#Jango Fett Right's a Wrong

[sinisterexaggerator]

... In this essay, I will reiterate that "Cad Bane is a depressed, sentimental bastard."

OK, so, @fat-tasty-krogan pointed out that the barrels of Bane's LL-30's are rusty in the Bad Batch via a screenshot and now I cannot stop thinking about things and connecting the dots.

Here's me checking different angles. 100% rusty. This is a man who is the best bounty hunter in the galaxy, a man who is *the* best shot — that’s his livelihood right there. Something is wrong.

I've always thought Cad Bane was depressed, mostly owing to his behavior in the lost arc, but this solidifies it for me. Let's talk about the canon, shall we? (Fair warning: I may throw in headcanons or share some other thoughts along the way, but I will warn you ahead of time if it's an original idea versus what is considered to be canon).

First, let's take the idea that Jango Fett is mentor to Cad Bane. This in and of itself says to me they had a close relationship and that they often worked together in some capacity. I will spare you my thoughts on the rest, but Jango does in fact associate with him and most likely in a meaningful way we never get to see. Jango Fett does not trust easy, yet he trusts him enough to be around his child; his prized possession, let's say.

Proof: When Boba first mentions Bane, (in chorological order) it is in the comics.

Him asking to spend time with Bane, and Jango saying "no, because you already know of him (and others like Zam)," means they had a close-knit relationship in my opinion. One that sadly comes to an end. In this comic, Jango wants to train Boba to deal with "the factor of the unknown," versus the known. Hmmm.

Moving right along.

The next time we see or hear anything about Boba and Cad being in the same room is during the Rako Hardeen/Box Arc, and in the audiobook CW: Stories of Light and Dark in the short story "Bane's story" that is read by Corey Burton as Cad Bane.

In it he states that the "kid's all right," and that he "owed his father a few favors." In the story, he reiterates what happens between him, Eval, and Obi-Wan to Bossk and little Boba Fett. It was Bossk and Boba who helped to create the diversion so that they could break out and escape.

Bane returns, his job foiled, and explains why. At the end of the audiobook Boba has a plan to get them all out of jail, and he wants Bane to be apart of it. This is AFTER Aurra leaves Boba for dead on Florrum ( don't get me started on Hondo, WHEW - they knew each other too, for SURE ), before TBB, and before we see Bane with a plate in his head, this one:

It is still present in the Book of Boba Fett.

Let's not rush ahead, though. Let's back up to a bit to where Cad Bane gets betrayed.

#1 betrayal on screen is Obi-Wan Kenobi as Rako Hardeen. While I don't necessarily ship them, I can see how Cad was very much hurt by this, as he felt he had started to develop a kinship with another hunter, someone who could watch his back, imo. Maybe he hadn't experienced anything like that since Jango Fett. Maybe Rako was ticking all the right boxes; I see Cad as prizing loyalty. When Obi-Wan turned him over, you could see the pain and anger in expression -- he was truly hurt, and he promised to end his life with a blaster bolt between the eyes. I honestly think he despises him and that's that.

Returning now to Boba, it is also canon that Boba was mentored by Cad Bane. Bane's story is also where he mentioned young Boba often reminded him of himself.

In an unaired Clone Wars Arc, Boba Fett works together with Cad Bane on a job. During the animation created for the episodes that never aired, Bane is seen drinking heavily and seems to give two shits less about Boba or the job itself and is not taking things seriously.

Boba begins to question his tactics, and does not like that he is willing to sacrifice innocent townsfolk just to get a bit of money. He stands up against him, and Embo, Bossk, and other hunters present decide to let him take his shot and do not interfere in their duel, even though most likely Bane is seen to be the one in charge or having authority.

In the end they both fall, but Boba was (unfairly might I add) still wearing his helmet. You can tell that the plates on Bane's hat, however, are also armored. Still, it is not beskar. Bane is severely injured.

#2 betrayal: Bossk and Embo retract their weapons and let Bane go head-to-head with the boy. He even looks surprised in the video footage when they do this! It's the same face he gave Obi-Wan Kenobi!

Boba comes out the winner. We see Bossk with Boba in The Empire Strikes back in the future, and in canon they are known to be seen often together. He especially looked after him in prison on Coruscant.

Thus, we can assume, Bossk went off with Boba after Bane's defeat and joined forces, leaving him for dead. I assume, and in canon it is depicted that Embo is honor-coded. If what he thought Bane was doing was not honorable, he most likely left him for dead as well. What we DO see is Todo 360 being there. I am almost 100% certain it is because of his droid he survives. But, where did he take him for help? Hmmm.... HONDO!! (Kidding, kidding - another HC I have, but ANYWAY).

In fact, Todo states he is Bane's "most trusted confidant" to Omega, and I believe this. He's a grumpy dick, but he never outright punishes Todo for anything, and he messes up quite frequently, but he is also a great help.

I have a headcanon that states his reasonings for keeping Todo, though this has no basis in canon:

"The little shit comes back after he is blown apart by a bomb Cad himself planted to go off in the Jedi Temple. Todo is loyal. He's there for him. He doesn't mind he's a grump. He provides conversation; stimulation in the otherwise solitary hours he spends in space. He becomes a comfort, someone to talk to, someone to fill the void that Jango left behind." Perhaps he also acts in the same capacity as a service animal.

Anyway, it is known what Bane thinks about clones. "Once you figure one out, de rest are easy." I don't think he liked clones, even if he tolerated and respected Boba until a certain point in time. He was different, he had "his father's blood pumping through his veins," and maybe Bane had trouble staring at that face - looking in those eyes -especially if there was more to him and Fett's relationship.

Imagine how he must have felt when he betrayed him? When he shot him? When he failed at repaying Jango's favor and failed at being Boba's mentor?

I personally do not believe Bane would have agreed to the Clone contract idea as far as his opinion. I think he would have told Fett he was crazy to have millions of himself running around out there, that there is only one of him that's the real deal. Let's add this to the fact he has to see their dead and dying faces everywhere to the point he's so numb he shoots them every chance he gets - no big deal. No big deal to have to kill one of your partner's lookalikes everyday for nearly the rest of your life, eh? Even after Jango himself is already dead.

Coming to The Bad Batch, it was pointed out by another user that when Omega is looking for a way off Bane's ship, we see some medallions/coins/ingots that have the symbol of the Mythosaur in a cabinet she is searching. That is Mandalorian. Who was Mandalorian? Jango. Boba by default. They are accompanied here by a journal. I think it could be Boba's journal, too. The boy most likely resided with him on his ship as he had the Justifier during the lost arc and they were traveling together.

That man is 100% a sentimental bastard.

You could say he hated Boba. You could say he was his number one enemy, but deep down maybe he felt remorse. He had been drinking. Why? Maybe it was hard to be in Boba's company. Maybe he felt he could have prevented Jango's death. Maybe mentoring him was hard work, but in the end, Boba betrayed him after everything he had tried to do for him. And Bane liked the kid up until this point - said so himself in Bane's story.

In the lost bounty hunter arc, Cad is wearing the same outfit he is in The Bad Batch. Now he has a metal plate in his head. @allsystemsblue mentioned he talks himself up to Shand. Maybe he's trying to convince himself he's as good as he says he is. He headbutts her and it obviously throws him off. He shakes himself out, trying to regain his concentration. I personally headcanon he gets terrible headaches.

The plate is on the OUTSIDE, meaning it's protecting something underneath. I imagine he had a hole in his head and a bit of his skull was fractured. I say he wears the plate to reinforce a soft spot that makes him vulnerable.

Even so, she kicks his ass. He's off his game. Maybe he's been drinking even more since his defeat and embarrassment at the hands of a kid. One he respected, one maybe he called family.

All the other hunters sided with Boba, left him high and dry, and he hasn't even been caring for or polishing his blasters; his moneymakers. They are RUSTY.

He loses Omega, he loses his credits, and Fennec sabotages his ship. This man is pissed. He's at wit's end. For all we know, he sat down and cried afterward before he could figure a way off that damn planet, and the only one who was there for him was Todo.

Years later, we see him confront Boba. He's a hardass. Nothing left of his personality in that show but a villain. It was like they made him extra mean on purpose.

He's still hung up on the past, he says it. He talks about Jango's blood being inside Boba, his "father." He leers at Boba. It is almost as if he takes a pause (again crediting @allsystemsblue for this observation), a moment to truly look at him. And let's not forget the hiss he gives him right before his "final lesson."

"Look out for yourself, anything else is weakness."

GEE! Where did he learn that from, I wonder?! FROM BOBA HIMSELF MAYBE?! He was "weak" for Boba; he was his mentor; he tried his best to do right by his father and train him and he failed. He shot him, left him for dead, betrayed him along with all the other hunters present, and all that was left for him was to work alone. To grin and bear it. To take the jobs that came his way just to survive.

He had to of hit a downward spiral at some point in his life to come to this conclusion; something terrible must have happened, and I guarantee it's this.

Shat on all his life, all the way from being "hatched" in the Descent Ghetto on New Tayana on Duro, poor, coming up from the slums, working hard just to make ends meat.

Can't tell me he didn't have a wall up, and hell yes he was feeling low. What could make a man that mean besides betrayal and sentimentality for something he wishes perhaps he could have changed or prevented all together.

Now he takes the toughest jobs, the ones nobody wants. His reputation is fear and for good reason. He'll do anything for money, including killing innocents according to Boba. Where has his Code of Honor gone?

I'll tell you where.

No one ever respected Cad the way he tried to respect them. No one offered or afforded him the same luxury. Every time he was near to forming a decent partnership with someone, they turned right around and stabbed him in the back. We at least see it with Rako/Obi and Boba on screen. Bossk and Embo count too, for me. Maybe Jango was the only one he could trust. Him and Todo 360, which he was not around until long after Jango's death and in some form could have been a fractional replacement for companionship.

To throw in a few thoughts on Hondo, he knew them both well. Imagine if Hondo also kept secrets from Bane, whether intentional or not, or perhaps befriended him only to manipulate him for his own gain (which is definitely something that could happen). He speaks favorably of him in "Secrets of the Bounty Hunters," and calls him his friend, but he calls everyone that.

At one point they did work together as per the blurb on the back of a toy called the "Pirate Speeder bike," that features Cad Bane and a Starhawk speeder. If Hondo also betrayed him at some point, I can see it only adding fuel to the fire, IF Bane allowed him close to begin with. Considering his reputation, it's possible that no, he did not, but I also ship Cad Bane and Hondo Ohnaka as well as Jango Fett and Cad Bane. I won't go into it here, but I can see them being an insanely toxic, yet perfect match.

To sum it up, yes, he is totally depressed. I feel like this is why. Can't change my mind.

---

P.S.: This is also a lesson in how to cite your sources and give credit where credit is due when thinking about headcanons and fandom fun. :) Ain't so hard, right?

[casual-violinist-fangirl]

All I can do to Keep you Safe is Hold You Close - 2,317 Words

A part of the collection I have fondly named 'Kaminoans are Assholes.'

Omega has been having trouble sleeping because of nightmares and her solution to that is to... not sleep. Hunter's Jango Fett gene has well and truly activated!

As always this fic is on my AO3 account here, and the link to my masterlist is here.

----------

The first time he had noticed something was wrong was when Omega started asking if she could drink caff in the mornings. Jokingly, Wrecker had let her have a sip of his, him and Echo laughing when they saw the expression on her face. She clearly hadn’t enjoyed the taste. When Tech had enquired as to why she had wanted to try the bitter drink, she had simply shrugged and said that there wasn’t really a reason. 

That had been a lie.

Lying in front of Hunter was almost impossible; he could sense even the slightest of changes in a person’s body for crying out loud. To add to that, Omega was an awful liar, making it easy to spot from where he was sat. Glancing around the cabin, it didn’t seem as though any of the others had noticed this, although when he caught Crosshair’s eye he noticed an air of suspicion in his expression. He had noticed too.

The day had gone on as usual and Omega hadn’t asked any more about the caff… Hunter almost allowed himself to forget that she had even lied about wanting to drink it in the first place. She was a little girl, for crying out loud. She was full of energy and the last thing they needed was her pinging about the place before crashing in a heap when the affects ran out. That night, when he had put her to bed, tucking Lula and Trooper into her blankets with her, he had asked how she was. It had come out innocently enough, but clearly he had spooked her because almost straight away her barriers went up, and she was insisting that she was absolutely fine. Not knowing what to do if she didn’t want to talk to him, he had bid her goodnight and climbed back down the ladder from the gunner’s mount.

A week or so later it was becoming more and more apparent that Omega was exhausted. She kept falling asleep on missions at every opportunity she got to rest her legs, and it was getting to the point where Wrecker was having to carry her about. Sheer exhaustion rolled off of her in waves, and the rest of the batch were beginning to be more and more concerned for her wellbeing. She was their little sister… Hunter’s ad’ika (though he would never admit that to his brothers) she deserved to be happy and healthy like all little girls her age. 

After one particular mission, Omega had collapsed in a heap in Cid’s bar; the loud music didn’t seem to bother her as she slept, drawing the attention of the Trandoshan. 

“What’s with Tiny?” she asked, nodding her head towards the booth where she was resting. Hunter scowled, but that was more because he didn’t know the answer than because she was prying. He went to respond, but Tech stepped in.

“It would appear that Omega has… over done it on the past couple of missions,” he answered in a very reasonable tone. “She clearly needs to go to her bunk when we get back to the ship.”

Cid hadn’t said anything else following on from that, but Hunter could tell that she didn’t buy what Tech had told her, and that even she was concerned for the little girl. “Right…” she responded. “Well you see that she does get that sleep. I can’t have clients coming in thinking I let little kids pass out drunk in my bar.”

Omega had let Hunter scoop her up and carry her back to the ship, her head lolling on his shoulder as she wordlessly took in her surroundings. He had thought there and then that maybe he’d be able to get her into bed quickly when he got back to the Marauder… 

He could not have been more wrong.

The moment he mentioned the ‘b’ word, Omega had perked up and started insisting that she wasn’t even remotely tired. “Can’t I just stay up for a little longer, Hunter?” she had asked, her big brown eyes trying to persuade him that he didn’t need to send her to bed. He had sighed, crossing his arms and trying to put on his best ‘dad’ face. 

“You need sleep, Omega,” he reasoned as he reached into the gunner’s mount and pulled her pyjamas down. She pouted at him, and for a moment he was convinced that she was going to start crying. 

“B-but…” she trailed, and Hunter could see an element of conflict on her features. She wanted to tell him something, he just knew it, but before she could get any words out Wrecker came parading into the room, a little tipsy. So much for talking to her.

"I’m sorry Omega,” he continued, watching her body deflate with disappointment. “I’m not budging on this one.”

She had gone to bed, but he had noticed how she tried to drag out every element of getting ready; she had taken nearly twenty minutes brushing her teeth for kriff’s sake. Looking back on that now, he should have seen just how reluctant she was to sleep and realised that something was wrong. He should have reached out to her. 

Other abnormalities in her behaviour should have stuck out to him, and he found himself cursing for not noticing all of this sooner. Especially given what was about to come.

——

(Three Weeks Later)

There were plenty of times that Hunter cursed his enhanced hearing; being on a ship full of snorers when he was trying desperately to sleep was one of those times. As he lay in his bunk, all he could hear was the heavy breathing of Wrecker directly above him, and the light snores of Tech from his chair in the cockpit. He had ear buds for times like these, but whilst the noise irritated him to no end, not being able to hear made him feel vulnerable and he tried not to use them unless he absolutely had to. 

Rolling over and resisting the urge to groan, he buried his face into the GAR standard issue pillow. It wasn’t exactly comfy, but being a solider meant that you had to be able to sleep anywhere. This lumpy pillow and hard bunk was a godsend compared to some of the situations he’d found himself in over the years. Distantly, he could hear the tapping of keys on some sort of device… it sounded a little like Crosshair’s data pad. Clearly he had joined Echo on watch then seeing as he couldn’t hear either of them anywhere else. They weren’t sleeping, that’s for sure.

Having Crosshair back had meant a little bit of adjusting for the members of the Bad Batch. For the first couple of days he had been incredibly isolated, not wanting to go near any of his brothers or even his little sister. Then, slowly, little by little he had started to integrate himself back into the lives of those who loved him. He had taken a shine to Omega, although he was loathed to show it to anyone except the little girl herself… now that Hunter thought about it, the only time he had seen Omega sleeping peacefully over the past few weeks was the morning she had been found in her bunk, clinging onto Crosshair’s sleeping form as though it was the only thing keeping her from floating out of the ship.

Hunter made a mental note to ask Crosshair about that in the morning, but his train of thoughts was cut off when he heard what sounded like a muted sob. Sitting bolt upright in bed and suddenly no longer tired, Hunter’s eyes darted around the room as he searched for the source of the sound. Not noticing anything out of the ordinary, he frowned, which deepened when he heard the sobbing sound a second time. Having been ready this time, he climbed out of bed and tiptoed towards the noise. Almost as though she could sense his presence, Omega’s snivels stopped as he reached the bottom of the ladder leading to her room.

“’Mega?” he asked quietly, not opening the curtain… he didn’t want to spook her or make her feel as though he was intruding on her space. There was silence for a moment before a quiet shuffling of blankets could be heard and a small hand reached to open the curtain.

Omega’s face was blotchy and red, her cheeks tear-stained and her eyes puffy from her crying; how had Hunter not noticed her sooner? He cursed to himself, making a mental note to be more aware in the future. “H-Hunter,” a small sob escaped her as she launched herself at him without hesitating and clung to his neck.

To his credit, Hunter reacted quickly; he carefully scooped Omega out of the gunners’ mount, cradling her trembling form as he wondered quietly back to his bunk and sat down. The little girl still clinging onto him, he stroked a hand through her hair and whispered soothing nothings to her as he waited for her cries to subside. 

When her breathing eventually did even out and the sniffles came to a stop, she looked up at him with a bleary look on her face. Kriff, she looked exhausted. How long had she been going on like this?

“Ad’ika,” his voice croaked as he used the term for the first time. Omega’s eyes widened at the expression, and if he didn’t know better he was convinced that she pulled him just a little closer. “Have you been struggling to sleep?”

Bingo. He’d hit the nail on the head it seemed, as the little girl in his arms cried even more. 

“E-every time I close my eyes,” she sobbed. “I see something different and it’s horrible…” she took a shuddering breath. “I’ve been trying to stay awake at night so that the nightmares don’t come.”

Hunter let out a shaky breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “You’ve gotta get sleep, ‘Mega,” he soothed as he kept stroking her hair. 

“I’m so tired,” she mumbled as her tears slowly came to a stop, reduced to small hiccups now as she rested her head against his chest. 

An idea occurred to him, something that he hadn’t done since he and his brothers were cadets, all cowering away and petrified of Nala se. “You could always stay here for the night,” he whispered, his suggestion catching her attention. She didn’t move to look at him but nodded, wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her new pyjamas (Crosshair had insisted that she have sleeping clothes, though he wouldn’t say why he had become so interested). Shifting carefully, he set her down on the bunk next to him and went to put his back against the wall to make more space for her.

That clearly wasn’t what she’d had in mind as Omega frowned slightly and clambered over him, putting herself between him and the wall. Hunter let out a small chuff of laughter as he rolled over, letting the little girl get comfortable; by the time the pair of them had stopped fidgeting, Omega was curled into Hunter’s embrace, the arm he draped over her clutched to her chest as she hugged it like it was Lula. The sergeant was a little uncomfortable, but any thoughts of that melted away as Omega whispered something that only he could hear.

“Goodnight, buir.”

He just managed to choke back the sudden wave of emotion that washed over him. That was… unexpected. Clearing his throat, he smiled softly at the little girl in his arms. 

“Goodnight, ad’ika.”

————

A week or so later Hunter was lying in bed, reading off of his holo pad. Omega’s nightmares hadn’t stopped, of course they hadn’t, but knowing that she could go to her buir when the nightmares arrived made them that much easier to cope with. It meant that he’d had to contend with having Omega, Lula and sometimes even Trooper in bed with him but if that was the price he had to pay for the girl’s comfort? So be it.

Speak of the devil, a sniffle to his right caught his attention and he looked up only to see that Omega had snuck out of her bunk and to his bed. She looked at him with pleading eyes for only a moment before he lifted his blanket. 

“Come on,” he whispered, allowing her to climb into the bed and to her usual spot between her buir and the wall. Her head rested on his chest as he continued tapping at the holo pad; he had been doing some research into a new knife he’d had his eye on, but turned that off in favour of a mind-numbing game he knew Omega enjoyed watching him play. It was a game where you had to match three blocks of the same colour in order for them to disappear and for the items trapped at the top of the screen to reach the bottom. 

He thought the little girl had drifted off to sleep, but was proven wrong when a small hand reached out and tapped three blocks on the screen. Letting out a small laugh at her antics, Hunter pressed a gentle kiss to the girls’ temple before the pair continued playing the game together, taking it in turns. He knew they’d both be tired in the morning but they had nothing planned for the day, a little lay-in wouldn’t hurt anyone. It was in moments like these that he allowed himself to make the most of the normality of it all, in the vain hope that one day he’d be able to give his little girl the childhood she deserved. 

“Love you, buir.”

“Love you too, ‘Mega.”

Yeah, he could definitely put up with sharing his bunk with his kid and her toys if it meant that he got to have moments like these.

[yukipri]

The Prime Override - Chapter 60 is up!

Jango - Spar

Happy Halloween! Alright so last minute editing did take a while, BUT it's finally up, and it's a chonker of a chapter!

This Chapter: It's identity crisis time!

Warnings: Some clones are referred to by their numerical designations, because in some flashbacks they haven't found their names yet.

A-99 slowly reaches out, as though not to spook him, and takes A-Ø2’s hands. A-99 has a child’s small, soft hands, A-Ø2 thinks, before he blinks, and realizes that his own hands are identical. That’s…not right. He hasn’t had hands so small since… He… “Who are you?” A-99 asks, and despite how soft his voice is, it seems to resonate in the unnatural silence. A-Ø2 realizes none of his brothers are breathing, all of them holding it in to hear him speak. “I’m…” A-Ø2 knows what he’s supposed to say. But it’s wrong. “I’m Jango Fett,” he says instead.

> > Read Ch 60 on AO3

Bonus: Here's the baby who fell asleep on my lap, who delayed me posting this by an entire day bc I didn't want to wake him up with my clickety clacketies:

(but can ye blame either of us)

[wantonlywindswept]

CC Aurek Batch + 1

wanted to write some command batch shenanigans with a side of Just Slightly Weird. are they force-users? fae? eldritch creatures? i have no idea!

obligatory mandoa meanings, tho I use them as names so it doesn’t really matter, and it’s clarified who is who later on:

Mirdala: clever, smart

Edee: jaws, teeth

Kote: glory

Buirkan: responsibility

Gettse: courage, nerve

---

"Why is it," Alpha-17 sighed, "That whenever stupid shit happens, it's always you five?"

Every member of CC Batch Aurek blinked at him in unison, wearing the same identical expressions of innocence.

Creepy.

"Sorry, sir," Mirdala lied, like the little liar that he was. 

"Didn't mean to cause problems, sir," Edee also lied.

Kote opened his mouth but Alpha held up a hand, stopping him from speaking. Kote was a terrible liar. It was embarrassing. Alpha had completely failed in teaching that one any kind of subtlety, and did not need a reminder of the reason for Fordo's constant mockery.

"Alright," he said, "Show me the poor cadet you kidnapped."

"I wasn't kidnapped," a young, mulish voice said from behind the perfectly-arrayed line of teenage CCs. "I came on purpose."

"Yes, I'm sure they gave you the option of refusing," Alpha drawled. He glanced pointedly toward Buirkan, who at least had the decency to look somewhat guilty about it. "Go on, move."

The quintet shuffled uncertainly, holding out just a little longer before finally parting to reveal the cadet tucked behind Kote and Gettse, gently pushing him forward. Alpha'd had his suspicions about why Aurek decided to openly lay claim on a CT, and the blond roots in the kid's hair certainly explained some of it.

"CT-7567, sir," the cadet said, snapping to attention. His salute was a little shaky, but Alpha didn't often interact with the CTs, and the rumors of him being an asshole were--well, true, but at least a little overblown.

When the cadet stopped there, offering nothing else, Alpha turned his attention to Aurek with a pointed, judgemental frown.

Kote stepped forward and wrapped an arm around the kid's shoulders.

"His name is Rex," Kote said proudly, with the smugness of someone who'd clearly won naming rights, going by the disgruntled looks from his batchers. 

"He's one of Us," Edee added, belligerent, as if that was enough to excuse the five of them causing chaos and abducting a CT from the cadet barracks in broad fucking daylight. But Alpha heard the emphasis, and--

Well. That was enough.

The thing that not a lot of people knew--or if they did, they shut their damned mouths about it--was that the very first batch of CC-class clones decanted came out...odd.

'Unsettling,' had been the word Mij Gilamar used, said without rancor, unlike the reactions from some of the other trainers. 'Unnatural,' was what Walon Vau called them. Isabelle Reau said that they were 'horrible little abominations', and while Alpha cared exactly fuck-all about what Reau and Priest had to say, he still made sure that Aurek never ended up near their illicit battle circles. 

Jango Fett had watched them for a single training session, face growing steadily darker as they demolished the shooting range, and then he'd turned heel and left without a word. 

Alpha was pretty sure that was just because they were already close to beating his scores. Sucks to suck, Prime.

There was nothing psychologically, physically, or genetically wrong about Aurek--that the Kaminoans could prove, anyway--and all five were clearly on track to be high-ranked soldiers whenever the war finally started. 

But they were, admittedly, really fucking weird sometimes.

"That true?" Alpha asked the cadet. "You're one of them?"

Now that he looked, he could see the similarities between Rex and the rest of Aurek: the little CT was already synced with them, breathing and blinking in time. His eyes bore the same unnatural intensity, and Alpha wondered if he would also be able to locate the others no matter how far away they were.

Rex nodded, a pleased smile breaking across his face. It didn't seem like he smiled that often.

"Yeah!" he said enthusiastically. "I'm one of them, and they're one of me, and we're all gonna be together now."

Rex looked up at Kote, who smiled besottedly down at him.

"This is Cody!" he said. 

"And this is Gree," he said, patting Gettse's arm.

"That's Bly," he said, nodding toward Buirkan.

"And those're Fox and Wolffe," he said, pointing at Mirdala and Edee.

Alpha took in the newly-named Aurek batch with raised eyebrows. They couldn't quite mask their happiness at the new monikers, and Bly stepped forward, meeting Alpha's gaze.

"We will always treasure the names you gave us," he said earnestly, as if Alpha was some tubie in need of reassurance, "But we gave him his name, and he wanted to give us something back."

It wasn't as if the clones had possessions, after all, and names were one of the few things that the Kaminoans couldn't take away. 

Alpha scoffed and cuffed Bly in the side of the head.

"I'm not offended, you little brat," he said, "And I'll still call you what I damn well want."

Bly just beamed at him, pleased, and Alpha rolled his eyes. He pushed Bly back into the circle of his batchers and their new plus-one, and if there was any kind of gentleness in his touch, he would deny it until he died.

"Meet up for training tomorrow at the usual time," he ordered, "And bring the kid with you."

Grins all around. 

"Sir, yes sir!"

[veny-many]

AU idea: World where Kaminoans developed programming and mechanical engineering not clone biological engineering.

Obi-wan: So, they really do look like Jango Fett. Are they clones of him?

Kaminoan: True, but also wrong. We programed them exactly like bounty hunter, but they don't called as clones.

Obi-wan: ...Programmed?

Kaminoan: Well, it is not usual that droids having similar appearance to sentients.

Obi-wan: ...Droids!?

Ahsoka: I don't think we should call you by numbers. It's so weird, thinking all livings have their own name to be called.

Rex: But sir, we are droids. We don't need names...

Anakin: Artoo! Come on buddy, let me check you!

Ahsoka: See, even droids deserve their names. So you pick it up.

Rex: But...

Ahsoka: Before Skyguy name you a weird nickname before you can. Look at me, I'm Snips now!

Rex: Okay, all boys gather around, we will have important meeting!

Kit: Are you all waterproof?

Monnk: Well, we don't need to breathe actually, and we were meant to fight under water, so yes sir.

Kit: So does that mean you can swim in naked body?

Monnk: ....yes?

Kit: Great! Join me troopers! <Throws away all clothes>

Monnk: <Monnk.exe has stopped working>

Kaminoan: But be careful, they are droids but not designed to resist space vacuum, due to their sensitive and complex body parts. They will never suffocate, but the low temperature and vacuum will slowly destroy them.

Plo: <Already traumatized, saying nothing>

Kaminoan: You don't need to worry, they are droids, we can provide thousands of them if you pay.

Plo:

Mace: No Plo this is not the right time to use Electric Judgment-

Ki-Adi: Excuse me, you said they were programed to be royal but there's some boys who doesn't want to listen to me.

Kaminoan: Report us about your defectives, and we will provide exchange-

Ki-Adi: Never mind, this was a bad idea.

Caleb: If you are droids, why are you so warm?

Grey: Because we are overheated by moving and calculations, sir.

Grey: The heat will make you uncomfortable, so you better away.

Caleb: No, it's warm and cozy here...

Depa: Caleb, don't assault others body like that with no permission.

Grey: But sir, we are droids. You can use us anytime for anything.

Depa:

Depa: We are going to Kamin-

Depa: Sorry Commander, I was tempted. I need meditation, please take care of my Padawan, will you?

Grey: Uh... Of course sir.

Barris: I'm confused, Master. If they were truly droids, why are they acting like they can feel pains?

Luminara: I have no idea indeed, my Padawan. Perhaps Kaminoans can answer us.

Kaminoan: Ah, about that, we added that option to easily search the damaged parts. They are more efficient than just scanning or inspection.

Luminara: ...And how did you find out to add... Pains...?

Kaminoan: Well, we had to do some experiments for many times.

Luminara:

Barris:

Kaminoan: And additionally we removed a 'screaming' options of their communication system, because it's not an important option when they can just point out their damaged parts with their pain system.

Luminara:

Barris: Master, I'm going to bomb this facility-

Bly: (I'm just droid. Droid can't love)

Bly: (I'm just droid. Droids can't date with sentients.)

Bly: (I'm just droid, and my General is gorgeous but I can't love her for...)

Aayla: Master, why are you digging into trashcan?

Quinlan: It is my seventeen attempt to ask date to that guard commander.

Bly: Sir, I'm sorry to inform this but since we are droids, we work for all time and Fox will never have time to have hang out with you, General.

Quinlan: ....All time?

Aayla: ....That's why you haven't ask me dates?

Bly: No sir actua- <Bly.exe has stopped working>

Quinlan: Aayla, you are the seventeenth Jedi who broke down their commander's programming!

Fox: What the actual kark is happening in here

Fox: <Tried to throw away the trashes that senators gave, only to witness two Jedis moving overheating commander, all in near trashcan>

[the-starry-seas]

So this whole BOBF AU started because I saw a meme on reddit and proceeded to take it seriously

So Boba of course has all those problems about being a clone, and of course all those problems about his dad being dead. Being a Fett just means having issues in general, right? I mean we've all seen Jango.

Boba is doing his perfectly normal daimyo thing when the Hutt twins show up with their tribute. Instead of a rancor - in this AU, the rancor was left behind by the former daimyo that Boba shot - the Hutt twins have a clone. Specifically, they have a clone made from Boba's DNA, rather than Jango's. They specify this when they drop him off.

Boba understands this as the implied threat it is. Someone who has his DNA without him realising it... nope, he has to dig into that and kill whoever is responsible.

He also has an extremely traumatised eight-year-old. The new kid's designation is 'Clone Experiment Prime'. Which is a little long for a name so they (Boba, Fennec, Din) call him Prime. They also start trying to figure out where Prime came from.

Eventually they figure everything out, destroy the facility, destroy the remaining DNA sample, and then go and kill the Hutt twins. It's a win for everyone involved! Well, everyone in the Fett clan.

And then Boba has to go back to Tatooine and deal with Prime. He does not want to be a father. He does not want to deal with a kid. He does ask if maybe Din wants to adopt Prime. Din essentially says "What's wrong with you? Get your shit together and step up for your new kid."

Meanwhile Prime is well aware that Boba does not want him around. Sure, Boba hasn't said anything where Prime can hear, but Boba's default way of dealing with new things is to be closed off and aloof, and that's not exactly reassuring. Prime's general takeaway from all this is I wasn't good enough for the scientists, so it's no wonder I'm not good enough for my father.

Besides, Boba has Fennec and Din, and Din has Grogu, so it doesn't seem like any of them have any need for Prime. Fennec and Din pay attention to him, sure, but they don't exactly seem to care. They don't ever tell him that he's wanted.

So the tiny, scared, angry clone who's never known love a day in his life... runs. He was abandoned in the science facility, so he thinks he knows how to survive on his own. Turns out that things are much more dangerous on Tatooine than one might expect.

It's not long before Boba realises that Prime is missing, and he then assumes that Prime was kidnapped. He promptly starts asking around in the criminal underworld. By which I mean he shoots a bunch of people and makes a bunch of threats, because he's Boba Fucking Fett and he's pissed off.

When a crew of lowlifes run across Prime, they recognise him as the daimyo's missing kid, and figure there's a great reward in it for them if they bring him back to the palace. Prime does not want to go back to the palace. This is completely irrelevant to the lowlifes, who drag him off, quite literally kicking and screaming.

Boba is not impressed with the way they're treating Prime, and promptly commits more violence.

This does not endear him any to Prime, who's well aware that Boba doesn't like him, and figures he's going to be next because of all the trouble he's caused. His attempt at running for his life is thwarted by Boba catching him.

Boba is not prepared for Prime to break down crying, or for Prime to swear he'll leave and never come back, if only Boba won't hurt him.

Boba reluctantly decides that if he's going to be anything like his father before him... he's gonna have to adopt the kid.

This starts an extremely tense father-son relationship, which Boba proceeds to mess up multiple times, because he has no idea what he's doing. And because he doesn't really want to be a dad in the first place, but he knows that if Prime does run off on his own, he's just going to become another target as soon as anyone figures out his connection to Boba. (Also Boba has daddy issues and abandonment issues, and something something healing your inner child, but in this case it's a child clone of you.)

Upon being treated with kindness for the first time in his life, Prime becomes the sort of clingy that is generally reserved for baby koalas. Boba is hardly the best dad, or even a good dad, really. But he cares about what happens to Prime, and ensures that nobody has a chance to hurt him, and gets him a good education and a pet massiff and a coat that protects him from the sand and a bed that's soft. Prime thinks that Boba's pretty great.

He also starts panicking extremely when he starts thinking that he's a girl, because Boba always calls him 'son' and 'boy' and 'him', and there will surely be some problems in the family if Prime is suddenly none of those things.

Once again, having been forced to be self-sufficient at a young age due to neglect, Prime's solution to all this is to run away, because if nobody knows where she is, they won't be able to hurt her.

Once again, Boba thinks that someone's kidnapped Prime and kills people about it, because if anybody's laid a hand on his kid, they're going to regret it.

Fortunately nobody else finds Prime this time around. Possibly because they're all aware that Boba's on the warpath, and they don't want to get in the middle of that. Or maybe it's just because she's gotten better at hiding, and also has a massiff with her who looks ready to rip the face off of anyone who looks at her wrong.

Boba finds her a few days later and is not pleased with any part of this situation. (He's also been scared shitless by the idea that slavers got their hands on his kid, but god forbid he feel a normal human emotion, so he's covering all that up with rage.)

Anyway, Boba and Prime end up in a screaming match in the street, because Boba thinks Prime is absolutely bonkers for running away from home again, and because of the aforementioned rage cover.

He's also stunned speechless when Prime finally shrieks at him that she ran away from home because she's a girl and he wants a son.

In the most exasperated and baffled tone known to man, he tells her that he doesn't care if he has a daughter or a son, he just wants her to be safe. (And in that moment, maybe, he's the most like his father that he ever will be.)

Prime is also stunned speechless by this, because she genuinely thought that Boba would discard her the second she no longer lived up to his expectations. That's what the scientists did, and it's the only frame of reference she has, for failure.

Upon realising that he's not like the scientists, she immediately starts crying. Boba immediately starts panicking, because he thinks she's been hurt. He somehow panics even more when she flings herself at him and hugs him, because he has no idea what to do about any of this. Eventually he picks her up and carries her home.

Boba has exactly zero idea how to support his daughter in her social transition. She can do whatever she wants, obviously. But it seemed to be a pretty big problem, so he feels like he has to say something. So he tells her that he'll do whatever she wants, if it will help, and asks if maybe she can talk to him if there's any problems, instead of running away again. (He's over thirty so like. His knees. Please have mercy on his knees. He can't keep running around like that.)

Prime decides that she wants a new name, because being called Prime always went hand in hand with being called a boy. Also it reminds her of the lab she was raised and then abandoned in, and she doesn't really like that. She asks if Boba will help her look for a new one, and Boba is internally actually kinda excited by this because it seems like a gesture of trust from her.

She decides to change her name to Prim, short for Primrose. Boba has some questions about that, because wasn't the point of changing her name... well, to be different than before? But he doesn't ask, because he doesn't want another runaway episode, and also she seems really happy with it. Anything to make his daughter happy.

(Being eight years old, Prim does not have the vocabulary to explain why she changed her name so slightly. It's about claiming what once signified her lack of autonomy, and making it part of her identity once she's allowed to have one. Prim is a similar word to Prime. That's the point. She's so similar to what she once was - when she was a scared, abandoned boy in an old lab, certain of nothing but a father's uncaringness - and there's barely any differences right now. But they are there. And they mean everything to her.)

Boba asks her about the flower she named herself after. She shows him pictures and gushes about how pretty they are, and asks if maybe, some day, when she's older, they can go on a trip to see some in person?

He says he'll think about it. He surprises her a week later with a huge flowerpot full of pink and yellow primroses in full bloom.

She tells him that he's the best dad a girl could ever have. And in that one simple sentence, is contained everything she ever wanted.

[phoenixyfriend]

Secrets

We can do author reveals for @spreadyourwingsexchange now! Mine was written for PaxDuane (@callacabforme)

Read on AO3

Relationships:

Jaster Mereel/Mace Windu, The Daughter | Winged Goddess/Jango Fett, Jango Fett & Jaster Mereel, Depa Billaba & Jango Fett, Depa Billaba & Mace Windu

Characters:

Jaster Mereel, Jango Fett, Mace Windu, Depa Billaba, The Daughter | Winged Goddess, Morai (Star Wars)

Additional Tags:

Time Travel, Romance, Hard of Hearing Jaster Mereel, Asexual Depa Billaba, POV Outsider, POV Multiple, Dreamsharing, Age Difference, (But all are consenting adults)

Summary:

Jaster worries Mace teaches Depa watches Jango lives

-------------------------

Jaster first notices something’s changed when Jango is fourteen. The shift in personality is sudden, but the kid is well into his teenage years and picking up more responsibility, even if it’s under supervision, so… maybe it’s normal.

Jaster keeps an eye on him, sure, but if it’s important, Jango will come to him, right? He’s basically an adult now, he can handle some things himself. Maybe it’s girl problems. Or boy problems. Or something.

He hopes that, if it is a crush, it’s not on Montross. Jango keeps staring at Jaster’s second, and it’s with a curiously blank look that Jaster can’t figure out. It could just as easily be… uh…

Actually, a crush on someone twice his age who is definitely going to reject him might actually be the best option. Well, no, the best option would be that Jango wants to learn a skill that Montross has and other people don’t, but both are still better than, say, Jango suspecting Montross of something, or Montross actually having done something, to Jango, that Jaster hasn’t noticed.

So really, Jaster is… it’s just Jango being a teenager, right?

He’ll keep an eye on it.

Jango will come to him when he’s ready.

--

So.

Montross betrayed them.

Jaster hadn’t seen it coming. Jango had. That might be the only reason Jaster’s alive right now.

There were worse reasons for Jango to have focused on Montross as he had, but not many. Not many at all.

“Are you alright?” Jaster asks, clapping a hand on Jango’s shoulder. Jango twitches under the gesture, looking away from the empty space he’d fixated on. There’s something in his eyes that Jaster would have called unfamiliar a few months ago, but knows too well now. Jango’s always had eyes that are too old for his age, but it’s been more, this past while.

“I’m fine,” Jango says, in that rough and stilted way he’d picked up from… somewhere.

Jaster has the right to worry. He just doesn’t know what it is that he’s worried about, entirely. “Ready to tell me how you knew about Montross?”

Jango’s eyes flick away for a moment, and then back to Jaster. “I’d prefer not to.”

“Ad’ika—”

“I’m not a child,” Jango says, fast and odd and Jaster is begging the stars to tell him what it is that’s changed his son so much.

“You’re my child,” Jaster says.

The look Jango gives him is indecipherable, searching and sad and something that Jaster doesn’t have nearly enough information to really read. “I know. It’s just uncomfortable to hear.”

“Jango—”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jango says, firm and final and frustratingly distant. “Please respect that, buir.”

There is no answer he can give that he hasn’t already. “Alright, I’ll leave it for now. Just… you’d tell me if something was wrong, right?”

His son looks away from him, and hesitates. He fixes his stare on nothing, ready to just go back to zoning out as he had been, and says, “yes, sir.”

“Right,” Jaster says, and they both know that he isn’t buying it. He sighs, pats Jango on the shoulder again, and heads for the door. “Get some rest, son.”

“Will do.”

--

The first time Jaster sees The Habit, he thinks it’s something else entirely.

He passes by the door to Jango’s room, and pauses at the sound of a single, agitated voice. The door is open just a crack, enough for the voice to escape, and Jaster steps back to look through it. The room is lit, and Jango is alone.

The boy is pacing, gesturing as he speaks and pausing every little bit. Jaster only sees flashes of this, because he doesn’t want to risk opening the door or invading Jango’s privacy even more, and Jango’s pacing is taking him all over the room. There isn’t an answering voice, and Jaster can’t see a comm from this angle, or even hear the low buzz of a response.

Jaster’s hearing is kind of a mess, though. He’s been in the vicinity of too many explosions for his eardrums to still be in top condition, and he doesn’t bother with the aides unless he’s doing diplomatic work. He’s sure as hell not wearing them in his own home if he doesn’t have to.

Would be nice to have them now, to figure out what the heck is going on with his son.

Jaster catches snippets of what’s being said, but between the lack of visual help and the fact that Jango’s speaking away from the door as often as not, it’s not much.

Jango doesn’t seem distressed, he decides. He’s probably either talking to someone on a comm that’s out of Jaster’s narrow line of sight into the room, or practicing an argument of some sort. Either way, he’s fine. Probably.

Jaster leaves him to it.

--

It happens again. This time, the door is fully open, and Jaster sees him argue with thin air, dropping names he’s never heard, like Kenobi and Boba and Windu and Tyranus. He seems to circle back to the same spot with his gaze, high up against the wall, and addresses it as ‘ma’am.’

Jaster knocks on the door, this time. It’s open, after all. Jango starts with surprise, and turns to face him. “Buir?”

“Heard you talking,” Jaster says. “Figured if it was loud enough for me to hear, then there was something wrong.”

Jango looks away, a flush rising in his cheeks. “It’s nothing.”

“Who were you arguing with?” Jaster prompts.

“It wasn’t an argument,” Jango says, too quick to be true. He won’t meet Jaster’s eyes. “And it’s… nobody, really. I’m just trying to get my thoughts in order.”

“Practicing for a debate?”

Jango snorts. “Something like that.”

“With…?” Jaster tries.

His son winces, looking away. “The New Mando types, mostly.”

Jaster frowns. “We’re on good terms with Adonai.”

This earns him a shrug. “I have concerns on some things I’ve heard. It might not come to anything, but it’s better to work out how to phrase things ahead of time, isn’t it? If I have to speak?”

Jango is not a good public speaker. Jaster is passable, at least, but Jango is… a work in progress.

“Practice is good,” Jaster tells him. “Maybe close your door next time, though. Keeps people from worrying.”

“Will do, sir.”

Jaster can’t help but ruffle Jango’s hair when he passes him, narrowly avoiding the offended squawk he gets for the act. It’s childish, especially considering how grown up Jango’s been behaving, and the return to something even slightly resembling acting his age is reassuring.

--

The way that Jango fights is controlled, but often uncertain. It often seems like he doesn’t quite know how to manage his own body, as if the size of it surprises him every other day. Jaster keeps an eye on it, but Jango had a growth spurt pretty recently, and that should probably be enough of an explanation, right?

Sure, Jango’s mistakes seem more like someone who’s adjusting to a smaller reach than they’re used to, not a longer one, but that’s… that’s…

It’s fine, right? Jango’s spending a lot of time practicing his forms, which is good, and he’s keeping up with his studies, doing well, even, and he’s been shining in missions and strategy sessions, keeping his calm when he argues for a tactic or insists on gathering more information or whatever it is this time. Jango’s fine.

Jaster watches him test the weight of a practice sword, swinging it in a set of forms that look more Jedi than anything, but still decidedly Mandalorian, and still testing and hesitant and almost as if he were… trying to reverse engineer lightsaber forms.

Jango’s never met a Jedi. Jaster would know.

Even Jaster’s only ever met two. Jedi are rare, especially outside the Core.

With a stifled noise, Jango takes on an odd jump, awkward and high and decidedly not designed with armor in mind, and lands surprisingly well. Jaster looks at the sharp grin and the confident way his son rises to his feet, the kind of competent that Jaster should be proud of, should be happy with, should support in all ways.

And he worries.

--

Jaster makes a habit of passing by Jango’s rooms when they have downtime. He’s not hovering, and he’s certainly not suspicious of his own son, but he’s… a parent. Right. He’s a parent, and this is normal for an unsure parent who wants to figure out what their child is going through without prying too much.

Jango has many one-sided conversations. He never has them in public, certainly, and he definitely doesn’t seem to be noticing or reacting to things that aren’t there, but Jaster starts thinking more and more that it’s something to look out for. It’s never big things, not really, but there are moments where Jango just… isn’t right.

It’s been six months, maybe more, when Jaster does roundup after a mission and finds that Jango is at the very edge of the meadow they’d landed the gunship in, right at the treeline, and holding a conversation with a convor.

People have conversations with animals all the time, Jaster thinks, just a touch desperately. One of their medics has a tooka that she talks too like a baby, every day. One of his snipers carries around a snake whenever they’re off duty, wearing it like a scarf and asking it ‘do you believe this shit?’ whenever something even slightly inconvenient happens. Myles wrestles with his father’s akk dog every time he visits home, with the ever popular ‘who’s a good girl’ dropping from his mouth as easily as kisses for the mutt. That slicer that joined up a few months back treats zir carnivorous rabbit as a coding partner, explaining problems in the program until the process of talking it through has led zir to an epiphany.

It's normal to talk to animals. Loads of people do it.

Sure, Jango seems like he’s having more of a business negotiation than a pet conversation with the bird, but it’s still normal, right?

Even if the convor, seemingly wild, nods to something, waits for Jango to raise his arm, and then delicately hops on.

Jango talks to the bird in quiet murmurs for another half hour before they part ways, and Jaster doesn’t know what to think of it.

--

So his kid is weird, practicing arguments and reinventing lightsaber forms and talking to animals, all normal things done in a decidedly odd way. It’s fine. Jango can be as weird as he wants, so long as he’s being safe, or as safe as a mercenary can be, and working towards being happy. He’s got an injury right now, a large cut that needed stitches and cracked ribs that needed taping, but he’s fine. Jaster almost even believes it.

And then someone shows him a security feed from the galley, something people barely ever look at, even on duty, and it’s Jango. He’s having a meal, alone, in the early hours of the day cycle. Nightmares, maybe, or just an awkwardly shifted internal clock. It’s normal.

It’s normal, it’s all so normal, until he tries to reach for a bowl, stops with a wince as he strains his stitches, and instead floats the dish down.

“So,” the soldier says, low and slow, “did you know?”

“Not this,” Jaster says. He wonders how much of the last months—almost a year now, if he’s being honest with himself—can be explained by this. “Don’t tell anyone. I’ll handle this.”

“As Mand’alor, or as a father?” the soldier asks.

“As a father,” Jaster says, “and if that doesn’t work… we’ll see.”

(Continue on AO3)

[seven-oomen]

Caught somewhere in time Chapter 6 preview

“Everybody leaves me.” The words are so soft, but send a glare of cold ice through his veins.

“Boba…”

“Don’t. Don’t make a promise you can’t keep. You’re gonna be called away to war again. You’ll leave me, again. And I’m just… stuck here as a prisoner. They won’t even let me see my dad!”

He’s not quite sure what to say to that. It’s wrong. Jango Fett is not a good man. Most of the time. But his son is innocent. And even bad men can be decent or even good fathers, who deserve to see their children from time to time.

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah… me too.” Boba walks on at those words, keeping his gaze to the floor and his arms across his chest.

Anakin and Ahsoka are already waiting for them when they arrive.

The second they step into the circular room, Cody’s familiar voice rises to meet them.

“Generals, with all due respect. But Fett hasn’t seen his son in six months and it is-“

“- A strategy to withhold him his parental rights. We’re not talking about a run-of-the-mill criminal here, commander. This man attempted to assassinate Senator Amidala, and chose to uphold his contract with Count Dooku.” Master Mundi says.

“Which he also broke at the battle of Geonosis, general. An action that must not be taken lightly. The man is still a Mandalorian.”

“I’m afraid that is not a-“

“-He’s right,” Mom says. “Mandalorians do not break their contracts easily. There are few exceptions that allow it. That Fett broke his speaks volumes. I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve his due diligence. But a visit from his son is appropriate.”

"Hmm, yes. Curious, is it not? Saved little Cal Kestis, Jango Fett has. Gone out of his way, he did. Very curious, yes." Master Yoda looks at mom with a look that he can only describe as bemused antagonism.

[multifandomnonsense]

Currently thinking about the idea of Cal and Boba somehow meeting while Cal was on Bracca

Maybe Boba was hunting down a target on Bracca or something and he ended up meeting Cal in a cantina or something while trying to get information. At first he thinks Cal is a little annoying then they talk a bit more and he gets completely distracted from his mission because he realizes he really likes talking to Cal. When he remembers he asks Cal and it turns out he has the information he needed. Boba eventually heads off to catch the target and thinks he'll never see Cal again.

Then he gets another job on Bracca and he find himself keeping an eye out for the red head boy he saw last time. He goes to the same place he went last time secretly hoping to find Cal and by some coincidence he's there. They talk again, and hang out for a while. This target end up being much harder to track then the last so he's there for a while and they run into each other a couple more times, one of them right by Cal's place because Boba was following up a lead on where the guy might live which ended up being a dead end.

The next time he ends up on Bracca he takes a job he knows will take him to Bracca, but doesn't want to admit to himself it's because he wants to see Cal again. He doesn't see him at all while he's searching for the bounty. Then he finds the target, things go wrong, and he ends up injured. His ship is really far away but Cal's apartment is right near there. He manages to make it there and when Cal comes to the door Boba tells him he had no where else to go and then passes out. Cal takes him inside and helps deal with his wounds. It's also when Cal finally sees him without his helmet and he gets worried because what if Boba tries to kill him. When Boba wakes up Cal asks him to explain what happened and finds out Boba is bounty hunter. When he brings up the clone thing he gets super defensive about not being a clone and says he's Jango Fetts son (he tells Cal the truth on the stuff because he sees no reason to lie especially since Cal just helped him).

After this interaction Boba keeps finding more reasons to go see Cal on Bracca sometimes even when it's not a job and he says he was 'just in the area and decided to stop by'. While on Bracca one time a group of people attack him (because as we have seen in the Mandalorian people really like to fight Mandalorians and try to take their armor). He's having a trouble fighting them all off then suddenly one of them gets shot by someone else and he turns and sees Cal. He helps Boba fight them off. Seeing Cal fighting off the attackers with a blaster and also some hand to hand combat is when he finally realizes he's fallen for him. He wants to keep spending time with Cal. He wants to fight by his side again.

Later when they are back at Cal's place he ask Cal to come with him, but Cal says no because he's still worried about staying hidden. When Boba asks him why he wants to stay on Bracca Cal tells him the truth. Then he panics because he just told a bounty Hunter that he's a jedi. What the fuck was he thinking? Boba is surprised by himself when his first thought isn't about the bounty for jedi it's that he definitely won't let Cal get captured. He tells him that and eventually Cal decides he to go with him.

And here's where we come to my second idea: Cal and Boba being bounty hunters together

Edit: I started writing it here

[death-by-ladybug]

1 and 6 for the ask game!!

1.the character everyone gets wrong

i've seen him written well but right now the character on my mind is jango fett. yesterday i read a fic where he used the word "behoove" and. i dont think he would say that

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

personally i am annoyed by w*lfwren shippers. they haven't done anything wrong, im just an ahsoka show hater & i am Not happy about the pale, femme sabine fanart.

beyond that though!! c*dywan fans are probably the most annoying in fandom spaces, and d*nluke and j*ngobi are pretty much tied in my head for worst mischaracterization crimes. honorable mention to the x reader folks for horribly inconsistent tagging!

[vodika-vibes]

Arachne: So Palpatine’s a Sith—

Dogma: what

Arachne: So I’ve been investigating him for a while

Dogma: wait

Arachne: And I’ve dug up some pretty damning stuff on him

Dogma: hold up babe

Arachne: Also you’ve got a biochip in your head cause of him

Arachne being a step ahead 👏

Arachne cheats on account of the fact that she was definitely a Star Wars nerd growing up. She probably wrote 50,000 word fanfics and posted them on AO3 and watched YouTube 'what-if' videos, and had hour long discussions with Miles and Peter about Star Wars technology.

It's easy for her to be a step ahead. She knows that the evidence is there, she just has to put in the work to find it.

Dogma stares at Arachne, his jaw slack, "Biochips?" "Yeah." She doesn't look at him, more busy with checking a different schematic, "Removing the chips is time prohibitive, plus I doubt it could be done without alerting anyone, so I decided that disabling the chips was a good first start." "Wait, wait, wait. Babe, stop." Dogma puts his hands on her shoulders and turns her so that she's looking at him, "Biochips?" "Yeah. That's what I said. It's fine though, I just disabled yours." You repeat. "It's not fine!" Dogma sputters, "What are they supposed to do?" "Oh." She blinks at him, "Right." Arachne presses her hands against his cheeks, "Before you freak out, I want you to remember that I'm working on disabling them. Okay? Can you remember that?" "Oh boy." Dogma mutters, "Yes. Fine. You're working on disabling the chips. Arachne, what do they do?" "They're designed to overwrite your free will," She explains, "With the proper order given, you and your brothers would turn your weapons against the jedi, killing them." "...what?" Arachne hesitates for a moment, and then she steps closer and wraps her arms around him, "Think about it, Dogma. Jango Fett was known for his hatred of Jedi. Why would he create an army for them?" "...he wouldn't." Dogma says hoarsely, "We're a trap? We were-" "Hey, hey. Look at me," Arachne lightly adjusts his head so that he's looking at her, "I'm fixing it. You are more than what Jango Fett and Count Dooku and Palpatine designed you to be." "Babe...If I'm a threat to you-" Arachne laughs, "Dogma, darling, baby. Stronger and more dangerous men than you have tried and failed to kill me. You are no threat to me. Even before I disabled you chip." "I know you're not wrong, but you saying it like that stings my pride a little bit." Dogma mutters. Arachne grins and stands on her toes to kiss his cheek, "I'm sorry, but you feel better, don't you?" "...annoyingly, yes."

[battlekilt]

@rochenn (ref.)

@battlekilt AAAA THANK YOU <33 i feel like he's underappreciated in many areas of this fandom (which is probably bc most of his potential was never addressed in canon). but it's always great to see more people taking an interest in him!

Let us not undervalue a mighty "Old Person" with enough skill and sass to be a devastating force.

See, my internal argument is...

I have Force-sensitive Clones. Fox and Rex. Fox and Rex. And Clones are already well-trained, right? Well, they are also stubborn. They didn't grow up in the same instructional environment like the Jedi. I could go much further into detail why it takes someone with Dooku's modified teaching methods to get Rex to respond. Tell them they didn't do something right, and they are going to work on getting it right. Don't tell them what they did wrong or right... and their Fett-itude gets activated.

For nearly two years, I've been living with this mental image of Dooku driving Rex crazy. How? Because Rex is doing katas over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and OVER again.

He's an ARC. Mine is an Alpha ARC, as it turns out—sort of—he was raised among them since he was four (8). He's used to doing really darn well pRETTY QUICKLY! Jedi are easily impressed by him. Dooku may have been Sith, but he's... sort of half-reformed?

Anyway.

He isn't impressed.

He looks... bored.

No matter how much Obi-Wan is trying not to flail, tell the good Commander that he did well, he's gotten scolded once for pipping up with a single word. If he wants to watch, he has to shut up. Rex is doing real good! The form is real good, not masterful—obviously. But, for the little time he's begun to be trained? Windu and Plo are pleased with the progress. Wolffe is acting like a cheerleader, and so would Anakin be. Cody is just grumpy because he's lost his favorite brother to the space wizards—in more ways.

Fox is sulking, too, but because he knows that once Dooku is done with Rex—he's going to get the attention. Until then, let Rex get the passive, genuinely UNIMPRESSED, borderline BORDER expression on the old Dark Side's face.

Every time Rex repeats the katas, many peer around the edges at Dooku to see if he'll finally do more than do what he's done...

Each. And. Every. Time.

He doesn't. He might brush some invisible lint off a shoulder. Mostly, though, He just stands there, still like a statue, even makes for Rex to squirm on his feet, before he says, "Again."

It takes a lot to test Rex's patience when it comes to perfecting his form. But, Dooku has it. Good thing because neither Rex nor Fox were responding the way they should have to the others. They just weren't as driven.

Now he's driven. He's driven out of sheer SPITE. Look, once, when he was between seven and eight years old—(14-16)—he got a NOD OF APPROVAL once, ONE TIME, from Jango Fett, and the reluctant fueled him to do it out of spite for the next two years. Probably when he learned the Fett-secret blaster-spin-holster trick Fordo taught him, who learned it from Jango...

Fox is trying to run away—Seventeen has caught him, and is just about ready to hold him up by an ankle. Wolffe is thanking Fett's Frozen Bolts that he didn't get this Force-osik, and Obi-Wan has got Cody held by the collar to keep from launching himself at Dooku like the old "wind-bag" was Grievous.

Rex just huffs, wipes his brow, and starts again.

Baby Boba? Well, he's a teenager now. He's just staring at the chaos.

Torrent is staring in shock. Because... this is very familiar.

Oh, right... Rex did this to them all the time. No feedback. Just... Again, until their heads get twisted up with paranoid delusions of what they could be doing wrong, or what sick and sadistic motivations drive their then-Captain.

For another time, Rex finishes—

The long pause. Someone's holding their breath.

"Again."

The crowd erupts in a groan.

Wolffe offers to get snacks. Fox has started to cry from being held upside. He doesn't WANT TO—he promises he won't steal other people's left-over noodles! Lies, lies, and more lies.

Ahsoka, Rex's other saber trainer, is a little better. At least she smiles! Then she tells him to do it again.

When Ahsoka is heard to say, "Again, Rex," she at least acknowledges that he has a name, and even goes so far as to add, "Please."

Not Dooku. No.

From the Count, it is just a cool, "Again."

[book-of-baba-fett]

coming in as @eternal-transcience because i saw the promo thing, and I'm awful at doing promos, but I'm sending in a smol section of wip of something I jut started, something I've been working on for a while, and a small paragraph of a fic I've finished in the last month and a fic I finished in January (everything's OC related because i've get canon x reader burnout):

Love Letter (new wip), Rexonia:

He'd carry her happily if her hamstrings gave out. The boys that knew teased Rex for it: any excuse to hold her close. Maybe they were right. But if they had someone they loved half as much as he loved her, he was sure they'd take any excuse they could, too.  War could take away any hour. 

Srg Sevens x Reader (older wip, one of my clone OCs before he joins the 210th)

Your hand playfully came into contact with his shoulder, which hurt you more than it ever touched him through the plastoid.  “If you can still flirt, there's nothing wrong with you.” “If I was bleeding out, I'd still tell you I love you. Nothin’ truer than my love for you. Thorn knows it. The men under my care know it. Even Commander Fox knows it.”

To Be or Not To Be (Jango x Ko'saam, posted 1st April)

She stepped back enough to have another sip of her drink before giving the rest to Boba, who she held the shoulder of to encourage him back inside. “Interrupt my lesson and enable misbehaviour, I'm kicking you out the room though.” “What if I took your charges?”  “Don't you even think about it.” His tone said he was innocent, and the unknowing would have thought he looked it. But beneath the façade of pure charm was a mischievous Fett. And she was not going to fall for it the third time running.

M.I.A Ch 4 (Rexonia, posted 11th Nov 23, edited 1st Jan '24)

“Commander,” Rex spoke into his comm, “do you copy?” “Loud and Clear.” Rex could vaguely hear the sound of a lightsaber and he took Peonia’s hand to ease her mind in case she heard as she recovered from her ordeal. “I’ve had to put my helmet on Peonia to give her oxygen. I don’t know how long it will be until she’s critical.” “Fives and Achilles should be at your location in less than five minutes. I’ve asked Dusckie to get the bomb squad prepped and one of the LAATs down here ready for extraction prep. Hold on tight in there, alright?” “Yes, Sir.” He heard then, the sound of Clankers in the vents. Rex looked back at Nia, settling her into a better position before reaching for his DC17s, searching through his visor for her eyes. “You’re going to make it, Nia.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “I promise.”

Writer Promo #2

Hi Kim!!! Thank you so much for sending this in - I've seen your Rexonia blurbs and I just love their pairing. I can tell the love and care you put into your work, and the passion you have for it. All of these are getting added to my 'read later' tab because they all sound so good!

[notgonnaedit]

Healer's Hands

Chapter 4: The Kaminoans

Master list

Althea sat patiently as Tech unwrapped her bandage. It had been a week of constant limping, and now she could find out if she was finally healed. There had been no luck in finding the Separatist ship, but Althea and the Bad Batch weren't giving up. They would get the information and Thao, no matter what.

"Well, Althea," Said Tech. "It seems your leg has fully healed. Though it will most definitely scar."

The girl looked down at it. "I coulda told you that."

Tech scowled. Not too long ago, Althea had corrected Tech on a bandaging technique, and the others wouldn't let him live it down. Crosshair and Wrecker especially.

Althea stood, testing the weight on her leg. "It feels good as new. Thanks, Tech." She gave him a small smile, and he returned it.

She walked into the cockpit where everyone else sat. Wrecker grinned as she walked by. "Hey, you're barely limping at all! How's the leg feel, kid?"

Althea smiled and sat in the seat next to him behind Crosshair. "It feels a lot better. It doesn't even hurt." 

"That's good." Hunter said from the pilot's seat. Over the past week, Althea had gotten to know them pretty well. Hunter was usually soft-spoken, and he was very kind. Wrecker was basically the older brother she never had, always happy to see her and always ready to blow something up. Tech was very precise with everything. His words, work, calculations, it made him come off as a little callous, but Althea knew he meant well. Crosshair barely spoke at all, but he was very observant. It was probably from his sniper skills, always watching and noticing tiny details from far away.

"So," Althea started. "Have you found the Separatist ship yet?"

"So far, it seems to be in hyperspace. Just like the past week." Hunter said.

"Or they found the tracker." Crosshair suggested.

Tech leaned over his seat and pressed a few buttons, bringing up a hologram of the ship. "Impossible, the tracker is still right here."

"We can't find it if it's in hyperspace. Sorry, kid." Hunter seemed genuinely sorry, but Althea wasn't going to give up. She looked out at the swirling blue of their own hyperspace lane.

"If we can't get to the ship, where are we going?" She asked.

"We've been ordered to return to Kamino." Said Hunter. "Standard protocol."

Crosshair rolled his eyes. "Is it? They made us different than the regs, yet they still expect us to act like them."

Wrecker nodded. "Crosshair's right. Why do we have to go? We never follow orders."

Hunter turned his chair to look at them. "Well, unless you wanna explain that to the Prime Minister, and we all know you don't, you're going to follow orders."

Wrecker and Crosshair stopped arguing about it, leaving Althea to wonder who the Prime Minister was. "What's wrong with the Prime Minister?" She asked.

"He doesn't take to kindly to defective clones," Crosshair explained. "The only reason he keeps us around is we've never failed a mission."

Hunter nodded. "We don't follow orders, but they don't know that...for the most part."

"For the most part?" Althea asked.

"Kaminoan scientists have deemed us 'defective' for a reason." Said Tech. "As cadets, we showed a concerning amount of deviation from the other clones."

"Wrecker once set our barracks on fire." Crosshair added.

Wrecker laughed. "Yeah."

Tech rolled his eyes before continuing. "When we were given our first mission, we we're told to follow orders to the 'T', but we did not."

"The mission was a success," Said Hunter. "But they made us go through hundreds of tests. Now, we don't follow orders, but only the ones we don't have to."

Althea nodded. "So you can be yourselves, but not be punished."

All four of them nodded, and Althea felt her heart drop. "Is this what it's like for all clones? You can't even be yourself without being punished?"

"Technically," Tech said. "Clones aren't supposed to have personalities. We were all created from the DNA of a host, Jango Fett."

"That's ridiculous!" Althea argued. "You can't just create people and not allow them to have personalities."

"I don't know," Crosshair said. "Regs are all pretty much the same."

Althea knew she had never met another clone, but she knew that wasn't true. Even identical twins had different personalities. But she decided not to argue it.

Hunter pressed a few buttons, and the Marauder was brought out of hyperspace. Before them was a huge blue planet with dark clouds. When they entered the atmosphere, Althea saw that it was storming everywhere, and that instead of a ground, there was a vast ocean. In the ocean were several tall, round buildings, and they landed in one of them.

Hunter turned to Althea. "You're gonna need to stay close, kid. We don't know how the Kaminoans will react to you." He stood up and moved out with the others. Althea followed him, slightly confused. She quickened her pace to keep up with Hunter. 

"What do you mean?"

"You're kind of a first." He explained. "As far as I know, you're the first non clone outside of a Jedi that's been to Kamino."

They walked through the hangar were several ships were docking. Althea looked around and saw several clones, but they weren't like the Bad Batch. These clones all had the same faces, and a lot of them wore the same armor. A few stared at Althea in confusion, and the girl stuck close to Hunter's side.

Following Hunter's lead, they reached a hallway, and Althea had to squint at first. It was pristine white. It gave her the idea that it was sterile, but also cold and harsh. They walked in silence for a long time, and Althea began to wonder where they were going. 

She was answered, however, when Hunter came to a door down one corridor and opened it. Inside was a dark room like the inside of the Marauder. Six beds were in the walls, four of which had been personalized. Six beds, but four clones?

"There were supposed to be more of us." Said Hunter, noticing her confusion. "But they didn't survive the initial experiments that gave us the enhancements."

Althea wanted to say something, but 'sorry' didn't seem to cover it. Hunter looked at her, and again seemed to read her. "Don't worry about it. We weren't even conscious yet."

Althea nodded, but she still thought it was sad. Wrecker took out his giant vibro blade and began to carve tally marks on the wall. He grinned up at her. "One for each successful mission." He stood up and walked over to a bunk that was probably his. In the center of the room was a table littered with wires, gears, and other random spare parts. Tech sat there fiddling with the random bits and bobs. Hunter and Crosshair sat on their bunks,s setting their packs down.

Althea stood awkwardly by the door. Hunter looked over to her. "You can take an empty bunk."

She walked over to one, sitting down on it carefully. She knew this wasn't her barracks, but she was grateful for their generosity.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a tall, thin creature walked in. Althea guessed it was a Kaminoan, a female. She had dark eyes with pale irises, and a small stone on her forehead. "Welcome back, Clone Force 99." She said. Her voice was as smooth as a river, yet it seemed to halt as she spoke. "CT-9901, the Prime Minister would like to speak with you."

Hunter raised his eyebrows. "About what?"

The Kaminoan didn't say, but her eyes flickered to where Althea sat. "Come." She exited to room.

Hunter stood and followed her, leaving the squad and Althea to themselves. "Who was that?" The girl asked.

"Nala Se." Said Tech. "She is the Kaminoan's head scientist."

Althea glanced back at the door. She didn't like Kamino so far, and the thunder outside didn't help. She couldn't tell if she didn't like Kamino because of how they treated clones, or if it was because of it was just an obstacle in the way of finding her brother.

Wrecker stood up and walked over to the door. "Hey, kid." Althea looked up at him. "Follow me, I wanna show you something."

She got up and followed the tall clone, once again struggling to keep up with his large strides. "Where're we going?" She asked.

Wrecker flashed her a smile. "You'll see."

They walked down the pristine halls, occasionally passing regs who looked strangely at Althea. "Don't mind them," Wrecker told her. "It's like Hunter said, it's mostly clones here, so you stick out like us."

Althea followed Wrecker until they reached an area with several weapons, an armory. Wrecker took one of the blasters and weighed it in his hands. "If you wanna find your brother, you're gonna have to board the clankers' ship. And to do that, you're gonna have to fight. Have you ever shot a blaster before?"

Althea shook her head. She was supposed to learn how to use her father's hunting rifle, but then the Separatists attacked. Wrecker handed her a blaster. It was similar to Hunter and Tech's, but this one didn't have any modifications. She turned it in her hands and felt it over. It was heavy, but the weight felt good. She looked up at Wrecker. "Are you gonna teach me to shoot?"

Wrecker nodded. He walked over to another door and pressed a button. The door opened, revealing a small chamber, an elevator. He and Althea walked in. The door closed, and it began to move up.

When the doors opened again, the duo was met with a grey room. It had barricades, and towers. "The training room." Wrecker explained. He walked to the wall and pressed a button, and three targets appeared from the floor. He walked back over to Althea. "I want you to hit those targets, okay?"

Althea looked up at him. The blaster suddenly felt like like it weighed two tons. "But, I don't–"

"I'll teach you." Wrecker walked up behind her. " First, finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot." She moved her finger. "You see that little dot at the end of the barrel?" She nodded. "Line that up between the two little nubs at the back."

She did as he said, and lined the sights up on the target. Wrecker nodded. "Good. Now are you ready to shoot?"

"Um... I think so?"

"Okay. When you shoot, squeeze the trigger, don't pull it. Got it?"

Althea nodded. Wrecker did as well. "Good. Now, fire when ready."

Althea readjusted her grip on the blaster. Her palms were sweaty, and the sights kept moving. She tried her best to keep them on the target, and her eyes squeezed shut as she squeezed the trigger.

BANG

Althea opened her eyes to see a smoldering hole in the floor. She had missed the target completely. She looked up at Wrecker, expecting to see him disappointed. Instead, he had a small smile on his face. "Not bad for your first try."

"But, I missed the target." Althea said.

"Eh, you're learning. Try again, but this time keep your eyes open." Wrecker stepped back, and Althea raised the blaster to shoot. Sights were lined up, finger on the trigger, eyes open.

BANG!

Bullseye. Althea lowered the blaster, a wide smile on her face. "I hit it!"

Wrecker grinned. "You got it, kid! You're a natural!"

              •°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Hunter walked alongside Nala Se. "Why does the Prime Minister want to see me?"

The scientist was silent for a beat. "The girl. It's understood that your squad has... difficulties following protocol. But the Prime Minister wants to discuss why you brought her here."

Hunter knitted his brow. Difficulties? Did Nala Se think they were somehow disabled? She was the one who made them! "Look, the kid's mission aligned with ours. We let her come along."

Nala Se didn't respond. They walked on in silence to the Prime Minister. But he wasn't in his office, instead he was in the room over looking the training area. Hunter always hated this room. He hated being able to hear the muffled disapproval of the scientists, making notes on what to change. He hated going back to the lab, where they reviewed what he did wrong, and jabbed needles in his already sensitive skin in an attempt to fix him. But he didn't need to be fixed, they made him that way. It wasn't Hunter's fault when he got overstimulated and couldn't move. He never liked Kamino.

Now standing before him was the one who ordered it all; the Prime Minister. He stood looking out over the training grounds. "You may approach, CT-9901."

Hunter wanted nothing more than to punch him, but he kept his calm and walked up to his side. "What is it you wanted, Prime Minister?"

"That girl down there, why is she here?"

Hunter looked down to the grounds, and saw that Wrecker and Althea were there. It seemed that Wrecker was teaching her how to shoot, and that she wasn't a bad shot. "She was the last survivor of the village on Elstar." Hunter said. "She asked for passage off-world."

It wasn't entirely the truth, and the Prime Minister seemed to sense that. "Then why haven't you left her at the nearest space port?" He asked. "Or a Republic refugee camp?"

Hunter hesitated. "She needed to get to the Separatist ship we are tracking, sir. We agreed that she could stay with us until she had what she was looking for."

"Hmm." The Prime Minister looked down at Wrecker and Althea. A small smile played across Hunter's face as he watched her hit the target three times in a row. Wrecker was right to teach her to shoot, and it made Hunter realize Althea needed protection. "I'd like to formally request something, sir." He said.

The Prime Minister turned to him. "And that is?"

"Armor, for the girl."

The Kaminoan narrowed his eyes. "You not only have the audacity to bring a civilian into this war, but to request armor for her?"

Hunter glared up at him. "With all due respect," He had none. "She was dragged into this war when her village was destroyed and her family was killed. She's trying to save her brother. That girl has more courage than half of your clones, sir."

The Prime Minister glared down at him, his large eyes narrowing to thin slits. Hunter met his gaze, unafraid. Finally, the Kaminoan eased up. "Fine. Do as you wish."

Hunter nodded before walking away. He wanted to get off that planet as soon as possible, but first he needed to get Althea armor.

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[imabeautifulbutterfly]

Sins of the Father - Chapter 36

Summary: Din makes a decision about his future

A/N: Hello Lovelies,

I’m sorry for not posting last week, but it has been absolutely hectic since we came back to work from the winter break. 

I’m currently working on a request from AO3 for a continuation of It’s Over focusing on Hunter, I’m not sure if I’ve said it before, but if anyone would like to submit a request, please feel free to. It just might take some time for me to complete it. 

Anyways, enjoy this very Boba-Din centric chapter. 

FYI: Special treat below

Italics - Din’s thoughts

Italics and Indent - Flashback

Warnings: derogatory remarks regarding clones and Jango Fett, threats, I think that’s it, if I miss anything please let me know. 

AO3 Link |   Words: 4,695 |   Previous -> Next

Main Master List   |   Sins of the Father Master List

CHAPTER 36: THE NEGOTIATION

Din had been silent since he entered the room. Simply taking his seat across from Bo Katan staring at her without shifting or showing any indication it bothered him to see her again. He watched her every move from behind his visor, every flick of her eyes, the appearance of calmness and authority she liked to exude, just like before she seemed unmoved by seeing him once again. Yet in between the fringes of appearing calm, there was the subtle hint of irritation, either from the heat of Tatooine’s suns, the damp and coldness seeping in from Boba’s palace, or just the fact she had to sit there with him and Boba.

Time eased on between the three of them, none speaking as though it was a mere contest between Din and Bo, to see who could outlast the other. The only sounds filling the room was the creaking from their gloves, as they all clenched and unclenched their fingers, and the whirring from Boba’s droid assistant. 

Boba glanced between the two stubborn wugav (leaders/cheiftains), and as enjoyable and delicious as the palpable tension between the two had been, nothing would progress during her stay if they refused to speak.

“Well” Boba clapped his hands together gaining their attention and the slight surprise from his droid assistant at the loud noise, “as enjoyable as the silence has been between all of us.” Truly, after thirty minutes of unspoken tension, enough was enough, he had other things to contend with, namely making sure everything was going well on Kashyyyk. He was no stranger to how Czerka operated, and he wanted to be able to do more than sit here watching these two make an even bigger fool of themselves, “One of you needs to start speaking in order to progress these negotiations.”

“Negotiations?” Bo narrowed her eyes as she focused on Boba, scoffing at the term. She wasn’t there to negotiate. She was there to give a simple ultimatum, and frankly being on the disgusting hot and dry planet was more than she had bargained for. “There is no such thing as negotiations for something that is rightfully mine. Has been mine. Will always be mine. Not to mention …” she turned to look at Din, “I recall you were suppose to join our ranks to help us reclaim Mandalore?”

“If I recall correctly, that was suppose to be a request, not a demand.” Boba answered on Din’s behalf, “And now that’s he the Mand’alor, should he really be following what you have to tell him? Or that’s right you don’t have authority over him.”

“As I said before, some of us serve a higher purpose” Bo slowly turned her head back to Boba, narrowing her eyes at the man. 

He simply laughed to himself, “Yet, you never actually won the right to wield that authority. Have you?” Boba responded, his fingers tapping in front of him, Bo didn’t acknowledge his statement, nor did he expect her to, especially since he knew all about her history. He’d heard all the rumours while he was on Concord Dawn and seen proof of Death Watch’s destruction. The only reason he held back for now, was because Din may not have been aware of what that meant, but he was, “Am I wrong, Lady Kryze?”

“You certainly picked up quite a few annoying habits from your donor, didn’t you?” She tilted her head towards him. She had enough of clones, had enough of Jango Fett, looking at Boba’s face just irritated her even more. 

“Feeling mighty brave aren’t we?” His hand clenched against the table.

“Well I heard your guard dog was on holiday” the last thing Bo wanted to do was face that annoying woman she had met previously. What was her name again? Adar? Alar? Who cared?

“She’s not the only guard dog in this place” Fennec’s voice echoed throughout the room as she walked down the stairs as silent as a tooka, moving to stand beside Boba. She couldn’t stand Bo-Katan, though she respected her abilities to lead and to fight, she was definitely someone she had no desire to see again. 

He turned to look at Fenn, only reason she’d interrupt the meeting was because something urgent came up. 

Bo didn’t say anything in response, simply eyeing the assassin’s movements. Preparing herself in the eventuality of an ambush. Though her weapons were confiscated and stored before coming into the conference room, however unbeknownst to the others she still had two hidden vibroblades on her. 

Fennec leaned down, narrowing her eyes at the red-headed Mandalorian, whispering into Boba’s ear without losing eye contact, “Just heard from them, they arrived, things are worse than they imagined. Asks if you could come sooner rather than later.” He simply nodded, he didn’t need the ins and outs of the message, he could already guess it was from Mara, and if she was asking for assistance then things were rather dire. He cleared his throat, their pleasantries were clearly going nowhere, it was time to get down to business.

He simply nodded sending Fennec away, he cleared his throat drawing the attention of Din and Bo once again, “Let’s get to the point at hand, the reason you two are here. Kryze, let’s begin with you, why don’t you tell us what you want?”

“Simple” her eyes focused on the shiny armour in front of her, “You” she pointed to Din, “Come back to Mandalore and face me in a duel or take up the mantle as Mand’alor. Either way I need you to come back to Mandalore.”

Din listened as Bo laid out her terms, there were so many things he wanted to say, especially with her attitude towards Boba. He could already hear Oyar’e’s voice in his head.

‘You’re the Mand’alor, Din, you’re the one your people are waiting for. You know what it’s like to struggle, to live on the outskirts, to not be viewed as a Mandalorian. You know what it’s like not to have someone to count on. You’ll be able to understand your people better than most leaders, and because you understand that pain, you can be all those things for your people. They deserve a good man like you as their leader. Not that woman.’

Even in his own mind he couldn’t really argue against her, not that he wanted to, at least not for something they both agreed on, even if at times he still didn’t think he was the right person to be Mand’alor, one thing was for certain, Bo-Katan was definitely not the right person. In fact, he could almost see O’yare sitting there beside him, narrowing her eyes at Bo-Katan, mocking her in some way about wanting to be Mand’alor. 

“Why Mandalore?” He finally spoke, tapping his fore finger against the table in no particular pattern. She didn’t answer, simply a quizzical look on her face. “I mean if you’re so eager to prove you can take on the mantle, and be Mand’alor, why the song and dance of going back to Mandalore? Let’s just get to it, face me now.”

‘That’s it bare (dear), tell her where you stand. Be the Mand’alor, I know you to be’

Again she didn’t respond to his statement, “It seems to be me we should simply just get this over and done with,” though he knew Ara would have supported any decision he made, the longer he thought about, after everything she’d been through recently, the last thing he wanted to do was uproot her. He was genuine, when he told her he’d rather stay here with her, Adi and Grogu, to live out his life helping out where he could. 

‘Do you think I’m weak? I am able to handle more than enough.’  

Bo simply smirked at Din’s statements, both he and Boba were Mandalorians who hadn’t been taught anything with regards to customs or even how a true Mand’alor should behave, she wondered how much she could twist to her advantage. How much she could get him to give up, in order to have the power and authority she desired. 

“As much as I would love to beat you now, there are many things to consider with regards to the customs of becoming Mand’alor. Namely, our people deserve to see the rightful Mand’alor take their place; that can only be proven by winning the sword. In short, when I do beat you, I want it to be front and centre, in front of all my people. Leaving no room for doubt as to how the title was won and by whom.”

Din simply shook his head, as his visor focused back on her, “Is that truly the custom?” He glanced over to Boba, he seemed to not think much of what she said, he tapped his finger against the table again, Boba simply leaned back against his chair, nodding slowly. 

Bo didn’t answer simply letting out an exhausted sigh, at his lack of knowledge. 

He ignored her flippant and arrogant attitude, “If I understand correctly, rather than lose in private, you wanna do it in front of what …” he motioned with his hand, “… five people? After all the last time I saw you, you had what two people by your side?”

Boba stifled the laugh that wanted to erupt, simply biting his cheek instead, keeping a stoic countenance as much as possible. 

“You really think you’re worthy of being Mand’alor? To handle the responsibility or even what it truly means to lead Mandalorians? Remind me, how many are following you?” She motioned with her hand, “Let’s see …” she glanced around the room, “none.”

Din wanted to rebuff her statement, wanted to show her that she was wrong, but as he reflected, who could he say was following him. Was he meant to be the Mand’alor? He thought back to all those times he had wanted to get rid of the sword, and now here he was ready to battle for it, but yet no one to actually follow him. When did it all change? When he first arrived on Tatooine?

His mind flashed back to his first meeting with Boba.

“You should get use to not being able to see your desk, when you decide to take over your rightful place as Mand'alor, you’ll be buried in more than just paperwork, you’ll be buried in political and governmental issues too, and I shall have the last laugh.”

“I don’t want the throne, Boba”

“That much I know, but you have to think about what Mandalore would be like with someone like Bo-Katan as the leader. She may be a warrior, and the rightful heir, she may even be schooled in the way of politics, but there is a certain air of arrogance, of elitism coming from her. Would you think that such a ruler would be beneficial to reunite the clans?”

“I don’t care. I don’t want it.” 

“Maybe or maybe you don’t think you deserve it, as a Child of the Watch, as a foundling, or as a bounty hunter.  Maybe you feel you are unworthy. I’m a simple man, trying to make my way in the universe, but you, you are thrusted into greatness again and again, and are destined for more.”

Maybe it was when he learned how Boba’s people viewed him, when he first spoke to Aola. 

“Great Boba and Mistress Fennec are the best masters … masters is wrong, they are the best leaders to ever grace this place. They treat the servants, as workers, they make sure we all are treated with dignity and respect, not as slaves or playthings, the same way they treat the guards and bounty hunters. I would and will gladly die for either of them. A good ruler or leader, makes those under him feel elevated they feel dignified, safe, protected. Before Great Boba, many of the servants were harassed and abused, when he took power, Great Boba removed all the undesirables, he gave them one chance, they could either follow his rules or end up on a one-way trip to a sarlacc pit.”

“A great leader respects and understands the power behind those who follow him. For without them, he is a man talking to the wind”

“I think you would make a good leader, the people of Mandalore will be blessed by having you as their ruler.”

Yet, there were times when it felt as though the galaxy wanted to make sure he didn’t give up on himself, that’s how it felt, when Amara first told him he’d be a good leader. 

"Honestly, I think you would be a good ruler for Mandalore, if that is something you choose.  There are not enough leaders who understand the struggle their people face, it's what makes Boba such a good leader.”

He almost wanted to chuckle, when he thought about the time he accused Oyar’e as a drug dealer, only to have her reaffirm how she thought of him.

“You did what you thought was right, Roe, you were trying to save me, and not just me but Adi too.  How could I be mad at you for that, and on top of it you were so upset on Adi’s behalf.  That …that’s exactly why I know … why I know you’ll be an amazing Mand’alor”

If he was being honest it was probably at that moment when he fell in love with her. Yet, despite how much he thought about giving up, once again Amara showed him why he was the perfect Mand’alor even if it scared her. 

“You really want me to be the Mand’alor, don’t you Ara?”

“No … not at all”

“You don’t?”

“Well, … would you be a great Mand’alor, if you decide to take up the mantle? Absolutely.  Do I personally want you to be the Mand’alor? That’s … that’s harder to answer”

“Why?”

“I … I don’t want to see you hurt”

“Ara, being the Mand’alor doesn’t mean I’m going to get hurt”

“Din … seeing you … when the Vurk jumped on your back, seeing him stab you over and over again, I … that was one of the hardest things for me to see. You’re my friend, I don’t want to see my friend injured. When you didn’t wake up right away, I was freaked out. I know I tried to play it off like it didn’t bother me, but I … what happens if something happens to you? I … need you safe, Din. I know there will always be someone who wants to challenge you for the title. Do I think you’ll be a great Mand’alor? Yes. Do I want to see you in a position where you are constantly fighting for you life? No, you’re my friend, Din. I don’t want to see my friend hurt or worse.”

She understood better then most how dangerous being Mand’alor could be. Yet she still was willing to follow him and support his decision. 

“Wherever your future leads, I’ll be by your side to support you.”

Even when he had finally admitted not only to himself but to her that he was considering taking up the mantle, she was still supportive. 

“Does that mean you're going to take it up?”

“Not sure yet, but I'm leaning more towards yes. Seeing how you help the people of Mos Eisley, inspires me. You do so much for those who need help, with barely any resources. I can’t help but wonder, how much more can I do for my own people? For others in the galaxy who need it?”

“You'll be amazing at it, I have no doubt people will appreciate your kindness." 

Even in her last message to him, when she thought she’d never see him again, she made a point to remind him of who he was and to not forget.

“…There are so many things I need to say, but my time is running short … I should have said this when you were leaving to meet Grogu, but I thought … I thought I had more time. You’re the best man I’ve ever known, I know you think your past defines you, makes you unlovable because you’ve done things you’re not proud of, however that’s not true. I know it’s not true because … because I love you. I love you, Din. I’m so proud of you, of the man you are, despite all that has been thrown your way, you didn’t allow it to defeat you, you got back up. I should’ve told you when we were on Sorgan, should’ve told you when we were on Papsr. I think I realized it that night at the orphanage, how deeply in love with you I am, I’m sorry for wasting so much time. I love you, Din. With all my heart, and it’s okay if you don’t feel the same because … because you gave me something I didn’t think I’d ever have again. Hope. Thank you, Din. Look after Adi for me, tell him I love him. I love you both. I have to go, but never forget you are a good man, and I love you, cyare.”

Throughout his time with Amara, his time on Tatooine, he’s been able to see what a good leader is, what a true ruler should be like, and Boba was right about one thing, this woman sitting in front of him was definitely no ruler. 

“Well you’re certainly charming in your own right aren’t you?” The sarcasm flowing out of Din’s mouth oozed down the walls and all around them. “As clever as you may think you are, I will not simply lay my hand down and give you the sword. Not anymore.” If he could regain his Manda status by swimming in the living waters underneath Mandalore, then his own people wouldn’t need to hide anymore, they’d be able to be recognized and accepted. 

Boba couldn’t have been prouder of his friend, he didn’t falter simply because she tried to provoke him. 

Bo simply shook her head, “How an ungrateful useless piece of osik like you became Mand’alor …”

“Say one more disrespectful word to the real Mand’alor in my presence and you’ll see what my father truly taught me” Boba cut off her disrespectful uttering mid-sentence, he may not buy into the whole Mandalorian custom with a burning passion these two seemed to possess, however it didn’t mean he would allow someone to disrespect his friend and the King of a Sovereign nation before him. 

“Who knew Jango’s DNA could hold such passion?” she teased, “… Or such loyalty that wasn’t programmed”

“Keep that mouth going and I’ll show you what loyalty is” Din responded on behalf of Boba, his hands clenching against the stone table, his disgust of her attitude and disrespect rang through in his tone. This woman most definitely could not be Mand’alor.

“Just when I think maybe … just maybe you might have a chance at being a somewhat passable Mand’alor, you go and open your mouth and stand up for this …” before she could finish her sentence, Din moved in one motion pushing the chair back and igniting the sword.

“I told you …” his adrenaline coursed through his veins like a stampeding force, his breathing quickened as his anger began to build. He wanted to knock of her head, cleanly from her shoulders, before anything could happen, Boba knocked his gauntlet against the table, the sounds of it echoing through out the room. Din turned to look at Boba.

“I was clear” his voice was strict, firm, and commanding, his full authority as Daimyo of Tatooine displaying itself as clear as day, “when I commanded everyone to leave their weapons. Was I not?” 

Din bowed his head towards his friend, “I apologize Great Boba.”

Boba didn’t say anything more, simply holding out his hand towards Din, almost like a father scolding his young son. Without any more words, he turned off the shimmering blade and handed over the darksaber. 

Once Boba laid it, in front of him, Din retook his seat. Boba looked over to Bo-Katan, “As for you, Lady Kryze, regardless of what you may or may not think of me, I am Daimyo of Tatooine. I am the one who allowed you to come here and discuss terms in a civilized manner, yet you rather throw barbs and insults at me. My father was Jango Fett, the previous Mand’alor, he raised me, he trained the clones in his care, with determination and a sense of pride, teaching them the ways of Mandalore. Yet, you disrespect his memory! Simply because of your own willful conceit and arrogance!”

“You’re father was a poor excuse of Mand’alor”

“Watch your mouth, Death Watch princess”

Din’s head swivelled quickly, “What did you say?”

Bo let out a sigh of exhaustion as she leaned against her chair, “Well damn. You just had to open your mouth, didn’t you Lord Boba.”

“You … you’re Death Watch?” Din asked shocked at the revelation.

“Correction, was. I was Death Watch.”

Somehow that made him dislike her even more.

“I see”

“You see?”

“I knew you liked to adjust the deal whenever it was convenient to you, didn’t realize that expanded towards your oaths too.”

“Need I remind you despite my faults, I am still more qualified than you to be Mand’alor. You on the other hand, have no lineage, betrayed your own to work for the remnant Empire, the very people who are responsible for the death of Mandalore. Yet, I suppose that’s something the two of you have in common, isn’t it?” She used her finger lazily pointing between the two of them. 

Neither responded simply keeping their eyes on her. All Din could think was, how in haran (hell) did she find out who he worked for? 

She put a smile on her face, “Then again what can I expect from a Child of the Watch, you all turned on your own, when we needed you the most.”

“They did what was right, Death Watch strayed from the Way of the Mandalore, only to allow an outsider to lead them” Din did his best to defend his people, remembering the way the Armourer used to tell them about the history of their people.

“Oh so you do know a little something”

“We all know the failings that had been Death Watch”

“There wouldn’t have been failings if more people rallied to our cause”

“You mean without creating your own way to rally people?” Boba shifted

Bo glanced over to him, narrowing her eyes, “Aren’t you suppose to be a mediator?”

“It’s my job as mediator to make sure everyone knows what they need to be aware of before making a decision” Boba pointed towards Din, “and he needs to be aware.”

Din was lost in the conversation, what exactly did he need to be aware of?

“There are things that outsiders won’t understand”

“Who are you calling an auretti (outsider)?” Din narrowed his eyes as his hand clenched against the table.

“I didn’t call you an auretti, I said outsider. Someone who is outside of the Death Watch is unable to understand how things were conducted and planned.”

“Oh he may not understand but I do” Boba clenched his fist, “My father told me all about Death Watch’s treachery. I mean let’s face it, it’s not the first time, you’d let innocents suffer just to make Death Watch appear more valiant.”

Bo gritted her teeth, there were things that had been done in the name of Death Watch that she never full agreed with, yet, she still went along with Pre Vizsla’s plans. The last thing she needed was for Fett’s DNA to inform this man about past deeds that didn’t need to be brought to light.

“What are you two talking about?” Din refused to be left in the dark, any longer; there was clearly something she didn’t want to reveal, something that would affect him.

“There were rumours I heard back in the day. Death Watch was in dire need of public support, especially after the separation of the Shadow Collective and Death Watch …” Boba turned to look at Bo, “I imagine recruitment was low.” She didn’t answer simply glared at him further, if that was even possible, yet he could imagine all the things she was saying in her head.

“What are you trying to say Boba?”

“Death Watch staged some - how should I put it - much needed rescues, isn’t that so, Lady Kryze?”

“I wasn’t part of Death Watch at that point.”

“Maybe … yet, you were and are working with the remnants of Death Watch, no?”

“Are you really that petty?” 

“Excuse me, can we get back to the topic at hand?” Din interjected into this weird conversation of speaking without talking. It was as though there was some great secret everyone was aware of except him.

“He’s right, we should be discussing the rightful ruler of Mandalore. Not petty past squabbles.” Bo simply let out an exhausted sigh.

“No, we should be discussing whether or not he should even listen to your demands.” Boba clarified. 

“Enough!” Din lost it with those two, he’s not sure what the problem was between them, he could guess what the issue was, but none that currently dealt with the topic at hand, “I will go to Mandalore, yet I do not agree with the need for a showy display. It seems more that you want to make sure of your own name sake, and not what is best for the people of Mandalore. We’ll meet on Mandalore and have a duel, however, I need time. I need to finish wrapping up some pending work and get certain things in order.”

“That’s fine by me, I don’t need you to like it, I just need you to show up. I expect to see you in two months, or else the bounty goes back on your head.” 

With that Bo stood, thankful Din had agreed to her terms, however reluctantly, before actually learning the truth of what Boba was hinting at. She stood, putting on her helmet and walking out of the room, as guilt began to eat away at her. 

She hadn’t been lying about leaving Death Watch. She wasn’t there when the remaining members  decided to stage attacks on Separatists planets and cities yet untouched by the war; hoping the oppression, deaths, and destruction would move many to join their ranks, as they swooped in like heroes to ‘save’ the survivors. She simply hoped by working together with Death Watch, some may have chosen to join the Nite Owls instead. Who could have predicted the Mand’alor would have been from a planet subjected to the same opportunities. The only difference was instead of Death Watch or Nite Owls rescuing the people on Aq Vetina. After the incident on his planet, the Children of the Watch had received a call for help, arriving just in time to save many.

Din retook his seat, annoyed with Bo even more than possible.

“Good thing Amara wasn’t here huh?” Boba smirked at Din, sliding back the darksaber towards him.

“Agreed, I have no doubt Bo would’ve been dead.”

Boba nodded chuckling to himself, turning his attention towards the droid, and motioning for it to be on its way. “The message I received earlier was from Amara, things aren’t what she expected when she arrived on Kashyyyk, she needs us to go. Sooner rather than later.”

Din nodded, “I brought everything with me, everything else is on the Sintas, so I’m good to go when you are.”

“Then let’s go” Both stood as one unified force heading towards Boba’s ship, “You know she’s gonna smack you, when she learns of what you agreed to.”

“I know, but either I become the Mand’alor in more than name only, or I find someone to become the Mand’alor. Either way, I’ll let her know I’m not agreeing to Bo’s terms because I want to, rather, if I want to be able to see my covert again I need to swim in the living waters below Mandalore. I’ll be able to resolve everything once we’re there.”

“Either way you have my support.”

A Special thank you for loving the SOTF:

Adi in his armour

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