#I’m not sure it’s not just the Crosshair Suite

[heyclickadee]

Slightly underrated reason I think it would be kind of cool if the audience finds out Tech’s alive before the other characters do and spends at least a little time separated from them: Tech getting to develop his own musical motif the way Omega and Crosshair have.

Actually, if I’m honest, I’d like them to all have their own motifs. Echo almost has one, but they could push the clone theme a little more to make it his own. I’m not sure Hunter’s motif isn’t the softer version of the bad batch theme (even though the full fanfare is all of them), and of course Wrecker needs one. Because imagine a moment with all of them reuniting and the music layering their various leitmotifs together and it transforming into the full bad batch fanfare. I would punch the air so hard, you have no idea.

[cuddles-with-dragons]

where the fuck is my impulse control

Yeah, Avengers AU.

Don't care what you say, I tried to make it work.

Including edited quotes from Avengers and Age of Ultron

I replaced Hulk with the Zillo Beast.

---

Dave Filoni: Superheroes in New York? Give me a break.

Echo: We won.

Hunter: All right, yay! Hurray. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it.

Wrecker: We're not finished yet.

Hunter: And then shawarma after.

Echo: Is he breathing?

Tech, in lizard form: *roars in his face*

Hunter: What the hell? What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me.

Hunter: Tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you. *a giant Chitauri is following him*

Omega: I don't see how that's a party.

Echo: Tech. Now might be a really good time for you to get angry.

Tech: That's my secret, Echo. I'm always angry.

Omega: Just like Budapest all over again.

Crosshair: You and I remember Budapest very differently.

Hunter, to Scorch: Maybe your army comes and maybe it’s too much for us, but it’s all on you. Because if we can’t protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it.

Crosshair: Why am I back? How did you get him out?

Omega: Cognitive recalibration. I hit you really hard on the head.

Crosshair: Thanks.

Crosshair: Have you ever had someone take your brain and play? Pull you out and stuff something else in? Do you know what it's like to be unmade?

Omega: You know that I do.

Mace Windu: There was an idea, Hunter knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Cody died still believing in that idea. In heroes.

Echo: Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?

Hunter: Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.

Mace Windu: I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube. And I would like to know how Scorch used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.

Wrecker: Monkeys? I don't get it.

Echo: I do! I understood that reference!

Hunter: It’s good to meet you, Tech. Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled. And I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous Godzilla lizard.

Tech: Thanks.

Hunter: The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy density. Something to kick-start the Cube.

Ahsoka: When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?

Hunter: Last night.

Hunter: Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails. *points to Anakin* That man is playing Galaga. He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did. *covers one of his eyes* How does Windu even see these?

Ahsoka: He turns.

Hunter: Sounds exhausting.

Wrecker: Don't talk like that. Scorch is beyond reason, but he's from Asgard. And he's my brother.

Omega: He killed 80 people in two days.

Wrecker: He’s adopted.

Echo: Is this a submarine?

Tech: Really? They want me in a submerged, pressurised, metal container? *walks to the side of the deck* No, no, this is much worse.

Cody: We need you to come in.

Omega: Are you kidding? I'm working.

Cody: This takes precedence.

Omega: I'm in the middle of an interrogation. This moron is giving me everything.

Bad guy: I don't... give everything.

Omega: Look, you can't pull me out of this right now.

Cody: Omega... Crosshair's been compromised.

Omega: Let me put you on hold.

Hunter: Shit!

Echo: Language!

*Some chatter and fighting later…*

Hunter: Wait a second. No one else is gonna deal with the fact that Echo just said “Language”?

Echo: I know. Just slipped out.

*Some more chatter and fighting later…*

Wrecker: Find the spear-thingy.

Hunter: And for gosh sake, watch your language!

Echo: That’s not going away any time soon.

Omega: Wrecker, report on the Zillo.

Wrecker: The gates of Hel are filled with the screams of his victims.*Omega gives him a look* But not the screams of the dead, of course. No, no, wounded screams. Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and gout.

Echo: The two Enhanced?

Ahsoka: Leia and Luke Skywalker. Twins. Orphaned at 10 when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special, but it's on the way to everywhere special.

Echo: Their abilities?

Ahsoka: He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neuroelectric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation.

Echo: *confused*

Ahsoka: He's fast and she's weird.

Ahsoka: Lab's all set up, boss.

Hunter: *points to Echo* Actually, he's the boss. I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cooler.

Tech: How's he doing?

Hunter: Unfortunately, he's still Crosshair.

Tech: That's terrible.

Hunter: Right, so, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?

Wrecker: Yes, of course.

Hunter: I will be reinstituting prima nocta. *tries to lift the hammer* I'll be right back.

Hunter: *Tries again with the Iron Man glove, nothing. Makes Rex take his glove too and they both try to lift it.*

Rex: Are you even pulling?

Hunter: Are you on my team?

Rex: Just represent. Pull.

Hunter: All right, let’s go.

*Echo tries next*

Hunter: Come on, Echo.

Echo: *makes it move a tiny bit*

Wrecker, nervously laughing: Nothing.

Echo: Sorry for barging in on you.

Hunter: Yeah, we would've called ahead, but we were busy having no idea that you existed.

Luke, in a police station: We’re under attack! Clear the city! Now! *No one’s doing anything, comes back with a gun and fires in the air* Get off your asses.

Crosshair, to Leia: Hey, look at me. It’s your fault, it’s everyone’s fault. Who cares? Are you up for this? Are you? Look, I just need to know. Because the city is flying. Okay. Look, the city is flying, we’re fighting an army of robots, and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense.

Luke: Keep up, old man! *takes Leia and runs off*

Crosshair: Nobody would know. Nobody. “The last I saw him, an Ultron was sitting on him. Yeah, he'll be missed, that quick little bastard. I miss him already.”

Crosshair: All right, we're all clear here.

Echo: We are not clear! We are very not clear!

Luke: This is S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Echo: This is what S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to be.

Luke: This isn't so bad.

Luke: *Shoves Crosshair and a kid behind cover and gets shot multiple times in the leg* You didn't see that coming?

[thejediscrolls]

You Drew Stars

Hunter x Jedi reader

Mess around and find out.

Angst

Pt 10 to You Drew Stars

“We’re almost there.” Tech’s voice rang out through the otherwise silent cockpit as he exited hyperspace.

Hunter glanced up from sharpening his knife and took in the view of the large planet. The world seemed flush with life as mountains rose and trees filled the land. You wouldn’t think that this world would have a secret lab conducting unlawful experiments with kidnapped clone troopers… Clearly the perfect choice for the empire to set up such a dangerous operation.

“We will have approximately three minutes when I land to get inside without being detected by security.” Tech stated once again.

“Got it.” Hunter put the storm trooper helmet on that Rex obtained for them.

He already didn’t like the way the suit fit him or how it was a lot less mobile then the uniform he used to wear when he was fighting for the republic… How times have changed.

“Wrecker, make sure you get the ship somewhere inconspicuous and wait for our signal… And it all else fails… Do what you do best.” Tech stated.

He then motioned for Wrecker to take the controls as soon as he landed the ship near one of the secret entrances to the mountain.

“Let’s go.” Hunter stated.

Echo and Tech followed behind him, each wearing an identical storm trooper outfit to Hunter’s. They remained quiet and vigilant as they entered the mountain and made their way up one of the ventilation shafts.

When Echo peaked his head out and saw that the coast was clear, they exited the vent and began pretending as if they belonged there.

The three stayed clear of any suspicious personnel that could blow their cover as they made their way to the level that they were keeping clone troopers.

“Up ahead and to the right.” Tech voice spoke through their personal comms.

They entered the room and was met by rows of multiple clone troopers being held against their will.

“He should be in one of these cells.” Echo said as they began their search.

Each cell was met by another familiar face, but none with the signature crosshair tattoo and permanent scowl.

…

“Can I come with you? Please? I can’t just sit here waiting a moment longer. I’ll go crazy.” Omega pleaded with Phee as she was boarding her ship.

“I know, but your brothers insisted that you stay here and I didn’t expect an urgent call from Sid. It should only take half a day tops and I’ll be back for dinner alright?” Phee tried to say.

“See! You said it yourself. Only half a day tops which means I should be able to go with you!” Omega begged and the look in her big eyes that quickly made Phee fold.

With a sigh, Phee motioned for the young girl to follow her, “Alright, but you have to listen to everything I say. Promise?”

Omega nodded eagerly as she strapped herself in the copilots seat, “Promise.”

“And I expect to get one of those smoothies that you and Wrecker have been making.” Phee said with a small grin.

Omega crossed her heart, “As soon as we get back I promise to make you one.”

…

“Do you think he might be on another level? Did we miss something?” Hunter asked as he looked into another cell.

Each cell they past left an empty feeling in each of their hearts. One, that their clone brethren were locked up and two, because their brother was nowhere to be found. The image of what has become of their brothers in arms have left a permanent scar in their minds.

Tech shook his head, “Negative. All clones have been stationed here in this cell block.”

“But he’s not just any type of clone.” Hunter shook his head, “They could have transferred him somewhere else.”

“I highly doubt that. He has to be here. There is no other place where he could be.” Tech urged as they moved forward.

“I’m going to check the layout and see if there’s a turn up ahead.” Tech looked at his data pad following behind Echo and Hunter.

“Let’s not give up just yet. We’ll keep searching until we find him.” Echo said with certainty laced in his voice.

…

“What did Sid say that she needs to talk about anyways?” Omega wondered as she swung her legs.

“Don’t know.” Phee shrugged, keeping her eyes on the stars while she flew her ship, “She just said that it was important. Maybe if we’re lucky enough, it’ll be another treasure hunt.”

“Oo!” Omega’s eyes lit up, “We haven’t gone in one of those in a while! That would be fun and I’m sure my mo-” Omega suddenly stopped swinging her feet as her happy expression fell realizing she caught herself forgetting again.

“I lost my mom when I was young too.” Phee mentioned when the silence grew heavy, “She was an amazing women. The best treasure hunter in the entire galaxy and one day… Something went wrong and I never saw her again.” Phee spoke gently, “It’s the memories that you have that counts so don’t be sad. Be proud.”

Omega nodded, “I just… I feel that she’s still here with us somehow.”

“I feel like that about my mom too.” Phee said.

Omega fell back into her seat, leaning her head against the headrest, “She would have liked a treasure hunt.”

Phee smiled softly, “I’m sure she would have.”

…

They were cutting it close as their pace quickened with each turn. They knew that it was only a matter of time before storm troopers will be poking their heads around the corner and figuring out they weren’t actually one of them.

This whole mission was dangerous and yet none of them would turn back. Not if it meant saving their brother.

“There!” Echo quickly pointed towards one of the last few cells.

Hunter let out a breath of relief as the three of them ran up to the cell.

There they found Crosshair, barely moving on the ground with bruises swelling over his skin. It looked like he had been through hell…

What happened to him? Hunter thought as Tech quickly got to work on disarming the cell shield.

“None of the others look as bad as he does.” Echo mentioned what Hunter was just thinking, “They wouldn’t have done this to just any clone… There must have been a reason…”

Hunter and Tech both nodded in agreement.

“Maybe because of Omega?” Hunter questioned.

“That is highly plausible. The cell should be open… Now.” Tech stated and suddenly the shield vanished.

Hunter and Tech quickly made their way to help their brother up as Echo stood guard.

“Crosshair.” Tech gently shook his brothers arm and doing a quick scan to check his vitals.

To that touch, Crosshair reached up and held his brother’s arm in his own death grip.

“Don’t touch her.” Crosshair growled before he fell unconscious again.

“Her?” Tech furrowed his brows underneath the helmet, “Crosshair, who are you talking about?”

“What does he mean by her?” Echo asked as he glanced towards the three in the cell.

“I don’t know, but we have to go. We’ll ask him later.” Hunter shook his head before helping Tech lift their brother in their arms.

“Echo, we need to get to a database. Rex requested we obtain all information about Project Light.” Hunter ordered and as quickly as he was trained to do, Echo tracked down where they needed to be.

“You need… Go…” Crosshair was once again fading in and out of consciousness as he muttered each word, “In… Trouble…”

“We’ll go soon, brother.” Hunter tried to console his brother as they entered a room filled with computer systems, “Just hold on a bit longer.”

Echo quickly inserted himself into the data base and began searching for the proper file that he needed.

Suddenly they were sealed shut inside the room as red lights and a loud alarm started blaring throughout the base.

“I think they suspect we are here.” Tech stated as a matter of fact.

Echo, Tech, and Hunter took off their helmets.

Hunter sighed, “Didn’t notice.”

Hunter looked to Echo with urgency, “Echo where are we at with those files?”

“Almost there.” Echo muttered without looking away from the screen, “You just need to buy me some time.”

…

“Come on. Up out of your seat little copilot.” Phee patted Omega’s shoulder as soon as she landed the ship.

The two were off the ramp and heading towards Sid’s bar without a worry in their mind, save for the boys of course. They both only wished that they would come back safe and sound with Crosshair.

“Oddly quiet tonight.” Phee remarked as she noticed the streets were pretty bare, unlike what she was used to seeing.

“I’m going to head to Sol and grab some cakes for my brothers if that’s okay?” Omega asked.

Phee nodded her head, not seeing the harm in it, “Sure thing. Grab me a snack while your at it too. Something fruity.” Phee smiled as she pulled out some credits and handed them to the girl.

Omega nodded her head and took off, leaving Phee to continue the rest of the way to Sid’s.

“Hey Sid!” Phee called out the the older woman as soon as she stepped into the bar.

It only occurred to her then that the place was empty also and a unwanted feeling began to make its way through her chest, sending pulses to her brain that told her to run.

“I’m sorry, but I need to know where the kid is Phee.” Sid appeared from her office, followed by two storm troopers, a short man in a coat and…

“You…” Phee’s eyes widened at the sight in front of her.

The cloaked woman’s body was covered by a black coat with a hood to conceal her face.

Phee held her breath as she waited for the mysterious form to reveal themselves. Slowly, the figure pulled the hood down with a metal arm to reveal a face that confirmed Phee’s gut feeling.

Phee breathed out in disbelief and happiness, “You’re alive.”

It was the man in the coat that spoke next.

“My name is Dr. Hemlock. Sid here told us all about you and how much you love treasure.” He threw a bag onto a nearby bar table and the remnants inside revealed jewels that she has never even seen before, “I know you are a smart woman and you don’t want to be caught up in this mess so be a dear and tell us where Omega is.”

Phee glanced at the bag intently. She slowly looked at the Jedi who had a glazed look over her eyes as if she wasn’t even present.

“What did you do to her?” Phee glared at the doctor.

“Don’t mind your friend, she wouldn’t even remember you even if you tried to tell her.” Hemlock waved his arm and without a second thought, the General ignited her lightsaber.

“Now. I am pretty sure I have made us a fair trade here.” Hemlock said and this time his voice was far from kind, “Tell me where the girl is.”

…

Hunter could hear footsteps quickly approaching them. He placed the rest of Crosshair’s weight to Tech before he smashed the key code to enter the room.

“That should buy us some time, but not a lot.” Hunter stated, but with a less than confident look as the banging continued outside of the door.

“Hunter…” Echo’s voice was oddly quiet as he stared at the screen in front of him.

“What?” Hunter turned to look in Echo’s direction.

He didn’t like the way that Echo looked up as if he had just seen a ghost.

“What is it?” Hunter repeated, his voice snipped as he waited for Echo to give him an answer.

“It’s.. It’s the general…” Echo took a pause to collect himself, “She’s still alive.”

…

Omega felt herself slow her run as she reached the Sol cafe. The lights had been shattered inside, leaving the cafe as dark as the street outside.

“Omega?” A familiar voice called out to her.

She hasn’t heard it in quite a while, but the waiter poked his head out from behind a booth with wide blue eyes, “What are you doing here?” Indul asked.

Omega rushed to him, wincing as she saw the deep gash that scarred his right leg.

“Are you alright? What happened to you?” She asked as she looked around at the destroyed restaurant.

“I don’t know who they are… There was one one… Black robe, they wore a hood and wielded a lightsaber. They killed Jun.” He pointed shakily to the kitchen.

He looked up panicked and scared, “They came in here looking for you Omega… You need to run. Get away as far from here as you can.” He struggled to talk through the steering pain, but the urgency was president in his voice.

Her hands hovered over his wound, not sure of what to do, “I can find Phee and she can help you.” Omega said as she stood.

“I don’t need any help.” Indul shook his head with a sigh, “But you can’t go out there by yourself.” Indul struggled to stand, “I’ll go with you.”

Omega immediately shook her head and gently sat him back down, “I’ll be fine, you need to stay still.”

“Mary is grabbing some medical supplies for my leg.” Indul assured as he placed his hand on top of hers, “Go… And may the force be with you.”

…

“Tick tok.” Dr. Hemlock spoke in a bored tone as he glanced at his watch.

“I won’t.” Phee shook her head as she took a step back and crossed her arms, “I don’t know how many pirates you’ve come across, but I ain’t one of them.”

Hemlock sighed, “I really hoped that you would have been more easily suaded like your dear friend Sid here, but I suppose it can never be that easy twice, can it?” Hemlock motioned to his new toy, “Kill her and find the girl.”

The Jedi stepped forward, a murderous look in her gaze as she lifted her lightsaber.

Phee raised her hands up, “You don’t have to do this. Please.” She said as she took a few steps back, the jedi matching with a step of her own.

Suddenly the doors to the cantina swung open and two cans of smoke rolled through the doors.

“Hurry!” Omega shouted to Phee who took no time in following the young girl out the door.

The two bolted down the street as they headed straight for their ship.

“How did they find us?” Omega asked.

“Sid sold you out kid!” Phee said as they ran.

“What? No. That can’t be!” Omega yelled shocked.

“We’ll talk about it later, this way!” Phee yelled as they took a right.

They were almost to their ship when suddenly large rubble and stone broke from a building, sealing their path shut. As they turned they could see the glowing purple from a lightsaber.

“Who is that?” Omega asked as she squinted at the cloaked figure.

“It’s…” Before Phee could answer, Omega was falling to the ground in a heavy sleep.

As Phee looked up in shock, she watched her old friend wave her hand and in a second she was out like a light.

…

“What do you mean?” Hunter’s voice was cold.

He could quiet literally hear his heart beat loudly in his eardrums blocking out the banging on the locked door as he stared at the screen that showed the very being he couldn’t live without.

He could see her face, void of any emotion as she stared at whoever had taken the photo. Her scanner showed active on the screen with the word successful project written in the top right corner of her file. His mind was racing with confusion as he tried to piece together what could have happened to her during these last few months…

The pain she must have endured. That thought alone sent a knife through his heart.

“She must have been alive when… They took her.” Echo muttered as he glanced at his brother’s reaction, “She must be who Crosshair was trying to protect…”

“Alive?” Tech echoed the word as Crosshair leaned into his side. He kept a tight grip on his brother to keep him balanced, but that didn’t stop the lump that formed in his throat, “She was alive and I left her.”

Hunter’s fury laced in his bones as he ripped the frame piece from piece. His voice roared through the sealed room as he ripped through everything he could find. Echo, Tech and Crosshair stood against one of the walls as they watched Hunter mentally loose himself. They listened to the sound of the shields disappearing in the next room, letting them know that Hunter had just inadvertently released the clones being held hostage.

“We left her.” Hunter’s voice was barely a whisper.

He headed straight to the sealed door that now opened up to the stormtroopers on the other side. Each swift movement, each yell gave way to a storm trooper falling to the ground until Hunter stood above them remaining victorious and blinded by rage.

His brothers slowed stepped to the entrance of the room, watching their brother with concern.

Hunter stood there, unmoving as each clone warily stepped out of their cells.

“Burn this place to the ground.” Venom laced his voice and fire filled his eyes as the sirens blared and the battle cries of his brethren rang out through the halls.

“We’re bringing her home.” Was Hunter’s final words as he grabbed his blaster and led his brother’s back to the Marauder.

Just hold out for me a little longer mesh’la, I’m coming for you.

Taglist

@dragonrider9905 @sarahskywalker-amadala @spacebaby1 @cocolinagoodnight @that-one-potato-girl @originalcollectionartistry @arctrooper69 @brynhildrmimi @ttzamara @fandomtrashwhore @i-just-like-to-read @kanakarbakar @dramamouse-blog @quince-xd @sunshinesdaydream @dangraccoon @solstraalaa@darkangel4121 @curious-cat-10-6 @dollyniini @urfriendlyneighbornightfury @red-plaidedandcladed @eternalwaffles @thesirenscallmelo @idoubleswearimawriter @nerdyglasess @nick-djarin @mysticcreatorfox @aeryntheofficial @originalcollectionartistry @elp-art @sunipostsstuff @andrakass2 @dangraccoon @motte-the-goblin @the1sunshine1girl @endofthexline @dalu-grantkylo @not-reilly @leafyturtle @waytoooldforthis78 @immarriedtorex @kixismybestfriend @endofthexline @pheesupremacy @kittykatslender @gisselleherrerasposts @onyxtides @techmexicanvieja @dalu-grantkylo

[spacemagicandlaserswords]

Open and Waiting (Chapter 2)

Gif from this post by @ashr-jedi

Summary: Hunter makes an appearance. You continue to warm Tech’s cock with your mouth and ruminate on previous experiences with Crosshair, Wrecker and Echo.  

Relationships: Tech x f!reader, a little bit of Hunter x f!reader, mentions of Crosshair x f!reader, Echo x f!reader and Wrecker x f!reader

Warnings: NSFW, cock warming, voyeurism, domination, submission, Dominant Tech, submissive reader, poor self worth, feelings, smut with feelings, sexual inexperience, inexperienced reader, polyamory, gag reflex, pretend sci-fi technology/science, pretend Star Wars planets and locations, not beta read. Mentions of: Deep throating, face fucking, fingering, thigh fucking, tit fucking, bukkake, cum as lube, finger fucking, grinding, toys, butt plug.

Word Count: 2085 (Chapter 2)

Authors Notes: Please read the warnings! And please let me know if you enjoyed it. The filth continues. Interspersed with … feelings? In my smut? It’s more likely than you think. 

I realised I forgot to give any context for where this story sits timeline wise and who the character of the reader is! Timeline wise, this happens at some nebulous point after Echo joins The Bad Batch and before Order 66. The reader is part of the Batch but beyond that you can interpret them however you wish. The most common example I've seen is a medic but a jedi, mechanic, intelligence officer or some other random reason for the reader being in the squad could all work as well. Whatever works for you. The main thing is that the reader is a submissive that the Batch share between themselves and are the reader's dominants. The Batch are all Dom’s in the AU of this fic, but they all have different ways of approaching it, which you’ll hopefully get a little inkling of in this chapter.

Chapters: One, Three, Four, Five, Six | Ao3

Open and Waiting (Chapter 2) 

I don’t know how much time passes but eventually I hear the faint hiss of the cockpit door opening and a soft, smooth stride moves out into the main area of the ship.

Hunter.

Our sergeant can be completely silent when he wants to be, so he’s deliberately making sure his approach can be heard. An existence created purely for tracking means that he’s basically permanently stealthy. It can be decidedly startling when he just appears next to you out of nowhere. We really need to put a bell on him or something. Though he’d probably figure out how to move so that it didn’t make a sound. Sneaky bastard.

A gruff voice at the end of the workbench announces his arrival.

“That’s in more bits than when I saw it last.”

“Yes.” Tech replies. “I hypothesised that the size of the casing could be reduced by 2.56% if I reconfigured the internal power connectors into a series of bi-linear couplings. I am currently applying this theory to the prototype you see before you, hence the 'bits' on the workbench.”

“That’s a lot of parts to shove into a small box.” responds Hunter.

“They will fit.” Tech testily replies.

“I don’t doubt that.” Hunter answers.   

There’s a brief pause while Tech zaps something and Hunter shifts slightly to the side.

I think I’m being inspected.

Hunter definitely can’t have missed that I’m currently naked, kneeling between Tech’s thighs with my eyes closed, hands restrained behind my back and Tech’s cock stuffed in my mouth.

“You went with the leather cuffs then.” Hunter states.

I am definitely being inspected.

“They are more suited to the purposes of this exercise.” Tech explains. “The focus is on sensation and submission and as an introduction to this practice, I thought it pertinent to ease into the experience gently. The leather cuffs provide an acceptable level of restraint and serve as a reminder of their position, both physically and mentally.”

“Plus you made them.” Hunter adds.

“Correct. Both the wrist cuffs and collar are of my own design and creation.” Tech replies.

They’re talking about me like I’m not even here. Like I’m not currently desperately drooling around Tech’s cock, unable to move or escape their gaze. The thought makes my pussy throb.

“Oh, she’s enjoying this.” Hunter laughs.

“I trust you can smell her arousal.” Tech asks, though it’s not framed as a question.

“Yup.” Hunter answers. “I could smell her in the cockpit like she was in there. It’s stronger than usual.”

“I have observed a number of indicators of her heightened state of arousal myself.” Tech adds.

“Is this what she’s been worrying about?” asks Hunter.

“If by ‘this’, you mean the practice of cock warming that the two of us are currently engaging in, then yes.” Tech replies.

“You’ve just got your dick in her mouth.” Hunter observes bluntly.

“Yes.” replies Tech. “That is the point.”

There’s a rather telling pause and I can just picture the looks that are being exchanged. An arched, tattooed eyebrow is probably being met with a decidedly unimpressed flat stare emanating from behind yellow lenses. Another slip of drool spills from the corner of my stretched mouth and runs down my chin to join the rest of the mess that is covering my face.

Tech shifts and launches into a lecture. There’s probably a finger being raised.

“Cock warming is the practice of placing one's cock in an orifice of one's partner. This can be done via the mouth, rear or vagina, if the penetratee possesses that particular genitalia. The cock is then left inside the partner's orifice where they are to keep it warm. The name speaks for itself. Outside of the basic principle of the act, the parties involved can agree on various additional stipulations, such as how long the penetratee must keep their partner's cock inside them or if they are allowed to move or make noise. I have read numerous accounts where both partners extol the virtues of this practice, describing it as surprisingly peaceful and an excellent way of entering subspace.”

“I’m sure it’s enjoyable, I’ve just never heard of it, that’s all.” Hunter supplies.

“I must admit that I was not overly familiar with the practice myself but it has proved to be a most enjoyable addition to our play thus far.” Tech provides.

I could already tell he was enjoying it, given the harness of his erection currently occupying my mouth. Hearing the verbal confirmation just adds to the feeling of deep satisfaction and submission warming in my chest. Another shiver runs through my body and I can feel more of my saliva pool in my mouth.

“Was there a reason for your interruption of my work?” Tech directs at Hunter in a slightly curt manner.

“That’s not the only thing I’m interrupting” Hunter snarks back.

“Quite.” Tech leaves the implication implicit.

Hunter sighs briefly before adding “Yeah we got a comm from the 369th.”

“Ah. Are they still experiencing difficulty with the Separatist base built into the side of the Markontia Gorge on Bezril IX?” Tech asks, fully aware of the answer already.

“Yeah, they might need our help with their current campaign but nothing’s confirmed yet so we’re on standby for now. If they need us to blast a hole into the Seppie base then we should hear back by the next rotation.” Hunter adds.

“Wrecker will be pleased.” Tech comments.

“I can think of something else that would please Wrecker.” Hunter slyly hints at.

“Wrecker may make use of our shared submissive when it is his turn.” Tech replies swiftly, irascible intent laced through the words, making it crystal clear that I am his right now.

“Additionally, he has made it quite clear that he does not wish to test the limits of her capacity for oral penetration until her gag reflex has improved.” Tech adds.

A slice of shame and disappointment cuts through me. I’ve always had problems with my gag reflex. Lack of experience will do that to you, I guess. I’ve been slowly working on improving it and they’ve all been so gentle and careful and patient with me. I desperately want to be able to deep throat each of them or be face fucked into a wall one day. At the moment though, the best I can manage is the tip of one of their cocks at the back of my mouth and even that still sets the damn thing off sometimes.

Wrecker has been so sweet about it. There is no denying that he is exceptionally well endowed and that his cock is, well, enormous, to put it bluntly. The poor man is well aware of it too. There is nothing I’d love more than to be absolutely impaled on his thick cock, but the first time I saw it I did worry that I’d never be able to fit it in me. I still do but we’re slowly getting there. He’s been so wonderful and understanding of my current abilities and their limits. Wrecker is such a beautiful human to experience pleasure with. He’s so full of joy about the entire thing. I didn’t have a great deal of experience before somehow ending up with all of them and I’d never had a joyful sexual encounter before Wrecker. I didn’t even know it was possible and had burst into tears afterwards. He’d been so alarmed and concerned that he’d inadvertently hurt me but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Thankfully, he’s the most emotionally intelligent out of all of them and we’d had a wide-ranging, open and reassuring conversation about sexual experience and intimacy as I lay curled against his chest. I still struggle with tensing up sometimes and Wrecker has been a great boon in getting me more accustomed to preparation. He’s a big proponent of lube and has a whole assortment of different types that we’re slowly working our way through. One or two of his fingers are more than enough to open me up and I could have those big, thick, slicked up digits sliding in and out of me for hours.

And there is nothing quite so wondrous as lying there laughing and kissing and giggling as he fucks my thighs. Wrecker has been very keen to emphasise that there’s more to sex than just penetration and we’ve been exploring some intriguingly varied ways to experience pleasure together. The first time he’d fucked my tits was something else. His oleaginous, lubed cock sliding between my breasts, cupped in his massive hands as his fingers and thumb played with my nipples. When he’d finally exploded all over my chest, neck and face, I don’t think I’d ever been covered in quite so much cum.

Well, at least not until we had that bukkake session. Trying to get cum out of your hair in a sonic is difficult to say the least and Hunter ended up hand washing it out for me. It had been worth it though for the way they had all looked down at me while they pumped their cocks and came all over my obedient, kneeled form, mouth hanging open and tongue out to catch as much as I could.

I’d knelt there afterwards like a statue. Covered in their cum, stained and claimed in their release. Rivets of translucent white slowly running down my skin. I could feel it pool in the hollow of my neck and drip off my nipples. It sounds ridiculous but in that moment I just wished I could exist like that forever, eternally marked as theirs. Just like I wish I could openly and proudly display the marks they leave on my skin, claims bruised into my neck for all to see. They are all such wonderful dominants, each unique in their own approach. I’m eternally thankful that they all chose me to be their submissive. I would happily serve at their feet and allow them to use me as they pleased for the rest of my existence if this damn war wasn’t going on.

I do need to work on having a bit more self preservation though. One of them is bad enough but whenever they end up scheming together, they start coming up with Plans and Ideas. That’s how I then found myself wiping their cum off me with my hands before eating it in front of them like some lewd and licentious spectacle. Being made to finger yourself using the cum of your dominants as lube while they watch is also a whole new level of depravity. I’d had to beg each of them for permission to cum before I’d finally been allowed to finger fuck myself into oblivion.  

Wrecker isn’t the only one that is explicitly clear that their boundaries for playing with me are guided by my current abilities. Crosshair steadfastly refuses to even entertain my suggestion of face fucking until I can, in his words, “keep my balls against your chin, doll”. Echo had gone all serious when I had timidly requested to go down on him for the first time. There had been some stern yet heart-felt words about the importance of pacing and not rushing into things or pressuring yourself to try something you’re not ready for. We’d ended up grinding against each other instead, which was just as enjoyable. It meant I got to watch him come undone as I thrust my hips into his groin and then he’d made me straddle his leg and grind myself to completion on his thigh. There is something about the sensation of smooth durasteel gliding under your wet, sensitive pussy and pressing against your clit that is otherworldly. I’ll have to ask Tech if he’s able to shape some kind of toy out of the metal. A durasteel butt plug sounds like an excellent idea.

I still wish I could do more for them and wasn’t trapped in my own body and mind. The discontent and shame at my perceived failures is still there, despite how well I might be managing to warm Tech’s cock with my mouth at the moment. My lips are wrapped around a decent amount of his length and the tip of his cock is fairly close to the back of my mouth but I could always do more and try to get him a little deeper. I take a steadying breath through my nose, will my throat to relax and move to take more of him in.

------

Author’s Note: Tiny bit of a cliffhanger! This is mainly because I wrote this all in a giant keyboard mashing haze with absolutely no thoughts of structure. Going back while editing and trying to figure out where to shove in chapters to break it up has been a bit tricky, so if they’re a tad clunky that’s why.

You’ll see how Tech reacts in Chapter 3, along with some musings on previous sessions with Hunter and Crosshair. 

Taglist: @queenariesofnarnia @skywlker-sluvtt @techs-assistant

[bigbadbatch]

The Light We Feel - Chapter 5

On Jedha, things don't go according to plan, everything unravels.

My FAV chapter so far!

Hunter x fem!JediOC - 2k words.

Warnings: Injuries

Listening Recommendation: Let it Happen by Punch Brothers.

Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Hunter's POV

To say the planet was hot would have been an understatement. The crew stood in the shade of the Marauder and took small sips of water as Tech fiddled with the locator’s coordinate map. “I just don’t understand.” He said. “There is some sort of frequency disrupting our gear. I can’t get a read on our heading.”

I splashed water onto my face and head, my hair dripping.

“I say we find somewhere to make camp. Look again with fresh eyes in the morning.” I took one last swig of water as I said it, and started for the on-ramp. We had been on Jedha for two days, searching caverns and temples, and had found some great artifacts, but no key. Thea was thrilled at the finds we had already secured. It brought a smile to my face just remembering her excitement when we unearthed an ancient Anchorite tablet. She prattled on and on with Tech about the significance of the find, and how best to store it. I stole a look at her as we all settled into the ship, Tech taking the helm. Her hair was up, and her face was tinted pink from the intense sun. She caught my gaze and gave me a tired smile. I had been meaning to talk with her, really talk, but privacy isn’t my brother’s strong suit. We landed near our next target area, Tech having narrowed down our best location guess to a ten mile radius of caverns and ridges. That’s when Echo piped up with a brilliant idea.

“Tomorrow morning we should split into teams. We can cover more ground that way.” I nod, “Great thinking Echo. We can each have a partner to search with, and rendezvous back here by nightfall.” Murmurs of approval around the group, and then Tech began assigning roles based on the challenges of each search area.

“Omega and I can take the ridges, I’m sure there will be some climbing involved. Hunter and Thea can take the caverns, Echo and Wrecker can take the plain lands between.”

“Sounds great.” Thea chipped in, and Wrecker waggled his eyebrows at me. I shot him a warning look and said

“Well let’s all get some shut eye. We will check in at dawn before heading out.” We all made to head for our bunks, but Thea still sat in the red dirt. She rubbed at her neck and shoulders, a pained expression on her face.

“You alright?” I called to her, headed back down the ramp. She noticed me and stood, wincing.

“Yeah” she said “Just a little sore. I haven’t been sleeping great the past few nights.” I nod, and feel like an idiot. Of course she wasn’t sleeping well, the cot in the hall of the Marauder slept like shit, and I was a shit leader for not stepping up and being a gentleman. 

“You’re sleeping in my bed tonight.” I said flippantly, casually. It was only when I saw her panicked expression that I realized my mistake. “Without me! I’ll be on the cot tonight. You can take my bunk, and I’ll be on the cot. Not in my bunk- with you.” Real smooth. She laughed a bit and smirked. “I don’t mind the cot. I just have had some rough dreams lately.” I nod, understanding. I had nightmares too, especially since we lost Crosshair.

“Take the bunk.” I said. “That’s an order. You need rest for the search tomorrow.”

She stands and salutes me. “If you say so, I won’t argue.” She walks past me. I tried my best not to watch her go. 

That night on the cot, I understood why she hadn’t been sleeping well. My bunkroom on the Marauder had thick blast proof walls, which were also sound dampening. Out in the open of the ship, every beep and click and whirl of mechanics kept me awake. I had to distract myself. I wish something else had come to mind, but all I could focus on was Thea in my bed. This was the second time she lay in my bed, and I didn’t share it with her. I wiped a hand over my face, my body heating as I imagined her curled on my sheets, head on my pillow. Stop, stop. 

With some deep breaths I run over the plan for tomorrow, mapping out routes and strategies in my mind. Eventually I fell asleep.

—-

Thea’s POV.

I woke up in Hunter’s bed, again. It smelled like him. Though I could hear the men in the hallway, talking, I did all I could to stay and soak it all in. His bed was warm, his room tidy and so much like him. I knew I had to get moving, so reluctantly I met the boys in the ship’s common area, ready to go. As Tech debriefed with Echo, Wrecker and Omega about each one’s route, Hunter stood next to me by the wall. 

“How’d you sleep?” His voice was gravelly with morning.

I smiled, “Actually really well for once. Thank you. I owe you one.” He smiled and I couldn’t help but smile back. 

“Don’t mention it.” He said. “Ready? We can head out and get a start on the search. Plenty of ground to cover.” I nod and off we went.

Our first two caverns were a bust. After searching a third cavern we took a stop to rest and check in with the group via comms. Hunter had a small backpack with essentials- water, rations, and a few emergency items. I set down the Zyggerian energy bow I had borrowed from Omega and leaned against the stone wall. “Thirsty?” Hunter said as he handed me a canteen. The water was cool and refreshing, and I did my best not to gulp it down. This desert planet was sweltering during the day, but could hit freezing temperatures at night. We sat in silence for a moment, resting and enjoying the respite from the heat in the darkness of the cavern. A question ate at me. “Can I ask you something?” It came out before I could stop it. Hunter gave a curt nod and focused his eyes on me in response. “Why did you and your crew split from the Empire? I mean most clones still work for the Empire, but you and the rest of the batch… what happened?”

Hunter rubbed a hand through his hair and gave a sigh. I sat and listened as he launched into his tale. An order had come through during a routine mission. Order 66. All clones were ordered to kill all Jedi. He refused. He went on to tell me about the inhibitor chips implanted in each clone forced them to obey the order, how regardless of the bonds they had with their Jedi generals, they had to comply. He told me about how his and his team’s ‘defects’ overrode the chips for awhile. I couldn’t help it. Grief and overwhelming sadness welled inside me, and silent tears fell as he continued his story. 

“The boys and I have have a friend, a brother really, Rex. He helped us excise our chips on Bracca. Now we can never be forced to do anything we don’t want to do, like hurt a Jedi. If there are any left, that is.”

I quickly wiped away my tears and cleared my throat. “Yeah.” I said. That’s all I could say. A million thoughts flooded my mind, swirling. Hunter truly was safe. He wasn’t like the other clones, the ones who had done all those horrific things. I was safe with the batch, with him and Omega and the others. But sudden images of the fire, the smoke, the blaster shots rang in my ears, and I held my tongue. 

Hunter moved to get closer to me, concern in his eyes. I remembered he could hear my rapid heartbeat with his enhanced senses. “Are you oka…”

A shrill screech shatters his words. Skittering legs and scattering rocks as the cavern is sudden filled- filled by this enormous creature. A Skriton. The scorpion-esque giant crawled in from deeper in the cavern, and moved to block the exit where sunlight gleamed. I grabbed my bow, and Hunter quickly had his blaster in hand. 

“No. Sudden. Movements.” He growled to me. So slowly, I drew back my bow as the skriton’s looming, barbed tail swished in the light of the mouth of the cavern. I held my breath, waiting to see who would strike first. The skriton. Lighting fast, its barbed tail lashed out, and Hunter rolled away in a dodge, firing at the beast. Its hard exoskeleton was impervious to the blaster’s bolts, and I tried with my bow to no avail. The skriton turned a massive pincer to me and snapped at my face. I backpeddled, firing all the way, as Hunter aimed for its eyes. His shot rang true and the creature screamed so shrill that it hurt my ears. Half-blind the creature clawed out at us, its tail piercing the ground in quick strikes around us. One strike was worryingly close to Hunter, and I gasped out of instinct. The creature whirled towards me, the claw knocking me backwards and flat on my back, bow skittering across the cavern floor away from me. It raised the claw to smash me, and I went to roll away, but the claw was slammed away from me by a hard body. Blaster steaming, Hunter fired shot after shot at close range into the monster’s face, and it struck blindly out, pincer connecting with Hunter’s skin and squeezing tight. I could hear the splintering of bone as Hunter called out, “Run, Thea!” But I couldn’t. My heart pounded and my ears were ringing.. Suddenly the cavern shakes, and my vision blurs. My muscles tensed and the ceiling of the cavern collapsed. 

—

When the dust cleared, the skriton was dead. The patch of rock above its head had fallen, crushing it and only it. A lone claw sat severed on the floor feet away from its remains, still wrapped around Hunter’s leg. I ran to him, as he was just sitting up, propping himself on his elbows. Using all my strength I pried the pincer off of him. His shin and ankle were already bruised a deep purple. “You’re gonna need a bio-cast, Hunter.” I gently help him sit up all the way.

“I have a med-spike in the emergency bag. That should kick-start the healing and get me through until the others can recover us. Grab it and the comm for me will you?” I did as I was told, and Hunter didn’t even flinch when I injected the bacta from the med-spike into his thigh. A chill settled over my shoulders. The sun was setting, and the killer cold was sweeping over the desert planet. 

Hunter made a call to Tech. The other two groups were just rendezvousing at the ship, it would be an hour before they could make it to our coordinates. 

Hunter dragged himself to the cavern wall and sat against it. I joined him, shivering, half from cold and the other half from adrenaline. I felt so fatigued, hollowed out even. “C’mere, keep warm.” Hunter said, slurring his words a bit. The med-spike had pain reducing sedatives, and I doubted I could keep him awake much longer. Glad for the warmth, I moved in close to him and he wrapped an arm around me, rubbing my bare skin to relieve the chill. “You’ll be okay, Hunter.” I said, teeth chattering. “They’ll be here soon.”

He laughed deep in his throat, and just that laugh sent warmth spreading throughout me. 

“‘Course I will be.” He mumbled. “Got you, don’t I? Right here with me, mesh’la.” 

I gave him a quizzical look. “What’s that mean? Mesh’la?”

He turned his head to face me, and gazed into my eyes. His eyes flicked down to my lips, and before I could stop him, he kissed me. I somehow both froze and melted into him at once. He pulled away smiling. "Been meanin' to do that." He said.

I shook my head, "...Hunter. You're not yourself right now. Try to go to sleep." He smiled and laid his head against the wall, immediately drifting to sleep. My hand shook as I lifted it to touch my lips. He couldn't have meant anything by it, right? It was the meds talking. I sat there thinking about it over and over until I heard Wrecker call out "They're in here!"

Once we had been recovered, and Hunter was safely in a bio-cast and tucked into his bunk, I sat in a flight seat aboard the Marauder, exhausted. Omega prattled to me about her adventure, how she had single-handedly found the key we had been searching so tirelessly for. “I just had a feeling!” She said. I laughed quietly. I still couldn't stop thinking about Hunter, our kiss. I had made up my mind that I would never mention it. He likely wouldn't remember, and I didn't want to embarrass him. But...

A low whistle sounded from behind me. Wrecker had used the key we found to unlock the chest Cid had loaded onto the ship before we left. Glittering in the chest were gemstones of various sizes and colors. Tech said, “Well that is certainly worth the price the buyer is paying.” We were to meet the buyer on the other side of Jedha the next day and make the exchange for Cid. “I’m gonna turn in, Omega.” I said, feigning a yawn. I dreamt of skriton and falling gemstones, Hunter’s lips on mine. 

—

“Where is this nerfherder?” Hunter asked gruffly, as we all stood in the heat outside the Marauder. We were to meet the buyer in the Spires, an area of towering boulders and columns of rock. It provided decent cover and shade, but something about it set me on edge.

Omega sat against a column on which one of the largest boulders perched. She sketched in a little book the outlines of the Spires above and around her, bored with waiting. “Here.” A nasally voice piped from behind the columns, and into the semi-circle stepped a small group of Zabraks, dressed in tattered desert clothing with cotton masks over their mouths and noses. Instantly I feel my muscles snap to attention. They were…off. Fidgety. Their cloaks seemed too bulky, draped oddly around their bodies. Before I could warn the others, the Zabraks pulled out their blasters and aimed at each one of us, Omega included. Hunter froze, his leg healed with the help of the bio-cast’s quick setting, but the bruises still causing a limp that I knew made him feel uncomfortable. “Now boys.” Echo said, stepping forward to calm the situation. The Zabraks cocked their blasters, the clicks echoing in the rocky canyon. Omega sat very still against the rock column to my right, and I noticed Hunter was moving, ever so slowly towards her. He was only feet away from her when the Zabraks noticed him. “Don’t move!” A small one shouted. He had to be only a child. Hunter raised his hands and nodded. “Easy, kid.” He said.

“Give us the chest and no one gets hurt.” The leader of the Zabraks barked.

“Take it.” Echo said. “Means nothing to us, we’re just the messengers.”

The Zabraks sent two of their men forward who gathered up the chest and as the rest backed away slowly, I silently breathed a sigh of relief. Then, chaos.

The head Zabrak shot one bolt from his blaster, not at any of us, but at the boulder over Omega’s head, sending it careening down towards her. Hunter dove at her, but with no time to do anything but cover her body with his. I froze. Time froze too. Electricity seemed to buzz around me, as visions came flooding back. I had been dreaming of this moment. It was why I was here. I knew what I had to do. I lifted my arms, focusing. I closed my eyes. 

— Hunter’s POV—-

I waited for the end. Any millisecond now, the boulder would crush us, but atleast Omega would feel loved and held as we both went. I held her tight against my chest, and closed my eyes tight. Nothing. I opened my eyes. A large shadow pooled around us, a perfect circle of darkness in the harsh light of the sun. I looked up. Looming above me, frozen in the air, was the boulder. How could this be? Everything was silent. “Thea?” Omega said, her voice shaking with fear. I looked to Thea, and everything became clear. She stood, arms outstretched, in a form I knew all too well. Blood trickled from her nose and down her chin, as she shook with the effort of using the Force to lift the boulder and set it gently down, feet away from us. Our eyes met. Then she collapsed. 

[dangraccoon]

Oyuba'din - Epilogue

Summary: A familiar scene plays out...almost

Warnings: canon typical violence, Big Ouchie type feelings

Author's Note: *gonzo voice* this looks familiar, vaguely familiar No but for real, if it hadn't been for the love and support y'all have sent my way, I don't think I would've had the inspiration to finish this, let alone start a sequel! This fic will be going up on AO3 sometime in the near future, and I will be writing and posting the sequel fic Jari'eyc in a couple weeks!

Make sure you leave me a comment or reblog in the notes below, or submit an update to your taglist request here if you want to be added to the taglist for Jari'eyc! The taglist will be resetting, so make sure you let me know if you want to see more!

« Previous Chapter

The group stalked quietly through the labyrinth of hallways, narrowly avoiding other troopers. 

“We’re not going to get very far without our gear,” Tech sighed.

“They started moving all your things to the hangar,” Omega told Hunter. “Your gear might be there, too.”

Hunter nodded. “This way.”

The squad ran into the hangar as Tech opened the door, searching through the rows of crates for their gear.

“Alright, boys, suit up,” Hunter ordered, finding a crate filled with his own armor. “Let’s make this quick.”

The squad dug into the cargo, pulling out various pieces of equipment.

Wrecker groaned, mumbling softly to himself.

“Tech, Echo, power up the ship,” Hunter said. “The rest of us will go after-”

“I don’t think we’ll have to go far,” Omega whispered. 

Wrecker’s mouth fell open. “Is that-”

“Jaine?” Crosshair breathed. He could feel his heart shattering as Jaine entered with a whole squad, herself clad in new, darkly colored armor. She removed her helmet, crimson hair falling to her shoulders, now streaked with stark white. 

Time seemed to stand still, even as the rain pounded against the hangar, punctuated by thunder and flashes of lightning. 

Hunter swallowed and stood, catching Jaine’s eye. 

“Stand down, Sergeant. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.” 

A chill ran down Crosshair’s spine. Her melodic voice sounded eerily robotic now. Was this really their Jaine or a just very convincing droid?

“Jaine,” Hunter pleaded. “What are you doing? It’s us.”

“I read the report of your mission on Kaller. I also read the report from the captain of that battalion, who doubts your report. You should have killed that Jedi kid,” she said, sounding almost bored. 

“Jaine, this isn’t you,” Hunter pleaded. “You’ve got to snap out of it. We’re your family!”

“I have no family,” Jaine roared, anger already receding as she winced, hand almost rising to touch her head. “You went against orders. That cannot be tolerated.”

“I did what I thought was right.”

Jaine scoffed, unimpressed. “What a shame it is that you’ve never been able to see the bigger picture. Surrender. Now.”

Hunter’s eyes darted away from Jaine to the rest of his squad, reluctantly pulling themselves into ready positions, and Omega, hunkered down behind a crate. 

“Is that an order, Lieutenant?”

Jaine bristled. “It is now.”

With one last glance at his squad - his family - Hunter smirked ever so slightly. 

“Guess I’m disobeying that one, too.”

Hunter could hear the crackles of electricity sparking at Jaine’s fingertips. He kept his eyes on her, waiting for her to make the move, but praying she wouldn’t. 

With a sharp grunt from Jaine, a streak of lightning flew out towards Hunter, who barely dodged it.

As the troopers with her began firing on the squad, Hunter dove behind the crate as his brothers fired back.

Jaine growled, forcing her hands out in front of her, red smoke pouring from her palms, filling the space between her and her old squadmates. Pressing a button on her new helmet, she could see the heat signatures of each of them. Wrecker and Crosshair behind one set of crates, Hunter and the girl behind another. She hurled a few more bursts of lightning towards them, hitting their cover hard.

“Tech, we gotta move,” Hunter growled through the comms. “Now.”

“We’re working on it,” Tech answered, hands flying across the control panels.

“Wrecker, clear the smoke on three,” he ordered.

“You got it, boss,” Wrecker nodded, grabbing a few lids from the crates.

“Omega, stay low,” he said. “One…two-”

“Three!” Wrecker shouted, jumping up from the cover to use the lids as fans, before sending one of them flying towards the regs. Jaine barely dodged the second one as it kareened towards her.

Wrecker reached for the blaster strapped to his back, but Jaine was faster, sending a fast shot from her blaster towards him, clipping his shoulder. 

He shouted in pain as he fell, his helmet flying off and landing next to him.

Omega stood up, starting to jog towards the large heap Wrecker lay in.

“Omega! Don’t!” Hunter shouted, grabbing her arm and pulling her back, the shot Jaine intended for her missing by a few short inches. “She’s using him as bait.”

“But he needs help!” Omega protested.

“Tech,” he growled. “We’re out of time!”

“Almost got it,” came Tech’s reply as the thrusters came to life, catching Jaine’s eye.

“What are you waiting for?” she shouted at the reg closest to her. “Seal the bay door!”

The reg nodded, rushing to the control panel to hit the appropriate button. 

Hunter watched, a deep dread forming at the pit of his stomach as the doors to their exit began to close. But then they stopped, despite the alarms still blaring.

Jaine’s head whipped around to the reg at the panel.

“Sir, someone’s overriding the controls!”

She growled. Watching the heat map of the squad.

Hunter kneeled next to Omega. “When I say ‘go’, you head for that ramp, and don’t stop, got it?” She nodded and he turned to face Crosshair. “Cross, we go for Wrecker.”

Jaine watched across the hangar. “Only one way out, Hunter. Your move.”

“Go!” Hunter shouted, popping up to lay down cover fire as Omega and Crosshair ran behind him. 

Jaine came out from behind her cover, energy surging at her fingertips. 

She raised her hands, vision locked on to Crosshair, Wrecker, and Hunter.

A single shot sounded; a stun round hitting Jaine’s hand, knocking her to the ground.

Omega lifted her head from the rifle, steam flowing from the barrel. As the others got up, so did Jaine, pulling her blaster from her waist as Omega began to fire off more shots until her brothers were on board, the shots from Jaine merely hitting the surface of the hull. The Marauder rose and exited the hangar as Jaine wrenched her bucket off, scowling up as the ship escaped.

Thanks for reading! - River

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[levi-venn]

My Favorite Meatbag

(Tech & TAY-0)

(w/ special appearance by Crosshair and Egg the Crow from the Cross and Crow series)

Also found on AO3 here

"We're baaaaack!" Omega's voice bounced with her steps as she bolted down the Marauder’s ramp. She was greeted by a crowd of Pabu villagers who responded to her cheer with equal excitement. 

Tech was hoping no one would notice their arrival, yet it sounded like the whole island was present.

"Yeah! Woo! We made it!" Wrecker shouted, shaking the whole ship as he ran down the ramp after Omega.

Tech was still seated on his bunk as he watched Hunter and Echo follow Wrecker. They graciously accepted pats on the back and warm hugs from the villagers as they descended, expressing a level of ease and good humor that eluded Tech on even his most social days.

He wished they had arrived in the dead of night, so that he may sneak off to his assigned quarters, decompress, and then acclimate to this new life on his own schedule. 

"Are you coming?" 

Crosshair stood at the top of the ramp, his newly befriended crow, Egg, sitting on his shoulder. 

Crosshair and Egg gave Tech an intense stare, and they both had a toothpick in their mouth and beak respectively. 

"Not yet," Tech said. “I will be along shortly.”

He wasn't making an excuse, but it was a convenient last errand before he unofficially retired with his siblings.

“Suit yourself,” Crosshair shrugged. “We’re going to the beach. Less people. C’mon, Egg, let’s stretch our wings.”

Tech waited until Crosshair exited the ramp before closing the hatch. Not being interrupted by loud, friendly locals was preferable, especially during this rather delicate procedure.

Tech sat at his work bench and produced a soft cloth bundle from his munitions cache where he had stored the racer droid’s head over a year ago. 

The sudden destruction of TAY-0 was jarring to say the least, and it had felt wrong to leave him behind on Safa Toma to be melted down and turned into who-knows-what.

Tech removed TAY-0’s faceplate, studying the tangled and frayed wires within and seeing a clearer path here than he did in his own future. Beyond the Marauder’s ramp there were too many variables to quantify, but here he still had some semblance of control and he wasn't going to leave the ship until TAY-0 was up and running.

It took twenty minutes longer than he anticipated, but by the time he was done the cacophonous joy outside the ship had dissipated, and was replaced with the crisp sounds of TAY-0’s circuits jolting to life. 

Tech replaced the faceplate just as the three eyes and series of rectangles that shaped the droid’s mouth began to flicker.

“I…regret…nothing!” TAY-0 said, repeating his final words expelled moments after being blown to bits by a fellow riot racer’s pod. 

"Hello," Tech greeted. "How are you feeling?"

“Woo! What a rush!” TAY-0’s triple eyes flashed and his face plate tried to spin, but was blocked by the workbench. He bobbled clumsily across the surface. “Safa Toma’s finest is back, baby! Can’t keep a good TAY-0 dow-…wait…what?! Why can’t I move?!”

Tech picked up the disembodied head. “I’m sorry to have brought you back in such a state, but I wanted to make sure I could restore you, before building you a body.”

TAY-0 flipped his face plate around once. Then twice. Then spun frantically. “Where is my everything, human?!”

Tech adjusted his goggles. “In a scrap pile, I imagine, to be melted down and reused for future Riot Racer repairs.”

"Well, aren't you just a meatbag full of sunshine and confetti? TAY-0's in pain here, human, how about a little sympathy?"

“You don’t have any pain receptors,” Tech said.

“Emotional pain!” TAY-0 said. “TAY-0’s heart is broken, literally and figuratively!”

“It…isn’t ideal, I admit,” Tech said. “Now that we've docked however, I can put together something more mobile for you. I again, apologize for your condition and how long it took me to revive you."

“What do you mean ‘how long’?” TAY-0 balked. “Give it to me straight, doc. How long was TAY-0 out for?”

Tech did a quick calculation, subtracting the two initial attempts to revive TAY-0. “Fourteen standard months, and thirteen days.”

“A whole year?!” TAY-0 cried. “An entire year of my life gone?! What about TAY-0's family, huh?! TAY-0's wife probably ran off with some smarmy R2 unit! Soooo typical."

Tech's eyes narrowed.

"I am not a stranger to sarcasm." Tech said, dryly. This was…partially true. He did miss sarcasm more often than not, but TAY-0’s sarcasm was as thick as Crosshair’s and easily identifiable. 

"Caught on, huh? Fourteen months is nothing," TAY-0 said, cheerfully. “I'm gonna live forever.” His face plate did a 360 turn. "So, when's the next race? You better not have trashed my pod while I was out of commission."

Tech frowned. "There is no race. I don't believe this planet has racing of any kind."

Surprisingly, TAY-0 didn’t have an immediate response. In fact, he looked at Tech with what could be described as a blank expression. “Hey, not to look a gift eopie in the snoot, but why would you bring TAY-0 back if not for racing?"

"I don’t understand the question.”

"My owners bring me out for two things: Racing and Prepping for a Race. If I’ve completed those tasks, boom, TAY-0 is shut down and shoved in a locker until the next race. So what’s the play here? Why bring me out if I’m not useful?”

“I…” Tech blinked. "I was unaware of this arrangement. Did you not have a choice in the matter?"

"Hah, a droid with a choice? Cute, human, real cute. Droids get powered up to make credits for the meatbags, that's just how it is."

"It isn't like this everywhere. Certainly not here."

Again TAY-0 was quiet, tilting his face plate down as though deep in thought. "Okay…so…you still haven't answered my question, human."

"It's not a complicated reason." Tech said. “It bothered me that you were destroyed. I wanted to restore you.”

After a moment, Tech added. “You also call me ‘human’, and I find it fascinating.”

“Okay, wow…well, if calling someone by their species is all the criteria I need for a friendship I’d be much more popular.”

Tech hadn’t mentioned friendship. This was simply a gesture of good will. Nothing more. Probably.

“I am a clone of a human," Tech clarified. "and what’s more, I am a variant clone, an experimental project. As such I grew up being called all manner of things, but never 'human'. My brothers and I have owned the moniker ‘bad batch’, but I do not believe I am ‘bad’. In fact, I feel far superior to regs…regular clones and humans.”

"Huh…"

Tech waited for a snarky reply, mocking him for just the simple pleasure of being considered human.

Surprisingly, all three of TAY-0's eyes dimmed briefly, with some sort of emotion Tech couldn't immediately decipher. 

“TAY-0 knows how lonely it is at the top. It's hard being this good-looking and talented, y’know? Well you probably don’t know, but trust me. Everyone is jealous of me on Safa Toma.”

Tech’s eye twitched. “I see…”

“Well anyway! So you freed TAY-0 and that’s great news and all, but I have a pretty big existential question here, human: TAY-0 is good at racing, right? And if there’s no racing then what am I good at exactly?”

The question struck Tech like clanker shrapnel to the heart. "As it happens, I have been asking that very same question of myself. I was a soldier, then a mercenary of sorts, now…I have a stable home, and no mission. The future is uncertain and it bothers me greatly."

"Same boat, huh? Well, human, you're in luck, because I have an exceptional mind and you're pretty smart, too. We're going to come up with new purposes. Between the two of us we can figure it out, yeah?"

Tech smiled faintly. "Perhaps we can."

“Sooo, where did you bring me, human? Where are TAY-0’s new stomping grounds, assuming you’re going to give me some stomping feet?"

“You may receive treads, but we’ll deal with that later,” Tech said. Holding TAY-0’s head-frame firmly, he went to the cockpit, bringing up a holomap to accompany the rather spectacular view. 

To the East was an uninterrupted landscape of calm ocean, the sapphire waters wearing the golden sunlight like a shimmering cape. 

To the West was home.

“This…is Pabu.”

The single mountainous island was a quiet sentinel in the dreamy sea, rich in natural history, peaceful at times, violent in others. The domestic structures built all over the island seemed to add to the beauty, not tame it, as if the island itself granted permission to let these villagers thrive.

TAY-0 gasped. “Wow…”

Tech’s smile widened, with an unexpected sense of pride.

“...this place is cuuuuuute.”

Tech’s lips thinned. 

“And by cute, I mean tiiiiiny. Did you find this place at the bottom of a mantell mix box? Where are we going to live? In conch shells? Like hermit crabs?! Ahahahaha.”

Tech turned TAY-0’s head frame sharply toward him, cupping the face plate so he couldn’t move, forcing TAY-0 to look directly at Tech in his goggled eyes. 

“When we leave this ship, you are going to behave yourself. You will be gracious. You will be respectful. This island is a safe haven and a carefully guarded secret. Kindness to these very generous people will go a long way if you are to make any friends here.”

“Friends?” TAY-0 asked. He looked…hurt. “But, TAY-0 thought we were friends.”

Another mention of friendship…

…Tech waited for the punchline. 

There wasn’t one. 

TAY-0 looked quietly at Tech as if waiting for a response.

Tech hesitated.“You…don't even know my name,” Tech reasoned.

“Sure I do, human.”

“...it isn’t-”

“It’s not human,” TAY-0 said, quickly. “I know that!”

Tech tilted his head.

“Ah ha, trick question,” TAY-0 ventured. “You don’t have a name.”

“This is not how a friendship starts,” Tech said, not knowing the first thing about cultivating an actual friendship. Though he imagined an exchange of names would be included. “My name is Tec-”

“Tech!" TAY-0 took over. "Your name is Tech. Uh yeah, of course it is, how could TAY-0 forget a name like that. It’s so…” 

Tech frowned.

“...short.”

“Brevity is the spice of life."

“Uh huh, yeah, That's not something TAY-0 will crosstitch on a pillow anytime soon. TAY-0 doesn't do brevity.”

“Obviously.”

“Well, Tech, you’re in luck because it just so happens there's a vacancy for TAY-0’s best friend. You’re it! Congratulations!”

Tech considered this, pressing the edge of his finger to his chin in thought. “I’ve…never had a friend that has elevated me to a ‘best’ status before.”

“Oh yeah? How many friends you got?”

“Apart from my siblings?”

“That…sounds like the number's zero.”

“Correct. It is zero. And how many friends do you-”

“Hey, hey, we’re not talking about TAY-0 here.”

Tech didn't push the issue. 

They were a pair of friendless entities, brilliant and unappreciated though Tech had far more humility regarding how superior he was to others. Naturally.

“Are you ready to go outside?” 

“Wait! One more thing,” TAY-0 said.

Tech held TAY-0 up to his face again. “What is it?”

TAY-0’s eyes flickered, and while the blinking facial expressions were unknowable to Tech, he had the impression that TAY-0 was growing emotional again.

“I’m glad it was you who brought me back, human. Tech. You're my favorite meatbag.”

"Full of sunshine and confetti?"

TAY-0's eyes flashed with apparent mirth.

"Exaaaaactly!" 

Tech snorted a laugh.

And with that, Tech punched the button for the ramp, relieved to find the crowd had indeed dispersed. 

Tech took TAY-0 to the beach where only Crosshair sat, boots beside him as he hid his feet in the sand, watching Egg soar around his new home. 

“This is an ideal stretch for Riot Racing,” TAY-0 said, eyes glowing, face plate spinning enthusiastically.

“As I said before, there is no racing here.”

‘Well, we’ll just have to change that. This island is in dire need of a little TAY-0 style.” 

"This is a peaceful island, TAY-0.”

"Ugh, fine. We’ll have Quiet Racing. Quiet Riot Racing! Hey that could be your name, Texx: The Quiet Riot Racer!"

“It's Tech, and we’ll see.” 

It wasn't a bad nickname. The announcer at the Safa Toma Riot Race seemed disappointed with announcing the winner as just "Tech".

"Or you can continue being the Spectacled Spectator! Your brother loved it.”

“Technically, you’re the one spectating, as that's all you can do currently.”

“Oh haha, you're hilaaaarious, y'know that, bestie?"

"Let's start with 'friend', first," Tech said, sitting on a bench just behind the beach line. He set TAY-0's head beside him so he could also enjoy the view. 

In the distance, Crosshair and Egg tossed a piece of shiny shell back and forth.

"We can revisit our status when you remember my name." Tech decided.

"I haven't forgotten it, human…it's…Ted."

"Tech."

"That's what I said!"

Tech's laugh came out loud and unexpected, a short burst of mirth that was unfamiliar to his own ears. These days mild amusement was most he could conjure as it had been a hard year. A harder several years actually since the Empire took over.

And even before then…when had he felt comfortable enough to laugh?

The sound carried to Crosshair and Egg who both whipped their heads back in equal startlement.

"What's that about?" TAY-0 challenged. "Ol' toothpick over there never heard a human laugh before?"

"Not this…human." Tech felt something loosen in his chest, like an overtightened gear cog finally shaking off the rust of fear and worry and instability. 

He took a deep breath of the salty, fresh air.

He felt very human. 

"Tech…" TAY-0 said, his gaze fixed to the ocean. "Thanks. I mean it. You didn't have to bring me back and you did. TAY-0 doesn't forget kindness like this."

Most likely because few have shown TAY-0 kindness at all, but Tech kept this observation to himself.

He put a hand on TAY-0's head frame as the sun meandered its way towards the horizon. 

"You're welcome, my friend."

***

If you enjoyed my writing, please consider checking out my queer sci-fi murder mystery novel “Error: Detective Not Found (A Cake Pop Noir)”. You can also find more info on it and my original works on my main tumblr account @blueberryhelper

***

My Taglist is currently one person, but thank you for being on it @motte-the-goblin :3

[dorianwritesthings]

Senate Party - Hunter Ending

Link to Part 1

You let out a frustrated breath as you grabbed the soft fabric of the next dress. None of the others had felt right and you really didn’t want to go on the hunt again. 

Fortunately, this dress was probably your favorite and not just because of it’s luxuriously soft fabric. The color was your favorite and as you put it on you took note of how it came in at your most flattering point. The top half was elegant and the bottom flowed nicely, allowing you room to walk. 

The dress felt so natural and soft against your skin. Somehow it felt like being wrapped in a soft blanket while still letting your skin breathe. It was damn near perfect.

You stepped out of the dressing room, feeling confident. 

-------

Hunter tried to hide how much he enjoyed seeing you in these dresses. It was an interesting change of pace and he could look at you without the worry of awkwardly getting caught.

But he was sure anyone could see how he sat up straighter when you came out in your latest dress.

You looked wonderful in all the dresses you’d tried on, but this one, Maker, this one really looked wonderful on you. It fell elegantly across your body, accenting your figure. If there was any doubt, the smile on your face really sealed the deal on this dress for him.

“You look beautiful.” The words came without his permission and he immediately began to stutter, “I-I mean it looks like you really like this one.”

“Smooth.” Crosshair said under his breath. Fortunately, Hunter didn’t think you noticed.

“Thanks, Hunter.” You looked at yourself in the mirror, giving the dress one last nod of approval, “I think we’re finished here!”

There was a cheer from the squad and you went back to the dressing room to change back into your regular armor. Hunter took a moment to shake his head, trying to refocus.\

-------

The next day you were all back on the Marauder waiting for Crosshair and Echo to come back with the clothes. The suits all needed some tailoring.

Hunter was playing Dejarik with Omega. This game was always intense with her, though he never won. Tech and maybe Echo were the only ones who truly stood a chance.

“You really need to tell her you like her,” Omega said, destroying another one of his pieces.

“Who says I like her?” Hunter asked. He moved another piece forward.

“Hunter, it’s pretty obvious.” She said, “I’m surprised y/n hasn’t figured it out yet.”

“What makes you think she’d like me anyway?”

“Oh come on.” Omega sighed, “Have you been paying attention?”

“Omega, look…I’m not good at this.”

She looked at him sympathetically, “This is a perfect opportunity Hunter! You can pair up for the party tonight.”

Hunter paused at the thought, maybe Omega was right. It was time for him to do something about his crush on you. 

“I win!” Omega cheered, pulling him from his thoughts just in time for Crosshair and Echo to come aboard with everyone’s outfits.

Omega jumped up from her seat. Crosshair and Echo laid out the garment bags carefully.

“No issues then?” Hunter asked, eying the bag with your dress in it.

“It’s a miracle.” Crosshair said, taking a seat at the front of the ship. Echo did the same, sitting down across from Hunter.

They’d be taking everything over to a hotel in civilian clothes later, partly to avoid suspicion and partly because you didn’t want to leave all of your armor in a random hotel room.

Speaking of, you came out from the back of the marauder, likely having heard Echo and Crosshair return.

“That was quick.” You smiled. You’d already changed into civilian clothes while they were out. 

Hunter watched as you picked up your and Omega’s bags.

“I’m going to hang these up.” You said, “Sometimes the bags make the bottoms of dresses wrinkle.”

“Ah, before you go,” Hunter called and you turned to face him, “We should go over assignments. We’ll be arriving at different times.”

“I want to go with Wrecker!” Omega said quickly. Hunter raised an eyebrow at her. He knew her game.

“That’s fine, Omega.” He said, “I don’t think Wrecker will mind.”

“What won’t I mind?” Wrecker asked. He and Tech we’re coming up from the hold.

“Omega said she’d like to pair up with you tonight.” 

“All right!” Wrecker smiled, giving Omega a small high five.

Hunter shook his head and smiled.

“You two will arrive with Echo.” Hunter said, “But Echo can split off once you arrive.”

They all nodded. Hunter took a mental note to ask Echo to keep an eye on Wrecker and Omega and to remind the latter two that this was a mission first and foremost.

“Crosshair and Tech can take the first cab out, it’ll give Tech more time to tap into security. I’ll go with y/n.”

There was a quick beat of silence that put Hunter on edge, but no one seemed to have any objections.

“That all sounds good to me.” You smiled, “How long till we leave, Tech?”

“3 hours and 27 minutes.”

-------

Hunter looked himself over in the hotel mirror. His suit wasn’t flashy, just a few accents of color on the inside lining. His shirt, however, was entirely the same color as your dress. He realized that his outfit matched your dress a while ago, but he hadn’t noticed the accessories you’d slipped into his bag. You’d found a headpiece for him that would keep his hair out of his eyes, but matched the occasion much better than a bandanna. It also matched the cuffs you’d found for him. 

It was so thoughtful. You were always thinking of little things like this. It was one of the reasons he loved you.

He froze.

He did love you; it was the first time he’d admitted it to himself.

“Something wrong?” Echo asked. He’d finished getting ready too.

“It’s nothing,” Hunter said, “Just an unusual mission.”

“I get that.” Echo smiled.

They made their way to the elevator and out into the lobby. Wrecker, Crosshair, and Tech were waiting.

“Looking good, boys.” Wrecker smiled at their approach. 

“We’re just waiting on y/n and Omega. Though we still have plenty of time.” Tech was again wrapped up in his holopad. Hunter just nodded in response.

Soon enough Omega came running up to them. She looked so excited and Hunter couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. You’d found accessories for her, too.

“How do I look?” Omega asked, twisting a bit to show off the skirt of her dress.

“Great.” Hunter smiled, “Where’s y/n?”

“I’m here, I just didn’t want to run.” 

Hunter looked up at your voice and suddenly all he could process was you. You were walking towards them gracefully, the fabric of your dress flowing gently as you did so. It truly accented your figure perfectly. He rarely saw you in makeup, as it was impractical for your daily routine, so the makeup you had on now was a change. It made the occasion feel special. He also took notice of your styled hair and the clicking of your shoes on the lobby tile. You had some jewelry on that accented it all wonderfully. You looked happy and he hoped you felt beautiful.

Because you were the most beautiful creature in the galaxy to him.

Echo nudged him a bit and Hunter suddenly realized that everyone was waiting for him to give a final rundown of the mission, which he did quickly.

“Remember to comm in when you arrive and if you find the target. It’s unlikely all of us will need to pursue one man, hence why we’re in teams.”

Everyone nodded and began to split into their assigned teams. Tech and Crosshair left immediately. You leaned down to Omega and he heard you whisper to her.

“Try to keep Wrecker in check.”

Omega giggled at that. Hunter smiled a bit too. It was good for Omega to have you around, especially on a mission like this.

Then you stood and the two of you waved goodbye to the rest of the squad and made your way to a waiting cab.

---------

As you stepped out of the cab, Hunter realized that you hadn’t worn any perfume. Many of the other attendants were covered in smells that assaulted his senses. 

In the cab he’d only noticed the gentle scent of whatever was in your hair. Did you avoid perfume on purpose because of him? Or was it just a coincidence?

Either way, he tried to push the wall of fragrance out of his mind and refocus as you were let in. The hall was massive and he could hear people making idle chatter. There was a band just beginning their set, though plenty of people were already dancing. Food was being served, and there looked to be an art gallery under the large stairs. The upper floors likely held some other form of entertainment, perhaps a bar.

“Bigger than I thought.” You said. He noticed you step a bit closer to him and he grew brave. He’d already partnered you two up, no sense in wasting it now.

“Me too, perhaps we should stick closer together.” He offered you his arm, “We sort of look like a couple anyway.”

---------

Your heart was racing. It had been since Hunter paired you two together. You were excited at the chance for some time alone with him, but also worried about overstepping bounds. 

Suddenly you heard Omega’s giggle in your mind. You’d told her you were overthinking being his partner for the night.

But now he was offering his arm to you. 

You took it, though you hoped you didn’t appear too enthusiastic. Thoughts spun around in your head. You had to say something.

“I guess we do.” You said, “These things can be overwhelming.”

He hummed in agreement and you continued into the crowd. You kept thinking about the turn in events while attempting to look for the target. Though your focus wasn’t helped by having your arms intertwined. You could feel Hunter’s muscles under his suit.

The others commed in as they arrived, you even caught eyes with Crosshair who smirked a bit when he saw how close you and Hunter were. You’d looked away quickly.

Hunter did look quite handsome in this outfit. You’d always enjoyed his rugged look, but this was special. He cleaned up quite nicely.

The two of you chose to wander near the dancefloor, listening for any interesting conversation while scanning the large ballroom.

“Good thing we split up.” You said, “It’s a large crowd.”

“Yeah, luckily we know who to look for.” Hunter was scanning the room intensely. You tried not to stare at him.

Suddenly he tensed up and you followed his gaze. That was the target, chatting politely with two senators.

“Target spotted.” He said quietly into his comm. He covered the movement by brushing aside his hair. 

“What is the location?” Tech asked.

You adjusted your grip on Hunter’s arm, leaning into him to hide your hand touching your own ear. 

“Near the buffet.” You said, “We’re a bit far off. Is anyone closer?”

“We’re over here.” Echo chimed in and you saw him sitting at a table nearby with Omega and Wrecker at the table next to him. “I can pursue, Omega and Wrecker can follow as backup.”

“Be careful.” Hunter said. You smiled a bit at his protectiveness.

“We’ll comm if anything happens.” Omega said.

And then the line went silent again. You noticed Hunter sigh, relaxing a bit. He rubbed his head.

---------

With the target now found and half of the squad handling it, Hunter finally found it in him to relax a bit. The party really was taking a toll on his heightened senses and without a target to focus on it all hit him at once.

“You know, we could go out to the balcony.” You said, leaning back away from his arm, “It’ll be quieter out there, more fresh air.”

You’d noticed. Again he was reminded of how thoughtful you were.

“I’d like that.” He sighed. There was no need to put on a brave face with you.

Together you made your way to the balcony, both of you leaning a bit on the railing and taking in the night air. You were right, it was better out here.

“Hunter…” You asked, “I need to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“Did you…Did you assign me to be your partner for any particular reason?”

He paused at that. Taking just a bit too long to answer as the possibilities ran through his mind.

“Why do you ask?”

You pursed your lips. He didn’t know if that was a bad sign or if you were just thinking.

“I’m probably overthinking things,” You said finally, “But I really like you and I’m starting to think you might like me too?”

Hunter looked at you with wide eyes. He was worried about this entire evening, but he never imagined it would lead to you confessing to him.

“I more than like you.” He hesitantly put his hand over yours on the railing, “You’re wonderful, attentive, so strong in the field, yet so kind to us all.”

For a moment he was worried that you might cry, but you pressed into him. He hugged you back quickly, the subtle scent of your hair brushing him again as he rested his head on yours. The overstimulation of the evening was wearing off as he focused on you.

“Your dress is soft.” He noted, feeling the fabric under his hands. Your warmth was welcome against the cool night breeze.

“Part of why I got it.” 

You looked up at him again and he could swear you had the entire galaxy in your eyes. He leaned down and kissed you gently.

His galaxy was in his arms. 

[dumfanting]

Going Back, ch 3

AO3 Link

Chapter 2

Rating: M, mature

Warnings: none (cursing?)

Notes: GN Reader, second person PoV, present tense

2216 Words

(I don’t know if that’s how a hyperdrive works, but it’s not a large enough detail for me to really care. This is also my sixth attempt to post this, tumblr has been extra garbage today for some reason.)

GN Reader/ Crosshair

You put the plan into action, but there’s a problem.

After Omega helps you work out a plan to get back to Kamino, the weight on your shoulders lightens, although it isn’t entirely gone. That said, you know that the subtle change in your demeanor won’t go unnoticed by Hunter, who is sure to be suspicious of the sudden change. The two of you decide not to risk him figuring anything out, so Omega goes back downstairs and distracts the others while you dart unnoticed into your room.

Inside, you gather up enough of your clothes and necessities to last you the trip and stuff it all into a small leather backpack Omega had found a while ago. You briefly consider grabbing one of Tech's spare under suit sets, knowing that Crosshair would be filthy and need clean clothes, but you think better of it when you hear everyone retreating into their rooms for the night. You're growing restless already, but there isn’t much left for you to do other than sleep, so you reluctantly undress and crawl into bed.

As you lie there, you find yourself unable to sleep, yet again, though this time it’s nerves keeping you awake, rather than guilt. You stare up at the ceiling, contemplating the task ahead and going over the plan a few times. After a while, you realize that you have no idea what to do once you reach Kamino. You do know one thing for sure though: you’re not leaving that platform without Crosshair again, even if it meant having to physically drag him into the damned ship. You get the feeling he won’t be well enough to fight back, and your chest aches. Anxiety takes over and forces you to think of everything that could have happened to him, and the ache deepens.

You’re so focused on this that you don’t notice the hours passing and the sky outside lighting back up. When the chrono on your wrist chimes, it pulls you back to reality, and after you glance at it, you see that it’s time to get moving. You take a deep, steadying breath, then slip out of your bed as quietly as possible, which is no small task thanks to the creaking floorboards. You get dressed quickly, snatch up the backpack and throw it on, then tiptoe into the hallway with shaky hands.

Just as you two planned, Omega is waiting outside of her room, and you quickly follow when she retreats back into it. The interior stairs made far too much noise for you to leave without being heard, so instead you opted to get away through the outside fire escape attached to the window in her room. If any noise comes from there, you reason that the others won’t be as likely to know it’s you. You slide the window open and thank the maker when it’s completely silent. You sit on the sill, working up the nerve to leave, but before you do, Omega taps your shoulder and hugs you tightly when you turn to look at her.

“Good luck,” she whispers.

“I’m probably gonna need it,” you whisper, hugging her back. “Remember, I’ll ping your comm once I reach the hangar. Ping me back so I’ll know you got it, then call me immediately. The signal will be strongest on the roof,” you say. Omega meets your eyes and you see a seriousness beyond her years cross her features as she nods at you.

With that, you step outside onto the metal grating of the fire escape, being sure to tread lightly so that it doesn’t make too much noise. You creep to the ladder a few feet away, and when you glance back at her, Omega has shut the window and gotten back into bed, feigning sleep. “If I manage to do this,” you think, “I’ll get her enough Mantell Mix to last a full cycle.” You take a deep breath, then climb down the ladder, and the Maker blesses you again when doing so makes almost no sound. You drop onto your feet, but stumble into a rubbish bin, knocking it over with a loud clatter. You curse under your breath and look back up at the windows, freezing.

After a few seconds, nobody seems to have noticed, so you keep going. You power-walk, then jog, then eventually flat out run to the Marauder the further you get from Cid’s place. The sun has risen about halfway on the horizon, and you’re sure that Hunter and Echo are awake by now as they’re always the first ones up. You push yourself to go faster, and you reach the hangar where the ship is parked after only a few more minutes.

You quickly make your way to it, and once you get there, you lean heavily against the hull, out of breath and trying to will away a stitch in your side. When you stop gasping for air, you retrieve your comm from your pocket. You enter a memorized frequency, then hit a small button on the side. After yours vibrates in your hand, confirming that Omega has received your ping and sent her own, you make your way into the ship, shutting and locking the ramp behind you as you board.

You unceremoniously drop the backpack from your shoulders and dash into the cockpit. It feels so wrong, sitting in Tech's seat, about to essentially steal his ship, but you ignore the feeling and go about the necessary preflight checks. You’ve just clicked the last switch into place and entered the coordinates for Kamino into the navi-computer when your comm chirps at you. You scramble to answer it.

“Omega?” you say, anxious.

“Yeah! I’m on the roof, just like you said,” she responds, and you breathe a tentative sigh of relief.

“Any sign of anyone?” you ask, turning back toward the controls.

“No, not yet,” she says. Omega, knowing the others will be looking for the both of you soon, tells you the instructions quickly. So far, she’s remembering everything correctly. You plug your datapad into a port, then ask her what the final step is. Once she relays it, you do as she says and input the code as quickly as you can. The computer beeps, accepting the code, and you silently thank the Maker for your good luck.

“Yes, that’s it! Thank you Omega,” you say into your comm, relieved. Omega says something in response, but you can’t hear her over the shriek of the rooftop door opening, followed by the very distinct sound of Hunters voice demanding to know what she’s doing. She abruptly ends the call; you curse, jump back into the pilot's seat, and initiate takeoff.

You’re about a third of the way from leaving the atmosphere when the ship's holo-comm channel beeps at you and activates. You glance back at it long enough to see that, of course, it’s Hunter, and to say he’s angry would be an understatement. You speak first before he gets the chance.

“Whatever you’re thinking, Omega only did what I asked her to, she had no other involvement in this,” you lie, hoping to keep her out of trouble.

“I don’t give a damn about that, what the hell are you thinking?” he says, barely stopping himself from shouting.

“I’m not thinking anything, I’m doing what we should have done instead of abandoning him on that fucking platform!” you say, fighting not to shout too.

You ascend higher.

“We did not abandon him, he chose to stay behind,” Hunter says.

“We left him there to die, Hunter, and you know it. The Empire blasted Tipoca City despite knowing full well he was inside. They didn't give a shit about him, and it looks to me like you’re no different,” you spit, all the resentment and anger from the past few weeks finally boiling over.

The ship continues to climb higher, and you're even with the clouds now.

“Don’t you dare,” Hunter growls. “You know I do.”

“I don’t believe you. I have seen absolutely nothing from you lately that would suggest otherwise,” you say, gritting your teeth. “Every single hour since we left has been another hour closer to his death. I fucking begged you, Hunter. And every single time you refused,” you say, your patience stretching even thinner.

“I have my reasons,” he says, though you notice he’s not as sure of himself as he says this, and you scoff.

“Your reasons are bullshit,” you say, your voice dripping venom as the Marauder finally breaks through the planet's atmosphere and into space.

This seems to have pushed a particular button with Hunter, as when he next speaks, he’s roaring your name.

“I am your superior officer and I will not be spoken to like this,” he shouts. You tear yourself away from the controls and turn in the seat to face the comm unit, crossing your arms and exaggerating a humorless laugh.

“Hunter, you stopped being a Sargent the moment we landed on Salucami. So don’t you pull that rank shit on me, sir,” you say, derision clear in your tone. Hunter growls incoherently for a few seconds before speaking.

“God damn it, has it never occurred to you that you’re headed right into the Empire's hands?” he says. You hear the screech of the door again, then Echo and Tech step into view, looking confused and panicked respectively. You ignore them.

“I don’t care!” you finally shout, the effort burning your throat. “I’m going back for him. And you can’t stop me,” you say.

Before Hunter can say anything else, Tech has elbowed him out of the way. This is so unlike him that it nearly makes you freeze, and he says your name.

“You need to come back,” he says, but you turn toward the controls and start moving the ship again.

“I’m not doing that, Tech. Not without Crosshair,” you say, your voice low.

“Please, you must listen to me, the hyp-,” he says, but the connection is abruptly broken when you shut off the entire communication system.

You double check that the ship's signal is completely cloaked and that the coordinates in the navi-computer are correct. After you’ve confirmed that everything is as it should be, you make the jump into hyperspace.

“I’m so sorry, Cross,” you whisper, fighting back tears as you set the auto pilot. “I’m coming, just hold on a little longer.”

Back on the roof, the door screams open a third time. Cid, followed by Wrecker, marches up to Hunter, irritated.

“Oy, Dark and Broody, what the hell are you doing up here?” she asks. “I could hear you in the kriffing cellar!”

Hunter, seething, ignores her, so she looks to the others for an explanation. Echo appears to be deep in thought, Tech is on his datapad desperately trying to contact you, and neither of them acknowledge her. Cid huffs before throwing her hands into the air and going back inside, mumbling to herself. It’s tense for a few seconds before Wrecker hesitatingly speaks.

“They took the ship back to Kamino, didn’t they?” he says, also looking at Hunter, but he’s ignored too. Hunter returns inside, slamming the door behind himself and leaving a ringing silence in his wake. Eventually, Echo speaks up.

“Yes, they did,” he says, sounding tired.

“But it’s highly unlikely that they’ll make it there,” Tech says, frustrated. Everyone stares at him while he puts the data pad away.

“What? Why not?” Omega asks, reminding the adults that she never left the roof. Meanwhile, a look of understanding spreads across Echo’s face and he curses under his breath.

“The hyperdrive is too unstable,” he says, and Tech nods gravely.

“Then we need to tell them!” Omega says, growing anxious.

“I don’ think we can,” Wrecker says, repeatedly inputting your personal comm frequency into his device and getting no response. “They shut off all the comm channels,” he says.

“So what do we do now?” Omega asks.

“There’s nothing we can do,” Tech says, defeated. “With the comm channels disabled we can’t reach them.”

“But, we know exactly where they’re going, can’t we just get another ship and go after them?” Omega asks, pleading with her eyes.

“It’s too risky to link ships in hyperspace, if they are able to jump in, and there’s no guarantee that they can get back out,” Tech says, pacing restlessly.

“So we’re going to just sit here?” she says in disbelief, bordering on disgust, glancing between her three brothers.

“Ain’t much else we can do,” Wrecker says, unusually quiet.

“I’m sorry Omega, but it’s out of our hands now,” Echo says, and his voice is muffled; he’s hiding his face behind his remaining hand.

Tech sees her expression morph into desperation, and when she turns around, headed to the door, he speaks up before she reaches it.

“I strongly advise against that,” he says. “Hunter’s far too angry to think clearly right now.”

Wrecker catches up to Omega and holds a hand against her upper back before she turns and clings to him, shaking, and the four of them stare silently up into the sky. The vapor trail that the Marauder left behind has already dissipated, leaving no trace of you.

Taglist: @kaminocasey @madameminor @jennamelinda12 @arctrooper69 @the-cantina @jedi-hawkins

To be added to, or removed from, the tag list for this story, reply to this post.

[lunarninja613]

Where I Belong (Bad Batch Modern AU)

Inspired by @transformersluna and people on ao3

Umber had never left her mother’s lab. The blinding lights and the smell of chemicals was all Umber had ever known. Now there she was, sitting in a car with her sister and three strange men who were supposed to be her brothers.

Umber sat next to the window. The person in the driver’s seat wore glasses and had neatly combed hair. The man sitting next to him in the passenger’s seat wore a blue hoodie and a baseball cap, and sitting behind him was a man with a red bandana that kept his long dark hair out of his eyes and a skull tattooed over half of his face. Omega sat next to Umber, acting as a barrier between her and the men.

The man with the face tattoo had tried asking what her name was, but Umber had simply hidden behind Omega, who ended up answering for her. Speaking of her sister, Omega had warmed up to the men almost immediately and was already making conversation with them.

After a bit of driving, the car pulled into the driveway of what Umber assumed was the men’s house. Umber emerged from the car and was immediately greeted by a warm breeze, which was nothing at all like the cold lab that she had grown up in. Omega came out of the car and stared at the house, her eyes filled with wonder.

“Home sweet home,” the man with the baseball cap said as he began making his way towards the house, the two other men following suit. Omega grabbed Umber’s hand before following the men into the house.

The first thing Umber saw upon entering the house was a bald, beefy man with a scar over half of his face sitting at the dining table. At the sound of the door closing behind them, the man looked up at them.

“You’re here!” the man exclaimed as he got up from his seat and made his way over to the two girls. Umber hid behind Omega as the large man came to crouch down to their level. “My name’s Wrecker. What’re your names?” he asked, a big toothy grin plastered across his face.

Being the bravest of the two, Omega spoke up, “I’m Omega,” she chirped before turning to look at Umber, who was still hiding behind her, “and this is Umber.”

Just then, Umber heard shuffling coming from the other room. She looked up and saw a tall, lanky man with silver hair and a crosshair tattoo over his right eye leaning against the doorframe.

Omega seemed to have noticed him too because she gave him a shy little wave. The man just scoffed before heading back into the other room.

“Eh, don’t mind Crosshair. He’ll come around.” the man with the baseball cap reassured Omega.

“Ooh, ooh, ooh, let me show you your guys’ room!” Wrecker exclaimed before leaving the kitchen and bounding up the stairs in the other room and Umber clung to Omega’s arm as the two of them followed the man.

The girls were led upstairs where a very excited Wrecker was waiting for them in front of a closed door. Wrecker then opened the door behind him to reveal a small room with two cots and string lights hanging on the walls.

“This...this is our room?” Omega asked in disbelief.

“Sure is!” Wrecker replied, beaming with pride.

Omega and Umber both cautiously stepped into the room, as if it would all disappear like the whole thing was a dream.

Only, it wasn’t a dream. It was real.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Over the next several hours, Echo, the man with the baseball cap, showed the twins around the house while Tech, the man with glasses, ordered something called pizza.

During the tour, Omega took the opportunity to ask Echo several questions, all of which Echo was more than happy to answer. Umber, on the other hand, remained silent.

By the time the tour was done, the pizza had arrived. The two girls followed Echo into the kitchen, where they saw flat, square boxes, paper plates, and plastic cups set on the table. 

Hunter, the man with the red bandana, opened one of the boxes to reveal a steaming piece of flat bread covered in cheese, sauce, meat, and vegetables.

Wrecker had taken out a bottle of soda and the loud hissing noise that the bottle made when he opened it had startled Umber and Omega. Hunter was quick to reassure the girls that they were in no danger, and Tech had agreed with him before he started explaining the science behind soda while everyone else grabbed a slice of pizza.

Umber had taken the seat between Omega and Crosshair, and stared at the pizza as if it were one of the complex puzzles that her mother would often task her with solving, because surely, food couldn’t look as appetizing as what she had in front of her....right?

Umber suddenly became aware that someone was watching her. She turned her head and was met with Crosshair’s icy glare.

“It’s not going to kill you,” he hissed. Umber gave a small nod before taking a small bite of the pizza, and to say that it tasted good would be an understatement, because it was the best thing that Umber had ever tasted in her entire life!

Once everyone had finished eating dinner, Hunter gave Umber and Omega some clothes, toothbrushes and toothpaste and told them to get ready for bed.

Once finished, Omega went back downstairs to bid the adults goodnight while Umber waited for her in their new shared room. It was much different than what she was used to, but she would make do for the time being.

Omega eventually came back to the room with Hunter right behind her. Once Omega was settled in, Hunter bid them goodnight, turned the lights off, and shut the door and Umber was a bit surprised when she did not hear the click of a lock seconds after the door had closed. Perhaps there was someone listening on the other side of the door. No, that couldn’t have been it, because if that were the case, she would be able to see their shadow under the door and she wouldn’t have heard the sound of footsteps getting further and further away.

Umber turned to look at Omega, who was already fast asleep in her cot. Umber sighed as she lay back down on her cot. She stared at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to overtake her as well.

As she waited though, Umber thought back to what her mother had told Hunter about him and his brothers being incapable of taking care of two ten year old girls and how he shouldn’t get his hopes up.

“Do not get your hopes up. They will soon be back with me, where they belong.” Nala Se’s cold, harsh tone echoed in Umber’s mind before she drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Edit: This is also inspired by @kaydear. I really, really, really, really loved the Modern Bad Batch AU fanfiction that they did on ao3, but it took me forever to find it again because I read it a few months ago and forgot who the author was and what the fanfiction was called!

[danceswithsporks]

On the (late) 6th day of Bad Batchmas I have to all of you!!!

Awkward conversations!

I’ve decided to post little snippets as we wait for the boys to get back from tour…err season 2!

Now this will take place in the universe I’ve built for my fic A Star Above the Rest! Some may be sneak peaks at future events, little glimpses into past events, or things I wanted to do but couldn’t work into the story! I hope you all enjoy them and Happy Holidays!

AFAB peeps I’m sure this one will hit home with a lot of ya! I remember my dad having to give me this talk so I couldn’t resist having the batch give Omega the talk!

Day 6 of the 12 Days of Bad Batchmas- Awkward Conversation.

Ok so this was actually really difficult to tackle. As we don’t have a canonic age for Omega it makes certain topics difficult to figure out. I’ve seen ages from 10-14, some even younger. But as a lot of ppl believe she was made at the same time as Boba, who is between 10-13 during the bad batch. I’m gonna say she’s 13. So. Take that with a grain of salt.

“Has Omega seemed a bit more on edge lately?” Echo watched as the young girl threw her datapad down onto her bed in annoyance. Over the last few days she seemed more emotional and irritable than usual.

Tech looked at his brother and nodded “Indeed, she was quite cross with me earlier when I bumped into her” Usually she’d laugh it off and continue on. But this time she snapped at him about always being in the way.

Echo made a face at the information, it wasn’t like her to behave like that. Maybe he should talk to her? “What does Hunter think?”

“Hunter has been keeping a relatively large birth from her lately. Something about her not smelling right.” Tapping at his datapad, Tech tried to search for any kind of information. Female adolescents weren’t exactly any of their strong suits.

“What?” None of this was making sense. “Maybe we could call someone? Maybe Nala Se? Or Zirena?” Omega traveling with them had been the Jedis' idea. Maybe she could give them information?

“I fear contacting Nala Se may end up backfiring on us. She may believe we are incapable of taking care of Omega and request that we return her.” While things were decidedly difficult with a child on board, Tech was beginning to enjoy her curiosity. Having to return her to Kamino would be heartbreaking for all of them.

Pulling out his datapad, Echo quickly typed in Zirenas information and called her.

After a few rings the call connected and the Jedis' happy face filled the screen. “Echo! This is a surprise. Is everything ok?”

He could see the darkness around her and the sleepy look in her eyes. The thought of what time it was on Coruscant hadn’t even crossed his mind. “For the most part. I didn’t realize how late it was, I can call ya later.”

Zirena waved her hand to him sleepily. “Need to get up soon anyway. What’s going on?” Beside her a warm pair of arms wrapped around her waist and held her tightly as the owner of them slept soundly. Rex could sleep through anything when he was on shore leave. It would take a bomb going off to wake him, maybe.

“Well, somethings going on with Omega and it’s putting everyone on edge.” Crosshair was literally camping outside the ship just to avoid her. They’d been on this uncharted planet for a week now because everyone was concerned about her being too cramped up.

“I’m gonna need more than that, Echo.” She wiggled slightly as she felt Rexs leg wrap around hers. So possessive in his sleep.

Where did he even begin! “She’s snapping at everyone over the smallest things. She’s extra emotional, especially over things she normally wouldn’t be. Tech bumped into her in an accident the other day and she nearly took his head off.”

“What’s Hunter think?” Zirena had a small feeling she might know what was going on, but she’d need more information.

Echo sighed. “That’s just it. He’s avoiding her like she stepped on Bantha shit and sat in the sun for a week. Something about her smelling weird.”

Zirena chuckled softly. “Echo? How old is Omega?”

“13 standard years.” Techs voice chimed in as he moved next to his brother. “Though I suppose she’ll be turning 14 soon.”

“Ah. That explains it all then.” She watched as they both raised eyebrows to her. With a sigh she tapped the screen and sent a few files to Tech. “Omega is hitting puberty. I’d put credits down that she’s about to start her menstrual cycle.”

“What!” It was so obvious but still! Echo wasn’t sure why he was so surprised. It was bound to happen sometime, maybe he hoped it never would?

“Omegas not a girl anymore, she’s a young woman now.” Beside her she heard a sleepy chuckle. Nudging Rex, she continued. “ With the combined knowledge of you both, I’m surprised you didn’t figure this out. What did you think was going to happen when you took a girl onto the ship?”

Hearing his datapad go off, Tech pulled it out and looked over the files he’d been sent. So much information to learn. “I guess we just didn’t want to think it would happen?” Every 28-30 standard days? For almost a week?

“They should call Nala Se and see if she had the talk with the kid.” Rex opened his eyes sleepily before placing a kiss to Zirenas shoulder.

“He’s right. That’s going to be the first thing you guys do. If she didn’t…well” Zirena made an awkward face to them both.

“Don’t say it.” Echo groaned at the possibility. “Can’t you talk to her about it?” He gave the Jedi his best pleading eyes.

“While this is a talk that’s easier between women.” Shaak Ti had given Zirena the talk. “You guys are the ones that will be dealing with it all the time. It’s best you educate yourselves and her. This awkwardness will pass but only if you guys move past it first.” Yawning slightly, she felt Rex squeeze her close.

Echo wanted to die. He really wasn’t trained for this, where was Kix when they needed him? “Any advice?”

Reaching over and taking the datapad from his fiancé, Rex looked at Echo. “Buy lots of chocolate.”

“Morning, Captain. Sorry for waking you.” Great, He’d interrupted their rare alone time. This was one of those times Echo really wished he was like a droid and could just turn himself off.

An annoyed cough came from Zirena before the camera was turned back to her. “Ha.ha. Not. Funny.”

“Am I wrong?” Zirena was a demon during her time of the month. The only thing that seemed to calm her was chocolate and manta mix. And sex, but that was obviously not something Omega should be doing at that age.

“No.” A face was made before Zirena yawned. “Don’t know where you boys are right now. But I recommend finding the closest place to get supplies for her. I’ll send you my list. But know each person is different.”

“Thanks, Zee. You should get back to sleep.” Echo nodded to her and watched as she closed her eyes.

“Already almost there. Call me if you need me.”

-*-

“Hey Hunter?” Echo approached the leader of their group. The man had taken to ‘surveying’ the area to avoid Omega. “Just finished a call with Nala Se. she didn’t have that talk with Omega because she honestly expected her not to have…ya know.”

Hunter groaned before burying his face into his hands. This was not happening. “So what’s the next step? Can Nala Se do that talk? Or Commander Ka’ve?” Or literally anyone else.

Echo shook his head. “Zee says we need to do it since we’ll be with her most of the time. Nala Se wants us to bring her back to Kamino to do some observation and testing.”

Well that was out of the question. The last thing he wanted to do was bring the poor girl back to Kamino after fighting so hard to get her allowed to travel with them. “So all that’s left is us then?”

“Yup.” Rubbing the back of his head, Echo nodded. “Zee recommends we do it as a group. So we’re all on the same page.”

“Alright.” None of this was something Hunter expected to have to do. But here he was. “Let’s gather everyone.”

“Just waiting on you, sir.” Motioning towards the Marauder, Echo waited for Hunter to head in.

-*-

“Omega, what you’re going through is perfectly natural. As you age, your body will begin to change. To mature. Chemicals and hormones writhing your body are facilitating the change that now makes you a woman instead of a child.” Tech rambled as he looked at his datapad, rather than at the young girl.

Beside him, Echo was currently rolling his eyes. One of the main things Zirena had told them was not to ramble off facts. Maybe it was just how the clone dealt with nerves? He could see the confusion in Omegas eyes, the poor child wasn’t following any of this. “What Tech is trying to say.” His scomp was placed on the other clones shoulder. “Is that you’re experiencing something called a menstrual cycle. Some call it a period or time of the month. All human woman experience it.”

“During that time your emotions can become a bit more erratic, you’ll feel different for about a week or so. Plus there’s gonna be…bleeding.” Hunter watched as the girl's eyes went wide.

“Bleeding! For a week!” What? Nala Se hadn’t told her about any of this! “Why? How often?”

Tech easily looked up at the girl. “You’ll experience this once every 28 to 30 days for the next forty or so standard years.”

“What!” No no no, this couldn’t be happening. “But WHY?”

Hunter raised his hands quickly to her, trying to calm her. “It means you’re becoming a woman. You’re not a child anymore. You’ll one day be able to have children now.”

“Children? Does that mean I have to have sex?” Omegas cheeks flared at the thought.

“No! I mean yes. But not anytime soon! How do you know what sex is?” Echo felt a headache coming on. He couldn’t handle this.

“The clones on Kamino talk about it all the time. They don’t think I’m listening, but I hear them. That’s how normal people are born, isn’t it?” She understood the basics of sex. But never had she thought she’d be discussing this with them!

Crosshair snorted as he listened to her speak. “Surprised you don’t know a lot more.” He’d heard the men on Kamino speak. Hell, he said some things not good for small ears.

“We’re getting off track here.” Sex talk later, period talk now. “What we’re saying is that this is all normal for you to go through and we’re here to help however we can.”

“Do you guys go through this too?” Her eyes looked before all the men who shook their heads carefully.

Tech passed his datapad to Omega so she could look at the research he’d done. “Afraid this is mainly something females go through.”

Omegas eyes scanned the information quickly. Cramps? Smells? Cravings? Bleeding? Her eyes shifted to Hunter. “Can you smell me?” When the clone nodded slowly, she screamed in embarrassment. She was ready to cry and die.

-*-

Two hours later, Omega sat in her bed still trying to process everything. She was changing, would this mean they’d send her back to Kamino? Brown eyes shook as a few tears began to fall. She hated this, all of it. Why did she have to go through this? Why didn’t Nala Se warn her?

“Hey kid?” Echo looked up at her carefully. “Have someone here that I think might help ya.” Passing his datapad over to Omega, he watched as she wiped a few tears away.

On the datapad was Zirena waiting to speak to the girl. Echo and the boys had called her after their little meeting to let her know how it went. Which decidedly wasn’t good. “Hey Omega. Let’s chat?”

Omega looked to Echo who raised his arms up and quickly left the area. Once she was sure they were alone, she finally spoke. “Do you go through this?”

Zirena nodded. “I do and I remember how I felt the first time it happened. It’s scary, isn’t it?”

“Why do we have to go through this? It’s weird and gross.” Little hands carefully rubbed one of her arms. She felt so self conscious now.

“Honestly, if I had that answer I’d tell you. Men go through puberty on the inside. We have more physical signs.” Zirena felt for the poor child. She didn’t have any human females to talk to about these kinds of things. “Do you have any questions? Perhaps I can help you?”

Omega had a list the size of Kamino filled with questions. “How much time do you have?” She knew the Jedi was a busy woman, she didn’t want to take up all of her time.

“Free all night. Once the guys called I cleared my schedule.” Picking up a glass she sipped at the wine slowly, thankful that Cal would get this talk from someone in the temple.

“They all called you?”

Zirena smiled softly, feeling a motherly instinct taking over. “Of course they did, Omega. They all care about you. They’re just not sure how to approach all of this. Which isn’t surprising really, men are hopeless with stuff like this. But they’ll do their best.”

That made her feel so much better than she expected. “So they won’t send me back to Kamino?”

“If they try to, I'll beat them up for ya and take you with me. I always wanted a little sister.” Zirena winked at the girl, earning a laugh from her. “I’ve told them to bring you to Coruscant so we can have some girl talk. Think you’re up for that? I’ll be able to explain things a bit easier in person.”

Omega smiled excitedly at the prospect of finally going to Coruscant. “That sounds awesome!”

“Perfect. For now though, ask any questions you may have?”

-*-

Outside the Maurader, all five clones stood in a circle together. They could do this, right? Raise a young woman on their ship? Handle her mood swings?

Echo sighed as he looked at all of them. “Anyone have any chocolate hidden away?”

[elvenmother]

Context and Perspective: Sneaky Assistance

Pairing: Marcus Moreno x F Reader  Rating: Teen. Warnings: Swearing Chapter: 5/15 Word count: 1922

Summary: The newest member of the Heroics has gone missing and as one of the better-known Villains on the scene, you are blamed. Then your sidekick goes missing. You must go after the Heroic’s leader to try to get them back and clear your name.

Note: This has not been beta read so apologies for any mistakes.  This is my first time writing for We Can Be Heroes and Marcus Moreno. More mentions of Marcus in this chapter! We’re getting close.

Part Four | Part Three | Part Two | Part One

You spent all day at work with a strange feeling in your stomach. Orphan Maker hadn’t outright said she knew who you were but the time and place of the meeting definitely hinted at it. She had seemed very friendly when you had met face to face, but her reputation made you uneasy.

There was also the possibility that her reputation, like your own, had been blown out of proportion. The media and the wider public knew you as a villain. You had been accused of crimes you hadn’t committed, along with your good deeds twisted to suit someone else's narrative. Perhaps Orphan Maker has suffered the same fate. All you really knew of her had been based on public perception and gossip from the Server. Context was everything; you knew that. Surely if she really were a bad person, she wouldn’t be helping you. If she really were a villain and knew who you were, she would have already come after you.

By the time 5 pm rolled around, you were feeling a little calmer but still cautious. Getting up from your desk, you cracked your back and looked around, watching as your co-workers left. Were you putting them in danger working here? It crossed your mind every so often but today seemed particularly relevant. Even if Orphan Maker was the nice person she appeared to be, then there was still the matter of two powered people connected to you going missing. And, even if the disappearances were nothing to do with you, if someone was targeting people with powers, then just being here could put the office in the crosshairs of someone.

“You ok?” A soft voice broke you out of your thoughts, making you jump. Looking to your left, you could see your co-worker Dale's round, worried face. 

“Oh, yeah. I was just…” You started to laugh. You had begun to spiral. That’s what you had been doing. “I was thinking and sort of got lost in it.”

Dale nodded. “I do that too sometimes.” He chuckled back. “I can get lost in my own head, thinking up scenarios. It can totally get out of control. You know, I once made myself cry thinking about a puppy I was only thinking vaguely about getting.”

You laughed again, and Dale’s smile grew. “Yeah, I was getting carried away with myself.”

“Yeah. You working overtime?” He nodded thoughtfully.

“Oh, no. No.” You looked around at the empty bullpen and started to gather up your things. “No. Like I said, got lost in my own head. I’m heading out now.”

“Me too.” Dale gestured to his coat draped over one arm. “Walk you out?”

“Sure.”

You made your way towards the elevators silently, pushing the button and then waiting patiently. Other people were still milling about in the break room, their conversation drifting through the empty hallways as the two of you stood waiting. Soon the elevator arrived, and you stepped inside.

“Mondays.” Dale laughed out of nowhere and exaggeratedly rolled his eyes. “Am I right?”

“Erm, I guess.”

“So are you heading straight home or…?” Dale left the question hanging, looking over at you expectantly. 

“No, I have to meet someone.” You replied cautiously. You knew where this was going. Dale had asked out every woman if your department at some point. He was sweet but a little too enthusiastic sometimes. Always managing to say the wrong thing and making simple situations kind of weird. 

“Oh, that’s cool. Cool.” Dale nodded and pretended to act casual. “So where are you meeting him?”

You opened your mouth to answer but stopped. You had no idea if this contact was male or female. You only had a place, and you assumed they would make contact with you once they arrived. But you couldn’t tell Dale any of that. Sighing, you turned to him as the doors opened. 

“Dale, I have to meet a friend of my mom’s.” You weren’t sure where the lie came from, but Dale seemed to buy it as his smile returned as the two of you exited the elevator. You cringed inwardly. Why keep his hopes up like this? You weren’t interested in him, but you also didn’t want to hurt his feelings. 

Once outside the building, Dale was looking at you expectantly again, and you could feel the knot in your stomach growing. You should be preparing to meet a supervillain’s contact, not worrying about upsetting a co-worker who clearly couldn’t read the signs that you weren’t into him. 

“Thanks for walking me out, Dale.” You nodded politely. “I have to go now. See you tomorrow.”

“Yup.” Dale called after you as you walked down the street. “Tomorrow. Bright and early. Good old Tuesday.”

~~~~~

Frozenstar Memorial park was a short walk from your office, and you quickly found there was only one bench next to any magnolia trees. Sitting down, you glanced at your phone, it was 5:23, and you had no new messages. You had thought about letting Jada know your plan but weren’t sure whether to get her hopes up or not. This was a shot in the dark.

The park was moderately busy for a Monday evening, with families and couples walking around the winding paths passing beautifully maintained flowerbeds and sculptures. You had to hand it to the Heroics; this was a gorgeous monument to Frozenstar. 

Frozenstar had been one of the Heroics around when you were growing up. A beautiful woman with frost powers, Frozenstar had died saving an entire town of people when a strange portal opened up in the middle of the town. She managed to get everyone from the town out, but when she went back to check for stragglers, the portal had spat out some weird creature. She killed it but died from her wounds. That was the official story, anyway. Knowing what you knew about the Heroics now and how what was reported and what actually happened were two different things, you weren't sure what had happened to Frozenstar.

“Hey there.” A deep feminine voice said your name, and you spun around on the bench.

“Erm, hey.” You looked the woman over as she circled the bench and sat down next to you. She was dressed casually in jeans and a blue crop top. Her short brown hair was shaved into an undercut with the top section pulled into a rough bun at the back of her head.

“You’re early.” She said simply, staring at you with piercing blue eyes.

“I am.” You glanced around the park again, checking if anyone else was watching the two of you. The woman laughed.

“Don’t be so nervous.” She cocked her head, and you watched as her eyes looked you up and down. You couldn’t help but blink as she said your name a second time. “Pretty name. Better than mine.”

“What should I call you?” You asked, trying to keep the nerves out of your voice.

“Call me B.” She kicked one leg over the other and leaned back on the bench. She draped her right arm over the back of the seat, almost around your shoulders. “So, you’ve got a problem.”

“I do?”

“Er, yeah.” B laughed again. “The dumbass Heroics think you stole their boy. They have no fuckin’ clue where he is, and they only know that he isn’t dead.”

“How do they know that?”

“Every Heroic suit is fitted with a tracker so they can monitor where their guy are. They found Freefall’s suit the day after he went missing.”

“Found it where?” You inched a little closer to B, causing her to raise an eyebrow and smirk. 

“An abandoned factory just a little way outside of the city.”

“OK.” You nodded, pausing to think. “So, they know he isn’t dead. Why has my name been dragged into this? Why are they blaming me?”

“Cos they’re clutching at straws.” B laughed harshly. “They’re basing everything on where he was last assigned, that warehouse. Well, that and he was spotted talking to your little sidekick. The cute girl with the afro.”

“What?” This was entirely new information to you. Chloe had been seen with Freefall? “When? Who saw them?”

B regarded you for a moment before answering. “The day before he went missing, and they were seen by Tech-No. Obviously, he assumed and reported that it was an argument, but I think it was a simple conversation.”

“This makes less and less sense to me the more I find out.” You leaned forward, putting your head in your hands. “Can you put me in touch with Jess Campbell, erm, Violet Giant?”

“Planning a school reunion?” B chuckled. You were once again reminded that she and, by extension Orphan Maker knew exactly who you were. When you didn’t respond to her joke, B sighed. “No can do. She’s overseas. Stupid promo tour with Miracle Guy.” You must have looked surprised because she quickly clarified. “She’s one of the few Heroics who he actually likes.”

“Do you think someone could be snatching powered people?”

“What makes you think that?” 

“I think you already know.” You sat up straight and looked at B. “You know my real name. That I went to school with Jess. You must know about Chloe.”

B took a deep breath and nodded. “I found out probably a little after you did. I was looking into her cos she’d been seen with Freefall. Part of the reason me and the boss agreed to help you was cos of the girl.”

“So?” You felt oddly reassured by B’s admission about Chloe. “Do you think someone is taking powered people?”

“It’s not impossible.” B seemed to mull the idea over. “Perhaps Freefall and Chloe teamed up on something, and it went wrong. They pissed someone off?”

“I don’t know.” You shook your head. “Chloe hadn’t said anything to me about talking to him. I didn’t even know they knew each other.”

“She might not have told you if she was working with a Heroic.” B shrugged. “Maybe she was leaving you to join the other side?”

“She wouldn’t do that.”

“If she was leaving you to join the Heroics, she probably wouldn’t say anything.” B uncrossed her legs and stretched them out in front of her. 

“True.” You couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s not like she could just hand her notice in.”

“Exactly.” B smirked. “However, if someone has taken them both, then we all have a big problem. I’ll keep in touch and keep the boss in the loop, but if you want my advice, you should try working with one of the Heroics to figure this out.”

“Yeah.” You nodded. “That’s why I wanted to talk to Jess.”

“Well, you can’t. Also, she wouldn’t be much help. Too low level. You need someone high up the food chain.” B stood up and adjusted her top. “I would suggest Marcus Moreno.”

“The leader of the Heroics? Are you high?” You couldn’t believe your ears. “You want me, a person they have labeled as a villain, to go and talk to the head cheerleader? He’ll attack on sight.”

“He’s more reasonable than you might think.” B shook her head. “He’s actually quite smart.”

“This is a bad idea.”

“You got a better one?” B cocked her head, put her hands on her hips, and waited. You had no answer for her. Finally, she let her hands drop to her sides. “No? Right then. I’ll send you a message later. Let you know where you can find him.”

~~~~~~~~~~ Tag list: @Anaaaispunk, @littlemisspascal​, @galaxyofmando​, @pintsizemama​, @athalien​, @wondercloud​, @amoriavelton​

[floundrickthewayfarer]

Thanks for tagging me, @saturn-sends-hugs and @the-bi-space-ace!!!

Rules: Post the first sentence in your last 10 works; if you don’t have 10, do as many as you have.

1. Shadows skittered at the edges of Crosshair’s vision, vanishing every time he whipped his head around to look at them head-on.

An angsty little one-shot where Crosshair hallucinates Echo talking to him in his cell. 

2. “If I get food poisoning—”

About two months after Skako Minor, the Batch takes Echo to one of their favorite diners. There, they find out first hand that Rex wasn’t joking about Echo being a picky eater.

3. I was twelve years old, and I had three years’ worth of memories when the Foreman called for me.

The current first line of one of my original fiction stories. :)

4. “Yeah! Space waffles!” Wrecker cheered.

Exactly what it sounds like. Nothing but fluff, and I kinda forgot about it before digging through my wip folder just now, honestly.

5. Echo’s life was never quiet.

Angsty angst angst about Echo being alone on Skako Minor. A bit of an exploration of his line to Omega about hating solitude.

6. A low, muffled cry echoed through the dim barracks.

A very shaky draft that I keep putting off working on--- Echo has some muddled nightmares and talks them out with either Tech or Crosshair (I haven’t decided yet.)

7. Good soldiers follow orders. The repeating chorus slithered through Tech’s skull, encircling his mind in serpentine coils.

Tech’s chip activates instead of Crosshair’s. 

8. Echo and Wrecker sat side-by-side on a cot. 

A very abandoned one-shot that just... didn’t go anywhere.

9. The man in the blue suit moved with the smooth, dangerous confidence of a big cat. 

Look! A semi-abandoned Team Fortress 2 fic! It centers around Spy and Scout and Spy and Scout’s mom, and I don’t have the motivation/bravery to continue writing, since I know it will quickly spiral into at least 10 chapters.

10. It was night when the Purge troopers came.

My poor, semi-abandoned fic about Echo, his Jedi padawan, and Cal Kestis meeting Darth Vader. I want to write this, I do, but I also know it will take me at least 5-10 chapters to do it justice, and I’m trying to focus on writing another project right now.

Anyway, those are ten of my first lines of works-in-progress! This was fun! And, who knows, maybe it inspired me to keep writing/finish some of these! The Tech/Order 66 one is, like, 90% finished, now that I’m skimming through it. 

Not sure who to tag/who would be interested, but, if any of y’all see this and want to spill the contents of your work-in-progress folder, go for it! (No pressure tags: @renton6echo  @gentle-hero-blog )

[pickledpascal]

Love’s Train

Chapter Eight: 2021, Fall Semester: Emergency Meeting

Warnings: Government things, bitterness, hating on sam.

Word Count: 3.3k

Love’s Train Masterlist

Previous Chapter  |  Next Chapter

Quinn’s first Sophomore semester was going as well as it could. Her and her friend Andi got along well living in the same space together, her classes were harder but she knew she’d push through, and Optimus would give her a call. A call where she made sure to go to her bedroom for, but Andi knew something was up. A boyfriend maybe? She didn’t know for sure but she had her suspicions. Why else would Quinn come out of her room until an hour later? They talked for quite a while so unless the person on the other line was someone who needed Quinn to hand over some money, there was no other option in Andi’s eyes. 

Yeah, everything was going just fine.

But all good things must come to an end.

The week before Quinn’s midterms, the UN was supposed to be meeting and since she was the only alien ambassador that existed in the entire world that meant she had to go as well. At least she didn’t forget to pack her ‘professional’ clothes when moving into the apartment or else she’d be doomed. Not wearing a suit to a meeting like this was like wearing a costume in public when it wasn’t Halloween. It felt wrong, disgraceful even. 

As Quinn stuffed a carry-on suitcase with all the essentials she’d need, her phone started ringing. Optimus. It had to be. She quickly answered the phone as she exited her room with her bag in hand. “I’m accompanying you.” The deep baritone of his voice said. There was no disputing him this time, his decision was final.

“Okay but if some assholes figure you out, don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.” Quinn pursed her lips, brushing past her roommate who was doing homework on the kitchen table.

The phone on Quinn’s ear and the brevity of her actions caught Andi’s attention. “Oh! Is that your boyfriend? Tell him I said hi!” She called after Quinn before she shut the door on her. 

As soon as Quinn exited the building, she caught sight of the signature red and blue flame Peterbilt truck. Apparently, he was also driving her there himself with Bumblebee to lead the way. It was like they were some sort of convoy carrying precious cargo. Except it was a little funny to imagine a VW Beetle leading a semi truck of any kind. “You have got to be kidding me…” She hung up her phone as she lowered it into her pocket. Quinn huffed in frustration before the driver’s side door swung open, signaling her to climb in. So she did, throwing her bag in the passenger side before she used one of the steps to leverage herself inside.

Quinn had seen Optimus’ vehicular form many times but she’s never been inside him, so to speak. The driver’s cabin was actually pretty spacious and she’d probably be able to sleep in it if the drive would be too long. As soon as Quinn was strapped in, the engine started rumbling and the truck started to move. The vibration of the entire cabin gave Quinn goosebumps and not the bad kind. 

Optimus’ radio started to turn on after a while, flipping from station to station until it went quiet. “It has come to my attention that other humans we know intimately will be there. I suggest you make friends with them, they know us after all.” His voice rang out through the radio much like Bumblebee would do.

“And where did you get this information from?” Quinn asked, crossing her arms as she looked at the radio as if she was scolding a child.

The radio went silent. “... Crosshairs and Cade hacked into their data.” Optimus confessed, knowing what they did was wrong yet he still appreciated the heads up. Mostly for Quinn’s sake. Continuing when he felt it was appropriate, Optimus continued with his original point. “These humans are Colonel William Lennox, Ex-Sector Seven Agent Seymour Simmons, and Sam Witwikcy. Bee explained to me you’ve met Sam already.” 

“I did.” Quinn hummed, leaning back into the driver’s seat. Perhaps it was the simple fact Optimus was a Cybertronian so he was much more customizable than other trucks could be but the truck’s seats were incredibly comfortable… wait, was that a seat warmer button on the dash. As she turned it on, Quinn continued. “We talked for a second, didn’t say much but it looks like he didn’t know anything about the new Cybertronian laws being passed. Maybe now he does but it’s… weird. Especially for him being him.” Quinn let out a sigh. Perhaps she was so involved with the Autobots that she forgot normal humans didn’t care what happened to them. Sure, they thought they were cool but they had no idea that the Autobots protected them on a daily basis. Not so much anymore, every once in a while Optimus would send Hound, Drift, or Ironhide on a mission to investigate any sort of Decepticon activity.

Optimus’ engine hummed a little louder as a similar noise came out of the radio. “Sam is a much more… self-centered individual. But most humans are. If something does not directly involve him then he simply doesn’t care for it.” He explained. He remembered the time Sam said he couldn’t be an ‘alien ambassador.’ Perhaps he was right. Quinn was doing just fine on her own.

“What about the other two? Colonel Lennox and Agent Simmons, you know them?” Quinn asked. She knew about Simmons, he wrote some book about some big governmental secrets that came out years ago. She didn’t read it but her parents had a copy sitting on a shelf at home. Colonel Lennox on the other hand was a name she didn’t know. It was obvious he was in the military by his title, everything else was a mystery.

Optimus’ radio had to readjust for a moment before he could begin speaking properly again. “Colonel William Lennox was the head of a human–Cybertronian task force meant to take down any and all Decepticon threats on Earth. It was classified, top secret information never to be told to the public.”

“And you just told me. Great.” Quinn mumbled as Optimus continued.

“Agent Seymour Simmons was an agent of Sector Seven before it was disbanded after Megatron was originally reactivated. Since then he’s become a conspiracy theorist of sorts, helping the occasional Cybertronian in his retirement.” Optimus recounted. What a gift it must be to never forget anything. 

Yet also a great curse. 

—-----

A new day dawned on Earth, one where Quinn was lying in plush pillows and fluffy sheets. She may have only been there for business but she found pleasure in unexpected things. Like how she was riding in Optimus the whole way there. The rumbling of his engine, the vibration of the seats, the sound of his disembodied voice… She couldn’t stop thinking about it, those thoughts even invaded her in her sleep. Being in love with the leader of the Autobots will do that to a person.

Quinn woke up slowly, not really caring. The council wouldn’t start until mid-afternoon so she had some time to kill. All she really wanted to do was sleep in but she knew that if she did, she would never get out of bed. The human rolled over, her eyes fixated on the symbols imprinted onto her forearm as her mind slowly whirred back to life. Quinn slowly ran her fingers over them with a hum. She had Optimus’ mark on her and he had hers on him. She never quite realized just how possessive the nature of soul marks were, much like a wedding ring on the finger of a lover. 

Sitting up abruptly, Quinn got out of bed to get ready. Optimus has suggested it would be a good idea to try and get to know their other human allies. Quinn smoothed down her crimson suit once it was on. The shirt underneath a navy turtleneck, she had decided she wanted to match with Optimus. As subtly or not subtly as she could. Sharp black eyeliner graced her eyelids behind her usual thin black frames. 

Leaving her hotel room, three men were waiting outside Quinn’s door. Just the men she wanted to see, it seemed. She looked at each of them suspiciously. She recognized Sam, not much changed about him from last year although the suit he wore looked… worn and old. If that was Sam then the other two had to be Simmons and Lennox and, well, one of them looked like a Seymour. They stood in front of her awkwardly for a few moments until the tallest cleared his throat.

“I am Colonel William Lennox but you can call me Will or Lennox. Whichever one works for you.” So Quinn was right in her assumption as to which one was Simmons. The Colonel was dressed in a typical military uniform. Well, the suit kind, not the one with the camouflage and combat boots.

Simmons took a step closer to Quinn, a playful look in his eyes as he grabbed her hand and planted a kiss on the back of her hand. “You may know who I am already.” He smirked, trying to be suave while Lennox rolled his eyes and Sam let out a snort.

Quinn pulled her hand away from Simmons and wiped her hand on her blazer as she nodded. “I know who all of you are. Optimus and Bee filled me in.” She explained. At the mention of the Autobots, each of the men straightened up. It’s been a few years since any of them were able to make contact with either of those Cybertronians, even longer since Sam had met any Cybertronian.

“Is Optimus… here?” Lennox asked as Quinn started to walk down the hall to the elevator, all three men following her.

Quinn pursed her lips as she thought of a response. Optimus hadn’t set many rules on what she could and couldn’t say when talking to these people whom he trusted but she wouldn’t think he would appreciate his location being outed. “Can’t tell you, it would jeopardize them.” She hummed.

“C’mon, we would never do anything like that! Optimus and Bee know us.” Sam complained as they entered the elevator.

“Speak for yourself.” Simmons commented, letting out a scoff.

Quinn narrowed her eyes at Sam, her expression unimpressed. “Last time I checked, I’m in charge of human relations with Cybertronians. And the last time you even spoke to Bumblebee was more than ten years ago at this point so I could really care less that you feel some sort of entitlement over–” As the elevator stopped at the ground floor, her phone started to ring. Quinn quickly answered it, having a feeling she knew what–or who–it was.

Lennox shook his head as they all stepped out of the elevator. “Great going, Witwicky. What a nice introduction, huh?” He huffed in frustration while Sam rolled his eyes. It wasn’t the first time a woman would be difficult with him and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

“There’s no need to be so hostile with Sam.” Optimus said over the phone, his voice sounding amused. And Quinn thought he was the more protective one.

Quinn lifted her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes in frustration. “How many times do I have to tell you not to hack into my phone’s microphone?” She hissed in a hushed voice which caught the attention of the men behind her. Who was hacking into her phone? More importantly, why?

“I’m having Bee bring all of you to me. I trust all of them not to reveal that I am here.” Optimus completely ignored her question but Quinn was used to it by now. He would tease Quinn about conversations with Andi he’d hear through her phone’s microphone about a certain ‘man’ that would call her. “See you soon, soul spark.” The line cut as soon as those words escaped his voice processor.

Even after the months since they got together, Quinn’s cheeks always flushed at Optimus’ nickname for her. “Ahem.” She coughed, grabbing the attention of the men again. “There’s been a change of plans if you would all follow me.” They all looked at each other before Quinn led the way to a bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle in mint condition, parked in the middle of the hotel lot. 

“Wow.” Simmons hummed, running a hand over the expanse of its hood. 

Lennox cocked a suspicious eyebrow, eyes trailing from the car to Quinn. “For a girl who seems to be into modernity, I did not expect you to be driving a classic.” He admitted, a hand on his hip. Quinn shrugged with a smug smile on her face as she saw Sam piece it together.

“I don’t think she’s the one driving it.” Sam smiled softly as he pet the metal plate that made up the ceiling of the car. “It’s Bee.” 

The other two men fixated their gaze on the car when they realized. As far as they’ve known Bumblebee, he’s been a Camaro. He did upgrade to the current Camaro every few years simply for aesthetic reasons. But a Beetle? It seemed so… out of character.

The doors on either side of the car opened for all of them to climb in but when Sam tried getting in the driver’s seat, the door slammed closed. “This spot is reserved for the Captain only.” The radio sparked to life. Bumblebee could speak to all of them with his own voice now, a privilege he didn’t have before. Sam backed off, mostly because of shock. 

“Did Bee–” Sam started.

“Just speak. Yes, he did. Get in, please.” Quinn hummed as she sat in her place while Simmons and Lennox slimbed in the back. That left Quinn and Sam in the front. 

Sam blinked as he got in the car and Bee started to drive. “How? I mean, he’s been having problems for a while but you don’t seem… all that surprised that he could speak normally?” He questioned, still wrapping his head around it. 

Lennox let out a small laugh at Sam’s bewilderment. Looks like he didn’t read the files on Quinn that were sent to them weeks in advance to this council. “Quinn admitted to fixing Bumblebee’s voice box. It’s relatively common knowledge Ms. Harlow here is a Cybertronian mechanic, or a Cybertronian medic if you wanna call it that.” He shrugged as Sam studied Quinn for a moment. She was young, possibly the same age as him when all the weight of the world was on his shoulders. She was handling far more gracefully than him though.

“She really does work wonders.” Bumblebee chuckled through the radio as he turned onto a backroad with lots of trees and vegetation. He was thankful Quinn equipped him with tires that could withstand the gravel roads in this area.

For Sam, it was amazing to finally be able to hear Bumblebee’s real voice. Continually. He’d hear it sometimes, mostly when Bee was under stress or in the heat of battle when he thought he might die. To hear it over and over again without any glitches in his voice was unreal. The Beetle eventually came to stop in an opening in the forest, shielded by thick trees. As everyone got out, Bee transformed into his bot form and stood near the back to simply watch the events that were about to transpire. 

A rumbling of the ground could be felt under their feet, getting closer to their location. Optimus revealed himself from behind some trees, kneeling down to be a little shorter in size. “Gentlemen, I would like to reintroduce all of you to Optimus Prime.” Quinn smiled when she saw all of their shocked faces.

How could they not be? Optimus went through many upgrades throughout the years. His bot form looked less truck-like but still had hints of it with the exhaust pipes peeking out from his back and the metal mechanisms at work inside his legs and arms. 

—----

Soon, Bumblebee took the men back to their hotel after a short talk between them and Optimus Prime. It gave him and Quinn some time alone. And not the fun kind. Optimus had some things he wanted to speak about with Quinn regarding the undoubted questions the UN council would ask about him. 

"In response, I want you to say exactly what I tell you." Optimus said, in that voice that was soft and smooth yet demanding and could make one do whatever he wished. 

Quinn narrowed her eyes at Optimus as she sat in his metallic hand. "Alright then." She let out a breath. "Lay it on me."

—---

Entering the UN headquarters was a hassle, especially with all the energon detectors and the fact that Quinn was flagged for having energon radiation all over her. She was around Cybertronians all the time, of course she would emit energon radiation. Once the guards realized she was clean and, in fact, human, they let her through to the council room. 

The plate at her desk was simply named 'Autobots' instead of the other countries like France or Germany. Quinn took a breath as she sat down at her desk, Lennox and Sam were next to her. She didn't want to let Optimus down. So far, she hadn't but it would be quite frankly embarrassing if she messed up in front of over one hundred representatives of different countries. 

The meeting itself was boring, with countries fighting over who was entitled to who's resources and if one country would aid another in their quest to take over a country that wasn't involved in the UN. So much for the "United Nations." 

Quinn had to snap herself back into reality when she realized a representative was talking to her. "And what do you say, Autobot representative? Will the Cybertronians hand over some of their resources? Their weapons?" It seemed the speaker had a British accent. The Brits… always trying to look for some new form of war. Much like the United States, perhaps that's where it got it from. 

"The Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, has expressed his concern for what humans would do with the advanced weaponry he and his Cybertronian brothers possess." Quinn responded in as level a voice she could. She'd had great practice at this point, especially listening to the way Optimus talked all the time helped. 

The representative from Spain spoke up this time. "What of the Autobot leader anyway? None of us know who he is or what he looks like. Why conceal himself if he's looking for peace between our species?"

"He's not too keen on breaking bread with the people who tried to kill him just a few years ago." Quinn admitted, tilting her head to the side slightly. "I'm the liaison here, much like how the President of the United States is not here with us today." 

Perhaps the other representatives hated Quinn. For the way she spoke to them–firm yet calm, knowing her position was always right–or perhaps for the way she was so accomplished at such a young age. Being the ambassador for an alien race of sentient robotic beings that could transform into virtually any sort of vehicle sure looked great on a resumé. But if they knew of the relationship going on between her and the Autobot leader, Quinn was sure there'd be an uproar. 

Human-Cybertronian romantic relationships were unheard of. Deemed as unnatural by some while most others haven't even considered it to be a possibility. 

It was more of a possibility than one might think.

[nyotasaimiri]

Arc Two (redux) 45

Hadley coaxed the mech up over a column, then down into the entrance of an open room. It really did answer well to her. “I think I’m getting the hang of it,” she said. “So what do these buttons do?”

“Glad you asked.” Dr. Akaggy’s voice sounded a bit muffled, like she’d hopped down from her perch by the mic. “Don’t hit them until you’re ready to. Well, you can hit the one on the left. That will deploy a shield for you in case you run into trouble.”

The button let out a pneumatic hiss as Hadley pressed it. A few seconds later, she spotted the shield orbiting near her. Okay, so it worked as advertised. “And the other one?”

Right as she asked that, SAIL dinged in her ear again. “Scan complete. These targets can be destroyed with your mech’s primary weapon. My probability matrix has concluded that destroying them may allow you to progress.”

“What? What targets?” Hadley checked the screens again, swore softly at machines in general, and shifted the mech out of the archway where she had stopped. Sure enough, she spotted red and white ring targets tucked away in several alcoves, and a heavy metal door blocking the far end of the room, high above her. Of course, high above didn’t mean much when she was floating in zero-gravity in a giant metal suit. Hadley considered her options. “So I’m guessing this button on the right is the ‘primary weapon’ SAIL was talking about?”

“Righto,” Dr. Akaggy chuckled. “That thing will fire the flak cannon. It runs off the same stuff as any old pistol might, so make sure you watch your mech’s energy, got it? It’s measured in that blue meter at the top of your overlay there. If it runs out of that, you’re in for a mess. That said, fire at will.”

Hadley bared her teeth, concentrating. She could see the target through her visor, and crosshairs appeared on her visors as she closed her hand over the weapon’s control stick. It wasn’t quite like the old shooter games her brothers liked. Those never accounted for the recoil, or for how different the controls were in a real mech. But the bolt shot out right where she aimed it. The target shattered.

“Ha! First shot!” Hadley crowed. “Okay, now where’s the next one?” Had to be more than one, it stood to reason. The door hadn’t opened up yet. She flew the mech up to get a better vantage point and spotted red almost hidden by a metal barricade, and another one tucked into an alcove.

-

“She’s got quite the eye on her,” Dr. Akaggy told Nyota cheerfully as both targets shattered. “Perceptive, and a good shot to boot! It took my regular twice as long to even find those targets.”

Nyota nodded in proud agreement. “She has been learning sharpshooting from our First Mate lately. I admit, I did not expect to see the results this way, but Lumen will be proud to hear that his teaching paid off.” The novakid had been very shy about teaching at first, insisting that someone else would be a far better mentor.

“Well, you tell him this penguin thinks he’s done a fine job,” Dr. Akaggy said. She pointed a flipper at Nyota. “And everyone knows a penguin knows good shooting when she sees some.”

“I will pass word along,” Nyota replied. She turned her eyes back on the screen. She was not quite willing to let friendly chatter distract her from the fact that the test course could hold a threat to her youngest crewmate’s life and limb. Like what she was seeing now.

Nyota leaned in for a better look at the screen. “She opened the gate. What is that ahead of her?”

Dr. Akaggy pulled herself back up beside the console with a huff and a squawk. “Hm… Looks like your girl’s found the exciting part,” she said. “That’s a gravity wall. Just watch and you’ll see what my mech can really do.” She puffed up with pride. “This is what sets an Akaggy mech apart from the rest.”

-

Hadley snorted as some of the boasting came through her speakers. “Someone’s full of herself,” she remarked to space in general, but she guided the mech up through the shimmering, shifting green light. It immediately clunked down hard on the ground.

“Owww!” She righted herself in her chair, rubbing her head. “What gives?!”

SAIL’s officially-detested voice clicked on in her ear. “Your mech switches to a ground-movement configuration when in an environment with gravity,” it told her. “I would advise you to continue to proceed in your mech.”

“Gonna have to work on that transition,” she heard Dr. Akaggy mutter in the background.

“Darn right you will,” Hadley grumbled. At least SAIL was being useful for once. Well, she could swat the little bird later. There was a target ahead, and another locked hatch. Hadley shot the target and dropped down.

[hannahsmusings]

Renee

*I couldn’t believe how suave and smooth he was, knowing that this worked on every girl who was unfortunate enough to get caught in his crosshairs, but I couldn’t deny that I could feel a small tug of attraction towards him, even with his arrogance and his pompous attitude, it all worked so well for him, probably because his face looked like that* I had to look the part, right? How else would you notice me? *I take down a good portion of my drink, wanting to throw up at my own words, but happy that he was playing right into my hand, he thought he had the upper hand but he didn’t, he didn’t at all, and he absolutely no idea* *if he was anyone else and if our situations were different, I would’ve walked away as soon as he called me that name; it made my stomach twist up deliciously but it was also condescending in a way, wanting to argue that of course I knew that but I couldn’t blow my cover, nodding and tilting my head as he speaks, trying to keep my face as neutral as possible* You don’t like new people coming in and trying to change things around… I’m sure you know exactly how you like things. *I bite my lip as I give him a flirty smile* *I tilt my head to the side, making myself look as innocent as possible, reaching my hand up and playing with the pendant on my necklace, trying to come off as nonchalant as possible* But I’m sure she won’t be too bad… you think she’s gonna mess everything up? She has to be a professional to be in that position, right? *I even made my voice go up an octave, giving off the illusion that I had no idea what I was talking about, needing him to enlighten and teach me* *god, I hated this man, I had no idea how I was supposed to be cordial with him when all I wanted to do was slap the smug smirk right off his face* I’m staying here, Ferrari was nice enough to comp my room… I’m sure it’s not as nice as yours though. I bet you drivers get the best rooms. *funnily enough, I had a very nice suite since I was technically above the drivers in terms of status, but obviously having someone stroke this man’s ego was his favorite pastime* *I knew I needed to excuse myself, but the sheer thought of him inviting me to his room just to be denied to then enter my office tomorrow… I knew it would be fucking delightful to witness, my feet unwilling to let me move just yet*_

_________________________________________________

*cocks a brow and eyes light up with flirtation as I smirk at your boldness, grinning over the rim of my glass* Darling, I’d have to be blind not to notice you. *whispers seductively, leaning in a bit further as I watch you sip your drink, the energy between us crackling at this point and I couldn’t get over how fucking easy this was, you were all over me and eating all my lines up, normally thriving with charm and chemistry and having no qualms about approaching anyone but your beauty was more than a little intimidating, having thought for a moment my game would be off or you’d want a bit more chasing but no, you seemed to have no idea how enticing you were and that made this way too easy for me* Right you are. I like a routine, a good rhythm if you will. *smirks at the slight innuendo* One might say I’m an expert in the field. *lets my gaze drop to your mouth at your seductive smile, it dropping further as your hand reaches your neckline, gazing at your collarbones and feeling my mouth salivate a little at the sight of your slender neck, betting you smelt delicious and vowing to myself that I’d kiss you there later* *looks away at your question, you seeming to have an interest in the roles here and assuming you were just pandering to my interests, playing along* Professional maybe but I doubt she’ll last 5 minutes. Need a lot of resilience to deal with all the people, respect has to be earned and she has no reputation, therefore no respect. *shrugs a little before grinning as you mention your room, smirking a little and shaking my head playfully* I’m sure that’s not the case...*murmurs softly as I lean in a little further, lowering my voice* Maybe you can show me and I’ll be the judge? *glances down at your lips again, making my intentions clear*