#yeah i think we need more of those and i want one desperately about lothal

[bikananjarrus]

anyway when are they going to release an in-universe style history of lothal book

[mqgriett]

Wrecker- Proposals are hard

Requested by @night-writer-writer ! I hope you enjoy!

Pairing: Wrecker x Reader

Warnings: none!

Summary: for months now Wrecker has been planning to propose and what could go wrong with the rest of the bad batch trying to help him?

Note: this was so much fun to write and I love my little squish Wrecker 

“This one?” asked Tech for the tenth time today. He was steadily growing more and more irritated with his brother turning down every gemstone he held up.  

The only other person more annoyed than Tech was the jeweler, who’s eyes were starting to shut as he waited on the large clone to choose a ring. Four out of the six Bad Batch members had been inside of the small store for at least five hours now, which was evident based on the fact that the sun had set a while ago. 

Wrecker shook his head without even looking at the stone in Tech’s palm, eyes fixated on a gem that was seemingly floating in a case behind the counter. 

Tech scoffed and gave the jewel back to the clerk, who reluctantly placed it back inside the case. 

Crosshair made his way across the room, grabbing Wrecker’s shoulder and gently shaking him in an attempt to grab his attention. “I don’t know how much longer Echo’s gonna be able to distract ‘er, Wreck.” he said with a dry chuckle. When he didn’t answer Crosshair followed his brother’s gaze, looking in the direction of the case in the background. 

A loud sigh traveled through the store as Hunter joined the rest of his comrades. He stared down at his hand, mindlessly pushing around all of the stones he had picked out. “Okay I’ve got a few red ones, a couple ‘a white, and some-” his eyes found the case that Wrecker was staring at and he couldn’t speak. “Nevermind.” he said definitively, letting the gems fall out of his grasp. The jeweler let out a frustrated and muffled groan, knowing he would have to clean that mess up. 

Wrecker finally spoke, “That one. I want that one” 

The clerk glanced over his shoulder and shook his head, “I’m afraid that one’s not for sale.” 

“I’ll give ya’ three hundred credits for it.” Wrecker blurted subconsciously, slamming his palms on the glass counter. He tossed all the money he brought with him towards the worker, all without taking his eyes off the gem. 

“That is a real kyber crystal from the caves of Ilum. It will be much more than three hundred credits.” responded the jeweler with a small laugh. 

“How about five hundred?” Crosshair asked, folding his arms over his chest. He smirked at the clerk, willing to pitch in his own credits to help his brother and to see the face of the shop owner when they left the store with that stone. He set the credits next to Wrecker’s, popping a toothpick in his mouth after.

He shook his head, “I’m afraid that still would not be enough.” 

Hunter narrowed his eyes, feeling the judgement seeping off of the jeweler. He dug through his own pocket, proudly setting another three hundred credits next to Crosshair and Wrecker’s. 

“How about…” Tech’s voice trailed off as he approached the counter and counted the amount of money in his palm simultaneously, “one thousand two hundred fifty-seven credits and seventy-three cents.” he concluded proudly. 

The shop owner stroked the small beard that grew on his face, thinking hard about his decision. He snatched the silver and gold bars off the counter and grumbled, “fine.” 

Wrecker clapped his hands together, hugging his brothers so tightly that they physically needed to push themselves off of him. He excitedly repeated, “thank you,” over and over again as the jeweler carefully extracted the crystal from its case, 

“She better say yes or you’re paying me back.” Crosshair muttered as they left the store, only half-joking. 

***

Echo had been trying his best for the past five hours to distract you. For the first two you just played Sabacc, but then you started to ask him where everyone went. 

You sat on the stairs of the Marauder, staring out into the dark night sky. “Echo, they’ve been gone for hours. They didn’t even say where they were going.” you said as he sat down next to you. 

Echo scratched the back of his head nervously, “they’ll be back soon. You want to play another game ‘a Sabacc?” he offered. 

You ignored his offer, growing more and more worried by the second. “Why are we even on Lothal?” you threw your arms in the air and shouted, “it’s deserted!” A few loth cats, who had most likely been sleeping, growled at the sound of your loud voice. It was late, well past 0600 when Wrecker said he would be back. “Try Hunter’s comm again, please.” you asked Echo. 

“Just did, nothing.” he said, “hey how about some Sabacc?” he pointed behind him to the inside of the ship.

“Tech?” 

“Nope, but we can watch your favorite holodrama.” Echo placed his arm on your back.

You sighed, “Wrecker?” 

He shook his head, “no, how about we go mess up Hunter’s hair supplies, eh?” 

“Crosshair?” 

He chuckled, “he never answers his comms anyway.”

You hugged your knees to your chest, resting your chin atop them. “What if something happened to them?” 

Echo laughed nervously, “They’re fine. Wrecker said they’d be back soon.” 

“Yeah, at 0500. It’s 0815 now.” you mumbled. The more your mind raced the more horrible thoughts filled your head. Nothing good ever came from Lothal. This was where you had originally been found by the Bad Batch, where Wrecker had rescued you from a trap that Tarkin had set. Matter of fact, you weren’t too far from where that had all happened.

A tear streamed down your face as you buried your head in your knees, careful to not alert Echo. 

Despite your efforts he noticed and scooted closer to you. He placed his hand on your back gently, not wanting to startle you . “I’m sure they’re gone for a good reason.” 

You sniffed loudly, “today is our anniversary.” 

“Who’s?” he asked, cocking his head to the side like a confused animal. 

Your sleeve wiped under your nose, “Wrecker and I’s anniversary. It’s been two years. But he’s been so distant these past two weeks.” You combed your hair back with your fingers, sighing heavily, “I just hope he hasn’t lost interest.” 

In that moment he considered telling you what Wrecker had been planning for the previous two months, but he knew he couldn’t without no-doubt receiving a verbal assault from the rest of the Bad Batch.

Echo desperately tried to hide his smile as he heard the sound of four speeders approaching, he acted as calmly as he could and tapped your shoulder to point you in the direction that he heard the noise. 

You practically jumped down the other six stairs, sprinting immediately towards Wrecker as he took his helmet off and dismounted the speeder. 

“Ner kar'ta!” he smiled, opening his arms up for you to hug him as you usually did when he returned from a mission. 

You pushed him backwards, “it’s been five hours! You said one hour tops!” 

Hunter stepped forward, “we got caught up-” 

You quickly shut him down with a warning glare and began to pace back and forth, counting on your fingers after each sentence. “First, you refuse to tell me what planet we go to and all of you, besides Echo, ignore me for a week. Second, within an hour of landing you four take off on some mission without telling either of us where you’re going. Third, none of you answer your comms the entire time you’re gone. Lastly, today was our anniversary Wreck!”

He tried his best to interject, “Wait-” 

You slapped the back of your right hand against the palm of your left, “If you’re going to leave for hours then please at least lie to me about where you’re going. You could have been dead!” You couldn’t hold the tears back anymore, allowing them to just to stream down your face and onto the dry dirt of Lothal. 

“Cyar'ika-” 

“I don’t mean to sound so overdramatic but I feel like you just don’t need me anymore.” You spun on your heels and began to walk towards the Marauder. Echo caught your shoulders and spun you back around to face your boyfriend of two years. 

Your breath caught in your lungs, a pit forming at the bottom of your stomach as you faced Wrecker. He kneeled on one knee, a small ring in between his large fingers. 

He spoke in an unusually small voice, hands trembling as held the ring, “I still love you, I promise.” Wrecker swallowed the ball in his throat, “will you marry me?” your name followed the question as he anxiously waited for your answer. 

“Oh wow.” you gasped, “that why… that’s why you…” you turned and faced Echo, “that’s why he…” Your head started to spin, “that’s why we’re on…” you stared down at endless planes of Lothal. 

He shuffled forward on his knees, capturing your attention again with those big eyes of his. 

“Yes.” You exhaled, lunging forward and wrapping your arms around his neck. He stood up and hugged you tightly, swaying you from side to side. Your feet dangled off the ground as he held you. 

The other four Bad Batch members all simultaneously let out a breath they had been holding for the longest time. Tech and Crosshair were nearly purple, Echo and Hunter on the verge of fainting. 

Wrecker gently slid the ring on your finger and the kyber crystal danced in the moonlight. The pale-blue color was beautiful, the mere thought of actually getting to marry the love of your life making you smile from ear to ear. You smothered your now-fiance in kisses, unable to take your eyes off of the ring. 

“I’m sorry for not telling you. I messed up real bad on that.” he sighed, finally able to formulate sentences again. 

Hunter scratched the back of his neck, “That, would have been my idea.” he said with a nervous chuckle. He was quick to defend himself, “but Cross suggested the shop we went to, that’s why it took so long.” 

“Oh please,” retaliated Crosshair, “Tech is the one who suggested the two-month planning.”

“And all four of you made me stay back here to play over fourty games of Sabacc with Echo.” you said sarcastically. 

Echo’s eyebrows furrowed, “I thought you liked Sabacc.” 

[asterian]

Back to you (Captain Rex x reader) (Rebels)

Summary: In a mission to recover information about locations for a possible base, You and the Ghost crew are sent to Seelos to find a potential new ally, but you never expected it to be him.

Words: 1, 672

A/n: Hi, thanks for reading my trash. I felt like my husband needed some love so here we are. Also this happens in Rebels s2e2 "The lost commanders" and reader has Kanan's age.

Being part of the Ghost crew involved to be constantly on the move, always hiding and running from the Empire but it gave you the opportunity to help others and that made you feel like you were doing something good with your life, plus they had become your family.

After realizing you were part of a larger rebellion against the Empire and with the lost of the Phoenix home in Lothal, it was imperative to find a base where to hide. That's how you and the Spectres ended up in the outer rim searching for Ahsoka's friend. 

The flight was boring with nothing to look at but plain desert everywhere, until the tactical droid detected something nearby, an old republic modified AT-TE walker.

After landing Kanan told you to stay on the ship and fix the communications while the rest of the team went to investigate. 

You started to work in the ship but there was something stuck in your head, a number you knew, the same number the tactical droid repeated non-stop, the same number that leaded you here, "7567". Could it be… could it be him?

The sound of blasters woke you from your thoughts and quickly you rushed outside the little ship hoping your friends weren't in trouble but after seeing they were fine you stared at the three men in the tank and froze instantly when you caught a familiar gaze.

If you had your suspicions about who was the person you were looking for before, this just confirmed it. Even though he looked a bit different from the last time you saw him, you knew it was him, how? by his eyes. 

Maker, you could recognize those beautiful golden eyes anywhere in the galaxy.

"Nice to meet you ...7567" you heard Ezra and suddenly your mind snapped back to reality.

"Rex" you said without thinking making everyone turn around to see you "his name is Rex" 

"Wait, you know him?" Kanan asked you as you get closer to them. You gave him a happy nod in response.

"(Y/n)?" Rex recognized you instantly once you were beside your friends,  after all you hadn't changed that much, you were as beautiful as he remembered you. 

The captain hurried to get down of the tank and you could swear your heart was going to get out of your chest while he was walking towards you. 

He looked so different and yet for you he was still the same man you knew a long time ago, the man you fell in love with. 

Stars, you had missed this man so much you couldn't help but put him in a tight hug once he was in front of you.

"it's you!" you happily said holding him closer. Rex laughed putting his arms around your waist and lifting you up until your legs were wrapped around his waist, foreheads resting together.

"It's me, cyare" he assured you.

You heard Kanan cleaning his throat and both you quickly let go of each other.

"Cyare?" Sabine mumbled recognising her language.

"You guys need a moment?" asked Zeb in a teasing tone, making your cheeks go a little red.

"Sorry, it's just… I haven't seen (y/n) in a very long time" Rex explained rubbing the back of his head. Owning a raised eyebrow from everyone.

"Well, what are you waiting for? bring them in!" screamed Gregor from the walker saving you from further questions.

•••

Later that day you and the team agreed to help the clones hunt a Joopa as payment for the intelligence they had. It  gave you enough time to catch up with Rex.

"Whose idea was this?" you asked Rex as you were leaning on a railing, the captain chuckled and pointed at Gregor on the other side of the walker who was happily cheering Zeb. Both of you laughed and  shaked your heads at his brother.

"So you found your brothers" you noted remembering why your paths parted years ago.

"Yeah.. took me some time" he said looking at your friends across the tank "you join the cause" 

"Yup" you proudly said following his contemplating stare "and I found them too, my new family"

"They seem to be good people" he said looking back at you "but I'm not sure Kanan trust me" 

"Give him a time" you suggested "he just needs to make sure that what happened to his master, to the Jedi, is not going to happen to us"

"Understood, sir" he said in a playful tone that only made you roll your eyes "thanks for the advice" 

You nudged him and both giggled like the old times. It was a relief knowing his humor sense was still the same.

"You know, when Ahsoka send us on this mission I never thought it would be you the person we were looking for. I'm glad it's you"

He smiled softly at you and  you took a minute to appreciate the features of your old lover. He looked so different now and yet he was still the same man you loved so dearly.

 Flashes of his younger self filled your mind. You remembered the very short blond hair you used to run your fingers, his golden eyes and always clean shaved jaw. His features now hidden behind a silver, surprisingly soft beard.

He had aged fastly, just like he told you he would, clones were engineered to grow twice as fast, however you couldn't see him like an old man, it was just him, the Rex you adored and the more you looked at him the more you fell once again for him.

"What is it (y/n)?" Rex asked raising an eyebrow.

"I never thought I'd see you with beard" you confessed owning a chuckle form the captain. Then you raised a hand and stroked his beard a bit, trying to get used to it. Rex leaned in your hand and closed his eyes for a second enjoying your sweet touch "I like it… suits you"

"Well, had I known that you would like it so much, I would have let it grow earlier" he teased and both laughed at his comment, unconsciously moving closer to each other until you collided with his armor. Both of you stayed quiet for a moment realizing the closeness, but not pulling away.

"You have no idea of how much I missed you, (y/n)". he confessed tucking a lock of hair behind your ear before caressing your cheek,  making your heart beat faster with every second past.

"I missed you too, Rex" you breathed. 

He carefully lifted your chin up and pulled you closer until your lips were on his, sending a wave of electricity all along your spine as he kissed you slowly at first and then desperately as if he was afraid you might vanish. There were no need for words, it was obvious that both still loved each other.

Eventually you pulled away in need of air, he rested his forehead on yours while both catched your breath, smiling softly at each other. 

"(Y/n), you did fix the communications,right?" you heard Kanan scream from where he was, interrupting the moment between you and the Captain.

"Karabast" you whispered and Rex chuckled "I'm on it!" you yelled and gave Rex a light kiss before you rushed to the ship.

The Captain walked over to the front of the walker with the rest of the team that were concentrated, mostly bored and tired of the hunting.

"So… how did you guys meet? You and (y/n)?" Ezra asked when he saw Rex lean on a nearby rail.

"It was five years after the end of the clone wars" Rex started "I was lost in a planet where the people didn't exactly like clones,  without food, weapons or credits" 

"A planet that doesn't like clones? Should I buy property there?" Kanan said with his sarcastic voice owning a look from Ezra who was quietly paying attention to the captain's story. 

"Hey, don't be mean!" said the blue haired boy "what happened then?"

"She saved my life" Rex told them "she helped me when no one else did" he smiled at the memory "we were together for almost two years until we decided to take different ways"

"It sounds like you two were really close" spoke Sabine from the roof the ship. "You called her 'cyare' "

"What does that mean?" asked confused Ezra, making the clone Captain blush a bit.

"Beloved" responded Rex without hesitation "it means 'beloved'

"I hate to be the one asking this" added Kanan walking closer "but why didn't you stay with her?"

The captain sighed deeply before answering to the Jedi.

"I wanted to find my brothers, move to some neutral system and have a peaceful life, no more fighting, no more war" he paused for a second "she wanted to fight, do something with her life more than just steal things, she wanted to help others"

"You loved her, right?" Ezra asked without hesitation. This kid was wild.

Rex suddenly saw you coming out of the ship and lean against the door frame with that pretty smile of yours that always made his heart soft.

"I still do, kid, I still do" 

•••

After a lot of effort and teamwork, you finally managed to capture the giant worm Gregor was so excited about. It was a good day, all things considered, the mission to get the data for the base was more than done and hunting the  Joopa was quite a thing, but most importantly you reunited with Rex that somehow managed to convince the Ghost crew to stay for dinner.

You both kept close to each other all the time, sharing slight delicate brushing of hands and exchanging loving gazes. 

While the crew had dinner tasting the rich flavor of the hunt of the day and shared stories you watched Rex sitting across the table. You stared at him with longing and hope, feeling that your world was complete again with this man by your side.

[twilightofthe]

Chapter Fourteen liveblog of The Mandalorian Season 2!  Let’s go!!!

Gonna say right now this episode already has VERY large boots to fill, my only prior experience with Tython is when my DM took our party there in the Star Wars RPG I’m playing in atm and we had a blast doing stuff like negotiating peace between warring peoples, finding lost children, visiting and exploring the very temple Din and the baby will be going to, AND we got attacked by Imps and I got to steal and drive an AT-AT.  Idk how to make Tython better than that xD

Ok but here we go, opening scene

Ooooooh we getting the FENNEC SHAND flashback???  (Lol but seriously if she is showing up again I’m all too happy to see my girl Ming-Na but how the fuuuuuck are we going to tie aNOTHER character’s storyline into this season? xD)

Once more I would die for the nameless baby Yodito 

SEROUSLY LOOKIT HIM AND HIS WIDDLE BALL DIN HOW COULD YOU EVER GIVE THAT UP

Welp I guess acknowledging the kid’s name is good parent/child bonding activities

“Bitch that’s my ball you keep taking it”

BABY LISTENS TO DADDY

HE’S HELPING THE BABY TRAIIIIIIIN AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

HEY NO I’M NOT MAD AT YOU AAAAA GOOD PARENT

“Nice lady” lol perfect way to describe Ahsoka

OMG THE SOFTNESS IN HIS VOICE MISTER PEDRO YOU ARE KILLING ME ;_;

“You’re very special, kid” KILL ME RIGHT FUCKING NOW HOW DARE YOU TOY WITH MY HEART--

DIN YOU DO NOT SOUND CONVINCING AT ALL

NOT EVEN TO YOURSELF

JUST ACCEPT YOUR FATHERHOOD GODDAMMIT

“The TRAGEDY???” Oh No

Welp I guess Gideon tracks the Crest and kidnaps Baby in this one waaaaaah

Ok so forest planet like my DM said, but he made it snowy instead of acrid.....

Temple didn’t quite look like the first battle outcropping from Fellowship of the Ring either...

Oh is this another “wave your hand to pull it out of the ground” thingies like the Lothal temple?

DIN DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE JUST ABANDON HIM THERE

Ah ok he’s just doing the seeing stone thing

Oh honey this must be a pain in the ass to deal with the Force when you’re not remotely Force sensitive

BABY AND BUTTERFLY I’D DIE FOR HIM

Oh whoop we have company, not the Imps already?

Ahhh nope just Boba

Wait was HE the one who found Fennec last season???

If Boba’s the one who ends up turning over the baby to the bad guys just know nothing y’all say will make me forgive him for it xD

Fennec I’d kinda expect it from tho lol

I still think the Slave 1 (still a Very Hmmm Name) is the one of the goofiest looking ships, like why is it shaped like that and why does it fly standing up? xD

OOP I guess Baby just needed some pressure?  Glowy stone!

Glowy stone wiiiiith magic forcefield oh dear

Guess this ep’s gonna have Din trying to fight off opponents while Baby’s openly vulnerable and meditating, a la Katara in ATLA season 1

And ultimately fail too oh no....

Lol first thing visible coming out of ship is dramatic-ass cape, this fucking galaxy xD

TEMUERAAAAAAAAAAAA ;_;  Loooook I’m not the biggest Boba fan but I fucking love Temuera Morrison and his perfect voice

Wait he wasn’t the one who planted the tracker on his ship was he?

Looool at least Din’s finally found out there’s deadass like two groups of people he ends up coming across in this story

Hmmm we lookin’ dressed kinda like a Jedi, huh there Fett boy?

Wait Boba why didn’t you just try and ask/fight Cobb for the armor???

Oh so they really aren’t gonna make Boba Mandalorian again?

Oop Boba down for child murder

FENNEC OK I’M STILL KINDA IN LOVE WITH HER

“There’s no need for bloodshed” ok maybe Boba’s had some character development???

PROTECTIVE PAPA GETTIN’ OUT THE WHISTLING BIRDS

God Ming-Na is so fuckin’ pretty

“left for dead” BITCH YOU GOT FUCKING EATEN SHUT UP

Ohhhh does Fennec have some of those special new artificial guts like they gave Breha Organa?  Ngl I’m thinking of using those in one of my fics.....

Ooooop and NOW there’s the Imps

And that looks like enough room for a LOT of Stormtroopers

Oh dear

OH lol I guess Boba and Fennec have it covered

Ok fine Bobs that’s kinda badass

Lol Stormtroopers can’t even aim a mortar 

And STILL can’t properly aim a rapid fire gun either

Dumbass should have moved

Boba don’t steal the armor you’ll just be doing exactly what all the other Mandos are trying to accuse you of

AND DIN DOESN’T EVEN CARE ABOUT ANY OF THIS HE’S JUST DESPERATELY TRYING TO RESCUE HIS BABY ;_; ;_; ;_;

NOOOO DON’T LEAVE HIM

And of COURSE if he had waited five more seconds

Oh I guess Boba’s changing into his armor

Yep there he is

Ooop is that the Boba Fett theme?

THAT STILL ONLY COUNTS AS ONE

Aaaaand of course they’ve got a Star Destroyer 

WAIT ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME

Y’ALL SERIOUSLY TOOK THE RAZOR CREST AWAY

BITCHASSES

Damn but if Gideon doesn’t have a perfectly menacing theme too

Ok Favreau we see them looking more like Iron Man than anything else

Goddammit Boba why’d you make him take off his jetpack

Star Destroyer/Imperial Cruiser same thing, one’s just bigger

Y’ALL SHOULDN’T HAVE MADE HIM TAKE OFF HIS JETPACK

THE FUCKING TOY BALL GODDAMMIT Y’ALL ARE GONNA MAKE ME FUCKING CRY

Ooop at least the beskar’s fine

Yeahhh Boba knows this is at least kinda his fault xD

HAHAHA YEP THE FETTS ARE MANDOS AGAIN

Ohhhh and Jango fought in the Mando Civil War huh????  INTERESTING

Ohhhh they are picking up Ahsoka again

Wait fuck me I forgot, has Ahsoka ever directly met Boba before?

Wait you’re fucking kidding me you’re bringing MAYFIELD back nooooo he was annoying and untrustworthy

I hope Ahsoka bullies him

Dammit Gideon I hope the baby bites you

HAHA FUCKING GET THEM BABY

ok ok ok yeah I know Baby using the Dark Side is bad

OK OK OK NEVER MIND NEVER MIND NEVER MIND THAT’S REALLY BAD THAT’S WHAT THIS BASTARD WANTS

BITCH YOU STOP THAT

GIDEON I FUCKING SWEAR

DON’T Y’ALL FUCKING TOUCH HIM

OR SHOOT HIM YOU FUCKING BITCHES I HATE THIS I HATE EVERYTHING

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

POOR BABYYYYYYY

DIRECTED BY SPY KIDS MAN????  SIR HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME HURT

Okay okay okay fine, yes, Boba was Very Cool(TM)

Damn this was a good episode

[gondalsqueen]

Chapters: 8/? Fandom: Star Wars: Rebels Rating: Explicit Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla Characters: Hera Syndulla, C1-10P | Chopper, Original Characters, Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren, Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios, Alexsandr Kallus, CT-7567 | Rex, Mart Mattin, Wedge Antilles Additional Tags: Pregnancy, vague mentions of abortion, future character death in the background, Season/Series 04, Established Relationship, Oral Sex, Chair Sex, Table Sex, sex during pregnancy, chapter 2 has lots of sex, Secrets, the best pilot in the galaxy, flying combat, character injury, canon torture, flight of the defender, rebel assault, Jedi Night, Major character death - Freeform, Grief, Morning Sickness, Counseling, Masturbation, Dreams, Traditions, Space family, Inappropriate bets, Lothal, Shopping, down time, Space Combat, Battle of Scarif, Rogue One - Freeform, hammerhead corvette!, Yavin 4, Stardust - Freeform

Summary: “Hey!” Zeb caught her at the ramp. “You have GOT to be kidding me.” “Why?” “Because that child is about to drop out of you at any moment, that’s why!” “It’s not an X-wing, Zeb. G Force isn’t that bad in the Ghost.” “So you’re going to fly into battle?” ... Yavin IV was busy, busy, busy. One of their spies had tied Order 13 to a program called “Stardust,” and they had something to do at last, just trying to unwind it all. Some sort of doomsday machine.

“Better that than those Defenders,” Hera remarked.

“Would you rather fight one convor the size of a rancor,” Zeb asked, “or a hundred rancors the size of convors?”

Sabine had come back from Lothal with her. “You’re funny,” she told Zeb.

“Hey, trying times! Somebody’s got to make an attempt at humor.” 

“And we appreciate the attempt, Zeb,” Hera said, patronizing.

“You two always team up on me! I miss the boys.”

Sabine stuck her tongue out at him.

By night they were reading everything they could about babies, scrambling to get ready. “These texts are stupid!” Sabine would complain, waving a datapad. “They give directly contradictory information! And then they tell you you’re evil if you don’t do what they say.” 

“What I want to know is how any babies have managed to survive at all, if you judge by the number of things you can screw up,” Zeb commented.

Chopper didn’t think it would be very hard. Ten pound Kanan Jarrus had to be easier to control than the larger version.

“Show me the science behind any of this!” Sabine continued her tirade. “This is all just opinion. Somebody has to have done good double blind studies on babies somewhere in this galaxy.”

When her own soon-to-be-baby kept her from sleeping, Hera scoured the holonet for anything related to hybrid Twi’lek/Human children. Despite the presence of what had to have been millions of children, they were statistically so rare that the medical studies weren’t particularly… informative. She had to resort to getting information from that least trustworthy of holonet locations, the messageboard. She took everything with about fifty grains of salt. “A hybrid child is special,” one woman wrote, just before advising sticking magnets to the baby’s skin to call down Force powers. Hera rolled her eyes. One father very practically advised: “Raise them somewhere diverse and the identity crisis won’t be much.” A third brutally honest mother said, “If you’re a human woman, just go straight for the c-section. It’s going to happen anyway.”

And there were pictures… A three-year-old with short lekku and marbled skin. A ten-year-old who had just won a sports tournament standing next to his father, whom he looked nothing like. A little girl with blue skin and two blue ponytails in place of lekku. Most of those children made through genetic matching and implanted embryos, wanted and tried for for years…

Most hybrid pregnancies didn’t make it, she discovered, the genetics too mismatched to create a viable child. Those invariably ended in early pregnancy, though, and the consensus was that any fetus who made it this far was probably safe. Hera recalled the weirdly appropriate adage about not counting your chickens before they’d hatched, but she wasn’t too worried. Any kid that could kick like that was bound to be healthy. And he looked good on all the scans.

The scans… 

“Everything in the right place, everything the right size,” the technician had said at her last visit. “He’s playing with his hands. And look at this! Do you see that?”

Hera did not.

“He’s already got hair.”

Hair. Her child. 

She should really have seen that coming, but it completely floored her.

She was thirty-nine weeks along—nearly full term for a human, not quite full term for a Twi’lek—when the Battle of Scarif took place. And she was too kriffing fat to make it to the war room when they called her. 

But she heard the speech the Erso girl gave in replay, and she could have kicked herself for not being there to give it momentum. “What chance do we have?” They were Hera’s own words, angrier and more jaded, perhaps, more desperate, but the sentiment the same. “The question is what CHOICE?” Fight now or die.

When the klaxons went off, Hera all but ran towards the Ghost. 

“Hey!” Zeb caught her at the ramp. “You have GOT to be kidding me.”

“Why?”

“Because that child is about to drop out of you at any moment, that’s why!”

“It’s not an X-wing, Zeb. G Force isn’t that bad in the Ghost.”

“So you’re going to fly into battle?”

Objectively, was her child’s life was more valuable than her own, or Zeb’s, or that of anybody else in the galaxy who would be murdered if they didn’t succeed? “Yes,” she answered.  

“Hera, you’re—”

“Look,” she snapped. “It’s now or never for this fight. I’d rather have him die clean, not knowing any pain, than be hunted slowly, terrified. Or taken into some camp…” She trailed off. Did Zeb even know what she was imagining? Where did he think those Inquisitors came from? No, she’d rather have her child die now, with her.

Not that dying was going to happen. 

“I’ve got nose gun,” Sabine called.

“Okay, okay,” Zeb grumbled. “IF you’re really going, nobody’s getting turret gun but me!”

From the Phantom’s rear guns, Chopper demanded to know what they were waiting for.

“Good, then,” Hera grinned. “Let’s go take some back from the Empire.”

Rex waved them off. “Good luck!”

“We don’t need luck!” Sabine told him. “We’ve got the Force!”

…

Scarif. Graveyard, the word would come to mean. Hera flew like she’d never flown in her life, the hundreds of ships around her tinged with light at the corners of her vision, her hands and mind just a half-step ahead of the chaos. This, strangely, was her peak. She kept them alive.

But they had to get that stupid kriffing planetary shield down. “Are you listening to the Admiral? Bombing runs!” she shouted over the chaos on the comms. “Aim for the ring! None of this matters if you don’t get the shield down!” They were still just flying defensive though, few of them even able to mount a run. And those who did were blown into shrapnel after one pass.

“Karabast!” Zeb had missed a line-up shot at two TIEs. It had been a bad angle anyway, and if they’d stayed there for another three seconds to get the shot, another fighter would have finished them off quickly.

“Hey!” Hera called over the pilot’s channel. “HEY! Get your heads on and work together! Y-wings make the bombing strikes, X-wings run defensive! Holy Force, people, get in the game!”

After that they got a couple more shots in. And then Admiral Raddus brought in the new hammerhead corvette, that beautiful beast of a ship, and Hera got to watch one of the more glorious wrecks of her career, that thing diving and just PLOWING through metal and it was… victory.

Pyrrhic victory. 

They’d gotten the information out. Vader’s ship chased the Tantive IV away just before they jumped, but Tantive was fast, and they’d make it.

The Ghost came out of hyperspace a short jump later, one of the three steps that would take them back to Yavin.

“Holy kriff, Hera, that was some flying!” Sabine declared.

“Yeah.” She was still waiting for her breathing to recover. The Ghost’s shields were at more than half.

“You know if they chase Tantive IV down, they’re going to be coming for Yavin next,” Zeb told her.

“Yeah.”

“Did you SEE that thing? It’s operational.”

Chopper suggested several rude technical malfunctions he’d like to perform on that thing.

“Yeah, Chop, you show them.” Hera rolled her eyes.

“Hera—” From the nose gun, Sabine turned to look up at her, that straight-browed fretful face that she made. “Don’t go back to Yavin. It’s time for a break. Fly to Lothal.”

Her stomach twisted painfully at the suggestion. No, not her stomach—her uterus was taking up all the room these days.

“You can comm them that you’ve gone on leave. You should have gone a week ago.”

She did feel a little funny. Post-battle adrenaline probably, but who was to say?

“Okay.”

“Really?”

“Chopper, get down here and chart a course for Lothal.”

[aceofstars16]

Facing the Past

Okay but after that bit about the Loth-Wolf talking to Ezra and what he says (cause I’m pretty much sure it’s confirmed it said Dume) I really wanted to write a fic of Kanan telling Ezra his real name. I could honestly see Kanan telling Ezra this before season four, but I don’t think he has so, here’s a short little scene about that. (Kanan is hard to write guys...but I try xD)

Season 4 spoiler warning!

Fic below the cut:

Ezra was restless. Kanan could feel it in the Force. Something was starting. What exactly, Kanan didn’t know, but it was worrisome, for both himself and Ezra. He tried to meditate on it, to figure out what exactly was going on in the Force, but so far he had found no clarity. However it did tell him where Ezra was, so he wasn’t surprised when he heard his padawan’s voice calling through the door.

“Kanan?”

“Come in.”

The door whooshed, footsteps sounded Ezra’s entrance, then the door closed again.

“What’s on your mind?”

A sigh, then a squeak as Ezra sat down next to Kanan. “It’s the loth wolf. I asked it why it helped me…”

“And…?”

“It said doom…”

Kanan froze. There was something about the way Ezra said that word, that there was more to it than it seemed.

“Kanan, does that mean Lothal is doomed? Or the Empire will be its doom? Or our mission is doomed? Does this mean I can’t save-” Ezra’s voice cracked, desperation, fear, worry – they all radiated off of him.

Taking a deep breath, Kanan felt the pain that had faded all those years ago resurfacing, but he didn’t try to push them away. Ezra needed to know, and if he was going to know, Kanan would have to face the pain. It was just a reminder of how much Ezra had come to mean to Kanan, that he would willingly revisit his old life to help Ezra.

“The wolf didn’t mean doom Ezra. It said Dume, a name…my name.”

Surprise and confusion slammed into Kanan, but that was to be expected. “I…I don’t understand.”

“My real name isn’t Kanan Jarrus.” Kanan took a breath, closing his eyes for a moment – it didn’t offer any change in what he could see, but it was a familiar feeling, tricking his brain into bracing himself for what he was about to say. “I took on that name when I was on the run, so the Empire couldn’t find me. But before that, everyone knew me as Caleb…Caleb Dume.”

“Dume…the wolf wanted…you?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe. Or maybe it wants both of us.”

“But why?”

“I don’t know, but something tells me we won’t have to wait too long to find out.” Kanan looked at where he knew Ezra was and smiled, wishing not for the first time that he could see his padawan again.

“Yeah…it seemed to know what it was doing. So we just…wait?”

“Wait, and do what we can where we are.”

Kanan could tell Ezra was still unsure, but there wasn’t more they could do. The way the wolf seemed to be keeping itself hidden from everyone but Ezra made Kanan sure it knew what it was doing. Kanan just hoped that the wolf’s plan was one that would help Ezra and Lothal.

[prepare4trouble]

for a prompt: Ezra teaches someone about pickpocketing or lockpicking. Or perhaps he's caught teaching someone about that.

Life of Crime

“Okay, so the thing about pickpocketing is, you don’t even need special techniques half the time.” Ezra said.  He was speaking in hushed tones despite their secluded location, glancing furtively around for prying ears.  “You just keep your eyes open for someone making a mistake you can take advantage of.  If you’re good enough, you can grab something without anybody noticing, and be miles away before the mark even realizes it’s gone.  The key is having the confidence to take the risk, and knowing the area well enough to escape.  Preferably without looking like you’re running away.”

Ezra still couldn’t quite believe he was talking about this stuff.  It had been a long time since he had considered himself to be a thief.  Well, in fact, he had never thought of himself in that way.  Thieves were in an entirely different category to him.  They ran in gangs, they stole indiscriminately purely to line their own pockets, they lived to steal; it was a way of life to them.  Back on Lothal, Ezra had avoided them.  He hadn’t been a thief, he had been a person that occasionally needed to steal in order to survive.

He was aware, of course, that to an outsider, the distinction might be difficult to see, and that was why he didn’t talk too often about that chapter of his life.  People would tolerate stealing from the Empire, in fact they would encourage it, but in general, thieves were untrustworthy, and people wouldn’t be comfortable knowing there was one around.  It would make them wary; make them look at him differently.  Make them not trust him.  And if that happened, he wouldn’t have blamed them one bit.

He had resolved long a long time ago just not to mention it.  He would talk about Lothal, he would talk about what had happened to his parents, and what had happened to him as a consequence.  These were important things, things that needed to be said, things that people needed to know about the Empire.  What he would not do was volunteer information that might jeopardize the friendships that he had made within the Rebellion

For some reason, one that he didn’t fully understand, he had abandoned that promise to himself one night, and made an idle boast to Hobbie and Wedge.  It had been stupid, and the moment he heard the words leave his mouth, he had known something would go wrong.  He hadn’t known it would be this, because finding himself with two students eager for for a masterclass in embarking on a life of crime wasn’t even something he had considered as a possibility, but he had known it would be something.

He supposed it was his own fault for making it sound like fun instead of talking about the fear of being caught, especially in the early days when he had made desperate opportunistic grabs against easy targets, and then spent the rest of the day battling guilt and terror that the stormtroopers were coming for him.  The only way he had gotten so good at it was by being hungry enough that he had no choice but to try again, and again.

It was fun now of course, but only because he knew he was good enough that he wouldn’t get caught, and only because he didn’t have to do it anymore.

He paused, and thought back critically over the opening words to his class.  Hobbie and Wedge might not have understood part of it.  “The ‘mark’ what we call the person we’re targeting,” he added.

Wedge rolled his eyes, but smiled to show he wasn’t entirely serious in his scorn.  “Yeah, we figured that out already.”

Okay, so they might have understood.  Still, it didn’t hurt to spell things out, he wouldn’t be a very good teacher if he didn’t make sure his students were following the lesson.

“Right.  Well, anyway, other times there are some techniques that make it easier, so I’m going to try to teach you some of those.  But before I do, the first thing you need to know is don’t tell anybody what we’re doing,” Ezra told them.  “Trust me, you don’t want people thinking you’re going to steal from them.  And you’re not going to steal from them.  This stuff is strictly for on-mission use, stealing from the Empire.”

“Okay, but then how are we supposed to practice?” Hobbie asked.  “I’m assuming it’s not the kind of thing you can learn by hearing about it, it’s a practical skill, like flying.  You learn by doing.”

He was right, of course; they would need to practice if they wanted to gain any kind of proficiency at all.  But he couldn’t turn loose two amateurs on the base, they would be noticed, they would be identified and they would be ostracized, and the chances were good that they would drag him down with them, whether they meant to or not

It occurred to Ezra, not for the first time, that agreeing to this might have been a spectacularly stupid idea.  “You’re not going to steal from people on the base,” he repeated, barely able to believe that was a thing that he had to tell them.

Of course, he did that sometimes.  He didn’t keep anything – he had developed a reputation for noticing when people dropped things – but it was important to keep his skills sharp.  Not only because they could they come in handy on missions, but because at the back of his mind there was still, and probably always would be, a niggling certainty that the safety and security he had found on the Ghost couldn’t last forever.

He had even practiced on both Hobbie and Wedge before now, and they were none the wiser.  So fair was fair.  “You can practice on me,” he told them.

Two weeks in, and Ezra’s pickpocketing masterclass was going surprisingly well.  Wedge in particular showed a lot of aptitude for the skill.  Hobbie was less talented, but since neither one of them were ever going to use it unless it genuinely was a case of life or death — he had made them swear it before he had even taught them a thing — it didn’t really matter.

He was enjoying it.  It was good to be able to show off using the Force, but there was something great about being able to share an ability with someone who had a reasonable chance of replicating it.  He supposed that was why Kanan had chosen to teach him about the Force.  

“No, wait,” Ezra said as Wedge carefully reached into Hobbie’s pocket from behind and pulled out the ration bar with his forefinger and thumb, making it disappear into his palm and then up his sleeve.  The move itself was perfect, and Ezra doubted Hobbie would even had noticed, if he hadn’t been a willing victim, but there was still a critical fault.  “You’re still watching what you’re doing too closely.  You don’t just have to worry about the mark noticing you; if you’re in a crowded place and someone sees you pickpocketing, chances are they’re going to react, even if they don’t know the other person.”

Wedge sighed and pushed the ration bar back into Hobbie’s pocket.  “So what do I do?”

“It’s what you don’t do that’s important,” Ezra said with a grin.  He had been waiting to use that line for some time.  “You don’t stare at your own hand the whole time.  You see the object, you walk up looking like you’re looking at anything else, you grab it exactly like you did there, but without looking down, and you walk away casually, like nothing happened.”

Hobbie frowned.  “That doesn’t sound easy,” he said.

“What?  Guys, this is the easiest stuff,” Ezra told them.  “It’s just opportunistic pickpocketing.  The hard part is when you start to use distraction to make them look the other way, or deliberately bump into them and grab whatever you’re going for as you do, that kind of stuff.”

Wedge and Hobbie exchanged a glance.  “When do we get to do that stuff?” Wedge asked eagerly.

Ezra shook his head.  “That’s the advanced stuff.  We’ll get on to that when you pass the exam for this class.”

He was making it up as he went, but it sounded good, and he already had an answer for the inevitable next question.

“What exam?” Wedge asked

Ezra shrugged.  “You need to be able to take something from me without me noticing.”

“That’s not fair,” Hobbie protested.  “You’re going to be expecting it.”

“Then don’t do it now,” Ezra told him.  “Obviously I’m expecting it now!  You need to catch me when I’m not expecting it.  Get me when I’m rushing somewhere, or I’m distracted.  Anyway, if you were doing this in real life, people would be expecting it too.  Nobody walks into a crowded marketplace or somewhere and doesn’t assume there are pickpockets everywhere.  The trick is to be able to do it anyway.”

Hobbie and Wedge exchanged another look.

“What?” Ezra asked them.

“You can use the Force,” Wedge said.  “Kanan can’t even see, and it’s impossible to sneak up on him.  We have no chance.”

He had a point, although they probably had a better chance against him than Kanan.  Ezra folded his arms.  “Firstly,” he said.  “You haven’t been trying to sneak up on Kanan, have you?”

“Of course not, I’m not that stupid!”

“Good.  Secondly, if you can’t do it, I’m not going to teach you the advanced stuff.  So you can either try it and keep trying till you succeed, or stick at your current skill level.”  He grinned, feeling particularly teacher-like.  “Class dismissed.  Why don’t you guys practice on each other for a while?  Remember, get them when they’re distracted, keep your movements small because they’re harder to see, try to just touch the thing you’re taking, and don’t look what you’re doing.”

“Is that all?” he heard Hobbie mutter as he turned and headed back to the base.

His students were doing much better than he had expected.  It was good, in one way.  In another it was annoying, because he had little doubt that Wedge was eventually going to be able to pass that test.  Maybe Hobbie too, if Ezra was really distracted.  That meant he was going to have to move on to that more advanced stuff he had talked about, and that meant he was going to have to practice it.  There was no way he was going to be able to get away with teaching them if he was rusty himself.

Luckily, Wedge had been right, he wasn’t going to be able to catch Ezra out anytime soon.  He had time to try out a few distractions, a few bump and grabs, perfect his technique before he was ready to show it to somebody else.

He would have to start soon though; the longer he left it, the rustier he might become.

“How are they doing?”

Ezra flinched and spun around at the sound of Kanan’s voice.  He found him standing a short distance away, arms folded.  His mask covered the upper half of his face, but his lips didn’t look happy.

“Uh…” Ezra said.  he glanced around wildly.  The class had been dismissed, and Wedge and Hobbie had left.  There was nothing about the scene that would tell Kanan what had been happening, and he definitely hadn’t been around during the class, so he hadn’t overheard anything.

He had to be talking about something else.

Right?

“How’s what doing?” Ezra asked.

“Your students,” Kanan explained.  “Are they any good?”

That was pretty unambiguous.  Somehow, Kanan knew exactly what was going on.  Ezra had slipped up, or Hobbie or Wedge had broken the rules and talked about it.  Or Kanan had some mind-reading Force technique that he hadn’t shared with Ezra, but he didn’t think it was that, not really.

Ezra felt himself cringe.  “We’re just messing around,” he explained.  “They’re not actually going to do anything.”

Kanan nodded.  “Right,” he said, sounding unconvinced.

“No, seriously.  I made them promise before I even taught them anything.  It’s purely for use on missions.  It’s actually come in handy a few times for me, when we’ve needed to get something out of Imperial hands.  I figure the more people that can do it, the better for us.”  He smiled reassuringly, then stopped, realizing that it was completely lost on Kanan

“Hey, I could teach you if you want,” he tried.  “I was just telling my st… uh… Wedge and Hobbie, for a lot of it, you don’t need to be able to look what you’re doing.  In fact, not looking what you’re doing is an advantage, because if you’re looking at something, people tend to follow your gaze.  You don’t actually have a gaze, so…” he stopped, and allowed himself to tail off into silence.

“You’ve thought a lot about the theory of this, haven’t you?” Kanan asked.

It was true.  Over the past few weeks, Ezra had dedicated a lot of time to thinking about the best way of doing things, analyzing moves he had previously made without even thinking about them, considering why he did a certain thing, and how best to describe it.

It wasn’t surprising, now he thought about it, that Kanan had noticed something was going on.  Ezra had definitely been distracted.

“So, what do you say?” Ezra asked instead of replying.  

Kanan shook his head.  “I don’t think so.” he said.

That was probably for the best, because while not looking what you were doing was a definite advantage, it was also important to be able to locate the thing you wanted to take in the first place, and he didn’t know how well Kanan would be able to do that.

Although, knowing Kanan, he’d work out a way of doing it pretty quickly, if there wasn’t already a technique that he could re-purpose.  And if he had Kanan on-side, he wouldn’t get in trouble for what he was doing.  Well, not from Kanan, anyway.

“You sure?” Ezra asked.  “Even if you’re no good at it, you might enjoy it.  Why not just give it a go?”

Kanan smiled and shook his head.  “I really don’t think I need to learn it.”

“You never know when it might come in handy.  You could just…”

Kanan continued to shake his head.  “Really, Ezra,” he said, a little more forcefully.  “I don’t need to learn to steal.”

Ezra sighed, defeated.  The harder he pushed, the harder Kanan was going to resist.  And if he pushed too hard, Kanan might get suspicious about his motives.  “So, I guess you want me to stop teaching them?”

“I didn’t say that,” Kanan told him.  “Just remember to be careful.  I probably don’t need to tell you that not everybody would be happy about a team of pickpockets operating on the base.”

Yeah, he really didn’t need to tell him that.  Ezra still appreciated the warning.  “We’re not a team of pickpockets,” he protested.  For a start, Wedge and Hobbie were nowhere near good enough to be on his team, but also, it wasn’t like they were going to actually go around stealing from people, it was purely for use on missions.

“Exactly.”  Kanan said, as though Ezra was playing along.  “By the way, you dropped this,” He held out his closed fist, clearly containing some small object.

Ezra frowned, confused.  Kanan hadn’t picked anything up from the ground, he definitely hadn’t caught a falling object, or Ezra would have seen.  He held out his hand to receive whatever it was.  Kanan dropped the object into Ezra’s outstretched palm.

It was his wrist comm.  Ezra stared down in confusion at it for a moment, then turned his arm over to see whether it was really his, and found his own device missing.  He had been wearing it earlier, he knew he had, because he had used it.

He hadn’t dropped it.  He knew he hadn’t.  It had been strapped onto his wrist, and it didn’t just fall off.

But that could only mean…

He looked up.  “How did you…” he began.

“The key to not getting caught is to make sure nobody would even think to suspect you,” Kanan said.  It didn’t sound like he was talking about pickpocketing, or not just about that.  “Make sure your students understand that.”

With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Ezra staring after him in silent confusion.