#the entirety of the jedi order and the clones and how they fight and love and die and mourn

[bowl-of-fruit-loops]

will literally never forget watching clone wars for the first time and realizing they gave anakin a padawan. and watching them call each other snips and skyguy and caring about each other and becoming brother and sister and knowing it’s never going to end in anything but tragedy.

[zoeykallus]

The Clone And The Gray

Tech x Y/N Story (female reader) Part1

Continuing parts:

Please Stay

Keeping A Secret

The Dark Side

Deep Inside

Perception

No Harm done?

The Abyss Inside Us

Reaping What We Sow

Hate, Bleed, Love

About Saving A Good Man

Aftershock

Secrets Of Pain

To Get This Over With

The Comfort Of Love

Secrets We Can’t Hide

Down With The Sickness

Winning And Losing

Beginnings And Endings

Warnings: 18+ Smut / Oral recieving and giving / Fingering/ PiV Sex/  Cursing/ Use Of Alcohol/ Mentions Of Loss (friends and family) Fluff/ Order 66 Aftermath Thoughts/ Crosshair Is Back With The Batch/Overstimulation/First Time Sex For Tech Word Count: 7200 *cough* Yeah, I know... It's a very long first part, sorry. What you are about to read is a Tech x female reader story. I've decided to make it into several parts because I feel like there is a lot more coming. There is a plot evolving arround the Tech x Reader core (definitely more than on my smut oneshots), but the main focus will be the romantic and intimate relationship, wich will also start and evolve within the story. At least that's what it is so far.

I have taken (let's call it artistic) freedom to change little things and spin the story further, after Season 1 of The Bad Batch. If there will be more parts is depending on how well this one will be recieved. Don't get me wrong I certainly will keep writing this no matter what- because I wanna know myself what's going to happen next, but if I'll share the rest of it, is depending on... well if it's even wanted.

If you were just wandering about me saying „I wanna know what's going to happen next“, It means the story is being created/formed/born as I write it. I rearly make plans, drafts or notes. The only thing I had planned beforehand was to use the „Gray Jedi“ as a main part of the readers background story.

English ist not my first language, for the biggest part I learned it by myself. I sincerely hope I'm doing good enough for you to be able to enjoy this, without stumbling over to many mistakes. Now please enjoy, if possible.

Prologue: You are a gray Jedi. Some will not know or understand what that is. The term Gray Jedi, or Gray, had two meanings. First, it was used by Jedi and Sith to describe Force-users who walked the line between the light and dark sides of the Force without surrendering to the dark side, and second, it described Jedi who distanced themselves from the Jedi High Council and operated outside the strictures of the Jedi Code. However, those who were considered to be true Gray Jedi met both qualifications and did not belong to any particular Force tradition.

Source

Unfortunately, the Empire was not interested in the fact that you were not a Jedi. Force-sensitive beings were always hunted down. That's why you had to go into hiding shortly after the end of the Clone Wars and take on a new identity. On Kashyyk you had learned from other gray Jedi who lived there in exile, you were trained as a healer. You had a lightsaber and knew how to use it, but fighting was generally disgusting to you, so you took the path of the Force healer. There were not many who did this, frighteningly few even, but you were proud of it and good at what you did. But now you were in hiding, your lightsaber always hidden somewhere under your clothes, just in case, sometimes disassembled into several pieces, sometimes in its entirety, depending on what clothes you were wearing.

Currently you worked for Cid in her bar, mainly as a barmaid. You have already met The Bad Batch and Omega. The clones worked for Cid as mercenaries and were in and out of her bar regularly. They were an exception to the rule, most clones now worked for the Empire, but not The Bad Batch. The few clones who refused Order 66 had been killed. Extremely few had escaped. The boys of the Bad Batch were among them. Just like the former clone Captain Rex, you had already met him in the bar. Rex was a very serious, calm man, disciplined, radiating strength but also kindness. You knew Rex only superficially, but it was clear that he had been a loyal and excellent soldier to the Republic. You had overheard conversations from time to time when Rex talked with the boys of the Bad Batch.

Rex found it very difficult to accept that the Republic no longer existed, he took the fall of the Republic very personally, as if it was his fault. If you opened yourself to the Force while he was in the bar, you could feel his pain, but also his will to fight against the Empire, his strength and desire to continue to fight for something good and just. But some days the pain and guilt seemed especially heavy, the loss of so many of his brothers lay heavy on his soul. Those were days when you were especially kind to him, giving him your most beautiful, loving smile. You wanted to comfort him, but how could you tell him that you knew what he was feeling without revealing who or what you were? Apart from that, he was not really friends. You were the barmaid who brought him his drinks. He always greeted you nicely and always tipped you, but other than that, you weren't really close. Apart from the fact that you were in on his, the batch's and Cid's little secret of the clones meeting here in this bar, away from the empires eyes.   The Bad Batch was clearly different from other clones. You knew that they were genetically modified, they had been something like an elite unit of the clone army. However, you had also heard that other clones were not well disposed towards the boys. Maybe out of envy, maybe just because they were different. In a way, they just didn't belong.

There was their leader Hunter, a brooding guy, dark, melancholy. He often seemed like Rex, like a man who carried the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders. He always seemed very watchful but never hostile, at least not to you. He looked like a thoughtful person, like someone who looked at everything carefully before making a decision. You had the feeling that he held the group together and often saved it from trouble. A vigilant fellow who mostly preferred to stay quiet and to himself. But you could tell, the way he looked at his brothers and Omega, they were family and he'd do everything to keep them safe.

Echo was a quiet representative, most of the time. He was relaxed when he sat at the bar and exchanged a few words with you, always very polite and decent. You had no idea what had happened to him, but his body had been replaced to a very large extent by mechanical parts. You never spoke to him about it out of politeness. But your assumption that it had happened in the Clone Wars was obvious.

Wrecker and Omega, the two of them practically always appeared in a double pack. The little girl with the platinum blond hair and the tanned skin had the most alert, curious eyes you had ever seen. They were the same eyes as the other clones, but there was so much youthful joy and adventurousness in them that they somehow seemed completely different. Wrecker, a walking, giant muscleman with the mind of a child, was almost always at the kid's side when you saw The Bad Batch in the bar. Wrecker was playful and kind, a little goofy at times, but he was also a soldier and a preternaturally strong one at that.

There was Crosshair. Crosshair had been separated from his brothers for a while, for reasons you didn't quite know yet, but if you had to guess, you probably would have bet on his attitude. Secretly you called Crosshair Mister Snarky. He was always grumpy, sarcastic, cynical and the way he spoke had something snaky about it. He was usually very reserved and far less polite than his brothers. On the other hand, he had his moments. Once he defended you against drunken patrons when he was the last of his brothers still in the bar. He helped you clean up the mess that the drunkards had left behind. All, of course, largely taciturn and with a gloomy look. You couldn't really figure out this man so far.

Then there was your favorite, Tech.

Tech was different, he was almost always focused on his holo pad, constantly gathering information. As you had noticed, he was extremely intelligent, the brain behind every operation, so to speak. His goggles were always strapped around his head, without them he was as good as blind, at least that's what you had overheard. The first time Tech sat at the bar counter and ordered something, a nervous tingling had risen in you, something you couldn't name at that moment. The sharp hairline, the high forehead, the big golden eyes behind the goggles that looked at you as if the knowledge of the galaxy was hidden behind them, somthing about that, or all of it, was drawing you in. He was tall, 6.4 was your estimate. Tall and lean, but trained, he was different from his brothers, different from any clone you had ever met.

One night while Tech was sitting at the bar, you asked him some simple question and he began to answer. When his answer ended, almost half an hour had passed. He had overwhelmed you with information that went much further than what you wanted to know. But you didn't interrupt him, you listened to his voice with interest and you felt and saw that he enjoyed your attention. He liked that you listened, that you were interested in his knowledge. And you were always so polite and although he didn't show it or say it until now, he thought you were very pretty, the prettiest thing he had ever seen. It became a habit that every time he returned to Cid after an assignment, sooner or later he would end up at your bar, you would ask him questions and Tech would almost effusively tell you everything you wanted to know and much more. And somehow you couldn't get enough of these encounters. His presence was so pleasant and you learned something new every time, not always something that you specifically wanted to learn, but what did it matter? He was sweet, kind and polite and gave you his full attention every time he talked to you. He would come to the bar specifically to talk to you. He could sit somewhere else, for example at the table with his brothers, but at some point during the evening when they were all in the bar, he always came to you, sat on a bar stool, ordered a drink and made you the center of his attention.

Part One: Please Stay It was evening and you didn't have to work the night shift tonight. You were on your way to your apartment in the building directly behind Cid's Bar, and you had to walk across the landing field where the Marauder usually parked. The ship was still on the sparsely lit landing pad when you walked there this night. The ramp was open, a few crates stood next to the ramp and on one of them sat your favorite clone.

As always, Tech had a holo pad in his hand and was absorbed in some data. Undecided if you should approach him, you walked slower to widen your decision window. Suddenly, however, the former soldier looked up and looked directly at you.

"Good evening lady," he said formally with a tentative smile.

All of a sudden, you felt a little nervous.

"Hi," you replied simply with a smile a little too bright to hide your joy at seeing him. He didn't immediately turn back to his holo pad like you thought he would, but looked at you thoughtfully.

"You shouldn't be wandering around this area alone so late," he remarked, slightly chidingly.

Surprised, you blinked. You didn't expect him to be concerned about such a thing. But he was actually right, the area was shady, to put it kindly.

With a smirk you said, "Well, I'm used to going home alone. Besides, I don't have far to go."

Tech swung off the crate, tucked the holo pad on his belt, and called inside the ship, "Echo? I'm going to be gone for a while. Would you be a dear and keep an eye on the crates?"

A clanking sound came from inside, then a soft curse and finally Echo's voice.

"Why? Where are you going?" "I'm going to walk Y/N home, she shouldn't be wandering around this neighborhood alone at this late hour."

It wasn't really that late, but you kept that to yourself. After all, it was already dark and even if you only had to walk a short distance, you really would have liked to have Tech with you. Not necessarily for safety reasons, though.

"Y/N?" Echo asked from inside the ship "Isn't that the hottie from Cid's bar? You know, the one you're always chatting up? That woman is not only beautiful, she must have the patience of a saint."

Tech scratched the back of his head a bit bashfully.

"Yeah, that's the one," he replied, adding, "She can hear you, by the way."

Silence reigned for a moment, finally an "Oh" was heard and then Echo appeared on the ramp with a wry smile on his slightly flushed face. "Hello Y/N. I thought Tech meant to pick you up at the bar, I wasn't aware you were standing here. Sorry if what I said made you feel uncomfortable" he greeted you kindly with an apology.

With a smile you returned the greeting and waved it off  with a wink: „I chose to find it flattering“ Echo smirked.  

"Go ahead, I'll stay with the boxes. Take your time," he finally said to Tech.

After Tech thanked Echo, he walked beside you to the small apartment building where you lived. On the way, you were both quite silent, now and then throwing shy glances at each other with a smile. When you finally stood in front of the door of the building, you hesitated for a moment.

"Do you live here?" he asked, although he already knew.

You nodded and asked with a gentle smile, "Would you like to come in? I have good wine in the house and Spotchka".

He blinked and you could see it working behind his forehead.

"You shouldn't invite strange men in. It could end up dangerous for you. Do you do that often?" he finally said a little critically.

A little unsettled, you looked up at the tall man.

"I never do that. You're not a stranger after all. We see each other quite regularly and I trusted you to get me home safely. Why shouldn't I be able to invite you in?"

"That's a valid argument," he admitted.

Maybe he was just nervous, or maybe you had misinterpreted his interest in talking to you and his interest in your safety.

"You don't have to come in. It's okay if you decline the offer," you tried to wriggle out of the situation you had maneuvered yourself into. All of a sudden he smiled at you.

"I would love to come in"

You suppressed the relieved sigh that wanted to escape you and opened the door with an inviting gesture. When you arrived at your apartment and you pushed the door into the lock behind you, he stopped in the middle of the living room.

"Make yourself comfortable, go ahead and sit on the couch".

Tech complied with your request, taking off his all-purpose belt and placing it on one of the couch's armrests.

"Wine or spotchka?" you asked him as you made your way into the open living room kitchen.

He followed you with his gaze and replied, "Whatever is appropriate"

A soft laugh came from your throat, finally you explained to him, "Whatever you're want to be drinking right now is what's appropriate"

"Oh... um, I'd like to try that wine you mentioned".

It was a strange feeling to have him in your apartment. It was exciting, made you a little tingly and nervous. Your heart was beating a little faster than usual, it also seemed warmer in your apartment than usual. You would have liked to know if he felt the same way. You could have opened yourself up to the Force and explored his feelings, but it didn't feel right, like you were crossing a line.

While you opened the wine and filled two glasses, he looked around your apartment. It was quite simple, there was little decoration, but it was clean and tidy and it was yours alone, it was your retreat.

"You have a nice apartment, even if it looks a little different than I expected".

You sat down next to him on the couch and handed him one of the glasses. A Nabooian red wine. You put the bottle on the transperisteel coffee table.

You looked at him in surprise when he turned to you and asked, "Don't you have a family? I don't see any pictures"

A strange sting ran through your chest at his actually quite innocent question.

"I'm alone," you answered in a quiet voice.

He blinked and frowned thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry, that seems like a painful subject. That was thoughtless of me." Yes, it was a painful subject and you couldn't tell him truthfully anyway without revealing who and what you were. You couldn't tell him that the small enclave you lived in had been burned down by the Empire because you and your closest fellows were Force users.

"That's all right, curiosity is one of the most natural things in the galaxy," you replied with a shrug, hoping to deprive the subject of any meaning. You took a sip from your glass, Tech did the same.

"Oh, it's really very good," he said with a smile in your direction.

"My favorite wine. It's only made on Naboo."

It all felt strange all of a sudden after he had asked about your family. You wished so badly Tech would go back into one of his information dumps, just so the silence wouldn't be so stifling. Out of a gut feeling, you looked at him, he returned your gaze scrutinizingly, it was as if he sensed something was going on inside you.

"Tech?"

"Yes my dear? Is there anything I can do for you? I feel like I've made you sad."

You were surprised by his empathy, he didn't usually strike you as the kind of person who could empathize well with others, mostly because of his unnaturally high intellect and his matter-of-fact manner. Apparently you had misjudged him. You couldn't help it, you gave him a loving but sad smile. You slipped off your shoes, pulled your legs onto the couch and towards your body, leaning back, one arm on the back of the couch, the glass of wine in the hand of the other, facing him. He turned a little to meet your gaze. „Would you tell me something about your ship, the Marauder?“, you finally asked, hoping he would take your mind off of things again. His expression was surprised, brows slightly raised, eyes wide. „You know it's designation?“, he asked baffled. A little smirk tugged at the corners of your pretty lips. „I'm a barmaid. I'm always there when people drink and talk. They often just forget that I'm there or that I'm even a person, but I almost always listen to their little talks and some of the information tends to stick with me“, you explained truthfully. Tech frowned and it sounded almost a little defiant when he said: „I never do that! I'm always aware of your presence and the fact that you are a person never escapes my mind!“ You sighed with a smile and countered in a gentle voice: „That can't be entirely true sweetheart.“ „How so?“ he asked indignantly. „Because It was you sitting at the bar, talking to your brother Echo about the Marauder, when I first heard that designation“

His eyes went wide looking at you, before turning his gaze to the boots of his armor with a guilty expression, frowning.

„It's okay, Tech, it happens to pretty much everyone at one point. Even I myslef sometimes feel like I'm becoming part of the furniture or something, it's the automatism of the job sometimes. But I always enjoy listening to you“ He blinked but didn't look up at you again yet. „So It's not a burden to you like Echo implied before?“, he wanted to know sounding a little meekly.

„It's not a burden. Whenever you leave I keep looking forward for your next visit“, you admitted shyly. Tech finally looked at you with a smile. „So you want to know about the Marauder?“ he inquired, seeming eager. You nodded „Yes please“ and poured yourself a little more wine. He began to talk and the more he talked the more enthusiastic he became. It quickly became clear that the ship was not just a means to an end, it was his home. It was his refuge, his hiding place, his getaway vehicle and weapon, and the place where he practically lived with his brothers. The Marauder wasn't just a spaceship, it was family. After explaining a lot of data about the ship itself, Tech shared some stories of how many times the Marauder had saved the men's lives, how many times it had been damaged, had to be repaired, rebuilt and modified. You were sure he was an excellent engineer and a gifted pilot. At least two hours went by like nothing while you listened to his stories about the marauder.

When he ended with a funny little anecdote, he had you laughing, your mind free from any dark thoughts.

„I like your laugh“ he said „You are so beautiful when you laugh“

A blush painted your face in a rosy color and your gaze shied away. But his long and strong fingers slipped under your chin and gently forced your face upwards again. You were very surprised, to put it mildly, when his face was suddenly very close and his lips touched yours. For a second you forgot to breath and your heart skipped a beat. His whole body came closer, leaning toward you, forcing you back on the couch and into the sofa cushions. In a slight panic you remembered your lightsaber, hidden under your tunic. You grabbed for it hastily, let it slip unseen onto the floor and giving it a little push with the force to make it role under the couch. It was strange you felt a little uncomfortable still hiding yourself like this from him, but now was not the time for a talk about who you really were. You didn't want to kill the mood, not now of all times. He kept kissing you, practically on top of you. At some point your mouth oppened automatically, your tounge probed at his lips wich made them part. When your toungs met, he moaned into the kiss, as did you. At first he was a little sloppy, but eager, it didn't take long for him to find out how it actually worked. Slowly you realized this must have been new territory for him. But he was eager to be close to you and probably just did what he was feeling.

Without thinking much about it, you began to remove the armor from his blacks. He paused for a moment, but then began to help you. Piece by piece, the armor pieces fell to the ground. As you helped him remove the codpiece, you noticed that his hands were shaking a little. Surprised, you furrowed your brows in wonder and concern. The last piece of armor finally fell to the ground and he was wearing only his blacks.

You could clearly see the bulge in the pants of his blacks. His privates were more massive than you expected them to be. The sight spread heat between your legs, and you clearly felt your core pulsating in anticipation.

He came towards you again, leaning over you, gently pushing himself between your legs. Tech kissed you again, this time he knew right away what to do with his tongue, but kissed you much more carefully than before, as if he was nervous. Breaking the kiss for a moment, you asked him gently, "Is everything all right?"

His golden brown eyes looked at you with a blink.

"W-why? Am I doing something wrong?" he wanted to know insecurely.

"No, sweetheart, no! You're not doing anything wrong, you just seem a little nervous.“

He swallowed and nodded hesitantly.

"That's probably because I am."

You thought it was sweet that he admitted it.

"I've never been alone with a woman like this. Let alone been intimate with one." he confessed with a low voice. You smiled at him, of course you understood. An idea came to you and you said in a suggestive voice, "We don't have to go all in right away, Tech. There are a lot of things we could do to have fun before we actually do it. Would you be willing to let me take the lead for now? I think I know how we can break the ice." Tech nodded in agreement, whereupon you gently but firmly pushed him back. You asked him to sit down. When he complied with your request, you moved the coffee table a little to the side and began to undress. Slowly, carefully, suggestively but not overdoing it, it should seem suggestive but relaxed, you wanted to stimulate him but not overwhelm him. You started with your pantyhose, slowly rolled them down your legs and slipped out. His dilated eyes wandered along your every move while his mouth and throat suddenly became terribly dry. Hastily he quickly reached for his wine glass, took a sip and put it away again. His eyes were glued to you, fascinated, nervous, expectant.

Slowly you started to untie your tunic. When you finally let the fabric slide off your shoulders and to the floor, he seemed to grow smaller and smaller on the sofa, as if he was intimidated by your beauty.

"Relax, sweetie," you cooed softly and teasingly.

Tech realized that he was slumped over, he sat up straight and demonstratively straightened his shoulders. He wanted you to see that he was in control again. When you unclasped your bra, you could see him shiver with excitement. The bra fell to the floor, his gaze followed the garment, then he slowly looked up again and swallowed. His eyes hanging on your pretty breasts for a long moment. Slowly you drove with your elegant fingers, along your body, up to your breasts, embraced them playfully, played with the buds and moaned softly almost tenderly.

"Oh mesh'la..." it came hoarsely from his throat, bucking his hips like a reflex. As your fingers slowly moved back down and slipped under the waistband of your panties, his tongue darted out and he moistened his lips with a hungry look.

Lewdly you slowly pulled the thin piece of fabric down and finally stood before him completely naked.

He stretched out his arms to you with trembling hands, dilated pupils and a ravished look in his eyes.

On his face was pure adoration and lust.

"C-come here... let me touch you" he demanded with a slightly shaky voice.

You complied with his request, stepping closer to him. His face was at the level of your belly button when his hands landed on your hips. From there, his big, slender, strong hands moved to your back while he spread kisses on your belly with his mouth open.

You squealed in surprise as his hands abruptly shot down and firmly grasped your buttocks.

"I'd like to test something if you don't mind. I've read about it and would like to find out if it's true. Would you let me take the lead from here? If you don't like something I'm doing tell me and I'll stop."

Tech suddenly sounded so composed and determined that you automatically agreed and didn't even think about it. He grabbed your hands and pulled you closer to him while sliding down on the sofa. A little puzzled, you let it happen.

"Kneel down on the edge of the sofa.... yes just like that. Oh Maker... what a view..."

 A blush shot up your face as he finally sat on the floor with his back against the sofa, his head between your legs and the view he was talking about was your wet pussy. "Tech you don't have to...naaah!"

He interrupted you by grabbing your hips from below, pulling you down with a firm grip, towards his face, and immediately lapping at your womanhood with his lips and tongue.

"But I want to," he mumbled through your wet folds.

The vibration of his voice, rang excitingly through your abdomen. He playfully kissed your most sensitive spots, licked teasingly over your cleft only to thrust into you with his tongue the next second.

A moan that half resembled a scream came out of your mouth.

He laughed dark and dirty, sending more vibrations through your body, very content with your reactions.

Finally, his tongue found your pulsing, throbbing bud, he flicked over it, sucking at it, picking up the pace.

You tipped forward, your hands finding a hold on the back of the sofa and you clung to it so tightly that your fingers ached.

You could feel your juices gathering, mixing with his saliva.

One of his fingers nudged your entrance, then a second.

"Oh ... Tech... I...gnaah"

Finally he slid both fingers into your wet heat and began pumping them in and out, interrupting you as he did so.

"Fuck" it slipped from your lips.

He chuckled.

"You have no idea how much fun this is, especially when I realize you like it that much Cyar'ika. Keep making noises for me, will you? I want you to cum on my face."

"Oh Tech" you moaned and whimpered in helpless horniness as he intensified his ministrations. His fingers continued to pump inside of you while his mouth was feasting on your bud. You were a moaning, whimpering mess, rushing toward your climax.

"Tech...p-please I'm gonna.... I'm so close..." you slurred.

He picked up the pace even more, making you squeal and pant, drooling on the back of the sofa.

A vibrating buzz built up in your core that increased in intensity. With your climax, the buzz became an all-consuming tidal wave that swept you over the edge. Seeing stars, your muscles tensed, your cleft tightened around his fingers. He hummed contentedly and continued to work you through your climax. You moaned his name with trembling thighs, barely able to hold your own weight upright.

When his tongue began to overstimulate you, you jerked and squealed, "Tech! Too much... t-too much!"

"I know" he murmured against your bud "Just a little more, I like it when you twitch like that".

He held you in place while you twitched and shivered. Before you knew it, something new was happening. You let out a long drawn out moan as the arousal built up again very abruptly and rapidly.

"That's my good girl," he cooed, increasing the pressure of his tongue and lips on your sensitive bud again.

With a smooth, nimble motion he slid his fingers into your pussy again, pumping a little more forcefully this time, chasing you through a post-orgasm.

This climax was even more violent, shaking you like an earthquake, making you dizzy. Your teeth dug into the back of the sofa, almost desperately, and yet your excited scream was barely muffled by it. Probably the whole house had heard you.

When he finally let go of you, you let yourself fall onto the sofa, trembling for a moment. A thin film of sweat had formed on your skin. Your muscles were shaking, every single one of them, and felt as if they had been replaced by pudding.

Your breathing was heavy and as you turned heavily in his direction, he straightened to stand, wiping his chin with a wide very satisfied grin on his face.

"I suppose my services were satisfactory," he stated with a look at you in which there was amusement and adoration.

"You sly, nasty man!" you chuckled half jokingly "You said you'd never been with a woman before!"

His grin widened as he said "I haven't been. But I'm a very fast learner"

"You can say that again..." you muttered, trying to sit up.

Tech helped you sit up and knelt in front of you next to the sofa. With his index finger he pushed up his goggles on the bridge of his nose.

"I read that it's good manners to give a woman at least one orgasm before you actually make love to her. That being said, I thought it might relax you, considering I'm technically a good bit above average in size."

You blinked at him.

"That's... very considerate, a real gentleman."

Tech smiled at you devotedly, and your heart melted. How could you ever not love this face?! Your muscles finally stopped shaking and your breathing adjusted.

"Come here," you urged him.

Your fingers grabbed the fabric of his blacks, first the top then the pants, and with his help you stripped him.

Tech was right, he was bigger than average, a good bit. His member stood proud and erect in a gentle curve from his body.

When he wanted to join you on the sofa, you stopped him, made him stand in front of you, his magnificent erection right in front of your face.

When you looked up at him, through thick, dark lashes, you saw that he was blushing.

"W-what are you up to," he asked uncertainly. Your tongue darted out, licking over his tip, tasting the clear drops of his precum- a little salty. He jerked in surprise with a moan. With one hand you grabbed the base of his shaft, your tongue continuing to dance across his tip, making him twitch and elicit a whimper. He watched you wet your lips, open them and slide them over his tip and down his shaft as you took him into your mouth.

He moaned out, "Oh Maker g-give me strength...mesh'la..."

Tech felt the urge to grasp at you, but held back with all his power, afraid he might hurt you in the heat of the moment.

You took him in as far as you could, but even as you relaxed your throat, you couldn't take him in completely, but apparently far enough. One look at his face spoke volumes.

"Kriff..." he muttered under his breath "S-so good.... too good"

Your head went back and forth, sucking him off, making him tremble and pant.

"Mesh'la... gedetir... y-you have to stop... c-can't last long if you keep doing this"

His voice was shaky and his breathing ragged.

Agonizingly slow you released him from your mouth. He cupped your face with his hands.

"Mesh'la, are y-you ready for me?"

You nodded.

Between your thighs you were already wet again and pulsating desire throbbed in your core.

He smiled with a look veiled with arousal in his golden brown eyes. Tech grabbed your shoulders and maneuvered you into a lying position on your back with your head on the sofa cushions. Eagerly you opened your thighs for him in aroused anticipation to feel him inside you.

He sat down between your thighs, one leg over the edge of the sofa with his foot on the floor giving him more support for what was to come.

Tech looked down at you mumbling praises about your stunning beauty. He reached for the base of his thick member and lined up with your wet entrance.

You looked up at him, admiring his bronzed body. He was lean but steeled, hard muscles standing out under his skin.

"You are so beautiful" you cooed dreamily.

He blushed.

When he finally dived into you, long, slowly and deeply, he washed away every thought, leaving you with pure lust and arousal.

Tech looked down at the spot where your bodies merged and said in a husky voice, "Look at you taking me in, so perfectly." His left hand moved to your pulsating, sensitive bud between your thighs and began to caress it. His right hand moved to your face, stroking your cheek with a glowing look. As his fingers brushed over your lips your tongue shot out, licking them. Tech moaned softly.

You could taste yourself on Tech's fingers. Gingerly, he slid his index and middle finger between your lips. He expelled a stuttering breath as you began to suck on his fingers.

"Oh Mesh'la, y-you're so good to me". As he began to move inside you, he simultaneously increased the pressure on your bud. His hands on your body, his shaft inside you, the heat boiling up inside you- it was dizzyingly overwhelming.

It wasn't just lustful heat even though it was predominant, there was also an all consuming warmth.

You felt so drawn to him that the arousal merged with a feeling of pure happiness.

For a moment you wondered if you could ever explain to him in an understandable way what he was unleashing in you.

Was it love? Did you perhaps feel true romantic affection for the first time? Perhaps...

As he increased the pace, you were torn from your thoughts. A hoarse moan came over your rosy lips. You could feel him stretching your pussy, but it wasn't painful at all. It was delicious. With his foot on the ground he had the right anchorage to give his thrusts the right drive, making you whimper and moan by hitting that one special spot again and again with each thrust.

As you arched your back in ecstasy, his fingers slipped out of your mouth, his now free hand shooting down to your hip and gripping hard to press you into his thrusts.

"Kriff.... s-so good...mesh'la.... look at y-you... taking me so well, so good," he stammered in between panting.

You felt like your whole body was glowing and buzzing, tingling and sizzling with heat.

Your hands clawed into the sofa in a desperate effort to keep you grounded, as the intensity of everything you were feeling threatened to unravel your very mind-making you feel like your body could too any moment.

It was frighteningly wonderful.

Why was it so intense? Sex had never felt so intense before.

The question fastly dissolved into nothing.

"Harder, faster... Tech, fuuuck me" you mewled surprised by your own shamelessness.

He complied with your request. Obscene wet sounds filled the room, along with the sound of naked skin meeting naked skin in a fast rhythm.

"Y/N...I'm gonna.... I'm close..." he sounded downright desperate.

There was no way he was going to cum first, not if he could help it.

"I'm almost there..." you panted, feeling the hot knot in your abdomen about to burst and flood your brain with oxytocin.

Your thighs trembled with tension as Tech's cock pounded into you faster and faster.

Tears burned in your eyes as you let the ecstasy swallow you whole.

"Cum for me... Darling, cum for me," he repeated like a mantra.

Tech's name came over your lips in a groan, followed immediately by a scream that felt like a release from steel chains.

Your pussy twitched, tightening around his cock as the climax overtook you. All that passed your lips was an incoherent slurred, hoarse jumble of words.

A surprised grunt came from Tech's mouth as he felt your pussy tighten around him. His hips stuttered, his cock pulsed, and you felt him pump his seed into you, saying your name like a prayer of praise. He kept moving, slowing down, riding out your climaxes and finally pausing, breathing heavily

Quietly, he said as he found his voice again, "I knew that sex was described as intense and beautiful.... but this, this is beyond anything I could have imagined."

You giggled, completely overwhelmed and tired but also very satisfied and happy.

-----------------------

He left your body. It felt strangely wrong, as if there was a void between your thighs that shouldn't be there.

Together, kissing, giggling and adoring each other, you headed to the bathroom to clean each other up. Afterwards, you slipped into a clean short tunic and panties.

"Do you want... me to stay the night?" he suddenly asked while watching you pull up the panties, fascinated.

With a smile, you looked at him.

A little unsure, he said, "My brothers don't usually stay overnight with.... their sexual conquests. However, I don't think they have any real feelings for these women either, especially since it seems to be a different one each time."

A little unsettled, you looked at him with your brows drawn together.

"Am I also just a one-time conquest?"

He looked at you aghast.

"What? No!"

You stepped closer to him, he was still naked. You looked up at the tall man. His golden brown eyes looked at you piercingly.

"Why would you think that?" he asked "I thought you clearly sensed that I have feelings for you."

You nodded slowly and he grabbed your face tenderly, to kiss you longingly.

"Please Stay" you whispered as the kiss ended.

-----------------------------------

"What we did there was better than anything I've ever experienced. And I'm not just saying that. I don't know how it is that you reach such heights the first time, but then I remember who you are and I'm not quite so surprised anymore," you said from the bedroom where you were preparing the bed.

Tech was at the sofa, had put his blacks back on, and was going to gather up his armor pieces and get them ready so he wouldn't have to look for them the next morning.

"What do you mean by that? I'm afraid I don't quite follow you even if the first part of your statement is very flattering and relieving"

You laughed and pulled the fresh sheet taut. You wanted his first night in your bed with you to be perfect.

"By that I mean that it seems to me that you have a talent for mastering everything you try."

"Oh, that's what you meant. I...I um...thank you sweetie.... I...."

He didn't finish the sentence, it was suddenly awfully quiet.

"You what?" you inquired, coming into the living room.

The smile on your face froze when you saw him kneeling there by the sofa, in his hand a very familiar object - your lightsaber.

Your mouth and throat seemed to dry out in a heartbeat.

A piece of his armor must have slipped under the sofa, when he fished for it, he probably stumbled over what you had tried to hide from him.

He glanced at the object in his hand. You knew he had enough to do with the Jedi during the Clone Wars to know what he was holding. When he looked up and looked at you, his expression was very difficult to interpret.

"Is that... really yours?" he asked quietly, holding up your ligthsaber...

Cliffhanger just for you

[blackkatmagic]

Ahhh okay thank you for letting me know it didn’t go through haha! Here’s the idea again— mainly just wondering what your thoughts are about it, but feel free to take whatever inspires you from it and run with it, if anything does XD I doubt I’ll ever write it but I still like to chat about the idea.

———

Fives refuses to leave Echo behind at the Citadel and finds him heavily injured but alive. After all is said and done, Echo is missing his right arm and leg, and is deaf in his right ear due to a fully ruptured ear drum. He is going to be sent back to Kamino to be “reassigned”… or at least that’s what the Kaminoans tell the Jedi. In reality, there’s a 99% chance he’s actually just going to be decommissioned.

Echo is depressed and resigned to his fate, but Fives and Rex refuse to give up so easily. They go to Anakin and tell him the truth of what will happen if Echo is sent back to Kamino, and beg him to stop it. They convince Anakin to help them and he pulls some strings with the Chancellor to get Echo reassigned to the Coruscant Guard instead, as it’s supposed to be an “easy” post.

Spoiler alert: it’s not.

The Corrie Guard are a tight knit group and try to keep their more vulnerable members (which right now, Echo is, as much as he hates it) away from the abusive Senators and citizens as much as they can, but they are not always successful. It’s one such day when Echo and Padmé meet.

Echo has been given the ridiculous task of getting caf for one of the senators, but because of his junky hearing aid, he heard their order wrong. The Senator throws the scalding hot caf at Echo and it short-circuits his prosthetic arm. The Senator is hurling verbal abuse at him the entire time, and that’s what Padmé walks in on.

To say she is furious is an understatement.

She swiftly puts herself between Echo and the Senator, dressing him down with vicious remarks as she barely restrains herself from punching the man’s lights out. After she has left the Senator cowering, she turns back to Echo and helps him out of the senators office.

Once they’re in the hallway, she insists she escort Echo to the hospital, but Echo politely refuses. So Padmé settles for him coming to her office so she can check him over, and she won’t take no for an answer, so Echo relents.

When they get to her office, as she is checking Echo over, she talks about how she will have the Senator expelled from the senate for this. Echo tells her that he appreciates her care, but that will never happen. Padmé is confused, because surely if word spread of the senator’s assault on an innocent guard, the people will rally to have him removed from office?

This is when Echo opens her eyes to the truth of things. No one sees the clones as people. According to the law, they aren’t. They’re property of the Kaminoan government, that’s all.

Padmé is horrified to realize this, and in her mind, a plan begins to form. Externally though, she just tells Echo that she is sorry, and that if he ever needs anything, he can come to her.

From here Padmé starts to offer assistance to the entirety of the Corrie Gaurd, whether that be just her office couch to catch a few minutes of sleep on, or a place to hide from the worse senators. Ultimately, after they begin to trust her, she’d work with them on fighting for clone rights— and Echo will be the face of the campaign. They bond while working together and slowly begin to fall for each other, but feel held back by their duties and roles from confessing to one another.

Not sure what the whole Padmé/Anakin situation would be. Probably Padmé leaving him, but before or after she realizes her feelings for Echo? I don’t know.

Anyway, that’s my idea 😂 would love to hear your thoughts as a fellow rarepair shipper!

I think it's a really fun setup and a fantastic ship! The prompt hits a little too close to home for me, though, I think - I'm disabled in that I can't use one of my arms, and the idea of having a prosthetic and then having it sabotaged like that is kind of triggering to me personally. No shade, though! I could see it being very well-done, and I love the idea of Padme throwing herself into getting full rights for the clones, and especially her and Echo growing into each other that way. ^^

[gffa]

THERE’S A REALLY INTERESTING, SURPRISINGLY CONSISTENT STORY TREND WITH JEDI (OR ONCE-JEDI) ALL THROUGHOUT STAR WARS: They seem to have massive cases of survivor’s guilt, that they walk away from fighting and being Jedi, until they do a lot of soul-searching and eventually come to realize that they need to pick their weapon back up, they need to fight to protect people again, to become Jedi again. Kanan Jarrus and Ahsoka Tano and Cal Kestis all have this arc--and, I would argue, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Cere Junda have it as well.  About the only PT Jedi we see who doesn’t pick up his weapon to fight again is Yoda and that’s probably just due to age, he’s basically holding himself back from dying on Dagobah probably since we first see him in ESB. But otherwise every single one of them has an arc they must go through to find themselves again. Kanan deals with the trauma and guilt of surviving (not just Order 66, but that Depa Billaba died to save him, then the clones and the Empire were hunting him down when he was 13), and he hides away for years, trying to forget that he was raised as a Jedi, trying to forget his own people and culture.  It’s not until he brings out his lightsaber and tells Ezra, “Kid, I’m about to let everyone in on the secret.” that he steps back onto the path of being a Jedi.  The entirety of Rebels is about Kanan finding himself again, finding himself as a Jedi.  Ultimately, he’s Knighted by Yoda (using the Grand Inquisitor’s visage) in the Lothal Temple, completing not just his ascension to the rank of Knight, not just solidifying himself as Ezra’s Jedi Master, but Kanan himself as a Jedi in his very heart. Cal Kestis deals with the same trauma and guilt of surviving Order 66 and that Jaro Tapal died to save him.  He hides on Bracca for five years, trying to suppress his very sense of self, his culture and identity, until the Empire finds out about him and he has to act.  His entire story is about healing from the trauma of Order 66 and his damaged connection to the Force, it’s when he goes to Ilum and picks up his lightsaber, when he faces the vision of Master Tapal, that’s when Cal has found himself again.  He is a Jedi again, through and through. Ahsoka deals with the same guilt of surviving Order 66 and the men she couldn’t save on that Jedi Cruiser.  She drops her lightsaber and goes for years without one, hiding away and never really helping anyone, so damaged by everything she’s been through.  It’s not until the Force guides her to a new set of lightsabers and the realization that she’s meant to pick them up again and fight back that she finds herself.  She may not do so as a Jedi--though, with TCW’s final season, we know she wanted to be a Jedi again, some part of her wanted and was open to coming back--but she found herself again when she picked up her lightsabers and fought back. Obi-Wan spends nearly two decades hiding away on Tatooine, not being a Jedi, dealing with not only the trauma of Order 66, his entire people and culture genocided almost entirely out of existence, but he can’t even be who he is.  He can’t talk about being a Jedi, he can’t talk about his loss, he can’t talk about how hard it is not to have his community and loved ones, he can’t talk about this fundamental part of himself.  While he is a Jedi in his patience, the difficult path he walked is one that he rose above precisely because he was raised as a Jedi, he also feels that there’s something deeply missing from his sense of self.  He doesn’t feel like a Jedi on Tatooine, he tells Qui-Gon he’s looking forward to being a Jedi again, shortly before he’s ready to leave with Luke.  And it’s when he picks up his lightsaber again, when he faces Darth Vader on the Death Star, when he protects Luke and Leia and Han, when he lets Vader have the choice of whether to kill him or not, that Obi-Wan is himself again, as a Jedi.

(From a Certain Point of View, “Master and Apprentice”, Claudia Gray) Cere cuts herself off from the Force, she’ll advise Cal, but she can’t be a Jedi herself, she has too much she can’t untangle to do it.  It’s not until she opens herself up to the Force, picking up Trilla’s lightsaber, and Knighting Cal with it, that she really takes the first steps to finding her path and herself again. Even Luke Skywalker does the same--he survives the slaughter of his Jedi School and he feels so guilty for it that he hides himself away for six years, throwing away his saber, then throwing away his father’s saber as well.  It’s not until he reconnects to the Force, projecting himself with his lightsaber in hand to defend against Kylo Ren, to protect the Resistance members, that he finds himself again, as a Jedi.  And that’s why I loved the line in TROS, it wasn’t about tearing down TLJ, but about reconfirming what TLJ already laid out--Luke realized he was wrong and found himself again, he had respect for the weapon of a Jedi again. And all of them have the theme of dropping or hiding their lightsaber, this thing that so uniquely identified them as Jedi (even with Inquisitors and Sith running around, it was still the weapon of a Jedi) that they felt so much guilt and trauma over that they had to leave it behind or hide it.  They survived when others died, often died specifically for them. That’s such a heavy burden for any of them to bear, to know that they survived when others didn’t.  Trilla taunts Cal, “What Jedi gave their life so that you might live?”

Kanan’s voice breaks when he talks about how they gunned down Depa and then came for him.  

"They were all gone.  All the Jedi.  And sometimes I wondered... if I should have gone with them,” Obi-Wan thinks.  And Obi-Wan’s face tells an entire volume of the story when he tells Luke about his father and Vader, about how much pain there was in all of it. Every one of them feels a terrible case of survivor’s guilt and it’s not until they really face themselves and are ready to pick up their lightsaber again that they are on the right path again.  When they’re ready to stand up and fight again, that’s when they’ve truly reached the fulfillment of their character arc. That’s why those moments are so awesome, not just because HELL YEAH LIGHTSABER BATTLES ARE AWESOME (though, that, too), but because HELL YEAH A SATISFYING CHARACTER ARC HAS REACHED ITS CONCLUSION AND THIS CHARACTER IS READY TO BE THEMSELVES AGAIN.

[nibeul]

Please I want to know more about your clones 🤔🤔

I am so late to responding to this but GLADLY!! I love gushing about them though I have so many (like 50 I think) so I will try to stick to my main group ahh :)

Cross (he/him): Cross was my first clone OC ever, so he holds a very special place in my heart even if I do not draw him often enough. He’s a commander (CC-0044) and was present on Geonosis, though later returned to Kamino to help Alpha with the CC training program.

He got his scar in 21BBY and it’s actually not from the battlefield (none of his scars are actually from the battlefield). The scar comes from being whipped by a lightsaber hilt, which sounds funny out of context, but it wasn’t an accident.

He’s batchmates with @katanrocksketches ‘s OC Asch! The two were pretty close when they were in training, and Cross got his name before leaving Kamino. It was given to him because of his kind of uhhh, “cross nature” or disposition pfft. He softens up a bit between 22BBY-20BBY though the walls go up again after that :’)

Coming off Kamino, he was a stickler for rules and was not a big fan of clones tattooing themselves/dying their hair and whatnot (he didn’t even like having a name at first though his batchmates used it enough that it begrudgingly stuck). After meeting Sunny though, he lets him do one tattoo and ends up getting his number underneath his left eye. It is like, staying to how he believes they should be while also accepting that it’s ok to be individual.

Cross’s favorite color is red because for him, red represents Ando (my Padawan OC) and they are very close (NOT IN A ROMANTIC WAY. He sees Ando as his little brother or kih’vod to protect).

Cross actually does not know a lot of Mando’a because of his belief that they should not try to be seen as individuals. He distanced himself from anything that he considered “individualization”, and Mando’a was included in that. Sunny teaches him a little bit later down the line, and Ando also teaches him and Ten (another clone OC of mine) some Togruti, too

Part of Cross’s strict disposition comes from being subject to Priest’s death circles on more than one occasion (I might retcon that to Adral—a mando OC of mine—because I hate KT Ugh).

By the end of the war, he carries a lot of guilt. He loses a lot of the people he’s closest to because of his actions/orders, and he uh. Doesn’t live past O66 :’) he does get a very quick.. redemption.. arc.. kinda..

Sunny (he/him): Sunny was my second clone OC made around the same time as Cross, and he also holds a very special place in my heart :) I really love clone medics, there is just something about them that makes my brain go brrrr. I also think the irony of his name is great

Sunny’s name was originally Sers, but after writing him for a few weeks, I changed it because I thought Sunny fit better. His name was given to him by his batchmate, Aran, and while he vehemently protested against it, the name ended up sticking. He won’t admit that he actually likes it (though the tattoo and painting of his armor say otherwise anyway)

Sunny is the CMO of the 409th Corps (my OC military group basically). He’s a Lieutenant (or at a rank around there, definitely a CO at the least) and he does not back down. Ever. Even the people who outrank him will fall into line if he tells them to, Jedi included. He is not afraid to pull rank as a Medic, and his resting bitch face can be very scary

On the same line of thought as the rbf, he is basically perpetually scowling. He does not look approachable at all

Sunny loses the entirety of his batch on Geonosis, including Aran who he holds onto while he is dying. The Jedi leading Sunny’s company was.. not accustomed to war and failed to adapt when it was needed. Because of this, Sunny doesn’t necessarily harbor a dislike of Jedi, though he does not really trust many of them in leading positions. He also does not like that there are kids being put in the role of commander, he does see many Padawan deaths (he later comforts a dying Padawan that he was close to, I think I wrote part of that scene for myself and it was kinda upsetting oof) —> he gets his tattoo/paints his armor in order to honor his dead batchmates

Throughout the war, Sunny gets seriously injured only once after going down in an LAAT (where he nearly ends up dying too). Boost finds him, though he’s kinda accepted that he’s not gonna make it (I mean he does but it doesn’t look like he will for a bit). After Flip (younger clone OC) dies, he doesn’t really care if he kicks the bucket either :’)

Sunny is the only one out of my main gang to make it past O66. His chip doesn’t work at all, though he has to fight through his brothers (aha, the only ones who are still alive that he is close with) in order to save a Jedi youngling that was in the medbay at the time. After that, he goes on the run with the kid (clone dad clone dad) and offers his services as a doctor in the outer rim in order to keep them afloat

Boost (he/him) (she/her) [either or, there is no real preference]: Boost has gone through a lot of changes design wise. He started out as Dax, but then Dax became another OC, then she was Boost, though she had kinda short hair that was pushed back by a headband, then his hair was buzzed, and now we are finally at long hair Boost. Idk how to describe, but she is very shaped I think

Boost for his nickname from bear hugging his batchmates and lifting them off the ground when doing so. Also from fucking around in training where he threw another one of his batchmates in order to get from one ledge to another. All around just a name with silly origins that she liked and decided to keep

Boost and Sol are batchmates!

Boost is very tactically intelligent. She’s good at thinking on her feet, sees the bigger picture before focusing on details, good problem solver, etc. He is an ARC after all, there is good reason for his status and rank as a Lieutenant. That being said, he can also be very very stupid in the sense that off the battlefield, he’s oblivious. He does enjoy being the jokester of the group, and he sometimes plays up his dumbassery for jest, though yeah, a lot of people assume that he is not smart because of his demeanor which is very wrong

Boost is terrible. Terrible at braiding her hair. Sol is the best at braiding it, though she would never admit that even if everyone knows it. He started growing his hair out once they were off Kamino and hasn’t stopped since despite the fact that is technically not within regulations. Cross turns a blind eye and Ko (Jedi General) could not care less for inconsequential regulations like that

Boost is really good with kids, but good in the way a uhh.. chaotic uncle/auntie is. He’s a lot of fun to be around with, and being around kids makes him even more rambunctious than usual. He can be what is considered “childish”, pulling pranks and everything but like, he is very emotionally mature and knows when to be serious. Again, a lot of people kinda just boil her down to “dumb” which is really wrong, though it doesn’t bug him a lot.

Boost has a big sweet tooth!! He loves getting sweets when they’re on Coruscant, which they actually tend to visit frequently enough because of Ko’s status as a Sentinel (and also because Ko benefits what the Republic sees as the “propaganda machine” as a prominent General with a good track record).

Boost is romantically involved with @buttsalsa ‘s civilian OC Esta. I reblogged some art of them the other day, they are very cute :D

Boost doesn’t make it to Order 66 :’) I actually wrote out his death and cried after going back to read it LMAO It was rough

Sol (he/him): Sol was made as a package deal with Boost, and I feel bad because I think he gets overshadowed a lot but he is kinda like the rock for the group. When he dies, things really start to crumble but uh!! That is a sad thought for another time. Anyways, like I said, he is basically the rock and also a voice of reason for Boost’s shenanigans

Sol got his nickname after reading through some flimsi that their trainer had given him. He didn’t know if it had any meaning, but he liked the way it sounded and immediately began using it. Boost quickly picked up on it and the rest of their batch was very supportive

Sol loves reading. He specifically likes reading history, and Ando slips him what he can (fun fact, when Sol dies, Boost returns to their bunk to find a couple of holobooks that Ando had left and breaks down aha.. pain). Whenever he doesn’t feel like keeping Boost from causing trouble, he just sits in a quiet corner and reads his books while everything erupts in chaos around him

Sol’s favorite beverage is tea which Ko introduced him to. He has a few boxes he keeps with him when he can, and he shares them with Boost sometimes though he has to add a lot of sugar/honey in order to do that. If he could drink tea all the time, he could. On the flipside, he absolutely loathes coffee and doesn’t understand how Sunny can drink multiple cups on a day

Sol is kinda like the person that everyone is friends with even if they don’t realize it. He’s like.. the perfect emotional pillar, kinda the therapist friend in a group that desperately needs therapy. He’s more of a listener than a talker which is why it’s easy to overlook him, but he insists that he doesn’t mind much. That being said, it’s only once he’s gone that people start to realize just how much he did (aside from Boost who already thought the world of him)

Sol is also an ARC trooper, having gone through the training program together with Boost. He doesn’t have the same tactical knowledge that Boost does, but he’s good at mediating, long range combat, and also working through plans (he’s pretty meticulous). He and Boost balance each other out well, since he is like the “slow and steady” one out of them.

Sol is the first to go out of the main four (second out of my bigger group of six). He and his entire platoon are wiped out in a massacre as a result of false intel.. man :’)

Anyways, thank you for enabling to ramble about my ocs ToT I honestly just needed to infodump shdjf

[vagrantblvrd]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Late-night and also half-assed AU idea times?

The one where Luke gets sent back in time (Because Reasons) to Clone Wars era shenanigans.

Also Because Reasons Obi-Wan is put in charge of keeping an eye on this kid, idk, Biggs Antilles because everyone is so hapless in the Star Wars universe when under pressure, like seriously.

Anyway.

Obi-Wan is suspicious like a suspicious person and so is Anakin and Luke is kind of losing his mind because he never knew (suspected, but never had proof) that old Ben was a goddamned menace and all his lectures to Luke about same are like, wow, dude, wow.

Oh, and also his dad.

And Ahsoka?

And all the clones and everyone else and he’s like, ;____________________; at what could have been, you know?

But also not sure if he’ll ever get back to his time - he really hopes so because there’s this Mandalorian with an adorable kid - and oh, God, he needs to check on Grogu in this time stat, but yes.

Shenanigans in which Luke desperately tries to hide his real identity because everyone’s iike “He feels like Anakin,how strange, and Luke in the corner like “Hahaha, yes, STRANGE. :DDDDDD

And then adventures in which he ends up having to save Obi-Wan more than he ever expected to when he woke up twenty-something years in the past, and oh dear God is that his mom? (Leia looks so much like her. Mostly the angry part right now, because Anakin and recklessly endangering his life and uh, oops, he didn’t mean to eavesdrop???

But like. Luke is kind of bleeding again (he,too, recklessly endangered his life alongside his father and Obi-Wan) and thought medbay was this way and -

Wait, why are you looking at him like that?

Anaking and Padme worried Luke’s going to at them out to, idk, the Jedi council or whatever about their ~forbidden love, and Luke is just.

“What.”

So then the thing about attachments and how they’re bad because emotions is explained to him and Luke looks at his father who clearly loves his mother so much. Thinks about the nonsense about attachment and how scared it would make someone like Anakin, and Obi-Wan -

Luke loves him, but the man’s made mistakes. (And, like. Luke gets it, he does. Some adventure with Obi-Wan and sharing of past loves because they weren’t sure they’d make it out alive and why not share this thing with someone kind of friend-shaped, and anyway,)

Luke is like, okay, wow.

Because one, the thing about attachments is bullshit - show him one Jedi master who isn’t attached to their padawan for starters - and anyway.

Not his business who they love, an then he scurries off to medbay before he bleeds out in hallway or wherever, which is where Obi-Wan finds him and is like  >:((((( at the bleeding thing and :| about the attachment thing but also *SIGH* because Luke reminds him of this padawan he had once, what was his name???

Anyway.

Yes

Also, though, also.

Them taking Luke to Coruscant to meet with the Jedi council because they have no idea where he came from - Luke floated the possibility of time travel being real to Obi-Wan once, but as a hypothetical and really, never mind him - and anyway.

Luke being like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ as they ~question (interrogate) him because he has read up on the Jedi Order and their rules and whatnot. And where he might have been in awe of getting to meet all these Jedi masters once, now he just feels. Pity. He feels pity for them.

It shows, a little, and they call it arrogance for someone so young to think they know better than the entirety of the Jedi council and yet?

Luke doesn’t care.

Which kind of makes him a threat in their eyes, this incredibly powerful Jedi who appeared out of nowhere and shows so little - if any, really - respect for their Order.

And, they realize, who both Obi-Wan and Anakin like.

Ahsoka too, but she’s a padawan, young and such, doesn’t know better.

But also, also, after all the fun-times had with the Jedi council Luke walks out to find Palpatine talking to his father and his mother while Obi-Wan stands by and chips in with a comment or observation every so often and he is like !!! because he never expected this???

Somehow after hearing stories from people, he just. Didn’t expect the fall of the old Jedi Order to take place in a tastefully appointed waiting area, potted plants and chairs and such Maybe one of those little fountains you see in an office sometime for the soothing sound of moving water and whatnot.

Anyway.

Maybe it’s his own personal experience with the man in the throne room on the second Death Star with the dramatic lighting and so on, but it’s a wee bit jarring.

He has one of those “episodes” as the others call them, and gets hustled out of there posthaste while Palpatine is all, “Oh, dear, I do hope he feels better,” and Luke does all the meditating exercises so as not to blurt out that hey, so, that sith lord everyone’s trying to find? RIGHT THERE.

Because lack of evidence and such.

And it’s like.

After seeing what things were like, he’s just. He’s stuck here, probably, right? So. Maybe he can fix things, even a little.

(Right the wrongs that Palpatine wrought and so on.)

And while he’s doing that it occurs to him that Din, okay, Din is alive in this time. And he told Luke about the attack that killed his parents, about being rescued by Mandalorians, and is like.

Can he change that too? Should he? Searches everything he can only to realize he’s too late to do anything about it. That the attack happened before Luke arrived in this time and he has this.

This little breakdown in a library or some such somewhere, because all that fretting and whatnot he did about whether or not he should intervene was for nothing, a moot point because he was too late, and it’s like.

Existential crisis time because if he changes things more than he has, will he even exists in the future? Will Leia?

Will any of their friends exist, and on his way back to the quarters he’s been given he runs into Padme - perhaps sneaking out from visiting Anakin - and she’s surprised to see him, maybe a little worried too.

(She knows his views on the whole attachment thing, yes, but her and Anakin have kept their relationship a secret for a long time now and old habits)

Still, she notices he’s obviously not doing well and they talk for a bit, Luke asking her a hypothetical, like if she could go back in time to  change something to save someone she loved from suffering, would she?

And of course she is like. No, because doing so negates their choices and how would it affect others and so on?

Luke is just, right, of course.

But then she goes on and says, as a person, not a politician, a leader, she absolutely would.

Luke is like, oh, because of course that makes sense, doesn’t it.

Good of the many and so on and anyway.

He goes to his quarters and thinks on it for a bit and realizes, yes okay, the thing with Din was mostly selfish - he wants to say he wouldn’t have done it, but he still doesn’t know  - but Palpatine, okay, Palpatine.

How many million, billions, maybe more, lives was he responsible for? (Luke has his own count for the dead, and monstrously high it may be, but Palpatine is at the heart of all of it.)

So.

He he starts laying the groundwork to expose Palpatine, or maybe just build up, idk, say a Rebel Alliance to oppose him - and discovers that oh, would you look at that.

Because Padme and Bail and their closet conspirators who know something is coming, that Palpatine is surely part of it, but they don’t know the full scope of things.

And honestly, even Luke doesn’t, but.

They think he’s a spy or whatever, and there are all these shenanigans in the meantime, and Luke doing what he can to prove that he’s really on their side, and anyway, anyway.

He plants seeds here and there, everything Leia taight him, everything he picked up, and goes to Obi-Wan for help because his former master and watchdog, and anyway.

Before Luke gets to see if anything he’s done in the past pays off he gets booted back to his time.

Or a version of it.

Ripped back to his time and this moment where he’s sure he’s dead - in the middle of a space battle or collapsing temple somewhere and glowy doohickey, something like that, or, okay, Palpatine trying to kill hi again for the first time - and anyway.

Super disorienting.

Especially when he opens his eyes and Obi-Wan is there along with his father and is that Ahsoka?

But, like.

Older.

Also, though, Din.

And Grogu and Luke is very confused?

But there’s no time for that, as Padme and Leia run in and tell them the Imperials found them, did you get him? Yes, oh, good, and now with the running???

In which they do the running to a familiar ship Luke knows well, and also a few others he likewise knows, and anyway.

They escape just in time because an Imperial fleet was looking for them, and anyway.

Luke is super confused, but that’s okay because exposition time in which he finds out all those seeds he planted worked.

Palpatine was exposed, but didn’t matter because he had contingency plans, you know?

Order 66 never went into effect because someone - Obi-wan was prompted to go back to Kamino and ask after the clones, any...special features that may have been added and anyway.

Palpatine never got his clone army, but he made up for it with battle droids and conscripts and the Empire didn’t win? But neither did the Alliance.

Not yet, anyway, and they’ve been fighting for years at that point. No Death Star - at least not a completed one - and anyway, yes.

Alderaan’s still there, Leia doesn’t have to pretend she can see it in the night sky, and anyway.

A lot has changed but so much is still the same, and everyone, okay, everyone thinks Luke an idiot.

(They’re also not surprised by that, because Skywalker, but yes.)

This whole thing of Luke’s original memories clashing with this new timeline - he keeps his old ones, but it makes for a confusing time, you know? Some point where Luke gets this faraway look and turns to someone - maybe they were dead in that original timeline - and tells them how different everything is.

If they’re feeling brave enough, and honestly most people in Luke’s life are that brave, they ask what he was thinking about to get that look on his face and he’ll tell them about terrible future that didn’t come to pass.

One he feels a little guilty for missing sometimes because those other versions of the people he knew, loved, are gone and he’s the only one who remembers them? But then he’ll see one of them, or someone who was dead in that other timeline and realizes it’s not as simple as that.

Looks at the life he knew before and the one he’s learning now and can’t decide if what he did was the right thing?

But then he’ll catch his parents on a balcony somewhere lost in on another’s eyes and these soft smiles and the love between them that’s grown over the years. Or see Obi-Wan walking about with Cody, and soft smiles and quiet laughter and hundred dozen little moments like that and thinks, selfishly, he doesn’t truly regret it if these people he’s come to love get something like that, you know?

And, then, of course, then Din finds him, or maybe Luke goes back to their quarters on whatever ship or base they’re at then, and he’ll be waiting for him.

They were on the cusp of something when Luke got thrown back in time, but things changed once he got back.

Slow, awkward, because different timelines and experiences, but something new and good, and anyway, anyway.

Din’s there and Luke is being a little (lot) selfish in wanting to keep whatever the two of them are building between them, and Din seems to want the same, and anyway.

Yes????

[worlds-forgotten]

Myth

summary: Obi-Wan's reflections on his first and last moments with the Skywalker twins.

pairing: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Padme Amidala, Luke and Leia Skywalker (Platonic)

warnings: Major character death (canon)

word count: 2.3k

rating: Teen and Up 

posted: 21/8/18

        Obi-Wan had felt the emergency deep in his bones. 

        Padmé was pregnant - it didn’t take any remarkable intelligence to realize that she was ready to give birth - and there was an energy flowing through the air that screamed at Obi-Wan to hurry and get her somewhere safe. At most, the pregnancy could have only been about seven or eight months, and while Padmé did not appear to be in labour while he held her, it was undoubtedly the baby inside that was creating such a fuss in the Force. 

        “Just hold on,” he whispered to his friend as the ship sailed towards space. 

        Babies, plural, and Obi-wan couldn’t believe it. There was barely any time to think as he had rushed the senator to the medical facility and let the droids tend to her. But Padmé was dying, and there was an unpleasant thrum in the Force when the droids helped induce the birthing process. 

        But Obi-Wan kept strong and soothed Padmé as she fought through her labour. She squeezed his hand and cried, and her suffering rippled in the air around the room, and Obi-Wan wished more than anything that he knew how to comfort beyond his presence. He pushed her sweaty hair from her face and whispered praises, knowing that was what Anakin would do. 

        It was then that the sound of crying filled the room, and suddenly the droid thrust a baby in his arms. Delicate and pink and fresh, it was the baby of his friends, his family.

      “Luke,” she whispered, and Obi-Wan looked back at the child. 

        It felt wrong to hold something so small and pure, while he himself still smelled of fire and ash and sweat, his robes burned and his body aching from a fight that was not yet hours old. The threat of tears stung behind his eyes and he breathed deeply as Padmé pushed again. Obi-wan had always known she was strong, but in this moment, he was certain there was nothing Padmé couldn’t have done. 

        It was hard to register what the droid told him as it showed the second child, a little girl, so small and precious, and the Jedi leaned forward to speak. 

        “It’s a girl,” he said gently.

        “Leia.” 

        Luke and Leia. He echoed their names in his head over and over and over like prayer, and because he was making a promise, an oath, that he would love them unconditionally and see to their safety until his last day. 

        When Padmé took her last breath, Obi-Wan felt her leave, and he stood silent for several minutes, holding the squirming bundle in his arms as he watched her relaxed features. Exhaustion seeped through the Jedi’s spirit and he felt truly defeated for the first time in many, many years. Padmé, of course, didn’t deserve any of the wrongs she had faced. She had done nothing but love and support and lead those around her with a strong heart and a kind warmth that attracted friends and family. Anakin was no fool for falling in love with her, and Obi-Wan knew with every part of his being that she would have been a perfect mother. 

        As a last goodbye, he leaned down and laid a gentle kiss on her forehead, and wished her all that was good in her soul’s journey to whatever laid beyond. 

        Droids filled the room to cover her body and Obi-Wan was tasked with holding both children, if only for a few minutes before Bail entered and took Luke, his eyes glassy and a little red as he glanced between the babies and the sheet now covering the senator. 

        “Master Yoda wishes to speak to us.” 

        Somebody had whisked the twins away while a meeting took place between Bail, Yoda, and Obi-Wan himself, and there was a long conversation about the Jedi’s termination and the clone army’s involvement, and something about chips and a Sith plot, but Obi-Wan couldn’t stop thinking about the children, how they had looked in his arms as he cradled them close to his ash covered tunic. An instant connection flew between them, and never before had the man felt such an ache to father children himself. Of course, the Order had been his one calling all his life, and marriage was frowned upon and children of your own was unheard of, and Obi-Wan certainly had his hands full from a young age training Anakin, but the way the babies had felt in his arms was undeniably right, and the Jedi wished more than everything that he could raise the two himself, but on that thought, it was agreed that the twins were to be split up and hidden.  

        It was a mild assurance of Leia’s security, knowing that Bail and Breha would take on the role of her parents, and Obi-Wan had yearned for Master Yoda to tell him that he could take Luke, but insisted instead that he be brought to Tatooine to the last of Anakin’s family. 

        Travels would take place the day after, and it was only in the late evening that Obi-Wan finally had a moment to himself to process. He stood at the foot of the two bassinets housing the twins, and watched their sleeping forms breathing quietly in the low light. The droids would watch the babies overnight, but Obi-Wan couldn’t help but feel that if they cried or wailed, the cold skin of a droid would not soothe them back to sleep. So Obi-Wan pulled up a small steel case and sat next to them, and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He wouldn’t let himself think too hard about Anakin now, because he simply couldn’t spare the energy to acknowledge what had happened during the last day, the loss and the grievance of everyone held dear to the Jedi, gone in an instant. The disturbance of death still echoed in the Force, and left a large empty feeling where Obi-Wan could usually feel the warmth and signature of his friends and associates. Eyelids heavy, it was difficult to ward off sleep, and the redhead drifted into light slumber, the reverberations of passing still wafting though his mind.

        It was with a start that Obi-Wan woke again a few hours later, to the sounds of horrible crying. His hand had instinctively reached for the saber hanging from his belt, but there was no threat, only the sobs from the crib next to him. Standing, the Jedi leaned over to see Luke still fast asleep, but Leia kicked furiously at the blanket she was wrapped in, her tiny fingers clenching at nothing as her red face scrunched with cries. 

        A droid hovered nearby, but Obi-Wan quickly waved it away, scooping up the baby himself instead. 

       “They were fed while you rested.” The droid offered, resuming its post near the doorway. 

        “Hello,” he whispered to the baby, who squirmed and whimpered in his arms. She blinked through tears and cried again, and Obi-Wan bounced her gently, cradling her close to his heart. Humming came naturally as he tried to soothe her distress, thinking of old songs that the Padawans heard at the youngest of ages. Obi-Wan had never had much experience with the near-toddler-ages, when most children were brought to be trained, as he had acquired Anakin as a Padawan when he was quite a bit older than the regular, but clearly, whatever Obi-Wan was doing helped, as Leia’s loud cries softened to gentle hiccups and whimpers. He smiled and gently stroked away tear streaks with his thumb. 

        “Yes, that’s it. You’re quite alright, you’ll be alright.” Her eyes were wide open, staring up at him, and he clenched his jaw and thought of how he may never see her again after this night. The tears came quickly then, for the first time since all that had happened, and Obi-Wan sat once again on the crate, holding Leia close to him as his body raked with silent sobs. 

        This surprisingly did not jolt Leia into crying again, but Obi-Wan clutched her and held his head to hers. “I’m sorry,” he said to no one in particular, for he was sorry for everything - the losses and the secrets and the grief, and because Luke and Leia would grow up with no knowledge of each other, he was sorry for all his friends - Mace and Cody and Kit and Plo and Ahsoka and the list went on, and because he failed Padmé, who would never grow old and watch her children thrive, and he was sorry for Anakin, who he had failed and beaten and left, because there was nothing else he could’ve done. Obi-Wan cried until he was certain there were no tears left in his body, and Leia was fast asleep in his arms. 

        And when the Jedi fell asleep once more, tears dried on his cheeks and in his beard, he held Anakin and Padmé’s daughter in one arm, securly against his body, and his other hand reached inside the crib, resting against their son. 

        When the morning rose, Bail came for Leia. She fussed as Obi-Wan bid her a last goodbye before handing her over to the senator, who looked exhausted but had a spark of joy in his eyes as he wrapped gentle hands around his new daughter. If there were any man the Jedi knew who could be trusted with such a task, it was Bail Organa.

        “May the Force be with you.” The senator bowed his head, and Obi-Wan watched them go, his spirit breaking just a little more. But Leia would be safe and loved and grow up well, and there was still Luke. 

        The boy was quieter than his sister, and had barely cried since the birth. His eyes were closed when Obi-Wan scooped him into his chest, and left for his flight to the desert planet of Tatooine. 

        It was hard to put the boy down after picking him up, and Obi-Wan had spent the entirety of hyperspace pacing with Luke in the crook of his elbow. He tried feeding him, which was messy and difficult to begin as Luke had not wanted to latch to the bottle, but eventually they got it and Obi-Wan found he enjoyed watching the baby making funny faces as he slurped the formula eagerly. If Anakin had been there, he might have made a joke to tease his Master, like, “He drinks like you after a council meeting.” Because those were the jokes they shared, but Anakin was not there, and Obi-Wan would never hear one of his quips again. 

          After they landed on the planet, it was a few hours ride on an eopie from the landing strip, and it was better to reach the Lars’ before sundown, as a camp would be a terrible place to attempt to have Luke spend the night. The twin suns were already beginning their descent to the horizon, and to avoid the dusty sands, Obi-Wan wrapped the baby under his cloak, using one hand to steady Luke and the other to control the eopie’s reins. 

        With them were small bags with a few materials, like clothes and books, but it would be a barren life in the desert for the rest of the Jedi’s life - a sacrifice he would make to see the Skywalker twins’ safety. 

        Obi-Wan couldn’t help humming quiet songs under his breath as he had the night before to Leia, and gently soothed Luke when he cried and stopped to feed him twice, before the suns were kissing the ridges in the distance and the sky danced with shades of orange and pink, and just ahead was the moisture farm. 

        It came naturally to the redhead to look around for where he could watch the house from a distance, and there were some small, rocky hills some ways away, where with scopes, Obi-Wan would certainly be able to watch the child. 

        When the eopie dropped to its knees and Obi-Wan climbed off, he suddenly realized that if he spoke, he would cry, so it was a wordless farewell as he pulled Luke from his robe, revealing the white, blanketed bundle to Beru, who smiled kindly as she took the baby. A semblance of understanding shot between them in brief eye contact, and without a word, she turned on her heel and left. 

        And the mountain did prove to be a place that Obi-Wan frequented, where he watched Luke grow and learned first to crawl and then walk, often coming outside with his aunt while she went about her tasks. His hair grew quickly into a sandy blonde mop, and if Obi-Wan squinted, it was like Anakin was there again, just a child and full of potential. The sun and the grief grayed the Jedi quickly, and he grew lonely and sad in his solitude, but every day, he walked up to the ridge with his scopes and watched to get a glimpse of the child. Sometimes he camped up there at night, when he felt a disturbance in the Force. There were times when he could hear Luke crying, for hours, inconsolable, and his whole body ached to go and soothe the pain and sadness away, but Owen and Beru loved him as their own, and always cared for him, and taught him well as he grew to read and write and tinker with gadgets and small droids. 

       Obi-Wan never had children of his own, and Luke and Leia would not know the lengths he went to for their protection nor how much he cared for them, and he wished dearly he had more time with them, but years later, when the twins were at long last reunited and Obi-Wan took his final breath, he knew he had kept his promise - he had loved them unconditionally and seen to their safety until his last day. 

[newswcanonprompts]

Jedi as musicians/dancers AU!

The idea of obi wan + violin started this

Obi wan in a soft cashmere sweater playing violin in a sunny room with his eyes closed in concentration and his body swaying to the melody… imagine

This concept lives rent free in our heads

Obi wan loves tchaikovsky’s violin concerto, it’s canon

The jedi order is a bunch of classical music fans

They’re a symphony orchestra, the sith are a competing concert band, and the clone wars is just them competing for international acclaim

Anakin falling is him being swayed from the bass to becoming a trumpet player 

Anakin is a sought after child prodigy, he’s like yo yo ma

Anakin also ends up being like lindsey stirling

Some of the mean jedi masters are that parent who makes him do every. Single. After school activity. 

Pianist anakin because of those long fingers

He also bangs his head on the piano and refuses to practice a lot

Because he’s anakin and he’s Like That 

The idea of obi wan teaching anakin piano for the first time,,,,, i love

Anakin writes a whole suite about water

His perception of it is like… salvation

May i present to you the idea of the idea of cellist mace windu 

The force helps with learning instruments, like with languages but this time it’s music 

Jedi mandatory music/dance classes because hello it’s a good way to manage emotions and calm down 

This AU is also a way for masters to find a padawan without doing the trials

“I heard you on the violin, and i play violin, do you wanna be my padawan” sort of thing 

“That was a wonderful performance, young one. I must say you’re quite the prodigy. Would you like to explore the intricacies of music as my padawan?” 

Most jedi are musicians, but some are dancers because:

A: dance is a really good way to express yourself and let go for a bit 

B: the jedi in question sucked at instruments so they’re going for the other musical option

C: they’re chaotic and wanted to do big leaps in the air all the time (quinlan vos) 

Jedi are amazing dancers- i mean, have you seen them fight? Their lightsaber forms are like dances

Jedi have recitals/balls/dances/galas/etc all the time

It’s the jedi orchestra playing and the dancers performing 

All their senator friends and younglings and everyone else in the temple who decided not to pursue a musical study are watching 

Anakin is a dancer who loves it but is also really self conscious about it

He’ll only dance if he has his friends there 

Tatooine dances are a lot harsher than jedi ones, they’re warrior dances, dances of survivors

Obi wan shows anakin the jedi fight dance, and anakin is very good at it since it’s sort of similar to the tatooine ones he’s used to  

Anakin’s favorite style is contemporary

First of all, his fighting style is very graceful and fluid so it works 

He loves it because it’s so open, and you can do pretty much whatever in that style and call it contemporary 

It’s also one of the best styles to express emotion through 

It’s just open, and anakin can do whatever and he doesn’t have to worry about doing the wrong style (even though every dance teacher says “there are no wrong answers in improv” yeah sureee there isn’t- can you tell i’m a dancer? anyways) and he doesn’t feel judged or anything like that

Again, it’s a really good style to show emotion through, so anakin also likes it because of that, it helps him let go 

Obi wan is primarily a lyrical dancer

Similar to contemporary but still different 

But they’re close enough that obi wan teaches anakin a lot of moves and technique 

Anakin becomes an amazing dancer and obi wan is so damn proud 

Point is, anakin is a brilliant contemporary dancer

The entirety of the disaster lineage are mostly dancers except dooku

He was a rad musician, he played music or composed dances for yoda, qui gon, or yoda

But then he turned to the dark side and became a clarinet player

Sexy Squidward Dooku alert 

Dooku gives off Squidward vibes, it fits 

Anyways.... going to pretend i didn’t actually type “sexy squidward dooku” so let’s move on

The assignments for the jedi music classes involve a lot of interacting with the force and choice when playing

“What does the Force sound like? Play it” 

“I want you to improv to how the force feels today” 

To some, the force is a heavy double bass accompanied by raging trumpets and a sad accompaniment from the string quartet

Anakin is one of these people 

But maybe, he does have a classical music lean 

To others, it’s Debussy (more soft and calming, in a way) 

The jedi’s affinity for music/dance is probably pretty public

BUT IMAGINE THE CLONES REACTION TO THEIR MUSIC 

Jedi teaching the clones music/dance 

Anakin plays his piano water suite for the clones

Rex hears it and is like “what was that?” 

Rex, coming from kamino, where it’s always storming, his perception of water is much different from anakin’s 

He’s like oh this is music wow

The clones get music lessons now 

Whoever organizes the curriculum (including shaak ti, who’s organizing it for  all her cadet bbys on kamino) makes it a mandatory class for “developmental purposes” 

Clone acapella groups 

JEDI CHOIR!

Nobody ever misses their cue, since they all have precognition and are force sensitive and have basic telepathy 

Some Jedi infuse the Force into their singing 

Jedi have enchanting voices

Jedi are great fighters, they can also enhance their lungs and vocal cords

Now, star wars planets have their own definitions of music and how it’s sung/played 

If jedi can enhance their vocal cords then they can like… perform the best version Local Planet Music 

Anakin canonically has a very nice voice

He sings while working on mechanics and it helps him go faster 

Obi wan also has Ewan’s nice singing voice

BUT he’s uncomfortable singing because he feels everyone staring at him and omg i’m not THAT good

so Anakin has to wheedle him into singing and then of COURSE people stop and stare at Obi wan because he sounds lovely 

Also Rex gives off clarinet vibes btw, go with it

torrent company would totally start a band

[ilummoss]

One thing I really liked about Mace Windu: Jedi of the Republic is that it is really one long philosophy discussion, mostly concerning the war and the Jedi’s new role in it. It’s also a story about who Mace Windu is (vs how some perceive him).

Most of the discussions are the Jedi speaking amongst themselves, but it also includes some “debates” between Mace and the main villain of the comic, evil-money-grubbing-droid*. Many of these discussions also echo each other or other events in the comic in a way that is either intentional or someone accidentally striking gold.  *(The droids name is technically AD-W4, but honestly evil-money-grubbing-droid fits it way better. This thing makes General Grievous look like he has a healthy outlook on life.)

This is going to get long so buckle up (or blacklist the long post tag). 

The comic starts on a discussion between Ki-Adi Mundi and Mace about the war and the Jedi’s new role in it. This discussion is then (spiritually) continued between other Jedi characters. It follows through the entire comic. 

They continue to discuss how the Jedi strive to lead by example and Mace wonders if it would be easier to guide the Republic down the right path from the front of the battle lines. 

Mace later discusses his doubts with the ugliest Yoda ever painted. (It pains me to think that this is what Yodel/Yodito will look like in just a millennia.) 

Mace and Prosset Dibbs also discuss this very same thing, but here Prosset is the one who brings his doubts to Mace. 

(*Prosset speaks several times about sensing an unease in the force, which is interesting, considering how we know that the Clone Wars is a trap that has just sprung shut around the Jedi.)

Then we have my favourite moment:

A discussion about how they are peacekeepers is literally interupted by the war. We have the entirety of Clone Wars right here. The purpose of the Clone Wars even. This is an important conversation, but the Jedi do not have time for it. Because of the urgency of the war. It’s the worst and I love it.

There are also some good moments between Kit Fisto and Prosset but I’ve discussed those before, so I won’t be going into them as much here. To summarise, Prosset falls into despair over all the people who have died on this planet as a side-effect of the Separatist’s ruthless exploitation of the planets natural resources, and the failure of the Jedi to protect them. 

Prosset then accuses Mace and the Council of having turned their back on the orders teaching and advancing their own agenda (though he is unclear about what said agenda would be), that Mace is fighting this war for his own sake. He then goes even further and accuses the Council of tossing away the lives of this planets inhabitants as collateral, declaring that the true reason behind the mission is a power grab, that they too are aiming at explotating this planet, something we as readers know is false. They were sent there to figure out why the separatists are interested in this place. We have also seen Mace throughout the comic focus on protecting the civilians and trying to find a way to shut down the Separatist operation there, explicitly so that it won’t end up destroying the planet. 

But the confrontation between Prosset and Mace echoes an earlier confrontation between Mace and AD-W4.

This moment follows AD-W4 introducing his motivations* and Mace declaring that the Jedi fight for peace throughout the galaxy (”the greatest cause there is”). It also ties into AD-W4′s misunderstanding of who Mace is, what actually drives him, which eventually leads to his mission there failing. *(Evil-money-grubbing-droid openly states that he is only fighting for money, that he doesn’t care about who’s wrong or right in this conflict, only that the conflict continues so that his services are needed and he can make more money.)

This bit about a void is terribly interesting however, because Mace also speaks about being driven by the need to fill a void in this comic, but not in relation to himself, but to Prosset. 

“I have experienced first hand what insecurity does to men. How a mind warps with it’s obsessive quest to fill the void. With power. With wealth. With lust. With truth.”

Prosset denies it, but he has twisted, warped what is actually happening around him, into something that he can deal with. The Jedi Council have to be bad guys, there has to a conspiracy, because the truth that this is just out of their power and an uncountable amount of innocent people are going to die despite all of them trying their hardest is too much for him to handle.

Prosset also threw out a vague accusation that Mace is fighting this War for himself, something we see again in Mace’s final confrontation with AD-W4. During their fight the droid repeatedly taunts Mace:

“An excuse for your violence. You’re a hypocrite. Perhaps I am force-sensitive myself.”

It is certainly not a flattering picture of Mace Windu these two adversaries paint up. But this confrontation in turn ties into a mission from Mace’s youth which we are introduced to in flashbacks, where Padawan Mace Windu and Jedi Master Cyslin Myr has been sent to a planet suffering under a plague to investigate the disappearance of the Jedi in charge of an outreach temple there. The temple has been taking over be a “Master Drooz” a charlatan exploiting the suffering population, which has left young Mace outraged. 

*(Look at this, more Jedi philosophy. In this comic? What a surprise ^u^)

This moment is pretty clearly here to introduce us to Mace’s struggle with his anger, a characteristic both antagonists of this comic has honed in on. But this anger is connected to how deeply idealistic Mace is at heart, something they miss. As they confront the swindler, Drooz mocks them for what he sees as “squandering” a chance for profit and power whilst Mace’s answer underlines how those things grow pale in comparison to higher goals. 

This confrontation ends on a Palpatine parallel as subtle as a hammer blow to the head. 

This is the last part of the flashback, and it’s positioned right in the scene where Mace finally subdues Prosset, standing above him with his lightsaber pointing down. And then Mace knocks Prosset unconscious and says that he will be brought to the Jedi council. Master Myr’s lesson was heard. 

A fire burns in Mace, that is true. It is something Mace must struggle with and control. But he has learned to keep that fire tempered. He is no longer that hotheaded Padawan, but a disciplined Jedi Master.

The fight between Mace and AD-W4 ends in AD-W4′s defeat, but with evil-money-grubbing-droid gloating that his actual mission was still completed. 

Except AD-W4, like how the fake “Master Drooz” did not understand the Jedi and what drives them, does not understand Mace.

AD-W4 thinks he has Mace figured out, so he missed that Mace was really using himself as a distraction, whilst young Jedi Knight Rissa Mano rigged that ship to explode. As Mace tells AD-W4 during this fight: “Do not mock, nor underestimate, that which you do not understand.”

Mace actually believes in peace. Truly and deeply so. This belief, this want to do good and protect people, is what drives him forward. By believing that Mace was driven foremost by his anger AD-W4 misjudges his entire situation. 

“My righteousness is anything but self-motivated. There is definitive right and wrong. Good and evil.

Mace is going after AD-W4 not because he wants the fight and victory, “the power trip”, but because what evil-money-grubbing-droid is doing is wrong. The destruction he brings to this planet and it’s locals and his very indifference to it, is evil. 

This comic isn’t trying to pretend that Mace Windu is perfect. The very obvious Palpatine parallels reminds us of the moment in his future where Mace will not manage to temper his righteous fury. But this is not yet that point. 

Which brings us one final time back to Prosset. The crux of Prosset’s Fall lies in that this war is horrible and should not exist. The people of this planet should not be hurt and killed by it. 

But, as Mace points out here, it is not up to the Jedi to decide if there will be a war or not*. Peace is already lost. Not fighting will not protect these people.  *(The greatest irony of the Clone Wars is of course that it is an artificial conflict designed to benefit one person solely. There is someone who has decided that there should be a war and has moved everything into place for it. Palpatine could decide to end this any day, but the very core of his character declares that he never will.)

During Mace and Prosset’s fight Rissa is echoing the point Yoda made at the beginning of this comic. If the Jedi don’t keep moving, if they don’t fight, things will get even worse and more will die. 

The Jedi have to move forward and commit fully to their choice, because anything else will get people killed. It’s not about not doubting or questioning, but that sometimes you must move even when there is doubt.

This is the conclusion to the discussion going on throughout this comic. The choice to enter the clone wars wasn’t uncomplicated or easy. The Jedi clearly have great doubt about it, both as an organisation and individuals. But sometimes all you have are bad choices, and the responsibility to choose. 

[detroitbydark]

Chapter 9

Characters: Commander Fox/Reader

Warning: None

A/N: I’m breaking this and the next part into two seperate pieces to keep them at a comfortable readable length. Strap into your seats babes it’s about to get bumpy.

“For the love of Fett-“ Fox shoves the datapad away in a fit of disgust. Three others sit nearby. He was missing something and he was starting to wonder if it wasn’t his mind.

There was a piece he just didn’t have. Rex hadn’t been able to provide it, only given him more questions.

It’s well past the end of his work day but Fox can’t let it rest. He drags a holopad back. This one contains footage, surveillance of the ARC trooper from before everything had come to a head. There had to be something he was meeting, someone somewhere in the background. A hint of anything to go off of.

But there wasn’t. He’d watched the same blurry, looped feed six times already and nothing new presented itself.

That was the definition of madness wasn’t it? Doing the same thing over and over yet expecting different results.

“Fox?” Mouse’s voice cuts through the noise on his head. “It’s getting late. Let it be for the day.”

He raises a brow at the order. Not her usual gentle question. He’s not feeling playful or amorous and she seems to mirror it in the way she stands across the room, her distance from him speaking volumes and making his stomach clench uncomfortably. He’d give anything right now just to lose himself in the soft plains of her body, let the sounds of their passion drown out the voices inside his head that said he was failing.

“Can’t.” He gruffs, pulling another datapad over and flipping through the screen. redacted black lines take up the entirety of it and any attempt to bypass is left with a flashing red ‘access denied’. He snarls lowly.

“Alverde?” the term throws him off. His Little Mouse didn’t speak any Mando’a. She offers a tiny smile to his bewildered expression.

“Wren taught me a few things.”

His stomach clenches again, sour and dispeptic. Had they talked about what he’d said in the heat of the moment? He couldn’t explain himself now. Couldn’t have the conversation if she wanted too. There was too much he needed to-

Mouse’s hand softly cradles his cheek. He flinches away. He hadn’t realized she’d moved so close. Maybe he was too tied up in his own thoughts. The look on her face is hurt. It’s the only way to describe it, like he hadn’t pulled away but in reality had slapped her.

He grabs for her hand quickly, grip tight at her wrist. He presses a firm kiss to the back of her hand and then more along her knuckles until he feels the muscles in her arm begin to relax. Mouse sighs tiredly. Yeah, he could understand that. She moves to perch on the edge of the desk.

“It’s been a long day but I need to figure this out.” He tries to explain.

“Is this about Captain Rex?” The 501st Officer had not left a good impression on Mouse if her eyes glaring daggers at his backside as he’d left had told the story.

“This is about us all.” Fox corrects, saying aloud for the first time what was truly at stake or, at least, what he’d come to believe. “The Jedi, the clones, my brothers-“

Mouse sits, looking away from him and to the datapad.

“You shouldn’t be looking at these.” He says after a minute, though he doesn’t move to close anything out. Mouse raises a brow at him before getting up to pull the chair from the other side of the desk around next to him. He’d rather she be in his lap. Even next to him feels too far away. He can’t bring himself to act on it.

“Why are all these about the ARC trooper?” She questions, not validating his assessment with a response. She knew as well as he did that this was far beyond any clearance she had.

Fox’s jaw clenches. He needed to tell her to go. This wasn’t for her to see but he can’t because he's weak for her. Having her near may flare some nerves but her presence alone calms so many others.

“You're looking at this like Fives was the lynchpin in whatever plot you’ve got brewing.” She traces the image of the clone softly and Fox feels a flare of something ugly in the soft brush of her fingers against the datapad. “He was young, fresh from ARC training. Where would he find someone to conspire with?” She makes a point.

Maybe he’d been looking at this wrong, “so your saying, Fives wasn’t a conspirator, he just-“

“-got mixed up in it. Did the Captain say when they started noticing him acting strange?”

“After the clone Tup turned on his Jedi-“ Fox pauses for a minute. He’s already said too much so he decides, kriff it, and says it all “he was sick, they thought. Sent him to Kamino for- Rex said he wasn’t right after Tup died there.”

“But Fives didn’t think Tup was sick,” Mouse says quietly. Fox looks at her not for the first time and wishes he’d never laid a hand on her because now she was in this and he wanted her too kriffing to make her go. If this was high level stuff, something cooked up by higher military personnel than it was more dangerous than she’d ever know.

“Who do you think is responsible?”

Now that was the question of the hour. All the way to the top? Tarkin’s name comes to mind first and foremost. The man oozed hunger for power, latched onto any he could get and clung to it fiercely with thin skeletal fingers. Wulff Yularen was another probable candidate but he didn’t seem to stand out so much as Tarkin did. Maybe it was by design. Maybe Yularen has grown weary of being held at heel by the Jedi Order. Maybe he thought he could do better. It was a possibility but still it didn’t feel likely.

The Kaminoans had discouraged young clones from pacing, it was an inefficient use of metabolized energy and unnecessary for such high functioning merchandise. Fox found it to be the best way to think. The act of motion helped to center his thoughts, form them into something clear and concise instead of a tangled, jumbled mess. He rises to his feet and begins the short path back and forth across the office.

He needed access to the redacted files. His clearance- top secret- should have cleared all of that for him but it had barely scratched the surface of the files. They were utterly useless as they were now. He’d need them opened. If it was one of the admirals preparing for some sort of military coup he wouldn’t be able to go to them, while Yularen may comply with his request Tarkin thought too little of clones to agree even if he wasn’t implicitly involved. If they were working together any request would expose him to the full wrath they were capable of bringing down.

No. He needed to go higher. The Supreme Chancellor could get the files opened or at least find the one to order too. It was a matter of galactic security, even though Fox wasn’t a great fan of the Chancellor personally he trusted the man to do what was in the galaxies best interest. That was what he'd sworn an oath to do.

A warm hand slides over his. He startles. Again. He was too on edge for any of this. Mouse looks up with worried eyes.

“Fox-“

“I need you to go home.” He's brisk, erasing any tenderness from his voice. She does a good job of hiding the cringe at his words. He needed her to stop looking at him with those big, trusting eyes. Eyes that held all her faith in him. If she didn’t he wasn’t sure he’d have the strength to push her away again. Even now it hurt, felt like he was carving out a part of his heart with a dull vibroblade. He couldn’t drag her any further into this no matter how much he did- how much he did care for her.

He could not allow her to be in danger. If something happened to her… he just wouldn’t allow it to happen. Even if he had to be cold to do it. He’d make it up to her after the conspiracy had been laid to rest. When it was safe to have her at his side again. It physically hurts his head, his chest, and even down to the marrow of his bones to place what he wants (but now he’s more afraid that it’s moved on to a need) to the back burner for any reason.

“Mouse go home. Yours.” He clarifies before she can ask. “You can’t- I don’t need you here.” Fox is surprised he can lie so convincingly.

“Fox-“

“-No” his voice is sharp and Mouse flinches, he almost misses it as small as it is. All the same it’s like a punch to the gut. “Go home. I don’t want you here.” It’s amazing he’s able to get the words out. He’s never lied so completely in his entire decade of life. He feels like a hut’uun as Mouse turns away. She doesn’t fight him on it and he wants her too. He wants her to yell or rage. He wants her to fight to be with him.

His Mouse is smarter than that. She’s better than that. His cyar’ika knows him better than he knows himself he worries- he hopes- because the small sounds she’s making as she leaves the office sound like a broken heart.

——

It’s been a long time since you’ve been made to feel so small. You’d never handled rejection well. Your mother had been very cognizant of it and, after you’d lost her, the children’s home attendants had learned quickly. You’d always just been sensitive and any kind of harsh treatment made your mind push into shut down mode.

In a year working at Fox’s side he’d never so much as volleyed a cross word your way.

He hadn’t just then, your brain supplies helpfully.

That wasn’t how you felt. It was as if he’d slammed the door in your face. The sweetness he’d shown you over the last week was gone as if you’d only just come into his acquaintance. It kriffing hurt. That’s what it did. It hurt. Especially after your talk with Wren earlier in the day.

You wipe at your eyes as you take the elevator to the nearest speeder platform and wait for a taxi to loop around. A chill rises up from the lower levels and you shiver lightly. You think back to the previous night, the emotion that had bled through Fox’s words as he held you. The depth of what you’d felt when Wren had translated them earlier.

Forever.

That was the word that you let roll around in your head and your heart. But maybe that was just the heat of the moment falling from his lips? Of course you didn’t want forever.

This was too young, too new. Of course Fox didn’t mean it. Time away from one another would be good, breed perspective. You were drunk off the newness and the feeling of being wanted by such a strong individual. That was all. It was good to separate yourself from the situation. You needed to be alone so you could think clearly and reevaluate what you thought you knew.

By the time the door of the cab is popping open your brain has almost completely convinced your heart that it was in the wrong. Almost.

———-

Fox wakes at his desk, still on full armor with the exception of his helmet off to the side, at 0400. His back protests the first attempt to move into motion and he’s forced to stretch slowly before trying again. His vertebrae pop loudly in protest. He has to agree with them. Falling asleep draped over the duraplast was a rotten idea, certainly less inviting than other sleeping arrangements he’d made over the last week. He doesn’t allow himself to think of Mouse. Definitely, not the way she’d left him the night before.

There was too much riding on his time with the Supreme Chancellor today to allow anything to distract him. He needed more access, to reopen the case. To be given the freedom to investigate like he hadn’t had previously, like he hadn’t pushed for.

He makes his way down to the barracks, shucking his armor and blacks the second he’s clear of the door. The ‘fresher is his first stop. There’s barely an ounce of heat to the stream of water that pelts him. The cool blast wakes him faster than any cup of high-octane caf ever could. He’s efficient, clean and wrapped in a towel in no time flat like he’d been taught on Kamino.

Next, he runs a razor over his face. He doubted he’d be taking his bucket off but if it came to that, Chancellor Palpatine wouldn’t see anything other than the absolute pinnacle of military excellence. To complete the effect he takes the clippers, trimming the short hairs around his temple and back of his head back into regs. He pauses before he gets to the hair at his crown. It was getting longer, not yet floppy but more to the length than he’d traditionally allow.

Mouse had mentioned how she’d liked running her fingers through it as it had slowly grown over the last week. She liked the feel of it between her fingers and he couldn’t argue. He liked the feel of it between her fingers as well. He leaves it be and packs the razor and clippers away before retrieving clean blacks from his closet and fitting his armor back into place. He makes a point of shining the visor to a glossy mirror finish.

A yawn creeps past his lips and Fox takes a longing look at his bed but he knows if he lays back down now he’d be even worse for wear when he got up. No sleep was better than too much sleep as far as he was concerned. He had ways to fight the fatigue. Today was a day for caf and stims, maybe not in that order.

Like any good trooper, Fox kept half a dozen stims in a belt pocket for emergencies. On Coruscant they weren’t as likely to use them as the clones in off world war zones but they did get used from time to time. There was nearly no other feeling better than riding a stim high, comparable to a good night's sleep, three square meals, and a good hot shower. A single stim would make you feel ready to take on the world single-handedly. That’s what he needed today. He pops the little blue and red capsule dry, swallowing it down quick.

By the time he’s to the cafeteria Fox is already beginning to feel the effects of the stims in his system. He no longer has to focus to keep his feet from shuffling, his back feels straight and strong, and his focus is laser sharp. It doesn’t do much for the anxiety that’s been slowly eating at him since Rex showed up yesterday but it gives him the mental fortitude to pack every kriffing nerve and down, down, down burying it so deep below the surface that he can confidently pretend it doesn’t exist.

He downs a ration bar and a cup of caf without breaking his stride, the few clones already present and eating offer respectful greetings and Fox returns them with a quick nod. His vode. This is who he needed to get to the bottom of this for. He needed to keep them safe, make sure they had a future to work towards.

It's nearly 0630 by the time Fox is parking his speeder in the garage of the main senate complex. No matter what the time of day Coruscanti traffic, particularly around the Senate, was a nightmare. Not for the first time, Fox wonders what it might be like in another world, a place where the city isn’t a hodgepodge of thousands of levels dating back to who knew how many centuries past. What must it be like to see green pastures and vast waters, a place that was more scenic than scene?

His mind is firing on too many cylinders and he takes a moment and a deep breath to refocus. The stims are working their magic now and it was his job to focus it to precision, not let it run amok.

The clones at both security checkpoints entering into the building give him a thorough once over even as they recognize him as their Commander. He’s pleased. If they did this to him it meant they treated everyone entering the same, a possible threat until proven otherwise. The safety of the senators and their staff depended on his men.

His boots echo against the fine marble floor as he makes his way to the Supreme Chancellor’s offices. The turbo lift takes him to the top of the building and he encounters one last checkpoint before he’s able to enter. It’s nearly 0730.

Palpatine is busy at his desk when Fox enters. He waits at parade rest for a handful of minutes until the chancellor completes whatever task he’d been set on and looks up.

“Commander” he greets pleasantly, “your early. I wasn’t expecting you til at least the turn of the hour.”

“I can come back if I-“

Palpatine waves him off. “No, my young friend. Come closer. It will be nice to have the company before the business of the day begins.”

The informality makes Fox uncomfortable. He lowers himself into the seat he’s motioned too. “I’m afraid I do have some business for you this morning” Fox stares straight ahead, he’s glad he’s got his bucket on, even so, when the chancellor looks at him he feels as if the old man is looking through it.

“Well that is unfortunate but, part of the grand scheme of things I suppose. What is it? I did hope I’d hear more about the lady love I'd encouraged you to pursue our last meeting.”

The smile he gives makes Fox feel like squirming. His gaze is more assessing than friendly. Fox thinks of how precarious the situation is. His vode, the Jedi, Mouse.

“Any relationship would be wholly inappropriate given my standing within the GAR and the greater Republic, sir” it’s a deflective answer, neither admittance nor denial of what was going on. A brief flash of, what can only be annoyance, flashes across the chancellor’s face. Then it’s gone as if it had never existed.

“I’ve gathered new intel on the case of CT-5555.” That earns him a raised look, as the chancellor leans back in his seat.

“I see.”

Fox watches as the chancellor pushes up from his seat, he moves slowly. His weakness on display in the slight hitch in his gait, the way he holds a hand to the warm wood of his desk for a moment too long to maintain his balance. He moves to stand in front of the large transparisteel windows, turning his back to Fox as he looks out over Coruscant. “I was led to believe that all the pertinent information in that case had already been obtained. The case was closed last I was made aware.”

“And it still is” Fox leans forward in his seat, gloves planted against his knees, “some new information has come to light and, well, the case is so severely redacted I’m having trouble slotting it in or making any sense of it.”

“What kind of information?”

A dull throb, flares into existence at the base of Fox’s skull. Nothing as horrible as some of the headaches he’s endured previously but worrying all the same as the stims should have brought it to a screeching halt. He blinks once. Twice. It takes a moment to set his head straight.

“Captain Rex of the 501st-“

“Skywalker’s Captain?”

“Yes sir.” He hates the way the chancellor interrupts nearly as much as he hates the way his vode are spoken of as belonging to the Jedi. “Captain Rex has some insight into the clones behavior leading up to the incident. He says he filed a report but I’m unable to find any such thing in the case files.”

“The case is closed, my boy” the chancellor's tone has developed a chill. Fox wishes he could see his face but the old man doesn’t turn away from the window.

“You could have it opened. This is a matter of galactic importance.” Fox pushes, feeling desperation rising in his chest along with his heart rate but he can’t stop to think about that. He has to make the Chancellor understand. Now was not a time to hold back, “I believe there is a threat building within the GAR itself. A conspiracy to bring down the clone army and the Jedi.” The pressure in his head is increasing. It’s moving about, hopping from one point to another.

“The case is closed, Commander Fox.”

“Chancellor- I-“ he fights back a wave of nausea. The Chancellor’s voice is all around him. It’s in him, echoing off the insides of his skull.

“Commander Fox, you don’t want to look any further into this matter.”

Fox rises to his feet quickly. His head spins as he drags in a ragged breath. His lungs feel pressed tight as if they’d been placed in a vice, “I need to-“

“You do not need to continue to push this matter. The case is closed. You did a thorough review and found nothing.”

Fox cocks his head. The tension breaks with an awful clarity. The pressure eases, like the sky becoming clear after a late afternoon storm, “I did review the file. Nothing new was there.”

The Chancellor turns and offers him a grin. “You’re a good soldier, Commander Fox.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Now, tell me, how much assistance did your precious secretary offer for your research?”

[milfbenkenobi]

Star Wars Fic Rec List Part 4

All fics are complete, some may be in incomplete series.

still much that is fair by raineyday

Word count: 21173 Chapter count: 8

Anakin Skywalker was used to following the commands of the Force in his daily life. But a lot of the time, that didn't really mean much. Until the day the Force nudged him to catch a kid falling through the sky- and through time.

Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi was so tired of failing. He just couldn't handle it anymore. He always disappointed people. It would be better to just rip off the bandaid and remove the problem. He wasn't expecting to be caught in the attempt- or in the future.

Time traveling Obi-Wan on one end, and a Jedi Order losing their mind on the other. Mind the tags on this one.

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Life has a way of rewriting the story by K_R_Closson

Word count: 39193 Chapter count: 3

Obi-Wan Kenobi, failed Jedi initiate, never makes it to Bandomeer. Instead, she lands on Tatooine and has to figure out how to survive on a desert planet without losing her freedom.

When Anakin's destiny takes him to Coruscant and the Jedi, is this Obi-Wan's second chance? Or does her future lie elsewhere, with Jango Fett and his mysterious job on Kamino?

Okay, so normally I don’t read fem!obi, but I didn’t see the tags in time when I first read this this fic was so good, I had to keep going. Obi-Wan accidentally cons the entirety of Tatooine, what more can you wish for?

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When Night Falls by penguinkiwi

Word count: 5052 Chapter count: 1

In one universe, newly minted Sith Darth Vader, once Anakin Skywalker, kills the Jedi Battlemaster, Cin Drallig.

In another, Cin Drallig kills him.

Amazing fic, this is what first introduced me to the character of Cin Drallig. Whoever wrote this DEFINITELY knows how to write lightsaber battles.

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stars sing my name, scars tell my story by whymylife(nabringa)

Word count: 13994 Chapter count: 3

Anakin wasn’t sure how to ask, so he didn't.

Instead, he waited until Master Kenobi fell asleep and stayed up to tinker in the dark, building his own scanner out of parts stolen from the trash.

The chip was in his right thigh.

Anakin realizes that the clones have slave chips in their heads and ends the war before it begins. Lots of freed slave-related angst. Also, Shmi lives.

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Free the hearts and rust the chains by littlekaracan

First part in incomplete series. Word count: 464367 Chapter count: 3

There aren't many clones left in the Imperial Army. The ones that stay alive do so through methodical obeisance, resembling droids more than people.

Occasionally, some go rogue. There are stories of clones blowing up entire Star Destroyers for the Generals they killed themselves, stories of them awaiting execution and spitting curses at the officers for depriving the Galaxy of what should've become peace, stories of quiet, sobbed apologies in their sleep directed at the long-dead Jedi. Such clones, according to the Imperial Command, are not to be trusted.

Zhade-Ran doesn't trust her two bunkmates. Although perhaps not for the reasons she should.

Imperial defectors abound!!!! Cody and Boil are on a team with two other stormtroopers, and all four desert after a mission where they’re assumed dead. I put that the series is incomplete, but both works can be read with the series still having a satisfying ending.

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In Sacrifice, Peace by artikka

Word count: 5757 Chapter count: 1

“Shh. . .” Anakin says, gathering the younglings around him, reminding Obi-wan of all those whispered arguments where he had insisted to Anakin that yes, he was good with children, he’d be just fine teaching Ahsoka. He can almost feel the terror rising off Anakin from the hologram; Anakin doesn’t know what’s happening either. But he isn’t letting the younglings feel it. “You need to listen to me very carefully, okay? This--” his voice breaks, “--this is going to be scary. But you have to be calm, and strong. Just like Master Yoda taught you.

* * * * *

Or, the ROTS au where Obi-wan finds a very different type of pain while looking through the Temple's recordings of Order 66.

An Anakin doesn’t fall AU, with all sorts of angst. Delightfully sad.

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Still dancing with your ghosts (sleeping with your memories) by jcp_sob_rlj_lmep

Word count: 1070 Chapter count: 1

Everyone knows about the Massacre, and how no Jedi made it out alive.

The Jedi refuse to let anyone forget.

The Jedi, and later the clones, are ghosts that haunt the galaxy. Amazing fic told from a second-person POV. Normally I don’t like 2nd person POV, but this one is amazing

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In a Warped Time by Lochcamean

Word count: 20392 Chapter count: 1

In a single moment, history is changed forever and Depa Billaba is faced with a life she was never meant to have.

Role swap AU where Caleb/Kanan dies in Order 66 and Depa lives. Super interesting character study, especially because Depa is aware that the roles should have been reversed because of her Seeing abilities. Ezra is her padawan here.

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sand on memories and armor by loosingletters

Word count: 2122 Chapter count: 1

"Uncle Ben, Boba is messing around with Cody's weapons again!"

"Shut up, Luke!"

A family can be you, your former Commander, your apprentice's son and an eighteen-year-old with identity issues. Obi-Wan's life on Tatooine is slightly different than he thought it would turn out to be.

Obi-Wan and Cody vibe on Tatooine and try to keep their house from exploding.

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Today is the Day That Nobody Dies by omegarose

Word count: 1154 Chapter count: 1

A brief rewrite of a scene from ziggyzigzagged's "Ib'tuur Jatne Tuur Ash'ad Kyr'amur" where the fight in the reactor room doesn't end in Maul or Qui-Gon's death.

Qui-Gon’s POV while he watches reactor footage of a time traveling Obi-Wan and Maul in the reactor room. I’ve read this one so many times, I love it.

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[thesoobfiles]

one stubborn senator – a. skywalker

Words: 2.1k

Summary: Senator (L/N) of Kyoi knows what she wants and she wants Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker; however, she’s also very stubborn and refuses to acknowledge her feelings for the prophesized Chosen One. Will her false front crumble when a certain Skywalker is assigned to be her escort?

A/N: this story is inspired by write-i-do’s drabble, ‘The Senator’. i suggest reading it because it’s great and maybe you’ll have a better grasp on this one. i might have used some of it (i hope that’s ok) in order to keep true to the drabble… also, Kyoi is not a real Star War planet. anyways, i really hope you guys like it, especially @write-i-do. since it’s based off your drabble and i don’t want to disgrace it with this madness… enjoy!

-

Anakin thought he was a generally lucky person; however, his luck seemed to change whenever you were involved. Whenever he wished to talk to you, you were always whisked away by another; whether it be Senator, clone or Jedi. He thought he had finally caught a break when he was assigned to be your Jedi escort.

Anakin waltzed up to me and began his introduction, “Senator (L/N), it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m-“ He was quickly cut off with my snippy remark.

“Anakin Skywalker. Yes, I’m aware; I’ve seen the holo-net before...” I said, unimpressed, “Decorated General, poster boy of the Republic as well as close, personal friend of the Chancellor.”

“What kind of Senator would I be if I didn’t know who you were?” I asked, a bit coldly; however, Anakin couldn’t help the blush that bloomed across his cheeks.

He cleared his throat, trying his best to hold some semblance of professionalism, “With the pleasantries out of the way, shall we get going?” I looked downwards at his extended hand and turned away with a huff.

“Why did the Council send you anyways?” I asked, making my way to the door, “It’s not like I can’t take care of myself; plus, I think you’re much more useful on the battlefield.” I said as I finally exited the room and left behind a much frazzled Jedi.

Little did he know, your distant behavior didn’t express how you truly felt; it was a front to hide your adoration for him.

I hope my cold demeanor wasn’t too much... Just wait until my Senator friends hear about this one! How lucky I am to have the Anakin Skywalker assigned to me! I thought with excitement as I made my way onto my ship, Anakin not far behind me.

He walks on the ship and heads for the cockpit, throwing a glance your way. You’re sitting on the bench attached to the wall with your legs crossed one over the other and your eyes closed; a mix between a scowl and a blank expression over taking your features. He continues his trek to the pilot’s seat and sits down, defeated.

Even with her face in a scowl, she is the most beautiful creature I’ve had the pleasure of casting my gaze upon. He thought while preparing for take-off.

I wonder the purpose of her prickly exterior… Anakin began to ponder, whenever I see her conversing with others, she always has a magnificent smile on her face and her eyes twinkle with joy… Perhaps the next time we engage in conversation, I can try and sense what the issue is… Anakin decided as he notes the ship is approaching the Kyoi system.

He puts the ship on autopilot as he heads to where you’re seated. Your face is still contorted into the blank expression from earlier as you appear to be… meditating? Your hands rest on your knees and you rest crisscrossed on the floor.

Has she been sitting this way for the entirety of the trip?

“Senator, we-“

“We’ve entered the Kyoi system, I know.” I respond with my eyes still closed, “Did you know it’s considered rude to interrupt meditation, Master Jedi?” I say as I open my eyes and tilt my head up, Anakin’s face coming into view.

“I apologize, I’ll-“

“No, it’s fine. The aura has dissipated anyways…” I reason as I leave my spot on the floor to walk up to Anakin, “and yes, I have.”

He furrows his brows in confusion, “You have what?”

“I have been sitting that way for the entirety of our journey.” I reply coolly as I make my way to the cockpit, sitting in the co-pilot seat and overseeing the rest of the trip to Kyoi.

“I didn’t say that out loud… How did you know?” Anakin asks curiously as he reclaims the seat of the pilot.

“The ability of telepathy is rare among my people. Many years ago, telepaths were hunted and killed for being… different.” I say, looking out the large window that separates the cockpit from the vast, emptiness of space, “Our ways have changed since then; however, there are still those who hold strong grudges against telepaths.”

“Do you wish to expose me, Master Skywalker?” I ask, turning in his direction. His mouth hangs open before he quickly closes it.

“No! Of course not!” He rambles out, “I was just unaware of this part in your history…” He trails off.

“Not many are; consider yourself lucky…” I say as I flip the switch that opens the door of my ship and leave him with his thoughts.

He does not remain there long as he hurriedly joins my side.

We exit the ship and head for my residence near the crystal caves.

The walk is filled with silence and Skywalker’s mind runs like a faucet; thought after thought entering his mind.

I wonder how much longer the walk to her home is... I’m not complaining, just curious…

The terrain here is wonderful… This is truly an amazing place to live, unlike Tatooine… I wonder if the crystal caves are anything like Ilum…

I wonder what I could do to change her attitude towards me…

Oh, an interesting thought indeed; but, in order to hide my affection, I’m afraid my attitude won’t be changing anytime soon, darling.

-like? Wait, I forgot she was a telepath… what if she’s listening?!

Anakin’s eyes glance over at me and my eyes are trained on the path in front of us. His gaze returns to the front and his thoughts continue. However, I’ve decided I shouldn’t abuse this power; I wouldn’t want anyone listening in on my thoughts…

While (Y/N) has left Anakin to his thoughts, Anakin has not left (Y/N) to hers.

Almost home, a little longer on this path and we’re there. Wait. We. Anakin and I… Oh my stars, I never took into consideration that he’d be in my house... THE Anakin Skywalker, in my house; how unnerving…

I wonder how much longer I can really keep this up… Why waste time hiding my adoration when I can just say, ‘Anakin Skywalker, I love you.’…

WHAT?!

Actually, that might come off a bit high strong and this is only our first meeting… But, he’s so amazing… It’s honestly hard NOT to adore him… He fights selflessly for the Republic and his compassion knows no end; not to mention he’s crazy good-looking.

Anakin raises his eyebrow and smirks in the Senator’s direction; however, she is none the wiser and is completely lost in her thoughts.

I mean, wow. His shoulder-length hair looks so soft and lush I just want to run my fingers through it all night… Seriously, what kind of hair products is he using?

Anakin holds back the urge to laugh.

He also smells amazing. I have no idea how, but he does. He spends his days fighting, probably sweating buckets, and he still smells great. Do all Jedi’s smell this good?

Probably not; Padmé actually insisted I try this new body wash because ‘It’s better than the cheap crap the Jedi make you use.’

And his skin is practically flawless… I have no idea how, but I’ll have to ask what his skincare routine is…

Also thanks to Padmé; she’s vowed to provide me with all of my toiletries from now on because she despises how much chemicals are in the ones the Jedi give us…

He looks up to see that they are within a 10 foot radius of Senator (L/N)’s home.

I’m impressed. She does a really good job of making it seems like she hates my guts. It’s crazy how she can keep such a straight face when her thoughts run rampant like this…

It’s a shame the Jedi are so conservative…

She walks up to the door and places her palm on a rock next to the door; it’s flat and embedded into the structure as if nothing was there.

Those robes probably cover up the most delicious muscles and no one would ever know…

I’m dragged out of my thoughts and stop walking in when Anakin bursts out laughing. I furrow my eyebrows and look at him with confusion as he doubles over with laughter. An unexpected noise, but a pleasant one. Who knew Anakin Skywalker’s laugh was such as blessing to hear?

“You, Senator, are a master of deception.” Anakin manages between laughs as he tries to catch his breath.

“How so, Master Skywalker?” I ask curiously, walking the rest of the way in my house with Anakin right behind me.

“How can you look so stern yet think such thoughts?” He asks with a smirk as he shuts the door behind him.

My eyes widen at the accusation and I swallow the lump in my throat, “What thoughts?”

“Shall I repeat them for you?” He asks with that glorious smirk on his face.

He holds up one finger, “My compassion knows no end,” My eyes widen once again.

He lifts another finger, “You wish to run your fingers through my hair all night,” I can feel the heat beginning to form in my face as he slowly walks towards me.

Another finger joins his other two, “and my personal favorite, how these horrid Jedi robes could possibly be covering up the most delicious muscles and no one would ever know.” He finishes with a triumphant grin. By the time he’s finished, my entire face is flushed and my heart is beating out of my chest. I collapse on my couch and bury my face in my hands.

“How embarrassing! Having such thoughts about a man who is forbidden from forming attachments…” I mutter from within my hands. I feel the couch cushion on my right sink and an arm wrap around my shoulders.

“If it’s any consolation Senator, I think you’re compassionate as well. Fighting for your people not on the battlefield, but in the Senate chamber.”

“And your hair looks as soft as it is feels.” He says as he takes a piece and twirls it around his fingers.

“And fortunately, your people are not as conservative as the Jedi.” He finishes as his fingers stroke the skin of my upper arm. I remove my hands from my face, sit up and look in his direction, “Are you flirting with me, Master Skywalker?”

His signature smirk returns as his beautiful blue eyes look straight at my (E/C) ones, “Would it be so bad if I was?”

“Oh no, quite the opposite in fact; however, what about the Jedi code?” I ask, concerned.

He looks thoughtful, facing forwards and he stops stroking my arm.

I would leave the Jedi Order for you.

“What?!” I exclaim and push him away, his hand dropping from my arm, “No, you can’t do that.” I say, crossing my arms.

“You’ve probably trained your whole life to be a Jedi! You can’t give that up; especially not for me!” I say, surprised by his words.

“I’m only 21, Senator. My whole life only consists of 21 years and 12 of those years were dedicated to becoming a Jedi.”

“That’s more than half of your life!”

“So far…” He counters, “I’ll hopefully live many more years and I wish for those years to be by your side.” Anakin looks over at me and grabs my hands.

I look him; I look into his captivating blue orbs and really think about how he’d give up everything to be with me and we’ve only just met.

“2 years.” I say. He raises his eyebrow in return and I elaborate further, “If you still love me in 2 years, you can leave the Jedi Order and I’ll accept what I assume is your proposal.”

“Deal.” He replies with a toothy grin.

[elrondsscribe]

A Love Letter to Star Wars Ep. 9: The Rise of Skywalker - sweetie, let’s sit for a while.

SPOILERS, by the way. Also, genuine love and affection. You’ve been warned.

Hey, it’s Elvella. How’re you feeling? You need a hug? A cup of tea? (God, England is getting to me already lol.)

Now I make a rule not to doubt the authenticity of other people’s suffering at the hands of a piece of media - that’s bad practice, and anyway it’d be hypocritical on my part, seeing as how my initial reaction to Attack of the Clones was to vent my unfiltered rage on a friend of mine and call him a gremlin. At the same time, I do weary of the endless stream of screeching and hair-tearing, kind of like with Endgame I guess.

Look, I wanna reiterate that I love you. I really do. So many people around me are screaming in rage, saying you murdered their souls and murdered their childhoods and murdered their joy. Me? I think you’re beautiful, and better still, I felt like you were being sincere with me. You gave me joy, wonder, sweetness, and just enough sorrow to be sexy.

Not to mention that you gave me more characters to love. Like Jannah and the other former Stormtroopers - but especially Jannah. And my newest adopted droid baby D-0 (poor sweetie, who treated you so bad?). And you brought back Lando, one of my old favorites!

And about character things in general, I guess I was prejudiced by all the rage, because I got so much more of my babe Rose than I thought I would, and I was so pleasantly surprised! And the married-gay energy of Poe and Finn overwhelmed me. For my part, I really liked the backstory of Poe both having had an involvement with Zorii and having been the in-universe equivalent of a drug dealer - I dunno, it seems fitting somehow. The wisdom of post-mortem Luke felt like real growth: a step up from where he was for most of TLJ, but a believable one! Leia’s final effort, combined with the memory of Han, being the big tipping point in Kylo Ren becoming Ben Solo again - yeah, man!

I’m even a fan of the combined arc of Reylo-as-endgame and Kylo Ren/Ben Solo’s redemption+death. I was never a Reylo stan (for the entirety of the two and a half weeks since I’ve seen TFA and TLJ, lol), but the Ben/Rey progression you gave me? Hey, I’ll cheer for that! Their actual “together” moments felt so sweet and sincere. And on Ben’s dying: I think growing up with Narnia and LOTR/Silmarillion have made me a lot easier on Noble Death as the end, and even end goal, of a loved character’s journey, so my love of Ben’s redemption arc absolutely feeds into my lack of resentment toward Ben’s death.

All that being said, even I noticed how a lot of the beats you hit, particularly the ones around Rey’s arc into almost exactly the same as Luke Skywalker’s. The Dark Lord patriarch being her only remaining blood family, the requirement for her to overcome her dark heritage/powers/temperament, the final gaze into the Tattoine suns, even having her Jedi Master Force-pull an X-Wing out of the water to beef her up for her Final Boss Fight.

Honey, I know that you’re scared because big brother TLJ got so much screeching for venturing “too far” from Grandpa OT’s shadow. Kinda feels like you’re hiding behind Grandpa’s leg. I’m sorry you feel like you gotta do that - I’d say “it’s okay to be your own person, you don’t have to do the things Gramps did just because Grandpa did ‘em,” but considering how people responded to TLJ ...

And in fairness, I also know that, as the Last Of The Nine Episode both in- and out-of-universe, you had to find a way to tie all the movies together - Originals, Prequels, and your own Sequel siblings. I’m just saying that I noticed the ways that you did it - and so did everyone who’s screaming mad right now.

Now I hear a lot of people say that your making Rey a Palpatine flies directly in the face of the lesson that your big sister had for Rey. But personally, I feel like the message of “yeah, you have a heritage of Great Evil, but that doesn’t define you” to be pretty emotionally consistent with the message of “sure, you came from nothing, but that doesn’t define you.” And I was a fan of that too.

I mean, like with Endgame, it’s not like there’s nothing I might not change in fanfic later. I might focus more attention on Finn, explore his Force-sensitivity, maybe gently tug him loose from running after Rey constantly. I might keep Ben alive post-redemption. Maybe even more major stuff, like an alternate villain and backstory for Rey; maybe look into how to move forward with the Jedi as an order. You know, stuff like that.

But let’s finish strong with one more burst of love! I highkey cheered at the way that you brought Rey the presence of so many previous Jedi through their voices. The first time I recognized the voices that I did, I had some Big Time Emotions, let me tell you! I know that moment was a source of frustration for a lot of people, but I loved it so much! It really did feel like a “we stand behind thee, daughter” moment in all the best ways.

So after all this rambling? I dunno. I just wanted to up and express some affection and honesty, in the midst of the general unhappiness, in response for the joy and sweetness that you gave me.

The Force be with you, honey. All my love.

PS. A good number of people (myself included) love and stick up for the prequels now, and initially everyone hated them. Maybe that’ll happen to you!

[nibeul]

Saberstaffs: A Guide for People Creating Jedi/Sith OCs

I posted this on Instagram a while ago but I figured I should post it here too! This is basically my analysis of saberstaffs paired with some history and extra info. I’m by no means an expert, just a SW weapons nerd who enjoys rambling about things, bonus if people find it helpful :) most of the general info is backed by the wookiee for anyone curious to give it a look

The History

Saberstaffs are rare among the Order, and while a decent amount of it has to do with how hard it is to master, its origins also play a part in this fact. Originally known as the “Sith Lightsaber”, saberstaffs were created by the Old Sith Empire (as the name suggests), serving as weapons of aggression with the ability to easily overwhelm and overpower. The design had been pretty much unheard of until it was wielded by Exar Kun during the Great Sith War, the fallen Jedi having modified his original lightsaber using schematics from Sith Holocrons he had found. It was forgotten shortly after, trading off from hand to hand before eventually making its way to the Order for safe keeping (this is obviously a very simple explanation since I don’t want to dwell on it too much). The design became popularized among the Sith during the Jedi Civil War, and was even wielded by some skilled Jedi, though the Council frowned upon its use as the staff was a weapon of aggression purely designed to kill more effectively than the standard saber. The Order’s prejudice against the weapon remained a constant even into the waning days of the Republic, and as a result, very few Jedi utilized it. By the time the Invasion of Naboo rolled around, they’d faded into almost complete obscurity, so you can imagine the surprise of Qui Gon and Obi Wan when Maul pulled one out.

Schematics

The original saber staffs were much more complicated than the ones seen during the Clone Wars, consisting of a singular lightsaber mechanism that had two emitters, Exar Kun’s modified staff fitting this design. The more modern staffs, such as Maul’s, were made up of two, standard lightsabers that were melded together at the pommel in order to form one, elongated hilt. I’m actually not sure what the exact reasoning for the simplification was since the original was more effective, though I assume it has to do with the loss of the original holocrons and a change in wielding styles as the years progressed. The Council was right though in the fact that they were made for better effectiveness in combat; two ends meant faster attacks, and rapid assaults could be dealt out by the wielding with minimum movement. On the flipside, it was also good for defense—specifically in dueling, I’ll get to combat against blasters later—because it covered more area with less effort. There was also a psychological impact that comes with most unorthodox weapons, as tracking two blades is obviously a lot harder than one, and either end was often thought of as separate weapons instead of one.

Of course, there were still weaknesses, and with great killing power came debilitating flaws if put in the wrong hands. Wielding a staff without training was fatal in most cases, and it was likely that an inexperienced user would slash or bisect themselves trying to utilize one. A prime example of this comes from Antos Wyrick who accidentally impaled both himself and his daughter when trying to kill her. The minimum movement needed also came at a cost when it came to attacking and parrying because it’s impossible to simply adjust positions, as someone using a standard blade might. The sun djem contact mark could be employed by an opponent with little experience, and due to the length of the hilt, it’s hard to defend against. The best comparison to a saberstaff in terms of modern weapons would be the quarterstaff, though it’s not completely adequate because there’s only so much area for the user to put their hands whereas a quarterstaff, you have the entire length. The weight is also different as the weight of any lightsaber is condensed at the hilt while a quarterstaff’s weight would be evenly spread throughout it. Because the user’s hands have to be positioned at the general center of the weapon at all times (the hilt), power that would be possible with a quarterstaff is lost with the saberstaff.

Wielding Styles/Forms

Next, we have a breakdown of wielding styles, and to do this I’m going to be using Maul and Krell.

Maul

There’s apparently some controversy over what lightsaber Form Maul uses, though based on what I’ve seen from the show and the movie, I think that Juyo is the closest form to compare his fighting style too. Maul’s lightsaber is an extension of his body; he was raised for one thing, and that was to kill Jedi. He is, in the simplest sense, a killing machine, and his fighting style is reflective of that, martial arts interwoven with his strikes and parries, etc. etc. Maul, while obviously capable of defense, is a very aggressive, offensive fighter, and this is abundantly clear in his duels against Ahsoka, Obi Wan, Qui Gon… I’m sure there are videos floating around for each of the duels, I recommend giving them a rewatch if you’re curious. His power comes from his hips, and he relies on straight up striking power and prowess in combat in order to overwhelm his opponents. His style is pretty similar to how one would wield a quarterstaff, which is incredibly effective when it comes to melee combat against one or multiple opponents, but an open battlefield is a different story.

The biggest problem for Maul’s fighting style when applied to an open battlefield is the lack of maneuverability and the uncovered area that makes up the hilt of the staff. In a lightsaber duel, he has full coverage of his body since the blades are pretty one dimensional (I’m not sure if that’s the right word to use, but I’m using it anyways) while against blasters, there’s more open, uncovered area that he’s not going to be able to defend. I don’t recall seeing a lot of blaster vs lightsaber action with Maul, not when it came to his staff anyways, so it’s hard to determine what he’s capable of when it comes to that. I’m just applying what I’ve seen to a hypothetical situation—the bottomline is that Maul is likely a more effective duelist than anything else, and his use of the saberstaff plays into that strength.

Krell

Krell—who I know you all love—uses Jar’kai and I want to say hints of Form V based on his aggressive way of fighting while also on the defensive against dozens of clones. We unfortunately didn’t see a lot of fighting from Krell until he was slaughtering the 501st and 212th, so I don’t have a whole lot to work with here, but I do know that he used the Force in tandem with his staffs which was something that was made easier by the fact that he had four arms. Unlike Maul, Krell doesn’t face the problem of lack of coverage when it comes to fighting on the battlefield—because of his anatomy, he’s able to fully rotate the blades in a manner that covers him entirely, though something important to note about that is the change in power. The power from his strikes come almost entirely from his arms, which is clearest when he’s fighting the clones up in the tower. He’s able to cut through men without putting a huge focus on power, 1) because he’s already naturally strong and 2) because of the reach of his lightsabers. He’s outnumbered, but his sheer combative prowess with his lightsabers allows him to keep an edge during the entirety of the fight until he’s ultimately taken down by Tup.

I think the most important thing to note about Krell is that he constantly makes space, which is a tactic commonly used by staff users specifically (it’s also used when handling other weapons of course, though that’s when it comes to multiple opponents; with a staff, you constantly want space so you can strike from afar). He makes space to prevent himself from getting overrun even when severely outnumbered, and this tactic allows him to employ the deadliness of his lightsabers on an open battlefield, whereas Maul would have more trouble doing so thanks to the differences in their fighting style. Because I haven’t seen Krell in a duel, it’s hard to say how he would combat someone else with a melee weapon, though I want to say it’s likely similar to Grievous’s way of fighting. The sheer amount of blades he holds makes it easy to overwhelm an opponent, and because of his stature, he doesn’t have a need for extreme power behind each swing, which allows better maneuverability (as we see when he’s spinning his lightsabers).

General Pros and Cons

So, I’ll just finish this off with the main pros and cons after breaking everything down and giving my input.

Strengths:

• Offensive and defensive capabilities

• Faster attack rate

• Bigger surface area for deflecting/parrying

• Unorthodox/Uncommon

Weaknesses:

• Hard to store

• Exposed hilt

• Dangerous to user

• Often requires both hands to wield

In general, staffs are best for characters who are older with more than a couple years of training under their belt due to how hard it is to master and the dangers of inexperience. These characters tend to be heavily combat focused since the staff was pretty much made for killing. However, this is just a general breakdown I did for fun, so don’t let that stop you from giving your characters whatever weapons you see fit :)

[benisasoftboi]

In Which I Explain The Entirety of Star Wars, Despite Being Very Much Unqualified To Do So

I have only seen one Star Wars movie - it was The Last Jedi. I saw it, with no context, two years ago in theatres when it first came out. I was very surprised to find out that it made a lot of people very angry, because I quite liked it, as did the friends I saw it with. I can’t say I remember much though.

All the rest of my Star Wars knowledge comes from its generally inescapable nature in the pop cultural zeitgeist. I might have seen a bit of Episode 6, which I don’t know the name of, when I was round a friend’s house once, but I was very tired, and it was about a decade ago anyway.

That’s just some context for my lack of qualifications to do this. My friend said I should still do it anyway. I will not be looking anything up as I write this, so all spelling mistakes and other general errors are mine. 

So anyway - The Entirety of Star Wars:

Original Trilogy 

There is a guy called Luke. He is played by Mark Hamill and he is George Lucas’s self insert. He lives on a planet where there is only sand, because in this universe all planets have only one terrain, I think. He drinks milk. The milk might be blue.

A guy played by Liam Neeson finds Luke. I think this guy’s name is probably Obi Wan Kenobi, but I might have that wrong. At some point he will die tragically and it will be formative for Luke, but then he will also come back as a ghost. Ghosts exist in this universe. 

Possibly Luke has known this guy for a long time or possibly he is a stranger, I am not sure. Somehow they end up on a spaceship.

Luke needs to learn how to use magic powers called the Force, which seems to be mostly telekinesis, and also lets him use a really fancy but probably impractical sword called a lightsaber that shoots blue or sometimes green or sometimes red light. This is called Jedi training. Jedi Knight is a religion. You can claim to be one on the census in the real world. They seem to be really serious people despite having a silly name.

Everyone also has guns that go ‘pew pew pew’ and nerds get really mad when you make fun of that.

Luke will meet many colourful and interesting people on his journey. These include:

A woman played by Carrie Fisher who is also his twin sister but he doesn’t know that until after they kiss. Her name is Leia or maybe Laia. She has silly hair. At one point she wears a slave bikini because she’s enslaved to a gelatinous blob because that’s just how it goes when you’re the woman in a 70s sci-fi movie

A guy called Han Solo because he is Edgy and Does Things Solo. He and Leia have a romance and it’s Drama. He also has a spaceship that people will build very impressive lego replicas of. He dresses like a cowboy. I’m 90% that he is played by Harrison Ford

A bunch of walking teddy bears called Ewoks who can kill you and live in a jungle

A guy called Lando Calrissian who I think wears fancy clothes and that’s all I know about him, he might actually be a villain I’m not sure. He might die?

A little blue robot who hid behind some rocks one time and then in the re-release he hid behind more rocks than before and the fans got Mad

A big gold robot who is nervous and gay and might be gay for the little blue robot, like they might be married but that also might be a meme I’m not certain

A weird green goblin thing called Yoda who makes Luke carry him around and speaks in broken English that annoying people have spent the last thirty years imitating. He dies, but then is a ghost so it doesn’t matter really

A guy called Boba Fett who is a bounty hunter. I genuinely have no clue how he fits in to all of this. He might not actually be from Star Wars, maybe I’m mixing him up with something else. 

Luke is also trying to fight the Evil Darth Vader who works for an Evil CGI Emperor of the Evil Empire. They live on a big spaceship called the Death Star and it looks like a moon but isn’t and people think it’s funny when you point that out for some reason. They are the Dark Side, which makes them easy to root against because they’re just cartoonishly evil I guess. I think they are also bureaucrats. They have Stormtroopers, who might be brainwashed people or might just be robots, or might even be clones. They all wear identical white armour with helmets so people don’t care when they get shot. Kinda like fencers.

Darth Vader is actually Luke’s father and this is a twist except not anymore. This means he is also Leia’s father, I’m not sure if she knew. Also Luke loses his arm. Darth Vader gets redeemed and then dies but also takes down the Evil CGI Emperor with him.

I don’t know what happens in any of the movies, but I know that the first one ends with them getting plans for or from Leia, not sure, the second one has the dad twist, and the third one has ghosts. Also they blow up the Death Star by shooting a garbage chute really hard. 

Prequels

These movies are widely disliked. The first one has too much bureaucracy. They are about Darth Vader’s backstory. He used to be a guy called Anakin. He will Become Evil. He will also meet many colourful characters. They include:

His love interest, who is called Padme. She wears a silly hat and dies of a combination of Childbirth and Sadness. I saw this bit happen one time when I was a kid and I was stuck round my mum’s friend’s house and her son was playing through this part in the LEGO game. It was sad

A guy with a red face whose name might be Maul and has robot legs? 

A guy called Jar Jar Binks who everyone seems to simultaneously hate and feel a desperate need to make sex jokes about 

Angry Jedi People

Probably some robots

Anakin hates sand and is pretty but grumpy. His hatred of sand is what will prevent him from finding Luke in the original movies. He falls in a volcano and gets turned into a robot man and it’s very dramatic. He has an angry red lightsaber. He murders a bunch of children by executing Order 66. Or maybe that was in the first set of movies I don’t know. I’m not sure how they made three of these movies, there doesn’t seem to be much to them.

Also there is something called ‘mitoclorians’ and I don’t know what they are but they make nerds Very Mad.

Expanded Universe

There was an expanded universe, but Disney said it wasn’t canon when they bought the rights, so now it isn’t. If I were a Star Wars fan, I would not take this lying down, because what right does Disney have to say what’s canon? Why is it up to the copyright holders? They are a corporation, not a writer. Expanded universes are always really fun and full of wacky nonsense that would never get put in the mainline stuff. I don’t like it when people try to dismiss them. 

Stand Alone Movies

When the new trilogy started, they also made some stand alone films. They were called Rogue One and Solo. Rogue One is about a woman named Gin or Jinn or Jin or Ginne or - I wish I hadn’t restricted myself to not looking anything up - Urso. The spelling doesn’t matter because she dies. So does everyone else. Then Darth Vader shows up.

Solo is about Han Solo and his friends and they have an adventure and there’s a robot who wants robot rights but she dies so no one has to address the slavery thing. Also apparently it was going to be a comedy but got reshot as a drama. I hope I never watch it because that sounds terrible, even as much as I like Donald Glover who I think is in it probably. I think his character might have been in love with the dead robot.

Sequel Trilogy

These movies are about a girl called Rey. She makes nerds mad by existing and being the protagonist. She is Space British. She is a scavenger and is friends with a really cute little orange robot. Somehow she ends up in space. She starts hanging out with Older Leia’s crew, which include a pilot named Poe Dameron and a guy called Finn, but I don’t know why he’s there. People ship them with each other, and also with Rey. 

The other person people ship Rey with is Kylo Ren, who I call Space Zuko because when I saw The Last Jedi, he showed up and I was like ‘oh, it’s Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender but in space’, because he has bad hair and is angry about his Daddy Issues. I hope in the next movie he gets better hair and fewer Daddy Issues like Real Zuko did. A lot of people get really angry about Rey and Space Zuko being shipped together, but they’re still the most popular ship on AO3. So no matter what happens in the next one, nerds are going to be mad about it, and I am not looking forward to it.

Kylo Ren killed his dad, Han Solo, because he was radicalised to be evil for reasons I don’t know. The guy who runs the New Evil Group, which is called the First Order, is an ugly CGI guy called Snoke. It was apparently a Big Twist that Kylo kills him Last Jedi, and it made nerds really mad. I don’t understand why people were surprised, because when I saw the movie, I saw that guy and was like ‘oh he’s gonna get killed by Space Zuko because that would be Drama and also from a production standpoint having a guy who needs lots of special effects is much more difficult than just having Adam Driver wear a scary mask’ and then I was right so maybe I’m smarter than all the nerds. 

There is also a guy called Hux and he is a ginger. I think he is evil.

The other thing people got really mad about was that Rey’s parents were not established characters. People wanted her dad to be Luke, I think, who is in Last Jedi. I was happy about this because I like Mark Hamill. He spent the movie teaching her about the force while they hang out on an island with a race of merchandising opportunities called Porgs. He dies at the end but he might be in the next one as a ghost anyway. 

Also there was a girl called Rose and people decided that not liking the character meant they could be mean to the actress, which is not true and everyone who was mean to her should be ashamed. There was another woman as well, but I don’t remember her name, she had purple hair and was serious and I have no idea if she was good or evil. 

Kylo Ren’s real name is Ben which is not very sci-fi. Maybe that’s why he changed it.

Though come to think, Luke isn’t a very sci-fi name either. 

Anyway, that’s everything I know about Star Wars.

Feel free to ask me questions about Star Wars and have me try to answer.

Do not, under any circumstances, try to actually explain Star Wars to me. I’m much happier as is, thank you very much

[ace-oreos]

Alpha-17 Umbara AU

Not a fix-it or anything, because really, there’s just too much to fix on Umbara. This is more my bitterness over Alpha being written out of The Clone Wars and my take on how he would’ve reacted to Krell. Also, I’m horrible at titles, so I’m sticking with what I have for now. 

Of all the planets Alpha had been stuck on for an indefinite period of time, Umbara was close to becoming the worst, surpassing even Jabiim.

Technically, he wasn’t attached to the Five-oh-first. As an ARC trooper, he fell under the jurisdiction of General Arligan Zey and the Special Operations Brigade. Alpha had only agreed to this mission because... well, pretty much because Obi-Wan Kenobi had asked for him specifically. The Knight had claimed it was because Torrent Company would need all the support they could get, but Alpha suspected he was worried about his former Padawan as well, meaning Alpha was now stranded on Umbara under the command of a general he despised.

He didn’t know why Skywalker had been recalled to Coruscant. They’d claimed it was an emergency, but at this point in the war, everything was an emergency. It was all too neat for Alpha’s liking: Skywalker removed from the battlefield and replaced by a trigger-happy, casualty-deaf Jedi general who was loathed by the entirety of Torrent Company. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do much more than follow whatever orders he was given and watch as Torrent’s ranking officer fought a losing battle with his new general. 

Of course, just because Captain Rex saw it best to carry out Krell’s orders to placate the old lunatic didn’t mean Alpha shared the view. Oh, Alpha had done his job to the expected standard. He just hadn’t done it quietly. It was driving Krell up a wall, and Alpha felt no remorse. Outright sabotage would lead to punishment for sure, but Krell couldn’t have him reconditioned for his covert rebellion. 

If anything, the general would kill Alpha himself and be done with it.

Alpha shook his head to stay awake. He’d been on watch for three hours, and nothing remotely unusual had occurred. Given the Umbarans’ aggressive campaign thus far, the lack of hostile activity made him uneasy. Maybe ARCs were supposed to be all deception and stealth - and he could be if the need arose - but he found things simpler when the enemy was in plain sight. Plus, the Umbarans’ familiarity with the landscape was a significant advantage; they hadn’t wasted a single opportunity to use it against the Five-oh-first. 

The constant darkness only added to his misgivings. The shadows had eyes and ears. Although Alpha had no love for the enemy, he had to respect their tactics. We don’t know where they could come from, what areas are best for an ambush, and we can’t safely follow them if they retreat, he thought. The Umbarans had done their job well.

He was drawn from his thoughts abruptly. Something was definitely watching him. Just as he shifted his weight casually, preparing to fend off attackers, another figure in white armor appeared out of the gloom. Before Alpha could warn him of nearby hostiles, the trooper said, “General Krell would like to see you, sir. He’s in the command center.”

Alpha hesitated before answering, trying to detect any enemy presences. His helmet sensors gave no indication of additional life-forms. Sighing, he said, “I’ll see him when I have a replacement. I’m not listened to him complain about proper security again.”

“I’m supposed to relieve you, sir,” the other answered. He sounded young; Alpha wondered if this was Tup, the rookie the other ARC had befriended. He wanted to ask - oh, that would infuriate Krell, making him wait - but the kid continued, “Um, he said as soon as possible, and... and that he doesn’t want any excuses.”

“Right,” Alpha muttered grimly. “Thanks, kid.” 

***

The atmosphere in the forward operating base was taut from the moment Alpha strode in. He removed his helmet, noting the tense air, and approached the general. The Besalisk was studying a holographic map of the Umbaran base, one of his four hands resting on his lightsaber. Steeling himself for conversation, Alpha said, “You wanted to see me, sir?”

“Alpha-Seventeen,” Krell said without looking away from his map, “why have we not attacked the enemy’s base directly?”

“I don’t have the authority to do that, sir,” Alpha ground out.

“You are a captain, are you not? You have seniority over CT-7567. Take command of this company and do what the rest are too cowardly to attempt.”

Alpha began forming a biting retort - starting with the use of names rather than numbers - but Krell’s voice washed over him, drowning out his response. The general was right. He was an Alpha ARC, the first generation of commandos trained by Jango Fett himself. If they crushed the Umbarans at their source, they would win. Rex was a fool if he couldn’t -- 

Alpha bit down hard on his lip, and the thoughts faded. He glared at Krell, who seemed oddly satisfied by something. Mind trick, Alpha fumed. He’d never felt the push of the Force like that, but he was certain that it had been Krell’s influence. It took all of his self-control not to lunge at the Jedi and introduce him to the unfriendly side of his combat knife.

“Problem, Captain?” Krell asked. Alpha was hyper-aware of his surroundings, the way Krell’s hand was slowly tightening around the hilt of his lightsaber...

“How many?” Alpha growled. He realized his hands were shaking with anger, and quickly clenched them. “How many of them are you controlled, you two-faced hut’uun -- ”

He was cut off by the wailing of an alarm. Before he could pinpoint the source, an explosion rocked the base. Then another. Air strike. Shabla air strike.

Alpha snapped his helmet on, promising himself he would confront Krell as soon as the next opportunity presented itself. Then he stormed out of the command center to confront their attackers.

The base was in chaos as Torrent Company tried to assemble themselves while blaster fire rained down around them. Alpha found Krell immediately. He was in the thick of the fray, lightsabers whirling, bellowing orders at the scrambling troops. For a moment, he looked like any other Jedi fighting alongside his men.

Alpha knew better.

Maybe he was just more callous than the other Jedi, Alpha mused as his body reverted to autopilot. He eliminated Umbaran soldiers with cold efficiency while his mind raced, trying to make everything fall into place. Maybe Alpha had become too accustomed to General Kenobi’s hearts-and-minds approach.

Or maybe Krell was a traitor.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he was overwhelmed by the feeling of immediate danger. Blue light flared across his vision, and for a wild second he thought of Kenobi or Skywalker.

Then the pain registered, and he fell. The din of battle was oddly muted. Just as his brothers’ white armor started to blur, Krell loomed out of the darkness. Alpha raised his hands to defend himself - his blaster had been knocked out of his hand when he collapsed - but Krell wasn’t attacking him. The Besalisk was slicing through the ranks of Umbarans, still roaring orders.

I hate you, Alpha thought. Despite his weakening grasp on consciousness,  anger flashed through him with perfect clarity.

Krell faltered, looked down at him. Through the pressing shadows, his eyes seemed to glow a sickly yellow-gold.

Then the darkness overtook Alpha, and the battle disappeared.

***

The Five-oh-first’s medic was calm, levelheaded, and skilled - everything a combat medic should be - but he was also adamant that Alpha would not be participating in the next battle. “You’re lucky the general was there,” he said, sounding as though he didn’t quite believe the words. “He saved your life.”

So he was indebted to Krell. Wonderful.

When Alpha tried to stand to look around the medbay, Kix had finally lost his patience. “It’s bad enough that Jesse and Fives are going to be executed!” he snapped. “We can’t lose two ARCs!” 

The word execution and a wave of nausea forced Alpha to sit down hard. Death in battle was one thing. It was the honorable thing, the end any trooper knew he would meet someday. But execution? Two men shot by their own brothers, and for what?

For disobeying orders. For breaking the oath they’d all taken from their very first breath: obey the Jedi.

Alpha wanted to rebel. To see Krell executed, not two brothers. It wasn’t right. He didn’t know much about justice, but he was sure this was not it. Alpha closed his eyes, seething. He was powerless. Completely, utterly powerless in the face of Krell’s tyranny.

A despair unlike anything he’d ever known came over him. Clones never had any say in their own lives. They couldn’t choose where they went or who they fought, and they certainly couldn’t choose their deaths. The fury and resentment coursed through him as he lay in the medbay, surrounded by wounded and dying brothers. Somewhere nearby, two more were facing death for insubordination. Two more numbers in the ranks of the dead. They were all just numbers in the end; what did it matter how they died? 

The anger didn’t leave until a brother burst into the medbay, gasping that they were under attack by the Umbarans once more. Clutching his side as he wheezed for breath, the kid burst out, “The general said the enemy - the enemy is wearing our armor.”

A blast of rage drove Alpha to his feet. He ignored the protests of the men around him as he grabbed his blaster and snapped his armor into place. The enemy was wearing their armor, and wielding their weapons.

The enemy was wearing robes and carrying a lightsaber, too.