#why is the 501st so collectively extra

[bilbosmom-belladonna]

Last Line Challenge

Thank you for the tags, @theproblemwithstardust !

I do have words I can share, but I am so close to done with this series so it's gonna be art instead:

Friends, I have a new appreciation for creating jaig eyes; it is tough to thread the needle between cat ears and devil horns!

No pressure tagging for: @whiskygoldwings @omaano @spiritofthenortheners ! Whatcha been up to???

[fanfic-obsessed]

Dawn of Hope

This is going to start in that weird place where we are taking canon and making it simultaneously better AND very much worse.  Also, as always, I may be ignoring or ignorant of some part of canon that contradicts this stuff, forgive me. 

While there are many changs we need to address, the biggest is that Anakin does not choose Palpatine, or Fall, during the fight between the Council and Palpatine (Also, because I truly believe that it is the point of no return for Anakin’s fall, he did not kill the Tuskens). This does not actually make anything better.  

Anakin’s refusal caused the three way fight to last a bit longer, but also ended with Mace Windu’s death. The Force began to scream that Anakin needed to get back to the temple immediately. Anakin disengages from the fight and escapes.  Palpatine let him go, since this was still in line with several of Palpatine's plans (I fully believe that Palapine had a plan for any eventuality). Palpatine calls for Order 66 and Anakin arrives back at the temple mere moments before the 501st.  Anakin is horrified to see his men firing on, and killing, the Jedi in the temple and ignoring his attempts to order them to stop (it is important to note that in this, there is no indication in the Force or their behavior why the clones have suddenly started shooting Jedi; also Fives report in this one was not intelligible enough-due to being drugged-to give either Anakin or Rex information about the chips).  His help gives the appearance that the temple can start evacuating (they rebuffed wave one) and Anakin is told by one of the temple guards that a group of initiates had been locked in the council chambers for safety, but they need a counselor to unlock the door to evacuate them.  

Anakin goes down and unlocks the chamber, and just as the initiates look up at him with hopeful eyes, believing that they have been saved…Anakin is knocked unconscious by the temple guard, who had been one of the guards that betrayed the Jedi. The guard then slaughtered the children (all of them, including Reva as the guard had not been as conflicted) and dragged Anakin away (Palpatine now intended to torture him into Falling) as the other traitor guards disabled the last of the protections for the temple, letting the clones come back in to kill everyone.

 Another change was that early in the war Cody took a hit to the head that, unbeknownst to everyone, broke the chip. The extra time it took for Palpatine to call for Order 66 meant that Obi Wan had reached the upper levels and that Cody had joined him there when the chips activated and every clone, except Cody, started trying to kill any Jedi (for apparently no reason).  Cody and Obi Wan are able to escape, but there is a part of Cody that will never forgive himself for the fact that they both had to kill some of his brothers to do so.  They are able to get to Coruscant, where they meet up with Yoda at the ruins of the Jedi temple.  They see the surveillance video (the clones attacking, the temple guards that betrayed them, Anakin being captured, the younglings being slaughtered). 

The next step is obviously to rescue Anakin. Now both Yoda and Obi Wan are self aware enough to admit that this would have been the goal for no other reason than that Anakin was part of their lineage. However realistically he is also the only other Jedi they know is still alive, a powerful fighter, and would be a devastating enemy if he could be coerced to fall (they do not know for sure that this is the goal, but there are only a few reasons to take Anakin alive). Knowing that they would need to rely on the Force to move quickly Cody is sent to collect Padme before she can be used against Anakin. 

By the time Yoda and Obi Wan find Anakin, he has been tortured but has not fallen. Obi Wan is able to escape with Anakin, though Yoda gives his life for them to do so.   Anakin injuries mean that his remaining flesh arm and his legs have to be amputated. The stress causes the twins to be stillborn and the measures needed to save Padme’s life remove her ability to have any other children.  

Obi Wan and Anakin are the last Jedi in the galaxy at this point. Through chance or circumstance everyone else died in the Purge(This includes Ahsoka. With the extra time and without Rex having knowledge of the chips, she is eventually killed by the clones; the fight did enough damage that the ship still crashed into that moon, killing everyone on board-including Maul).  They are only just able to get the mechanics to replace Anakin’s missing limbs, and the four keep on the move to lay low.  By the time both Padme and Anakin have healed from those first few days, 18 months have passed and the galaxy continues to grow darker. 

Bail Organa’s fledgling rebellion has been found out (a combination of the lack of a daughter had Bail focusing on the rebellion more, and moving just a hair too fast, and Palpatine not having Vader to deal with-both not spending time focused on his recovery and not needing an enemy to point Vader at one he has healed). Bail and Breha have been executed as warmongers and traitors with a Palpatine approved puppet installed as the new ruler of Alderaan. Any friends that any of the four might have had were swept up in the aftermath of the failed Rebellion. 

At the two year mark Palpatine, who no longer has any use for the Clones, as he had recruited a natborn army in the meantime, issues another Order, this time for the last remnants of the GAR to kill themselves. 

Cody is the last Clone of the GAR in the galaxy, and none of four of them know about the chip. 

These four have no friends, no help, and no hope. And they survive in this galaxy where they can rely only on each other for another 8 years.  

In that time neither Anakin nor Obi Wan fall. This is not due to some extra attachment to the light, but the fact that there is nothing the dark can offer them. How do you resurrect an entire culture? Who would they even try to bring back? Because they do not know about the chips, they do not have one person, even Palpatine, that they can blame or get revenge on. 

Also during these 8 years the four form a Force bond, tying their life forces together.  Though the bond is deliberate, and of the Light Side, none of them are quite sure if it is ‘If one dies, we all die’ or ‘we all have to die for one to die’. Frankly, in the galaxy they live in, they figure there is not much difference.  This bond does have the effect of slowing all of their aging to the slowest (Anakin, with his Force connection ages at one third the normal human rate once he reached maturity)

10 years after Order 66 and the Purge, our four feral survivors find an artifact that will take them to a new timeline.  It has not been used often, because there is no control over where or when they will be dropped, there is no way back, and most people do not want to chance that they will end up somewhere worse. Our four are not worried about worse, they know that they have the worst timeline, and they have no one to try and come back to. So they activate the artifact.

It drops them into the canon timeline, during A New Hope, on the Death Star,  just before Darth Vader strikes Obi Wan Kenobi. This derails Old Ben’s attempt at martyrdom. Darth Vader is immediately distracted by Padme Amidala, looking older than he remembered but younger than she should be (had she lived).

As they all recognized an older version of Obi Wan, and guessing that the tall being in black is the bad guy, the four dimension travelers grab Old Ben, the teeny boppers (Luke, Leia, and Han look unbelievably young to them) with the Wookie and the familiar droids (as none of them look like they belong on the Death Star) and hustled them onto to only ship that does not look imperial (A Corellian Freighter) and escape while Vader is staring at the spot where Padme Amidala had appeared. 

The only reason that they were not immediately shot out of the sky is that Vader realized that Padme was on that ship and made sure no one shot the Millenium Falcon. 

The Millenium Falcon, and everyone she holds, escapes. They take some time to make sure that they are not being followed before Han, with input from Leia, sets a course to the nearest Rebel Base. There is enough confusion that he does not even ask about payment. 

Then everyone turns to the four dimension travelers.  Obi Wan, the younger, looks at Old Ben and goes ‘Hello There’ in a tone that is distressingly flirty for a solid half the ship. Anakin rolls his eyes, whacks Obi Wan (the younger) upside the head, and goes ‘set up a threesome between yourself, you husband (Cody), and yourself later’. 

Old Ben looks far too considering for Luke and Leia’s piece of mind. 

It is Padme who introduces the four dimension travelers, with a brief overview that they were from a different timeline.  Upon Padme introducing Anakin, Luke perks up and goes ‘Oh, you’re my father’

Anakin practically squeals with excitement that he (Luke) must be one of the babies (Padme also got visibly excited and interested in the answer), and asks if he is Luke or Leia.  Luke somewhat blankly answers with his name. A moment passes then Luke goes ‘BABIES???’ At the same time Leia goes ‘LUKE OR LEIA???’

At some point in the midst of this chaos Luke manages to tell Anakin that the Anakin was killed by Darth Vader (and clarifies that Darth Vader was the tall fucker in black). 

Both Anakin and Obi Wan feel the wince in the force coming from Old Ben at that statement. Old Ben, for his part, fully expected to be dead before having to have this conversation on ‘from a certain point of view’ with his niece and nephew. He also did not expect to be having this conversation with another version of himself with three people he had loved and lost to decades earlier. 

Old Ben manages to get out a single ‘from a certain point of view’ before Anakin goes ‘Oh, other me is Vader. I Fell’

Old Ben agrees (which increased the Chaos quite a bit and it takes some time for those revelations to sink in). It is at this point here a minor, but somewhat critical misunderstanding occurs. Once Anakin found out that this universe’s version fell, he muttered that it must have been the torture. Anakin has made an assumption that this Anakin was also captured by the Guard and was tortured until he Fell. Old Ben hears this and assumes that his Anakin was tortured to fall at some point before he killed the younglings (in this one Old Ben never found out why his Anakin fell).  Neither are speaking directly enough about what had happened to catch onto the mistake (both had had time to come to terms with what happened, it still is deeply traumatic and neither really wants to talk about it), though it will be resolved quickly and without real drama. 

Padme asks about her own fate, given that it is clear that neither of her children recognize either of their parents by sight. Old Ben says she died in childbirth. Padme, very used to Obi Wan’s ‘from a certain point of view’, drily asked how much Anakin’s fall contributed to her death.  Old Ben winced and admitted to the choking and throwing. 

Old Ben also admits that he has not seen Cody since Utapau.  No one on the ship is aware of the chips, so no one knows to disagree when Cody goes ‘so I went insane with my brothers’. Old Ben, Cody, and Obi Wan compare notes and realize that the clones ‘going insane’ happened a bit later to Obi Wan then it did to Old Ben.  They come to the erroneous, but understandable, conclusion that Obi Wan’s presence when Order 66 went out (not that they know that is what happened) somehow kept Cody from going crazy. 

On the other side of the ship Padme and Anakin are making a concerted effort to get to know their now adult children. 

Then they arrive at the Rebel base and additional, hilarious chaos. The Rebellion expected the Corellian freighter carrying Leia Organa (and were ecstatic that Leia, at least, survived Alderaan destruction) with R2D2 and C3P0.  They neither expected nor did not expect Han, Chewbacca, and Luke. They very much did not expect the Corellian freighter to be carrying: Presumed dead General Anakin Skywalker, Very officially dead Padme Amidala, not one but two General Obi Wan Kenobi (Possibly dead-no one has seen or heard of him in a decade, still has the highest bounty in the Empire; Also visibly different ages), and Cody (who was supposed to be on a mission somewhere in the Cadavine sector and looking much younger than he should). 

Our four dimension travelers are abjectly overjoyed, as anyone they recognize has been dead a long time as far as they are concerned, to see the people of the rebellion. It is in this set of explanations that there are many revelations. Including, but not limited to: Vader’s fall was not from being tortured (Anakin posits that Vader chose to Fall to try and save Padme, then killed her anyway); The revelation about the chips in the Clones; The revelation of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, twin children of Anakin and Padme. 

The Leaders of the Rebellion starts to recall any Force Sensitives, Clones, and anyone who the four dimension travelers would have recognized. There are many happy reunions (including Old Ben reuniting with the Older Cody; which eventually also results in a foursome with the younger Obi Wan and Cody) As soon as it is clear that the dimension travelers intend to stay, the Rebellion starts to plan how to use having 2 Obi Wans, 2 Codys, a non fallen Anakin, and a living Padme in their fight against the Empire (the propaganda potential alone is glorious).   None of them are really in the position to be on the frontlines, but there is still plenty they can help with.

Anakin does put his foot down, that they will not hide that they come from a different dimension. Some of the rebellion had talked at first at playing that the four had been put into some kind of status (since three of the four were presumed dead, and the fourth was also genetically identical to enough people that the stasis is realistic).  Anakin pointed out that doing that would essentially steal Old Ben and Older Cody’s identity. Plus, and this was the argument that actually worked, hearing that Anakin was a dimensional traveler from a timeline where Anakin chose not to fall AND did not cause his wife’s death would both piss Vader off and, possibly demoralize him.

Anakin and Padme take special missions to squash Vaders psych like a bug.

It works.

[sleepingsun501]

Lipstick Stains

Pairing(s): Captain Rex x F!Reader, Clones x F!Readers

Summary: The 501st is back home on Coruscant, and you and your girlfriends meet them at 79′s to welcome your boys home.

Rating: Explicit 18+

Warnings: Contains SMUT 18+, some fluff, alcohol, thigh grinding, oral sex

A/N: Minors get out of here! This is my first one-shot ever. Thanks to everybody on discord for our conversation today for inspiring this! It focuses mainly on Rex at first, but I tried to write it in a way that you can write expansions off any of the characters and insert readers. Tag me if you expand any of it!

Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/40629618

“Come on! Hurry!” your friend said to you urgently as she tugged on your wrist. “They’ll probably already be there.”

You panted a little from the brisk pace you had been maintaining, in heels no less, and caught a whiff of sweet perfume. You looked to your left and right, surrounded by your friends. The scuff of heels and boots, the quiet jangle of someone’s bracelets, and the excited whispers and giggles emanated from the group of you as you all made your way to 79’s.

You had been relaxing and watching a holo in your apartment when your friend’s message had come over your comm: “The boys are home! 79’s in an hour.”

You had gasped so hard you nearly choked on your popcorn as you scrambled to untangle yourself from your blanket to get dressed. Your heart had pounded with both relief and anxiety as you got ready. Rex was home. But why had he not messaged you himself? Was he okay? Was he upset with you? It had been weeks since you had heard from him, and he had said something about needing to go dark for a mission. Had something happened to him?

You had to push those thoughts out of your mind and focus on the logic. You and Rex had been through scenarios like this before. Your friend would have probably heard from Fives or Jesse, and you were close enough to Fives that he certainly would have messaged you if something had happened to Rex.

After taking a few calming breaths, you had settled on a short, strappy, black satin dress you knew Rex loved and spent a couple of extra minutes doing your hair and makeup. You took extra care to wing your eyeliner a little and apply your favorite shade of lipstick, wanting to look your best. Rex had never cared whether you wore makeup or not, but if you were being perfectly honest with yourself, you hoped that your makeup would be completely ruined by the end of the evening.

Now you found yourself amongst the gaggle of your friends, all of whom were rather attached to the boys of the 501st. The 501st had built a bit of a reputation for themselves as far as clones were concerned, no thanks to their general and his lack of oversight of them while they were on leave.

Rex had briefly mentioned to you before that the general seemed to just vanish once they were planetside on Coruscant, but had said no more on the matter. You could see how it stressed him out, though. Rex was the one that command automatically defaulted to when the general was not present, and he had to have some stern words with some of the men after the last time they were on leave about the shenanigans they had gotten up to.

With 79’s now in sight, and the collective excitement of your group growing, you hoped tonight would not be like that. You hoped it would just be drinks, dancing, laughs, and fun to welcome them all home.

The club’s pounding base and colorful flashing lights created a familiar scene, and you and the other girls found yourselves amongst a swath of identical faces. Well, nearly identical. Some of the clones had different tattoos or armor or hair, but you focused all your might on looking for a distinct shade of cobalt blue paint and a pretty blonde head.

The friend still holding your wrist let go abruptly and shrieked happily as she was swept off her feet and twirled in the air. As she giggled and wrapped her arms around the clone’s neck, you recognized the red medical sigil painted on his spaulder. Kix. Of course. you thought with a smile. Your friend quickly dragged him further onto the dance floor, disappearing into the crowd.

As your eyes returned to scanning, you spotted Fives sitting in a booth in the far corner with his other brothers looking for your group. Two empty beer bottles already sat in front of him, with a third in his hand. He looked exhausted, but his face lit up like a firecracker when he saw you and your friends.

Identical smiles broke out on all of their faces as you and the girls approached. Two of your friends broke off from the group to order some drinks, Tup and Hardcase in tow, while the others made room in the booth.

Fives set his beer down and happily scooped you into a bear hug, pressing you tightly into the freshly scrubbed plastoid of his armor. “Hey there, pretty lady!” he said loudly over the thrumming music.

“Welcome home,” you smiled back. You could smell the alcohol on his breath, but it was not unpleasant. “I’m glad you’re all safe.”

His smile faded a bit, but he nodded. “Me too. It’s good to be back.”

You had expected that. As much as you hated to admit it, not everyone always came back. They had undoubtedly lost brothers on whatever hair-raising mission they had just returned from, and you knew better than to ask about it right away.

“Is Rex—?” you began to ask, but before you could finish, Fives took your hand and spun you in a smoother move than you could have imagined, releasing you right at the end to send you twirling into the waiting arms of your captain.

“Mesh’la,” Rex breathed, burying his face in your neck and hair and wrapping his powerful arms around your waist.

You gasped and felt warm tears sting your eyes as you melted into him. He really was home. You could feel every ripple of every taut muscle under his uniform—his dress greys. Why was he in dress greys? Oh hell, why would care about that now? He was stunning whether he was dressed up, in his armor, or buck naked. You could have sworn the man let off his own glow, like the sun and stars.

Rex inhaled your scent as if he depended on you instead of oxygen, pressing himself as close as he could to you. One of your hands eased over his tense shoulder blade while the other anchored itself to the nape of his neck. His normally buzzed, peach-fuzzy hair was much longer than you remembered it. It curled a little in your fingers as you squeezed, and was so soft that you could not help stroking it a bit.

“Welcome home, baby,” you said as you eased back, grinning from ear to ear at the most handsome man in the GAR. “I missed you so much.”

There were tired circles under his beautiful eyes, a light layer of stubble on his normally clean-shaven face, and a rigidness in his posture that worried you. If your captain was looking this haggard and Fives was already on his third beer, they all must have been through hell. You continued to stroke his hair and marveled at the texture, raking your nails lightly on his scalp. He blinked a few times and you felt a shiver run through him, so he must have liked it.

His dark honey eyes crinkled as he smiled back at you. Despite the clear signs of stress, he was still overjoyed to see you. “I’ve missed you too, my pretty girl. Missed you every single day.”

He leaned down and captured your lips in a tender, longing kiss, cupping your cheek with a warm, calloused hand. He held you to him with the other hand splayed across your lower back as he devoured you. His tongue brushed against your bottom lip, begging for entry, and you quickly parted your lips to let him in. He tasted so good, and he seemed intent on exploring every inch of your mouth before releasing you again.

The kiss left you breathless as you whined into his mouth, and it sent a tingling warm heat radiating from your core out to your limbs. There was a desperation to it that you had not felt in a long time. He nudged your legs apart, slotting and flexing his burly thigh against your center where the heat was quickly pooling. A pleasant shudder ran up your spine as the pressure against your clit increased, and he gripped your waist to steady you.

This was bold for Rex. He had always preferred to wait until you were behind closed doors. But now, here you were, in full view of 79’s and his vode, grinding your aching clit against the muscles in his leg.

It was then you realized that whatever was bothering him and his brothers was better left till morning. You could feel the urgency in his kiss, the silent pleading for you to reciprocate, and his hand guided your hips now as you shifted against him. He would never do anything without your permission, but everything about the way he touched you screamed that he needed you. He needed you now.

As you broke the kiss, his eyes flicked to his brothers and then back to you. It was such a big brother move—making sure his vode were behaving even while he had you ready to fall apart in his arms.

Seizing the opportunity to distract him, you laced his fingers with yours and pulled him toward the back of the club before he could protest. You were not going to wait anymore. If Rex wanted you, you were his.

As you passed your two friends carrying drinks with Tup and Hardcase making their way back to the table, you glanced back over your shoulder at the booth. Fives cracked a knowing grin and winked mischievously at you, pulling one of your friends into his lap. You giggled when you saw her grind her hips down a little and wrap Fives’ arm around her waist while nuzzling up to Echo. Another one of the girls already had her legs draped over Jesse’s lap, and you were certain Kix and his chosen partner for the night were still on the dancefloor.

The girls would make sure they stayed out of any real trouble. If anything, you were probably going to have to make sure Rex never made his way back to the barracks tonight. You knew what chaos would probably ensue there, and the less the good captain knew, the better.

You pushed the refresher door open and dragged Rex inside, quickly locking it behind you. As you turned, you were met with a hungry stare in his amber eyes. You noticed a little smudge of your lipstick on his mouth just before he claimed your mouth again, hoisting you effortlessly into his arms and wrapping your legs around his waist so he could press your back to the door.

Through the starchy material of his dress greys, you could feel how hard he was already. He ground himself roughly into your hips, his cock running halfway up your belly, growling out a sound so low and feral it made you soak your dainty underwear.

“Fuck, mesh’la,” he groaned, his jaw clenched in restraint. “Do you know what you do to me?”

“I do have some idea, yes,” you teased, bracing your forearms on his broad shoulders—fuck, how was he so broad?—and tugging on his short curls.

He nipped at your neck, his teeth grazing over your skin. “Mmmm. Feeling a little sassy tonight, huh?”

“Only for you, Captain.”

He paused. 

Oh shit, you were in trouble. You could feel his control beginning to unravel with the use of his title. He rutted his hips into yours and bit down on the tender flesh of your neck just under your ear, immediately soothing the bite with a gentle lick. His thumb brushed over one of your hardened nipples through the satin of your dress, and you were so glad you had forgone wearing a bra tonight. “Careful, mesh’la. Don’t start something you can’t finish.”

Everything you needed to hear was in his tone. You giggled and unwrapped your legs from his waist, asking to be set back down. You worked the front of his uniform open and you sank to your knees the second your heels clicked on the floor. You palmed him through his trousers before freeing his thick cock, taking him in your hand and stroking him as he leaned his head back and inhaled sharply.

Rex looked back down at you, his eyes both soft and needy. “You’re too good to me, pretty girl.”

You simply smiled in response and flattened your tongue against him as you licked from the base of his throbbing length all the way to the weeping tip. The feeling of him gathering your hair for you and his pleasured moan had your pussy clenching and flooding with need. You felt powerful like this, knowing his earlier warning was futile as you tasted the little bead of precum that had leaked from him. You had always made him finish. He was yours. And his lips would not be the only part of his body stained with your lipstick tonight.

[selanaris]

Working on a clone Batch, and I gave them to Mace's battalion

There is (so far) Rumor, Grunge, Bludgeon, and Synth

Rumor

Has a speakerphone painted on the sides of his helmet

He hears everything in all battalions, often used to settle bets.

Rumor was once called Gossip

Until everyone realized he had a 9/10 chance of being right

And the 1 chance would take a week to correct itself

Rumor can't keep a secret (to the vode) he can keep quiet around natborns, goes into listening mode

He is

ALWAYS LISTENING

Likes to hang around 79s for juice. And to collect bets

Rumor has known about anakin and Padme from day one,

And set up the bets with the 212th and 501st

Let it stew for the betting pool to get bigger

Then collected on it

Then

Grunge

Named for the music that he is always listening to

You can hear it from the outside of his helm, and he plays it out loud while working out

Always loud rock music, he's good friends with Rumor, mostly because they noticed they had similar tattoo and paint designs, Rumor having a speaker and Grunge having a headset on the sides of their helms

Grunge has REALLY long hair, and pins it up on top flat so it looks like he has bangs, It's a pain to keep up and the only thing keep it together is the helm, but he refuses to cut it, nothing hair gel can't fix, Rumor gave it to him to help

he has a nasty scar across his face, from ear to ear wrapped around his lower half of his face

Only his batch knows, on kamino a training grenade blasted right in his face, he managed to cover his eyes, hence why his upper half is unscarred (his arm is scarred though) but his hearing was greatly damaged, he's barely managing and can hear a little, he has aids, but military standard issue, not the best, so he saves charge on them by only using them when necessary, during a mission or briefing,

THAT is why he always plays his music so loud, he loves his music and doesn't want to give it up or waste his hearing aid, so he just turns his music up really loud to hear it

Grunge who can barely hear, rumor who's always listening, and then

Bludgeon

He got his name for using his gun for anything but shooting.

He's just

A really bad aim

Turns out he's actually near sighted but thinks how he sees is normal. They've all accepted it and did eventually get glasses for him, but he constantly forgets it as he's used to not having much sight. He has an eye with a teardrop on it over his visor... when asked if it obstructs his vision... well he barely had it to begin with.

Synth

Grunge's twin, Don't ask how they are twins, Grunge will say they came from the same tube, Synth will say they were decanted at the same time

Synth also enjoys music like Grunge, but he has different tastes in music, Synth is a trained splicer, given extra lessons into it on kamino when he showed skills. He is known for getting secret access to the holonet on kamino.

Give him a datapad and some music, time will be forgotten and he won't get up, or eat... or sleep

Synth has some circut board tattoos around his ear and has his hair short around the sides to buzz new patterns into and keeps his top hair poofed up and curly

[danger-xylophones]

Ice General Part 4 (Rex x reader)

{masterlist}

Warnings: my attempt at writing sparring, female pronouns...that should be it

<- Previous

........................................

“Gentlemen, set your blasters to stun.” 

Never before had such a command, given simply and without any emphasis, sent such unbridled bewilderment shooting down his spine. It caused the captain to freeze for a moment as his fellow clones wasted no time following the Ice general’s order before they collectively pulled on their helmets and took up their stance-aiming for the general. “Ready?” Came Y/n’s smooth voice once more, prompting Rex to jump into action and follow the lead of Commander Fritz who stood across the makeshift battlefield from him. His stance was wide, solid, evidence of the years of training he and his fellow clones had gone through-he seemed oddly calm for someone about to open fire on their own general. “Begin!” And all hell broke loose. Fritz, Empio, Jekyll, Hyde, and Codex opened fire immediately giving Y/n barely any time to react. But react she did, nonetheless. In one fluid movement, she snatched up her lightsabers and ignited the blades before flicking away the blaster bolts like it was nothing, and aiming them back at the soldiers who quickly dodged. Phantom, Boom, and Nexus took a second before catching on to add to the growing chaos. Rex was still lagging behind. This was...an unusual style of sparring for the man. 

“Ay, Captain Rex, you might want to wake up!” Bolt’s perpetual sing-song voice called out to compel Rex to get his act together just in time to flinch out of the way of stun blast zooming towards him. With a readying shake of his head, Rex resolved to at least participate even if he thought this was borderline dangerous. He aimed and fired at the general’s exposed back. She reacted sharply, turning on a dime to slash at the ring formed by the stun shot and sending it into the dirt before whirling around to counter another one and another one. It was here that the circle formed by the clones began to morph and evolve-steadily increasing the pressure on the general. Ice reacted accordingly by growing more and more mobile which made it more difficult for the clone fence to take on a solid and maintainable shape. Without warning, Fritz, Jekyll, and Hyde dove for Ice-catching her, the shinies, and the captain off guard. Y/n was quick to deactivate her sabers so she could dive out of the way of them. Codex, who seemed to figure out what the three older clones were trying to set up, signaled to Nexus and began to fire on Y/n who was forced to twist impossibly to get out of the way of the onslaught of stun shots. Phantom and Boom moved in next but they were lacking coordination and their shots began getting in the way of each other. Rex was about to whistle to get their attention so he could help them with their sloppy form when Empio beat him to it. 

“Phantom, Boom, aim for either side of her-it’ll keep her pinned so she can’t activate her sabers.” The quiet captain barked sharply through the comlink in Rex’s borrowed helmet which startled him given how he had never heard his fellow captain speak any louder than a whisper. He wasn’t able to dwell on it for too long though as Empio’s order came too late. Y/n managed to activate one of her sabers, the green blade returning to its duty of acting as a shield, and she had already begun sending the shots back. Codex didn’t have enough time to dodge. He was the first to go down-defeated by his own deflected stun clipping his calf. Empio let out a curse. Next went Nexus. 

“E and Phantom-move to her six! Boom, Jekyll, with me. Rex with Hyde-he knows what to do.” Fritz’s voice cut through as he darted away. Hyde had just enough time to grumble under his breath before running in the opposite direction of Fritz. Hyde stopped firing and Rex was given the chance to make out Fritz’s plan-pull Y/n’s focus in different directions by splitting the clones into groups where they could bombard her with concentrated fire. Good, but the general had already shown that she could handle deflecting shots from all directions. What was different about this? 

“Captain Rex,” Hyde’s voice crackled through the channel, “Fritz is going to begin by firing on Y/n, Boom and Jekyll have orders to delay their own shots by two seconds. Then E and Phantom will fire on a two-second delay and then us. Got it?” The sergeant’s voice was clipped, clearly portraying his distaste for being paired with Rex. “It’s a new strategy he’s testing out.” He huffed, unamused. Rex blinked. Ah. Great, testing out a new strategy at the moment it would be needed was always a good idea. “There he goes.”

Rex looked away from the sergeant in time to see Commander Fritz fire on the general, followed by Boom and Jekyll. Y/n deflected them well enough. With a pivot of her body that allowed her to keep most of the clones in her visible spectrum, she calmly flicked the shots away including Rex and Hyde’s and took down Boom. It was like she knew that Fritz would try this. Which might explain why Rex suddenly heard Fritz’s voice crackle to life inside the helmet. “Rex, Hyde, E, and Phantom, charge her.” Hyde, Fritz, and Phantom wasted no time and mimicked the early attempted tackle. Y/n, acting purely on instinct raised her hand with two fingers splayed and picked Hyde and Phantom up before pushing them away. The two soldiers skidded on the dirt out of the makeshift ring they had set up meaning they were out. Which meant that now it was down to Empio, Fritz, Jekyll, and Rex. Now that she didn’t have to compete with three soldiers trying to tackle her at the same time, Y/n had enough time to latch on to Empio’s fist. She spun the Captain around to effectively use him as a shield against the continuing bombardment from Fritz and Jekyll. Jekyll wasn’t fast enough in diverting his shot and ended up stunning Empio who crumpled to the ground. Rex heard Fritz grumble under his breath - it appeared as though his plan was falling apart in front of him. Once again, his borrowed helmet crackled to life. “Ok, new plan. Jekyll and I are going to try and pull her focus - Rex, keep your fire concentrated on Ice. Jekyll and I will keep her busy and try and to give you an opening.” Rex barely got a ‘yes, sir’ out before Fritz and Jekyll put the plan in motion. The three all kept their fire trained on the Ice general. Y/n kept up the fight, deflecting each blast as best she could but it was clear that she was getting tired - her strikes were getting sloppy, her turns not as sharp, and the deflections of the stun shots flew wherever they pleased. 

Fritz and Jekyll, true to the commander’s plan, had succeeded in dividing Ice’s attention though by taking up positions on either side of her which forced the young Jedi to rapidly turn on her heel in order to deflect the shots. That left her back open. Rex seized his chance, raising his borrowed blaster he prepared to fire at the Jedi whose back was still turned towards him. The shot rang out. Y/n turned and deflected it. She was tackled to the ground. Fritz was on her back, trying to muscle the lightsabers out of her hands while Jekyll aimed his blaster off to the side of her head. Rex followed his lead. “Do you yield?” Fritz barked out when it became evident Ice couldn’t get out of the pin she was in.

“I...yield.” She sighed and whoops and hollers erupted from the gathered clones. 

“Where does that put us Bolt?” Fritz yelled to the medic already making the rounds through his brothers that had been knocked back or stunned. 

“Clones seven, General five.” Bolt hummed merrily as he helped Empio to his feet. The captain staggered a bit before brushing Bolt off to make him go help the others. Meanwhile, Jekyll and Fritz grabbed Ice’s arms and hauled her to her feet the same time a whispered ‘damnit’ slipped out. 

“Drinks on me the next time we’re on Coruscant then.” She chirped in the monotone way she speaks despite the loss. 

Hyde, who was still sat on the ground snorted inside his helmet. “Drinks are always on you, Ice.” She stuck her tongue out at him. Hyde took the helmet off just to retaliate. And a ghost of a smile slipped onto Ice’s face but it was gone in a flash. 

Ice was looking at him. “That goes for you and your men too, Captain Rex.” Her face betrayed nothing, her tone even less. But before he could stutter out so much as a ‘thank you’, Bolt had intercepted by wrapping her cloak around her (Rex noted he took extra care to not touch her skin and even helped hide any that was exposed). Fritz led her away with a gentle tug on her cloak sleeve with the rest of the men following after. Bolt stayed behind with Rex, wordlessly standing next to him with hands clasped behind his back. 

He didn’t say anything till Codex and Boom were out of earshot. “This was her idea, y’know.” Bolt’s voice cut through the silence. Rex turned to him to find the medic looking at him out of the corner of his eye. “To invite you to therapy.” 

“Therapy?” The modulated sound of Rex’s own voice startled him and he remembered he still had Bolt’s helmet on. He snatched it off of his head. “How is this thera-”

“Course, I’m the one that told her you were awake.” The statement made Rex’s stomach plummet. Bolt turned to face him entirely. “I know you think we’re hiding something from you, Captain. But, believe me, we’re not.” His face fell and Rex was surprised by how small his brother looked in that moment. “We’re trying to forget.” His sing-song voice was quiet. “Will you let us?” 

Bolt plucked his helmet from Rex’s hand and started to walk away and the captain was left wondering what his next move should be.

..........................................

Today was the last day. Tomorrow, the 205th were being shipped out to who knows where and the 501st were going back to Coruscant. Rex should feel excited. Coruscant meant he got the closest thing to a break he, as a captain in the GAR, would ever experience. But he wasn’t. 

Maybe he should’ve felt sad to be parting with the 205th - he could see some of his brothers animatedly chatting with some of the the younger members of Glacier company - but he wasn’t close with anyone. He thought, starting this assignment, he might be close with Fritz but given his strained relationship with the general who seemed closest with Fritz that didn’t seem like an option in the near future. Maybe Jekyll or Hyde? But the same thing that applied to Fritz applied to them. The shinies seemed too scared to talk to him and those in between, neither the shinies or the Veterans, tended to keep a respectful distance. They befriended the other men of the 501st but stayed away from Rex. If he was honest, he felt like a hornet that attacked the queen bee. 

He wanted to resent Ice. But Bolt’s words stopped him. 

And made him want to apologize. So, he went looking for Ice. He didn’t care if they didn’t become friends, he’d be okay ignoring what he suspected was going on between Ice and Fritz, he’d eventually let Jannex 1 go. He would just apologize for making Ice and the Veterans feel uncomfortable and then forget he ever met them. A solid plan...if Ice had been alone. 

As it was, she was with Skywalker and Fritz in the hastily resurrected tent that was serving as the center of operations for the whole mission looking up at the holographic forms of Mace Windu, Yoda, and Ahsoka. Something was happening and Rex immediately began to walk faster. He entered into the darkened tent trying to hide the silent shame clawing its way through him - why didn’t he know there was a meeting going on? 

“Ah, Rex - just in time.” Skywalker greeted him. 

“Sirs.” Rex greeted as professionally as he could with a bow of his head. Y/n turned to look at him but said nothing, just stepped to the side to create a gap between her and Anakin. Which allowed him to walk in a straight line right up to the com they were all gathered around. 

“As I was saying-” Mace Windu picked up where he left off, “I’m sorry to have to do this to the both of you but the presence of the droid army on Elaroth highlighted that a sweep of the nearby Outer Rim planets would be well advised.” 

“Accompany, Y/n L/n for the first few, you will, Skywalker.” Yoda added on upon noticing the growing confusion on the young knight’s face. 

“With all due respect, masters, my battalion should be able to handle a sweep on our own. I know that the 501st is long overdue on leave.” Ice piped up without warning, admittedly startling Rex as he had quite forgotten that she was standing right next to him. 

“Know this, we do, young L/n.” Yoda began in a gentle voice. “Suggested that Skywalker accompany you, it was, by Master Mundi.” 

Something shifted and all present felt it. Rex chanced a glance at Ice’s face and it looked like she’d seen a ghost. Or been stabbed. 

“M-” her voice cracked and Y/n cut herself off to clear her throat, “may I ask why my master would do such a thing?” Her voice was measured but even Rex could hear the underlying venom that dripped from each word. Wordlessly, Mace Windu and Yoda turned to Ahsoka whose hologram reached forward as if to press a button. A moment later, the image of a planet placidly spinning appeared before them. 

Yoda looked right at Y/n. “To Jannex 1, you must go.” 

Taglist: 

@tararuthven / @questforgalas / @000ayfh / @pinkiemme / @obi-robi-kenobi / @apocalypticwafflekitten / @cherryxcyarika / @justalittlecloud 

Notes: 

Gasp :0, me, actually working on my multi-part fics? 

Next -> (Coming at some point)

[jediknightmcardle]

Suns of Tattooine

My first fic. I am marking this Explicit NSFW 18+ because of the smut in later chapters and the cussing. I want to Thank @nightsisterct7567​ for her help and encouragement, with out you this wouldn’t of happened. 

I would like to hear everyone’s thoughts on this. I hope you enjoy!

Suns of Tattooine, Chapter 1

Just like before, this time will be no different. When the drop ship comes in for a landing, you know that no one will be waiting for you. Your fellow soldiers and brothers all have wives, kids, parent’s, hell one even has his Aunt and Uncle coming to see him. For you though, nothing. Not that it upsets you, you are used to it. It’s been this way since you first left your home planet, when the call came out to help the Republic. You heard that call and was part of a non-clone unit assigned to fight the CIS.  

On this return back, this was for a block leave for your unit. After spending months on the front backing up clone units on Christophsis. We didn’t have a luxury of special training or fancy armor that the clones had. Hell, we didn’t even have a Jedi to lead us. Our Commander was one of us, except he bought his commission and had little to no combat experience.  

After all that hard fighting, we finally get a few weeks off to blow off steam. First place you go is your tiny apartment in town. Dump your bag and hit the shower.  

“Kriff... how long has it been since you have felt warm water on your body”.  

After taking a shower long enough to use up the hot water in the place, it was time to get out to your favorite drinking hole. Not a flashy place by any means, actually more like a dump but the drinks are cheap and everyone leaves you alone.  

Last time you were home, no one bothered you about the war, last thing you want is to talk about it. They wouldn’t understand even if you told them. Most people only want to hear about the Jedi and Clones anyway, they have their own following too.  

You arrive at Screed’s; still looks like the dump you remember from the last time you were home. You enter the bar and try and find a place to sit, preferably alone. Motion to the bartender for a drink, Nik knows you from over the years and knows that you order the same thing every time. Just as you like it, no extra talking.  

Nik hands your drink off to the waitress, who proceeds to bring it over and place it in front of you. “Thanks”, as she puts it down. “Don’t mention it handsome, it’s not every day we have a war hero in here”. You sigh, “yeah big hero alright”. You think to yourself, “can’t she just not do this right now”.  

A couple hours and a few drinks later, you start to feel a little more “human”. Even have had a couple quick conversations with people in the bar, mostly about what is going on here. Moisture farming mostly. Ugh moisture farming, before the war that is what you did. Helped out on a couple farms just outside of town. You joined up to fight to get out of this place. Yet here you are, back home again.  

As you sit and dwell on your thoughts, the door opens and figure stands in the door. You look over to catch a glimpse, the person appears to be female but you can’t really tell because of the sun glare coming in the door.  

“In or out, but you need to get out of the door” yells over the bartender. Just then the figure makes its way into the establishment. As the door closes you get a better look, you almost drop your drink. It was indeed a woman, but not just any woman. Possibly one of the most beautiful women you have laid eyes on. Flowing red hair with the most striking eyes.  

“Have I been in combat too long?” you think to yourself as you continue to stare at her as she walks down to the bar. She glances over and notices you staring at her, but doesn’t pay it no mind. It’s not like you are the only one looking, at once everyone in the establishment stopped and collectively stared at her.  

As she approached the bartender, she reached into pouch on her belt and pulled out a holo disk.  

“Barkeep, have you seen this man” she asks as she lights up the holo disk. “No, no I haven’t. He hasn’t come in here. It’s all regulars in here.” She turns from the bar, with the holo disk still going. Looking around the bar, “1000 credits for anyone who can tell me where I can find him” she says out loud. The response is mostly grumbling and they go back to their drinks. She notices you looking over and checking her out. “Hey you, have you seen this guy?” she asks as she heads towards you. Quickly you focus back on your drink.  

“Kriff, why me? Why does she need to bother me.” You think to yourself.

“No, I haven’t seen that guy, I just want to be left alone.” you say out loud to her. She stops right at the edge of your table, and looks right at you. “Are you sure friend? You didn’t take much of a look.” she says to you. You continue staring at your drink, not daring to look up at her knowing full well that she is by far one of the most beautiful women you have seen and don’t want to embarrass yourself.  

“No, no, no, she can’t be that beautiful, it’s your mind playing tricks on you. Has to be. Maybe the sun has bleached your brain” Has to be that you think to yourself.  

SMACK, you get jolted out of your thoughts as she slams her hand down on the table. “Look buddy, I’m talking to you. There are a lot of credits if you could help me out.”.  

You sigh deeply, and start to look up at her, you notice she is wearing armor with some sort of jump suit under it. Almost Mandalorian ish but not really, and missing the helmet for sure. As your eyes keep moving up, you notice the curves in her hips first, then her chest. You don’t know how she keeps those breasts in that top but my gods. You finally look at her face and the first thing you notice is her eyes, her pale skin and flowing red hair.  

SMACK, again she smacks the table and you come back to reality. “Look buddy you’re not the first guy to check me out like that, but I’m not here to get laid. I want to get paid, so how about you help a girl out and tell me where he is?”  

You take a swig from your drink, wipe your mouth then motion to the bartender to send over another drink. “Look doll, I can give you some advice. I would keep yourself covered up here.” She looks back stunned, “Why? Do you think someone might try and man handle me?” she laughs out loud. “I have dealt with my share of men, meaner than anyone in this dust bowl.” she snorts back. “No doll, I mean because with the twin suns here, your pale skin will burn in about a minute out there. But if you want to walk around with your skin out, by all means go ahead.” you chuckle back at her.  

She steps back, with a bit of a shocked look on her face. Like she isn’t use to guys talking to her as a human being. “Well, um. Thanks. BTW where did you serve?” she says as she nods to the tattoo on your left arm. “Christophsis, we were brought in to support the 501st and the 212th clone battalions. I am just on leave and scheduled to go back to the front in a couple weeks.” you explain.  

The bartender interrupts the tention by bringing over a couple drinks and puts them down on the table. “Well looks like the man has brought you a drink, I guess you should pull up a seat and join me. You can tell me about where you are from and how you became a bounty hunter.” as you motion to the chair beside her.  

For the next couple hours, you both ended up chatting it up, trading war stories. Lots of laughing and comparing visible scars. You both lose track of the outside world while you drink and talk.  

“My gods she’s beautiful, why would she be still here talking to me, you think to yourself. I must be hallucinating” you think.  

“What makes you think your bounty is here?” you ask.  

She looks surprised as if she almost forgot she was on the job and not out for a good time. “We first my tracking fob brought me here, but he booked passage thru this system and I think he stayed. Trying to throw me off his trail.” She speaks. “Why did you come back here instead of going to another system like Scarif or Naboo?”  

“Well, those are the systems the clones go to, I don’t want to be around them. I have to fight with them but I want my time for me. Plus, have you seen how women go gaga over them? Makes me sick.” you reply with a disgusted look on your face.  

As you look at her, she giggles. “Yeah, I know all about it. They are kind of cute though.....” as she laughs. You look back down at your drink and say “This is why I came here, I figured if I want to be lonely, I should just go home instead of somewhere else in a crowd of people. At least here people will leave me alone because that’s what we do here, not drooling over some guys made in a test tube.”  

“Kriff stop feeling sorry for yourself” you think. “This is not what she would want to hear.”

“What were you planning to do after you were done here at the bar?” she asks.  

“I don’t know, haven’t really thought that far yet. Maybe go to the edge of town, slaughter some Jawa’s?” you say with a chuckle.  

She looks a little concerned at first, but then realizes the joke in your tone.  

“To be honest, I planned to come here, drink then go home and crash. Rinse and repeat daily” with a bit more of a serious tone this time. “My plans though are out the window as I never planned to meet a beautiful woman today”.  

You both stop and look at each other, “Kriff what did I just say, dumbass, why would you say that? Now she is going to think you are a weirdo.” you think to yourself.  

As you look up at her, you notice she starts to crack a bit of a smile. “Well show me this woman, I would love to meet her.” she says while smiling. You crack a bit of a smile after that comment. “Look let’s get out of here, I hear the setting of the twin suns is something to behold and I have never seen it before” she comments.  

You think to yourself,” ugh I have seen these hundreds of times, but I guess we should.”  

[sw-fixit-of-the-week]

by Jen425

Shadow Warriors AU. Padme is given a choice, follow her heart or protect the Republic...

And she chooses the Republic.

And in doing so, she saves it.

…After all, shattered minds may reveal more than you even knew was there.

(Note: This story is actually a collection of shorter stories that all occur in the same universe and tie into each other. For the purposes of this post, I incorporated all of the tags, categories, and warnings in the collection, and marked it at the highest rating. However, the stories range from fairly light g-rated pieces to incredibly dark and violent works. I encourage anyone interested to browse all the stories in the collection and review their tags and ratings.)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Major Character Death, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con

Categories: F/M, Other, M/M, F/F

Characters: Dooku | Darth Tyranus, Padmé Amidala, Darth Maul, Savage Opress, Ahsoka Tano, Asajj Ventress, CT-21-0408 | Echo, CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555, Bail Organa, Jedi Council, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda (Star Wars), Mace Windu, Plo Koon, Shaak Ti, Luke Skywalker, Mentioned Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, mentioned Rey (Star Wars), Mon Mothma, CT-7567 | Rex, R2-D2 (Star Wars), Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, Cut Lawquane, The 501st, Anakin Skywalker | Darth Vader, Leia Organa, Han Solo, Father (The Clone Wars), Jar Jar Binks

Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala & Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano & Asajj Ventress, Ahsoka Tano/Asajj Ventress, Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker & Bail Organa, CT-7567 | Rex & Anakin Skywalker, CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555 & Anakin Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker & Mace Windu, Padmé Amidala & Bail Organa, Cut Lawquane & CT-7567 | Rex, CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555 & CT-7567 | Rex, Padmé Amidala & Mon Mothma & Bail Organa, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Mace Windu, R2-D2 & Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala & CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555, Anakin Skywalker & Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Luke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker | Darth Vader, Padmé Amidala & Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker & The Council, CT-21-0408 | Echo & Anakin Skywalker, CT-21-0408 | Echo/CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555, 501st Legion & Anakin Skywalker, Dooku & Anakin Skywalker, Darth Maul & Savage Opress, Dooku & Yoda

Additional Tags: Shadow Warriors AU, Episode: S4e4 Shadow Warriors, Angst, Padme chooses the Republic, Dooku has a horrible plan, War, prisoners of war, I struggle with Padme's POV, I'm Sorry, Introspection, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Protective Obi-Wan, Padme made her choice even if it will haunt her forever, Dysfunctional Family, ...pretty much defines Star Wars in two words, Anakin and Padme are as subtle as a brick to the face, And they know it, Lightsabers, Jedi Culture, A not-so-happy reminder that Dooku used to be a Jedi, Pre-Femslash, Spin-Off, Pre-Relationship, Torture, Psychological Torture, Mind Rape, The only rape is mind rape, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Anakin Skywalker: Infinite Pain, Force Visions, kind of, Mortis (Star Wars), Anakin is not in a good place right now, Minor Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Anakin is betrayed up until he find out what HE would do to HER, Poor Anakin, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, all those character tags except the first two are for Mortis, (duh), The Author Regrets Everything, Aftermath of Torture, Hurt/Comfort, This is probably a fix-it, but right now it's just making Anakin's life worse, Anakin has a crappy life, Why do I do this to him?, Eventual Fix-It, Why Did I Write This?, Anakin Skywalker knows he has issues, Anakin Skywalker is not in a good place right now, Anakin uses his brain, ...Kinda, Anakin is still in a really terible place right now, and lying to everyone about the extent of it, Angst with a Happy Ending, Kinda, Anakin still needs that hug, and he's still failing at Jedi-ing, Mentions of murder torture genocide and all the other things Vader did, and some very subtle obitine, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Again, Multiple Times, Tags Are Hard, Hugs don't count if you're the one giving them, Yelling at the Council is fun, Jedi Code, Child Soldiers, General Ahsoka, The Jedi are stupid, Anakin calls the Council on their shit, Anakin is lying to himself again, Ahsoka deserves none of this, neither does Anakin, Suicidal Thoughts, ...but they're very brief, breif mention of, Clone Rights, Umbara, Zygeria, Terrorists, I really hate the Council, Ecxept Obi-Wan, And Yoda, ...sometimes, The start of the Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Anakin is starting to consider actually SURVIVING his fight with Sidious, It's slow going, Anakin works best when he knows how to protect his family, Anakin Skywalker Has Issues, he's trying, He's also trying to protect Ahsoka from his issues, He's failing, Ahsoka is Anakin's daughter, Anakin is a good dad, the Big Reveal (not), Sheev is a creep, and Anakin is questioning everything again, but that’s not entirely bad, how much was Palpatine’s fault?, Anakin doesn’t know, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, Hardeen arc, fighting with Dooku and Magna gaurds is the last thing Anakin needs, Force exhaustion, Obi-Wan is trying, but he tried hard in Canon too, Past Mind Rape, Anakin isn't doing well here people, Setup, a lot of setup, Anakin still being in that horrible place right now, Delegation of 2000, Clone Rebellion, Mace Windu hates Anakin, and Anakin knows this, Artoo is awesome, Force-Sensitive Clones, and droids, Artoo and Fives are Force sensitive. fight me, Clones are way more aware than the Jedi, and the 501st would like to join me in hating the Council, Except Plo Obi-Wan Shaak ti and sometimes Yoda, Alternate Universe - Anakin Skywalker Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Fix-It, Suicide Attempt, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, The 501st love their General, ...s, I still hate the Jedi, Order 66, ...Kinda, Force-Sensetive Fives, Final Battle, these tags are a mess, time-travel, (kinda), Anakin's extra-weird Force Visions, Scenes that I wanted from TLJ, Alternate Timelines, Brief suicidal thoughts, Forgiveness, It's harder to forgive yourself, Force Ghosts, Slight breaking of the fourth wall, This was supposed to be crack, it's NOT crack, Post Fix-It, Past Suicide Attempt, After Many Hours of Meditation, Mace Windu Has Discovered that the Jedi had been cruel to Anakin, and continuing down that path would lead to someone's death, how is Ahsoka so well-adjusted, Ahsoka Tano-centric, Ahsoka Tano Needs a Hug, Anakin is tryiNG, Anakin Skywalker ALSO Needs a Hug, Anakin calling bullshit, Windu not being terrible, Anakin is very literal, This is why I like writing out of order, jedi politics, the jedi treated Anakin like shit okay?, What is this?, The Never-Ending Council Meeting, (Don’t worry this isn’t its only appearance), Anakin finally GETS that hug, Cuddling & Snuggling, Platonic Cuddling, Healing, Healing takes time, Complicated Relationships, Conversation with a capital C, Jedi Apprentice references, Anakin is STILL not in a very good place right now, Padme is trying, Anakin is just a mess, Ahsoka is wonderful, honestly this normalcy is so wonderful for Anakin right now, and then he gets work shoved into his lap, Anakin is a shipper, Sith Shenanigans, Anakin Does. Not. NEED THIS!!!!!, Dooku is an ass, Anakin is an Idiot, but he's not exactly thinking straight here so..., Anakin is a mess, Kind of..., Crack Treated Seriously, council meetings, shady politics, Nightmares, Recovery, Mind Rape Aftermath, I accidentally made the same thing happen twice, when clones act like Jedi something is Wrong, happy endings, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, except Grievous and Palps, but who actually cares about either of them?

[freenewstoday]

New Post has been published on https://freenews.today/2021/01/01/sars-cov-2-is-following-the-evolutionary-rule-book/

SARS-CoV-2 is following the evolutionary rule book

Jan 2nd 2021

NATURAL SELECTION is a powerful force. In circumstances that are still disputed, it took a bat coronavirus and adapted it to people instead. The result has spread around the globe. Now, in two independent but coincidental events, it has modified that virus still further, creating new variants which are displacing the original versions. It looks possible that one or other of these novel viruses will itself soon become a dominant form of SARS–CoV-2.

Knowledge of both became widespread in mid-December. In Britain, a set of researchers called the Covid-19 Genomics uK Consortium (COG–UK) published the genetic sequence of variant B.1.1.7, and NERVTAG, a group that studies emerging viral threats, advised the government that this version of the virus was 67-75% more transmissible than those already circulating in the country. In South Africa, meanwhile, Salim Abdool Kalim, a leading epidemiologist, briefed the country on all three television channels about a variant called 501.v2 which, by then, was accounting for almost 90% of new covid-19 infections in the province of Western Cape.

Britain responded on December 19th, by tightening restrictions already in place. South Africa’s response came on December 28th, in the wake of its millionth recorded case of the illness, with measures that extended a night-time curfew by two hours and reimposed a ban on the sale of alcohol. Other countries have reacted by discouraging even more forcefully than before any travel between themselves and Britain and South Africa. At least in the case of B.1.1.7, though, this has merely shut the stable door after the horse has bolted. That variant has now been detected in a score of countries besides Britain—and from these new sites, or from Britain, it will spread still further. Isolated cases of 501.v2 outside South Africa have been reported, too, from Australia, Britain, Japan and Switzerland.

So far, the evidence suggests that despite their extra transmissibility, neither new variant is more dangerous on a case-by-case basis than existing versions of the virus. In this, both are travelling the path predicted by evolutionary biologists to lead to long-term success for a new pathogen—which is to become more contagious (which increases the chance of onward transmission) rather than more deadly (which reduces it). And the speed with which they have spread is impressive.

The first sample of B.1.1.7 was collected on September 20th, to the south-east of London. The second was found the following day in London itself. A few weeks later, at the beginning of November, B.1.1.7 accounted for 28% of new infections in London. By the first week of December that had risen to 62%. It is probably now above 90%.

Variant 501.V2 has a similar history. It began in the Eastern Cape, the first samples dating from mid-October, and has since spread to other coastal provinces.

The rapid rise of B.1.1.7 and 501.v2 raises several questions. One is why these particular variants have been so successful. A second is what circumstances they arose in. A third is whether they will resist any of the new vaccines in which such store is now being placed.

The answers to the first of these questions lie in the variants’ genomes. COG–UK’s investigation of B.1.1.7 shows that it differs meaningfully from the original version of SARS–COV-2 in 17 places. That is a lot. Moreover, several of these differences are in the gene for spike, the protein by which coronaviruses attach themselves to their cellular prey. Three of the spike mutations particularly caught the researchers’ eyes.

One, N501Y, affects the 501st link in spike’s amino-acid chain. This link is part of a structure called the receptor-binding domain, which stretches from links 319 to 541. It is one of six key contact points that help lock spike onto its target, a protein called ACE2 which occurs on the surface membranes of certain cells lining the airways of the lungs. The letters in the mutation’s name refer to the replacement of an amino acid called asparagine (“N”, in biological shorthand) by one called tyrosine (“Y”). That matters because previous laboratory work has shown that the change in chemical properties which this substitution causes binds the two proteins together more tightly than normal. Perhaps tellingly, this particular mutation (though no other) is shared with 501.V2.

Golden spike

B.1.1.7’s other two intriguing spike mutations are 69-70del, which knocks two amino acids out of the chain altogether, and P681H, which substitutes yet another amino acid, histidine, for one called proline at chain-link 681. The double-deletion attracted the researchers’ attention for several reasons, not the least being that it was also found in a viral variant which afflicted some farmed mink in Denmark in November, causing worries about an animal reservoir of the disease developing. The substitution is reckoned significant because it is at one end of a part of the protein called the S1/S2 furin-cleavage site (links 681-688), which helps activate spike in preparation for its encounter with the target cell. This site is absent from the spike proteins of related coronaviruses, such as the original SARS, and may be one reason why SARS–CoV-2 is so infective.

The South African variant, 501.v2, has only three meaningful mutations, and all are in spike’s receptor-binding domain. Besides N501Y, they are K417N and E484K (K and E are amino acids called lysine and glutamic acid). These two other links are now the subject of intense scrutiny.

Even three meaningful mutations is quite a lot for a variant to have. Just one would be more usual. The 17 found in B.1.1.7 therefore constitute a huge anomaly. How this plethora of changes came together in a single virus is thus the second question which needs an answer.

The authors of the COG–UK paper have a suggestion. This is that, rather than being a chance accumulation of changes, B.1.1.7 might itself be the consequence of an evolutionary process—but one that happened in a single human being rather than a population. They observe that some people develop chronic covid-19 infections because their immune systems do not work properly and so cannot clear the infection. These unfortunates, they hypothesise, may act as incubators for novel viral variants.

The theory goes like this. At first, such a patient’s lack of natural immunity relaxes pressure on the virus, permitting the multiplication of mutations which would otherwise be culled by the immune system. However, treatment for chronic covid-19 often involves what is known as convalescent plasma. This is serum gathered from recovered covid patients, which is therefore rich in antibodies against SARS–CoV-2. As a therapy, that approach frequently works. But administering such a cocktail of antibodies applies a strong selection pressure to what is now a diverse viral population in the patient’s body. This, the CoG–UK researchers reckon, may result in the success of mutational combinations which would not otherwise have seen the light of day. It is possible that B.1.1.7 is one of these.

The answer to the third question—whether either new variant will resist the vaccines now being rolled out—is “probably not”. It would be a long-odds coincidence if mutations which spread in the absence of a vaccine nevertheless protected the virus carrying them from the immune response raised by that vaccine.

This is no guarantee for the future, though. The swift emergence of these two variants shows evolution’s power. If there is a combination of mutations that can get around the immune response which a vaccine induces, then there is a fair chance that nature will find it.■

Editor’s note: Some of our covid-19 coverage is free for readers of The Economist Today, our daily newsletter. For more stories and our pandemic tracker, see our hub

This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Variations on a theme”

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[resistancepilots]

please join @aheartmadeofkyber and me for some Quality Thoughts:

the clones def get all the Propositions when on leave okay. and people have def asked a clone for an autograph on questionable parts of their bodies. ‘just sign my boob, please, i don’t have a pen—’

there is SO MUCH CONFUSION. (also maybe esp bc tattoos are so !! for the clones?) but also like, why would you want me to sign there. i mean i'll do it but like, why???

it's okay though bc the owner of said boob is v willing to Explain. in Detail

someone out there absolutely has the signature traced for a tattoo. there's always one. this is a relatively frequent experience for the clones

wolffe has a Lot. rex too—rex is SUPER popular. and FIVES.  

KIX DOES TOO OKAY HIS EYES ARE ALL BIG AND CARING, THEY DRAW PEOPLE IN LIKE THOSE FLOWERS THAT EAT BUGS. KIX TRIES TO ENCOURAGE LESS EXTREME ACTS OF DEVOTION. IT WORKS, SOMETIMES. BUT NOT ALWAYS. 

he signs and is all “dont make this permanent, alright? that's not—” and the person in question just nods along and goes to snog him, surreptitiously covering the signature with protective tape for preservation and future tattoo purposes. which. relatable;;

but also..clones bang someone and see tape that's meant to cover an existing tat and Know what it is askjadskjkjsdhjd

rex takes a surprising lot of it in stride because listen, have you met anakin skywalker?? do you know how Extra that man is?? and that’s when he’s trying to keep his marriage a SECRET. after anakin, this is all Very Tame. 

but that possibly means the 212th is more Shocked and Scandalized. the first time cody meets somebody who has his signature tattooed on, he is EXTREMELY perplexed. 

the lines are very clean which is very impressive considering the very odd angle he had to stand at to put it there but why would you want to do that???

OBI WAN DIDNT PREPARE THEM FOR THESE KIND OF NON-CLONES and quite frankly is just as puzzled

obi wan finding out—maybe some of the 501st are with obi and his men for a mission so they’re there too and are all Super Chill about it while the 212th is just like What. there is so much confusion. 

meanwhile the 501st boys are enjoying the attention and a fair few have mastered the Fine Art of Flirt and it's all VERY fascinating. 212th boys are more just adorably confused but Going With It, and the 501st is collectively encouraging them 

drunk waxer sees Obi Wan and is def like WHY WON’T U SIGN MY BOOB GENERAL

[bongaboi]

Revons Plus Grand, Chapter 20

Revons Plus Grand

Chapter 20:

Move!

Hikari Karibuchi loved running. And on days where she didn't need to mind anything happening to Georgette Lemare and Sadako Shimohara, all she did was run, run and run some more. Every morning, she took the same route, going through all 20 arrondissements of Paris, passing through old buildings, bridges passing over the Seine, called Sequana in Latin, crossing churches, temples, cafes, restaurants, parks, and casual passers-by walking or driving to work.

All in all, her daily run lasted four hours before she returned home for lunch, served by her big sister and partner, Takami. Afternoons and evenings would be spent doing photography followed by attending either a sports event or a concert or function open to the public. The started at eight and finished by noon, and Hikari paced every run so that she started and finished on time.

"Hikari, you got a message from Jose," Takami said as Hikari walked in, dressed in just a tank top and boyshorts after showering.

"What is it?"

"She's given us the training schedules for the teams. Apparently, the men have a cup match tomorrow against some team from the second division, and it is said that the team they lost to plays next door. All the women are doing are regular training as they don't have matches this week."

"Let me see the schedules." Hikari swiped to see the details.

Men's Team

Monday, February 27th 2017

Training session closed to media

Tuesday, February 28th 2017

Training session closed to media

01:30 PM: Press conference with Unai Emery (live on PSG TV) - Ooredoo Training Centre

Wednesday, March 1st 2017 - Stade René Gaillard

09:00 PM: Chamois Niortais - Paris Saint-Germain

Coupe de France - Round of 16

Thursday, March 2nd 2017

Training session closed to media

Friday, March 3rd 2017 - Ooredoo Training Centre

01:30 PM: Press conference with Unai Emery (live on PSG TV)

03:30 AM: Training session opened to media for first 15 minutes

Saturday, March 4th 2017 - Parc des Princes

05:00 PM: Paris Saint-Germain - AS Nancy Lorraine

Ligue 1 - Week 28

Sunday, March 5th 2017

Training session closed to media

Women's Team

Monday, February 27th 2017

Training session closed to media

Tuesday, February 28th 2017

Training session closed to media

Wednesday, March 1st 2017

Training session closed to media

Thursday, March 2nd 2017

Training session closed to media

Friday, March 3rd 2017

Training session closed to media

Saturday, March 4th 2017

Training session closed to media

Sunday, March 5th 2017

Training session closed to media

"Jose also says, in this message, that the reason that there is only training for PSG's women is because a number of players are on national team duty. Eve Perisset, Marie-Laure Delie, Amandine Henry and Onema Geyoro play for France, who are mostly made up of Olympique Lyonnais players."

"Lyon are that good huh?" Takami asked.

"Yep, and it seems that they are the bulk of the French women's national team. That's why there are no games this week."

"I wonder what Jose thinks of the international break through..."

"I am just disappointed that Baltland-er, Sweden is not taking part," said Georgette to Sadako as the two girls watched the players practice. In several minutes, Unai Emery would be fielding questions ahead of their Coupe de France tie.

"How so?"

"From what I know, it was the Blagult that eliminated the USA, or Liberion, from defending their Olympic gold medal. Karlsland, or Germany, are the defending champions."

"Sweden are apparently in another tournament. It would be unsurprising for the USWNT to score another win over Germany, given their form after Rio," said Sadako, as they returned to arranging materials insider the cozy confines of the Ooredoo Training Centre. "They've been back to their winning form again and Germany's gonna have it tough."

"However," Georgette said, "I am sure that France will deliver a statement win over England and remind the favorites that they're not as good as they think." A giggle.

"Such confidence..."

"I just realized something, tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. Well, I don't really gorge on red meat that often anyway."

"Neither do I, but I think the fried fish is on sale during this time."

"So are the pommes frites. The reason why Shirley and the people in Liberion call our pommes frites, French fries or Gallian fries is because the dish originated in Belgica and northern Gallia, which is here."

"Oh, that explains it really well. I thought Brittania was known for their chips."

"Nope, that was brought over by us. As the story goes, two peers of mine, Isabelle du Monceau de Bergendal and Rosalie de Hemricourt de Grunne often debate on which topping to use on fries. Isabelle, whose family owns a chip shop in London, argues that aioli is the sine qua non of condiments and is irreplaceable. Rosalie is from Etterbeek, near Brussels, and she says that Bicky, a commercially-made mayo blend, is the sauce of the people, with Joppie a close second."

"What about you, Jose?"

"I like mine's ready salted. I don't deal with sauces. They go well with steak, though, so if I have to add something, it must be a carbonnade flammade."

"You weren't kidding when you said Gallians are people of taste and culture. It's true."

"Believe me when I say this: Gallia, Belgica, and Helvetia are the chocolate belt. The best chocolate in the world comes from these three countries. Romagna, is terms of its decadence, has only Nutella to thank." An impish giggle.

"Hey, are you just taking a playful shot at Lucchini? What if she hears you via the cat tracker?" Fortunately, Francesca Lucchini was on assignment helping out the Red Pants in relief back home.

"I don't sense her presence on the other side. She's busy helping her own folks."

"Whew. But try not to sell any of the 501st short, they are a tough act to follow, you know?"

"All in fun, don't be so serious." Jose looked in the distance. "The real serious business in March starts tomorrow for the boys." Thiago Motta, Adrien Rabiot, Marco Verratti, Hatem Ben Arfa and Angel Di Maria sat out this contest, allowing Giovani Lo Celso and Grzegorz Krychowiak to leave an impression against the Ligue 2 outfit.

Georgette and Sadako spent the following evening watching everything work about according to plan for the most part. Niort proved to be a test for Paris, and the inclement weather made the match a crapshoot, evening the playing field and destroying it. But even when it seemed that the match was destined for extra time Paris went on to win the game 2-0 on late goals from Javier Pastore and Edinson Cavani to go with urgent defending for a majority of the contest.

The French women's national team also rallied with late goals in the She Believe Cup, with Wendie Renaud scoring a winner in the fifth minute of second half stoppage time for a 2-1 win over England. The only minus was that Monaco also won, defeated Marseille 4-3 in a back-and-forth shootout that went into extra time.

But the highlight of the night came during the quarterfinal draw. "In the draw, the team out of the pot...US Avranches of the Championnal National. And their opponent...Paris Saint-Germain!" exclaimed the presented.

Georgette, clad in just her regular underwear with blue straps and bows, hugged a glomping Sadako, who was in a shirt and shorts and side-tie panties. "They're heading to my place, Sada!" exclaimed Jose, sprouting her ears and tail in happiness. "They're heading to my place!"

"Is it that close to Barenton?" asked Sadako.

"Barenton is 45 minutes away from Avranches. They are in the same Manche department. And, they are my designated home team as a result."

"Do you support them, though?"

A finger to her lips and a wink. "I want them to do well, just not against our boys!"

"Diplomacy. That's why being your woman is the greatest thing that ever happened to me."

"To be fair, I would have loved to take on Strasbourg instead because the desserts in the Alsace are supposed to be incomparable."

"Racing aren't very good at converting all their kicks, though."

"Blood and thunder, that's what they say about tournaments like this. It takes a different type of player and team to progress very far and win it all."

The cat tracker meowed. "Nyaaaawwrw!" On cue, the monitor showed Gundula Rall, Waltrud Krupinski and Edytha Rossman eating steak-frites while having some spiced hot cider. "Good early morning, both of you," Commander said, waving. "How are you!"

"C...Commander, good early morning but we are underdressed!" Jose quickly drabbed a PSG track jacket to cover herself. "Really, Commander, you shouldn't sneak up on us like that!"

"Heard your teams won," said the Countess. "Good news. As for us...Shirley's team got ahead 1-0. A person by the name of Lynn Williams scored for Liberion. But the worse news gets worse for Nao, Yoshika and you, Sadako. Angela's team, Hispania, defeated Fusou 2-1 in the Algarve Cup, which is held in Portugal, according to data collected from our X-11."

"I thought they had gotten their act together, now Spain is winning matches," Sadako groaned.

Gundula giggled. "You're in Gallia, so just back them instead because we all know that the USA is going to, for all intents and purposes, win the She Believes Cup, which is a rather flaterring name for a tournament that should really be called Women's Four Nations Football Championship."

"Don't you think that sounds mundane, though?" Edytha asked Gundula. "A tournament involving the best of the best should have a meme for a name."

On another smaller screen, a chant rang out. "I! I! I Believe! I Believe! I Believe That! I Believe That! I Believe That We! I Believe That We! I Believe That We Will Win! I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN! I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN! I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN! I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!"

"See?" asked Edytha. "This is the origin of the name She Believes Cup."

"Oh, well, it's very self-explanatory and as expected of the data collected by our Neuroi Girl. And, like in Gallia, it's also raining."

"And we thought Niort was bad," Jose lamented. "Chester is worse."

"A suburb of the city of Philadelphia," Sadako added. "Oh, the match finished. 1-0. Ugh...did you see that failed attempt from Lynn. It has to be amateur hour out there."

"Well, at least France won."

"And Paris too. By the way, I am inspired to sing a song about our trip to Avranches, if Mr. Benoit says we can accompany the team next month."

"Oh? You want, to, um, sing it?" Jose whispered, purring. In the background, a karaoke track was playing.

"Here it goes..."

"Monday morning drive.

130 on D47,

The morning becomes the night.

Need you here again.

Georgette, I still believe

In love and you and me.

You got the shotgun.

And we're heading out to the sea.

Georgette, I still believe

In love and living free.

Nothing else matters

Because you are here with me.

So give your love to me.

Avranches is worlds away.

Full speed ahead with reckless abandon.

I got the key to your heart

And I'll open up to you!

Because I still believe

Georgette was meant for me.

Angel from heaven,

Truth is that you're still here with me.

Georgette, I still believe

In love and living free.

Nothing else matters

Because you are here with me.

So give your love to me.

Georgette, I still believe

In love and you and me.

We are together

And our love is our destiny.

Georgette belongs to me!"

"So," said Sadako with a smile, "did you like it?" Georgette was blushing madly, shaking. "Jose?"

"!" Full of passion and hormones, Georgette ripped off Sadako's clothes and laid on top of her, holding hands and melting her soul into her, the two girls sharing a long, French kiss that saw immense amounts of their trails of saliva flowing out like waterfalls in the tropicas of Amazonas.

The problem is that Gundula, Edytha and Waltrud were watching the lovemaking unintendedly. Edytha covered her mouth as she was vigorously getting her crotch to unload out of pure-blooded frustration.

"I'll go get a beer," said Waltrud, heading to the kitchen to grab a bottle of local beer.

Gundula could only chuckle as she watched Sadako and Jose consummate in the nude, a hand tellingly on her left cleavage. She wanted to be on the other side so badly but to be fair, she had no business on the other side. At least not yet.

Alexandra Pokryshkin was seeing the graphic scenes of indulgence and skinship with a surprised look. No one noticed, but she was testing a new Hartmann sisters invention; called a vibrator that was inserted inside a certain opening and used when the call for self-gratication was too strong to resist. Combined with watching the moaning, groaning, gratuitous licking noises and exposure of raw pink flesh saturated with liquid euphoria, Sasha had the urge to melt all over Nikka Katajainen without delay.

Nipa walked in. "Hey guys, what's going on." Before she was about to see Sadako and Georgette climax, Alexandra closed her eyes. "Hey, what's going on!?"

"HYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" cried Sadako and Jose as one before melting into a sea of giggles and gurgles in the nude.

"I just heard Lemare and Shimohara? Are they doing it again? What's going on!?"

"Nipa. You, me, bed, now," said Sasha, the fire in her eyes telling no lies.

"Ohhhh? Ah, ohhhh my," said Nipa, who was dragged into Sasha's room to be melted out of pure-blooded frustration.

Gundula looked on, and chose the change the channel to comedy. Edytha was on the floor, her flower having tapped out she was curled in a fetal position, shivering from the lesbian lust she witness. "Edytha, you all right."

"At some point, Gundula," she replied, turning with a look of despair in her eyes, "we have to be worried for them."

END CHAPTER 20