#silence of the clones

[zyphnn]

late nights on the Negotiator

@codywanweek day 4: flimsiwork and tea

[solsilverpine]

Dedicating this piece to my wife @hayesflint, who yelled "Wait, Scorch has s*** armour" unprompted in the middle of last weeks bad batch episode 💛

I always knew I'd draw fanart of a clone eventually and honestly I'm only like 30 percent surprised Scorch doing a Nightwing pose is what finally motivated me.

[imperial-daffodil]

The Emperor's Love - watercolour ink, watercolour, alcohol markers, and pigment ink on paper.

. . . He Weaves, He Makes, He Gives, He Takes.

He Reigns, He Conducts, The Grandest Orchestra of All, That of Perfectly Crafted Dolls.

. . .

I have but a little poem this time, so here is an abstract from a song that I love, it is from Black Math, the song is called Sirens:

"How open is Your empty space I’m moving in We’ll see the end of something unfamiliar I saw your hand You took awhile The cold was crisp I thought your warmth Would break the silence But all I hear are sirens

You take me Far, I’m far from safety Lines where you try to chase me On hollow ground I’m navigating this mystery While I follow you into your history"

. . .

Link to the song under the cut:

[neyswxrld]

never the same

POV Hunter, no pairing

summary: While Omega is on a mission, Hunter realises that it never will be like the good old times again.

warnings: a lot of nostalgia

words: ~1410

a/n: hello there! this is it. the final fic for @summer-of-bad-batch. with that i fulfilled all 28 of the offered prompts, and i'm actually very proud of myself for that. this event definitely was one of my favorite adventures this year, and it definitely motivated me to write a lot more. thanks for hosting this! prompts: radio silence and "yeah, kid, we're fine."

MASTERLIST

SUMMER OF BAD BATCH MASTERLIST

"Still nothin'?" is the first thing Wrecker asks when he comes down the stairs in the morning.

He looks still a little rough from sleep, his shirt is wrinkled and his short, gray beard still manages to stand up in different directions.

A grin appears on Hunter's lips. The familiar sight of his brother in the mornings isn't anything he'd ever like to miss. Especially since he's finally able to sleep in a bed that is big and comfortable enough for the giant.

"Good morning to you, too," Hunter smiles and eats one of the delicious cookies Crosshair brought over a day ago. He'd never thought the former sniper would find a liking in baking sweet stuff, but here they are, and he's sure it's not the last reason his tummy got so soft in the last years.

But he wouldn't complain: Crosshair's food is tasty and he actually likes the sight of himself in the mirror like that.

"Mornin'..." Wrecker muffles and starts to brew himself some tea, looking at Hunter expectantly.

"No, didn't hear of them. But you know how it is - radio silence means no com chatter," Hunter unnecessarily explains.

Wrecker just rolls his eyes, but also picks up a cookie, already sighing at the taste before he even put it into his mouth.

"I know, I'm just worried," he admits, after chewing and swallowing down.

Oh, how familiar Hunter was with this feeling, too.

He's always worried about Omega. She'll forever be his baby sister who needs some kind of protection, but at the same time, he also knows he just can't always provide it for her.

Besides, she's all grown up now. He taught her everything he could. She can protect herself just fine.

"What do you think, how long will it be this time until we hear from her again?" Wrecker asks and Hunter just shrugs his shoulders. "Last time it was a week, before that a few hours. Could be anything between that and even longer," Hunter says, as if they haven't had that conversation several times now.

Wrecker sighs.

"It's just so... quiet without her. Boring," the big clone says, and a shadow of sadness crosses his face.

Hunter knew. He knew so well. First Crosshair moved out. He and his partner found a beautiful little home a few houses over, and even though Hunter was genuinely happy for his youngest brother, he already recognized how much more quiet the house was. How empty his place at the table was.

Then Omega tried to just sneak away a few years later. He knew her reasons, but he was still glad he could properly say goodbye to her.

And even though Crosshair was just a few houses over, and even though Omega sometimes visited and called in regularly, the house just felt empty, quiet, and boring.

He was so glad Wrecker was still by his side, even though he sometimes asked himself if his brother really was happy with their current situation.

But every time he asked him, Wrecker immediately got defensive and almost scared of Hunter leaving him, so he just kept that question for himself.

If Wrecker was ready or wanted to move on, he would.

"What's your plan for today?" Hunter asks him, and Wrecker thinks for a few seconds, before answering.

"I'll go and help Phee with some crates she has on her ship. She requested my help specifically," Wrecker grins and Hunter raises his eyebrows. Just like everyone's enhancements, Wrecker's also faded over the time. Of course, he is still a lot stronger than the average person, but Hunter knows his brother and his habit of overestimating himself too well.

At the same time, he knows Phee, and he immediately is sure she'll look after his brother, too. If he's being honest, he thinks she already packed the crates in a way that they aren't as heavy as they used to be. He's sure she could probably transport them herself, and just wants to make Wrecker happy.

"Sounds good. I'll probably go and help Shep. Some new arrivals landed tonight, and they need to get settled down," Hunter nods, taking a bite of another cookie.

"You remember today is Batch day?" Hunter asks, and Wrecker nods excitedly.

It's a weekly occasion, that they'll meet at the beach, in a bar, a restaurant or their houses and catch up with each other and spend time together.

Even though the three of them see each other often enough, they still decided to spare this one evening during the week to indulge in nostalgia and make it feel just like the old times.

They'd never miss the day, not for anything in this galaxy.

Wrecker and Hunter complete their morning routine, say goodbye to each other and try to fulfill their tasks as best as they could.

Hunter manages to help settle down about three new villagers. One of them was an elderly lady who smelled weirdly like dried fruit and old books, a man about his age with a small baby in his arms who cried the whole time, and a young woman, about thirty years old, who smiled at him weirdly, and said goodbye with a wink.

The day is over faster than he thinks and soon he's sitting in the living room of his and Wrecker's house. The latter one is stretched out over the couch, complaining about his aching back, and Crosshair is sitting next to them, irritating Wrecker even more.

Yeah, just like old times, he thinks and smiles to himself. Almost, at least.

It's in exact that moment, that his comm beeps. First one, then two times. Immediately, the other two stop bickering, and looking at Hunter expectantly.

When he takes out the small device and checks the callers ID, a small smile appears on his lips.

"It's Omega," he announces and Wrecker groans, relieved: "Finally!"

Hunter opens the com channel, while he and Crosshair try to move Wrecker upwards to a sitting position.

Well, it wouldn't be Wrecker if he was easy, right?

He starts laughing and just takes Crosshair and Hunter, pulling them down on him, pulling them close and huddles them close to each of his side.

"Oh, maker, are you okay?" Omega asks from Hunter's com, surely able to just see blurry forms and colors, due to Wrecker's unpredictable actions.

"Yeah, kid, we’re fine," Hunter says when they're finally able to look into her sister's face again. Omega jokingly rolls her eyes at his little "nickname" for her, but doesn't say anything about it. She's always going to be his kid in his heart, and she knows it.

"Oh, Omega! I missed ya!" Wrecker immediately exclaims and grins from ear to ear, his back pain already forgotten.

"I miss you, too," the young woman starts to smile and Hunter's heart warms just a little at that.

It's been so long since she's been here with them already.

"How was the mission?" Crosshair asks next, and Omega immediately starts talking about what they did and how they managed to pull some secret data out of an even more secret outpost and that most of them made it out unharmed.

When they each catch themselves up on what's going on and what happens around them on Pabu and in the Rebellion, all of them always have a huge smile on their face.

And even though it almost feels like the old times again, Hunter realizes one thing in this exact moment:

It doesn't matter how hard they try to make it work like the old times again. The bitter truth is - they can't. It will never be the same again. Too much happened, too much time passed, and too many people weren't here by their side anymore, who definitely deserved to be.

But what they can do is try to make it all worth it.

Live their lives how they're supposed to do. Be proud of what they've overcome and of what they figured out for themselves.

Be proud about what they did and what they made of it.

They still can enjoy the moments they have with each other and make the best of it.

Instead of trying to make old times again, they should start to look forward to the new ones.

There's still so much waiting for him, for them, and it would be a shame to miss out on that.

Even though it won't ever be the same again, it doesn't mean it's bad at all.

TAGLIST

@isthereanechoinhere96 @trixie2023 @freesia-writes

[lifeofclonewars]

Marching AU Moment that Probably Happened

Fives: In honor of the competition tomorrow, starting now, I will be completely silent until it starts

Echo: Pffffffft, funny joke. Weren't you planning on hosting karaoke for the trumpets tonight?

Fives: Ha, yeah. I was just trying to make Rex feel better

Rex: I actually felt dread when you said that, so please don't do that again

[im-smart-i-swear]

snow.

[daggerkid]

Tbh I'd like to imagine that a lot of the clones have their own unique way of expressing their voices. Like--

Some would probably sound more gruff than others, some may even pitch their voices higher, some may have a rasp to their voice, and others might speak more clearly and even loudly.

To most that don't know them, they all sound the same, but to the clones it's very important to their individuality and also brings them closer together as brothers.

No one really knows when they start doing this-- as children, in training, or when they become assigned to their rank and role --but those that are close with the clones will instantly notice which clones they may be speaking to or not.

This could get into some Shenanigans until people start figuring it out, I'm sure, imagine some infantry clones taking each other's places just to mess with their commander and be grinning behind their helmets.

But also imagine, for a moment, a voice missing in the long halls of the barracks. A gentle tune missing among the chatter in the mess hall. A voice lost.

[the-senates-one-fear]

HES BACK THE BABYS BACK RAHHHHHHH

[simping-for-fives]

Your first Clone Presentation got taken down by old man Google 😭

OMG LOOOOL the pussy eating one. I don't know why, but my 3rd presentation isn't available on tumblr either. How the clones use their hands. It's like it never existed. Sorry thots 😔

[ninjigma]

Uhhhhhh… yep. More of em. Because I love the small joy it inspires, and my friends incoherent noises and nice cutting out are very inspiring/motivating.

[sheena-isa-punkrocker]

seeing how small ahsoka was during the clone wars only proves my point that the only reason why she won against maul is because she's a good guy fighting a bad guy in a kids show and in reality his 32 yr old ass would've molly whopped her across the floor easily

ill die on this hill ill burn at the stake

argue with the wall because you know IM RIGHT

[kybercrystals94]

Unconventionally Easy

(Part 1)

By KyberCrystals94

Read on Ao3 here!

Whumptober 2023|Day 7|Prompt 7: Radio Silence | “Can you hear me?”

Bad Things Happen Bingo: Please don’t leave me!

Rated: T

Words: 1,459

Summary: A mission goes awry, leaving Tech and Echo trapped, and their brothers racing against time.

“I hate this planet,” Wrecker’s voice whines through the comm. “It’s too hot.”

“Say that one more time, I’ll shoot you to put you out of your misery,” comes Crosshair’s sympathetic response.

“I’ll shoot both of you if you don’t stop the unnecessary comm chatter.” Hunter’s threat is followed by a moment of blessed silence; however, Hunter breaks it with, “Tech, Echo, are you about done in there?”

Tech and Echo swap exasperated glances. Tech can’t actually see Echo’s facial expression because of the clone’s helmet, but his body language is read easily enough. The drop of his shoulders, the subtle tilt of his head. Tech chuckles. “It seems the heat is wearing down our brothers’ patience.”

“What patience?” Echo mutters back, but he picks up his comm to reply. “Just about, Sarge. Give us five more minutes.”

A meaningful pause. “Roger that. Take your time.”

“I can think of so many beautiful responses to that,” Echo tells Tech, “He’s setting me up.”

Tech starts another decoding program on his data pad as he grins. “More like setting Crosshair up.”

“Oh, I bet the man is biting through his tongue right now,” Echo agrees.

Jokes and teasing aside, the splicing duo did feel sympathy for their brothers having to work out in the heat while they had the benefit of working in a temperature-controlled room. Even the short distance they’d had to traverse from the Marauder to the control center had been suffocating, leaving their blacks damp under their armor from sweat and humidity.

“I thought our blacks were supposed to withstand extreme weather,” Echo says, making conversation while he works on sorting information through his scomp.

“Ideally, that would be the case; however, there is a limit to everything, I suppose.” Tech plugs a data stick into the console. “You may start the download whenever it is available.”

“Downloading now.”

“At this rate, we may be done in only two minutes,” Tech says.

“Life Day came early this year.”

Sweltering climate aside, this mission had proven to be unconventionally easy. Tech fights his impulse to make mention of it, not that he is in any way given to superstition. His brothers, on the other hand, are. He can just imagine the curses he’d receive from all four of them if he even utters a word about it. So, he keeps his mouth shut, even as his mind trundles through the statistical likelihood of their mission being completed without a single “hitch”, so to speak. It would be their first. Fascinating.

So enraptured is he in his own train of thought that he doesn’t notice the slight tremor beneath his boots until Echo asks, “Do you feel that?”

“Yes,” Tech says, clicking through the controls. “We haven’t tripped any alarms.” There is a noticeably gradual increase, and the floor begins to sway.

“Earthquake?”

Tech shakes his head, having already checked the planet’s environmental radars on his data pad. “I suggest we get out of here now.”

“I just finished the download,” Echo confirms with a nod, and Tech snatches the data stick out of the console, tucking it in his pocket.

Echo begins to speak into his comm as they stumble across the now aggressively shaking floor. “Something’s not right. We’re leaving the facility now. We will meet you --”

Tech isn’t sure if Echo even finishes his sentence, because the whole building begins to crumble around them in a roar of heat and explosions. The floor disappears and he is aware of the sensation of falling; then the sickening thud of landing, forcing the air from his lungs. Then there is nothing.

“Echo, come in! Tech?”

Static is the only response to the shared and private comm lines. Hunter growls, going back to the shared comm. “Crosshair, what do you see?”

“The building collapsed,” the sniper huffs. It sounds like he is actively running.

“More like imploded,” comes Wrecker’s assessment.

Hunter sensed as much, both through his enhancement and the literal rumble of the earth under him, although he can't see anything from where he was situated. He briefly debates if he should join Crosshair and Wrecker in running to the facility or go for the Marauder. He is equal distance from both; however, common sense quickly overrides his need to race bodily to his brothers’ aid. The Marauder will have scanners and medical supplies, which they will likely need.

“I’m going to retrieve the Marauder,” Hunter says, “Keep in touch and be aware of your surroundings.”

He waits until he gets two brief responses before he starts for the ship.

Echo can’t move. He’s enclosed. Trapped. Skako Minor. The Algorithm. CT-1409, CT-1409... He’s back in the stasis chamber, his mind, his memories, his thoughts being harvested as a weapon against his brothers. He tries to struggle, tries to rip himself free from his restraints. He can’t.

Trapped.

Captured.

CT-1409...

Panic burns his skin. The icy cool of a stasis chamber.

“No! Let me out!” he screams.

“Echo!”

The voice is familiar but safe. Not one of Techno Union’s scientists, not a captor.

A savior. A brother. A friend.

“Tech,” Echo sobs. “Help. Don’t leave me here. Please.”

There is silence, and Echo wonders if he imagined it. Tech isn’t here at all. He is alone. No one is here to save him. Alone. CT-1409. CT-1409...

But Tech’s voice breaks again through the emptiness. “I am not going anywhere, vod. We are going to be okay, Echo, but we must remain calm.”

Vod. The word finds purchase on the verge of his hysteria, anchoring him to reality. Not Skako Minor. Not the Algorithm. He’s Echo. He’s free. But he’s still trapped. Breathing still hurts.

“Where are we?” Echo asks, voice pressed thin and trembling.

“We were on a mission. A simple data extraction. The building we were in collapsed. We are currently trapped in the rubble; however, Hunter, Crosshair and Wrecker are going to get us out. We will be alright.” Tech ticks off the facts of their situation like it’s simply a debriefing.

“Are you injured?” Echo asks, voice still wobbly. Focus on Tech. Focus on reality. Focus. Focus.

“Not critically,” Tech assures him. “You?”

“I’m pinned, can’t move,” Echo says. His throat hurts, trying to keep his voice steady.

“That is not ideal,” Tech admits, “but our brothers will have that remedied in short order.” He doesn’t sound as confident as his words.

But Echo agrees anyway. “Yeah.”

“Is your helmet still on?”

“Yes.”

“That is good. The air quality in here is incredibly low at the moment.”

Echo breathes a hollow burst of nervous laughter, the adrenaline still surging through his blood stream. “Never would’ve guessed.”

Tech chuckles. “I will say it is probably still cooler here than it is where the others are.”

“Lucky us,” Echo grumbles lightly.

It isn’t like Tech to make offhanded and useless comments. They always have a purpose. Distantly, Echo realizes the purpose is to keep him calm, to drag him from the spiral of panic. Thank the force it’s working.

“Our comms are down; however, our last location is known. And while we are not able to communicate with the others verbally, they should still be able to use the trackers to pinpoint where to find us in the destruction.”

Echo wants to ask how long Tech thinks they’ll be stuck down here; however, he probably won’t like the answer, and it won’t change the situation. Instead, he asks, “Why do you think the building exploded?”

“I speculate that it was a remote detonation. Perhaps it was planned to sabotage intruders such as ourselves, or they were hoping to destroy the information before we retrieved it, and we were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Is it safe for the others to try and get us out?” Echo asks, suddenly concerned for his squad mates on the other side of the rubble.

“Probably not,” Tech responds, “Although, we don’t really have a say in the matter, and I trust they can handle themselves without our supervision, surprising as that may be.”

“You know, it’s usually your plans that get us into trouble.”

“Untrue. It is our squad diverting from my plans that get us into trouble.”

“Maybe there’s a good reason we have to divert from your plans...”

Tech interrupts with a huff of annoyance. “I believe that this line of conversation is ineffective.”

Echo chuckles. “I believe that you know I’m right and are trying to end the discussion.”

“Agree to disagree,” Tech replies primly.

Despite being trapped, a sense of calm has come over Echo. He is with his brother; their other brothers are coming for them. They are going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.

Please let it be okay.

TBC

PART 2 NOW AVAILABLE HERE!

Tag List: @isthereanechoinhere96 @followthepurrgil

✨Let me know if you wanna be added to the tag list✨

[fruutbaag]

if my brain could stop telling me im not Really enjoying things and im just humoring people all the time and i don't actually care about abything thatd be great. would really like it to stop doing that

[marzely]

My brother saw Dee Bradley Baker at comic con today and told him that he's made me cry on multiple moments in the clone wars. And my brother said he thought it was hysterical. I'm glad my pain made him laugh the finale of clone wars is forever engraved in my mind.

[imrowanartist]

Cosy after-war family times for Hoagie and Si and their kiddos, Kai and Senna <3

Hoagie belongs to @anstarwar and Kai and Senna are shared OCs! Have some ramblings about Senna under the cut:

You can read about how Hoagie and Si adopt Kai here! Senna is a later addition.

After Hoagie and Si join the Rebels, almost 8 years after O66, they stumble across an old abandoned Kaminoan outpost on a distant planet. Inside, they find a left behind experiment frozen in cryo. It turns out it's one of the earlier prototypes for Boba, but abandoned because they detected some unusual brainwaves (Senna has autism).

After rescuing the poor child, Hoagie and Si decide to name him Senna and add him to their little family <3

[neutrallyobsessed]

HEY!! CLONE HIGH WRITERS!! STOP👏PAIRING👏JOAN👏WITH👏HOT👏ATTRACTIVE👏POPULAR👏COOL👏GOOD👏[INSERT POSITIVE QUALITY HERE]👏GUYS!!!👏

She is ✨️a loser✨️ and she'd feel better out with ✨️other losers✨️