#they don't work with any specific battalion or place or commander. they show up wherever they're needed.

[maulfucker]

time for clones

[cats-inthe-cradle]

Okay so I wanna talk about my immortal-Fives au specifically The SquadTM (I need an actual name for the squad helpp) aka the squad that Domino is a part of after they join the 501st.

(Putting it under the cut 'cause it got long 😅)

Mostly because I've finally figured out who all the members are and I'm actually starting to get a feel for the ones I wasn't sure about that I'm actually happy with.

Well, I've figured out all the members for the first version of the squad. It gets changed up a bit as Domino become ARCs.

Oh wait I'm looking at my notes and realizing I'm thinking mostly about the 2nd version of the squad right now. Which is essentially the 1ist version except now Fives and Echo are ARC so 2 new people have been brought in to fill their places. Fives and Echo still stick around with the squad quite a bit tho even after becoming ARC.

Anyways.

So first, you've got Domina (obviously). Fives, Echo, Hevy, Cutup, and Droidbait. That makes up half the squad +1.

Then you've got Kix (Because Rex was looking at the configuration and decided it'd probably be a good idea to put someone who wasn't some form of crazy in there and who actually had some good experience. Which, Kix isn't necessarily not some form of crazy. He's just less so than most of the others.) and Hardcase.

Then you've got Vaughn (whom I love). In this au he's barely younger than Domino. So at the time the squad is formed he's only been deployed for a couple months tops. He was a shiny coming into the 501st and got promoted to Corporal pretty early on. And now he's the Sergeant of this squad :'D. And also the youngest.

And last but not least you've got Grift (an oc) who's Vaughn's honorary batchmate (I'll elaborate in a min.) No one's actually sure who's older or younger between him and Vaughn but he insists he's older. He got his name when some trainer jokingly called him a lil' grifter once, and the personality I'm thinking of for him stems from that as well as the influence of some (slightly) older vod which I'll elaborate on in a min.

So that's the first version of the Squad - with Jesse as the Lieutenant over their platoon, of course.

Now for version 2 of the squad, aka version 1 plus two more, aka the boys I've especially been thinking about tonight.

So Fives and Echo (and Jesse) head off to ARC training. Leaving the squad down 2 men. So Rex transfers in Charger and an oc whom I've been referring to as twin (don't ask me why, idk, I just know that I need a name for him).

Some background:

In this au, Charger, twin, my oc Cricket, +2 others who are in different battalions, were batchmates / a squad on kamino. In my mind their squad is very like, sneaky/stealthy and really clever. They're like a bunch of foxes, or raccoons, something like that. They're also kind of a diverse squad with a wide variety of talents/skills. One of them ('27) got picked to be trained as a scuba trooper and ended up in Kit Fisto and Commander Monnk's battalion. '29 got picked for the command track and ended up being deployed to a separate battalion (tbd). Cricket got selected for medic training, but ended up in the 501st as well (he shows up briefly in my fics Captain's Guide to Getting Cuddles and Guide to a Happy Medic). And Charger even got selected for Bomb Squad training, but ended up getting transferred back to his original training (but still with some specialist training) for various reasons. twin was the only one that didn't get selected for any special training, but that didn't stop him from picking up random skills wherever he could.

This is where Vaughn and Grift come in. Neither Vaughn nor Grift ended up staying with their original squads for very long, and both ended up getting moved around from squad to squad growing up. Eventually they found their way to Charger and twin's squad (despite them being at least a cycle or more ahead of them) and the squad kinda adopted them. It worked especially well after Cricket and '27, and even '29 got transferred to other training. With Vaughn and Grift helping to fill that gap in the squad during training, even being younger.

So anyways Vaughn, Grift, Charger, and twin are all very familiar with each other by the time they end up in a squad together in the 501st (with Hevy, Cutup, Drodibait, Kix, Hardcase, and Fives & Echo as ARCs). And they're especially all used to Vaughn being the baby of the squad, but now he's in charge of them all >:3 Not sure who's gonna be his corporal yet.

Some more stuff about Vaughn, Grift, Charger, twin, and Cricket 'cause I can't stop thinking about them:

Cricket struggles to connect with people, it usually takes some time (and being forced into meaningful interactions 😂). He's definitely the most guarded of the lot (and the most emotionally constipated, in Kix's words.) He can be hard to get to know but it's definitely worth the time and effort—when he loves someone it's with his whole heart and although he's bad about letting others take care of him, he's very good at taking care of others.

He was the first of his batchmates to get transferred for seperate training (followed closely by '27) which caused him to grow more distant from them. He didn't really get close to anyone again 'till the 501st, so by that point he'd become especially withdrawn from people. So it was a little awkward at first interacting with his batchmates again after reuniting. But he'll always be very fond of Vaughn and Grift and he loves Charger and twin a lot so it all works out. He also becomes fairly close to Kix, even if it doesn't seem like it to those who don't know them well.

Side note: '27 is rather similar to Cricket in nature and personality, although a bit less guarded.

Being the only one not picked for special training really hurt and upset twin. But it also pushed him to be better and prove that he's just as good as his batchers. He's also a natural blonde (he tends to keep it buzzed, like Rex. he's also got a scar across his nose and reaching down his left cheek), so he's always had to deal with being singled ut and discriminated against do to his 'defect'. He's always been a hard worker because of it, constantly trying to prove himself (and he did when he passed all of his exams with flying colors). He's definitely the stealthiest of his batchmates and also the nerd (so's Vaughn, they're nerd buddies).

Charger has a nack for anything electric and specifically that has to do with wiring (especially if explosives are involved). Second to '29 he's always the one looking out for the squad and is probably the most emotionally attuned to them (although Cricket is very good at reading people's emotions). He's a very competent trooper, but can also be a little impatient on missions. His hair is also naturally a brown that's lighter than the typical clone's black, so like twin he's also had to deal with discrimination in training do to his 'defect', but to a lesser extent since it's closer to the standard black. He keeps it in some variation of the standard cut.

Vaughn's my blue-eyed boy :) He could have easily made the command track, but due to his original squad having a reputation of being 'problem troopers', his own genetic 'defect' (blue eyes), and being moved around a lot, he spent the majority of his training just trying to stay afloat and (after some bad experiences) trying not draw too much attention to himself. It wasn't until he found Charger and twin's squad and the consistency that came with it, that he really began to grow confident in his abilities again. By that point he didn't really want to make the command track because it would mean getting moved again and he was happy with his new squad. But he still hoped to someday work his way up the ranks and become an officer. Also did I mention he's a nerd?

Grift's situation was very similar to Vaughn's but with a few small differences. One, his 'defect' wasn't necessarily as noticeable, being slightly smaller than the average clone, but not by much. He wasn't as focused on proving himself or trying to make the command track as Vaughn. He got easily distracted from his studies. And he had a habit of sneaking around, getting into places he shouldn't be, and just generally finding trouble. Fortunately he still managed to get (barely) passing test scores, and Charger & twin's squad took him under their wings before anyone managed to get him decommed. His scores improved with their guidance (and ability to keep him on track).

Vaughn and Grift are as close as any batchmates.

Well that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed listening to me ramble on about my boys :D