#tbb tech fanfic

[moonstrider9904]

Serenno

Chapter 2 of Moonwalker: The Flame

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{crossposted to Wattpad} {crossposted to AO3}

Summary: As Sarah keeps trying to avoid Hunter and the others, a mission on Serenno brings notions into the air that will move the squad forward and makes Hunter aware of feelings brewing between Sarah and Tech.

Tags/Warnings: Mature. Allusions to polyamory. Angst, canon-typical violence, description of wounds.

Word count: 7.7k

Songs: Nocturne

A/N: This chapter is well over a year late and it makes me so happy to finally post this baby. I hope y'all enjoy some angst.

The sound of the training bolt echoing around the walls of the landing bay faded as Sarah stood still, remaining in firing position with her hereditary rifle in her hands. On rare times when she was alone, she’d sneak off and train with it in the landing bay, the one place she could be alone under the condition she never used live fire.

She figured she could make that shot a tad more perfect and, gazing down the scope and aiming directly at the tiny reflector disk she’d stuck to one of the walls, she fired again. The training bolt hit it better than it had last time, and the bolt bounced once, twice, and then a third time before finally hitting the ground.

When it did, the unwanted memory of the first time she saw Crosshair doing that invaded her mind—the audible smirk in his voice, the way her knees shook at how good he was with his rifle, the way she smiled at his cockiness and at how he was obviously pleased to have finally impressed her.

With a heavy sigh, Sarah lowered the Firepuncher and returned to the present. She walked over to the barrel she’d placed a few feet to her right where the holo image of Tech’s calculations rested. It seemed she’d finally gotten the angles right, but it was only a calculation made for three disks. For some reason, Sarah never saw herself using as many disks as Crosshair would, not by a long shot.

Then, in an abrupt rapture of the silence that surrounded her, her comm began to beep.

“Come in,” she answered, hesitant.

“Sarah, you are needed at the cantina,” Tech’s voice came from the other end.

“Why?”

A brief rustling came from the comm, a sign that it was being shifted from possession, and then Wrecker’s voice came in.

“We need you to convince Hunter to do something,” he said, his tone somewhat shy.

“What makes you think I can do that?” Sarah rolled her eyes as she reached for the holo-image and began to pack her things up. “I’m on my way, but I can’t promise anything.”

“If you coerce him, he just might do it,” Tech answered. “I predict he will be left vulnerable against your big eyes.”

“And your hips,” Wrecker cut in. “Maybe do that thing where you squeeze your arms at the sides of your chest and it makes your tits—”

“Please tell me Omega can’t hear you,” Sarah interrupted.

“She cannot,” Tech confirmed. “Are you on your way here?”

“You want me to manipulate him?” Sarah couldn’t help but chuckle. “Damn. Stay put, I’m heading there.”

“Interacting with you should be enough to lighten his tension,” Tech replied. “All of ours, frankly.”

Sarah sighed and cut the comm connection, heading straight for the cantina. When she arrived, she noticed Tech, Wrecker, and Echo huddled around a table with Cid. Of all of them, Cid was the first one to lay eyes on Sarah, directing at her a dim smile.

“Hardly see ya around here anymore, Strider,” Cid said.

“Sorry,” Sarah answered, her tone gentle and sincere towards Cid, who’d never once questioned Sarah for how she felt. “What’s going on here?”

“Dark and broody doesn’t want to go on the next mission I’ve arranged for ya,” Cid answered.

Sarah was mad at Hunter and that wouldn’t change for a long time, but she also knew him enough to know that whenever he didn’t want to go somewhere, he had a good reason for it. She figured convincing him of anything would be more difficult than swaying hips and batting her eyelashes at him, that was, if she didn’t agree with him for the first time in months.

“Where to?” Sarah asked.

Tech looked at her, solemn. “Serenno.”

Sarah scoffed, the disbelief knocking on her as well as the dismal memories that name invoked of the war and every person Dooku somehow managed to torment in its duration.

“Yeah, even I can see why he doesn’t want to go,” Sarah said.

“Which is saying a lot,” Cid muttered. “But the loot you can get from this mission will be enough to set you for life, and I’m not even exaggeratin’. We all agree you guys should go for it, all we have to do is convince bandana.”

“Convince me of what?” Hunter’s voice drew everyone’s attention onto him. Much as he had the currents against him most of the time, Hunter was still their leader, and the way his presence commanded dominance and respect made Sarah’s heart squeeze briefly.

But she managed to hustle through the feeling when Hunter’s gaze landed on her, partly upset at her, partly begging her to speak to him.

“I take it they’ve told you about Serenno,” Hunter told Sarah.

“They have,” she said.

“And are you going to try to convince me?” He asked.

Sarah sighed, rubbing a hand over her forehead. “I don’t know. I hate the idea of Serenno, but if pulling this mission off will make us safer in a way, then I think we should do it.”

“We won’t be safe if we put ourselves in the way of the Empire after staying off their radar for so long, and I’m not willing to—”

“That’s the problem, you’re not willing to do many things you should do,” Sarah bit back.

The group fell silent with all eyes either on Hunter or on Sarah, each member expressing their own form of disdain from the argument. Finally, Cid cut through the tension by clearing her throat and looked at Hunter with understanding eyes.

“You’re never too late to want to protect your squad,” Cid told him. “And I care about you guys too even if it’s mushy to admit it, but hear me out. The loot from just one of those containers could help you buy your freedom. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“We’re already free,” Hunter told her, secure.

“Then you’re not payin’ attention,” Cid said. “The way the Empire was on Raxus, Ryloth, soon they’re gonna be here, and that means no more work for me, and no more work for you. You’re gonna have to move eventually and unless you start pullin’ off heists like this one, I won’t be able to help ya when that time comes.”

Sarah looked at the hologram projection of Castle Serenno and the freighters spotted around it, her thoughts swarming across many different fronts. It wasn’t long before she felt gazes on her and she looked up once more at everyone expecting an answer from her, as though anything she said would define their course of action.

As if what I want even mattered.

Sarah gave a soft sigh. “She’s right. With the way the Empire’s spreading, pretty soon we won’t be able to live like this, and we need to prepare.”

“We need to do more,” Echo told her.

“Perhaps,” Sarah looked at him. “But whether we like it or not, we’ll want to have some resources on our hands before we can even decide on what ‘doing more’ actually means for us.”

“We’re not in the position to do more. We’re fugitives, all of us,” Hunter said. “And the moment the Empire spots us, all the running away, all the hiding from planet to planet returns. I’d rather not be constantly running.”

“All the more reason for you to do this now, bandana,” Cid persuaded. “If you wanna go to a distant planet and live in peace, this is the way to start it. Think of it as buyin’ your ticket there.”

Sarah watched as Hunter turned his gaze towards Omega, who was sitting by herself at the bar reviewing study material Tech had given her. Watching him, Sarah felt her chest aching, a heartache that was uncomfortably common whenever she was around Hunter. She thought back to what she wanted to do when the war ended, and how she’d lost sight of it. She thought of how attractive the idea still sounded, to live on a far-off planet, forage for food, live in peace, forget about weapons and sorrow and loss and fear.

But after being torn from Crosshair and suffering Hunter’s betrayal, Sarah had stopped believing that was possible.

Hunter then looked back at the group and gave a short nod. “Alright. We’ll do it. We’ll ship out at first daylight.”

Around her, everyone seemed victorious and celebrated the fact that they’d go on the mission after all, but Sarah couldn’t feel that same resolve. Her heart sank; she knew that, despite having been asked to, Hunter hadn’t made his decision because of her.

The group scattered to make their preparations for the mission, and as Sarah made her way towards her room, she felt Hunter reaching out for her wrist, stopping her before she could get away from him. She hadn’t repelled him immediately like she normally would have, but Hunter wouldn’t get his hopes up too much because of it.

“I…” Hunter sighed. “I wanted to make sure this was okay with you.”

Sarah sighed. “Better late than never, I suppose.”

“Sarah—”

“I don’t care if we go to Serenno so long as we all return alive,” she said. “That’s how I feel about every mission now.”

“But you don’t deserve to feel like that,” he said.

Sarah scoffed at him and curved her lips in a smile riddled with disbelief. She then turned to look at Omega, who still sat at the bar, oblivious to most of the tensions that the adults in her family held between them.

“Ultimately, you decided because of her,” Sarah said softly.

“Yes,” said Hunter.

Sarah landed her gaze on Hunter again. “I envy her.”

Every glimpse of hope Hunter felt vanished from his eyes.

“You decided thinking of what was best for her,” Sarah added. “You made this decision because it’s what’s best for her. And ultimately, you will do for her what you wouldn’t do for me.”

“It isn’t like that—”

Sarah yanked her wrist from his grip. “I’m glad to know that’s where we stand.”

She walked off to her bunk room without looking back and resolved not to speak another word to him until it was absolutely necessary.

*

On the quiet flight to Serenno, Sarah sat in front of the Marauder’s left holopanel with her arms crossed, utterly silent. Opposite from her was Hunter in front of the other holopanel, his back turned on her as he scanned a planetary map for worlds that hadn’t yet been touched by the Empire, and probably wouldn’t be.

While it had been just the two of them avoiding each other in a ship that didn’t give either much freedom to escape, Echo soon walked into that section of the ship, his gaze heavy, yet somehow pleased that he’d caught Sarah and Hunter in the same place. Sarah knew her best friend well enough to know when something was on his mind, and this was clearly one of those occasions when Echo looked like he wanted to speak up. Sarah met his gaze, raising her eyebrows softly, prompting him to speak.

Hunter, who had felt Echo coming in, turned around to see why he’d taken so long to begin speaking. Once Echo had both of their attentions on him, he gave a sigh.

“Maybe we ought to talk about why we’re on this mission,” Echo lowered his voice. “And what we’ll do with the payment.”

“Hide,” Hunter replied.

“With the galaxy in its current state, you really think it’s sensible to take off and hide?” Echo said. “With the amount of people in need around the galaxy?”

“We can’t risk ourselves for everyone the rest of our lives,” Hunter added, “and living in constant war isn’t the life that kid deserves.”

“You should know, Echo,” Sarah spoke up, her gaze darting into Hunter. “He wouldn’t risk himself for his brother even if being oppressed by the Empire isn’t the life he deserves.”

Hunter looked at Sarah, his patience finally wearing off. “You want to talk about something?”

“No,” she replied, cynical. “I’m just taking every chance to remind you why we are the way we are.”

“Well, this isn’t the time to do that,” Hunter told her.

Sarah sighed and looked over at Echo. “When we get to Serenno, I’m finding a cliff to snipe from. I have the range.”

“No, I’ll need you with me,” Hunter told her.

“Wow, you’ve decided that already too,” she remarked with fake shock, shifting into a more regular tone afterwards. “Hunter, we’re stepping into Count Fucking Dooku’s home planet, and it’s laden with Imperials. The less blind we can walk in, the better, and you need an eye in the sky for that.”

“We have to stay as together as possible,” Hunter explained. “Two of us alone on different fronts will leave two members vulnerable, and we can’t risk that. Besides, we already have a shooter.”

Sarah scoffed. “Really?”

“What?” Hunter asked.

“You’re going with that?” She was practically mocking him.

“Going with what, Sarah?” Hunter asked again, exasperated at her.

Sarah stood up from her chair and in no time she stood in front of him, looking up with angry, hurt eyes. “She’s a child and therefore she shouldn’t be our shooter.”

“Lower your voice,” Hunter said through gritted teeth.

“You talk a lot about this not being the life she deserves, and I agree,” Sarah obliged, talking in a lower tone. “Then why are we still bringing her along when we already have a marksman?”

“I get it, you’re the one with the rifle—”

“I don’t mean me,” Sarah growled as a low rumble could be heard around her.

Eerie silence fell on the ship, and soon, the rumbling around Sarah ceased. She took a breath, centering herself; she didn’t want the ship being thrown out of hyperspace because of her.

“The rifle isn’t mine,” she continued, hushed. “I won’t bother you by saying his name out loud, but we both know he should be here, and he could be if you hadn’t been so selfish.”

“Sarah—”

“You could have stunned him. We could have dragged him back onto the Marauder and figured it out, but instead, you’ve let a child replace him as your marksman,” Sarah finished. “You let her replace him.”

“I think it’ll be better for all of us if we focus on the bigger picture for once,” Echo cut in, stepping between the heated pair, turning to Hunter. “Our lives are like this because of Omega. Getting her out of Kamino was the right choice, and now we have to think about how we can do more against the Empire.”

Echo then turned to Sarah, his best friend, whose frown softened when she looked at him. Though Echo wouldn’t always condone the amount of direct hits she was capable of launching at Hunter whenever they fought, he sympathized with her. She’d lost Fives and it had nearly destroyed her—he knew that only from what she told him. He hadn’t been there with her when it happened. And since then, she’d lost her way of life, she was unable to return to her home planet because of the risk of being spotted in the one place she’d be expected to hide in by the Empire, and she’d lost Crosshair, the only one who came close to being the love of her life after Fives.

“Getting Crosshair out of Kamino would have been the right choice as well,” Echo’s tone softened at her. “But that isn’t how it turned out, and as much as it hurts you, there is an entire galaxy outside of him. You can’t let your anger keep you from doing the right thing, Sarah. I know you, and I know you’re bigger and better than that.”

As Sarah looked at Echo, she thought of the amount of times he’d hinted at wanting to do more. It then dawned on her that she had a very clear image of what life would be like after the war, and now, she had no clue. She didn’t know what she wanted, and she couldn’t see any sort of future while Echo seemed to know clearly what his calling was. After Kamino, she figured her life would be drifting through the galaxy, returning to Ord Mantell every so often, and she then realized she wanted anything other than that. What her heart truly yearned for wasn’t possible, and now she had to find something she’d be able to live with.

But at that moment, as she felt the emotions bubbling inside her too much for her to conceal them, all she wanted to do was hide. All Sarah wanted to do was run into the arms of someone who could keep her safe, someone who could protect her, who’d care for her while she cried and mourned everything she had to mourn.

This isn’t freedom.

Before her eyes could fill with tears, she took a step back and breathed in deeply, forcing herself to be stoic a few more seconds. She spoke in a whisper, unable to trust in her own voice, “I’ll be at the cockpit.”

She missed her Y-Wing more than anything at that moment; at least she’d be alone and bothering nobody. Instead, her feet carried her to the cockpit behind the pilot’s chair where Tech was sitting. He didn’t remove his gaze from his datapad while the autopilot was engaged there in the middle of hyperspace, but Sarah knew he was aware of his presence. And with Wrecker asleep in the chair next to him, it felt like enough privacy for her.

Sarah rested her chin on top of the back of the seat and let her body sulk down, lips pouting to silence her sobs as her eyes finally filled with tears. Whether Tech realized she was crying or not didn’t matter to her, in fact, the less questions she had to answer, the better.

But soon, Tech’s hand reached across his body to the left side of the chair where one of Sarah’s hands rested and gently pressed his fingers over hers.

She finally began to silently weep.

*

Staring into the ruined cities of Serenno would fill any bypasser with dread and drain them of all hope they could feel. The sight of ashen buildings and the eerie silence that emanated from the city forced one into staring at it, much like Sarah had caught herself unable to tear her gaze away.

How many innocent people had perished? And for what?

“Sarah?”

A tiny hand nudged the side of Sarah’s arm and managed to bring her attention back to her team, her gaze now falling on the young girl who’d brought her back to reality. Sarah managed a soft smile at Omega; whatever else was happening, Omega’s big brown eyes would always be enough to remind her there was still light in the universe even in the face of something so dire. After all, Omega wasn’t to blame for the galaxy, for Crosshair, for Hunter’s choices—that much would always be clear to her. If there was anything that pained Sarah, it was that Omega still had to be in battle, even if it was usually the kid herself who refused not being there.

After Omega returned Sarah’s smile with a sad one, Sarah looked up at the squad. “Sorry. Got distracted.”

“Yeah, I don’t blame ya,” Wrecker said lowly, his frown audible through the modulators of his helmet. “It looks like hell’s ruins down there.”

“We’re splitting up,” Hunter said similarly.

She looked over at him, remembering what he’d said on the ship. “Right.”

Before heading off with Hunter, Sarah walked over to Tech and met his gaze—it was one of the many times she was grateful that his helmet didn’t cover his eyes with a pitch-black visor, but rather left them visible. Those brown eyes of his had become a source of comfort whenever all she wanted to do was disappear.

She had to acknowledge how fond she was growing of those goggled brown eyes.

“Take care, will you?” Sarah spoke softly.

“You as well,” Tech responded and powered up the holopad in his hands, ready to set out in the direction his part of the squad would take.

On the spot, Sarah turned around trying to acknowledge Hunter. But she found that, for once, he wasn’t already looking at her. Instead, Hunter seemed to be looking over in Tech’s direction, his gaze lingering on the team’s engineer for a while before he looked back at Sarah briefly before turning around and leading the way down into the forest.

Sarah braced for the awkwardness of being left alone with him.

*

Radio silence. That was the course of action after things, as usual, went sideways for Clone Force 99.

Sarah had heard the last transmissions Tech had sent of how they’d been trapped in the cargo container, how their escape was uncertain, how they’d been in a crash-landing. Thinking about it all made her feel cold, with her marks feeling like swirly trails of ice on her skin. A part of her regretted having listened to Hunter and staying with him throughout the mission, now accompanied by Wrecker; and though Omega and Echo were in the same situation, much as she worried about them, she couldn’t help it when Tech was at the top of her worries. She had one of her gut feelings about him, and it wasn’t a particularly good one—if it weren’t such a foolish idea and she didn’t risk her transmission being intercepted, she’d be dialing Tech’s frequency on the spot to check on him.

Sarah was never good at losing touch with those she cared for—it was why she hated splitting up in the first place. And now it was only worse—the mission had gone from going mildly according to plan to having derailed completely, and now, Sarah, Hunter, and Wrecker were scurrying around the ruined streets of the city on Serenno hoping not to be spotted on every corner they turned. The sun was going down and the ruins got darker by the minute. Pretty soon, it would become difficult to see anything.

The trio stopped at the sound of whirring gunship engines approaching. As quickly as they could, they hid under whatever large piece of rubble they could find and waited it out, until the sound of the ships flying over them became louder and then faded once more. That had been the third time they’d had to pause to hide from air forces, and at that point, it was clear that the Empire wasn’t going to rule out the possibility of them being in the city. On the contrary, they were onto them and they knew it.

A modulated sigh came from Hunter as he glanced through his helmet’s visor over at Wrecker and Sarah. He then got down on one knee with his hand brushing the ground only to look up at his two teammates again. “They’re less than one klick away.”

“And we might need more than two blasters and one rifle to hold them off?” Sarah asked.

“It’s a whole platoon, so my answer would be yes,” Hunter said as he got back up. “Wrecker, spot anything we could use?”

Wrecker had begun laughing with excitement when Hunter stopped talking. He then pointed his large hand out eastward saying, “That. That right there. That’s what I want!”

Just as Sarah pulled the scope of the Firepuncher rifle to get a better look at what Wrecker was pointing at, the large clone ran off in a childlike manner. She finally got a better look at the Separatist tanks piled over rubble and debris and understood why Wrecker had been so cheerful about spotting them.

“Do they even work?” Sarah questioned.

“Oh, I’ll handle that!” Wrecker lunged himself into the first tank he reached.

“I’ll stay with him,” Hunter told Sarah. “Can you pick them off from above?”

“I was hoping you’d ask,” she nodded before turning around and heading for the nearest cliff. After the climb, she had a perfect view of the platoon that was headed their way, and she quickly managed to spot Wrecker and Hunter messing with the tanks, most likely hoping to get one of them to function. She knew that if they didn’t succeed, their bright plan would be a total failure, meaning that was her cue to begin sniping the army of imperial clones.

One by one, with the Firepuncher set to stun, Sarah took down the clones from the front lines to the rear, managing to buy Hunter and Wrecker at least some more time while they figured out what they were doing on their front. It wasn’t long before Wrecker got hold of not one of the tanks, but its cannon. Even being at the top of a cliff sniping, Sarah could hear Wrecker’s laughter booming, preceding the first of the cannon blasts.

And then chaos reigned over the scene. Wrecker steadily advanced, his laughter filling the gaps between the blasts from his new favorite toy—he even made Sarah smile. She would have loved to sit back and watch him, as he clearly wouldn’t need her help anymore, but that was when she heard clone chatter coming up from behind her.

Sarah didn’t have enough time to react. If she had, she probably would have been able to dodge the blaster bolt headed towards her, and in a sloppy attempt to move out of its way, it wound up hitting her on the shin. She cried out as the laser burned through the surface of her skin, the pain searing through her leg as she tried not to fall to the ground. She hooked the rifle onto her back and unholstered her hand blaster instead to stun the first troopers to emerge from the darkness.

“Sarah!” Hunter cried out from below invaded with worry after hearing her cry in pain.

Sarah registered the sound of his voice and the sound of the marching that approached, and she realized her blaster efforts wouldn’t be enough. Too many of them were heading her way, and the same could be said for the troopers down there. They were outnumbered and one marksman down; Sarah wouldn’t be much help in a wounded state. With the amount of troopers cornering her, Sarah looked over her shoulder and realized there was only one way out of that one.

She leapt off the cliff, bending the Force around her hoping to lessen the impact of her fall. While not fatal, the pain from the blast on her thigh worsened when she hit ground level, and it was enough to knock her down with her back against the floor. There, she could process the vibrations of the army through the earth: the platoon in the east, the fraction of it on the cliff, with another pack of reinforcements heading in from the north, not far behind the cliff Sarah had just fallen from.

If they didn’t act fast, they’d be done for.

All Sarah wanted to do was lie on the ground and see the stars plastered on the night sky, but as she did that, she found a couple of rocky vertices on the cliffs that surrounded the area. From that angle, she spotted one she could blast away with her own rifle on the cliff next to her, but for the other one, she’d need Wrecker’s help. They couldn’t take all of those troopers just the three of them, but they could easily stop them from coming with a couple of carefully placed blasts.

“Wrecker,” Sarah spoke into her comm. “See that large spike on the cliff towards the east?”

“Yeah,” Wrecker answered.

“I need you to shoot it,” she said.

“Negative,” Hunter entered the comms. “Where are you, anyway? I can’t see you.”

“I’m safe from whatever debris may fall, if that’s what worries you. I have a plan,” Sarah told him. “Wrecker’s going to take that cliff down, I’ll handle the other one close to me.”

“We don’t know if that’s really going to work,” Hunter debated.

“Will you two stop fighting for once?!” Wrecker boomed into the comm. “Sarah, tell me when.”

“Now!” Sarah cried out.

The next thing she heard was another cannon blast being fired, and she saw the ray of light rising up to the cliff she’d told Wrecker to fire at. When it hit, the rocky cliff exploded into hundreds of rocks and boulders and began making its way downward onto the platoon that cornered Wrecker and Hunter. It was Sarah’s turn after that, and with the strength she had, she pulled through the burning on her shin and stood up, aiming the Firepuncher at the weak point on her own cliff. She set the rifle to kill, figuring the blast would be stronger that way, and focused the crosshair on the medium rock that seemed to hold the cliff in place. Sarah breathed out, steadying herself, and when even the pain of her blast wound disappeared she fired the rifle.

The blast hit exactly where she had intended to, and she sent the cliff collapsing down on the army that had tracked her down, but it created a lot more rubble than she had intended at first—rubble that was now crashing down on her. Quickly as she could, Sarah ran for cover, but she wouldn’t get far in her current state. When the debris nearly hit her, she raised her hands and used the Force to shield herself from any of the rocks, levitating them away from her.

Eventually, the debris stopped falling and it settled around her. Sarah waved her hands in front of her, coughing up all the dirt that had made its way into her lungs.

“Sarah?” Hunter inquired through the comms. “Sarah, come in!”

Sarah finished coughing and pulled her comm up near her lips as she examined the pile of rubble she’d just created, her heart sinking.

“I’m here, I’m alive,” she said. “Though I’m afraid I just created a wall between us, quite literally.”

“Stay put, I’ll go and get you,” Hunter said.

“No,” Sarah replied. “I’m injured and I’m only going to slow you down. You and Wrecker get to the ship, I’ll rendezvous after that.”

“Sarah, no—”

“Hunter!” She raised her voice, caring little for who or what would hear her. “I am telling you this because it’s the best option. For once in your life, listen to what I want and do as I say.”

Silence filled the comms for a moment until she heard him sigh.

“Alright, Wrecker and I will get to the Marauder. But we might need to go radio silent again,” Hunter agreed.

“You know how to find me,” Sarah replied, her tone much softer. She turned her comm off, knowing it would be safer not to use it anymore, and she turned around on her spot to find that she was at the edge of the forest.

Sarah took a few paces and kneeled on the ground, her fingers digging into the soil beneath her. Like she’d done many times before at that point in her life, Sarah began to absorb the life Force of the planet, and slowly, she felt the wound on her shin beginning to close and the pain easing off from her. She let out a long exhale, finally able to release the tension she’d been feeling until that moment, and even her mind cleared.

Now thinking straight and with her hands still pressed to the ground, there was something Sarah could feel through the earth. It was someone close to her, someone dear to her, but he was slower. Weakened. Vulnerable.

Tech.

She knew better than to not pay any mind to it, and if she could feel him that clearly, he couldn’t have been that far from her. If he was injured too, she’d have to hurry. Through the earth, Sarah focused on him until she was able to know exactly where he was. With that clear, Sarah prepped the rifle in front of her and set off running in his direction.

No troopers or traps were found as she ran through the forest, and though it felt like she’d been running for ages, it finally wasn’t long before she heard the sound of blasters and speeder bikes. She could still feel Tech’s presence—as long as she could feel him there, everything would be alright—and when she felt she was close enough to still remain hidden, she stopped and aimed the rifle.

Through the scope, she could see Tech. He was standing, but his posture was slightly hunched over. It wasn’t until she saw him moving that he noticed he was limping, and he pulled his blaster out to stun a trooper before hiding behind the trunk of a tree. Sarah then located the troopers that were cornering, and without thinking about it, she aimed the Firepuncher at one of them and fired.

She didn’t bother changing it back to stun.

When the trooper fell, she fired at another one. The last one that crept up on Tech did so a tad too quickly, but Sarah saw through the scope that Tech fired his blaster at the trooper, stunning him to the ground. After that, Tech wobbled and fell down to the ground himself.

“Tech!” Sarah cried and pulled the rifle down and ran the remaining distance between her and him. When she reached him, she collapsed to the ground next to him and took him in his arms, and even in the darkness of the forest, she saw his brown eyes glistening with the faint light as he looked at her.

“Sarah…” Tech sighed. “I am hurt.”

She then looked at his leg and noticed the swelling and the unnatural angle it had. She felt her blood going cold at the sight of his broken leg, but more than that, her heart broke for him. She’d never fathomed the idea of Tech being hurt before, and it felt wrong, like it should never even be a possibility.

“Tech…” Sarah whimpered, her hand reaching for the cheek of his helmet. “Let’s get you out of here. Where are Echo and Omega?”

“Over the cliff,” Tech grunted in pain after speaking the words. “Omega went to the chest and Echo followed her.”

“And where is the chest?”

“Over the cliff,” Tech repeated. “At a very inconvenient precipice, might I add.”

“I could help with that,” a third, unfamiliar voice filled the area.

Sarah didn’t hesitate to react. She pulled the rifle and aimed it at the stranger, but she kept herself from pulling the trigger when she saw it wasn’t a soldier or anyone who even looked Imperial. It was an old man, a friendly-looking one, at that, who raised his hands above his head when she aimed the Firepuncher at him.

“Sarah, he’s a friend,” Tech told her.

“Ah,” said the old man. “So this is the famous Sarah.”

She lowered the rifle, releasing any tension she held. “Who are you?”

“Romar Adell, at your service,” the man lowered his hands. “Don’t worry, I mean you no harm.”

Sarah lowered the rifle, humbled by the fact that Tech had mentioned her in the short time they’d been apart. “Can you help me get him up?”

Romar paced towards her and secured Tech’s left side while she took the right, and together they helped him up to standing.

“I told you that you wouldn’t get too far in your current state,” Romar told Tech. “Now stay here, Ace.”

Sarah’s features softened and she looked at Tech. “Ace?”

Tech locked eyes with her, and beneath his goggles, his gaze softened at her as well. The tenderness in her voice was undeniable, as was the vulnerability in the word she’d spoken.

“A coincidence,” Tech told her.

“Excuse me?” Romar inquired.

“Someone we care about used to call her that,” Tech explained.

Before Sarah could allow herself to feel any more emotion, the loud roaring of engines filled the area around the forest. What was alarming about that was that it was not the sound of the Marauder. Sarah recognized it as the sound of V-Wings.

“There’s a speeder bike and a cable we can use to get your friends out of the chest,” Romar looked at Sarah.

“Why don’t I give some cover, and you can get them out?” She said.

“I don’t mean to disrespect you,” Romar hesitated, “but how are you going to cover us against fighter ships?”

Sarah held the Firepuncher up. “Target practice.” She then looked over at Tech. “You stay here, I don’t want your leg getting any more hurt than it already is.”

“I suppose telling you it cannot get much worse will not change your mind?” Tech asked her.

“Stay here,” Sarah reaffirmed, and with a look over at Romar, she gestured it was time to follow through with their improvised plan.

The two ran nearer to the cliff where the trees cleared out; Romar attached the long cable coiled at the edge to the lonely speeder bike and got on it, putting its thruster in reverse at max speed. While Sarah felt hopeful she’d see Echo and Omega again soon and safe, she locked her sights on the first of the V-Wings that approached at a daunting speed.

Keeping track of the fighter ship seemed more difficult to do through the Firepuncher’s scope, and steady as she was, Sarah fired and missed up to three bolts.

Focus, she told herself. Planting her feet more firmly on the ground, Sarah inhaled deeply and looked down the scope once more. Much to her fortune, that first V-Wing seemed to be approaching her directly, making it easier for her to aim at the ship’s cockpit. Before giving it the chance to move anymore, Sarah pulled the rifle’s trigger, sending the bolt straight through the middle of the cockpit.

The ship spiraled out of control and crashed on the ground in flames, and upon impact, Sarah felt the icy cold sensation returning to her marks. Though unpleasant, she paid no mind to it at the moment. She couldn’t when there were another two V-Wings threatening her and her family.

Just as Sarah was aiming for the next ship, she heard the familiar whirring of the Marauder approaching. The modified Omicron-class attack shuttle rarely looked so beautiful as it did at that moment, and it quickly outmaneuvered the V-Wings enough to give the rear turret a clear shot, sending the second one crashing down.

Only one remained.

“We need to go now,” Hunter said through comms. “Can you take the other one down while we make an approach?”

Sarah pulled the comm near her lips. “I sure hope so. Make your move.”

Being so focused on the last V-Wing, Sarah hardly even noticed when Echo and Omega emerged safely from the cliff. They grouped behind her and waited for the Marauder to approach as well as for Tech to emerge from the forest aided by Romar, and now that they were all together, there was only one priority left. The Marauder made the approach and its platform opened, revealing Wrecker.

“Sarah?” Hunter spoke through the comms again, audibly worried.

“Hang on…” Sarah whispered, aiming for the ship.

It was moving directly towards the Marauder. At that angle, she wouldn’t have a clear shot like she did with the first one, and it was too close a call to mess it up. She’d have better odds of taking it down if she aimed for the engines. She calculated the speed at which it moved, angled herself, and when the time was right, Sarah fired the rifle and the blue bolt flew through the air until it impacted the ship’s engine, and it spiraled down crashing into the war chest below, and a heap of rubble, smoke, and flames fell down to the lower levels of the forest.

“Nice shot,” Hunter said.

Sarah put the rifle away and turned around as Echo and Omega climbed onto the Marauder. Sarah supported Tech as he tried to stand, and the two faced Romar, realizing it was time to say goodbye.

“Thank you for helping him,” Sarah told him with a slight bow of her head.

“Don’t mention it,” Romar answered. “You’ve got some skill and decent firepower despite that just being a rifle. Do me a favor and make it count.”

The words resonated with Sarah, and for a moment, she thought back to what Echo was saying about doing more. Seeing that Romar lived on Serenno, she figured he of all people had cause to hate the Empire, to be tired of tyranny and destruction. She thought of her own reasons to hate the Empire, and with resolve, she nodded.

“I will,” she said.

Romar then looked at Tech. “Take care, Ace. Or I’ll ask her to take care of you.”

“Don’t worry,” Sarah smiled. “He’ll be safe on my watch.”

Romar nodded at her and Tech, and finally, it was time for them to go. Echo and Wrecker held their arms out to help Tech onto the ship, and once he was safely in, Sarah jumped in. As the Marauder took off, Sarah managed one more salute at Romar before the ship’s platform closed, and wishing him well, they were now on course to leave Serenno.

Sarah rested the Firepuncher rifle on the wall after locking its safety pin, and quickly, she ran over to one of the passenger seats in the cockpit where Tech was sitting and getting his leg examined by Echo. She kneeled on the durasteel floor and reached for his hand, giving him a gentle squeeze with her fingers.

“I’m here,” Sarah told him.

Tech grunted in pain, but he managed a smile. “You know, seeing you emerge from the forest like that, I figure that’s what other clone captains and commanders would feel when seeing their Jedi general amidst battle… before the end of the war, at least.”

Sarah grinned. “Yeah, well, you could never hurt me.”

The slightest hint of a smile appeared on Tech’s lips before he groaned in pain, squeezing Sarah’s hand even harder.

“This will just last a bit,” Echo reassured.

“It is customary to provide painkillers before making any limb adjustments,” Tech began. “Although, given the urgency of this fracture and the need to provide treatment, I would understand the lack of reason behind waiting for painkillers to set in, though I certainly wouldn’t complain. After all, it’s not as if I have not waited long enough already. Several hours have already passed since the incident.”

“You should have given him the painkillers first,” Wrecker nudged Echo.

“Leave him alone,” Sarah defended. “I think the infodumping as a pain management technique is adorable.”

“You think droids are adorable,” Wrecker pouted.

Echo, Tech, and Wrecker continued to bicker, and all the while, Sarah realized she hadn’t let go of Tech’s hand. There was no problem. She found that she didn’t want to let go of his hand anyway.

Sarah did, however, notice a set of eyes looking at her hand in Tech’s, and rather than focusing on flying the Marauder, they were laden with sorrow and with jealousy. Then, Hunter finally looked Sarah in the eyes. She maintained eye contact with him before finally averting her gaze and gave Tech’s hand one last squeeze before getting up.

“I’ll look around the ship and see what we can use to stabilize that let,” Sarah said. She then walked away from the cockpit and made her way towards the back of the ship, where Omega was sitting with her trooper doll in her hands. Her big eyes looked at Sarah, and the usual warmth of her smile made Sarah realize how cold her marks still felt.

“That was some really good shooting, Sarah,” Omega said. “I…”

Omega looked over at the Firepuncher resting on the wall, and then she looked at Sarah again. “I think Crosshair would say the same too.”

The hole in Sarah’s chest deepened at the mention of his name as multiple thoughts swarmed through her mind. Crosshair, Tech, Tech’s injury, the fact that Sarah had just ended the lives of multiple troopers. Still, the sight of Omega smiling at her eased some of that. If a child as pure and kind as Omega could still look upon Sarah and smile, she maybe didn’t have anything to feel terrible about.

Eventually, Sarah found it in herself to chuckle. “Nah, Crosshair would be teasing the hell out of me. It’s his way of showing love.”

“Well, then…” Omega continued. “We should find him and tell him about today. See how he reacts.”

Sarah looked straight at Omega. She refused to use the child to convince Hunter to go after Crosshair again—she wouldn’t open that can of worms again. However, after Kamino, Sarah hadn’t really thought of seeing Crosshair again.

It had really felt like the end at one point.

“We should,” Sarah agreed.

Omega smiled and put her doll aside. “Can I help out with Tech?”

“You sure you want to do that?” Sarah asked her. “It’s not going to be a pretty sight.”

“I know, but I can handle it,” Omega replied. “I was in the medical wing before we met, remember?”

Yet another reminder that hit Sarah like a training bolt. Sometimes, all she wanted to do was think of Omega as a child, not as anything else.

Sarah gave as cheerful a smile as she could manage. “Right.”

Omega jumped off her chair and went to look for a couple of steel rods she knew happened to be lying about the ship, and with excitement, ran off to the cockpit to aid Tech. Sarah stood in the empty midsection of the Marauder thinking about what would come next.

But, for now at least, Tech needed her with him. She’d have more than enough time to begin her own quest when they returned to Ord Mantell.

Thank you for reading! Please reblog to support me!

Taglist: @nunanuggets @rexandechosandwich @redheadgirl @coffeyorky @arctrooper69 @wildmoonflower @the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond @stardust9905

Let me know if you want to be tagged!

Next Chapter ->

[lady-pug]

How do we move on?

Summary: You and the Batch have decided to head to Eriadu in hopes of tracking down the location of Doctor Hemlock and maybe have a chance at saving Crosshair. But you have a bad feeling about this. After the whole thing goes down, you’ll need the help of your family to face the consequences.

Pairing: Tech x Reader

Word count: 2,2k

Warnings: this one is preatty heavy on the angst: major character death, grief, mourning (this contains spoilers)

Notes: This one is ONE SAD BOI. This honestly was inspired from my own recent experience with grief, including a few quotes that I myself have said. So this is slightly self-indulgent in that sense. I'm already working on part 2 so I hope to have that out soon.

I really hope you, dear reader, enjoy this (I really want to write for the other boys as well). As always if you spot any mistakes, please feel free to warn me and I'll correct it right away, and feedback is always welcome and appreciated.

Reader’s gender not specified.

Next part | Masterlist | Read on AO3

“Tech, come in! Tech, what’s going on?!”

Only static greeted your ears. 

“Hunter?!” you shouted into the commlink yet again “Wrecker? Anyone?”

No one was answering.

“Does anyone copy?!” your chest tightened, a horrible feeling washing over you. 

The Batch had decided that the best course of action if you even hoped to find Crosshair was to fly to Eriadu and sneak into Tarkin's base, planting a tracker onto Hemlock’s ship. You had protested from the beginning, sensing something was off.

“Tech?” as you were preparing to leave Pabu you had wandered outside where he stood, nose glued to his datapad.

“Hmm?” 

You walked up to him until your toes touched, something you always did when you wanted his full attention. This was your way of letting Tech know what you had to say was important, which he always respected.

“What is it?” he asked, lowering his datapad.

You sighed. You didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news, to spoil the only chance you might have to save their brother, your friend, but something was gnawing in your stomach, telling you not to go.

“Should we really be doing this?” 

His face twisted into one of confusion.

“What do you mean?” 

“This… mission.” crossing your arms, you averted your gaze, looking anywhere but at him. “I know this is our only option in order to save Cross, but…”

Trailing off, you shrugged, chewing at your lower lip, a bad habit you had picked up during the war and the goggled clone often scolded you about.

“But…?”

You closed your eyes, leaning only slightly closer to him, and took a deep breath.

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

It was Tech’s turn to sigh.

“I know this mission could be potentially dangerous,” he placed a comforting, yet slightly patronizing hand on your shoulder “but from an objective point of view all of our missions are.”

“Potentially dangerous?” you scoffed, dodging away from him, his arm falling limp by his side “Tech, this isn’t like blowing up some clankers, o-or racing on Safa Toma. T-This is real. We’re infiltrating an Imperial Base holding some of their highest ranking officers, we-” you tried swallowing around the lump in your throat.

“Well, yes, but we have done much-” he adjusted his goggles before preparing to launch into a long explanation that most likely involved statistics of some sort. However, he must have caught something in your expression, some hidden feeling deep in your eyes, that made him pause.

Taking a hold of your elbow, his touch so gentle you almost mistook it for the wind, he seeked your gaze, trying to get you to look at him.

“What is this really about?” he questioned, his voice soft.

Your lower lip quivered. How could he not see it?

“I’m scared, Tech.”

His eyes softened. The smallest of sighs left his lips as he gently held your chin with his forefinger and his thumb, tilting your head to look right into his eyes.

“I know you are concerned. But you do not need to worry.” the corners of his lips lifted into a small smile “I won’t let anything happen to you, dear.”

You chuckled humorlessly, tears brimming in your eyes.

“It’s not me I’m worried about.”

Tech’s grip on your face tightened just a fraction. His eyes, on the other hand, softened even more.

“I know that you care for our safety. But if we want to retrieve Crosshair, it’s a risk that we have to take.”

A lone tear made its way down your face. Then another. Tech moved his other hand to cradle your cheek, his thumb slowly collecting fallen tears as they escaped your eyes.

“At least let me come with you.” you whispered.

As the team’s medic (and the only person Tech minimally trusted not to wreck the Marauder) you often stayed on the ship as the getaway pilot, prepared to take off at a minute’s notice. But this time you had an awful feeling telling you to be there with them. To keep them safe.

He closed his eyes briefly before looking at you again, his eyes the most sincere you had ever seen.

“You can’t. As our medic, it is in our best interest that you stay away from- that you stay on the ship.” he stuttered, like he was stalling “We need you safe. I-” his breath hitched almost imperceptibly “ I need you safe.”

A sob clawed its way up your throat, but you suppressed it. Trying to blink away your tears you stepped back from him, before jumping into his arms. You knew Tech wasn’t one for physical touch, but you couldn’t hold back anymore. If there was a chance you might not see him again, you needed this.

“Then promise me you’ll be careful.”

His arms, first tense and unsure, slowly curled around you, bringing you closer to him. His face nuzzled into the side of your head, so you felt more than you heard when he whispered:

“I promise.”

Now though you wished you had argued harder, that you had gone with them. A massive explosion had just gone off inside the base and you couldn’t get in touch with any of them, and you were starting to panic. Breathing deeply through your nose, you started a counting exercise the head doctor had taught you when you were training to become an issued GAR medic. You couldn’t lose it now, they might need you at any moment. Perhaps the empire had just jammed their communications after the explosive went off.

Just then you heard the sound of blaster fire in the distance. Looking out the Marauder’s windshield, you could see a few figures running in your direction. They were quickly followed by white armored soldiers, firing at them. Grabbing your blaster, you punched the controls to lower the ship’s ramp and quickly fired at the troopers that were trying to hurt your family. 

With your help, the Batch managed to board the ship safely. Wrecker rushed in, carrying an unconscious Omega to the bunks in the back, quickly followed by an injured Hunter and an out of breath Echo.

“Echo, grab the controls.” Hunter ordered.

“What happened? What’s the damage, Sarge?” you asked the same question you always greeted them with when they came back from a mission while already fetching the medpack. Then something occurred to you “Where’s Tech?”

You could see Hunter’s shoulders tense, but he didn’t answer you, still barking orders at Echo, who was busy engaging the engines.

“Get to Ord Mantell. AZI can help her.”

“Hunter!” you shouted, walking up to the sergeant “Where is Tech?!” 

Hunter finally looked at you, his expression solemn. He didn’t need to say anything. You knew.

“We have to go back.” you whispered, voice growing agitated with newfound desperation “We have to go back! Echo, turn this ship around!”

“Wait-” Hunter tried to stop you, but you only walked closer to the cockpit.

“We have to go back!” you shouted, growing more and more desperate as you noticed the ship had already left the planet’s atmosphere and Echo was getting ready to jump into hyperspace “We have to go back for Tech! We have to go get him!”

Hunter enveloped you in his arms, restraining you to prevent you from reaching for the controls. You struggled against him, frantically trying to get to the pilot’s seat.

“We have to get Tech! We have to go back!” your own voice sounded foreign in your ears and your words didn’t make sense to yourself anymore. All you could hear was a loud ringing, accompanied by a pressure in the back of your skull. You couldn’t breathe, your chest felt like it was collapsing into itself and every breath was too arduous to take. You just had to reach the controls. Once you did, you’d turn the ship around and everything would be alright again.

“Wrecker!” you faintly heard Hunter call out, but it was muffled, like you were underwater.

You registered something cold and sharp being pressed against your neck, but when you realized what it was, you were already slipping into unconsciousness.

When you came to, you were laying in a bed. The mattress was on the harder side, stiffness creeping onto your back. You sat up, still groggy, taking in your surroundings. It was a room, small, stuffy, warm. Then you noticed. In the corner, under the desk, was a can of black paint. Something sparked in your memory, you helping a certain goggled man to paint over the red stripe on his helmet. This was the room Tech often bunked in while in Cid’s parlor on Ord Mantell.

“You’re awake!” you heard an excited, albeit only slightly, voice speak from the doorway, turning to see Wrecker sticking his head out into the hallway “Hunter, get in here!”

When he turned back to you, you startled, eyes widening at his appearance. His neck was encased in a cervical collar and, you frowned, his eyes were missing their usual glint. 

Hunter came rushing in, a look of relief settling on his features when he laid his eyes on you. You noticed that he, too, was covered in bandages.

“Good to see you up, doc.” he muttered.

“What happened?” you asked, even though you were certain you wouldn’t like the answer.

“The mission was compromised.” he explained vaguely.

“No, Hunter.” you hissed through gritted teeth. “What happened to Tech?”

Hunter sighed, sharing a glance with Wrecker that made your blood run cold.

“He initiated plan 99.” 

Your heart sank. Plan 99. The one plan the Batch had never, ever considered using, and you genuinely hoped never would. 

Leave one of our own behind. 

Named after the one clone whose sacrifice meant saving the entire base back on Kamino, plan 99 was only supposed to be a contingency plan. A hypothetical, far away idea, not… not this. Not this very real, very tangible, thick, gross feeling.

You felt a gentle, large hand being placed on your shoulder, only now noticing the tears streaming down your face. 

“I’m sorry, doc.” Wrecker whispered, his face reflecting the very same heartbreak that was probably etched onto your own features. 

Your chest ached. Your lungs felt like they were on fire. Your heart, on the other hand, felt both hollow and extremely heavy at the same time. Your heartstrings felt like they were about to snap. 

Sitting down next to you, Hunter pulled you into his arms, hiding your sobs from the galaxy. Wrecker, ever the gentle giant, sat on the other side of you, draping himself over your back in a protective hug. And you cried.

You sobbed, like you never had before. You screamed until your throat felt raw. You cried. That’s all you did for a while. And just for a little while, nothing else mattered, except for your tears, streaming down your face, and the tears of your friends, your brothers, who finally decided to let go and just feel. To truly feel what they hadn’t allowed themselves to feel until now, too preoccupied in getting Omega to safety. To feel the gaping absence of one of theirs.

Once your tears ran dry, you lifted your head from Hunter’s chest, and instantly wished you hadn’t. You caught a quick glimpse of your own reflection on the small mirror over the desk and hated what you saw. Staring back at you was someone ugly. A disfigured non-person, a shade of who you once were, it looked like you, except it was hideous and broken. Disgusted with what you saw, you turned back to Hunter to ask about Echo and Omega as something dawned on you.

“I-I never-” you whimpered, your breath hitching in your throat “I never got to tell him…”

You trailed off, a fresh wave of tears burning in your eyes.

“Trust me,” Hunter interrupted “he knew.”  

“W-what?” you asked.

“You didn’t have to say it. He knew. He always knew.” he sighed, looking far away “And he wasn’t the best with words, you know that, so he never said it either. But he loved you too.”

Your heart clenched painfully in your chest.

“H-how?”

Wrecker let out a tiny laugh.

“He’s Tech.” he smiled down at you “He was the smartest of us all.”

Wrecker paused, before smiling sadly at you.

“He also said he was sorry.” he shrugged “For not keeping his promise.”

You fell silent, a million and one questions flowing through your mind. He loved you too. He was sorry. He was gone.

“How do we move on from this?” you questioned, your voice quiet, almost as small as you felt in that moment.

Hunter shook his head.

“I- I don’t know.” he whispered, defeated. You knew him well enough to know he felt like he failed as a leader, something you knew wasn’t true.

You glanced away from them, closing your eyes and letting out a shaky exhale. Just then you felt your hand being enveloped in another, warm one.

“But whatever happens next,” Hunter continued “whatever we do, we’ll figure it out together.”

As Wrecker also grabbed your other hand, you laid your head on his shoulder, suddenly feeling crushed by the weight of it all. The man you loved most in the whole galaxy was dead, and he didn’t even get to say goodbye. You didn’t know if you could come back from this. 

But you were willing to try. As long as you had your family with you.

[lightspringrain]

This art is thanks to the SUPER TALENTED @collophora . They are pieces for chapter 1 and chapter 2 of my CX-2 Tech fanfic "Return From Darkness". She did an absolutely fantastic job. If you want to see more amazing storyboard art, go check her out!

[amandamadeathing]

I can't find the original image to reboot and credit, but here you go.

TECH: When I analyzed Omega's DNA, I noticed an anomaly in her blood. Upon further research, she has a high volume of midichlorians."

WRECKER: What does that mean?

TECH: There was a correlation between a "high M-Count" and a Jedi's abilities using the Force.

OMEGA: Does this mean I'm a Jedi?!

TECH: Possibly. You would need extra training by a Jedi to use those skills.

ECHO: I've never noticed she has Force skills.

TECH: I thought her ability to connect with animals was an obvious manifestation of such abilities.

HUNTER: I am sensitive to vibrations. Do I have the Force?

TECH: It seems of the Kaminoans' experimental Clones, only Omega was specifically given a high M-count, which probably explains why she is so valuable to Nala Se and the Empire.

ECHO: Now we know what we're up against. Thankfully, we don't need to collaborate with any suspicious women to get this information. We must find a more secure location to hide. I will contact Rex immediately.

[meshla-cyarika]

[neon-junkie]

How would TBB react to seeing the reader about to leave on a night out dressed up in a super hot outfit?

Gender-neutral reader, but feminine presenting. Words like 'beautiful' and 'pretty' are used!

Hunter - Even with half of his face tattooed, he still manages to blush through the thickness of the ink. - He's truly lost for words. - Hunter has an adorable stutter as he compliments, "wow, you look… nice- I mean, incredible. Good. Beautiful?" - Hunter then facepalms as he scolds himself for picking "nice" as his first compliment. Ugh, you look so much more than nice! - You'll both be giggling as Hunter takes a deep breath, and begins going into detail about how good you look, highlighting the specific parts that really stand out to him. - You're heading out with friends, but Hunter is quietly hinting that he wants to come along. Totally not because he's jealous or anything, but because he hopes to meet your friends, right? The friends that he's met several times before? Yeah! - Tell him that you'll still be looking this good when you come back home later tonight, and he'll get the hint. - However, he may need to leave a fresh mark or two on your neck, just to get the point across that you're taken.

Echo - This poor, poor man is going to turn the deepest shade of red when he finally sees you. - Why, just WHY did you have to wear that specific outfit that he loves so much?! And you're going out without him too?! Oh, what a tease! - Echo is lost for words as he gushes over you. He feels like it's his wedding day - How is he this lucky? How did he land an angel like you? - There's a tear in his eye as you smother him in kisses, reassuring him that you're all his, that you're the lucky one for being with him, that you can't wait to come home and snuggle up with him later. - Echo doesn't ask for much, but he would like to be kept in the loop on your whereabouts. Purely for your own safety! - "And when you reach the next bar, just comm me. Your friends have my comm number too, don't they? If anything goes wrong, and you want picking up-" blahblahblah. - One final smother in reassuring kisses, and you're good to hit the town!

Wrecker - His mouth instantly hangs open, his eyes turn wide, and his facial expression swiftly turns into a grin as he comments, "HOT!!" - You know in cartoons where the character's mouth drops open, and they begin howling and barking? Yeah, that's Wrecker. - Seriously, you look hot, and Wrecker's going to ensure that you know it. - "Look at you! I can't believe I got myself an angel as sweet as you!" - He'll mention how he's sad that he's not tagging along, but he'll assure you that it's important you spend your time with your friends. - Wrecker isn't as clingy as he seems. After all, he'll be right here, waiting for your return. - And when you do return, all your hangover needs will be met. A tall glass of water waiting for you, a midnight snack, breakfast in bed, and a big buff man to cuddle you back to health!

Tech - This will go one of two ways: - Option one: Tech eyes you up and down, and with a firm nod, he comments, "that is suitable attire for your evening. I hope you enjoy yourself." - Option two: Tech's brain short circuits. He can barely muster up a thought, let alone a comment. Radio silence, but his expression says it all. - Either way, Tech is more than impressed with your outfit choice, and how stunning you look. He just… struggles to find the words, like a deer in the headlights. - Give him a few moments, and you'll be met with suitable praise. "How exquisite you look, a truly elegant and radiant creature." - Tech can't pinpoint one specific word to describe how beautiful you look, so instead, he selects the most complex and in-depth ones. He doesn't want to rely on a 'standard compliment.' - A few kisses later, and you're off to meet your friends. All the while, Tech begins pacing around the Marauder like a lost puppy. He needs to keep himself occupied until you return!

Crosshair - He's instantly thirsty for you, smiling cheekily as he eyes you up, gawking at the sight of you. - Crosshair has a way with words, and spews out his praise, all whilst kneading at your waist, his hands trailing down to grab your ass whilst he steals a handful of kisses from you. - And then it dawns on him… - You're going out with your friends tonight, not him… - Jealousy swiftly takes over, and his compliment turn into teasing (yet petty) jabs. Nothing to hurt your feelings, though. - "Any reason why you're wearing this tonight? Do you need more attention? Am I not enough for you?" - Whilst his tone is teasing, there's a desperate need for validation. - Yes, he knows you'd never be stupid and hurt him, but… can you please remind him one more time? - Don't be surprised when you leave, and minutes later, Crosshair sends you a holotext. "Comm me if you need anything, Beautiful."

[vivaislenska]

Sketched a short strip depicting the scene of Tech meeting Batcher bc it got cut from the finale by mistake whoops. I think it started w/ a polite and very cute exchange of head-tilts 🙂 [tbc…]

[stellarbit]

Shadows of the Order

the sad batch x reader

5.5k words themes hurt and comfort

You were separated from the Batch when Order 66 was executed on Kaller. Even as a Jedi dropout you weren't safe. Left behind, you have to recover and restart in the world after the Republic. You'd hoped to never run into Clone Force 99 again, but that hope ran out one day. featuring: a b1 battle droid

You know who deserved better? The clones. You know who else? The B1 battle droids. So I stuck a clanker in here for funsies. Had a ton of fun writing this. Hope y'all enjoy a little anguish. I'll be doin a spicy one next.

You fought alongside Clone Force 99 for a long time before the Battle of Kaller. Before Order 66. After meeting the padawan, Caleb, at the rendezvous point, you’d split off from the group to assist a team of troopers on the mountain while the boys joined General Bilaba. 

The troopers you encountered recognized you from your days with the 501st. Despite your repeated efforts to clarify that you were no longer a Jedi, they seemed unconvinced. Fortunately, after dispatching a group of droids, the remaining Separatist forces were routed towards the main front, allowing your group to do the same.

As you neared the midway point down you noticed the troopers falling back. Sliding to a stop in the snow, you turned back. There were about 10 of them, all standing around one holding a holocomm of a hooded figure. Half of them looked at you in sync, fixing the grip on their guns, the rest followed a heartbeat later. 

The hairs on the back of your neck stood on end. Somewhere far down the mountain you heard screaming and blaster fire at the same moment the troopers turned their guns on you. You took off away from the troopers before the first shot rang out. 

“Get the Jedi!” A lone trooper pierced through the chaos.

Quick thinking led you to drop a stun grenade, followed by another, as you sprinted onward. The explosions managed to incapacitate some of the troopers, but not enough. Switching your blaster to stun mode, you sought cover behind a nearby tree, emerging only to neutralize the nearest clones before a shot hit your right shoulder, propelling you into a desperate sprint away from them.

With escape and evasion as your only viable options, the Marauder seemed too distant to reach in time. Instead you aimed for a waterfall you spotted while landing. It was a slim chance, but your best hope for losing the troopers.

As you fled, you deliberately dug your fingers into the wound on your shoulder, leaving a trail of blood in your wake. It was a risky move, but if you had any hope of evading capture, they needed to track you. When you saw the water through the trees you wasted no time in ripping away your chest plate. As soon as you got to the crest of the waterfall you launched your chest plate over the edge.

With one glance over the cliff, you gritted your teeth, pressing into your injured shoulder, crouched, and lowered yourself over the ledge. You grabbed high over the ledge and drug your bloody hand back down over. One more look below to ensure a safe landing spot and let go. Relying on the Force to guide your descent into an alcove leading behind the cascading water. 

Once there, you swiftly shed the remaining pieces of armor, discarding them into the rushing stream as you shifted farther into the veil of the waterfall.

When you finally heard the troopers at the cliff edge, all you could do was listen, wait, and hope they fell for it.

“Looks like she tried to scale down,” one of them remarked, his voice carrying over the sound of rushing water.

“There! In the water, I see her armor!” Another trooper's voice rang out, sending a jolt of panic through you as you desperately sought cover. Their voices dropped too low to hear before you caught the tail end of the conversation.

“Confirmed, Commander Grey. The Jedi has been neutralized. Visual confirmation obtained,” a trooper reported, the cold finality of his words chilling you.

The clone trooper paused, most likely receiving transmission. “Yes sir. Alright boys, we are to rejoin Commander Grey and head out. His forces eliminated Bilaba and Clone Force 99 took care of the padawan. Gather the stunned troops and let’s move out.” That was the last thing you heard before the troopers left. 

Your heart stopped. The blood in your veins froze. You lurched for something - anything - to steady yourself on. One moment everything was normal and the next you were being gunned down by clones you risked everything for. Clone Force 99 took care of the padawan.

There wasn’t enough air in the tiny alcove to think, the waterfall was too loud, the water hitting your face too cold. Desperately, you gripped the slippery rocks as your legs gave out.

Nothing made sense. Questions raced through you, each more unsettling than the last. Had all of the clones turned on the Republic? Why were they targeting Jedi specifically? Clones that served with General Bilaba for years suddenly gunned her down. 

Nothing added up. If the orders affected all clones, there was a good possibility that the Bad Batch was also following them. Despite their independent streak, they were still clones, some orders had to be followed. It was a sobering realization - one that left you feeling vulnerable and nauseous. You weren’t going to be safe until they left. If they left.

The thought of aiming a weapon on the members of Clone Force 99 cracked something inside you. Besides, it was foolish to think you had a chance against all of them. With an entire army of reinforcements, attempting to take them on would be nothing short of suicidal.

Survival became your sole focus. There was no time to dwell on what went wrong or how to escape the planet's unforgiving terrain. For now, all you could do was stay hidden, biding your time until the coast was clear.

One by one, you discarded your armor and any identifiable markers into the water. It wasn’t about shedding your identity; it was a practical decision, one you could handle. Not long after, the sound of footsteps echoed from above. You pressed yourself against the rock again, your senses on high alert.

An eternity seemed to passed before the person moved. “The Jedi target was neutralized. If she’s not already dead, she’s as good as it.” It was Crosshair’s voice, cold and detached. 

There was another moment of silence before you heard Tech’s voice, “Affirmative. Blood stains indicate she attempted to scale down the cliff and subsequently fell.” His tone was as clinical as ever but you almost fooled yourself into thinking there was something else to it. “Pieces of her armor are wedged in the rocks below. Crosshair is correct, if she did not perish on impact the likelihood of her survival is negligible. We need to leave.”

They weren't out there to rescue you; they were there to confirm you were dead.

It was all too much to process. Every muscle, every bone, every nerve in your body seemed to fail, leaving you a trembling mess. When the two men finally left, you didn’t know.

“We don’t leave our own behind.” You heard Hunter’s voice and heard his lie.

They left you. You fought for them, yet they hunted you down and abandoned you.

Long after night had fallen, you mustered the strength to climb out of the alcove, your injured shoulder protesting every movement. Descending into the battlefield, you searched for a salvageable ship and supplies. Amidst the wreckage, you stumbled upon the one thing you weren’t looking for.

General Bilaba’s lightsaber. She must’ve lost it in the struggle. Such a valuable thing lost to the snow and wreckage, not even retrieved. Disposable. You held the cold metal in your hand before tucking it away.

You found one ship that might manage to get off the ground. Nearby, you spotted a partially disabled battle droid, still in remarkably good condition despite its current state. It appeared to have been incapacitated by a stun grenade. As you examined it, Tech's lessons on droid maintenance flooded your mind, particularly the techniques for reprogramming them for combat purposes.

Kneeling beside the droid you flipped it onto its back to access programming. You’d pulled it off before, reprogramming battle droids to counter attack. You just never thought you’d need the skills like this.

The process was far from seamless. You electrocuted yourself on the power supply, nearly damaged a circuit board while removing the restraining bolt, and the rewiring process dragged on longer than expected, especially under the cover of darkness.

Eventually, the battle droid sprung to life, clutching its head as it sat up. You lowered yourself onto one knee as the droid adjusted itself. "Where am I?" its questioning began, its metallic voice filled with confusion. "Is the battle over? Did we win?"

Hearing the droid address you instead of immediately engaging in combat felt oddly surreal, but given the day's events, it was perhaps the least strange thing. "What is your primary directive?" you asked, trying to gauge its functionality.

It clunked a hand against its head. "Huh, that's odd. I don't seem to have one."

That was a start. 

You rose to your feet and offered your hand. "In that case, how about we team up and find a way off this rock?"

Its head swiveled from side to side as it processed the proposal. "You mean, I get to choose?"

You let out a small scoff and maintained your outstretched hand. "Your options are coming with me or staying here to rust."

"Fair point," the droid responded, almost cheerfully, as it reached for your hand. "So, what's the plan for getting off this dump?"

You gestured toward the ship you hoped  to salvage. "Can you handle starship repairs?"

“Sure thing, boss. Want me to clean it up?”

You threw it a puzzled look, “Why would I-” You shook your head, “No, we need to repair it enough to get it off this planet.

“Well, that doesn’t make sense.” The B1 unit pointed at the ship. “That ship doesn’t need repairs, we just crashed it.”

Maybe picking a battle droid for an assistant wasn’t the best choice. “Was it your group that crashed it?”

“Yep!” It said too proudly. “Happens all the time. But I told you, this one doesn’t need repairs to fly.” The droid paused for a second, tapping a metal digit to the tip of its face, then added. “Yet.”

That didn’t bode well for survival. You waved for it to follow you, “Let’s see if you’re right.” Over your shoulder you asked. “What can I call you?”

“My identifier is OOM-672.”

Walking amongst dozens of disabled B1 units you mused, “Looks like you’re about to be one of the last OOM models in the galaxy. So why don’t we cut that down to O2?”

“Wow!” The way it vocalized almost added syllables to the word. “Yeah, O2 sounds much better! What do I call you? Master?”

You cringed at the sound of that. “I’m not your master, O2. We’re going to have to settle with being friends or buddies.”

“You got it, Buddy!”

Thankfully, O2 was right. The ship could fly and it had enough fuel to get you far from Kaller. Enough to get you all the way to the Outer Rim if you wanted. It was risky, but following the pattern of the day, it was your only chance at survival. You just didn’t let O2 pilot.

*

After the rise of the Galactic Empire, you and O2 settled on a planet in the Mid Rim. You scavenged and sold enough equipment from Kaller for a comfortable amount of credits to start off with. You pieced together a new identity, often concealing your face beneath a helmet and relying on a voice modulator. Being dead in the eyes of the Empire had its advantages.

The best way to stay hidden, you figured, was to stay in plain sight.

You wormed your way into ownership of a small inn. Although, your background as a Jedi and a soldier left you ill-prepared for running a business, and you struggled to turn a profit.

“O2!” You shouted from the lobby.

The battle droid sauntered in from the dining area. “Yes, Buddy?” The droid’s nickname for you always worked a smile out of you.

You tossed them a rusted-out metal part, which they scrambled to catch, their movements clumsy and uncoordinated. After a few failed attempts, they finally managed to grasp it securely. “The circulator for our boiler is busted. Can you head to the market and fetch a replacement? The parts dealer should have one available.”

“Roger, roger!” O2 chimed enthusiastically, ready to depart.

You yanked them by the shoulder. “O2,” You warned. “Do you remember how to pay?”

They rolled their head in an exaggerated display of weariness. “I know, I know - ‘charge it to the tab.’”

Raising an eyebrow, you waited for more. “And?”

O2 tapped a compartment on their chest, revealing a few credits inside. A result of some previous tinkering done by you. “And I have the extra credits.”

“And what’re they for?” You pressed.

“For ‘just in case.’” They replied

Stepping forward, you pushed the compartment closed. “In case of trouble, O2,” you reminded them firmly. Giving them a light knock with the back of your knuckles, you added, “Give me a call if you find yourself staring down the barrel of a blaster.”

As far as O2 was concerned, they had it easy. You rescued them from decommissioning and in return, all you asked for were simple tasks and the opportunity to tinker with their hardware. The tinkering, more often than not, turned out for the better - at least most of the time.

When you and O2 first arrived, the presence of a battle droid initially unnerved the townsfolk. However, they grew accustomed to O2's quirky demeanor. O2 was more goofy than intimidating almost by design. Plus, after a few instances of O2 causing trouble with the neighbors, they quickly learned to keep their hands off the droid. Often with a not so subtle reminder of a vibroblade at their throats.

O2 ambled through the town, exchanging waves with the occasional vendor. Stalls and shops lined the narrow, winding streets, colorful canopies providing shelter from the sun for the patrons below. Amidst the hustle and bustle, droids weaved through the crowds, delivering goods and providing services to customers. 

As O2 approached the parts dealer, raised voices caught their attention. Nearby, at a fruit stand, a vendor held a pear just out of reach of a young girl. "That's not fair!" the girl protested, reaching for the fruit. "I already paid you!"

Deviating from their path, O2 made their way toward the girl. She appeared to be a young human with light hair, a visitor to the town. 

"Hey, stop that!" O2 called out in their attempt at an authoritative tone. They reached the girl and bent slightly to address her. "Are you in trouble, young human?"

The girl turned to O2, visibly puzzled. After a moment of assessing the situation, she nodded slowly. "Uh, yeah," she replied, more confidently this time. "Yes. He's taking my money but insisting I still owe him more." She pointed a finger accusingly at the vendor.

O2 looked between the vendor and the little girl several times. When they finally grasped the situation, they exclaimed, “Ohh! You’re in trouble and need more credits. That’s perfect!” They poked open the compartment on their chest, revealing the credits.

The girl shook her head in disbelief. "N-no, I've already paid," she insisted, casting a disdainful glance at the vendor. "He's just trying to cheat me."

Raising a finger in a gesture of understanding, O2 interjected, "You're in trouble and these credits are for 'in case of trouble.'" They plucked out a few credits and pivoted at the hip to offer them to the vendor.

From behind the booth, the vendor's expression shifted to one of quiet annoyance, yet he begrudgingly began packing a bag with pears. "There's no trouble, O2," he retorted curtly, dropping the bag into the girl's arms. "Now, move along, kid."

The girl frowned at the man but did turn away. She looked up at O2 with a smile. “Thanks,” She pulled a curious face and stepped back from the droid for a better look. “You’re a B1 battle droid. What are you doing here?”

“I’m purchasing a new part.” O2 held up the broken circulator as proof.

She held back a smile. “No, no. I meant, weren’t all battle droids supposed to be decommissioned.” She gestured around her, “So what are you doing out here alone?”

O2 didn’t have time to respond when a man yelled, “Omega! Get away from that thing!” A male with a face tattoo shoved through the crowd and slammed the battle droid in the chest with the hilt of a blade. 

“Whoa!” O2 yelled, stumbling backward into the fruit stand.

The little girl squeezed between O2 and the man.  “Don’t hurt them, Hunter!” She threw her arms out to shield O2. “They were just helping !” Three other men arrived behind Hunter while O2 righted themself.

One of the men, with a socket for a hand, pushed to the front of the group and pointed his prosthetic at the droid. “Omega, you don’t know what that clanker is capable of.” 

“Hey!” O2 whined in protest and shook a fist at him. “You can’t call me that!”

“Says who?” Growled the largest man of the group.

“Says my buddy!” O2 started reaching for its head to send out a comm when the fruit vendor grabbed his hand.

“O2!” He laughed nervously and patted the droid harshly, “There’s no trouble.” The vendor pointed a finger at the men. “I’m not dealing with their friend today, so move out.”

“Friend?” The big guy repeated incredulously.

The cyborg hovered his hand over the blaster at his hip. “Where’s your master, droid?”

O2 thrusted their head in a sassy manner, “I don’t have a master.”

Hunter moved Omega to the side and put his knife just below O2’s head. “Why don’t you take us to this friend of yours?”

“That depends.” O2 said skeptically. “Are you looking for an inn?”

Hunter passed a look to the men behind him. “An inn?”

“Only customers can come to the inn. So - are you looking for an inn?”

Hunter lowered the knife and jerked his head to say ‘get going’, “Sure thing. Now, let’s go.”

“Roger, roger.” The droid said with a little salute and then tapped his fingers to the tip of his face. “Say, do I know you guys?

“Move it, clanker.” The cyborg ordered again.

Back at the inn, you waited in the lobby reading through bank statements. The front door was open to the street, allowing you to hear O2’s distinctive footsteps approaching. You pushed away from and around the desk to greet them. “That may have been your fastest run yet. How much - oh!” You stopped mid sentence when a young girl trailed in behind the droid. Behind your headgear you smiled, “Did you make a friend?”

The little blonde waved up at you, “Hello.”

A dent in O2’s chest plate caught your eye. You motioned for the droid. “O2, what did you do to your chest plate?” 

“Well, I didn’t do it.” The droid sassed, but moved forward and leaned down for you to inspect. You reached up, held their head, and moved it side to side for inspection. Other than the dent they were fine. You patted their face in relief when, from the corner of your eye four figures filed in.

You went stock-still at the sound of a familiar voice, Hunter’s voice. “You own this clanker?”

This was it. This was the day you died. 

Giving O2 one last pat, you turned to face the Bad Batch standing in your doorway, as formidable as ever. Hunter led the group, with Echo on his left, Tech on his right, and Wrecker flanking Echo. Crosshair was conspicuously absent. Their mismatched armor was newly painted in vibrant colors. 

Silently assessing them, you took a moment to compose yourself, shoving your fear and anger as deep as you could. Their demeanor said they didn't recognize you and you needed them gone before they did.

"Sure," you replied vaguely, your voice muffled by the voice modulator. Keeping your gaze fixed on the clones, you instructed O2, "O2, grab my satchels from the back." Without hesitation, the droid complied.

"What are you doing with a separatist battle droid?" Echo's voice bristled as he stepped forward. "Do you realize how dangerous that thing is?"

Images of Echo tending to your wounds flooded in, abruptly interrupted by the recollection of red blaster shots narrowly missing your head.

"OOM-672 has been reprogrammed," you replied, waving your hand dismissively. "They no longer pose a threat and wartime objectives have been nullified."

"Incorrect," Tech said as he tapped the side of his helmet to move his visor. "If the droid's reprogramming is faulty, it could revert to its original directives at any moment. Depending on the data stored in its memory, that could prove dangerous should it fall into the wrong hands." He advanced toward O2, pointing a finger. "Allow me to examine it—"

“Their programming is fine.” You instinctively took a step back, bumping into O2 with the bags you requested. One had spare credits for bribing them out of your parlor and, in case that didn’t work, the other contained a blaster and Bilaba’s lightsaber.

As you sorted through the first bag for credits, you spat, “No one lays a hand on the droid except me. Especially not a bunch of clones." With a flick of your wrist, you tossed a handful of credits at Hunter. "Now get out of my lobby.” You made the mistake of addressing them as clones and hoped the odd comment passed over them. They obviously didn’t look like other clones to the untrained eye.

"Oh!" O2's voice chimed in recognition, but you swiftly raised a hand to silence the droid.

“Do we look like we work for the Empire?” Wrecker asked, almost growled, with hands on Omega’s shoulders. 

Hunter glanced at the credits before tossing them back. “Just let us look at the droid,” he urged.

Without missing a beat you caught the credits, brandished the blaster, and aimed it at the leader. Immediately, the other brothers aimed their blasters at you. "Got a malfunction in those helmets?" You gestured toward the exit with your weapon. "I said leave. No stranger gets their hands on my droid."

“Strangers?” O2 stepped to your side and pointed at the group of clones. “They’re not strangers. We know them.”

Your blaster dipped for a moment, frustration nipping at you before you firmed up your grip. “O2, knowing someone for five minutes doesn’t mean you know them.”

“Just calm down.” Hunter said slowly.

“Five minutes?” The battle droid shook their head in confusion. “We go waaay back.” They hummed a thoughtful sound. “Although they did stun me on Kaller.” A chill gripped your spine at the mention of Kaller.

"Kaller?" Omega's gaze flitted between the men around her. "Where's that?" The rustle of shifting armor filled the lobby as the four men exchanged glances, their blasters trained still on you.

“Who are you and how did you get that droid?” Echo's voice carried a forceful edge as he pushed you.

“Get out.” You repeated with more venom. “Clones follow orders. That’s an order.”

Hunter slowly raised his hands, removing his helmet and revealing his tattooed face. The sight of him made it hard to breathe through.

"We're not with the Empire," Hunter declared. "And we're not big on following orders, either."

"Liar!" Your scream reverberated through the room, the voice modulator straining against your volume. Something flickered in Hunter's expression.

For someone with no skin in the war, you were proving to be  awfully reactive.

"Hunter," Tech intervened firmly, prompting you to swing your blaster in his direction. "Look at that blaster." You glanced down at your weapon, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

“What about it, Tech?” Hunter asked.

“That blaster has nonstandard modifications. Only five like it exist.” Tech explained, his tone serious.

“Not the time to be admiring blasters.” Echo snapped.

“The issue is,” Tech shot an annoyed look at his brother. “They are my modifications.” His grip relaxed slightly. “We have four of them and the other was - ”

You fired a shot at Tech before he could finish and attempted to fire another when Hunter lunged at you. He knocked the blaster from your hand and swung for your head. Wrecker shoved the kid behind him while you and Hunter exchanged blows, his hitting much harder than you remembered. 

You saw Tech activating a stun grenade as O2 reached for your blaster. Yanking a vibroblade from your hip, you rammed the hilt of it into the side of Hunter’s head, causing him to stumble back. Swiftly, you lurched in the way of the stun grenade, intercepted it, and threw as far as you could behind you.

Echo took no time in disarming and disabling O2 while Hunter regained his senses and grabbed for you. His touch was a breath away when you thrust out your hands and blew him back with the Force. Before Hunter could register what happened, Wrecker grabbed you by the neck, and yanked you from the ground.

You clawed at his hand but couldn’t stop the giant crushing your windpipe and ripping off your headgear. 

Seeing your bare face, livid and unable to breathe, shook Wrecker and gave you the chance to slam your feet into his stomach. He dropped you to the ground where you writhed and gasped for air. Your dropped blaster was nowhere in sight, but the other satchel was.

Still retching for air, you threw a hand out and the lightsaber flew to you. Green light blasted out of the hilt, parallel to the ground and putting a thrumming barrier between you and the clones.

“A Jedi?” Omega said in wonder, poking her head around Wrecker. Wrecker, notably, didn’t push her back behind him.

They all lowered their weapons and Tech, Echo, and Wrecker removed their helmets. Different shades of shock on all of them. “Sarad?” Tech spoke softly.

“Stay away from me.” You growled from the ground. Slowly, you repositioned yourself, strengthening your stance to pounce or run.

“We thought you were-”

“Dead?” You cut Wrecker off and cut a look at Tech. “Guess you aren’t as thorough as you think.” At that, Tech’s eyebrows hit his hairline.

“We didn’t follow that order.” Hunter interjected.

“Liar!” You lashed out. “I heard the troopers. ‘Clone Force 99 took care of the padawan.’”

Hunter started lowering himself to your eye level. “We let him escape.”

Echo stepped forward, his eyes avoiding yours. “We thought you were dead,” he admitted. He closed his eyes for a moment before finally meeting your gaze. “We thought the other troopers got to you, but we came looking for you as soon as we could.”

You didn’t dignify him with a response, in your eyes the only thing they deserved were holes through their chests.

Out of all of them, Tech stood the straightest, his demeanor showing no sign of shame in their handling of the situation. Still, he thought carefully on how to say what he needed, his hands clenching and unclenching as he processed it.

When he locked eyes with you, it was clear he’d considered his words meticulously, repeating the process in his mind multiple times before coming to the same conclusion

“With your blood and broken armor, there were two plausible outcomes,” he began, counting them out with his fingers. “First, that you perished either by the troopers or the falls. The second, that you…” His gaze momentarily shifted away, seeing your armor in the rocks. “... that you escaped.” Returning his gaze to yours, he continued, “In both scenarios, our intervention would have only made things worse. And Crosshair-”

You jumped to your feet in a challenge, Hunter quickly positioning himself between you and the others. “I don’t believe you,” you hissed, swinging the saber to the side before snapping it back in front of you. “So finish what you started.”

Hunter maintained his steady gaze as his brothers holstered their blasters. “We won’t fight you,” he assured, his tone resolute. Your eyes darted between them, searching for any sign of aggression. Seconds stretched on but the men held their ground.

“He’s telling the truth,” Omega whispered, joining Hunter at his side. "All clones were programmed to follow that order." She cast a meaningful glance at the men surrounding her. "But their altered states made them immune to the order."

For months, anger had been your constant companion, fueling you through each passing rotation. Anger at the Jedi Purge, at the failures of the Republic, and most of all, the seething rage at the Bad Batch for leaving you behind to bear the weight of it all alone. Months of grief and pain don’t just disappear.

The room seemed to warp and blur around you, your grip on the saber beginning to falter. Clinging to it tightly, you gritted your teeth, fighting to maintain your composure. The world snapped back into focus when tears finally breached your resolve, slipping down your cheeks unchecked.

“Then….” your arm dipped before falling limply at your side. “You left me for dead.” Your voice cracked and the words came out in a sob. “You left me behind.”

You thought the pain of them hunting you was the worst thing you could experience. The realization of abandonment was worse. A tight knot formed in your stomach, threatening to make you sick.

Driven by months of simmering anger, you shook your head through your tears. , “I survived without you, and I’ll keep surviving without you.” You let the green light of the saber fade. “So just leave.” The last words came out less like the command you wanted it to be and more like plea.

Wrecker ‘s eyes went wide, “You think after all this time,” he gestured toward you, “when we just got you back, we’d just leave?” A defiant look passed over him. “Sorry, not happening.”

“Sarad,” Tech spoke like it was just the two of you. YoYou closed your eyes briefly, savoring the familiarity of his tone. For a moment, you thought they might all disappear, as if they were never there. “Leaving you was a choice we never wanted to make. But it was the choice that led us here and ensured your survival. Keeping you alive was more important than keeping you by our sides.” He nodded, standing firm in his choices. “Your survival was the only acceptable outcome.”

The lightsaber grew heavy in your hand.

Wrecker reached out with a pleading gesture. "The regs would've— we couldn't..." He faltered, searching for the right words, but Omega touched his forearm and urged him forward.

Wrecker stepped through his brothers and although you flinched like you might run he reached out and touched your face. First with one hand and then a second when you tried to turn away. Holding you like that, seeing you safe in his hands, made it hard for Wrecker to ever imagine letting go.

Tears continued to flow down your cheeks, falling over his hands. Wrecker swept them away with his thumbs before pulling you into his arms. "Sorry, Sarad. We're sorry."

Your hands hovered on either side of you, it was the first time you’d truly touched another organic lifeform since Kaller. The lightsaber hit the ground and you fell into Wrecker.

You’d let yourself feel angry at them all those months alone, but, in an instant, it was overshadowed by the grief of having been without them. 

Pulling just out of Wrecker’s embrace you rubbed away the remaining tears. “I’ve missed you.”

“We missed you too.” Echo answered for the group.

Looking between them all, you felt like the world was a little safer. There were a few things standing out to you though. First being the little girl with them and Crosshair’s absence.

Immediately reading you, Hunter touched Omega’s shoulder. “A lot has changed.”

"I can see that," the girl smiled warmly at you, her expression oddly familiar despite never having met before.

Tech breezed past you, heading straight for O2. He knelt beside the droid, adjusting his goggles before turning to you. "So, you really salvaged this droid from Kaller?" You affirmed with a nod, prompting a look of mild disturbance from Tech. "And it's proven to be useful?" Another nod from you. "Well, that's just as surprising as your survival," he remarked, his tone tinged with genuine curiosity.

"Be kind to O2," you interjected, joining Tech by O2's side to rouse the droid. "They're my friend."

Echo scratched the back of his head, a sheepish expression crossing his features. "That's... going to take some getting used to."

Omega joined you and Tech, her eyes wide with fascination as Tech began to point out various features of the battle droid. A smile tugged at your lips as you watched the interaction unfold. The inn you had purchased never truly felt like home, much like Coruscant and the Jedi Order before it.

But here, amidst the Bad Batch, you finally felt a sense of belonging. You were home.

[alligatorpie1945]

Based on one of my favorite scenes from an absolutely wonderful fanfic called Success Rate by @vivaislenska on Ao3. Chapter 9 is where this scene takes place for anyone curious. 

If you like hurt/comfort, some whump and a happy ending, then I cannot recommend this fic enough. I read the whole thing in 2 days, I literally couldn’t put it down. 

This is also my longest comic I have ever done, so I hope you all enjoy! 

[bruh-myguy-what]

Uncommon Reaction

Pairing: Tech x Fem!Reader (our lovely medic line) Warnings: female insults, gross man being a jerk to reader, violence, cursing, Mando'a cursing, fluff, not proof read I just needed to get it out as my mourning, nothing else I don't think Word Count: 4.5k Summary: Needing something from town, you're stuck with going with Tech, as everyone else is busy. You're not used to his response when a man decides to be rude to you.

Requests are open if you have anything you'd like to send in!

______________________________

"Echo," your mirthful voice reverberated around the walls of the Maruader as you laughed, "please?"

Laughing at your shameful display as you childishly hung off of the man's shoulder, playfully pouting at him with eyes as wide as a loth kitten. He chided you with an amusingly stern use of your name, dragging you alongside him as he walked down the gangplank, "I've already told you that I can't go with you into town. I'd love to but I have to help Hunter gather the rations and make sure we have enough for the next trip."

Whining dramatically, you pull at his hand, "I can wait! Really! I'll even help count so it'll go quicker!" Though you tried your most convincing grin, hoping your innocent tone would win him over as it had multiple times before, the Arc trooper shook his head.

"Sorry, sarad, no can do." His simple decline made you groan in frustration and drop his hand indignantly but he continued, "It's already getting late, anyway, the sun'll be gone before we even finish counting. Why don't you see if Tech will go with you?"

At the mention of the clever clone, your cheeks immediately warmed and you pulled away from Echo a bit in fear he might catch your sudden change. "I-I'm sure he's busy...he's always busy with some kinda tinkering." Your mumbled response was met with a raised brow from the cybernetic clone before you, his trained eye-catching the evergrowing red color staining your cheeks. Though the planet had a warmer temperature than some others the Batch had stopped on recently, Echo knew this couldn't have affected you so suddenly. You noticed his scrutinizing squint and quickly tried to move the subject elsewhere, "Maybe Wrecker or Cross could go with-"

With another shake of his head, a knowing grin starting to grow over his pale lips, arms crossing over his armored chest, Echo interrupted you, "Busy with rearranging the cargo hold so Tech doesn't get rid of their explosives again." Then he smirked at your obvious dilemma, "Besides, I'm sure that if you ask him, Tech'll set whatever he's doing aside. He seems to like you more than any of the rest of us."

Stammering at Echo's teasing, you fumbled with a response. He couldn't be serious, right? Tech was nice, of course, he was just as nice as any of the others- just in his own way.

The way that sent butterflies screaming into your stomach...

The way that made your hands tremble sometimes when he forgot about the social decency of personal space...

Tech was nice in the way that you adored and couldn't get enough of even when you'd been around him for hours upon hours, even when his brothers wanted to strangle him.

"Uh, w-well, I don't-" You started as Echo tapped his chin with his scomp-link, in thought when footsteps from the gangplank sounded.

Walking down a step at a time, Tech emerged, face ever plastered to his datapad. A miniscule glance was sent from Echo to you then back to the device in his hands. "I heard whining from the pilot's seat," he began, his precise tone sounding uninvested as it typically did when he was observing a situation unbiasedly.

Echo grinned over at Tech, "Just the clone we were looking for," he praised with a welcoming wave of his scomp. "Our dear medic here is in dire need of heading into town and no one has any time to go with her."

As soon as Echo mentioned you needing to go into town, Tech put away his datapad, eyes meeting yours. "It would seem I am currently unimpeded by any projects that require my immediate attention, for the time being, that is." He stepped further down the gangplank, standing in the unoccupied space before you and Echo. "An appropriate solution would be that I accompany you into the nearby town."

Echo slowly turned his head to meet your red face, smirking proudly at you, "It would be, wouldn't it?" He chuckled at your incredulous expression, then looked back at the taller clone. "Then make it quick the two of you, it's going to be getting dark soon and I'm sure the town isn't the best place to be, even for us." He rested his hand on Tech's shoulder, walking back up the gangplank to head inside the ship, momentarily turning around to salute you with a wink.

You stood there for a second in disbelief, trying to understand how the situation left you with just Tech....alone.

"I cannot believe him." You muttered to yourself under your breath, shaking your head.

"He is correct, actually" Tech interjected into your thoughts, causing you to start a bit, forgetting his proximity. Looking up to see him fixing his goggles on his face more comfortably, you noticed the way his brown eyes caught the sun, as light snuck behind the frames to speckle the golden hues decorating them. "The town we are heading to is known for its rather," he searched around the area for the appropriate word, "sordid, is perhaps the best term I can use for it. We would be safer grabbing what it is you need quickly, then returning at a proper pace." His explanation continued but you began to get lost in your own thoughts, admiring the man before you. It seemed to happen, sometimes, that you would find yourself marveling at how someone who was supposed to be a clone- "defective" or otherwise- was so uniquely designed. However, no matter how smart Tech was, he was so clueless of his beauty (unlike Hunter who was exhaustively aware of his looks). The way his freckles brushed over the thin bridge of his nose to paint his tanned cheeks. The way his honeyed eyes were just a few shades brighter than his brothers, the way the light lingered in them even after all was dark. He was oblivious to how handsome he looked when he raised that one eyebrow in challenge, or when one of his brothers said something entirely incorrect. He was just as strong, just as well adept in battle, as any of his brothers (other than Wrecker), but he had the added allure of his intelligence that made you fall that much quicker. Tech's straightforward behavior, the endearing seriousness, his misconception of certain social cues, and the way his heart was still as open as any of the others- more so, you could argue- just made cherishing him so much easier.

A gentle call of your name caught you off-guard and you shook your head to refocus. "Hmm? Yes?"

Tech's face had grown adorably perplexed as he searched yours inquisitively. "I had asked if you were ready to leave, though I was met with only your vacant expression. Are you alright?"

A burning crept up your neck as you blinked dumbly at the clone trooper, "Y-yep! I'm perfectly fine!" You winced at the crack in your voice, hoping that if he asked any further questions you could blame some of it on the slightly elevated temperature of the planet.

Tech seemed gracious, or oblivious, enough to move on from the situation and nodded at your reply. "Then I suppose we should leave," he gestured for you to go ahead of him, "after you, mesh'la."

-

Once in town, you had noticed quickly what Tech had meant about the town being a little less desirable. The people seemed to even shy away from one another from time to time, going about their own business and then skittering away.

Tech kept a close pace behind you, placing himself directly behind your shoulder, his impressive height becoming even more pronounced. People seemed content to avoid the two of you and you hadn't noticed any issues with the trip so far until you felt Tech press himself further into your back, the smooth front of his chest piece cramming into your shoulder blade. "Tech?"

You glanced up as you continued forward, noting how his eyes narrowed behind his goggles, analyzing something further into the crowd. If you hadn't been in what seemed like a rather precarious situation- based on his current manner- you would find his closeness thrilling and unusual, but by his squared shoulders, you knew he was locked onto something questionable. "Apologies for my proximity." He spoke in a low, curt tone, eyes never meeting yours.

"Is...everything alright?" You questioned, trying to look around the crowd of people to see whatever was bothering the trooper.

Tech hummed in response, the rumble of his chest shaking through his armor and into your shoulder. "Our safety is secured for the present moment. Though it would be wise for my presence to be as near to you as comfortably possible for the duration of our outing."

You hadn't been out by yourself very many times with just Tech, possibly a time a two, but any time you had been it was always causal and friendly places. You'd seen Echo, Wrecker, or Hunter get protective in the face of social danger when you'd gone out with them before and it seemed like an evident connection to make that Tech (or even Crosshair) would've as well even though it hadn't been something you'd actually thought about before. However, now, you couldn't stop the way your heart ached at Tech's rapid transition from relaxed to defensive, the strong line of his jaw the first thing you caught sight of whenever you glanced up to make sure he was still on the lookout.

"Alright," you rushed out, "I'll be quick then. Sorry for the hassle, I didn't expect there to be an actual problem." Any more guilt you had been about to express died when you felt a large hand on the other shoulder blade, the warmth spreading through your entire body.

"Your apology is unwarranted. You required something, it is only sensible that one of us accompany you for protection. Although you are a reputable member of the GAR whom I have seen manage precarious situations rather exceptionally, I am certain every one of us would prefer to maintain your safety as much as we are capable." Tech finally glanced down to give you the slightest hint of a smile, accompanied by a reassuring nod. "Please, continue."

"Th-Thanks," was all you could dumbly reply as you tore your eyes away from the clone to search around for any pop-up stand that had what you had dragged Tech out here to get. It was some form of balm that you had needed to add to your collection for healing cuts and scrapes that the GAR hadn't entirely said was a part of the standard order of supplies but it worked as a wonderful substitute for bacta. It didn't take much longer to find a stand that was selling medical salves and the like, though the warmth of Tech's steady touch- whether from his chest or his hand- distracted you desperately.

While shopping through the procured items laid out, you felt Tech's hand fall away from your shoulder and a voice that was unknown to you spoke. "Listen goggles," the gruff man spoke, "just walk away from the woman and nobody has to get hurt, alright?"

As you began to turn, you were met with Tech's broad back blocking you as his hand came behind him to tuck you closer. "I regret to inform you that I am incapable of doing so." His voice was as steady and casual as typical for Tech, if you'd not known any better you would've thought he'd been speaking to Hunter or one of the others.

Choking out a gurgled laugh, the man pulled out a blaster, clicking off what you recognized as the stun. You were hardly terrified, Tech was highly skilled, though faced with a blaster you were worried he might be injured. Tech wasn't the first to respond with violence, opting instead to de-escalate the situation with a straightforward and disarming method. "I don't think you heard me, prick. I don't think you want to die over a whore, do you?" The insult hit you, surprised by its accusation and you placed a steadying hand on the backpack Tech wore, to steal a glance of the situation. You felt the hand that was placed on your arm tighten its grip protectively at your movement.

Tech was caught off guard by the insult as well, inclining his head at the shorter man. "Pardon me?"

"The whore, you fool. I want to whore. Move away so I can have her and we can part ways without anyone getting harmed." The man motioned with his blaster for Tech to step aside, though he remained unmoving.

Tech adjusted his goggles with his free hand, "by my estimation, it would seem that the only fool in our current location would be you. I will not be moving, so in light of our impasse, how would you prefer to proceed? By the tremble of your blaster, I would venture that you are incapable of properly wielding the weapon, which is a dangerous decision in and of itself. Again, it would seem you are the fool." Tech took a step forward, calm assurance complimenting his candid tone.

"B-Back up, freak! I'll blast you without a second thought." The man snarled as he raised his blaster higher toward Tech's chest. As you noted what Tech said, he was right- as always- the man's hand shook prominently. Though the sight of a blaster pointed so blatantly at the trooper was unsettling, you trusted him.

"Proper blaster decorum is to hold higher on the handle, finger over the trigger, and placed securely at the target of the blaster bolt." Tech's nonchalant lesson to the man seemed to only set the situation more on edge, which was surprising to you. He wasn't de-escalating, he was...antagonizing. "Is it standard practice here that any chakaaryc is allowed to carry a blaster?"

"A-Any...what?" The man asked confounded by the word he didn't understand, using his other hand to stabilize the blaster now as Tech approached closer to him.

It was normal for the Batch to use their Mando'a around one another, though they didn't use it much around others outside the GAR and even you didn't understand the language so you never paid attention to the words. Though now you were silently cursing yourself for not studying it, wondering what it was that Tech said.

"Di'kutla," Tech's voice lowered to a tone you hadn't heard him use before, it sounded almost...dangerous, "It is a Mandalorian translation for a filthy low-life, such as yourself."

"Why you!" The man's finger began to push the blaster's trigger and you felt your heart drop, stomach-churning, until you blinked and nearly missed the effortlessly elegant way Tech disarmed the man of his blaster. Crying in pain as his hand was bent backward while Tech placed the rogue blaster in his belt after switching it off, the man spat curses at the trooper. "She's just a whore, man! What's your big deal?!"

At the man's insistence on your status, Tech furthered his grip, causing him to yell out, Tech’s stoic composure- in contrast- never faltering. "I believe I have heard quite enough from you, mir'sheb."

"But-" Interrupting the man's argument, Tech's fist connected directly to the criminal’s face in a surprising display of brutality, effectively silencing him- and bloodying his nose.

"I said enough."

Standing in absolute awe of the current events, you were speechless, and before you could muster anything to say you watched as Tech yanked the stumbling man toward you by the grip on his wrist. "Forgive my lack of decency, mesh'la, though regarding his offense, this man owes you an apology."

"Tech, I-" You began, only for Tech to twist the man's arm behind his back and press him forward a bit harsher to which the man stumbled onto his knees, causing Tech to bend down with him, muttering apologies at your feet.

"Are you pleased with his display of atonement, cyar'ika?" Tech's honeyed eyes rose to meet yours, his tall frame bending over the man on the ground, refusing to let him free until you were satisfied. At your nod, he released his hold.

The man scurried to his feet and scuttled away as quickly as he could, nursing his wrist. Confusion washed over you as you glanced at the trooper, dusting off his hands and shuffling things around on his belt to make room for the blaster he had acquired. Once satisfied with his work, Tech met your eyes once more, adjusting his goggles nonchalantly. "Have you found what it is that we came to find?"

Still stunned by Tech's uncommon display of brute force and his complete willingness to act as if it has been just a normal day of the week, you stood there silently holding up the salve. "Wonderful, then we should return quickly." He sent a look around the sky to notice that it was dark now, "I am sure-" and as if on cue, Tech's comm link made a sound. Echo's voice rushed out with a stern use of Tech's name as soon as he’d answered it.

"Where in the galaxy are you two? I said to be quick!" The clone complained on the other end of the comm. Motioning for you to join at his side, Tech explained that you were momentarily disrupted but were unharmed and returning shortly.

While he spoke with Echo, you stared stupidly at the salve in your hand, replaying Tech making an absolute fool of the criminal. You'd never seen him react in such a way and you could feel your cheeks burning at how attractive the response had been to witness. What could've caused such a change in his approach? Of course, the Batch was known to be unconventional, so maybe Tech just thought the only way to dissuade the man was to use brute strength, but it just seemed like something bothered him. Could it have been when the guy insulted you?

A call of your name brought you back to the present, where Tech was standing in front of you, his hand extended. "Take my hand, please, it is quite dark. I do not wish to lose you in the crowd, it would seem this town is worse than I had originally read about. I will make a note to update the Republic's records properly." His hand enveloped yours delicately, pulling you closer to his side to guide you through the mass.

-

The walk back to the Marauder was quiet, your mind reeling from what happened. You were no stranger to difficult scenarios such as that one, so it wasn't as if you were scared just baffled.

"Stars! Finally, you two are back." Echo huffed in frustration as you emerged from the treeline. "Come on, we gotta get out of here. We're wanted back on Kamino for some new mission. Everyone else is already prepped to leave."

Tech merely nodded, saying something about how he'd set up the ship to be ready for the journey, and departed with a casual 'see you inside' as he let go of your name.

"What's wrong with you?" The accusation behind Echo's voice elicited a glare from you, none of this would've been an issue had he not forced Tech to go with you. You wouldn't be standing here struggling to erase the image of Tech decking a criminal right in the face. Replaying the sound of his voice when he demanded his apology to you for his insults...

This was Echo's fault. For sure.

"Tech punched someone, Echo." You explained with narrowed eyes to which the pale clone laughed as if the joke you tried to tell him was the funniest thing he'd heard. "No, I'm serious. He dropped this guy. He pulled a blaster on us and Tech just...punched him in the face."

"That's weird. Tech's not usually the type to-"

"TRUST ME," you raised your voice, "I'M AWARE."

Echo started laughing again, "I told you that he had a soft spot for you, sarad." He motioned for you to follow as he began his ascent up the gangplank, and punched the closure button when you joined him.

-

Later into the night, while you lay awake in your bunk, you tossed and turned trying to quieten the memory from earlier though it was a futile effort. The thought was driving you crazy.

Why had Tech reacted that way? It was just too out of the ordinary for him. It seemed far more personal than he ever responded.

And Echo's comments about him having some sort of bias toward you weren't helping the racing of your heart.

So you crawled out of your bunk, making sure not to wake anyone up as you tip-toed up to the main hull where there were small sounds of tinkering echoing. Of course, he was still awake.

"Mesh'la," Tech commented as you walked in, surprising him. "You are supposed to be asleep, what are you doing awake?"

Flashing him a grin as you took up residency in the co-pilot seat across from him, you pulled your legs up close to your chest. "Much like yourself, Tech, I couldn't sleep."

Adjusting his goggles, Tech blinked a few times in consideration. "Well, are there any extenuating circumstances that are barring you from getting the rest you usually require? Such as Wrecker's snoring? Crosshair mumbling in his sleep? Echo has a bad habit of shifting a lot during the night, could it be that?"

Shaking your head at his list of options, you took a breath, "I, actually have a question."

A glance in his direction showed his brow raising in confusion. "A question for me?" Upon seeing your nod he prompted you to continue, setting his tools aside to give you his undivided attention.

"Earlier..." you began, nervously playing with the hem of your GAR-issued pajama shirt, "in the town." Tech's intent gaze spurred you to continue, though you were anxious about how he would take the question. He was always truthful, but would he find the question odd? Would he think it was a stupid question? "You reacted differently than normal." You pointed about, changing directions a little, instead of asking a question.

"I am obligated to point out that your statement is not a question, cyare. However, your assessment is correct. It is not my usual course of action to resort to physical altercations in such situations..." He responded evenly. "Though, this circumstance required a unique response from me." His added comment confused you even more.

"Why?" You inquired, eyes now meeting his.

Tilting his head to the side slightly, his brows furrowed as if he were the perplexed one now. "I thought it would be obvious." His simple response was mildly bothersome. Of course, it wasn't obvious! That's why you couldn't sleep!

"Tech, you have to remember, sometimes, some of us need you to explain what's going on up there in that exceptional mind of yours." You clarified as you tapped your temple, gesturing for him with a soft smile on your face.

It dawned on him then, that perhaps it probably wasn't obvious to you. Though he struggled to find how to put it into words. "I was required to respond irregularly because he had offended you. Pointing a blaster at me is less of an issue, one I am perfectly well adept at discouraging," Tech's voice was unchanging until he glanced at his hands and his tone dropped. "It wasn't until his unwarranted comments regarding you that I felt my common strategy of de-escalating was not suitable enough. Your virtue demanded more than my words to right the occurrence." His eyes were still downcast as he spoke, seeming...embarrassed?

"My virtue?" You repeated his term of use.

Nodding, the clone finally met your eyes, the emotion behind his brown hues causing the breath to catch in your lungs. "Yes. I will never allow someone to speak so disparagingly about you in my presence. You deserve far more from those who say they care for you."

The blue streaks of hyperspace highlighted the contours of his handsome face, highlighting his features. It seemed as if time slowed to a crawl between the two of you at his admission. Was it a declaration of love, no, but it still burned in your chest as if it had been. "You care for me, Tech?"

"Considerably so, yes." The speed and certainty of his response felt as if it knocked you against the seat, like your first trip into hyperspace, kicking you back. His honesty was staggering every time. "If I can be forthright, I find that I am more partial to you than even my brothers are. I have spoken with Hunter at length about why this may be. The solution we have come to at the very moment is," Then he paused for a moment, considering his words carefully, "that I have a romantic interest in you. The signs of psychical attraction I have are evident, or so I thought. I desire to be close to you as often as possible, and the ability to speak with you about things is a welcomed one that I look forward to regularly."

As you listened, the burning in your chest only worsened. Tech not only punched a man because he insulted you, but punched a man who insulted you because of how much he cares about you and your honor? And now he was telling you how much he'd cared for you? This had to be a dream.

"Forgive me if this is not the answer you were envisioning, however, that does not change the truth of the answer to your query." Tech finished with a resolute nod, though the emotion did not leave his eyes.

You sat there across from him for a while in silence, reflecting, assessing, and gathering, but once everything sorted itself into place in your mind you rose from your seat to stand before Tech. He'd always been so straightforward, so honest with you...he only deserved the same in return.

Your hands hesitantly reached out, testing the waters of his current mood. When he didn't pull away, you caressed his jaw on either side lovingly, tilting his chin up to meet your eyes. The astonishment in them betrayed his outwardly calm demeanor as you leaned down to graze your lips against his, a whispered 'thank you' tumbling from your lips before you kissed him.

As if your confusion and amazement had been transferred to him, Tech merely sat in his seat, numbly. However, as you began to pull away, his hand quickly reached out to rest around the back of your head to stop you from going too far. Brown eyes explored your face as if you were an illusion, "you captivate and baffle me," he breathed out in wonderment, pulling you back in for another kiss, "show me more, please."

Laughing under your breath at his request you lowered yourself into his lap gingerly, "I'd love to, but right now, I just want to kiss you a little more."

________________________________________

Mando'a translations just in case- chakaaryc - lowlife, rotten,  di'kutla- useless/ worthless, mir'sheb- smartass

@stellarbit - this is for the both of us.

[moonstrider9904]

Flyin' Ace

Chapter 4 of Moonwalker: The Flame

{series masterlist} {next chapter} {previous chapter}

{crossposted to Wattpad} {crossposted to AO3}

Summary: The crew are led to Safa Toma, where a deal struck with the gangster Millegi results in a stunt to protect Sarah's honor.

Tags/Warnings: Mature. Allusions to gangs, some foul language, smoking, alcohol.

Word count: 7.2k

Songs:dirtmouth

If Sarah had known what they were getting themselves into, she at least would have insisted on leaving Omega on Ord Mantell. Letting her be by herself for a while, even if it was enclosed in the Y-Wing with Rigel on standby, would have struck her as safer. Echo and Hunter were bound to return soon, anyway.

Instead, there they were, the entire rest of the squad walking the even seedier streets around the Safa Toma race dome. Sarah thought back to her days as a pirate chilling in Hondo’s lair, and that seemed like a high-end dive bar compared to where they were now. Cid led the way at the front and center, with Sarah at her right side. Sarah kept Omega to her left, behind Cid, figuring that would at least be where the smallest of the group would be most protected. And, bringing up the rear, Tech and Wrecker towered over the three ladies like two bodyguards, fully armored and unafraid of whoever may have so much as hinted at a dirty look their way.

Cid looked over her right shoulder at Sarah and made a brief gesture at her. Sarah picked up her pace and, mindful of still being Omega’s cover in some way, she evened her position with the Trandoshan and leaned in, prompting hushed voices. No one else needed to be listening in.

“Glad ya came,” Cid said. “This pit of filth and scum should be a piece of cake for a former pirate like you.”

Sarah took it as a compliment. “I did see some things over at Hondo’s. Never a riot racing dome.”

“Ya ain’t here for the racing,” Cid pulled to a stop. “I am.”

The multiple speeders tailgating after the other down at the track raced by their area, the revving of their engines rising and then falling. When they were out of sight, Cid faced the crew behind her. “My new racer’s gonna make us enough for two months, at least!”

“Aw, look at you being generous,” Sarah walked up next to Cid, overlooking the racing track with a confident, arrogant little smile. “We’re getting a two month vacation with this pay? I kinda like that.”

Cid chuckled. “Ya know what I mean, Strider, don’t push it.”

As Sarah enjoyed the view and the memories of her scrappy past, Cid looked around the crowd, wary, though it didn’t seem there was anyone targeting her or her companions. There may have just been one face among the crowd with particularly unfriendly eyes looking her way… or perhaps not?

At the possibility, Cid scrambled past the clones and led the way again. “We should head down to meet Tay-0. We’re not ‘ere to spectate.”

Sarah picked up on the sudden change of pace as well as the way Cid suddenly became more tense, and she walked up to Wrecker first, grasping his forearm lightly.

“Whatever happens, prioritize Omega, will you?” Sarah whispered.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Wrecker nodded.

Sarah smiled softly, appreciative of Wrecker’s reassurance—he was a pillar of strength, and not just physically. She then hurried to the front next to Cid, and she leaned in again, more secretive than before.

“If we’re to keep hell from breaking loose, you need to tell us who to look out for,” Sarah told Cid.

“You got good instinct,” Cid muttered. “You call the shots.”

Sarah couldn’t help but pull back at Cid’s words, her eyebrows raised and eyes widened.

“What?” Cid questioned.

Sarah chuckled. “Nothing. Just that… well, you’ve got a damn good right hand in me.”

Cid’s shoulders relaxed, and her lizard-like features seemed to adopt a hint of a smile. “Yeah, I don’t doubt that.”

Sarah smiled softly, oddly proud to be the one Cid recognized as in charge on the mission. But Sarah took such a responsibility seriously, and for the rest of the way, her gaze was ever-vigilant and aware of any pair of eyes that fell on them.

The squad made it down to the sidelines of the racing tracks without difficulty. The speeder that belonged to Cid’s infamous racer seemed prominent while it was parked on the sidelines, and Omega instantly ran towards it, eyes big with curiosity. Tech followed closely behind, already pulling out his datapad, no doubt wanting to check his own records to get a better grasp of what the vehicle was and, of course, how to improve it.

As Sarah watched Tech go about his business, she smiled softly at the sight of him so expertly making his way around the speeder.

“Many modifications have been made, that is for sure,” Tech was explaining. “A speeder of this caliber was not built for racing conditions, neither speed or weapon-wise.”

“Um, ahem!”

Every pair of eyes that had gathered around the speeder turned in the same direction when a male and slightly mechanized voice filled their ears. A tall, thin-looking droid was approaching them, its strut almost as confident as if it were human. When it was just in front of the crew, its hands flew to its metal hips and it leaned forward slightly, indignant.

“Who so disrespectfully criticizes my vehicle?” The droid bellowed.

“It is not criticism, it is an evaluation,” Tech said as he raised the visor of his helmet and looked at the droid, his expression clearly visible through his goggles. “Do you manage this vehicle for the racer?”

“I am the racer,” the droid said.

Everyone then looked at Cid, who walked up to the droid and slapped its back.

“This is Tay-0, my own little money-maker,” she introduced.

“At your service,” Tay-0 took a light bow.

Meanwhile, Tech looked over at Cid, skeptical. “Your runner is a droid?”

“Hey, human!” Tay-0 walked up to Tech and challenged him. “Do you think you have the mental capacity to make a split-second calculation required in the heat of a race?”

“He does, actually,” Sarah chimed in, smirking over at Tech.

Though his helmet covered most of his face, the way Tech’s eyes glistened as they hovered over to Sarah and lingered only for a second didn’t escape her. Regardless, his gaze was back on Tay-0, firm, yet sincere.

“I do not have the background or knowledge of the sport to provide an answer,” Tech said. “However, I have made split-second calculations in battle amidst blaster fire, which is not the same as racing, but similar in that there is an imminent threat that must be addressed swiftly to ensure victory. Perhaps my experience will enrich yours, and yours may enrich mine.”

“All I want to hear is praise, human boy,” Tay-0 dismissed. “So if it ain’t that, I don’t want to hear it.”

The droid waltzed off and retired into the garage, moving the speeder in towards it. Meanwhile, Sarah approached Tech from behind, her hand landing over his shoulder.

“Well, he seems delightful,” she scoffed.

“I am curious,” Tech said. “If machinery eliminates human error, does that mean the ideal racer is a droid? What is Tay-0’s margin of error, and how does it compare to that of the organic racers? If his win-rate is not 100%, does his droid nature influence who he loses to? In other words, does he only lose to droids who can perform similarly quick calculations? And this raises a different question—we are now adding a different factor to success in a race: the vehicle, the ability of the racer, their organic nature or lack thereof, and in the latter case, who has the better programming. This has potential to be truly fascinating to analyze.”

“Well, I don’t really like this place,” Sarah briefly squeezed the plastoid on Tech’s shoulder—she particularly enjoyed the sound of Tech’s voice modulated by his helmet and was grateful he’d given her such a speech in it, “but now I’m hoping we stick around long enough for you to answer all those questions.”

Tech faced her, his eyes softening over his goggles. “That was quite a compliment you gave me a moment ago.”

Sarah smiled at him. “And there’s plenty more where that came from.”

“Look alive,” Wrecker called from behind, instantly drawing Tech and Sarah’s attention to the group of people who were approaching them.

The group was led by a large Dowutin male and followed by three other figures, of whom one was a Gamorrean guard, and the other one had a recognizable face since it was plastered on multiple posters around the racing dome—it was Jet Venim, another one of the racers.

“Cid,” the Dowutin called out. “You didn’t tell me you were back around. I resent you for not telling me.”

“Millegi,” Cid acknowledged. “That’s ‘cuz I wasn’t really plannin’ on seein’ ya.”

“Well, that’s on you, since you know this is my turf,” Millegi said as he got a quick glance at Sarah and the others. “Got a new crew there. Aren’t you gonna introduce us?”

“Their names are non’ya business,” Cid crossed her arms.

Towering over everyone else, Millegi scanned the crew standing guard behind Cid, and his gaze landed on Sarah, who stared back at him, unwavering.

“Nice tattoos,” he said to her.

Sarah tilted her head slightly and opted to use her charisma rather than anger a prominent gambling figure of Safa Toma.

“Thanks,” she smirked. “Made ‘em myself.”

“I once heard an old friend talk about someone who looked like you,” Millegi paced closer towards her—it didn’t escape him the way the two clones tensed as he did. “A pirate who graced her gang with her presence, but then left too soon, and all to be a heroic soldier, only to never be heard of again. You’re her, aren’t you?”

Sarah scoffed ever so softly.

“Hondo’s Sarah Adhara,” Millegi concluded and brought the large cigar up to his mouth, taking in a large inhale before lowering it once more, exhaling. “You’re a legend. What will the Ohnaka gang think when they hear their prized jewel played a part in losing a bet against Millegi?”

Sarah knew a signal of deference was in order, one that was just daring enough to also establish a certain territory, a relationship of mutual respect rather than to let Millegi know he stood before a doormat. Sarah paced forward slowly with a subtle sway of her hips, her back straight and features calm as she reached her hand out and took the cigar from Millegi. Without breaking eye contact even to blink, Sarah took a long inhale from the cigar and removed it from her lips, blowing the smoke out through her nose and letting it flow up in front of her face, and at last, her lips curved slightly when faint expressions of satisfactions were heard coming from Millegi’s crew. Towering over her, Millegi smirked at Sarah’s gesture.

“If my reputation precedes me, then you know I don’t want trouble,” Sarah said, handing him the cigar back. “Surely, you have bigger fish to fry than a mercenary and her new crew. We don’t deserve such attention.”

“I beg to differ,” Millegi spoke. “Your racer’s going up against mine, and Cid and I have some unfinished business. That’s enough of a premise to strike a deal.”

Millegi then looked over Sarah’s shoulder at Cid with an aura of confidence. “I was thinking of giving you more of a run for your money, but I won’t ignore such a warm introduction,” he glanced at Sarah briefly, then back at Cid. “Let’s leave it at our usual wager, how’s that? For old times’ sake?”

Though she tried, Cid couldn’t mirror Millegi’s confidence, and her chest shrank as she crossed her arms.

“Alright, deal,” Cid spoke.

Sarah briefly glanced at Cid, painfully aware that the stakes had just been raised.

“Well, this will be fun,” Millegi said as he began to turn around, his gaze lingering on Sarah for a moment before he left.

Sarah followed him with her eyes as he and his crew left, and when they were out of sight, Sarah rushed over to her own team.

“Knew you’d be great here,” Cid placed her hands on her hips, smirking at Sarah. “You actually got Millegi to soften up.”

“The point was to be off the hook,” Sarah said. “But you still accepted the bet.”

“You know as well as I do you don’t just say no to a bet with someone like Millegi,” Cid countered.

“In case you haven’t noticed, you have muscle too,” Sarah gestured at Tech and Wrecker.

“Will ya ease up?” Cid grinned. “I know what I’m doin’. Tay-0’s gonna win, and Millegi’ll respect the wage. Win-win.”

“This droid better be the best damn racer in the galaxy for what I just did,” Sarah crooned.

“Which you pulled off great, kid,” Cid congratulated. “Now come on, when have you not been able to trust me? I always come through for ya.”

Sarah found it in herself to chuckle. Cid did have a point, and there had been multiple times where she’d indeed come through for them, for her, from the Y-Wing and Rigel to those nights spent talking over a glass of aged Corellian whisky.

“For now, enjoy the race,” Cid said. “We got some money to win.”

Cid went over to the speeder with Wrecker and Omega following after her, and Omega stopped briefly in front of Sarah, looking up at her with stars in her eyes.

“You were so cool just now!” Omega beamed.

Sarah chuckled. “Yeah…” she kneeled down and crouched slightly to be just below Omega’s eye level. “Listen, as long as we’re in Safa Toma, do as I say, not as I do. Got it?”

“Yes, mom,” Omega winked, then followed after Wrecker.

Sarah felt a tingling in her marks. She’d never heard Omega call her that… but the words rang sweetly in her mind, and teasing as it was, she’d accept it.

As Sarah was standing up, Tech walked up behind her. He’d removed his helmet and was hugging it beside him, and when he made eye contact with Sarah, his eyes were slightly widened in pleasant surprise.

“That was… unexpected,” Tech said.

“Yeah,” Sarah’s voice was soft. “Wait, what are you talking about?”

“Your cigar stunt,” Tech answered.

“Oh! Right, that…” She turned a right angle to face Tech, gazing up at his goggled eyes. “Well? What do you really think about that?”

Tech shrugged. “That was very…”

“Yes?” Sarah prompted, smirking at the plethora of ways in which Tech could possibly admit his feelings at that very moment.

“Unhealthy,” Tech spoke.

Sarah couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright, fair. Yes, that’s why I don’t do it often. I picked up the habit for about a month while at Hondo’s, but that’s it.”

“Dangerous,” Tech added.

“I like to think of it as calculated,” Sarah challenged. “You have to take some sort of a risk to establish your presence in places like these, but it looks like it went well.”

Ignoring Sarah’s explanations, Tech finally looked her in the eyes, his lips parting just enough for his teeth to bare with silent hunger. “And… absolutely, exquisitely enticing.”

Sarah cooed with a little wiggle of her shoulders. “Well, well.”

“Yes, in fact,” Tech leaned in close and hushed his voice. “I’m beginning to think we should have brought your outfit from the Old Ord Mantell ruins.”

Sarah gasped in a fake scandal. “Egads, Tech!”

“The brasier and skirt perfectly accentuate your best assets,” Tech justified his thesis.

“Come now,” Sarah teased. “We both know that’s just for you and me.”

Time wore on and the racers made their way to their speeders, even the arrogant droid Tay-0, and while he was off racing, Sarah and the others gathered around to watch, and not an ounce of suspense was spared.

Why the sport's name included the word "riot" became obvious the moment the speeders dashed past the starting line. The revving of the engines piled, one after the other, until the speeders disappeared past the first curves and tunnels of the course, leaving only the roaring cheering from the stands going wild and the announcer narrating the juiciest highlights from the track. Cid held a datapad that projected Tay-0's speeder, and as much as it surprised Sarah, he seemed to be a decent racer and a decent pilot, unwaveringly moving his own speeder to the lead and having all the others tailgating him in a matter of seconds.

Cid's excitement for the race was contagious. The prospect of winning and earning a few easy credits wasn't lost on anyone, but the overall rush of racing was what felt more attractive to Sarah, so much that a part of her was curious what it would be like to be down there racing, moving as fast as the wind, pulling stunts in front of a crowd and being the first one at the finish line. Of course, a speeder that wasn't designed for such speeds paled in comparison to a starship, and Sarah'd had her fair share of excitement inside her own Y-Wing.

But the excitement felt towards that race was short-lived, and the team's hopes came crashing down when Tay-0's speeder barely made it to the finish line, and not in first place. The speeder tumbled and crashed loudly into the side of the track, prompting everyone to instantly head down there running as varied cheers were heard from the crowd, from painfully taunting "Ooooh!" cries to cheers rampaging with excitement and satisfaction, for the moment Tay-0 became the loser, it was Millegi's racer who had been declared winner.

When Wrecker and Tech pulled Tay-0 out of the wreckage, it seemed for a moment that hope was lost. Tech took a closer look at the droid and locked gazes with Cid, then with Sarah.

"There is a remedy for this," Tech affirmed. "However, I cannot change the already disfavorable result of the race."

"Are you sure you can fix him?" Sarah questioned. "He... he literally lost his legs."

"The core circuitry seems to have overloaded due to the impact, but judging by his current state, Tay-0 is on standby," Tech said. "He is not yet a lost cause, however much I may dislike him."

"You and me both," Sarah muttered, crossing her arms. She suddenly felt a warning rising inside her, and her instincts jumped to alert as she felt multiple people approaching them. Surely enough, they were already being hoarded by Millegi and his racing crew, who only had one thing on their mind after the result of the previous race.

"You lose, you pay," Millegi opened. "How about that, Cid? You sure your star racer's gonna be okay?"

"We have the best mechanic in the galaxy," Cid was nearly successful in hiding all of her nervousness. "Now, about the payment..."

"You do have it, do you not?" Millegi chuckled. "I just wish you were as quick to pay as you are to claim a payment."

Tech and Wrecker inevitably exchanged looks, and the multiple meanings behind that paired with Millegi's remark, but Sarah chose to ignore it for the time being. She instead focused on Cid and her lack of money to pay, which wouldn't foretell a happy ending.

"And if there isn't any money, we're gonna have to keep you," Millegi finished.

"Wait, keep Cid?" Omega spoke up, her tiny, childlike figure scattering in front of Cid. "But you can't do that!"

Millegi chuckled, amused at the rare sight of a child in such a cruel environment. "It's time you learn, kid. A deal is a deal, and when someone can't pay up, the stakes are higher. Either that or you make sure you actually have enough money."

"But you can't take Cid away from us, she's our friend," Omega's worry was evident in her voice, and her big, bright brown eyes looked over at Sarah, then at her two brothers, begging them to do something.

"The thing is," Sarah chose to intervene, "we aren't really counting on splitting up. It's not something we do well."

Millegi seemed to ease up the moment Sarah spoke up, and just as tensions were rising amongst his crewmates at Cid and her crew's resistance, Millegi gave one swat of his hand to calm it all down. He then looked at Sarah again, his gaze gleaming with intrigue.

"Alright then," Millegi looked straight at Sarah. "I'm giving you the chance to make a counter offer."

But Sarah was out of ideas, and normally when that happened, Omega was quick to intervene with a bright idea of her own.

"Let us fix Tay-0 and run the next race," Omega said. "Tomorrow morning."

"That's not a counter offer," Millegi said. "You need to offer up something that'll make this second round more intriguing, kid."

"We'll pay you double if you win," Omega said, decisive.

Sarah couldn't help the way her gaze shot over at Omega, but the child had a confident look in her eyes. Sarah felt a grim sense of foreboding flooding her body, its eerie cold spreading slowly through her marks.As much as Sarah had learned to trust Omega and her instincts, she couldn't find it in herself to feel at ease with the stakes being raised that drastically.

"But if we win, we leave here with Cid," Omega finished.

Millegi raised a brow. "You don't want money?"

Omega lightly shook her head. "We want our friend, and our freedom."

Millegi paused to ponder for a moment, but eventually, he nodded. "You got yourselves a deal. But for the night, we're keeping Cid as collateral. You understand - we have to make sure we're not sweet talked just to be fooled afterwards."

"Standard procedure, I suppose?" Tech inquired.

"Sure," Millegi agreed, and he gestured towards Cid to have her follow him and his crew.

Before Cid left, she took one last look at Sarah. Sarah gave a nod, appearing as confident as she could, but at the moment, Sarah wasn't sure how much that was. She then watched as Cid walked away with all the others, and when they were out of sight, Omega walked up next to Sarah, slightly hunched over her shoulders.

"Are you mad at me?" Omega asked her.

Sarah instantly looked at Omega, her facial features softening as she knelt down to be at Omega's height. "Darling, no."

"I know we're risking a lot," Omega said. "But I didn't want to leave Cid."

"And no one's holding that against you," Sarah said. "Yes, the deal is a little more risky than I would have made it, but you bought us time, and you bought us hope." Sarah then looked over at Wrecker and Tech as they held Tay-0's chassis, nodding briefly at them.

"We'll make do with what we have," Sarah finished.

"Yeah, we always do," Wrecker reassured.

"I will get to work on Tay-0 immediately," Tech said. "Wrecker, if you could bring the speeder into the shop, you'd be helping volumes."

"On it."

Cid

The night life outside was at its peak. Sitting on the couch and overlooking the elongated glass window before her, Cid could see the entire lowly festival that bloomed in the streets of Safa Toma. Laughter and racket could be heard coming from outside as the sun went down, and though those clones had proven to be resourceful before even in the worst of times, Cid couldn't shake the feeling she'd been pushed into a corner. She didn't have the credits to pay Millegi double - Tiny was adorable, but sometimes her bright ideas proved costly - and at that point, even Cid herself couldn't keep up blind hope that the heap of metal she'd chosen as her runner would succeed. It was up to Goggles to fix the droid, which Cid didn't doubt he could finish.

Winning the race was the problem.

Maybe if she sweet-talked Millegi into giving her some time after the loss to go and get the credits, Cid could head over to Ord Mantell and get some out of the reserves she had for herself and for the Batch. But wherever extra time was involved, so was collateral, and Cid couldn't stay as that and go to Ord Mantell for the credits. She also wasn't gonna ask one of the boys to go and empty the cases for her. The only one who Cid might have felt confident enough to ask for such a thing to was Strider, but Cid knew she wasn't gonna like the idea either.

Only a part of Cid felt guilty screwing over the batch, but it was either that or having Millegi come after them mercilessly, and that was assuming he even let them get off the planet, or that they were somehow able to get off planet without him noticing, which would open a whole other lot of gruesome possibilities waiting for each of the mercenaries.

"You look troubled," Millegi interrupted Cid's train of thought as he poured a glass of bourbon. "Ease up. Drink. Your loss will come until tomorrow anyway. For now, enjoy."

"I'd rather not," Cid dismissed.

"This is the most tense I've seen you since the last time you didn't have enough money to pay me," Millegi teased after downing his drink. "Surely that's not the case now, is it? 'Cause if it is, how are you gonna get out of that one?"

"You're gettin' ideas all up in your head," Cid challenged. "I won't lose."

"You're smarter than that," Millegi poured himself another glass and went to sit on the couch next to Cid. "You've said yourself, a blind confidence makes a dead fool. You'd be stupid not to consider all possibilities."

The feeling of being cornered returned to Cid.

"Better think fast," Millegi took a sip out of his drink, his tone friendly, even if the words were menacing.

With crossed arms and her body turned away from Millegi, Cid looked over her shoulder at him. "Whattaya mean, think fast? I'll get ya the money if it comes down to it."

"You'd be ruined after the wager the runt of your crew made," Millegi chuckled. "Double payment in exchange for you. It's so noble it almost has you believing you wouldn't turn your backs on each one of them in a second."

"I might surprise you," Cid crooned.

"No," Millegi said. "On the contrary, you're gonna pull a dirty stunt on them, and it'll be exactly what anyone expects."

"I've changed, Millegi."

"So you won't listen to my counteroffer?" Millegi prompted. "It'll be much easier than getting me all that money."

Cid angled her figure towards Millegi, intrigued.

"Adhara," Millegi finally stated.

"Strider?" Cid frowned. "What about 'er?"

"If your racer loses, you hand her over," Millegi proposed.

Cid's features crinkled in a grimace, but she didn't turn away from Millegi, nor did she dismiss his offer. She kept silent, and her eyes idly found different corners of the room as she examined the recently-raised stakes.

"Not a single ingot would wind up in my pocket," Millegi continued. "If you lose, give me Adhara and you're off the hook."

"Why do you even want her?" Cid asked.

"Have you seen the skillset she carries?" Millegi chuckled. "That woman is the deadly combination of a sorceress and a soldier, with enough of a gut to make it in this world. Ohnaka was a fool for letting her go."

Cid considered her options. She could blow a stream of hot air with reasons why Strider would never go with him, tell him she'd throw him off the nearest ledge using nothing but her hand and all his henchmen would follow, threaten with those two clones never being willing to let her go without a fight, convince Millegi he didn't know what he was getting into.

But Cid still didn't have the money, and if agreeing to the new terms would mean ending the conversation as well as not worrying about credits in either outcome, it became the safest of all options. It was a no-brainer. And with that, Cid made eye contact with Millegi, and she nodded.

"Deal," Cid concluded.

With a dark laugh, Millegi handed the spare glass of bourbon to Cid and sealed the offer. Cid took a sip of the bourbon and exhaled deeply as she forced away any remorse at the deal she'd just made.

Tay-0 was just gonna have to win.

Sarah

When the sun was out, Sarah found herself on the same chair she'd fallen asleep on in the middle of the trackside workshop with a makeshift blanket draped over her. She stood up and ignored the faint ache that plagued her neck, although she did resolve not to fall asleep on a chair again anytime soon. Instead of pondering on it, Sarah left the blanket over the chair and made her way towards the sunlight, and she took a deep breath in as she observed the scenery of the riot racing dome in front of her, its bleachers already filled with enthusiastic watchers and wagers.

That was one more thing amongst the many she hadn't thought she'd do since the war ended, but it wasn't the worst by any means.

Her gaze scanned the area and eventually found Wrecker and Omega overlooking the track with what appeared to be sticks of fried street food clenched in their hands, a breakfast worthy of the place they were in. When Sarah remembered the weight of their current situation, she lost all physical need to eat, and it was replaced by the plain longing for everything to be over. She'd learned not to be overly optimistic about anything a long time before that.

But the race was going to happen whether she wanted or not, and the moment she acknowledged that was also the moment her gaze landed on Tech in the distance. Also overlooking the racing track, his back was turned on her and he seemed to be holding his datapad in hand, and Sarah would have been far more pleased at the sight had it not been for Tay-0 hovering over Tech the entire time. Sarah could hear Tay-0 talking, unable to make out what exactly he was saying, though it wasn't necessary to. His circuits got to every last nerve of hers whether Tay-0 was near or far.

Sarah chuckled at a thought. With Tay-0 being so vocal that close to the start of his race, it was evident that Tech had fixed him up well. She never doubted Tech, of course. Tech could do anything, for better or for worse.

Sarah's mind pondered on Tech until the entire racing dome seemed to vanish around her, but her attention was robustly brought back to reality the moment a speeder flew past her eyesight, blocking her view of Tech for a split second only for her to realize that the vehicle had taken Tay-0 alongside it. The next thing she noticed was Tech beholding the crash site, astonished, and then he ran towards the scene of disaster where the racer walked out of his crashed vehicle without a scratch.

Tay-0 hadn't been as lucky.

Sarah, Wrecker, and Omega all ran after Tech towards the crash-site, and none of them were optimistic. It was Wrecker who reached into the ruined speeder and pulled Tay-0's limp chassis out, and they could all instantly realize this hit hadn't been like the one he'd suffered in his previous race. There was no light in Tay-0's specs, not even a flicker, and smoke was emerging from the inside of his head. The last sounds of his modulated voice could be heard as a drag of sound lowering in pitch, signaling the poor droid's futile end.

"What happened!?" Cid called as she approached the site.

But the others were still speechless and exchanging looks, as though doing that - or not doing something about what had just happened - would change the fact that they'd just lost their pilot. Cid finally caught up to them and reached towards Tay-0, and as she did, electricity crackled from the inside of Tay-0's metallic remains, which darkened the smoke that was already emerging from him. And, as if it wasn't bad enough already, the bewildered silence that clouded Sarah and the others was broken abruptly by a thunderous, mocking laughter.

"Looks like a forfeit," Millegi announced himself as he and his crew approached their opposing team.

His presence managed to put Sarah, Tech, and Wrecker on guard, while Cid walked up between the two teams holding her hands out.

"Now, now, this ain't a forfeit," Cid tried to persuade.

"You have no racer," Millegi gestured at Tay-0, limp and broken in Wrecker's grip. "No racer, no race, no victory. Those are the rules, and you know that better than anyone."

Cid's features hardened, and she didn't budge. The gesture of defiance riled Millegi, and suddenly he seemed to become taller as he glared down at Cid.

"I'm waiting for you to hold up your end of the deal," Millegi threatened.

"No," Sarah walked forward and positioned herself next to Cid. "Our deal stipulated a result after the race, not before it. We still have a right to run the race."

"That loophole never worked on me," Millegi told her. "Your buddy Cid here learned that the hard way. I'm surprised she was stupid enough to put her foot in her own grave a second time."

"Hey, there's no need for language like that," Sarah tried to moderate, but he was admittedly getting on her nerves. "We'll find a racer, we'll win, and then you'll let us be on our way."

Millegi chuckled. "You still have a lot to learn despite your reputation, little girl. You may as well just dump Cid now and make a better name for yourself, all of you," he gestured at the others behind her.

"Our loyalty is our business," Sarah replied.

“And where is your loyalty coming from?” Millegi turned to Sarah with a devious smile. “Even if I let Cid run free, you’re not going back to Ord Mantell, pretty girl.”

“What?” Sarah’s frown eased into concern.

“You’re coming with me,” Millegi looked her up and down. “Didn’t Cid tell you she offered you up instead of the money?”

Laughter emerged from Millegi’s henchmen, and Cid saw herself scrutinized by the batchers’ pairs of eyes. Omega looked at her in disbelief, Wrecker looked angry as he began stepping in front of Sarah, and Tech looked at Cid with disappointment.

Sarah’s gaze held sheer wrath.

“What the hell is he talking about?” Sarah pierced into Cid’s gaze.

“I knew what I was doin’!” Cid tried to persuade. “I knew Tay-0 was gonna win, I’d never make an offer to hurt ya, Strider.”

“Enough talk,” Millegi said, and one of his henchmen paced towards Sarah.

But Sarah intended to blast her way out of that one if that’s what it took, and she quickly unholstered her hand blaster, pointing it at the Gamorrean guard, and everyone around them pulled their weapons out in unison.

“Easy,” Millegi held his hands out, gesturing to his men to lower their weapons. “A deal is a deal, and as a former pirate, you should know it’s about the business. Your racer is down, and you cannot race, therefore you forfeit and the wage’s in our favor.”

“Oh, we are running that race,” Sarah nearly yelled. “I’m not going to give myself up just like that, you’d better be sure I’m—”

“I will be the racer,” Tech interrupted.

Sarah lowered her blaster as she turned to look at Tech, her nebulous eyes raided with fear and confusion.

“Well, this is interesting,” Millegi crooned.

“No way,” Sarah walked up to Tech. “No, I’m the one being offered, I’m—”

Tech looked directly at Millegi. “I will race.”

“Done,” Millegi accepted the wager.

Millegi left, followed by Cid and his henchmen, and Tech wasted no more time before the race. He directed himself towards the speeder, and once the confusion wore off, Wrecker went over to help him take it to the starting line. As much as Omega attempted to calm Sarah down, the latter felt she was incapable of such a thing. What the hell was Cid thinking, and why the hell would Tech make such a rash, uncalculated decision?!

Sarah ran after Tech when he was readying himself to get into the speeder, leaving Wrecker to look after Omega. Sarah ran as fast as she could, not giving a damn about the personnel repeating to her that she wasn’t allowed near the racers.

“Tech!” She yelled during those final steps, and when she reached him, Sarah clung to his forearm with desperation. “Tech, how could you do this to me?!”

“I am getting you out of harm’s way,” Tech faced Sarah, stern, yet comprehensive.

“By putting yourself in the line of fire!” Sarah was near crying. “Tech, this is my problem, my race to run!”

“I have analyzed the course and the mechanics of the sport,” Tech said. “You, on the other hand, are not thinking straight. Finding out that Cid would bring you into the wager is a shock, and thus, you are in no condition to race.”

“I can’t let you do this,” Sarah’s voice quivered as she made her last attempts to hold back tears.

“You have trusted me on dangerous endeavors before, and I have emerged victorious,” Tech said. “By my calculations and analyses, this will be the case again. I have the correct strategy.”

“Tech—”

“This is the best way, Sarah—”

“I can’t lose you!”” Sarah finally cried, thundering across the entire starting line. “I… I lost Crosshair… I can’t lose you too, Tech.”

Upon noticing her distress, Tech set his helmet down on the ground next to him and when he faced her again, he took his goggles off and looked at Sarah with his own eyes. And when he did, Sarah stopped crying—it was almost as if she’d stopped breathing for a moment, and without blinking, Sarah stared into Tech’s eyes in awe.

“You have beautiful eyes,” she whispered.

Tech paced closer to her and gently brushed the back of her palm with his gloved fingers.

“Trust me,” Tech began. “You will not lose me. Not today, not ever. For all purposes, Sarah Adhara, I am yours, and I have now chosen the duty of making sure you do not end up in Millegi’s hands. And I will not fail.”

Sarah sniffled as a wave of emotions coursed through her. Feeling both hot and cold on her marks from the confession she’d just heard Tech speak, as well as the fear of him not making it out of the race, she felt she would break if she didn’t do anything at the moment. Without thinking of it any further, Sarah cupped Tech’s face with her hands and perked herself up on her toes, and she pressed her lips to his. The way she pressed herself towards him seemed desperate, but the way her breath slowed down as she was with him spoke of true adoration and gratitude, and when she parted from the kiss, her eyes had pooled with tears again.

“Come back to me,” Sarah uttered.

Tech gave her a hint of a smile as he replaced his goggles over his eyes. “Do not doubt.”

“Racers, to your speeders!”

At the final announcement, Sarah knew it was time for her to let Tech do what he did best. She returned to the sidelines next to Wrecker and Omega, who each held onto one of Sarah’s shoulders as the racers’ names were being called, partly out of comfort, but mostly out of mutual nervousness. The danger of Tech’s current situation didn’t escape them either.

But the moment the starting bell blared, Tech seemed like a natural, at least, that was until he fell into the last place among the racers. The pronounced curves of the track and the high speed weren’t his problem, as he was a fantastic pilot, but none of that would matter if he lost.

Sarah became filled with dread, and her mind began to wander with the possibilities of what would happen. She would set fire to the racing dome herself if it guaranteed her and her family’s freedom—perhaps if everything went wrong, she could finally find an excuse to hide in a remote planet, or declare war on Millegi and his gang, as well as Cid. The dread returned to Sarah as she remembered she was capable of offering her.

But then, Sarah felt a warmth scattering itself over the blue of her marks. Her familiar hunches were never wrong, and at that moment, she could hear what the Force was telling her to trust in, and her instincts all pointed in the same direction. Tech was the best pilot down there, and he was the smartest, too, far more capable than any machine programmed by a mind inferior to his, and far more reckless than the racers from the low worlds.

Trust.

“He’s climbing!” Omega cheered as the screens projecting the race around the dome showed Tech’s speeder passing one racer after another.

The final lap was upon them, and he was already in third place, but that also attracted the attention of Jet Venim, who didn’t intend to go easy on Tech. The tunnels were approaching for the last time in the race, and through the comms, Tech announced his intent to cross the left tunnel, the one revered as a death trap.

And though none of the stunts were easy to watch, Tech was successful in all of them, just as Sarah’s instincts had told her. Finally, Tech was at the last leg of the race, and this was it. The three speeders in the lead were close together, two of them very clearly harassing Tech’s vehicle, and at times it really seemed Tech would end up in a crash and a subsequent loss. In the last tunnel, it became difficult to keep track of the speeders given how close they were, and emerging from the tunnel, everything seemed to collapse. Blasts were fired, metal could be heard crashing, and a large cloud of dust hid the speeders from view at the very moment when the tension was at such a high point that the dome fell silent in expectation.

From the cloud of dust, the small blue speeder sped through the finish line, and the announcer called Tech’s name, declaring him the winner.

Sarah let out a scream that blended surprise, relief, and admiration, and alongside her, Wrecker and Omega cheered like they hadn’t done in far too long. Around them, the crowd gathered in the racing dome went wild, with their cheers albeit carrying surprise, but an undeniable satisfaction at the result of the race they’d just witnessed.

Sarah ran down to the track with Wrecker and Omega following closely after her. As Tech got down from the speeder and removed his helmet, he seemed as neutral as he always was about anything, and it didn’t seem like he cared if there was an entire crowd around him chanting his name. His expression only shifted to astonishment when Sarah threw her arms around him and leapt into his arms, causing Tech to spin as he held her, feeling her fingertips tracing soft patterns around the back of his head.

“You did it!” Sarah panted as relief and adoration finally showered upon her. Tech had single handedly pulled her and the rest of the squad out of any trouble. He’d made sure she would be safe, that she would return home without anyone following her. He had raced for her, and he’d succeeded.

“Yes,” Tech answered matter-of-factly. “I told you I would.”

Sarah chuckled, and she didn’t undo the embrace even as Wrecker and Omega caught up to them. Despite not reveling in his own success even when his siblings brought it up, Tech then looked up at the racing dome filled with his newly acquired fans, all of them chanting and repeating his name in unison, their hands flailing in the air as they celebrated his victory.

Tech watched them and approached the scene with the same curiosity with which he approached anything that was new to him, and with one hand still holding Sarah’s silhouette to his side, the other one went up to his temple, and he offered the crowd a brief salute that made the cheering thunder around them.

Sarah grinned at the sight of him acknowledging his crowd, and the way his lips curved softly into a tiny smile didn’t escape her. She felt like she could have kissed him again, but she let him enjoy his glory undistracted for a few more moments.

He truly deserved that.

Thank you for reading! Please reblog to support me!

Taglist:@nunanuggets@rexandechosandwich@redheadgirl@coffeyorky@arctrooper69@wildmoonflower@the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond@stardust9905

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NEXT CHAPTER -> 

[cc--2224]

I Told You So

Pairing: Tech x F!Reader

Summary: After a mission goes wrong, Tech realizes that you are more precious to him than he originally thought, and though he is upset that you didn’t listen to him, he is more upset that he nearly lost you. And he intends to finally do something about it.

Warnings: This is very much 18+ Minors do not interact! Slight canon typical violence and mentions of injuries in whatever plot this has, smut; oral - f receiving, unprotected p in v (wrap it before you tap it!!), porn with feelings, possessive Tech, slight praise kink? language

Notes: I don’t know where this came from, it has been a minute since I’ve written anything remotely spicy let alone an actual smut fic. But please let me know what you think!

Word Count: 5.5k

Taglist: None, let me know if you'd like to be added!

Masterlist

Edit: Thank you all for the likes and reblogs!! I hope you enjoyed it 💚

"It is unwise for any of us to go out on our own, we should be working in teams of two." Tech pointed out as you were gearing up for your mission. You were to locate and rescue a Republic senator who had been imprisoned by the Separatists and bring them back to Coruscant.

"There's an odd number, we can't go in teams of two." You pointed out. "I can handle myself, I don't want to divide your squad." 

Ever since you had teamed up with Clone Force 99, you had gotten to know them well, but you still felt like an outsider. In some ways, you were, but you never really felt like one of the team. It wasn't uncommon for you to be the odd one out for teamwork, and to you, this was no different.

In truth, you had always hoped to be partnered with Tech when you were given the briefing, but his talents were more complementary with one of his brothers. Ever since you met him, you were drawn to him, his brains, his demeanor, the way he lit up when speaking about something that interested him which ended up being nearly everything. He was handsome and skilled, and he welcomed you into the squad immediately, over the following months, you began developing feelings for him.

It never hindered your performance on missions, not only because you were never paired up with him, but you were good at compartmentalizing your feelings from your work. You wanted to get closer to him, but there never seemed to be a good time, and even if there was, you just didn't know how to bridge the gap. 

"You can join Crosshair and myself, it will be safe for you." He suggested.

"We'll cover more ground in three groups. I'll be fine, I doubt there are even going to be any platoons that far out." 

Tech shrugged, "Suit yourself. I will send you the coordinates for our rendezvous point. Keep your comm on."

You nodded and left the Marauder with your equipment. 

You had no idea that this mission would be more dangerous than many you had encountered, but Tech knew, he always did.

As you approached the outskirts of the village, you saw a clear path straight through to the compound where you suspected the senator was held. It seemed a little too good to be true, there should have been droids out here, not full platoons, but someone keeping watch. 

You drew your blaster to be safe, and crept onward, keeping an eye out for anything out of place. You could hear chatter over the comms of the others checking in with each other, and then you heard Tech say your name. 

“All clear. As I said.” 

Tech didn’t reply and you lowered the volume on your comm, still keeping it on, but not wanting to draw attention to yourself. 

You had made it about halfway through the clearing when you saw blaster fire strike about ten paces to your left. You looked up, trying to see where it came from when you saw a platoon of B1s headed your way. 

“Easy work.” You mumbled to yourself, aiming your blaster forward, shooting them as they neared you. 

It was easy work at first, but there didn’t seem to be an end to them. When you’d shoot one, two more would appear, and before you could even disable a squadron of them, a tank appeared over the horizon. 

“Kriff.” You said. 

You considered calling for backup, but your pride couldn’t handle Tech telling you that he told you so, so instead you took a grenade out of your pack and threw it toward the platoon. It didn’t seem to damage the tank, but it at least got rid of the marching battle droids.

If you had raised your comm to ask for help, you would have heard Hunter say that the target was secure, and call for everyone to return to the ship, but you were the only one who didn’t check in. 

“Tech, Crosshair, you two go find her. Wrecker and I will bring the senator back to the ship.” Hunter told them. 

They left their post and headed to your last known location.

“Why didn’t she just join our team?” Crosshair finally asked.

“I did suggest it, but due to her stubborn nature, she was certain she would be fine on her own.” Tech’s tone indicated his annoyance. He wanted to be as annoyed as he sounded, but more than anything he was worried. 

He liked having you around, you were always willing to listen to him prattle on about whatever topic was on his mind. You were kind, you treated him and his brothers well. The idea that you could be taken from them had never crossed his mind until now. Unlike you, he had no idea of the way he felt about you. He had rarely had feelings for anyone before, he didn’t know how it was supposed to feel. All he knew was that he didn’t want to sit through a briefing without you, or ramble on about some useless topic without you intently listening, and he didn’t want your last conversation to be the last conversation. He didn’t want to be right about this one thing. 

When they saw the explosion in the distance, he began to fear he was right.

The tank fired toward you, it missed its mark and you were able to avoid a direct hit, but the explosion was just a little too close. You were sent flying back from the shock wave, and you could hear buzzing in your ear before everything went black.

If you hadn't gone out on your own, someone could have been looking out for you. Tech could have been looking out for you, just as he insisted upon.

But instead, you were so certain you could handle yourself that you had gotten yourself in trouble.

You woke up in your bunk, bandaged and sore, but still alive. You didn’t know what happened, and you weren’t exactly eager to find out, but you knew you had to face everyone eventually.

Wrecker smiled at you when you walked into the cockpit, “Well look who’s finally awake!”

Crosshair didn’t say anything, instead looking at the back of Tech’s chair. 

You heard a sigh, and then Tech turned his chair around, eyeing you up and down.

“Something you need to say?” He finally asked.

“What happened with the mission?”

Hunter spoke, “Got the senator. We’ll be arriving on Coruscant shortly.”

Had you really been asleep that long?

"I told you you should not have gone on your own." It seemed Tech was tired of the small talk.

You looked at him, unsure of what he wanted you to say. “I was just doing my part of the mission, nothing I did was out of line. I didn't know there would be that many droids on the outskirts." It was a losing argument, and one you'd rather not have in the cockpit of the Marauder in front of everyone, but Tech didn't seem interested in anything but the argument.

"Precisely. If you had gone with Crosshair and I, you would not have encountered those droids. And now you are injured because of your own mistake." He had raised his voice, something you’d never heard him do.

You flinched slightly at his words but he continued, “What happened to keeping your comm on? We were trying to reach you.”

“My comm was on!” You retorted, “Just turned it down so I wouldn’t be spotted.”

“Yes well, a lot of good that did you.” He responded sarcastically. “We might not be there to save you next time. Keep that in mind before you choose to do something so reckless.” He turned away from you, facing the front again.

Your eyebrows furrowed at the back of the chair, "I didn’t ask to be saved, in fact I’d rather be back there with the droids. Maybe then-"

Hunter cut into your argument. "That is enough, both of you." 

He looked at you with his eyebrows knit together, "Go lay down, rest is going to help your injuries, arguing is not."

You opened your mouth to protest, but before you could say anything, you turned and went to your bunk.

After you were out of earshot, Hunter spoke to Tech.

"What was that about? You can't just yell at her, she got hurt, she learned her lesson already."

"As I have mentioned, she would not have-"

"Stow it. We all know what's going on between you, even if you don't. You need to figure it out before your next outburst." Hunter turned in his chair to face the front of the ship again. Tech looked on at the dancing lights of hyperspace.

Tech didn’t speak to you for the next week. The five of you were granted time off after saving the senator and you had all decided to spend it on Coruscant, but with the tension in the ship, it didn’t seem like much of a vacation.

You knew that all you had to do was apologize, but you didn’t feel like you did anything wrong. 

You knew the others were getting tired of yours and Tech’s attitudes; they all knew that it was more than just the mission. They knew about your feelings for each other, and they knew how worried Tech had been as he treated your wounds and bandaged you up. 

The only thing they could do was to force a resolution.

“Okay, we’ve had enough.” Hunter said loud enough for both you and Tech to hear at opposite ends of the ship. “We’re all going out. And that includes the two of you.” 

He slammed down a flyer he had found for a gondola ride through the upper levels, complete with all the sights Coruscant had to offer. 

“Is that really necessary?” You asked, glancing at Tech from the corner of your eye. You couldn’t think of anything less beneficial than the five of you being cramped together in a confined space you couldn’t leave.

“It isn’t a request.” Hunter informed you. 

You sighed and left the ship, followed by the others, and finally Tech, and you made your way to the park where the dock was located.

The five of you slowly arrived at the front of the queue, and when it was your turn, you were shoved into a gondola along with Tech. None of the other batchers joined you, but before you thought to exit, the vessel's door had closed and you were moving. 

You sat down on the bench across from Tech, still avoiding eye contact by looking out the window, arms crossed. 

Tech still kept his silence. Even a week later, he was still considering Hunter's words. Was there something between him and you? He knew he didn’t want to lose you, but that was completely normal, wasn't it? And even if it wasn’t normal, that doesn’t mean whatever he felt was reciprocated. But if you did return his feelings, he knew this might be one of the only chances he had to act on it, to tell you how he felt.

When the gondola had reached nearly the top of the track, the view overlooking the Jedi temple, he sighed and finally looked at you. 

"You see, I... I felt responsible for your injuries."

"You felt responsible?" You repeated after a pause. "Wasn't it my fault that I got injured? For not following your oh-so-wise plan?" 

You were acting petulant, but your emotions were still running high and the confined space didn't help.

"Well yes, if you had done as I suggested, you would have been free from injury."

"Right, because you know everything."

"Crosshair and I left with zero injuries. So yes, this I know to be fact." 

"Do you really have to say 'I told you so'? I'm sorry, is that what you want to hear? I'm sorry that I got hurt because I didn't l-"

You didn't have time to react before you felt Tech's lips upon yours. One hand was on the side of your face and the other was digging into your waist.

The vessel rocked slightly at his movement, causing you to grip onto the bench. Your eyes were still wide at the sudden contact, but when he didn't back away, you closed your eyes and deepened the kiss, moving your hands to place them on his chest. 

He stopped to take a breath, his lips still hovering tantalizingly close over yours, breathing you in, committing your perfumed smell to memory.

You closed the gap this time when you decided he had enough time to catch his breath.

His tongue darted out and swiped across your lip, asking for access to explore. You allowed it, moaning into his mouth when you felt his tongue against yours. 

In one swift movement, he sat on the bench and pulled you into his lap, resuming the kiss once you had situated yourself. 

Your hands moved up, resting on his shoulders briefly before snaking your arms around the back of his neck, holding him close. You could feel his strong hands massaging your thighs before resting on your ass, testing the waters by giving it a squeeze, you bucked your hips slightly in response. 

You could feel a coiling sensation in your stomach, a heat pulsing through you, and pooling out onto your panties. You wanted him, and you could feel based on his actions and the stiff bulge in his pants that he wanted you just as badly.

He broke the kiss, and moved his head back, causing you to chase after his kiss. He put a finger to your lips and smirked.

"You must be patient, the gondola ride is near the end of its course, and I still have more to say about the mission." 

You frowned in protest, feeling all that heat suddenly dissipate as he gently pushed you off of him.

"Not to worry, the Marauder is nearby, no one else will be there and we can continue our conversation there, if that is what you want."

You nodded in agreement.

"I apologize, but I will need to hear an answer before I can comply."

"Yes, I want that." You said too quickly, trying and failing to not sound too desperate.

He smirked again. "Good girl. You and I still have much to discuss."

You whined slightly at his praise, then waited for the door to open as you neared the dock.

After disembarking, Tech grabbed your hand, pushing past the people exiting their respective vessels. Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair were nearby, but you didn't see them as Tech ushered you back toward the landing port.

"I guess they finally talked about it." Wrecker had said, staring wide-eyed after you two.

"We should probably give them some privacy so they can talk more." Hunter shook his head, smirking toward the ground.

"Just as long as they don't talk in my bunk." Crosshair said as he crossed his arms.

The door to the Marauder wooshed open, and the two of you hurried on board. Tech was back on you before it could close again.

He pushed you back into the wall, pinning you there as he kissed you. Placing hot kisses on your lips, your cheek, your jaw, your neck, anywhere he could.

"Do you realize how worried I was when I saw you?" He asked between kisses. "When I heard the explosion, when I rushed over only to find your body on the ground?"

He stopped kissing you and looked into your eyes, "I thought I lost you before you were even mine to lose."

"Tech.." You tried to move a hand from his grip to place it on his face, but he tightened his hold on it. “I’m sorry.”

“I do not want your apologies.” He told you, “I want you by my side, I want you to be safe. I…” He kissed you again, this time more roughly, eliciting a moan from you again. “I want you to be mine.”

Behind his goggles, his pupils were dilated, his eyes half-lidded.

The coiling feeling returned. Your stomach was in knots. You had never seen Tech like this before, you hadn’t seen him behave so possessively, and you wanted to see more of it.

"Then make me yours." You said, only a whisper. “I want to be yours.”

His mouth found yours again, not bothering to ask you to give his tongue space to enter but instead forcing it past your lips. His knee slotted itself between your legs, close enough to tease you, but not close enough to give you friction where you desired it most. You bucked your hips trying to find it on your own, and he smiled into the kiss.

"What do you want, mesh’la?" He asked you.

You bucked again in response. He removed one hand from yours and brought it down, pushing your hips back against the wall so you couldn't move them again.

"I told you, I need to hear your words. Tell me what you want."

"I want you. I-I need you."

"Then I should not keep you waiting."

He let go of your hip, and with the hand that was still holding yours above you, he guided you over toward the console.

"Here?" You asked.

"Well, of course." He guided your hips downward so that you were seated. "I cannot help but think about how pretty you would look while I fucked you right on the console of my ship."

You let out an involuntary moan at just his words alone.

He caressed the side of your face, and with a feather-light stroke across your jaw, he tilted your chin up to meet your gaze. Despite his words just a moment ago, he placed a gentle kiss on your lips once more, and his hand slowly traveled down your neck, over your breast, down your stomach, and rested at the hem of your shirt.

He looked into your eyes, silently asking for permission. You nodded eagerly and he pulled your shirt up over your head. He tossed it onto the seat behind him and then looked at you, admiring the newly uncovered parts of you.

"Beautiful." He whispered. Out of everything done so far, this one word was enough to make you blush, you tried to turn your head away but he stopped you.

Leaning down over you, he placed a kiss on your shoulder, then your collarbone, trailing down to your breasts, still obstructed by your bra. His lips kissed the top of one, while his hand held the other over the fabric. You reached behind your back and unclasped it, giving him access to another part of you where you wanted to feel his touch.

He tutted quietly. "I could have done that myself."

You rolled your eyes jokingly and he resumed allowing his lips to explore your skin, now alternating between kissing and sucking. And where his lips weren't, his hands were. Squeezing the flesh, thumbing over your nipple while his mouth worked on the other.

Soon, he continued his exploration, and as he neared your stomach, he lowered himself down until he was kneeling between your thighs.

His gaze was hungry as it focused on your center, his lips formed a tight line, holding his mouth closed to prevent his tongue from hanging out.

His hands were on your knees, he trailed them up your thighs, stopping at the waistband of your pants, once again looking up at you to ask your permission. You situated yourself to make it easier for him to remove them, and soon they too were discarded, thrown back toward the pilot chair. His hands were back on your thighs, prodding the soft skin, placing hot, open-mouthed kisses on each of them, sucking them enough to leave marks.

You whined, both at the sensation of him marking your legs, but also at the lack of sensation where you really wanted him to be.

He smirked up at you, and then spread your legs further apart, slowly moving his face toward your aching cunt. He could see how turned on you were, and he licked his lips before speaking.

"Stars, you appear to be soaked."

"Mmhm." Was all you could manage, all your attention was on the fact that he was inches away from giving you the friction you needed.

"Cyar'ika.." He scolded. "Words. You need something of me, what is it?"

"I... I just need you, I need your mouth, your fingers, your cock, I-I need to feel you." Your desperate words turned his gaze dark.

"Good girl, telling me everything you want," his praise caused you to squirm, trying to close your thighs just to feel friction, but he held them open.

"You enjoy it when I call you that?"

"Gods, yes." You moaned.

He hummed in response, keeping that knowledge filed away.

He finally pressed his face forward, nose rubbing against your clothed pussy. You whined in response. He dragged the tip of his nose upward, knowing exactly where you wanted to be touched, and he hooked his fingers around the waistband of your panties, relishing in your whines and pleas for him to finally take them off of you, and soon he relented, letting them join the rest of your clothes before he dove in.

He ate you like a man starved, licking you through your folds, tasting as much of you as he could.

"G-ah, fuck, Tech," you cried out, your hands reaching for his hair. The feeling of your hands gripping his hair causing him to groan.

His lips wrapped around your clit, alternating between sucking it and circling his tongue around it. He could feel you squirming at his touch and he reached one hand up, resting it on your hips, hoping to help anchor your.

With his other hand, he circled your entrance, teasing you, making you beg him to touch you before he obliged.

He slid one long finger into you as far as he could, pressing against the spongy walls, exactly where you needed to feel him.

He let go of your clit and let his tongue run up and down your folds, getting another taste of your juices.

"M-mmo-" You began to say, being cut off by the feeling of his tongue making another swipe up.

"My apologies, you will have to repeat yourself." He looked up at you, his face slick with your arousal.

"More, I need more."

He raised an eyebrow and plunged another finger into you. Your head rolled back and you cried out.

"Is that what you wanted?"

"Yes!"

Your grip tightened on his hair, pulling his face back into you. His hot breath fanned against your cunt and you sighed in contentment.

"Gods, you are a needy thing." His purred, his voice vibrated against you as he attached himself to your clit again.

He sucked on you while his fingers made scissor patterns inside you, all the while you could feel the coil start to tighten.

"I'm close-" You cried out. He didn't change anything about his rhythm. He strived to get you there, he was eager to please you after he had been so harsh toward you earlier. His tongue circled your clit and he could feel you pulsing around his fingers.

You could feel the heat growing in your stomach, your moans got louder as you got closer. He slid his fingers out, and before you could complain about the loss, you felt his tongue swiping up and down before dipping inside you. His fingers resumed drawing circles on your clit as he drank from you.

Your thighs clenched together, forcing him to stay exactly where he was, you muttered out a string of curses as the coil finally snapped and you cried his name as you came undone. He kept lapping at you until you were through.

You released your hold on his hair and he stood back up.

"You taste magnificent," He smirked, licking your arousal off his fingers before his mouth found yours again. You could taste yourself on his tongue as he leaned you back onto the console. You shuddered when you felt his stiffened cock press against you. His hands began grabbing at your breasts and your arms wrapped around his neck pulling him in.

"You are perfect." He said as he began kissing every piece of you he could. He locked onto your neck, he kissed you fervently, then gently bit down, giving you a mark that would be difficult to hide from the others, not that they didn’t already have an idea of what was going on here. But that’s what Tech wanted, he wanted to show everyone that you were his. 

"Tech.." You said quietly,

"Mm?"

"I want to see you." You pushed yourself back up onto your elbows and looked into his eyes.

For a moment, just for a moment, he froze, but soon enough, his hands moved to the fastener on his pants.

"Let me do that."

He smirked and helped you off the console gently.

You worked on the buttons on his shirt first, unbuttoning them slowly, placing gentle kisses on his chest as each loose button reveals it to you.

He tilted your chin up and leaned in for a kiss, pressing against you. You could feel his stiff bulge press into you again and your hands moved faster to unbutton his shirt.

You pushed it off his shoulders when it's finally unbuttoned, and you looked at his toned chest. You knew he'd be strong but it was still a surprise to you. Your fingers danced across his torso, feeling the muscles under his smooth skin, before finally landing on the fastener of his pants.

You look up at him, just as he did for you, asking for his permission. He pressed his forehead against yours in response, you smiled and kissed his lips, then moved to undo the fastening. He helped you to slide his pants off, and he stepped out of them, kicking them off to the side.

You could see the outline of his cock much clearer against his briefs and you could feel your mouth water, you clenched your thighs together, not wanting to wait to feel it inside of you. He raised an eyebrow at you.

"You desire it so badly?" He asked you, forcing your gaze away from it and back up to him.

You nod quickly, "Yes."

He smiled then rutted his hips against you, "Then please, continue."

Your hands moved to the waistband of his briefs, he moved his lips to yours again and you returned the kiss before kissing along his jaw, then his neck. You peeled the waistband down and he hissed as his briefs grazed across his cock. They had soon joined the rest of the clothes and you looked down.

You bit your bottom lip and you started to lower yourself down but he stopped you. You gave him a confused look, and he smirked.

"There will be plenty of time for that at a later time. But for now,"

He continued by guiding you back onto the console, laying your back down and he stood between your legs with his hands on your thighs.

"Are you comfortable?" He asked.

"Yes," you assured him.

You felt his cock rub against your folds, before he positioned himself at your entrance.

"Ready?" He asked.

You bucked your hips in response and he pushed himself in without another word.

You arched your back as you felt him stretch you open, if there was any pain, it quickly turned into pleasure as he buried himself in you inch by inch.

When he was fully sheathed, he gave you a moment to adjust before he started to move. He started out slow, he made sure that you were used to the feeling of his thrusts before he picked up the pace.

"Gods, you are taking me so well, cyar'ika."

You replied with a moan. You bucked your hips to meet his pace and he smirked.

"Is there something you want?"

"Mmm p-please, go fas-faster" you answered between thrusts.

"Very well," He obliged, his hands gripped onto your thighs and he buried himself again, quickening his pace at your request. He looked at you as you took his cock, the way your back arched, how your tits bounced with each thrust, the way your face contorted in pleasure.

He tightened his grip on your thighs, you took that as a hint to wrap your legs around his waist and he moaned in response, feeling himself go even deeper inside you.

"You are so perfect, such a good girl for me." Your walls clenched around his cock at his praise.

He thrusted into you harder wanting to explore the new angle he was permitted.

“Fu-uck,” you whined.

"Is this okay?" He asked, unsure of if he was hurting you.

"Gods, yes!"

He set a brutal pace, but you bucked your hips, meeting his thrusts each time.

Tech could feel himself nearing his climax, his pace started to become slightly more erratic. He slid one hand down your thigh toward your center. He circled your clit with his thumb, intending on sending you over the edge with him.

Your walls clenched around him again at the contact. You were getting close again. Your moans grew louder as you neared the edge.

"That's it," He said, he wanted to feel you come undone again. He continued circling your clit as he thrusted into you. "Be a good girl and come for me once more, come on my cock."

Your second orgasm crashed over you without as much of a warning as the first, your legs tightened around him, he slowed his thrusts down, helping you through it, and he moaned at how your walls constricted him. He knew he wasn't going to last much longer.

"Wh.. Where do you want me?" He asked.

"In-inside," you said, still overcoming the last of the waves of pleasure.

He didn't ask any further questions, he buried himself as far as he could before he stilled, his cock twitching inside you as he painted your walls with hot ropes of his seed.

He moaned out your name as he finished, feeling himself soften inside of you, he pulled himself out of you and you pushed yourself up, wrapping your arms around his neck, kissing his lips, your tongue darting into his mouth.

He returned the kiss, holding you close to him, and his hands traveled across your thighs, before lifting you up from the console.

“I love you.” You told him, resting your head on his shoulder as he held you. “I think I always have, but… In case it still wasn’t obvious.”

He smiled and carried you toward the refresher, sitting you down on the counter when you arrived, giving you a chaste kiss on the lips. “Perhaps it was not obvious over the last week, but now, I would have more questions if you did not.” He smiled at you, “I love you too. But next time, if I ask you to join me on a mission instead of going off on your own, please listen to me.”

“But look where it brought us.” You replied with a smirk.

“Perhaps that is true, but for your own information, you do not need to nearly get yourself killed in order for me to fuck you. You could have just asked.”

He grabbed a towel before he quickly left to retrieve your clothes and clean off the console. Tech soon returned to you and turned the water on, helping you off the counter and guiding you to the shower where he joined you. It didn’t take long for his lips to be on you once again. 

While it was your stubbornness that led you to this point in the first place, you were suddenly very eager to see what would happen on the next mission, should you and Tech finally be paired together.

[lightspringrain]

Happy Tech Tuesday! I am back! With a cover piece for my mini fic "Howling Love." It is short but sweet and full of Tech/Phee goodness. I hope you like!

[leapingbadger]

Tattoo

Read on AO3

***

“Does it hurt” Omega asked, hovering over her brother.

“Nah, it’s fine,” Hunter replied, eyes closed. The buzzing made his brain feel like it was vibrating but there was no pain to speak of. He’d had much worse in battle.

“Like you’d say if it did,” Crosshair said witheringly. “You didn’t even complain when you got that shrapnel in the neck, remember?” He was bent over Hunter’s chest, scraping at the skin with the tattoo gun and aggressively wiping away the blood and excess ink.

Omega gasped, “you got shrapnel in your neck?” she asked Hunter, alarmed.

“Omega doesn’t know that story?” Crosshair said, a toothpick hanging out of the corner of his mouth absentmindedly.

“We didn’t tell her all of them yet. We were kind of preoccupied,”

“But yeah,” he said, turning to Omega. “I had to leave it in until we could get back to base.” He said, moving his hair with his left hand so she could see the slit-like scar on the back of his neck. Omega shook her head at him, sat back down, cross legged on the floor, elbows on her knees, chin in her hand.

“I remember that. Made me feel sick,” Wrecker said. He was next to Omega, scratching Batcher behind the ear. Her collar jingled and her tongue dangled out of the side of her mouth.

Hunter chuckled. The sun was streaming through the window of the small common room.

“What about Skako Minor?” Crosshair asked.

“Are you kidding,” Wrecker said, “that was her bedtime story for a while. Tech and Echo loved telling her that one,” Omega nodded in agreement.

Hunter was stretched out on the couch, arms behind his head. It had been a while since he’d gotten a new tattoo.

He had paid a professional to get his face tattoo and the skeletal outline on the left side of his body, but the others had been done by his brothers. The skull with a 99 in aurebesh on his right bicep was done by Crosshair on a particularly stormy day on Kamino when the ocean looked like it might come through the window of their room.

Tech had inked the Mando’a for brother, ‘Vod’, while scrolling his datapad. Hunter had watched nervously as he waived the gun around wildly while info dumping to the rest of them.

Wrecker hated needles and had a hard enough time being in the room while the tattoo was being done but he had inked a small aurebesh number four just so Hunter could complete the set.

The most recent one he got, before now, was a small Omega symbol on his wrist. He’d gotten it in a dingy underground parlor during a particularly tricky mission while looking for intel on the Pikes. He told Wrecker it was the only way to get the information they needed but he also needed a reminder of what he was fighting for. It was by far his favorite, although he’d never told anyone else that.

The new one, the one Crosshair was painstakingly scratching into his skin on the right side of his chest, was a familiar skull with lightning bolt behind it. Tech had designed it in their cadet days. He drew it everywhere; it was repeated on the back wall of his bunk on Kamino.  He had scratched it into the side of his data pad and carefully painted it onto his customized helmet for their first mission.

Hunter was sure Tech would call him sentimental, or at least think it. But it was a way for him to keep his fallen brother close. It would be a reminder every time he got dressed in the morning.  A reminder of what this life on Pabu had cost.

“Did you tell her about windsurfing on the Keeradaks on Skako?” Crosshair asked Hunter, throwing an amused look at Omega.

Hunter laughed, “I’d forgotten about that,” he said.

“Tech didn’t, he was cursing the entire trip to retrieve you,”

“Really?” Hunter said, surprised.

Wrecker laughed, “yeah, said you’d dropped your only braincell during that trip.

They all laughed, that kind of laughter that filled a room. It was boisterous, childish laughter, the kind that only siblings could share. Except, there was one missing. The realization seemed to hit them all at once and the joy was sucked out of the air.

Crosshair finished up the last section of the lightning bolt. He pulled back, cocking his head to the side to take in his work. Hunter looked down. The lines weren’t as straight as they could have been. Crosshair was still getting used to his prosthetic hand, but his painting had come such a long way that Hunter thought his brother was ready to get back to his first love. He had loved tattooing so much he’d even help the Regs out on occasion when they were on Kamino. It had taken some convincing but after a few weeks of Hunter’s unwavering confidence in his abilities, it finally seemed to take hold.

As he checked his new ink out in the mirror, Hunter noticed a slight tremor in Crosshair’s prosthetic hand. He narrowed his eyes in concern but said nothing.

“Omega said you went to Kashyyyk,” he said quietly.

Hunter traded looks with Wrecker who was now bench pressing Gonky in the corner. Omega looked at Hunter in concern.

“Ah, yeah. We did. Found a young Wookie. A jedi, actually…we…ah…took him home.”

“I always liked Kashyyyk,” Crosshair said, looking at anywhere but directly at Hunter. “It was our first mission.”

“Yeah,” Hunter said, sitting on the couch closer to his brother and resting his hand on his shoulder. “We’ll go back again, someday.” He added reassuringly. He had expected Crosshair to shrug off his hand like he often did. He wasn’t one for sentimentality, at least, he didn’t used to be. But they sat there for a few moments in silence.

“I missed a lot.” Crosshair said, his voice low and gravely.

Hunter, Wrecker and Omega traded glances again. The warmth and joy that had been on his face earlier had disappeared, replaced with a grimace. The ever-present toothpick in his mouth left an indent in his lip as he pressed his mouth into a thin line.

“But you’re here now,” Omega said reassuringly getting up and giving him a hug.

Crosshair raised his eyes and gave her a halfhearted smile.

“Are you ready for yours?” Hunter asked Crosshair, trying to change the subject.

“That depends, have you gotten any better since the last one?”

Hunter laughed, “probably not. But unless you want Wrecker to have a go, I’m your best bet.”

“I’ll do it,” Omega said hopefully.

“No,” Hunter and Crosshair replied in unison. Omega sighed and rolled her eyes.

Crosshair sighed dramatically and pulled up the sleeve of his shirt, “fine.” He sat down on the floor, right forearm stretched out over the coffee table.

Hunter was taken aback. Crosshair wanted the tattoo near the stump where his right hand should be. He gave a questioning look to Wrecker who just shrugged.

“Are you sure that’s where you want it?” He asked in a would-be casual tone.

Crosshairs eyes narrowed, “Yes. I have to look at it every day anyway. Might as well put something there I wanna see.”

The answer satisfied Hunter. He shrugged and set about cleaning and setting up the new equipment. It had been a long time since he had done this.

They spent the afternoon huddled in the common room, regaling Omega with stories of old missions, laughing, teasing each other and sometimes sitting in silence except for the buzzing of the tattoo gun. The vibration in his hand tickled his senses and Hunter had to pause often to flex his fingers. Hunter was satisfied with how the skull and lightning bold looked, given his lack of experience, but Crosshair’s was definitely better.

The sun was starting to set outside. The amber glow of Pabu’s evening light display would spring to life any minute.

“What about it, Wrecker?” Hunter asked.

“Oh, ah…yeah, okay,”

“Really?” Hunter asked, surprised, “you really don’t have to.”

Wrecker had been scared of needles since he was a cadet. No real surprise given the amount of testing he and his brothers had to endure.

“No, I want to. I mean, I don’t, but Tech would do the same for me,”

He and Crosshair shared a look but set about making it happen. Wrecker sat on the couch as Crosshair worked on a small version of Tech’s design on his bicep. Hunter and Omega tried to keep Wrecker distracted. He would occasionally wince, but Omega would hold his hand or offer him a snack and his face would soften.

By the time Wrecker’s was done it was completely dark outside. They set about cleaning up, getting things tidied up and dinner on the go. Wrecker took lead on the latter.

“Hunter?” Omega asked quietly, “can I get that tattoo?”

Hunter had been afraid of this. Omega wanted nothing but to copy her brothers, it was no surprise she wanted a tattoo like them as well.

“Ah, you know kid…” he looked at her big brown eyes, hair flopping over her forehead and cascading down her back. “I think you’re a little young…”

“I’m older than all of you,” she said, hand on her hips, a confident grin on her lips.

Hunter looked over at Crosshair for support. He just shrugged. Hunter knew how much Tech meant to her and how affected she was by his death. He paused for a moment and ran his hands through his hair.

“You know what kid, you’re right. Sure. What were you thinking?”

Omega jumped up and down with glee and Hunter’s heart felt like it was going to burst. He really would do anything for this girl.

The sun had completely set by the time it was done. The skin on her wrist was red except for the heavy black ink. A skull with a lightning bolt behind it. Just like her brothers.

[thegreymarveljedi]

Who’s seen the pics from the new Bad Batch comic???

The boys look so hot. Like holy shit whoever is doing this is doing a good job👀🤤

[vivaislenska]

Happy Friday, TBB fanmily!

Excuse the wippery but I just love them taking caring of each other. I want to share it while it’s still baking so I’ll be held accountable to try to finish it this weekend 😄

Ficlet synopsis below

Tech: Crosshair, please hold still.

Crosshair: Speak for yourself.

Tech tends a deep wound in Crosshair’s forearm after a nearly disastrous mission to destroy a shield generator. Crosshair was so focused down-range on his brothers, that he didn’t notice the commando droid sneaking up in him until it was too late to dodge it completely. Tech asks Crosshair to keep still, but it’s actually Tech who is trembling because he’s so worried about Crosshair. 💗