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silverwings22 · 2 days

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Song of the Sea: Chapter 37: Follow You Down

Chapter warning: major character injury, description of severe injury, grief Series Warning: explicit smut, alien anatomy (it's a monsterfucker fic, guys), major character injury, grief, canon typical violence, autistic meltdowns, and my terrible attempts at Mando'a

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Next chapter: Coming soon!

“Nothing’s working. That surge fried the power from here.” Echo had his scomp link wedged into the wall, trying his best to get power going again.

“I told you that wasn’t going to work.” Shiani leaned out the open window, taking a shot at the Imperials who were shooting at them. This wasn’t sustainable, and it wouldn’t be long before the Empire scrambled V-wings to deal with them definitively.

“We’ll have to access one of the terminals attached to the track itself. It’ll require a full system reboot.” She frowned, looking at Tech.

He nodded. “You and I can accomplish that.”

“It’s software. You can, I’ll cover you.” She smiled faintly.

“Echo, stand by for their signal. Wrecker and I will give them cover fire.” Hunter nodded. “Omega, stay close to Wrecker.”

Tech and Shiani nodded and went out a window, Hunter following to boost them up one by one. Once they were on the track itself, they had to make their way over towards the terminal and swing out on a dart line.

Shiani ducked under his arm soundlessly as usual, pistol out and returning fire while they swung. Once they landed, he plugged his way into the terminal and started on the datapad. His siren stood over him, blaster out and watching.

The horrifying sound of three V-wings moving towards them made her skin crawl. “Hunter! Arial support coming in. Three V-wings, and they’re coming in hot.” She tried to sound confident and unafraid, the way the clones always did.

She was a civilian. She kept trying to forget she wasn’t a soldier like the man she loved, that she wasn’t terrified all the time when they engaged the Empire. She wanted to crumble most of the time, but one thing was stronger than fear. The undying, feral need to protect Tech like he was made of nova crystals kept her on her feet as the Imperial ships came into view.

Three gunships versus a siren with pistol was almost laughable odds, but Shiani had never been the one who loved statistics like her husband did. “Cover ears.” She muttered into the comm, putting her blaster back in her holster as they got closer.

“Copy.”

When the V-wings came screaming past, getting ready to shoot her and Tech off the track, she sucked in every scrap of air she had and shrieked directly up.

One simply exploded, raining durasteel confetti as the sound shook it apart with the viciousness of an ion cannon. The other one lost a wing and went careening into the clouds below, though the third managed to avoid the blast and pulled wide to come back for a second pass. Shiani grinned and pumped her fist in the air. “Yeah!”

Over the comm, she could hear Wrecker and cheering too.

“That was exceptional, cyar’ika, but let’s not celebrate too soon.” Tech stood up. “Echo, the power is restored. You’ll need to reboot that terminal to access the rail car controls.”

“On it. You two get down here before the wind knocks you down.”

Like a long forgotten dream, Tech recalled when they’d found Echo on Skako Minor, when the wind had swept Crosshair over the edge of a rickety open air bridge. Wrecker had jumped after him without hesitation, despite his fear. He also remembered telling them, just a moment before it happened, if they were going to fall to not take him with them.

He took Shiani by the hand and the two of them came running as fast as they could across the upper rail. The surviving V-wing was coming back, they just had to make it-

The V-wing’s weapons hit the back of the two connected rail cars, the rear one starting to come detached from its mooring, and the vibrations sent Shiani and Tech flying. Her claws dug into the plastoid of his vambrace as he managed to catch them on a dart line secure to the bottom of the loosening car.

“Shiani? Are you alright?” Tech’s usually measured voice sounded a little… less so. “Can you pull yourself up to my side without causing to many vibrations?”

She looked up and nodded, swinging her arm up to grab his belt and then shoulder, wrapping her legs around his waist from the side and her arms around his neck. Tentacles wound their way around him, and she helped him connect the dart line to his belt to free his hands.

“The damaged car is pulling the other one loose.” He murmured as he looked up, going stock still as she saw the remaining connecting wobbling.

“I’m comin’ for you Tech!” Wrecker called, trying to make it to the blown out end their line was attached to and haul them in.

Shiani swallowed hard. “... He’s not going to make it, Tech.”

“I know.” He nodded, one arm moving around her hip. “Stop, Wrecker! Any shift in weight could cause the carriage to collapse.”

“Hang on. I can pull you guys up.” Wrecker protested.

“The weight will pull both of them off the rail. You must sever the connection hinge.” Tech’s volume dropped even as he said it, realizing what it meant.

“Not until you’re both up here!” Wrecker yelled back, and judging by the horrified tone in his voice, so did he.

. Tech looked at Shiani, and she saw the glimmer of his eyes starting to water. She’d never seen him cry before. “Tech…” She whispered.

“I am sorry, cyare.” He breathed. “I thought you would be safer by my side… There is no way to get you up there without taking everyone else with you. You know I would…”

“I wouldn’t go. Not without you.” She swallowed hard. “Where you go, I go. Even down.”

Tech nodded and looked back up, the arm around her waist squeezing three times.

I love you. If it’s the last time, I love you.

“There is no time, Wrecker.” Tech pulled out his blaster. He knew the odds of survival were basically nothing, and he only had one regret. That Shiani had to come with him, because he was certain a galaxy without her would be a lesser one. Still… if he had to die, it might be more pleasant if he could hold her hand on the way down. “Plan 99.”

“Don’t you do it, Tech!” Wrecker shouted, panic in his voice. Omega, who was right behind him, sucked in a sharp breath.

They’re the ones who saw him in the Riot Race. They saw when crowds were cheering his name… and now they’ll see us fall.

It was a horrible thought. Omega didn’t deserve this to live in her mind forever. Wrecker didn’t either, but he’d seen horror. He was a soldier with a good heart, Omega was only a baby… her sweet Baby Mega, her best friend. She hoped Omega forgave her for this, as she put her hand over Tech’s on the blaster and followed his aim towards the connection hinge.

Both Tech’s amber eyes and Shiani’s blue ones were a little shiny with tears, but it didn’t affect their aim. They’d trained forever together, by now the only person who could have made a better shot was the very sniper they’d come to rescue. Tech hoped the rest of the team went on to find Crosshair. Then this wasn’t all in vain. “When have we ever followed orders?”

“NO!”

“Three. Two. One. Now.” Tech coached, and both of them pulled the trigger. They had to do it together, or they’d feel like they’d murdered their lover the whole way to their deaths. It was better like this, together. The connection hinge snapped under the plasma, and it started to fall along with them.

As gravity took hold, Shiani looked at Tech’s face. This, oddly, reminded her of a holo-drama Omega and Lyana had gotten her to watch with them one night. It ended in a wedding, with the bride and groom holding a knife and cutting a cake together. A surface wedding, something she’d been meaning to ask if he wanted since she’d accidentally denied it to him.

They’d never get the chance for the ceremony, but at least they were hand in hand. They pitched over, Tech letting go of the blaster to wrap both arms around Shiani as they went plummeting head first towards the ground with the rail car coming after them.

“TECH! SHIANI!” She heard Wrecker and Omega screaming their names, but it faded to the sound of the wind whistling as they reached terminal velocity and everything faded to cloud around them.

Shiani pressed her head against Tech’s helmet, eyes fixed on him, and as they went plummeting to near certain death, she sang everything she had. She couldn’t save him, but she could kiss him the whole way down.

She was cold, laying on her back staring up at the sky. It didn’t look like the blue, cloudy sky she’d fallen out of. It looked like night, full of stars and swirling as if she was once again below the waves. She couldn’t move and her body felt ice cold, pain lancing through her with every gasping breath. The thick taste of blood flooded her mouth, and she felt it leaking out of her gills and pooling in her chest plate.

She must have been alive somehow, if she was hurting. “T-tech?” She managed to rasp around her bloody fangs.

“Poor little siren.” A gentle, kind voice spoke. “So far from home and so badly hurt.”

Shiani managed to slowly shift her head, until she was looking up at the pale and pretty face of a being made of light and grace. Greenish hair flowed around her, her smile so kind and sweet… “M-elody…” She choked, looking into the face of a goddess.

“Oh, my dear. You’re so close to death.” The goddess leaned over her. “But if you want to fight, you just might survive.”

“Take me. S-send Tech back.” Shiani coughed, spraying blue blood across her chestplate. Her armor that her mate had made her, maybe the only think that had kept her alive this long.

“You can’t bargain with death, little one.”

“Take me. Send… send Tech back.” The siren repeated. “I know… that you can. Take me. Send Tech back.” She wouldn’t fight death if it meant he would live. He deserved his life on Pabu with the little joys she’d shown him. They’d take care of him after she was gone, but he had live.

“He isn’t mine to return to you.” The Melody settled on her knees by the siren’s broken body.

“H-harmony then.” Shiani swallowed. She’d go into the darkest oceans for her afterlife, if that was the price. No more playing in the light and warmth of the shallows, but she could get used to life like an anglerfish.

The god appeared, his eyes hard on her. “It’s been a long time since anyone called to me in their hour of death.”

“Take me and send Tech back.” Shiani wheezed again, forcing one little wobbly hand towards him. It dripped blood and could barely tremble, but she made it reach for him. “Please.”

“I cannot give you what you seek, siren.” He shook his head and moved away as she tried to touch him.

She sobbed brokenly. “Please… please, send Tech back. He just learned how to live.”

The Melody took her battered little hand in both of her glowing ones. “I can’t give him back to you, my dear. But I can give you back to the galaxy. You’ve been so brave. It is a rare gift, use it wisely.”

Shiani stared up at the goddess as she placed a hand on her chest plate, her three hearts beating out of sync for a moment before kicking back into the appropriate rhythm. “B-but…”

“Shh. Save your strength, Shiani Illumai. You will need it.”

Shiani woke up with a choked groan of agony, every nerve in her body screaming at her. Aggressively.

She was half on her side under a pile of debris, some of it sprayed with blue and red blood. “T-tech?” She gasped, raising wobbly hands to try to push the metal off her. It was stacked, not quite in an organic way it would have fallen, but her brain was to busy buzzing with the pain to figure it out. She shoved the durasteel off, sucking in a breath as the sky appeared in front of her. It was morning light, and it had been before dusk when they’d fallen. She’d been out here all night, skin slick with morning dew and sweat.

She tried to take stock of her injuries, slowly moving her arms up. Her right shoulder was most definitely not in its socket correctly and she couldn’t lift it past her sternum. One of her head tresses was ripped completely in half and glued to the others with matted dried blood. There was a deep cut on her left cheek, her chest plate was cracked in the front, and her tentacles were all covered in various bruises and deep gashes. When she tried to sit up, though, was when she found the worst of it. Her left femur was snapped, the bone punched out of her skin, and when she tried to move her hips she almost passed out again from the pain. Her pelvis was definitely crushed on that side as well.

She managed to roll onto her right side and throw up from the fire running under her skin. Her comm was broken too, there was no way to call for help.

“Tech?” She rasped again, puking again as she finished the roll onto her stomach and used her tentacle to push her dislocated shoulder back into its mooring. He had to be nearby, they’d been holding onto each other… She didn’t remember the actual moment they’d struck the ground, but she was sure she didn’t want to. All she wanted to remember was what she was desperate to find; the love of her life.

There was red blood spatter all over the area, and she spotted his cracked helmet tossed carelessly on the ground. She dragged herself to it in tiny motions, wheezing around what was likely several broken ribs. When she got there, it lay empty and bloody, with the visor broken out. Beside it and also bloody was the puzzle necklace she’d made him, laying in a bootprint depression like someone had stepped on it when they’d taken it off of him.

Shiani’s fingers curled around the dented durasteel, tears cleaning the dirt and blood off her face. Tech’s wedding gift… the Empire had taken his body, probably for twisted experiments like the ones Tech had mentioned got Hemlock fired from the Republic. Those monsters would desecrate what was left of him, and she couldn’t even bury him.

Tech was gone.

Shiani collapsed onto her face, sobbing and choking. She’d die out here alone, without him, because the rest of the team must have escaped by now. She’d wanted them too, to get Omega out of here, but it didn’t change the fact that she was afraid. She didn’t want to die of exposure and the slow infection that would set in on these wounds. She wasn’t ready to meet the gods again and tell them she never made it more than a few meters from where they’d given her a second chance she hadn’t even wanted.

Her tool bag had landed by Tech’s helmet, strap ripped off her but somehow miraculously still closed. She inched her way to it and looked up, struggling to wipe the snot and tears off her bloody face as she squinted at something shiny a few more meters away. It was a huge chunk of broken ship part, surprisingly intact for having crashed.

The V-wing. The one missing only a wing, something a mechanic could put back together with just the tools in the bag she was clinging to. It would be hard since she couldn’t stand, but the scrap parts around her would work. She only needed to survive takeoff and space, a tin can with a hyperdrive would do.

She started dragging herself to it with painful little sounds, inch by inch. Claws dug into the grass, but she wasn’t giving up. She had to get home. She couldn’t sleep until it was done, and dimly she knew it might mean she didn’t heal correctly… but if she was going to die she either wanted to do it in a ship, or on Pabu with the rest of her family. Either way, she was following Tech one way or the other.

It didn’t hurt anymore. Shiani had been awake for so long her body felt numb, though she still couldn’t stand. She’d rebuilt the wing and made the hull of this miserable V-wing pressurized. It wasn’t hyperspace capable without a hyperdrive ring, but she’d seen one just on the edge of the system when they’d come on the Marauder.

At least she thought she had. She was sure she was hallucinating at this point, exhausted and shaking as she dragged herself into the V-wing’s pilot’s seat. Sitting her hip reminded her she was, in fact, still broken, and the pain cleared her head. How long had she been at this… ten days? Twelve? She’d lost track.

She managed to flip the dials and levers in the correct sequence to get the controls to light up, kicking it with her good foot until the engines started. “C’mon… c’mon…” She growled, hissing at the contraption until it came fully to life and she could get it in the air. She didn’t have clearance from the airspace, but the V-wing was fast and nimble. She had to pray she was half as good a pilot as Tech trained her to be.

The Imperial comm was still active, and she heard them scrambling pursuit after her as she laid on the controls. Her slapdash repairs weren’t enough to keep ahead of a pristine V-wing… She turned on her mic and started singing furiously as she headed for the edge of the atmosphere, pouring every ounce of her exhaustion into the soundwaves.

Fall asleep. You want to rest. You want to fall apart and cry yourself to sleep.

The closest pursuit’s nose dropped, the pilot making a helpless noise and starting to sob as he went down into the trees. Behind her, other fighters were wobbling in the air as their pilots started to fall apart. Shiani gunned her own engine like it owed her money and made for the hyperdrive ring, docking her barely-spaceworthy stolen vessel. She hurriedly slammed one of only three sets of coordinates she had truly memorized. Kamino and Ord Mantell were lost causes, but Pabu… she could get home.

She jumped into hyperspace just before the Empire caught her, catching on and turning off their comms finally. The stretching lights of purple light flickered over the broken siren, who flicked a wire with her claw to sever it and ensured the ship couldn’t be tracked.

This thing couldn’t land, but if she crashed into the water near enough to the island she could make her way to shore. She would have to figure it out, how deep the water needed to be to keep what was left of her broken body from being destroyed on impact and how far she could reasonably drag herself underwater with her injuries.

She clutched Tech’s necklace, where she’d hung it around her neck. “Going home, Tech… we’re gonna go home…”

Phee was sitting on the beach with Lyana, both of them having come out to clear their heads. Wrecker and Hunter had limped the Marauder back to Pabu, both to let Echo get his ship back and to supply themselves. Hunter had quietly told Phee that Tech and Shiani had been killed, and that Cid had double crossed them to the Empire which had led to Omega being taken captive. Phee’s heart had snapped in half at the story of the friendly siren and clone she’d loved, who’d gone down to save their family only to have their baby sister snatched by something evil.

The broken pair of goggles that had sat in Hunter’s hand had been hard to take.

Lyana was so worried about Omega, and comforting her gave Phee something to think about other than her dead friends. She was sitting with her arm around her niece, looking up at the sunny sky and stroking her hair.

“You think they’ll find her, Auntie Phee?” Lyana whispered.

“Those boys don’t play around… if anyone can, it’s them.” She murmured cautiously. She wanted to believe that Wrecker and Hunter could do it-

A flash of light made them both look up, and Phee frowned as a small ship came hurtling into the atmosphere far too fast. “What’s that?” Lyana gasped.

“A Imperial V-wing.” Phee gritted her teeth. “But it’s going to crash.”

“It’s broken looking.” Lyana pointed out, a thousand conversations with Omega about things she’d learned being raised by soldiers sticking with her. “Look at the left wing.”

“.... Do me a favor. Go tell your dad I’m gonna borrow the boat.” Phee frowned, getting to her feet. She watched the V-wing hit the water and start to break up as it sank, steam rising from the where the hull had superheated due to the speed of reentry. Once Lyana was out of sight, Phee ran to the boat and took it out to the crash site. She had one hand on her blaster, determined to take out any Imperial survivor in the name of her dead friends.

The V-wing was still sinking as she got over it, a stream of bubbles coming from the broken windshield as it slowly shed the trapped air holding it from plummeting into the sea where it belonged. As Phee watched, she spotted a fist slam into the cracked transparisteel once, twice, three times until it broke through and a figure shoved themselves out of the hole heedless of the sharp fragments cutting them.

A figure with four tentacles, who was leaking blue blood into the water. A siren!

Phee dropped her blaster into the bottom of the boat and jumped in, grabbing the siren who couldn’t seem to kick to swim. She dragged the injured woman to the surface and pulled her into the boat, climbing back in after her.

The siren smiled around bloody teeth. “Phee…” She mumbled, and Phee gasped at the awful injuries covering nearly every inch of her. She was green with bruises, bones exposed, burned from reentry, and her skin was both clammy and hot with a raging infection.

“Hang on, I got you.” Phee breathed, hitting her comm. “Shep, meet me at the dock with a stretcher and round up as much bacta as we can spare. Send Lyana to my ship and tell her to bring me my long-range transmitter. I’ve got to call Hunter and Wrecker.”

“What’s going on, Phee? Lyana said an Imperial ship crashed into the ocean?”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t an Imperial on it. It’s Shiani!”

#explict #original character #clone force 99 #the bad batch #star wars #fanfic #tbb tech #song of the sea

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silverwings22 · 3 days

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Song of the Sea: Chapter 36: A Hunt Interrupted

Chapter Warnings: political fanaticism, violence Series Warning: explicit smut, alien anatomy (it's a monsterfucker fic, guys), major character injury, grief, canon typical violence, autistic meltdowns, and my terrible attempts at Mando'a

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Eriadu was covered in a delicate mix of mist and cloud cover, settled over the top of thick trees and rocky mountain crags. It was imposing and severe, Tarkin’s compound separated from the main depot by a sky rail system. It was a creepy place, Shiani thought. It just felt like it wanted to hurt someone as much as the Empire it belonged to did.

That uncomfortable, eerie feeling that the Empire always gave her stuck sharply under her gills, and she looked over at Tech as he flew. He had that resolute, stern expression on his face that he got when he had made up his mind. "I have identified a safe landing zone outside of scanner range."

His determination was comforting, and Shiani pushed her stress down into her stomach and twined her tentacles around each other to ground herself.

"How will we get past the cruisers?" Hunter stepped up behind her as Echo approached the console.

"I've got a clearance code from our contact." Echo leaned against the back of Tech’s chair to be in position when the transmission was requested.

Hunter nodded. "Wrecker, get on the tailgun… just in case something goes wrong."

Wrecker headed to the back without anything more than a nod. He was primed for action; he’d missed Crosshair as much as Tech did. And was a lot more vocal about it.

When Echo transmitted the clearance codes, they were authorized to land. They veered off course once they were out of line of sight, and moved into the trees. The landing gear was barely on the ground when they were coming out of the hatch hurriedly. The Empire would notice the ship they’d cleared hadn’t landed, and the Batch needed to be far from Eriadu by then.

"What's our approach? A side-wind breach?" Omega piped up, expression hard now. She’d been quiet and thoughtful the whole trip there, instead of the sweet and bubbly kid Shiani was more familiar with. The siren could only think this was the reunion she’d been dreaming of since she was a toddler, when the Batch had been made and taken away from her as babies. This reunion had been a long time coming for her, longer than even the guys could imagine.

"It did work on Raxus." Tech looked at her, giving her a nod. He was proud of her tactical skills, which had also come along with his teaching.

"The Empire has changed its tactics since then. That won't work here." Echo shook his head.

"No explosives or tanks, Wrecker." Hunter sighed, and even with his helmet on they could all tell Wrecker was pouting a little.

When they got to a ridgeline, Shiani pulled out her binocs. “It’s too heavily fortified for the sidewind breach. But there’s a rail line.”

"Tech, can you disable the sensor?" Hunter cocked back on his hip to look at Tech, watching the gears turn in his head.

"That would trigger an alert. But I can temporarily recycle the feed. That will give us an approximately 30 second window. But we must be precise."

Everyone looked at Wrecker, who grumbled. "What? I can handle it."

"See that you do." Tech pulled out his grappling line and lifted his free arm for Shiani to attach herself to him. It was an unspoken development; where one went the other must follow. After the Zillo attack, Tech was taking no chances. They shot up to the maintenance hatch, and she covered him once he was in position and plugged in.

"Now." He said after a short moment of work, unplugging and shooting another dartline to the side of the actual rail car. Everyone else did as well, pulling themselves into a line along the side. They kept each other steady, and Shiani stretched tentacles along their backs to keep them secure.

They couldn’t really say much, doing their best to remain hidden, but Hunter looked back to check on Omega behind him. She nodded, smiling a little at him. Hunter loved her, she knew that without question, and she wanted to be as much like him as possible. She wanted to be capable and willing to risk anything to protect her family, the way he would risk it all for her.

If she’d asked any of the others, they would have told her she already was his spitting image.

When the rail car slowed, the squad dropped into the base in near perfect silence. There were a handful of guards watching the perimeter, and they were easily dispatched with the lethal precision of four soldiers and the hunting instincts of a siren. Once all the white-armored Imperials were down, Shiani shoved them off the side of the battlements.

Wrecker winced as they went over, turning his head. Shiani patted his arm gently and gave him an encouraging whisper, since it was too dangerous to sing. “Don’t look down.”

They slipped round into the hangar and Hunter bit back a groan at the rows of indistinguishable vessels. "Identical shuttles."

"Which ship is Hemlock's?" Omega looked around.

"We'll need to access the hangar manifest." Echo pointed upward. “It’ll be in the control room.

"Wrecker, Omega, stay here with the homing beacon. We’ll send you instructions. And stay low." Hunter murmured.

Shiani gave Omega a wink, cheering her up when she could tell the girl was worried about splitting the group. Omega relaxed, tucking herself back with Wrecker out of sight. Once the siren turned to follow the other three clones, however, her expression returned to tense and alert. This was a hunt, and a dangerous one at that. She had to keep an eye out for everyone’s safety.

There were only a few stormtroopers in the halls, and they took them out with efficient brutality. “No clones at all.” Shiani murmured to Tech softly.

“Tarkin has made it apparent he does not like us.” He replied.

“Ungrateful bastard.” Echo hissed in response. Shiani didn’t know what the animosity was, but she was confident Tarken deserved it. Echo was a badass ARC trooper, but he had a heart of gold. If he didn’t like you, that was your own fault.

Once they made it to the control room, Shiani helped Hunter drag the dead stormtroopers out of sight. Tech and Echo got to work on the console, dragging their way through the Imperial system for Hemlock’s shuttle.

“Multiple security systems are offline in various sectors." Tech frowned. “This is more than sloppy security. It seems deliberate.”

Shiani looked at Hunter nervously. “Empire wouldn’t disable their own security…”

“No, but they have plenty of enemies besides us.” Hunter growled.

“That means we’re not alone.” Shiani’s ears drooped.

Tech gritted his teeth. “Interference from another unit’s plans could cost us the element of surprise. We cannot afford to get caught.”

Echo nodded. “Go check it out, I’ve got Hemlock’s ship. I’ll keep an eye on Omega and Wrecker from here, and you guys let me know if anything’s worth reporting. Hemlock's ship is in docking bay 4."

Shiani looked at Tech and frowned. Who the hell was in here with them?!

"Another disabled camera." Tech had checked six on this hallway alone, and every one of them was disabled. "This is highly irregular."

"I don’t like it.” Hunter nodded.

Tech sighed. “We need to get out of here, and quickly.”

Shinai was on the ground, looking behind a terminal, and sucked in a sharp breath. “Tech…”

“Yes, cyar- shit.” Tech hissed as his eyes followed where she was pointing and spotted the pulsing glow of a familiar weapon. "A high-powered thermal detonator."

"We need to go.” She got up, eyes wide. “This is bad. This is a bold attack, and we’ll be caught in the crossfire.”

"One charge is not sufficient to destroy the facility." Tech gently put his hands on her shoulders, trying to comfort her.

"Good thing we've got more." All three of them whipped around at the voice, blasters up. Two stormtroopers were walking towards them, but something about the way they walked made Hunter pause. Shiani’s ears pinned back, eyes fixing on the one closest as her lips twitched. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to hiss or back away slowly. Something about that figure was… not sane. Not correct.

“They’re not Imperials.” Hunter muttered.

“I know.” Shiani shook her head.

"You're quick." When the helmet came up, they faced dark skin and bright green eyes. Hunter had seen him before, though Shiani had no idea who she was looking at. She just wan’t enjoying looking.

"Saw Guerrera." Hunter breathed.

She knew the name at least, and paused. “Freedom fighter.”

“Surprised to see you clones again. And with.. Interesting company.” Guerrera eyed Shiani before his attention moved back to Hunter. "I told you on Onderon that you'd have to make a choice. Looks like you did. I'm destroying this base, and taking out a couple Imperial leaders."

"They will only fill their ranks again. We are after intelligence." Tech snorted.

"Hemlock is keeping clone prisoners, including one of our own." Hunter explained, hands up. He sensed somehow, like Shiani did, that the man in front of him was running on less than full cylinders. "Stand down this time. This information is vital."

"Sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good." Saw’s eyes narrowed.

Shiani put her hands together, pleading. “The information we need could give you a better target. Just please stand down for a little while. We can share the data and collaborate.”

The look he gave her was both unimpressed and unhinged. “I’m not standing down. This means too much.”

His companion pulled him a step back when the siren snarled. “We don’t have time for this. We need to move. A security alerts been triggered."

Saw pulled his helmet back on and waved Shiani off like she was a gnat. "Fine"

Tech pulled Shiani back as Hunter shot a trooper behind Guerrera and waved for them to run the opposite direction, back to towards the hanger. "We've been compromised. Head back to the rail line." He ordered, taking shots over his shoulder.

Shiani was right behind him and Tech, hearing the others copy over comm. Stormtroopers were coming around every corner she turned, and the feeling of a tentacle snapping a neck was a necessary and too-often experienced sensation that clawed its way up her spine. Shooting them wasn’t any better. The extinguishing of a life, even a life of an enemy, always hurt. It was suppose to be a burden you bore, when you hunted or killed you had to carry the weight of the lives you took.

Her father’s lessons stuck around, even if she was so far from home and so far from who she’d been when she learned them.

Hunter and Echo covered everyone on the platform as they loaded into a rail car, and she dragged them inside with her tentacles when they were still shooting as the car started moving. “Nobody left behind.” She panted, looking at them anxious and securing the door.

“This was unexpected.” Tech muttered, checking her over.

“He’s crazy.” She sighed into his hands. “I’m okay.”

Behind them, the base went up in flames as Guerrera’s thermals went off. Ships in the hangar fell over and were engulfed. “... there goes our intel.” Echo muttered savagely.

“Worse problem.” Shiani frowned. “These kind of rail lines are powered at the control terminals on either side. If that just blew, we’d have to reroute to the other end of the line or we’ll stop…”

As she spoke, they started to lose speed and a crackle of electricity fried the line above them. Echo groaned. “Dammit, the mechanic is right.”

“Of course I’m right.” Shiani frowned, looking at the ceiling. “It’s going to be difficult to reroute the power from here, too. Your scomp won’t work without power to the internal terminal…”

Tech looked out the window. There was another rail car coming from the other direction, also stopped and in range to fire on them. “Which means we must reboot the system from the terminal directly attached to the track.” A blaster shot whizzed past his face, striking the opposite wall where Omega had been a split second before Shiani pushed her into Hunter’s arms. “That is going to be a problem.”

#explict #original character #clone force 99 #the bad batch #star wars #fanfic #tbb tech

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silverwings22 · 3 days

Text

Song of the Sea: Chapter 35: Golden Light

Chapter Warnings: explicit smut, discussion of medical torture, discussion of unethical medical practices Series Warning: explicit smut, alien anatomy (it's a monsterfucker fic, guys), major character injury, grief, canon typical violence, autistic meltdowns, and my terrible attempts at Mando'a

Previous chapter:

Next chapter:

Tech was asleep, arm over her stomach, when Shiani woke up. Normally, he woke up before her and fell asleep after unless she bullied him into bed with those big eyes of hers… but not this morning. Today, the warmth of the island was cozy around them. There was nothing to fix on the ship, there were no pressing dangers, and their day off from rebuilding Lower Pabu meant that she and Tech got to sleep in.

She didn’t move, not wanting to disturb him as she listened to him breathe for a while, until she heard Omega wake up across the ship. “Hunter, can I go down to the beach?” The little girl called, and Tech stirred behind Shiani.

“Ask me after my caf.” The sergeant yawned. “Gimme like… fifteen minutes.”

“Mn… what is the likelihood he saved me a cup of caf?” Tech mumbled against the back of her neck.

“You won’t know until you get up.” She laughed softly. “Should I wait to ask what you want to do today?”

He squinted, half sitting up and reaching for his goggles. “I believe I need to get another venom sample, and then we can decide.”

Shiani laughed again. “Alright. C’mon, I’ll fix your caf while you wash your face.”

He smiled sleepily at her, his hair a mess. He had reason for it to be, the ghost of last night’s desire lingering in the form of hickies down the side of his neck and collarbones. “Thank you, cyar’ika.”

She wiggled out from the bunk and slid down gracefully, landing on the balls of her feet. She was wearing his shirt, which she had started doing at every opportunity since they’d moved onto Pabu. “Hunter! You leave caf for us?”

“If there’s none left, blame Wrecker.” Hunter chuckled, fixing his bandana onto his head after brushing his hair. “I think there’s enough for a cup or two.”

“Good.” She happily made a cup the way she knew Tech liked it, then her own with too much sweet cream and dumped over ice with a funny shaped straw Omega had found for her. “Caf!”

“With the amount of sugar in yours, it’s not even caf anymore.” Wrecker snickered.

“You like sugar too.” She sniffled, but grinned. She loved starting her morning with the banter. It felt like belonging.

Tech walked out of the fresher fully dressed and his hair fixed, and she handed him his cup. “Thank you. Here, before you drink anything. Mouth open, please.”

She set her cup down and opened her mouth as wide as it would go, Tech slipping a glass covered with a thin duraplastoid film between her teeth. She sank her fangs into it, and Wrecker made a face when a drizzle of greenish-yellow venom started filling the glass. “You’re still doing that?”

“Yes. Now that I am not engaged in constant repairs, I have time for interesting things.” Tech nodded, waiting until the droplets stopped flowing from his wife’s hollow fangs. “That is sufficient, Shiani.”

She unclenched her jaw and flexed it back into place before bringing her yellow loop-de-loop straw to her mouth. “He’s trying to make himself immune.” She giggled.

“I believe I am near a breakthrough.” Tech leaned over and kissed her cheek. “It is a neurotoxin, similar to tetrodotoxin found in certain fish species. It affects the nervous system, stalling transmission of signals throughout the body. That is why anyone bitten becomes unconscious and has severe itching; their nerves are misfiring. In something small like your natural prey,, it would be entirely lethal.” He launched into his early morning info-dump as she drank her caf, sipping his between sentences. Omega was grinning around her breakfast of fruit, while Wrecker and Hunter had clearly quit listening and were just nodding out of habit.

Shiani smiled and winked at Omega. “Well, I’m going to take a walk after he puts that in the spinny thing”

“Centrifuge, cyar’ika.” Tech corrected, watching her out of the corner of his eye. Small bubbles were starting to circulate inside her straw as she reached the end of her caf.

“Centri-spinny. I know to fix it if it stops working, but dunno how to use it.” She giggled to Omega. “I wanna go look at the market and go swimming today.”

“I thought we agreed we would start letting Omega fly the ship some time this week.” Tech glanced back at his sister, wondering if her eagerness to pilot would overcome Shiani’s desire to explore. He didn’t mind whichever one of them won out, enjoying getting to teach Omega just as much as he wanted to explore the island now that he had a day off to do so.

Hunter chuckled as Omega looked thoughtful. “How about Tech takes you flying tomorrow. Wrecker was going to go fishing anyway, didn’t you want to go to the beach?”

Omega nodded. “What are you going to do today?”

“Organize supplies so we can have more space, since we’re settling in. I don’t recommend sharing a room with married people.” Hunter made a face at Shiani and Tech. The genius clone looked slightly red in the face. Shiani looked incredibly smug and unashamed.

Hunterand Wrecker hadn’t come home til last last night. If she and Tech had locked them out of the bunkroom for a little while… it was for their own good.

Wrecker ruffled Omega’s hair. “Go get your beach stuff. We’ll make a sand castle.”

Omega nodded and darted off, while Shiani went to get dressed for the day. She unburied her bathingsuit and put it on under her overalls, then slipped on a pair of flats instead of her boots.

Tech was waiting on her and she took him by the hand to steer him out of the ship. “Bye Hunter!”

“Bye, Shiani. See you this afternoon.” He waved, and they were off for the day.

Tech smiled faintly as she led him down the footpath, holding his hand firmly. “You’re eager today, aren’t you?”

“We spend all our time fixing and building. Today, we enjoy what we built.” She looked back at him, eyes bright. “Normally, we get breakfast from Lyana and Shep. Today, let’s buy our own at the market. I have credits for it.”

“Where did you get credits?” He raised an eyebrow. “We are rebuilding Lower Pabu in exchange for a place to live. Credits were not a part of the arrangement.”

“No. But sometimes people give me credits if I sing when I’m walking home from working.” She shrugged. “Baby Mega told me to get a piggy bank, but I could only find an empty jelly jar. It works just fine.” She grinned. They walked into the bustling marketplace right between Upper and Lower Pabu, where fish vendors were selling their catch of the morning and fruit stalls overflowed with ripe and sweet bounty. Street food carts moved between the stationary locations, the smells mingling together in a way that made the ever-hungry siren’s mouth water. “Let’s try something we’ve never had before.”

“That is financially irresponsible. If you have never tried something, you do not know if you will enjoy it. If you do not, you have wasted the credits when you could have gotten something you do enjoy.” Tech frowned.

“Not wasted if you have a new experience. Those are worth more than credits.” She walked over to a stall selling balls of fried dough filled with pieces of octopus inside. They came in orders of six, so Shiani got one to share. “Here, try.”

He took one out of the container and frowned. “I find it surprising you choose to eat octopus. Does it not feel adjacent to canibalism?”

Shiani speared one of the snacks on her claws. “That’s like me saying it’s cannibalism if you eat a moon-yo. Besides, I eat anything that won’t eat me first.” She popped it into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “Ooh. This is good.”

Tech tried the morsel himself. “This is actually quite good.”

“Told you it was worth the risk. And besides, octopus is always better when it’s cooked.” She gave him another one as they walked through the marker.

“So you’ve eaten it raw.”

“I ate most things raw when I was exiled. Sirens cook on thermal vents on the ocean floor. We have pipes from central vents into houses, and the power grid follows the same patterns.” She explained.

When they finished this treat, Shiani turned around and got them an order of dumplings and a meiloorun to take down to the beach. Tech let her pull him along, recording his favorite view. Shiani, holding his hand as she led the way.

“What experience do you have planned now, cyar’ika?”

“We were always working on something on Kamino. Today, I want to play.” She grinned, looking back at him. “I want to show you how beautiful the world I came from can be.”

He blinked at her adorably earnest expression, then smiled a little brighter as his eyes drifted to her hand holding his. “How do you plan to do that?” Squeeze squeeze squeeze.

“Diving.” They made it to the beach, Shiani reaching into her bag and pulling out a blanket. She spread it out and sat their things down. “Leave your armor and datapad, and we’ll go.”

Tech raised an eyebrow. “Our things could be taken.”

“Not on Pabu.” She sat on the blanket and started unbuckling her overalls. “It’s safe here. It’s the only safe place we’ve ever been. Besides, we don’t need a repeat of the day we met, do we?”

“I suppose not.” He chuckled quietly and took off his belt. She was right. He’d never been anywhere safe, bred for a war he had no stake in and abandoned by the Republic he’d served faithfully. Kamino had its dangers, even when he was a cadet when any failure could result in decommissioning. The war and everything after had only followed in its footsteps… She’d been born into a crumbling city surrounded by predators and her own people’s fear. Here on Pabu, however, they could finally relax.

He dropped his vest, bags, and boots. When he looked up, Shiani had dropped her overalls entirely. She was standing by the edge of the towel and stretching, and he admired the delicate slope of her neck and curve of her hips in the yellow swimsuit. It was a bikini, the top designed similarly to a sleeveless wetsuit and the bottoms were short-shorts. “I do not recall that outfit being in your clothing cubby.”

She laughed, propping a hand on her hip. He tried not to stare too long at her wasp waist and abs as she did. “Omega told Lyana my favorite color is yellow, so she and Shep found me this. I just haven’t had a chance to wear it.”

“You look… astounding.” He breathed, letting her take his hand again as she led him to the water.

“Good. Come here, I can’t wait for you to see this.” Her happy smile was infectious, and he followed her into the water.

She kept her form once they were underwater, kicking her legs to swim at his pace until they were out by the reef’s edge beyond the fishing zones. The morning sun scattered rays of light through the water, dappling patterns that could be seen all the way to the bottom. “Kamino was never this warm.” She floated next to him, looking up at the sky. “And there weren't any birds.”

“There was no land for them to nest on, so they went extinct in the initial flood.” He nodded. “Only fully aquatic species survived the climate shift, unless they were genetically preserved by the longnecks.”

Shiani smiled, though there was a bittersweet edge to it. She’d feared and resented the longnecks, but that didn’t mean the’d deserved to be wiped out. The Empire had done that, just like they’d killed all the Jedi who might have understood the way the galaxy sang to her “They never knew how much life was really down there.”

“Is Pabu’s sea as alive as Kamino?” Tech turned his head to look at her, cradled in the water’s embrace.

“Let me show you. Got you rebreather?.” She flipped around and let him get the device in his mouth before pulling him down below the waves.

The reef here was so colorful, shoals of fish patrolling corals of every color imaginable. Shiani brought him close, showing him striped fish living inside stinging anemones and eels peeking gape-mouthed out of holes in the stone and coral. His eyes lit up, fascinated, and he swam closer to explore while she kept an eye on him.

They made their way through the reef, investigating every little cranny they could find. There were turtles who swam like they were flying in their hunt for jellyfish, rays that flapped and stirred sand when they were startled by the duo’s shadow passing above them, and little crevices that fish had hidden their eggs in. She let curious reef fish swim into her hands and showed them to Tech, letting him pet them like they were tooka kittens they’d found. When he found a bizarre corkscrew shaped item, he curiously picked it up and examined it. It was firm but flexible, felt hollow, but had weight to it.

Shiani tapped his arm and signed, grinning at his fascinated. “Certain type of shark egg.”

Tech carefully set it back down and nodded, smiling before he gestured for them to surface again. When they popped above the water, he took the rebreather from his mouth and pulled her closer. “You were correct. It is spectacular down there.”

She giggled, settling her arms around his neck and nuzzling his jawline. “Better than Kamino. Did you see all the eggs? It’ll bloom like springtime on Naboo soon. Kamino struggles, but this place… Pabu is alive.”

Tech nodded. “What else do you want to see?”

She pointed at a tidepool near a cavern system, a secure little semi circle of rocks that couldn’t be seen from the city above. “Let’s check that out.”

He nodded agreeably, and they swam over to investigate.

There were a few little guppies and starfish clinging to the rocks, but was secure and full of shallow water gone warm from the sun. Shiani giggled and swam in tight circles in the bare knee-deep water, expression relaxed and content. Tech was finally safe, and he looked happy now. That was all she’d wanted since she’d first spotted him sinking far below the surface of Kamino. Tech deserved to be happy.

She was startled when he pulled her into his lap suddenly, bringing her mouth to his almost reverently. She felt it in her chest, a flipped switch in him of desire. “Someone’s happy to see me.” She teased when he was forced to breathe, the siren grinding her hips teasingly against the evident bulge in the front of his pants.

“I cannot help myself.” Tech rested his chin in her chest to look up at her. “I simply realized I never appreciated how beautiful you truly are when you are happy.”

Shiani hummed, running her fingers softly through his hair. “You make me happy, Tech.”

Tech smiled, his own fingertips tracing the curve of her bottom lip. “That smile is the most valuable thing I have ever created.”

Shiani’s grin brightened, and she pushed his back against the stones that encircled them, slithering down his lap. That playful expression he knew always ended with her hands on him was tinging across her face, and it stirred his own need into something that burned low in his stomach. “Want to see how long I can hold my breath?” She giggled.

“You do not need to hold your-” He started, but she vanished under the water and started pulling open the fastening of his pants. “Oh. You were teasin- ah…” She was quick, and before he could fully process what she was doing she had worked him out of his pants and dropped her mouth around his cock. He groaned between his teeth, reaching out to trace the patterns of faintly pulsing light that flickered across her skin with every movement she made. His pretty siren, his beautiful bride who took the time to listen whenever he spoke, who understood the way he conducted himself, who loved him despite all the times he’d probably driven her out of her mind… When he’d sunk in the middle of an aquatics exercise as a cadet, he’d never thought he’d end up in love with the woman who rescued him. Let alone on an island in the middle of nowhere, a deserter with no regrets about running.

The Empire would have put Shiani in a cage. He could hold her in his arms instead.

He found himself holding one of her hands as she swallowed around him, unable to keep coherent thoughts. But he could squeeze and count to three, and she knew he loved her more than anything in the galaxy.

She let off of him when his legs started to tremble under her tentacles, smug little face half surfacing to grin at him with a wiggle of her ear fins. Tech was breathing hard, and licked his lips. “You are teasing.”

“It’s fun.” She cooed, climbing back up his body to straddle his waist. “And I always give you want you want eventually, don’t I?”

“You are what I want. However you are there.” He said honestly. He had never been good with flowery phrases, but sometimes he knew what romance writers meant. Sometimes he felt that bone-deep ache to consume each other to the soul, until nothing was left of either of them and they'd melted into the molecules of the other in a way that couldn't be untangled. If his atoms could twine their way into Shiani’s and sail away into the stardust they’d once come from, he might begin to believe in the idea of a heavenly afterlife.

Shiani kissed him again, one leg flexing up so she could pull it out of her bottoms and leave it hanging around the other thigh like a garter. Then she could take Tech back in hand and guide herself down, gasping pleasantly as he took his place in the warmth of her insides. He filled her perfectly, like a missing piece she hadn’t realized she needed until he was there. He had his arms wrapped around tightly around her waist as she cupped his face, both of them rolling against each other slow and steady. It felt like the cycle of the tides, the waves lapping at the shore, and every other perfect process of nature that turned planets and sent stars shooting across the sky.

Loving Tech was easy. No matter what happened, it was the easiest thing she’d ever done. Every hard thing that had followed made perfect sense whenever she experienced what his love in return felt like. And today it felt simple, languid and unhurried as she rocked her hips and swallowed every needy little sound her brilliant lover could make.

She made up for every time she’d fantasized about him in her lonely little cavern on Kamino, every time her pelvis met his and he pressed into the electric place inside her was a promise.

I love you.

I’ll always love you.

You mean everything to me.

I’ll never give up on you.

When the spool of winding magma in Shiani’s belly got tighter and tighter, she pressed her head to his and gently tugged his jaw up until he was looking at her with hazy eyes. She smiled and kissed his forehead, recalling dimly he’d mentioned the idea the brain was the seat of personality and the part of her he loved the most. So, with her lips right at his brain, she cooed out the lingering and intoxicating note of a siren kiss and watched him come undone from the inside out.

And his release took hers by the hand and pulled her over right behind him. Of course it did. She followed Tech, to death to ecstasy. That was where Shiani belonged.

She dropped her head onto his shoulder and kissed it, panting as she felt his heavy breath against her skin. He squeezed her to his chest, three times slowly as he tried to remember how his limbs worked. A siren kiss was the most deliciously disorienting thing he’d ever experienced. “We should take days off more often.” She breathed.

“I agree.” Tech chuckled weakly. “Did you have any other plans for today?”

“Go back to the blanket, eat that meiloorun, take a nap in the sun, and watch the meteor shower that’s supposed to go by tonight. Mr. Eenta told me about it. I’ve never seen one before.”

Tech nosed against her cheek. “I think that is an excellent itinerary, cyar’ika.”

Tech had kept his promise of letting Omega behind the controls of the Havoc Marauder, which meant a lot of afternoons practicing takeoff and landing. His wayward little sister was getting better as a pilot, but teaching her was far more stressful than teaching Shiani had been.

Maybe it was because Omega insisted Shiani come with them for all their training sessions, which meant she was whooping in the background while Tech held on for dear life in the copilot’s seat.

“That was better, wasn’t it Tech? The altitude alarms didn’t even go off this time.” Omega grinned at him as she brought them back up from a low swoop.

“That is because they shorted out the last time we did this.” Tech adjusted his goggles. “But yes, you have improved under my teaching method.”

Shiani was strapped in in the seat behind them, and had been holding her arms and tentacles in the air like she’d been on a roller coaster. She lowered them with a peep at Tech. “You didn’t tell me the alarms were broken! I’ll fix them this afternoon.”

Tech turned to look at her, smiling fondly. Wrecker had often accused him of being overly serious and never smiling, but lately he couldn’t stop. Just watching Shiani walk from the ship to the Archium every morning had him beaming into his caf. “You were fixing the long range transmitter so Hunter could talk to Echo.”

She nodded sagely. “He’s coming to see us soon. I need to make sure he hasn’t messed up his arm. But still, tell me things when they break! What good is a mechanic with nothing to fix?”

“You are also a skilled pilot, talented singer, and extremely efficient assistant to the fishermen here on Pabu.” He pointed out.

She rolled her eyes, but was still smiling. “Hey, Baby Mega. Try a sharp swing back with zero thruster pull.”

“The Tech turn?” Omega’s eyes glittered.

Yeah! Tech turn!” Shiani grabbed her restraints as Omega took off at high speed to perform the maneuver. Tech grabbed onto his seat as he soul tried to escape his body. Teaching pre-teens to fly was terrifying, and he’d been in a war.

Shiani was giggling behind him, absolutely having encouraged this just to see him gasp and cling to his chair, when the comm went off. Omega slowed them back down to look at it.

“Havoc 4 to Havoc 5.”

“It’s Echo!” Omega grinned. “Havoc 5 to Havoc 4! I copy!”

“Looks like you’ve been keeping up with your training. How about let’s see what you’ve learned? I’ll race you to the landing zone.”

“You’re on!” Omega gunned the engine, slinging Tech nearly out of his chair. Shiani caught him with a tentacle and grinned when he glanced back, winking at her mate. He shook his head with a wry smile and righted himself for a high-speed but bumpy landing. Omega was improving, certainly, but she was still young. She’d need plenty of practice.

When she set the ship out, his legs were a little wobbly. Omega ran ahead to jump bodily into Echo’s arms, while Shiani hung back to give Tech a kiss on the cheek. “You okay?”

“You recommended that zero-thruster pull just to upset my equilibrium, didn’t you?” He slipped an arm around her to walk over and shake Echo’s hand.

“It’s a Tech turn, and it’s a great tool for her to have.” She insisted, still grinning.

“That is not what it is called… but I do like it.” He got to Echo and Shiani gave the cyborg a hug while he was still holding Omega on his hip.

“Missed you, Echo. How’s the arm?”

“Best piece of equipment I’ve ever had.” He grinned, letting her inspect it. “And I’ve put it through its paces. It just has a slight delay to my amplifier.” He tapped the halo of metal around his head. “Think you could take a look at that for me? It works without it but everything’s faster when it’s in sync.”

Shiani nodded. “I’ll fix it. You had something for Tech to decrypt, right?”

Echo nodded and gently set Omega down before pulling out a datastick. “We got this over Balmorra, after we intercepted a ship full of arrested clones. The Empire had something terrible planned for them, and we need to find out what.”

“I will get right on it.” Tech nodded, taking the datapad.

“I’ll fix your arm.” Shiani held out her hands and Echo made a wry face before handing her both the prosthetic and amplifier off his head.

“I forget you have ears.” Omega snickered. “

“While those two work, why don’t we show you what we’ve been working on?” Hunter offered. “And get you something to eat. They’ve been looking after us here.”

Echo nodded. “I’m surprised you’re not back on Ord Mantell with Cid.”

“We’re evaluating things.” Hunter shook his head.

Omega took his good hand. “Shiani says she’ll bite Cid if she sees her again. I think we had to move.”

“He bent the uplink transponder. It was inside the housing, I have no idea how he managed to do that.” Shiani complained to Tech as she finished up the repairs on Echo’s arm. She’d been mostly quiet so he could concentrate on the decryption, but he was waiting on something to download at the moment so it was safe to talk. Or… she had thought so until he turned around in the bridge chair and looked at her.

There was a spike of something sharp and anxious in his eyes. “Shiani… can you come here for a moment. I need you to confirm something.”

The siren nodded, leaving the arm and amplifier on the workbench and walking over to him. “Yes?”

He waved her to a section of the holoscreen. “Do you see anything unusual in this manifest? I need to be sure this is not… wishful thinking.”

Her eyes canned down a list of numbers, frowning as she realized they were clone CTs. Four digit codes the longnecks assigned in place of giving men names and treating them like people. It was sickening, and she- “CT-9904.” She paused. “... doesn’t everyone in this unit start with 99?”

“Yes, in order of decanting.” He nodded.

Shiani frowned. “You told me Hunter was the oldest a long time ago. You were second, then Wrecker… that’s Crosshair’s CT number.”

Tech nodded. “That was what I thought… I was hoping to be wrong.”

“You’re seldom wrong.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “If Crosshair’s on this manifest, he was transported with the other clones.”

“He was arrested by the Empire.” Tech nodded.

“Which means he turned on the Empire.” She leaned over. “I told you he was still in there, Tech.”

“You did. I ran a check over our disused comm frequencies and found a transmission from Crosshair’s old code. I… believe the others should be here before I play it.” His knuckles were white as he clutched the armrest of the seat. “I will explain what all I found when they get here.”

“I’ll comm them.” She put her hand on his back. “Are you alright?”

“I am anticipating a likely argument that will be exceptionally unpleasant.” He closed his eyes. “Hunter has mitigated risks and protected us since the fall of the Republic, and I am grateful for his leadership. However… this new data indicates Crosshair is in considerable danger. I could allow him his choices even if I did not understand them, but I cannot tolerate my brother being held captive. We do not leave our own behind. If Hunter does not agree, I will have to figure this out on my own.”

“Never on your own, Tech. I’ll be right beside you.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek gently. “Always.”

“Thank you, cyare.”

Shiani hit her comm. “Everybody come back to the ship for a debrief on the decryption, please.”

While they waited, she put her arms around Tech’s shoulders from behind and held him, cheek pressed against his. She could feel the barest tremble in his spine, so she hummed softly in his ear until they heard the other’s voices.

He’d been grieving Crosshair’s absence since the day he’d left, and now there was a chance to get him back. It would take him a moment to come to terms with the emotional aspect of it, but there was never any question about his action. Crosshair was his brother. He would never abandon him when he needed it. He was still fidgeting uncomfortably and holding onto Shiani’s hand when Hunter led the squad in for an explaination. "What have you got?" Echo was the first to speak.

"Nothing good, I’m afraid. The ship you hijacked over Balmorra was assigned to the Advanced Science Division."

"I'm not familiar with that." Hunter’s brows furrowed.

"That is because it was a clandestine operation with no records of its location or purpose. But it was headed by Dr. Royce Hemlock." Tech swallowed the instant revulsion at the name. He was a scientist… Hemlock was a monster. “He was expelled from the Republic science corps for ethical violations involving unauthorized and unorthodox experiments."

Omega scrutinized the holo of Hemlock’s face, eyebrows scrunched, as she reached for Shiani’s other hand. "Why would they be transferring clones to him?"

"I am not sure. But there is another problem… previous records of transferred clones include Crosshair’s CT number." Tech’s voice went quiet.

“I confirmed he’s on the manifest.” Shiani clarified. “And Tech found a transmission on one of your old comm channels. He was waiting to play it until you got here.”

“Let’s hear it, Tech.” Echo frowned.

Tech took a deep breath, almost dreading what he was going to hear, and played the audio file. It was unmistakably Crosshair’s voice, a uniquely serpentine twist on the accent Shiani was so familiar with. She couldn’t help but be struck with how much he sounded like Tech, though, when he was obviously scared.

"Plan 88. You've got to hide… they're after-"

“The Seeker.” Shiani repeated, on habit after all the training Tech put her through to memorize the plans.

"He may be attempting to warn us we are being targeted." Tech breathed.

Wrecker’s eyes were wide and his grip on the back of the chair Omega was sitting in tightened. "That means Crosshair turned on the Empire." Shiani could almost taste his hope, the same flickering one she felt from Tech, that they might just get their missing part back.

"Or setting a trap, as he's done before." Hunter shook his head, turning his head. Tech and Wrecker both stiffened, giving each other glances as they tried to figure out how they were going to convince the sergeant to give rescue a try.

Shiani turned out to be the answer, her big eyes fixing on the long-haired soldier before looking at Omega pointedly. “Hunter.” Her voice was soft. “You’re not that hard hearted. You love your family.”

He gritted his teeth. “He’s tried to kill us multiple times.”

“And we are listed as killed on Kamino, which is why the Empire has not continued to hunt us.” Tech said quietly. “Only one person could have reported our deaths after the destruction of Tipoca City… Shiani made the suggest and I looked into it.”

“Crosshair is your brother, and he’s still in there.” Shiani said firmly, looking back at her husband and smiling faintly. She’d made a promise, a long time ago, that she’d never stop looking for Tech if he disappeared. Crosshair was a part of Tech, so… she had to try. “And we don’t leave our own behind.”

Hunter sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. Omega, who’d been pensively looking at the screen the entire time the adults had been talking, piped up. “She’s right, Hunter. We can’t just let this… Hemlock person hurt him. He’s our brother.”

Hunter sighed. “Alright. Get me some data.”

Tech fiddled with his datapad. “There is very little information on the Advanced Science Division.” He frowned, frustrated as his searches came up empty. He’d been at it for over an hour.

“There’s even less on Hemlock.” Echo grumbled, getting off the comm with Rex. “None of our contacts had much to say.”

Shiani was sitting next to Echo at the work table, reattaching his arm carefully. “... I know going in blind is… less than ideal. But we’ve pulled off missions for Cid with almost no information for Cid before. We just need to find the base.”

“I do have one lead from a contact. It’s not much to go on, but it’s a start.” Echo flexed his fingers once she got him attached. “Hemlock is attending a summit called by Governor Tarkin in two rotations, on Eriadu. It’s held at his compound, Raven’s Peak.”

Tech pulled up some information on Eriadu while Shiani nodded. “We could stick a tracker on his ship while he’s in the meeting, and follow him back to wherever his base is. That’s gotta be where they’re keeping Crosshair and the other clones.”

Echo nodded. “Most likely. We’ll have to be careful about it, but we’re a small enough squad with sharp enough skills to make it work.”

“Quick in and out. No one will ever know we’re there.” She smiled, but it faltered when she looked over at Tech. He looked so stressed and tense, adjusting his goggles anxiously. She patted Echo’s wrist before getting up to go back to him. “Hey.”

Tech leaned back against her as she came up behind his chair, looking up at the worried siren. “Hello, cyar’ika.”

“We’ll get him back, okay?” She leaned over, kissing his forehead upside down.

“We will be at a tactical disadvantage going into a secure compound.” He murmured, looking at the schematics on his screen.

“Not the first time.” She stroked his cheeks with her thumbs.

Hunter, who’d been waiting for an idea between the three nerds, nodded. “Any backup to be expected, Echo?”

“Rex is on another mission, but I think we can handle it.” Echo got his amplifier back on and stretched his shoulder and arm. “Your call, Hunter.”

Hunter glanced at Omega, who’d been looking at the main screen for a long time. Crosshair’s service holo was still up, and he couldn’t help but think she’d never forgive him if he didn’t at least try to save their missing brother. “Alright. We go in quick and quiet, drop the tracker, and get out. We’ll follow Hemlock back to base from a safe distance, and recon before we make a move. We’ll move out in the morning.”

Everyone nodded, and since it was so late they got ready to try to rest. Echo volunteered to put Omega to bed since he’d missed her, while Hunter took a breather on the ramp to get himself ready for one more mission.

It always felt like just one more mission. The more missions he went on, the more he wanted to put the armor away and forget about being a soldier. He’d be happy here, raising Omega with Tech and Wrecker. Hell, maybe Tech and Shiani would have a kid… But Crosshair needed him. And as broken down as their relationship had become, the sniper was still his little brother.

Wrecker was quick to start snoring, and Shiani climbed into her bunk next to Tech and rested her head on his chest. “You okay?” She whispered, looking up at him.

“Yes. Hunter was more receptive to the idea than anticipated.” Tech nodded quietly, thoughts racing more than normal. “This mission will be exceptionally dangerous.”

“But worth the effort.” She cuddled closer. “You’ve missed Crosshair for a long time.”

“Yes. But planting the tracker is not the same as rescuing him. We will have to do that too.”

“I know.” She brought his hand to her lips and kissed it, over the bacta patch on his wrist from his experiments with her venom. “But we can do it. Think about the after, when we all go back to Pabu again. Do you think Crosshair will like it here?”

“He does not like anything.” Tech smiled. “At least not out loud. He will likely complain.”

“That’s okay. We’ll drag him to the beach, or make him look at the nights with us. He’ll find where he fits again.”

“I like that idea.” He kissed her forehead gently. “We have got to get a bigger domicile, however.”

“We’ll build a house.” Shiani yawned against his chest. “Everybody gets their own bedroom. And more than one fresher.”

“That would be a significant improvement.”

Tech didn’t mind the moment of escapism. So many seemingly impossible things had already happened; there was no reason they couldn’t dream. Crosshair had once told him that it was impossible that Tech was ever going to get a girl, due to his idiosyncrasies… so he promised himself once Crosshair was back and okay, he was going to be as smug as possible about Shiani.

#explict #original character #clone force 99 #the bad batch #star wars #fanfic #tbb tech #monster fucker #tech smut

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silverwings22 · 3 days

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Song of the Sea: Chapter 34: Ocean's Lament

Chapter warnings: near death experience, child endangerment Series Warning: explicit smut, alien anatomy (it's a monsterfucker fic, guys), major character injury, grief, canon typical violence, autistic meltdowns, and my terrible attempts at Mando'a

Previous Chapter:

Next chapter:

Shiani was definitely sure Phee was their friend now. Once they’d recovered from the horrifying scenario of an abused Zillo beast, she’d quietly called the pirate and asked if she needed any help. Their family needed the credits, and the distraction.

She’d been good for it though, and offered them a cut of her next adventure. It was a simple pickup, but she needed muscle in some seedy bar to get the artifact she was after. Apparently the guy who currently had it was well known for double-crosses, poisoning, and the like.

For now, Shiani was in the Marauder with Tech, watching him play a game while using Gonky for a table. She smiled, chin on her hand, as he made a move. “Isn’t that a 2 person game?”

“Yes. I am playing against myself. It is the only time this game is a challenge.” He said mildly, looking at her as she sat sideways in the pilot seat. He’d been letting her fly more, to cheer her up after how upset she’d been following the Zillo beast incident. It had been days of her staring into space and refusing to leave his side, and as much as Tech enjoyed being the center of her attention he didn’t like when she was upset. Shiani was bubbly and vivacious, full of laughter and questions. Silence didn’t suit her.

She made a face at him, but her eyes stayed soft. “I’m getting better at it.”

“You are. It now takes me an average of thirteen minutes to beat you. When you began, the average was three.”

Shiani kicked her feet, humming as she looked over at the workbench. Her armor was disassembled and halfway through repair, but Tech hadn’t wanted to be so engrossed in working on it that he missed the others calling for their pickup. He’d insisted she stay on the ship until it was repaired, even though Omega had gone with the others. “Tech? How come I didn’t go with everyone else?”

His eyes flicked back up to her, the furrow in his brow smoothing the longer he looked at her. “You already know the answer to that. Your armor is damaged.”

“But Omega went. She’s a kid, and doesn't even wear armor.”

Tech paused, considering her face. “When it was initially determined that you would remain with us, Hunter and I agreed I would take primary responsibility for you, while he took responsibility for Omega. As you can see, it has led to the very parental relationship Hunter has with Omega, and our marriage. I had the final decision on your participation in the mission, and I chose to have you remain here.”

“Even though you would be a better pilot?” She cocked her brow curiously.

“The last time you were out of my sight on a mission, you acquired the damage on that armor. I have not forgotten that.” He shook his head. “I do not think I will, any time soon. My preoccupation with learning all that I could about that Imperial research vessel delayed my return, and in that time you could have been killed.”

She wrapped a tentacle around his wrist. “But I wasn’t.”

“I would prefer you to remain close to me from now on.” He watched one of her suckers stick to the plate on the back of his hand. “Particularly during times of danger.”

She sighed. “I was thinking about that, before the Zillo. The danger.”

“Yes?” He frowned.

“What if we found somewhere to be? Without you being a soldier anymore? We could have a home and neighbors, and just… be a family. Watch Omega grow up… maybe get a pet. Omega says tookas are cute, but she thinks everything is cute…”

Tech smiled, his thoughtful expression returning. He wasn’t opposed to the idea, but he’d never considered truly settling down before. Even when he’d thought about the end of the war before the Empire, he’d expected that he’d still end up doing something military related and living on the move. The idea of waking up in the same spot every day, watching how it changed around him, was appealing. “That is not an unpleasant idea. But I would like to discuss a list of suitable pets. Omega and Wrecker will otherwise bring home some kind of large predator.”

Her eyes lit up with delight and she clapped her hands, swinging her legs around to sit upright. Tech chuckled as she leaned over Gonky, careful of the game pieces but still reaching for a kiss-

"Tech, we need a ride."

A faint groan curled in the back of Tech’s throat and he gave Shiani an apologetic look. "We are on the way."

She chuckled and dropped back into the pilot’s seat, getting them up off the ground and to the rendezvous point. “Well, I’m glad you like the idea anyway. Think Hunter will?”

“His prerogative has been trying to find safety for Omega.” He got up as they moved in for a landing, leaning over to give her the denied kiss from a moment before. “I will be right back.”

Shiani grinned, holding the ship steady and opening the ramp for him as he posted up at the door and provided cover fire for the rest of the family and Phee. They darted aboard with smoke bomb debris clinging to them. “Secure!” Hunter yelled.

“Copy.” She grinned, shutting the ramp and taking off to avoid pursuit.

Once they hit hyperspace, Omega ran over to Shiani and Tech to fill them in on the mission. They’d avoided being poisoned and killed a kohoun. Shiani grinned at the story, wiggling in her seat. “Aww, I could have eaten that.”

“They are toxic, my dear.” Tech shook his head with a wry smile. “And I thought we had agreed you would not eat insects. I still find it objectionable to kiss you afterwards.”

She scrunched her nose and nodded. “Fine. Did you get the artifact?”

Phee nodded, holding up a tree-shaped statue. “Sure did. Omega here did great.”

“Training is coming along well.” Hunter nodded, patting the girl’s shoulder.

Phee eyed him. “She still needs to learn things besides being a soldier, and to have some friends her own age that aren’t her brothers.”

“I do not see the issue.” Tech raised an eyebrow.

Shiani leaned in, listening curiously to Phee. If she had an answer for them…

"We are getting a message from Cid…" Tech’s attention was caught by the ship holo, and he clearly didn’t like what he saw.

“Just a recording. Not live.” Shiani clarified to Hunter, who sighed and walked over to the back of her chair.

“Put it through. I’m predicting threats.”

The thrandoshan looked angry on the holo, eyes narrowed and fists clenched. "Twenty rotations without a peep. You guys better be dead, since I've lost out on a lot of scores in your absence. Don't forget our mutually beneficial relationship, or how well we know each other. You'd better believe I'm doing more than threatening you boys."

Shiani knew it was just a recording, but hissed at it anyway. “She thinks that’ll make us wanna come back?”

"I didn't know you guys cut ties with Cid." Phee frowned.

"That mutually beneficial relationship wasn't so beneficial mutually." Hunter sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “And I’m pretty sure if I take Shiani back to Ord Mantell, she’s gonna just bite her.”

Phee looked concerned, but patted Shiani’s shoulder. "I've known Cid a long time. She's a good ally, but a dangerous enemy to have. What's your plan?"

Shiani hesitated before speaking up. “A home, Phee. Somewhere safe, where Omega can grow up. We can’t do this forever.”

Hunter nodded immediately, remembering her comment of leaving behind a legacy of broken parts and broken bones. She’d been right, Omega deserved better.

Phee grinned. “I might have an idea, then. Here, make for these coordinates.”

“Where are we going?” Shiani programmed the navi-computer as soon as Hunter gave her a nod.

"You’ll see. I think you’ll like it.” She patted Shiani’s shoulder.

“Welcome to Pabu.” Phee grinned as the Havoc Marauder broke atmosphere on a pretty blue planet. There was one jutting landmass, a spiraling island plateau covered in green. “Land up top, I’ll show you around.”

“It’s beautiful.” Omega cooed, eyes wide, as Shiani set the ship down delicately in front of a tower-shaped building. “What’s that?”

“It’s the Archium. That’s where the artifacts go.” Phee ruffled her hair, and led the Batch out into the sunlight once the ramp opened.

"My calculations indicate that the artifact you recovered is worth very little monetary value." Tech looked up from scanning the statue in her hand.

"There are different kinds of treasure. Many people on Pabu are refugees. These artifacts are parts of their culture, worth preserving."

Shiani’s eyes sparkled. “Like the datacore on Serenno.”

Tech nodded, and Omega beamed as she spotted a girl about her age running towards them. "Auntie Phee!" The girl was adorable, dark skinned with beautiful and expressive eyes, with a large man behind her.

Phee knelt to give the girl a hug, gesturing to the man first. "This is the mayor of Pabu, Shep Hazard. And his daughter Lyana."

Lyana beamed and went straight to Omega to introduce herself while Shep came and held out a large hand to shake theirs. “Welcome to Pabu. It’s nice to meet you.”

“This is Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, and Shiani.” Phee laughed, patting each of them on the shoulder as she said their names. “The little one is Omega.”

“She’s their sister.” Shiani explained, before pointing to Tech. “I’m his wife.”

"Phee has never brought friends home before." Shep looked at the siren with a kind smile, and she brightened when he didn’t so much as flinch at her claws when he shook her hand.

"She must really like you guys." Lyana whispered loudly.

"That's enough out of you." Phee ruffled her hair, giving the group a grin. “But yeah. I do like them.”

Shep nodded, giving them another welcoming smile. "Please, join us for dinner.”

Hunter nodded agreeably, looking around at the politely waving townspeople. They all seemed as nice as the Hazard family, and it seemed almost wild to him how quickly they were all accepted as the strangers went about their business. He was used to squinting suspicion from the regs on Kamino, or nervousness as a squad of armored soldiers moved. Even Shiani, who was forever getting side eyed, was greeted with nothing but smiles and waves.

"Your people are refugees?" Hunter finally asked cautiously, and it dawned on him that they were likely not the first family to arrive carrying weapons and trauma on their backs.

"Many are. But they're safe here. Many come to start new lives, and as a father there's no better place to raise a child." Shep looked from Omega to Hunter pointedly. Shiani did her best not to giggle as the man picked up on who was the parent immediately.

She slipped her hand into Tech’s. “Nobody looks scared of us here.” She whispered. “I like it.”

“It is quite nice, yes.” Tech nodded, tightening his fingers over hers. Squish squish squish. He hoped the idyllic setting didn’t turn out to be disappointing. She looked so happy.

Shep led them to a large banquet table set up on his home’s balcony, looking out over the ocean and the spectacular views of Upper and Lower Pabu. The label was laden with food, more than even a group of Wreckers could have eaten, and all of it looked delicious. Shiani’s eyes got big at the different types of fish and fruit, her blue tongue poking past her lips. “Wow…”

“Make yourself at home, and have as much as you like.” Shep smiled, sitting down with them and passing serving dishes around.

A greenish primate hopped onto Shiani’s shoulder as she took a bite of a blue fruit she didn’t recognize but thought smelled amazing. “Hello, creature.” She cocked her head to the side and broke off a piece of her food to share.

“You’re not going to try to eat it?” Wrecker teased.

“No. Got plenty of food, I don’t need to eat this… whatever you are, you are cute.” Shiani blinked as the critter examined her head tresses and poked at the metal bands.

"They're called moon-yos. The elders say they've been here since before Pabu was inhabited." Lyana smiled, giving one a piece of her own fruit. “They’re friendly.”

The one on Shiani climbed down and went to Omega, cuddling up to her as it climbed her shoulders. She laughed out loud, and all of the family turned to look at her with soft expressions. She hadn’t sounded so relaxed and childlike in a while… far too long, in their collective opinion.

Tech slipped his arm over Shiani and said exactly what they were all thinking. "I have not heard her laugh like that for a long time."

“Baby Mega’s happy.” She tucked her head against his shoulder. “No Empire.”

Phee was telling her newest stories to Shep while they ate. Hunter chimed in here and there with his own experience, the spokesperson for the Batch to sum up what they’d been through. Shiani kept looking around at the beautiful island, taking in the sinking sun and all the green plants. She overheard Shep mention that the Empire wouldn't have much use of the planet due to limited resources, and that many people came to Pabu to start over… it sounded nice. To wipe the slate clean, forget everything and begin again somewhere this beautiful.

“I’m… full.” Wrecker finally said. “I’m never full.”

“I will make a notation to mark this momentous occasion.” Tech smiled, pulling out his datapad to mark the calender.

Lyana grinned at Omega. “Have you ever been on a boat? On the water, not a starship.”

"No. Do you have your own boat?" Omega was giggling still, holding a flower crown Lyana had made her.

"Yeah. Let's take it out to watch the sunset." Lyana offered her a hand with a broad grin. “We won’t go too far.”

"Hunter, can I go?" Omega turned around, leaning over the edge of the table to all but beg.

For a moment, Hunter’s instincts said to tell her no. But then the realization that this was the safest place either of them had ever been dawned on him. She could be more independent here, without a threat breathing down her neck. "Have fun." He nodded with a roll of his shoulders.

She squeaked with delight and have him a hug before running off hand in hand with Lyana.

Phee tapped Tech on the shoulder subtly. “Hey. Go take her over there and watch. You won’t want to miss this.” She whispered, pointing to a corner of the balcony facing the setting sun. Tech glanced over, noticing strings of lanterns hung from streetside poles down the side of the walking paths, and nodded. Phee knew how much Shiani loved lights, and was wingmanning for him. She was a great friend. “Cyar’ika, come here a moment.”

Shiani followed obediently, letting him draw her to her feet and walk over to look out over the island. It was a perfect, golden sunset that shimmered over the water like molten gold. When she looked over at Tech, the sun struck his eyes at the perfect angle to light them up. Brown eyes were gorgeous in the sun, striations of amber and mahogany radiating like a miniature sunburst of their own, contained behind those yellow-tinted goggles.

He noticed her gaze on him as the last rays of dying sunlight started to vanish, and in the purple of twilight the lanterns started to come on. “The view you are looking for is this way.” He chuckled, gently catching her chin and turning so she could watch the lights come on.

Shiani gasped as the paper-lantern like coverings glowed, cozy and wholesome, and wrapped her arms around his middle to snuggle to his side. “It’s beautiful, Tech.” Her eyes drifted back up to him. “I still think you’re the better view, though.”

Tech’s fingers still lingered on her soft jawline, and he couldn’t resist the urge to pull her closer and kiss her softly. Shiani hummed into it, slowly pushing his googles up so she could cradle his entire face in both hands without bumping into them. They stood there, suspended in the almost fairy-tale quality of the moment with the fireflies and lanterns, lips moving languidly against each other like they had all the time in the galaxy.

Here, it felt like they did. There was no danger, for once. There was nothing rushing or demanding of them, it was just peace. Shiani couldn’t remember how long it had been since she’d felt it… Tech wasn’t sure he ever had.

“I like this place.” She breathed when they broke apart, smiling when his hand pressed on the small of her back to bring her a little closer.

“I concur.” Tech smiled. “I would not be opposed to staying. Permanently.”

She nodded eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck. “We can talk to Hunter in a min-” With a deep rumble, the island shook like a beast waking from a nap. People walking the footpaths let out gasps and cries, while the homes rattled and the pretty lanterns swung dangerously overhead.

"Something's coming." Hunter stood up from the table, senses on overdrive. "That wasn't just a tremor."

Tech turned around, grip tight on Shiani as he pulled out his datapad to consult it. “Mayor, I believe this island is in significant danger of a sea surge."

"We haven't had a sea surge in three decades." Shep blanched.

Shiani frowned, looking back over the railing. The water was running from the shore, a phenomenon she’d seen more than once in the shadow of Tipoca City. “When the water runs away like that, it’s not escaping. It’s winding up to kick you very hard somewhere that hurts.”

"The early warning system-" Shep didn’t even finish the sentence before the siren wailed, and Shaini’s ears pinned back at the sound.

"Baby Mega and Baby Lyana are on a boat. The water will throw it into the island." Shiani’s eyes widened and she looked at Hunter, stomach dropping to her boots with sudden horrifying realization. “They’ll be killed, along with anyone below the tidal line.” She’d seen sea surges before, and the massive damage they did to Tipoca. More than once, the bodies of clones and longnecks had come drifting down into the sliver of territory she inhabited.

Hunter nodded. “Tech, take Shiani and Wrecker and start evacuating Lower Pabu. I’ll get the girls.”

They split up, Hunter heading for the ship while the rest of them started knocking on doors and urging people to head for higher ground. Phee ran up as Tech looked anxiously at Shiani. “This is taking too long. Many citizens will not make it in time.”

“We can deploy the rescue ladders.” Phee pointed up to a ledge above them, a barely visible bit of metal showing under the battlements. “The mechanism is up there.”

Tech nodded, pulling out a dart line and held up his arm. Shiani wrapped herself around him immediately and he secured an arm around her waist, launching them up the wall on the line. “Hold on.”

Phee watched them, whistling slightly at the seamless way they moved into each other…. They were cute. If no one drowned, she’d be sure to tell them.

Shiani and Tech hopped over the wall and quickly started working at the mechanism that secured the rescue ladders. “It is rusted.”

Shiani nodded, grabbing her screwdriver from her hip bag. “Manual release. You start over there, meet in the middle.”

The two of them worked at it as fast as possible, snatching the rusty levers into position one by one and sending the ladders tumbling down to the population below. People started climbing immediately, helping each other to safety. Shiani and Tech were joined at the top, offering hands and tentacles down to pull up people climbing. The wall of water was in sight, coming towards them like a sucker punch from nature, just as both of them yanked Wrecker up to salvation and he turned to grab Shep.

Shiani looked around at the worried faces gathered around, glancing up as she spotted the lights of the Havoc Marauder heading back towards them. “Is everyone alright?” Wrecker called out, booming voice carrying.

People nodded, some clinging to each other and sniffling but alive and unharmed.

Shep sighed with relief as he determined they had miraculously not managed to lose anyone. “Property can be replaced…”

Tech nodded, looking up as Hunter landed their ship, and both Omega and Lyana came running out. Wrecker gave them a tight hug and walked them to the large tree in the middle of the square to rest.

Shiani walked through the groups of refugees, listening to them talk and introduce themselves. Whenever someone looked stressed enough to cry, she knelt and sang softly. It didn’t take long for her to be noticed and people started bringing her their most shaken relatives. Tech couldn’t help but smile when, as a he handed an elderly woman a shock blanket from the ship, he spotted her sitting on the ground with a group of Pabu’s citizens with them all wiping their tears and smiling for the singing siren.

He touched Hunter’s arm lightly. “She fits in quite well, don’t you think?”

Hunter nodded, glancing at where Wrecker had fallen asleep with the girls using him a pillow.

"Thankfully, no one was hurt. My people are resilient, we'll rebuild." Shep clapped the sergeant on his arm.

“It will likely take many rotations to rebuild most of Lower Pabu. Most of the homes there were destroyed.” Tech pointed out.

"We could stay and help. If you don't mind us sticking around." Hunter looked at Shep thoughtfully.

"You would be most welcome." Shep glanced at Shiani again, smiling as she picked up a crying toddler in her tentacles and waved them in the air gently, singing until the tears turned into laughter. “And after the rebuilding too.”

Tech walked over to his bride as she returned the much happier little one to his mother. The sun was starting to rise, and the newly gold light spread blush tones over her purple skin. She cocked her head to the side and carefully extracted herself from the pile of cuddles she was getting for her impromptu concert. “Everything okay, Tech?”

“Better than okay, cyar’ika.” He pulled her to him, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “We will be staying, after all.”

#explict #original character #clone force 99 #the bad batch #star wars #fanfic #tbb tech #song of the sea

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silverwings22 · 3 days

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Song of the Sea: Chapter 33: Monstrosity

Chapter Warning: unethical experimentation, references to death Series Warning: explicit smut, alien anatomy (it's a monsterfucker fic, guys), major character injury, grief, canon typical violence, autistic meltdowns, and my terrible attempts at Mando'a

Previous chapter:

Next chapter:

Tech hadn’t realized when he let Shiani fly that she was going to turn into a princess in the pilot seat, but he couldn’t bring himself to mind too much. She was kicked back, legs on the console with her ankles crossed. “Cid’s calling in.” She muttered sourly. “Can I handle her? Please, Hunter?”

The sergeant chuckled. “I’ll let you lead, but I’m staying right here.”

“We all will.” Wrecker grinned darkly. “I wanna give her a piece of my mind.”

Shiani clicked her fangs together, the staccato sound they were all coming to be familiar with. “Only mind she’s gonna have.” She turned the ship holo on, angling it so her face was the only one the trandoshan could see. “You have a lot of nerve comming us, Cid.”

"Cant I check in on my best crew?"

“If you were someone who gave a damn about us.” Shiani crossed her arms, settling back with narrow eyes. “What have you got to say for yourself?”

“What’s got you in such a bad mood, Suckers?”

"We were stranded on that planet, Cid. And you left us!" Omega snapped. Hunter patted her shoulder and tried not to laugh at the look on Cid’s face in the holo when Shiani showed her teeth.

"And now you're not. Plus you got your ship back."

"No thanks to you." Wrecker grumbled.

"You want to mope or make money? I've got Intel on a wreck worth salvaging."

“Who says we wanna work for you anymore?” Shiani huffed.

"After all I've done for you, Suckers? Don’t give me a hard time."

“What about what we did for you? Got your Parlor back from Durand, saved you from the Pykes, and rescued you from Millegi on Safa Toma. But you still left us, knowing we had no supplies or escape, and we almost got put into slavery for ten years in that mine” The siren’s blue tongue traced over her teeth quietly. “You have a very personal problem with that, Cid. Maybe we should come straight back to Ord Mantell so you and I can discuss it in person?”

Cid swallowed hard, watching her teeth. "Thirty percent cut of something big would be worth your time. Maybe make it up to you?"

"Thirty percent is our standard rate." Tech pointed out casually. “You will have to do better if you are trying to impress Shiani.”

“C’mon. Isn’t Dark and Broody in charge of you guys?”

“I’m not in the habit of pissing off my brother’s venomous wife, especially when she’s the one flying my ship.” Hunter said coolly.

"Thirty-five? For the trouble."

Shiani snorted, polishing her black claws against her shirt front and inspecting them. “Try again.”

"Forty, then."

Omega climbed into Shiani’s lap so she could look into the holo, grumpy little face eclipsing Shiani’s. "After what you did?"

"Oh, come on! What do you want from me?”

“I want to bite you.” Shiani shrugged. “Anything else, I probably shouldn’t say in front of Baby Mega.”

Cid groaned. "Fine. Fifty percent, as a token of my goodwill, and everything will be fine from now on. Deal?"

Tech looked back at Hunter, who nodded. “You may send the coordinates, then.” The genius adjusted his goggles. His wife continued to look entirely unimpressed, but wrapped her arms around Omega instead of continuing to threaten Cid.

"About time you see reason. Don't come back without something worth scavenging."

"Why should we come back at all?” Hunter huffed.

"Don't test me, Bandana. Just get the job done." Cid hung up.

“Do we have to go back, Hunter?” Shiani frowned, looking back at their leader with an unhappy expression. “I hate how she treats you guys. Reminds me of longnecks.”

"Severing ties with Cid would be exceptionally difficult, given the information she has about us." Tech reached over and took her hand gently, giving it a comforting series of squeezes. "It may be wiser to consider this a final mission for her, and leave on good terms. Otherwise, she could become quite vindictive. And she does have quite a bit of information on us."

“Lacking a home base like the Parlor is dangerous, too.” Hunter sighed.

“Maybe we can find a new one?” Shiani asked hopefully, lowering her legs from the dash. “We could ask someone else for ways to make credits. Phee makes it work, we could ask for advice if not leads?

“I’ll make you a deal. If we find something before the supplies run out, we won’t go back.” Hunter patted her shoulder. “I don’t like her either. You’ve been right all along, she’s selfish.”

Shiani nodded. She’d ask Phee as soon as they finished this salvage mission, and see if there was a better solution. She’d had all of Cid she could stand before she just started biting to solve her problems.

Hunter chuckled. It looked like the adage was true that laid back, quiet men ended up with the feisty girls. Tech was just watching Shiani with a fond look in his eyes as she grumbled about no longer wanting to be the bigger person and starting to bite people like a rat. “What did Cid send, Tech?”

"Only coordinates, without any transponder data or cargo manifest. And nothing on the cause of the ship crash."

"Limited intel again." Wrecker groaned.

“She does that all the time.” Omega pointed out. " But scavenging a wreck can't be that hard."

Hunter nodded. Shiani made a face. “Never say that, Baby Mega. Something weird always happens!”

Shiani set the ship down carefully just outside the coordinates Cid had provided, following Tech off the ramp. There was a plateau of glittering lights that caught her attention and she paused, looking at them with the intensity of a moth caught in the light. It was a village, houses full of people living in a little close knit community that oddly reminded her of Acopit…

With the thought of leaving Cid and Ord Mantell behind so close at hand, she couldn’t help but wonder if this was something they could have. A home, and roots on the ground with neighbors and friends. Soldiers didn’t settle, Tech had once told her, but did he always have to be a soldier? He was, if he ever acknowledged it, a prince now. Didn’t a prince and his family deserve to be safe and comfortable after years of serving a regime that threw them away like the Empire had when it swallowed the Republic? She wanted a place they could call their own, where the danger went away and they could just be. Where Omega had a childhood without blaster fire reflected in her eyes, and Hunter could worry about her homework instead of her survival. Wrecker could spend his life trying every food known to the galaxy and Tech could finally build things he wanted, instead of things he needed. She’d follow him anywhere, but was it so bad to want them to be able to sit still instead?

Wrecker clapped a hand on her shoulder, seeing her fixation on the lights. “Looks like the wreck landed near the village.”

"That is likely how the crash was reported so quickly." Tech glanced over at Shiani, wondering what was running through her mind. He knew that look. "The ship appears intact on the scanners, so the cargo should be simple enough to transport."

She blinked away the haze of her longing and looked at him, smiling again. “I follow you, Tech.”

He reached for her, and led the group with his datapad in hand and hers in the other. It wasn’t a far walk to the crash site, and it seemed the scanner was accurate. Despite the fall, the ship was in one piece. A very battered piece, but one piece nonetheless.

Hunter and Wrecker check the hull, curious and slighting concerned. "No markings."

Shiani frowned and looked over the unmarked durasteel too. “This model wasn’t used during the Republic. It’s Imperial, absolutely. And no sign the paint was stripped. No marking means it’s hiding a secret.” She didn’t like this. Imperial secrets were never good.

The Empire was all the horror the longnecks had inflicted on her people, but on a much larger scale. It made her stomach churn just to think what might be inside this ship.

"Judging by the hull damage, it is likely the crew all perished. They will not be able to tell us." Tech popped the hatch open with a little effort and a shrug. She could almost imagine him just telling himself any fear was an illogical response as he shrugged it off. Sometimes she wished she could do that.

"They could be trapped inside. We should check." Omega gave Hunter a pleading look.

He sighed and drew his blaster. “Eyes open, everyone. Shiani, I could really use that inner alarm of yours.”

She nodded, ear fins twitching. “I hope the crew died in the crash.” She said softly. “Cause if they’re alive, they’re Imperial.”

Tech nodded, letting her drape a tentacle around his waist as he and Hunter led the way in with the sergeant's flashlight and Tech’s head lamp ahead of their blasters. Omega stayed right next to Shiani, with her bow out, while Wrecker brought up the rear.

“Feels like a tomb in here.” Shiani breathed, eyes reflecting the flashlight beams back in eerie disks of greenish light..

"Hey, check out out! High-volt electrostaff!" Wrecker scooped up the abandoned weapon off the floor and held it up for them to look at. Omega noted Shiani’s shoulders tense as she looked at it.

“What’s the matter?” She whispered.

“Looks like a cattle prod.” Shiani muttered. “Why would they need that on a ship in space?” She took a step back, bumping into the wall behind them. Instead of smooth durasteel, she felt something scratch at her tentacle and turned around. The metal was marked with deep gashes that had punched through the plating, and when Shiani put her hand up to the marks her claws fell right into the holes. She dragged her fingers down, marking the trajectory of the swipe that had caused the damage.

"Something unfortunate happened here." Tech whispered. “The electrostaff… may have been in a crew members hand before this occurred.

"Whatever did this wasn't human." Hunter didn’t scare easy, but his voice didn’t sound quite level.

Shiani brought her hand back to her side,rubbing her fingers together. There was a smudge of red on them. “These walls are reinforced… and it punched through like wet flimsi. We need to leave.”

"I will go to the bridge and restore power." Tech nodded. “That will speed this along.”

“No, Tech. We need to go now.” Shiani pulled him to her by his waist, swallowing hard. “Please. Let’s just go. Whatever is in here can’t be worth it.”

He cupped her face in both hands gently, looking at her wide eyes. “We cannot be sure of that until we get any relevant data and inspect the cargo. I understand you are uncomfortable. I am as well. But we will get through this.”

“I’ll go with you to the bridge, then.”

“Negative. Stay here with the rest of the team, in case your senses are needed. You have been consistently correct in that regard.” He pressed his helmeted forehead to hers in a light Keldabe kiss before leaning back. "Your concern is unwarranted. I will be fine."

She clenched her jaw to keep from begging him to reconsider as he walked off the opposite direction. “Hate this.”

Omega took her hand. “Me too.”

Shiani gave her three squishes, both to comforting both the girl and herself. “Tech’s right. We find what we came for and we get the hell out of here” She muttered.

Hunter nodded, waving for them to follow him and Wrecker down the opposite hall of the ship.

The center of the ship was a large room, and Shiani didn’t even have to stick her head in before she felt the sickening feeling the labs on Kamino had given her. It was the taste of disinfectant and machine coolant in the air, and the bubbling of growth tubes. How could it make her feel so horrified, when these were the kinds of machines that had made Tech? She should have celebrated them, but she wanted to unleash a scream that would shatter every piece of transparisteel in this room.

"This is Kaminoan cloning technology, but it looks different from what I saw in Tipoca City." Omega confirmed, looking up at her when she felt the shudder rolling down the siren’s arm.

Shiani shivered again. “Torture room.” She said softly.

Hunter couldn’t stand watching the siren so miserable, and he wanted off this Maker-forsaken ship before his blood pressure made him stroke out. He touched his comm. "Any luck, Tech?"

"The bridge power will soon be restored."

Shiani nodded, closing her eyes to focus on Tech’s voice. They’d be out of here soon. Just a little longer.

"These walls are even thicker than the ones in the hallway." Wrecker frowned, spotting a flashlight left on the ground. When he picked it up he almost gagged, finding it covered with some kind of viscous slime. "Oh, that’s gross…"

Shiani’s foot was tapping, eyes darting back and forth. She felt like something was hunting her, but she couldn’t feel a being around her. Either she was panicking, or it was sentient enough to hide itself in the Song-

A low growl behind her made her spin, and she came face to face with what she could only call a horror-holo monster. It had an oblong head with no visible eyes, and a long scaled tail. It’s growl got louder when Hunter’s flashlight illuminated it, and it took a step towards them, stalking them like a predator sizing up prey.

"What the hell is that?" Hunter whispered. “Why didn’t you sense it?”

“Because it’s sentient.” Shiani breathed, pushing Omega back behind her. “Back up slowly, don’t turn your back. It’s angry, and it’s afraid.”

It wasn’t bothering to hide itself anymore, growling at Shiani. She hissed back, showing her teeth warningly in a language it could understand. They hurt you, but I didn’t. These are mine, leave them alone.

Unfortunately, whatever the Empire had done to the creature was stronger than its willingness to endure Shiani’s explanation. It pounced, going after Omega, and the siren threw herself between the girl and it. Her fangs and claws glanced harmlessly off its scales, and it knocked her onto her back, dragging it’s claws down her chest plate. It would have punched through if Hunter and Wrecker hadn’t opened fire and scared it, forcing it to retreat up the wall and into the ceiling tiles.

When the lights came on, Shiani felt its focus shift and it leapt over them to bolt the direction they had come from. She slammed her hand on her comm. “Tech! We gotta go, please. There’s a… thing… on the ship.”

“What kind of thing, cyar’ika?”

“The kind of thing that claws open durasteel?” She touched the gouges in the front of her chestplate, faintly horrified at how close she’d come to having them in her flesh. In all her dreams of starships and lights, she never imagined herself in a dark Imperial ship with parts of her never meant for the light of day flayed open by a… whatever it was.

"It would seem this was a research vessel. Imagine what we could learn-"

She groaned as Wrecker helped her up. “Tech I love you so much but can you be a nerd on our ship and away from the biting thing?!”

"If you insist, my love." Based on his tone, she was pretty sure he had no idea how serious this was.

Hunter got on the comm as well. “Tech! It almost killed her!”

“... shit.”

Hunter led them back down the hall, blasters out, and found the creature with it’s teeth in a power cord. It had gotten larger, spines more prominent… and more familiar looking to Shiani.

Wrecker almost ran into Hunter’s back, making a strangled noise. "Does that thing look different to you?"

“It eats power.” Shiani whispered. “I know what it is.”

"Fascinating…" Tech had appeared on the opposite side of it, his eyes behind his goggles had gone massive with his normally endearing curiosity about the galaxy. Shiani would be in love with his mind again when it wasn’t about to get him eaten alive.

"Tech!" Both the siren and Omega screeched, snapping him back to reality. He glanced over and spotted the gouges in Shiani’s chest plate, and the cold realization of how dangerous this thing was hit him.

"Take cover!" He lifted his blaster and took aim at the reactor, while Hunter and Wrecker shoved Shiani and Omega behind the turn in the hall for cover.

The explosion blew out a wall, and the creature was both unharmed and annoyed when it escaped. Shiani groaned, sticking her head around the corner. “Tech?!”

“I’m alright.” His helmet poked out the opposite side, and she scrambled over to him. “Are you?” He touched the chestplate, wincing at how deep the claw marks went.

“I know what it is, Tech! I saw it on an old holonews reel when I was looking for fuel types. It’s a Malastarian Zillo Beast. One attacked Coruscant during the war!”

Tech blinked, glancing back at the way it had run. “I recall that being much larger…”

“It grew when it was chewing the cables.” Shiani clutched his hands tightly. “They were hurting it. It’s sentient, but its so angry and scared it won’t listen to reason now. We gotta catch it somehow or it’s gonna hurt everyone.”

"It likely ate the previous crew, so we are fortunate it is probably not hungry." Tech frowned. “Perhaps it will not-

"It ate the crew?!" Omega yelped.

Shiani looked back at her. “... there were no bodies on board, Baby Mega.”

The girl shuttered. “It ate the crew…”

Hunter’s eye twitched. "We let it out. We have to stop it."

"I will double back into the ship for further information." Tech started to turn, but Shiani didn’t let go of him. “... we will double back.” He conceded, and she released him fractionally.

Omega followed them. "I know about Kaminoan cloning technology."

Hunter nodded, he and Wrecker taking off for the Marauder to hunt the Zillo down. Shiani, Omega, and Tech ran back inside and headed for the control room. After a moment on the console, Tech gritted his teeth. “It is heavily encrypted. This may take a moment.”

Shiani nodded, inspecting the machines with Omega. “This is definitely cloning equipment.” Omega whispered. “I heard rumors that some cloning experiments were happening off of Kamino.” She got to another console and started poking at it. “There’s a little information here… extracting genetic material from a host.”

“Host is probably the Zillo.” Shiani scowled. “That would explain why it’s so angry. They were hurting it.”

“I almost regret they may have to use the ship’s weapons on it, in that case.” Tech muttered.

“Won’t do any good.” Shiani shook her head. “My claws didn’t touch it. The one that attacked Coruscant wasn’t affected by Jedi lightsabers either, according to the article I read.”

“That would explain this, then.” Tech muttered, eyes on the screen. “Its genetic material was being used for modified armor plating.”

“Your brother’s blasters just scared it.” Shiani nodded, swallowing hard. “At least it’s just a little one?”

Omega winced. “But it got bigger when it chewed on that cable.”

Tech looked up. “It stands to reason it eats energy, if it grew larger. And likely will continue to grow if it consumes more energy.”

“Is there a power grid in the village?” Omega blanched.

Shiani pulled out a scanner and fiddled. “... yes.”

Tech winced and commed Hunter. “This is indeed the same species that attacked Coruscant during the war. It feeds on energy, you must not let it get to the village's power grid or it will grow exponentially in size."

"Too late." Hunter groaned. “But we’ve got bigger trouble. The Empire is here.”

“They were transporting the Zillo, they want it back.” Shiani said helplessly. There was no way to free the creature without sacrificing the village, and no way to save the village without killing the Zillo. “We have to go, Tech.”

"The data transfer is not complete." He looked up at her.

She met his eyes, holding Omega’s hand tightly. “This ship was unmarked and everything encrypted. This was a secret. They’ll destroy the wreck to keep it, and us along with it. Please, Tech. We have to go.”

Tech hesitated a moment, then nodded and stepped away from the console. There were, he supposed, more important things than the pursuit of knowledge. Two of them being his sister and his wife.

They barely made it out when what Shiani had predicted came to pass and the Empire blew the shuttle they’d evacuated into scrap. There were Venators in the air, and LAAT gunships buzzing around between V-wings, and the smell of fire and fuel was thick in the smokey air.

It was supposed to be a simple scavenge mission. How had they stepped from claiming crashed cargo to being in the middle of a whirlwind straight from Hell itself?

The Marauder came into view, slowing but not going to be able to stop with two V-wings on its tale. Shiani wrapped tentacles around both clones and jumped when it came close, suckering herself to the side and pushing Omega and Tech into Wrecker’s arms where he waited on the ramp. Once they were safe she slithered on board, the hatch closing behind her.

Hunter had the controls in a death grip and all but threw them into hyperspace before they’d fully cleared the atmosphere..

Tech was sitting on the floor where Wrecker had dumped him, catching his breath. “Is… everyone alright?” He murmured.

Shiani crawled over to him and buried her face in his chest, clinging with all of her limbs. Hunter turned around in the pilot’s seat and looked at him. “Where the hell did they even get a Zillo? I thought the one that attacked Coruscant was the last of its kind?”

“It was.” Tech sighed. "It appears that one was a clone, made from the genetic material of the one that attacked Coruscant." He cradled his trembling siren tightly.

“They hurt it.” She mumbled. “It was sentient. It was afraid and hurt, and they were torturing it. And they’re going to do it again.”

“I know.” He breathed, petting her head gently as she started to shake harder. “Its creation, however, cannot be entirely blamed on the Empire. It was made prior to the end of the war, during the Republic.”

Hunter sighed, sinking into the chair. "Where were they taking it?".

"The ship did not have a destination in its system. It was heavily encrypted data, even on the ship's internal system." Tech glanced at Shiani again. "I… do not believe the Empire destroyed the cities on Kamino to end cloning, but to control it."

Shiani sobbed softly into his chest. It made sense, her home sacrified for nothing more than a power trip. The seas full of blood, the longnecks slaughtered and her own people would soon become a casualty of the same war. The Emperor had seen her, knew about her now. How long before they found sirens in cages?

"Send the data to Rex and Echo. See what they make of it." Hunter replied quietly.

Tech nodded, picking up Shiani and carrying her to their bunk. He’d deal with the transmission… but right now she needed him. And, the longer he looked at the near-fatal claw marks dug into her armor, the more he was sure he needed her too.

#explict #original character #clone force 99 #the bad batch #star wars #fanfic #tbb tech #song of the sea

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silverwings22 · 3 days

Text

Song of the Sea: Chapter 32: Fight Dirty

Chapter Warnings: child endangerment, exploitation of minors, threats, death of a (villain) character Series Warning: explicit smut, alien anatomy (it's a monsterfucker fic, guys), major character injury, grief, canon typical violence, autistic meltdowns, and my terrible attempts at Mando'a

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"I'm hot, tired, and starving." Wrecker groaned. Shiani was up under a busted speeder bike, Hunter handing her tools and Tech trying to locate any sign of a town they could feasibly get to. Omega was working at something on her datapad in the background, watching the collaboration from her peripheral.

"I told you to conserve your rations." Hunter shook his head, putting a spanner in the tentacle and reached out from under the chassis.

"But I got hungry."

“Just a little longer, Wrecker.” Shiani said hopefully, hand coming out to get her welding torch beside her. “Hang on.”

“You said that hours ago, but the skiff is still a hunk of junk.” Wrecker sighed.

“With a little more work from Shiani, it will be a slightly operational hunk of junk.” Tech looked up. “The power cells should have enough output to get us to the other side of the hemisphere. There was a town there that I clocked on our approach.”

Shiani poked her head out, her welding goggles pushed up her head. “Too bad we don’t have Gonky. We could get a better charge on those power cells.”

Omega’s head popped up. “We forgot Gonky!”

“With the ship’s transponder being offline, it is likely we will not recover him either.” Tech glanced at Omega nervously, not wanting to upset her again with his delivery of bad news.

“No, I mean I forgot he was on the ship. We can’t track the ship, but we could track him!”

Tech blinked, index finger coming up with his thought. “His binary reference code. That is ingenious, Omega. Try tracking him on the scanner.”

Omega nodded, getting up and getting to work. Shiani made a happy noise and ducked back under the chassis, the rest of the teaming hearing a banging noise before the lights came on. “We have a skiff now!”

Omega came running over. “And I found Gonky on the scanner!” She squealed, bouncing up and down with delight. Shiani climbed out from under the speeder and took her hands, jumping with her.

“You’re so smart, Baby Mega. So proud of you!”

“Everyone load up, then.” Hunter chuckled. “It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”

They managed to squish on with Tech driving, Shiani behind him with Omega squished between her and Wrecker, and Hunter facing backwards on the back. Shiani made her extra limbs into a series of seatbelts just in case, and snuggled against Tech’s back.

If they ever got a chance, she wanted to try riding a speeder like this with no armor on. It sounded nice, riding with her arms around him and no danger on the horizon.

One day, they’d find peace. She was sure of it. Until then, she was right behind him like she’d always wanted.

"This place looks worse than the spaceport." Wrecker sighed as the mining town came into view. It was basked in an ominous red light even Shiani didn’t find pretty. And an unsettling kind of fog seemed to hover in the energy around it, that felt like despair.

Hunter eyed it, arms crossed. "Anything on the scanners, Tech?"

"Nothing in the immediate vicinity, but I cannot say the same for the subterranean levels. Additionally, there is a ray shield in use. We will have to deactivate it to get the Marauder out, if it is in there."

Shiani looked back at Omega. “Got a lock on Gonky’s signal?”

Omega nodded, eyes bright. "Yes. He should be with the ship."

Shiani wrinkled her nose. “Unless the thief’s trying to scrap him. We might need to split up.”

Hunter nodded. “Good idea. Tech, Shiani, and I will head straight for Gonky. Wrecker, you and Omega set up in case the thief gives us trouble.”

The split up, Shiani behind Tech and Hunter as they walked right towards the thief’s den. Her expression dropped when she realized her target was far too small to be an adult. It was a kid barely older than Omega, with dark hair, running a diagnostic on the stolen gonk bot. He had a tattoo across his throat that looked like an equal sign, and wasn’t showing her dear little friend Gonky the kind of compassion he deserved. "No good. Looks like I'm going to have to scrap you for parts."

Gonky started beeping in complaints, just as sassy as his rightful owners.

"What? You're busted. What am I going to do with a defective power droid?"

"That's our defective power droid." Hunter snatched the kid up by the shoulder like he was going to slit his throat. It was an act, Shiani knew for a fact that he’d never hurt a child. "Where's our ship?"

If he hadn’t been scared of Hunter’s face, Shiani’s bared fangs behind the sergeant had the boy turn six shades paler. "Oh, uh… the thing is…" He shoved Hunter’s hand off him and dove onto a speeder, trying to get around the corner.

Right into Wrecker’s grasp, who snatched him off the speeder and dropped him on his ass. Omega held him at bowpoint, eyes narrowed. As Shiani, Tech, and Hunter stepped around the corner, the siren felt like she was watching her own firstborn on her first hunt. Omega was getting so strong and brave, she deserved the galaxy for how much of a survivor she’d grown into.

The ship thief looked like he was going to cry. "Oh come on! What do you care, it's just a busted old battery!"

"Not to us." Omega snapped

Hunter grabbed the kid one more time. "One more time. Where's our ship?".

"What ship?"

"The one you stole yesterday!" Shiani said sharply, showing her teeth once again. “My brother said one more time. Tell the truth, or I’ll start questioning you.”

"It's with Mokko!" The boy kicked his feet, panicking.

Shiani and Tech exchanged glances. “What’s a Mokko?” The siren frowned, softening immediately.

He looked at her like she might be stupid. "The boss? He owns this town. Don’t you know anything?"

“I know you stole my house, and now you’re gonna show us where it’s at so we can steal it back.” She snorted. Hunter nodded agreeably, deciding that the kid’s fear of her was a useful tool today. He didn’t need to know she was about as harmless as a tooka most of the time.

"I can't double cross Mokko! You have no idea what he's done for me!"

“Too bad. No choice.” Shiani insisted.

“She’s venomous.” Omega volunteered, still holding her bow on the other child like she’d shoot him for one false move.

“Vemonous?!” He blanched.

Wrecker scruffed him. "Yeah, and it hurts like hell if you get bit. Now lead the way."

The boy quickly figured out he didn’t have much of a choice, and started shuffling along while he took stock of the people he’d managed to piss off. Three soldiers, a kid with a bow and lethal eyes, and the…. Whatever the lady with the tentacles was who scared the daylights out of him. "Those blasters are a bad idea in an ipsium mine. Just saying."

"So this is an active mining town?" Omega was more curious than mad now that they were moving, and put her bow away so she could walk alongside him and talk. Her adults kept watchful eyes out, so she wasn’t worried.

"Yeah. It used to belong to the Techno Union."

Shiani glanced at Tech. “Aren’t those the people who held Echo as a prisoner?”

He nodded. “They are.”

The boy glanced back? “I guess you don’t like them?”

Shiani shook her head. “Tortured our brother.”

“Oh… we’ll, they’re gone now. Mokko took over when they went under."

"So you're an ipsium miner and a thief." Omega’s tone was pure venom, and Shiani had to look away to avoid laughing out loud.

"It's a skill."

"Stealing isn't a skill."

"It is when you're good at it." He gave her a cheeky grin, but got slapped in the back of the head with a purple tentacle.

“Not as good as you think.” Shiani huffed. “We found you. See how many guns we have?”

He glanced at the clones and nodded, swallowing hard. “Yeah…”

“What’s your name?” Omega asked after a minute of feeling just a little sorry for him. He was dirty, clothing patched, and looked too thin. This Mokko guy he was so grateful to didn’t seem to be taking too good care of him.

"Benni. Benni Baro."

"Benni." She furrowed her blonde brows. “You could get into a lot of trouble stealing like that. I have a family to look after me. You don’t.

“This is your family?” He glanced back at the four adults.

Omega nodded. “My brothers and my sister.”

He looked sheepish, and maybe a tiny bit jealous. "Your ship is in the bay over there…"

Shiani looked back at Tech and smiled. “Scanner?”

He pulled up a holo schematic and examined it for a few moments, Shiani leaning over his shoulder to see what he did. "It would seem that the entrances are guarded in shifts. We would attract significant attention trying to infiltrate that way. And the ray shield I detected earlier is positioned over the mine."

Everyone crouched over the schematic together, Shinani wrapping a tentacle around Benni’s ankle to keep him from running off. “Not going anywhere until we have our ship. Understand me?”

He nodded anxiously.

After a few minutes, Hunter pointed at the smokestack of the factory. “What’s the timing window between emissions here? We could use that as a point of entry.”

Tech nodded. "The window will not be very wide, but it should be enough for us to rappel down and utilize the unguarded lower access hatch."

Benni threw his hands up. "You guys are crazy. You'll get roasted, I'm out of here."

Shiani pulled him closer, an inch from her face, and smiled. “I said you can go when we have our ship. Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you until then. Unless you double cross us, and I’ll break my rule about eating sentient species.”

Benni looked at Omega. “She’s bluffing, right?”

“I… actually, I’m not sure.” The girl shrugged.

Tech glanced at his wife and she gave him a wink. She was, of course, bluffing. But Benni didn’t need to know that.

“I would prefer if one of us did this.” Tech frowned, looking at Shiani as she double checked her rappelling line. She had volunteered to go first, despite Hunter usually taking point. “You are less familiar with the equipment.”

“And I’m for flexible than anyone. Plus I have six arms, faster reflexes, and venom.” She smiled as the smokestack blew behind her. “Let me do this for you. How long is my window again?”

"Sixty seconds." Tech winced as the emission cleared.

Shiani wasted no time, dropping down the smokestack the way Hunter had told her in a 90 degree run down the brick and durasteel. The rest of the group and Benni peeked over the edge. “... So she’s your sister?” He whispered to Omega.

“Yeah.” Omega nodded.

“Then why is she purple?” He frowned.

Tech rolled his eyes. “They are not biologically related. Shiani is my wife, and I am Omega’s brother. Technically, they are sisters-in-law.” His foot was tapping, which Hunter picked up on immediately.

“She’s going to be fine, Tech. She’s well suited to this.” He patted his brother’s shoulder.

"Thirty seconds." Tech said tensely.

Shiani was more than halfway down when she stopped, and they spotted a droid sentry walking through the bottom of the stack. "I thought you said it was unguarded." Wrecker squirmed.

"It was!" Tech hissed back. “Do you think I would have sent her down there intentionally if I thought it was dangerous?”

Hunter hit his comm. “Twenty seconds, Shiani.”

She hit the release on her belt and dropped directly onto the droid, ripping into it with her claws. They were still on the inner platform, and Tech felt like he was going to throw up as the seconds ticked by.

"Ten seconds." Omega whispered.

“There she goes!” Wrecker grinned as Shiani picked up the droid and slammed it into the wall before bailing into the control room as shelter. Just in time, too, as the smokestack went off again and everyone had to duck below the lip at the top to avoid having their faces burnt off.

"You people are crazy." Benni muttered when Wrecker picked him up.

Omega just gave him a grin as Hunter patted her shoulder. At Shiani’s all clear, they rappelled down.

Tech went straight to Shiani, cupping her face in his hands carefully. “Are you alright?”

She nodded, grinning at him. “I’m fine. You trained me for this.”

He sighed, hating that she was right, and pressed his helmeted head against hers for a second before they looked at Benni. He looked a little confused. “So you two really are married…”

Shiani nodded, chuckling. “Family looks different for everyone. Still family.”

Omega nodded, hand in Hunters with Wrecker behind him. Benni was suddenly very aware of how alone he was in the galaxy, while these five had each other’s unwavering support. Even the scary squid lady who’d been threatening to eat him.

He kept his word, however, and led them through the red-tinged mine under the ray shield. Shiani frowned as they looked at the workers pushing carts. “All the miners are babies, Tech.” She whispered. “Not just Benni.”

"The conditions here seem very harsh." He agreed. “Particularly with children.”

"It has to be. The ipsium is degraded, so we have to work harder just to get by. Mokko had to lower wages just to keep the mine running." Benni explained.

Shiani looked suspicious. “Babies are easy to lie to, if no one teaches them how to stick up for themselves.”

"You just don't understand. He looks out for us." He pointed to a bay door, shoulders stiff and refusing to look at the siren. "Your ship's in that garage bay. I know a shortcut."

"No tricks." Hunter growled.

"Hey, I'm not trying to get caught either." Benni held his hands up defensively.

Hunter sighed, knowing he didn’t have much of a choice. They followed Benni through a door and down through the mining facility hallways until they came out inside a garage. The Havoc Marauder was parked with the ramp open, the ship gutted.

"The hyperdrive has been removed." Tech groaned.

“I can fix it.” Shiani sighed. “Gonna take a minute though.”

Hunter stopped Benni as he tried to casually back away. “You’re not going anywhere until we can leave.”

"What about the ray shield?" Omega pointed at the ominous red light that permeated everything..

"It can only be deactivated from the central tower." Benni pointed up. "I can go."

Hunter frowned. "Not alone. You stole our ship, there's no way we can trust you."

"You guys stick out too much. If someone has to go with me, send her. She'll blend in." He gestured to Omega, who looked at Hunter and gave him one of his own signature ‘I got this’ nods.

Tech handed Omega his handheld when the sergeant nodded back. "Transfer the data onto this and I will be able to access it remotely."

Shiani crouched in front of the girl and took her hands. “First hunt, Baby Mega. You’ll do fine.”

“I won’t let you down." Omega promised.

“Never could.” Shiani squeezed her hands three times before standing up and pulled out her tool bag. “Now go. Tech, let’s fix this hyperdrive.”

Omega turned to Benni. “Let’s do this.”

"Not dressed like that." He took his jacket off with an incredulous expression. “You don’t look like a miner at all.”

“I’m not. You should have been more careful of who you stole from.” She smirked, undaunted. This was her first hunt, and she wasn’t about to let him get her down.

"Hunter, I'm in the control room." Shiani was under the hyperdrive, up to her elbows in connection apparatus while Tech worked the guidance systems and Wrecker got their weapons back online. Hunter was keeping lookout, and everyone had turned their comms up to listen for their littlest member’s update.

Hunter was anxious to get the hell out of here. Everything about this place made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, and Shiani’s comments about child miners was relaying in his head. They were easy to lie to… which meant they were loyal to this Mokko guy whether he deserved it or not. They wouldn’t have a problem fighting the Batch, even if he had a problem fighting kids. "Good. Copy that data and get back to the hangar safely.".

"Motivator reconnected." Shiani popped out from the hyperdrive. "Tech, the primaries to guidance?."

"I am nearly done, and then I will need to calibrate the navi-computer." Tech sat up from where he was working. “By the time Omega gets back, we should be operational.”

"Weapons system back online." Wrecker waved a wrench at Hunter.

Hunter nodded. "These are all just kids…" He really hoped he didn’t have to use the weapons. Not on children

Tech sighed, heading for the navi-computer. "It appears as if Mokko is using his means as leverage against them… it is a tactic we have seen with the Empire."

“Babies are easy to lie to.” Shiani repeated, sliding over to help Tech with the primaries.

“The aren’t the only ones.” Tech murmured, and her hand found his quietly. He was thinking about Crosshair again, she knew it. At least Echo knew he was getting into, but Tech wasn’t so sure the sniper did.

“Someone’s coming.” She blinked, ears pinning back. Hunter was starting to think he should be using those fins as a signal, because she heard the voices just a second before he did.

Two barely half grown boys were coming into the garage bay, and there was nowhere and no time to hide.. "I thought Bryce and Hugh said they disconnected that hyperdrive- who are you?!"

"Uh… Mokko sent us." Wrecker mumbled. Shiani nodded, deciding to test her theory about how easy kids were to lie to. Hopefully they’d buy it.

Hunter held his hands up. "Easy. We're just here for our ship."

The two kids spun on their heels and ran. Hunter groaned and took off after them, hoping he could stun them before they got anywhere near the ipsium.

Shiani groaned and pulled Tech to his feet. “Go fix the navi-computer. I’ll finish the primaries.”

Tech nodded, and less than a minute later, he was going out over the comm. “All systems back online.”

"Good. I've lost our spies, and they're calling backup." Hunter grumbled.

“How did you lose them? You’re a tracker.” Shiani sighed, getting up when Tech and Wrecker moved towards the suspension bridge. A male of a species Shiani wasn’t familiar with was coming with them, flanked by a couple child laborers and droids. “We got trouble, Hunter.” She pulled out her blaster.

"Copy that."

"You come to steal from me? Me?!" The man hissed, and he must have been Mokko based on arrogance alone. Tech, Wrecker, and Shiani all leveled their blasters at him.

"We merely came to recover our starship." Tech said mildly.

"That ship belongs to me now." Mokko smirked. "And do you really think it wise to use blasters in an ipsium mine?"

"We don't miss." Wrecker huffed sharply. .

"I believe you." Mokko laughed. "But will you really risk it? Look."

On the other bridge, Hunter had been lining up a shot as well. When Mokko gestured, he looked up and sucked in a sharp breath. "Omega!"

The girl was being dragged to an overhead ledge by a droid, fighting every step of the way. Shiani’s eyes narrowed, snarling at Mokko viciously. “You let Baby Mega go. Now.”

"Lower your weapons or she goes over the edge." Mokko snarled. "Ten years in the mines sounds like an appropriate punishment for this treachery. If you survive that long."

Shiani didn’t trust her blaster skills in the mine, but she was pretty sure she could make it across the space between her and Mokko and have time to tear his throat out before he gave the order to hurt Omega. Tech watched her put the blaster back on her hip and flex her fingers, black claws shiny in the red light. He subtly took a step to the side, getting ready to give her space for her pounce.

Before she could strike, Benni came running to the other side of the bridge waving te handheld Tech had given Omega. "You lied to us, Mokko! The ipsium isn't degraded! You've been pocketing all the profits!"

"Don't listen to him." Mokko hissed.

An older boy with purple tattoos looked at the screen, eyes wide as he spotted the profit reports. "All that talk about lean seasons… you let us go hungry while you kept everything for yourself!"

"I did what I had to survive! None of you would have made it without me!" Mokko protested.

Shiani hissed, taking another step forward. “Lots of people think I’m a monster, you know. But it’s a real monster who hurts babies for credits.”

"Throw the girl over!" Mokko shouted.

Omega’s eyes locked on Hunter and she grabbed the droid’s arm when it tried to throw her, planting her feet and leaning back hard to drag it over the edge with her. Hunter was ready and shot a dart line before jumping over the edge to get to her. She threw her arms out, catching Hunter's hand in a spectacular arc that ended with them landing against a wall with her arms around his neck. "Good work, kid."

Omega grinned.

Wrecker and Tech kept their word about not missing, firing as Shiani took her running leap after Mokko. They took out the droids, while the siren snatched the cane from Mokko and hit him as hard as she could with it. He overbalanced, falling over the rail and catching himself with one hand.

Benni seemed to have a greater capacity for kindness than Shiani would have, and reached down to save him. "Grab my hand."

Instead of gratitude, Mokko tried to drag Benni over the edge with him. The other young miners came running to grab him, and Shiani flipped herself over the railing and grabbed both sides of his mechanical claw hand. The metal screamed as she put every ounce of her strength into it and wrenched it off Benni’s wrist, then let go. Mokko dropped with a scream into the fiery chasm below, and Shiani slowly climbed back over the railing. She looked at the Benni, cocking her head to the side. “You okay, Baby Benni?”

He nodded, shaken but unhurt. “Yes ma’am….”

She reached over and patted his head lightly. “Good.”

Tech walked over, putting his blasters back in their holsters and wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. She dropped her head back on his shoulder. “That railing was there for a reason.” He mumbled.

She smiled, snuggling back and turning her head to look at where Hunter and Omega were making their way up to a safe ledge. The girl waved over at the siren. “Hey Shiani!?”

“Yes, Baby Mega?”

“Does this count as a successful hunt?”

Shiani laughed. “I think so!”

“Gonky! Favorite droid in the whole galaxy!” Shiani giggled, watching Wrecker hug the hapless droid. “”You helped us get our home back!”

Gonky made his usual noise at her from Wrecker’s arms before the giant of a clone took him inside. Shiani just laughed and put her arm around Omega, watching the rest of their stolen belongings being located and brought back inside. Benni was overseeing it sheepishly, to make up for causing most of the mess in the first place.

"Is this everything?" Hunter asked the boy sternly.

"Yeah. Don't you trust me?" Benni grinned.

If anything, Hunter just looked angrier at the question, but didn’t say a word.

"Okay, fair. Yes, this is everything. I swear." Benni held his hands up for the millionth time. He wasn’t sure who he was more scared of, Hunter or Shiani.

Hunter sighed and went to help Wrecker load everything back up. Omega took Shiani by the hand and led her over to talk to Benni once more before they left. "What will you do now that Mokko's gone?" She asked curiously. They’d had an understanding while they were in the mine together, Omega’s kindness and reassurance of how family was supposed to be the turning point of him regretting double-crossing her.

"I guess we'll keep mining ipsium. Without Mokko, we'll all get to split the profits." Benni shrugged, eying Shiani again.

"You don't want to leave?" Omega sounded genuinely curious.

"Nah. Like I said, this is my home. It's what I know… and I really am sorry. You’re not gonna eat me, are you miss?” He frowned, concerned.

Shiani shook her head with a laugh. “I was bluffing, Baby Benni. I don’t eat people, especially not kids. And you’re too skinny to be tasty anyway.” She ruffled his hair. “You got a whole life ahead of you now, with Mokko gone. I hope you make a good one out of it.”

"Thanks. If you guys ever need a thief, call me?" He relaxed, even giving her a smile.

"Benni! Chow time!" One of the other kids called.

"Be right there!" He yelled back before looking at the ship with the three brothers finishing up the loading. "Where will you guys go next?"

"Never matters where we go, as long as we’re together.” Shiani shrugged. “Right, Baby Mega?”

Omega nodded resolutely. She didn’t want anyone else to leave like Echo had, but he’d promised to come back eventually. It would have to be enough for now.

Benni nodded and darted off. Shiani scooped Omega up onto her hip and spun her around. “Your first hunt! Went so good, I’m so proud of you. Come on, I’ll give you your present.”

“Present?” Omega peeped, eyes wide. “I get a present?”

“Siren tradition is to give a hunt gift for the first successful one. We don’t really hunt for food the same way, but it was your first solo part of a mission so it’s the same thing. Here, sit down.” Shiani sat Omega down at one of the deck chairs and went back to her bunk, digging through her cubby cheerfully. “Oh, hope they didn’t move it… aha!” She came back from the bunkroom with a piece of folded cloth, and the brothers paused their loading and stood around to watch their girls. “Give me your hand, Baby Mega.”

Omega blinked and held out her hand, Shiani carefully unwrapping the cloth and pulling out a hand made bracelet that looked like a miniature chain she’d used to wear. “Did you make this, Shiani?”

The siren nodded, fastening it around Omega’s left wrist carefully. “It’s smooth so it won’t catch on anything while you’re training. I don’t have chains to give you, but you deserve them. Baby Chainbreaker, setting all those other babies free by being kind. I knew you’d earn them one day.”

Shiani stood up as Omega inspected the bracelet, eyes quiet and contemplative for a long moment. Tech slipped up behind her as Hunter and Wrecker went back to make sure everything was in the ship. Shiani sounded so proud of her, but only one thought was echoing around the girl’s head. "I thought we just had to avoid the Empire… but they’re not the only threat."

Tech sighed. "No."

"We keep finding people like Mokko. No matter where we go." Omega rubbed her thumb over her bracelet. “No matter how many chains get broken, there’s always more.”

"That is… unfortunately true. But there are also people like us." Tech turned, putting a hand on Omega's arm.

Shiani nodded. “And the chains you break mean everything to the ones you set free. I know it seems like it doesn’t matter, but it does. We fight.”

Omega looked up at them and nodded firmly, a sort of understanding in her eyes. She was starting to make sense of why Echo had wanted to go to Rex. She didn’t want to leave her family, but she could put that fighting spirit towards the injustice they kept running into. “Yeah. We fight.”

#explict #original character #clone force 99 #the bad batch #star wars #fanfic #tbb tech #song of the sea

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silverwings22 · 3 days

Text

Song of the Sea: Chapter 31: Homeless

Chapter warning: complicated feelings, being 'othered', near drowning Series Warning: explicit smut, alien anatomy (it's a monsterfucker fic, guys), major character injury, grief, canon typical violence, autistic meltdowns, and my terrible attempts at Mando'a

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“You look upset, Baby Mega.” Shiani was sitting on the floor in Omega's room, hairbrush in hand, combing out the tangles of the blonde fluff in front of her. She liked doing little sisterly things with Omega, especially lately when she seemed so out of sorts. She’d been heartbroken since Echo had left, and when the tears stopped there had been a brow-furrowed defiance on her face even Shiani couldn’t quite seem to break through. Shiani chalked it up to Omega starting to grow up, an innocent and naive child morphing into a teenager.

“... Everything is different now, with Echo gone.” Omega said quietly. “We’re a squad, we’re supposed to be together. I wish Hunter hadn’t let him go.”

“Oh, Baby Mega. Come here.” Shiani set the brush down and pulled the girl into her arms with her tentacles. “It’s more complicated than that. Hunter had to let Echo choose.”

“But why would he want to go? Doesn’t he care about us?” Omega stayed hunched over, unhappy and waspish as she’d been for days despite the purple hug she was wrapped up in. She didn’t push Shiani away though, which was progress.

“Of course he cares.” Shiani snuggled her. “But he cares about the other clones too. And they need a Chainbreaker right now, like him.”

“We need him too.” Omega said sullenly.

“We want him. Need is different.” Shiani hooked her chin over Omega’s shoulder. “The Bad Batch has each other. I got you, you got me, we got your brothers, and they got us. Clones trapped in the Empire don’t have anyone, unless Echo and Rex fight for them.”

Omega sighed and snuggled back finally, into the siren’s arms. “You’re starting to sound like Hunter.”

“Hunter loves you like you were his own daughter.” Shiani smiled. “For me, you are a baby sister. We have fun. We get in trouble together. But it’s still my job as big sister to help you learn and keep you safe. They’ll be your alibi, I’ll be your accomplice.”

Omega sighed. “I appreciate it, Shiani… Sorry I’ve been kinda grumpy lately.”

“You have a hard time with change. You’re not the only one.” Shiani rubbed her face across the girl’s hair like a tooka.

“What are you talking about? The guys act like nothing happened when Echo left, especially Tech.” Omega huffed, crossing her arms. “Does he even have feelings? He doesn't even act like he’s in love with you!”

“Grumpy Mega is back.” Shiani observed out loud, resting her hands on Omega’s shoulders and squeezing lightly. “Maybe, if you take the time to understand your brothers instead of being frustrated that you don’t, you will see.”

Omega gave her another unhappy look, but the furrows in her brow softened. “How come you don’t get mad at them?”

Shiani thought back to the Senate, and Chuchi’s whisper for her to control her temper lest it be taken poorly. She’d thought about those words for weeks now, waking up in a cold sweat as it dawned on her what the kind Senator had been warning her about.

Don’t scare them, or you’ll lose all credibility. They’ll think you’re a monster, and call for your death like an animal. You and every siren on Kamino.

“I... don’t have the luxury of getting angry, Baby Mega.” She said softly. “Not the way other species do… and especially not with people I care about.”

Omega looked back at her. “What do you mean?”

“People don’t know sirens. Not like they do other races… they know not to let Wookiee and Trandoshan in the same room, or expect Togruta to eat vegetables.” She ran her fingers through Omega’s hair gently, careful with her claws. Humans were inherently soft, breakable to her strength, and a child was even softer. “They don’t know what to expect with me. If I hiss or show teeth, they get scared. If you know about other races, you can say Commander Venomor and Cid aren’t the same even though they’re both Trandoshans. Or that Hunter and Rampart are different even though they’re both humans.”

Omega nodded, putting her hands on Shiani’s tentacles draped around her waist. “So because you’re the only siren off of Kamino, people think every siren is like you.”

Shiani nodded. “And unknown things scare people. Siren anger looks like a monster to them when they don’t know who we are.”

“But isn’t anger a part of sentient nature? Especially when you have a reason to be angry.” Omega leaned back against Shiani’s chest.

“Yes, until they don’t consider you sentient. When you’re just another vicious lurca they have to put down, the reason for your anger doesn’t matter anymore.” Shiani opened her palms in front of Omega, letting the young girl put her own hands over them and examine the difference between the little brown hands and lethal purple ones. “Only two people in the whole galaxy have never, at least for a little while, considered me a threat. You and Tech.”

“Really?” Omega frowned.

Shiani nodded. “Wrecker got over it first. Echo once reached for a blaster when I raised my voice. Hunter wouldn’t take his eyes off me until after Salucemi, when he started to trust me. The Senate was the same, I had to be so careful not to look angry. I hid my tentacles so they couldn’t see the rings, just so they didn’t think my people were threatening… it was so hard to keep my mouth closed.”

“Does it make you mad?” Omega asked, her own frustration soothed in the cuddle and honesty between them. She never worried about Shiani lying to her, or even sugar coating things too much. Her brothers wanted to protect her, Shiani wanted to share whatever experience it was. Good or bad, the siren had her back.

“A little. Strangers are one thing, but I hate feeling scared of the family’s reaction… but it means I watch carefully. I learn their hearts. It’s easier not to get angry if you understand why they do things.”

Omega huffed. “I thought you were full of feelings.”

“I am. Not all feelings are helpful. Real, yes, but not helpful.”

When the siren faceplanted into her hair and started rubbing her face all over Omega’s head, the girl couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Okay, okay. I’ll… try to understand. But it seems like they don’t care that Echo’s gone and everything is different.”

“Different happens, Baby Mega. Life on the Marauder is very different than Kamino, right?”

“Yeah…” Omega flopped, going limp, and Shiani picked her up in a cradle of tentacles and turned her upside down. “So where are we going anyway? They picked up the mission this morning while I was still sleeping.”

“An ipsium mine.” Shiani explained, continuing to rotate Omega like a puzzle cube. “Tech gave me a debrief. Cid bought a mine, and ipsium is valuable. Well, refined ipsium is. Raw ipsium explodes.”

“So why are we going?”

“To get the ipsium out of the mine. Tech has a little contraption to extract it and keep it safe. As long as we don’t drop the canister or use the drill wrong, we should be fine.”

“Is it a big explosion?” Omega frowned as Shiani finally set her down, oddly relaxed after all the turning. Shiani filed that tidbit away in case she needed to do it again… it had always worked on her and her brother when they were young, and their father would simply lift and rotate them while he did official duties.

“Like a thermal, Tech says. I’d rather not find out what that feels like. Come on, get your gear bag. I gotta get my armor.”

Omega sighed and nodded, trying to keep the short temper she felt brewing in check. Shiani had said to try to understand her brothers, but that seemed so difficult when they kept their emotions in check so tightly.

Once the ship had landed, she followed her brothers and Shiani out. It was arid and hot, with only patches of scrubby grass to denote the entire planet wasn’t, in fact, as dry as Tattooine. “This was the only suitable landing zone.” Tech explained as they made their way down the stepped plateaus to the coordinates of the mine. “It will put the ship slightly out of direct line of sight.”

Shiani sighed, shaking her head. “Can’t be helped.”

It didn’t take them long to find the mining tunnel door, and Tech and Shiani got to work getting it open while Hunter looked out into the horizon. There was a gathering storm in the distance he didn’t like the look of, but it appeared to be moving away from them. “Wrecker. You and Omega keep lookout. We’ll need Shiani.”

“We will need Wrecker in the mines as well. With Echo missing, we are a man down.” Tech glanced at Omega, who crossed her arms at the mention of Echo.

“I can keep watch.” She said almost sullenly, and Shiani resisted the urge to remind her of their conversation on the ship. Scolding a kid who was already unhappy wasn’t going to help, and Omega had to learn to navigate the galaxy’s many personalities on her own. One day, the Batch and Shiani might not be there to guide her.

“Not by yourself.” Hunter shook his head. “Cid warned us about poachers. Keep an eye out and comm us if you see anything or anyone suspicious.”

Omega nodded, though she didn’t brighten up like she usually did when given a task. Shiani followed Tech into the cave, Hunter behind her, and fiddled with her claws her husband started scanning for ipsium.

“She talks to you more than anyone. She okay?” Hunter asked softly.

“She misses Echo.” Shiani sighed. “Change is hard.”

“Soldiers must be adaptable to change.” Tech shook his head, looking up from his datapad.

“Tech, she’s not a soldier. And even you hate change.” Shiani frowned.

“That does not mean I am not adaptable.” He raised an eyebrow at her.

Hunter just shook his head and glanced back towards the mine entrance. “Hopefully she’ll adjust soon… I worry about her.”

“You’re her dad.” Shiani nodded. “You’re supposed to.”

Tech looked up again. “Hunter is not her father. He is her brother, as we all are. She is, technically, older than we are.”

Shiani gestured at Hunter, whose helmet was cocked curiously as he listened to the deranged conversation. Sometimes listening to Tech’s aggressively logical view of the world when it collided with Shiani’s emotions was more entertaining than any holodrama. “But he’s so… father figure.”

Hunter bit back a snicker as Tech just shook his head. “Let us focus on the task at hand, cyar’ika. I am detecting very little ipsium here. It would appear that Cid was scammed into purchasing a depleted mine.”

“Let’s just get what we can.” Hunter sighed. The sooner they got out of here, the sooner he could figure out what to do with Omega. She had been the glue holding them together after losing Crosshair. Now, with her so upset over Echo, the rest of the squad was feeling the cracks. Wrecker and Tech were bickering constantly, and even Hunter found himself snapping at them more than he cared to admit. Shiani was the only one who wasn’t more annoyed than usual… or at least she didn’t act like it. Sometimes he saw her eyes narrow, and she’d rub the sides of her mouth like she was trying to loosen the muscles that pulled it open in anger.

Tech nodded, lightly patting Shiani’s shoulder and pointing as he handed her the precision drill. “Can you get up there, cyare? That glowing yellow substance is the mineral deposit.

She nodded and climbed up, getting the first vial of ipsium. “There’s more inside the little cave here, but my shoulders don’t fit.” She called down.

“I will comm Omega for assistance.” Tech said, but Hunter stopped his arm.

“I’ll comm her. You’ve been pissing her off for days.” The sergeant shook his head and hit his own comm. “Omega, can you come here? We need your help.”

Shiani adjusted the way she was dangling from the side of the rock wall, hanging upside down to look at the two brothers and Omega when she arrived. “Up here, Baby Mega. I’ll show you where.”

Omega held up a hand and Shiani pulled her up to the top of the ledge, pointing out where the ipsium was. Below them, Tech adjusted his goggles. “You must be extremely cautious when drilling into the fossilized quartz around the ipsium. The slightest friction could cause the mineral to become unstable.”

“I know.” Omega grumbled, taking the precision drill from Shiani and getting to work. Shiani sat by her with the empty containment rods, passing them to her once she’d gotten through the quartz. Once the rods were full, Shiani carefully passed them down for Tech to store in his canister.

Shiani watched Omega’s face, scrutinizing her grumpy nose scrunch and hard eyes. It was the same face Tech made when he was annoyed. Once all the ipsium was locked away, she gently patted Omega’s arm. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Omega nodded, looking lost in thought, as Shiani offered her a hand and they climbed down together. It occurred to the siren that Baby Mega wasn’t going to be a baby much longer at the rate she was going.

They walked out of the dark mine as a group, finding Wrecker looking out into the distance. “Good think you guys finished up when you did. I don’t like the look of that storm.”

Hunter nodded. “Neither do I.”

“The weather is highly irregular on this planet, but we should get back to the ship quickly. We cannot be caught in a lightning storm with something as volatile as ipsium.”

Shiani looked over at him thoughtfully. “Let’s go then.” She could talk to him in the cockpit about trying to smooth things over with Omega. She didn’t like that his own sister thought he didn’t care about things. Of course Tech cared, he just… looked at the galaxy a little differently than the other clones did. She’d always known he was special, after all.

But he was the adult in this situation. She couldn’t put all the onus for change on Omega, who was just a kid having a hard time adjusting-

Her ear fins suddenly pinned back. “Someone’s by the ship.”

Hunter stiffened and swore. “The engine just came online.”

They all raced towards where they’d parked, watching in sick horror as the Havoc Marauder whizzed by them with none of them on board. No one spoke for a long moment as it vanished from sight, taking with it both their way off the planet and their home. Hunter’s eye twitched before he rounded on Wrecker with blazing eyes. “You were supposed to be lookout!”

“There was nobody there!” The giant protested, pushing his helmet up on his head like a hat.

“Clearly, someone was.” Tech crossed his arms, eyes narrowed at Wrecker.

“You’re the one who parked out of sight!” Wrecker’s voice pitched like he was panicking.

“There was no other suitable landing zone. I told you this was a concern, you should have modified your approach for such a situation-”

“Would have or should have doesn’t get the ship back.” Shiani wiggled in the middle of the three brothers. “Now stop. We work together.”

Omega’s newly hardened exterior crumbled a little, heartbreak in her big brown eyes. “There’s got to be a way to get it back.”

Hunter sighed and looked at Tech. “Anything on the scanner?”

Tech shook his head, typing on his datapad. “I am picking up a spaceport about 40 klicks from here. We may be able to get assistance there.”

Shiani looked at Omega, putting a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll find it, Baby Mega.” She whispered. The thunder in the distance made her look up anxiously, then glance at the ipsium container Tech was passing to Wrecker as he worked at his scanner. “Might have to shelter from the storm first, but we’ll find it.”

“40 klicks is going to take forever to walk.” Wrecker grumbled.

“Then we better start walking.” Hunter huffed, still annoyed but softening a little in the light of their current predicament. They were all in this together, at least, and no one was hurt. They could fight about it when they were under shelter.

He waved for everyone to follow him, heading towards a canyon Tech indicated. It was brutally hot in the sun, and Hunter did his best to try to hurry them along so they could seek some respite in the shade of the canyon walls. “How much further?” Wrecker complained, shoulders slumped. He hated this, and it was only worse with the knowledge that technically this was his fault. If he hadn’t missed the ship being taken, they’d be halfway back to Ord Mantell by now.

“You do not want to know.” Tech said dryly. Shiani sensed the undercurrent of frustration he was swallowing, that only made its way out through his tone. This probably wasn’t helping Omega’s perception of him today, but she needed to handle one thing at a time. If they could make it through this without a major fight, it would be a Melody-given miracle.

Next to the siren, Shiani was working at her comm. “Havoc 5 to Havoc 4. Come in Havoc 4.” It was a little heartbreaking to see the girl trying desperately to call Echo, who’s absence was the cause of all her tension. She’d done so well not to call him before, no matter how much she missed him, but this did constitute as the kind of emergency he’d approve of.

He’d probably yell at them for losing the ship, though. He might have been the second in command, but he was the older brother.

Shiani winced. “Baby Mega… without the ship’s long-range transmitter, we won’t be able to get a signal off world.”

“Even if we had the ability to transmit the signal, Echo has disabled his communication device for the time being.” Tech shrugged.

“Why would he disable his comm?” Omega almost stopped walking, eyes wide with hurt. Shiani winced again. Oh, it was going to be a very long day if Tech kept being utterly oblivious of Omega’s distress. Most of the time his obliviousness to subtlety was endearing. When Omega looked like she might be about to cry, it was significantly less so.

“It is likely that whatever mission he is currently on is of a sensitive nature, and therefore he needed absolute radio silence.” Tech shrugged.

Shiani sighed, tugging on his sleeve gently. “Tech.” She whispered, voice as sweet as she could muster. “Maybe it’s not so nice to tell Baby Mega that Echo is ignoring us?”

“That is not what I said. I said he has disabled his comm for a mission.” He frowned, turning his head to look at her.

“She’s still a child, it’s going to feel like-” She paused, turning her head. “.... Uh oh.”

Hunter turned a split second after she did. “Something’s coming. I feel it on the ground.”

“More than one something, and it’s scared. Run!” Shiani pushed Tech and reached back for Omega’s hand, pulling the girl as fast as she could down the gulch. They were trapped by the canyon walls that had only a minute ago seemed blessed for their shade, overtaken by a stampede of blue Ipsidon bucks that ran far faster than they could. A sharp hoof clipped Omega’s shoulder and she fell, taking Shiani down with her by the hand. The siren pulled Omega to her chest and rolled, narrowly avoiding being crushed. She spotted Hunter pulling up his dart gun, so she picked Omega up. “Hunter!”

He looked up and nodded as she lawn-dart threw Omega into his free arm and he shot the dart into an over hanging root system, pulling them both to safety. Tech grabbed Shiani by the the toolbelt as he fired his own dart line, pulling her to safety as well. “Are you alright, cyar’ika?”

She nodded, twisting until she was clinging to him with her legs around his waist and he could hold onto her hip with one arm. “I’m okay. But where’s Wrecker?!”

When a third dart landed between Tech and Hunter’s everyone sighed with relief. Wrecker hauled himself out of danger, hanging lower but out of the way of the piercing hooves. Tech narrowed his eyes. “Where is the ipsium?”

Shiani winced and pointed “On the ground.” She watched the bucks’ hooves coming dangerously close to the canister, trying to figure out how she could protect them from the explosion if it went off. They were sitting ducks, dangling just above the stampede, and if it exploded they’d likely be killed instantly.

Tech had already done the calculations of the likelihood of survive. “Wrecker, you must protect the ipsium!”

“Who’s gonna protect me!?” Wrecker groaned.

“If that canister explodes, all of us will perish.” Tech insisted, holding onto Shiani a little tighter. It was the only outward sign, once again, that he was in any way upset with the situation. Wrecker groaned but dropped back into the midst of the stampede, while Omega yelled his name and tried to reach for him.

“Why’d you tell him to go back?!” She shouted at Tech. “He’ll get hurt!”

“Easy.” Hunter breathed as the stampede passed them by, leaving Wrecker huddled over the ipsium case. Hunter carefully lowered himself and Omega, setting her down first so she could run over and check on Wrecker.

Tech did the same with Shiani and sighed, looking at Wrecker. “Next time, do not drop it.”

“If you’re such an expert, you carry it!” Wrecker grumbled angrily. He was well over being scolded by everyone for what had already happened.

“Very well.” Tech took the case calmly and put it on his back. Shiani sighed, watching Omega put her arms around one of Wrecker’s and give Tech a baleful look. Yeah, they needed to talk this out, but she had no idea how they were ever going to get an opportunity. Without the ship they had no privacy or safety, which seemed necessary for the kind of vulnerability the conversation would require…

She just patted Tech’s arm lightly. “Be nice.” She just said gently.

Hunter looked up. “The storm is getting closer.”

“That would explain the stampede.” Tech frowned.

Shiani squeaked when the wind whipped around her aggressively, sand thrown into her large eyes. She scrubbed at her face. “Anywhere to hide on the scanners, Tech? Lightening and ipsium are a bad combination.”

He consulted his handheld with renewed interest as she clung to his arm, half blinded from the dirt. It was rapidly getting dark, the storm coming for them with prejudice. It was the worst possible combination, as she’d said, and they were running out of time. “There should be a mining tunnel ahead.”

“I see it.” Omega pointed, clinging to Wrecker to avoid her small frame being swept up in the rushing winds. The large clone nodded, pulling her to his side and headed for it. He and Hunter snatched the door open, getting Omega to safety first before climbing in. Tech pushed Shinai forward, Hunter helping her inside when his genius brother tripped.

“Tech!” Shiani yelped in horror as the wind ripped the canister off his bag. It was pulled up, into the cyclone of the storm. Tech’s eyes were bigger than she’d ever seen, watching it vanish into the cloud.

It was going to explode, there was nothing anything they could do to stop it. Shiani leaned out and grabbed Tech’s belt, yanking him into the tunnel door as the roiling mass of crackling lightening and dust smashed the canister into the mountainside. It blew like a thermal, collapsing the tunnel entrance and throwing everyone back inside the mine.

Hunter sat up slowly, rubbing his head through his helmet. “Everyone okay?”

Shiani had landed on top of Tech when they’d been thrown, and inspected him carefully. He nodded. “We’re okay.” She called. “Baby Mega? Wrecker?”

Wrecker nodded. “I’m good.”

Omega sighed, checking herself over. “I’m not hurt either.”

Hunter sighed with relief. “Good. Everyone’s okay…”

“Except we are now trapped inside a mine and have lost the ipsium.” Tech grumbled, sitting up and taking his helmet off to better inspect Shiani’s arms. She had minor bruising, but he still didn’t like it.

“I guess that’s my fault too?” Wrecker snarked loudly, not noticing Omega’s wince.

“If you had not allowed the Marauder to be stolen, we would be halfway back to Ord Mantell with the mineral.” Tech nodded. “So yes.”

“That’s enough out of both of you. The only way out is to dig, so quit arguing and start digging.” Hunter huffed, taking his helmet off to wipe his face.

Shiani nodded, going over to the mouth of the cave to start inspecting the pile of rocks. “This is gonna take hours.” She sighed.

The guys all groaned, but she was right. This was the only way out, and they had no choice but to start shifting rock and hope it didn’t collapse on top of them.

They’d been digging for a while when Shiani took a quick break to check on Omega. The girl had been working at her datapad since they’d started digging. “You okay, Baby Mega?”

“The Marauder’s transponder is offline.” She sounded desolate and heartbroken. Shiani eased down next to her and offered her a hug, which she took and snuggled to the siren’s armored side.

“It was likely disabled by the thief.” Tech said mildly as everyone else exchanged unhappy glances.

“But how are we going to find it?” She swallowed hard, looking at each of them.

“We’ll figure that out once we’re out of here.” Hunter said gently.

Shiani nodded. “We’ll get it back, don’t worry.”

Tech clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Shiani, you know better. It is highly unlikely the Havoc Marauder will be recovered.”

Shiani’s shoulders sank a little, and Omega’s face turned red with frustration. “We can’t just give up on it!”

“We can acquire another ship. It is merely a mode of transportation.” Tech shrugged, frowning as Shiani gave him a sad look.

“It’s our home! It’s bad enough we lost Echo, we can’t lose our home too!” Usually when Omega raised her voice, it was lighthearted and uplifting or scared and they needed to protect her. None of them had ever heard the anger she hit them with, and Shiani’s ears drooped anxiously.

“We didn’t lose Echo.” Hunter tried to do damage control, hands coming up. “He’s just… on another mission.”

“But he’s not here with us! We’re a squad, we’re supposed to stay together!” Omega got, if possible, louder, and the anger in her voice had the ragged edge of a tear starting to pull at it. Shiani reached for her hand, hoping she could try to talk her down again like she had in the ship before.

Tech raised an eyebrow. “This squad existed before Echo, and will continue to exist after him. What is your issue?”

Omega nearly hit Shiani in the head on her backswing when she pitched her datapad at Tech, and the siren covered her ears with her hands. The emotions rolling off the girl were suddenly overwhelming when she lost control of them. Omega grabbed her bag angrily. “I want to be alone.” She snapped, and stormed down the tunnel.

Tech frowned, taking a step over to Shiani. “I do not understand why she is so upset. I merely stated the truth.”

Hunter rolled his eyes. “She knows the truth. That’s why she’s upset.”

Shiani looked up as her mate knelt beside her, making sure she hadn’t been bonked upside the head by their collective little sister. “Are you alright, cyar’ika?”

“...Wouldn’t an honest conversation cause less despair?” She whispered faintly.

“I was being honest.” Tech frowned.

“No you weren’t, Tech. She thinks you don’t care at all.” Shiani muttered, rubbing her gills as the torrent of Omega’s emotions finally faded into a manageable level of white noise for her.

“Well, he doesn’t.” Wrecker grumbled. “So she’s right.”

Shiani scrunched her nose, curling her fingers over Tech’s vambrace. “I know better than that.”

Hunter sighed and waved for Wrecker to join him back at digging, letting Shiani handle Tech. The genius sat back on his heels to look at his wife with a frown. “Why would Omega believe I do not care?”

“Because you show it differently.” She sighed, squeezing his hands three times to try to get the message across better. “She can only read your actions against how she would react. And you two are very different people.”

“That is certain.” Tech sighed. “But that analysis does explain why she has been so short with all of us… and me most of all.”

Shiani nodded. “We give her a little space, but then you should talk to her. If you can explain why you react the way you do, she’ll understand you better.” She leaned up and kissed him softly. “I can feel your hearts. Not everyone can.”

He nodded, settling back down beside her fully so she could cuddle to his side. “Have I upset you with my reactions lately?”

“No. But I know you best.” She shook her head. “You feel about Echo like you do about Crosshair. I know it hurts you, but you don’t want to talk about it. You keep feelings like sea glass, holding them up to the light to look at them but not sharing them with others. It’s… impressive. But maybe you should share, so it doesn’t hurt so much.” She headbutted his shoulder lightly. “Or hurts other people.”

Tech nodded quietly. “I had not considered that. My apologies, cyar’ika.”

“I’m not the one who needs the apology. Baby Mega does.” Shiani raised a non-existent eyebrow at him. “And your brothers, too. Hunter probably knows, but Wrecker’s got a tender heart. You know that.”

“I do.” Tech looked slightly chastened. “You have a remarkable grasp of the emotional states of this squad.”

“I told you. Sirens speak hearts as a first language.” She reached up and tapped the golden lenses of his goggles gently with her nail. “At some point, there had to be something I could teach you.”

He smiled faintly, curling his fingers under her soft jawline. “I suppose it was statistically likely. I will talk to Omega when you deem it is an appropriate time to do so. You have a better grasp of that.” He pressed a kiss against her mouth before getting up to go back to digging.

Shiani beamed, deciding to go down and check on Omega herself before she called for Tech.

Omega was using the precision drill to knock a hole in the wall when Shiani found her. “Digging holes, Baby Mega?” She frowned curiously.

The little blonde looked up and sighed. “Sorry I almost hit you in the head.”

Shiani nodded. “It’s okay. You were upset. You okay now?”

Omega went back to drilling the wall. “I don’t understand him. He doesn’t care about anything. He’s worse than a droid, and I don’t understand how you two ended up married.”

Shiani smiled, kneeling beside Omega and putting her hand over the girls on the drill. “He’s not a droid, Omega. He’s different. His mind is different. That doesn't mean his hearts don’t work.”

“I thought his mind was perfect. He seems to think it is.” Omega groused.

Shiani shook her head. “Sometimes, people get built different. There’s nothing wrong with the differences, it just takes time to understand them when you’re not the same. It’s… speaking another language, like me learning Basic for the first time. For Tech, his mind is always racing. Always thinking. He feels what we feel, but his mind goes though each potential reaction before he acts them out and decides what’s helpful and what’s not. Before you or I could finish crying, he’s already decided what the best action is to get the result he wants. Sometimes he’s not right because he forgets not everyone can do that, but that doesn't mean he doesn’t feel.”

Omega huffed. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” She cracked open the wall and poked her head in. “Oooh.”

“What did you find?” Shiani cocked her head to the side.

“More of the mineral. A whole lot more.”

“Enough to get for Cid? And maybe a little to blow our way out of here?”

“Definitely.”

Shiani nodded. “Let’s get it, then.”

Omega smiled faintly. “I’ll do it. You stay there, in case I need help or someone needs to get the guys.”

Shiani chuckled. “Tech will probably come down here to find us soon. I already kind of fussed at him.”

“Good.” Omega settled herself on a ledge with the drill and started extracting the mineral, when she filled a vial she passed it to Shiani and let the siren give her an empty one from her satchel.

“Don’t be mean, Baby Mega. He’s your brother and you love him.” Shiani huffed. “I can feel your hearts too.”

“Can you feel everyones?” Omega didn’t look away as she worked.

“Not as clearly as Tech. But I actually sang to his hearts, a long time ago.” Shiani shrugged. “He was about the same size as you back then. He was such a cute kid.”

“Is it weird knowing him now that he’s grown?” Omega finished a vial and looked at her. The siren’s big eyes were soft, thoughtful and kind. She was consistently amazed by the humanity the inhuman woman could display.

“Not anymore. It was at first, when he would go away as a little boy and come back bigger only a couple months later. Sometimes he’d be limping when he’d come see me, because he grew so fast his tendons hurt. I’m glad that doesn’t happen to you.” Shiani nodded. “Your brothers all want to give you a better life than they had.”

“And what do you want?” Omega asked.

“I want my family to be happy.” Shiani looked up as she heard footsteps and smiled. “Here comes Tech.”

Omega grumbled and went back to work as the siren turned her head and waved at her mate. Tech frowned, crouching beside her and looking into the hole Omega had made into the other side of the wall. “Are you two aware that you are surrounded by a significant vein of ipsium? The slightest miscalculation could end all of our lives.”

"Then you'd better not distract us." Omega grumbled.

“Baby Mega found it by herself.” Shiani was just as much Omega’s cheerleader to her brothers as she was Tech’s.

Tech tapped at his datapad as he scanned the ipsium around them. "This vein appears to be significantly more pure than what we discovered in Cid's mine. It would be practical to extract as much as possible."

"Do you trust me to do it?" Omega paused to look at him, like she hadn’t already handed Shiani six vials.

"I know you are perfectly capable of the task." Tech cocked his head to the side, as if he didn't understand why she thought he'd doubt her. Based on Shiani’s explanation of his inner workings, he might actually not. Omega wondered if he really was as condescending as she felt like he had been, or if the siren was right and he was just going with his unending calculations and forgetting other people weren’t built the way he was.

It’s like speaking another language.

“This is the last vial.” Shiani passed the glass to Omega as she handed the full vial from the drill over, making space so Tech could look. And talk to Omega once she’d finished her task, so they could make up. It would be a relief to walk back up the tunnel with the two clones she was closest to, both of them in sync finally. Sometimes she missed the way sirens could sing out their feelings to understand each other, because they could avoid the gaps in communication that humans seemed to constantly be running into.

Omega was nearly done, stretching out on the ledge, when her foot slipped and she fell. Tech’s stomach dropped in sick horror and he clambered through the gap, trying to grab her hand as she clung to the outcrop she’d been standing on previously. “Hold on, Omega. I am-”

The little girl tried to reach for him, but his her fingers weren’t strong enough to hold onto the slick rock by herself and she lost her grip. She let out an echoing scream and plummeted into the dark chasm below.

“Omega!” Tech didn’t hesitate for a second, diving after his sister. Shiani practically threw herself through the gap after them both, forgetting the bag full of ipsium vials in her haste to try to save the siblings. She hit cold water quickly and dove, searching desperately for the clones before they drowned.

Her vision was designed for underwater in low light, and she spotted both pairs of legs kicking just ahead, caught in the fast moving current. Tech had managed to grab Omega, and was holding her up to get a breath even if it pushed his own head underwater. Shiani glanced down, spotting a whirlpool that would suck the duo under, and shoved herself up to suck in a breath of air. “Hold your breath!” She yelled, and Omega obediently sucked in a gasp. Shiani dove again, wrapping herself around Tech and pressing her mouth to his to push the air she had into his lungs as he gills pulled oxygen out of the water.

They were sucked straight down into the aquaduct, tumbling violently for a minute until they were shot out of a low waterfall and into a deep pool, the current gone. Shiani hauled the two clones to the rocky little shoreline and pushed them both out first. Omega lay on her back, coughing, as Tech rolled from his stomach to his side with a groan.

“You two okay?” Shiani sat up, shaking the droplets off her head tresses and looking around.

“Yeah.” Omega didn’t sit up, staring at the ceiling above her for a minute. “My socks are wet.”

“As are mine. I despise the texture.” Tech grumbled, finally pushing himself upright and looking around. His comm was buzzing, mic full of water and leaving everything unintelligible until he cleared it out.

"Fffffsst- ech? Tech, do you copy?" Hunter’s voice was somewhere between anger they weren’t answering, and panic that they couldn’t. None of the accidental underwater spelunking group had any doubt he’d tear this mine apart with nothing but his knife and sheer familial concern to find them.

Tech coughed another mouthful of water. "Affirmative. Shiani, Omega, and I took… an underwater detour."

"Where are you?"

"That is a good question. Stand by."

Shiani looked around, patting Tech’s back to help him clear any more water before helping him and Omega both up. The blonde girl wiped the water from her face and pointed. “I see a light.”

They followed the barely-visible pinprick of sunlight, finally locating a tiny hole in the cavern wall barely bigger than the head of Shiani’s smallest screwdriver. Shiani beamed, leaning towards it. “Smells like fresh air.”

“Well spotted.” Tech patted Omega’s shoulder, cringing slightly at the slap of his wet glove on her wet shirt. "I will instruct Hunter and Wrecker to retrieve our gear and meet us down here."

When he backed up to comm Hunter, Shiani gave Omega a fond smile. “Now is a good time to talk. You want me to go away?”

“No… I might need translation.” Omega sighed. “If he’s a whole different language, you speak both.”

Shiani nodded and gave the girl a cheerful little mock salute. “Protocol-droid Shiani, ready for service.”

Omega at least laughed, and they waited for Tech to finish up on his comm call. When he was done, they all sat at the water's edge to wait for the others. "Once they join us, we will have a way out of the mine." He said firmly.

"We still have no ship, no way off the planet, and we can't even call Echo for help…" Omega pulled her knees up.

"We do not need help. We will think of a solution, as we always do."

Omega glanced at Shiani, who patted her back. “You don’t mean that Echo isn’t important.” She murmured to Tech.

“No. I simply mean that he is unavailable, so we must make our own way without his help. Not that it would not be appreciated.” Tech said quietly.

"... everything is changing. First Echo, now the ship." Omega finally whispered. "I hate it."

"Soldiers often deal with change. It is a fundamental part of life… I do not understand your aversion to it." Tech frowned.

“You don’t like change either, Tech. You just adapt easier because you’ve had more experience with it.” Shiani coached.

"And we're a family, aren't we?" Omega looked at Tech with a look in her eyes he couldn't quite understand. She looked almost afraid of his response, like if he told her they weren’t a family it would destroy her. But why would he ever say that? How could they be anything else?

"... of course we are." Tech’s brow furrowed with confusion, and he looked at Shiani for some kind of explanation.

"Then why don't you act like it?!" Omega demanded his attention before his wife could say anything.

Tech’s frown deepened as he sat with her question and what Shiani had said earlier. If Omega couldn’t “feel his hearts” the way Shiani said, he would have to be extremely plain about it. Which meant examining his emotions without the solitude he usually preferred. Usually only Shiani got to be privy to his most personal thoughts out loud. "Echo… chose another path. As did Crosshair. I have to respect those decisions, even if they can be difficult to understand… I admit I may process thoughts differently… but it does not mean I feel any less than you."

Omega frowned. "So you do miss Echo?" Her focus was on the most recently missing brother, but Shiani didn’t fail to notice he brought up Crosshair without a word from either of them about the sniper.

"Yes. I miss them both." Tech looked at her for a long moment. “I have always missed anyone I care about in their absence... But I have had to accept it for most of my life. I would have preferred to have Shiani join us years before she did.”

“You tried to send her and me away.” Omega said quietly. “On Salucemi.”

“That was an error on my part. I did not ask your choices in the matter.” Tech sighed. “I regret that immensely. As it stands now, I would prefer to have all of us together, including Crosshair and Echo. I cannot make the decision for someone else, however. But… Shiani is right. I do not like the change of living without them. If I am honest… the only positive changes in my life have been meeting the two of you.”

Shiani smiled, scooting a little closer to Tech and putting her head on his shoulder. “I told you a conversation would help.”

He nodded. “You were correct, cyare.” He looked back at Omega. “I am sorry I was… not apparent about it. I thought it was obvious.”

Omega leaned over against his other side, and after a moment he put an arm around her shoulders. A near death experience seemed like a reasonable time to hug his sister. And if Shiani’s tentacles twined their way around both of them, it was a more comfortable cuddle.

Tech and Omega pondered over their new understanding of each other as Shiani just kept her eyes on the waterfall, waiting patiently for it to spit Wrecker and Hunter out of it. It didn’t take too terribly long until they tumbled out ass over teakettle and made their way to shore. “Why are we always almost drowning?” The sergeant grumbled, wet hair plastered to his forehead.

“I’m not.” Shiani smiled and gave him a hand up.

“Thank you, Princess Smartass.” He couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Princess Illumai.” She corrected innocently, taking her tool bag from him and stepping back so he could give Tech and Omega their gear.

“It’s a… nevermind.” He patted her head lightly. “Okay, Tech. What’s the plan.”

Tech pulled out a vial of ipsium and set to tapping on the wall near the hole, measuring thickness by sound and figuring out angles. Shiani watched him stack rocks and set the vial atop it before waving them all to move back behind cover. “This should have the required force to blast our way out.”

“How come you get to blow it up?” Wrecker complained.

“Because this shot must be precise, or we risk another cave in.” Tech muttered sternly.

This time, Omega and Shiani looked at each other. There was a tiny change in Tech’s voice that Omega normally wouldn’t have noticed, but when the siren just nodded she realized she wasn’t imagining it.

He’s thinking about Crosshair. He could have made the shot too.

Tech made the shot after another moment of mental calculation, and the aftershocks faded before any of them moved. Fortunately, there was no cave in or squished members of the family, and everyone stepped out into the sunlight. Shiani put her hands on her hips and took a deep breath, finally free of the stale smell of the inside of the mine.

Tech put an arm around her waist, his binocs in the other hand. “The detour through the aqueduct has put us closer to the spaceport. It is just over the cliffside there.”

“Hopefully there will be some food.” Wrecker grinned.

Shiani nodded. “Nothing to hunt in that mine. I couldn't feel anything alive but us.” She was hungry too, but she had been hungrier before.

They started walking, Omega taking a spot between Tech and Hunter. The sergeant smiled faintly. “You two okay now?”

Omega nodded. “We’re… learning each other’s language.”

He put an arm around her. “Good.” His eyes darted up to Shiani, who had her arm wrapped around Tech’s middle as they walked together. She glanced over her shoulder and gave him a smile as well.

They were all going to be fine.

The spaceport was abandoned, and judging by the dust and tattered cloth hanging from the derelict buildings it was not a recent development. Shiani scrunched her nose and looked around. “No food, Wrecker. And no ship to use.”

"So we came all this way for nothing?" Wrecker groaned.

"I can craft a long range transmitter with this equipment. It appears to be an abandoned communications array, so it would be a relatively quick repair.

"Might be a skiff or speeder I can fix up.” Shiani waved around at the scrap half buried in dust from the recent storm or similar weather. “It won’t make it off the planet but there’s got to be civilization somewhere.”

Omega followed her to start scavenging, a familiar practice now. Shiani was good at it, Omega noted, as she pulled what looked like garbage up and pointed out the components the siren could make to get them a ride. “This is what you used to do under Tipoca, isn’t it?”

Shiani nodded. “There wasn’t as much useful stuff there, actually.” She handed the girl a stabilizer coupling to hold while she kept digging. “This looks like half of it was just abandoned, not broken first.”

“You think someone just left this stuff on purpose?” Omega blinked, examining the part with a smile.

“Between the weather and bandits? They might have just given up. Not everyone is as resilient as our family.” Shiani ruffled her hair fondly. “Look at you. We found scrap and you’re smiling again.”

“Well… I’m not mad at Tech anymore. Thanks, for helping me understand.” Omega hugged her around the waist, and Shiani grinned and picked her up in her tentacles, making her laugh as she rotated her over the siren’s head while she kept digging for parts.

"I have gotten the communication array functional, cyar’ika." Tech called. “We are going to try to make contact with Cid first.”

“Don’t think she’s gonna be helpful. She’s selfish.” Shiani sighed, setting Omega down to walk over to the group as they got the call through.

Shiani had hope she was wrong, but it didn’t seem like it. The trandoshan looked annoyed the minute she appeared on the holo, like they were wasting her time. "I've got a lot going on over here. You guys are going to have to figure it out on your own."

"Wait a minute, Cid. You sent us here." Hunter narrowed his eyes

"And you had a ship when I did."

"Cid! You have to help us." Omega put her hands on her hips and sharpened her gaze, doing her best imitation of Hunter’s sergeant demeanor.

"We did assist you getting your parlor back from Roland Durand, and with Mellegi-" Tech started.

Shiani simply hissed sharply, mouth open and fangs on display. “Cid.” She said coldly, and the rest of the threat didn’t need translation. If Cid screwed them over, Shiani was going to make herself a personal problem.

"Alright, alright. I'll see what I can do. Gimme a few days."

Hunter’s hiss matched Shiani’s. "We don't have the supplies for-"

Cid hung up.

Wrecker groaned. "Now what do we do?"

"We figure it out, like we always do." Omega gave Tech a grin, and he smiled back.

“When we get back to Ord Mantell, I’m gonna bite her.” Shiani grumbled. “I’m about sick of her.”

“I’m starting to agree with you.” Hunter huffed. “But let’s get out of here first.”

#explict #original character #clone force 99 #the bad batch #star wars #tbb tech #fanfic

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silverwings22 · 3 days

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Song of the Sea: Chapter 30: House Won't Fall

Chapter Warnings: reference to genocide, political corruption, questionable dietary habits, explicit smut Series Warning: explicit smut, alien anatomy (it's a monsterfucker fic, guys), major character injury, grief, canon typical violence, autistic meltdowns, and my terrible attempts at Mando'a

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Shiani sat at the work table, Echo’s scomp arm opened as she worked on a few adjustments. It had become the ultimate expression of trust from the cyborg, letting her fix his hand for her. When she’d first joined the Batch, he hadn’t been thrilled about her even watching Tech work on it. Now he asked her first, while Tech was in the cockpit.

Omega was sitting on the steps in front of her room, legs crossed and hands open on her knees. “She’s really getting the hang of meditating.”

Shiani nodded, adjusting another servo for him. “She ask you to join her?”

“She did, before I came looking for you. I’ll have to pass on that.”

“Don’t like meditation?” Shiani glanced up at the corporal’s pale face. She worried about him sometimes, even though he’d put on muscle since joining the Batch. She recalled how exhausted he’d seemed when she first saw him though the glass on Kamino, a tired Chainbreaker barely holding himself upright. Now he was every bit the competent warrior she knew he must have been before his torture on Skako Minor. Still, she felt the scars no one could see that lingered deep in his spirit. And that was saying something, considering most of his physical scars were on display.

“I don’t prefer solitude. I had enough of that on Skako. If not for this squad, I might still be there… that’s why I stayed with them. It’s where I fit at the time.” He glanced at her thoughtfully. “You don't much like being alone either.”

“No. Had enough of it in exile.” She agreed. “Baby Mega asks me to meditate with her too, but I don't. Sirens aren't meant for quiet.”

Echo chuckled. “Is that why you fell for Tech? He's the most talkative clone I've ever known.”

Shiani laughed. “One reason out of many.” She closed the port on his arm. “All fixed.”

“Thanks.” He spun the scomp with a critical eye before nodding.

“Echo, how come you never got a prosthetic arm? It's got to be difficult to do things with one hand.”

“It is, but the scomp was too useful to get rid of.” He shrugged. “With all this metal and machinery, I might as well be useful.”

“You can build a scomp into a prosthetic. I could make it pop out of your wrist or fingertip. With those cybernetics, you'd be an ideal candidate for all kinds of delicate instruments.” She pointed out.

“You could do that? Why didn't Tech mention it when I first got here?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Tech is a genius who does best with novelty. He invents new things, or makes plans for possibilities that might never happen.” She scrunched her face at the 100 plans she'd memorized with Omega since she'd joined them. Some sounded interesting… some scared her. “This doesn't need new ways for things, just someone to put things together. That's what I'm good at.”

Echo leaned over curiously. “And how would you put it together, if you were going to do it?”

Shiani pulled out her datapad. “Cybernetic connections here with pressure sensors so you could tell how hard you press. I can't replicate full sensation, but it would be something. Scomp loaded into the wrist, comes out like this so you just bend your hand out of the way. Tactical knife in the back of the hand, combines pretty well with a punch… maybe a place for datastick? Removable, though. You don't need all that stuff crowding up your brain.” She sketched out a rough outline for him.

“... how fast could you make this?” He looked at it, eyes wide.

“Just a couple hours to get a prototype done. It might need tweaks, but we won't know until you use it.” She smiled slyly. “I'd only need a few measurements from you.”

“Measure away. This sounds great.” Echo laid both arms on the table and raised his voice so Tech could hear him from the cockpit. “Tech, you're the dumber half of your marriage.”

“Don’t say that!” Shaini swatted him gently with a tape measure as she started writing down measurements of his real arm.

“Did I do something that displeased you?” Tech called back.

“Echo is being dramatic. I’m aking him a new arm, Tech.” Shiani answered.

There was a pause from the cockpit before Tech had set the autopilot and was coming to look. Echo looked smug as Shiani marked her measurements and Tech looked over her draft. “I like her better than you today, vod.”

“I like Shiani better than you every day. Consider us even.” Tech snipped back, but there was no real venom in it. Everyone knew Tech loved Echo. Tech loved all his siblings… even Crosshair. “This is… very clever, Shiani. I am impressed.” He put a hand on her shoulder as he gave her back her datapad.

Squeeze squeeze squeeze.

She beamed with delight and went to get her toolkit. She loved when he was proud of her.

She was just getting her protective glasses on when the ships comm went off. “We are receiving a transmission from Rex.” Tech called back to Hunter.

“Put him through.” The sergeant ordered, walking up to talk to the captain. Shiani decided to stay out of the way and just listen while she worked on the arm.

“Hey there, boys. Any chance I could borrow your expertise for a mission?”

“What kind of mission?” Hunter sounded a little suspicious, but Shiani wasn't surprised. He was so protective of Omega and cautious of the rest of the squad being in any danger. He was a big brother to the core, with responsibility laid so heavy on his shoulders it might break him if he didn't take care. Luckily, all of the squad members were attentive enough to take the load off him when they could.

“It's just a data extraction, but it's crucial. I can explain more on Coruscant.”

“Coruscant? That's a tall ask.” Hunter said immediately.

Omega, who'd overheard the comm coming in, snuck over to Shiani at the worktable. “What's on Coruscant?”

“The Republic Senate used to be.” Shiani whispered back. “I guess the Empire is there now, where the Republic used to be.”

Omega frowned. “Why would Rex be there?”

The siren glanced over at where she could see Hunter's stiff shoulders. “Rex wanted us to come join him fighting the Empire. He asked on Bracca. Hunter said no, so you could have a good life… but Rex is fighting for all the clones with chips, still slaves to the Empire.”

Omega frowned, inching towards Hunter. “I think we should help.” She said softly. Shiani could only admire how brave that girl was, putting her own safety and well-being on the back burner to save brothers she'd never even met.

Hunter sighed. “... how crucial is this data, Rex?”

“It could be life or death for clones across the galaxy. I can get you a flight path avoiding Imperial security, and a safe landing zone.”

Echo looked eager, especially with Omega on his side. Shiani looked down at the prosthetic components in front of her. A sad, achy feeling arched through her gills as she realized she'd be remote testing this prototype… Echo wanted to fight too much. He wouldn't be leaving Coruscant with them. She'd have to tweak the arm when he came to visit… if he did. Tech was going to be hurt again, losing another brother to the Empire. This time as its enemy, but that would be only cold comfort.

Better work out the bugs on the first try, then.

When the Marauder touched down in a private garage Rex had given them, the captain was waiting for them. Next to him was a pretty blue-skinned woman dressed in pink, who looked like the weight of the galaxy sat on her shoulders.

“Good to see you guys. Senator, this is the squad I was telling you about. Guys, this is Senator Chuchi. She's with us on this.”

The men saluted more as a force of habit than anything else. Shiani held a hand out to the Senator. “Nice to meet you.”

Chuchi looked a little nervously at Shiani’s claws, but shook her hand. “Likewise, and thank you for coming. I'm Riyo”

“Shiani Illumai.” The siren said softly.

“I've seen her take down a grown dianoga.” Rex assured the Pantoran. “She's Tech's girlfriend.”

“Wife now.” Tech said mildly. “While I would enjoy telling the story, you said this was a matter of life and death?”

Rex nodded. “Come inside. There's something I want you to see.”

They slipped into the garage, where a table sat with a body bag on top of it. Shiani balked at the faint scent of death, pushing Omega back slightly. “Dead?”

Rex nodded, unzipping the bag. Instead of an Imperial, they were all presented with a clone's face. “He was an assassin.” Rex explained. “I went to meet a brother named Slip, but the assassin got to him first. He almost got the Senator here, too.”

“This doesn't make any sense.” Echo looked sick. “Why would a clone kill one of our own?”

“Slip knew what really happened on Kamino. I was trying to convince him to testify against Vice-Admiral Rampart in front of the senate. He's pushing his recruitment bill tomorrow.” Chuchi explained. “If it passes, the clones will ask be completely abandoned by the Empire. They're already being phased out, and I fear they'll be decommissioned completely once there is a new army in place.”

“We were there. I could testify.” Echo offered.

Hunter shook his head. “We're deserters, they'll never listen to us.”

“I'm not.” Shiani murmured. “I could testify…”

“You are a princess, so you would have legal standing and your voice would carry weight.” Tech reached for her hand. “But it would reveal the sirens to the rest of the galaxy.”

Her jaw trembled, but she nodded. “But it will save clones. Decommissioned means killed…”

Everyone else looked at her. “... you're a princess?” Omega whispered.

“I’m most proud to be a Batcher. Princess is less important.” Shiani said firmly before looking at Chuchi. “You’ll need more than my word as proof.”

Chuchi nodded. “Slip said that he backed up the logs on Rampart's Venator.”

“It's being retrofitted in an Imperial shipyard here on Coruscant.” Rex confirmed. “If we move quickly, we can get it in front of the senate before the vote.”

“I'll go back to the senate and get as much evidence as I can.” Chuchi nodded. “I'll have to get you clearance, Princess.”

“I can take care of that, for her and Omega.” Tech assured them all. “It would be more practical for Omega to go with Shiani than into a shipyard.”

Hunter nodded. “We'll get into the Venator and copy the data, then get it to you before the vote. Shiani can address the senate, and stall if we need her to.”

Shiani turned and put her face in Tech's chest. “Be careful.” She whispered.

“I will do my best.” He took both her hands in his and held them gently. Squeeze squeeze squeeze. “You will be brilliant in front of the senate. I know you will.”

Shiani nodded, swallowing hard as she tried to get her mind right. “For you.”

Omega was wearing Chuchi's cloak, and Shiani had been changed into a spare outfit the Senator kept in her office. It was a white, loose-sleeved dress with gold accents, blessedly open on the sides to allow for her tentacles, with a gold belt and deep blue cloak. She'd even quickly taken Shiani's ponytail up into a careful bun. “If only we had something to really make you look like a princess.” the Senator murmured as she dabbed a little bit of makeup on Shiani's face. Despite her previous insistence on Ord Mantell that she wasn't suited to cosmetics, a dab of lipstick was nice looking. Shiani didn’t like it, but that may have been the gnawing feeling in her chest that what Chuchi was doing wasn’t trying to make her look royal. It was to make her look tame. To prove to the galaxy that would soon be looking at her that she wasn’t a creature to be feared. In a galaxy full of things like Wookiees and Trandoshans, Hutts and togrutas… she was the unknown who had to be carefully monitored. It didn’t seem fair that she was going to be viewed with suspicion when her biggest crime was the way her mouth was shaped.

“Baby Mega. Hand me my bag?” Shiani murmured. Omega, who'd been kicking her feet in the desk chair, got up and scooped Shiani's gear bag from the floor.

“Why is this so heavy?” Omega blinked.

“My tools. And an arm.” Shiani hoisted the bag from her smaller friend's hands and started digging through it.

“An arm?” Chuchi looked concerned, inching back away from the siren's teeth.

“Metal, Senator. I swore off eating sentient species.” Shiani said calmly.

“Did you used to?” Omega squeaked.

“We'll talk about it later.” Shiani pulled out a package wrapped in a greenish-gold cloth and set the bag back down, pulling out a circlet of coral and polished stone. “Haven't worn this in a long time.” She hadn't even thought about the crown she'd been wearing when she'd fled her home years ago, more concerned with her chains than her station. “How does this look?”

Chuchi smiled as Shiani put it on. “That's more like it. A proper royal…”

Shiani closed her eyes. No, she certainly wasn't. A proper royal siren would be nowhere near the surface, about to reveal her people's existence to the entire galaxy. They'd likely curse her name for generations, but the Empire was going to find them anyway. She felt it in her gills. If she pulled away the curtain and secrecy in front of everyone, her hope was that there were more good than evil people in the galaxy. That people like Chuchi would step up to help the sirens the way she did the clones. “Okay then.”

“Come with me. I'll show you both the Senate Chamber. It can be a little overwhelming the first time, and I don't want you to freeze up.” Chuchi told her. “It's intimidating, even for experienced Senators.” Shiani slipped her bag on her shoulder, hidden under her cloak, and nodded as she followed the Pantoran to the door.

Omega looked up from between Chuchi and Shiani as they stepped out of the office and started down the hall. “What do Senators actually do?”

Chuchi smiled. “We vote in the interest of our people. We're their voice in the senate, and the senate makes laws.”

“It's supposed to.” Shiani murmured. “Not with the Emperor around.”

Chuchi deflated a bit. “That's true…”

“What's the difference between a Senator and a royal?” Omega frowned.

Shiani hesitated for a moment. “Royals lead by their own hearts. Senator follows the hearts of the people.”

Chuchi nodded agreeably. Omega just frowned further. “Which one is better?”

“That depends on the leader.” Chuchi looked up. “Oh no. There's Rampart… let me handle this.”

Both of them nodded and Shiani subtly slipped her circlet off and held it behind her back. Rampart had a smug, arrogant face that she could only mentally describe as punchable. Selfishness rolled off him in waves. “Hello there, Senator. You're here late.” He smiled, but it felt fake.

“Just preparing for the vote tomorrow.” Chuchi nodded, plastering a fake smile on her face. Omega stayed behind Shiani, though her nose scrunched the same way Tech’s did when he was displeased. Shiani put a hand on her shoulder, catching Rampart's attention.

“I don't believe we've met, ma'am. My apologies for not introducing myself immediately. I am Admiral Edmon Rampart.” He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it like he was at a gala instead of a hallway. He didn’t look wary of her, but he did have an almost predatory look in his eyes as he examined her. He didn’t see a siren, just a nicely dressed young woman he thought he could manipulate.

Shiani dipped her head politely, barely opening her mouth to speak. “I am Shiani Illumai, and this young lady is my aide. I am a contemporary of Senator Chuchi. I've asked to observe the vote tomorrow.” She kept her voice as gentle and guileless as she could.

“You're in for a spectacular show then, Miss Illumai. We'll have to sit down and chat sometime. I'm afraid I'm in a bit of a hurry right now, though.” He smiled.

Shiani pulled her fingers from his grip. “Have a nice night, Admiral.”

He nodded and headed down the hallway, Shiani's eyes following him until long after he'd turned the corner. Omega tugged on her arm when she turned around and put her crown back on. “How come you hid that?”

“If he knows I'm royal, he'll ask where I'm from. If he knows I'm from Kamino, he'll know I'm against him.” Shiani said firmly. “It makes us a target. Never let your enemy know what you're planning, Baby Mega. Especially with stakes so high.”

Omega watched her funny, lively friend, slowly seeing Shiani in a new light. There had always been an undercurrent of sadness in Shiani's joy, a viciousness hidden behind her laughter that came out as surely as the blue rings peppering her purple skin when she got angry. But Omega hadn't expected a competent, level headed leader from the girl who'd always said all she wanted was to follow Tech.

Chuchi just nodded and led them into the senate chamber. It was, indeed, an intimidating room full of little hoverpods. There were a few that were occupied, listening to preparation speeches for the next day vote. “Every pod is for a planet’s Senators or groups representative.” Chuchi explained. “Almost every race and planet are represented here, and get a vote.”

“Is there one for the clones?” Omega looked up at the rows and rows of pods.

Chuchi shook her head. “No… a lot of people view the clones as military assets. But that's what I'm working on. I want the clones to have the same rights as every citizen, and someone to look after their best interests.”

Shiani looked balefully around the room. “Not so much has changed in three hundred years. Instead of sirens being only tools to long necks, clones are only tools to the Republic. Long necks see Kamino flood. Republic sees itself become the Empire.”

“We can change things, from here in this room.” Chuchi put a hand on her arm.

Shiani wanted to believe it, but she kept looking at the pods and seeing a not- so-different council room under the ocean of her home world, where the royal court accused her of every treason known to her kind before she was banished. Like those sirens, almost every pod in this room would contain someone who thought her marriage was invalid. That the man she loved wasn't a person at all. In this chamber, however, she’d have to prove she was a person too.

She straightened her spine. “We fight. Clones deserve that.”

Chuchi nodded, looking over as a blue and white astromech rolled to her. “... how well can you two keep a secret?”

Omega grinned. “I can.”

Shiani just pushed her shoulders back. “My whole species was declared extinct three hundred years ago. Until today we were the best secret-keepers in the galaxy.”

Chuchi nodded. “Come with me.”

They slipped out into the hallway, and met up with a tall man with dark hair and kind eyes. “Riyo. I didn’t expect you to have company.”

“They’re helping me with the clone aid provisions.” Chuchi explained. “This is Princess Illumai of Kamino and Omega. Shiani, Omega, this is Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan.”

He smiled at the two of them, only slightly surprised by Shiani’s appearance. “You have a vested interest in clone’s rights, Princess?”

“I’m married to a clone.” Shiani said calmly. “We were called to help by Captain Rex, after he saved Senator Chuchi.”

Bail looked at the Pantoran. “Captain Rex is listed as killed in action… and what does she mean ‘saved’?”

“I was almost assassinated while trying to meet with a clone who knew that Rampart was responsible for what happened to Kamino. The assassin killed my contact, but Rex saved me.” Chuchi explained.

“Rampart is resourceful, isn't he?” Bail murmured. “You’re lucky to be alive, Riyo.”

“I know. And I owe my life to a clone, so I have to help them.” Chuchi nodded.

“My husband and his squad are getting proof Rampart ordered the bombardment.” Shiani put her hands together quietly. “And I will testify tomorrow.”

Bail nodded. “Brave of you, miss. There will be doubts, you understand, about you. No one has ever seen any of your species before and there’s no one to confirm your royal status.”

Shiani frowned. “... might not be entirely true. Long necks keep records of what they did… Someone high enough up may have known about us.”

“The Prime Minister of Kamino was arrested.” Chuchi frowned.

“Senator Halle Burtoni, however, was not.” Bail pointed out. “Though her cooperation may not be forthcoming. She was a member of the Defense Finance Committee, until she was removed from office. She had a vested interest in viewing clones as no more than assets.”

“Not surprising for long necks.” Shiani muttered coldly, looking at Chuchi. “I’m going to have to talk to her, aren’t I?”

“It would lend us credibility.” Chuchi sighed. “Come on, we’ll go to my apartment and invite her to meet us.”

Shiani sighed. “I spend my whole life avoiding long necks, just to get stuck inviting one to visit….”

Bail patted her hand lightly. “Follow the money, Princess. It always leaves a trail.”

Shiani stood at the window of Chuchi’s senatorial apartment, looking out at the city lights as the guards waited for Halle Burtoni to arrive. She’d imagined Coruscant a million times, and the romantically soft glow in front of her was not a view to disappoint. Still, she hadn’t imagined she’d be looking at it without Tech…

“You okay, Shiani?” Omega walked over, watching the siren’s claws tapping at the windowsill mindlessly. “You look anxious.”

“I am anxious.” Shiani nodded. “Longnecks are why my people stay at the bottom of the ocean. Why we live in the dark, without starlight… we could have been a part of this Senate hundreds of years ago if we hadn’t been enslaved… I was always told to be scared of them.” She let Omega take her hand, steadying herself. “But all their cities were destroyed. Not just Tipoca. Millions of people were killed. I thought it would feel… Thought I might be happy, but I’m not. Just feels hollow and sad. Nobody deserves that, even longnecks.”

Omega snuggled to her side. “I’m glad you don’t think so.”

“I still don’t think this long neck is going to be much help, though. I don’t trust their honor.” Shiani muttered, running her tongue over her fangs.

Chuchi patted her arm. “We have to try.”

Shiani turned her head as the guards opened the door to reveal an older, shaky-necked Kaminoan female. The long neck had a sneer almost permanently painted into her voice when she looked at Chuchi. “Are the guards really necessary?”

“They are as much for your safety as ours.” Chuchi said firmly. “Please sit, Senator Burtoni.”

Burtoni looked around, eying Omega and looking Shiani up and down with a surprised expression before sitting in a high backed chair and clasping her hands in her lap. “What do you want?”

“I have questions about the Senate funds that were earmarked for cloning operations on Kamino. What was earmarked is less than what was reported as received, prior to the destruction of the cities.”

“Funds were siphoned off for months before the fall of Kamino.” Burtoni said sourly. “I didn’t take you for a fool, Chuchi, but you should know the danger of prying into matters kept secret. Too many people end up dead for sticking their noses where they don’t belong.”

Chuchi glanced at Shiani, who looked unimpressed but was repressing her “I told you so” in favor of a silent disapproval. The Pantoran looked back at her former colleague. “Think of your people who survived. Finding out where that money went could be the start of helping them.”

“My people are gone. What remains scattered around the galaxy, I have no concern for.” Burtoni huffed, shaking her head.

Shiani’s eyes sharpened. “You don’t even care about your own people? No wonder the Empire didn’t hesitate to destroy your cities, if you don’t love your own.”

Burtoni sneered at her. “You aren’t Kaminoan, why would you care?”

Shiani leaned back, opening her hands and letting her tentacles come up and spread around her in a display that made her look both beautiful and dangerous. “My people have temples with your likeness on them. I bet yours did too, before the flood. I’m just as Kaminoan as you, longneck.”

Burtoni’s eyes widened in something akin to both fear and awe. “You’re supposed to be extinct…”

“You thought you drowned a race with gills? Not so smart.” Shiani sneered, dropping her limbs and showing her teeth. “And still, I care more about what happened to Kamino than you. Omega and I saw the Empire destroy Tipoca City from Venator ships, and your people became the ones to drown instead.”

“Why would a child be involved with you?” The way Burtoni said it, Shiani heard the superiority. Three hundred years and a longneck still thought herself superior, even though her people sank to the bottom and died where Shiani’s had survived and rebuilt.

“I’m a clone, and Kamino was my home too. The Empire destroyed it!” Omega pushed forward, eyes wide and furious. “It wasn’t right! There was no reason for it.”

“I knew it was coming. Prime Minister Lama Su was an arrogant pawn, secure in his belief that the clones made Kamino indispensable. That the clones were necessary. They weren’t. None of us are.” Burtoni shook her head, looking back at Shiani. “You should have stayed hidden, siren.”

“And let cowards win? Let bombs drop on my home planet, while the Empire kills innocent clones it has no further use for?” She snapped her teeth together sharply. “I care more about the clones you made than you do. You should be ashamed, Senator. Three peoples come from Kamino; siren, longneck, and clone. When are you going to stand up for any of them?”

“Just tell us who diverted the funds, Burtoni.” Chuchi pleaded. “We can do something about this. We can seek justice.”

“You already know who stole them.” Burtoni shook her head. “Of course it was him. He planned the attack on Kamino meticulously.”

“Testify.” Shiani said quietly. “About the funds, and confirm you know what I am. You have access to Kaminoan history files, yes? You’ve hidden your people’s crimes against mine, but you can tell the truth.”

Burtoni pursed her lips. “You want me to embarrass the legacy of my murdered people? My words won’t even matter without proof against Rampart.”

“Tell the truth about three hundred years ago, and get justice for your people.” Shiani rapped her claws against the arm of Burtoni’s chair, centimeters from the long neck’s arm. “We’ll find proof. You and I give our words to the Senate, as justice for our planet. You help me protect the clones, before the Empire throws them away.” She looked at Omega. “You look at her. Tell me that is not a person, and I’ll show you a liar with a mirror.”

Burtoni glanced at Omega, then Chuchi, who just nodded. “We need proof, and your word. We’re running out of time.”

Shiani stood in the box with Chuchi and Burtoni as the Senate meeting started. Omega was waiting with one of her guards in a skycar at the drop zone, and not having the little girl there was stressing the siren out. Her foot tapped anxiously as she tried not to bounce and swing her limbs like a holo-game idle animation. She was supposed to look dignified.

“Are you ready?” Chuchi murmured as Rampart started talking about no longer delaying the vote. “We’re going to have to start without those logs.”

Shiani nodded. “They’ll be here. Tech never lets me down.” Shiani nodded and tried to settle her breathing..

Burtoni eyed her. “Who is Tech?”

“My husband. And a clone.” Shiani said firmly.

Chuchi turned on her mic to get started, cutting Rampart off. “We cannot trust Admiral Rampart’s assertions that the clone provisions will be addressed. He has given us reason not to trust him.” She moved the pod to the middle of the podium, putting them front and center with their faces appearing on the large holos and every new station in the Republic. Shiani tried not to crumple under the scrutiny of thousands of eyes, suddenly aware of how uncomfortable recognition was after years in solitude. She wanted to fade into obscurity as the exile from the trash pile, but she had to be Princess for this. It had been so long since she’d wielded any authority it felt like learning a new language again.

“What reason is that, Senator?” Rampart eyed Chuchi before looking at Shiani again. “Miss Illumai?”

Shiani narrowed her eyes, swallowing her fear in favor of the taste of righteous fury.. “Halle Burtoni is willing to testify that you diverted funds from Kaminoan cloning programs.”

“Halle Burtoni is a disgraced senator, miss. And those funds were redistributed, though I am not at liberty to discuss classified military operations.”

The little siren didn’t back down. “You started siphoning those credits months before the destruction of Kamino. Because you planned for it, when you ordered three Venator class ships to fire on Tipoca City, and then to destroy every other major city on Kamino!”

Rampart flushed, fists clenching. “Those are heavy accusations, ma’am. Who do you think you are?”

“Princess Shiani Illumai, of Kamino. I was there, at Tipoca City, when the Empire destroyed it.” She turned and faced the rest of the Senate. “Senator Burtoni can also testify to my species existence and persecution on Kamino, which is why we have remained isolationist for as long as we have.”

It sounded good, sounded like something Tech would say. Isolationist sounded like policy and not a race living in fear at the bottom of the sea, revealed by one former exile who was either braver or stupider than the rest of them. One little star sailor standing defiantly in the face of the Tidedreamer’s shadow; the Empire.

Burtoni nodded, and the whispers around the Senate chamber were loud and obvious. Rampart stared at her, looking horrified for a moment as he tried to figure out how to save his own skin. “Your accusations are baseless. I did nothing of the sort.” He finally gasped.

“You lie. I was there.” She repeated, raising her fist in the air and demanding to be acknowledged. “I saw the Imperial ships firing on the city. A city that nearly all the clones and long necks had already been evacuated from. The attack was planned, to lose as few Imperial resources as possible.”

The whispering grew louder. “What proof do you have, besides this woman’s statement?” Someone in another box demanded of Chuchi, who squirmed.

“She has none, because there is none.” Rampart waved his arm. “She’s simply bribed or manipulated this young woman into lying for her. Let’s get on with the vote.”

Another voice in the pods above them rang out. “Senator Chuchi should be removed from the Senate and censured form misconduct! This is an outrage. Investigate the woman with her as well, and Burtoni!”

Chuchi put a hand on Shiani’s arm when she bit back a hiss. “Don’t.” She whispered softly. “Stay calm. They’ll react poorly.”

Shiani nodded, swallowing hard as another voice seconded removing them and tucking her tentacles under the edge of her cloak to hide the blue rings pulsing furiously. Her comm blinked, and she looked up just in time to see little Omega’s blonde head running to Bail Organa. She smiled, eyes brightening, and tapped Chuchi. “Told you Tech wouldn’t let us down. Here comes proof.”

Organa’s box moved to be even with them, handing over a package. “This is your proof!” Chuchi called. “This is the command log from Rampart’s Venator.”

Everyone went dead silent as she played the recording, unmistakably Rampart’s voice ordering the bombardment and snapping at a clone for questioning him. Rampart stood stock still, eyes wide, and looking at Chuchi in sickened shock. Shiani lifted her voice and looked around the Senate. “Believe me now?”

Before anyone could say much, a platform lifted up from beneath them. Shaini looked over the edge as it rose, a nauseated feeling in her gills when she was suddenly facing a man in a black cloak being guarded by his vizier. “Emperor Palpatine.” Chuchi whispered softly to Shiani. “He hasn’t been in session for weeks…”

The siren had been so stalwart in her pursuit of justice this far, wearing Burtoni down and refusing to back off Rampart… but the Emperor scared her. She clutched the edge of the pod railing like it might vanish under her feet, utterly petrified as he ascended above them to address the entire room.

“I commend Senator Chuchi and Princess Illumai for their bravery in the pursuit of truth. Admiral’s cowardly actions in the pursuit of his own selfish goals will not be tolerated, and hold no place in a civilized society.” The Emperor’s voice was gravelly and serpentine, shuddering up the siren’s spine.

Rampart paled. “I was following orders! I was following-” He couldn’t finish before several shock troopers had boarded his pod and were forcing him to bend over the controls so they could cuff him roughly. Shiani winced as he was dragged away, screaming but unintelligible as his mic was cut.

The Emperor looked down at Chuchi’s pod. “I must thank you both for exposing a rogue element in our midst. Rampart will be punished for his treachery, but he did not act alone. It concerns me deeply that the clones under his command followed such orders blindly. That is why the Defense Recruitment Bill must go forward. The atrocities committed upon Kamino are proof that the clones cannot be trusted to identify unlawful orders. We must have a military comprised of citizens. This new era of peace and stability will be heralded by the Imperial stormtrooper!”

Shiani wanted to scream, looking around as the voting began without much further prompting. “...The clones are not to blame.” She whispered to Chuchi desperately. “Clones couldn’t disobey. Inhibitor chips…”

Chuchi patted her arm, looking as desolate as she felt. “We tried, Shiani.”

The siren looked up, watching senators vote one by one. She’d tried… she’d put herself out in front of a galaxy she barely understood. She’d stood up against the shadow. She’d revealed her people’s existence in front of the Emperor himself in a desperate bid to save the clones who meant so much to her…

And it had all been for nothing.

The Batch was already in front of the garage, chatting with Rex, when Chuchi brought Omega and Shiani back. Omega looked deflated, tucked up against the siren’s side, as they came to a stop. “I can’t believe we still lost.” She said softly.

Shiani petted her hair before getting out of the car and offering her a hand. “We tried our best, Baby Mega. We did everything we could.”

Omega nodded and went over to Hunter, scrubbing at her eyes. “What’s the matter?” The sergeant frowned, kneeling next to her.

“We lost the vote.” Omega whispered. “I don’t understand. We did the right thing, we told the truth.”

“And the Emperor twisted it to his advantage.” Hunter did his best to comfort her.

Rex sighed. “Palpatine was a step ahead of us all through the war, and he’s several steps ahead of us now. He used us implicating Rampart to push the stormtrooper program.”

“The fate of the clones is sealed, and he used us to do it.” Echo said regretfully.

Shiani’s eyes hadn’t lifted from the ground, as Chuchi anxiously promised Omega she’d keep fighting to protect the clones. When a pair of boots stopped in front of her, she finally looked up at Tech, who was looking at her with concern in his eyes. “Are you alright, dear?” He murmured.

“It didn’t help.” She breathed. “Clones are still in danger. Maybe in more danger now. Sirens too. I’m sorry.”

“You did the right thing, cyar’ika.” He reached up, cupping her round little face in both hands. “You did everything you possibly could. Do not apologize, you are not to blame.”

She swallowed hard. “I need to give Chuchi back her dress…”

“You can keep it, Princess. It looks nice on you.” Chuchi smiled faintly. “And who knows? I’m going to keep fighting, until the clones have the same rights as everyone else. Maybe we’ll need to fight together in the senate again.”

Shiani nodded faintly, putting her hands over Tech’s on her face. She didn’t feel like she deserved the comfort, right now. “I've got to give Echo something.”

Tech nodded, slowly lowering his hands to let her get to her bag. Omega frowned. “You can give it to him on the ship. What’s the hurry?”

Echo crouched in front of her. “I won’t be going with you, Omega. I’ve decided to stay with Rex, and help the fight here. The other clones need our help more than ever, and I can’t give up on them.”

Omega’s eyes once again watered up, and everyone looked away before her tears undid their resolve and they begged Echo to stay too. “But we’re a squad!”

“I know. But I have to go where I’m needed.” Echo tried his best to keep his face impassive, but he loved this kid so much it was hard. If the rest of the clones hadn’t needed him, he’d have been happy to stay and watch her grow up forever. Duty came first, but damn it was hard.

“But we need you.” She whispered

“It’s not forever, Omega.” Echo murmured. “I’ll be back, but until then you have to keep up with your training. Deal?”

Omega sniffled. “Yes sir…” She threw her arms around him so hard she almost knocked him to the ground, but he managed to stay upright and hug her back tightly.

Shiani walked over, gently scooping Omega up with two of her tentacles and hugging her to her hip. Omega squished tearfully against the siren as she held out a silver cybernetic arm. “Finished this for you, Echo. Keep notes of any issues, and I’ll fix it when you come back?”

Echo blinked at the arm, then nodded, taking off his pauldron and adjusting his sleeve so she could take the scomp off and attach the new arm. She was careful, getting everything hooked up quickly for him and showing him how to use the knife and scomp attachments. “Thanks Shiani… I really appreciate it.”

She nodded. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, But I’ll be back.” He tipped her chin up with his new fingers, smiling. “You and Omega look after them for me?”

Shiani nodded. “You look after Rex.”

Echo nodded, and stepped back as the group boarded the Havoc Marauder and gave him a final goodbye. It was bittersweet, but the right thing to do. That seemed to be the theme of the day.

Shiani had been in the fresher for what seemed like hours. Wrecker had fallen asleep in Omega’s room with her, cuddling her while she cuddled Lula. Hunter was out cold in the bunkroom, the stress of the mission and the assault on his senses from Coruscant having taken its toll on him. Tech had been flying, waiting for his favorite copilot to come sit with him.

He’d watched her testimony recording, her face all over the holonet. The danger was great, but her little fist was in the air and her eyes were bright. She must have been frightened, but she’d stood her ground. She’d demanded they listen to her, head held high and dressed for the role she’d been born into. She was always beautiful, but in that moment he’d never seen her shine brighter. So when he’d rewatched the clip a few times and realized the water wasn’t running, he set the autopilot and got up to look for her.

Her bag was laying on the ground by the fresher, her overalls and a few tools slipping out of the top where she’d dropped it. The fresher door was closed, but unlocked, so he stuck his head in. “Shiani?”

The siren was sitting on the floor with her back to the wall, wedged between the sink and shower, with her head on her knees and her skirt puddled around her. Tech was instantly concerned, crouching in front of her. “Shiani? Are you alright?”

She peeked up, and her eyes were watery. Her circlet was clutched tightly in her hands, the coral leaving imprints when she slowly relaxed her fingers. “S-sorry.” She whispered. “I know you hate all the crying…”

“It is alright. What is the matter?” He wiped the tears from her cheeks with his glove. “Come here. That cannot be comfortable.”

Shiani let him gently pull her away from the wall and fold her into his chest. “Sorry.” She repeated. “I let you down. Couldn’t stop the Empire… so many clones are in trouble. Sirens too. Longnecks are dead already… millions of them. Kamino’s oceans are full of blood now.”

Tech rested his chin over her shoulder. “That is no one’s fault but the Empire. You are not a failure.”

He pressed his lips to the top of her head. “Stand up, cyar’ika. Let me show you something.”

Shiani sniffled, but let him pull her to her feet and stand her in front of the mirror. He wiped another tear off her cheek, then gently pulled her shoulders back and took the circlet from her to set it back on her brow. She scrunched her face and looked at him over her shoulder. “I look silly dressed up like this, but Chuchi said I needed to look like a princess.”

He turned her chin back to the mirror. “Look carefully. Standing in front of you is the bravest woman in the galaxy. Someone who overcame generations of traumatic experience and a lifetime of mistreatment.” He gently lifted her chin again and made her look at her reflection. “Someone who dislikes being the center of attention, but who chose to face the Galactic Senate to do the right thing. Who disavowed her people, but still wants to protect them. Who wanted justice for those who wronged her people.” He pressed a kiss against the side of her neck. “And did so beautifully, I might add.”

Shiani closed her eyes, leaning back against him. “I don’t feel brave.”

“You were. I watched your holo several times. I cannot describe how proud of you I am.” His arms slid around her middle, cuddling her the way he knew by now she needed when she was close to melting down.

She sighed, relaxing into his arms slowly. “I knew you’d get the recording.” She finally said. “You had the hard part… I just had to talk.”

“Which you have never done in public before. Public speaking is a common fear.” His thumbs rubbed circles against the cutouts on her hips, where her tentacles came through. His eyes stayed on her face in the mirror, but a smile hovered over his lips. “You genuinely do not believe what you did was extraordinary. I, however, could watch that recording of you for hours.”

She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “Why?”

“You were so serious and impassioned. It was captivating… and very attractive. This dress did not hurt, either.”

Shiani looked down. “You like the dress?”

“I find you attractive in whatever you wear, but I will admit there is something intriguing about seeing a different side of you. I am accustomed to a gentle, curious version who enjoys learning and building things and listens without interrupting. On occasion, I have seen the warrior who approaches any threat with your fangs first to protect what she cares about. And…” He kissed her neck again, softer this time and with a squeeze of her hips to accompany the way his words trailed over her skin. “... sometimes, a playful and enthusiastic lover who is far stronger than she appears. Do you know what I saw when I looked at you today?”

“Hm?” She was leaning back into his chest as he cradled her, squishing her battered soul back into her body with his embrace. Maybe after she took a shower she could convince him to just lay on her and squish her flat until everything inside her stopped feeling like it was full of angry urchins…

“I saw the most beautiful queen in the galaxy.” He moved his hands to her upper arms and slid down, straightening her arms at her side until his hands curled into hers over top of them. “Not a frightened princess but a queen. A leader, fighting with everything she had to save three different races that all came from a planet she hates the idea of returning to but still shows compassion for. Just when I thought I couldn’t be more smitten with that queen, I remembered you were already mine.” He set her hands on the counter lightly, keeping her palms flat on the metal with his own.

Shiani’s smile slid a little wider across her lips. “... You’re flirting with me.”

“Of course I am. I thought it was obvious.” He nuzzled into the side of her neck. “Unless you have any opposition to that?”

“I don’t, but who’s flying the ship, Tech?”

“The autopilot. We are over three standard hours from exiting hyperspace.” He pushed her hands a little further forward, until they met the wall under the mirror and she was bent nearly double at the waist. “That is enough time for me to reduce your anxiety and upset using the endorphins released during orgasm.”

Shiani’s cheeks flushed blue. “Very practical.”

“I have my talents.” He locked the fresher door with a free hand and nudged her feet apart. “I hope the practical aspect of this does not dim your understanding of how I feel about you, cyar’ika.”

Her eyes softened, locked on his in the mirror. “Not at all. Let me take the dress off-”

“I would prefer you to leave it on. As I said, it is not often I get to see this side of you. I intend to enjoy it.” He vanished from her sight when he dropped to his knees behind her, pushing the pretty white fabric of her dress up over the curve of her ass and pulling her underwear down her legs in the same motion. “Step out, please.”

Shiani followed instruction, breathless as he tucked her panties into his pocket and squeezed her cheeks while he admired the view for a moment. Then his mouth was on her, tongue sliding through her folds. Like everything he did, Tech was precise and calculated at this. He knew exactly how to pull her apart, to make her forget all the things she regretted and failed. Nothing mattered the minute Tech put his exceptional mind to loving her.

His hands wrapped around her thighs, keeping her upright when she started shaking and grinding against his face. He only let her go long enough to slip off his gloves before pushing on the small of her back. She dropped to her elbows and stretched to her tiptoes to reach the floor still.

Tech kissed his way up her spine, squeezing every bit of flesh he could find. Thighs, rear, hips, tummy, breasts, until he had her pinned to the counter by his pelvis pressed against her ass and his still-armored chest on her back. “Keep your eyes on the mirror.” He murmured, blowing air across her good ear to make her shiver. “Do not close your eyes. I want you to watch how beautiful you look. There is nothing more satisfying than the look on your face when you come.”

Shiani nodded, eyes dead ahead. Behind her, Tech backed up only long enough to remove his codpiece and unzip, wasting no time. He held her skirt bunched up at her waist as he gripped her left hip and sank into her. Her eyes wanted to roll back, but she forced them open when he started moving, releasing her hip to dip his fingers down between her thighs and stroke her clit with calculated precision.

Her mouth was open, fangs on display as she whimpered and whined his name. Her skin started to shine, slick with sweat, and her blue flush got darker. He'd wanted her to look, and she barely recognized the girl in the mirror. A siren in her crown, moaning Tech's name as his armor left bruises in her flesh… it was the most perverse kind of pretty she'd ever seen, and the most beautiful she'd ever felt in her life.

Tech let go of her skirts and slid the arm under her, fingers splayed over her throat and keeping her head where he wanted while his face pressed next to hers. She couldn't keep her eyes off of him, face red with exertion. She tried to close her mouth, put her fangs away and curl her fingers into fists that hid her claws in case she saw that look she feared across his perfect honey brown eyes.

Tech was too smart not to notice, and ever-so-carefully squeezed the side of her throat. “No. No hiding.” He rumbled into her ear.

He wanted her as she was, and when she realized it her claws dug furrows into the durasteel countertop. She choked out a high, keening note and collapsed, panting and writhing as Tech kept going through her release. When the overstimulation nearly had her sobbing, he moved the hand between her thighs to her chest and hauled her upright.

She was still looking, trembling with his every movement, impaled on his cock and a sweat-soaked, teary, drooling mess. Tech just turned her head and kissed her hard as his thrusts lost rhythm and heat pooled in her belly from his spend. Tech carefully pulled himself off her, setting her on the counter both to let her rest and to have something to lean on when his own legs wobbled.

He couldn't see a thought left in those big eyes of hers besides adoration when she looked at him, taking the crown off her head and setting it on his instead. He could only laugh and kiss her again. “You are a much prettier queen than I am, cyar’ika.” He murmured, cuddling her.

She wrapped her fingers into the shoulder straps of his chest plate and kissed him, stretching a tentacle out to turn on the fresher. Tech made an agreeable hum against her lips and stripped them both. Too spent for much else, they ended up sitting on the sanistream floor with her straddling his hips, half grinding and half washing the day off the other under the hot water.

And if the “standard refractory period” ended and he slipped back into her, rocking up until her head rolled back and he'd coaxed another two orgasms from her before the water started to cool… well, it was time well spent. He'd remember what his siren queen looked like when she let him dry her off and dress her back in her overalls, then pack her crown away and put her dress in the hamper. He’d commit to memory the way she looked before she climbed into his lap back in the pilot’s seat and fell asleep with her hand tangled in his shirtfront and tentacles wrapped around him in four different directions.

And if she ever doubted herself again, so would she.

#explict #original character #clone force 99 #the bad batch #star wars #fanfic #tbb tech #tech smut #monster fucker #song of the sea

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silverwings22 · 3 days

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Song of the Sea: Chapter 29: Teach Me How to Fight, I'll Show You How to Win

Chapter Warning: Child endangerment, giant spiders, questionable dietary habits, a possibly poor understanding of the Force on the writer's part Series Warning: explicit smut, alien anatomy (it's a monsterfucker fic, guys), major character injury, grief, canon typical violence, autistic meltdowns, and my terrible attempts at Mando'a

Previous chapter:

Next chapter:

Vanguard Axis was a droid controlled space station best known for its illegal smuggling operations. It had been setting off Shiani’s inner alarms since before the Batch had docked, though she couldn’t put her finger on why.

“This place is a smuggler’s paradise. Stay alert.” Hunter said firmly. “Echo, you stay with the girls on board while we make the drop, and guard the ship.”

Echo nodded, looking at Omega and Shiani. The siren was fidgeting, hanging upside down from the ceiling. Omega stayed by the ramp, saluting with absolutely adorable intensity at her assignment. “We got it.”

Once the others were gone, Omega looked at Echo. “This place gives me the creeps.”

He nodded. “Me too. I’m going to start the checklist so we can go as soon as they get back. I’m in no hurry to get stuck here… maybe keep your eye on Shiani. She looks as anxious as you do.”

When the corporal vanished into the cockpit, Omega went over to her favorite siren. “Shiani?”

“Yes, Baby Mega?” Shiani looked up from where her fingers were working rapidly on a small chain-code generator Tech had made. He’d left her specs to upgrade it, since selling forged chain codes had turned out to be very profitable.

“You okay? Echo said you look nervous.”

Shiani scrunched her face. “This station is uncomfortable. Like being too hot and too cold at the same time.” She flipped rightside up and rubbed the back of her neck. “Feels like it’s squishing right here, makes my eyes feel like they’re gonna pop out.”

Omega patted her hands. “Me too.”

Both of them froze when they heard a faint roaring sound. Shiani set her little project on the work table and stood upright. “What was that?”

“I dunno. Sounds like the recordings of wookiees Tech had us watch for lessons.” Omega reached for her bow.

“Wookiees were friends of the Republic. We should check.” Shiani nodded. “This station is a bad place, someone could be in trouble.”

Omega nodded, grateful Shiani was always willing to get in trouble with her instead of advising her against it like her brothers did. She loved that they wanted to keep her safe, but sometimes she needed a partner in crime. They slipped off the ramp without further ado, heading deeper into the station where the cry had come from. When they turned a corner, they found a duo of droids with electrostaffs laying into a young reddish-colored wookiee who was trying to cover his head to protect himself.

“Hey! Leave him alone!” Omega shouted, horrified.

“Do not interfere with Vanguard Axis business.” One droid said, raising its staff to hit the young one again. Omega drew her bow and shot the staff out of its hand, Shiani’s blaster rising at the same time and shooting it in the head. The distraction let the wookiee grab the staff from the second one and smash the droid to scrap. As soon as it stopped moving, he gave a quick little bow.

Shiani poked Omega gently. “Quick, hide. More droid are coming.”

The three of them tucked themselves behind a group of crates and the wookiee started digging through them hurriedly. “What are you doing?” Omega blinked.

He made a quiet roaring noise, still shuffling through the box. He was startled when another voice addressed Omega. “I could ask you two the same question.” Shiani and Omega both poked their heads around the crates.

“Echo.” Omega sighed with relief.

“We rescued a baby wookiee.” Shiani explained. “Droids were hurting him.”

The young wookiee peeked around Shiani at Echo and immediately got hostile, snarling at the older clone. Echo held his hand and scomp up. “Easy, kid. Easy. I’m with them.”

Omega nodded. “He’s my brother, you’re safe.”

Shiani looked at the wookiee thoughtfully. “You’re very afraid, baby wookiee. It’s okay, I’ll protect you too. Promise.”

His paw wrapped around her hand, nodding as more droids came around the corner and Echo got behind the crates with them. Shiani half-closed her eyes, listening to the bolt of fear that snaked around her from him, and squeezed his paw gently. While Omega watched in fascination, the siren and wookiee seemed to be having a silent conversation in glances and nods.

“The others will have heard the blaster fire.” Echo muttered. “They’ll come looking.”

Shiani nodded, pushing Omega’s head down as the droids crowded them. Her eyes locked on the belt of one of them, pointing him out to the wookiee. He nodded, growling softly as the rest of the Batch came in the opposite door.

“I suggest you take your team and leave.” The lead droid said, flat affect but with an unmistakable threat implied.

“No! They’ll hurt him, Hunter.” Omega yelled, head popping up into the sergeant’s sight line. “They were hurting him when we found him.”

“The wookiee is worth more to our buyer alive.” The droid’s head swiveled back towards the boy, who scrunched down nervously next to Shiani. Her hand moved to his back and she bared her fangs in a hiss, instantly protective.

“People aren’t cargo.” She snarled, skin populating with blue rings.

“On the contrary, anything can be smuggled for sufficient credits.”

She brought her blaster up faster than Tech remembered teaching her, slamming three shots into the droid’s chest and another in the head. The silver cylinder she’d been eying, tucked into the droid’s belt, came flying off and into the young wookiee’s paw. She pushed him forward, pushing him and Omega together. “To the ship. Go!”

Omega grabbed the other child by the paw and took off, the batch moving to flank them and run for the Marauder as the cylinder ignited into a column of green light that deflected blaster shots. The clones all did a double take but kept running, bailing into the ship and taking off before the droids of the station could close the hangar doors on them or mobilize fighters to pursue.

The young wookiee moved to a corner and curled into a furry ball, watching the clones suspiciously. Omega looked curiously as Shiani crouched beside him, holding out her hand for him to touch. “Is he okay?” She whispered to Hunter.

“He’s a Jedi, if that laser sword is anything to go by. He must have been through a lot, and he’s probably scared.” Hunter explained. The wookiee was just a kid, after all, and every day since Order 66 he had probably been hunted and running for his life. Hunter had been on the receiving end of a scared Jedi kid once, when Crosshair had been trying to kill General Billaba’s padawan on Kaller. He always felt guilty he couldn’t do more than let the kid run and lie that he was already dead… but if he’d tried to rescue the boy, Crosshair would have finished him off.

Shiani sang a few notes to the wookiee child before smiling. “Don’t be afraid. These clones don’t work for the Empire. They don’t hurt babies.” She gestured to Omega. “See?”

He nodded nervously, glancing at Omega as she brought him a tray of rations. “Are you hungry? Here.” She smiled kindly, and he decided to trust her after a moment and quickly shoved the food in his mouth.

Shiani scooted over so she was sitting beside him, and Omega climbed into her lap. “I don’t speak wookiee, you have to tell me in the Song what happened.” The siren cooed. “Why were you on that station, Gungi?”

The young one poured out his story in rapid Shyriiwook, Omega listening intently while Shiani listened beyond the roars and growls. The men listened as well, though it had been a while since any of them had spoken the language. Still, it was a sad but predictable story. Gungi had survived the massacre of the Jedi, and had hoped to try to make it back to his birth planet of Kashyyyk when he’d been captured by the smugglers and held on the station. He was terrified, alone, and distrustful of clones after seeing so many Jedi killed by their hands.

Shiani smoothed his fluffy head gently and looked at Hunter. “Can we take him home?”

Hunter smiled faintly, that glaring soft spot he had for children widening to include someone other than Omega. “I don’t see why not.”

“It’s been a while since we’ve been to Kashyyyk.” Wrecker beamed.

“The Empire could have set up outposts by now. It’s not safe.” Echo frowned.

“He’s a Jedi. Nowhere is safe.” Hunter shook his head. “But this is the best thing we can do for him. It gives him a fighting chance if he’s back with his people.”

Tech glanced over at Shiani, who had laid her head on top of Gungi’s and was humming to him as he and Omega snuggled with her. She looked peaceful among the young ones, but the irony of the situation was not lost on the man that loved her. A queen with no people of her own, escorting possibly one of the last survivors of a genocide back to his birthplace, with the help of clones who’s own brothers had carried out that very slaughter. It was a lot to take in, but he knew she’d only tell him it was the right thing to do.

Who was he to tell his queen no?

“The village is in the sector.” Hunter had his holomap up as Tech brought them into sight of Kashyyyk. Even from her seat on the floor further back, Shiani could see how beautifully green and lush the planet looked from orbit. She wondered if there would be time to explore it, even just for a little while. So often their missions were hurried, and the worlds she’d dreamed of seeing when she was stuck on Kamino passed by in a blur of necessity. She tried not to complain about it, but she wanted so badly to be able to extend her hands and touch some part of this green planet. There were things she’d never seen here, and just once she wanted to know how it felt to climb a tree or pick flowers. There was never time in the race for survival for little things like living.

“I’m picking up heavy smoke and deforestation in that area.” Echo cut into her thoughts, his brow furrowed around his implants. “Be careful of Imperial outposts.”

Tech nodded. “I will proceed with caution, I assure you.” He moved to the landing zone as Shiani got up from her impromptu cuddle puddle with the kids. She stepped up to his side, watching his descent carefully. “Everything alright, cyar’ika?”

“Just watching. I need to pay more attention about flying.” She smiled fondly. “It’s almost time for you to teach Baby Mega to fly, so I should make sure I know what I’m talking about. She always has questions.”

Tech smiled fondly. “Fair enough.”

Hunter lightly patted Gungi on the shoulder as he came to watch the landing as well. “Hide that laser sword, kid. It might draw attention.”

It was a reasonable request and the kid nodded, tucking it away and letting out a polite little roar at Shiani, who smiled fondly. “No, I don’t have one. Not a Jedi.”

Gungi looked a little confused at that, but patted her arm as the ship touched down.

When they stepped out, both Omega and Shiani were wide eyed at the massive trees and rugged beauty of the planet around them. “It’s amazing here.” Omega whispered. “I see why you wanted to come home.”

Gungi nodded, waving his paws. Shiani smiled brightly. “Just as pretty as your dreams?”

“Dreams?” Omega frowned. “What do you mean, dreams?”

Tech listened to Gungi’s explanation and nodded. “He was brought to the temple very young. He has no recollection of his life here, but he remembers through his dreams. A sort of vision, if you will.”

“Tidedreamer.” Shiani said confidently. “A better one than most, too.”

Omega slipped her hand around one of Shiani’s tentacles as they followed Tech towards the village the Batch knew. “How come you know what he’s saying when you said you don’t speak his language?”

Shiani patted her hair. “Did some research about Jedi after Skara Nal. The powers they have come from something called the Force. It’s all around the galaxy, and holds it together. Everyone is a part of it, not everyone can interact with it.” Shiani explained. “You have to be… sensitive, to feel it and make it do things. The more about Force I read, the more it sounds like what my people call the Song. Their light and dark sides are my Melody and Harmony. The difference is all sirens can feel it. We use it to sing and scream, to find love, or sense danger. I can’t understand his words, but I feel his hearts.”

“So you’re like a Jedi?” Omega peeped.

“No. Jedi think entirely differently about it than sirens do. Nothing wrong with that.” Shiani chuckled. “I feel the Song all over this planet, though. Trees are so old, so alive here… no trees underwater on Kamino, and young ones aren’t strong enough to sing like these. Sirens perception, on a flooded planet like Kamino, might be diminished.”

“How’s it different?” Omega frowned, scooting closer. Gungi did too, looking at her curiously.

“Jedi thinking is… linear.” Shiani said politely. “In everything I read, there’s a lot of talk about Light side and Dark side. Jedi and Sith. Sirens don’t have those things. All Song is Song. There is Melody and Harmony, but neither is better or worse than the other. No… morality to it. It all just is, like day and night are.” She explained. “Not saying Jedi are wrong or right. Just different. For sirens, it’s as much a part of us as our voices. Scream and song.”

Omega nodded, brow furrowed as she tried to understand. Gungi patted Shiani’s arm again, pleased with the respectful way she’d tried to approach the differences. They stopped just short of walking into Hunter’s back, the clones looking up at a series of thick webs in the trees. “Spiders?” Omega frowned.

“Too big to be spiders.” Shiani blinked. “Much too big to eat.”

“Probably kinraths.” Hunter waved Omega closer to keep an eye on her. She was small enough to be a kinrath snack, and not carrying a lightsaber.

Wrecker pulled his large knife and started cutting them a path through the webbing, everyone falling into line behind him. Shiani nudged Tech lightly as she felt something circling above them. “Kinraths watching. Six of them.”

He looked up, spotting the massive arachnids coming down on silk threads with their mandibles clicking. Shiani wrapped herself around his arm before he could draw his blaster, while Gungi held his paws up and roared for the clones to keep their weapons holstered. “He says they will not attack if we do not provoke them.” Tech translated, glancing at his wife. She was looking up at the creatures curiously, humming to herself. Five of the kinraths seemed to accept Gungi’s truce through the Force, though one scuttled over and patted at Shiani’s head with its front legs for a moment. She cooed a note at it, and it retreated after its kin without further fanfare. “What was that, cyar’ika?” He asked

“Just wanted to see. It thinks I’m funny looking.” Shiani chuckled.

Tech sighed, putting an arm around her. “The mountain ridge is this way. According to my telemetry, the village is close by.”

Echo looked uncomfortable. “You mean where all the smoke is coming from?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Tech sighed. “This does not bode well for what we will find.”

Gungi jogged ahead to where Tech had pointed, cresting the hill a moment before the clones and siren. When they got to him, he’d dropped to his knees. The village the Batch had been familiar with was razed to the ground, leaving behind only smoldering ashes and what remained of a few huts. Hunter sighed, crouching to examine the dirt. “Tanks came through here. This was deliberate.”

Shiani winced at the memory of Tipoca City, belching smoke into the Kaminoan sky before collapsing under the waves. “The Empire did this.”

Omega put a hand on Gungi’s shoulder and he turned to look at her with a hopeless expression. “The Empire destroyed our home too. We’ll help you find your people, I promise.”

The rest of the Batch nodded, unable to deny her endless kindness. They helped Gungi to his feet and walked towards the village, searching for any sign of survivors and where they might have gone. Shiani found herself face to face with a set of carved stones, fingers outstretched and brushing the engravings. There was something sacred and beautiful about the monument that reminded her of the Temple beneath the waves and how she’d always pray there for a route to the stars…

“Tanks.” Hunter hissed, and the Batch plus Gungi ducked into the undergrowth. Shiani simply turned around, facing the repurposed Separatist Incinerator tanks coming towards her. They were operated by a gang of trandoshans, dragging a cuffed wookiee prisoner.

Tech’s stomach dropped when he realized his wife wasn’t hiding, just staring at the approaching enemy with her eyes narrowed. She had armor, but she wasn’t fireproof. He couldn’t get to her fast enough, and she’d already been spotted.

“What the hell are you?” One of the trandoshans, the leader, asked as the tank stopped a few feet from Shiani’s boots.

“You go away now. Leave Kashyyyk.” She ignored his question, arms outstretched to protect the monument behind her. “Let the wookiee go and leave.”

“You’re a gutsy little thing. But I’ve got orders to destroy the carved stones, and I’ll roast you too if you don’t move. If you do, you’ll probably fetch a decent price.” He reached for a blaster, flicking it to stun and leveling it at the siren. “Whatever the hell you are will make a nice chase, at the very least.”

When Shiani jumped, so did Gungi. He went straight for the driver of one tank, Shiani running for the captive. She tore the binding around his wrists with her teeth, handed him her blaster, and slid under the nearest tank with a wrench from her gear bag in her hand faster than anyone had seen her pull it out. Gungi put his saber through one tank’s repulsarlift, and the fuel pump came flying out from under the other with Shiani right behind it.

Tech caught her by the hand and helped her up, the last of the trandoshans scattered or dead. “Are you alright?”

She nodded, putting her wrench back in her bag. “I couldn’t let them break the holy place.”

Before Tech could either complain she’d scared him half to death or praise her bravery, a pair of furry arms wrapped around her and she was dangling off the ground in a fierce wookiee hug. The freed hostage was roaring in her ear, thanking her.

She smiled and patted his arm. “Hello. Let’s put out the fire, then make friends?”

He nodded and set her down, the group scrabbling for makeshift shovels to put out the lingering flames before the forest could catch. Just as they finished up, three more wookiees on brightly colored mylylas arrived. The former hostage explained what they’d done, and they were waved to follow.

“Where are they taking us?” Echo whispered.

“Their village.” Tech translated. “They want us to speak with their leader.”

The wookiee village was built into the living trees, a part of nature without harming any of the surrounding life. It was a series of treehouses, and the clones were invited to climb up by the warriors who’d escorted them. An elderly female was waiting for them, and looked delighted to see Gungi the minute he appeared. The wookiee they’d rescued ran to her, explaining and pointing at them until she waved them over.

“She says her name is Yanna, and she is their chieftain. She wants to know why we helped her people, and if we are soldiers of the Empire.” Tech explained.

Hunter shook his head and took his helmet off. “No ma’am. We were a part of the Republic, but not the Empire.”

“We helped because it was right.” Shiani peeped, bowing her head and giving her siren salute. “We brought Gungi home because it was right. We don’t know what village he’s from, but he wanted to come home.”

Yanna nodded and waved the young one to come to her, putting her hands on his shoulders to take a long look. Then she waved for the group to come inside and the other wookiees happily offered them food and drink to share while making friends. Shiani was a curiosity for the littlest ones, and let them play with her tentacles and examine her claws while she sat on the floor. She and Wrecker both were delighted to try wookiee food as well, while Echo tried to politely as possible decline the drink he was offered. Gungi and Omega seemed to have made fast friends and were sitting together and giggling as the rest of the group tried to socialize.

Shiani was surprised when Yanna waved her over, getting up from the pile of furry babies to sit at the older Wookiee’s knee. They looked at each other, Yanna speaking and Shiani singing back in little chirps and coos until they had come to an understanding. Then she got up and bowed her head before scuttling back to the Batch. “The Empire is destroying Kashyyyk. They sent the trandoshans to strip resources and enslave people. Many villagers fled into deep parts of the forest, but the Empire keeps coming.” She murmured, slipping her hand into Tech’s. “Scouts already say a convoy is coming. Wookiees need help.”

“They’ve been our allies for years.” Echo nodded. “We should give them any aid we can.”

Hunter nodded, eyes drifting over to Omega and Gungi again. “Taking out that convoy might be the only way to protect the kid.”

Shiani smiled. “The want us to come out and pray to the tree.”

“The tree?” Tech raised an eyebrow.

“Yanna says Kashyyyk belongs to the Wroshyr trees. Trees are alive, I can feel it. If Wookiee’s are our allies, the trees are theirs. Making friends with all allies is a tactical decision.” She beamed, getting up and waving them to follow her as a group of wookiees went outside. Omega joined them, next to Gungi, and put her hand on the bark beside his paw. She wasn’t sure what she was doing, but it felt right. Shiani knelt too, closing her eyes. The clones watched, Tech the most curious, as the group prayed together.

When Gungi looked up, he roared happily back at them and Shiani made a high, joyful note that echoed over the forest. “Did you talk to the tree?” Omega asked.

“Yes. Trees sing to us, and they have a plan.”

The forest was dark as the group waited, watching the Imperial convoy marching on the village. There were clones with the trandoshans, and it was a heartbreaking reality for Shiani that some of these men would die. Men with chips in their heads, who had no choice and no one to come find them when they needed help. She had to swallow that bitter truth, hanging high in a tree and waiting.

At Yanna’s signal, the Batch rolled detonators under the tanks. She watched the lead trandoshan, one she’d heard called Venomor, giving orders. His heart was beyond selfish, it was vicious, and he was telling someone that in exchange for capturing Gungi alive he’d give a hundred Wookiee pelts. A hundred lives he’d be willing to snuff out for a chance to torment a child… Shiani had never been a mother and wasn’t even sure if it was something she’d ever want, but she felt a visceral need to protect Gungi has much as she did Omega. Every child needed someone to protect them, and those two had been given one sharp-fanged siren with everything reason to aim for Venamor’s throat.

When the detonator went off, the tank listed over and he ordered his men to press on, giving chase to the Wookiees on their mylaylas. Other Wookiees, and Wrecker who’d been adopted into the warband, were pounding on trees and luring the Imperials the way they wanted. The way the trees wanted, towards the kinrath nests deeper in the woods.

When Gungi dropped onto a tank and cut the barrel of its main weapon off with his saber, Venomor spotted him. Gungi took off, luring the vicious commander into the forest. Venomor had a flamethrower, and set one of his own men ablaze in his haste to go after the Jedi child. Before Shinani could drop in and tear his throat out, both Omega and Gungi ran off together into the darkness with the monster on their heels.

Shiani swore softly and followed from the tree tops, chasing after the licking flames until she was in the middle of a kinrath nest and her little charges were getting further away. The giant arachnids clicked and chittered at her, so she held her hands out the way Gungi had, and tried to make herself understood.

The little ones are in danger. Help me help them. Help me help Kashyyyk.

The kinraths dipped and patted at her with their front legs before getting behind her, expectant sets of eight eyes waiting for her to lead the way. She nodded, taking the forward position and finding a ring of flame with Omega and Gungi trapped and Venomor circling. Shiani whistled sharply as Gungi took a leap, slicing the flamethrower’s nozzle and rendering it useless. Then he jumped back, extinguishing the blade. Shiani dropped down, wrapping her tentacles around both children, and shot back up into the trees as the kinraths descended, wrapping Venomor in silk and dragging him upwards into the foliage. She turned their faces inwards, to her chest. “Don’t look.” She said softly. “Will only upset you.”

Omega clung to her and looked at Gungi, who made a faint roaring noise to cover the crackling static sound of the kinrath legs until it stopped. When all was quiet, Shiani plopped the three of them on the ground. “The fire.” Omega tugged at her arm and pointed. The raging flames were licking up the trees, heading for the thick foliage that would go up like tallow.

“Cover your ears.” Shiani nodded and pushed the young ones behind her.

Both Gungi and Omega slammed hands over their ears as the siren screamed, turning in a circle and letting the force of the blast put the creeping flames back out. When the Batch followed the shriek and found them, they were stomping out the little bits the scream had missed.

“Shiani!” Tech called, and she turned around with a grin. “Are you all alright?”

“We're okay. Venomor, not so much.” She giggled.

“What happened to him?” Hunter frowned.

“Remember what I wanted to do with the irling? Well… kinraths don’t have Tech telling them no!” She pointed up, where the trandoshan had vanished into the silken canopy.

“Is it bad that I’m hungry now?” Wrecker asked.

“You are always hungry.” Tech sighed, but pulled Shiani’s hands into his. “You did very well, cyar’ika.”

She leaned up and put her forehead against his, beaming.

Shiani sat on the porch of the Wookiee tree house, watching the morning winds clear the smoke from burning trees away. Yanna had given her a drink and behind her she could hear Wrecker and Echo sharing drinks with the Wookiee warriors. She kicked her feet, admiring the view despite the evidence of last night’s battle.

She’d wanted to see Kashyyyk up close, and she’d gotten to.

“You seem to be in a thoughtful mood.” Tech said mildly, sitting down beside her. “How are you feeling this morning? You inhaled quite a bit of smoke.”

“Coughed some. I’m okay.” She smiled, looking at him. “It’s pretty here.”

“It is.” He nodded. “Wroshyr trees are picturesque, I believe… I had hoped to bring you to worlds like this when the war was over.”

“War never really ends, does it?” She leaned her head on his arm. “Doesn’t mean there’s no time for good things. Look at the babies down by the roots. Baby Gungi is teaching Baby Mega to meditate. He’s finally home with his people, and they protect him like we protect her.”

Tech considered her face. “I was concerned about the toll bringing Gungi back to his people would take on you. Are you sure you are alright?”

She lifted her head again and looked at him, cocked to the side. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Gungi was able to return to the people he had been estranged from. He missed them, despite having few memories of living here among them. You, however, grew up among your people. You cannot return to them… I was concerned it may be bittersweet for you.”

She nodded. “Maybe a little. Sometimes I think about home… the temples and the singing. The good parts I miss. But Kamino isn’t home anymore. It wouldn’t be home even if I had stayed and been queen. Home is where family is. My family is the Bad Batch, and my home is the Marauder. That’s all I need.”

He put an arm around her. “Even if you would be a queen and out of exile?”

She snorted. “What’s the point of being queen if your kingdom would drown the king? I’d rather be on the run forever with you than on the throne without you.”

Tech smiled. “I am relieved to hear you say that… I cannot imagine my life the way it was before you any longer.”

Shiani turned her head and kissed him softly, cuddling into his chest. “Melody and Harmony made me just for you.” She whispered.

“You were born before I was, so I believe if there was divine intervention then I would have been made for you.” He chuckled. “I would be more skeptical of such things, if I had not seen a plan concocted by trees come to fruition last night.”

She giggled, holding her hands out in front of her. “Trees of Kashyyyk will remember our names forever now. Shiani and Tech Illumai. Queen that never wanted a crown, and a king who can’t ever see the palace.”

“Those are terrible and excessively long titles…” He began, then paused. “Do I… have a surname now?”

Shiani nodded. “I earned my name back when I beat Kashae. As my mate, you get it too. Tech Illumai.”

Tech smiled faintly, listening to her sweet voice on the syllables. Names were so important to clones, after a rushed childhood of only numbers. CT-9902 would never sound as real or as personal as this name, spoken by the woman who had turned his entire life upside down in the best possible way.

“I think I like it. Tech Illumai.”

#explict #original character #clone force 99 #the bad batch #star wars #fanfic #tbb tech #song of the sea

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silverwings22 · 3 days

Text

Song of the Sea: Chapter 28: Once a Temple, Now a Tomb

Chapter warnings: questionable dietary habits, near death experience, injury, complicated feelings

Series Warning: explicit smut, alien anatomy (it's a monsterfucker fic, guys), major character injury, grief, canon typical violence, autistic meltdowns, and my terrible attempts at Mando'a

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“I think I found it!” Wrecker grinned, elbow deep in metal from the scrapyard with Omega and Shiani. “This is the compressor Tech was talking about, right?”

Shiani looked up from inspecting a couple pieces of scrap and nodded. “That’s it.”

Omega grinned, hands full of stuff she’d found. “This is cool. Tech’s going to love it.”

Shiani inspected the scrap in her friend's palms and chuckled. Tech was going to tell them most of this should have stayed here in the scrapyard, but he knew sending the three of them to find something involved a certain level of distraction. “This is interesting.” She plucked a sort of flat disk from Omega’s hands. “Wonder what this is.”

“Tech might know.” Wrecker grinned, holding out the box they were putting every interesting thing they’d found in.

Shiani traced her claw over the edges of it, eyes bright. It was a little adventure, finding things like this. It reminded her of when she first started digging through the scrap settled at the bottom of the ocean, when everything was new and mysterious. No wonder she’d ended up with a shrine of droid heads… AZI probably would have been even more terrified of her if he’d known. As it was, the little medical droid avoided her as much as possible around the bar. “We can go check with Tech, then.”

“If he doesn’t know, maybe Phee will.” Omega grinned. The pirate was back on Ord Mantell, and Omega loved the stories she told. Even if Shiani thought they were mostly fantasy and embellishment, the siren had to admit she enjoyed the tales. She’d gotten over her jealousy about Phee, since Tech had very bluntly told the woman that they were married after another “Brown Eyes” incident. Phee was nice about it, apologized to Shiani, and gave her the mechanic’s overalls she now wore as a gift. Shiani wasn’t sure they were really friends yet, but she liked Phee more than Cid. And becoming friends with Phee seemed like a worthy endeavor. She was a fun, engaging kind of person who didn’t seem to get too bogged down in things like the guys had a habit of doing. They needed that breath of fresh air in their lives.

“We can go ask.” Shiani nodded, watching Omega laugh with delight when Wrecker scooped her up onto his shoulders. The tough soldiers were so sweet with the little girl, and if Shiani hadn’t already adored all of the clones she would have fallen in love with the family dynamics here. She happily led the way back to the bar with the box of trinkets and the things Tech had actually asked for. “We’re back!”

Tech was seated at the bar, looking over his datapad and half listening to Phee wow Bolo and Ketch with a story about fighting an octomorph. He wasn’t totally sure what kind of creature it was, unable to find any data on it, but he imagined it looked a little like Shiani. He looked up when she walked over with the parts. “I am glad to see you safe. Did you find the compressor?”

She nodded, setting the box down in front of him. “We ound other cool things too.”

He picked up the compressor and gave her an affectionate look. “The rest of this could have remained in the junkyard.”

“I knew you were gonna say that.” She giggled, leaning in to lightly boop her forehead to his. “But this thing is pretty. Baby Mega found it.” She handed him the disk. “What is it?”

He brought it closer to his face curiously, scanning it as he did. “I am unsure. I have never seen anything like it.”

Phee walked over. “Hey, Shiani. What’d you find?”

“I have no idea.” The siren handed it to her with an excited look. “Not knowing is the adventure. Do you know what it is?”

“Ooh. This is old. Look, these markings here are coordinates.” Phee pointed to a set of engravings as she managed to work the thing open. “It’s a compass.”

Shiani’s eyes sparkled. “Coordinates? Coordinates where?”

“Looks like the Keldar Trinary system.” Phee said after letting her round little navigation droid scan the compass.

“I have no data on such a system.” Tech frowned, typing at his datapad curiously. “Nor have I ever heard of it.”

“The best treasures are off grid.” Phee smiled, pulling Shiani by the hand forward. “What do you say? Let’s go on a treasure hunt. If we find anything, we’ll split it. 50/50.”

Echo scowled. “Our last treasure hunt didn’t go so well.”

“You didn’t have a professional like me.” Phee spun Shiani around as if she were dancing, then turned her to face the group of brothers. “Give ‘em the big eyes.”

Shiani blinked and smiled at Hunter, waving for Omega to join her. “We can go? Treasure would be nice, since the War Chest was too dangerous. No Empire this time.”

Omega gave her best big-eyed baby tooka expression. “Please, Hunter?”

Hunter sighed. “Tech. Your wife is using Omega against me.”

“She is very clever.” Tech sighed, looking at Shiani. She grinned, bouncing on her heels energetically. “She is using herself against him, and it is very effective. Should I begin getting the ship ready?”

“Please?” Omega’s eyes got big with excitement, and Hunter had no defense against it.

Wrecker grinned. “It’s not like we have a mission for Cid or anything.”

Hunter groaned. “Alright, fine.”

Shiani sat comfortably on the floor by Tech’s feet, watching Hunter as he watched Phee tell Omega a story. The sergeant was twirling his knife, eyes narrowed. “He doesn't like Phee.” She murmured, putting her head lightly against Tech’s knee.

“You did not like her when you met her.”

“She was flirting with my husband. Hunter’s not married.” Shiani smiled as he rested his hand on one of her head tentacles. Squeeze squeeze squeeze.

“No, but he is very protective of Omega. Of the five of us, he has become the most parental towards her.”

“Hunter is her dad.” Shiani smiled up at him. “Makes sense, he’s the leader and oldest brother, right?”

“Yes… I am the second oldest. Then Wrecker, then Crosshair. I believe Echo is older than all of us, but he was not originally part of this squad.” His voice trailed off in a way she recognized, a way that only happened when Crosshair came up.

She put her head on his knee. “You miss him. Crosshair.”

“I do.” He admitted. “We were… very opposite. But in a way, we understood each other better than the others did. We… filled in places for the other. Other than you, I do not believe I have ever been so understood.”

Shiani looked up at him, listening in silent but complete attention. Tech knew he could tell her anything and she’d accept every word with the same open expression she always did. He gently ran his fingers against the roundness of her cheek and sighed, debating over what to say to convey what he thought. Shiani gently nuzzled into his hand. “You can tell me.” She murmured. “I don’t know Crosshair, other than your words. Tell me about your brother, so I can miss him with you.”

“He is quiet. And observant.” Tech said softly. “He used to tell me I talked too much, but he would still sit in the cockpit during my turn on deck and listen to whatever I said. He was the first to notice I required glasses when we were cadets, because I was often squinting and his vision was immaculate… He would keep me from walking into walls when I was on my datapad while moving, or remind me to eat when he noticed I hadn’t. Before you, he was the one who scolded me for falling asleep over my work… he’d take my glasses and bundle me in blankets so I couldn’t move until I fell asleep. He could be abrasive and confrontational, but when he cared for something it was obvious if you knew where to look. He… loved quietly.”

Shiani wrapped herself around his leg gently, nuzzling against him. “He still loves quietly. No Empire has come after us since Kamino.”

Tech frowned. “I do not see the correlation between avoiding the Imperial radar and Crosshair-”

“If Crosshair didn’t love you, he would have told the Empire we were still alive. He didn’t.” She looked up. “And all he kept asking, on Kamino, was for you all to join him. He ordered someone to put Omega in a shuttle off world, not hurt her. I think… he just wanted to be a family again, too. He was misguided, but I don’t think he really wanted to hurt any of us after what happened on Bracca. Maybe that was when the chip stopped working so much.”

Tech frowned, brow furrowed behind his glasses. “He was burned by the ion engine on Bracca. It is… plausible. But he still made the decision to remain with the Empire.”

“You said he is observant.” She pointed out. “Observant nature is usually a cautious person. Maybe he thought we were destined to die, so he took the safe route. Even if it hurt.”

“I hope you are right.” Tech murmured after a few moments. “I would like to think the Crosshair I know is still there, instead of replaced by an Imperial drone.”

Shiani smiled up at him as the tension in his shoulders slowly relaxed, and she took his free hand to kiss his palm. “I believe he is. He’ll figure out he loves his family more than he’s afraid of leaving the Empire, and he’ll come back.”

Tech smiled, squishing her cheek lightly in a trio of pinches. “I think it will be entertaining, watching him adjust to you and Omega. You both are vivacious. You will drive him insane.”

Shiani giggled. “Challenge accepted.”

Tech glanced up at the instruments and sighed. “We are approaching the coordinates Phee provided. Are you ready for this?”

She nodded. “Always ready to adventure with you, Tech.”

He smiled, bringing them out of hyperspace and starting the landing procedures on the planet that came into view. As they entered the atmosphere, Shiani got up from the floor with an uncomfortable feeling in her chest. The dust flew up when the landing gear made contact with the ground, obscuring the majority of her vision. Tech got up and waved for her to follow him once the ground security was prepped. “Come along, cyar’ika.”

“There’s a weird feeling on this planet, Tech.” She got into the middle of their usual formation, next to Omega, as Phee led them out.

“Tell me about it.” Hunter frowned, looking around. The entire planet seemed scorched and desolate, as if it had never recovered from some long-forgotten battle.

Echo frowned. “How do you even tell if-” He jolted when the compass he’d been holding buzzed against his palm. “Well shit. Uh… “

“Turn in circle.” Shiani giggled. “Maybe the vibrations are stronger in the right direction?”

Echo rolled his eyes, but did a sort of exaggerated pirouette and gave her a disgruntled look. “You… are correct. It’s stronger this way, towards the mountain.”

Shiani grinned. “My brain’s not full of bubbles, Echo.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He led them the direction the compass led, still somewhat skeptical while Omega was delighted that this seemed to be panning out. She loved the thrill of adventure, and held onto Shiani’s hand as they made their way along.

“What kind of treasure do you think we’ll find, Shiani?” She peeped.

“Dunno that there is any treasure on a planet like this.” The siren shook her head and gestured at the barren and scorched forest of dead trees. “Everything’s burned here.”

Omega scrunched her nose. “Well, I think there’s treasure.”

“I hope you’re right.”

They reached a dead end at the foot of the mountain, and everyone looked up. “Do we go around it?” Omega frowned.

“I think we’re supposed to go inside.” Phee sounded excited, and her little droid Mel booped at them as she inspected a seam in the mountainside. The pirate drew her cutlass and wedged it between two stones. When she wiggled it, they moved as if hinged but stuck, instead of as if they held the weight of the mountain on top of them. “Big guy, help me here.”

Wrecker, agreeable as ever, walked over and got his hands between the rocks. He shoved, pulling them apart like a doorway. Shiani and Hunter both wrinkled their noses at the smell of stale air coming from inside. “I don’t like this.” The sergeant muttered.

“Nonsense. Follow me.” Phee stepped inside, and begrudgingly the little group followed her lead and walked inside as well. Her hands pressed to the cavern walls, where inscriptions had been carved. “I don’t believe it. It’s Skara Nal! There could be relics here from the time of the ancients?”

Shiani leaned over to look curiously. “Ancients? What ancients?”

Wrecker cocked his head to the side. “Like the Jedi?”

“Older.” Phee shook her head. “If this is Skara Nal, the treasure is known as the Heart of the Mountain.”

Shiani poked at the wall. “Oh. This moves.”

“It’s a puzzle.” Phee nodded. “We have to align the symbols. Here, start turning them.”

Tech nodded, following her lead from the other side to try to align his symbols with Shiani’s. It seemed to be working until a massive boulder fell from the roof, trapping them and nearly squishing Wrecker to death on its descent.

Hunter growled. “Great. We’re trapped.”

“Easy. There’s always a way out, tough guy.” Phee smirked.

“Just gotta figure it out.” Shiani nodded, fingers brushing the stone walls again. “... The Temple in Acopit had runes like this. When sirens sang, hidden symbols would light up.”

Omega looked thoughtfully at where the siren was touching. “Hey, Echo? Can I see the compass?”

He handed it over with a nod. “It’s not buzzing anymore.”

Omega nodded back, putting it up to her eye curiously. It had a purplish sort of lens inside, and when she turned to look through it she saw markings that hadn’t been visible before. “Hey! We’re aligning the wrong symbols!”

Phee peeked over at the lens and grinned, flipping her lanturn over. “Put it over the light.”

Once the cavern was bathed in purple light, Shiani had to resist the urge to scoot closer like a moth but they could see to property align the symbols. A doorway formed once it was done, and Shiani bounced on her heels and clapped her hands. “It worked!”

Omega squealed with delight. “We’re gonna find the Heart of the Mountain!”

Phee laughed. “It’s supposed to be a crystalline structure worth more than you can possibly imagine.”

Hunter sighed. “It better be worth it.”

Phee patted Mel’s head. “Log everything and wait for me to get back.”

They proceeded into the doorway, with most of them carrying renewed vigor for the adventure. Tech was scanning the walls, hanging near the back of the pack with Shiani. “Look at this, cyar’ika. My preliminary scans of the wall stones indicate this structure predates the Galactic Republic. Phee may be on to something.”

Shiani leaned over to look at the datapad, bursting with followup questions about the age of the Republic versus the history she knew of Kamino. Before she could ask them, though, her ear fins flattened and head jerked up. Hunter was spinning around on his heel at the same time, both of them sensing danger. A huge reptile dropped from the ceiling with a growl and latched onto Wrecker, who was spared serious injury only by his armor and the split second warning they’d given him so he could grab it by the neck.

When everyone else was pulling a blaster, Shiani just dove on the lizard and sank her teeth into its tail viciously, claws raking its back and legs. It let go of Wrecker and slammed her into the wall to dislodge her, skittering back into the ceiling it had come from. Rocks and debris rained down on them, everyone bailing one way or the other to avoid being crushed. Hunter, Omega, and Phee ended up on one side of the cave in, with Shiani and the other three clones on the other.

Tech was already by Shiani’s side to check her over as Echo tried to communicate with the others through the new stone wall. When yelling didn’t work, he commed Omega. “You guys okay?”

“We’re okay, but the rocks are stuck pretty good. We can’t get back to you.”

Tech glanced at his datapad. “My scanners indicate a series of side tunnels. We will have to use them to rendezvous with them.” He looked back at Shiani. “Are you alright?”

“I’m okay. Think that lizard thing is in tunnels?” She wiped the reptile blood from her mouth and smiled. “It would make a good snack.”

“You cannot attempt to eat everything that attacks us.” He smiled, relieved she was her usual self, and helped her to her feet.

“If it tries to eat my family, I can.” She huffed.

Echo chuckled. “You good, Wrecker?”

“Yeah, it didn’t get me. Thanks, Shiani.” He followed Tech as the genius started trying to find a tunnel to get them back to the rest of the party. He and Echo kept their blasters out, in case the lizard came back. Shiani just kept her eyes sharp, claws tapping lightly against her hips as she walked.

“How’d you know that thing was coming?” Echo finally asked as they took another turn. “Hunter’s got those senses, but you keep predicting things coming at us. Like the nexu on Salucemi, or the Ordo Moon Dragon.”

“Everything has a feeling.” She explained. “An… energy. Sometimes you can hide your own, if you know how. Sentient beings can. Animals can’t, they don’t know how. But sirens can feel it when they come, especially when they have strong emotions inside, like hunger.”

Echo glanced at Tech. “Sounds a lot like something my old general told me. Jedi stuff.”

Shiani shrugged. “Dunno anything about Jedi. Only heard about them from the Temple Tidedreamers.”

Before Echo could respond, they approached a corner. “Keep alert for that creature.”

Shiani gently pushed his blaster down towards the floor. “Can feel Hunter, Phee, and Omega. No lizard this time.”

Tech nodded and they came around the corner, finding the other three standing in front of a circular door. His eyes lit up at it, and he stepped up to it. “What sort of puzzle is this?”

“Sometimes a door is just a door.” Phee snickered, looking at Shiani. The siren was smiling fondly at her clone, hands behind her back and bouncing her heels. “Ready to see the vault?” She asked, pulling a hidden lever into view.

Shiani nodded, eyes bright as Phee pulled the lever and the door opened. As they stepped through, she found herself looking at the walls of the vault curiously. “It looks like a machine, Tech.”

“No machine I’ve ever seen.” He agreed with a nod. “If this is older than the Republic, imagine what we could learn here.”

Shiani booped his nose and giggled. “Imagine what I could build if I could get a look inside these walls.”

“Hey, nerd lovebirds.” Phee snickered, pointing. “There’s what we really came for. The Heart of the Mountain.” In front of them sat a faintly glowing rectangle of glimmering crystal, inset with carvings and pulsing purple light from inside.

“Pretty.” Shiani smiled, still looking at the wall for some kind of access panel. She wanted desperately to see the guts of this vault and find out what made it tick. If she could build something that lasted thousands of years, it would be strong enough to keep them all safe. A stronghold of durasteel and wiring, like a castle to keep out the Empire or selfish hearts like Cid.

Phee simply popped the crystal from its stone placeholder, grinning. “You two are made for each other. Looking at literal treasure and-”

No sooner was the crystal in her hands than every door sealed shut and the walls lit up with more symbols. Omega took a nervous step backwards. “What's going on?”

The vault shifted at a crack of white-blue light and shot upwards, standing on four legs. Everyone went sliding, realizing in sick horror they were in the head of a dormant war machine that had come awake.

Far more terribly, as it walked it let out a deafening noise and a blast that scorched the earth ahead of it.

Shiani grabbed Tech and Omega as they went sliding. “Phee, put the Heart back!” She squeaked.

Tech nodded, dangling from her tentacle and working at his datapad. “It should theoretically disable the machine.”

“Do you have any idea what this is worth?!” Phee gasped.

Shiani bared her teeth, startling the pirate who’d never seen her fact contort. “The whole planet looks like ash and you're worried about credits?!” Shiani growled at her. “What about your friends?!”

“If this thing destroys the Marauder we'll be trapped here.” Hunter snapped.

“Fine. But you owe me!” Phee groaned.

Hunter looked like he wanted to punch Phee, but held his tongue. Shiani was considering giving her a smack with a tentacle when the loud screeching wail from the lizard attack earlier rang out. She looked at Tech. “Help Phee. I'll deal with the creature!”

The lizard smashed its way into the vault, headed straight for Omega like she was a prized meal. Wrecker was clinging to its tail to keep it off her while the little girl tried to stand her ground with her bow. Shiani dove on the lizard's back, teeth sinking into its neck and claws hanging on when it started screaming and bucking.

“Omega, the window!” Wrecker yelled, and the perceptive little blonde fired off a couple shots to break the war machine’s eye out. As soon as it was clear, Shiani dismounted her shrieking opponent and let Wrecker hurl it out the window.

“Bye snack.” She muttered, getting to her feet and skidding over to Tech, who was trying to interface with the machine and turn it away from the ship.

“Nothing is working. It operates on no system I've ever seen.” He said tensely. “I cannot control it.”

“Shiani, catch!” Hunter yelled, and the siren turned and grabbed the flying Heart from midair. She all but slammed it into the spot it had come from, shielding her eyes when it flared bright and melted.

The lights went out immediately, the beam of destruction petering out before it could destroy their ship. There was an eerie silence but for their overlapping breathing. “Is it… over?” Wrecker whispered.

Under their feet, the machine lurched. Out of power, it couldn't keep itself upright and started listing over for a sharp collapse to the dirt. “Hold onto something!” Hunter yelled.

Shiani wrapped a tentacle around a piece of jutting stone, securing herself. “Baby Mega, grab Hunter!”

The sergeant wrapped his arms around Omega, and Shiani caught him with another tentacle around the waist. She grabbed Wrecker and Echo similarly, then caught Tech with her legs and Phee with her arms, clinging for dear life as they crashed to the ground. The strain and jar was painful, but everyone bounced like a yo-yo instead of splattering into the ash of the desolate planet. The head they were in destroyed the better part of a hillside in the collapse.

When everything stopped moving, they were all dangling like marionettes. Shiani winced and slowly set them to the ground before kind of flopping down herself. “Everybody okay?” She mumbled.

“We're alright.” Echo nodded.

Hunter checked Omega and sighed. “No more treasure hunting, guys.”

“Agreed. Our track record is 0 for 2, even with a professional.” Tech glanced at Phee before he knelt by Shiani, checking her over.

“We proved it was real, even if it melted.” Omega looked undeterred.

“At least no one can use that… whatever kind of weapon it was, again.” Hunter took his helmet off and looked at the desolation around them again. Sometimes he wondered how this kind of shit kept happening to him. All he wanted was to earn enough credits to look after his squads without something trying to shoot them, eat them, or blackmail them.

“So it's a good thing we came.” Phee, like Omega, was never one to be put down by a near death experience. She looked at Shiani. “You okay?”

“Pulled muscles in all my tentacles. And shoulder.” Shiani groaned, turning her limbs to display the already spreading greenish bruises at the base of all four tentacles. The muscles had torn from the sheer force of the fall and everyone's weight coming to a sudden stop.

Tech scooped her up onto his arms. “We'll get bacta on that when we get to the ship. I have a couple e-bacta shots for subcutaneous injury.”

“Why didn't you tell me we had those when you broke your leg?” Shiani grumbled, but put her good arm around his neck.

“I forgot about them. My apologies, cyar'ika.”

Omega snickered from behind them, walking with Phee. She knew good and well Tech never forgot anything. He just didn’t want to use the precious few e-bacta shots on himself when there was a chance anyone else might need them. The pirate body looked amused. “I'm sorry about Mel, Phee.”

“It's okay. I have his memory data backed up on my ship. He'll be back up and running by the time we get to Vadnay. I've got a lead on an ancient chalice-” Phee went right into her newest story as they loaded into the Marauder.

Shiani let Tech give her a couple pinpointed bacta shots in her torn muscles and assure her shoulder wasn't dislocated before he put her arm in a sling. “You probably saved all our lives.” He kissed her forehead. “Though I do wish you would stop getting hurt.”

“Things happen.” She snuggled closer. “I'd do anything for the family. And follow you anywhere you go.”

“I know that you would. You are the bravest siren in the galaxy. I do not believe that to be an exaggeration.”Tech wrapped his arms around her waist.

Squeeze squeeze squeeze.

#explict #original character #clone force 99 #the bad batch #star wars #fanfic #tbb tech #song of the sea

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