#the children of Omnicron

[tulipsnflowers]

Thoughts on the CoO other than Deena/Nara? Headcanons about them?

First of all I'll shove these asks your way

... I could've sworn I had another- oh I did. Anyway

Anyway, as for headcanons!

Omnicron sucks we hate Omnicron in this household, as such Grunda was definitely more of a parent figure to all of the CoO than Omnicron ever wishes to be

Deena killed Grunda(check the tags!)

Caring for young creatures was always within Grunda's personality, really. If not for Solus I'm pretty sure he would've ended up in a similar position (orphanage) some other way, life can be funny like that

Grunda spent a good amount of time during Omnicron Era sleeping. He is Omnicron's first and strongest child, but he's also lizard and deals with Battles too quickly so why not

He's genuinely mountain sized. Like, very big.

A little bit of a silly one but Ventra is far sighted, she can see close to her and she will not get any glasses or anything thanks, it's just uh... Blurrier

She may or may not like somewhat shinier things but that's none of your business honestly

She made humans afraid to look up at the sky, n2 confirms this. She was a menace and a half to deal with, Ulzar probably had to keep her on the ground to even stand a chance

Her and Deena were closer than you would think. Like, I like to think they shared rooms in the tower

I think out of everyone, watching for 1000 years did her the best, honestly. She needed the perspective desperately, and once she got it- she's no Zetta but she's.. Better.

Okay you know how CoO keep calling you rats. She's the only one(minus Grunda and Omnicron) who's seen a rat. The rest of the CoO heard her use that and went "oh okay if Nadine uses it then I will use it too". If you asked Merida or Deena what a rat is they'll blue screen

Fenrir made James(I call the Nexolord James) fill out so so so many arson forms. Fenrir, find better forms of entertainment-

Fona and Ulzar kept fighting each other for a really long time. Fenrir might have been the first or second to die by Ulzar as well

For the record, Fenrir did not know Deena was Nara in the cave. He had a suspicion (there was only one thing that could help those nexomon not fall under his aura) but he.... Didn't act on it

Merida(especially) and Nadine will make this man be social or I swear to Solus-

He always had... Something, for humans. Not positive, not what Deena had, not even what Merida has just... Some interest. He could've driven them out of that volcano in 5 seconds flat (in n1) but he... Didn't. He might also just not care to be fair-

In n2 he doesn't know what to do. Because Arson is off the table now with Solus. He has friends with Jin and Mulcimer it's just.. He won't admit it but he's mostly spent his time with.. Arson? And now he can't arson. And he's also anti social by default- but he'll figure it out

Deena<3 do I even need to say anything about her-

Her blood sprouts flowers. If there's even a speck of dirt onto what it falls on, anyway. Tundra has some neat red flowers which she has to get rid of in n2

She tried to at least talk to, maybe Grunda. Maybe Merida before betraying them. Not in full, she couldn't get the words to come out of her mouth, but she tried.. Sneaking around it

She couldn't watch Grunda die- not again. So she left in n1 during the Grunda fight. Just left, at some point. She couldn't see that again

She's probably part of the reason Blue/Iris/n1 protagonist is a ghost instead of fully dead

Deena kept joining and leaving the guild over time to not raise any suspicion

She kept tabs on Solus a little bit, she.. She had to. Never talking to them but keeping tabs

Merida was close. To switching sides, I mean. Omnicron disowning Deena strayed her away from it, but she was close.

Merida is actually somewhat good at Volleyball when she has ya know, a volleyball team-

Merida's the only one(in n1 excluding Deena) who spends more time in human form, even Zetta likes to go stretch up high where nobody can see him

She never really stopped playing Volleyball, even as a ghost. Well, it's been harder to concentrate for that long, but if her shrine is in Palmaya, I reckon she's played at least one game since then

She sunk her shrine. I don't know at what point or why, but she sunk that thing as far as she could. It's why there's no shrine for her, she just kinda... Sunk it.

Zetta loves his city a lot, like genuinely and actually. It's his and he's doing an awesome job.... Or well more like his best but he's trying!

She likes to sometimes pop up to Zetta's city. As Arqua of course, it's since stopped scaring people but it was funny when she did it the first time

During n1 I like to imagine he might've needed to give James' machines a bit of a kick start, because that's a lot of energy and Zetta's related to who he's reviving anyway

He sometimes likes to get into his serpent form and just do a huge storm to cover himself (because James said so otherwise he'd be a menace), and go around Aurelia. People were very confused where the storms kept coming from

Him and James are twins(or him and Merida whichever you like, he's a Twin regardless)

Speaking of, very close to James. He absolutely distracted him from his work but they're the two youngest siblings they can get away with it

Also he may or may not have bothered Amelie by like, cutting off her power before returning it like a minute later and such. Who knows.

Omnicron Era him and Nadine rarely worked together, really. You'd think they would but they're usually on complete opposite sides of the world, or there's too much of a height difference between where they're flying

The Nexolord is called James because I said so

I still believe my Omnicron soul theory but.. Otherwise, dressing up as his dad is kinda on purpose

Him and Malk are close though he'd rarely admit it, but Malk isn't fully human and enemy of my enemy is my friend so it's fine

I like to imagine James surviving wasn't pure luck, but I also don't know what he did to survive

James actually kind of likes having Glacia around but he'd never admit it(not necessarily in a romantic way!!)

He's actually really really lenient with his siblings (if ONLY SOMEONE WERE TO STOP MAKING HIM FILE ARSON REPORTS,), when he can be. He has on multiple occasions flat out lied about things so they're off scott free

He knows about the Nexoguard, however at this point, while he's this close? They can certainly try, but he's not feeling particularly threatened

Neither was he, with n1 protag. They beat up his siblings all they want, but they're not going to beat Omnicron, so they can certainly try.

He knew Deena was at the tower, read one of the linked posts above

He actually kind of likes sweet things? To hell with admitting that ever, though.

He had the most trouble with Fenrir's element because his ribbons countied to be set ablaze-

Is an armadillo not a ball please and thank you.

[glitchven]

Best vollyball player around :33

[nayvwriter]

Have a piece of writing I found in my drafts.

Nexomon Extinction Spoilers:

They'd taken multiple family photos. The first they'd taken at the orphanage, so it had the building in the background.

Far left was Fenrir, with a charred hat on his head – Zetta had plonked it on to hide the horns, and Fenrir had reflexively set it on fire because Zetta had not warned him. It still managed to make Fenrir look vaguely normal, though if you looked closely you might see the fire in his eyes. He wore a faint smirk on his face, but there was a trace of a smile.

Next to him was Nadine. She'd let her hair down and it was blowing out behind her, despite it not being a windy day. She'd taken her cape off, too, so all in all she didn't look quite so much like she was trying to cosplay her Tyrant form.

Far right was Zetta, a few sparks floating around him – but they could just be considered a trick of the light on the photo. He'd tried, but he was just too excited to stop sparking. He'd taken his visor off too, but he was grinning so much you could barely see his eyes.

Next in from the right was Merida, one of the most practised at looking 'normal'. Though the others had insisted that she not put on her 'happy little volleyball player' façade, so her expression was a little awkward, not quite knowing how to smile.

In the middle were Deena, on the left with her hair down, and Ulrich on the right – better known as the Mentor to some. Both wore proud smiles on their faces, looking at the centrepiece of the photo. Luke, their child – Deena their mother by birth, and Ulrich the one who'd raised them. Luke had said they considered them both their parents, just in different ways.

All in all, it was a nearly normal family photo, which was quite an accomplishment for the Primordial Tyrants.

The others? Not so much.

[myloh]

Petition to give a title for Metta being :

"Metta of the Prismatic Light"

[player-1]

Not to make it seem like an obvious question, but does anyone think that the Omnicron kids are considered half-siblings? Besides the obvious appearance-wise, it makes sense in a way for Omnicron to have a partner/mate for each element for a possible heir but he also always wants to be on top of the food chain, so after he has the kid he just...kills the mom? Eat them?? Maybe like a reverse mantis thing, but who knows...Since there's zero mention about any mother/mother-figure in their lives, I'll just leave it at that.

And even if it's a sibling thing for every one of them to be at each other's throats with insults or disagreements, none of them seem relatively close to one another if they were true-blooded siblings (besides Nara and Grunda, but they literally had a millennium of wartime to get cordial). The only thing they have in common is their opinions on humans (good or bad) and how they acclimate to their new lives outside of Omnicron or being ghosts in Extinction. Besides, if the half thing is relatively true, then it'll be an extremely sore subject for all of them that they just never bother to bring it up; it's just a fact of life that'll never change or get fixed anytime soon as long as they're the strongest of them all.

That being said, the only one that will have a problem with it (of course) would be Metta; since he's considered a true Normal type and also inherited Omnicron's ability to control all other element types (main moveset). But with him being the youngest and a cringe-fail bowling ball, if he's constantly rubbing it in the other's faces then it's a given why all his older siblings collectively hate the youngest. I mean, if he's practically written out of the narrative in N:E (or the rest of the fam refuse to mention him), then that's saying something, besides him indirectly causing everything terrible in N:E, that is.

[glitchven]

NO CAUSE HE WAS LOVECRAFITIAN HORROR

In the Intro to N1 HES LITERALLY INTRODUCED TO US AS THIS

(Not my screenshots theyre from Gym leader ed on yt)

HE DOESNT LOOK LIKE A FLUFFY WOLF HES A BEAST OF HORRORS MADE OUT OF THICK BLACK SMOKE!!!!!!

The only time hes shown as his main appearence (this)

Is during the events of the actual N1 game, AFTER hes revived

Thats literally the version of Omnicron Ulzhar was fighting hes right there in the pic

Something that I've been wondering for a little while recently is if Omnicron was supposed to look more like a lovecraftian horror, or something along those lines. I haven't played Nexomon 1 in 2 years so I'm just going off what other people have said and the wiki, but iirc, Omnicron is a creature from an entirely different dimension, yet he just looks like a wolf with some fantasy elements? Either way I find the idea of Omnicron to be, similarly to Cthulu for example, something *humans aren't supposed to see*, very interesting. Omnicron is essentially the Nexomon God, don't you think human people seeing him would be something almost forbidden, to the point their brains can barely even comprehend it? Do you think that some of the oldest Nexomon species, because of Omnicron being lovecraftian and sharing his genes, also looked incomprehensible and horrific, but over the span of hundreds of years the more Nexomon became the way they are in the games because of selective human breeding, evolution and adaptation to the environment? Idk maybe this is a better idea for some kind of horror au

[crystalelemental]

"anacharafan: Also as an additional piece of trivia, someone was writing an x reader with the Nexolord so they asked if the Nexolord had an official like, human name. JV very obviously jokingly went "James." As a joke, I mean very much so, person complained that's like one of their childhood crushes jokingly and JV went "yeah definitely James then". So like a ton of the fandom saw that and RAN with it. If The Nexolord is anywhere and named he's named James.

Funnily enough someone asked like seriously if his name is actually can only james and JV went "that's the joke one. Nate was the intended one but still unused" which is so funny because nobody calls him Nate. That is James right there."

I think my absolute favorite part of this is that neither of those feel right. Like, sure dude, the children of Omnicron. You got Merida, Ulrich, Fenrir, Nadine, and James. Like, on the one hand, this does not at all fit the style of the other children. On the other, his is literally the only name that fits in with humans.

[ser1x-serin]

May sound weird but i got some brain worms, about the children of omnicron (excluding nara/deena) begin the seven deadly sins ,but then they will be six so maybe include omnicron as the sin of pride

i’ll draw them later

[jangmo-othewarrior]

Hi so uh Nexomon decided to pop into my brain forcefully, and won't leave.

So if you're still into Nexomon are there any head cannons you didn't post yet?

Hi Anon! I've been swept up by a number of things, so have some small headcannons that have been cooking for a while!

The MC has been relegated to a special, hands off rank of grandmaster, AKA we are not giving a 14 year old a government job and (more) political power.

Coco is very done with ableists (with both two neurodivergent friends and one mute friend) so he will verbally attack anything that dare to approach him.

Ross has ADHD and Nora has autism. This fact makes all of the Children of Omnicron realize that they should also probably be tested (they were right).

None of the CoO except Deena understand how the newest technology works, especially Zetta, who has been underwater and running a secluded society for centuries. He doesn't need to know how shit works, that Derek's and Logan's job.

Wild and other Tamer's Nexomon act skittish, hesitant, and gnerally weird around Ross and Nora. It took them a while to realize that it was probably? because of how much time they have spent with MC and the CoO.

[kodokugumon]

OHHHH I KNEEEEEEW WE WERE A TYRANT!!!!! I CALLED IT THE MINUTE I FOUND OUT DRAGONS ONLY ATTACKED TYRANTS

Ohhh our mentor is grunda isn't he....

[thecrimsondragon]

CoO as wings of fire dragons?

So uhh...

I was gonna make the Children of Omnicron as wings of fire dragons

obviously, Merida will be a Seawing, Fenrir will be a Skywing (maybe with firescales, even tho there's no twin he hatched with) and Ulrich being a Mudwing...I guess

I'm just wondering, what will the rest of them be, and maybe throw in Pantala for Deena being a leafwing

Lemme know your ideas

[tulipsnflowers]

They surely have to have something of her as well, you know?

[glitchven]

Ok so i was just playing nexomon 1 and i finally got to grundas nightmare and look

Normal landscape, right? but look closer

Its literally a mural of Nara!!!!!!!

I cant really tell whats going on in the left side of the picture but on the right it clearly shows Nara running, so im just sayinggggggg, what if its supposed to depict Nara running away from Omnicron during the war between humans and nexomon???

[nayvwriter]

Primordial Tyrants headcanons

Lore headcanons I have about the Primordial Tyrants that go in my fics unless there's some reason it won't work. N1 and NE spoilers, but mostly N1-based.

Their human forms are mostly subconscious.

Details can change, accidentally or on purpose, but stuff like broad skin and hair colour tends to stay the same, unchangeable.

Metta's the only one who figured out how to choose his form completely

Deena's human form changed completely once, when she switched to the human side.

She used to have pink hair.

Similarly, their Nexomon forms have differences that vary over time.

Thus explaining their slightly different appearances in the games.

It's a subconscious reflection of themselves, kinda.

Possibly Metta can shapeshift this too. Undecided.

Zetta can move really fast in his human form. None of the others can do this at the moment.

Zetta thinks they could do it if he taught them how (and they bothered to learn), he doesn't think it's just a him thing.

this may or may not be true

I have a few theories on how exactly this works.

Omnicron can give out an influence on nearby Nexomon.

This influence can be countered by another, similar influence.

Nara is the only one who's figured out how to do this.

and has deliberately refrained from telling her siblings how until she's sure they won't pull an Omnicron.

This was her role in N1! And during the first death of Omnicron, too.

Metta never died the first time around, he just couldn't be found.

hence why he's around in N1 to cause trouble.

Metta can use the powers of all the other CoO, though not as well.

Including Nara's life powers – that's part of how he brought everyone back in N1.

Their human names they chose themselves.

Deena, Fenrir, Nadine, Merida and Zetta picked one human name and stuck with it over thousands of years.

Metta changed human name with every new form he took, and didn't really have a true one.

My headcanon for Grunda changes per fic.

Omnicron never took a human form.

He probably could have done, but he never did.

He was dismissive of his children doing so, but didn't actually stop them as long as they still worked towards his mission.

Omnicron was a terrible father.

Definitely emotionally abusive.

Probably physically abusive too.

Literally only cared about his children as tools to win his war.

It took a while for said children to realise this wasn't normal or good.

possibly until Grunda starts interacting with a lot of children regularly.

Arqua can take her Nexomon form outside of the water, but it's uncomfortable and she's not nearly as powerful.

This was sort of how she got defeated first time.

Ventra likes air with lots of oxygen in.

hence why we found her in a tree.

She lets Luxa have the high can't-breathe air.

Luxa doesn't need to breathe in his Nexomon form.

Theoretically he can swim underwater with no fear of drowning.

In practise Merida gets really angry at him if he electrocutes her ocean.

The CoO accidentally activate their powers when they get emotional.

It's not a purposeful thing. It just happens.

Zetta starts giving off sparks and the air around him becomes electrically charged.

Fenrir accidentally makes himself and the area around him incredibly hot.

With Nadine, the wind around her picks up.

And with Merida the seas start thrashing.

Deena's mostly got a handle on it (mostly by pretending she doesn't have emotions) but she either grows nearby plants or kills them, depending on the exact emotion. Or both at the same time.

Grunda's actually got a handle on it.

Merida can always at least somewhat sense the ocean.

When she's in Arqua form in the water she can sense a ship on the other side of the continent!

At least some of the Children of Omnicron have managed to miss the fact that having two birth parents is mandatory for humans.

In their defense. Omnicron was a single father.

And Deena was a single mother.

Add that to the amount of children being raised by one parent, and it's not that unreasonable.

They just sort of assumed that when there were two parents, one of the human parents was the actual birth parent and the other one was the first one's partner.

Grunda probably figured out this wasn't true shortly after he started running an orphanage.

This isn't a thing that comes up regularly, so it might take a while for the rest of them to realise…

The Primordial Tyrants have no biological gender.

They picked up the whole 'gender' thing at about the same time as their human names.

Omnicron didn't pick one, but nor did he seem to care, so no-one corrected the humans when they assigned him one.

They may or may not know that humans have biological differences often correlated with said gender. At least Grunda knows.

They have a tendency to get attached to things or people and then get very protective of them.

This is basically their version of innate morality.

Kinda like Tiffany Aching from Discworld.

Nara just managed to get attached to humanity itself.

Once the CoO got on humanity's side, the continent basically stopped having major natural disasters.

Because they can stop a storm or tsunami or earthquake or whatever in its tracks.

Not because they were starting them.

They might have been starting them way back when, but they wouldn't have been behind every natural disaster.

I have other, more personality-based headcanons for them as well, but they're a lot less formulated so I'm leaving them out for now.

[player-1]

Me with a late night funny: Man I love Nexomon Extinction's Tyrants, they're so unique :) The Tyrants:

[lovelessdagger]

The Fall of the Jedi  | Chapter Two: The Battle of Coruscant

Pairing: Hunter  x OFC

Rating: Mature

Summary: “…Separatist Droid Leader General Grievous has been seen outside of Coruscant atmosphere,” a female presenter says, strong in her Coruscanti accent. “Fighter droids are landing at this very moment across Galactic City. The Republic is under attack. I repeat. The Republic is under attack.”

Slow Burn, Canon Divergence

WARNINGS: Explicit Language. Character Death. Canon Typical Violence.

Words: 3.4K

Daybreak Masterlist | AO3 | Prev | Next

For the first time in her life, Odella believes the Force has abandoned the Jedi.

It is the only explanation.

“Where are the younglings?”

For keepers of the peace, the Temple has never been in such disarray. 

“Has anybody seen my Padawan?”

Separatist droid battalions march by the thousands over Coruscant streets.

“Sector B-12 needs more forces!”

Temple guards line corridors, double bladed lightsabers posed and ready for the impending attack.

“We must remain clam. Tranquility will bring clarity.”

Through windows, debris of starfighters and the wreckage of buildings they crash into tumble in a fiery blaze.

“The Chancellor—“

Vulture droids soar in the sky, shot down by clone troopers who fall not long after.

“Who is protecting the Chancellor?”

It’s the beginning of the end of the world.

In the hull of a modified Omnicron-class attack shuttle nicknamed the Marauder, the head of clone trooper Tech tilts, blocked eyebrows pinched together.

“Your paint job is a bit crude,” he says, accent more posh than the standard clone. “But it will suffice.”

“Thanks,” Echo scoffs, voice modulated through his helmet. He stands like a paper doll, three sets of eyes on him. He hasn’t been with this new group, The Bad Batch, for very long at all. Though acclimation to them is easier than to his new body. Even now, he can frequently be seen finicking with his cybernetic parts, or forgetting he had them all together, reaching with what was his right hand. “It’s not like there were many options.”

“Black armor is in short supply in Kamino,” Tech says. “And cyborgs are not in the manufacturing protocols, it would not have made a difference.”

“Well I think he looks great!” Shouts the biggest one of the group. His hand claps on Echo’s shoulder, nearly toppling him over.

“And you, Wrecker, have the taste of a Rancor,” Tech says.

“Hey! You take that back!”

“No,” Tech says, turning back to the ship’s steering.

“You’re all children.” The sneer from the corner comes from Crosshair. Soiled boots lay on top of a separate control panel, a toothpick between his teeth. “Tech is right though, your paint job is shit.”

“It’s hard to do much with one hand.”

“Oh,” Crosshair scoffs. “I’m sure there’s plenty hard for you to do, unless… you’ve lost that too?”

Hearty belly laughs erupt in the ship from each clone, aside from Echo of course. Wrecker is the worst of them, an overgrown tank of a child.

The leader of the group, Hunter, walks out from the fresher. He wears his blacks, tying his red bandana onto his partially dried hair. There’s no acknowledgment to the others as he grabs the data pad by Crosshair, sitting behind Tech.

“What do you think Sarge?” Wrecker asks. All he does is flick aimlessly through incoming reports, posture hunched. “Sarge?”

“Hm?”

“What ya think of Echo’s armor?”

He still doesn’t look, nodding. “Sure thing Wrecker.”

“Hey Sarge, Cross wants his picture taken.”

Nothing.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s been out of it since Anaxes,” Crosshair says, flicking his toothpick. “You’re just now noticing?”

“Well excuse me, not all of us have super eyes.”

“It’s called basic observation skills.”

“Still doesn’t explain what’s wrong with ‘em.”

“Simple,” Tech says, looking back. “He saw a girl.”

It earns a reaction at least, distinct gray eyes flickering across the room.

“Told you.”

“How did you figure that?” Echo asks, taking off his helmet.

“Because, Hunter’s arrogant. He’s only allowed himself to look stupid one other time—”

“I can hear you,” he says.

“—and that was on Kamino. Right before the First Battle of Geonosis.”

He sets the tablet down, arms crossed. “Is this really necessary to discuss?”

“It is,” Tech says. “It was some Jedi girl who accompanied General Yoda to collect the Regs,” he explains to Echo. “We were speaking to Commander Ponds and she runs up completely out of breath and says ‘I’ve been looking for you everywhere.’”

“I remember that!” Wrecker interjects, laughing. “His face got all red and everything.”

“Was she talking to him?” Echo asks.

“No, she was talking to Ponds. She didn’t even look at him,” Crosshair says. “He just stood there and stared at her like a maniac.”

“It was his first time seeing a girl,” Tech says.

“It was the first time any of us saw a girl,” Hunter defends.

“Yes, but you were the only stupid one. He was out of it for weeks, we almost voted Crosshair in to be leader.”

“Whatever.”

“Do you know who it was?” Echo asks, always the more compassionate.

“No, and it doesn’t matter. We’re done discussing this.”

The collective groans, muttering over Hunter’s lack of fun. His eyes roll, paying them no mind. The big brother position has always been his, for better or for worse.

Sirens of the Marauder screech within the hull, each of the men flinching in on themselves. Hunter’s the worst of them all, genetic modifications and all.

“Tech, turn that off,” he grits, hands to his ears.

“It’s Kamino,” Tech frowns, reading the data scans. “They’ve never done that before, I’ll override the ship’s calibrations so that they no longer have access… Hello?”

“Clone Force 99, this is Tipoca Base. You’re to reroute to Kaller, abort your assignment to Coruscant immediately.”

“May I ask why?”

“You haven’t heard?”

“I am asking for a reason.”

The line falls flat long enough for Tech to exit the Marauder out of hyperspace, and reprogram coordinates through the NavComp. They’ve all thought the other had disconnected completely until static crackles through the speakers.

“…Separatist Droid Leader General Grievous has been seen outside of Coruscant atmosphere,” a female presenter says, strong in her Coruscanti accent. “Fighter droids are landing at this very moment across Galactic City. The Republic is under attack. I repeat. The Republic is under attack.”

Odella leads a line of other knights throughout the Temple, each with lightsaber in hand. Though she can’t say how she became the leader, or why they chose her to follow. Just that morning she sat alone in the Mess Hall, nursing a cup of tea that burned her throat. Now, her feet guide her to places her mind does not know.

Maybe it’s because she felt the ripple through the Force before everyone else, before it even started. Or she thinks she did. It’s a feeling like she’s never had before. It’s a dagger of thorns through her skin, pricking and dragging.

She will not know it’s the beginning of the end until the end has passed.

They gather in one of the briefing rooms, and she turns on the HoloNet news as if they cannot all see the tragedies unfolding with their own eyes. The news reports in Basic, anchors rattling off what everyone already knows.

“…Republic is under attack. I repeat. The Republic is under attack.” Their tone remains as bland and unbiased as they’ve been trained to in academies, despite the vision of their hologram shaking with explosions. 

They all look to her, expecting something.

It’s like the final gear in her brain is clicked into place. She dismisses the report in favor of a map of the planet, on a separate monitor displaying the growing list from the HoloNet of attacked areas. Master Yoda and Master Windu have already taken to the Senate and Federal District. They’ll be fine.

“I need two volunteers to go into the CoCo District,” she says, looking over her shoulder.

Without thought two Jedi, Nira and Yikan, a Rodian and Ithorian step up. 

“Three for the Central District.”

Jtal, Adi, and Boric.

“One for Bindai.”

Eirm.

“Two in Brewery.”

The doorway to the room is left open, and passing Jedi on their own determined walkthroughs find their way inside.

“Four in the Entertainment district. One by the opera house, one at the theaters, two near public transit.”

Then four.

Odella cross checks growing reports of attacks with various maps, a third hologram displayed with Clone Commander reports. Group by group assignments are made, and two Jedi elect to stay with her. “You all know my comm frequency, right?” She’s answered by thrown about hums of affirmations and steady nods. “Good. If you need backup reach out, we’ll reroute forces the best we can. Remember, if you see civilians you must do anything you can to protect them.”

Another set of nods follow.

She sighs, Temple grounds shaking with another explosion. “May the Force be with you.”

“Everything’s gone to hell.”

A sea of men are hounded into one shuttle after the other, pressed together shoulder by shoulder. Beneath their feet, mechanics rumble and the exhaust spews on take off.

Nomart didn’t even know this many men served in the Coruscant Guard. It’s a big planet, and they’re rarely all together in the same room at once. In fact, Nomart suspects the last time this many of them were this close to another in one space, were their growth pods back on Kamino.

He ended up being one of the last to leave the barracks after the alarm sounded. Everyone else was in a full sprint to stations, and getting trampled would do little for his assistance to the Republic. They haven’t been told much, not that they needed to. Separatists have attacked Coruscant. General Grievous has sent his army of mindless droids to fight for him.

He is a coward, and a monster, and he will be brought to justice.

Nomart’s never seen the man in person, if it was fair to refer to him as a man at all, but he’s heard stories, rumors. Some say he began life as a droid who slowly configured organs to become more like man. Others, the opposite. Either way, it stands true that his life runs off cybernetic parts, and he is the most abominable thing in the galaxy. 

The mental health of clones have never been a pressing issue to the clones themselves or the Kaminoans. They’re soldiers, and battle simulations have rotted their brains since before this whole mess started. Death and destruction and slaughter have become a normal and exception proponent of everyday life.

When Grievous showed up, things… changed. The rare few clones who have survived encounters with him are sent back to Kamino for reprogramming. They’re too shaken by the experience, they become mute, they cry at the sight of B-1 droids, they scream at the hum of a lightsaber. The Republic needs soldiers, not traumatized men.

No one knows how it’s done and no one asks. No one says it either, but they all suspect it’s a sham. Those sent back are never heard from or of again. Their existence is completely wiped away.

And now he’s here. On their planet, or just above it. Who does he think he is? The Republic is the strongest entity in the galaxy, nothing some dirty Sep can take and scare away. Certainly not a deformed clanker like Grievous. 

“It’s always been hell. We’re only just now realizing it.” Jinx says this, off to Nomart’s left. 

“Well,” Nomart sighs. “At least it was fun.”

It wasn’t, but they’ve known nothing else, so at least they’ll never have the chance to wonder what if. 

They say nothing more than this.

“I’m gonna tell her,” A third says, the shuttle rattling all inside. “When this is all over, I’m gonna tell her how I feel.”

“Tell who?” Jinx asks.

“General Prot. Brick’s in love with her,” Nomart says.

The rest of the shuttle turns inward. 

“Are clones allowed to love?” 

“Of course we are,” Brick says.  “We love the Republic. We love our Chancellor. We love the citizens—”

“The citizens don’t love us,” Landor says. “I just walked by another clone protest while on patrol last night.”

“I got a drink thrown at me,” Welt adds.

“Why bother?” Train asks. “It not like she feels the same way.”

“She does,” Brick says. “I know she does.”

“Did she tell you?”

“No but—“

“She’s a Jedi, Brick. It’ll never work out.”

“It doesn’t matter. I can’t die knowing I never tried.”

The shuttle stops in the Senate District, and they all file out. Blasters and riot shields raise in their march. It’s worse than any of them suspected. Entire buildings are destroyed and there’s more destruction on the streets than visible pavement. 

The lot of them manage eleven steps away from the shuttle—Nomart was in the middle of his twelfth—before it explodes. There’s no correct way to describe it. The ricochet of metal shrapnel, the deafening sound of it all, how his body ends up twenty feet from where it started. How he passes out and wakes up to the worst pain of his life.

Limbs are intact, he’s not bleeding (not anywhere he can see at least), he’s cognizant of his surroundings. He’s alive. 

He may be the only one alive.

Groaning comes from the body beside him, sharp and breathy. “Gi...“ He says. “Maker.”

“Brick?” Nomart asks, turning over. “Brick, it’s me. It’s Nomart, I’m here. Stay awake brother.”

“Martie?”

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s Martie. You gotta stand up. We have to go.”

“Where’s,” he pants. “What happened to…”

“It’s just us. I think.”

“Fuck. I can’t… I can’t get up.”

“Okay, that’s fine. I’ll call someone, I’ll—“ The commsystems on his arm are shattered, wires on the fritz. “We’ll wait until someone comes. The Jedi will be here soon. They’ll help us.”

“Tell her,” Brick coughs. “Tell Gia. Please. Tell her for me.”

“Tell her yourself,” Nomart says, taking his hand. “We’re gonna get you out of here, you hear me? We’ll get you back to medical and you’ll get all patched up. You’re gonna tell her, and—and you’ll go on and get out of this war and have fucked up Jedi clone babies.”

Brick laughs, if a pained wheeze can count as a laugh. “You really think so?”

“Yeah, yeah of course.” He’s talking out of his ass, he has the moment he entered cadet training. But it’s gotten him this far.

“They… they’d kinda be like yours too, wouldn’t they? Same DNA and all that.”

Nomart slows, a frown settled behind his helmet. “I guess they would, yeah,” he says. “So you’ve gotta push through, B. Someone’s gotta keep up our legacy, might as well be you.”

“I’ll name the boy Nomart, even if it is stupid. I swear.”

A shadow grows over them, blocking the artificial sun. 

“How…” a mechanical hacking cough billows into the air, “… touching.”

Few clones survive encounters with General Grievous.

Nomart and Brick are not one of them. 

“This just in,” the reporter says, static of her words filtering in the briefing room. It’s hauntingly empty now, save for the three who occupy. Twin Jedi Knights Cora and Gia Prot scatter themselves at computers, headsets turned on and maps surrounding their vision. Odella mimics their situation at the center console. The HoloNet plays at a fourth in the background.

Gia crumples to her knees without prompt, a gasp and horror stricken across her face.

“Sister,” Cora says, bending. “What is it? What have you sensed?”

“I’m unsure,” she admits, hand over her chest. “Something terrible has happened. Absolutely awful… does it not pain you as well? I’ve never felt anything like it.”

“No,” Cora says. “I feel nothing.”

“Odella?”

“I’m sorry, no. It’s best to ignore it until later,” she says, swiping through reports. “Your attention is needed here—”

“Supreme Commander of the Droid Army, General Grievous has set foot on Coruscant,” the reporter says in the air. “By emergency order of the Senate, citizens are to remain inside and away from windows. Power down any and all droids you may have in your home. We do not know what he is capable of.”

Swearing never came naturally to Odella until now.

“Thoren.” Filters through the headset, bass voice of static and authority. “Why am I being alerted to Jedi being sent out under your word?”

“Master Windu,” she panics, straightening posture an automatic response.

“It is not your station to command attacks of this nature. You’re not trained for this.”

Force be with her.

“With all due respect Master, attacks of this nature were not in your training either. I’m doing what I know to be the right thing, just as you taught me.”

“Pull back your forces.” 

“No,” she says, catching the stilled breathes of her company. “I don’t think I will.” Her eyes squeeze shut, waiting for a reprimand that never comes. “If you’d like news of your location,” she continues to say. “General Grievous has been spotted in the Senate District. The Chancellor is in danger.”

Silence comes first. “Shaak Ti has already been sent to protect Palpatine.”

“Are you able to communicate this information to her?”

The line falls flat, frequency empty once more. And then, “She’s not answering.”

It’s as if the axis spin of Coruscant itself has stopped, a cloud of dread heavy as storms. If Palpatine is gone, the Republic is truly lost. What good or hope can there be without their adored leader? Grievous wouldn’t kill him, she’s sure of this. He’s too valuable to both sides. An execution would only come to a public audience, the supreme victory of the Separatists. This is an outcome Grievous’ mind, whatever is left of himself after his enchantments would be satisfied with.

Count Dooku on the other hand… he’s a Jedi. Or he used to be. He left the Order just before she was brought in, but even still she knew of his pride. Harm will only come to the Chancellor under his hand. Even then, her spy work in Separatist worlds provide one insight, he is respected. What would his people think if he so viciously murdered an innocent man without trial?

He’d make certain that Palpatine is humiliated in front of the galaxy, reputation destroyed to be made out as the monster the Republic has made the Separatist to be.

There’s only two people Odella knows who can, who will protect the Republic in this hour. Two who will win the war and turn the tide. And one, who will keep his promise and come home to a finished war.

With such a simple thought, faith is restored.

The Chancellor won’t die. Not yet.

Not if Anakin has anything to say about it.

Windu seems to face the same realization she does, a steady crinkle of their silence until he says, “Tell them to hurry. Time cannot be wasted.”

“I will.”

“Ahsoka? She’s back?”

Obi-Wan watches as Odella’s blue tinted hologram shines into the bridge aboard the Venator-class Star Destroyer. It feels as though no time has passed at all since her departure from Anaxes, but he notes her older appearance. The bright eyes that sat in his quarters for hours on end slightly dulled. She stands with closed fists, nails biting into her palms. The permanent smile she’s worn since she were a Youngling, gone into stoicism.

He blames the quality of hologram, government issued items can’t always be trusted.

“No,” he says, head shaking. “I’m afraid it’s more complicated than that. Shall I relay a message to Anakin for you?”

She takes a pause. “Grievous has invaded Coruscant. You both must return immediately.”

Commander Cody stands by his side. With a nod, he takes off in a sprint gathering forces. “What can you tell me?” Obi-Wan urges.

“Not much. The Temple hasn’t been attacked, and neither has the Senate. I’m sure Dooku is here as well, outside of atmosphere.”

“And the Chancellor?”

Her left hand shakes, and wipes on her thigh. “Please, don’t scare Anakin. You know how he gets.”

“Odella, what’s happened?”

“Master Windu told me Shaak Ti was sent to protect him but— no one’s heard or seen her since the report of Grievous.”

“He’s been taken?”

“That’s the assumption. Yes.” She sighs now, brows furrowed. “Obi-Wan,” she says, as hushed as she can be. “Please look after Anakin. If he does something he regrets—“

“He won’t,” he says. 

“He won’t do it, or he won’t regret it?”

Obi-Wan steps back, glancing to Admiral Yuleran. “Sound the alarms,” he says to the other. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

This at least, he can promise. 

In the cold of space directly outside of Coruscant’s atmosphere, war rages on.

Two Jedi soar on star fighters and infiltrate the Invisible Hand. 

A Sith Lord is slaughtered.

A Chancellor is saved.

A Republic is all but destroyed.

Next: The Great Disillusionment