#Jedi testing screen

[sw5w]

A Speeder

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 01:30:03

[kopykunoichi]

Refresher for the people still confused about this...

In a galaxy far, far away, EVERYONE has midi-chlorians in their blood. The Force resides in all living things. It binds the whole galaxy together. Midi-chlorians are what allow beings to commune with the Force. The more midi-chlorians you have, the more potential you have to RESPOND TO and WIELD the Force. But notice that Asajj couches her statement with the line that those with a higher m-count were "believed" to be more capable of wielding the Force. There's a correlation, but it's not necessarily the only factor (see Sabine Wren).

This is the moment where the clones literally become stand-ins for the fans.

"What? If you can use the Force, you're a Jedi!"

No. If you can use the Force, you can use the Force. To use it as a Jedi uses it, you have to train as a Jedi. To use it as a Sith uses it, you have to train as a Sith. To use it like a Nightsister, you have to train as a Nightsister. Or you can get some rudimentary instruction and decide how you want to use it.

Jango Fett didn't have a high m-count, so his clones didn't either. But Omega and the rest of the Batch were special cases. As Cut said, the Kaminoans create with a purpose. Their deviations were intentional. Hunters abilities have always suggested he had a higher m-count than the others. But Omega's ability to perceive things before they happen (her bad feelings are nearly always spot on) and her affinity with animals have always been hints that her m-count is a little higher.

(Will update with screen grabs when I get them)

At the end of the episode, Omega asks Ventress if she has a high m-count.

Ventress: *looking at her nails* From what I've seen...no.

Omega: Then why is the Empire after me?

Ventress: Believe it or not, I don't know everything. But seeing as how a high m-count would make you a target, consider yourself lucky.

Omega: But I'm already a target.

Wrecker: Don't worry about it, kid. We'll figure it out. C'mon, let's get some chow.

Omega: *sigh* Thanks for trying.

Once they're out of earshot...

Crosshair: You're lying.

Ventress: About which part?

Hunter: You tell us.

Ventress: If Omega did have that potential, she'd have to be trained. Which would mean leaving you behind.

Hunter: That's not happening.

Ventress: What you want is irrelevant. The fact is, the Empire is after her, and they won't stop. If I were you, I'd leave this place. You're not as safe as you think you are. Our business is done.

Crosshair: I still can't figure out which side you're on.

Ventress: My own.

Okay, so Ventress is clearly not telling the truth about the m-count, which we know, because we've already seen Omega's charts. I really don't understand why people keep taking Ventress at her word here. We know better, and so do Crosshair and Hunter. My guess is that she's trying to protect Omega because she knows firsthand what it's like to be taken from your family and trained as a young girl.

We know that when Omega was at Tantiss, she was receiving transfusions of blood with midi-chlorians the same as all the other clones (harvested from the dead Jedi they're undoubtedly holding in the vault). They were taking her blood samples, but Nala Se kept throwing them away because she knew Omega would retain the higher midi-chlorian levels and she didn't want Hemlock to know that. The Emperor needs a clone that will maintain a high m-count so he can eventually get himself a new body. We know he does get that body, but not for decades - presumably because a) he never gets Omega, and b) the Batch is gonna take the fight to them at Tantiss and blow up their entire supply of midi-chlorian donors. Think about it - they're still working on Project Necromancer in The Mandalorian (24 years after The Bad Batch), but their resources are severely limited. The Empire has been all but wiped out, the Emperor is hiding out on Exegol, Dr. Pershing is clearly no Hemlock since he keeps killing his test subjects, and Grogu seems to be the only m-count donor they can get their hands on. The Emperor's cloned body is also deteriorating rapidly in TRoS, which suggests that even 25 years after The Mandalorian, he STILL hasn't figured out the right formula for cloning himself (which is good news for Grogu and Omega).

Which brings us back to the question, "Is Omega Force sensitive?"

The answer is, "yes", she is sensitive to the Force due to her elevated m-count. We've seen this all along. Hunter most likely is, too, and maybe some of the other Bad Batchers, to varying degrees. Tech could riot race, which takes incredible reflexes. Hemlock said that Crosshair didn't have a high m-count, and we don't know where Wrecker's abilities stem from. Omega can't wield the Force because she is untrained, but the potential is there. A person's aptitude to wield the Force seems to be strongly correlated to their m-count, but we've seen others with low aptitude eventually open the door to the Force with years of training and a decent dose of impending doom (we see this clearly with Sabine in Ahsoka, but it was also a topic in Legends).

Omega being Force sensitive doesn't mean that she has to leave her brothers. She can choose to pursue her training or not. She'd also have to find someone willing to train her. I'm not convinced Ventress is looking to take on any apprentices at the moment, but she could possibly connect Omega to Quinlan Voss (imagine the trouble those two would get up to).

But I don't think Omega will choose that path. One, it would just make her a bigger target. Two, I don't see her prioritizing power over family. She's a clone, and clones are ALL about family. They're Mando coded, not Jedi coded. Screw the space Buddhist lifestyle - clones parade their attachments around like trophies. Omega goes around collecting attachments like most kids collect rocks..."Hello, stranger trying to kill me, let's be besties."

[momojedi]

— ROUTINE

topic. hunter x gn! jedi! reader

**

type. loss, pt 4 note. you start to feel exhausted from your imprisonment when you hear talk of an upcoming guest … warnings. imprisonment, medical blood, slight creepy scorch, tantiss, jedi shit talk :( word count. tag list: @ooostarwarsfandom501st @shadow-rebel-223

star wars masterlist || pinned post

The pinch of the needle in my skin isn't what makes my stomach churn, but rather the squelching noise as my blood is drawn from my veins.

"There," Dr Karr declares with her eyes glued to her datapad once the droid pulls back from me and I'm left rubbing the back of my hand, "thank you for your cooperation." I grit my teeth, biting my tongue yet the words slip my mouth before I can hold them back. "Not like you're leaving me much of a choice."

She hesitates and for a second I notice her gaze swiftly glancing toward me before looking back at the screen. Then she steps out of the cell, letting the door slide shut behind her. This time and much to my dismay, the little girl isn't accompanying her but rather another droid programmed to serve the Empire. I gulped when I noticed the blonde shock of hair missing in Karr's trail, immediately forcing my head to fill with worrisome thoughts at where she might be. An imperial research facility isn't exactly the safest place for a girl her age to be, let enough one under the lead of a sociopathic scientist such as Hemlock.

Whether Karr had noticed my surprise or not, I'm not sure as she didn't exactly react to it. Instead, she immediately went for the daily procedure of taking my blood samples for whatever the scientists are testing now and asking the usual questions.

I pace up and down the small room, letting my thoughts roam free in my head when the distant noise of statics catches my attention. I lean again the cell door, narrowing my eyes to make out the distant silhouettes down the corridor. Two commando troopers, their armour a polished white and grey, stand guard with their blasters readied. They're so engulfed in their small talk, neither of them pick up on the hiss escaping my lips when the door shoots a shock into my veins as soon as my fingers graze the metal.

"So, he wants to see the Jedi?" "That’s what the commander’s been saying," the other trooper responds in his modulated voice, "Don’t even know why he’s coming specifically for them. I figured the Empire would want all of them dead." "Yeah. Jedi scum."

I bite my cheek. A guest on Tantiss isn’t exactly a common occurrence, let alone one that seems to be so vastly enthused about seeing me. My thoughts drift to various imperial names before I shake my head free from those thoughts. The fear I hold for these figures is tense enough, and as Master Yoda liked to say, fear is a direct path to the dark side.

So, I suck in a sharp breath and settle down, kneeling on the cold floor and shutting my eyes to assume my standard meditation practice. An hour passes in a silence — or well, as silent as it can be with comms chattering down the hallway — when I’m interrupted by heavy footsteps.

“Up.” The clone commando’s order leaves little room for discussion, and so I hesitantly get up. The yellow and black markings on his armour make him stand out from the others, clearly pushing him to be higher ranked than his brothers. With a raised brow I trail my eyes over his form, letting the gears function in my brain. This wasn’t an average sampling procedure; where was Dr Karr? What is going on?

The commando locks my wrists with a pair of binders. “Move,” he bites from behind me before leaning closer, so close I can feel the cold plastoid of his armour on my cheek. “And don’t do anything dumb.” I gulp. Then, I stumble forward, scanning my surroundings with every step.

[darth-noona]

episode 8 spoilers below the cuff cuz i’m going insane

Okay okay okay. First off the slow kyber crystal bleed of Sol’s lightsaber after Osha kills him? A stuff of Star Wars dream baby. Beautifully executed. Insane brain Lesley Headland to break the saber so that Osha’s hand was touching it when she succumbed to her emotions. You can honestly tell this woman loves this franchise so much.

Am I sad Sol died? Yes absolutely. Do I believe there is a chance he might be still alive? Yes, but I’m delulu and I love Lee Jung Jae so we move on. But if he is actually dead, what a cool arc. Like he died at the hands of the padawan he lied to and was toxically obsessed with. This really is the story of the Sith, not some redemption of the Jedi. And I fucking love it.

Okay now to the good stuff. All the Oshamir. So yeah I think some of this makes sense that it was originally planned for Season 2. I think it would have all hit harder if we’d had a whole season of them first. BUT I also think it was the right move with their episode lengths and Disney’s tendency to cancel shows. Cuz like Manny Jacinto’s arms will renew this season. They just will. Like Leslye understood the assignment when she said she rewrote the whole season after seeing Manny’s screen test.

But even though I would have liked more time with the ship to build them up to this point, man did they convince me that these are star crossed dyad evil partners in crime. Like Osha’s betrayal feels so tangible with Sol’s lies, I totally understand why she’d dark side over this.

And if we remember that Osha and Mae are two halves of one person, I like the idea that they have very opposite personalities. Mae just wants a family and was pursuing revenge only because there was no other option. Now that she has an option, she’s like “nah I’m out, I don’t want to anymore let’s actually find a way to solve this that lets me keep my sister and have a family again”.

Whereas Osha has been lied to for a decade. Manipulated to think that her sister killed her whole family, all for the “greater good” and Sol’s saviour complex stuff. So it stands to reason that she feels no hope for regaining some family or trust in the Jedi. And the only thing she can do? Save her sister from Qimir and take her place, while also exploring the Force in a way no one let her do before. And I love it.

Last thoughts: seeing new sides of Qimir is so fun. How petrified he was when she had the helmet on. How scared he looked of Venestra. The little look he made when he found out Osha and Mae are the same person. I can’t wait to see Manny absolutely smash a season 2 arc.

Renew the Acolyte! Please please please!

[erideights]

With my 6th sense. (3)

Pairing: Hunter x fem! jedi reader

Rating: SFW

Wordcount: 3K

Chapters: (1) (2) (4)* (5)* (*not posted yet)

Warnings and tags: extremely light swearing from frat boy Hunter (because no one can tell me he didn't before he became all soft in TBB), canon-typical slight violence, tension between characters, maybe plot convenience (but let's be real, who doesn't add it?? The Clone Wars was just it all the time)

Summary: Another day, another suicide mission for the squad. This time commanded by a jedi general Hunter doesn't seem to really get along with.

A/N: I've been struggling a bit with making Hunter so distrustful, thinking it was maybe out of character, and then I rewatched episodes 1,2,3,4 of The Clone Wars season 7 where they are introduced, and actually saw how suspicious he was of Echo at first. So yeah, it's pretty accurate and I love it. Enjoy!

Blurred streaks of light turn into distant stars as the Bad Batch’s shuttle, the Havoc Marauder -she still wonders who chose that name but will wait some more to ask- drops out of hyperspace, Serenno now looming ahead. Tech worked thoroughly to disguise their shuttle as a Separatist cargo vessel during their long trip, modifying all their scanner parameters, and now they are moments away from testing his handiwork and to see if the general's creative idea is a stroke of genius or a suicidal move.

Hunter’s mind is a swirl of doubts, tension painfully pulling from his muscles while seated in the copilot seat. Usually, when he’s the one that proposes the reckless strategies, he doesn’t worry so much about the outcome. Maybe because if everything goes wrong, he would blame himself, but this time he wouldn’t have that privilege. He glances at his General as his thoughts wander to her, far too relaxed given the circumstances. That playful smirk tugging at her lips and how calm she seems to be does little to ease his nerves. In fact, it infuriates him more. Her confidence is both reassuring and unnerving at the same time.

“Alright, everyone, get ready,” Tech instructs, his hands flying over the controls. “We’re approaching the Separatist control station.”

And as on cue, the mechanical voice of a battle droid echoes through the cockpit. “State your designation and cargo,” it demands.

Tech adjusts his goggles and leans in, voice steady and authoritative. “Shuttle TR-77, carrying supplies for the main base on Serenno. Transmitting clearance codes now.”

Hunter’s jaw tightens as silence falls over them. Oh, he really doesn’t trust this plan. What if they see through the ruse? What would happen if a damn droid decides to take a peek through the front of the ship?

The jedi, sensing his unease filling the room like toxic gas in a locked closet, leans closer to his seat, calmly resting her arm against it. “What’s the matter, sarge? Don’t trust Tech’s hacking skills?”

Before Hunter can respond, his lip twitching in what she would say is close to a snarl, Tech beats him to it. “Actually, based on the statistical data and previous successful infiltrations, there is a 97.6% chance this will hold up. The algorithms I use to—”

“Tech,” Hunter interrupts, keeping his eyes on the screen, “focus.”

“Roger roger, TR-77, you may approach and land,” the droids finally confirm.

Hunter exhales slowly, thinking he is subtle enough, but he isn’t. “See? Told you it would work,” she says with a playful grin, chuckling lowly.

Wrecker, on the other hand, slumps back in his seat, clearly disappointed. “I wanted some action.”

“Just wait,” Crosshair says dryly, biting into his toothpick. “Things always blow up eventually.”

…

Everyone’s getting ready by the time the cargo ship descends smoothly through Serenno’s atmosphere, the planet’s thick cloud cover parting to reveal a dense, sprawling forest below on its way to the main base. Tech’s hands move deftly over the controls, detaching and guiding the shuttle to a discreet landing spot near the edge of the forest. The ship lands with a soft thud, -smooth in comparison to the disaster the sergeant pulled off hours before-, and blends seamlessly into the surrounding greenery.

Hunter’s gaze sweeps over the calm landscape before he turns to his team. “Alright, lads,” Hunter calls them, drawing everyone's attention to him, his tone commanding while reluctantly checking everything is in place with his new outfit. “Let’s get this started. Crosshair, you stay here near the Marauder. If things go south, we’ll need a quick escape. General, you’re with me on the front. We’ll scout ahead and ensure the lab is clear once we find it. Tech, you’re with Wrecker.”

So, he’s the one giving orders now, huh? (Y/N) raises an eyebrow and rolls her eyes at how bluntly he ignores her rank and command, her authority to be the one to give the orders there, but keeps her thoughts to herself because, in the end, he knows best how his squad works. Hunter’s need to assert control could be a problem, though. “Want to keep an eye on me, sergeant? Afraid I might steal your thunder?”

Hunter’s expression remains hard to read, he could be annoyed or incredibly calm at the same time. He steals a quick glance at her, though. “I just want to make sure everything goes smoothly.”

She nods, pressing her lips in a cocky frown. “Sure thing.”

And so, with their roles established, the group splits up. Hunter and (Y/N) are the first to go into the forest with Tech and Wrecker close behind, the air thick with the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves. The canopy above is dense, allowing only slivers of sunlight to pierce through, casting dappled shadows on the forest floor.

Hunter’s enhanced senses stay on high alert at all times. Every rustle of leaves, every snap of a twig, the humidity in the air around them, and the wet earth underfoot, he hears it all, smells it all. He crouches low, his improvised, ‘’undercover’’ helmet under his left arm, examining the ground where faint tracks of heavy machinery have disturbed the soil, he guesses, a month ago. “This way,” he huskily murmurs.

The jedi just watches him work, intrigued by his meticulous nature. She relents her steps at some point, letting Tech and Wrecker reach her and then, she leans softly to the first. “Remind me what he… does, exactly.” She inquires kindly, raising an eyebrow in the direction of the squad leader.

The clone, who was just checking his datapad until now, looks at her and then at Hunter, nodding in understanding. “He’s just tracking. Hunter’s abilities are actually extraordinary. All his senses are heightened to a level and precision that are almost superhuman. He can track a target through environments that would be impossible for others, or feel electromagnetic fields around him.”

Amused and finding that genuinely interesting, a small smile tugging at her lips. “Does he, now?” That’s the closest thing to a… physical, weaker version of the Force. More or less. “That’s impressive.”

“Indeed,” Tech continues, more than happy to talk to whoever was ready to listen to him. “The Kaminoans designed him with an acute awareness that allows him to detect even the faintest traces of a trail. But it’s not just physical; his brain processes these sensory inputs at an accelerated rate, making him an unparalleled tracker.”

And from there, she assumes correctly, comes his name. Originality might not be their strong suit, but it… suits him and that inherent masculinity that seems to ooze out of every pore of his skin. And she must admit, she has heard much worse.

The Jedi nods, now in deep thought, her eyes lingering on Hunter’s back as he leads them through the dense forest. He moves with the precision of a well-oiled machine, every step calculated to avoid detection. Though, she highly doubts there’s anything to worry about there in the open; according to their -Tech’s- calculations, security, both outside and inside, should be minimal. After all, they are deep in Separatist territory, only someone desperate or straight-up (borderline) suicidal would even think to try to infiltrate.

With ease and guided by their human map -better than calling him loth-wolf- the team gets deeper into the forest, the mechanical sounds of the hidden laboratory under their feet growing louder and more annoying inside the sergeant’s ears. And then he stops, raising a hand, signaling them to halt. ‘’This is it.’’

In front of them, in a small clearing surrounded by younger trees than what they’ve seen before, stands a stone structure no more than 3 meters high, covered in fallen leaves and vines. A good way to make it pass slightly more "unnoticed". Judging by the way there is absolutely nothing behind it, it is easy to assume it is an elevator.

Tech approaches the concealed entrance, his fingers dancing over his datapad. “Definitely the place. I’ll start bypassing the security.”

Hunter turns to her, his gaze steady. “Stay sharp. We don’t know what’s inside.’’

“Well, in that case maybe we should find another way in first and make sure it’s clear,” she suggests, her eyes scanning the ground, her feet taking her from one side of the lab entrance to the other. She starts kicking at the large piles of dry leaves accumulated, without success the first three or four times.

The hell is she doing? Hunter frowns, curious, arms crossed and senses alert, but he doesn’t seem to hear or feel anything nearby besides the lab. ‘’What do you suggest, General?’’

“Ventilation ducts,” moving a few meters away, in the direction of one of the few thick trees she spots around, she bites her lower lip, focusing on finding them and proving her point. ‘’An underground base must have ventilation ducts to the surface, right? We both could sneak in and wait for them inside.’’

Once in front of the large, tall, and open roots of the tree, she takes a closer look, squatting on the ground. Inside them there only seem to be dead leaves and some mushrooms, but a blinking light, very small but red, proves her right.

She scoffs ‘cause in the end, the Separatists and the Republic are not so different; there are very similar shelters on Naboo with the same technique to cover their ventilation ducts and secret doors to escape. “Found them.”

That was really clever. Smart. And there’s a part of him that’s surprised of not having thought about it himself. So as Hunter approaches from behind, taking a look over the Jedi, he nods to himself, pleased and annoyed in equal parts. Though he wouldn’t admit it. Nor let it show. He is too proud to give her any kind of credit, but… he likes her style. 

He just finds her perky personality annoying.

She looks back over her shoulder, her lips curling into a playful smile as soon as she catches a glimpse of approval in his eyes. Her head tilting in a gesture that invites him to go with her. “Shall we, sarge?”

…

Her feet land softly and silently on the pristine metallic floor of the base, Hunter behind her with a subtle, deaf thud. Their movements are silent and precise, not daring to pronounce a single word until they verify it's all clear. Both start walking around in sync, searching for the elevator door to let the others in. The interior is a stark contrast to the forest outside—sterile, metallic, and illuminated by cold, fluorescent lights. The walls are clean, with a couple of terminals next to each door. The air is filled with a faint hum of electricity and the occasional beep of automated systems in the distance or mouse droids. It is a place of cold efficiency and clinical precision, a far cry from the natural chaos of the forest above.

Under his helmet, Hunter’s eyes scan the corridors, picking up every detail around them. The sterile smell of the lab, the faint whir of machinery, the subtle vibrations of the floor—all of it loud inside his brain. "Clear," he whispers, his voice barely audible.

(Y/N) nods and sends a quick message through her comm to give the green light to Tech and Wrecker still outside, closing her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. She might not have his cool enhanced, superhuman senses, but she has an extra one, her 6th one, that’s not warning her at all of any possible threats at this precise moment.

The other two clones don’t take long to reach them, with Tech immediately moving towards the first terminal he spots. His fingers fly over his data-pad, connecting to the system. "I’m in. Closing the cameras on loop and downloading the map of the lab now," he says, eyes focused on the screen. The personification of efficiency right there.

Looking at him from the corner of her eye, she would swear Hunter seems to relax for just a moment thanks to the lack of activity around them, his eyes fixed on the end of the open corridor, his mind racing even if his body doesn’t show it. "Find the communication center. That’s our primary target."

Tech nods, his eyes darting back and forth. "Got it. This way."

Moving through the labyrinthine corridors of the lab, passing closed rooms filled with half-constructed droids partially visible from outside, workbenches cluttered with tools, and scientists’ notes scribbled on boards, they find no more than a couple of scientists working in the distance, too distracted to notice them. As they pass another set of closed doors, though, Wrecker can’t resist peeking through a small window. "Looks like more droids in there," he mutters mostly to himself. "Probably more trouble waiting for us."

Let’s hope not.

Giving him a playful look, nudging at his arm, the jedi pushes him softly. "Keep moving, Wrecker. We’ll do some sightseeing next time."

"There won’t be a next time," Hunter grumpily corrects her, incapable of shaking off the feeling of being watched, even though he knows and feels there's no one doing so, and it’s just his paranoia. And she cannot help but glance at him again, over the black mask covering half of her face, his tension so strong she swears she can taste it through the Force. "Relax, sergeant. I thought your team enjoyed risky missions."

But the sergeant keeps walking, his eyes jumping to her for a second, shaking his head lightly. "We do, but I would rather fight a male yalbec than be balls deep into separatist territory."

"Fair enough."

And to keep being fair with his concerns, she must admit, it’s somehow unnerving not finding anything or anyone through the corridors. Almost too convenient, even if they already count with a minimum to nonexistent level of security.

Then they reach the communication center and Tech connects right away to another terminal in the middle of a control panel in the center of the room. And as he works, Hunter’s unease grows. Every second feels like an eternity inside that hell of a place, and he would love nothing more than giving Wrecker thumbs up to blow it all, and then he hears it. Something moving, or better said: a lot of things moving. In their direction. Slowly.

"Wait—" but it’s too late, the moment Tech connected his data-pad to the control panel, his actions triggered a silent alarm that woke up some droids. "We are about to get company," Hunter hisses in a low tone, pulling out his vibroblade.

Wrecker’s face lights up with anticipation. "Finally, some action!"

"Technically, it’s just a small guard squad checking for a false alarm. If we hide..." Tech starts talking fast, already searching for solutions to the problem.

"We can’t hide him," The General interrupts to point at Wrecker, noting matter-of-factly as she peeks out the hallway to check where the droids will arrive right after. "Have you blocked external communications?"

"Since we entered," he assures her with a small nod.

"Good. Let’s take care of these droids quietly and get out of here," Hunter orders, to which everyone nods without exception. Wrecker more reluctantly; he wanted a good fight.

‘’And remember—’’ squinting her eyes, she first glances at the sergeant, then at the biggest clone; so the one she trusts the least, basically, he enjoys maybe too much the idea of destroying everything. ‘’If we see the droid we came looking for, don't touch the motherboard. We need to bring the control unit intact to Coruscant.’’

A couple of mechanical voices give away the arrival of a squadron of battle droids within minutes, an experimental one for the way it doesn’t seem fully finished, sleek and deadly, keeping its distance in the back, silent, observing. Its design is already more advanced than the classical ones, with a menacing, insect-like appearance.

With a hiss, the regular battle droids open the doors and not even a second later, Wrecker smashes the head of one of them without mercy or having taken a real look at it. Hunter stabs another, as (Y/N)'s lightsaber cuts the third in half. Their big boy, true to form, engages the last one with sheer brute force, enjoying every second from the moment he lifts it into the air until he slams it against a wall. 

That was dramatic, poor droid.

"Is that all you got?" Wrecker taunts, grinning from ear to ear.

But unbeknownst to them, the experimental droid that kept its distance analyzed the situation from afar and seeing one of the intruders connected to the terminal, it bypasses the others, faster than the group can predict, and zeroes in on Tech. It lunges, pinning him to the wall by his neck, its mechanical fingers tightening. Tech's eyes widen in shock, his hands scrambling to pry the droid's grip from his throat.

And from here… everything happens just. so. fast.

Hunter doesn’t hesitate, vibroblade in hand, he plunges the blade into the droid’s motherboard in the back of its head, stabbing strong and deep.

"Hunter, wait! That’s the one we n—" The jedi scream comes too late. She didn’t think she would have needed to scream at all. But there she is.

The droid sparks and falls limp, and an ear-splitting alarm blares to life. Red lights flash throughout the lab, bathing everything in a crimson glow. The sound of the alarm echoes through the corridors, a harbinger of the chaos to come.

Silence falls over them as Hunter pulls back, his movements fluid, but his eyes wide with realization as soon as he processes (Y/N)’s warning. This cannot be happening. "Kriff—"

[waywardsou2]

The Cavalry has Arrived Analysis

Here it finally is, the long-awaited analysis of Season 2 Episode 15 of The Bad Batch. Apologies for the wait.

I would just like to say that this is long, like 4500+ words long, so I understand if it's hard to get all the way through, I'm going to post it on my Ao3 as well if that makes it more bearable to read. And also, it might be easier to understand if you watch the episode alongside it, but I understand if that is too much effort. Anyway, let's begin!

(Disclaimer I did have gifs and screen recordings I wanted to share but my laptop is being a bitch so you get screenshots and sourced gifs instead)

0:36

The introduction is missing its colour, the same way their armour is now missing its colour, I think that represents the chage they all went through at this point and the change that was to come.

Props to Wrecker’s perseverance.

2:22 “I knew Clone Force 99 would attempt to recover Omega, their failure is inevitable”

He is so sure of himself when he says this, Hemlock’s ego and over confidence was ultimately his downfall, he believes he has everything figured out.

2:26 “What I am working on is beyond your understanding, something so vital to the Emperor, it makes me, indispensable, unlike yourself”

The way Emery speaks of Hemlock makes me think he took her under his wing or took her for medical purposes (she may have been the first Omega) and she was loyal to him out of obligation. She is a Clone as well; I think like Tech she was built for advanced medical/scientific intelligence.

The timid nature of Ava and Sami makes me think they are either extremely young and have been here for a while or have both attempted to break out just like Jax did and they are afraid of being punished again.

6:22

Wrecker doing all he can despite the pain to make it to the base. He deserves more props!

If you’re dumb like me and didn’t realise – Project: Necromancer is what keeps Palpatine alive until the events in Rise of Skywalker

8:02

Omega knew that even if she was seen, the Zilo Beast would be the ultimate catalyst for the destruction of Tantis. Without having freed the Zilo Beat I doubt they would have been able to all make it out.

Despite all of Hemlock’s planning I don’t think he had a backup plan for the kids using the droid tunnels to escape and unleash the Zilo Beast as well.

8:53

The troopers that finds the kids in the vent are Clones which shows how far the dismissal of Clones has travelled. They already got rid of so many Clones that even on a secret base there are enlisted civilian troopers. Also, the fact that it’s a reprogramming facility full of Clones being inhumanely tested on would have made sense that there were less Clones serving there because seeing what was going on might have spurred on more deserters.

10:32 “Omega. She released the Zilo”

I love how Echo just knew that it was Omega based on how she had been on their missions and the influence the rest of the Batch must’ve had on her. He knew that the trail of chaos would somehow be hers. Presious.

[Personal note: I like the lack of Jedi in The Bad Batch, don’t get me wrong they are cool and all but it’s nice with them not being the center of attention for once]

11:15

When Crosshair is using the binoculars to look at the search patrols his hand begins to shake but it only starts shaking when he looks at them. I think that may be from the anxiety that he has undoubtedly developed. He’s remembering the fear of when he first broke out of Tantis base. He also inhales quite sharply, and it isn’t a tsk of annoyance, it’s the sound you make when something frightens you but you are trying to swallow it.

12:33 “Wake up Wrecker, Clone Force 99 died with Tech”

[ok so we are just saying that now?!?!?]

It’s a blunt and harsh statement but it doesn’t necessarily make sense in the flow of the conversation, he also directs it at an injured Wrecker, why would he do that? I think it’s because he’s frustrated and scared, he’s in a stressful situation and he’s venting his emotions. He doesn’t ever do that so he’s doing it at a time of heightened emotions. I think because of his trauma on Tantis, being back here is a huge trigger that he simply has an irrational emotional response to. It also shows how hard he is taking Tech’s death. Because like, why would he just blurt that out? He wouldn’t unless it was the underlying reason for his stress on top of the situation, they are presently in.

12:42 “I’ve been inside that mountain; I know what we’re up against. If we all go in, we’re not all making it back out. Omega needs you both. So, I’m doing this alone. It’s…it’s what I deserve”.

Hunter and Wrecker look at each other when Crosshair says “Omega needs you both” they immediately understood what he was implying, but I think they were also concerned that Crosshair was talking in such a way that meant he didn’t feel Omega needed him. But they’ve seen the contrary during times without him and on Pabu briefly. The way Omega reacted around him in the collapse Tipoca city and when he chose to stay away from them and when she was with him on Tantis. It’s obvious to everyone but him how much she cares about it.

It also highlights how Crosshair perceives himself, he doesn’t think he’s needed by his siblings and he doesn’t think he’s redeemable after what he has done, he doesn’t think they have missed or would have missed him if he were to be gone and he most likely doesn’t think he is useful anymore because of his tremors affecting his ability to be the sniper he once was.

He doesn’t see how much they all still love him. He is still their brother.

13:00 “Don’t even think about Plan 99 Crosshair, Omega needs all of us and so do those Clones”

Hunter jumps in right away to remind Crosshair he is still of value to them as a Clone and a brother, he may not say it directly but he wouldn’t have phrased it that way if that wasn’t what the underlying tone was.

By mentioning the other Clones as well he if further cementing that Crosshair has value beyond that, they need him as well.

13:13 “We do this together”

Wrecker further emphasised his use and value as a person by saying this to Crosshair. He is still their brother, and they are still a team, with or without Tech.

14:31 “The Zilo got out this way, so can we. What’s wrong?” “I’m not good with heights, I guess I’d make a poor soldier” “My brother Wrecker hates heights too, and he’s the strongest soldier I know. Just stay focused on what’s ahead, not what’s below”

Omega reaffirms the Jax’s fear instead of shutting it down, she builds him up by saying that a person she admires has the same fear he does, showing that he can still be strong despite his fear.

15:30 “Of course they will. Do it”

More proof that Hemlock believes he has everything under control despite actually having nothing under control.

16:08

I believe the back shot of that trooper’s head is Tech. If you look at the placement of his left ear compared to his right “ear” (our left, our right) the angle of his ear doesn’t match the placement of his other one, I believe that what we think was his ear on the right was actually the edge of Tech’s goggles.

Look at the way they move when they step out of the capsules, they move shakily and jarringly, they sort of look like Zombies right? And what project are they apart of? Project: Necromancer, what is necromancy? The process of bringing something back from the dead. (I feel like this was obvious but I only noticed it the second time around)

17:18

This seems to be a very practiced technique, but not one I’ve seen Clones use before, so I’m going to assume it’s something they’ve practiced and developed themselves. The way they move allows them to have eyes in every direction all at once. The rear Clone moving first each time so they can shuffle forward whilst still being able to look in every direction at once, this also means it’s a fresh set eyes every rotation so that if the last one missed something the other one might catch it.

They are staying in a tight formation so that no one is left out in the open and they can look out for one another. This seems to signify the closeness of them in more than just physicality, I think it also shows that not only are they still a well-oiled machine in terms of a team, but they have each others back as brothers as well.

18:09 “We need to fall back. Go, I’ll be right behind you”

Notice the difference of how he says this and what he says, this isn’t a sacrifice, it’s back up, it’s a calculated way to let them escape whilst still allowing him to follow them, one strategically placed shot and he’s out of there. He’s not sacrificing himself like he wanted to in the forest.

18:47

Despite his tremors he is still able to shoot the pilot, dead centre in the chest from 75+ meters out. It also shows that his tremors are not only an anxiety thing but a nerve damage thing, because his hand didn’t shake in this intense moment like it would have if it was entirely an anxiety.

Wrecker is fighting the hardest out of all of his brothers at some points I would say. He has a serious chest injury so bad his armour cracked and still he tries to carry Hunter away from falling debris and when Crosshair is kicked across the floor he still tries to get up and save his brother. Not only is he strong by nature he is mighty resilient. And with the electric spear that is thrust right into his chest over his wound, that has to be enough volts to kill him at this point and yet he’s grabbing onto it WITH HIS BARE HANDS and trying to pull it away.

19:20

Crosshair sees his brother in trouble and INSTANTLY tried to reach for his gun to shoot his brother’s attacker.

His hand instantly starts shaking when the CX trooper stands on his wrist, not does his hand shake but his entire arm starts shaking as well, its not just a tremor, it’s a trauma response. He is frightened, clearly and rightly so and still he reaches for his gun, desperate. The tremor then shakes his whole body when the Necro Clone is beginning to cut his hand off. He shakes violently.

19:30 “You should be more careful with your shooting hand”.

It may be a coincidence, but would the Necro clones really have time to pay attention to which shooting hand was each of the Clones? IDK this is more of an out their observation than an acute theory.

19:45

Sami reaches for Omega, scared of the blaster fire, its clear that she trusts Omega a lot now. I’m guessing there may have been fighting or a shoot out when/before she was taken to the vault. Omega holds her hand to comfort her!

21:07

Echo is just so chill about the other kids, despite the situation they are in and his prior knowledge of him hes calm, collected and his face even visibly softened at the sight of the timid children.

[Personal note: My brother pointed out that despite everything Emery is still quite blunt and blank – I think that’s because she was raised in an environment that didn’t allow her to develop fully in an emotional sense]

22:44

Hunter hasn’t made an audible sound of pain or discomfort past a groan this entire series, he seems to have high pain thresh hold. However, during this scene he’s clearly grunting at the pain, and knowing Hemlock and the threats and methods he used on Crosshair, this is most likely a more painful process than it has to be. When it stops Hunter is clearly out of it and loopy, but he is still fighting so hard, straining at the restraints with everything he has left, when it stops, he slumps considerably.

Hemlock is a sadist; he’s fucking smiling during all of this

23:13

Hemlock could have let Crosshair bleed out from his hand but instead he patches him up, knowing that even if he didn’t survive the conditioning again at least he would suffer for all the trouble he caused. Hemlock wanted him to live just a little longer to inflict as much paint as possible until he died.

23:36 "We'll survive, but you wont"

Hunter the badass he is talking smack despite being in pain

When the conditioning started up again, he actually screams, he was not prepared and was clearly struggling this time around.

24:29

The clones despite being free look really tired and worn out, they are most likely an older generation of clones and the must be hella resilient to still be kicking after their many attempts at conditioning.

25:06

Echo asks where their brothers may have been taken and the Clone at the front looks down and right – this means he’s recalling a memory/emotion before he answers.

He says “conditioning” really hesitantly. He’s remembering that place he’s afraid no afraid of.

30:56

Hemlock said “A glaring weakness in Clones is their loyalty to one another” I think that’s where he is the most wrong because it’s not their downfall, it an honourable trait and its why the Clone’s will always be better than the storm troopers. They are always willing to fight for one another.

[Personal note: Why the hell did we never get a full explanation on what Omega’ purpose was, we got some science her and there but never a full answer, that is so frustrating]

29:32 Echo doesn’t tell Omega to stay put or to hand back he says, “We’re on our way” The don’t treat Omega like a kid anymore. They treat her like a soldier because they know she is capable, and she has been through so much it further proves that fact.

33:00 “You’re forgetting one thing, I have them”

She trusts her brothers, unwavering, she is there for them and she knows they will be there for her, this warms my heart to an unimaginable degree

[Personal note: There is something so delicious about watching Wrecker yeet himself out of the restraints and fucking up the whole machine and one of the CX troopers. Especially since less than 10 minutes ago he was out cold, not to mention in a shit tonne of pain]

33:46

Wrecker sees Hemlock walk away with Omega and uses that adrenaline and rage mix to his advantage to fight back. He is much more hurt than the first time he was under pressure of that spear, but he fights back, and wins this time.

33:58

Wrecker looks so fucking mad, he’s usually a massive teddy bear with super strength but he’s not even Wrecker anymore, he just pure rage in Clone form. And he watches as Hemlock walks out with Omega and just loses it, he dives at the CX trooper with full force to give his brothers time to leave. This man deserves a medal.

34:38

Hunter is delirious and probably just woke up from being passed out and he speared that CX trooper directly in the chest into the wall. The strength that would have taken is something he shouldn’t have had in his state, the powers of adrenaline are quite remarkable.

[Personal note: THE BEGINNING OF THE FINAL CROSSHAIR / HUNTER TEAM UP!!!]

34:50 “I’ll find Omega, you should stay here” “Not a chance”

This shows how far Crosshair has come, not only in the few hours this episode has taken place in but over the course of the entire series. In Season 1 he wanted absolutely nothing to do with Omega and was quite harsh towards her, and now Season 3 where he is severely injured and refusing to rest until she is safe.

They are brothers till the very end, they hold onto each other lending the other the last bit of strength they have so that they can find Omega.

[Personal note: the amount of force Wrecker must have used to slam the CX troopers head into a solid wall, especially in this weakened state of his makes me wonder how much he has been holding back in the past]

36:10

It’s clear to see how much pain Wrecker was really in now he has finally stopped, and the adrenaline is fading. He most likely has several broken ribs, it’s a wonder he hasn’t punctured his lungs

36:40

Crosshair and Hunter are making sure they shoot for the same target, with Crosshair’s disadvantage and Hunters delirious state it can’t be guaranteed that if only one of them aimed for a target that they would hit their target. Which is why they both shoot Scorch (the fucking traitor)

37:11

Hunter knows Crosshair is going to be mediocre at best with his shooting hand. I assume that they have been trained to use both hands when shooting but everyone has a dominant hand, and Crosshair doesn’t have his anymore. Hunter allows Crosshair to rely on him, despite what I just said Hunter still trusts him.

37:21

Omega signals’ what she needs to do, Crosshair knows that he needs to shoot, he was built for this but he doesn’t trust himself anymore, he doesn’t want to risk hurting her.

37:40

Hunter tells Crosshair to make the shot, Crosshair hesitates, he can’t risk it, he can’t risk shooting her or shooting Hemlock and Omega going over with him.

“She knows what to do Crosshair. Wait for her, and take the shot” Now he doesn’t waver, he doesn’t hesitate, he’s out of time to do that, its now or never or they may not get to Omega in time and lose her all over again.

Hunter trusts Crosshair, he lets Crosshair use him as a stabiliser giving him the only aid he can, he doesn’t discourage him from the shot, saying “I’ll do it instead” he knows Crosshair can do this. He is undoubtably scared just like the others, but he has to stay strong for his siblings.

37:59

In the close up of his hand it shows how steady he is, he’s ready and he can’t wait, he has to do this now. He’s not using his preferred hand, the rain is obscuring his vision, he has just been under some heavy torture, but he manages to shoot this shot dead on.

38:08

Omega hits the deck immediately waiting for the barrage of shots she knows will follow.

6 shots, not only do they push Hemlock closer towards the edge to make sure they finish him off once and for all but it gets him away from Omega. I think this also symbolises a shot for each member of the Batch, they all went through so much at the hand of Hemlock they are going to make this count.

I think the internal thoughts were something like this: a shot each for Omega, how dare she be put through all that she was, she’s just a kid. (I’m counting their double shot as one combined shot) Hunters next two shots were for Echo and Crosshair. Crosshair’s next two were for Hunter and Wrecker and the final blow was for Tech. The finishing blow that made Hemlock fall, just like their brother did.

38:24

Omega runs to them but slows down when she sees how much they are struggling, most likely she wanted to dive bomb hug them Wrecker style but didn’t after seeing their conditions. Hunter, and I think even Crosshair smiles at her, they are so relieved she is safe, finally.

She looks smiling at Hunter and then at Crosshair but her face falls when she sees Crosshairs hand (or lack thereof). Crosshair doesn’t even look at it, not to silently say “I know” or “It’s ok” he looks at Omega and keeps looking at Omega, like she’s the only thing that matters right now. They can talk about it later, he doesn’t even acknowledge it, like its not important. The only thing that matters to him right now is her.

Omega lunges for Crosshair, sobbing, she probably blames herself in some way, that if they hadn’t all gotten into this mess he would have never have lost his hand. She’s probably over come with lots of emotions suddenly now that the heat of the moment has died down. She also might be emotional over the fact that despite his lack of a shooting hand he still hit the mark perfectly, she is proud of him.

38:34

Look at his face. He seems surprised like he expected Hunter to get the first hug, he probably wasn’t even excepting to get one at all. After the initial shock and Hunter being pulled into the hug as well, only then does he reciprocate. He closes his eyes, and his face softens, emotionally taking what just happened and enjoying one of the only hugs he’s ever had in his life (I would probably go as far as to say that this is his first real hug).

And when they are walking off the bridge he puts his arm on Omega’s shoulder, this is the most affection he has displayed all series and he’s doing it willingly.

40:36

The transition from the remnants of a stormy sky to the clear beautiful sky of Pabu symbolises the change and contrast between the events. The dark and stormy sky showing the horror and trauma all of them had faced on tantis not long ago and the change to the light sky signifies the end and their new hope for a life that they have chosen on Pabu and can now finally have.

[Personal note: Off screen I think Emery and Echo would have gotten along well together. I also think her, and Tech would have been close given the chance]

43:06 “Whatever we want kid”

He sighs as he says this, he relaxes but he also realises, they really do finally have the full autonomy they should have had from the start. He is physically able to relax for the first time in his life knowing he’s a Clone who has done his part and his existence is now his life.

43:32

Crosshair and Wrecker do the same. They all look at each other a silent confirmation of “it’s over this is the beginning of the rest of our lives”

Epilogue

44:44

She turns on the light and sees Hunter, but she doesn’t exactly seem surprised, she nods her head like she’s saying to herself she expected this to happen.

Her head band is Hunter’s old bandana. I feel like this is symbolic in the same way you “Pass the torch” onto the next generation. He wore it whilst he was fighting and now, he’s traded it out for another bandana and Omega has taken up the bandana because its her turn to fight.

45:20 “And we want to keep you safe”

He’s protected her through so much during Hemlock’s time, he still sees her as a kid, but he also sees her as a person. He understands the importance of choice because not so long ago he didn’t have any of his own. He doesn’t like it, but he understands it.

45:30 “You’re our kid Omega, always will be”

Just reminding you of this statement because rewatching it ripped my heart into tiny pieces.

I think that Omega told Wrecker and Crosshair she was leaving prior to getting to the cave, I know she would have wanted to say goodbye to Hunter as well, but if she had he would have never let her go. There is no way she left without saying goodbye to the others and I am dying on that hill. I also get the feeling that she knew the Hunter would find her along the way at some point so she wouldn’t have left without saying goodbye anyway.

This is more of a little head canon of mine but how would Hunter have known that Omega was leaving if they were not in the same vicinity, maybe such as living together in the same house. And that’s how he heard her sneak out in the dead of night.

45:48

Hunter looks like he wants to get up and grab her, hold her so she can’t leave. But he doesn’t, it’s the barest movement and I can tell he wants to desperately, but he doesn't. Like I said he knows the importance of her being able to make whatever choice she chooses now.

46:17 “Off you go”

She wasn’t looking for his approval, I’m sure deep down she wanted it, but she knew she likely wasn’t going to get it. But I think its symbolic of their relationship that he gave it anyway, he recognised it was time for her to go and he was going to make sure that she doesn’t doubt the faith he has in her.

46:30 “If you ever need us, we’ll be there”

They have well and truly hung up their armour but despite that fact, if Omega even hints at needing help from her family they will come running, guns blazing.

46:40

I like to think that Wrecker gave Omega Lula, despite it being pretty well established that Lula was basically Omega’s, that he still went to the effort of telling her to take it with her. And I also feel like Crosshair gave her Tech’s goggles saying something like “He deserved more time with you” or “He deserves to keep flying” something along those lines.

And that’s it, that is my complete analysis and thought process whilst watching The Bad Batch Season 3 Episode 15 ‘The Cavalry has arrived’ If you got to the end, I really hope you enjoyed reading this, it’s a big commitment so I thank you for sticking to this point.

Below are some other posts that i used to help add fact to my theories plus just some good takes I think you should look at

[antianakin]

@theneutralmime

Oh man, Qui-Gon is one of my faves, in part because I think he's an amazingly complex character despite how little screen time he actually has.

I don't think Qui-Gon ever explicitly says that he doesn't think Obi-Wan is ready for the trials. I could be wrong, and people can correct me if this is a specific quote that he has in TPM, but what I remember is him making the quick correction to Obi-Wan about focusing on the here and now in their first scene and then telling him that he still has much to learn during their conversation on Coruscant. For the first scene, regardless of whether he thinks Obi-Wan is ready for the trials for not, Obi-Wan is still his student RIGHT NOW and so it is his duty to make corrections and guide Obi-Wan on the right path until that is no longer true. For the second scene, it's entirely possible to recognize that Obi-Wan is ready to take the trials AND that he has more to learn at the same time. I'm sure this is true for basically EVERY new Knight, because they'd all be fairly young still at this point, at the beginnings of their journey as a Jedi still, not the end. And even if you make it to being a Master, it never means you stop having things to learn. Yoda has an entire test during the Force Ghost arc about how you ALWAYS have more to learn, no matter how old you get. So I don't think that either of these moments would explicitly mean that Qui-Gon thinks Obi-Wan isn't ready for the trails before he makes that declaration to the Council.

But the other thing I think could be true as well is that, while Obi-Wan probably IS ready to face the trials, Qui-Gon might not have been thinking about it within that immediate of a timeframe. He might've been planning on a few more months, maybe a year or so, to just finish things off a little with Obi-Wan. It doesn't mean he doesn't think Obi-Wan is ready, but just that he would've chosen to finish Obi-Wan's apprenticeship differently had he had the choice. But when Anakin comes into the picture, he believes so wholeheartedly in Anakin being the Chosen One that he is willing to sacrifice that time with Obi-Wan in order to ensure Anakin gets the training he needs. Obi-Wan will not SUFFER for losing those few months, he's ready enough that he'll be fine regardless and can continue to learn what he needs to learn as a Knight. Anakin, however, COULD suffer from not being allowed to have ANY training and Qui-Gon is being put in a position where either HE trains Anakin or NOBODY DOES.

This was NOT what Qui-Gon wanted, there's zero indication that Qui-Gon was aiming to be Anakin's master at any point before this moment, that he wanted the glory of being the Chosen One's master or whatever. Qui-Gon seems BAFFLED that the Council isn't just letting Anakin join, which indicates to me that he was expecting to just leave Anakin with the rest of the kids his age and move on from there. MAYBE he'd take Anakin as a Padawan after Obi-Wan's apprenticeship had finished, but I don't think that's something he was genuinely even thinking about yet and he certainly wasn't anticipating being put in a position where he had to choose between the two. So Qui-Gon's two scenes with Obi-Wan where he is still treating Obi-Wan like a student with things to learn could easily be an indication that Qui-Gon is just not quite planning on ending the apprenticeship yet even though Obi-Wan is ready to move forward.

Of course Qui-Gon says he's proud of Obi-Wan, I don't know that that was truly ever in question. Obi-Wan is caught by SURPRISE by Qui-Gon's choice in the Council chamber and he definitely takes it a little personally because Qui-Gon is absolutely dropping him unexpectedly to take on another Padawan, but Obi-Wan's apology later indicates that he recognizes that Qui-Gon's choice WASN'T PERSONAL. It wasn't an indication of a lack of care on Qui-Gon's part or even real favoritism towards Anakin, but just that Qui-Gon was forced to make a choice and Anakin needed him more than Obi-Wan did. But Obi-Wan recognizing that mistake and apologizing to Qui-Gon for it shows that Qui-Gon wasn't wrong and Obi-Wan IS just as ready as Qui-Gon said he was, which is why he says he believes Obi-Wan is wiser than he is and that he'll make a great Jedi Knight.

And Qui-Gon thinking Obi-Wan has more to learn or giving a quick gentle correction doesn't mean he ISN'T proud of Obi-Wan, either. Like I said earlier, the Jedi generally recognize that everyone will always have more to learn, you never STOP learning. In the scene where he says Obi-Wan has more to learn, he puts his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder, which is a pretty obvious show of affection. Qui-Gon's faith in the Force (and his interpretation of it) isn't necessarily something he can teach Obi-Wan, it's something Obi-Wan will have to learn FOR HIMSELF. And aside from that quick correction about focusing on the here and now, we constantly see Qui-Gon trusting Obi-Wan. He leaves Obi-Wan on his own with the Naboo (which at the time would've included the Queen, so he's trusting Obi-Wan with protecting the Queen AND with being the Queen's primarily Jedi advisor), he trusts Obi-Wan's judgment about where to land the ship, and he lets Obi-Wan step forward to make a point to Boss Nass. There's so many moments where you can see how much responsibility Qui-Gon trusts Obi-Wan with, something I don't think he'd do if he WASN'T proud of Obi-Wan in general.

So yeah, Qui-Gon's proud of Obi-Wan, he thinks Obi-Wan is ready to become a Knight, he thinks Obi-Wan is wise and will be a GREAT Knight. And he ALSO thinks Obi-Wan has more to learn because OF COURSE HE DOES. Obi-Wan is 25 years old, he's got SO MUCH life ahead of him. These things don't contradict for me, I think Qui-Gon is perfectly capable of believing all of them at once, and I think it's possible for them to all be TRUE at once.

[clonemando]

alrigth so plz ignore this if you don't like the prompt-

but imagine the 501st in a Order 66 fix-it AU where the empire never happened and eyeryone lived dealing with Jedi younglings looking at them like they hung the stars. (listen, those kids already idolized Anakin to some extend so there is solid reason to believe that they ALSO idolized these super cool clone guys who are super strong and go on super cool adventures to defend the galaxy)

This was a really fun prompt and I could probably write about this forever but here's a little something that was spawned from your prompt. In this AU Palps is murdered off screen and the Jedi added the Clones to the order under a new branch.

Rex sighed as he carefully made his way through the temple searching for Fives. He knew that letting his ARCs loose for even a minute was asking for trouble but Cody had invited him out and now they were citizens, they had rights and their own bank accounts through the Jedi order, which meant they could buy things. He couldn't say no to drinks and shopping and complaining about their new safe jobs in the Jedi Security Force. Well safer anyway. Nothing would ever be 100% safe when it came to the Jedi.

The point was, now he was sober and needed Fives' to finish his own forms from their last mission so he could do his own work but his ARC was nowhere to be found in the new Clone wing of the temple. He had asked around and been told that a group of younglings had kidnapped Fives and dragged him away to their clan dorms which had led him all over the temple now.

"Trooper Fives is it really true you fought off the Sith lord all by yourself?" A little voice asked excitedly as Rex walked in and Fives grinned.

"I heard he stole the Sith Lord's lightsaber and stabbed him with it so hard the Sith EXPLODED!" Another youngling added and Rex snorted causing them all to look up at him.

"Are you lying to the Jedi cadets Fives?" He asked crossing his arms as all the kids gasped and immediately abandoned their current perches crawling over Fives to come surround Rex.

"You're Captain Rex aren't you? You're the the coolest trooper in all the GAR! We had a whole test about you!" One said making Rex's cheeks burn.

"He's not a Captain anymore dummy! He got promoted to a Commander after Knight Skywalker left the order to marry Senator Amidala after the war ended." Another cut in and Rex raised his hands.

"I'm not either anymore cadets, the war is over. We all retired those positions." He pointed out to hopefully stop the argument from starting.

"Yeah, he's Knight Rex now. When the Order accepted the clones into the ranks, we were given positions just like the ones you use. Do you still want to hear about how we defeated the evil Sith Lord?" Fives added giving Rex a bright grin that made Rex roll his eyes.

"Fives didn't kill the Sith, though he was there. Fox killed the Sith with help from Masters Windu, Kenobi, Koon and many others. However Fox is grumpy and hates being bothered so he made up the story that Fives killed Palpatine to keep from being in the spotlight." Rex told them and a few pouted nearly as hard as Fives was now pouting at him.

"But then why would you tell us that? Wouldn't that be giving away his secret?" One of the younglings asked and Rex nodded.

"You all have grown up together haven't you? Fox is my big brother. I have a job as his little brother to annoy him as much as possible... so I suggest you all go ask him to tell you the true story of that night and tell him that Rex sent you." He said with a wink that made them all giggle and run off to go try to find Fox.

"I'm only not mad at you for stealing my fan club because Fox is going to be livid at you now." Fives said picking himself up and Rex chuckled.

"You have green clan still sending us drawings of you with all of them from when you saved them from that rogue cleaning droid, you don't need another fan club. Now come on Knight Fives... our new positions means you have paperwork that needs to be done." He pointed out and Fives whined but let Rex drag him back toward the Clone quarters.

[blackkatmagic]

Anything you're working on right now that that you're having fun with?

“Here,” the slicer says, and the datachip appears between his fingers like magic. Not a Force trick, and Maul will never admit it, but all the more impressive for that fact.

Faintly grudging, because finding a smuggler impressive feels rather like a steep fall from where he should be, Maul accepts the chip, slotting it into his pad to check the contents. All the information he requested is there, plus extra, and he frowns.

“I won't be paying you more than the agreed amount,” he warns, and the gambler rolls his eyes.

“I'm not asking you to,” he counters, and the flash of his smile is charming, even if facial hair on Humans has always struck Maul as off-putting, and this man is no exception. “Look, I got into the systems and just wanted to poke around a bit, so I had some fun with it. If anything’s wrong, I can change it back.”

Maul snorts, but he flips through the entries, checking them over carefully, and doesn’t find anything that will have him caught immediately. Except—

“You will need to change my Master,” he says, unimpressed. “I asked for a missing Jedi for a very good reason.”

“What? But you said accomplished, and the Master of the Order is the most accomplished Jedi, right?” The smuggler slides in close to look, but when Maul narrows his eyes at him, he huffs and retreats. “Look, I have no idea how the Order categorizes its Jedi, but they don’t have a missing filter I can sort by. Do you have a name?”

Sidious kept careful track of the more powerful Jedi, and Maul considers Antilles, dismisses him as too young. Diath is in regular contact with the Temple, given that he has a padawan, and his family tends to keep training confined to family members regardless. Ven’nari, while tempting, is too unpredictable, and the Kaminoan Jedi has been missing for too long to be reasonable, but—

“Master Fay,” he says, and the gambler pulls up his own pad, flips a new screen open, and starts working. Maul studies the files flickering past over his shoulder, then rolls his eyes. “Not Fae, she’s been dead for centuries. That one.”

“Makes more sense,” the man says, grinning. Maul refuses to be charmed. “Thanks. All right, I’ll drop her name in. Want her file?”

It’s likely better for Maul to have some knowledge of the Master who supposedly trained him, though from what he knows of her, her file will be immensely boring. Maul wrinkles his nose, but nods shortly. “The GAR’s systems gave you no trouble?”

That gets him a flash of white teeth, perfectly confident, just an edge of dangerous. It’s a smile that would almost make a Zabrak proud. “That was even easier than the Order’s systems. It’s like they’ve never had a slicer even test them before.”

Knowing Sidious, it’s more likely he wants to create as many openings as possible for Dooku's forces. Maul wrinkles his nose, but checks those listings as well, and smiles thinly. There’s little more satisfying than undercutting an enemy who never even saw a threat approaching. “Delightful. Apparently you're worth the credits after all.”

[burnwater13]

Concept Art by Christian Alzmann. Depicts Cara Dune, Din Djarin, and Grogu returning to Kuiil's Moisture farm on Arvala-7. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 1, Episode 7, The Reckoning.

‘Grogu’s list of needs for the addition to the cabin:

Meditation chamber: quiet, dark-ish, access to snacks, comfy seating, soft music, no loud noises

Sleep chamber: quiet, dark-ish, access to snacks, comfy pillows, soft music, no snoring, access to privy

Work chamber: quiet, bright-ish, access to snacks, storage for tools, supplies, instruction manuals, etc., music, work tables - variable height, access to privy

Play area: Indoor-Outdoor access, access to snacks and beverages, storage for toys and supplies, comfy seating, music, access to snacks for friends, access to privy, rest area integrated into comfy seating area

Intergenerational Meeting Zone: Provision of snacks for all ages and species, beverages for all ages and species, comfy seating with equitable accommodations, music, access to privy(s) - appropriate for all ages and species, storage for tools, materials, games, etc., to be used for stimulating play scenarios appropriate for all ages and species, spill clean up kit(s) - food and beverage related, variable height work surfaces with accessibility kits, items to be determined

Entertainment Zone (not to be confused with play area): suitably sized vid screens for visual entertainments, to include tie ins to existing entertainment portals, recorded media, media generation devices, story telling devices, game playing devices, droid and or mech on board devices; access to snacks and beverages for various ages and species; access to privies for various ages and species; comfy seating, including lounge seating, recliners, rockers, spinners, sliders, and similarly tracked or otherwise mobile seating with independent controls - sometimes known as amusement seating.’

“Grogu, is all this really necessary? For instance, why isn’t the ‘Intergenerational Zone outfitted like the Entertainment Zone and we just consolidate their purposes into one space?”

Din Djarin couldn’t believe he was asking his son that question, even as he heard himself say it out loud. It was ridiculous. Grogu already had a hammock and was more than capable of getting himself  up to and on any surface, including all the ones the Mandalorian preferred that he not be able to access. 

He sighed. 

It was his own fault. Grogu had worked so hard on his lessons and training that Djarin felt it was the least he could do to acknowledge that Grogu’s transition from Jedi youngling to Mandalorian Bounty Hunter wasn’t unappreciated. So he had taken some steps to start the process of adding a workspace onto the cabin that would sized and designed to support Grogu's unique needs. 

Knowing that Grogu would want to help him too much, Djarin had come up with the cover story of replacing the sensors on the N-1to just keep him being underfoot the whole time. There were few things Grogu found more boring than testing sensor arrays over and over in order to perform an appropriate level of calibration. The Mandalorian had thought that was pretty clever when he first asked Grogu to give him a hand with ‘the task’. He should have known when Grogu explained that he had some important plans to work on, that his son hadn’t been talking about taking a nap. 

Instead, all the time the Mandalorian had spent staking out the new addition, clearing the rocks and brush from the space, and marking where power, water, and other utilities would feed into the space, Grogu had been working on his own detailed planning for an extension to the cabin. That's what that drawing he’d spent so much time was all about. And, it wasn’t lost on the bounty hunter that the basic design was replicating the layout of the Ugnaught Kuiil’s moisture farm on Arvala-7. 

Of course the Ugnaught hadn’t named the spaces on the farm and he had certainly made do with a lot of materials scavenged from the surrounding area or bartered for with the local population of Jawas. It was definitely a place that had been thoughtfully pulled together by a person who had the skill, patience, and time to make them suit their needs. Although he regretted not expressing his appreciation for Kuiil’s talents along those lines when they first met, he had noticed the care and effort that had gone into building a space that suited the Ugnaughts needs.

The Mandalorian also appreciated that Grogu wanted a space like that as well. A place where he didn't have to ‘use the Force’ to sit on a seat, or retrieve a snack, or access the privy. Given that Djarin still refused to obtain a pit droid or other mech for duties like that (R5 just refused to enter the cabin), this was the most logical path to follow to encourage Grogu to be more independent and self-reliant. To a point. 

“This is the Way.”

The Mandalorian sighed again. His son knew his weaknesses so well and wasn't afraid to leverage them when he really wanted something. 

“Okay, but ‘The Meditation’ chamber and ‘The Sleeping’ chamber are practically the same space fitted up the same way. Can we at least combine them?”

Grogu looked at him with those large brown eyes, his face the very definition of serenity.

“May the Force be with you.”

Yup. The Mandalorian was definitely going to need the Force to get through this project. No wonder his people had so much trouble with the Jedi. They were subtle, but effective.

[sw5w]

A Ship

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 01:29:59

[usafphantom2]

The Most Stunning F-117 Photos We’ve Seen Since Its ‘Retirement’

Tyler RogowayPUBLISHED Feb 4, 2024 4:26 PM EST

F-117 flying low level through the California desert.

James Reeder

We have seen some great photos of the F-117 Nighthawks that continue to operate in developmental test and training roles. These images have improved incrementally since their use as aggressor and for test support became openly discussed by the Air Force, with the locales they could operate from expanding along with it. Now, one set of images, taken by aviation photographer James Reeder, is the best we've ever seen.

The photos in question were taken in the famed Sidewinder low-level route that circumnavigates much of the R-2508 range complex that sits atop the Mojave Desert and the many military test and training installations that dot it. This particular section of the route, which has steep canyon walls, provides an especially dramatic backdrop for military aircraft rocketing through. It is perhaps the best vantage point we have seen of the famous route since the 'Jedi Transition' through Rainbow Canyon was shut down to military aircraft after a deadly crash in 2019.

The Sidewinder low-level route depicted in the R-2508 instructional materials. (USAF)

While we have seen some great shots from a similar vantage point of F-117s, the lighting and knife edge profiles shown in the images below are truly exceptional. Every detail on the top half of the 'Black Jet' is highlighted and its planar exhausts are fully visualized in action.

James Reeder

James Reeder

James Reeder

James Reeder

James explained to us that he received a message about a pair of F/A-18s that would be flying through the route and that their pilots would love photos if he was out there. "I enjoy the interaction with the pilots, so I decided I could make it up there to get them some shots," Reeder said.

"Arriving at my perch of choice after a bit of a climb, I settled in and waited for what I thought would be a pair of F/A-18s. Imagine my surprise when I saw a tiny black jet rounding the turn and then another. When I realized that they were F-117s, I was so shocked, I almost forgot to shoot! I have never captured this aircraft in the wild before."

"When I saw the light on the aircraft as they approached, I knew I had been blessed with a great opportunity. Using my Canon 5Ds with the Canon 100-400mm lens and a 1.4 X teleconverter, I followed both aircraft and clicked off as many shots as my pathetically slow buffer and limited frame rate would allow. After they passed, I couldn't resist chimping my photos [looking through the photos in preview on the DSLR's screen] to make sure I had captured what I wanted. I was thrilled to say the least. I think I yelled something unintelligible to the other two guys out there and threw my hands in the air."

The day proved fruitful beyond the pairs of F-117s and F/A-18s.

"I also shot 5 F-15s and 8 F/A-18s and enjoyed seeing them all, but those two Nighthawks were the stars of the show that day!. Yes, I got the shots for the F/A-18 pilots."

Jarod Hamilton was also out there caught the video below that he shared on X. It is the ultimate companion to these incredible photos.

Bravo to James and Jarod for capturing these famed jets like never before during their 'active retirement.'

You can see more of James Reeder's stunning work on Instagram linked here.

Contact the author: Tyler@twz.com

@AviationIntel via X

[queer-irritator]

Padawan! Obi-wan Kenobi x Padawan! Reader Part 2

A/n: This is FINALLY part 2 to this ask from the lovely @projectdreamwalker! Thank you all for being so patient, life has really been wild! This has got a little bit of everything, it kinda goes off on a tangent but... that's how my brain works 🥴 So sorry if some parts are like "wtf is this doing in here??" We got some Anakin, Padme, Ahsoka, Rex and Maul screen time in this one, folks.

CW: So much, everything in ROTS, fluff, sadness, death

Never proofread as always 👍

Word Count: 4,287

The next 10 years were incredibly busy. Anakin was proving to be quite the handful and you had become a Master Jedi Investigator. You spent most of your time undercover in the lower levels of Coruscant keeping an eye on crime and ensuring the temple was free from threats. Unfortunately, being undercover meant having extremely limited contact with other Jedi. You mostly communicated via encrypted voice messages, but you did have the pleasure of going off-world once in a while and were able to see some old friends, including Obi-wan Kenobi. You even had a handful of missions with him over the years. He would never admit it, but he looked forward to working with you the most, despite the antics you and Anakin would get up to. The two of you were quite the pair at getting under Obi-wan’s skin and testing his patience. When the Clone Wars began, you were stationed back at the Jedi temple on Coruscant. 

You received a message informing you of the Battle of Geonosis and the clone trooper army appearing seemingly out of thin air, and orders to return to aid in the ongoing war against the Separatists. That had been about a week ago, you had been traveling across the galaxy in the meantime. It was mid-day when you landed on Coruscant. You stepped off your ship, squinting from the sun with your R4 droid trailing behind you. It had been quite a while since you were last on the upper levels, probably about 6 rotations; but things didn’t seem to have changed much. 

“Welcome, Master (y/n). I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations. The Jedi have been incredibly busy, so I will be escorting you to your quarters.” A gold droid, C-3PO, introduced himself and began to lead you inside.

“Thank you. I guess you already know me, this is R4.” You gestured to your droid, following close behind him. “Is Obi-wan here..?” 

“Oh! You know Master Kenobi? He has been in meetings all morning with his clone army commander. He has taken on the position of General in these trying times.” He explained.

“Wow, he always was a high achiever.” You thought aloud. 

C-3PO stopped in front of a door, “Here you are. Master Kenobi has a room down the hall from here as well. Please do let me know if you require anything.”

“I will, thank you.” You said as you entered your room. 

You looked around as you heard the remanence of the droid’s conversation. 

“Come now, R4. I will get you cleaned up.”

You set a small bag you had brought with your down on the bed. You had been sitting all day, really all week, so you weren’t too keen on settling in quite yet. Besides, you couldn’t sit still knowing Obi-wan was so close to you again. After giving yourself a quick look-over in the mirror, you exited your room and headed towards the center of the Jedi temple. 

You stopped multiple times to catch up with old friends and mentors you hadn’t seen since you went undercover. Just as you had said good-bye to someone else, you turned to see Obi-wan standing with his hand resting on his beard and his eyebrows drawn together as he was deep in thought, looking down at a holo-map. You couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face as you took him in. Still as handsome as ever, but he seemed wiser now, more focused. That seemed to happen each time you saw him, he was always sharpening his skills. 

Obi wan’s gaze broke from the map and shifted to you. There’s no doubt he could feel someone’s eyes staring him down. When he made eye contact with you his stoic demeanor dropped. His eyebrows raised and his mouth parted slightly in surprise. Then he once again furrowed his eyebrows, as to ensure he wasn’t imagining things. He called your name as he started to walk toward you. 

“Is that really you?” A smile was spreading across his cheeks as he got closer.

“It’s me.” You confirmed, closing the gap between the both of you and enveloping him in the tightest squeeze you could, “I missed you so much.”

He returned your enthusiasm with an equally tight hug. 

“I missed you too, darling.” he whispered in your ear. 

You breathed in his scent as you lingered in his arms, if only you two were alone. It was almost insufferable how badly you wanted to kiss him and just stare at him for hours. 

Obi-wan let out a chuckle, his breath tickling your ear, “Mind your thoughts. We are in a building full of Jedi.”

You blushed and playfully pushed him away, breaking your hug, “Oh, shut up.” 

But you knew he was right. You hadn’t been around other Jedi in a decade so you weren’t used to controlling your thoughts or feelings as much as you should. You looked him over and gently placed your hand on his cheek.

“You look good, Obi.” You smiled and dropped your hand back to your side.

“So do you.” He said as his eyes flicked between your eyes and your mouth. 

“There you are, Master. You’re late for our meeting.” A familiar voice burst the bubble the two of you had been enveloped in.

“I was on my way.” Obi-wan began to defend himself as he spun around. 

“Anakin?” You questioned, seeing the man before you. He certainly wasn’t a padawan any longer. 

Anakin looked past Obi-wan to see you and a smirk crept onto his face, “Oh I see. I’m sorry if I was interrupting anything.” 

“Come here.” You rolled your eyes and gave him a hug, “You been keeping Obi-wan in line?”

He chuckled and hugged you back, “Always.” 

You let go of him, “Good, good.” 

Before you could begin scheming with Anakin about ways to annoy Obi-wan, he placed his hand in the middle of your back, beginning to lead you as he walked, “Why don’t you join us in the meeting? We can catch you up on what you’ve missed.”

You nodded and followed his lead. And there was definitely a lot to catch up on.

Your role in the clone wars was to assist any teams that needed an extra hand, mostly on stealth missions as it was your specialty. After sitting through meeting, after meeting, you finally had some time to be alone with Obi-wan later that night. The moment he had shut the door to his room behind him, you were on his lips. The two of you muttered endless ‘I missed you’s and compliments to each other. You particularly let him know how hot he was with a full beard. That night was passionate, needy, and sloppy. Everything the two of you needed it to be after not seeing each other for so long. 

However, the next day you were diving head first into the chaos of war. There was almost no time to breathe with all the moves the Separatists were making. There were moments to catch up with Obi-wan between battles and meetings, but one of you were always on the move to your next objective. The next time you had any substantial quality time with him was after Satine died. Obi-wan needed your support. He needed a sound voice in his head to keep him sane. Something to quiet all the hatred, anger, and guilt he felt. 

You were sitting on the edge of Obi-wan’s bed with your hand gently rubbing circles on his back, doing whatever you could to soothe him.

“He’s taken everything from me.” Obi-wan had his elbows resting on his knees, his back hunched and his head hanging low. 

“I’m so sorry.” You spoke in a hushed, gentle tone. “He’s not worth taking up space in your mind. The balance of the force will come back around, he will pay for what he’s done.”

“I know it’s wrong… But I want to make him pay myself.” Obi-wan’s hands tightened into a fist against his pants. “I want to kill him.”

You could feel your heart cracking and aching for the man besides you. You’ve always known him to detest violence, only resorting to it when there was absolutely no other choice. 

“These feelings and your anger are natural, Obi. We will get through this, together.” You assured him. 

“I just can’t believe she is truly gone…” His voice trailed off, he was silent for a few moments before you felt his body begin to shake and the sounds of his sobs were filling the room. 

You pulled his body closer to you and gently laid down on the bed with him. You were laying so you were facing each other and you had an arm wrapped around Obi-wan. He had curled up his body to a fetal position and held your hand that wasn’t rubbing his back. The two of you stayed like that all night. Eventually Obi-wan’s breaths had evened out and he had fallen asleep. But you stayed up almost the whole night, watching over him. Thinking of anything you could do to lessen how bad he was hurting. 

You two had also spent the next day together. Taking things easy, watching cheesy movies like when you were padawans, and trying to convince Obi-wan to eat. Despite his tragic loss, in a few days he was getting back to his normal self. 

“You can stop worrying about me, you know.” Obi-wan spoke, his back turned to you while he poured a cup of caf in a small cafe area just outside the main mess hall.

You had been watching him like a hawk from the table you sat at, worried that any reminded or mention of Satine will have him crumble to the floor. But you also knew how strong he was, arguably the wisest Jedi Master and one of the top Generals in the war. 

You sighed, “I can’t help it. You know you’d be doing the same thing if you were in my shoes.” 

Obi-wan walked over to you and placed a mug down in front of you as he sipped his own, “I can’t argue with that.” 

You smiled up at him, though your sadness for him was transparent. You thanked him for the beverage and took a sip. 

There had been a thought stewing in your mind, festering and bringing on so much guilt. As hard as you tried to hide it, Obi-wan knew something was going on. 

“What’s on your mind, darling?” Obi-wan asked as he sat down across from you. 

You looked into his eyes, “I just… I know how much you loved her.” You winced as the words tumbled out of your mouth. This was not the right time to talk about the love triangle that was between you, Obi-wan, and Satine. 

Obi-wan reached out and took your hands in his and gave you a soft smile, “I did love her. But… it wouldn’t have worked for us. Even if she were still here, we led two very different lives and had pledged our lives to different causes.”

You nodded slightly, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be bringing this up right now.” 

“Don’t be. Loss brings up many emotions.” He brought your hand up to his lips and gave it a soft kiss before letting go. 

Just then, Anakin walked into the room. Luckily it was just after Obi-wan had let your hands go. 

“Alright, we gotta get a move on. I so graciously got us all on a mission together.” Anakin announced, hands on his hips and feeling obviously proud of himself. 

You exchanged a glance with Obi-wan before getting up and embarking on your next adventure. 

The war trudged on for about half a rotation longer, then something in the tides seemed to change. Anakin was growing alarmingly closer with the Chancellor each day and the Jedi council was not happy about it. Obi-wan was just assigned to defeat Grievous on Utapatu while you had just received a message from Ahsoka requesting back-up on Mandalore.

Obi-wan and you had gotten into a habit of taking turns sleeping in each other's rooms whenever you had downtime at the Jedi Temple. When you two would be on missions together you would share a room for “safety”. There had been a few times when you two had been sharing Obi-wan’s bed that Anakin would barge in and you would throw the excuse of falling asleep while discussing work in his face. Anakain would usually roll his eyes and mumble a ‘sure’ or ‘yeah, right’ before impatiently waiting outside the room for Obi-wan to collect himself. 

That’s where you were at the moment, stuffing a few items into a bag before rushing off, and Obi-wan was doing the same but not as hastily as you. This was the most anxious you felt for a mission in a long time. You were going to have the chance to help capture Maul. 

You closed your bag and triple-checked off your mental list. You were only torn from your thoughts and anxiety when you felt Obi-wan’s hand on your shoulder. 

“You’re shaking, darling.” he squeezed your joint lightly.

You shifted your attention fully towards him, “This is a big fucking deal… I’m scared.” 

Obi-wan gave you a sympathetic smile, “You and Ahsoka will do what is needed. I have complete faith in you both. There’s no one I would trust more to this task.” 

You reciprocated his smile and leaned your cheek against his hand, “Thank you.” 

You took a few deep breaths to calm your mind and body, letting the words sink in. Having regained some confidence, you moved to stand in front of Obi-wan and placed a kiss on his lips. He happily returned the gesture and moved his hands to your waist. 

You reluctantly pulled away from him after a few moments and rested your palm against his cheek, “Stay safe, Obi-wan. I’ll see you when we get back.” 

“You too. May the force be with you.” He placed a final kiss to your forehead. 

“And with you.” You bowed slightly to him before walking out of the room to hurry onto the last ship of reinforcements that was leaving for Mandalore.

-

You couldn’t believe your eyes as you were dangling from a steel beam. Maul had finally been captured, Ahsoka had got him. You used the last bit of strength to pull yourself up as there was a stun blast sent directly to Maul and he fell unconscious, wrapped in cords by the clone troopers. 

In between pants to catch your breath, you looked to Ahsoka who was standing on the steel beam across from you, “You did it.” 

She turned her head to you, “No. We did.” 

She graciously hopped over to you and helped you into one of the ships that had just flown up. The battle had taken all day and night, you just needed to oversee the transfer of Maul and make contact with the Jedi council. 

While Ahsoka spoke with Master Windu and Master Yoda, you mostly stayed quiet, as it was her mission that led to the successful capture. You had a glimmer of hope that perhaps Ahsoka would come back to the Order after the mission, but that hope was dashed when she referred to herself as a citizen. 

It was midday when you said your goodbyes to the Mandalorians and headed back to the command ship.

It was midday when everything went horribly wrong. 

It hadn’t been long since you jumped into hyperspace when the clone troopers turned on you and Ahsoka. The two of you got separated almost right away and it wasn’t until you nearly took her head off in the medical bay that you got reunited. Ahoska quickly got you up to speed on the theory of the clones’ inhibitor chip and that she had let Maul go to create a distraction. 

“You let him go?? Willingly?” You could see her way of thinking, but it was devastating to hear. 

“I know, I know. But it was the only thing I could do to give us a fighting chance.” She explained as numerous droids began to run tests on the unconscious Rex laying before you. 

When you took a moment to think about the last few minutes, it wasn’t until you heard loads of gunfire and clone troopers yelling commands in the distance for you to be able to kill the clones that had cornered you and then managed to escape to the med bay. You had a close call, a blaster shot grazed your side and you had been tending to your wound when you heard someone approaching the door. 

“Thank you.” You spoke softly, looking to Ahsoka once again, “You did what needed to be done.” 

“Don’t thank me until we get off this ship alive…” She muttered and took over locating the inhibitor chip in Rex. 

Once the chip was successfully taken out of Rex, the three of you devised a quick game plan on how to survive at least one more day. 

It took a lot of close calls, some skill, and a little luck, but you, Rex and Ahsoka were able to make it off the ship and away from the clone troopers. 

The three of you had only caught your breath for about 10 minutes before you piped up, “I need to go back to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.” 

“What? Are you crazy? We just escaped one war zone and you wanna go to another?” Rex turned to look at you in bewilderment. 

“I agree with Rex. It’s too dangerous, we need to find somewhere to lay low.” Ahsoka supported the clone’s notion. 

“You two can. I can’t… I have to find Obi-wan.” You explained, a bit in your stomach began to grow as you realized there was a good chance he didn’t make it. You and Ahsoka both felt the massive amount of loss and darkness when the clones turned. 

Ahsoka called your name, bringing you out of the dark thoughts, “I want to find him too, but…” She stopped herself, seeing the hurt on your face. She didn’t have to finish her sentence, you both knew the grim reality of the situation. 

You took in a breath and forced the next words out of your mouth as sternly as you could manage, “I have to find him, Ahsoka. I love him.” 

Ahsoka could only look at you with pity and hurt, knowing there was nothing she could say to stop you. 

Rex glanced at you out of the corner of his eye. He may have been bred and programmed for war, but even he knew the kind of love you meant was more than a friend. 

“Please.” Your voice broke, strength and stoicism failing you. You didn’t have the energy to hide your feelings anymore. Ahsoka sighed in defeat, “Okay. We’ll find a system nearby safe enough to stop at. Then you can take the ship. Rex and I will make our own way from there.” 

You nodded and tried to relax in your seat for the rest of the ride. 

-

You were on your way to Coruscant, in hyper-space when an encrypted message came on your comlink. It was a warning for any remaining Jedi to stay clear of the Temple. You knew it had to be Obi-wan’s doing. He’s the only fool brave enough to walk into a trap just to warn others. You hadn’t been able to contact anyone when you were aboard the ship, fighting for your life. You decided to try one more time. 

You put out your encrypted distress call to all Jedi frequencies, and a separate one to Obi-wan, Anakin, and Padme’s personal comlinks. Sitting with the dead silence of space was becoming more unsettling with each passing moment. Just when you had lifted your finger to shut off your distress signal, a distorted crackling came over the radio from Padme’s comlink.

“Hello? Padme? Can you hear me? Are you and Anakin okay? Have you seen Obi-wan??” You hurled rapid fire questions at the static filling your cockpit. You held your breath waiting to hear a reply. 

“Darling? Darling, it’s me.” Obi-wan’s voice came over the static.

You let out a cry of relief and disbelief, “Obi-wan?? Is that really you? You survived?” 

“Yes… I have a lot to explain, but I’m sending you coordinates. Get here as soon as you can, it’s not safe to talk on here for too long. But, I’m glad you’re safe.” He audibly sighed in relief

The coordinates popped up on your computer screen, “I got them. Ahsoka is safe too, we managed to help Rex as well. I… I love you, Obi. See you soon.”

“That’s good to hear… I love you too.” he replied before the connection was severed. 

-

You arrived on Polis Massa just as the twins were born. You ran inside to the medical center, escorted by a droid where you saw Padme’s lifeless body on an operating table and Obi-wan holding a newborn baby boy. Master Yoda began to bring you up to speed on what became of Anakin Skywalker, and the duel on Mustafar. 

As you sat in a sterile white command room on a new ship, listening to Master Yoda, Bail Organa, and Obi-wan discuss the next steps you should take, the world seemed surreal. “Listening” is actually a strong word, it was more like you could hear the hum of talking but you weren’t taking any words in. Everything you had ever known had fallen apart. It wasn’t until a gentle hand placed on your cheek drew you back into reality. 

The room was empty now, with just you and Obi-wan left to yourselves. You turned your head to the man next to you. 

“Anakin…” You mumbled, still in disbelief. 

“I know.” Obi-wan answered you without you needing to say another word. He dropped his hand from your face and stared at the table in front of him. 

“It was all for nothing.” He stated

“What was?” You questioned, brows furrowing in confusion. 

“Everything.” He lifted his head to look into your eyes, his own filled with tears. “Qui-gon and Satine died for nothing. Dedicating my entire life to a code that now ceases to exist. And depriving myself of you.” 

You were speechless, not even a thought could form in your mind. 

“Come with me.” He continued, “To Tatooine, we can be together and watch over Luke.” He took your hands in his, giving them a slight squeeze. 

You nodded, “Of course, all I’ve ever needed was you, Obi. You’re all I’ve ever wanted.”

A small smile formed on your lips, and Obi-wan matched it. He gently pressed his forehead against yours.

“I’m sorry it took so long, that it took all of this for me to realize what I truly wanted.” He began to apologize, but you started to shake your head slightly.

“It wasn’t just you. And we made it. We’re here now.” You reassured him, and sealed it with a deep kiss you poured all your love into. 

He returned your enthusiasm and pulled you onto his lap to bring your bodies closer together. The two of you stayed in that room, sharing sloppy love filled kisses for what felt like hours. You had to make up for lost time somehow. You made mental notes of how his lips felt against yours, how he tasted, the way his beard and mustache tickled your face. You never wanted to forget this moment. 

You swore you could have stayed on top of him for eternity, but the jolt of the ship switching into its landing sequence interrupted you. Reluctantly climbing out of Obi-wan’s lap, you took a moment to take in his messy hair and swollen lips.

“Only you could make me horny on the worst day of my life, Kenobi.” You chuckled slightly and brushed your fingers through your hair. 

“Well, I could say the same thing about you.” He bantered, following your motions and fixing his own hair. 

The two of you quickly boarded a different ship once the current one had landed on Naboo. The three of you were now in hiding. Everything you grew up with, your morals, values, your way of life now had to be kept secret to ensure your survival. Obi-wan had barely set down the baby, Luke. You could sense how much the child meant to him, he and his sister are all that remains of Anakin and Padme. You sat in the cockpit and took off, setting the course for Tatooine, where Anakin had some family that would take in Luke while you and Obi-wan silently watched over him. 

After arriving on the desert planet and an uncomfortably long ride on an eopie, you could see the lights of moisture vaporators come into view. You unraveled your arms from around Obi-wan’s waist as the creature laid down for him to dismount. He carefully swung his leg over to the side and stepped onto the dusty earth. 

You reached out your hand to gently take the baby’s smaller one, “Goodbye, Luke. Stay out of trouble.” 

You let go of the child and Obi-wan walked over to Owen and Beru who had just emerged from their home. He carefully handled Luke, swaddled in a soft white blanket to Beru. She smiled at him before walking over to her husband, who was watching the suns set. 

When Obi-wan had made his way back to you and the eopie, he silently got on the animal and started to head toward the Jundland Wastes. It would become your new home while you quietly watched over Luke from a distance. 

~Fin~

[bereft-of-frogs]

last minute 'night of the fire' theory very very long post~

Ngl I'm kind of hoping for 100% flashback to mirror episode 3, partially because I love symmetry and partially because I've been waiting SO LONG for this flashback, I want ALL OF IT. Maybe with a small bridge at the end. Cutting back and forth I think would be too much.

I'm leaning towards the Jedi coming to Brendok either on a completely unrelated mission to the twins or utterly by accident. The leaker that predicted the nude scene in episode 6 (so I now trust them completely lol), said they think the reason the Jedi are dispatched to Brendok 1) might cause a lore complaint 2) connects to TPM and 3) made Sol remind them of Qui-Gon. I can't quite figure out the lore complaint, and the political subplots of TPM don't make sense (nothing about trade routes or taxation fits for why they'd be sent to the seemingly abandoned - except for the coven - Brendok) so I'm not sure about that, but I'm wondering if it follows TPM's plot of being on the way back to Coruscant from a mission of some kind and somehow being sidetracked? Or they're just assigned there to check up on the coven or they're investigating something, or searching for something, but I don't think it initially has anything to do with the twins BECAUSE:

then yeah, not unlike Qui-Gon in TPM who meets Anakin and is like 'nice, side quest' when they land on Tatooine, Sol just happens upon the girls in the forest and accepts this new padawan acquisition side quest. This could also explain why Indara initially takes the lead in the first confrontation (she's higher ranked, in command of the primary operation), but then keeps deferring to Sol about what he saw and how he wants to proceed with the test.

I also believe that, like in episode 3, what we're going to see on screen is for the most part objective truth. Popular theory is that Osha had things literally altered in her memory, but if that was the case, and we were meant to be seeing things from her perspective exclusively, we wouldn't have all the scenes that she had no way of witnessing. I think we're meant more to wonder about what context we're missing, rather than the essential veracity what's being shown to the audience. (*with possibly Mae in her room, who does seem out of character, that could be a vision of some kind, I'll cop to that one)

like the scene where they hear something in the reactor room and Koril goes to look and doesn't find anything. We're just missing the context, which I think is Sol spying on them (or whoever is shown in the trailer scaling the exterior of the fortress, I'm inclined to say Sol though)

I do NOT think the Council or Vernestra ordered them to do anything. There's been a lot of 'the Council ordered them to wipe out the witches' theories floating around and that makes 0 sense, both because in the show a big thing is confessing to the Council, and because Headland keeps saying one of the issues being explored is how far-flung these missions get and the lack of oversight. They were operating independently, probably without good communications (BIG high republic theme, that the long-distance communications networks are shaky at best, and we saw last episode they're still not great), and had to make decisions in the field they independently chose to cover up. Vernestra also really does not seem to know anything about what happened besides their cover story.

I also still don't think it's a conscious, premeditated decision even among just the four to kill anyone. I think there's probably an argument over the girls, the coven overrides Aniseya and won't let Osha leave, the Jedi push back on that because Osha clearly really wants to leave, and things escalate from there. With the spell on the table...yeah I just don't see this as that simplistic a situation as 'the Jedi just decide to slaughter everyone because reasons'.

Already posted a longer version of this, but still feeling good about my theory that the coven casts a spell on Kelnacca (at the very least) to puppet him into the fight, Sol steps in to keep him from killing Torbin, and Indara attacks/kills Aniseya to break the spell (which possibly rebounds and takes out the rest of the coven). Would cover why the witches all seem to die at once, why Aniseya's body is separate, and why Mae accuses Indara of attacking the unarmed (she doesn't think of her mother's magic as a weapon, while in Indara's eyes, she's eliminating a threat to their lives)

I'm a little shakier on this one, but I'm inclined to speculate (ok I just would really, really like this) that they do a Parent Trap (Jedi and surviving witch/possible Sith each taking one twin) and one of the reasons they want to cover it up is because they know there is something left back on Brendok for Osha (counter to Sol's sus line 'there's nothing back there'), but they want to make the decision easier for her or they've specifically cut a deal to each keep one twin and stay out of each other's way. (Could explain Indara's 'this isn't a road you want to go down' if they'd agreed to all stay separated...but also that was probably just a Matrix reference lol...)

That would also be a reason they don't want the Council to know. Making deals with the Sith (or any dark side group) and leaving an innocent child with them? That would be BAD, especially given how Vernestra reacted to the revelation Mae was still alive. Killing a dark-side coven that was threatening them? Yes also bad. But is it 'hide from the Council for 16 years while wracked with guilt' bad? Especially because the Jedi aren't particularly into punitive justice, it's not like they're going to be executed or something. They all (minus Sol) more or less exile themselves anyways. I can't quite figure why they keep this secret while they're so haunted. There has to be another layer to it, possibly something to protect Osha. (Sith keep making deals in this series...was this another one? Though the Jedi probably would not know they were Sith.) (Ok that last part was really just spitballing.)

I'm so looking forward to finally finding out but I am going to miss the mystery! I guess there will be a few things remaining to guess about the finale, but 'what happened the night of the fire' has really been the core mystery for me and I'm a little sad there will be no more theorizing. And I have to wait until Autumn for the next High Republic book???? Tragic.

I guess we'll all find out in a few hours. I'm gonna go see MaXXXine first though.

*I am going back on one thing, ok so either the initial reason for the assignment to Brendok is what I thought above, initially unrelated to the twins and connecting to Qui-Gon's side quest vibes in TPM, or they ARE specifically sent for the girls because of the prophecy. That could raise a lore complaint among the kind who were freaking out about Anakin and the prophecy back when episode 3 aired, and that could connect Sol and Qui-Gon. But I don't know how much these writers know or care about Qui-Gon's prophecy side project, it hasn't been brought up at all in the series. And like the main critique you CAN'T make about the show is that it doesn't telegraph its twists. It seems unlikely that they'd toss a massive curve-ball in at the last act. Plus, it really doesn't seem like the Jedi know beforehand that the twins were created in any other way than uh, traditional methods (Indara asking where their father is). I'm not sure how I feel about this one, I don't love the prophecy thing in general, but that might close the 'lore complaint' hole I'm struggling with. It would just fall under a general 'I would have liked more foreshadowing' like a lot of theories I'm kind of meh on, but wouldn't totally ruin things for me. But honestly, given how much they freaked out about a characters noncanonical age...a lore complaint could really be anything at this point.

And all the interview material about a 'lack of oversight' still makes me lean more towards 'they got sent out to do something unrelated and decided to pivot without checking in first and got in over their heads' which is also fairly in-line with what we see happening with other High Republic Jedi, that they have to make more decisions in the field than the more centralized Prequel era.

I'd also prefer the latter theory, because then it would tie in thematically to The Phantom Menace AND a moment in the show from episode 4: when Osha touches the umbramoth and muses that she caused its death by disturbing. That might have just been to point out that she still follows some of her mother's ideas about the Thread (that everything is connected, and to pull on the Thread is to have consequences), but it could also be a nice bit of foreshadowing, that disturbing something, even in what initially appears to be a minor way, could have dire consequences. Not unlike in The Phantom Menace, when essentially an accident of fate, choosing Tatooine to land to repair the hyperdrive, which leads Qui-Gon to randomly stumble on Anakin, leads to the destruction of the Jedi Order and the rise of the Empire. And given that my other main theory (that Sol is going to be framed from the deaths and this is the solution to the 'how to kill a Jedi without a weapon' riddle, to destroy a Jedi's legacy) also mirrors the fate of the Order in the PT, I just think it would be really neat if this was also a microcosm of something that happens to the Order as a whole in the PT (a chance meeting leads to destruction).

But now we're fully in the realm of 'what I want'/'how I'd do it' vs 'what I think is likely to happen or supported by the text/leaks/supplementary interviews'. I just think it would be a neat thematic package and just be nice as the vindication of The Phantom Menace continues, as someone who has loved it since 1999. XD Likely? Maybe not, but I have put up with so much shit for 25 years for liking TPM, it would be nice for a new Star Wars thing to be that directly linked to it.

Ok I'm really going to go see MaXXXine now. Bye! Pray for me that Indara doesn't turn out to be an evil Sith lord, I really doubled down on that on Reddit, I do NOT want to make that apology tour...

[mischievouschan4]

WIP Wednesday - Lawyer!AU (Obikin)

Trying to keep this up for the third week in a row! Another rendition of “what I’d like to write as a full fic but don’t have the brain space, so it’s just going to be classified as a WIP and posted on Wednesday” lol 🙈

Get ready for allllllll the fluff!

It’s Obikin this week (SFW)~~

Anakin snuggles into Obi-Wan's side after a long day of packing as they settle in for the night. They're getting ready to head out on a two week vacation abroad in the morning, and it had taken FOREVER for Anakin to pick out their outfits.

We need to be coordinated for the cute photos, babe!

Obi-Wan had nodded sagely and obediently went back to organizing their toiletries, leaving Anakin to fret work in peace. Divide and conquer and all that.

But it's finally sorted now, and Anakin just wants to enjoy some nice cuddles before sleeping.

In bed, Obi-Wan shifts obligingly to accommodate Anakin's bulk and turns his head to kiss the younger man's temple on autopilot. It warms Anakin to the core, butterflies fluttering in his stomach at the thought of how sweet Obi-Wan is with him...even if said man is still tapping away at his phone when Anakin is clearly vying for his attention...

Anakin stifles a sigh. By now, he is used to this to a certain extent, but it definitely took a LOT of heated discussion (read: crying and yelling) and emotional support (read: Padme frantically playing middle woman) at the beginning of their relationship before Anakin could even comprehend why this was an issue.

You see, Obi-Wan just so happens to be one of the most sought after corporate liability lawyers in all of Coruscant City. His employer, Jedi Inc, represents almost 80% of the HoloNet 500's top companies, and he is a busy busy man. And unlike Anakin, a senior test pilot for the Republic Engineering Corporation, Obi-Wan doesn't have the privilege of just leaving his work at work. Anakin has spent many a night bringing snacks and hot tea to their home office while Obi-Wan toils away into the early hours of the morning.

Ever the caring partner, Obi-Wan is, of course, apologetic about his inability to give Anakin his undivided attention all the time, but it’s only because Obi-Wan is proud of his work and wants to give it his best effort. It had taken some time for Anakin to come to terms with this aspect of how Obi-Wan wants to prioritize his time. But on the flip side, Obi-Wan has also made progress in leaps and bounds when it comes to adjusting that mindset, having come to the realization that there is indeed much more to life than winning cases. Obi-Wan has the sexiest man in Coruscant in his bed for Force's sake, a fact he is incredibly grateful for.

"Are you seriously working right now?" Anakin asks with a pout.

Obi-Wan pauses and turns to kiss Anakin again, this time on the younger man's cheek, and he sighs, "No, darling, believe it or not. I'm actually just trying to look for the email with our chauffeur's information. They're supposed to pick us up once we land, but I didn’t see the booking confirmation come through."

It’s Anakin's turn to sigh. "Did you use your work email again?"

Obi-Wan chuckles sheepishly. Even though he checks his work email religiously, Obi-Wan still isn’t able to keep up with everything, and sometimes things get lost when his executive assistant files things away in the complicated system she has going on. It’s far too late in the night to text her to ask where she might have saved this one.

Anakin tugs the phone out of Obi-Wan's hands and starts to do his own search. (Obi-Wan never lets Anakin look at his work email from his laptop, but the phone screen is small enough that the previews don't show any confidential information, so he allows it sparingly.)

Anakin tries a few keywords:

"confirmation"

"reservation"

Nothing relevant comes up (mostly just hotel and flight bookings for Obi-Wan's numerous work trips). But then he tries:

"receipt"

And a single subject line at the bottom of the screen catches his eye.

[Order fulfilled] Final receipt for your custom Cartier order No. 501212...

Anakin's fingers freeze over the touch screen. Because holy shit. HOLY SHIT. His breath catches in his throat.

Anakin will fully admit that he only knows the bare minimum about carats and bands and shapes and luster, but even he recognizes the brand name of one of the top jewelry companies in the world. And a custom order at this stage of their relationship can mean only one thing...

Okay, so it’s not completely out of the blue, the two of them have talked about marriage seriously many times, and it's clear that it's more a matter of "when" and not "if" for both of them. They've even casually looked at some rings together. But!!! To know that it's going to be a sure thing? That forever is going to become more that just a possibility? Anakin's heart beat thunders in his ears.

As quickly as he can get over his shock, Anakin deletes the word 'receipt' and tries 'pick-up' instead. There are a few results that look promising, so Anakin passes the phone back to Obi-Wan with slightly shaky hands and tries his best to pretend like nothing's happened. He doesn't want Obi-Wan to feel bad that his surprise is ruined, after all.

But Anakin has never been good at concealing his emotions, especially from the people he cares about.

So after a few moments of tension-filled silence where Anakin knows and Obi-Wan knows that Anakin knows and Anakin knows that Obi-Wan knows that Anakin knows, he breaks out into the widest grin that's ever graced his face. Anakin smiles until his cheeks can't possibly stretch any further and an ecstatic squeal escapes him.

He turns so that he's laying half on top of Obi-Wan and gazing into his lover's anxious face. Anakin can't help it, he's just so happy! Obi-Wan loves HIM! He wants Anakin! Forever! No returns allowed! Anakin can feel his cheeks flushing a bright red in his excitement.

Despite Obi-Wan’s initial dismay at the untimely spoiler, the sight of the younger man's unfiltered joy washes away any misgivings Obi-Wan has, and he slowly relaxes, accepting the fact that the tooka cat is officially out of the crate now.

"Is it here?" Anakin asks in a whisper, practically vibrating with anticipation.

Obi-Wan chuckles and nods, starting to feel his own excitement build.

"Is it somewhere in our bags?" Anakin follows-up.

Another nod, this time accompanied by a sly grin.

Anakin squeals again and buries his face in Obi-Wan's neck. The younger man kicks his feet adorably, making a mess of their shared duvet, but unable to contain the adrenalin coursing through him.

Obi-Wan wraps his arms around Anakin's shaking body and rubs a soothing hand up and down the younger man's broad back. He can tell Anakin is happy, and that's all Obi-Wan can ever wish for.

"Okay," Anakin says after he's calmed down a little. "Okay, okay! I just want you to know, I love you so much, Obi-Wan. So so so much. And, I promise I won't ask about anything else, but just in case, I want you to know that I love you and that I can't wait."

A matching grin graces Obi-Wan's features at Anakin's confession, and his eyes crinkle in the way that indicates he's smiling a broad, genuine smile. "I know, sweetheart, and I love you too."

---

Everything ends up working out with their chauffer.

And Obi-Wan doesn't wait long to pop the question once they land at their destination, knowing Anakin will appreciate having the rest of their trip to maximize the celebrations and take advantage of every opportunity to show off to anyone and everyone who would give him the time of day.

Obi-Wan had spent months organizing with the resort they are staying at to arrange for a private beachside proposal. Everything had been so perfectly coordinated. Does it matter that the whole operation was spoiled by an email snafu? Obi-Wan refuses to let it. It’s all about the mindset, and if Anakin is happy, then Obi-Wan is happy too.

So on the second day of their trip, after a day of swimming in the beach, Obi-Wan tells Anakin to freshen up before dinner and smiles enigmatically at the younger man's pleading eyes. Patience, he'd whispered and patted Anakin's bum to get him moving.

When it gets closer to sunset, Obi-Wan threads Anakin's fingers in between his own and leads his love down a secret staircase at the back of the hotel property. It leads down to a small private beach with white sand and picturesque rolling waves. Their way down is lined with sweet smelling flower bushes and affords them an exquisite view of the glittering water at golden hour.

Anakin looks positively ethereal in the sunlight, and Obi-Wan wishes that he could capture the image forever (before he remembers that he'd hired a whole team of videographers to record the entire thing from multiple angles and reminds himself to just enjoy the moment). Obi-Wan was worried he would be more disappointed that the element of surprise was missing, but in actuality, knowing the ending affords both of them the opportunity to fully appreciate every detail along the way without any distracting nervousness.

When they reach the sand, they toe off their shoes, and Obi-Wan leads them to a picnic area set up with fairy lights, a romantic dinner with finger foods, and flowers, lots and lots of flowers. (Anakin grew up in an arid, desert city, so flowers are now one of his favorite things). There's a bluetooth speaker hidden somewhere playing a relaxing instrumental track.

As Anakin is busy admiring the spread, Obi-Wan gets down on one knee and presents the innocuous red velvet box that has sparked so much anticipation over the last few days. He holds it open and watches Anakin's face light up when he turns around, not at the sight of the ring in his hands, Obi-Wan notes distantly, but at Obi-Wan himself. Tears gather in Anakin's eyes as he gazes, riveted, into Obi-Wan's face.

"Anakin-"

"YES!" the younger man shouts preemptively.

Obi-Wan can't help but laugh. "I haven't even asked you anything!"

"Sorry!" Anakin apologizes even though he clearly doesn't mean it at all. He's still smiling giddily and holding a hand over his mouth as if he needs the physical reminder to keep quiet.

Obi-Wan clears his throat to stifle his grin and tries again. "Anakin, my darling," Obi-Wan says, voice suddenly rough as he fights off the urge to cry as well. Everything is just so perfect. "You've been the Light of my life, my Chosen one, from the moment we met. You've stuck with me through all the ups and downs these past seven years, and I have felt our love grow at every turn. You are my Peace, my Freedom, and I can't imagine a future without you. Will you do me the honor of being my husband?"

"Yes!" Anakin shouts again as he jumps up and down, crashing down into Obi-Wan to hug him before getting up to jump some more, yelling his enthusiastic "I do's" the entire time.

Obi-Wan wipes his eyes and carefully cradles Anakin's left hand to slip the ring on. It's a bit of a struggle with how much Anakin is moving, but it's a perfect fit.

Once Anakin sees the band slide on, he full-on tackles the older man, barreling into Obi-Wan with arms and legs wrapping around his lover and knocking them both to the ground. Obi-Wan isn't sure that Anakin has even looked at the design of the ring once. Silly boy, Obi-Wan thinks to himself, but it’s just like Anakin to overlook the little details in the hurricane of his enthusiasm. It’s alright, Obi-Wan knows. We’ll look at it more closely together later. He’d designed it especially for them, after all. A pair of wings, twined around each other as they circle the star in the center, a gorgeously inset marquise diamond.

"I'm so happy, Obi-Wan," Anakin cries. "This was so perfect, oh my god, I'm so happy I could die."

Obi-Wan sits both of them up and kisses his now fiancé once. Twice. Before pulling back to admire how absolute bliss looks on his lover's radiant face. Stunning. Just stunning. The bright flush of Anakin's cheeks, his golden halo of hair, his sparkling blue eyes. Obi-Wan can't help but kiss Anakin again.

"There is one more thing," Obi-Wan says as he gets to his feet, extending a hand for Anakin. "Before you hypothetically die, I require your signature."

Anakin clings to Obi-Wan's arm as they make their way back to the picnic area where, along with all the food on the table, Anakin also notices a rather large, flat wooden box.

Obi-Wan props the lid open and Anakin throws his head back, practically howling with laughter, at the contents inside. It's so Obi-Wan that Anakin's chest hurts from the fondness that threatens to burst forth, too big and too exuberant to be contained by his rib cage any longer. It's a contract. For their engagement.

"Darling, you must understand," Obi-Wan says, mirth evident in his eyes and bubbling up in his voice. "I'll need more than a verbal commitment for your agreement to stand, only a contract can be binding."

Anakin reads the words on the single sheet of paper inside the box as he leans his weight against Obi-Wan. His Obi-Wan. His fiancé!!!

"On this day, the __ of __ _____ , this Exclusive Engagement Agreement ("The Engagement") is hereby entered into by the Promisor, the undersigned, who does commit to a concordance of marriage with the Promisee ("Obi-Wan Kenobi") upon presentation and exchange of goods and services ("The Engagement Ring" and "The Proposal," respectively). The Promisor does further agree to participate in a binding ceremony to legally recognize the union of the two individuals, the Promisor and the Promisee, within an appropriate timeframe deemed acceptable by both parties at a later date."

There is a line at the bottom for Anakin to print and sign his name. The pen is also provided.

Anakin does his best to scribble today’s date and his signature on the paper given that one arm seems to be permanently wrapped around Obi-Wan, and he turns to kiss the older man again as soon as he finishes. It's almost an addiction at this point. He wants to kiss Obi-Wan forever.

A thought occurs to Anakin suddenly, and he thinks of the perfect way to let Obi-Wan know just how much he appreciates and respects that law will be an irrevocable part of their lives. He’s picked up a thing or two over the years.

Anakin pulls back from their kiss reluctantly and says with a smirk, "Mr. Kenobi, thank you for the thorough preparation of today's paperwork. Before we conclude our business, I must insist on receiving a copy of this contract for my own records."

Delight flits across Obi-Wan's face as he gives a hearty laugh of his own. "That's very good, sweetheart. We'll make a lawyer of you yet!"

---

Today’s drabble is inspired by:

this Tumblr post

a recent conversation I had with my lawyer friend about her brother’s engagement (how saying “yes” is only a verbal commitment)

the last chapter of my holy grail Suits fanfic, Pizza and a Movie, re: asking for a signed copy of the documentation

FYI, I am by no means a lawyer, so please don't come at me for my sad attempt at legalese.

Also, please let me know if you found some easter eggs throughout LOL there were some ironic ones in Obi-Wan’s proposal speech 🤣

[muldermuse]

A Halloween Announcement (Fox Mulder X Reader)

Halloween Costumes and a pregnancy announcement

Ok so I got an anon suggesting a halloween pregnancy announcement???? when i tell u i GASPED like out loud randomly in my flat

if u have halloween fox mulder thoughts/thots pls pls pls lemme know them <;3

Fox knew you weren’t well, you looked tired and your emotions seemed to be all over the place. You constantly felt uncomfortable, and the meals you loved to sit and watch Fox make for you now had you running for the bathroom. You put it down to the change in seasons, your low mood was due to the the end of the summer, work had been draining so that’s why you’d been exhausted and the sickness? There was a bug going around, someone at the grocery store was talking about it and that was all your questions answered. 

Until a friend made a passing comment to you over a coffee (you couldn’t face your usual macchiato so you sipped a lukewarm water), “sounds like you’re pregnant”. 

How hadn’t you thought of this?

You’d been stressed and run down but to ease your mind and to stop your friend insisting, you went to the drug store and bought a pregnancy test. You downed a bottle of water as quickly as you could and went to the toilet, your friend knew you were feeling anxious so she idly chatted to you as you counted down three minutes. 

You and Fox had always talked about having kids, thinking out loud on Sunday evenings wrapped in your duvet discussing the pros and cons of creating your own little family. There was always more pros than cons obviously. Fox didn’t want to tell you but he was so in love with the thought of having a family with you and you felt the same. Desperate with the idea but too terrified to verbalise it. 

You checked your watch and saw that 2 minutes 15 seconds had passed, you couldn’t help yourself and had to take a peak.

Two lines.

Two bold lines.

Your friends voice faded into the background and the light in the cubicle felt like it was burning your skin. Your breathing got heavy as you held your stomach, suddenly aware of the cells growing inside you and what that would mean for your relationship. 

Leaving the store was a blur, you vaguely remember your friend hugging you and pressing excited kisses to your cheeks but your mind was elsewhere. Fox wasn’t home, he was away on a case for another 2 days and when he got home it would be the 31st October. The day of Scully’s annual Halloween party. She honestly hated Halloween but seeing Fox dressed in a costume once a year made the holiday all the more bearable for her. This year Fox was in charge of deciding the costume, couples of course, Fox argued that in your relationship- couples costumes were compulsory. 

The idea came from a drunken evening watching an old VHS of Return of the Jedi.

“I bet you would look so hot in that outfit” Fox said as soon Princess Leia’s bikini’ed frame came onto the screen

“Fox, is the only reason you chose this movie because you wanted to see this scene?” you giggled as you took another swig of your beer

“All I’m saying is that Halloween is in less than four months baby”

Fox had a Han Solo outfit and, much to Fox's upset, you had gone for the classic Princess Leia look rather than the scantily clad bikini. The perfect idea suddenly dawned on you and you had less than 48 hours to execute it.

***

Fox couldn’t wait to get home, the trip away wasn’t traumatic or terrifying or particularly taxing- it was just boring. A boring few days in a boring state with Scully- who was more bored than he was. He was looking forward to showering (with you), getting ready (with you), going to the party together and then going to bed (hopefully you’d do what you usually did when you missed him after a trip- god, he really hoped you’d do that for him).

Before he knew it, he was letting himself into your shared home; his keys opening your front door with familiar ease. He could hear the low hum of your music playing as the smell of whatever candle you were burning hit his nostrils. He was home, he’d spent so long fighting for it but now he had it and he made sure to cherish every moment. To cherish you. To cherish your life together.

As he walked up the stairs, he called out to you but to no avail. As he walked into your shared bedroom, he could hear you humming from the en suite bathroom and smiled when he saw you’d pressed his Han Solo outfit so it would be perfect for him to wear. 

He was wearing the costume as you walked back in. You looked stunning, your hair perfectly twirled into two buns on the side of your head, your make up made your face glow but he didn’t have time to compliment you before you pointed a black toy blaster at his face.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t shoot you right now?” You teased.

“Okay Leia, I’m pretty sure this is very out of character for you.” Fox grabbed your blaster and threw it onto the bed as he wrapped his arms around you and pressed kisses to every inch of skin he could reach. “God- I missed you so much. I swear I’m only interested in X Files that are in a 5 mile radius”.

Before you could mention that the only local X file would be the stray cat that eats an abnormal amount of dog biscuits; Fox saw the small gift bag placed on the cabinet.

“Oh baby, you didn’t need to get me a present” Before you could get to him, the bag was opened and a look of confusion crossed his face.

“Is this a baby Chewbacca costume? This is very cute but I’m sure that it won’t fit Boo, her whiskers will get in the way and that time we put a cat baby grow on her she nearly had a fit with anger”

You took the bag from him and took out the pregnancy test, setting it in his hands “Fox, I’m pregnant”. You placed the positive test in his hands and rubbed your thumb along his hand and with this movement; you were unsure who you were trying to comfort. 

“We’ve talked about it before and I mean…I wasn’t expecting this, I’m sure you weren’t either and I’m sorry to have done it like this. In my head it was really cute but you immediately thought of the cat and I do-“

“You’re pregnant- we’re pregna- you’re having a baby…my baby”

“I’m pregnant with your baby…and I can’t wait”