t ideal, but it’s all you have.

Honestly, you don’t know if you could get out of this one alive, much less protect Hunter and Omega too. Maker help me.

It throws you off when they finally come into sight–you see how plain the clones’ armor looked without paint. You never really noticed it before since you were always running for your life in those circumstances. But now that you think about it, you are so used to seeing bright blue or green or yellow that the alabaster white just seems so… odd.

“Looks like a big fight happened here.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. All these men are dead.”

Now.

You whip your body around the metal and immediately begin shooting as fast as you can pull the trigger, trying to make every shot count. The troopers hesitate for just a moment, most likely due to their surprise of you being there. But that second is all you need.

You take out the three men closest to you before jumping back behind the metal as their barrage of fire rains down on you. You do your best to shoot back and manage to take out one more clone, but they’re beginning to gain too much ground too fast. I can do this. I have to do this.

As far as you can tell, Crosshair isn’t with the clones attacking you, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t set up shop somewhere nearby, waiting to shoot you.

You shudder. It’s a chilling thought.

You grab one of your last detonators from your belt and hurl it as far as you can. The rapid beeping rises quickly in pitch before the charge explodes. Anguished cries reverberate throughout the area, and you briefly feel sorry for having to take such drastic measures as you feel their Force signatures dim swiftly. But you don’t have a choice.

Peeking around the corner, you count around eight to ten clones down. Not bad considering the circumstances.

You continue shooting as much as you can but now the troopers are much too close for comfort and you’re feeling overwhelmed. The durasteel you are using for cover isn’t meant to take this kind of damage, and the integrity of your shield is quickly waning as told by the constant creaks and groans. You don’t know what to do. Will we make it?

In your haste of shooting first and panicking later, you don’t notice Hunter groaning, finally waking up. And before you have time to even glance at him, the familiar hum of the Havoc Marauder and its lights shine down on you. Your sag in relief. Looks like Omega was able to comm them after all. Never before have you been so glad to see the beat-up hunk of junk. (You would never say that to Tech though–the Marauder is his baby, his pride and joy.)

Echo, Wrecker, and Tech all race off the ship, guns ablazing. Wrecker and Tech stand guard, serving as cover fire while Echo bends down to help you out.

“Hunter, wake up!” Echo hisses and smacks his helmet lightly. Hunter mumbles in pain as he starts to move, trying to look around as his HUD boots back up. Seriously? Now you wake up? you think sarcastically. But you’re much more relieved at the fact that he has actually woken up.

“What happened? Where’s Omega?” Wrecker bellows, worried.

“She’s right here, I’ve got her!” you shout back at the same time Echo says, “He was shot in the chest plate.”

You pocket your blaster and gather the young girl in your arms with every last bit of strength you have left. You aren’t strong enough to hold her in one arm and shoot with the other. That is much more up Wrecker’s alley.

“We have to get him on board!” Tech exclaims as he helps Echo support Hunter. You pick Omega up in both arms and bolt for the ship as fast as you can while yelling at Tech to grab the crate of supplies.

“Incoming!” Wrecker calls out as a fresh wave of troopers advance towards the six of you. You grunt as you deposit Omega in a chair near the controls before pulling out your blaster and helping Wrecker shoot down the men racing towards you.

“Got him. Tech, fly us out of here!” Echo commands while Wrecker makes a gesture for them to get on the ship faster. Hunter stumbles as he does his best to upright himself.

“Go go go!” Wrecker exclaims. Tech shoves the crate next to Omega’s seat and makes a beeline for the cockpit as you continue shooting, moving to the side to make space for Echo and Hunter to come on board. Wrecker quickly climbs in right after them and the ramp closes shut.

Tech immediately pilots the Havoc Marauder up and away from the scene. You vaguely hear the sound of blaster fire hitting the bottom of the ship while you drop your blaster on the ground and wrench Hunter’s helmet off in a panic. You take his face in your hands as you scan him quickly, trying to figure out if he’s hurt or not.

Hunter bats your hands away. “He... he took Omega,” he says and you shake your head. Wrecker pipes up from behind you to respond.

“Who? Crosshair?”

“The bounty hunter,” Hunter mutters as he rubs a hand over his face. Before Wrecker can answer again, you step in.

“No, he didn’t. I took him down. And no, he’s not dead,” you tack on quickly when you see Echo open his mouth. Echo shakes his head fondly and you just grin at him.

“She’s right here,” Echo says instead, pointing to Omega’s sleeping figure. Hunter turns in surprise to see that his brother is indeed telling the truth.

“How...?” Hunter’s voice trails off. Echo and Wrecker look at you expectantly, and Hunter follows suit. You sigh and take off your helmet, setting it down on the ledge next to the controls. You don’t look at them.

“It’s a long story.”

You don’t have a chance to elaborate any further because Tech walks in, interrupting the conversation.

“I’ve made the jump to hyperspace. There was a cruiser in the atmosphere, but I was able to quietly go past them by disguising our ship as a bounty hunter’s. They didn’t interfere. I put in the coordinates for Ord Mantell. I estimate our time of arrival to be five hours and thirty two minutes,” Tech reports and Hunter nods while you voice your thanks.

“Looks like we got time!” Wrecker says cheerily, pulling out an extra chair. Tech looks to you in confusion.

“Did I miss something significant?” Tech asks, concerned about the information he did not receive as he adjusts his goggles. You shake your head but now, all eyes are back on you.

“She was just about to tell us how she saved Omega,” Hunter supplies helpfully and Tech nods in understanding. He grabs a chair as well and sits down, interested in hearing what you have to say.

You look around the room, realizing you can’t get out of it. You are exhausted and just want to sleep but based on the looks you are getting from the boys, there is no way you can leave without giving a sufficient answer.

You sit down on a chair in between Omega and Echo and begin explaining.

“When the cone fell, it separated. I got knocked out when I hit the ground, but I don’t think I broke anything,” you quickly reassure as Tech grabs a datapad to scan your vitals.

“After I came to, I tried comming Echo, but my commlink was broken – I could only hear bits and pieces of what he said. There were some voices near me so I just followed them and–” you pause, not sure if you should tell them what happened. What you experienced, what you found out. “–I saw Hunter and Omega. The ledge I found was way too high for me to jump to, so I climbed up the side of the wreckage to see them and the bounty hunter facing off,” you say, choosing to leave the detail out. It was too personal. You still needed time.

All of them are listening intently, hanging on to every word you’re saying. Hunter’s gaze on you is heavy and loaded with questions. Tech is still tapping away on the datapad, but you know you have his full attention. Multitasking may not be possible for regular humans, but it definitely was for Tech.

“When I saw the bounty hunter, I knew Hunter wasn’t going to win,” you mumble sheepishly, rubbing the back of your neck. Hunter winces at your statement and you rush to explain why.

“Hunter, you have to trust that I genuinely don’t doubt your abilities. You are much more of a soldier than I will ever be. But this bounty hunter is one of the best, if not the best in the entire galaxy. He’s gone against the Jedi, and won. Based on what Anakin told me at the beginning of the war, Cad Bane is ruthless. He tortured Master Ropal and killed him. Believe it or not, I think he tried to abduct Chancellor Palpatine. Even Anakin had a difficult time fighting him.”

A tense quiet settles over you all as you mentally revisit your conversation with Anakin, and later with Ahsoka. She told you how it was one of the first times she was genuinely afraid that she was going to die, or at least get hurt very severely.

Echo’s rough voice shakes you out of your reverie. “How do–did you know General Skywalker?” he asks, clearly confused at how you referred to him on a first-name basis. You mentally facepalm yourself. How did I forget he served as part of the 501st? You feel incredibly stupid.

You could make up a lie, of course, but it wouldn’t be worth it. Hunter’s enhanced senses and Tech’s vitals scan could probably pick up on your biological signs, not to mention you would feel terribly guilty about not being honest. I promised myself I would tell them…

You blow out a nervous breath, deciding to at least give them something. They deserved that much.

“I’m–well, I was a Jedi,” you admit, staring down at your feet. You can’t bring yourself to look at them, feeling almost… ashamed.

The boys are shocked into silence and you cringe. There was probably a much better way for you to say that, but now it was out there. Yet the pressure that had been weighing down on you since you let the Force back in didn’t lessen.

“What?” Wrecker questions, thrown completely for a loop. “You’re a Jedi?”

Before you can answer, Tech pipes up. “When I reviewed your medical data, there was no note about an elevated midi-chlorian count or any sort of connection to the Force. Additionally, there is no documentation of you serving as a General or a Commander during the war in the Republic military records. How were you a Jedi? And why aren’t you one now? You used past tense in your sentence,” Tech adjusts his goggles as he attempts to register this new information that conflicted with his previous knowledge.

You sigh, drumming your fingers on your thigh. “I left the Jedi Order before the war ended. I promise I’ll explain everything in detail later, but for now, you have to understand that I’m just a Force-user. I trained as a Jedi, but I’m not a Jedi, not anymore,” you clarify, lifting your head up to make eye contact with each of them.

“Aw man, that’s so cool. You have to show us your cool mind tricks sometime!” Wrecker smiles and you agree to his request. It warms your heart to see him so excited.

“It makes sense. You must have seen the regs turn on the Jedi but didn’t know why. When you started traveling with us, you didn’t know if we would turn on you too, even though we’re not regs,” Hunter realizes, and you nod in affirmation. You’re secretly relieved by the fact that he doesn’t seem angry, just… just thoughtful.

“And then when I saw what happened to Crosshair, I knew I couldn’t risk ever telling any of you. But when Rex told us about the chips…” you trail off.

Echo picks up your sentence quickly. “You figured out you would be safe with us if we got our chips removed. No wonder you were so insistent on following what Rex said.”

You smile at the last part, a bit embarrassed. He wasn’t wrong. You were probably even more insistent than Rex was on telling them to get their inhibitor chips out. Better to be safe than sorry you told them. Though at the time, you hadn’t even thought about how removing their chips would impact you and your abilities. You were too focused on keeping the Force out of your body to entertain that thought.

Wrecker suddenly gets up and gathers you in a bone-crushing hug. “Well you don’t have to worry now! We got those stupid chips out of our heads, which means I promise we won’t kill you!” he says cheerfully and you can’t help but laugh as you hug him back, the knot in your chest beginning to unravel. You could always count on Wrecker’s wonderfully big heart to raise your spirits.

“You’re right, big guy. It’s honestly a relief. One less thing I have to worry about.”

Wrecker lets go of you and you pick up where you left off. “As I was saying, Cad Bane isn’t a bounty hunter we can take lightly. Crosshair helped me re-engineer my blaster to turn it into a pseudo sniper with attachable parts during the war. Because I was so high up, I could get a clear shot of Bane. From that vantage point, I shot him at the same time Hunter and Bane shot each other.”

Echo’s mouth drops open. “Damn.”

“What I didn’t expect was for Hunter to be rendered completely unconscious. So I told Omega to try to comm you guys while I went on Bane’s ship to see if I could find anything. And I did.” You pull off your backpack and dump out the contents. Bags of credits come tumbling out. You unhook the few bags on your belt and toss them into the pile.

“Bane had a secret compartment with a lot of credits. So I took them and that crate I yelled at Tech to get,” you explain as you reach into the bag to show off the Imperial credits.

Tech’s eyes widen as he lifts up a bag to inspect it. “I will have to calculate how much you took and mark it in the inventory, but based on my initial deduction, this may be enough for us to upgrade the Marauder and provide sustenance for at least a few months.”

“Nice one!” Wrecker compliments and you grin in response. “What’s in the crate?” he asks, walking over to lift up the top.

“Medical supplies. We barely had any left so I figured I might as well take that too,” you shrug as Hunter gets up to join Wrecker to peer at the contents.

“What happened after that? You said you told Omega to comm the others, which means she was awake. Did she get hurt while I was out? Is that why you look so exhausted?” Hunter inquires, astute as ever.

You bite your lower lip. “When I was getting off his ship with the goods, he had woken up again. Before I could do anything, he stunned Omega and then immediately shot at me,” you pause, wondering if you should elaborate on how you got out of the situation. You decide to come clean on this part.

“I… I don’t know how, but I was able to stop the blaster bolts and keep them – and Bane – in stasis with the Force. The problem was that it took a lot out of me. After not really using the Force for so long, my energy reserves were pretty much gone,” you sigh, absentmindedly rubbing your arms. Your muscles are still sore from the event.

“After that, I punched him and knocked him out again. I dragged you and Omega away from the ship so that I could protect you, and I ended up using that giant piece of durasteel as cover to fight off those clones. Then you guys came and rescued us and that’s that,” you finish, suddenly fatigued from the conversation. You slump back into your chair, perfect posture be damned.

“Wow,” is all Echo says, surprised by your strength. It took some serious stamina to be able to withstand so much for so long. Echo remembered seeing Commander Tano and General Skywalker be exhausted after some especially intense missions where they constantly had to use the Force.

“Yeah,” you mutter, massaging your dominant hand. It is still throbbing from the mean hook you threw at Bane. You don’t have any regrets. You glance at Omega’s sleeping figure and soften. The things I would do for this girl.

“Looks like I taught you well!” Wrecker laughs and you smile. When you first met the Bad Batch, Wrecker took it upon himself to teach you basic self-defense and how to overtake an opponent intelligently. Even though you already learned how to fight as part of your Jedi and military training, you couldn’t say no to him when he looked so excited. But it paid off because he’s right. Wrecker did teach you well.

“You did. You basically saved my ass out there with your amazing teaching skills,” you chuckle, glancing down at your hand. You think you’ll probably have to cover it in bacta gel to speed up the healing process before having yet another realization. (You seem to be having a lot of those today.)

I can just Force-heal. Before, you couldn’t Force-heal because it would look suspicious if something healed too fast. But now that they know, you don’t have to solely depend on medical supplies anymore.

Tech, as always, is right on cue. “Is your hand alright? For you to render Bane unconscious must have been no easy feat. Not to mention that according to the medscan I just took, you have a mild concussion, most likely due to your fall. I can run a medical diagnostic test to start and then run more specific tests to combat your pain...” Tech mutters the last part to himself, brain running light years faster than his mouth as his fingers fly over the datapad.

You debate it for a moment before nodding. “That would be great, Tech–thanks. But right now, I’m exhausted, so I’m going to go and crash in my bunk. Wake me up if I need to punch someone again,” you joke before shuffling away from your squadmates. You ruffle Omega’s hair affectionately as you pass by her and pick up your blaster from the ground before climbing down the ladder. You don’t notice Hunter’s troubled gaze or how his Force signature sours a bit as you leave.

You quickly clean up and throw on some bacta patches on a few nasty bruises. You sit down on your bed and pull the privacy curtain before deciding to open up your secret compartment next to your mattress. You stare down at the objects, the only things you have left as a reminder of the past. You reach down for one of them, about to touch it when you stop.

You shake your head and shut the drawer. Deciding to finally, finally hit the hay, you’re out like a light as soon as your head hits the pillow. Dealing with the Force and healing yourself could be done later. Not even your constant pain and crippling worry about your family friends could keep you up any longer.

please consider reblogging! it really helps me and is super encouraging ^_^

[tomoeakatsuki]

Okay hear me out, part 10.

First episode, season three of TBB.

(From now on, this is spoiler on the new season)

Omega with long hair.

She looks older, and a little different. But in a good way.

The point is, that she reminds me of little Powder (Jinx, from Arcane).

Think about it: big eyes, little ponytail, tuft on the left, innocent child who has seen more than she should, found family.

Sure they have different stories, but.

[tomoeakatsuki]

Okay, hear me out, part 2.

14th episode, first season of TBB.

Right just after Rex's call, when they're deciding whether to go and rescue Gregor or continue the mission for Cid, Hunter listens to everyone's motivations and after that, he looks to Echo, as if to have confirmation or help in making a decision on what to do.

This is Echo's answer, a very grumpy and menacing look: "we're going to help Rex or I won't talk to you anymore", something like this, but said with zero words, only his eyes - they're very expressive, by the way.

And Hunter, right after, says that they're going to save this unknown clone, because yes.

The question is, who is really in charge? Hunter or Echo? Or both?

(yeah, I'm rewatching TBB for the nth time... But with a lot of attention for small details)

[tomoeakatsuki]

Okay, hear me out, part 6.

5th episode, season two of TBB.

Some time ago I saw a post where it was said that in like five minutes Echo and Hunter share three glances.

Well, in the entire episode they share five and half glances (half because one is Hunter that looks at Echo and Tech together).

One when Phee is recounting the umpteenth adventure and Tech says "she changes it every time" - a bored one, they only want to drink in peace (especially Echo)

One when Phee finds the compass and suggests to go treasure hunting, and Omega beg to accept - a surprised one, more like "we're serious?"

One when Echo remembers how the last treasure hunt is gone - a "I don't want to pass that shit again" and "I only want to drink".

One when they go down from the Marauder and Echo discovers how the compass works before Omega takes it from his hand - a "we're really going to do it?" from Hunter and "you accepted" from Echo.

Half when they found the entrance in the mountain - another "we're going in?" from Hunter, "Well, we don't have so much choice since Omega follows Phee very closely" from Tech, and "It's only for the kid" from Echo.

And the last one, when they actually enter the mountain, after they pass the first riddle, and Echo and Hunter are the last to pass the door - a "we go?" "We go".

I don't know what to think about this. But I've a question.

What happened between these two during the delivery of the nerf nuggets?

[tomoeakatsuki]

Okay hear me out, part 9.

16th episode, season two of TBB.

The face of Hunter when he sees the imperial ship on which is Omega taking off.

He cry. A single tear, but he cry.

Echo has to wake him up because they need to leave. "Hunter, we need to live!" he shouts more rudely than usual. And Hunter wakes up.

But after.

"I lost Hemlock's ship... we can't find where he's taking Omega. I'm sorry"

They are simply broken.

For Hunter is the first time he lost someone - with Crosshair is different, he chooses to stay with the Empire, he wasn't taken away.

For Wrecker is another pain, to be added to the one from Tech's death.

For Echo is the sensation of being useless again, and the loss of a loved one.

"We'll find her. And we won't stop until we do." These are the words of a broken person, who is letting the anger take control over him.

A type of person that can be very dangerous.

And they're three.

[tomoeakatsuki]

Okay hear me out, part 8.

15th episode, season two of TBB.

We have to talk about this.

Tech death.

First, before he decides to fall, he looks around him. On his right, on his left, over him. Why? He was calculating a possible solution to avoid his fall. Or, he was searching for a chance to save himself during the fall.

On that planet, there are big birds (I don't remember their name). In the Bad Batch, but also in all Star Wars, birds are a symbol of life - Ashoka - or redemption - Crosshair. Probably, during Tech's fall we don't see any birds because of the fog, so Tech can technically save himself.

Second, is a phrase he says.

"Plan 99". Desperation of the batch, mostly Wrecker. And then Tech says "when we've ever followed orders?"

The first time I heard that I thought that was out of place. But rewatching it, I had an idea.

Tech says that they have never followed orders, right? So, maybe he won't follow plan 99, but he will follow something else, I don't know.

[tomoeakatsuki]

Okay hear me out, part 7.

13th and 15th episode, season two of TBB.

The start of the episode is amazing. In a bar, exchanging money for an object, teasy talk, undercover men. And then the chaos.

I love this type of beginning (probably because it is very western style).

But we're not gonna talk about it.

First, I would have liked to see a scene where Phee convinced the Batch to go on another mission with her, and maybe another mission with her before this one, where they have an attunement that is lacking in hunt of The Heart of the Mountain and can only have developed by working together.

But we don't have it, so let's talk about Phee and Tech.

When they're on the Marauder, headed who knows where, before Cid's transmission Phee is near Omega, but after the transmission, she is near Tech's seat, a hand on the backrest. She seems protective in Tech's regards while the others are talking about what to do with Cid. And when she gives the coordinates to Pabu leaning forward, Tech smiles at her. I think they've developed something, a soft type of friendship that seems very them.

After they land on Pabu, when Phee says "Missed me, Shep?" hugging him and Wrecker comments "You've got some competition" to Tech, Tech is so confused about what Wrecker said, and Hunter can't help but smirk.

Wrecker, big boy, you know something that the nerd doesn't. Good job.

But it's not over here.

The way he looks back to her, just to be sure that it's all ok. And Phee can understand it, so she reassures him with a simple phrase.

And after there's the dinner scene, that doesn't need explanation.

(Hunter, we know that a hurricane is coming, but between them should go? Not beside them? Your new name can be killjoy, if you continue)

At the end of the episode, when Hunter says to Shep that they will rest on Pabu a little longer, Tech responds "I was thinking the same thing" and shares a look with Phee. We know the power of the look, at this point.

They're happy to stay a little longer together.

Let's talk about a scene two episodes after.

They're leaving for Tarkin's fortress, and Tech is outside the ship, apparently doing something on his pad. He's waiting, and not for so long, because Phee arrives and she doesn't seem happy.

Phee is angry, because he didn't say anything. Tech is nervous, because he doesn't know how to handle the situation - Phee never seems angry before, and he doesn't know if he will be back soon. So he sticks to shorts and military phrases, the ones with whom he's comfortable. Phee doesn't like this, but she understands Tech.

Tech is not so simple to understand, but Phee can. In a different way compared to the Batch, but she can. And this is the thing I like most about their relationship. Phee knows what she can ask Tech without making him uncomfortable, she doesn't press him, she kindly invites him to do new things.

So, she ironizes about the situation.

And she let's see a little about her true feelings. She is clearly jealous that Tech can do something with other women. Only because she thinks that he is a beautiful man and other women will want him (that's the way a woman's mind works if they care about a man, I can assure you this).

Tech is embarrassed, because he can't understand what Phee is implying, or he doesn't want to make it clearer. We don't know.

[tomoeakatsuki]

Okay, hear me out, part 3.

15th episode, first season of TBB.

When Hunter and Crosshair are waiting for the rest of the batch in the control room and Hunter is trying to convince Crosshair that he doesn't have to do what the Empire wants him to do, that's not him it's the chip, etc.

The eyes. Hunter's eyes.

in this picture it is not so visible, but in this scene his eyes are grey, not brown, grey.

Probably it's only a light play that makes his eyes less darker, but we don't see his eyes brown like always until the rest of the batch come.

[tomoeakatsuki]

Okay. Hear me out.

First episode of TBB, season one.

When they are about to leave to kill Separatist rebels who are actually Saw Gerrera's and Omega stops Hunter to tell him that Tarkin wants all of them dead, it's dangerous etc.

In the background, while Hunter and Omega are talking, you can hear Wrecker say "Hunter, we're leaving!" or something similar.

But it doesn't sound like Hunter, but more like father.